Over a week in Saud Arabia…Marina Mall, Shoes, Pizza Hut.

Visiting Saudi Arabia always makes me want to look for trouble because of the pure controversial nature of the country, and the contradiction that I have to face everyday. But every time I come here I realize how much it has changed, aka became liberalized. Going through immigration for me in KSA is much easier than other places, because they have everything in record and they see that I have been here seven times in three years and my dad works here. The guy at the boot just looked at me, my passport, made a comment about the amount of pages I have to make me laugh (I just got bunch of pages added to my passport because I ran out of visa pages due primarily to KSA’s entry and exit visas) and let me go without ever looking at my immigration card I had to fill out, and gave me a nice smile. Yes, you can get a smile from the opposite gender a single woman in this country.

Jubail looks as beautiful as I left it in June. Average temperature of 75 degrees, beautiful beaches, summer shwarma stands still open, and soccer games being played late at night, still. It is nice to watch international cabel, like BBC World, Al Jazeera, cricket channels, MTV Arabia, and all the Lebanese music channels and Italian fashion shows. Clearly I do not get out much.

Yesterday me and my family went to Dammam, first to Marina Mall, and then to the city to look at some gold stores. The mall like other Saudi Malls had an indoor amusement park, restaurants, prayer rooms, and lots of couples pretending to be siblings so as not to get caught. At Marina Mall, I found nothing interesting except avoiding men who freely smoked inside, trying not to get mad at rude salesclerks after refusing to buy their knock off Gucci heels, and avoiding religious police. The shoes are quite amazing, I will say, and there were so many that Lady Gaga would have much appreciated (five inch wedges made out of white lace all over, and a hot pink four incher with rhinestones on the heels and gold spikes). And Saudi women DO actually buy them. I almost bought suede grey booties covered in metal belts and random zippers but then walked in them and realized they would only enjoy the interior of my closet if purchased.

At the gold stores, I had to step out of the store with my sister because the smell of incense was a bit much. Outside, people do look since there we are, two girls, by ourselves, without headscarves, minding out own business. These two boys, probably 13 years old walked by and I guess I was not in the mood and yelled at them to stop staring. Response: “You shut up”. My sister: “Asshole”. Them: “Arabic gibberish”. I don’t think they knew any other English. They may have attempted to use the F word. I am not sure. But we sure did stop getting snickers after that. Seriously, if more women just simply yelled at these men in the middle of the street there would not be such a problem with street harassment. I learned this in Morocco where I was taught that all you need is to embarrass these men in front of people, because that is exactly what they do not expect.

We also went to eat dinner at Pizza Hut last night, which in Saudi Arabia is a big deal. Like most American chain fast food places outside of America, they are fancy, huge, usually two stories high, and have real menus and cleanly dressed waiters. This one had glass doors separating the “single section” and “family section”, and had a play station room for kids. We had a booth with our own divisions so it was like our own little room. And the food included these amazing pasta and halal pepperoni and yellow cheese because they have not caught up to the U.S. in using artificial flavor and products. Needless to say it was delicious. Reminded me to when I was in Delhi two summers ago and me and another intern went to Pizza Hut because we were tired of vegetarian food and ordered the meat lovers pizza that had every kind of spiced chicken and mutton possible. Ah, love.

 

Using the Obama’s For Advertise Without Permission

And I thought it was an age of copyrights and permissions.

PETA uses the image of Michelle Obama:

PETA president Ingrid Newkirk stated:

The fact is that Michelle Obama has issued a statement indicating that she doesn’t wear fur, and the world should know that in PETA’s eyes, that makes her pretty fabulous,” she said in a press statement.

PETA senior vice president Dan Mathews said that she should instead be flattered: “By rejecting fur, these style icons demonstrate to the world that fur is old-fashioned and cruel.” The White House has contacted PETA regarding the matter, affirming that they did not consent to the use.

Barak Obama’s image used for Weatherproof, where he wears one of their jackets in his visit to China:

Weatherproof Garment Co. bought the photo rights from AP Images, and did not seek permission from the White House. It also does not think it would be necessary since Obama is not endorsing this advertise. Weatherproof President Freddie Stollmack.states: “He didn’t come to us,” Stollmack explained. “It’s just a great-looking jacket on a great-looking president.”

 

Gabourey Sidibe

Sidibie just featured in New York Time’s Nifty 50.

Blogger Stephen Heyman states that the ” holiday season provided Sidibe with a novel respite: a chance to get back to her old self.” Get it straight: Gabourey Sidibe is not Precious. This is difficult for some of Sidibe’s fans to grasp. “Most people understand the point of the film — it deals with abuse, and neglect, and self-esteem,” she said in a recent phone interview. “They just don’t get that I’m a real person. And I tell them, ‘This is not my story. That didn’t happen to me.’”

Sidibie was also recently veatured on both Vogue and Bazaar magazine. She told Bazaar:

I feel like a model. It justifies everyone in my life who told me I wouldn’t be anything until I lost weight. It justifies that little girl who cried because she didn’t think she could be in front of the camera. And it’s for other girls who feel like they can’t do this or that and feel like they’re not pretty and not worthy of having their photo taken.

