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Certainly there are too many poor, homeless, under-privileged citizens who do not/cannot provide for themselves. Caring for these folks with free food, free housing, etc. is charitable. But it cannot fix that problem. |
Everyone has a right to grow up with the knowledge and ability to provide for themselves. The solution for making that happen is buried somewhere in the combination of parents, family, schools and, yes, government entities — i.e., education! |
I know nothing about Professor Keith but his words have the ring of wealth, privilege and guilt. But, more importantly, offer no solutions. |
The township of Jabiru in Kakadu National Park looks to have been a big winner in the lead up to this year's Federal Election. |
The Morrison Government and the Opposition have both announced funding packages to revitalise the town and the national park. |
It's hoped the money will transform Jabiru from a near-empty mining service town into a thriving tourism hub. |
The announcements have been welcomed by traditional owners. |
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, and Egypt and Yemen soon did the same. The Saudi coalition’s ostensible reason for these diplomatic cuts was that Qatar supports terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida, the Islamic State, and Iranian-back polit... |
Unfortunately for the Saudi coalition, Qatar will not meet their current demands. This attempt to isolate Qatar will backfire and lead to Qatar improving economic relations with other regional states and especially Iran. |
The deep tension between the Saudi coalition and Qatar is a deviation from the status quo that has existed over the last 15 years. In fact, these countries have aligned on a number of foreign policy issues since the creation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the early 1980s, whose membership includes Qatar, Saud... |
For example, during Bahrain’s Arab Spring in 2011 (Pearl Revolution), Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar all supported the Bahraini Sunni regime against the Shia-backed protests, and these countries sent military troops and equipment to extinguish the protests. |
Likewise, during the current Syrian Civil War, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar have fervently supported the Syrian rebels against the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including having supplied arms to rebel groups such as Jaish al-Fatah and the Free Syrian Army. |
Another illustration is the 2015 Yemen Civil War, in which Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar have sent equipment and troops to fight against the Shia Houthi rebels. |
Although much cooperation has occurred between Qatar and the Saudi coalition, there has been an increasing bitterness between Qatar and Saudi Arabia over the past 20 years. Saudi Arabia’s current intentions are related to Qatar’s transformation from a puppet state to an independent state in the mid-1990s. |
From 1972-1995, Qatar’s Emir Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani followed Saudi Arabia’s policies. This former Emir did not develop relations with Iran, Iraq (after its invasion of Kuwait), or Israel. |
In 1995, however, Emir Hamd al-Thani was overthrown in a bloodless coup by his son Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who sought to rebuild the Qatari-Iraqi relationship, share an oil field with Iran, and develop a gas trade deal with Israel. Furthermore, the new emir intended to promote Qatar’s democratic policies, wo... |
Saudi Arabia recognized Qatar’s independent ambitions and intended to quell them. So, in 1996, Saudi Arabia covertly led a failed counter-coup in Qatar to return the former emir, who was then living in exile in the UAE. Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani heard word of this attempted coup and stopped it with alacrity. |
Within a few years of his reign, Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani took Qatar from a satellite state to a regional economic powerhouse. For example, in 1990, Qatar’s GDP was below $10 billion, while by 2007 it had reached an outstanding $100 billion (and by 2014 $200 billion). The main reason for Qatar’s GPD incre... |
Al Jazeera became known as the outlet for independent voices throughout the Middle East, and frequently Al Jazeera was critical of leaders in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan (while being quiet about the Qatari regime). |
Al Jazeera also allowed airtime to perspectives from Islamist groups in Egypt and Palestine, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. It has provided and encouraged alternative opinions to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned media networks. As a result, Saudi Arabia was irritated by Al Jazeera’s persistent criticism and encour... |
