Welcome to rascott.com.
This is a personal site that reflects my interests in news, current affairs, aviation and travel.
email me at robert@rascott.com
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:
Met Office Volcano watch
World Time Clock
Exchange Rates
Journalism:
Nationsonline.org
Project Syndicate
Amnesty International
Reporters w/o borders
The Guardian - UK
BBC World News
CNN Asia
Bangkok Post
Daylife.com - news
Gulf News
Arabian Business
Good causes:
Sister
Joan - Bangkok
Regional Info:
BKK Magazine
HK Magazine
In
Singapore Magazine
TimeOut Dubai
Travel:
Circle of Asia
Tales of Asia
Smart Travel Asia
Finance:
FinanceAsia
Aviation:
Amadeus (airline
schedules)
Airliners
- aviation forum
Thailand Info
thailand.com
learningthai.com
sawadee.com
bangkok a-z
Back in the UK:
Newton Ferrers
Government:
The
"new" White House
Photography
Denis Olivier - black and white
And for fun:
Lin Ping live panda tv
EarthCam
The opinions expressed on these pages are entirely personal unless they are credited; you may not agree with all, or anything, that I write. So please use the feedback page to respond, comment or berate me.
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An Occasional Blog
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Thailand Blogs Bangkok Pundit - politics Bangkok Metblogs - city life Thai-blogs.com - rather serious
2bangkok.com
- 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
Dubai Blogs Digital Life - A Hong Kong picture blog - interesting pics A Big White Guy in Hong Kong - self explanatory Ordinary Gweilo Hemlock's Diary. And people think I am opinionated - try this! SimonWorld - Hong Kong commentary and great links to other Asian blogs EastSouthWestNorth - commentary Glutter.org - Greater China democracy news and many great links Hong Kong Hustle In China Danwei - media and advertising news from China
Shanghai Diaries - self
explanatory
In Macau 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
Asia Travel Circle of Asia a useful commercial site Tales of Asia perspective and commentary on Cambodia and Thailand and other Asian travels Visit Laos a useful guide on getting to and traveling in Laos. Smart Travel Asia useful tips and destination guides. Maybe too up market.
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
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.
Fun Sites
Useful Sites
Technology Ideas
Stuff -
gadgets
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 August 2009 Arresting people for forwarding an email is frightening. There is no Thai law that I know of against forwarding emails. But Thailand's heavy handed political policing is getting alarming. TapeGate is just another Thai drama. All part of local politics. But 2 SCAsset employees were arrested for allegedly forwarding an email. I might believe this from Burma or North Korea. But this is Thailand. Every reaction appears to be an over reaction. If youar enot with us you must be against us. See below for the regular taunt of how would a foreigner understand. But many do. And many foreigners appear to care more about Thailand, her people and her futures than many of the country's own population. More on the sentencing of Darunee here. ************************** **************************** In a recent interview around the launch of this book he made a number of observations on the differences between yellow and red shirts in Thailand and the state of Thai politics. "In the PAD I have met a lot of xenophobia on the street. A very typical situation is when we discuss their ideology and I ask some very uncomfortable questions which they cannot answer, quite regularly comes the standard answer "Oh you are the foreigner, you don't understand about Thailand!" In the red shirts, I didn't have that problem at all." " In every sector of society now, political discussions and debates are now the norm and I think it is a positive development in Thailand for people to speak a lot more freely and to take a lot more interest in the running of their own country." "Red vs. Yellow Volume 1: Thailand's Crisis Of Identity" is available at Asia Books, Kinokuniya, Bookazine at 995 baht ******************************** That's the recession for you. 30 August 2009 25,000 at Old Trafford today for the England vs Australia 20/20 cricket game. Best way to get to the ground. The metro Link train to Old Trafford. So they close the line for the day for repairs. Brilliant! Looks very cold in Manchester as well. *************************** http://www.parade.com/dictators/2009/ 29 August 2009 Another death of Dubai story; this time in Fast Company. It is rather old news now. As though it took three months to send a reporter and compile a story. So nothing new. But some interesting pictures. 