GV Menace » 'Aqoul

« Expand/Collapse

'Aqoul (17 unread)

March 20, 2010
21:23
New Mummy for Egyptian Museum, our secret correspondent learns
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has announced a new mummy to placed in Cairo's Egyptian Museum shortly. Hawass insisted that only 20 cameras, youtube, and two geostationary satellites attend the announcement, per his own messages on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Larry King Live, Fox News, BBC, GoogleEgo, and CNN Universe, and his own website, famed for having the largest font of a personal name on the world wide web.
March 19, 2010
13:21
Algeria, I adore you. 1970s Policy was NOT a failure and you're out to prove (Banning... Couscous exports)
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Okay to be fair they have the rather bad excuse of trying to control for usage of subsidised wheat inputs, but there's no rational way to do that. That's the problem with subsidies Ali Bey Naceri, expert en commerce extérieur: “le couscous et les pâtes vont être “exportés” par la contrebande” INTERVIEW - Economie et Business - Tout sur l'Algérie

Ali Bey Naceri, expert en commerce extérieur, revient sur les effets négatifs pour l’économie algérienne de la décision du gouvernement d’interdire l’exportation des pâtes et du couscous produits
12:39
Ah, a warm and fuzzy feel. : Blogs as sources of info on Gulf Finance
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

While in some ways sad that we (Aqoul) missed that boat - no matter I am far too busy to pretend to that any more, this warmed my heart: FT.com / Companies / Financial Services - Blogs air views on stifled Gulf finance

Great understatement though:

Blogs air views on stifled Gulf finance

By Robin Wigglesworth in Abu Dhabi

Published: March 3 2010 16:44 | Last updated: March 3 2010 16:44

Local media coverage of financial affairs can be anodyne in the Gulf, largely thanks to stifling press laws, corporate meddling and a culture of self-censorship. But financial blogs are starting to proliferate and can offer a valuable, alternative, take on events.

Many local newspapers, with a few exceptions, print newswire stories or press releases verbatim and often steer away from contentious, politically sensitive stories. Blogs, meanwhile, have given many locals and expatriates an outlet for venting their views on the stories of the day.

“Blogs are definitely useful in the region, but are only coming of age now,” says a senior analyst in Dubai. “I always look at blogs to get a sense of grassroot sentiment and hear the views of other people.”

Most regional financial and economic blogs and forums are in Arabic but several English-language sites have emerged. One of the first was Sharewadi, which is mainly devoted to financial talk and data in the United Arab Emirates, and is in many ways the prototype of similar websites that have sprung up across the region.

... “That guy at Sharewadi deserves a medal,” says Ken Monahan, a former senior banker in the Gulf. “There has been some really insightful stuff on there over the years.” ...

There is a need for more robust discussion of company financials in the region.”

Emphasis added.
On the highlighted, no bloody kidding.

Although one item that caught my attention is re Arabic language blogs on finance. Could anyone recommend those worth reading? I have yet to find one, but I must confess that I became turned off on the tripe usually written on economics in Arabic that I stopped looking seriously.
12:11
Citi, Citi: First the Algerians, now the Gulfies
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Not perhaps deeply interesting, but someone in my business I was enterained:FT.com / Companies / Banks - Citi seeks to fix Gulf business

Citigroup has operated in the Arab world for almost 50 years and the Gulf came to the rescue of the embattled bank in the early stages of the credit crunch when the sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi and Kuwait pumped billions into the US-based lender.

However, the relationships with two of the world’s largest institutional investors have since soured.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has filed an arbitration claim against the US bank, alleging that it was the victim of “fraudulent misrepresentations” over its November 2007 investment.

Add to this the Algerian government and its mega fines against Citi (for trivialities) and this just does not seem like love.
10:39
Ah, a warm and fuzzy feel. : Blogs as sources of info on Gulf Finance
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

While in some ways sad that we (Aqoul) missed that boat - no matter I am far too busy to pretend to that any more, this warmed my heart: FT.com / Companies / Financial Services - Blogs air views on stifled Gulf finance

Great understatement though:

Blogs air views on stifled Gulf finance

By Robin Wigglesworth in Abu Dhabi

Published: March 3 2010 16:44 | Last updated: March 3 2010 16:44

Local media coverage of financial affairs can be anodyne in the Gulf, largely thanks to stifling press laws, corporate meddling and a culture of self-censorship. But financial blogs are starting to proliferate and can offer a valuable, alternative, take on events.

