When Humans control the Weather

My friend just got back from Dubai last night, and was telling me about a freak thunderstorm in Dubai. Not a very long one, but one that mysteriously appeared on a very hot, dry and sunny afternoon. The weather cooled down considerably and some rain fell. A few minutes later, it was all gone and things were back to normal.

When you see something like this, you know the world is coming to an end; Why was it raining in May? And thunderstorms? This was a first for Dubai...

Well, that was Dubai's first experiment in 'artificial rain'. Yes, you heard right. Scientists used a complex process to spread seeding salts onto moist clouds, creating some sort of process to trigger rainfall.

If this isn't a sign that our final hour is nigh, I don't know what is. Humans are now controlling the weather. That's just very, very scary news.

Cloud seeding experiment has thundering success

By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
May 08, 2008
Al Ain: Tuesday's thunderstorm in the western and southern parts of the emirates was a result of a cloud seeding (artificial rain) test conducted by the weather authorities.

The storm produced intermittent rain in parts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It was a surprising phenomenon in the late-spring month of May for the public and some weathermen.

An official of the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) on Wednesday confirmed the centre had carried out cloud seeding tests on clouds that came in from southern Saudi Arabia.

Residents and weathermen were baffled by the occurrence of thunderstorms in May.

"I was amazed to hear about a thunderstorm," said a weatherman requesting anonymity.

He said it was an unusual development of CB clouds, the clouds that generate thunderstorms, as most converge over the UAE in the winter, he added.

Abdullah Ahmad Al Mandoos, Executive Director of NCMS, said the cloud seeding test was successful and more experiments would be conducted in the next three months but depending on the weather conditions.

The NCMS director said Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, has played a vital role in the project and has provided a plane and other facilities for its implementation.

Link to GulfNews Article

It's a very clever concept...

...one that's been used over and over again especially in this region, and it was one that helped build our countries really fast. How does it work?

You start off without much in hand, financially, to build anything. But you have an idea.

You work on the idea; after all, thinking is free. You morph it and shape it into something that will attract people to invest in it. You build up on it, polish up the rough edges and make it look all nice and shiny,

You then sell the idea.

People buy, and you suddenly recieve an over-flow of money, without actually having to give anyone anything. Your idea is expensive to build, however, so you use that money to build it. You spend, growing your idea, and now that it's starting to materialize, other investors see the opportunity you've managed to create. They send more money your way, and so it goes.

You finish your project. You've managed to create something huge from nothing, managed to create a good return for your investors, and you've still ended up with quite a big profit.

It's a very clever concept.

Idiot Thieves

I love stories of idiots; they always brighten up my day.

Let's say you're dating a girl, and you decide to steal a blank cheque from her mom. Now let's say you forge the signatures and all to try and get some money out of her bank account, what sort of amount would you write down?

$100?

$1,000?

Nope. This dude decides to push the limit to see how much he can get:

A man has been accused of attempting to pass a $360 billion check, which he claims was given to him by his girlfriend’s mother to start a record business, Fort Worth police said.

Charles Ray Fuller, 21, of Crowley, was arrested on April 22 on an accusation of forgery, police said.

Police responded to a report of a man attempting to pass the check about 4 p.m. that day at the Chase bank in the 8600 block of South Hulen Street, Fort Worth police Lt. Paul Henderson said.

The personal check was not made out to Mr. Fuller and when the bank contacted the check owner, the woman said she did not write a check for $360 billion.

Mr. Fuller was also accused of unlawful carrying of a weapon and possession of marijuana, Lt. Henderson said. He may also face a theft charge in Crowley.

No, Mr. Fuller, a 360 billion dollar cheque doesn't look or sound suspcious at all. Needless to say that, had the bank actually honored the cheque, our friend Fuller would have automatically become 6 times richer than the richest man on Earth today. Also makes you wonder if he asked for the full amount in cash.

Manama, Sin City of the Middle East

Here's to our MP's and everyone else trying to ban Haifa Wahbi thinking THAT will solve all our morality issues. A big slap in the face for you, Manama has been ranked as the NUMBER EIGHT sin city in the world.

Yup, that's just a few spots after Las Vegas, Amsterdam and Pattaya. Now, try telling me whether or not we should have issues with erotic dancers.