28 August 2009 It does say a lot for the state of football in Thailand when Peter Reid thinks that assistant manager at Stoke City offers him better opportunities than managing the Thailand national team ! He had not finished a year in Thailand. Back to the drawing board in Bangkok. I'm available! ****************************** 27 August 2009 Clever safety video from holiday and charter carrier Thomson Airways: 26 August 2009 Shin Corp - current price on the SET - Baht 23.00 - price paid to the Shinawatra family by Temasek - 49.25 baht in January 2006. Ouch. ***************************** And they will only open by making workers work through the daily midday work ban - when workers are not meant to be working from midday to 3pm - due to the heat. Surely it would be better to postpone the opening until all the stations are ready and without abusing worker rights. ******************************* It is the hypocrisy that annoys me. The government invokes the internal security act to provoke/control the red shirts who are rallying in the capital this weekend. A government that was not elected; invoking the ISA to threaten a rally of the supporters of the government that was elected...... Yet not one person has yet been prosecuted for bringing the country to a closure last year by shutting down the airports for eight days. 25 August 2009 Ricky Ponting gets a very welcome editorial in today's Guardian. Maybe it is not much of a consolation - but it is fair recognition. 24 August 2009 Not a good day. Did go for a run - running when it is nearly 40C may not be wise but it was good to get out. Frustrated at home....away for a month, back a few days. Badly in need on inspiration. ***************************** The latest is real fiction. The government plans to promote Thailand as the Asian region's education hub by next year. By next year !!! Wishful thinking on every level. There are countries in Asia that are far ahead of Thailand in terms of quality of education: Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Malaysia. The country needs to make a major leap forward in giving its own people a decent education first. And that means far better teacher training just for a start. Bizarre. 23 August 2009 England win the fifth test and the Ashes - great celebrations - saddest part - I have no one with me to share this with - all I can do is write about it. Tai has no interest; Alex has no interest. Dad would have been happy! ******************************* ****************************** ******************************* ******************************** Enough on that subject for now! 22 August 2009 A furious anti-Scottish backlash over the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber erupted last night as Americans threatened to cancel trips across the Atlantic and were urged to stop doing business with Scotland. The campaign is also targeting the British government and British Petroleum for their complicity. It is entirely appropriate for people to boycott anything and everything Scottish after the disgraceful release of Al-Megrahi. The boycott is not aimed against the people of Scotland or the United Kingdom, but against the governments of Scotland and of Britain. The boycott of tourism, banking, and oil industries is necessary in
order to force those governments to listen and understand and admit their
error. And here are some links to help you start: http://www.boycottscotland.com/ http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/boycott-scotland-for-releasing-megrahi-lockerbie-bomberbomer And to contact the minority Scottish SNP government responsible for this mess: VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION Mr. MacAskill may be emailed at kenny.macaskill.msp@scottish.parliament.uk Mr. Alex Salmond, Leader of the Scottish National Party, has also snubbed the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103. He may be emailed at Alex.Salmond.msp@scottish.parliament.uk 21 August 2009 Al-Megrahi - “The remaining days of my life are being lived under the
shadow of the wrongness of my conviction. I have been faced with an
appalling choice: to risk dying in prison in the hope that my name is
cleared posthumously or to return home still carrying the weight of the
guilty verdict, which will never now be lifted. The choice which I made is
a matter of sorrow, disappointment and anger, which I fear I will never
overcome.” Megrahi was a member of the Libyan Intelligence Services - he was
charged with the bombing - allegedly acting with others. 20 August 2009 Thai politics - interesting comments at the FCCT earlier this week: Pasuk Phongpaichit, Professor, Faculty of Economics Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok: "We’re moving towards mass politics, away from what elites can manage, because little people now realize their rights. Thaksin showed them it could happen. People are moving away from unity. The governments counters with mo-so, the moderation campaign, and the I love Thailand campaign. But these campaigns are not going to work. Love Thailand and so what? What do we get from being moderate?" Other comments from the panel: The government is very unstable inside. What happens when there is an election? There is no way that the current government will pass that election. *********************************** And here is my problem. The courts convicted al-Megrahi for the murder of 270 people. Therefore he is guilty and should not be realeased. If he is innocent and the evidence is as poor against him as it is alleged to be then this case should have gone to appeal/inquiry and his only way of release would be for the conviction to be overthrown. But I thought this was interesting: "This will be a day of mixed emotions in Greenock Prison. Both in-mates and prison officers will be happy for Abdul Baset al-Megrahi because to a man they were in no doubt he was innocent. But he will also be sadly missed, especially by the remaining prisoners. One reason for his popularity with other inmates was that he had a very large television with satellite channels (paid for by Libya) which he kindly allowed his fellow prisoners to watch. The other, more poignant, reason was that he helped illiterate local prisoners to read and write letters in English. It is known that almost half the 300 prisoners are functionally illiterate, a devastating comment on the failure of trendy education in Scotland." Sadly the whole Lockerbie saga smells very bad. Questionable evidence. Dubious conviction. Secret deals. Inappropriate release. Now the truth of who was behind the bombing will never be known. Was it Libya acting alone. Unlikely. Iran and Syria were immediate suspects in December 1981. 