The roles that she has been getting offered for have not been rosy ones, including playing a bully and playing in a dark comedy. And of course articles written about her since have focused on her “sefl-esteem”, weight, etc. And she has expressed that it upset her how critics have foused on her overweight body more so as a charateristic in the movie Precious. It would be interesting to see if the buzz around her would not ask about the obvious (thought I think you can’t get away with it- the weight factor definately makes this whole situation unique, especially in Hollywood). It is certainly healthy to see her embrace the fact, and claim that she does not feel the pressure to lose weight (would that mke her, giving in?).

The girl is cute; asked about ads:

“I’d probably advertise cherry soda. Cherry soda … um, muffins … something sexy … I know, cherry-muffin soda!”

 

Burj Khalifa, the World’s Tallest Builsing Opens in Dubhai

With its mix of nightclubs, mosques, luxury suites and boardrooms, the Burj is an almost-perfect representation of Dubai’s own complexities and contradictions. It will boast the world’s first Armani hotel; the world’s highest swimming pool, on the 76th floor; the highest observation deck on the 124th floor; and the highest mosque on the 158th floor.

More than 12,000 people will occupy its 6 million square feet, zooming up and down in the 54 elevators that can hit speeds of 65 kilometers, or 40 miles, an hour. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago.

“Dubai not only has the world’s tallest building, but has also made what looks like the most expensive naming rights deal in history,” said Jim Krane, author of City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism. “Renaming the Burj Dubai after Sheikh Khalifa of Abu Dhabi — if not an explicit quid pro quo — is a down-payment on Dubai’s gratitude for its neighbor’s $10 billion bailout last month.”

to read more click here

 

Istanbul: Turkey: 2009 [Part 1]

From my trip last May to Istanbul from Cairo where I was studying abroad. Part 1.

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

Bosphorus tour

 

Ronald Reagan- The Politics of Symbolism By Robert Dallek

Ronald Reagan- The Politics of Symbolism By Robert Dallek

Review

In Ronald Reagan- The Politics of Symbolism, Robert Dallek evaluates the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the trends in his career. Dallek tries to answer why Reagan adhered to old, traditional beliefs, and how this ideology came about. The theme is one of criticism, as Dallek attempts to show Reagan’s presidency as a showcase of symbolic politics rather than actual action for the country. Symbolic politics is defined as public goals that satisfy psychological needs as much as material ends (11). He asserts that we must explain Reaganism by looking at the conditions in which he grew up to become a president, as Reaganism is not merely an “aberration” that will disappear with the end of the his presidency (vii). Dallek defines Reaganism to be a return to “old-fashioned republicanism”- tax cuts for the rich, weaker stance on civil rights, less control on industry, and an “emotional rhetoric on the virtues of hard work, family, religion, individualism, and patriotism” (vii). It must be noted that the book was published in 1984, with just three years of Reagan’s presidency observed. While Dallek believed that this was sufficient in order to conclude on his performance, it effects his analyses.

In Part I, Dallek attempts to asses Reagan’s life before his presidency, including his childhood and career in Hollywood to his entrance into politics. Dallek asserts that Reagan’s strong attachment to old values is rooted to his small town upbringings as well as the modern culture of the time. He preferred to play the hero in movies- Dallek relates this to his need to be independent and have control over his own fate (16). In Part II, Dallek discusses Reagan’s presidency in which Reaganomics, or supply side economics was key.  Dallek develops his thesis here where he illustrates how symbolic politics were used in all domestic aspects, from education, security, to civil rights (e.g. While weary of civil rights, he visited the Butler family in Maryland who were effected by the KKK to give symbolic comfort to African Americans [81]). His fear of a failed government and determination to unite his party led him to actions that would, in Dallek’s opinion, prove to hurt the country. In Part III, Dallek analyzes Reagan as an international leader. Dallek believes that symbolic politics again comes into play as Reagan grew up with an anti-Soveit sentiment, becoming the only leader of the time that refused to have a give-and-take relationship with Moscow (189).  He used the Soveit Union as a symbol for all that America should not lean towards, picturing them as the “other”. Contrary to his campaign slogans on government and spending, the Reagan era saw the most increase in military buildup- a contradiction Dallek effectively observes. Reagan’s “obsession” would prove minimal advancement in world relations, or “counterproductive”, according to Dallek (194).

Dallak in general carries a critical, and often a blunt tone towards Reagan, emphasizing how the “inner personal grievances” that the president and his conservative administration had were turned into “political concerns” (194). For example, he opinionates that Reaganomics was a “selfish program” aimed at the wealthy, or “Reagan’s class” at the expense of the poor, and that the program is the product of “special interest, or group interest politics than of concern with the national interest” (104). While Dallek’s discussion of symbolic politics is one way to address Reaganism, the fact that he makes his assertions after three years into Reagan’s term makes the book limiting. In 1984, the year the book was published, Reagan won the election comfortably, and his second term was defined by foreign policy as the Cold War started to loom for the future. Dallek’s emphasis on personality of presidents is notable, as he is able to use examples to illustrate the dynamic attitude of Reagan. Tying psychological and the political agenda together as Dallek has accomplished can be useful in observing other presidents of our modern era where personality politics are coming increasingly into play.