Many local newspapers, with a few exceptions, print newswire stories or press releases verbatim and often steer away from contentious, politically sensitive stories. Blogs, meanwhile, have given many locals and expatriates an outlet for venting their views on the stories of the day.

“Blogs are definitely useful in the region, but are only coming of age now,” says a senior analyst in Dubai. “I always look at blogs to get a sense of grassroot sentiment and hear the views of other people.”

Most regional financial and economic blogs and forums are in Arabic but several English-language sites have emerged. One of the first was Sharewadi, which is mainly devoted to financial talk and data in the United Arab Emirates, and is in many ways the prototype of similar websites that have sprung up across the region.

... “That guy at Sharewadi deserves a medal,” says Ken Monahan, a former senior banker in the Gulf. “There has been some really insightful stuff on there over the years.” ...

There is a need for more robust discussion of company financials in the region.”

Emphasis added.
On the highlighted, no bloody kidding.

Although one item that caught my attention is re Arabic language blogs on finance. Could anyone recommend those worth reading? I have yet to find one, but I must confess that I became turned off on the tripe usually written on economics in Arabic that I stopped looking seriously.
March 16, 2010
22:12
Guy Fakes Salafism in Yemen & Spills the Hummus on the Goings-On (Real and Imputed)
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Not exactly a Black Like Me story, but an American a-religious white guy writer sham-converts (or reverts, if one can do that shamically) to a salafi Islam in Yemen to study the natives and non-natives there, including Americans who go over there for Islamic or Arabic education. One was the guy who shot up the Arkansas military base. Aqoulite Shaheen takes down some of the odder generalizations and assumptions of the sham-converter down below in the comments. (A modern tip of the whig to commenter Antiquated Tory for the link at Global Post.)
March 14, 2010
22:22
MENA M&A Cross Border Deals and State Structure
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Toying around with financial data, a summary table about intra MENA deals since 1992 (it doesn't necessarily include the purely private deals).

A very quick glance reveals an interesting trend: the states which have the least cross border acquirers are Algeria (2), Iraq (0), Libya (4), Syria (1), Sudan (0), Tunisia (1) and Yemen (0). A notable fact also is, the only cross border deal a Tunisian company made was backed by Saudi private equity.
March 02, 2010
5:02
March New Month Open Thread
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

We're still alive, if not necessarily kicking. Cast your pearls of wisdom below.
February 07, 2010
13:58
A very special Valentine's New Month Thread
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Wherein we at Aqoul congratulate Ayaan Hirsi Ali on her catch. Ah, young love. (via Blood and Treasure)
February 05, 2010
19:22
I have a vewwy gweat fwiend in Iswamabad named Biggus . . . .
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Life imitates Monty Python's "Biggus" scene in Life of Brian as a proposed Pakistani ambassador to Saudi Arabia is rejected due to what his name sounds like in slang Arabic. Do you feel the need to titter when I say the name of my fwiend, Akbar..... Zeb? He has a wife you know, her name is Incontinentia. . . Incontinentia Teez. Sorry for the Python references.
February 04, 2010
17:38
The Occupation? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller.
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Astonishingly overlooked in past-decade MENA development reflections has been Jewish-Arab concord evident in the 2008 election of celebrity Ben Stein as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister.

Some memorable moments:

A) PM Stein and a panel of foreign affairs scholars judging an American Idol-style remake of Win Ben Stein's Money (scroll down for photo).

B) PM Stein explains the difficulties of settlement incursions to a Western aid official over a Starbucks.

C) Stein lets loose in Vegas for a last hurrah just before heading over to Palestine for his swear-in.

