40 cross-dressing tourists arrested

Gulf News has the story.

Related items:

Public decency in the UAE

Dubai police chief urges residents to respect sensitivities in public

Decency chokes under skimpy outfits

79 people arrested for indecency at Dubai beaches

UAE law against indecency in public

Expat woman caught on beach fired from work

Expatriate faces jail for lewd car sticker

A bad position to be in

The Telegraph:

The 30-year-old is thought to have been charged with having sex outside marriage - considered an offence in Dubai - as well as indecent behaviour in public, being drunk in public, and assaulting a police officer.
...
When the pair were allegedly found having sex by a policeman, he is said to have let them off with a caution. However, later, after the couple were discovered in the same position, they were arrested, and Miss Palmer is said to have become aggressive.

Kipp Report has many more details.

No toys for you this Eid!

Security at the Dubai Airport are expected to keep a close watch over imported sausages from now on as staff at a German butcher's shop were shocked to discover a customer had hidden two sex toys in their sausages for transport to Dubai, police said Wednesday.

However, a very sharp spokesman for police in the southwestern city of Mannheim suggests:

"He could have used a loaf of bread. It's not against the law here. But obviously I can't speculate on what customs in Dubai will have to say about it."

Dubai and American Empire

I think most of us are aware of the different roles Dubai plays in U.S. empire building (Halliburton just being one example). One of the things I am curious about is if people perceive transformations in Dubai with an increasing American presence there.

The other day I was offered a job in Afghanistan, which I politely refused (though the double salary was a bit tempting). One of the arrangements was that after every two months they would fly one to Dubai for a week of R & R. While the U.S. military is mostly taken to bases in Qatar for their R & R from Iraq, the 100s of thousands of contractors seem to prefer Dubai. And, as they are all male, we can imagine what many of them are doing. Bangkok, Seoul, and Okinawa being classic examples of how U.S. military transforms economic opportunities for young women. Of course, the same is true for U.S. military cities, such as Fayetteville, North Carolina, near where I currently live. There is a fascinating book on Fayetteville called Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century.

When I was in Dubai several long-time residents pointed out how it was when the Russians started coming that the "quality" of the place changed and the presence of prostitution and other "questionable activities" moved from the back door to the front. Does one see or sense any qualitative transformation in Dubai with the increased presence of American empire builders? Or are they just absorbed into the already existent structures of sleaze?

The sleazier side of Dubai

I know this exists - as a matter of fact - it used to be a favourite "special night out" thing to do by the guys from my Rugby Club - way back when. But sleazy then is not half as sleazy as now! Oh no - its a lot more blatant these days!!

But there were some things that were just heard of but not seen or overtly spoken of at least. But in the last couple of weeks I have realised that this side is very much making its presence felt and not doing much to disguise it either. I don't care what people do as long as it does not effect me. But how is it that free thinking sites like Secret Dubai get blocked and Facebook gets threatened and there are other sleazy sites that blatantly flaunt sex that are still going strong!

Would the TRA like to explain, please?

Take it to the next level

American Enterprise Institute:

Newsstands carry the slick English-language magazine Arabian Woman, modeled after American glamor magazines. (There is also Arabian Man.) Much less flesh is displayed, and the whole is far less steamy than its American equivalents, but the subject matter is the same. Although published in Dubai, a more liberal place, the magazine is sold and advertised freely in Saudi Arabia. One issue, featuring a "regional report" on the decline of pre-marital virginity, contained this passage:

As teenagers enter into high school, many of them find it difficult to preserve their chastity. Remaining a virgin until marriage is neither an easy nor common choice in schools or colleges in this region. Deena, a 16-year-old Yemeni student in Sharjah, UAE (United Arab Emirates), shared her first sexual experience . . . "One night, when I met Ali at our regular building terrace, he began joking about taking our physical relationship to the next level. At first I was nervous and embarrassed. I mean, although I had discussed oral sex with my friends before, I didn't really know that much about it. But almost everyone in school was having a physical relationship with their partners. So it didn't seem wrong. . . . Immediately I regretted doing it, but when I got to school most kids were pretty supportive and said that everyone did it. At least I hadn't lost my virginity."

No doubt this portrait, assuming it is accurate or representative, depicts life in one or more of Saudi Arabia's more permissive neighboring countries. Still, Saudis who read it were not learning about the infidel West but about their Muslim Arab cousins. The impact is not difficult to imagine.

