Welcome to rascott.com
This is a
personal site that reflects my interests in news,
current affairs, aviation and travel.
email me:
robert@rascott.com
rascott.com
Home Page
Photo Albums
My photographs have been moved off this site and are now stored on Picasa. They
were simply taking up too much space on my web host.
Please use
this link to see my list of photo albums.
Some
Useful links:
Information:
World Time
Clock
Exchange Rates
Journalism:
ForeignPolicy
Nationsonline.org
Project Syndicate
Amnesty International
Reporters w/o borders
The Guardian
BBC World News
CNN Asia
Bangkok Post
Daylife.com - news
Gulf News
Arabian Business
World News
WSJ - Asia
SCMP
Good causes:
Sister
Joan - Bangkok
Regional Info:
BKK Magazine
HK Magazine
In
Singapore Magazine
TimeOut Dubai
Back in the UK:
Newton Ferrers
And for fun:
EarthCam
History
BBC Archive
National Media
Museum
The British Library
Imperial War Museum
There are many other links on my AOB blog page.
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An Occasional Blog
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Emirates Airline bloggers
TampaxTowers Thailand Blogs Bangkok Metblogs - city life Thai-blogs.com - rather serious
2bangkok.com
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not really a blog but always up to date on Bangkok news
BKKOK.com
Thai
Girl The exotic adventures of a literary
sexagenarian.
Thai
Films
dxbae
- picture blog
Al - Emarati
- English language UAE blog
Grumpy
Goat
Arabic affairs blogs
Hong Kong Blogs In China Danwei - media and advertising news from China
Shanghai
Diaries - self explanatory
My Olive Tree
- Macau blog In Singapore: Xiaxue - self-confessed mean, bitchy, sex goddess who says "wah" a lot!
Mr Brown
- colourful commentary from Singapore
In Canada:
Media:
Tabloid
Watch (UK) Aviation Amadeus (airline schedules) Airline meals - see it b4 you eat it !
Airliners
- aviation forum, trip reports and pix
archive Planenation - commercial aviation news Airchive - a web museum of commercial aviation.
CrankyFlier
- mainly US commentary
Sharjah - 1937
Johnny Jet News The Guardian - UK
Arabian
Business China sites Bangkok info sites Worthy Sites Niall Ferguson - my favorite modern historian
Rconversation - from Rebecca
MacKinnon, ex-TV reporter-turned-blogger. Golf Sites
Fun Sites
Penguin baseball Technology Ideas
Stuff -
gadgets The Rest
Black
Flamingo - recipes and life (no golf!)
Author
Robert Scott lives and works in Dubai; born in England I have since lived in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. I am very happily married to Tai.
If you want to know more you only need to ask! ask.
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31 December 2010 Last day of the year. Strange year. In many ways I am glad it is over. Need to get on with making things better in 2011. ********************* 30 December 2010 1 in 6 Britons alive today will live past their 100th birthday. Now that is an alarming thought. The social fabric of Britain and other western nations is still not ready for this. Pensions, retirement ages, nursing care; all will need a radical rethink. And quickly. ************************** ************************ Tour operators in Dubai have been forced to scrap a
string of New Year’s Eve parties after the emirate’s tourism body rolled
out new licensing laws for desert events featuring live music. I dont mind - it does not affect me. But these parties have been held for years. Why change the rules 7 days before the year end? Honestly - it is better that they make lots of noise in the desert rather than near my apartment or n my building! 28 December 2010 Immaculate conception .... Elton John has a baby son on Christmas day! ********************* In celebration - here is the Barmy Army web site. And better still - the Poms have won: From the Guardian OBO: "Twenty four years of hurt are washed away by Tim
Bresnan and Matt Prior. Hilfenhaus snicks one down the leg side and Prior
– whose keeping has been so good all series, especially to his left –
takes an acrobatic catch. The team charge straight into a big dumb group
hug, jumping deliriously up and down on the spot. Matt Prior, having
picked himself up after taking the catch, can't penetrate the huddle. He
decides not to ruin the moment by punching someone in the face and just
jumps up and down like a madman on the back of one of his teammates.
