Over 15,000 medical “professional" Banned - Mostly Fake Certificates

Dr. Hussein Al-Firaiji, secretary general of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, said 15,202 people had been banned and that his organization had uncovered 1,093 fake medical certificates since November.

Al-Firaij said most of the forged certificates were from Southeast Asian countries and that the commission started scrutinizing certificates about 11 years ago. “Since then, we’ve been thoroughly checking papers. However, some government organizations and many private health establishments do not make it obligatory on their medical personnel to have their certificates attested by the commission,” he said.

Read more, Arabnews.com

12 Billions Saudi Riyals Spent by Six Millions Smokers in Saudi Arabia

Yes it is official: 6 Millions Smokers in Saudi Arabia and 12 Billions (not millions) worth of Cigarettes are burned every every year..

Six million cigarette smokers in Saudi Arabia spend SR12 billion each year and the number steadily grows, said Dr. Ashraf Abdul Gayoom Amir, consultant, Family Medicine and medical director at the International Medical Center. He warned that the size would likely increase to 10 million without proper education and counseling as to the bad effects of smoking.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010020662505

Expat Keep Your Job for Saudis Will Be Paid for Being Unemployed (1000/Monthly)

A new proposal brought by Shoura member Salem Al-Mari two years ago for monthly unemployment benefit of SR1,000 until such a time as work is found is going around the news this past few days. And the proposal is now in limbo.

Saad Mareq, who voted against the move, said the real problem was “not in who pays the unemployed, but instead in how to create jobs”, while Zain Al-Abedeen described unemployment in Saudi Arabia as “unemployment by choice”. “Many unemployed people refuse to take certain types of jobs,” Al-Abedeen said.

What this proposal means is that a Saudi who does not want to work will be paid a 1,000 monthly allowance. I say does not want to work quite literally because with all types of jobs in the expatriates hand, i smile at the logic that there are no jobs for Saudis. There is a glaring difference between unemployment by circumstances and unemployment by choice.

Another opposer to unemployment benefit, Abdulrahman Al-Yami, described the whole proposal as “skipping over the main problem.”

More like adding insult to injury :)

Source: SaudiGAzette

Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain

The story of “this monumental historical crime” is the subject of Matthew Carr’s new book, “Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain” (The New Press, 2009). Matthew Carr is a noted British writer, broadcaster and journalist. He is the author “The Infernal Machine: A History of Terrorism” (2007) and “My Father’s House” (1998).

Matthew Carr’s excellent book on the Moriscos should be widely read and studied. It is a haunting and original account of one of the most disturbing episodes of religious persecution in Spanish history. “Blood and Faith” will be a work of enduring significance. - SG

Read Full Review at SaudiGazzete, Click Here!