To celebrate their fifth anniversary, the Arabic edition of Newsweek published a special issue with an exclusive cover story on the 43 most influential persons in the Arab World. The first name on the list was Nancy Ajram, the hot Lebanese singer. “It is not only about her music, which tempts everyone to dance, but it is also about the message behind her videos: sexuality and humanity, seduction and equality,” the magazine wrote. Well, I can’t think of Ajram as one of the most influential people in this part of the world. The previously mentioned video has assisted her to become a star because it was controversial. The magazine did not say that Ajram was singing since she was 12-year-old, and she had several plastic surgeries before releasing the “Akhasmak Ah” video. Nancy Ajram is a cute girl, but she is difintely not the most talented. I bet that without the controversy and plastic surgeries, Ajram would be just another so-so singer.

Mohammed al-Hassani calls the government to get rid of the men at “the the head of every department related to girls’ education in the Kingdom.” He makes a good point, and asks some really good questions. “[W]hen everyone is calling for women to do more jobs and for additional jobs to be open to them. How can this worthwhile goal be achieved if the very jobs that should be done by women are given to men, thus forcing women to seek other and less rewarding employment?” I’m convinced.

Yet another great column by the great Jamal Khashggi. Will the officials read it, take the good ideas and get down to business? I don’t think so. Why? It’s just the way things are around here. Sometimes, good simple ideas need a miracle to become true.

Gainan al-Ghamdi writes a sarcastic, yet true, story about scholarships for Saudi students given by the British ministry of foreign affairs. I agree with the writer when he says that the process of making decisions in most government bodies is so centralized that we lose many good opportunities.

On a recent event in the Literature Club of Jeddah, commenting on a paper named “The message of enlightenment in drama, arts, radio and television in Saudi Arabia” presented by the Saudi novelist Mahmoud Traori, a female participant in the discussion followed the keynote said: “Instead of women, Shakespeare used young boys dressed in women clothes to play womens’ roles. Why can’t we do the same thing?”

Can this question sounds any more stupid?

If you were a female student at King Faisal University, do not bring your laptop to the dorm unless you have an official permission. Otherwise, the dorm supervisors will take your laptop, and turn it on to search for illegal materials, such as movies where one actress complains about men who stalk her butt. This exactly what happened to one student. The officials took her laptop for 15 days. They gave it back to her later, but she had to sign a paper that she will never ever bring her laptop to the dorm again. There are many ugly places in this country, but students’ dorms, for boys or girls, can be like hell.

A year ago, Saudi Jeans was born. I know one year is not a very long time, but I’m glad that SJ could cross the 365 days line. When I started this, it was my first serious attempts to write in English. The blog has given me the opportunity to meet some great people. I even recieved an email from celebrity blogger Nick Denton. Now not all responses I received were nice, but I’m glad I could encourage some people to discuss some important (or maybe not-so-important) issues. Finally, I want to thank all my readers. Let us all hope the coming years are going to be better and more peaceful for Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and the whole world.