Religion and Politics Don't Mix

The most oppressive regimes in the world today as those driven by religion. A country and state is for all the residents that live within the border not just one religious class. A country can be defined not how it treats the majority by how it treats the minorities within its borders. A country by definition has to be secular but protect the rights of all individuals within it and that includes the right for people to practise their chosen faith.

The current worst offenders are Saudi Arabia and Iran, religious dictatorships that abuse the rights of citizens and residents in the name of religion. In Saudi the religious police sanctioned by the government to,enforce Islamic rules have been responsible for an increasing number of deaths of those they pursue. This is just wrong, a persons faith is between him and god and it is not for them to force their beliefs and behaviours on others.

Iran is another case. They discriminate against non Muslims in their society especially the Bahia and oppress others through denying women education at university in certain subjects and allowing under age marriage. By underage I mean below 12 years of age, but really it should be anything below 16.

Let's not forget the other places, Afghanistan under the Taliban was a brutal place. Oppression of women, beheadings and stonings. Even in the last few weeks the religious insurgents in Mali stoned a couple to death for being unwed.

Not not in the developing world is this a problem. In America politics is driven b religion in some instances and this is scary. Only this week Todd Akin running for the senate talked about 'legitimate rape' in his defence of anti abortion and pro life campaigns. Saying that women who were forceabily rape would not conceive as their bodies would stop it. Such shameful ignorance.

So let's keep religion out of politics, your religion or lack of is your own individual choice. The government is for all and should not be driven by writings in old books which often contradict themselves. Laws should be based on reason or logic, not some ancient scripture that is open to interpretation. Do you really think we should be still stoning people to death? Is this the mark of a civilised society?

Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022

Coming out in defence of Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Let's leave aside the allegations, none of which have been proven, and examine why Qatar and others deserve to host the World Cup. (I'll ignore FIFA as well which is riddled with corruption which even they agree with considering the number of resignations, suspension and lifetime bans handed out)

Qatar sits in a place that is uncomfortably hot in the summer when the WC is normally held as do a large number of other countries, so should that mean they are excluded from holding the WC forever? That sounds unfair to me. In nearly every country in the world football is the major sport and each country should get a chance to bid and host a WC with an equal chance.

Let's look at the benefits of a WC in Qatar.

1. The possibility of watching 3 matches live in one day. (never been done before)
2. They have the money to do it when most of the world is in recession
3. It will help,the development of the country and give it a purpose and direction

So I say let them have it. If you don't like the summer let them change it to winter or let them demonstrate the cooling technology but don't say they can never host it. That sounds like an exclusive club for hosting and football is the world game.

Most Overpaid & Overpromoted Expat in Qatar

Britsh waiter, John McDougall now of Doha, Qatar has just been awarded the Middle East's most overpaid and overpromoted expat award for 2012 by the Prestigious Dubai Management Excellence Chamber for Betterment.

John who previously in the UK was a waiter in the restuarant chain of Haram Halal foods of Bradford is now a GM of a large local conglomerate in Qatar specialising in precision engineering techologies. When approached by the Gulf-Penisular he stated 'I'm as shocked as you that my salary is 200,000 QR a month, plus a villa in west bay lagoon, but I couldn't turn it down. I only came out as manager of one of my sponsors resturants on the Pearl but he decided I was the man to run his engineering division. I put it down to the fact that I was the only one of his staff that spoke English he could understand.'

When asked how long he would stay he was quite defiant, 'go home? You must be joking, I now have 2,000 highly educated asian staff who do all the work for me as I can sip G&Ts round the pool with my new young Filipino wife. I found the position in life that was meant for me'

Mr Angry of Pakistan

This week we are following local Pakistani resident of Qatar Mustpha Wind back to his native Pakistani, where after 45 years in Doha things come as quite a shock to him.

Mustpha has always been an angry man but meeting long lost relatives he realised he was just an amateur, 'well my uncle Ahmed Wind gets angry about everything, first it was the British, then the Indians, then the west in general and now it's the Americans. He's at his happiest angriest when in the streets burning effigies. He particularly likes to be angry about Islam. If someone looks at the Koran in a way he finds a little bit off, he's beating his head and calling for a fatwa'

When asked would he stay in pakistan or head back to Doha, Mr Wind was certain, 'back toDoha for me. I just can't compete on the angriest stakes. I tried condemning my neighbour and shouting at his children for being 3 seconds late for Friday prayers but I just looked silly. The guy next to me out did me by being angry about being angry and he topped it off by cutting off his ear, screaming madly at a CNN camera and then setting himself on fire. How can you beat that?'

