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

Big Issues

The war in Iraq - personal commentary and some of the more thoughtful written commentaries on the war in Iraq

Hong Kong's proposed Article 23 legislation POSTPONED !!! The people have spoken and been heard ! And this web site feels that it has been part of a battle worth fighting.

Some thoughts on the first anniversary of the September 11th attack on the USA can be found here.

China - the rise and rise...

News Links

South China Morning Post Hong Kong's leading English language paper. Site has headlines only, subscription required for full article

Apple Daily Chinese language site with all the real news and gossip form Hong Kong

RTHK - Radio and Television Hong Kong Government funded English and Cantonese broadcaster.

TVB Pearl The English language channel of Hong Kong's largest broadcaster

Hong Kong Entertainment News in Review A site for fans of Hong Kong entertainment who cannot read Chinese.

STAR TV Ruperts Murdoch's Star TV operations include Star World, Sport, Movies, ChannelV, National Geographic and ESPN.

www. espnstar.com may be Asia's most current and comprehensive sports site.

Bangkok News Links

The Bangkok Post

The Nation

2005 Summary

December 2005 Are Emirates Air a victim of their own success?; Bangkok Post - 25% price increase and still drivel; Bangkok's airport - another delay; Dubai's secular Christmas; Dubai - first impressions; Ashes Itinerary 2006/2007; Welcome to Siam Para Con; We wish you a sponsored Christmas; Singapore's faithful media; Britain's next Prime Minister?; The British National Anthem; time for change; And the gold medal goes to.....; Singapore carries out Nguyen's execution

November 2005 A bleak campaign in the frozen north; Thaksin and Sondhi - now the good news; Appalling attack brings no justice; One night in Bangkok; Why Singapore needs to show its humanity; Low cost, long haul; The mother of all airport hubs; Singapore's struggling LCCs; Where next for Sondhi; Bangkok goes potty; Harbin Water Crisis; Gagged by the stars; There is still time to appeal for Nguyen; The steamy side of Loy Krathong; Asia's toilet seat hub; Lost in translation;Startling Revelation; The five copies;Patten fever in Hong Kong; Hotels on and off alert in Beijing; The road to Pyinmana; A 20th century history quiz;Don Muang's unknown future; Plea for clemency; Asian golfers hit for six; A senseless hanging

October 2005 The monarchy's march to oblivion; Hong Kong Porn goes Nazi; Thai murder mystery in Hong Kong; A room with a view; Always take travel insurance; One week in Bangkok; Memoirs of a Chinese Geisha; Saddam and Gomorrah; Mickey Mouse in Hong Kong; My Chinese all over body massage; Too early for Christmas; The Islamic response that is needed to Bali; Mini Bar, major scam

September 2005 The competitive demise of Hong Kong; I declare this airport not really open yet; MisAppointing the UN Secretary General; King Canute and the Internet in China; September's Amazing Thailand; Getting the JetBlues; Yahoo's two-faced shame; you've got jail. Whither Google; Where were you when England took back the Ashes?; Hong Kong Government aids Mooncake Munchers; Mickey Mao and the new Cultural Revolution; State of the Nation; Katrina first the floods and then the fall-out; The Great British Sex Survey; Ignoring the obvious in New Orleans; Tacky, Tacky, Tacky; Visions of the end of the world?

August 2005 The Sound of Sirens; My idea is bigger and sillier than yours; Ultraman in Bangkok; The world's worst terrorist; England Expects; 4 weddings and a "fatwa"; Bunny alert down under; Papering over cracks at the new Bangkok airport; The BA strike-the real issues; Some passenger lessons from the Air France crash; Bad events lead to bad laws; Summer in the city; A day in low cost hell; Euro-dismal.

July 2005 Paris rediscovered; China's political revaluation in an Indian summer; Endangered by over zealous police and delusional politicians; Beam me up Scotty; Getting the Pattaya Blues; The strangest list of the world's top ten cities; Four-legged Olympic frenzy in Hong Kong; The senseless terror attack on London; In the face of danger (leader - The Guardian); The uncordial entente; Sister Joan's Mission; change for good in Bangkok;  Addressing the indignity of death;  Bangkok 8; the Bangkok visitors imagine but never see; China's resource buying spree; London must be the Olympic choice for 2012