B) Of course, who can forget Prime Minister Stein's poignant narrative video of the Palestinian Nakba (refugee catastrophe) of 1948.
January 26, 2010
11:31
Gulf Labor Markets
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Bahrain and the UAE have adopted different approaches while addressing the lack of citizens in their private sectors. Most Gulf states have tried to create quotas for their nationals in private enterprises. Businesses have resisted, fearing less productive workers, and these policies have accomplished little. Oman has been a partial exception, mostly because its relatively poor government cannot really afford to support all its citizens, leave alone employ everyone who wants a job.
January 21, 2010
20:07
Tariq Ramadan Beats City Hall
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Yesterday U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton granted a waiver of the bar on U.S. entry imposed on Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, in response to the the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals' recent landmark decision in the denial of a U.S. visa to Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan. The visa denial had been based on Ramadan's ostensible "material support of a terrorist organization," in the form of charitable contributions to two organizations, one French and one Swiss, providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. The U.S. State Department later retroactively determined that the donation recipients supported Hamas, and that Ramadan, as a "material supporter of terrorism," was effectively barred for life from the U.S. - in spite of the approved work visa petition that should have allowed him to take up the teaching position he had accepted at Notre Dame University.
19:50
Religious Misunderstanding Causes Flight Diversion, With a Twist (or several)
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

But for once, a Muslim wasn't the cause; this time, a paranoid and/or ignorant passenger mistook an Orthodox Jewish ritual object for a bomb, with hilariously idiotic results.

(My grandfather was right, darnit - he always avoided tefillin like the plague, to the extent that he would ditch Hebrew school, but wrap a rope tightly around his forearm in proper tefilln style, so his parents would see the welts on his arm and wouldn't figure out that he hadn't gone.)

Seriously, where will the stupidity and/or madness end?
January 01, 2010
11:28
New Month, Year, (Arguable) Decade Open Post
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Have at it.
December 29, 2009
19:16
Yemen: fingers in the dyke.
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

Reading articles like this from FT.com, on Yemen "Social pressures weigh on poorest Arab state" frankly are depressing even for a MENA optimist. The "good news" is Yemen is building a LNG facility. Wonderful. It will give the state the money to buy more weapons to pretend to assert control over the pseudo state. That does not change the deadly death cycle of Yemani society, with rapidly declining water yields (from non-renewable water resources), the dead weight of the Qat production (itself water intensive), and a birth rate that is of Sub Saharan African levels.
Social pressures weigh on poorest Arab state

Just over a month ago, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s president, joined international oil executives to inaugurate his impoverished country’s biggest industrial venture – a liquefied natural gas project.

For a veteran leader of the Arab world’s poorest nation, the launch of the plant could not have come soon enough. The $4.5bn (£2.8bn, €3.3bn) project is expected to generate between $30bn and $50bn in income for the government over the plant’s 25-year lifespan.

To be honest, it is really very hard to have hope for Yemen - even harder than say Egypt.
December 28, 2009
20:57
Wehbe 2.0: A Whiter Shade of Palestinian?
» ‎ 'Aqoul (uae)

(Apologies to Procul Harum (Haram?) for whom, unlike the Palestinians, 1967 was good year.) With a lot less denial than the late Michael Jackson, Palestinian women are reported to be aggressively consuming skin-whitening products. This, according to The Christian Science Monitor, which also cites and links to the recent lament about anti-dark skin sentiment among Arabs written by Nesrine Malik in the Guardian (UK) not long ago and also blogged about here at Aqoul. The pigment adjusting phenomenon appears partly inspired by such figures as the scintillating Lebanese chanteuse/statesperson Haifa Wehbe (ok, I made up parts of that description, just to irritate) and the Xena: Warrior Princess dark-hair/alabaster-skin aesthetic she can manifest, and which she shares with better example Nancy Ajram, the pendular-beaked former AUB Biophysical Engineering Department-Chair turned-singer (ok, made up some stuff there too). Anyway, jeez louise, the issues we humans can hinge our self-estimation on and make a mystique out of! But I do admit to getting seriously worked up if any blind fool even suggests that TIna Louise's Ginger was hotter than Dawn Wells' Mary Ann.

← A revisionist autobiography Arabian Adventures →

GV Menace » 'Aqoul

Feeds

'Aqoul (17 unread)