Wonderful stuff. England have retained the Ashes, and they have done so
with their biggest win over Australia since 1956. 26 December 2010 Time to pension off Mr Boycott: Boycott: "I can't see any way England are going to win this" @Aggersashes "we've only had 12 minutes .. how can you say that?" .... Boycott to @Aggersashes : "I'm supposed to know what I'm talking about - that's why I'm the expert and you're commentating" 25 December 2010 A very Merry Christmas to everyone except for the truly miserable and incompetent people who staff immigration at Gatwick's south terminal. 23 December 2010 Tai has to stop doing impersonations of yesterday's Prague tour guide. Though it has to be said she (the guide - not Tai !) did have an accent that sounded like she was from a bad, old Swedish porn movie! Not that I ever remember watching any of those! Prague is a very pretty city. Not sure I would want to live off Czech food though. 20 December 2010 The Thai PM revealed that politicians want reporters to have professionalism, ethics and morals in their work. Maybe he could suggest that politicians display the same in return. ************************* 19 December 2010 New to Thailand - SolarAir ************************* Me I am happy to be left alone by sales people until I want to ask them something or make a purchase. But some people need attention. Predictably the guy complaining was from a nation that seems to want to continually try to assert superiority over perceived smaller people. It was very sad to hear. So I interfered. Suggested that his accusations which were loudly made were unnecessary and not in the spirit of the season. And that maybe he was not ignored - it was just that he did not look like he needed attention and had not asked for help. 17 December 2010 Emirates is facing significant problems. The 'record'
profits are being used to sure up the crumbling economy. Much of it is
paying for or guaranteeing government debts on completed projects all
around Dubai. We can all see the incomplete road projects that have
stopped pending payment. 50 sub-contractors for example are owed money on
completed works at the airport alone. Some are owed hundreds of millions,
one over half a billion, and Emirates, the airline, is being used as a
guarantor. If they default another financial earthquake will follow. Just in time for Christmas in Hong Kong - Juno Mak's
psychosexual thriller “Revenge: A Love Story” is one of the most talked
about Hong Kong films in cinemas now. Strange - the rest of the world produces family friendly
holiday movies ! "WICKET! Ponting 12 c Collingwood b Anderson (Australia
17-2) He's gone. Ponting has gone, caught at third slip. Brilliantly
caught at third slip. And I mean brilliantly caught. By Paul Collingwood.
Of course. He didn't leap to his right so much as explode as though he had
trodden on a pin. He shot off the ground and plucked the ball from the air
as it whistled past his head. It was like the old bullet-catching trick
that the sideshow conjurers do. Australia are 17-2 and I'm too giddy to
type. It was a poor shot by Ponting, playing away from his body and
misjudging the bounce of the ball, but had it not been for that superb
piece of fielding he would have gotten away with it." Simply brilliant! 15 December 2010 Mark Zuckerberg is the Time magazine person of the year - in a much more interesting contest than for many years - why - ““Connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them. Facebook is now the third-largest country on earth, and probably holds more information than any government about its citizens." Top five TIME's person of the year..1. Mark Zuckerberg, 2. Tea Party, 3. Julian Assange, 4. Hamid Karzai, 5.The Chilean miners ******************** ************************ ************************* What we can also expect is a resurgence of the red
shirts. It will not be a surprise if we have to watch in horror similar
political riots and bloodletting as happened in April and May this year,
now that the red shirts see Abhisit as a wimp and at the mercy of the
military. And this in a newspaper that is notoriously pro the
existing government....the implication being that even the establishment
is assuming there is more violence to come. So far, WikiLeaks has published 1,344 of the quarter-million State Dept. cables now in the group's possession; Just another 248,000 plus to go! 13 December 2010 Doubt we will see this is the UAE media - but from twitter today : EK 602 missed the routine runway of KHI airport ,was starting descend at PAF base faisal 2 -3 KM away from KHI airport ,ATC did a good job and it went for go around and then landed back on routine runway. ************************* And then I played today - and made my pars - but the rest of my golf was horrible. And I felt and feel out of sorts. ************************** More on the cricket: Barmy Army Ashes. ***************************
10 December 2010 Welcome to the world: "China must be prepared for criticism and regard it as positive, as an opportunity for improvement" - Nobel chair Trouble is China has not realised that yet. And it has the economic clout to make the rest of the world dance to its tune. 9 December 2010 Latest on the Qantas 380 from Singapore - there is discussion in engineering circles that the damage to the main spar may be such that the aircraft may be a write off. Guess who is back in Dubai: this was a photoshoot for Vogue Korea. But the poor girl has a bad back and her golf is struggling.