Because Al Jazeera is unlike other Gulf media outlets and vocally criticizes Gulf regimes, Saudi Arabia has desired to shut it down. Saudi Arabia fears that critical coverage of its leaders would fuel domestic unrest, but Qatar refuses to close down Al Jazeera. |
Also, during the 1990s, Qatar was trying to develop a strong relationship with the United States, similar to the Saudi Arabia-U.S. relationship. At this time, the US established the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and one ostensible goal of the American troops was to protect Saudi oil from Saddam Hussein’s troo... |
As can be noted from above, Saudi Arabia’s current motives to pursue diplomatic cuts stem from Qatar’s motivation to be independent, which weakens Saudi Arabia’s influence in the region. As a result, Saudi Arabia has also pulled its coalition states (UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen) on board, who dislike Qatar for variou... |
Both Turkey and Qatar supported Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood and opposed the coup in Egypt. |
Both nations support the Syrian rebels in Syria against the al-Assad regime. |
Both nations support the Islamist groups opposed to the internationally recognized government in Libya, while the United Arab Emirates and Egypt support the officially recognized government. |
The Turkish-Qatari relationship has seemed to threaten Saudi Arabia’s influence by bringing another major power into the region. |
Likewise, Qatar’s relationship with Iran has also immensely developed. On May 22, 2017, Qatari leader al-Thani called Iranian President Rouhani to congratulate him on his election victory (which was insulting to other Saudi coalition states). Additionally, Iran and Qatar’s close relationship is primarily economically b... |
Since 2005, Qatar has developed this gas reserve, known as North Dome (on the Qatar side), and Iran has worked to develop South Pars (on the Iran side), but it has not been as fortunate as Qatar in its gas developments. For this reason, in 2013 Qatar publically stated that they would collaborate with Iran to develop So... |
With these new alliances developing, it is no surprise that once the Saudi coalition cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, Iran and Turkey sent food to replace the Saudi coalition’s former imports. By June 11, Iran had sent five cargo planes carrying a combined total of 90 tons of fruits and vegetables to Qatar, and “th... |
Since the beginning of the 2017 Qatar Diplomatic Crisis, Qatar has had a large slump in its imported goods because the majority these products originate from the Saudi coalition states, whereas Qatar’s exports have not had a significant decline. Fortunately for Qatar, the cuts by the Saudi coalition did not affect thei... |
Between 2010 and 2015, Qatar imported an average of $26 billion worth of products per year and exported an average of $106 billion worth of products per year. Of these exports, the majority were petroleum gas (55%), crude petrol (22%), and refined petrol (9%), which in aggregate is nearly 90% of their exports. |
With respect to Qatari imports, the trade cuts have taken their toll on the economy. Since May 2017, imports have been deeply affected such that in May imports fell by 38% and in June by 40%, according to the Financial Times. |
Because Qatar does not receive imports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, and Yemen anymore, six essential product categories have been less common: metals, mineral products, animal products, vegetable products, chemical products, and machine products. |
Nevertheless, Qatar has the ability to increase its imports with other regional states, especially Iran. If Qatar increases trade with Iran, Turkey, Oman, and China, it can replace the embargo states’ former exports to Qatar. So what products has Qatar lost from the Saudi coalition, and where can it otherwise import th... |
Of metal products, Qatar has lost an average of $214 million worth from Saudi Arabia, including $41 million from Cast Iron Pipes and Iron Structures. Additionally, before the crisis, the United Arab Emirates was supplying Qatar with $510 million worth, including $108 million from Cooper Wire, $52 million from Hot-Rolle... |
In metals alone this is over $750 billion and two countries have the capability of replacing these lost products: Iran and Turkey. As of 2015, Iran exported $1.43 billon worth of metals. Most of Iran’s metal products being sold consist of iron products and 20% of the sold metal products are cooper. Additionally, as of ... |
Of mineral products, Qatar has lost $390 million worth of product from the United Arab Emirates; of this $390 million, this includes $62 million of Refined Petroleum and $298 million of Gravel and Crushed Stone. Also, before the crisis, Bahrain supplied Qatar with $91 million worth of Petrol Coke, Iron Ore, and Pitch C... |
