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
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Information:
World Time
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Project Syndicate
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There are many other links on my AOB blog page.
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An Occasional Blog
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Dubai based Airine bloggers
TampaxTowers Egypt Thailand Blogs Thai-blogs.com - rather serious
2bangkok.com
-
not really a blog but always up to date on Bangkok news
Thai
Girl The exotic adventures of a literary
sexagenarian.
Thai Films
Asia Unbound - CFR
Dubai Blogs
dxbae
- picture blog - also Gerald Donovan
The Gulf Blog
Grumpy
Goat Arabic affairs blogs
The Arabist
Hong Kong Blogs
Hong
Kong Outdoors In China: Danwei - media and advertising news from China
Shanghaiist.com
Hong Kong Cinemagic
Chinageeks
In Singapore: Xiaxue - self-confessed mean, bitchy, sex goddess who says "wah" a lot!
Mr Brown
- colourful commentary from Singapore
In Burma:
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
KPAE - Paine Field Blog
Johnny Jet News: The Guardian - UK
Arabian
Business Bangkok info sites: Worthy Sites:
Rconversation - from Rebecca
MacKinnon, ex-TV reporter-turned-blogger.
Golf Sites:
Cricket sites:
Alternative
Cricket Almanac
Fun Sites:
Fun signs
Cooking
Technology Ideas:
Stuff -
gadgets
TNooz - Travel Tech
ViralBlog
Photography
The Rest:
Black
Flamingo - recipes and life (no golf!)
Previous months:
Nov - Dec 2011
Nov - Dec 2010
Nov - Dec 2009
Nov - Dec 2008
Nov - Dec 2007
Nov - Dec 2006
Nov - Dec 2005
Nov - Dec 2004
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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30 December 2012 The usual insane annual statistic from Thailand - In the first 4 days of the new year holidays in Thailand, 202 people have been killed & 1,898 injured in road accidents. So predictable and so unnecessary. 29 December 2012
Just having a read
through the Executive Towers forum on Skyscraper City - this is
interesting from January 29th 2008 giving pricing estimates: By November 2008 there were comments such as this "1700AED/sqft is a very good price!!!! Why so cheap? Can someone explain to me?!" Little did they know!
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****************************** It was good to get out. 28 December 2012 I am having a very out of sorts end of the year...too much time on my own.
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Lots of plans; but
nothing has happened. The UK media have reported that a Chinese crew of 20
has boarded the ship, leading to fears that it is to be sold for scrap. Sad: bought in a blaze of glory and bling publicity. Greeted by an A380 flypast as it sailed into Dubai. Now - scrapped.
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Mohamed Alabbar,
chairman of Emaar Properties, said: "By renaming Emaar Boulevard as Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard we are paying tribute to the vision of His
Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum who is the driving force of
the city's transformation into the world's newest hub for hospitality,
tourism, retail and trade." Err - the road does not go anywhere; no one walks it; it is surrounded by building sites. It is not Champs Elysees; Regent Street; Broadway, Gran Via, Nanking Road; Las Ramblas; Michigan Avenue; Las Vegas Boulevard. Mr Alabbar needs to travel and explore more. 27 December 2012 Here is a bit of nonsense from the clowns that run football. Alex Ferguson lost the plot last night - his ranting at officials on the pitch after half time delaying the re-start was way out of order - but whether the Scot will face a Football Association charge for his conduct depends on what referee Mike Dean includes in his report - so it is totally irrelevant what millions watching on tv saw! And they wonder why the referees get no respect. 26 December 2012 I hate to say I told you so - but I did! R Airlines of Thailand has announced that it has decided not to launch long-haul services between Bangkok Don Mueang International (DMK) and Frankfurt International (FRA) it had previously announced. The flights that were due to start on December 19 and to be operated with a B777-200ER wet-leased from euroAtlantic Airways (YU, Lisbon Portela de Sacavem (LIS)) have been cancelled on very short notice on December 17.
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********************************* 23 December 2012 It does look like EK's newest 777s are being configured as two class only - an accountant's wet dream with 76 economy seats replacing 8 first class seats. And the first class seats are usually taken up by upgrades, points users, EK execs or captain's wives. So this has to be a win for the bottom line. 21 December 2012 I like the choice of John Kerry as Secretary of State.
