Thomas Friedman: “My biggest problem with nominating John Bolton as U.N. ambassador boils down to one simple fact: he’s not the best person for the job – not even close.”

Jeff Jarvis: “Bush is going to regret this photo.”

Haifaa al-Mansur was interviewed by the Saudi news channel El-Ekhbaria. It was the first time I see the Saudi director talks. She does not seem to know how to express her ideas by words, but I think it is good that she gets the attention she deserves. Al-Mansur has filmed most of her documentary in Hassa, my hometown, where she was raised. The interviewer was emphasizing on the controversy the documentary has made. Al-Mansur said this documentary, which is her first long feature, is a simple work. “I was only delivering the views of women in this country. When I made this film, I did not have a certain ideology in my mind.” Al-Mansur who said she “love[s] cinema,” is not sure if she was going to make another documentary, because she prefers making drama.

I think it is such a good thing that this documentary is provoking controversy. This country needs controversy to teach people how to respect others’ point of view. I was glad to see al-Mansur, who says she is a moody person and can work only when inspiration hits her, was answering all the questions, no matter how tough they were, with a pretty smile on her face. I feel really proud.

Badria al-Bisher: Sheikh Ayedh al-Garni did not stand by his words for more than twenty-four hours.

It is really weird when a person asks others to consider his feelings, while, in the same time, he does not give a rat’s ass to others’ feelings. It is also weird when the same person considers others’ behaviour as disrespectful, just because he admits that they can be better than him in some aspects.

Since I moved to Riyadh in 2001, I used to live in the university dorm. In the dorm, I had my own room, and in the room next to mine, there was my life-long friend, who is also my cousin.

As living in the KSU dorm was boring and had many restrictions, my cousin and I have decided to leave it and move to an apartment outside the campus. But because we can’t afford renting an apartment on our own, we had to have two more roommates. I thought we were lucky enough to find two guys who originally come from our hometown, and one of them used to be an old high school classmate. Moreover, the four of us are studying at health care-related colleges; I’m in pharmacy, my cousin in physiotherapy and the other two are med-students.

Living in the apartment has many advantages, but it has its drawbacks. Since we moved last fall, I discovered some simple rules which could help anyone to survive sharing the apartment. Here is the list with no particular order:

1- People are dirty: If someone dropped something on the floor, it would remain there forever, unless you remove it yourself. During our very first week, I found an empty Pepsi can in front of my door. I’ve decided I’m not going to move it. The can stayed untouched for three weeks.

2- People do take stuff: If you put something in the fridge, don’t expect to come tomorrow and find it, especially full Pepsi cans.

3- People are mean: Today is your turn to do the dishes, so expect that every single dish, spoon, fork, knife, glass and anything washable to be… dirty. They did not intend to do it, so don’t take it personal.

4- People are lazy: Don’t ask your roommates to do anything. Because even if they say they will, they won’t. They wish they could but they were umm… busy or something.

5- People do not respect time: You don’t have a car, and your roommate tells you he would give you a ride to the college. Don’t expect him to be on time.

6- People are helpless: Roomies will help you to find anything lost, as long as it belongs to them.

7- People are droppers: Do not throw the remote control to the other guy. Studies say chances are 97.7% he won’t catch it. Consider delivery hand to hand as a second solution.

8- People are stupid: No water in the bathroom? Please don’t tell me you were expecting you roommates to tell you so. Use your noodles!

9- People are disgusting: If you’ve found some unknown bodies around, and you have no clue what the hell they are, do not try to know. Do not touch, leave immediately.

10- People are rude: No matter what happens, the only person to expect hearing the phrase “I’m sorry” from is YOU.

Abdul-Rahman al-Rashed: The solution is not to shut down music channels, but to educate our children.