Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Yet another excuse for why there are so many accidents in Kuwait

I love how "they" (and I don't know who "they" is but just "they") blame everything but the true cause of accidents.

Here's what really causes accidents in Kuwait:  Speed, lack of law enforcement/fines, people who get their licenses via wastah and not by actually knowing how to drive, lack of drivers training, reckless drivers/repeat offenders who use wastah to get off and are back on the roads, etc.

Then there are those who want to outdo the Al-Jones' and buy their kid a hot car:   If you are going to buy your kid a high-speed sports car when he (usually he) is too young (30 and under?) to understand or care that speed kills, it isn't the kid's fault:  It is the parents.

Further.... (Just a few, fun Desert Girl pieces of advice)


  • It is NOT ok to reverse up an exit ramp.
  • It is NOT ok to cut across 3 lanes of traffic "just because"
  • It is NOT ok to zig-zag/weave in-and-out of lanes
  • It is NOT ok to tailgate:  putting your bumper so far up the ass-end of the  car in front of you that the other driver can see your tonsils.
  • It is NOT ok to talk on the phone (text, look for a Pokemon) with your kid on your lap, smoking a cigarette while driving.
  • It is NOT ok to make 4 lanes out of 1 or 2.


Also, if you're a dumbass and don't maintain your car, that's another reason for accidents and break-downs.  Tires are important in Kuwait, oil changes, checking the water and cooling system, brake pads...  (Your stupid Sworovski crystal rear-view mirror charm is NOT the most important aspect of your car.)

They were blaming foreigners for the high rate of traffic accidents just five minutes ago.  Now this from the Arab Times:

High rate of traffic accidents in Kuwait tied to ‘fake car parts

KUWAIT CITY, July 16: Deaths recorded in motor accidents in Kuwait reached 429 in 2015 while 461 cases were recorded in 2014. In this context, several citizens and expatriates have attributed the high rate of traffic accidents in Kuwait to widespread of fake car parts.

A Kuwaiti man Ali Jaber asserted that fake car parts from China and Korea as well as some Arab countries have flooded the Kuwaiti market in an unbelievable manner. He stressed that many motorists are forced to buy fake parts considering the high cost of the originals, knowing well it is detrimental to the performance of their cars and shortens their lifespan.  (DG note, then buy a frickin Toyota if you can't afford the maintenance on a Merc, dumbasses!  "Forced" ha!)

“I never source for fake parts for my cars no matter the condition, in order to avoid putting myself in danger of accidents. Another respondent Subhi Imam indicated he sometimes purchases fake car parts because the original is expensive. He cited a particular spare part sold is for about KD 12 but he gets the fake one for KD 2 or less. In his comment, Mohamed Abdul Ali said his cousin burnt the interior of his car about two years ago because he used a fake electrical part, and the end result was deadly. 


Also, mechanical engineer Adel Al-Hamoud indicated the widespread of fake car parts in Kuwait is a dangerous trend. He premised his account on the fact that materials used in manufacturing fake spare parts are recycled more than once, and they are not clean. Therefore, they are easy to break.

A lesson in Mut'a (temporary) Marriage - Repost from American Girl's World Blog

I guess today I'm just not being very creative because I'm just hijacking other blogger's information.  American Girl is a friend who used to live in Kuwait and now lives in North Carolina with her husband and a family of Salukis they are raising.  I love her perspective - and just really like her in general.  Here is what she had to say about temporary marriage with a response from one of her readers.  I thought I would pass it along.  Some might find it informative. It is an interesting read.

Here goes...


Several times a week I get emails from readers who are involved in relationships with Muslim men and are often seeking advice on religion, culture, tradition, and how the three tie into one another — if at all. Many of them are also seeking advice on marriage and whether or not he’s ‘serious’ when he asks her to consider marrying him. Obviously I don’t have all the answers and never claimed to be a professional in the field of intercultural marriages, so I simply share information based on my experience and hope that helps.

A topic I recently realized I have never covered is Mut’a Marriage. And based on a few emails I’ve gotten as of late, I figured now would be the best time to touch on this.

My experience with Mut’a is pretty much nonexistent. It’s something (from what I understand) that is practiced among the Shia’a Muslims and not so much anymore within the Sunni community. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m basing this information off of friends in Kuwait and the UAE who are both Sunni and Shia’a. Therefore, I would love to hear from any readers who have been involved in a Mut’a Marriage in hopes of helping out some of the women who might be reading this and could use that guidance.