As for homosexuality, although same-sex acts can be punished by death, a recent article in the Atlantic claims that homosexual behavior is in fact widespread in Saudi Arabia, but that it does not necessarily signify gay identity. Because contact with the opposite sex--especially in private--is so difficult, people are more likely to have same-sex experiences.

Read the whole thing.

Sex ed debated in the classroom

Video is available over at uaestudents.blogspot here.

Let's (not) talk about sex

The Gulf News has a number of sex related articles in today's Nation section:

-STDS:

"Seven cases of gonorrhoea and 24 of syphilis, both bacterial infections that spread through sexual contact, were reported to the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms) for the whole of last year, which doctors doubt reflects reality."

-Step daughters whipped:

Ajman: The Federal Supreme Court upheld the stoning death sentence against a Pakistani man who was found guilty of having unlawful relations with his four stepdaughters, Gulf News has learnt.
...
The four girls were sentenced to 80 lashes each. Those sentences have already been carried out. They were charged with 'allowing' their stepfather to have sex with them. The girls reportedly gave birth to 11 children by the man.
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The women now aged between 21 and 26 told the judge their stepfather used to threaten them with a knife, forcing them to surrender to him.

Their Indian mother was earlier married to an Emirati [my emphasis], but after his death 12 years ago, married the Pakistani resident.
...
According to a police officer, the family was arrested in Ajman when the younger daughter aged 15 was planning to marry an Emirati, but her stepfather refused. With the help of her fiance, she reported the case to police accusing her stepfather of incest and fathering children with her sisters, and that he also wanted to have sex with her.

- Pictures of "considered-beach-Romeos" to be printed in the paper

- Tom (29-year-old suspect, O.O., from Kyrgyzstan) inadvertently peeps into ladies dressing room?


My comments:

- STDs are underreported because the civil penalty for having STDs is so high (e.g., deportation if nonnational). Those penalties may in theory deter unsafe sex, but the danger is that people go untreated and spread STDs to others.

- How can girls in their teens be held liable for 'allowing' (scare quotes in the orginal article) their stepfather to have sex with? It is obvious they were raised in a highly abusive world created by their mother and step father. And what incentives does the sentence of whipping innocents create? Their sister may not have reported the abuse if she knew that consequence.

- I rather doubt the beach front "Romeos" will be dealt with if they have not been dealt with in the past. The fact that they've gotten away this 'til now influences my forecast.

Muslim and Muslima – The Fundamentalist Couple

Part 2 - About Sex Education in United Arab Emirates Schools and Else where

Recently, the couple had heard of children getting into illegal sexual activities at schools. They had also read about the growing concern to educate children about sex in various newspapers by people advocating Sex Education for students in UAE schools and other countries.

Their concern on the matter led to the following discussion. Read Further..........

Its Hard, Its Easy- It’s a state of mind

I was born Muslim, to Muslim parents. Growing up was easy, easier was falling for the worldly life. Longing for good clothes, nice car, and wasting money was part of life, alcohol and women were things of entertainment.

Without realizing where I was heading, I continued for years until it became a habit, things started going out of control, was cursing myself for the failure which came my way until I realized that I, myself was the reason for my self destruction. Read More.....

The evening drive (@) home :: Gulf News

Link:

Doctors warn that prolonged stress and other emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, can cause a host of problems, including decreasing intimacy.

There is no denying that sex is important to strengthen a couple's bond and keep the relationship going, says Dr Saoud Al Moulla, head of the psychiatric department at the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms). "Sex plays a large role in love. It's important from a psychological and biological standpoint,” he said.
...
When you keep stopping and starting, watching for someone to turn, to adjust for something and be alert [in traffic jams], it can be more exhausting than driving on a straight long road ,” he said.

In the long term, this can lead to problems in the bedroom, with men temporarily losing the ability to have or sustain an erection.

This condition is called psychogenic erectile dysfunction, according to Dr. Rosie King, a sexual health physician from Australia, who is attending the 3rd Pan-Arab Society for Sexual Medicine Congress in Dubai.

She said the Global Better Sex Survey, which she helped design, found that the ability to have an erection, and therefore sex, was very important to both men and women. "A tired man is not a sexy man. Being stuck in traffic saps people's energy," she added.

Another cost of traffic congestion. Bring on the tolls.

Cross-dressers and Sex in Schools

The Emirates Today have quite a set of articles. The English edition only has the "Hunt for cross-dressers". But the Arabic edition has a bit more than just that and talks about how to deal with "sex among children in schools", and it seems to focus more on same-sex activity. (On the front page and the sixth.)

Comments (mine and yours) I suppose should go for my post on my blog.