Female Syrian blogger jailed for 5 years for espionage

Damascus - A 19-year-old Syrian blogger, Tal El-Melouhy, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after being found guilty of disclosing information to a foreign country.

Her sentencing came just days after Washington called for her immediate release.

Washington also denied that El-Melouhy, who was arrested just over a year ago, had spied for the United States.

A statement from a leading Syrian human rights association said she was charged 'under the umbrella of emergency law.'

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called on the authorities in Damascus to respect international obligations concerning the protection and promotion of human rights.

El-Melouhy's family had been unable to confirm her whereabouts for the first 10 months of her disappearance, until local Syrian news website dp-news reported she was held at Duma women's prison, some 20 kilometres north-west of the city.

At the time of her arrest, El-Melouhy was a student and active blogger, writing articles supporting the Palestinian cause and criticising the French initiative for peace between Israel and Syria.

(Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1619260.php/Female-Syrian-blogger-jailed-for-5-years-for-espionage)

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Mark Makhoul, 2:48 AM, Benihana and blogs!

Mark Makhoul, a blogger living in the Middle East, is now the subject of a US$18,000 lawsuit filed by the Kuwaiti franchisee of global Japanese restaurant chain Benihana. Mark's crime? Posting a mildly critical restaurant review on his blog, 2:48AM (judge for yourself by reading his review here: http://www.248am.com/mark/kuwait/my-benihana-experience/). We’re sure that you’ll agree with us that a frank but even-handed review, even if negative, does not warrant legal action and that this is not how global brands like Benihana should engage with bloggers.

Despite a massive outcry on blogs, social and mainstream media, both Benihana in Kuwait and Benihana of Tokyo, the New-York based franchisor, have steadfastly refused comment and the court case is, as of the time of writing, still set to commence on the 8th March 2011. Although the suit is for minimum damages of $18,000, it could be for considerably more, being lodged in the distinctly un-blogger-friendly legal system of the state of Kuwait.

Benihana in Kuwait first deleted critical comments from its Facebook page and then blocked anyone who had been outspoken against them. Benihana of Tokyo has not replied to a single request made using the contact form on its website, despite a promise to return comments within 24 hours. Neither has it responded to calls on this from bloggers and journalists.

DEFENDING BLOGGERS' RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

We believe that suing a consumer for expressing an opinion is totally unacceptable. We believe that a company arrogant enough to ignore the very real expressed concerns of thousands of consumers is arrogant enough to think it can press ahead with this suit – one which would set a very worrying precedent indeed for the bloggers of the Middle East who already post their views in an environment of widespread government and commercial censorship. We want to send a clear message out – that today’s consumer has the right to express an opinion online – whether that be satisfaction or dissatisfaction – without fear of bullying and litigation from companies.

If you’d like to know more before deciding whether to post something on this, some of the coverage this case has been generating is linked on Mark’s blog here:http://www.248am.com/mark/kuwait/media-coverage-on-benihana-lawsuit/ 

http://www.fastcompany.com/1723689/benihana-kuwait-lawsuit-mark-makhou-mike-servo

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/kuwait-restaurant-sues-blogger-for-bad-review

The full story is summed up here:http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com/2011/02/benihana-kuwait-and-justice.html 

Just so we’re clear – this didn’t originate with Mark.

Have you been "Benihana" 'd yet?? #BenihanaKUW

So I am part of the Middle East bloggers community now - not very famous (hell not famous at all) but I am part of it. When a person of this community gets attacked for no reason at all, that is an attack on all the bloggers in the community!

That is why, when Mark Makhoul gets sued for just expressing his thoughts, for writing his feelings and speaking his mind - IT JUST BLOWS MY MIND! Point is - as a blogger and a person with the right to free speech, I believe that I have the right to say it, without worrying about people getting rubbed the wrong way (unless these people are either a) a whack job of the first order or b) completely guilty [P.S. I am going for both in the case of M/s Benihana Kuwait - especially the GM]

Anyway, for those who were not following the Benihana case (to be truthful, neither was I until 2 weeks ago), it started with a pretty sharp but personal objective review of Benihana in Kuwait! The company in turn decided to sue this blogger. Problem? D-uh!! 

Mark Makhoul is only one of Kuwaits more well known bloggers and his blogs (he has 2) have a very large reach. While the review was initially quite soft (to the naked casual eye) after the GM of Benihana Kuwait commented, it raised some eyebrows. No one cares much about Benihana Kuwait especially after the way they have conducted themselves, reacting to a sundry blog post. All they needed to do was bridge the gap with some love. Instead they created a fracas. Now the world is screaming and the voices have become louder.

I am now one more voice in this shouting! "I am Mark Makhoul! Come Sue Me!!"

Have you been "Benihana" 'd yet??

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muppet cupcakes on Twitpic

via twitpic.com

Are they not adrooolable???

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Ooh - Now that is beautiful!

In more ways than one that is :)

I was recently introduced to Arva - a great food lover and reviewer as I found out later, but a great blogger to begin with!

I saw her blog and was blown away by the detail that each post covered with respect to the food, the behind-the-scenes look and all the intense detail that is every single compositing factor in a recipe! She takes great photographs (still need to find out what she uses to capture those moments!) and displays it with style!

Now this style is not limited to only her blogging style or the way she presents her photographs or her taste preferences... but her blog has also been tastefully designed!

