Asia
Valentine's Day becoming popular among youngsters
Valentine's Day or the 'Feast of Love' is celebrated all over the world including Kuwait. But it is not that visible in Kuwait and other Islamic countries due to its denouncement by many religious shaikhs. These shaikhs are against this celebration as they consider it a feast of non-Muslims, so Muslims should not imitate or join them in celebrations. Nevertheless Valentine's Day is celebrated in Kuwait by thousands of people, especially the younger generation. Many stores and shops are busy preparing for this celebration as well. The situation here though is much more tolerant than in other countries, like Saudi Arabia for instance.
In the KSA every year fatwas are issued by various religious shaikhs denouncing the Valentine's Day celebrations. They even ban the sale of red flowers and any gift items bearing hearts or symbolizing love. Several stores in and around Kuwait promote different sales promotions and offers for this occasion to cater to all tastes. Each age category necessitates special gift items in accordance to the age of the lovers. Teenagers seek cheaper gifts, suiting their budget, where mostly the choice is either a teddy bear or a red rose. Older people who can afford to buy more expensive gifts, such as jewellery or watches indulge in doing just that. Married couples buy useful household gifts, such as electronics that can be used at home.
Valentine's Day is considered a 'high season' where sales are concerned, for most gift shops, with red roses being the most widely sold gifts locally as well as internationally. "There are many occasions taking place yearlong, but Valentines Day is the best selling day in terms of sales for us. We prepare ourselves by stocking huge supplies of roses for this special day, especially the red roses. We even organize special wrapping designs adorned with hearts and mini teddy bears, as these are the most in demand," Rosy, a saleslady at a flower shop in Salmiya told the Kuwait Times. (More)
Princess Leia once said to Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin that the more they tighten their grips (on start systems) the more star systems will slip through their fingers. I think that neatly sums up the situation throughout the Middle East where Islamic religious figures seek to place a monopoly on religion and as such inspiring others to either abandon religion altogether or seek other spiritual guidance. This is why in “secular” communist China, there’s a large and growing Christian fellowship despite dictates from the central government that it should not be.
Also, this is not the first time I’ve seen people of other faiths and nationalities being attracted to events and holidays that are directly associated with other faiths, especially Christianity. People intrinsically want to be happy and many of the Christian holidays have been mostly boiled down to their most fun parts i.e. gift giving, decorating, cards, etc. It makes sense that the Kuwaiti people would want to celebrate Valentines Day as everyone likes to receive flowers and candy now and again.
Africa
Liberia: Debt Cancellation Overdue
Today Wednesday, Feb. 7th leading advocates for impoverished country debt cancellation will call on U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to "Have a Heart and Cancel Liberia's Debt." Advocates will deliver more than 10,000 Valentines with this message to Paulson, one week ahead of the Liberia Partners Forum, an international donors' conference in Washington. Advocates have also today released a report card assessing progress by the donor community in aiding Liberia's new president in her first year.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Africa's first female head of state, is working to overcome the devastation caused by two decades of dictatorship and a civil war. Much of Liberia's debts were incurred by the undemocratic regimes of dictators Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor between 1980 and 2003.
After one year in office, President Johnson-Sirleaf continues to face numerous challenges with 85% of the country's population unemployed and more than 75% of Liberians persisting on less than $1 per day. The country's massive debt burden severely restricts Liberia's capacity to combat poverty: the debt totals more than $3.5 billion. Liberia's annual budget is less than one fortieth of that amount, and interest continues to accumulate.
President George W. Bush recently named debt relief as our "best hope for lifting lives and eliminating poverty" in his State of the Union address. Debt relief campaigners are urging his administration to immediately and completely cancel Liberia's debt, rather than forcing the country to be tied up for years in the strings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank's debt relief program, which requires the country to pay off $1.5 billion in arrears, or interest and penalties accrued under the past brutal and undemocratic regimes of Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, prior to obtaining partial debt relief or full cancellation.
The Institute for Policy Studies, Jubilee USA Network, Friends of the Earth, Africa Action, Center for Democratic Empowerment (Liberia), and International Labor Rights Fund among others have collected these Valentines as part of an effort to draw attention to Liberia's debt crisis. These groups have today jointly released a report card assessing the impact of the donor community, especially the U.S., in the areas of development aid, debt cancellation, investment in workers' rights, environmental sustainability, and HIV prevention and care.
It’s all in the marketing. Sure this could have been handled with some dignity and mutual understanding but that would have resulted (and apparently has resulted) in Liberia, as well as other hopelessly debt ridden countries, never having its debt cancelled and thus be doomed to endless poverty and possible overrun by nefarious operators in illicit trade. On a personal note, I feel Johnson-Sirleaf and am empathetic to her plight as I know all too well how being in massive debt can affect your life.
