أرصاد أرضية

From Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B Cialdini, PH.D. Does Jordan have optimal conditions? Does Egypt's new revolution follow the same path? I'm not sure but I don't know how Egypt was doing in the past few years. However, I find the below much more accurate in the case of Jordan. Social scientists have determined that scarcity is a primary cause of political turmoil and violence. One of the most prominent speakers of this argument is James C. Davies, who states that: "We are most likely to find revolutions where a period of improving economic and social conditions is followed by a short, sharp reversal in those conditions. Thus it is not the traditionally most downtrodden people - who have come to see their deprivation as part of the natural order of things - who are especially liable to revolt. Instead, revolutionaries are more likely to be those who have been given at least some taste of a better life. When the economic and social improvement...

I was just reading this on Aljazeera.net , I couldn't believe it. Usually it's Gulf countries that do this sort of thing. But JORDAN presenting a necklace, earrings and a bracelet estimated at around 150,000 USD... and for who? for Condy... I really can't believe this!!!! If you have more details on this issue please let me know... Is this by any means preceded by something that requires such a gift? You can read the report here in Arabic. http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F2B334FA-B1F2-4F83-BAE5-F4FAA4B26916.htm

A hospital in Amman last Thursday... late at night, I had chest pain and wanted to check it out. I sat down in a room to have my blood pressure checked when a nurse stormed into the room shouting "COLD WHITE" and holding a baby so small in size... so young... so tenderly wrapped in his bed sheets... I stood up and the baby was placed in the bed I just sat on, I didn't know what to do... I stood there in complete shock... I was looking at his eyes, there was no movement whatsoever... he was looking at me, through me, rather in my direction but not at anything... I kept looking trying to find any sign of life... I didn't believe what I saw... I didn't want to believe it... he can't be dead... he is sooo young... His eyes were so wide, but his skin was yellow and his lips almost blue... I cannot forget his wide eyes... "Sorry, Please leave the room" another nurse said.. "Of course, of course" as I was wearing my jacket... Doctors rushed in... ...

I had a meeting with the purchasing manager of a real estate firm, they are looking for suppliers... In these tough times dollars seem to shine a lot brighter... Our guest was very friendly, rather polite and from another Arab nationality... The meeting started, he introduced his firm... "we are working in several countries.." he talked about how difficult it is to move from one spot to another in Iraq. "It is very dangerous, we have to move with helicopters to visit to places like Ramadi ". It doesn't really take a genius to guess who uses helicopters in Iraq, but I wanted to make sure so I asked what kind of projects do you perform. "95% of our business is with the American Army, Iraq, Afghanistan...etc" He smiled and was soo confident as if it was meant to impress me and my boss... he continued bla bla bla and I remember hearing my diplomatic boss kidding with him "so wherever there is trouble you're there..." and my mind was going...

If you scroll down, you will see photos of King Talal's house in Jabal Amman and a mosque that is named after him. The mosque is in terrible condition on the main road leading to the Dead Sea. Quite a shame! King Talal ruled Jordan for 11 months, he is someone I think of as a "clock builder" and NOT "a time teller". A metaphor that is taken from Jim Collins books entitled "Built to Last" and "Good to Great", in which, based on years of research looking for the qualities that separate great and enduring companies from others. One of the distinct aspects is that they build systems that continue to operate regardless of who is in charge, the concept is to build a system that works instead of building companies around individuals no matter how great they are. This obviously leads to sustainability and better performance. In 11 months he: 1) Initiated the first constitution in Jordan. The most remarkable aspect was giving the Parliament the auth...

What makes a country? better yet what is the definition of a country? It is not meant to make Jordan any less of a nation or a culture when you say that Jordan as a country didn't exist 100 hundred years ago. There is a big difference between an inhibited land and a country. "A country" adds the dimension of political identity, of a nation that moves with its self appointed leadership towards it's own agenda. Before the so called "independence" of Arab countries, we were part of a larger nation and a larger political cluster. It was not ONLY Jordan... Almost every other Arab country did not exist as an individual political structure as it does today. And we were sold the concept of "A COUNTRY" as if it is the greatest achievement of our modern times. Our greatest disappointment was sold as our greatest achievement!! The unity of the Arab nations was broken down with lines of ink held sacred on fresh glossy maps with 21 proud new flags!! ...

