Independent Political Analyst & Keynote Speaker, Daniel Silke comments on the economic crisis facing Dubai. All comments may be used in press reports with appropriate credits.

Don’t Write off Dubai Just Yet!

For many, there was a jealousy consumed with envy in their analysis of Dubai. Double-digit economic growth for over a decade made the Emirate a new economic model in a region that never before saw itself as a true global player. The audacity of development projects like The Palm and Burj developments were breathless achievements and a testimony to ingenuity and design. You couldn’t help but be impressed with the scale and size of property and residential projects – nor the strategic expansion of Emirates Airlines which was the catalyst in making the location of the Emirate critical to its economic development.

So, the “Debt Restructuring” or “Standstill” of some $80bn worth of loans just announced was justifiably enough to unnerve investors and the larger banking sector. Dubai’s exceptional growth path was built on debt. Its huge infrastructure projects financed by loans while its glamorous real estate companies played a global game of investing in assets as diverse as the Cape Town’s Waterfront, Barney’s clothing store in New York and the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

Sanctioned from the Sheikh’s palace, Dubai World and Nakheel (the largest of the property conglomerates) acted with impunity. A lack of any regulation or oversight enabled these companies to adopt the adage of “build and they will come” negating the market forces of demand and supply. Testimony to this is the many incomplete or vacant office towers that litter the desert along Sheikh Zayed Road – now a living monument to oversupply and market saturation.

But, for all the Western sniggering (and frustration) with Dubai’s current malaise, Dubai managed something of a miracle in a region beset by violence and social disintegration. For the first time, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum invested in his own region (or City) rather than accumulate vast sums of cash for the private use of the favoured class. Be it motivated by vanity (and who can deny that building the biggest and best are not vanity projects?), Maktoum laid the foundation for a remarkable Arab recovery.

Instead of looking inward and retracting into a religious or nationalist cocoon, Dubai stepped out of its comfort zone to create wealth and engage the world – and in particular the West – through the development of tourism and promotion of the City as a global player alongside London, New York and Paris. Dubai’s vision was much broader than just being a fleshpot in a hot, dusty and inhospitable part of the world. Making Dubai and example in the Arab world, exposing the region to outside influences (and vices) and creating a welcoming environment for business and leisure surely was an achievement rarely seen in decades of strife and disengagement with the West. And, the vision was copied by Abu Dhabi, Qatar and even conservative Saudi Arabia albeit on a more modest (and wiser) scale.

But here’s the rub. Although the vision of Maktoum and his Father can only be commended, the inability of the authoritarian nature of the state to effectively manage its execution coupled with an unexpected global financial crisis, has brought the Emirates credibility into disrepute. Without transparency and scrutiny in the public domain, a maverick state-sponsored capitalism took root that failed to temper the over-stimulated economy and bubble-like property market. Instead of putting checks and balances into corporate governance, the free-for-all reigned forth.

Ultimately, Dubai’s model was built around importing demand and services from the rest of the world. Its lack of any domestic market (and population), meant that the Emirate was vulnerable on virtually every front of its economy. Although Sheikh Maktoum enjoyed the luxury of having virtually no poor to worry about, relying on (often fickle) ex-pat skills and their purchasing power was almost a bigger millstone. And, with no domestic demand, every other sector of the economy had to be imported – from media conglomerates to services.  So, as the world contracted, so did Dubai. Bad timing combined with Authoritarian inertia and the narcotic effect of prestige, has placed the Emirate in a negative light. It’s credibility as an investment destination will take a long time to recover.

Ironically, what Dubai started, others will continue to emulate. Certainly Abu Dhabi looks set to come out of the crisis smiling. It too, watched carefully as its more flamboyant brother flirted with excess. And, it has learnt from the Dubai model. Watch Abu Dhabi market itself now as the region’s new emerging leader and take advantage of the stumbles across the Emirati line. With massive oil deposits as an insurance policy against the vagaries of the markets, Abu Dhabi knows it is now the proverbial son. Didn’t your Father always tell you that it’s fine to dabble in a risky business so long as you had something to fall back on? Abu Dhabi now has the ultimate fall-back position and with the Dubai model textbook in hand – warts and all – it can only come out trumps.

