10 July 2008

Current Regional/Local Headaches

1- Iran Missile Testing; So Iran decides to show it's muscle (missiles?) and launches a good nine last night, prompting shock and horror from the rest of the World. Iran claims no direct hostility, but that these tests are just a warning message to any potential attackers, and they have what it takes to stand up to anyone.


Ho hum. Meanwhile, we're sitting here sick of the wars in the region that won't stop. The US says military confrontation really is the last option on the table, but the way things are going, I doubt that's what they really mean.

One thing comes out of this though; if we do have a war, and Bahrain becomes a direct target of Irani missiles (since we have a beautiful US military base here), land prices will drop suddenly, and we'll all finally be able to afford houses and so on again (if you don't know already, land prices have escalated so ridiculously over the past few years that most locals can't even afford to buy their own property anymore), and owning a house with rockets flying overhead is always better than not owning one. So yeah, always look on the bright side of life.


2- 50 Dinars of Depression; Inflation in Bahrain has hit the roof, and our dear government has decided to put down a reasonable budget to help people combat the rise in prices. Our Parliament decides it would make a lot of sense to just give people the money in the form of an aid package, and so the past few months have been a cat & mouse game of trying to list down all the people who need the money, and to give it to them. You would think that with such a small population, this shouldn't be a problem, huh?

Nope. Yesterday, hundreds of people protested outside the Ministry of Social Development, against not having their names on the third (and supposedly final) list of beneficiaries for the scheme. I'm not so much angry about this as I am sorry about the fact that our Bahraini people have had their emotional and financial needs toyed with for almost half a year, for a measly 50 dinars a month. Very sad...

More on this Here

7 comments:

  1. Yeah, I am planning to pick up the broken pieces after our recession here. Go seven skinny cows.

    50 dinars/person is such a great recipe for creating more inflation.

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  2. Anonymous01:37

    It's interesting to hear your perspective since you live in the region. Middle-East is much talked about in the news (often negatively...) and I like hearing another perspective. Even if it's not too optimistic either. I mean, I would worry about missiles in a nearby country!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous23:05

    and here people are still sad after getting kd200

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think A'jad needs to be curbed in a bit. I don't like A'jad, he's such a monkey. Iran is a lovely place, I hope the Yanks don't go there. If they do, I hope/pray they learn from the horrid mistakes at Iraq. Man, when shall all this crap end!

    ReplyDelete
  5. dont worry iran would probably hit us.. not bahrain

    as for the 50 kd
    ba3ad shal mu9akha ur gov! ur such a tiny population just give everyone oo khalas!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous02:14

    sad, really sad... but i like this bit about land prices going down!

    ReplyDelete
  7. the bright side of life indeed!
    we have a beautiful US military base here in Kuwait too :)
    Hoorah!

    ReplyDelete

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