On a more serious note, this would be one of those times where if “White” America and “White” Europe would like to show how far they’ve come in establishing positive attitudes toward the Africans, this would qualify as proof in the pudding that they are serious in letting Africa build itself up to joining us in the 21st Century.
Not everybody celebrates Valentines Day, wait to read the next story…
South America
In Bolivian Andes, brawling still has a place
For hundreds of years, the Indians of Bolivia's high plains have trekked to this town in early February. They dance, drink chicha, the fermented beverage made here from rye, and then fight one another until blood stains the dirt alleyways.
The ritual, called Tinku, a word that means "encounter" in both Aymara and Quechua, was once widespread throughout the Andean world, predating the arrival of the conquistadors. Anthropologists say it now tenuously exists just in this isolated pocket of Bolivia, seven hours southeast of La Paz by bus on a washboard dirt road.
To the chagrin of Roman Catholic priests who would like to see Tinku fade into the past, political officials here want it to survive.
"Tinku is a sublime, beautiful act," said Wilson Aráoz, the mayor of Sacaca and a leading official in the Popular Indigenous Movement, a party that is part of the coalition supporting Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president.
Emboldened by Morales's efforts to strengthen Bolivia's indigenous cultures, Aráoz's party is one of several political organizations pushing to preserve endangered traditions like Tinku.
"There's a predisposition in all of us to do Tinku," Aráoz said in an interview. "I believe that denying that impulse is harmful."
No one disputes that Tinku can be harmful, at least physically. The fighting, though ritualized through music and dance, is far from organized, less like boxing and more like street brawling.
Not everyone takes part. Men of roughly equal size and age square off against each other on the streets surrounding the plaza, though sometimes women also enter the fray. Some of the men wear leather helmets and gloves. But the fighting can also be bare- knuckle.
In one fight at a dirt intersection, two men in their 50s punched and kicked each other for about 10 minutes, their faces bloodied as a crowd cheered them on. By the time exhaustion overwhelmed them, both were still conscious, though in a trancelike state.
Bystanders sometimes step in to break up contests that become too lopsided. Aside from bruised faces and limbs, deaths sometimes occur.
No one died at the Tinku here this year, but blood certainly flowed. (More)
I know plenty of men (and some women) who give a choice between celebrating Valentine’s Day the traditional way or celebrating Tinku, would most likely prefer Tinku. Given the recent upswing in popularity for MMA, I’m surprised that the good people of Bolivia haven’t tried to export this custom here. Actually, when you include the ritualistic dance and music, it reminds me a lot of moshing before Pearl Jam, MTV and meatheads with backwards white college hats completely ruined it for me…but I’m not bitter about that ::::sheds a single tear::::
Now I realize that this is supposed to lean toward the more obscure countries and Canada, though a bit weird, is not obscure. However, if you had seen the next story you too would have broken that rule just so you could share this with the world…
North America
Valentines going to the dogs and cats
The American Pet Product Manufacturers Association estimates more than nine million animal owners will buy something special for their four-legged friends this Valentine’s Day. Even more striking, however, is the fact the greeting card industry expects people’s pets to return the favor.
Bringing bizarre new meaning to “puppy love,” leading card companies are selling Valentines written from the perspective of adoring pets. A card “written” by a dog for its owner, for instance, says ‘Meow’ on the front, with the inside text reading: “Thought I’d say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ in a foreign language.”
Another, this one coming from a cat, declares: “I’m never too busy to show you how much I love you!”
Because animals have as much use for money as toilet paper, it’s expected that owners will purchase the cards on their pets’ behalf.
“We know that our pets obviously love us and we take care of them, so the idea is that they’re going to want to recognize us on Valentine’s Day,” says Jennifer Kinnon, brand-marketing manager for Hallmark Canada.
Card offerings of this sort started appearing in Hallmark stores in 2001 as a response to the evolving relationship between people and their pets. A positive reaction to Mother’s Day and Christmas cards inspired them to offer a Valentine’s Day card in 2003, and then a complete series of “from the dog” and “from the cat” cards in 2007.
Similar efforts are being made at American Greetings, parent company of Canada’s Carlton Cards, where 20 different “from the pet” cards are being sold this Valentine’s season.
The Greeting Card Association doesn’t track sales of Valentines written from a pet’s point of view. But Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for the national trade organization, says they’ve noted a general increase in their popularity over the last five years.
A particularly memorable card from 2005 depicted a cat declaring: “Today, I thought about clawing you to pieces and feasting on the remains… But I didn’t. If that’s not love, what is?” (More)
I too have often thought of clawing up my loved ones and feasting on their remains…but enough about my life, the point here is that this is one of those “Pet Rock” phenomenon’s where its inherent silliness is superceded by the mere fact that as Westerners with disposable income and way too much time on our hands, we can indulge in fantasies like our pets know and/or care about human tokens of appreciation.