What is really mystifying is how badly the Dubai example was handled. The surprise Debt Standstill surely could’ve been massaged a little better. Again, the closed nature of the political system and the experimentation with a hybrid state capitalism in a state governed like a tribal familial authority showed that despite all the money in the world, good old fashioned Public Relations was lacking. Keeping investors informed and having international finance privy to problems was the only way to mitigate the fall-out from the present position. And, to think there are so many international PR companies with so many ex-pat PR practitioners waiting in the gleaming towers of the city who could’ve helped. Now it’s down to Deloitte to sort out the mess – at least the consultants will still have a role to play!

Dubai might be down – but it’s certainly not out. The Emirate has learnt some valuable lessons. Its brashness and assertiveness might have taken a knock – but it can come back fighting. Sheikh Maktoum is a visionary leader whose ego may now be dented, but the notion of integration with the rest of the world and the creation of an alternative financial and cultural hub is not something that should be allowed to flounder. The Dubai model, while unique in the Arab world is a light unto its neighbors and the world. While jealousy and envy might cause many to sneer at recent events, Dubai can (and should) get back on its feet. Don’t count it out just yet.

Two weeks ago when I had a heavy heart, I was surprised to get a call from new e-guestbook signer and friend, Dave. He asked if I wanted to go flying over the gulf beaches and afterwards maybe go up in the tower to meet the guys who work there. How cool is that? I really like Dave and I welcomed the opportunity to hang out with him ~ flying was an added bonus!

done

On the day of our flight the weather was beautiful, Dave was awesome, and my heart suddenly felt lighter. I cannot tell you how much fun I had that day! I’ve always dreamed I’d get my pilot’s license some day but never really saw it as a possibility. This was the day I changed my mind about that. I’m convinced now that flying a plane is something I just have to make happen as soon as possible.  Dave, you have inspired me  and lifted my spirit. What a great friend!  Thank you.

p.s.

Dave, I’m not particularly happy with the video I shot. I’m certain that I could do much better on the second trip! (smile) Oh, and thanks for the study material.

Mk1 Ford Escort in Gulf livery!

Photo credit: GT323

- Gyro

By Cara Sulieman

WORK ON a new multi-million pound facility for soldiers blinded in action is due to start next week.

The new building will house a workshop, art space, training areas, gym, therapy spaces and a remembrance room.

Costing £3 million, it has been funded by donations and legacies, and will open in 2010.

The Scottish National Institute for War Blinded are constructing the new state of the art centre next to their existing workshop in Wilkieston, West Lothian.

Having worked with blinded servicemen and women since world war two, the centre is hoping that the new facilities can help rehabilitate modern soldiers.

Wood and metalwork

Chief Executive of the centre, Richard Hellewell, said: “The existing workshop was designed for soldiers coming out of World War II in the 1940s and took in many more people than we’re seeing today.

“The original workshop, which focused on developing skill such as woodwork and metalwork, was designed to hold about 70 people.

“Mercifully, our rolls are falling because of advances in eye protection, but there was many factors in conflict that can cause someone to lose their sight.

“As well as the risk of shrapnel damage to the eye soldiers can suffer neurological damage that can cause them to lose their sight, even after they’ve returned from conflict.

“The new facility will have a capacity of about 35 but there will be a much wide range of facilities to reflect modern interests.”

Gulf wars and Afghanistan

In the last few years the charity has tried to reach out to more people across the country, taking on 100 new members from around Scotland in the last year alone.

Richard said: “Most lost their sight since they left military service, but there are a number who had previously not been known to us whose sight loss was during or consequent upon their service.

“The number we are supporting who lost their sight as a direct result of conflict zone injuries in the two Gulf wars and Afghanistan is small – perhaps about half a dozen – but it is important that we are here for them and have services capable of helping greater numbers in future.”

The design of the building was inspired by a hand-carved Chinese dragon from the golf club at Fanling, Hong Kong.

They are long-time supporters of the Scottish War Blinded and the dragon is on display at the workshop.

Aircraft wing

Richard said that it was also designed to make the servicemen more comfortable in their environment.

