وعد عرقوب

I've seen this clip on TV and liked it. Shaza Hasoon is an Irai female singer. You may note that the bemoaned love affair is with an American soldier (whose role, I believe, is depicted by a Swedish guy).

Now, the usual chorus of naysayers have been smearing Shaza left and right about this clip. Calling her names. Make no mistake about it, if the singer had been a male falling in love with a female soldier, the reactions would have been much much more timid, or non-existent at all. Make no mistake about it, those who criticize Shaza for shooting (no pun intended) this clip, are generally doing this out of pure old sexism.

I hope you like it, as I did very much.

In Soviet Russia.....

When I was 10 years old, fifth grader at the elementary school, I was summoned to represent our school in the national championship for chess. Which made a lot of sense since I was the best player at school and the most pompous of all. One day while we were playing at the championship, the officials brought in a tall blond guy to tour the hall. He stopped at my table and observed my game with a faint smile. He then patted me on the back and left. I later learned he was a Russian chess coach from the Soviet Union brought in to assess and assist the Syrian chess players, especially the young ones. And, although I didn't win the championship, that moment was one of the most fond memories of my childhood.

But that memory was lost in the confines of deep slumber until Yesterday, when I'd read a post by a Russian guy, reminiscing how the Soviet hockey team would never have lost to Slovakia (they did now in the winter Olympics). The post evoked lot of humorous retorts. As a tribute to a nation that, disregarding everything else, did very well at sports, I'd compiled some of those (hopefully) witty retorts here, and added more of my own.

In Soviet Russia: anyone who disses a national hero like Tiger Woods would be on his way to the Gulag before he/she finished their gossiping.

In Soviet Russia: if the Soviet anthem isn't being played at the Olympics couple figure-skating finals, the guilty parties would spend the rest of their lives skating in the hinterlands of Siberia.

In Soviet Russia: it was up to the central committee of the communist party to decide whether Karpov, Kasparov or Khalifman shall win the world chess championship that year. Other nations could only watch in despair.

In Soviet Russia: Sergei Bubka would have other uses for his pole than just pole-vaulting.

In Soviet Russia: the strategy for basketball zone defense was inspired by the steadfastness of Stalingrad, the offense by the final assault on the Third Riche in Berlin.

In Soviet Russia: it didn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you've done your best. Your best here invariably meant hiking the Hammer and Sickle up above all inferior flags.

In Soviet Russia: politics didn't interfere in sports. Sports were just a venue for the masses to express their struggle for excellence.



I hereby invite you to add to the list.... Have a cracking day.

The Young Businessmen in Syria Can't Alone Make it Happen

There's a nice article in the National M Magazine: "The young Syrian businessmen making it happen". The lead photo is of Abdulsalam Haykal, the brother of our fellow blogger Ayman, the proprietor of the 'Damascene Blog', a pioneer in the Syrian blog-sphere.

First of all I'm very proud of what Abdulsalam and his fellow businessmen managed to achieve in the past few years since the economy in Syria had opened a little. It's certainly a far cry from the textile trading businessmen in Aleppo, who still keep their accounts in ledgers instead of excel spreadsheets.

But, it's also important to note (and in fairness to the article, this has been focused on too), that real entrepreneurial economy doesn't only rely on old family businesses and networks.

And second, one would have loved to see more women entering this arena. Out of the several young and well-educated businessmen, only one woman was quoted in the article.

It's highly commendable that Abdulsalam is aware of this is helping his fellow start-up businessmen who are at disadvantage (i.e. do not have family ties), to set up their own businesses:

That is why he and others like him are using their power to help entrepreneurs who aren’t so fortunate. The Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association (SYEA) was set up by Haykal and other young businessmen to give grants and business advice. Another, Bidaya, which means “beginning” in Arabic, funds 18- to 35 year-olds from low-income backgrounds. With this support, young people have had more opportunities to start small businesses. Enas Essa, for example, is a 32-year-old founder of an audiobook business. Mouayad Hamoudeh, 22, started his own dental implements business in a relatively poor area on the outskirts of Damascus.

However, in the greater scheme of things, this is not enough. There must be an institutional mechanism of assisting aspiring entrepreneurs . I'm not usually fond of cliches, but, modernizing the economy while the ancient mores about the indispensability of power and family connections still dominate, will not help much. You probably already guessed what I'm trying to say here, the key word is government intervention.

Off my soap box, have a nice day all.

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Photo credit: The National