7 December 2010 And England win the second test to go 1-0 up in the Ashes series in Australia. And it was a bit more than a win - it was a thrashing. *********************** ************************ ************************* ************************** ************************** ************************** 4 December 2010 FIFA's 22 strong executive rejected the English 2018 bid mainly because they were protective of their own after English media revelations of corruption within FIFA. Lets shoot the messenger rather than get our own house in order. Instead we will give the Olympics to two nations who have zero claim to press freedom and who will only print what they can. Investigative journalism in the UK is alive and well while in Russia it gets the journalist assassinated. Meanwhile the Press Freedom Index, which lists England at 19 in their carefully compiled rankings, has Russia at 140 and Qatar at 120. Sad. 3 December 2010 ************************ ************************* From the Daily Mirror: Fifa just awarded the 2022 World Cup to an oil-rich version of Bognor Regis. Do you really think they did that for football reasons? The Montreal Gazette: But the process of awarding the hosting rights to the World Cup is such an opaque, murky mess that it's precisely the environment in which corruption and bribery thrives. 1 December 2010 New Emirates cabin crew in Madrid showing where the emergency exits are:
****************************** ************************ ************************ Her management company has been accused of colluding with scalpers to drive up the price of what were already expensive tickets to absurd heights, as much as 5,000 yuan (S$977). According to a Fazhi Evening News article, the "scalper marketing strategy" hurt Wong's credibility as she didn't offer new material at the shows, went off-key and appeared panic-stricken at times. As such she stands accused of just cashing in, at a reported 6.5 million yuan a concert. |
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30 November 2010 Guess this was not in Economy ! From Graeme McDowell "DBX to LAX 17 hours. Got to be one of the longest non stops in the world??? Great flight though. #Emirates are a quality airline. Feel great." 29 November 2010 Honey tongued former PM Chuan Leekpai ended his summing up today expressing sympathy for the Constitution Court, which he called the country's "last resort" for justice and integrity. "This isn't meant to please the court, but let me express my sympathy for one of last remaining institutions that people can rely on," he said. Can be relied upon to avoid any decision. ************************** 4 of the other 5 washed their hands of the whole affair. **************************** ******************************* ***************************** Just amazing stuff from the Gabba in Brisbane. England
were 281 behind after the first innings and then: Wisden record books have been rewritten! 28 November 2010 Late night viewing in Bangkok is Wimbledon vs Stevenage in round 2 of the FA Cup. ******************************** ******************************** 25 November 2010 First day of the first test of the Ashes cricket series in Australia. This should be a great series between two evenly matched teams. Day One momentum is with the Aussies. And how they love it. Strauss goes third ball. And later this (from the Guardian): WICKET! England 197-7 (Broad LBW b Siddle 0) PETER
SIDDLE HAS TAKEN A HAT-TRICK! This is astonishing stuff. He speared a
superb swinging yorker onto the toe of Broad, who was trapped in front of
middle and leg. To add to the drama, Broad then decided to review the
decision - but that was plumb and replays confirmed it. This is utterly
astonishing: Peter Siddle, who many felt would not even play in this
match, has taken an Ashes hat-trick. This was a good toss to lose. Strauss won the toss and
had to bad first - but the ball has been swinging and seaming all day -
and the English bowlers would have enjoyed these conditions as much as the
Aussies have. ***************************** 24 November 2010 BBC Entertainment just introduced Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes by warning us that this show includes nudity - viewer discretion is advised - whoever thought that a dull cooking show could be that much fun ! ************************* Sounds rather unpleasant ! But a quick google on toilet paper origami will take you to this web site. Better still - you can buy the book. 22 November 2010 Update to the Twitter joke trial: Paul Chambers to take his appeal to the UK's high court. *********************** 20 November 2010 Krispy Kreme in Thailand gets Royal Approval:
The picture is Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at the Krispy Kreme store with the local franchisee Ausanee Mahagitsiri. *************************** 18 November 2010 I am still fighting a flu bug which does not want to go away... Though I did try to get some fresh air on Tuesday and played some golf at Al Hamra. Funny old game. My driver is usually decent - but I was really struggling with it - while my approach irons into the green were very good. Great control over direction and distance - and my putting was solid. But when the wheels come off on a hole they come off in style ! ***************************** "The question whether India can come up with a new Burma policy, worthy of its own traditions and values, as well as its legitimate interests, is a vital one for the future of Aung San Suu Kyi's beautiful, martyred land. It is also important for the shape of the post-western world. We talk all the time about China, but in India's policy towards its unhappy neighbour we shall glimpse the true face of Asia's other emerging great power." 16 November 2010 The Chief sporting correspondent of The Times of London,
Matt Dickinson, has written a scathing indictment of a would-be Qatari