This post is the ridiculous labour, mental exhaustion, hallucinations and contemplation of the tiny minute details that passed us by so quickly... In short its about the rise and fall of "fafies" in Jordan... A new breed rising on the bones of others... The amount of change that we are witnessing in Jordan is fascinating. When I was in School, I remember that if someone was saying (aal o olna) instead of (gal o golna) or (MAMA) instead of (Yummah or El-Waldeh) lol... Then the poor kid was quickly classified as a "fafy" type of person... belonging to the people who live in Shmeisani!!! For those of you who don't know what a "Fafy" boy is... its the boy who's spoiled, rich and a classified wimp... The bullies and the teachers would use the famous good old question, "Where are you from, Shmeisani!!" -laughing-... To indicate that a boy is spoiled belonging to a class that doesn't know how to fight with the rough guys coming from the poor...

Sarkuzi & The King in Aqaba, Nuclear power support is coming from France for Jordan's ambitious project in developing Nuclear Energy. That's the headline in today's Al-Dustoor newspaper. What's not in the headline is that Sarkozy is also providing Nuclear support to Egypt as well... I've checked a few websites on the issue, there is quite considerable talk of Nuclear Power in the whole Middle East region, check this out : "In the Middle east and North Africa: Iran, Gulf states, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco" Another thing is, the King seems to be shopping around for efficient Nuclear solutions from a number of different places. France is the latest, since " Sarkozy wants everyone to have nuclear power ", he is capitalizing on his technological assets and has his very own explanation of how sharing this will bring the west and Islam closer together... Other candidates to shop from are the Canadians, the...

Speaking of Islamic Banks, the word "Islamic" should be fairly simple to comprehend, anything that is Islamic would involve "helping people go to heaven". But I guess this is only my naive understanding and it is definitely not shared by the board members of current Islamic banks/financers in Jordan. They probably think of all the Shari'a compliance regulations, they look so closely that they overlook the core essence of Islamic teachings. Now if the nature of an institute is commercial I can understand that all you care about is getting as much money as you can with the lowest risk on planet earth, while taking advantage of people's beliefs. So why would all "Islamic" Financing Institutes in Jordan, charge the highest rate, ask for down payments of 40% (20% if you are connected -wasta-) and must have two Government/Public Shareholding Company Employees to act as loan sponsors (one if you are connected -wasta-)!? Having too many complications is...

According to the Guardian, six years after the US celebrated the quick "Victory" in Afghanistan. Today, Taliban is gaining control over 50% of Afghan land, "It is no longer a question of Will Taliban gain control Kabul? It's just a matter of when and how!" You can check the Arabic version here on Aljazeera.net I wonder when we will see this report on Iraq, two years... three... and what's next? The road from Afghanistan to Jerusalem might be shorter than we think... but there is a hurdle along the way... One day there will be a confrontation, when? and which side will we stand against?

They might literally kill YOU!!! Check this out, These were taken on Amman - Jaber highway... If those are the people who will steer our boat, then we are heading into the Bermuda Triangle :)

So you think of investing in Jordan and want to have some basic numbers on Jordan's construction boom? Basic information that may open your eyes to the market size... What do you do? You just want to know the Area licensed for construction? So you go to the Department of Statistics Website , guess what? The most recent statistical report is 2 years old... hmmm, well OK lets try out the Ministry of Industry & Trade , sorry... no statistical information whatsoever... Well what about, the ministry of housing? No try again... OK The Jordanian Engineers Association !! Dhaaa, no wrong again... maybe they are banned from putting such sensitive info, ok lets check the Jordanian Contractor's Association NOOOO... Well, what about the Municipality .... nopes.... I just want to know the size of the market, how many licensed square meters?!? Aghhhhhhh... I don't want to know what are the recent purchases made by anyone!!! ok, at this point any investor with the IQ of a one year old...

You can tell a lot just by looking at a minaret, at least you used to... when architectures actually knew what it meant. I had the chance to work with a very talented architectural engineer who pointed out a few things about minarets. Here are some tips, the length of a minaret was based on the status of the one who built the mosque, if it was a man of sizable wealth, a district ruler ( Wali ), a minister ( Wazir ) or a caliphate. You can also know in which era the minaret was built and by which nation based on the cross section of the minaret. The above picture is for Sultan Ahmed's Mosque in Turkey, If a minaret was built in the Ottoman era you'd call it a "Pen Minaret" مئذنة القلم, the minarets were built to resemble the shape of a pencil, sharply pointed from the top. It meant that science was held at the highest stature. In the times of the first Islamic state, long before the Ottoman era, Mosques were not only a place for worship but a place for education ...

