Ramadan Prices

I wasn’t shocked when I realized that it happened, prices are going to climb every Ramadan, the government and His Majesty are trying to provide an outlet for the destitute and the impoverished, the effort is sincere but the self-gratification is inevitable.

In layman’s terms: tell the people we created a market for the poor, and you tell the people that all other markets are for the rich, merchants will think “I will raise the prices since there is a place for people who don’t like it.” I agree with Fahed Al-Fanek on this.

Check it out here and here

Obviously the government is not resurrecting the Ministry of Supply, but everyone who reads this blog knows I am no capitalist, but I do agree that people should not speculate when there are statistics, however, a 65% decrease in the cost of fruits and vegetables where taken directly from middle-men, intermediaries.

I think the governments role should be somewhere else, releasing support of any kind, to any industry, let the market take it’s place and then, like we saw in the banks, telecommunication, insurance and other sectors go back to the regulation role.

Why such a change of heart from me? Not really, the next step should be tax exemptions for collectives and co-ops which will pave the way for a more socialistic endeavour, more on that later.

Radi

Support Local Brands

I am now changing my mind about certain beliefs, I looked far and near and realized that globalization, though helpful in some areas, is largely to blame for everything.

It is in Jordan that restaurants are opening up by the dozen, and the services are getting better, if you look for European style cuisine, it is available, mainly thanks to foreign restaurant chains coming here. This pushed the restaurant industry to step up and face the challenges.

Recently, I tried both Tropicana and Minute Maid, which are properties of PepsiCo. and Coca-Cola respectively. I enjoyed the juices they offer, but not as much as I enjoy local juice companies. For some reason, local juice companies -who buy concentrates from abroad- seem to be doing a great job.

Since I have been on a diet for a long time now and losing reasonable weight, I realized that not only do I not need beverages that contain CO2 in them, I HATE them. There were times when Burger King and McDonald’s were not allowed in Arab countries, because of connections to Israel, times change. Today there are a plethora of branches of many companies, with connections to Israels in the Arab World. Try Chili House and Chili Ways, and if you don’t seem to like them, then try something else, but try Jordanian first.

I therefore took a drastic decision, not buy multinational products and help the local competition. I know that I am not a fan of Starbucks anymore, it makes sense that I should when available, support a local brand, and I found one that is superior in value and taste, although not variety.

This picture was actually on their site and the friends at archive.org still have a copy, if Israel awarded the Chairman of Starbucks, I am not buying from there. Simple, Right?

http://web.archive.org/web/20010502093522/www.starbucks.com/aboutus/recognition.asp?cookie_test=1

Economically, I find it viable to Jordan that I buy my coffee from flavours, or any other Jordanian variety, I personally enjoy it, and am a regular customer, they know my drink and prepare the minute I walk in.

I also enjoy going to places where the giving is part of their revenue, not some minute percentage, but actually a fixed part that is of significance, and I must say I am not surprised by amount of such places available.

If you are into nature, try Wild Jordan, it is amazingly good, and supports the RSCN, which is as good cause as any.

But if you feel that you need a more entrenched cause, try the places at

AlQaser Hotel Howard Johnson. I think this may impress you, also remember their courtyard is a very nice place to sit and relax.

Remember to support as many local enterprises in your community, because they will help the money flow to remain in the country.

Radi

Energy and money

ExxonMobil’s profits rose 75 percent, BP up 34 percent and ConocoPhillips up 89 percent and there are more stories in the past six months, so please when talking of rising oil prices as evidence to the situation in the Middle East, think twice.

If oil companies make much more higher profits and revenues, then it probably means means that they are price gouging.

Chevron, in full page ads, said:

It took us 125 years to use the first trillion barrels of oil. We’ll use the next trillion in 30

Now this may be a reason for all that profit, Exxon Mobil reports $9.92 billion in profits, the highest for any corporation profit in a three-month period, Royal Dutch Shell made $9.03 Billion and their sales are around $100 Billion each in Oil and 99.9% of their money is coming from Oil

It will be a crime not ask them why don’t they invest in cleaner fuels or renewable energy. It is a crime not invest more money in energy diversification and less in lobbying for drilling in the arctic.

Biomass in California alone, if used correctly can power 2 million homes, I’m pretty sure powering many more millions of home worldwide is a good way to promote renewable energy. It’s carbon emissions are what trouble me, onlt biomass from crops that will be replanted should be used.

Let us wise up and not overlook solar, geothermal, hydro and wind energy of which there is an abundance and would need huge investments from energy conglomerates. Both our and their livelihoods depend on it. I personally predict a good future for shell. we’ll see!

Radi

Now it’s getting personal

A good computer citizen like me was chocked last week, when I discovered that Microsoft is spying on me. I downloaded (automatically, my computer that is) a tool designed my Microsoft to tell you if your copy is pirated or original, I know mine is original because I paid for it, but if it turned out to be not original, then nothing will change and I will use the pirated copy because I am not paying twice for something that I will only get once.

If I was a user who was tricked into believing he bought an original when he actually bought a copy, I will tell Microsoft who cheated me and they should make him buy me an original copy, no? You won’t! Well, too bad billy boy, I thought you were smarter than that. Did I tell you that your people in Amman, Jordan won’t give me a student discount, yeah, the same one you promised the world years ago.

This tool is called Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), it is supposedly designed to help Microsoft give better Windows experience to those who actually bought it. Well, my reply is: If you can do that we can do the following.

