dubai_phil

Why, you lot all off to Avram's favourite Industrial Estate or something?

Arf arf arf he most certainly does. Only Tiger could find a fit chick in a mini skirt in the middle of a desert Meanwhile Stevie Wonder put on one helluva a show. Worth every penny of the freebie tickets the GF won, but still think The Zucchini's will be better tomorrow in Salisbury. All packed checked in and RARING to go for this one. G'night all!

Well, that's a giggle. Gaddafi packs in at the thought of being beaten up by the Qataris. Damn, they'll be going on and on about that for years ****y little buggers - one ME War & One World Cup good grief. Ho hum, finished packing - hope Emirates flies over Turkey tomorrow and not over the Med, wouldn't want to try & get into SMS with a sidewinder in my cabin baggage

Cheers, sounds like a plan. Finished packing, didn't have room for the Dubai Saints flag ho hum so just me in my BOGOF Grey Saints Waterproof & fleece & 20 layers to keep warm

Well, didn't see that nasty crackdown coming did we? Lots of Political Statements about how nasty and wrong it is, but don't see any no fly zones being set up, and anyone spotted any sanctions? Meanwhile on the subject of outside influences, and a comment I made a couple of days ago about manipulation of Social Media Sites... Lo and behold... Pentagon buys Social Networking Spy software. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/8389577/Pentagon-buys-social-networking-spy-software.html So those who think Social Media could not be used to influence the masses game was a figment of imaginations.... And if the Yanks are playing this game you can bet that... And of course the General is quite correct. The Pentagon won't be using it on sites in the USA. But he never mentioned the NSA or FBI did he. Well like I said it's worth a fiver at Ladbrokes that others are doing the same, after all if one company actually produces the software that does that, probably others do as well.

Well, the Arab League asked for it. They've shown some of their member states can operate "overseas" in the last couple of days. Let them get on with it and just let the Yanks provide Logistics & Awacs support. yeah, right

Yeah, but I'm coming back for the game so that's the death knell for our hopes. Oh and stop with the bringing golf into threads stuff, I have the exclusive rights to do that on here. And no, I don't have time to play golf while I'm back next week, thanks to many for asking, and yes Tiger HAS seen some improvement since I told him to stop faffing about and just hit the fecking ball.

Or....... You could have said, NC is really keen on spending a few hundred thousand to get us out of this league but his bosses aren't. There, I made your comment much more provocative

Met a current L1 manager couple of years ago when Showtime had the TV rights here. They paid $5k & biz class flights & 5* hotel for one weekend & $10k for 2. Palmer is Sports Master at Repton School Dubai *****il his Drink Driving court case comes up I expect) and he may still get onto Abu Dhabi or Al Jazeera. He & Budgie also did some Showtime stuff. It seemed to be more of an old mates club than anything permanent and tended to involve a large consumption while bumbling around bars & clubs down in the Marina area of Dubai No idea what they will pay now. It isn't full time and isn't guaranteed. To answer Dimond Geezer's point yes he was but he did probably stay one season too long and was "let's say" less reliable in his last year as I recall

TBH the Crown Price is the only one to have emerged from this with any trace of dignity. At least HE gets it and has done since the beginning. And the whole thing has NOT been staged by Iran you are quite correct, it has been going on for some 20 years, there have been many deaths in Sitra over that time. The OP was deliberately worded with a question mark. That doesn't mean that Iran is not trying to exploit the current problems. It also means the situation is far more complex and THAT is the reason the GCC states stepped in and why more days of violence and death will follow. It is a very useful excuse for the corrupt senior regime members who do NOT want to give up power, but the TROUBLE is that it is a clear and present issue in this latest wave of the past days. So before the thread was hijacked by oneview, this is now a fecking mess and it is complicated. Compare the UAE's "regime" and it' treatment of it's subjects to that of Bahrain and the locals here are basically able to get jobs, wedding dowries and prospects for life, unlike many in Bahrain. BUT it hasn't stopped calls starting here for more rights for Emiratis. But here it is mainly the educated Young who are making that case, not a disaffected majority. And Bexy - I have agreed with the original aims of the protesters & the Haq party as I have agreed with the aims of groups in Kuwait. And God knows I have commented enough times on my view that the way that this region treats it's "slave labour" is wrong. 18 years I have been here, if I was a foreigner in the UK I could have had a passport & played cricket for England in that time, here I have nothing and have accepted that as the price to pay for my luck with my life. Let me put it again in simple English. It helps the Americans in their "concerns" with Iran with regard to their Nuclear Ambitions and their hatred of Israel to maintain their Naval presence in Bahrain. It helps the Iranians with their grievance about being kicked out of Bahrain to try and get a "sympathiser" into power in a revolution in Bahrain. The PEOPLE want (and deserve) Human Rights & Representation and a stop to Sectarian discrimination. The WORLD needs Sectarian discrimination to stop as it fosters support for Al Qaeda. Now, working out a solution to all of THAT is not as easy as it first appears, hence the OP with a question mark and hence why Tim Marshall summed it up very well. Bahrain is a pawn and the people AS ALWAYS will end up getting shot. I am only glad of one thing - that I don't have to find an answer

