Haitham Sabbah was surprised how the author of this article in the Washington Post “made it sound as the Gulf countries are the only people in the world using the sms’s for social, political, etc… reasons. He made it sound so strange that made me wonder after I read it, SO? What is strange? I just can’t understand what makes us so different from rest of the world!”

Dear Haitham, I think the only thing you missed is that the United States is a bit different when it comes to using the SMS technology. People in the U.S. are not used to use SMS for such activities, and the text culture did not emerge in America in the same way it did in Europe. I read several stories on how American Telocos are trying very hard to promote the use of SMS among Americans, but they could not make any major success till now.

I received this story by email three days ago (Thanks, Yasmin!). Reporter Ed Bradly of 60 Minutes, have spoken to some people in Saudi Arabia, and made this report.

“I like to be free. All people like to be free,” a woman, who asked the cameraperson to follow her into a ladies room, where she removed her veil, said. All people like to be free, but the government does not understand this. Prince Sultan Bin Salman, the minister of tourism, told the reporter: “It’s not important to have elections. It’s important to have stability.” OK, but what your highness think about this, we have democracy, and therefor, we have more stability. Isn’t this better?

“I believe in equal right for everyone according to their circumstances,” says Dr. Saleh al-Sheikh, the minister of Islamic affairs. This is so ironic. What we can understand from what the minister says is this: “we want to give people freedom, but we want it to be in our style,” which I see it as non-freedom. People want to get their freedom, but they for sure do not want it be given by you.

MBC4 is broadcasting this show to the Middle East. I hope they include this report, but I’m afraid I missed the show because the date of the show is March 23, and I’m not sure if MBC4 is broadcasting the show on the same day. I’ll ask some friends if they have watched it. Have anyone of you watched it?

A sheikh’s sense of humor?

AP: Dubai looks to build tallest skyscraper.

The dean of of College of Pharmacy at KSU have opened an exhibition at the college’s main lobby. The exhibition, called “Pulse of the Nation,” is organized by the students’ committees of the college. Please note that when someone says the term “The Nation” in Saudi Arabia, it does not necessary mean the Saudi nation, but it does necessary mean the Islamic nation. Now, one may ask: what an exhibition about Islam has to do with pharmacy?” Here comes the answer: The two have nothing in common. Also, one may thinks College of Pharmacy is filled with atheists, but this is not believable.

The reason for organizing such exhibition at the the college is because the organizers, the students’ committees, are dominated by the Islamists. They have been in control of these committees in the College of Pharmacy, as well as the other colleges of the university, for years. They were behind the banning of musical concerts, plays and other cultural activities. This point was one of the points Dr. Hamza al-Mizeini mentioned in the article that made one of the Islamists in the university sue him.

The administration of the college should consider closing the offices of these committees and shut them down, as they have done with the academic adviser office, because I can’t see any real activities in there. Actually, these offices have become a relaxing spot for those Islamists to drink beverages, eat snacks and chit-chatting the latest news of Sheikh Usama Bin Laden.

From Cairo: Love in the subway.

Al-Hayat: Lebanon is the oxygen of the Middle East.