19 August 2009 The new moon's orbit around the earth takes 29 and one half days. So the new moon for August will be on 20 August and this will mark the start of the month long period of Ramadan. So expect cafes and restaurants to close during daytime in Dubai and across the middle east from the morning on the 21st. ******************************* After a month away it feels a little strange to be back in the heat and dust. I miss the cool clear air. We did have a nice night in the Peak District - staying in Causeway House, a little bed and breakfast in Castleton; with a four poster bed and walls that are a bit too thin. And dinner at the Bull's Head in the village. Tai liked Janet who is the owner of the BandB. Janet asked if Tai worked for Emirates and then described it as the best airline ever. Tai was all proud ! It is pretty and rugged countryside. Great hiking and caving country. And, given that it is only an hour from Manchester, it was remarkably quiet. Mind you it was a Monday night. 18 August 2009 We had great plans for an afternoon in the Peak District yesterday until Tai arrived at Manchester three hours late - after a runway closure an MAN had forced the plane to divert to Birmingham! 3 hours late into Manchester! Here she is at last landing on the re-opened 23R.
Still we had a nice evening in Castleton...see above. And the pictures on Picasa. 16 August 2009 Not much personal news recently - not a lot to tell you about. But I will leave Newton Ferrers tomorrow and head for Dubai via Manchester ! I will have been in the UK for almost four weeks and it is beginning to feel like two long. ******************************* 15 August 2009 Why sell a computer printer but not the cable to attach it to the computer!? And why does no one tell you when you check out that you need to buy the cable separately. So only when you open all the excess packaging can you find in the small print - USB cable to be purchased separately. Only in England. Plug and no play. Useless. *************************** "For those who fail to see beyond the fancy facade, Dubai is the epitome of gaudy. But scrape beneath the surface and that's where the similarity between Paris Hilton and Dubai begins and ends. It's not as synthetic as it looks." ***************************** Sounds like the other ASEAN leaders think the drive to Hua Hin and the potential security problems are an issue. I have a suggestion - Singapore. Humble pie for Thailand
- but the best way to avoid trouble. Were there really 100,000 red shirt supporters in Roi-Et for Thaksin's 60th birthday celebrations. The BKK Post and Nation missed that ! hardly surprising. **************************** Did Black
Magic Play a Role in Suu Kyi Trial Verdict? More on the US interrogation sites that operated globally, including in Thailand form today's New York Times; including this statement: "Early in the fight against Al Qaeda, agency officials relied heavily on American allies to help detain people suspected of terrorism in makeshift facilities in countries like Thailand. But by the time two C.I.A. officials met with Mr. Foggo in 2003, that arrangement was under threat, according to people briefed on the situation. In Thailand, for example, local officials were said to be growing uneasy about a black site outside Bangkok code-named Cat’s Eye. (The agency would eventually change the code name for the Thai prison, fearing it would appear racially insensitive.) The C.I.A. wanted its own, more permanent detention centers." No one believes the continuing denials from the Thai government and army. Surely it would be better to say - yes we gave our support and yes all the detention centers have now been closed. ******************************* I cannot see the likes of Woods or Mickelson staying in the Olympic village and rooming with their caddies. And is their any other Olympic sport where a salve is employed to assist the exhalted professional by carrying their bags and telling them what equipment to use? It seems to me that modern golf runs against all the best principles of the modern olympics. Which in the end leaves the olympics as just another commercial grubby money run enterprise. Sad. ***************************** It is fuelled by outrageous conspiracy theories from rags (ex newspapers) such as the nation - which is taking a line summarised in another blog as follows: So if we are to believe
the Nation, in the context of the Thaksin petition and the turmoil in
politics: Read the blog in full here. ********************************* For anyone with a month to travel, and who wants to tour the USA, it is a very good deal. **********************************
Lovely - I always liked the 747SP - special performance not stubby plane!