Out intrepid reporter now scared what would happen next decided to catch the next flight back to Qatar. His last memory was 2000 people on the runway screaming at the plane, saying flying was haram and they should all be stoned for being in the devils belly of a steel beast.

More shocking Govt Sanctioned Abuse in Iran

How could any sane individual allow children this young to get married? It's another form of child abuse officially allowed by the religious dictatorship that Iran is. A society is judged by how it treats it's children and in this and especially for girls Iran fails time and time again. When will the Iranian people get their chance for freedom from such a religious dictatorship? The last protests were ruthlessly put down to protect the Iranian elite scared of a Arab style spring uprising, but their time is coming and freedom for Iranians to choose how to live their life will be theirs to take.

Before anyone says this is a western newspapers conspiracy, the facts of pedophile marriage come from official Iranian govt sources.

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Alarm as hundreds of children under age of 10 married in Iran

The trend has prompted child protection experts to warn of a surge in mental illness, suicides, teenage runaways and girls turning to prostitution as the nuptials frequently end in divorce.

While both genders are affected, statistics from the state-run civil registration organisation show the phenomenon to be more prevalent among girls. Some families are said to be marrying off their daughters to older men to pay off debts.An Iranian NGO, the Society For Protecting The Rights of The Child, said 43,459 girls aged under 15 had married in 2009, compared with 33,383 three years previously. In 2010, 716 girls younger than 10 had wed, up from 449 the previous year, according to the organisation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9500484/Alarm-as-hundreds-of-children-under-age-of-10-married-in-Iran.html

Arab Atheists and Qatar Living

Last week I posted a topic on Qatar Living that has been trending on Twitter. It is the One Million Arab Atheists campaign. A campaign rather like coming out for gays, except this is for Arabs who choose not to believe in God. You would think this would be their choice and no one would care. However in many Arab countries it is illegal to leave the Muslim faith on pain of death. They are also discriminated against and 'true believers' even called for them to be killed.

Qatar itself is on the whole a place of tolerance, where they have even allowed the building of churches for Christians in Doha. However on Qatarliving.com free speech is suppressed and by banning such a topic they indirectly support the religious intolerant and abusive, thus allowing themselves to be justified in spilling their hate for other religions and non believers. (As well as discriminating against women as well in the name of religion)

I believe people should be free to choose what they believe in without others calling for them to be killed and they should be able to say that out loud. Whether that is with their family, in the street or on the Internet. Censoring them is the same as saying they are wrong and they should stay hidden, thus supporting the bigots. Support the right form individuals to choose!


If you wish to view this campaign on twitter it goes by the hash tag of #OMAA

American finds Qatar on a Map

American expat Rudy Eagleburger after 5 years as a resident of Doha can now proudly point to Qatar on a world map and is not educated other Americans amazed at his feat of Geography.

Our poorly paid reporter from the Penis-Gulf Herald caught up with him at his highly guarded compound, 'When I first came to this country I used to just go from home to work and back and never left my office or my compound assuming it to be American soil, however after the first year here I realised that all the other road users were not muslim terrorists trying to kill the American, after the second year I discovered that kofta was a food not a biological weapon and now after 5 years I realised that Qatar is not part of Saudi Arabia. Gee I bet they even speak a different language to the terrorists in Saudi'

As Rudy chowed down on is 5th Big Mac and slurped his large diet coke he continued, 'When I first saw the McDonalds I was so happy but assumed it was food aid to these poor starving A-rabs. My heart swelled with pride as we were bringing civilisation to the barbarians. No longer did they have to eat vermin like lamb or biyriani. Not only that we gave them Diary Queen and KFC, a true gift from the American people.'