June 2005 An Irish lesson for Thailand; Time to reassess Mao 200 years; A very Thai tragedy; Tsunami - Six months on; Microsoft's China Censorship; Jacko not guilty - told you so; The Milkshake Murder; Canada's failed commitments; Bush's pathetic pledge; Live8's bold aims and hypocrisies

May 2005 Europe plunges into the "merde"; Taking the pith of the Sith;  Pitcairn's lord of the flies; Pattaya Today - the latest from the Dark Side; The alternative Miss Universe schedule; Manipulating Newsweek; Miss Universe lands in Bangkok; Manchester United in job swap scheme; A no-win triumph; Blair to resign by Christmas;  By the light of a silvery moon; Bomb detection equipment triggers corruption scandal; False security Air fare fraud; the hidden costs

April 2005 UK election; Howard's End; The blame game; Xinhua changes the focus; Pointing fingers in taxi accident at BKK airport; Singapore takes a gamble; Hong Kong's obscene property speculators; Textbook Hypocrisy; "victory definitely belongs to us Chinese!"; From SCMP or China Daily; From dot com baby to coffee shop; Going too far in China; Pattaya - the costa del crime;Thai Airways new colour scheme; A most practical wedding; Dripping in irony; Interpreting the incredibly obvious; The great firewall at work; Beware the inflight meal; The passing of a pope and the meaning of life

March 2005 Lewington is shown the Ray out at Watford FC; Message to Tsang - clean up the triads; The wishful thinking hub;  China's mega air merger rumour;  It's not Jacko that is wacko - its the system; "Jetsgo"ne;  The Basic Flaw;  Boeing, boeing, gone;  Counterfeit China China's changing demographics Tung to go; city rejoices

February 2005 Hong Kong's three child dream; Teaching an old dog new tricks;  India versus China; the old argument but with new answers;  Million Dollar Movie;  Boeing vs Airbus; battling for the long haul; Hide - it's Valentine's Day tomorrow; Charlie and Camilla to have a grey wedding; Skydome becomes the Rogers Centre; Thaksin's landslide (2); Thaksin's landslide;  2046 - ravishingly self indulgent; Taking political correctness to extremes; Democracy's wedge

January 2005 Democracy's wedge; Thailand's damaged tourism industry; Why we should honour Zhao Ziyang; The Basic Flaw; All roads lead to China; Bush's inauguration speech, be scared, very scared; The plea from Phuket; Awards for the least appropriate Tsunami relief efforts; Should we be returning to Phuket?; CNN's tsunami coverage; is it news as entertainment; Why I don't like Man Yoo; Blair's broken trust; Two weeks on; Why the UN needs International Rescue; A new year message from last week's disaster

2004 Summary

The 2004 archive is here.

December 2004  Why was there no warning?; How much is a life worth?; Killer Tsunami hits Asia; Bertuzzi's plea bargain; predictable and wrong; Christmas Past; A very Faye Christmas; Its raining cranes...but there is no peace; Cutting crew takes on reality tv; Sex and the Singapore City; Air Asia takes flak from the Bangkok Post; Alfred Hitchcock would approve

November 2004 China is hot; Zimbabwe farce; A mickey mouse Disney; China's military ambitions; The rise of China; For China economics comes first; Crane mail in Thailand; The coming war over Taiwan; Thaksin now likely to attend APEC - does he read this!; Hong Kong rolls over but it is not enough; Overdosed on Arafat; One year on Thai PM snubs APEC; In the deep rough at Muang Kaew; How offensive can you get?; Supermarket trolley drivers terrorise Bangkok; Pathetic; the world's self appointed greatest democracy held hostage; fox news and nbc follow rascott.com;  rascott.com calls a Bush win; America's most wanted back on video; More from Thailand's wierdest town; Vote Kerry - not a great choice; but the only one available

October 2004  Fears for Thailand's south; Arsenal pay the penalty; Ethiopia - twenty years on; Beijing Notes; Underfed or underpaid; Air Farce One; China's World Cup woes; Afghan democracy - a success story; End the barbaric bullfight; The brutal murder of Ken Bigley; Outsourcing myself; The US are electing the wrong candidates.

