One thing I've noticed over here is the increased police presence. I think there are more per capita then back home, though I don't know for sure. One thing I have noticed is that they have these little posts everywhere. Really just a small (like 2x2) one room shack with a chair, a counter and an AC unit. And they man them and look around, usually looking quite bored. Also, the vehicles they use around here rock. They have big LandRover SUV's and Dodge Chargers for cruisers. Some of the LandRovers have metal grills over all the windows, so thats kinda weird to see. I'm sure quite what this all means to me. Is it more of a police state then back home? I don't think so, because apparently if theres a fight or whatever, they just stand back and watch and don't call for backup, they just kinda let it happen. So perhaps they only care if certain things happen. They really don't care what happens on the road, shoot if a fire truck\ambulance\police car is driving along with its lights flashing, no one gets out of the way. Speeding is worse then back home, and running of red lights... cutting others off.... tailgating... driving is interesting around here. So lots of cops... not quite sure what they are doing. I'm really going to have to observe this more and see what I can't figure out, because it is starting to intrigue me. Are they there more to make sure that there are no challenges to the king? Are they there to mostly protect the citizens of Bahrain (who are in the minority from what I have figured, and which also means, protect the arabs, cause I think this nation caters to saudi pretty good)... or what they deal is. This is certainly far from the idea back home where the police are there to uphold the laws in all cases and without prejudice (although that isn't always done in practice, but we're closer to it). Again the question is raised, is this wrong or different? I think that the idea of equality of all and that the police should protect all is a pretty good idea and that this nation should move towards that, but again, I'm not the king so I can't make it happen.
p.s. did I mention they pretty well all carry around sub-machine guns? true story
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