Tuesday, November 04, 2003

Power Struggle Behind the Scenes

Even though Minister Abulhassan came through on the side of reason today, I'm still worried by some rumors that the previous Minister of Information (MOI) is none too pleased about relinquishing that base of power even though he's now Minister of Energy.

Apparently, being in charge of our oil industry - Kuwait's main source of revenue - isn't good enough for him. During his tenure as MOI, he hired untold numbers of unqualified cronies. He now seeks to run the MOI by remote control, and pre-empt the current minister. Case in point: Abulhassan has invited the press corps to a Ramadan dinner next week. Minister of Energy has pre-empted that dinner and invited the press corps this week. Why he wants to invite them at all is anyone's guess... but it's just petty and unbefitting for a minister to act this way.

And it gets worse.. a whispering campaign aimed at discrediting Abulhassan has already begun. And rumors are swirling around town that pen-for-hire columnist Fouad Al-Hashem, from Al-Watan, has received payment in exchange for attacking Abulhassan in his daily column.

Al-Hashem is banking on Kuwaiti readers' short memories, for while he is now lamenting the golden age of the MOI when our so called emissaries represented Kuwait in the best light... I distinctly recall him trashing them as incompetent fools a few years ago. Back then, the minister was someone else who maybe wasn't as "generous" as Sheikh Ahmad.

The Show Will Go On

Three cheers to Minister of Information, Mohamed Abulhassan, for not bowing to unwarranted pressure from Kuwait's Islamist lunatics. The Pascal Mashalani concert will go ahead on schedule. What I liked about his statement was the tough language. He not only declared that the concert would go ahead, but also warned them against wasting his and their time in future with similar complaints.

Now if someone can get us some decent musical acts...

Monday, November 03, 2003

And now it's Pascal

And they're at it again.. Kuwait's "Social Reform" Society is protesting a planned concert during Eid featuring Lebanese singer Pascal Mashalani. They're pulling the same tired excuses (traditions, POWs, etc.) to call for it's cancellation.

I have my own reasons for cancelling the concert, namely because Pascal SUCKS, but I can't accept the fundamental Islamists chokehold on our lives. The matter has been raised to the Minister of Disinformation, so lets see if he has a spine and if he has the guts to to tell them to mind their own damn business!!

Ramadan Mubarak

Just passed the first week of Ramadan (quickly, I might add) and so far it's been a flurry of social obligations plus a weekend away for Umra. My digestive system gets destroyed during Ramadan, so my next few posts will be quite ill-tempered and cranky.

You have been warned..