He added: “The design also echoes an aircraft wing, or a propeller, which fits in with our aim or keeping comfortable reminders of forces life in the centre.

“It will be open plan so the atmosphere will be like working in a large tent, which will again evoke life in the forces.

“We expect to cater for between 120 and 150 people a week from as wide a catchment as is practical. Most of our users will only pop in for one or two days at a time.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

ETL had cancelled the Conference in Cairo, but the management of Motivate in the Gulf didn’t. 40 qualifiers just returned after four days of fun in Cairo and Alexandria! One more photo here.

Another week roles past and more lives are lost. More men and women of our armed forces are killed at the hands of the Taliban and more families lives are ruined. The media will exclaim, ‘too much!’ the Tories that ‘we have had enough,’ and the public will cry ‘bring our boys home.’ It is tragic.

It is tragic that the country that raised these brave men and women are betraying their memory by claiming that the cause that they fight for is, for want of a better term, pointless. The fact remains, whether it is a nice one or not, that these brave people were soldiers, they signed up and were trained to fight on the front line. That is not to take anything away from their sacrifice or their selflessness, however let us remember why we are in the gulf. Perhaps less Iraq but certainly in the case of Afghanistan, the people, the law abiding, peace seeking mass populous were robbed of any and all freedoms. Denied the right to express feelings, women denied the right to an education and children denied the right to play in the street. Is this a nice war? No of course not, but what wars are?

We have just remembered as a nation the sacrifice that many millions of this country’s brave men made in defiance of tyranny and oppression. They laid down their lives to give me the right to write this today, they laid down their lives so that people could feel safe from censorship and not have to worry that they would be kidnapped in the middle of the night never to be seen again. Yet now it appears we do not care for this. We have forgotten as we take it for granted. The men and women fighting in the gulf are fighting for exactly the same reasons. Ok perhaps not on the same scale but does it make a difference if 100 people are denied freedom as opposed to a million, does it make a difference if one woman is told she can not attend school as opposed to a thousand? It makes no difference what so ever, an injustice remains an injustice and a just cause remains a just cause.

This doesn’t make the burden any easier to bear, it doesn’t make it any easier for a mother to accept a folded flag in exchange for her sons life, but it does matter. It may be a war of political aspirations and personal gain for those in office but do you honestly think it is for those bleeding in the battle field. They still see the children that have never had a street safe enough to play in and talk to the farmers forced to grow opium as opposed to wheat to feed his family with.

800,000 British souls were ended or wounded in WWII and the current death toll in Afghanistan stands at 223, admittedly there is a clear and obvious difference yet the cause remains the same. For those that argue Hitler wanted to wipe out an entire religion as opposed to the Taliban ‘merely’ wanting to domiante a region, do you not think they would do the same, were they in a position to pursue this goal? The fact is whether we like it or not, brave British boys and girls have been sacrificing their lives in the name of freedom for hundreds of years and they will continue to do so. Each life lost is a new tragedy, not just because it traumatises a home but because that loss was needed in the first place, that a death is necessary to show the world that the way it treats each other is important.

Confucious once said ‘In a country well governed poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed wealth is something to be ashamed of.’ This is very true with the wars we are fighting today. Whether or not you agree with the fact that Britain, America and their allies are in the gulf the fact remains that for the average civilian their they are more free now than perhaps they have ever been, yes there is still trouble and yes people are still dying but that is the sacrifice that has to be made in the pursuit of freedom and it is one that British men and women have always been prepared to make, no matter what the cost.

This nation has too long a history of imposing its feelings and authority over other states and now we are having to address it. It is not easy, it is often awful and normally tragic if such a juxta-position can exist but one thing it is, is right and just.

