Kuwait Not Banning DSLR Cameras After All 63
Voulnet writes "The Kuwait Times, the newspaper that started the false rumor of Kuwait banning DSLR cameras, has posted an update saying that after investigation, it turned out they didn't verify their information. They have now issued a retraction. Quoting: 'The newspaper regrets failing to verify the information. The article wrongly stated that a ban on DSLR cameras was implemented by the Ministries of Information, Social Affairs and Finance. This information is false. In a follow up investigation, it was proved that no such ban has been issued. We regret this error and deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused.'"
There's no official ban (Score:1)
However, it'd probably be unofficially enforced.
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I guess it was a case of 'vorauseilender Gehorsam"
'speeding ahead obediance' would be a litteral translation, meaning giving in to pressure, before the pressure even occurs.
Who gets to profit? (Score:2)
If there's a rumor, it has started somewhere.
Who profits from such a rumor? My bet would be on some consumer products retailer who is worried that too many people in Kuwait are buying DSLR cameras instead of the cameras he has in stock.
Kuwaitis are rich enough to buy more sophisticated products than they really need and Kuwait is a small country where rumors spread fast, so this could be some kind of marketing effort.
Backup career (Score:4, Funny)
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They could work for almost any newspaper or broadcaster. Fact checking is something journalists used to do, these days its regarded as a waste of money that might spoil a good story.
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Fact checking is something journalists used to do, these days its regarded as a waste of money that might spoil a good story.
Actually, that's pretty much the way it's always been. Yes, you can point out a few publications from various times that did fact checking. But at any given time, most of them didn't bother. Fact checking was a waste of time that could be better spent producing more stories for the customers to read. Ya gotta have lots of that sorta stuff to pad out the ads, after all.
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Anger-laden post aside, he's right. Unless it's a huge fuck-up (and Todd doesn't pick up his phone [blogspot.com]), you'll never see a retraction on the front page or anywhere easily noticeable.
All Lies (Score:3, Interesting)
And how much of the rest of the Kuwait Times' stories are also total bullshit that they just printed without spending a dime to see if it was true, or even plausible?
How much of the rest of the "news"? What an incredible racket to have a business that peddles lies every day, without consequences.
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How much of the rest of the "news"? What an incredible racket to have a business that peddles lies every day, without consequences.
Didn't some newspaper editor once say, "If a dog bites a man, that is not news. If a man bites a dog, that is news. If a man doesn't bite a dog . . . invent a story which says he did."
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What an incredible racket to have a business that peddles lies every day, without consequences.
Yeah, the folks at The Onion [theonion.com] seem to be doing a pretty good job. Maybe the other "news" organizations are simply watching their success, and following in their footsteps.
And note that The Onion has a long-standing policy of never admitting that they publish parody and satire. They do so despite (or maybe because of) the fact that their stories frequently get quoted as fact.
For that matter, during the last couple of US elections, surveys repeatedly reported that the best-informed voters were those who watc
Well they were never banning them _NOW_ (Score:2)
My first thought was that the ban was real, but _NOW_ it was never real. Once the ban got out and people noticed the dumb, then mouthpiece-of-the-government newspaper of record "discovers" that they didn't do their research and no such ban was ever planned.
"I must find out where my people are going, so I can run out that way and lead them".
I would put $10 on the ban having been originally real, but once everything we discussed about it here was discussed about it _everywhere_ someone noticed that it would b
You do realise... (Score:1)
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You have *no* idea what you are talking about.
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I hope you enjoy your well-earned lulz, good sir troll. Next time pick something less obvious.
Hmmm ... I'd sorta assumed that the anonymous "troll" was a professional photographer making an unsubtle joke.
Apparently it was too subtle for some of the readers here.
I just got a new Canon t2i. It's one of the best cameras I've ever used, and is far easier to use than any point-and-shoot that I've ever seen. Well, except for the usual problem with digitals, that the complex UI sometimes does things very different than what I expected or wanted, and I have to figure out how to back it out of whatever myst
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Journalists often are spies (Score:5, Interesting)
It was interesting that journalists were exempted from the now retracted "ban". Traditionally spooks have used journalism as a cover for their real job. Who else can go snooping around, asking politicians difficult questions? The infamous British spy, Kim Philby ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Philby [wikipedia.org] ) worked for The Economist while stationed in the Middle East. Oh, but he was actually working for the Soviet Union. There must be a "in Soviet Russia, The Economist reporter works for you!" joke in there somewhere.