September 2004 A new war is needed; '2046' - four reasons to love this film; The West Wing's unlikely fan club; The first Virgin in space; Impotent Blair is at a loss; In any God's name this cannot be justified; Farewell Brian Clough; Weak Kofi; Beijing won the Democrats nil; The problem for Hong Kong's democrats; Your Bangkok subway guide; England should not tour Zimbabwe; Thailand's airport greed; Thai had a dream; Saying sorry for a bad whiff; Bigger, better, brighter, brasher, bolder Beijing; Malaysia gets it right

August 2004 Kiss and Tell: Over 330,000 misguided votes; Is this Howard's end?; A new version of the Nigerian scam; Singapore's political and economic expediency; Hit for six: Bangkok Governor election campaign; The questionable legacy of Deng; Was it Peng or was in Deng?; Making Vietnam an election issue; Bangkok's shut down; Missing the opportunity for change - Singapore's media; Dirty politics or dirty laundry; Early nights in Bangkok; This season's footie forecast; Searching for the Olympic spirit; Searching for inspiration; Split Democrats open way for Pavena; Bitter rivals to contest the Asian cup fina; Bangkok's unsung taxi drivers

July 2004 The President that America really wants;The land of the rising son;  Bangkok's scary choices for mayor; Sweet FA....;The world's most unlikely jogger;  Why Butler is a warning shot; Weapons of mass deception; the case against Tony Blair;  No sense from Arroyo; Sense from the US Senate; A confused agenda at the International Aids Conference; Time Asia reports on Asia's budget airline; s LCC ticket pricing; Naughty NokAir shows its Spirit; The 2004 US Election;  Hong Kong's political birth;  Bangkok's new subway

June 2004 Canada's chastened Liberals; Canada's election; the safe choice; Publishing Sensation; England's shoot-out curse; Football maths; Vancouver: Midsummer night's dream; Canada's election; a crisis of leadership; England's nightmare - England 1 France 2; Reagan: The consequences of inaction; She said; they said; European Championship predictions; PLA stamps its authority on Hong Kong; Tiananmen's message; Why democracy matters; India's election - a fractured verdict?; Pattaya Today revisited - soap opera at its best

May 2004  Amnesty International - Why Human Rights Matter; Time for seeding the FA Cup; Khun mai kuey doen lenn khon dioew; Casualties of War; truth and decency; Lies about crimes; George Bush never looked into Nick's eyes; Fixing Bangkok airport; Mirror Editor sacked; Misleading people and endangering lives; India's election shock; Our immoral world; Singapore's Happy Loos !; How others see Thailand; The China squeeze; Rumsfeld must go - he would not be missed; Final farewells for Frasier and Friends; The enduring Thai gem scam; Barbarians masquerading as liberators

From 7 April 2004 Beijing's hard line on Hong Kong Britain's sorry isolation; Would you embrace this man?; Bangkok Fire leaves thousands homeless;  Losing our edge; the New York Times on US competitiveness; Let freedom ring; three commentaries on the expansion of the European Union on May 1, 2004; India's vibrant democracy; Do not apply for this vacancy; The Wrong War (Op-ed from the New York Times); Over rated, soaking, Songkran; Bonk it like Beckham; The growing divide between the USA and Canada; Budget carriers boost regional tourism

From 20 March 2004 One country - do as we say; Bangkok Motor Show 2004 - Picture Gallery; What next after explosives theft in Thailand; The message from Taiwan's strange election; The new elite - Anthony Sampson on the British Establishment; Silence of the witnesses; Election fever sweeps Asia (oops not in China); Hong Kong patriotism; Unlawful killing; Bloomberg profile of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin; Philip Bobbitt on the Iraq war

From 1 March 2004 Time for a rethink after Madrid; Bertuzzi update; The Madrid bombings; When sport is not sporting and the failure of the sports authorities; A global threat needs a global response; Why what others think about us matters; Hong Kong's Lantau Cable Car

From 21 February 2004: Naked News in Hong Kong; Africa Calling - The Guardian; gbp 10 million boost for Reuters CEO; Why friends fall out; Worrying trends in Bangkok's Media; ; Was I wrong about Iraq - The Guardian

From 1 February 2004: Patriotic Games - Hong Kong; Another plea to free the Guantanamo 600; Economic Conflicts of Interest; Intimate Interns; Chicken Flew - Nok Air; What do Colin Powell and  Justin   Timberlake have in Common?; America's best friend may be her worst nightmare; Let the People Decide; Pattaya Today !; Why journalists should report the news and not be the news; Ryanair Subsidies QandA

From 20 January 2004: The BBC gets what it deserved; Calling foul on fowl flu denial; Happy Chinese New Year; Singapore's alarming executions; Privatisation of Space Exploration

From 25 December 2003: Singapore expected to legalise oral sex ! Take a number - onboard loo queues; The IHT on Prime Minister Thaksin; Air marshals; a modern day necessity; Raise a finger to finger printing; A new year's plea; Terror should not make us illiberal; Why did so many have to die in Bam (a must read); Time Lapse; Do not feel sorry for Rio Ferdinand; Huge Grant does Bangkok; A Nation mourns; corgi mauled in royal dogfight.