It’s my understanding Mut’a is a ‘temporary marriage’ where a woman agrees to be a man’s wife for a specified period of time and can then participate in all things husbands and wives participate in; ie. sex. There is no dowry involved, no additional benefits, no financial gain (unless he agrees to pay her a certain amount), and no support upon divorce. Some of these marriages last as short as a few days and some can be a lifetime I suppose. As far as their legality, I know they’re not recognized in the US as our marriages (to be legal) must be documented in a court. A Mut’a Marriage is simply an agreement between a man and woman. I don’t believe there’s any paperwork involved. However, I do believe it’s a fairly common practice for boyfriends and girlfriends as a way to eliminate any Islamic guilt. You know… have sex, pretend you’re married, and Allah doesn’t know any better. No offense intended. Just keeping it real.

That being said, if you’re one of the women who have written me about your boyfriend asking to marry you ‘temporarily’ to ‘test’ out how a real marriage would be, maybe that’s not exactly what he means. It’s possible he has a strong desire to have sex with you but his religious guilt is telling him to ‘do the right thing’ and ‘marry’ you. Of course the real right thing would be to respect you as a woman and keep it in his pants. But, chances are, you’re unaware of his culture and what is and is not permitted in his religion. He can pretty much tell you anything and you’ll pretty much believe it. And of course, once he starts throwing the idea of marriage around, it makes it all that much more appealing. And, well, ‘real’ in your mind.

Do your homework, ladies. And keep your panties on while you’re studying 

Comment:
Anonymous

Muta’a is the Shiite version of temporary marriage, but there is also “misiaar” for Sunnis. Misiaar is a form of temporary marriage when a man travels (supposedly for a long period of time at a location far away from his wife, but more recently people have been bending the rules on this one). I don’t know the details of Misiaar marriages. Neither of these forms of marriage are accepted by legal entities (governments) and are done without witnesses, making them secret arrangements (at the discretion of the couple to tell people or not).

“Orfi” marriage is by contract with witnesses and presided over by an Islamic cleric. Both the man and woman sign the marriage contract. This form of marriage can be approved by legal entities if the couple takes the contract to court (or if the woman becomes pregnant).

I’ve been “temporarily” (“muta’a”) married several times; for very short-term and two that lasted over 5 years each. I didn’t seek the arrangements – it was because the boyfriend asked for it (and in one case, although muta’a is a Shiite Muslim belief, my Bedouin Sunni Muslim boyfriend asked me to marry him muta’a as it made him feel better/less guilty). In the case of both of the long-term arrangements, I was the one who didn’t want to get married in court for different reasons. But – I was educated before I went into it.

I’m not a Shiite Muslim. I don’t believe in the “sanctity” of temporary marriage; but I do believe in commitment and temporary marriage takes the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship to a different level, just by stating that you commit to that person for a period of time. (How many boyfriends can actually put a time limit commitment on your relationship or are willing to commit to anything at all?) You are saying vows out loud which makes it deeper somehow (at least in my experience and maybe I’m romanticizing something that is really just a pretend marriage?). All good and no judgement as long as everybody is in agreement and knows what it is and that it isn’t meant to last forever.

So, how do you get married via muta’a? The man recites a statement and the woman responds with a statement (I can’t remember the exact words). There is a mahar (dowry). It is usually symbolic (like a quarter dinar), however, the woman can ask for whatever she wants (and trust me when I tell you that NO man asking you to get temporarily married will educate you on this fact). In my long-term arrangements, I asked for rings (if you want me to take this seriously, then be serious). (But if you need a new refrigerator and a new set of tires, you can throw that in there – whatever you want.) In the statement, you insert the mahar amount (or material thing) and the duration of the agreement.
In my long-term temporary marriages, other people knew we were married (however non-traditional/controversial it may have sounded to others). Short-term marriages were basically for fun so the guys didn’t feel guilty about sinning. Whatever. There is no formal “divorce.” And – like other forms of marriage in Islam, the guy can marry several wives so you don’t know if he is temporarily married to other women at the same time. Muta’a within Arab circles is usually only done when a woman is divorced (meaning she is no longer a virgin).

My advice to your readers who are asking questions about the possibility of marriage to their Muslim boyfriend: There is no “try before you buy” in Islam. Ask him direct questions: Specifically, what type of marriage do you want? If the guy is serious about a “forever” commitment and wants you, tell him to get serious: put his mother on the phone with you. Tell him what you want. A reception? Flowers? Your family? His family? But get a marriage license first. AND – make sure that you know about the marriage contract before doing anything. If you don’t add in the contract that you want half of the house and/or alimony (specific amount) on divorce, you are going to be left with nothing. It MUST be in the marriage contract.


Know Your Rights in Kuwait (Re-Post from Kuwaitiful Blog)

Kuwaitiful did such a wonderful job of listing  little-known-rights facts that I am reposting it here. I've been here 20 years and some of the information he's listed was news to me.

Here goes....