Other good covers for "legal" spooks are in embassies. With some silly title like "Under Secretary for Cultural Exchange." A retired spook once commented, "If you want to find a spy, look for someone in the embassy who is much too clever for his job." The office for issuing visas is another good place. Before 9/11, a colleague of mine needed to travel on business to the US. Even though there were no restrictions for his nationality, he went to the US embassy, and applied for a visa anyway. He told me that he was surprised how tough the officer grilled him: "You do not need a visa any more, so why are you applying for one?"
I laughed my ass off, and then told him that the "embassy official" probably reported to Langley.
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It's called "official cover".. those are the spies you send to tell the spies in the other country that you have spies there.
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Oh, and 34" rims.
Is the DHS going to take the Kuwait Times domain? (Score:1)
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Department of Logic (Score:3, Insightful)
Rumors can be false or true. The term "rumors" itself does not specify (or even imply) one or the other, so "false rumors" is not redundant.
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You’re both missing it. It’s a dictatorship.
Last month they had always been at war with eastasia and DSLR cameras were being banned.
Today they’ve always been at war with eurasia and they deny that they ever banned DSLR cameras.
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You’re both missing it. It’s a dictatorship.
Actually, Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy. As an expatriate both living and working in Kuwait, I can assure you it is NOTHING like a dictatorship.
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As an expatriate both living and working in Kuwait, I can assure you it is NOTHING like a dictatorship.
As an outside observer living elsewhere in the world, you could’ve fooled me. Did, actually.
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My observation skills told me that a month ago, Kuwait was banning DSLR cameras, and now they claim they never did any such thing. Not my problem if Kuwait can’t get their story straight.
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The Head of State (Emir) is the supreme commander of the State, controlling the executive branch though his ministers. ... The Emir of Kuwait is immune and inviolable: any criticism against him is not tolerated and punishable by law. He can dissolve the National Assembly and call a national election, or in cases of national emergency can dismiss the National Assembly outright and assume supreme authority over the country.
... There have been several conflicts between the Emir, the government and the National Assembly over various policies. The National Assembly was suspended from 1976 to 1981, from 1986 to 1991 and from May 1999 to July 1999... The Assembly was dissolved again in May 2009 by the Emir leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheik Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the rest of the Cabinet.
That’s not a constitutional monarchy, it’s a dictatorship... and, when he’s feeling particularly benevolent, the Emir lets you pretend you’re a constitutional monarchy.
I’m glad you enjoy your make-believe constitutional monarchy.
Fun to watch on slashdot (Score:2)
Cue thousands of people who stood screaming on a soapbox before to ... mumble something before scuttling off.
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1/10
Try harder next time, but I'll give you 1 point for effort.
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This is true. You can beat your wife no matter what color she is; you can stone someone to death (or hurl them of a cliff) regardless of color; and of course, you can believe in the great sky fairy no matter what color you are. Definitely no racism in Islam, nor Sharia law, nuh-uh. Islam is completely color-blind, just like it is blind to the equality of women, blind to why one should not intentionally target innocents in service o
Technically correct - it's not just DSLRs (Score:2)
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Two things:
Really? [flickr.com]. Kuwait doesn't seem do too well on the enforcement end of things.
Kuwait does not publish its laws, has no freedom of information - legally or culturally - and sees no problem at all with lying about what the law is. Like all police states, Kuwait would rather that everyone be guilty of something. Enforcement is completely arbitrary - visiting businessmen (better believe I mean 'men') taking snaps are unlikely to be hassled, unless you do something rash like film the slave labour conditions in their foreign-staffed construction sites.
You might just type a bit [infoprod.co.il] before you rant on... Yes, I am sure that Kuwait does all manner of nasty, underhanded things (rather like some other countries we mention from time to time) but your comments are uselessly hyperbolic.
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Don't you feel really sick inside when you deliberately twist all sorts of information just to show your hate to people who didn't do anything to you? What a low life.
Also, Kuwait publishes its laws, and every additions or modifications to it. In fact it has an official newspaper dedicated to doing just that. Kuwait a police state
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