With a gigantic deficit of at least JD1.4 billion on our back, it seems that pointing out the country is drowning in debt is simply an understatement these days. While some are asking where that money actually went, the natural government reaction is of course to tax the people who are already struggling to make […]

In a recent Reuters piece, I have to admit finding this paragraph to be pretty darn funny:
In an online interview this year that epitomized the progressive image Dubai has tried to present, Sheikh Mohammed rejected the suggestion he was a “Superman” who ran the freewheeling emirate alone.
“The ‘Superman’ phenomenon you are talking about does not […]

I think for anyone who’s been following the news lately - heck, anyone who has been remotely alive in some way, has probably already concluded that August has been a tough month when it comes to crime. Especially violent crimes. It seems everyday there is one report after another about the latest murder or tribal […]

AP PHOTO - A vendor sells tomatoes, at a market in central Amman. Local media and consumer activists are waging a war against “greedy” dealers blamed for taking advantage of the rising demand on food items ahead of Ramadan to raise their prices.
If basic economics suggest that price is determined by supply equaling demand, then […]

Having just returned from a brief mental vacation that didn’t even require me to leave Amman, I’ve been amused by some of the news that’s dominated local headlines recently. Although distancing myself from my laptop, I have to admit, the blogger in me was a consistent visual stenographer, taking mental notes all the while.
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It seems that Parliament has not made many friends since the start of this extraordinary session. First, their dispute with the media, originating from a proposed 5% tax on media revenue (dubbed the culture tax) escalated to the point of a local media strike and refusal to report on parliamentarian news. That conflict seems to […]

“The country that uses this crisis to make its population smarter and more innovative — and endows its people with more tools and basic research to invent new goods and services — is the one that will not just survive but thrive down the road. We might be able to stimulate our way back to […]

It’s a hot and dusty day here at the dead sea but in case anyone’s interested, around eighteen 7iber-trained, young, citizen journalists from all over the Arab world, are right here at the World Economic Forum covering the three-day event and its sessions. We’ve got bloggers, live bloggers, flip cameramen, interviews, watweting and more. Check […]