2003 Summary

2003 in review highs and lows from 2003.

2003 archive All the commentaries and news from 2003 are now included on a single page for easier access

From 5 December 2003 -  One hundred years of powered flight; The capture of Saddam;   A dark cloud over Constitution Day; Putin the boot in; America's predictable retaliation; A low cost dogfight in Asia; Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth

From 21 November 2003 - The Cheap Day return to Baghdad; The Moral Myth;  England end 37 year drought; Right cause, wrong approach; the impact of the Istanbul bombings; Concordes' final homes                                              

From 1 November 2003 - John Simpson on the BBC and the Iraq War; Thai Air in for a bumpy ride; Being anti-Bush may be fashionable but may miss the point; The truth is out there somewhere (Rupert Murdoch's controlled media); The Unwanted Guest; A right Royal Romp; Oral sex remains an offence in Singapore

From 15 October 2003 - My vote - Jeb Bartlett; Don't Blog like Bush !; Rumours and Secrets; Drugs and Sport; Concorde's last flight - the end of an era; The hi-jacking of APEC; Mahathir fans the flames

From 1 October 2003 - The first Sinonaut; Something is rotten in English football;  Questions too important for the US to ignore; APEC = A pretty expensive conference; California deserves better            

From 13 Sept 2003 - The distraction of the Hutton enquiry; Wenger's sorry seems to be the hardest word;  Now I feel safer!; Why Concorde has to stop flying; Sweden's Euro vote; Two lost years

From 30 August 2003 -  Two years on from 9-11; One for the people - or political expediency; The view from down under; Starting a week of good news.

From 16 August 2003 - Let Freedom Ring...as relevant today as it was 40 years ago. The Inner workings; Why professional golf is so utterly dull; It is time to apologise Mr. Blair; Premiership Predictions; The murky waters of the Hutton Enauiry;  A huge cheer for the Episcopal Church

From 2 August 2003 - How airlines ruin a vacation; Was the Iraq war justified? (a must read for Gordon!); Toronto - back and booming; the record breaking six years of Tony Blair, The exploitation of Saddam's sons

From 12 July 2003 - Tung tied, George Bush's too safe safari, Who is the Greatest Briton?

From 2 July 2003 - Hong Kong's crisis and Beijing's dilemma,    The People have Spoken - Hong Kong's truly remarkable protest,  Hong Kong's 1 July protest against Article 23 legislation.

From 16 June 2003 - Last Orders for Dennis Thatcher,         Taking Stock, Same sex marriages in Canada

From 2 June 2003 - All alone on Fathers day,  And So the story goes, Those "Washington Bastards", The gang-rape case in Bangkok, Hong Kong, still not cleaning up its act, One year old.

From 19 May 2003 - An apology - I was misled; PGA _ Purposeful, grounded Annika; Press-ganged - the role of the right wing press in the government of Britain (a must read): Thailand's less than free media; Good news for babies; Football world cup mess.

From 5 May 2003 - Free the Guantanamo 600; and the good news from Vancouver

From 14 April 2003 - Swimming upstream at Reuters; London - unpleasant and unaffordable; Iraq - this may be a very hollow victory

From 1 April 2003 - Looking for intelligent life; and now for some good news !

From 24 March 2003 - Recommendations for protection from SARS, Hong Kong's flu fears; Canada's misplaced loyalties; Bye bye Anthony Leung; Bye bye CNN; All out of options.

From 1 March 2003 - The SCMP shows its true colours; BOCA - a health warning; Hong Kong's shameful tax; The mother of all bombs; All out of options; Bye Bye CNN, Bye Bye Anthony Leung.