*************************** Bye bye - farewell and thanks for all the fish!
*************************** Yesterday Sheikh Mohammed viewed a design of the 2km Business Bay Canal project which will cost more than AED1.5bn. It will apparently include a unique "hanging canal" feature which will be built over the Dubai Metro track.
Err - what ?? The orginal plan involved massive diversions on SZ road to build a bridge over the canal/creek extension.
Now the canal goes over
the road.....
Just weird - not one
newspaper questions or explains the change. Though a massive diversion to
SZ road was clearly not practical. 19 December 2012 Oh dear - Emirates continues to treat social media as an advertising resources rather than an interactive discussion. This is just horrible.
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This matches EK's
current 4 daily. The demand for flights into BKK is remarkable - and the Gulf based airlines are perfectly placed to feed traffic through their hub airports into Thailand. 18 December 2012
Youtube failure:
"Recommended for you because you watched Emirates Airline | A380 |
Amsterdam | Inaugural Flight | Schiphol Airport
************************** But - did Brody know in advance? Quinn must wonder why he did not shoot Brody - then the car could never have been used in the bomb attack....and just how could a car be parked right outside the VP's memorial service? If next series becomes a clear Brody's name series it will be a dud. But as a last episode this succeeded more than it failed. Series 2 - still watchable - but increasingly implausible....and at its heart - a romance that is simply not interesting. The two characters only have chemistry as antagonists not as bed-mates.
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************************** 17 December 2012 News from one of my least favorite airlines: Orient Thai Airlines (formerly 1-2-Go) plans to withdraw from half of its Thai domestic services from January 8 giving up its routes from Bangkok Don Mueang International (DMK) to Chiang Rai International (CEI) and Hat Yai International (HDY). It will continue to offer just four daily domestic flights with two daily round-trips from Don Mueang to both Chiang Mai International (CNX) and Phuket International (HKT) and will concentrate even more on ACMI and charter services. It currently operates a MD-81 and two MD-82s on its domestic flights but is expected to retire the MD-80s from its fleet. 15 December 2012 "Thanks to the enemies of history, Mecca and Medina have become distorted copies of Dubai and Shanghai; masses of concrete and ugly skyscrapers inconsistent with the history and geography of the land." Excellent reporting on the importance of history to any faith and for any nation - RiyadhBureau.com
******************************* The cry for stricter US gun control laws should extend to their deadly use of drones as well. "Obama promises 'meaningful action' after Newtown school shooting" Yet in Florida over 1 million people have permits to carry concealed handguns....and gun manufacturers Smith & Wesson recorded record sales for its most recent quarter, up 48% from a year earlier. Meanwhile Obama's tears do appear to be reserved solely for American children. 14 December 2012 On Sunday the BBC Sports Personality of the Year trophy for 2012 will be awarded to the winner at the ExCeL - I have no idea who will win but there has never been a better year for British sport or a longer list of deserving winners....here is the Guardian's list of twelve possible winners....all exceptional talents. 13 December 2012 It does make you wonder what a humble subject is really expected to think when wealth is so extravagantly displayed - does anyone really need a private A380.
Saudi billionaire
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will take delivery of the world’s first
customised A380 superjumbo next year. Alwaleed is chairman of Riyadh-based
Kingdom Holding and estimated to be worth around US$21.3bn, is rumoured to
have paid US$485m for the customised jumbo - dubbed ‘The Flying Palace' -
when it was ordered back in 2009. Why?
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****************************** One of our Thai friends was flying back to Dubai today - her mother calls her to say that she should not be flying on 12/12 or on 21 and 22/12 - something to do with strange winds and air currents due to the planet being disturbed....really! Why not simply dismiss this as the hogwash that it is.
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******************************** Some people do think to much and read things into comments that were never intended - not even subliminally...
********************************* 12 - 12 - 12 It is a very long flight from BKK to Dubai tonight - which might have something to do with the 151 km/hr headwind that we are battling into.... Flying time looks like about 7 hours and 20 minutes....