However his proudest moment was saved for last, when he produced a map of the world and said, 'This is Gutter, kinda like Utah but with less religion'

Rudy said that he had things to do but left us with this message for the people of Qatar, 'I love the guys here they are just so practical, who would have thought they are kind enough to cover up the ugly women's faces so they can go out in public and not upset people. That's mighty friendly like, but must mozie on down to the Qube as I hear the dames really like us Americans and what's not to like?'

Lebanese Man Lives Within His Salary in The Gulf

Lebanese Qatar resident Farid el Fatoush was last night ejected from the Lebanese in Qatar society for insulting Lebanese culture and traditions.

Farid decided and made public last night that he would spend no more than his monthly income each month and in fact would save some extra cash towards his future life in a Bierut suburb. Farid explained to our intrepid reporter of the Gulf-Penisular his new founds ways, 'Of course when I first move to the gulf I wanted it all. I took out a car loan for a sports car I couldn't afford to run, I order $200 bottles of champange at the most disrectful and tasteless nightclubs in town and had a girlfriend whose spending habits would make Imelda Marcos blush, but then one day I started to think about the future. Maybe this wouldn't last for ever, maybe at some point I would like to go home with some money in my pocket.'

After ditching the BMW Z4 and buying a Nissan Tiida, he ditched the girlfriend and now just drinks Stella purchase from QDC on a Thursday night we his new friends.

'Of course it was hard to start with as my Lebanese friends have disowned me, but now when I go to a bar I have my shirt buttoned all the way to the top and I no longer try to impress women with my outrageous spending habits, shiny pointy shoes and my indefensible boasting about my life. Now I hang out with people with realistic dreams and ideas and hope what waits me later is a comfortable retirment rather than hanging on for one last job in the Gulf'.

Other members of the Lebanese Society in Qatar are no so gracious, Ahmed of West Bay's most expensive apartment, (HE asked us to say that) said, 'I heard he went to the W hotel and his bar bill was under 400 QR for the whole night. Is he trying to shame us or what? If I don't get through at least 5,000 QR in a night, then I go home in shame. We have a reputation to maintain and we can't have people like him spoiling it for the rest of us. My girfriend takes 4 hours to put her make up on and get dressed when we go out and that is what I call a statement. I sleep with that what do you do'

Reports coming out of Beirut last night, made Farid favourite to be appointed Finance Minister for Lebanon despite strong lobbying.

Egyptians Vote to Elect Next Dictator

New Gulf-Penisluar Times reporter Maria St Leggins, (recently divorced and needing a new income) was dispatched to Cario to follow the first free elections in Egypt and garner opinion.

The first man she spoke to Karim el don'tharmme was in an estatic mood, 'This is a proud day for all Eygptians as we get a say in how our country is run for the first time. I myself are going to vote for one of Honsi Mubarak's men from the old regime. Being a dictator isn't easy and its a lifetime job so you need someone with experience. These newcomers just don't have the staying power. Yes, jobs were hard and the economy terrible but the humous was cheap and we were proud to see Honsi and his family in London, New York and Qatar dripping with money.'

Others though had different views, Mohamed Whattacha was voting for one of the Islamic candidates, 'when it comes to dictatorships these guys mean business. First thing they will do if they win is ban all other parties for being un-Islamic, hell they might even ban themselves for having independent thought. Yes life might be tough under Islamic rule but I for one are looking for to 40 years of religious persecution where I can inform on my neighbor for blashpemy.I don't really want a say in my own life as I will probably get it wrong, best to leave that thing to the experts.'

Maria caught up with one man who was looking even further back, Ahmed el labnah, 'Don't listen to these men, they don't know a real dictatorship when they see one. I want to vote for the British to come back. Now those guys knew how to run a country. Yes you could get imprisoned, yes they ran all the companies for their benefit, but look at the roads!, looks at the railways! and they were just so polite.'

One thing is for sure this will be a life changing election for the Egyptian people as they select their next dictator and as Maria St Leggins, (recently remarried to a hopeful presidential candidate), 'I feel so happy for these people and their new freedoms. I really hope my husband wins so I can visit the poor people in their homes to bring a little joy but I am especially looking to build a ridicoulsy huge shoe and easter egg collection.'

Non Keralite Indian hired in GCC!

In a remarkable piece of recruitment going against all the natural laws of hiring in the GCC a Non-Keralite Indian was hired by a man hailing from India.

