Cerebral Waste has an interview with the Religious Policeman.

NY Times has a nice column on the history of kissing.

Serdal announces the UAE blog (Arabic).

Tonight, I’ll be leaving to Riyadh. The new semester starts tomorrow. To tell the truth, I have a bad feeling about leaving Hassa wallah. However, I miss some stuff about people from Riyadh, and I can do nothing about it, which is not a good thing to say the least. Light blogging for the coming weeks.

My good friends at the Awhadi website are providing a live video feed (Windows Media Player required) from Al-Hussainia Al-Abbasiya in Hassa. The quality is low, but the experience worth it. I think it is good to see how these guys are using technology to make their voice heard and their action seen, especially in Saudi Arabia, where Shiites are not allowed to practice the Ashura rituals in public. The broadcast starts at 1730 GMT everyday.

Nahed Bashatah: “If mixing of the sexes is forbidden in Islam, why are we opening medical schools and colleges for women?”

In today’s Arab News:

Local authorities have not sanctioned a women’s race for charity at Durrat Al-Arous Resort as was reported by a local Arabic daily, a spokesman at the Makkah Governorate said yesterday.

“The Makkah governor has instructed the authorities to prevent such races and investigate the matter,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

He said the government would not allow any activity that violates Islamic teachings and Saudi traditions.

I want to understand one thing; just one thing: how a women’s race for charity could possibly violate Islamic teachings? (And no, I don’t give a shit about Saudi traditions because there is no such thing as Saudi traditions. In this huge country, every region and every city has its own set of traditions.)