This is a picture of the famous Abu-Qoura Mosque... I guess you never thought that Minarets had meanings... Try to guess this what this one represents...

These are the pictures that tell the story of tearing apart a landmark in this country's heritage. If you want to torture a man who has great passion for the history of Amman, all you have to do is take him to stroll down Jabal Amman and walk around the School that was built in 1947, the "Islamic Scientific College" It's wall once stood tall all around the buildings that constituted the architectural stamp of a different era. Jordan is still young, a country that is less than a hundred years, so when you talk about buildings that are 60 Years old. The first international football field , is no longer there, instead you will find the new buildings in this picture. Some of the most influential people in this country studied behind those thick walls. Including King Hussein, Ministers, Princes, Politicians, Opposition figures and many more. The school's management seems to have a different architectural opinion!! So they started renovating, demolishing, removing struc...

A Picture of my favourite weather... today Early early morning in Amman... Don't you just love it...

أبشر دائرة الرقابة بأنه لن يختلف على المدونين شيء إذا أرادوا التحدث عن أمر يؤرق بعض اللامسؤولين المسؤولين... كل ما عليهم أن ينشؤوا مدونة بإسم وهمي و دوخني يا ليمونة... و هذا نصر آخر لأنه لم يكن ليمنع شيء إلا إن كان له أثر... ثم هناك المئات من التفاصيل التي يصعب الإجابة عنها فمثلا هل ستقوم الهيئة المعنية بمراقبة كل ما ينشر ... إذا كان الأمر كذلك فماذا سيحدث للمواقع الدولية فهناك الكثير في الصحافة الأمريكية و الغربية و الكثير الكثير من النصوص المعادية وحتى إن كانت الرقابة فقط للمواقع الأردنية فلا توجد موارد و لا كفاءات كافية لمراقبة كل ما يجول ببال الأردنيين فما بالك بغيرهم... ثم ماذا بانسبة للمدونين هل يعتبرون صحفيين؟ هل يشملهم القانون؟ أم أنه مقدمة لقانون آخر؟ ببساطة ماذا إذا فقد مدون أعصابه و تجرأ بالحديث عن مصيبة شخصية كما حدث مع حسين... هل ستقوم الرقابة بمتابعة موضوع كذلك بطريقة إيجابية لتوصل صوت المظلومين إلى أصحاب القرار أم أنها ستستخدم لكتم كل أصوات المقهورين القابعين خلف شاشات الحرية يضربون على لوحاتهم كل ما يخطر ببالهم... أتمنى أن ياتي يوم رقابة حقيقية على كل المسؤولين يوم تراق...

Ever since that article hit the Jordanian Media and some blogs , I just couldn't find a decent explanation up until all was revealed today... It suddenly became obvious, how could I have been so blind!! maybe I got lucky and just as fasting has heightened other senses , this time it's the turn of "Thinking" and brain cells are at peak performance... you'll be the judge of that.. The SECRET of Grocery , every parent, child, man or woman is a grocery weight lifting champion in Jordan but that's only part of the secret, another one lurks in complex maneuvers and techniques mastered in generations... Just pass by the Safeway or any place that sells vegetables or fruit and you will see those heavy bags and cartoons hanging from firm unyielding fists... Each fist firmly holds 7-10 nylon bags of heavy grocery.... arms and muscles from head to toe quite stretched at some points and quite stressed at others... oooh the long walk to your car... then from car to home... ...

So what now? The tragedy certainly didn't end... It was merely the end of the beginning, we are known as Arabs for paralysis after small victories... possible outcomes of the investigation... Scenario (1) Al-Qaeda is linked! Who Sane is found guilty for damaging the country's medical tourism and officials in the ministry of interior affairs are keeping him under parole , fine required is 1,000,000 JOD's !! The hospital management files a lawsuit and asks for compensation to individuals including the poor receptionist. Hussein's father is also found guilty for parking the car for more than 4 days in suspicious manner. Some newspapers are running stories on possible terrorist links related to the old man and his suspicious third cousin's behaviour. Some students testify that the car hit another vehicle just before parking! HMMMMM Scenario (2) Conspiracy Theory: Medical Investigation clears the hospital staff and awards them with an esteemed award for protec...

They could have chosen a better name, but here it lies at the heart of Amman, more precisely in Jabal Amman... I never knew we had stuff that dated back 1000 BC in Amman, nice!