Keralite Joseph Chapati was the hiring manager responsible for this feat and is now in hiding. Due to the backlash from friends, co-workers and family he has not left his villa for 4 days now.

Investigatory journalist from the Gulf-Penisular managed to get an interview through his toilet window,

'I never knew it would lead to this. I had 200 CVs of friends, family and other Keralites but I just don't know what came over me. I picked up a CV and judged it on his experience and skills. Then at the interview stage he demonstrated that he was a perfect fit for the vacany I had. Before I knew what was happening I sent an approval to HR and an offer was made. It was at this point I realised what I had done and every biriyani shop in Doha was now off limits to me'

On gauging reaction from the Keralite community it was clear that Joseph could not have commited a worse crime in their eyes.

Abdul of Muntaza says, 'who does he think he is? Kerala is empty as we all left there 50 years ago to move to the gulf and now he is saying he is too good for us? I heard the person he hired is from Tamil-Nadu and all I can say at least he is not a Gujrati'

Reaction from the Company's 99% Kerala workforce was even more severe. 'He might as well hired a Filipino. This person doesn't even speak the same language as us and has weird cultural traditions. I heard he even smears his buttocks in chilis' said one lady

However as of now no response from the man hired to fill the role as we have heard he is diligently getting on with his job.

Filipina denies existence of the Qube in Qatar

Young Maria St Leggins of Cebu denies ever visting the Qube or taking part in a karaoke competition during her 6 years in Qatar. When stopped by our non-stop investigator from the Gulf-Penisular Maria replied, 'it's true, I know you will not believe me but I've not entered that building. Until you mentioned it I never knew it existed. I'm 23 and I have better things to do with my time like write anonmous letters to be my employers complaining about the Indians in my office'

While we were speaking to Maria her husband Bill Bignuts, 73 of Indiana, USA approached 'Why are you talking to my wife and don't judge me with those eyes. We are different to all those others with large age gaps we have so much in common. errr.. you know like.... karaoke at the Qube, ... no I meant horizontal jogging...err, why don't you just go away I'm sleepy'

Our unstoppable reporter then showed Maria over 2,000 Facebook photos of her at the Qube during the last Battle of the Bands posing in a fluorscent top and a over the top breast job.

'please go away, ok, ok I went there once but that was just to meet a friend and my husband was asleep, in fact he is always asleep. If he finds out then my allowance will be cut by 20,000 QR a month and my Lacoste handbag will be donated to a labourer in the box appeal. I think he has only just 1 or 2 years left at best, so if I keep him partying hard at home I get to keep the money

Tailgating World Record in Qatar

Qatari citizen Abdulla Al Bumfuddle on the 8 May set a new Guiness World Record for tailgating on D Ring Road.

In fact what made this feat so remarkable it was actually two records in one. Abdulla managed to keep his Land Crusier at a distance of just 0.2 cm from the car in front, (a new world record) for a distance of 8km which is also a record. The judges was not only impressed by this feat of driving skill alone, it was the fact that he managed to do it, while flashing his headlights, texting his wife and smoking a cigarette.

When interviewed by the Gulf-Penisular Abdulla said, 'after the first 4 kms I was thinking of backing off to a safe meter but then I was worried the man in front would not see me and not get out of the way. I was in a hurry to get to my destination as I had a six hour shisha marathon to attend to. Luckly after the 8th km the traffic thinned and he moved over to the next lane so I could pass.'

When questioned did he think his driving was dangerous and maybe the car in front had no room to move Abdulla was sure,

'Even the man in front appreciated my actions. As I drove past him he gave me the one finger wave indicating I am the No.1 driver on the road and appreciating my skills. To get that from an American meant so much to me and I showed the salute to my wife when I got home. I really hope to meet him on the road again so we can go bumper to bumper in multicultural motor harmony.'

Welcome one and all

This is a place where no topic is off limits, there is no censorship here and no enforcement of rules or beliefs. This is for those that live in Qatar and the gulf to freely express themselves.

Try to be nice and if you can't be nice at least be intelligent in your arguments.

I will post topics  for discussion from time to time so come back often!

P.S. Qatar Living believes in censorship and suppression of free speech, to placate the intolerant and the oppressive.