From 17 February 2003 - Tony Blair - caught between Iraq and a hard place; thoughts from the diplomatic front; Dads Army. The US view - Earning America's Resentment; Tell the truth; Shanghai - brave new world;

Three weeks commencing 27 January 2003 - Poor justice in Canada: en support les Francais; No clear and present danger; The Columbia tragedy: The inexplicable and inevitable march to war; clarifying a climb down

week commencing 20 January 2003 - The entente not so cordial: who is the real villain?: torture debases civilised society; the big freeze; inspired by an ex-colleague; Dragonair's misplaced fire; Hong Kong film critics awards.

two weeks commencing 6 January 2003 - Why England should not play cricket in Zimbabwe; Roy Jenkins - a political conscience; Campbell in the soup; war uncertainty in the USA; the Canadian debate over gay marriages; US airline alliances and the trouble with America.

2002 Summary

2002 in review highlights from the year and thoughts on the year ahead

2002 Archive All the commentaries and news from 2002 are now included on a single page for easier access.

The holiday period from 23 December 2002 - Nestle, do they know its Christmas. A special Christmas offering

period from 2 December 2002 - Cheriegate, Henry Kissinger, the Iraq weapons report and using video to help football referees.

week commencing 25 November 2002 - Cultural naivety; the Saudi reality; A cool yule for the politically correct !; the Hong Kong Open golf tournament

week commencing 18 November 2002 - Thailand's corruption scandals; webstats; US state department calls for Article 23 white paper; the Miss World fiasco.

week commencing 11 November 2002 - The royal victims of a circulation war; the evil weed; the dot com bubble; Can low cost airlines fly in Asia, the China aviation market; one country - two systems holding back Hong Kong; Chungking Express; life in the big city.

week commencing 4 November 2002 -  The Royal Victims of a Circulation War; Settling down - an old fashioned notion! What did the butler see?: Hong Kong 6s: Misguided prejudice: Attack of the drones; a Republican agenda; the long march to capitalism.

week commencing 28 October 2002 - Cost cutting companies, publish a white bill for Article 23, comprendez-vous les French, Upstairs, Downstairs a very British fetish, Asia's sleaze city.

week commencing 21 October 2002 - The HKG/USA air services pact, Pyongyang's nuclear threat, Nobel Peace prize, Jiang's Texas BBQ, What is the right response to terrorism?

week commencing 14 October 2002 - the forgotten casualties of Bali, Iraq's scad free election, England's hooligans, not so able Seaman, new HKG/USA air services pact.

week commencing 7 October 2002 - Bali bombing, Singapore's self controlled media; calling time on the monarchy in Canada, Inconsistency in Hong Kong

week commencing 30 September 2002 - A Major liking for a late night Currie, Bill Clinton wows Blackpool, Fetish Fashion legal costs, False Miracles, Mosquitoes - an evil cult !

week commencing 23 September 2002 - German elections, Peter Enckelmann - who would be a goalkeeper, the Ryder Cup.

week commencing 16 September 2002 - Iraq and North Korea - spot the difference; Vanessa Mae; School Daze revisited.

week commencing 9 September 2002 - Watford FC, Nigerian cash advance frauds, School Daze party

Remembering 9-11 - a series of articles on the anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the USA

week commencing 2 September 2002 - The death penalty, the end of my Time subscription, Cathay and Dragonair, how bad is Saddam Hussein?

week commencing 26 August 2002 - Media censorship in China, Bloomberg's Singapore folly, the Earth Summit

week commencing 19 August 2002 - Whipped into shape - the fetish fashion verdict, Aviation features, Hong Kong

week commencing 12 August 2002 - Letter from Havana, Aviation features, John Barnes

week commencing 5 August 2002 - Taiwan and China, top ten travel destinations from HKG, Cathay Pacific pilots, Hong Kong blues and a golf joke !

week commencing 29 July 2002 - England, a mainland view of Hong Kong, and Pet Shop Pensioners

weeks commencing 15 and 22 July2002 - Smokers rights (none), asteroids, notes from the UK, the Ashes schedule for Australia Oct 2002-Jan 2003.

week commencing 8 July 2002 - Arming airline pilots, leadership and Hong Kong news

week commencing 1 July 2002 - World Cup, Oh Canada, USA Independence Day,

weeks commencing 17 and 24 June 2002 - Garbage in Hong Kong, air and rail travel in the USA and the state of the union.

week commencing 8 June 2002 - Hong Kong open skies, new fines and customer service

period commencing 1 June 2002 - Tianenmen, the World Cup, South Asia - on the verge of nuclear war and the state of Hong Kong's museums.