Thou shalt observe the law, no matter how crazy it is

In Kuwait during Ramadan it is a criminal offence to eat or drink in public during the daylight hours. Every year scapegoats are found as per today's Arab Times...

Man violates law: Ahmadi patrol officers, in pursuing a car with the aim of
issuing its driver with a traffic violation ticket, were surprised to find
sweetmeats and cold drinks beside the car’s Asian driver. The man also appeared
to have also been smoking while driving and was, therefore, referred to Abu
Khalifa Police Station where he was charged with violating the law which bans
eating, drinking or smoking in public places during the daytime hours of
Ramadan, say security sources. In a continuing scenario of persons violating the
mentioned law, two Kuwaiti youth, who were caught eating in a public place at
10.00 am by personnel from the Capital patrols were referred to the Capital
police station, add the sources.

... just as well that I have an office door I can close.

Censorship

Here’s an example to show what a fine upright country we’re living in.

The kids’ reading books at school all have to be submitted to the Ministry of Education before they are approved for use in school. Here’s an example of what a Year 4 reading book looks like:

"That’s the miller” said Marge. See he’s holding a jar of *** in his hand. We call it **** nowadays. The miller made *** with the malt from his mill. You can see that he loved his ***. But he did not love his wife."

The **** words were blacked out with marker pen.

Kuwait - fighting corruption, terrorism and human rights violations

I've just discovered a new blog which expresses some of the same sentiments on this blog. As Ben says:

Kuwait, a culture of face, is more concerned about its reputation than anything
else. As a result, issues such as corruption, terrorism and human rights
violations are often denied or simply ignored. In most cases, the victims are
punished. Despite the fact most people are too afraid to denounce them, some
Kuwaiti and expat writers are exposing the violations committed against helpless
victims... some times at the risk of being accused of destroying Kuwait’s
reputation or even being arrested.

There's a particularly good article about the random killing of Canadian Luc Ethier and the wounding of his Filipina wife Mary Jean Bitos back in 2001, and the cover-up by the Kuwaiti authorities since. Keep up the good work Ben - the more publicity, the better.