1-Remove WGA tool, it’s my computer and I will do as I please, you can’t do anything about it.

Fix it here
2-Switch to a different operating system, Linux comes to mind, its free, isn’t it? beat that Mr. Gates
3-Get hold of better hackers, who will tell you my copy is original, it will still be illegal, but I don’t think what you did was legal, when WGA was added to my computer.

Read the EULA (End-User License Agreement) here

I use a legitimate copy but I will not hesitate to challenge those monopolists every inch of the way.

Radi

Happy Eid

Happy Eid everyone, but thats not why I am posting, I am sick and tired of being silent, the other day a friend of mine was shopping at a store in Mecca-Mall, I will not be saying the name of the place because they were helpful at the end.

In short, a rude female salesperson almost threw out my friend out of the store, treated her like she was a beggar and all she did was ask for help, thank God the manager was there and tried to ease it down, I thought that was part of her job, to help people!!

Terms like: “7urra” “Ma biddi” and even “3ama ye3meeki” were said by the saleswoman, but the manager followed my friend after she left, apologized, my friend demanded that if they were to keep our business, which was worthy, that either she apologized or got fired.

That store had an affiliated store in the mall, were we were regular customers, I’m talking real regular. Thats when the manager remembered her and the money we pay (sad but true) and after talking to her (probably wouldn’t apologize) he fired her.

My friend went back for the items she saw and the girl came back and wanted to pick a fight, “sho? jakara ya3ni?” she said, as if shopping at our favourite stores was suddenly a crime.

Anyway she went to the other store and they sent the pieces up, but that girl continued to be terminated, the manager explained that those are temps brought in to fill in the Eid season shopping. What I wanna know is, why do temps never have any manners?

I had this happen to me at a bank, a teller wont print out my statement, and she asked me to move away so that she would serve someone else. I usually just forget about it, but this time I refused, she called in security, who recognized me right away and refused to interfere (not having an ATM card helps), she left her desk and called in the manager, who also knew me.

She also got fired by the day end, I got my statement, its a piece of paper!! Its part of her job, and she has to do it. If you dont do your job you get fired!! Is it that hard ??

I hate seeing people getting fired, honestly, I do, but I hate to see them not helping me as required by ther job. A gas station, a hospital and a mobile company also had temps that won’t do their jobs and just try to coast through till payday, I couldn’t get those fired but they did shape up.

Shouldn’t a company be responsible for its employees, even if they are temps ?? We hire temps all the time, but we follow a screening process that makes it worth it when we get no complaints. Shouldn’t all companies do the same??

Radi

Google

Ok, so everyone knows I am crazy about google. I use google desktop, GMail, Google Spreadsheets, Blogspot, Google Earth, Youtube, Picasa, Hello and anything Google I can get my hands on.

Although Youtube only joined the family last week, and picasa and hello a little while ago, Google’s intentions are clear, all you need is a decent browser with a decent connection and you will forget about your hard-drive. About that browser, Google owns the domain name, Gbrowser.com, which makes their intention clearer, all you need is us.

The last time I used the search feature of my Windows, was last year, before I got Google desktop. Since then I search online for what I need, and if there are matches on my computer, it will tell me.

Since Google is entering the office application world with spreadsheet and word, I think in a year or so, I will switch to Linux, and using opensource and google, I will be free from anything Microsoft.

Till then, XP is a bliss.

Radi

Random thoughts

Friends, old ones, just keep coming back to me all the time. I like it; I enjoy hearing how everyone progresses differently. Especially intellectually, Jawad, one of my closest friends back in high school, turned out to be more penetrable than I would have imagined. Mais, probably the only person I asked to read this blog, is intellectually superior, although takes actions of pre-historical man as a measure of human nature, I don’t know if I agree but I like her method of reaching conclusions.

That got me thinking about myself, at the risk of sounding self-centered I wondered how much I evolved, see I always had mature ideas but none that I was able to envisage on my own. I had Haitham, my brother, to tell me what’s right and what’s true, yet I always knew there was something about his knowledge that seemed to good to be true.

His main sources were, after a long period of examination, they were media outlets. While I wouldn’t go as far as deem all of them false or counterfeit, I would still say they always tend to have a bias. Who doesn’t? Well, it’s the degree of bias that troubles me, media is by definition looking to attract the receiver, they want to make profit.

If this wasn’t for free courtesy of our big bros at wordpress, then I would definitely be doing the same thing. I wrote for publications who asked me to ease down the tempo a bit, I did because they need the advertisers just as much as I needed the cash. That is not a lot, I could have lived without that money, but still I did take it to improve.

Now that I can speak my mind, this world isn’t a great place, some parts are but in the general sense it isn’t. If a 20 year-old female wrote me saying that American are the best educated in the world, that she thinks they have the highest incomes, and that they are the most respected in the world judging by the migration stats, then sorry, but truth is a bit farther away at least.

There a four kind of men (actually people):

1. A man who knows and knows he knows.
2. A man who knows and doesn’t know he knows.
3. A man who doesn’t know and knows he doesn’t know.
4. A man who doesn’t know but thinks he knows.

In that order I think it’s fair to say I moved up from number 4 to anywhere in the region of 3 and 2. I don’t what I know but I know I should look for it. I got rid of the notion that books have answers, they merely have hints, and it’s all in your head.

Still, I live life to the fullest, and all of you should do the same. I tried everything at least once and I’m still around to talk about it.

Radi