World Cup. The real issue for The Times is that the World Cup is an event for real football fans. And real football fans would have a miserable world cup in a Qatari summer. On December 2nd FIFA will announce the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 world cups. The World Cup is always held in June and July and as the Times said "anyone with money, sense or opportunity flees Qatar in June and July. Or stays indoors…The heat makes the place unbearable, with temperatures at 50C (122F)…They say it is possible to overcome this furnace. Hundreds of thousands of fans can move from air-conditioned hotels via air-conditioned trains to air-conditioned stadiums. Relaxation will be found in air-conditioned shopping malls." How is a mall going to be fun for your average football fan who wants to be outside partying. Australia is one of the rivals for 2022. It is a great sporting nation and has all that fans need. Doha (which is the only town in Qatar) lacks just about everything, including the stadiums, the hotels, the fans and the climate. It would be good to see a Middle East world cup. But it
would need to be a winter event and either in a larger nation or shared
between nations (Korea and Japan in 2002 comes to mind) We went to the Dubai International Cricket Stadium today for the fourth day of the Pakistan vs South Africa test. The first ever test match to be played in this new stadium. It is a terrific stadium with great sightlines for all 25,000 seats. The trouble is there were only about 500 spectators. And it was a holiday in the UAE. The biggest pain is the stadium security; there must be as many security as spectators. Firstly there is the body pat down on entering the stadium. And the bag search. They took away my pen. My pen !! What kind of violent instrument is that? A poison pen? They leave anything they confiscate on a table at the entrance. As we left there were pens, nailclippers, combs. Of course, someone had already taken my pen ! Inside the stadium are the don't put your feet on the seat in front of you police. I would not mind this but no one had bothered to clean the seats in the weeks before the game so we were already sitting in a dustbowl. And the Pakistani crowd that was there were there to have a good time - to stand and cheer and chant - and rather bizarrely to wave around large cuddle toys ! Until the security guys told them to sit down ! Time to lighten up and let people enjoy their day out. And can I have my pen back please..... 12 November 2010 Another Brit has been sentenced to jail after giving an airport worker "the finger" in Dubai. The difference in this case is that the Mr. Anthony had
only just stepped off the airplane. A Dubai court heard he "cursed" the Muslim woman in
front of colleagues then thrust his middle finger in her face as he passed
through border controls. He was planning to stay in Dubai for six days after working for the UN in Asia. Looks like his stay may be rather longer. You have been warned ! 11 November 2010 Wow - this must be serious - QANTAS cancels A380 service until 25NOV10 ************************* 10 November 2010
Airbus released the photo above after the A380 participated in the Avex International Air Show at Sharm El Sheikh and undertook airport compatibility tests at Cairo's international airport. *********************************** ********************* The new 787 made an emergency landing at Laredo after reporting fire in the cabin. Will this delay the 787 programme and for how long? ********************* 9 November 2010 There are some depressingly selfish people in Executive Towers: Drilling at 11.30pm. *************************** Guess the four plane loads (some 2,000 passengers) a day heading from Dubai to BKK will need to find another way of keeping up to date on where to go and what to see. ************************* ************************ Bloomberg reports that - "Italian-Thai Development Pcl,
Thailand’s biggest construction company, signed an $8.6 billion contract
with Myanmar’s government to build a deep-sea port and industrial estate,
Vice President Anan Amarapala said. 7 November 2010 Election Day in Burma today - but Reuters reported that the main evening national news is over with no mention of the election. Main stories were on engineering projects, the opening of a library, and updates on a typhoon in the Bay of Bengal. The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the vote would go down in the annals of Myanmar's history: "By voting en masse, the election will meet with its success and we will reach the era we have expected. As the people are casting their votes with nationalistic fervour, they will soon be on the road to democracy." ************************* 5 November 2010 Only in Thailand: The Bangkok Post warns us today that "Two cabinet members disqualified this week from holding parliamentary seats are expected to seek re-election while still in office." Only in Thailand -2: Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai declared five districts as disaster zones affected by cold spell after temperatures dropped lower than 15 degrees Celsius for more than three days. Cool maybe; cold - not. 4 November 2010 Only in Dubai: An Emirati motorist racked up speeding
fines of AED42,000 ($11,437) in just one hour of driving on the Sheikh
Zayed Road, according to reports. Yeah, yeah ! And we all believe that one! Just out of curiosity are all Indian cars build without indicators? ******************************** 2 November 2010 Emirates Airline posted a profit just shy of $1 billion
for the first half of its financial year which runs from end of March
through September. Now I do have suspicions that Emirates accounting
policies may be "generous" compared to other listed carriers from Asia,
Europe and the USA. But that does not matter so much as long as Emirates
applies its accounting policies consistently from year to year. The
interesting comparison for Emirates is against previous years not against
other airlines. 1 November 2010 News from Dubai Properties that they are carrying out a full safety audit on the Executive Towers elevators - shouldn't this have been done before the building completion certificate was issued.
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