Mahmood's Den

Shopping!, originally uploaded by malyousif.

I decided to get another computer, because (get this!) I wanted to give my daughter my older MacBook. So what to do other than going to the Apple store in The Fashion Mall next to our hotel and getting:
1. Apple MacBook 2.4GHz, 2GB, 250GB, 13″
2. 1TB Time Capsule
3. 500GB Time Capsule
4. [...]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
hint

There is nothing better than having a warm breakfast on a very cold day. Couple that with reading a good newspaper and find that your country is mentioned in a good light on the front page, and one would have an excellent start to the day:
Alcoa Faces Allegation By Bahrain of Bribery
By Glenn R. Simpson
A [...]

Whenever I’m away, the first thing I do when I wake up is check the news back home. It continuously brings me back to our own version of surreal reality.
Yesterday’s news hit the mark quite squarely, thank you very much; our illustrious parliament dropped the second impeachment proceedings [translate] against a sitting minister. Of course, [...]

Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars, originally uploaded by malyousif.

Had an excellent panel discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars and met with Dr. Haleh Esfandari (who was imprisoned for 8 months in Iran recently – 4 of which were in house arrest in Tehran) who chaired the session with Dr. Dr. Cheryl [...]

In keeping with the Den’s traditions, I have the honour in announcing the Scapegoat of the Moment who will have the unbridled responsibility of carrying ALL of the world’s ills on her shoulder; moreover, she will have to wear a beaming smile while doing so. Frowning and grumbling she is absolutely not allowed.
This she will [...]

I want to thank everyone for their very valuable suggestions as to what car I should get Amna. In the end, we decided to settle for the Nissan Altima which was between the two budgets set, and offers very good value for money and safety aspects.
She has had it for a day and a bit [...]

Orchids!, originally uploaded by malyousif.

Frances and I are just back from the Garden Show, and these babies are her present to me for my birthday tomorrow. I don’t care very much for the birthday as taking care of these over the next few months… I’ve got plans!!
Have a wonderful Friday my friends…

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published the Human Rights report it is going to submit to the Universal Periodic Review panel at the United Nations in April 2008. The Arabic report is available here while the English, once it is published, is going to be available here.
I’ve had a brief look at the report [...]

I’ve just received an email from the Garden Club informing me that my garden won the first place in the New Garden category! This is fantastic news and a fantastic start to the day!
Yipppeeeee…

Update 080221@1420L: I’ve just had a chance to look at the GDN and it’s published there (though they didn’t put my full [...]