TOP 10 SIN CITIES IN THE WORLD

Islamists, Erotic Singers, and our MP's

I wasn't even going to go into the whole Haifa Wahbi issue, since I believed the whole fuss raised about her was, to say the least, ludicrous. But when I posted "feels like a war zone" and just mentioned the fact that I thought our MP's were being really, very silly by trying to ban the concert, I get our dear Mr. Anon arguing at how he didn't like what I said.

Well, the truth is, the are unfortunately a number of people who are with our MP's on this, and who believe banning a singer was the right thing to do. This isn't a reply to you, Anon, but it's a reply to all Islamists who believe our country should turn into a mini Saudi Arabia, all those who believe our MP's have a job to enforce their religious extremist beliefs on us, and is a direct message to all our MP's to stop their stupid antics and do the job they were hired to do.

Anon, you mentioned that Bahrain is supposed to be an 'Islamic Country'. Well allow me to say that really has no relevance; countries don't go to heaven or hell, countries don't get judged under of the eyes of God. People do. It doesn't matter how 'Islamic' you try to make a country, it won't affect the people in it; the good people will be good, and the bad people will be bad, regardless of where they live.

Let me give you an example; our extremly Islamic neighbor, Saudi Arabia. If you want to discuss islamic countries, I don't think you have a more apparent one than that. No offence to our brothers from across the causeway, but lets take a look at some of their people; sneaking out to other countries to look for drinks, alcohol, and all forms of sin. And I don't mean just in Bahrain; somehow our Islamic Saudi brothers have gotten a reputation for throwing their money at all sorts of fun activities banned in their country, from Bahrain to Dubai, Beirut to Geneva.

You see, banning something doesn't stop people from doing it; in fact, it makes some rebel and want to do it even more. The Haifa Wahbi concert would not have happened if there was no one to buy the tickets, and if banned, people would have found another erotic singer to entertain them elsewhere. After all, Bahrain has multiple nightspots with acts a hundred times more erotic than anything Haifa is capable of even displaying, with a happy ending in your hotel room if you pay enough. Don't tell me banning Haifa from singing is the solution to make our society more pious, hell, it's not even a start. Banning anything is not a solution, for people will find their way around any ban. Going back to Saudi, you think alcohol doesn't exist inside the country? You think there aren't crazy parties there with the most outrageous behaviour? You think drugs aren't available? Well let me tell you that you would be shocked to know some of the things i've seen first hand inside Saudi, and it beats anything you've seen in any bar or nightclub.

The best example of a Muslim i've ever seen was not on this side of the World; I was in downtown Washington DC late on a weekend night. Nightclubs blasting music next to me, groups of drunk people walking past me, and random drug junkies getting high in a dark corner. I was waiting for the bus, and I heard someone talking about Islam. I turned to see a black man, wearing shabby and worn clothes, preaching to a homeless person about Islam. You could see the shine in his eyes as he spoke, and talked about his religion of choice with passion, bringing another person to believe. He noticed me listening and spoke to me; "Salam Alaikum.. You're a Muslim brother aren't you?" he asked. I nodded, to which he continued "I could tell from the way you were listening", and we struck a conversation that lasted for a good hour or two.

There you have it.. Those from the most religious country let loose and gone wild, while a person in a country that strongly discriminates against Islam, standing strong and preaching his religion. Don't tell me banning the temptations of life are the solution; Islam, and any religion infact, are to be followed in the mind and heart, not based on your surroundings. You don't hide temptations and then claim you're a good Muslim when there's nothing around you to lure you to the dark side.. A good Muslim resists no matter what.

Now lets jump back to our MP's. Trying to ban a singer? Bahrain has ISSUES, guys! From unemployment problems, to housing, to corruption, to figuring out who stole what from where.. We didn't hire you to do religion, we hired you to do politics. But you guys focus on a bloody singer, and you're giving me Islam as an excuse? Islam is about behaviour, actions, and what's inside your heart first before anything else. Things banned are only a small part of it, but you've turned it into a HUGE issue. When you guys sit in a parliament session swearing at each other, that's not Islamic. When you guys skip a session to fulfil your own agendas while the people who trusted and elected you wait, that's not Islamic. Hell, when you try to do a job you're unqualifed for, sitting on your butts earning a salary that you don't deserve, that's not Islamic. So get off our backs and start doing your jobs, or resign and let someone whose qualified to create progress do them.