The FDA and the Obama Administration are trying to place a ban on Raw Warm-Water Oysters. Raw oysters harvested from the Gulf during the warm months are the cause of almost all the yearly oyster deaths. There is an average of 15 annual deaths due to food poisoning from contaminated oysters. The FDA would permit the use of oysters during the warm months only if they had been treated first to kill the bacteria. Oystermen are outraged as this would be a devastating decrease in their business. The most common virus that infects oysters and harms people is Vibrio vulnificus. Symptoms of this virus are fever, chills, blistering skin lesions, diarrhea, vomiting and sometimes ultimately death. The argument of oystermen is that the freezing or pasteurization of oysters ruins the fresh flavor of the oyster. People argue that this has been a delicacy for many year and to take it away now is a violation of their rights.  I think both parties have reasonable arguments, but I think that it is most important to keep the safety of people in mind. I imagine they won’t care much about the slight taste difference when they are covered in black blisters, vomitting and dying a very painful death. I think it is reasonable to ask that they treat the oysters with freezing, pasteurization, or radiation. If they cannot bring themselves to serve oysters that have been cured, then they can seek their oysters in another area or at a different time of year. It is unfair to allow the continuance of a practice when it is already known that this practice will kill 15 people every year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/health/policy/12oyster.html

Who: FDA/Obama Administration
What: Raw Warm-water oysters
When: November 11, 2009
Where: The Gulf
Why: Vibrio vulnificus and other bacterias and viruses

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?list=~\news\lists\local&id=368794

Who: FDA
What: Ban raw oysters
When: 2011
Where: Gulf of Mexico
Why: Food poisoning

சீனாவில் 9 உய்கூர் முஸ்லிம்களுக்கு தூக்கு

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கடந்த ஜூலை மாதம் ஜின்ஜியாங் தலைநகர் உரூம்கியில் நடைபெற்ற கலவரத்தை தொடர்புபடுத்தி சீன அரசு 9 உய்கூர் முஸ்லிம்கள் தூக்கிலிடப்பட்டதாக சீனாவின் அதிகாரப்பூர்வ செய்தி நிறுவனம் கூறியுள்ளது.

கடந்த ஜூலை மாதம் ஜின்ஜியாங் மாகாணத் தலைநகர் உரூம்கியில் நடைபெற்ற கலவரத்தை தொடர்புபடுத்தி சீன அரசு 9 உய்கூர் முஸ்லிம்களை தூக்கிலிட்டது.

கொலை, தீவைத்தல் ஆகிய குற்றங்கள் இவர்கள் மீது சுமத்தப்பட்டதாக அதிகாரப்பூர்வ செய்தி நிறுவனம் கூறுகிறது. சுப்ரீம் கோர்ட்டின் பார்வைக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்ட பிறகே தண்டனை நிறைவேற்றப்பட்டதாகவும் அந்த செய்தி நிறுவனம் கூறுகிறது.

ஆனால் இது முற்றிலும் ஒருதலைபட்சமானது என்றும் உரூம்கியில் ஹான் இனத்தவரை திருப்திபடுத்தவே இத்தண்டனை நிறைவேற்றப்பட்டதாகவும் உய்கூர் தலைவர் தில்ஷாத் ரஷீத் குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ளார். ஜூலை ஐந்தாம் தேதி பரவிய கலவரத்தில் ஏறத்தாழ‌ 197 பேர் கொல்லப்பட்டனர். ஹான் இன‌த்தவர்கள் இக்கலவரத்தில் கொல்லப்பட்டதாக சீன செய்தி நிறுவனம் அறிவித்திருந்தது. ஆனால் காவல்துறையின் துணையுடன் கொல்லப்பட்டது முஸ்லிம்கள் என்று அறிக்கைகள் கூறுகின்றன.

ஹான் இனத்தவர் கூட்டமாக உய்கூர் முஸ்லிம்கள் வசிக்கும் ஜின்ஜியாங் பகுதியில் குடியேறியதுதான் கலவரத்திற்கு காரணம் எனக் கூறப்படுகிறது. அரசு ஒத்துழைப்புடன் ஹான் இனத்தவர்கள் ஜின்ஜியாங்கில் குடியேறியதால் முஸ்லிம்கள் சிறுபான்மையினராக மாறியுள்ளனர். சுயாட்சி கோரி பலகாலமாக போராட்டம் நடைபெற்றுவரும் பிரதேசம் ஜின்ஜியாங் என்பது குறிப்பிடத் தக்கது.

செய்தி: இந்நேரம்.காம்

National Hurricane Center says storm came ashore early Tuesday at Daughin Island in southern state of Alabama… From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: hurricane status. The blog is also related to: hurricane disaster.