Using basic wordpress.org, with an OS theme in the form of Sandbox, Autofocus and a penchant for all things beautiful, her blog just oozes simplicity, and just  impresses me no end. I like her use of simplicity in every  manner possible, and it becomes a part of the review and the way she addresses most things!

Do read her blog and send her your bouquets or send me your brickbats :)

Cheers!

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Masdar City

These are only the photographs for the time being - Will write up the blog post in a while.

Here is a video of how we reached the main building of Masdar Institute.

Cheers,

Partha

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James and I

So it began on Wednesday 19-Jan-2011 that we had to bid for a few items for a good cause! Raise funds for the 8 Day Academy. (You can read about the 8 Day Academy on their website here.) There were a lot of unique products up for #twauction. The "#Twauction" was an auction on Twitter for several items donated including an iPod from Nahel, a Nicole bag from Tilly and Pinch, 3 James originals, home made Godiva cake from Nick, Niftee’s 2 beautiful T-shirts and a Shawl and so many more. If you’re on Twitter – follow #twauction #run41 and support the causes the best way you can.

Well I was bidding on a James original and a bunch of cupcakes - and guess what - I won the shirt and our team of Shaahima Fahim, Lenaro, Wajiha Said, and Ahmed Shaikh won 25 Strawberry Cheesecake cupcakes made by Nick! Well I have yet to get the cupcakes, but today I managed to get my James Original (I have the Autumn Pullover)!! It's classic really! Have a look at the pics and you will see that I am the proud owner of number 15 of 20 of this particular design of the James Original, and you can get yourself one as well. 

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The Tea Junction

Had met Farida Ahmed, R K, Vineeth, Love, Mehul, Ekta and others at The Third Line for a great artistic event known as the Pecha-Kucha (see www.pechakucha.org for more information). Separate blog post on that!

After the event was over, all of us headed over to Movenpick Hotel, Oud Metha for a cuppa tea. Now the place we were headed to was not in the hotel, but actually a new tea serving joint that opened barely 4 days ago. 

Welcome to Dubai and the world - "Tea Junction". Congratulations Shanil - you have the makings of a great hangout joint :)

The place looks great - nice earthy warmth emanating from the environment in the cafe, great decor, comfy sofas, good music, and a tea menu that will leave you spell bound. This cafe can serve you a drink to suit your fancy - any tea in the world, in addition to coffees, iced teas, and tea based mocktails!! His food menu is just as impressive and the quality of food is fabulous!

I had a Moon chai - which is the foreign version of what Mumbaiiyas call a "Paani Kum" literally meaning less water. The tea was brewed to perfection.. great flavour - without the sugar, the sweetness of the leaves used was filtering through nicely! Fragrance was nice, and milk was just right in quantity. I savoured the tea - and I wanted to drink some more!!

Does it drill a hole in your pocket?? Hell no - 7 of us, 7 chais's, 1 omlette (which Mehul said was "nice"), 1 BBQ turkey on a bun - which was nicely assembled and looked nice when served. I was too hungry to be patient to photograph it when it was served. I just gobbled it all in. All this was 65 AED!! Considering the serving size and the place we were in - it seemed reasonable. The food was satisfactory in quantity and flavour, and the chai's are priced just right :)

A few more photographs taken by Farida can be seen here.

A few additions are expected to the joint in the near future, and I wish Shanil and his team a bright and prosperous future with The Tea Junction.

I know I am going back soon - will you join me??

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A great dinner at D'Fusion with twitter friends

A long long time ago, the "Twitterati's" had participated in a Quiz at the newly launched Spiralz Bar in The Grandeur Hotel, Al Barsha. There was rejoicing on the night as we sang into the wee hours of the morning! We had won, and as spoils of this winning we had a voucher to feast on the cuisine of the restaurant named D'fusion! The winning team then were: Nikhil Soneja + friend, Nick Theregos, Vivienne Strettle, Shahveer, Mehul Paul and me

And so we decided to dine. While the dining party consisted mostly of the people who were at the quiz, there were a few changes. Barring for for Nikhil's then +1, replacing him tonight was Grant (from Scotland [yes, he has a kilt {which he wears from time to time (not gonna delve into more details here)}]) and Vivienne's charming husband, Ken :)

And feast we did!! While the background music was way too loud for us to converse naturally, we decided to bring the roof down with unnatural conversation. The topics circled around sex, being gay, technology, Joomla vs Wordpress, Tron - which barely lasted 10 seconds and moved into the origin of computers :) :), and a plethora of other topics. We made fun of the fusion names on the menu - read: Nutty Buddy (mehul, how could you have had that??), Banana Bellefonte (i had that), Dum(b) Lasagne (poor plate of food never stood a chance against nick), Vodka Paani Puri (remind to never have that again) among other things!!

The food quality on the other hand was pretty good and the portions were fine! 

Attached photos of the event :) - Vivienne and Mehul had taken more pictures!!

Enjoy!

Partha

Vivienne (@karenpendragon) and Mehul (@mehulpaul)


Grant - The scottish friend of Nikhil Soneja


This is Mehul (@mehulpaul)


Nick Theregos (@theregos) and how is normally is ;)


Nick smiles at a joke while Ken poses for a pic. Ken is Vivienne's husband :)


This is Nikhil Soneja (@nikhilsoneja)

You may know her - Vivienne (@karenpendragon)

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