Thomas journals

From today's ArabNews , datelined JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education has banned the sale of junk foods and sugary beverages at all public schools. The banned items include cookies, chocolates, chips, chewing gum, power drinks, canned foods, fruit juices, carbonated drinks and meat dishes, including liver. The ban order also covers various kinds of pastries. A few days ago, we got a suddenly-announced school holiday; perhaps they were softening us up before this blow.  This roughly matches the standard in U.S. schools now.   There is some reference in the article to encouraging resumption of government-provided free lunches at school as well.  And to think, one of my enterprising moments in high school was to establish a student council-run snack bar, selling donuts, candy bars, soda pop, all in the name of culinary freedom. Our current school is partly under the aegis of the Ministry of Education -- some inspectors visited last month.  But the food issue is a m...

Saturday is usually the start of our work week. This Saturday morning we all woke as usual at 5am, to prep for Coleman's 5:45 school bus, and parents' 6am bus pickup for school. But at 5:40 our neighbor (another early-riser) knocked on the door to tell us that The King Declared a School Holiday today. This was quickly confirmed by a call from the principal, who asked me to send out a mass e-mail to school parents. Barb then phoned her students' homes to inform them (But should the kids still bring their costumes on Sunday, will there still be a Book Character Parade? hmm. probably). Why the holiday? Rumors abound. The internet provides no information, neither the national nor international news channels. Someone reports that the King shook up his Cabinet last night, firing the Education Minister... that's the closest we come. Or is it because the Pearl Roundabout is now the flat-surface-don't-remember-anything roundabout? Events in Libya and in Japan are do...

What the presence of those forces means is that dialogue can now take place in a calm and sane atmosphere.  (final sentence of editorial in ArabNews) Cognitive dissonance:  foreign troops arrive during demonstrations; own police kill unarmed demonstrators; and a calm and sane atmosphere? Bahrain is now occupied by Saudi troops and UAE police.  Although they are not directly involved in killing Bahraini citizens, they are a clear sign of the weakness of Bahrain's Khalifa royal family compared to the Sa'uds.  The move was not even staged as an invitation -- rather, the troops simply moved, and Bahrain's foreign minister tweeted the move as a fact.  BBC HardTalk presented a fairly illustrative talk today countering spokesmen for the Bahrain ruling council and the exiled opposition.  The pro-government politician/businessman simply repeated his talking-point: we don't want to kill people, we just want stability and security (to which any objective viewer re...

US Secretary of Defense was quoted on his recent trip to Bahrain "Time is not our friend." We are worried about the situation there, now that the Saudi forces have crossed the bridge to Bahrain.   Technically, they are GCC forces -- like the "Coalition" in Iraq, these forces are 95% from the big gorilla.  The NYTimes has a good image of the convoy, grabbed from Bahrain TV. In the meantime, Saudi's Arab News runs an article quoting the king's council of advisers -- the closest thing the country has to a legislature:  The Shoura Council congratulated the Saudi leadership on Sunday for commanding the confidence and respect of the people who eloquently displayed their loyalty toward maintaining security and stability in the country. But back to Bahrain: we had the chance tonight to talk with one of the few people to leave Bahrain today as the border was closed -- a Canadian who talked his way through.  He noted the extensive convoy of Saudi military ve...

First: we had a wonderful weekend, a day at the beach, wonderful weather; and are getting ready for school tomorrow. Various news media and our expatriate community was all abuzz with talk about possible demonstrations and disruptions in Saudi Arabia, apparently triggered by a Facebook message.  It was an obvious reminder for us to brush up on our emergency plans, and it prompted our teachers to check their Virtual School logins, just in case. After surfing various news websites now, here's what I find on Friday night at 9:30pm here:  It seems that most of the newspeople are devoted to reporting on the tsunami in Japan.  CNN's website is surprisingly old, referring to Friday as tomorrow, and posting no follow-up to a rather alarmist article (I'm disappointed in the lack of follow-up).    The LATimes has the most up-to-date piece , calling the protests a fizzle...it even includes a photo of the (apparently) largest protest, actually held yesterday in a to...

Thus went the headline in today's Arab News , our main daily newspaper. Following is the first paragraph: JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it would not allow any demonstrations or sit-in protests in the country that are aimed at undermining the Kingdom’s security and stability. “Laws and regulations in the Kingdom totally prohibit all kinds of demonstrations, marches and sit-in protests as well as calling for them as they go against the principles of Shariah and Saudi customs and traditions,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said such demonstrations not only breach the Kingdom’s law and order but also encroach on the rights of others. We also note the letter-to-the-editor prominently displayed on the same webpage: Your Majesty: As a Saudi national, I am writing to say how pleased I am to see your return to the Kingdom after successful medical treatment abroad. I am sure this feeling is shared by all Saudis, since your citizens not...

Some relatives and friends have written to express concern about our safety, given the turmoil in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and now Libya. Those places are distant from us. The uprising in nearby Bahrain has settled to a peaceful protest-- the government came to its senses after a shameful violent performance by some of the military (we are still debating the origin of the bad decision to shoot protesters), so the opposition has settled into a very large sit-in protest, by all accounts peaceful even pleasant, but determined -- so says even the Saudi news reporter. We live and teach in a relatively new industrial city, with few truly local residents, and no unemployment, thus little political dissatisfaction. Security is also particularly tight here because of the petrochemical plants. So our personal safety is assured. We are truly more worried about automobile accidents, particularly during rush hour, with drivers who treat painted lines and signs as mere suggestions. And the weath...