Of Mineral Products this is nearly $500 million worth of products that Qatar is missing, yet Iran and Oman can alleviate this burden. Iran exports Petrol Coke, Iron Ore, Pitch Coke, and Refined Petroleum, while Oman is one of the top five sellers of Gravel and Crushed Stone in Asia. |
Of animal products, Qatar has lost $299 million from Saudi Arabia. This $299 million includes $79 million of Fermented Milk and $78 million of Other Animals (pets, insects, and zoo animals). |
However, Turkey and Oman can easily replace these products. As of 2015, Turkey was one of the top five sellers of Fermented Milk to Asia, while Oman was the number one exporter of Other Animals in Asia. |
Qatar has lost $30 million in Fruits and Vegetables from Saudi Arabia, $65 million worth of Fruits and Vegetables from the United Arab Emirates, and $17 million of Fruits and Vegetables from Egypt. |
Yet, as of 2015, Iran exported around $600 million worth of Fruits and Vegetables and year, so they have an opportunity to substitute for Qatar’s lost vegetable products. |
Qatar has lost $192 million worth of chemical products from Saudi Arabia; this amount consists of $41 million of Cleaning Products. Nonetheless, Turkey has the opportunity to replace Qatar’s loses because it is one of the top five sellers of Cleaning Products in Asia as of 2015 data. |
As for machine products, Qatar has lost $163 million from Saudi Arabia and $315 million from the United Arab Emirates. This $163 million and $317 million consists of Insulated Wire. Fortunate for Qatar, China (a strong trade partner of Qatar) is the number one seller of Insulated Wire in the world as of 2015. |
Over the last five years, Qatar has imported an average of $69 million worth of goods from Iran. The 2017 Diplomatic Crisis creates opportunity for Iran and other regional states to replace the Saudi coalition states as Qatar’s supplier. Likewise, other states such as Turkey, Oman, and China can benefit from this predi... |
It seems that, contrary to the Saud regime’s intent to force Qatar to behave as a satellite state, Qatar is turning toward Iran and new trade partners, which will solidify Qatar as a regional power in its own right. |
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Lambert, Jennifer. “Political Reform in Qatar: Participation, Legitimacy and Security.” Middle East Policy Council. Accessed October 12, 2017. http://mepc.org/political-reform-qatar-participation-legitimacy-and-security. |
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Ulrichsen, Kristian Coates. “Qatar: The Gulf’s Problem Child.” The Atlantic. June 05, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/qatar-gcc-saudi-arabia-yemen-bahrain/529227/. |
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Soghom, Mardo. “The Economic Incentive Behind Qatar’s Iran Ties.” Radio Farda. June 06, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-qatar–relations-economic-gas-fields-south-pars/28529537.html. |
Rahim, Taufiq. “Another Coup for the Outgoing Emir of Qatar.” The Huffington Post. June 27, 2013. Accessed October 12, 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taufiq-rahim/another-coup-for-the-outg_b_3497895.html. |
Erickson, Amanda. “Analysis | Why Saudi Arabia hates Al Jazeera so much.” The Washington Post. June 23, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/06/23/why-saudi-arabia-hates-al-jazeera-so-much/?utm_term=.00895bb0f2a8. |
The World Staff. “Al Jazeera responds to demands that it be shut down.” Public Radio International. June 26, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-06-26/al-jazeera-responds-demands-it-be-shut-down. |
Otterman, Sharon. “SAUDI ARABIA: Withdrawl of U.S. Forces.” Council on Foreign Relations. February 7, 2005. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/saudi-arabia-withdrawl-us-forces. |
Carlstrom, Gregg. “Why Egypt Hates Al Jazeera.” Foreign Policy. February 19, 2014. Accessed October 12, 2017. http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/02/19/why-egypt-hates-al-jazeera/. |
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Chick, Kristen. “Saudi troops arrive in Bahrain as protests escalate.” The Christian Science Monitor. March 14, 2011. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0314/Saudi-troops-arrive-in-Bahrain-as-protests-escalate. |
Trager, Eric. “The Muslim Brotherhood Is the Root of the Qatar Crisis.” The Atlantic. July 02, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/07/muslim-brotherhood-qatar/532380/. |
Reuters Staff. “Yemen cuts diplomatic ties with Qatar: state news agency.” Reuters. June 05, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-qatar-yemen-idUSKBN18W0RS. |
Anadolu Agency. “Turkey, Qatar agree to form cooperation council.” Anadolu Agency. January 20, 2015. Accessed October 12, 2017. http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/turkey-qatar-agree-to-form-cooperation-council/82341. |
