Trivia

Admittedly it's not much of a photo but I thought I should record the end of a saga:



Why do I bother with a photo of a parking bay?

I've posted a couple of times about an abandoned BMW, in fact the first post was a year ago when the car had already been abandoned for months.



It was in the parking bay in the first photo. It's gone at long last.

The end of another Dubai story.

Here we go again!

I've complained more than a few times in posts here about unbalanced over-the-top media stories about Dubai, both pro and anti.

A few years ago it was all 'The Miracle of Dubai' stuff. That was from journos flown in for a couple of days, put up in 5-star hotels, whisked around from one 5-star facility to another.

They returned the favour by hyperventilating about the place, with way over-the-top and often ludicrous articles.

It inevitably attracted an equally unbalanced reaction, the 'Dark Side of Dubai' stories, all about slave labour, chain gangs, fleeing expats and the city being reclaimed by the desert.

Now we've gone full circle with a new story in the UK Daily Telegraph from the 'Miracle of Dubai' folder.

Here's a sample:

What to do this morning? Hmmm. Let's head for the slopes and a black ski run and some tobogganing. Always an exciting, bracing way to start the day.

This afternoon? Shopping at the world's finest stores or a spot of sun-bathing and a swim with dolphins? Spoilt for choice.

Later on, some quad-bike racing and a 4x4 safari through scorching sand dunes stretching into the mists of time. Sounds good.

And what better way to end the perfect day than a candle-lit river cruise with as much wine as you can drink to compliment a gastronomic five-course feast after flying a sea-plane past the world's tallest building.

Unless, of course, you fancy a romantic, balmy, moonlit early hours walk along your private beachfront, dipping your toes in the Gulf of Arabia.

And there's the clue. Because where else in the world could you be but... Dubai.

And if you should ever see the slogan: "See Dubai Before You Die"...


Groan...

Stand by for the reaction pieces.




Read it and cringe.

From the FBI Scam Dept...

I thought I'd share this with you, its just turned up in my in-box:


FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535

UNITED STATES FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION & THE INTERNET CRIME COMPLAINT CENTER (IC3)

This is Agent Jeremy White of the FBI UK Division.

We are writing in respect of your recent E-mail Transaction with an unknown group,as their identity and intentions is still uncertain you are hereby advised to continue the transaction and forward all recent Mails and information to this office for proper verification of authenticity.

Note that providing false information could subject you to fine, imprisonment, or both. (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1001)

Rewards has been made available by the Organization for your time and cooperation.

View link below for list of wanted cyber criminals by the FBI see if you can identify any of them.

(Here they give a link but I've deleted it in case your curiosity gets the better of you).

Forward all correspondence to:

Agent Mark Stevens
Tel:+447045736450Fax:+44(0)8715039599
E-mail:mark-stevens@live.com

INTERNET CRIME COMPLAINT CENTER (IC3) UK.
(Director Jeremy White)



What do you reckon?

The FBI budget is under such pressure that they need to scam funds from us?

The FBI has been infiltrated by Nigerian scammers?

It's not from the FBI at all?


And do you think I should write back to them?

They are after all the INTERNET CRIME COMPLAINT CENTER and I could complain to them about their own e-mails.

Couldn't I?

Storm in a B cup

You'll have read by now about the classy British female tourist who stripped off down to her bikini and paraded around Dubai Mall.

It was in response to being told she was originally dressed too revealingly, breaking the mall rules.

The woman's clothes "were so short and revealing, close to a bikini. Such outfits are not permitted in shopping malls or family-oriented public areas," said Colonel Al Razouqi (Dubai CID)

"She was wearing very revealing clothes as it is, and decided to dress down further after she was approached" said a Dubai Mall official.

As usual there are different versions of events.

According to the UK Daily Mail which broke the story:

"Briton held for wearing a bikini in Dubai shopping mall after fight with Arabic woman.

...she was accosted by an Arabic woman...

The mall's security team then intervened and called the police, who arrested the British holidaymaker."

According to a mall spokesman and Dubai Police, reported in Gulf News:

"A group of Gulf national women recently tried to enforce a dress code morally acceptable to them by distributing leaflets to women they found to be dressed inappropriately, a Dubai Mall official said.

