Yemenis Protest-But They Stop At Noon

To go and chew qat.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for western governments?

Upset the slaves by all means, but in order to quell dissent, simply legalise a mild narcotic. Job done.

When I first visited Sana'a, I thought everyone was disfigured. They all had one cheek grossly distended. These poor, poor people, I thought. Is there nothing the doctors can do for this odd disfiguration? Then my driver told me that they weren't disfigured, they were chewing qat. He offered me a wad but I politely turned him down. I had him take me back to the hotel bar where I got pleasantly pissed on gin & tonic. I smoked like a chimney whilst listening to a Yemeni murder songs in nine different languages. My ears bled.

Qat, for the uninitiated, looks like this:

The lumpy face looks like this:

The whole story can be found here.

Here's a wee snippet~

"I'm going to the souk right now to buy qat. I'll have lunch, and then I'll chew qat with friends," said Ahmed Saleh, as he left an opposition protest. "In Yemen, people protest in the morning, but in the afternoon they go to chew qat."

Well Ahmed, you and your countrymen are going to have to make a decision: get some real protesting done or be stuck with the guy in the big palace. I've seen his house and like Ben Ali, like Mubarak, and like all other dictators, he ain't movin' until you guys get your act together.

Leave the qat alone for a couple of weeks and win your country back.

If the qat rules you absolutely, it doesn't matter what the boss is doing, does it?

CR.