Remember when the Bush administration decided to handle protesters simply by taking them to a designated “free speech zone” (also known as a “free speech cage”)? Well, Jordan’s Lower House of Parliament seems set on doing the same thing these days. Essentially, they’ve designated a room by the main entrance of the Parliament building for […]

At this point, the reviews are already in regarding Obama’s speech to the Muslim world and there’s little I can say that wouldn’t sound redundant. Was his tone different from that of his predecessor - also known as ‘he whose name must never be spoken”? An overwhelming yes is the only answer to that question. […]

His Majesty King Abdullah paid an incognito visit to the Health Ministry’s Patients’ Affairs Department on Wednesday to check on services it offers citizens, sources told The Jordan Times. Wearing a black thobe (traditional dress) and a red-and-white kuffiyah, and sporting a black beard, the King arrived at the department, located in Shmeisani behind Le […]

Happy Independence Day everyone!
So Jordan celebrates its 63rd Independence Day today, and I know mainstream media will probably effectively cover all of the Kingdom’s achievements over the past several decades, which usually entails copying and pasting information from last year and then throwing in a Jordanian flag sticker with every newspaper copy. So there’s really […]

Here’s the thing. Back in December, the world pretty much laughed and cheered as Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at former US President, George W. Bush. And since then, shoe-throwing as a form of political protest seems to have come back in to fashion. It’s being referred to as “shoeing”.
According to it’s Wiki […]

Former Minister of Public Works, Sahel al-Majali, has been the on-again, off-again center of a brewing scandal regarding the royal initiative: decent housing for decent living. Today, columnist Jamil Nimri opened the Pandora’s box on the whole issue with some rather interesting findings.
Briefly, the initiative was set to build 100,000 homes for poor Jordanians, offering […]

By now, pretty much everyone has heard the talk of the town: the latest suicide attempt in Jordan. Amman is a small town that likes to talk, especially when it comes to an event where the attempted female jumper called the media to cover it, and in the process, tied up traffic on one of […]

AMMAN (AFP) — A military prosecutor has charged a member of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood with plotting to form a “militant faction” inside the kingdom, a judicial official said on Saturday. [source]
This one is more for the “unbelievable” files. If it’s one thing Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood knows, it’s that trying to create a militant faction on […]

The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) and the Audit Bureau said on Tuesday they will review a bureau report which deemed bonuses recently disbursed by GAM as illegal…At the meeting, attended by Amman Mayor Omar Maani, lawmakers questioned the legality of the decision to disburse JD128,000 in bonuses to senior GAM officials.
Defending the decision, Maani said […]

It’s a topic that’s recently floated to the surface in Jordanian politics: plans to curb, if not moves towards abolishing, the death sentence in the state security court. Amendments to the penal code are looking to remove capital punishment for all crimes except premeditated murder; in other words, crimes against state security, which include terrorism, […]

Arabian Business just published it’s annual Most Influential Arabs list for 2009 and it’s pretty good popcorn reading. Like last year, only three Jordanians made the list, including Fadi Ghandour (who went up 52 spots to be ranked 27th), Samer Majali (38th) and Emad Hajjaj (who dropped 40 spots to be ranked 83rd). While Fadi […]

On Ammon today, an interesting article featured a Yarmouk University professor who protested AIDS awareness posters posted by the Ministry of Health that asked “Have you practiced anal sex, oral sex or vaginal sex?”. I’ll let you do the reading but to sum it up, Dr. Azzam’s argument is that the posters promote promiscuity or, […]

Likely one of the most pertinent issues of our time and our specific region, Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International are launching the second annual World Day Against Cyber Censorship. Last year, if some of you recall, RWB put together an interesting, 24-hour virtual demonstration.
This year, RWB have updated their annual list of “Internet Enemies” […]

Somewhere in the depths of the Royal Hashemite Court and perhaps even the King and Queen’s respective offices, there are people who dream up wonderful initiatives. From education to dialog to just a whole bunch of other great initiatives that span the spectrum of issues. They are all well-branded and well-publicized and it’s hard to […]

Remember when HM King Abdullah said that journalists wouldn’t be jailed any more? Well they can still be sued. As many know by now, Khalid Mahadin was just sued by the Lower House of Parliament for “slander” after publishing an article on Kheberni.com entitled, “For God’s Sake, Abdullah”, where he criticized members of Parliament. To […]

A main headline today, as most of you might know already, is the opening of a trial for two Jordanian men who are accused of plotting to kill an Israeli business man who runs a QIZ factory in Irbid. The two men were not able to go through with it, but not before security forces […]