************************** Monarchy Fund Evicts Elderly to Boost Profit in Bangkok Renewal
************************* It is the last consecutive date until 01 January 2101 ~ which will be 01-01-01. Golf at Muang Kaew yesterday - managed to lose six balls - two on the 18th! But still had seven pars in the last 12 holes. Hard to get started yesterday - It had been too long since I last played. It has been a golfing few days - as Dennis Cookson and I were watching the final round of the Thailand Golf Championship at Amata Spring (singular) on Sunday - won very convincingly by Charl Schwartzel....a good day out walking the course watching Thongchai Jaidee and Jonathan Moore.
************************* The point is that this will not be the main passenger terminal for Emirates and major airlines which is scheduled for mid 2020s. This is a no frills LCC terminal for - well no one knows who! 7 December 2012 Thailand's JetAsia Airways in January 2013 to launch following from Phuket: Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Shenyang, Chongqing and Changsha - Chinese tourists are the future of tourism....which is not necessarily a good thing.... 6 December 2012 Emirates has already requested slots to ARN (Stockholm) (EK 157/158) for a June 2013 launch. I said below that the fall-out from the Jimmy Savile investigations would go on and on - the latest - Max Clifford has been arrested on suspicion of sexual offences by police investigating Jimmy Savile scandal. Clifford is the appalling high profil publicist that want-to-be celebs go to. Scotland Yard officers say that officers are looking at three strands within their inquiry: claims against Savile, those against Savile and others, and those against others. Inevitably there is more to come....
************************** Dubai has hundreds of licensed bars and nightclubs - but in theory you need an alcohol licence to drink in them - even as a tourist...in reality people drink without a licence hoping that nothing awful happens to them. 5 December 2012 There really is no end to the sad revelations of some ugly abuses and the institutions that turned a blind eye - BBC Commentator Stuart Hall has been charged with three counts of indecent assault in relation to alleged incidents in 1970s and 1980s.
*************************** Air Canada will also begin new, non-stop service to Istanbul from Toronto on June 4, subject to government approval. The new route will operate using a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, with flights departing three times a week year-round, and the airline will work closely with alliance partner Turkish Airways to provide connections throughout Turkey, as well as to destinations in Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Turkish already flies 5x weekly from IST to Toronto. It is likely that all eight flights will become full code-shares. This goes head to head with Emirates connections through Dubai. Which honestly makes the Canadian government's protection of Air Canada, by restricting Qatar, Emirates and Etihad's Toronto operation, both farcical and embarrassing. 4 December 2012 Manchester City tonight became the 1st English side to fail to win a match in a Champions League group. There are some things even Abu Dhabi can't buy.
***************************** No idea why!
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The UAE's Debts
Settlement Fund has approved a budget of Dh1.49 billion to settle personal
loans of nationals who have defaulted. |
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3 December 2012 Salik shocker: Taxi users will no longer be exempt from the Dh4 toll for each Salik gate beginning January 1, Gulf News has learnt.
Taxis have been exempt
from the toll since December 2008. So my AED35 trip to the airport will suddenly become AED43 - a 23% price increase.
****************************** It is all a plot to stop Parliament and the media from discussing the Leveson inquiry. I fully expect a biography of the royal baby before he or she is even born! 2 December 2012 How bad was the Dubai weather on Friday morning: Emirates Boeing 777-31HER A6-EGQ operating EK39 Dubai – Birmingham suffered a lightning strike on departure from Dubai this morning. The aircraft continued to Birmingham however on arrival damage was found which has resulted in the overnight delay of the return EK40. 30 November 2012
From popbitch: J-Lo's
concert in Dubai last week was going well. So much so that she snatched a
flag from someone in the audience, draped herself in it and loudly
declared her love for the UAE. The love J-Lo feels for the UAE was obviously in no way influenced by the enormous paycheck she drew from opening the world's largest Audi showroom in Dubai two days previously. 29 November 2012
Dubai's Emirates has
suspended its flights to and from Damascus until further notice, the
airline said in a statement on its website on Thursday. Kevin Pieterson - second test in Bombay - 186 from 233 balls with 20 fours and four sixes. "It was a heartwarming work of staggering genius." Guardian OBO. 24 November 2012
Top 10 regrets of
Brits, according to the Heart Foundation charity:
*********************************** More hi-so soap opera! Meanwhile there is the 2012 Xmas special to come.
****************************** 22 November 2012 "'Skyfall,' the number one movie at the box office this week, made over $100 million. It's the biggest opening ever for a James Bond film. There's not a lot of sex in the movie -- it's very downplayed. See, James Bond is just a secret agent. It's not like he's head of the CIA." --Jay Leno 21 November 2012 Tai is in Prague - where it is grey and misty and cold. Which is how Prague is supposed to be. To leave you feeling sad and thoughtful; so that you can contemplate the past and how it has shaped the present. Then you can understand their sad songs. It is a city that you are supposed to contemplate as much as you admire - a city for the introverted and the melancholy. I should live there !