Ida hit Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast Thursday as a low-level hurricane, destroying homes and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate… From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: hurricane preparation. The blog is also related to: hurricane supplies.

Phone: 954 603 8772.
Please leave a message and you will be contacted ASAP.

A/C not fixed = $20 (diagnosis/service)
If your air conditioning (A/C) is not fixed, the charge $20 to diagnose the problem.

A/C fixed + No parts = $50
(If your A/C is fixed and no parts are needed, the charge is $50 total.You will not pay more than $50 unless parts need to be purchased.)

A/C fixed + Parts = $50 + Cost of parts.
If your A/C is fixed and parts are needed, the charge is $50 + the cost of the parts.

Please note: Freon/refrigerant is a part and is not included in the service fee.

This is not an hourly fee – the labor fee is $50 no matter how long the repair takes. The charge is $20 if the A/C is not fixed.

Please note that the following services are not currently being offered: 1) coil change-outs, 2) compressor change-outs and 3) installations.

Here is a list of cities currently being serviced:

Boca Raton
Coconut Creek
Coral Springs
Deerfield Beach
Fort Lauderdale
Hillsboro Beach
Lauderdale Lakes
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Lauderhill
Lighthouse Point
Margate
North Lauderdale
Oakland Park
Parkland
Pompano Beach
Tamarac
Wilton Manors

South Broward, West Broward and Miami-Dade County are not currently serviced.

Here is a list of some of the units that may be repaired…
- Commercial A/C units
- Residential A/C units
- Split A/C units
- Package A/C units
- Wall A/C units
- Window A/C units

Please note: Personal Checks and Business Checks are not accepted as payment at this time.

If you can’t call, feel free to email your phone number to the email address at the top of this listing and you will be contacted ASAP.

Any and all air conditioners have a possibility of repair.

Here are some (but not all) brands that repairs are possible for..
Goodman, Trane, Carrier, York, Rheem, Ruud, Fujistsu, American Standard, Lennox, Mitsubishi, Bryant, Payne, Duchane, Fedders, Heil, Janitrol, Armstrong, GE, General Electric, Honeywell, Amana, Comfortmaker, Tempstar, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler, Guardian, Generac.

License # CAC014666

Day One…

It looks like Ida is drawing a bead on Surfside Shores on the Fort Morgan Peninsula!  She is a category two now with winds over 75 mph.

The weather here is breezy but still beautiful.  Sophie and I were alone on the beach, but that’s not unusual.

The local experts predict the cool water in the gulf will slow the winds and it will probably deteriorate to a tropical storm before it hits land.

But I’m sure the ‘talking heads’ on morning TV will blow it all out of proportion and the entire Gulf Coast will take a real financial hit this week. Thanks Dianne, Harry & Matt!

Sunday morning

However, this might be a good time to check on my hurricane shutters, I’ve been meaning to do that all summer…

Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the United States this year, plodded Sunday toward the Gulf Coast with 105 mph winds, bringing the threat of flooding and storm surges.

A hurricane warning extended more than 200 miles of coastline from Pascagoula, Miss., east to Indian Pass, Fla. Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches are in effect across other areas of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, including New Orleans. Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency.

Authorities said Ida could make landfall as early as Tuesday morning, although it was forecast to weaken by then. Officials and residents kept a close eye on the Category 2 hurricane as it approached, though there were no immediate plans for evacuations.

Sunday night, Ida was located 400 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north-northwest near 14 mph. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows Ida brushing near Louisiana and Mississippi, then making landfall near Alabama before continuing across north Florida.

Yet many residents took the forecast in stride.

“Even though we’re telling everybody to be prepared, my gut tells me it probably won’t be that bad,” said Steve Arndt, director of Bay Point Marina Co. in Panama City, Fla.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal had declared a state of emergency as a precaution, and the National Guard was on high alert if assistance was needed. In Florida, residents of Pensacola Beach and nearby Perdido Key were encouraged to leave and school was canceled in the area Monday and Tuesday.

Officials told residents to prepare for potential gusts of 60 mph by removing any tree limbs that could damage their homes and securing or bringing in any trash cans, grills, potted plants or patio furniture.