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An elephant baby is trapped in a manhole of a drainage ditch in Rayong’s Muang district yesterday. Rescuers took 3 hours to free it, using a bulldozer to widen the hole. It was freed safely. Guess even an elephant has to look where he is walking ! ************************ If you are the overweight, arrogant, MacDonalds eating UAE national that flew to Hyderabad last night you really should learn some manners. You were fortunate enough to have a business class seat upgraded from economy. Shouting at cabin crew and throwing food trays, a can and your Macdonalds leftovers at them is offensive. You stand in the aisle; obstruct the crew in their work, block the carts. Refuse to move when the crew are trying to do their work. And if the plane hit turbulence while you stand in the aisle all flight; then who would you blame? Worse, you have the audacity to complain that the crew are rude and not helpful and expect the crew to apologise to you and bring you gifts. Pathetic. If you know who you are you are an arrogant, rude and offensive individual. Airline crew are not there to serve as your personal maid. Cultural arrogance at its worst. Someone should tell you that your behaviour is not acceptable rather than appeasing you for being a s**t. ****************************** Among the mindless minority are the ones that think they can drink the bar dry. And then there are the ones that still think they can smoke in the washroom by covering the smoke detector with wet tissues. Idiots. ******************************** Maybe no one wants you to see this crosswind EK landing at Birmingham!
9 August 2009 You read it here! H1N1 has been solved in Malaysia!!!
Where a doctor has said that avoiding masturbation and homosexual
activities are among preventive measures people can take to reduce their
chances of contracting the virus. That' it. Case solved. It is a gay disease. Straight Malays wont catch it !!! Bizarre !!! ******************************** 8 August 2009 The usual garbage from the Nation newspaper - don't they use a spell check: "THAKSIN RETURN ****************************** "Sheep Savaged" - in Times New Roman Bold 72 point!! Just an excuse to target the local gypsies. *******************************
******************************* Why on earth do test cricketers warm up by playing football. But the aussie batting is so much stronger. Strauss is the only english batsman that could get into the aussie line up. Forget the rest. Border, Clarke, Hussey, North. They can all make runs and look like they want to bat for as long as possible. 7 August 2009 England in South Africa - 2009/19. Four test matches. Interesting place to spend the new year. But.....someone is on standby in December. 16-20 1st Test, Centurion 26-30 2nd Test, Kingsmead, Durban January 3-7 3rd Test, Newlands, Cape Town 14-18 4th Test, St George's, Port Elizabeth Would be an interesting place to go to for Christmas. ******************************** The South West England town on Newquay is well known for its surf - Hawaii without the weather! From Getty Images this picture taken on Wednesday is of a surfer making his way across rocks during the Relentless Boardmasters surfing festival.
6 August 2009 Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has announced it will start a route to the Iraqi capital Baghdad from September 1. How long before Emirates decides to fly there? ******************************* It is misogynist. It is racist. It is boorish. But there are many, many, worse things on TV. ******************************** ********************************* 5 August 2009 Interesting guide to 48 hours in Singapore from the Independent newspaper. ***************************** 4 August 2009 Sad to see the BKK Airways accident at Samui today - sounds like the plane ran off the runway while landing in rain and wind. The plane ran into the old control tower which is now used for emergency services' vehicles. Details in Thai are here. The pictures tell the story. Looks like the captain died and a few others badly injured. Difficult little airport that does have wind sheer problems and often has rain and winds during the summer months. Bangkok Airways owns the airport and their pilots have plenty of experience at the airport, Conditions must have been very unpleasant. Flight was arriving from Krabi. ************************************ I cant imagine Emirates ever asking its customers what they might enjoy eating in flight. |
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3 August 2009 This is an interesting pic from the White House press office:
Must be strange for Hillary Clinton to go back to the White House as Obama's guest and Secretary of State given that she used to live there; and it was the scene of some of her husband's less smart moments! ***************************** Plymouth is a bit grim at the best of times - in the rain its even worse. The trouble with opening a new shopping centre next to the town centre is that the old town centre is dieing a slow and painful death. It was never attractive. A mess of post war blocks surrounded by fields of concrete. Now the stores are closing - but Drake Circus - the new and modernly ugly shopping centre is still busy. Anchored at one end by Marks and Spencer and at the other end by Primark it is a soul less and rather depressing place. There are no places to rest; no decent cafes. No music playing. Nothing that would make you want to stay and look around. 2 August 2009 The weather reports from Dubai are gloomy. Dust has been hanging in the