Video: Link
If a cop stops your car and asks you to open your car’s trunk to inspect, you can politely tell him not to proceed until he shows you permission from the “Bublic Prosecution“.

Video: Link
A cop approaches you to investigate or arrest you but wasn’t wearing his cop uniform, do you have to comply? Yes but only if he shows you his identification card.

Video: Link
If you were going through financial hardship and wanted to write a check with a date in the future (to avoid the person cashing the check today) would that be permissible? No, the bank by law is obliged to cash a check if it is handed to them.

Video: Link
If you rented an apartment or a house for 1 year, you are qualified by law to extend the rent for up to 5 years. The owner cannot kick you out before then.

Video: Link
If you purchased a used car with a document from a company saying the car is functional with no problems and the car turns out to have issues you have the right to go back to that company and demand compensation.

Video: Link
If you have comprehensive car insurance on your car (the one that covers you whether the accident was your fault or not) and you make a fake accident document to cash in, you will face 7 years of jail time.

Video: Link
If you use a fake fingerprint item to register a co-worker on the attendance machine you will get fired and face jail time.

Video: Link
In most cases, you will have to bring your witnesses because no one else will order them to attend for you and if you don’t you increase your chances of losing your case.

Video: Link
If you wanted to lend someone money, if it’s less than KD 5,000, there should be a witness(es) but if it’s more than KD 5,000 then there must be a written contract stating you have lent him the amount or else you won’t be able to file a case against him if he refuses to pay you back.

Video: Link
If a crime was taking place, and you were standing next to the people doing the crime while they were doing it then you are considered a partner in that crime and might face jail time.

Video: Link
If you work at a bank and you took a loan from that bank, the bank cannot charge you an interest fee regardless of how large the loan is or how long it will take you to pay it back.

Video: Link
If you accuse someone of a crime that wasn’t registered against him/her by the law, you might face jail time that goes up to 2 years.

Video: Link
Every person has the right to exchange an item they purchased within 5 days if the item was damaged. It is against the law to have a store stating an item cannot be exchanged or refunded.

Video: Link
A crime can be as simple as throwing water at someone. If someone assaulted you they can get up to 3 months to 10 years of jail time. If you get physically harmed go to the hospital first, get proof that you have been assaulted then go file a case at the police station with proof.

Video: Link
When you receive a check, you have 4 months to go to a bank and cash in the check from the day the check was issued. If the issuer of the check had insufficient funds in his bank account, you can submit a complaint to the prosecution (you have 4 months to do so, else your submission will be void).

Video: Link
You have the right to pay your rent fees of where you reside anytime before the 20th of that same month. If you pass the 20th and haven’t paid rent yet the owner has the right to file for your departure. If you pay before the 20th of the month and the owner refuses to accept your payment, you should file a complaint to the government so that he wouldn’t force you to leave the apartment for good on the basis of not paying your rent fees.

Video: Link
Having a weapon without an official licence can get you jail time of 5 years. Even just having ammunition of a weapon without an official licence will get you in jail. I say having instead of owning because just having a weapon with you will get you prosecuted, you don’t need to own it.

Video: Link
If someone physically attacked you (either male or female), you have the right to attack back to defend yourself. Part of self-defense is not over-exaggerating, if someone pushes you for example you cannot go and stab him on the basis of self-defense. If you do so, that will get you prosecuted.

Video: Link
If you beat someone up and that person dies as a result of his/her wounds but it was proven you did not have the intention of killing that person, you will face 10 years of jail time.

Video: Link
Sometimes you rent a place and find something is damaged, it can be in the AC, Elevator etc (something leaking for example). The owner must pay for fixing what was damaged, if the owner refuses to pay you can take permission from the government to fix it and have him pay for it.

Video: Link
If you own a house and you’re renting part of it while one of the people you’re renting to is noisy and disrupts other neighbors. You can then as the owner of the house file a submission to force him to leave for good. You will need in this situation to have witnesses and they have to be neighbors of that apartment.

Video: Link
If you take a photo of someone that does not want you to take of a photo of them, you will face 2 years of jail time. If you also share their photo with others or make it available online, then you face 3 years of jail time. This should make you think twice before taking a photo of someone without their consent.

Video: Link
Any Kuwaiti that is registered in a company he doesn’t work in to receive the monthly labor support salary from the government will face up to 7 years of jail time if caught as well is paying back all the money he illegally received.

Video: Link
If you accuse someone of a crime and it later turns out the accuser knew the accused did not do the crime, then the accuser will face 2 years of jail. I would guess this also applies when a girl falsely accuses a guy of rape.

Video: Link
If a person falsely called the fire department, or the police to report a crime, or accident and in reality there was no such thing. This person faces 3 years of jail time plus all expenses endured by the government for his actions.