Nearly 1,400 Louisiana residents are still living in federally issued trailers and mobile homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita; nearly 360 units remained in Mississippi.

“FEMA stresses that those in temporary (housing) units should not take chances,” Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Andrew Thomas said. “Leave the unit behind and evacuate to a permanent structure that will better withstand tropical weather systems and the associated winds.”

Mississippi authorities warned residents to be vigilant. Authorities were monitoring conditions to see whether any evacuations of lower-lying areas or school closures would be necessary.

“It is likely we will at least be hit with strong winds and some flooding in our coastal counties,” said Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Officials “do not want anybody to be caught off guard.”

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Womack said forecasts called for tides of 4-7 feet above normal and rainfall totals of 5-7 inches within 24 hours, which could mean flooding along the coasts and along rivers.

Alabama emergency management officials did not immediately respond to phone messages.

In the Florida Panhandle, residents in Bay County and Panama City were being advised to secure boats and prepare for storm surges that could reach 2-3 feet. Heavy rain, wind and possible flooding was also expected.

“You really don’t know until it gets close how you’re going to be affected by it,” said Brad Monroe, Bay County’s deputy chief of emergency services.

Ida wasn’t expected to pack the wallop seen in 2008 when hurricanes Gustav and Ike pelted the Gulf Coast back-to-back. There have been nine named storms this season, which ends Dec. 1. Ida is only the third hurricane to form, and the other two did not threaten land.

In New Orleans, unflappable fans at the Saints football game seemed unaware a storm was approaching.

“We’re used to tropical storms,” said David Clements of Chalmette, La. “That’s why we have a dome.”

Earlier Sunday, Ida’s wind and rain whipped palm trees in the Mexican resort city of Cancun. Fishermen tied their boats down, though tourists seemed to regard it as a minor setback.

“It’s not what we expected,” said Kathleen Weisser, a nurse from Fernley, Nev. “We wanted sun. Instead we have liquid sunshine.”

Mexico had canceled all watches and warnings for the country.

Ron Kaczorowski, of Chicago, said his daughter was forced to move her beach wedding inside because of the storm. He said he had tried to reassure his disappointed daughter that the nasty weather would make her wedding stand out.

“I told her, ‘How many people get married in a hurricane?’”

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Category 2 storm could be headed to US gulf coast after battering Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula… From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: hurricane season. For a different topic see sentences that begin with letter. The blog is also related to: the hurricane.

To err is human, all too human, and I’m as guilty of peccadilloes of omission as the next carbon-based biped schmo. Maybe more. Yet, the particular instance of mortality I want to confess to has little to do with a stingy conscience, and more to do with an overabundance of loose talk, a glut of gab. It’s the direct result of an excessively nourished theorizing instinct. My greedy little speculation-gremlin sometimes becomes pretty voracious and to sate his appetite for the uncanny he transforms into his alter-ego, fuzzy-wuzzy fantasy. I let loose his reins and allow this to occur, completely willing to go along for the ride.

In any courtroom, my observations about the recent petrochemical refinery explosion and its pernicious effects on our aquatic cousins would have been deemed immaterial: street-corner prophesying inspired by a perfect storm of smoke and journalistic wildfire. Headlines about terrorism, sabotage, and predictions of insurrection titillated my bored imagination. The image of a GULF storage facility bursting into flames alongside that of hundreds of fish bobbing belly-up in a lagoon conjured up scenes from the fiction of Don Delillo. The idea that there was a brotherhood of malcontents fighting some misguided crusade for the wrongfully-jobless with willfully reckless acts of destruction stirred the cauldron further, and the possibility of government dissimulation sweetened the deal. Growing up, I became acquainted with many dystopias courtesy of the Sci-Fi channel, HP Lovecraft, Philip K Dick, and other masters of paranoid prose, and I’ve become adept at decoding the symbols that are meant to signal impending societal meltdown in speculative fiction. They were all there, in living color. Economic downturn, general strikes, mass-unemployment, civil unrest, and the image of a huge industrial structure ablaze on the television screen to be seared into the collective unconscious of an already hostile populace. Hell, the ominous black smoke-cloud right outside my house could have been spewed by the mind of Don Delillo. But, because I was satisfied enough with these signifiers of doom to confidently report that I was now a citizen-spectator in a banana-colony hurdling to its own home-grown Armageddon, I didn’t stop to make the distinction between fiction and fact. This wasn’t some fantasy-nightmare, this was real life, and however frequently the latter may resemble the former, it isn’t as structured by genre-conventions or authorial logic. This became apparent when a plot-twist was delivered with graceless suddenness to my own front-door.