Colonel Dr Mohammad Nasser Al Razouqi, Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigations Department for Police Station Affairs, told Gulf News the incident was a "minor" argument in Dubai Mall.

"We called in both women to the police station to resolve the matter amicably. We didn't charge the Briton or open a case against her," he said."

So there we have it. A fight/accosted or a minor argument. Arrested or no charge/no case opened.

As always I love the revealing reader comments section of the Daily Mail story. You might well roll around with laughter at many of them, as I did. Like these:

"They can wear what they like in our country - why shouldn't the same courtesy be extended to us in their country?"

"Good for that British woman for making a stand."

"if we cant wear bikinis in their country why can they wear burkas in ours?"

She was, you'll remember, strutting around a city centre mall in a bikini.

I'll refrain (for once) from offering my opinion on the comments because I think I might devote a new post to the subject in the next day or two.

But I will say I have to agree with George, who said that on his trips to Dubai he'd noticed it had become Chav City.


Here's the version of events from the Daily Mail.

And here's the version from Gulf News.

Moron, crash, fire, death

Al Sufouh Road by Media City. I know it well, drive on it every day.

Speed limit is 80kph, routinely ignored because it's a straight, flat dual carriageway with three lanes each side.

Yesterday yet another moron in a 4X4 was speeding while approaching red traffic lights at which other vehicles had stopped.

Not only speeding, the moron was also obviously not paying attention. Slammed the brakes on, tyre burst...


Photo: Karen Dias Gulf News

Six vehicles in flames.

One innocent woman dead, three more innocents badly injured. Had brave people not pulled those involved, including children, from the burning wreckage the death toll would have been much worse.

The moron who caused the crash? Escaped with minor injuries.

We have many people unjustifiably in jail, for bouncing cheques for example. If anyone deserves a long jail term this moron does.


The story is in Gulf News and The National.

The Blackberry saga

Blackberries are big news.

Big news here and worldwide, because of the threatened ban on parts of the Blackberry service. I've just been listening to a piece about it on Sydney's ABC local radio station for example.

Most of what I've seen and heard in the international media seems to be just reporting the TRA's threatened action without comment. But the stories are attracting plenty of reaction and the internet's full of comment.

Two aspects of the comments are amusing me.

First is the shock that a government might want to eavesdrop on people's communications. Typical of a non-democratic dictatorship is the theme of many comments.

'Naive' doesn't begin to cover it.

I'm amazed at how many people are unaware that our communications are routinely monitored by governments, including the world's leading democracies. Never heard of Echelon?

The other amusing aspect to me is the claim that companies won't be able to operate if they can't use Blackberry - businesses are totally reliant on their BB, people are saying, and without it they can't carry on their business.

In reality only a small percentage of companies use the device; I wonder how they managed before it was introduced.

Of course, the same could apply to any new device - I wonder how companies were able to operate before e-mail, before fax, before telephones, before telegraph, before...

It reminds me of a situation back in Sydney when I worked for a hotel group.It was the bicentennial year, hotels were running full. Some regular card-carrying business guests were having trouble getting a room with us, so we suggested that the hotels ran a wait-list for regular guests who could then be allocated a room if a cancellation came in.

At a marketing meeting the reaction from a hotel was presented, that they couldn't create a wait-list because the (computer) system didn't have that function.

A colleague shook his head while he held up a pencil and writing pad.

Hot & dusty

There's a whole team of street cleaners in Dubai Marina, each with their own patch to keep clean and rubbish free.

I see this guy every morning with his broom and black plastic bag.

It's hot, it's dusty and like his colleagues he does the sensible thing and wraps up to keep the sun off and the dust out.



Cap with a large neck flap which he ties across his face, sunglasses, gloves...fully covered.

It's an interesting comparison - people, from hot sunny climates cover up to keep the sun off, people from colder climates wear as little as they can in the sun; shorts, singlets, flipflops being streetwear of choice it seems.

Trivia - these street cleaning guys are, according to the ID across their back, part of 'House Keeping'.