And the leaders of the protests are whom? the spokespeople are whom? And where have I said that the PROTESTERS are being manipulated or are wrong? The Haq party is a formalised structure of multiple sects who have been campaigning RIGHTLY for some 20+ years However there are also a bunch of rent a mob Shia Clerics who have also stepped forward. The demands of the Haq party & Al Wefaq who proceeded them are similar to all that I have posted. The issue is as per the OP based on the comment by Tim Marshall. Verbal - congratulations on proving what I had worked out some time ago. But don't worry. My Layzee recliner will still be working down here after all you lot have your Power Cuts & 3 day week energy rationing. And Sergei - never ask an innernet warrior for a PROPOSAL? they only have NO opinion.

What is funnier. An awful song or seeing that a bunch of people have watched it

Oh look even the NY Times which someone says they actually read for their news coverage has an article on it http://warsclerotic.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/as-arab-world-shakes-iran%E2%80%99s-influence-grows-nytimes-com/

Oh and of course the history lessons http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article737706.ece But of course simpleton innernet warriors never research only rant

Robert Gates http://www.stripes.com/gates-protracted-bahrain-negotiations-allowing-greater-iran-influence-1.137532

The OP http://blogs.news.sky.com/foreignmatters/Post:becc502f-d220-4088-a51e-aeb781d296f8

John Burridge Had to hold Alan Shearer's hand on his debut on the way down the steps from the changing room at the Dell as Shearer was so nervous and nearly fell Now works as a Football Coach & Teacher in this part of the world and needs Saints fans to tell Filipino Chicks how famous he once was Sings a cracking version of The Hippy Hippy Shake at Karaoke, but can't beat D_P with The Buggles

Oh yes there is ONE other fact he scored (I think his only goal) against Leeds Utd in the League Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg that sent us to Wembley again

Nobody, including me has said it is bad in fact I have been TRYING to point out that the mess is because the Bahrainis have fecked up Human RIGHTS, not democracy alone. Now they have to give them both. And like you said, who gives a damn if Democracy turns out to be like that in Iran or Zimbabwe. They got what they asked for. But to try and espouse that allowing a REGIME that tortures people and stones people to death for having sex outside marriage to have a FREE reign to spread their beliefs is (IMHO) PC gone mad. OK so they get Rafsanjani as their President, lucky them they will be happy as that is what they want. The down side is you'll be paying 5 pound a litre for your petrol because you haven't forced the Americans to stop supporting "the evil Israelis" Of course they could always choose a North Korean version. This is the point the Bahrainis MUST now give concessions. BUT they must also stop contagion. Which is the point, no matter WHAT they do, they are screwed. The final Geo Political issue. UK has (declining but available) reserves of Gas in the North Sea. The rest of the world relys on a huge Gas Field (the Dolphin Field) which exports LPG around the world. Nuclear energy ain't going nowhere for the next X years after Japan which means that China and India need to increase their production of power by using Oil & Gas. Where do Qatar's gas Fields lie? Yep in between them and Bahrain, one step at a time and the lights go out

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR2JYM1#a=2 Dear God. Nothing else to say

OK guys I read last year all about the how to get there and pubs before the game stuff. Any of our hero regulars remember the details or can cut and paste so I can take my Spud supporting future son in law to a decent Saints Pub before the game?