******************************* 20 November 2012 There are a few corporates that should have a think about this:
"Jimmy Savile created a
whole other version of himself for public consumption; the lesson of the
last few weeks has been that it is perfectly possible to make society look
the other way. As a strategy this was extraordinarily successful. The BBC
is getting a going over for its role in giving a platform to the ‘wrong
Savile’. But other areas of public life were just as taken in – the Royal
family, the Vatican, the NHS, the Prison Service, the government, the news
media as a whole and of course, the general public, who adored him and
lined the streets for his funeral. Source: http://www.unofficialpartner.co.uk 18 November 2012 England lost their rugby international at home to Australia last night leading to this gem in the Guardian: " In their absurd new plum-coloured kit, England looked nothing more than a bunch of damsons in distress." 17 November 2012 Happily the England debacle in India is not to be seen on my tv....though to be fair this was a test match that appears to have been decided at the coin toss - with a pitch that was taing too much spin even on the first day. But this is the Guardian OBO description of Ian Bell's dismissal: "l cannot not believe this. I mean really, really, that may be the single most idiotic, pathetic, embarrassing, humiliating, disgraceful, desultory, excruciatingly awful dismissal I have seen from an English batsman in five years of writing over-by-over cricket coverage. Really, that's not a joke, or an exaggeration. It is a good thing Ian Bell is about to fly home to be there for the birth of his child, because if he wasn't - barring a hundred in the second innings - I would really suggest that he should have been dropped from the team on the strength of that shot alone. Mercy me. To recap: Ian Bell walked out to the middle, in the most jaunty, cocksure fashion, marked his guard, took a step down the wicket and chipped a catch straight - and I mean straight - to mid-off. It was, truly, the shot of a moron. He's gone for a golden duck." This sounds like the same team that was miserable in the UAE. Strauss got out at the right time. 16 November 2012 The commentary is more entertaining that the cricket in Ahmedabad as England toil against the Indians. This from the Guardian OBO. In the Sky commentary box, Bumble and Beefy are munching on ice-lollies. "It's hot over here Bumble..." says Beefy. Then, when the host broadcaster puts up an Ask Sunny caption on screen, some question or other about cricket, Bumble says, "Here you go, we've got an Ask Sunny here. Whatever happened to Cher?" Now all you can here is sniggering in the background. Great stuff. David Lloyd is a commentary genius. Sunny, of course, meant Sunny Gavaskar ! 14 November 2012 Escape from Majorca - and this was not easy.... There is a general strike in Spain today. My mid morning departure to Barcelona was cancelled. The Vueling website said that I could rebook online No I could not - I got a Spanish message telling me that this ticket could not be rebooked and I should call customer service. But my phone does not roam and the hotel has no phone. Tai made the change for me from Dubai so that I could catch the 7am flight. Next problem. The car hire company does not open until 7am and I would need to leave the car at 6am. Again - no phone. And no reply to message on email or twitter. So off to the cafe next door where the waitress lent me her phone. I could leave the car outside their parking lot and leave the keys in the boot. They would order a taxi for me. So far so good. Off to the Blue Rodeo concert in Lloseta on a cold raining night - got a bit lost in the dark and the rain - Lloseta is in the middle of no where. But still arrived in good time. Back at the hotel just after 1am. Awake at 4.15am. Left the hotel at 4.50am. Did not see a car on the road south for 20 kms - until I arrived at the Inca junction. It was so quiet. There was a huge electrical storm which just after Inca turned into a monster of a thunderstorm with torrential rain. I found the car rental - but there was no gas station open this early so could not fill up the tank - I bet that will be expensive. Had to transfer my bags to the taxi - the rain was terrible - in a minute I was drenched. It cost Euro 15 to go one mile in the taxi to the terminal. Extortion. At the terminal there was a big queue for the Barcelona flight. And an incredibly rude Spanish couple that wanted to jump the queue. So they got an earful in English. And so to Barcelona. Where there were demonstrators protesting in the terminal until midday when presumably they went home for their siesta. Part-time protestors. The good news is that as soon as they