Video: Link
If you purchased a car outside Kuwait and went to the local dealership and they refused to service your car or asked you to open a profile with their company first and pay a fee, this company has went against the law. You can then file a complaint against them at the Ministry of Commerce to get your issue resolved.

Video: Link
There are some that open a commercial license then rent it to someone else. This is considered illegal by law.

Video: Link
There’s a government sector that deals with complaints. Any girl that files a complaint of someone threatening to make her images public or recorded conversations, she will be taken seriously and with complete privacy.

Video: Link
It used to be when you go to a store and bought a product on discount, you wouldn’t have the right to return it. The rules applied have changed, you can now exchange the product within 14 days of purchase.

Video: Link
If you find out at the end of the month that your Telecom provider has billed you for services you never used or even knew you had, you can file a complaint at the Consumer Protection sector (call 135).

Image: Link
You can put ‘No Parking’ signs in your private property but at the same time you are not allowed to damage or harm any cars that park in your property. Instead, you let the police deal with it.

Video: Link
Any restaurant that has a minimum order or has service charges is not permissible in Kuwait. If you end up dealing with any of the two you can file a complaint at the Consumer Protection sector (call 135) and if you win the case you can ask for a refund on the money that you were unjustly charged for.I remember I was in Fridays once and when we got the check, there was a big service charge so when we asked them to remove it because it’s not legal they said our lawyers said it was okay to keep it and we ended up paying for it. This was at least 5 years ago so I can’t remember the exact scenario, what I remember for certain is they refused to remove the service charge.

Video: Link
If you have a relative that is addicted to drugs, don’t wait until he gets caught and jailed for possession of drugs. You can instead file a complaint (for his/her own good) at the drugs department and they will open a file for him there and treat him as a sick patient, a case will not be filed against him.

Video: Link
If you resign from your job and qualify for end of service benefits while during your job you used to get a bonus end year salary every year then the end of service benefits must also include the bonus with your salary.

Video: Link
If you took your car to the dealership for maintenance. The dealership is obliged to give you a paper that includes maintenance duration, what will they need to fix and what are things that will be replaced if any.

Video: Link
Most car dealerships tell you if you do your maintenance outside their dealership it will void your warranty. This is incorrect, you can by law do your maintenance anywhere as long as they abide to using the correct equipment for maintaining your car

Image: Link
If you wanted to sue someone don’t do it a while later, you have to file a lawsuit as soon as possible because every dispute has a limit of days if passed and you still haven’t sued, then you can’t file for a lawsuit.

Video: Link
Many think if you curse someone without mentioning their name then that person can’t sue you for damages. That isn’t true, if you curse someone with information leading to that person than they can sue you on that basis.

Video: Link
If you go to a store and give back your product then ask for a refund while the store says we can’t give you a refund in cash but you can purchase anything from us with the same amount, that store has gone against a law because they are forced by law to refund you with cash.

Video: Link
Expensive items such as diamonds and watches can be returned within 24 hours if on the receipt it mentions the 24 hour duration. If it doesn’t mention that duration then you have the right to return the item within 14 days.

Read more: http://kuwaitiful.com/information/know-your-rights-in-kuwait-parts-1-6/#ixzz4EprFDKSi



Sunday, July 03, 2016

Tenancy Case Continues...

Now I am Lawyer #4.  I've decided to pursue the case only because it amounted to psychological terrorism and I'm not willing to back down.  I am sure that asstard is doing the same to other tenants - maybe even as I'm writing this.

I have met with some of THE most unethical people in my life during the past year.  I invested time and money to people who led me down the wrong path; who knowingly referred me to work with a law STUDENT when they knew that the creature I was signing a contract with was not in fact an actual lawyer.  I paid that lawyer out on the recommendation of the same person, only to be misled yet again on her referral of Lawyers #3; changing the terms and conditions for payment and contract signing after 4 months of having my power of attorney.  Really?  (How long does it take go go get police reports?!  It took me 4-5 hours each time to document the police reports and not one lawyer can just obtain them?)  Anyhoo, this person lives in its own little world, believing its own BS, so I should have known.  Well, my fault for trusting someone with so little ethics and moral fortitude.   You want to believe people, but you learn.   Que sera.

Bygones.  As AHE says, "That was in the past." (He thinks "in the past" is even a day ago, but he's right.)

#4 is a guy who I am not going to pay until he gets the job done; money in hand.  From what I've been told by a Sheikh friend, "He's a magician in the ministries."  So maybe he'll be my lucky charm. Who knows?  Nothing to lose on this one.

I just know that this whole thing has been a learning process.  I've lost a few false friends over it and I really don't have any regrets because its all for the best.  God shows you who your real friends are, and blesses you when you find out who they are not.