The first day of Eid.

After I finished watching "The Departed" in the MOE (Mall of the Emirates), it was almost 6:30 PM, time for my daily fix of shisha.
So here I am in the coffee shop, sitting ALONE to a table by the sidewalk of one of the swanky districts of Dubai, starring at the flashy cars parked in front of me. There was hardly any movement in the street. I suddenly realised that a thin feeling of depression is sneaking toward me; well it was the first day of Eid, and I am all alone!
Without hesitation, I grabbed my mobile, browsed the 'address book' through my contact names.
THE NAMES!
Each and every one has conjured up a different kind of reaction; a smile, a chuckle, a moment of contemplation, and in some cases a lengthy frown!
I ended up calling a dozen of people in five different countries, which eventually helped to repel that spooky feeling of depression, it's amazing how the depth of the human relation's history can bring joy and happiness in such occasions.
Which you all a happy Eid.

The Dubai Metro

I believe that the initial thinking of making a metro in Dubai was in 1997, when a committee was formed to outline the trajectory of the project. So far, four routes (lines) have been conceptualized, the green, the red, the blue and the purple. The construction has started on May of this year; the Burjuman intersection (close to where I live) has been transformed into a roundabout, the whole roundabout is now fenced, there will be a major underground station underneath it. Despite the numerous feasibility studies made, the Metro in Dubai is still a controversial subject, some people are arguing that by the time the first line is operational (2011), the major portion of the real-estate developments would have been finished. That will take out at least 20% of the employed expatriates. And will leave the city with two major ‘castes’: 1-The wealthy expatriates who are living in the freehold developments (employed or unemployed it doesn’t matter as long as they are rich). 2-The low to medium skilled expatriates working in the services sector; shopkeepers, salespersons, waiters, secretaries, clerks, maintenance… There will still be the high profile employees in both media and health care sectors, but the percentage is negligible. Within the demographical spectrum given above, the need for public transport will decrease, given the fact that there is already shuttling bus service, covering almost all Dubai. Now that was all my own speculation of what’s going to happen. The metro is a civilized mean of transportation in the heavily populated cities around the world, but spending 15 billions of dollars on a metro network for a city where the expats constitute 80% of the population??
Well…. maybe it is just me, the everlasting pessimist.

Me and Tom Clancy

I like Tom Clancy's. He was rightly called by the readers of his novels as the 'Master of Details'. I bought my first novel of his two years ago, it was the 'red rabbit', very exciting plot about the 80's intelligence combat between the CIA and the KGB during the peak of the cold war.
The 'red rabbit''s star is Jack Ryan, as is the case with most of previous novels of Clancy. Ryan was newly appointed as a joint analyst in the Century House in London. The location has given him an access to so many information and lot of 'intelligence traffic' in Europe.
One day, he came across a letter sent from the leadership of the soviet communist party to the Pope John Paul II, advising him to stop meddling in the Polish political issues. Poland was of a great deal to the Russians and the 'Warsow Pact' alliance, the Russians couldn't afford to compromise on this, and after they have realised that the Pope is adamant on 'freeing' his people from the repression of the then ruling Polish party. They have decided to get rid of him, and they have given instructions to the KGB accordingly. It wasn't an easy ride for the Russians, they would get into lot of trouble if their intentions were disclosed. So they have subcontracted the Bulgarians to do it for them, giving them a considerable logistic and intelligence support in return.
A communication officer in the KGB headquarter would be in charge of all correspondences relating to the operation. That would of course entail encrypting all letters. He would become aware of the evil intentions of his superiors, and after long period of contemplation and inner struggle, spiced up by Clancy's style, the very low-profile communication officer decides to 'defect'.
He would then stumble upon an official from the American Embassy in Moscow, whom he would then tell that he has got a serious piece of intelligence information, and that he needs a 'free ticket'. Then follows a roller-coaster of events. Ryan eventually gets involved. The assassination attempt would get thwarted at the last minute, thanks to the Brits involvement also.
It worth to be noted that there was a real attempt to assassinate the Pope in the early eighties by a Turkish man, this is were Clancy might have gotten his concept for the novel, it's also worth noting that Clancy has exaggerated the capabilities of his folks (the CIA), and at the same time he exaggerated the portrayal of the Russian as a 'Bunch of Thugs'. That is somehow predictable, at least for me, the guy is an American after all , and it's normal for to exalt his countrymen.
As far as I know, it was never proven that the Russians were implicated in this real assassination attempt.
In real life, Pope has survived the attempt, some of you may also remember the massively emotional scene of the Pope imparting forgiveness for his assassin!
May God rest your soul Pope John Paul II, as you were undoubtedly a great man.

Abu Fares's 'Tagging friends'

1. Which is the single best post you’ve read on any blog? Please provide link.
Undoubtedly, and without undue compliments, abu fares's post ‘something about me’ is the best of what I’ve read so far.

2. Which is the best post you’ve written? Which is your worst? Please provide links.
The best I believe is this one.
However, I have only 3 posts all in all so far, so I guess my first one was the worst.

3. How about a place you’ve never been to but would very much like to see.
Tbilisi (Georgia) – Poket beach (Thiland).

4. If you were a member of the opposite sex, what would you have done differently?
Not sure, but then it would be possible to pretend being a lesbian and start chasing my favourite chicks around!
At least one of my mascluine dreams would come true.

5. Do you remember a childhood recurrent dream or nightmare? Good or bad, tell us about it.
Bad early childhood dream, that I was falling of the baclony of our fourth floor apartment.

6. Make me laugh or make me cry, put your words to use.Allow me to quote
”we look for love no time for tears,
wasted water all that is
and it don’t make no flower grow”

7. Do you regret the unfulfilled dreams, the inaccessible roads, the uncharted lands?
”regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again so few to mention.
I did what I had to do, and saw it through without exepmtion”

8. What is a friend to you? And what are you to a friend?
A friend is a person whom I failed to realise the importance of him, untill such time I found a refuge from my insecurities in him.

9. T.S. Eliot measured his life with coffee spoons, how about you?
Everyone’s life is marked and measured by different type of significance, for me it is the ‘perpetually cherished moments’ with either family or friends.

10. Write your own epitaph, or if that is too hard, how would you like your epitaph to read?
“This is a person who had dealt with the inevitable when he was alife, and it would make his ‘day’ if you stopped whining about his death”