Understatement of the day: KT needs editing

A story on female criminals in today's Khaleej Times Online contains these quotes:

Interestingly, women under 25 committed most crimes in the emirate. . . .

Most of those convicted are young, under the age of 25, constituting 48 per cent of the total convictions, while those in the age group 26-40 constituted 36 per cent, and those above 40 constituted 16 per cent. . . .

Most crimes committed by women in the emirate of Fujairah happen to be done by those under 25.

Most crimes committed by women in the emirate of Fujairah happen to be done by those under 25. . . .

Most of those convicted are young, under the age of 25, constituting 48 per cent of the total convictions, while those in the age group 26-40 constituted 36 per cent, and those above 40 constituted 16 per cent. . . .

Did I point out that most of those convicted are young? Probably the earthquake stories saturated the editorial capacity at KT.

Understandably events like earthquakes tend to do that to are sorts of services that in ordinary times are relatively plentiful. Thus, I'm not sure what these folks are outraged about.* The resilience of the information system is in the Army of Davids called UAE bloggers posting on servers continents away. Yesterday links to reliable information on the earthquake were readily available here at the UAE community blog.

*Indeed, nowhere in KT today do I see an admission of denial service yesterday to UAE residents seeking information on the quake from KT online. I wonder how large the denial of service was. (Yes, Gulf News servers were also swamped. However, Etisilat ISP services seemed to be sufficient; it was just that newspapers' servers' capacity was reached.)

Earthquake links

Gulf News story here
Reuters news article here
Iran earthquake report here
UAE earthquake science (video) here
Google News (+earthquake +Iran) here

Click here to read Gulf News' latest, in case their server is still overloaded.

gulfnews.com: Tremor felt in Dubai

gulfnews.com: Tremor felt in Dubai: "Tremor felt in Dubai

Staff Report

Dubai:
There are unconfirmed reports that an earth tremor has hit the northern emirates.
These reports claim that the tremor was centred on a triangular area between Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ain and Dubai.
Some tall buildings and skyscrapers around Shaikh Zayed Road and Dubai Media City were evacuated.
UAE authorities are now attempting to ascertain from international sources whether there was any seismic activity in the region.
More follows..."

Did anyone feel the earthquake few minutes ago?

Cause i missed it!

Flickr Alternative

If you have been affected by the sudden blocking of Flickr, Picassa by google offers a good alternative.

Jacob

Gay newlyweds face penalties in Emirates

Gay newlyweds face penalties in Emirates :: Seattlepi

Read the whole thing. A few quotes:

More than two dozen gay Arab men - arrested at what police called a mass homosexual wedding - could face government-ordered hormone treatments, five years in jail and a lashing, authorities said Saturday.

The Interior Ministry said police raided a hotel chalet earlier this month and arrested 22 men from the Emirates as they celebrated the wedding ceremony, one of a string of recent group arrests of homosexuals here.

The men are likely to be tried under Muslim law on charges related to adultery and prostitution, said Interior Ministry spokesman Issam Azouri.
. . .
The Arabian peninsula, nevertheless, has a long tradition of openly homosexual wedding singers and dancers.
. . .
Police acting on a tip raided the hotel in Ghantout, a desert region on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway, and found a dozen men dressed as female brides and a dozen others in male Arab dress, apparently preparing for a ceremony that would join them as husbands and wives, Azouri said.
. . .
Last year, police made mass arrests at an apparent gay wedding in the conservative emirate of Sharjah and at the Khor Fakkan beach resort in Fujairah emirate, a police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Two dozen men arrested in Sharjah were given symbolic lashings - meant to humiliate, not inflict pain - and then released from jail, said prominent Emirati lawyer Abdul Hamid al-Kumaiti.

"There are so many others like these guys," al-Kumaiti said. "The police and rulers need to do more than just lash them and let them go."

Azouri described the arrests in Ghantout as a "delicate" matter made public for the first time - more than a week after the event - because the country's tribal leadership wants to demonstrate it will not tolerate open homosexuality.
. . .
The arrested men have been questioned by police and were undergoing psychological evaluations Saturday. Azouri said the Interior Ministry's department of social support would try to direct the men away from homosexual behavior - using methods including male hormone treatments, if the men are found to be deficient.

