I have a bone to pick with these government and royal motorcades that careen through the streets of the capital at stellar speeds, stopping for no one and breaking the speed limit by leaps and bounds. I know these drivers are well-trained, but you know what, the rest of us citizens never got a special […]

A while back, I decided to change up mosques for Friday prayer due to a lack of inspiration. Essentially, I’ve spent the past two years trying to find one that had something to offer but alas, it seems recycled material is what passes for a good khutba (sermon) these days. I even started a pet […]

It was perhaps with great pleasure that I read about government plans to exempt computers from taxes in Jordan around two months ago. Sources at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology leaked such plans in late April, and the Minister, Bassem Roussan, seemed to confirm it at a meeting with members of the ICT […]

Flying in from Cairo the other day I had a bit of a run in with the Jordanian Customs on my way out. After a friend asked me to purchase cigarettes from the newly-expanded Duty Free Shop, I was pulled over by customs but in the most abrasive of manners. To begin with, I have […]

Leaving a meeting in Abdali yesterday morning, I got a call informing me that a protest was taking place on the 6th circle. Second-hand information indicated that a crowd, angry with the safety conditions of the Jordan Gate towers lately, had gathered on the circle to launch a protest. I figured it was probably the […]

It perhaps goes without saying that the most defunct and notoriously futile arm of the entire Jordanian government apparatus, is the Lower House of Parliament; the very small government body that “the people” actually get to “vote” for. The Lower House never ceases to amaze me in its imbecility and it is a constant reminder […]

“If Bush and Blair can spin the truth about WMDs to justify bombing innocent people, then why can’t I spin Dalia’s story to save women from being murdered on a daily basis?” - Norma Khouri on fabricating her novel “Forbidden Love” about honor crimes in Jordan.
This quote comes by way of a review of the […]

While I still appreciate that the concept of Earth Hour has finally come to Amman, I am overwhelmingly disappointed with the outcome. Last night, several locations were supposed to turn their lights off in honor of Earth Hour, between 8:30 and 9:30pm, along with the rest of the world. What happened was nothing short of […]

It’s been a long week so far. I’m here in London to attend two different conferences and it’s been an interesting ride. I apologize for the lack of posting but, on the other hand, I’ve also been getting a lot of fascinating feedback on some of the posts published here lately. The general tone of […]

Palestinian officials and analysts have linked the incident to the Jerusalem municipality’s eviction orders of more than 1,500 Palestinians living in some 180 houses in the East Jerusalem suburb of Silwan area. It will become the largest mass expulsion of Palestinians since the Israeli occupation in the 1967 war. [source
We’ve been hearing this for quite […]

Last Thursday night I was in a car accident. Mid-way through a green light, a car swerved out of no where on my left, as it crossed its red light and hit me. The damage to my truck was rather minimal - the bumper and front guard need to be changed. However, the e-class Mercedes […]

The new cabinet isn’t the only funny thing happening around town this week. Another funny political joke I’ve heard recently actually took place in the final days of Salah Al-Muwajdeh as minister of health, who announced that smoking in public places such as the airport, malls and tourist-related restaurants will be banned starting the first […]

I wanted to write a lengthy post about the changes in the new Dahabi government and halfway through I was overcome with a bit of despair. Despair in the never-changing status quo along with the realization that the mainstream media will be filled with profiles about the new political players, or the old ones - […]

While watching the events in Gaza unfold these past few weeks, I am overcome with grief, and it has become even more dominant once the ceasefire was declared. In the next few days and weeks, Israeli elections will roll on while Gazans will spend this time digging the bodies of relatives out of the rubble. […]

This is the breaking news of the day over here. Naturally, the Jordanian military has denied Israeli claims that shots were fired at a border crossing from the Jordanian side. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jordanian military fired anything so much as a wad of bubble gum at the Israeli side. Israeli media […]

It’s almost impossible to talk about anything except Gaza these days. That’s not an understatement. It simply feels like the reality of the situation is so imposing on our lives that I can hardly open a newspaper or surf the local and regional blogosphere without reading about Gaza. It’s on the tip of every tongue […]