air for days now but today is apparently the worst yet. Worse - the particle are so fine that they crawl into apartments and buildings through air conditioning systems. 1 August 2009 From another blog: "The real problem Abhisit has is that he is an illegitimate PM who owes his position to the PAD, the military and the BJT party. He has no democratic mandate. Indeed, he is less popular than Thaksin. If that Frankenstein coalition goes after each other or after Mark, things will fall apart. The people won't be rallying to Mark's side. They know he has no legitimacy in the first place and just a stooge of other power brokers who despise Thaksin" Hard to argue...... ***************************** Well the Department of Defence just realeased 130 pictures from that day. And the pictures are fabulous. 30 July 2009 I now have wireless internet in Newton Ferrers. This is a giant leap forward for my contact with the outside world. It rained heavily almost all day yesterday. The good news is that the countryside looks so green today - and I did get to walk to the village in the afternoon. 28 July 2009 The patient has been home one day - but my patience is being sorely tested ! Is the ability to fuss over the small things and ignore the big things the prerogative of our seniors? 27 July 2009 Three years today the Olympics opening ceremony will be held in London's East End. It is good news for East London and for Great Britain. The urban regeneration of the East End is a huge and long overdue project. It will inspire may young people to take up and take an interest in sport. It creates employment through the recession. It creates a long term legacy for London. All good news. ************************** Another long day in the hospital. Mother is doing well. Will be out on Tuesday. Then the hard work starts. Tai is in HKG; lucky girl. And it is Mr.Thaksin's 60th birthday. And yes - he is in Dubai! 25 July 2009 Not much to report - mother is being a good patient and is much stronger today and is eating better. Was at the hospital for about 10 hours yesterday and another 8 hours today. It is a bit quiet sitting there all day. ****************************** 24 July 2009 Steven Gerrard found not guilt of affray. That's what you can do when you have enough money to afford the best of lawyers. You get the justice you can afford! Makes the police prosecution look a bit silly ! ****************************** 23 July 2009 The website of Thailand's splendid samaritan, Sister
Joan, has been updated with more photos, charity events and articles.
There is also a YouTube video on Sister's mission on the home page. Also - Media articles - http://www.sisterjoan.info/media.htm ****************************** Then at the weekend is the annual dance for the regatta at the Yealm Yacht Club. And apparently returning to provide the music by popular request is a band called - The Toilet Monsters !!! Guess they must be coming out of the closet !!!! Or maybe they are flushed with their own success. :):):) **************************** **************************** 22 July 2009 One night at the ETAP hotel at Birmingham airport is more than enough. Woke at 3am. Small rooms; not even a phone in the room. But it is in the middle of Birmingham airport; and now before 7am it is time to get my rental car and drive to Devon. For England's second city Birmingham airport is very quiet. British Airways do not even have a presence here. *********************************** 21 July 2009 I am on my way to the UK today; flying on a very quiet EK37 to Birmingham. My Mum has a knee replacement surgery on Thursday and I will be housesitter and potentially nursemaid and physiotherapist for two or three weeks. I am sad about being away from Tai for this time. She still has no UK visa so we may be apart for longer than any time in the last three years. But it is good that I have the time to be able to help look after my Mum and I am happy I can do that. 20 July 2009 Lots of space speculation today - what next; who next; where next? The next man or the first woman on the moon - Chinese. What a symbol of pride that would be! *********************** ************************* And their are unconfirmed rumours that the augmenting crew from EK 407 at Melbourne have also been asked to leave. This may have something to do with the CVR record of the pre-take off cockpit conversations. ************************** It was 10.56pm in New York; 03.56am in London (on the 21st); 06.56am in Dubai and 09.56am in Bangkok. I was thinking this morning how I wished that they had planted the United Nations flag on the moon as well as or instead of the USA flag. But it was the USA's achievement; it was there money; their people; their courage and their ingenuity. With a bit of German help from Mr. Von Braun. ****************************** Only to discover that the site is banned here in Dubai.....anyone want to tell me what is there that would make the site banned? 19 July 2009 More on Golf...and the impact of the financial crisis. Despite denials from European Tour chief executive George O’Grady, whispers continue that this year’s Race to Dubai, culminating in the $10million Dubai World Championship, will be the first and last. Tour sponsor Leisurecorp, who signed a five-year $150m deal in November 2007, suffered so much in the global financial crisis that the Dubai government placed them under the control of state company Nakheel in May. Nakheel has problems of its own. Its much touted purchase of the old QE11 cruise liner looks like a massive floating white elephant. The boat is now rumoured to be heading for Cape Town. Leisurecorp also own Turnberry but, having spent £40m on refurbishing the venue for The Open, there are rumours they will sell the hotel. Already cancelled this year are the British Masters, Canal Plus Open