"Because they've put society at risk they will be given the necessary treatment, from male hormone injections to psychological therapies," he said. "It wasn't just a homosexual act. Now we're dealing with a kind of marriage. There was a ritual involved."
. . .
Azouri said authorities want to be seen to be taking action at a time when complaints of gay behavior were emerging from the country's schools and myriad shopping malls.

Most cases of homosexual behavior are taboo and violate Emirati laws based on Islamic sharia. Azouri suggested that other countries with laws based on religion, including Christianity and Judaism, would also ban gay behavior and marriage.

My religion is splitting over these issues.

Carlsberg Beer?

Today i thought I'd accompany some friends down to the Mall of the Emirates to have a peek at the new ski hall. The Dubai Ski Club (www.dubaiskiclub.com) was distributing the membership cards over there, together with their members' ski jackets. The back of the ski club jacket features a big logo of Carlsberg beer. As it seems, Carlsberg is a sponsor of theirs. They said: "Nothing wrong with advertising for Carlsberg Beer, it's just a sponsor". So I guess since they already place banners of Carlsberg on their website and now on the ski jackets, we can soon expect the ski hall to be plastered with Carlsberg advertising and handing out freebies to the kids? A Muslim asked the staff over there: "Do you expect the muslims to walk about with Beer advertising on their jackets?" The answer was simple: "If you don't like it, rip the Logo off". Where is this country heading to, I am speachless. I remember a few months ago there was a race at the Autodrome and there were Heineken banners placed all over the place that had to be removed later on.

A Gulf News blast from the past: October 27, 2000

Link: "He defended a man's right under Islam to divorce his wife without court action, and that if Islam had given women equal right to divorce, all men would have been divorced by now."

Perhaps the "all men would be divorced by now" is a reference to this world-wide phenomenon.

He is: "Dr Sheikh Ahmed Al Hadad, head of the Fatwa Committee in the Islamic Affairs Department."

continuation

i have decided to continue blogging after a tiny 12 hour break.

Camel jockey watch

Daily Times (Pakistan): "Sixty-four Pakistani boys used as camel jockeys were repatriated from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday evening. The boys, between three and 15 years old, were accompanied by two UAE government officials on a Gulf Airlines flight. . . . The children had been smuggled to the UAE and used as jockeys in the Gulf States’ camel racing industry. The latest batch took the total number of trafficked children repatriated from the UAE to 295. . . . Most of the boys are not very fluent in Urdu, though all can speak Arabic."

Kashar World News: '"The children used for modern day slavery as camel jockeys were forced to work up to 18 hours a day in the desert heat and fed three biscuits a day to keep their weight down." Fahad Burney, Vice Chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust said.

"The UAE leadership has given us their full support and has shown with their actions that they are ready and willing to help all those in need especially these children. They banned their use, arranged for their release, provided free accommodation, medical attention, food and clothes and now they are sending them back to their respected countries. For this we thank them." Fahad Burney stated.'

halt.

in light of some recent comments made about my blog, i have temporarily pulled the plug, all previous postings have been censored.

apparently:

its a girl, she pretty pissed, she called you "very stupid", apparently youve posted on other sites, and your a very large contributor to showing everyone how crappy the UAE is and how stupid arabs are

I certainly would hope people could read well enough to see what my blog was really about.
cut and pasted from an MSN convo with someone who translated it for me
i guess all my fears about education were correct.

until people learn how to read and stuff,
samuraisam

letters to the editor

[censored]

A life on the ocean wave

A heart-rending story in Emirates Today about low-lying islands disappearing beneath the waves...



Hmm...

Blog Bites biting away

In today's Emirates Today, we have:

Secret Dubai diary
The Desert Weasel
The Secret Blog of Arabia
Wordhead


Click here to see in full

Episode of alias filmed in dubai?

That's right, an episode of alias has been filmed in dubai.
Alias stars Jennifer Garner, and was created by JJ Abrams (creator of lost too).

This episode features a good 20 minutes solely of dubai, it's based at the racing tracks / grandstand.

ironically the TV show is usually about international terrorists, i wouldn't think that dubai would want this image....

and i don't think in the whole episode that "dubai" is actually said once.

and the lead actor manages to say "Sheek" rather than "sheikh"

interesting is no less than 5 seperate mentions of gambling, all of which are mentioned in dubai, at the race tracks. last time i was there, there were no places to place bets....
also interesting is this wonderful picture. an arab drinking wine.
bwahahaha