Spiral by Ali Fardan on 500px
Spiral Staircase
Monday, August 18, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Vintage-ish
Dress up by Ali Fardan on 500px
Trying an old manual lens I got from my dad's old film camera.
Trying an old manual lens I got from my dad's old film camera.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
أحذيتي الفارغة
"إليك"
احذيتي الفارغة،
مملوءة بخطط السفر،
و تعرف الطرق كلها،
التي تؤدي اليك.
- غونتر غراس
"Für dich"
Meine leeren Schuhe
sind voller Reisepläne
und wissen Umwege,
die alle zu dir führen.
- Günter Grass
Monday, August 11, 2014
Saturday, August 9, 2014
A “Steady Belief”
A lot of people claim to have a steady belief, or firm conviction in things such as religion, political stance, moral views etc…
Not to seem contemptuous, for I commend people who have beliefs and can defend them, but the fact of the matter is the majority of the people don’t really believe or even truly know their own beliefs.
These people in reality don’t have a steady belief but rather a stubborn belief that, faced with all the discrediting evidence in the world, won’t change or shift. The same people who will ask you to stop a discussion when you present arguments they can’t refute and at the same time they wont listen to that argument, they will just ignore everything and return to the peace of their “steady belief”.
In the end I guess everyone has the right to their beliefs, whether it is a steady belief, or stubborn belief all the same. And if you’re presented with evidence and still want to believe in the tooth fairy, good for you, just too bad the a system is not fool proof.
Not to seem contemptuous, for I commend people who have beliefs and can defend them, but the fact of the matter is the majority of the people don’t really believe or even truly know their own beliefs.
These people in reality don’t have a steady belief but rather a stubborn belief that, faced with all the discrediting evidence in the world, won’t change or shift. The same people who will ask you to stop a discussion when you present arguments they can’t refute and at the same time they wont listen to that argument, they will just ignore everything and return to the peace of their “steady belief”.
In the end I guess everyone has the right to their beliefs, whether it is a steady belief, or stubborn belief all the same. And if you’re presented with evidence and still want to believe in the tooth fairy, good for you, just too bad the a system is not fool proof.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Turn Signals
Here’s a rant for this week about using signals when driving. No offense to people who don’t use signals, you guys are idiots, but this rant is not about you. It’s about the people who make the turn or switch lanes and THEN they use the signal. Seriously ? Why bother ? You’re signaling as a historical record or something ? To say let the record show I’ve turned! If you’re turning or overtaking in front of someone’s car don’t you think it’s hard to miss it ? And even if that person happen to miss it the crash will remind them, no need to waste power and shorten the life of your precious signal after you’ve already turned.
I mean honestly, people who don’t use signals are too lazy or some people are idiots like that and like to drive recklessly to show they are manly (probably over-compensating for something), but if you use the signal after you turn what does that say ? You’re slow ? Have a bad reflex time ? Good and evil where battling in your head and good finally won ?
I know some people are thinking why the heck is he talking so much about this. Think of it at least as a matter of politeness, it’s polite to let people know you’re turning or switching lanes in case they need to take any reactionary measures to your action. Well it’s also because nowadays it goes without saying that speeding, running red lights etc. are dangerous, and it’s good there are fines for this kind of stuff. But for other things like signals, honking etc. there’s nothing and so people are free to act like jerks, annoying or endangering another people. On a final note, this is often blamed on young drivers. I assure you many young drivers are responsible drivers, more so than some of the so called older “responsible” drivers, it is not an age thing.
I mean honestly, people who don’t use signals are too lazy or some people are idiots like that and like to drive recklessly to show they are manly (probably over-compensating for something), but if you use the signal after you turn what does that say ? You’re slow ? Have a bad reflex time ? Good and evil where battling in your head and good finally won ?
I know some people are thinking why the heck is he talking so much about this. Think of it at least as a matter of politeness, it’s polite to let people know you’re turning or switching lanes in case they need to take any reactionary measures to your action. Well it’s also because nowadays it goes without saying that speeding, running red lights etc. are dangerous, and it’s good there are fines for this kind of stuff. But for other things like signals, honking etc. there’s nothing and so people are free to act like jerks, annoying or endangering another people. On a final note, this is often blamed on young drivers. I assure you many young drivers are responsible drivers, more so than some of the so called older “responsible” drivers, it is not an age thing.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
2014 Elections, are we ready ?
One of the most important challenges that faced last elections in Bahrain was political awareness, on many levels, and especially among young people. Many of the younger generations, mine included, who are coming of age, tend to stay away from political issues probably out of habits developed from an earlier age, or fear of being associated with certain ideas that are considered dangerous and that this association may lead to being persecuted because many times, Bahraini society is not very nice to Bahrainis who are different.
This fear, among many other reasons, lead to the fact that many young people, young students, graduate from high-school with little or no political awareness or interest. When these students go to university or enter the labor market, they come face to face with the political and religious diversity in Bahrain and the different political and religious parties or societies.
Facing this new situation, many people get confused about what causes to believe in and who or which society to follow. This confusion and lack of awareness enable many political or religious figures to use or rather abuse their status to influence these people to push their own political agendas.
The results of the previous Bahraini elections clearly support this. Politicians/religious leaders played certain cards that tickle peoples fears, hopes and other emotions and people gave their votes accordingly.
In order to overcome the lack of political awareness, there are many measures to be taken (imho). First, the fear of participating in political discussions and issues must be eliminated; this will encourage people to participate more, this of course needs the cooperation and help of both the government and the civil society represented by organizations and activists.
In order to overcome the lack of political awareness, there are many measures to be taken (imho). First, the fear of participating in political discussions and issues must be eliminated; this will encourage people to participate more, this of course needs the cooperation and help of both the government and the civil society represented by organizations and activists.
The second step will be to consolidate resources from different organizations, governmental and non-governmental, to help spread political awareness and independent thinking through seminars and lectures and so forth, and so far the work the Supreme Council for Women is doing to support female candidates is the only noteworthy effort in this field.
Political education and awareness should then be integrated into public education so that the coming generations will have political awareness and will not face this same problem, and while it is gradually being incorporated in the "citizenship" or "Muwatana" classes, it needs further revision to be less dry and more interactive for students so that it will develop their minds not be another book to memorize and forget.
When awareness is spread, change will be inevitable, otherwise we will face the same problems over and over, as dodgy politicians are elected because they play on people’s emotions or people, realizing they’re being played, will give up on participation entirely.
When awareness is spread, change will be inevitable, otherwise we will face the same problems over and over, as dodgy politicians are elected because they play on people’s emotions or people, realizing they’re being played, will give up on participation entirely.
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