Once more our King set a precedent in the Arab world. Well done your majesty.

Fadi

pick one

As you can guess it never saw the light. Not that I blame the editors after all why even bother to go down that slippery slope.
Human Rights Watch have been watching us and put us on the “watch-list” of some of the worst countries that violate human rights! GO figure!

We live in a police state which I do not mind. But what I do mind is the constant stream of disinformation and propaganda, where they keep on bleating that there is nothing wrong with (fill in space with your favourite cause) mine is the economy + Human rights… for now. And free press what is that, when an editor of a magazine or newspaper has to deal with the secret police and censorship to the extent that some editors have been called in to swear before a commitee that they will not criticise and/or write negatively about the government. So there’s your free press. And three quarters of the people editing writing or doing stuff for magazines are simply not qualified to do so.
It is now called the bored west-ammani housewife syndrome, “I am bored I think I will make a magazine after all its all stolen from the net.” (a quote I heard recently).

And I can catalogue a whole encyclopedia of our lovely little kingdoms failures and fiascos, but lets face it we live here, and we deal with it as best we can. And in Jordan it is quite true the change should come from above, but unfortunately when it comes to the place where it is needed, it has been diluted and warped out of shape beyond recognition.

This is my truth now tell me yours!

Personally, I think you have every right to be worried. Some people do not understand this freedom of speech thing is just for show – it was never meant to be taken seriously. I will add it to my mental list: “The Environment”, “Women’s Rights”, “Democracy”, “Youth Employment Schemes” and now “Freedom of Speech”.

thanks

The editor is also facing another charge of failing to “respect the truth and lack of objectivity” under the Press Law, his lawyer told CPJ. If convicted on this count, he could be fined up to 500 Jordanian dinars (US$700), Qutaishat said.”

تدرس مجموعة من النواب إعداد مذكرة تطالب بحجب الثقة عن وزير المالية بسبب عدم موافقته السماح للنواب ببيع اعفاء جمرك السيارات الذي منحه مجلس الوزراء لاعضاء مجلس النواب قبل حوالي ثلاثة اسابيع.

The question is: Isn’t priviliging the MPs a kind of corruption? Can this be rightly called bribery?
Well, at least they are busy doing something..

Then, what about reforming the elections law to become a real representation of the people? Or should we wait as Abd elhadi elmajali said until the palastenian issue is solved and he is able to know where every citizen heart is?!!!! It is as if they have the right question your loyalty based on their own birth place and not based on the rights that they should grant to their citizens! And people keep talking about transperancy..OK, lets have transperancy, but why not lead by example, right? Striking guidleines is an easy task, but one shouldn’t expect action based on word, one should lead by action, one should lead by examining oneself..

Also, the illness of jounalism in only a symptom, just like many other symptoms. Any change in jordan will and should be generational, but from what we see-even with the appointments by the king- is more power granted to those who failed us in the past, and this is very disappointing. The latest example is Dr. Awadalla, even though I don’t have the full information and no one will have, but why not stick to your guns? Why cave in under pressure?

It is just sad!

As was the case when it came to the reform of systems and procedures at Queen Alia International Airport last year. How long did those last? Five, maybe six months?

Exactly. I think this is one of the more recent larger examples that prove the point. Everyone remembers that famous photograph of the King’s visit to the airport and I think everyone also remembers how great procedures were for a few months, which was essentially the seeeing of lax security in favor of a faster clearance rate. And I think things by now, less than a year later, are going back to the way they were and it’s likely to stay that way under the guise of a recently placed “under construction” sign. When that sign is removed and a new terminal emerges, will procedures and operations have improved?

Zait:

Also, many professions have certifications that can be taken during the course of the career. Why not have that for our journalists?

A worthy point. I believe, if I’m not mistaken, that the government is working on something like this. Training facilities are emerging. But I’m forced to wonder, when it comes to professions like journalism and teaching, why isn’t there a standardized school with certification that is nationwide, mandatory and on-going? When it comes to teaching, I believe a new training center is also emerging but it wont be mandatory and will only be training a handful of teachers. In other words, you can still graduate from a university in physical education in June and be a high school math teacher by September.