left the stores were all able to open. I have been at the airport for 5 hours - just 2 and 1/2 to go! 12 November 2012 Hello from Puerto de Alcudia....off season this place is a bit of a dump ! There is no one here. It is also grey and cool. And we had a big thunderstorm last night. The perils of booking online. When I tried to book for Majorca there were very few hotel rooms available. I thought that people were taking end of year vacations - catching the last of the sun for 2012. Silly me. It wasn't that the hotels are busy. They have no rooms because they are all closed for the season. Duh! I should have stayed an extra day exploring Barcelona and then flown over here for the Blue Rodeo concert which is tomorrow night. Barcelona was a lot of fun. And was full with weekend visitors from all over Spain and Europe. And they do stay out late. 10 November 2012 A few Emirates update: A380 A6-EEB departed Finkenwerder on delivery to Dubai as EK7380 today. This brings the Emirates A380 fleet up to 27 aircraft. Following the 7/11 diversion to Paris CDG whilst operating EK201 Dubai – New York JFK, Emirates A380 A6-EDO positioned Paris – Dubai this morning as EK7002 - a weather diversion? Or something else? A replacement A380 was flown to Paris to take the passengers onto New York. Emirates Boeing 777-31HER A6-EBO operating EK373 Bangkok – Dubai diverted to Mumbai on 7/11 evening due to a technical issue. Reports indicate an engine fire.
The Asia Times reported
that : "According to airport authorities, the flight, which was going from
Bangkok to Dubai, started showing signs of a suspected fire in one of its
engines, while it was flying over Mumbai. The pilot immediately contacted
the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Mumbai, and apprised it of the snag in
the plane. Subsequently, full emergency was declared by the ATC at around
11.22 pm on Wednesday. Emirates Boeing 777-31HER A6-EGM has special decals on both sides of the cockpit marking Emirates’ sponsorship of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Airbus A330-200 A6-EKZ left the fleet on 6/11 and positioned Dubai – Bordeaux as EK7201. 6 November 2012 Ernie Els has been removed from European Tour money list because he won't fulfil membership requirements of 13 events this year - so we wont see him in Dubai for the DP World Championship.
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The redemption
agreement, which is aimed at facilitating travel around Europe, will
connect Emirates 31 destination strong European network with all of
easyJet destinations, Emirates said in a statement. I suspect a full codeshare is unlikely - it would be too damaging to the EK brand. Easyjet is a low cost airline for a reason.
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********************************* Of course the most ludicrous storyline of all three series has to be anything to do with Matthew Crawley. Sole survivor of his troop in WW1, made full recovery from paralysis, lucky recipient of not one but two massive inheritances and ends up hitched to Michelle Dockery. I hope he does the Lottery each week as well. The series ended with absolutely everyone happy, which is a first for Downton, but that could all change with the announcement at the end of the episode that there will be a Christmas special on Christmas day. Sadly after wanting to see Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) get together and marry - which they did - they have both become irretrievably dull. Since Dan Stevens is unlikely to be available for another series the doe-eyed declarations of love can’t last and he needs to be written out. Maybe he will run off with alluring distant niece Lady Rose - why else would you introduce a new character in the final season episode?
****************************** 4 November 2012 The Guardian and The Economist have both supported Obama for a second term. But grudgingly. The lesser of two evils. The campaign in its last days is now about fear, about keeping the other guy out, not policies. There was so much hope in 2008. There is so little now. Reality; Obama has done OK to manage the banking and financial crisis in the USA; he has managed to implement a compromised health insurance programme; his foreign policy has largely been managed by the Clinton household which is held in decent respect. But he has been a disappointment. Too many unmet promises. But he still needs another four years - as the alternative is not something I want to see. 1 November 2012 Air New Zealand's new Hobbit based safety video: now if only Emirates could loosen up enough to have a sense of humour....the safety video has an airplane full of hobbits, elves, orcs, and a wizard:
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