Damn!

Reporters sans Frontières (Paris)

PRESS RELEASE
28 August 2008
Posted to the web 29 August 2008

Access to the social networking website Facebook (http://www.facebook.com ) has been blocked without explanation since 24 August 2008 in Tunisia, in a move that reinforces government censorship of the Internet, Reporters Without Borders said.

"The video-sharing websites YouTube ( http://www.youTube.com ) and Dailymotion ( http://www.Dailymotion.com ) were already blocked, so Tunisian censorship now affects three very popular sites that are not intended to have a political impact," Reporters Without Borders said. "The authorities want to control online sharing so that dissidents cannot express themselves. It is sad to see the Internet space being shrunk in this way."

Tunisia represses online free expression more than any other Maghreb country and is on the Reporters Without Borders list of Internet enemies.

[more here]

Opinion: New rules for the Middle East

By Rami G. Khouri

Published: May 26, 2008

"It is no big deal in Washington when nearly 500 million Arabs, Iranians and Turks ignore and defy the United States. But when Israel - the only democracy in the Middle East, America's eternal ally, and the bastion of the epic modern struggle against fascism, totalitarianism, Nazism, communism and terrorism - ignores the United States, that is newsworthy.

"The new rules of the political game in the Middle East are now being written by the key players in the Middle East - and that should be welcomed."

Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of The Daily Star and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. Distributed by Agence Global.

(IHT)

Lovefool

Young Saudis ask, 'Where is the love?'

The gulf that separates the sexes in Saudi Arabia

I read these articles on the International Herald Tribune. Both talked about similar thing: about the art of pursuing love among the youth of Saudi.

While I salute their courage, I also thought, “man! These kids are crazy!” I mean, seriously? Trying to pick up the hot chick you don’t know by sending your contact details to her mobile via Bluetooth? You can be prosecuted for invasion of privacy if you do that in any the US, the UK, or Australia.

In case you're not very aware, men and women are, well, separated. If you want to order food from KFC, you have to queue on the designated line. Work spaces are divided: women, although they are allowed to work, are not allowed to share a space with men.

And as you can read from the above articles, this situation create some degree of curiosity on what's going on in the opposite sex's world, especially among youth. I heard when I was in Madinah, the KSA, one guy actually caught sneaking into the women section of the Mosque. He dressed up as a lady, with the knee-length abaya and the face cover. Oh dear...all that effort only for a peek?

Ahlan wa sahlan...

Hi all!! Welcome to Sheesha Lounge.

As said in the blog description, Sheesha Lounge is where people can share stories and discuss anything that happens in the MENA (that is Middle East and North Africa, for those who aren't aware of the abbreviation) region.

Here, we can talk about anything hot to hip (or, those that aren't too hot and lame): from business, entertainment, travel, politics, sports...anything.

So welcome. And we hope you enjoy reading this blog, as much as we like to rant on it.

Cheers,

Sheesha Lounge