The answer is an unfortunate no. If that absurd circumstance were to ever take place then what you would see is a whole lot of pandering and a whole lot of scurrying around the very next day and perhaps in the weeks to follow, as everyone ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, pretending to do some work. And in a few months time, maybe a year or two from now at the most, it will all be forgotten about.

As was the case when it came to the reform of systems and procedures at Queen Alia International Airport last year. How long did those last? Five, maybe six months?

We may need to copy from Sweden. All public activities are open. A journalist can even ask for the prime minister email archive.

PH:

We will never have grass roots development as long as we think in this manner, and although the King is supporting such movements, still, the lower employees and public servants, and the lower police forces do not agree with the King’s vision. They still believe that the population should never be empowered, and go out of their ways to set up hurdles for anybody that dares to take initiative.

Nadine:

IMHO, I think HM should do two things:

1. Forbid Royal patronage of anything for the next few years – no one, no initiative, no event be allowed to engage the Royal Family in patronage for any reason and in any way. Get people to do the work for the right reason, and not the photo op.

2. Ask for a reporting mechanism that allows the voice and judgement of the mid & lower half of an org to contribute to the alleged deliverables of senior officials and the org as a whole.

Real workers with real drive need to be allowed to get work done for real reasons.

Ahmad:

We miss principles, goals, and aspirations to start from the bottom up. Poverty in terms of lacking any sort of means will always paralyze the mass.

brilliance!

your inputs are what’s needed in this kind of public discussion

We miss principles, goals, and aspirations to start from the bottom up. Poverty in terms of lacking any sort of means will always paralyze the mass.

The problem with most workers in this country is that they are only working to please one person – the boss. So a junior employee will do whatever to please his direct supervisor. And the country’s lethargic and confused officials flutter around wanting only to please His Majesty.

Going to work with the objective of pleasing your boss is a failing tactic and a road to destruction.

That takes the soul of the work. It confuses everyone. It forces people to think about the press release and the award and the thank you party, and the Iftar at the Palace, instead of the work. And because our heads keep changing, the work gets derailed and fumbles towards pleasing the new guy.

Jordan is suffocating, choking and trapped in this downward spiraling behavior. People need to stop living and behaving and working like life here is a popularity contest.

IMHO, I think HM should do two things:

1. Forbid Royal patronage of anything for the next few years – no one, no initiative, no event be allowed to engage the Royal Family in patronage for any reason and in any way. Get people to do the work for the right reason, and not the photo op.

2. Ask for a reporting mechanism that allows the voice and judgement of the mid & lower half of an org to contribute to the alleged deliverables of senior officials and the org as a whole.

Real workers with real drive need to be allowed to get work done for real reasons.

I think that because we live in a very patriarchal society, where the status quo has always been left untouched, and people were afraid to challenge the status quo, because they have been weary of the repercussions (our history showed us fine examples, so they do have a right to be weary). In this patriarchal society, the population has always relied on the government, and the King to take care of the population. This is also probably due to the fact that political life was absent in Jordan until the late eighties early nineties, and because the government was much more centralized during King Hussein’s reign.

That’s also why Jordanians will always look at the late King Hussein as a father, because he treated the population as his children, which worked fine then, but now we still seem to operate in the same mindframe. We were always too reliant on the government, and when people want something, they go to the King, or to their constituents in parliament to fulfill their requests. Instead of taking initiative and taking matters into their own hands, and fulfilling their desires and requests for themselves.

We will never have grass roots development as long as we think in this manner, and although the King is supporting such movements, still, the lower employees and public servants, and the lower police forces do not agree with the King’s vision. They still believe that the population should never be empowered, and go out of their ways to set up hurdles for anybody that dares to take initiative. This is why the GAM employee will bombard you with red tape when you want to set up your own business, and why two skinny short termites with thick mustaches will bombard each and every public debate.

While we’re at it, I think that education has a lot to do with the manner. Our education taught us to be passive recipients of information, instead of actively seeking for education and enlightenment ourselves. It also has a lot to do with society itself, whenever a person does not fit into the mold of a stereotype, that person is quickly discarded. Being different is social suicide.

We may need to copy from Sweden. All public activities are open. A journalist can even ask for the prime minister email archive. Public officials can’t avoid journalists and journalists are protected and their resources. Only the head of the newspaper can be hold responsible. And there are some organizations who monitor the media.