“Off the Deep End: A Look at the Decline of Dubai” Slideshow | Fast Company

“Off the Deep End: A Look at the Decline of Dubai” Slideshow | Fast Company

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Badwater Ultramarathon

This is the kind of willpower, discipline and determination that I need to develop!

I'd never heard of this ultimate of ultimate endurance marathons, but I can't imagine it getting any tougher than this.

Badwater ultramarathon: 135 miles in 130 degree heat

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/08/12/california.badwater.ultramarathon/index.html

UK Taxes on GCC Money- let's give them more!

GCC rich list facing new scrutiny from UK taxman - Politics & Economics - ArabianBusiness.com


Click on the above link. The timing of this couldn't be better in light of my last post.

Poverty, in the Gulf? I think not!

I tend to think of myself as pretty jaded, as I take most things in stride. Something has to be pretty "out there" for me to be flabbergasted (yup, I used that word lol). But having said that, this article that I came across on the L.A. Times shocked me. I don't know... I don't like to think of myself as naive, but the fact that the reality on the ground is what it is makes it a bit hard for me to take in.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/08/qatar-public-outrage-as-demand-for-saudi-maids-rises-amid-fears-of-black-magic.html

The above article is about Saudi women who live in such abject poverty that the option of working as housemaids in Qatar is a preferred alternative.

Let me say though that the LA Times article is based on an Al-Arabiya segment, which, in my eyes, takes away from its credibility because I tend to think of Al-Arabiya as a news channel that has a tendency to sensationalize issues, with a penchant for creating a mountain out of a molehill, and whose credibility has been questioned on various occasions.

Regardless, the reality is the same, and it breaks my heart. As an Omani, I strongly believe that all work is noble, no matter what the work is, or how blue-collar it may be. Good, honest work is good honest work, period. But for a Gulf citizen, one who resides in one of the richest regions in the world, to have to leave home and hearth, to move to another country in order to survive on minimum wage, while our Region's rich pump over USD 9 billion in one year into London's tourism economy... there's something wrong with this picture. When are we going to wake up?

Burqinis not allowed..

Just came across this article. Carole, a French lady, a convert to Islam, was forbidden from wearing a burqini (I need to find out if its really called that lol) which appears to be an Islamic-style swimsuit at a Paris public pool.

See article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8197917.stm).

What I find hilarious is the comment made by the mayor:

Emerainville Mayor Alain Kelyor said "all this has nothing to do with Islam",
adding that the swimsuit was "not an Islamic swimsuit" and that "that type of
suit does not exist in the Koran".

I mean seriously, who is he kidding? Is he aware of how ignorant he sounds? Or does he think we're all fools who do not think this is discrimination pure and simple? Plus, hello, what did he mean when he said that "that type of suit does not exist in the Koran"??!!! I very much doubt you'll find reference to any form of swimsuit in the Torah, the Bible or the Quran!!

*sigh* the ignorance... and this man is an elected official. Says it all, doesn't it?

On a side note- I need to get me a burqini ;)