and English Open because of various financial problems. But the playoff is painful to watch. Stewart Cink will be the least popular Open winner in history. After playing so well for 72 holes Watson just looks wiped out. Cink never ever led this tournament. ******************************* ******************************** The Times article really does quote and report the extremes. There are many people here simply trying to eke out a decent living for themselves and their families. But the article is worth reading - if only to balance the good news focus of the local media. 18 July 2009 Round three leaders in the British Open: Could Watson win - at 59 years of age. It would be a story for the ages! Otherwise who? Goosen or Furyk? And Westwood has been playing good steady golf. And happy for Thongchai Jaidee. Could he win? Yes - he can produce a 65 or 66. *********************************** *************************** As apart of the campaign, the Health Ministry also invited general people to attend the hand made face mask design competition. The winner will be awarded Bt 10,000. 17 July 2009 Funny old game - 161 not out in one day and out second ball the following day. Still a captain's innings from Strauss. And then not a great decision to have Ponting caught behind - though he may have been lbw from the same ball. It hit pad not bat. But no love lost here....
****************************** It might be wise to delay any travel to the Indonesian capital. ****************************** ******************************* 15 July 2009 Advice to airline passengers from Dubai - posted by another frustrated traveler on another web site. "Just because the plane's wheels have touched the ground, there's no
need to jump up, grab your bags, drop your suitcase on someone's head and
barge your way to the front of the plane". 14 July 2009 Showtime loses its Premier football rights from the end of the 2009/10 season. And in doing so it would probably lose say 30% of its subscribers. So it merges with Orbit. So now there is a single monopoly satellite tv subscription service. More channels. Less to watch. More fees. What do you get if you merge Showtime and Orbit - its a four letter word? 13 July 2009 Home alone again:
*************************** There are a couple of telling comments about how the computers on the A330 can send messages that cause confusion to the pilots. This film shows how serious problems can arise when pilots get unusual readings from the computers and begin to distrust them. Maybe very relevant to the recent AF disaster. The A330 is a good glider. The trouble is the plane really does not want to descend!! Very, very, cool captain ! The investigation revealed that the cause of the accident was a fuel leak in the number two engine, caused by an incorrect part installed in the hydraulics system by Air Transat maintenance staff. The part did not maintain adequate clearance between the hydraulic lines and the fuel line. This allowed vibration in the hydraulic lines to degrade the fuel line and cause the leak. Air Transat accepted responsibility for the incident and was fined CAN$250,000 by the Canadian government, which as of 2009[update] is still the largest fine in Canadian history. You can read the story of flight 236 here. ***************************** Pan Am was THE airline at the heart of the golden age of flying; the first airline to fly the 747. It flew almost everywhere ! One interesting aspect of Pan Am’s global network was putting two flights in the air each day that completely flew around the world. One flew east and one flew west. Currently only one-airline flies completely around the world, Air New Zealand ***************************** It is estimated that more than 500 million visits to love hotels take place each year, which means around 1.4 million couples, or 2 percent of Japan's population, visit a love hotel each day. It is only now that the industry is seeing corporatisation and consolidation. This is a business that could do well in Thailand :) So on to Thursday. The Aussies looked good. England looked awful (except for farmer Collingwood). England need to stop living in 2005. But miracle of miracle - the first test was a draw ! 12 July 2009 England in deep doo-doo against the Aussies. Poor dismissals - all three of them so far today. The sort of shots that should not be played on the 5th day of a test match. The Aussies seem to move from 20/20 to 5 day cricket so easily. They seem to understand the pace of a test match. Will their be wholesale changes for the second test at Lords on Thursday. There should be. But the selectors wont do that. Harmison for Panesar. Bell for Bopahra. That may be all. Pieterson should go back and play some big county innings. Maybe time for Cook to have a rest as well. England have not looked like a team that wants to win! Watch Ponting bat. Straight balls are greeted by a huge straight bat. And he uses his feet so well to get to the pitch of the ball. England have been out thought and out played. It is very depressing. ********************************* "In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success - strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges ... an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives." ******************************** 11 July 2009 What recession? This watch is for sale at Dubai's Atlantis resort for AED584100 - say US$160,000.