Schanzer, Jonathan. “Turkey’s Secret Proxy War in Libya?” The National Interest. March 17, 2017. Accessed October 12, 2017. http://nationalinterest.org/feature/turkeys-secret-proxy-war-libya-12430. |
Murdock, Heather. “Turkey Opens First Mideast Military Base in Qatar.” VOA. May 11, 2016. Accessed October 12, 2017. https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-opens-first-middle-east-military-base-in-qatar/3323653.html. |
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Qatar’s lost imports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Yemen are each individually averaged between 2010-2015. |
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Jordan Abu-Sirriya graduated from Northern State University in 2016. During his time at NSU, he interned at the White House and studied abroad in Amman, Jordan. Recently, he completed a English Teaching Assistant Fulbright Scholarship in Bahrain, and he intends to pursue a graduate degree in international relations in ... |
First, I will say in my defense that I do not assume and have never assumed that all academics who study games are the same. And I will try not to use our conversation again as an occasion to publicly lick a small wound. I should probably confess that, reading your response, I realize I may have projected onto you (the... |
Now, as to games qua games. Yes, when I said “serious writing about games” I meant “serious writing about video games.” Here we are probably at a real impasse. Not that I don’t respect your interpretation of video games falling squarely into the wider tradition of games, because obviously they do. But that is, to me, o... |
I do feel that video games are different from analog games—at least for me they are. For one thing, my experiences playing, say, Risk or Axis and Allies do not flicker in my consciousness long after the pieces are back in the box. It’s the intellectual and emotional potency of the video game experience that most separa... |
Let’s get to the interesting part, and maybe the terrifying part, because to be perfectly honest I have no idea what tradition my writing about video games falls into. One of the reasons I started writing about games was that I wasn’t finding the kind of stuff I wanted to read. My models in writing about games are, for... |
As for how game narratives differ from the kinds of narratives we’ve become accustomed to, well, a recent game-writing gig required me to investigate how open-world games go about arranging and designing a quest structure. I needed to learn how to create a somewhat sequential but mostly open narrative able to accommoda... |
As a fiction writer used to, I guess, analog literary experiences, the experience of working some of this stuff out revitalized my faith in what makes video games—at least, those that attempt to tell stories—so interesting and exciting. And nothing about it seemed to me ludological at all. It seemed, and seems, like an... |
I’ve gone on too long. So I’ll ask you a question: Does video game storytelling interest you at all? If so, how? |
Friends and former teammates of Padres legend Tony Gwynn are coming together to pay tribute to the hall of famer be unveiling a new statue in Poway next month. |
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Friends and former teammates of Padres legend Tony Gwynn are coming together to pay tribute to the hall of famer be unveiling a new statue in Poway next month. |
"It just seemed like the perfect place to have a statue that remembers the whole man, not just the baseball player" said Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. "He has been there for the community of Poway donating stuff when the athletics community needed it. Shoes for kids and stuff like that, Tony was there." |
The new statue will be unveiled in Poway during "Music and Memories Honoring a Hometown Hero" on Friday April 1st at 8 pm at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. |
"Shawn Merryman from the Chargers is going to come and talk about the Tony he knew. Tim Flannery, former teammate and now recording artist and very talented guy, is going to be there to sing and tell stories," said Vaus. |
Tony Gwynn memorabilia will also be going up for auction during April's event. |
"This is the place to come if you are a collector and you want something special of Tony Gwynn," said Vaus. "We just hope to see the community out there. We know a lot of people loved Tony and this is going to be a great way to come out and appreciate him even more." |
All ticket sales from the event will go towards paying for the statue. |
Click here for tickets and to learn more about "Music and Memories Honoring a Hometown Hero." |
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