Yeah not sure my memory stretches far enough back to remember being at a televised game. I suppose JPT final so that works better than us two watching it at Goodfellas. Bring on the 6X REAL OSH & London Pride and FFS an even better result, The Zucchinis are playing Saturday Night, now THAT is a musical magical weekend - Stevie Wonder, The Northam & Little Bro. Bring it on! (Oh AND I can drink on the flight as I'm getting a lift - woo hoo!) Oh and I am sure it will an Inter esting trip Sheff W to score 1st, lots of groans and moans but we'll coast to a 2-1 win with about 4 shots going close or hitting the woodwork. It doesn't matter, I'd be yawning even if we played Champagne footie and won 16-0 (have to be at airport at 3:40 UK time!)

Simple facts. (ie Simplistic) Bahrain is a grossly unfair society. The Sunni's get the (bulk of) the jobs in Government & Military. Their brothers, cousins & uncles run the companies that supply that market. Those companies employ ex-pats mainly Asians with a sprinkling of Western Senior Management It is a small Island with fading Oil Resources It relies on "Tourists" crossing the Causeway for R&R at weekends from Saudi. (ie huge number of Hooker bars) It has a close knit almost village life style for the expat community unlike the bling of New Dubai. The SUNNI minority get ALL the riches, the SHIA MAJORITY are excluded from the rich pickings and are reduced to menial work such as taxi drivers (who must all be Bahraini) or Fishermen. So a simplistic precis. They Shias have been pushing for reforms since forever, riots have happened along with deaths going back 20 years but are swiftly put down. The rulers HAVE introduced minimal concessions. They have been TOO slow. So now they have a double whammy. The "wave of uprisings" have given impetus to the idea that the downtrodden underclass can now rebel. That is a good thing. BUT. Influence from outside AS I POSTED IN THE TIM MARSHALL BLOG is recognised. Iran has laid claim to Bahrain since forever. Iran & Saudi HATE each other as Iran believes the Saudi's & their version of Islam is offensive and they should NOT be allowed to secure the Holy Sites of Islam. Iran has a HISTORY of siezing land (and oil reserves) The Lesser & Greater Tuns Islands from the UAE were invaded some 17 years ago. Not to mention the high number of sunken oil tankers in the Straights of Hormus which Iran claims BOTH sides of. (ie controlling the transportation of ALL of the oil from the Eastern Province to the West) These factors are why the US Navy selected Bahrain to base it's 5th Fleet. It is why UK maintains the Armilla Patrol Now Bahrain's PROBLEM is that they delayed reforms - yes they have been BAD PEOPLE (for our simpleton friends). But NOW they are being hit with a double whammy (as Tim Marshall has also pointed out). The "Pro-Democracy movement" is being manipulated, it is being led by CLERICS. Guess where those Shia clerics have had their training support and the like from - it is easy - Roman Catholic Clergy get their support & information from? Yes Rome. Shia Clerics get their support and information from? Now the FINAL piece of the jigsaw is this. Where did the FIRST "Arab World" "Social Media" Uprising take place? Where did Facebook Groups tell people to take to the streets in (often) Violent protests? No, it was NOT Tunisia, it was in Iran. Most of the ringleaders have long since been arrested tortured shot or hung. But guess what they told all their interogators during their last days? yes, they told them how they had used Social Media to ALMOST cause a revolution in Iran. The Bahraini Royal Family have been fools. the Kuwaitis have also dragged their feet. However the GCC States understand the deeper significance and that is why they have all acted to send in the troops. They had NO choice. And while the Yanks may be publicly condeming this and calling for restraint guess where the NSA information team are based. Guess what type of technology they have been buying of late. Oh and from that it doesn't take a conspiracist to have a fair idea of where they are sending that information. There are bad democracies and bad dictatorships. UK doesn't have an "elected" Prime Minister at the moment and let's not mention the basket case that is Belgium. Bahrain have got it very wrong, but only simpletons would believe it is another Egypt or Tunisia

Yeah, like the missiles that the special forces found in Afghanistan which had been well "camouflaged" came from where? And the Iranian Navy dock in Lattakia and a few days later the Israelis sieze a ship bound for Gaza loaded with what exactly? A great deal of Iranians want to have Democracy as well, but tend to get stoned, hung or simply or tortured for even thinking about it.

Oh well, sorry lads looks like next two games will be scrappy defeats. Yup D_P is back - land at 13:30 and hurtle from Heathrow to SMS for Saturday then staying with Daughter in London for Tuesday, all squeezed around work and a few real ales. Here's hoping my flight in doesn't get delayed Saturday! Chapel here I come WOO HOO!