Why just the other day my wife and I threw both of our dogs a birthday party, complete with a 20 dollar birthday cake made for dogs (an oversized biscuit with icing on it that said, “Happy Birthday”). Do you think the dogs had any clue what was going? Of course not, all they knew is that instead of the usual dog food and table scraps they got for dinner, my wife made the fresh hamburgers for dinner and they got a snack that for once didn’t have some sort of doggy medicine in it. This nonsense was about us not them…and I think that sums up Valentines Day pretty well doesn’t it?
Europe
Church Opposes Valentines Day!
The Catholic Church decided to fight the consumer and hedonist philosophy of Valentine’s Day.
The “Glas Koncila”, a bulletin issued by the Church in Croatia, issued an article entitled “How to Enter a Church Marriage” in a bid to contest the consumerism of Valentine’s Day, Jutarnji list writes.
The Church is adamant in its convictions that young people should refrain from sexual relations before marriage.
“A person who is not capable of controlling their urges cannot be viewed as a mature person or is not capable of making life decisions”, Glas Koncila writes.
The Glas Koncila editor-in-chief, Ivan Miklenic, believes that young people in relationships often ‘use’ each other for sexual pleasure, which he holds is dual selfishness.
“People who cannot control their selfishness are not good candidates for wedlock”, Miklenic asserted.
It’s only a matter of time before Mirko Cro Cop is recruited to start kicking unmarried couples having sex, square in the mush. Remember what I said about the Islamists being too dictatorial with their religion thus driving their adherents away? Place that argument here.
And on a side note, I didn’t think I was going to find a good enough story in Europe but once again, I can always depend on the right combination of Google search queries to come up with comic gold.
Australia
No Valentines Day romance for many women
Valentine's Day is a time of romance, a chance for couples to smell the roses, for suitors to declare their undying love - and to say it with a gift.
That's what the marketers would like us to believe.
But according to a survey conducted by New Woman magazine, the majority of Australian women don't feel very romantic about Valentine's Day.
The survey of 2,000 women found that one in three dread it, while two-thirds admit to having spent February 14 alone without a romantic moment.
It also found that 41 per cent of those surveyed had pretended to forget Valentine's Day because their partner did not remember it.
Another half of the respondents thought it was tacky to be proposed to on the day, while two-thirds thought an anonymous gift or card was only suitable when you were in primary school.
NSW women were the biggest Valentine's Day cynics, with 33 per cent ignoring the day.
They were followed by Victorians (25 per cent), Queenslanders (17 per cent), South Australians (15 per cent) and West Australians (10 per cent).
Despite the ambivalence about the occasion, Valentine's Day can still be used to promote a message - and in the case of the Northern Territory, it's safe sex.
The NT government has pointed out that Valentine's Day is also National Condom Day and is encouraging Territory couples to remember that particular item at the height of their passion.
Not-for-profit health organization Marie Stopes International has gone further by encouraging men to have a vasectomy.
The procedure is safe, effective, and permanent, Marie Stopes Australian chief executive Suzanne Dvorak says, and something their partners will truly appreciate.
"A vasectomy is perhaps not as romantic as chocolate and roses, but not having to worry about contraception is a present many woman would appreciate," Ms Dvorak said.
Even more off-the-wall is a campaign to highlight the poor working conditions of Victorian cleaners.
The Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union is calling on workers to kiss a cleaner this Valentine's Day.
"Your cleaners need some love. Each night these forgotten workers slave away, unseen and unheard, keeping our offices clean and tidy," the union's state secretary Brian Daley said.
I think you can attribute a lot of this to misplaced romanticism and immaturity on the part of many ladies. The truth of the matter is that guys only participate in V-Day because it makes their significant other happy. The problem is that females seem to think that we’d have a reason to care about that holiday otherwise. Men will show appreciation when the muse strikes them and in many cases it will depend mostly on the behavior of said female. I think many of us resent the charade that February 14th presents and it comes out in a variety of passive-aggressive ways. By the same token, because women get disappointed that men don’t think exactly the way they do and feel the exact same way they do, the holiday for them has become a disappointment as well. Now some are shallow enough to take the gifts and be done with it but most women I believe want their men to share emotionally in the holiday as do and disappointment time after time that men just aren’t wired that way has resulted in the above statistics.
All I know is that radio show host after radio show host told me that a Vermont Teddy Bear would make my wife’s heart melt and as I found out yesterday, she’s not a big fan of stuffed animals, even the much ballyhooed VTB. Valentine’s Day…PHOOEY!
Antarctica
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!
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