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May 23, 2006
Reading the newspaper and working with other restrictions
In an earlier, long, blog I talked somewhat of my first impressions of a people and a society that seems far more regulated that the one that I'm used to - of a border crossing with five separate checkpoints to pass. On one of the English language gulf TV channels this morning, there's talk of a scandal in that it's suggested that Saudi school text books are teaching Islam in such a way that, in places, it encourages learners to become fanatics and go out and fight for the religion. Worrying? Yes, yet I'm glad to see that it HAS become a scandal rather than just being accepted; the questioning of the texts on the local TV means that it's not something everyone accepts as natural.
"Oh - everything IS available here" people tell me. I wonder at the "San Miguel malted drink" on the menu; alcohol free beer, perhaps? Or perhaps not quite so Alcohol free if you tip the waiter? I don't know, I'm not going to try it. Pork is banned, but rumour has it that it can be smuggled in wrapped in beef.
Did I manage to read my article in "The Sun" then? Yes, I did, twice over. A summary was emailed to me by someone who I emailed with a "can you believe this", and my spell checker that I wrote just 2 days back turned out to be an excellent proxy server for the whole text. Aren't such spinoffs great?
Posted by gje at May 23, 2006 06:00 AM