rascott.com - news, views, travel and an occasional blog

Welcome to rascott.com.

This is a personal site that reflects my interests in news, current affairs, aviation and travel.

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.

Dubai Links

Dubai watch - 2009

Dubai News
Emirates Today
Gulf News
Khaleej Times
Dubai News

Dubai in Wikipedia

Dubai - Wikipedia

Burj Dubai

The Burj Dubai tower

Dubai Blogs

UAE Community Blog - uniting all UAE bloggers
Dubai informer - news and events.
The Grapeshisha Blog - commentary on a changing Dubai
One Big Construction Site - a long term expat on life in Dubai
Secret Dubai Diary - rather disillusioned expat commentary
Momentary Musings - another expat commentary

Dubai Tourism
Dubai City Guide - government tourism page
Dubai.com - city guide
Dubai-online.com
Go Dubai - another city guide
The Burj Al Arab hotel symbol of the new Dubai
SkiDubai - its freezing inside
The Time Out Dubai guide
ConciergeDubai
Dubai Tourism

Dubai Aviation
Emirates - Dubai's flag carrier
Dubai Airport - arrivals and departures

Dubai By Night
DubaiLook Dubai's NIghtlife Guide

Others
Dubai Select - what the Brits are buying in Dubai
AME Guide All you need to know about the UAE
Dubai Eating - self explanatory

Language:

ENGLISH	ARABIC PHONETICS
Hello	Marhaba
Good morning	Sabah El Khair
Good evening	Masa El Khair
Greetings	Assalam'alaikoom
How are you?	Kaif al hal?
Goodbye	Ma'assalama
Please	Min Fadlak
Yes	Na'am
No	La
What	Matha
Who	Man
Where	Ayina
Why	Lematha?
How much? (cost)	Bekam?
How many?	Kam?
Excuse me	Affwan
Thank you	Shukran
I don't know	Lusto Adree
Do you speak English?	Hal Tatkalam Al Engleaziah?

English to Arabic Words

ENGLISH	ARABIC PHONETICS
Airport	Matar
Post office	Bareed
Airlines office	Maktab Al Taiaran
Bank	Bank
Passport	Jawaz Safar
Luggage	Aghradd
Ticket	Tathkarah
Taxi	Taxi
Car	Sayarrah

English to Arabic
Numbers

ENGLISH	ARABIC PHONETICS
One	Wahed
Two	Itnain
Three	Thalatha
Four	Arba'a
Five	Khamsa
Six	Sitta
Seven	Sab'a
Eight	Thamania
Nine	Tis'a
Ten	‘Ashra

How things change. In 2007 I wrote that Dubai was arguably the fastest growing city, relative to its size, on the planet. Dubai's ambitions were staggering. There was little expectation then of how far Dubai could fall.

Trying to maintain its Middle Eastern identity when only a minority of the population is Emirati is a serious concern. This city state is being built by foreign labourers and its wealth created by foreign workers. This page will bring you some of the more interesting news stores from Dubai and provide links to news, blogs and tourism websites.

Dubai has many admirers; there are also many who find its excesses to be to extreme and many who express concern about the wealth gap and the exploitation of foreign labour.

The articles from 2007 and 2008 are here.

So how is Dubai in 2009? These articles will give you some indication: however as some of the articles are sensitive in Dubai I will link to them rather than reprint them.

A very strong anti Dubai article in the Times newspaper - 12 July 2009.

The Economist has this commentary on Dubai/the UAE. July 2009