I was looking for a copy of The Economist today. Not successfully. ********************** 12 July 2009 England in deep doo-doo against the Aussies. Poor dismissals - all three of them so far today. The sort of shots that should not be played on the 5th day of a test match. The Aussies seem to move from 20/20 to 5 day cricket so easily. They seem to understand the pace of a test match. Will their be wholesale changes for the second test at Lords on Thursday. There should be. But the selectors wont do that. Harmison for Panesar. Bell for Bopahra. That may be all. Pieterson should go back and play some big county innings. Maybe time for Cook to have a rest as well. England have not looked like a team that wants to win! Watch Ponting bat. Straight balls are greeted by a huge straight bat. And he uses his feet so well to get to the pitch of the ball. England have been out thought and out played. It is very depressing. ********************************* "In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success - strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges ... an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives." ******************************** 11 July 2009 What recession? This watch is for sale at Dubai's Atlantis resort for AED584100 - say US$160,000.
I was looking for a copy of The Economist today. Not successfully. ********************** 10 July 2009 The combined performance of England's 2 spinners by tea on the third day - 55-12-164-1. No idea when England last played two spinners in a test against the Aussies. It will be a long time before they try that again ! Pity really. It is good for the over rate. ********************** ********************* 9 July 2009 It is just a game of cricket. It really does not need a rendition of Jerusalem at the start of the day's cricket. ********************** I don't like the weird shaped Emirates food trays. They are meant to recall the monstrous Burj Al Arab hotel. But they are completely impractical. The tray is square or oblong. Use dishes that are the same shape/ 8 July 2008 On Emirates 94 heading from Milan to Dubai. Happy to be heading home. Tai and I need some time together and I am sorry that we could not share our summer holiday. I did not like Milan much. The Duomo is a lovely building. But there really is nothing else worth seeing; I suspect that their are some lovely inner courtyards and hidden places but those are behind the public facades. 6 July 2009 Feel a bit sad tonite after saying goodbye to Alex and leaving him at his Le Rosey summer camp. We have had a good week and the Swiss road trip over the last few days was good fun. Now for the long haul back to Dubai - via Geneva and Milan. 5 July 2009 Thaksin complained in today's phone in of being lonely and told the crowd not to leave him "dying in the desert." I know just how he feels. **************************** ***************************** 4 July 2009 Emirates A380 watch - goes second daily to London Heathrow in December 2009 - replacing planned Rome route. Emirates is flying 2nd Daily Airbus A380 service on the Dubai - London
Heathrow route starting 02DEC09. But Rome does get five extra flights in August: Due to heavy booking for the summer peak EK asked and
obtained the authorization from ENAC (Italian Civil Aviation Authority) to
add 5 extra bilateral flights in August (on every sunday) to Rome. ************************** Follow the link for the full article. As the article notes "by persecuting Thais who give vent online, these moral guardians may be adding to the anger against Bangkok’s elite and, perhaps, fanning the flames of republicanism. Their zeal certainly undercuts Mr Abhisit’s feeble efforts to unite a polarised nation."
************************ ************************** ************************** *************************** *************************** Such a pretty place. And beef fondue for dinner. Sitting outside surrounded by mountains. **************************** **************************** 3 July 2009 Sitting at Heathrow Airport in Terminal 5 and waiting to catch the flight to Geneva. Tai has finished her two days of meditation and has been released back in to the real world - where food was probably a first priority - followed by a shower and a proper sleep! Two days of meditation seem to have also produced two days of grumbling !! Note I did not say complaining. The early start - 3.30am. The mat that was a bed. The 60 people sleeping in the same room while one poor lady had a midnight fit. The food. Not very appealing. The pain from sitting in one position meditating for hours; or worse trying to meditate for an hour standing with eyes closed for an hour. The bathroom (you can imagine!). I understand that there was no water boarding involved! She was brave to go. And I am sure a couple of days away from everything must have been good. ********************************* 2 July 2009 Internet access at the Nuffield Hospital while we wait for mother to be told that she needs a new knee! ************************* ************************* 1 July 2009 It is called a heatwave in England - it may be 25C or 26C today in the South West. It is the headline news on TV. The government is talking of health warnings! Yet in Dubai the building sites are busy in almost 50C temperatures.
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