I read the front page of the paper and then the relevant story within. The press’s confidence in the criminal scenario had vanished and the headlines confidently declared that officially the CAPECO petrochemical refinery had burst into flames unaccountably. This was the new reality, the brief period of competing explanations and discursive chaos had been tidily succeeded by a new consensus. It was unanimously confirmed that there was no party to blame for the disaster except ill fortune. Clearly, to advocate the “terrorist” explanation was now to openly declare oneself a lunatic, a conspiracy-theorist, and a UFO-chaser.

By printing those big black words in trustworthy, reliable typeface, Puerto Rico’s journalists turned their backs on me. While I was relieved that a disaster had been proven to be an isolated shake-up, rather than a harbinger of anarchy to come, I also felt betrayed. Whereas the night previous my theorizing was the product of a sane and healthy mind, to the Puerto Rico Daily Sun I had suddenly become an irrelevant wacko. I had nothing to do with their careful fact-checking and quantifiable evidence. I felt like the lone remaining fire-worshipper in a village that had embraced an unfamiliar, foreign god overnight. Once a member of the elect, I was now an embarrassing relic from a less enlightened era.

Surely, Wittgenstein or Thomas Kuhn would have something erudite to say about this definitive phenomenon which turned everything I’d uttered about the CAPECO explosion into incoherent babble. The same words I’d read myself in the papers, the authority of which was to be taken for granted by thousands of citizens, would only fall on deaf ears if I repeated it now.

Maybe this apology has morphed into more of a confessional with trace amounts of softheaded amateur sociology, but I remain committed to making the honesty of my contrite feelings very clear. If only to avoid from now on the uncanny sensation of being coughed up and forgotten by the restless zeitgeist after feeding off of the strength he gave my ill-formed suspicions.

We are delighted to show you one of the oldest photographs of the gulf of Salò

and how this gorgeous area just outside Hotel Bellerive looks like today

I’ve been across the King Fahad Causeway a few times over the past two years.  I’ve never been able to get any reasonable shots of the journeys.  Most of my crossings were in the night, and the only time I went during the day – it was a very hazy one.

Last week, I was attending a conference in Saudi Arabia but I stayed in Bahrain.  I crossed four times over two days, and these are some of the shots at different times of the day(s).

Motor de GSXR 1100, chasis RAU y una colección de chuches>peazo de monstruo. Estas cosas no se ven por nuestras vías. Para verlas imagino que hay que viajar o darle a internet.:(

Pos eso destaca el chasis RAU PSS niquelado, horquilla WP, basculante monobrazo Ducati, amortiguador Ohlins y demás “detallitos”, todo envuelto con con colores clásicos Gulf Racing. Akí van las fotos, el babero lo ponéis vosotros.

Visto en streetkore.net , donde nos recomiendan pegar un ojo a la fuente spezialfahrwerke.de

Technip Qatar Vacancies

Technip Doha is the largest engineering organisation in Qatar providing Engineering, Procurement, Construction supervision and project management services for oil & gas and petrochemical industries. Technip group is one of the worldwide leading players in the oil & gas contracting industry with more than 24,000 employees in 46 countries. Technip is looking for following professionals

Project Manager

Senior Project Engineer

Senior Safety Engineer

Loss Prevention Engineer

Senior Process Engineer

Senior Structural Engineer

Senior Structural Designer

Senior Piping Stress Engineer

Static Equipment Engineer

Rotating Equipment Engineer

Senior Subsea Pipeline Engineer

Instrumentation Engineer

Telecom Engineer

Senior Cost & Estimation Engineer

Senior Planning Engineer

Senior Designer

Draughtsman

Interested candidates shall send your resume to tpdoha-hrd@technip.com

Photo credit: Nicolas Hubert

- Gyro