Goodness, can you imagine an 800 metre (2640 ft) high building? I can't, but apparently that's the latest idea out of Dubai - the piccie in the BBC link makes it look like one of those Lego buildings I made when I was a kid to make as high as possible, looking pretty ugly. I'm sure it will be rounded out though...
And here is the official site of the building consortium - when I saw the phrase Middle East, I thought how is Dubai viewed by Al Qaeda etc - I know Bahrain lets the US Fifth Fleet stay there, but Dubai - 800m is just as tempting a target as the 300m WTC's were if Dubai is seen on the 'other side'.
Harrison Ford has signed up to play the US General who led the forces attacking Fallujah in Hollywood's first foray into the latest Iraqi war. First off, isn't it a bit early to know how that story will turn out? Secondly, I guess the Saving Private Lynch thing was more a TV movie than Hollywood - god I hope this Fallujah movie isn't as saccharine. A Slate reporter who is sympathetic to the Marines is putting together a book and screenplay...
Maybe we should have a movie about the isolated brigades or battalions (this example in Ramadi) who are pretty well cut off from the local population. This type of story makes me think of that Apocalypse Now scene where the US has the furthrest upriver post where they keep building the bridge and the opposition keeps blowing it up. That was a pretty surreal portion of the movie actually, lol as opposed to the whole movie of course :)
This link is from a Guardian travel writer in Sweden. I remember my time (two days) in Stockholm in 1996 - mmm, beer - mmm, very expensive beer LOL. Mmm, dancing to the Macarena one song and then Acca Dacca (AC/DC) with Thunderstruck the next LOL. And then it getting light at 4am and wandering back to the hostel, and then doing the more refined touristy things in the daytime... would love to get back there... and a million other places of course, but Stockholm is right up there :)
Hmm, dunno what to think of the latest Yukos gyrations - they filed for bankruptcy in Houston (USA, not Russia) and usually US bankruptcy law is considered international bankruptcy law, and Yukos do have deals in the US, and the judge did put an injunction on the whole sale, but I don't really think Putin and the other Kremlinovskis will take much notice in this case. Watch this space indeed.
Good Economist article in the mag this week, saying that Putin is turning Russia more anti Western and anti democracy. How many nukes do they still have anyways? That's an eek thought - what was that movie where Rebecca de Mornay was a B-52 co-pilot and nuclear war broke out? Ah, that's it, By Dawn's Early Light...
Back to more localised content - this is an interesting one - a career drug addict and criminal who moved to Australia when she was fourteen months old is getting deported back to New Zealand, where she was born. How fucking stupid is that? For all intents and purposes she is an Australian, but obviously she is in the too hard basket so let's get rid of her. For once in my life, I find myself agreeing with Winston Peters LOL. Bleah, don't even get me started on the ins and outs of international immigration...
And this case, again back home, of a Ghanaian guy who failed to mention he had HIV on his medical certificate, when he knew he had it complaining about a six month prison term for fraud. And also had an Australian wife or girlfriend whom he didn't tell and broke up with before coming to New Zealand hmm...
Australia decided a couple of days ago to ask ships within a thousand NAUTICAL miles of the country's coastline to provide papers and proper documentation - hmm, talk about your overkill, international law only allows countries to really control the seas up to 200 miles out, and ships aren't the fastest things in the world, not as if from even 200 miles out they can suddenly rev up and ram the Sydney Opera House within a short period of time... and now the Indonesians are annoyed because their sovereign water would maybe be crawling with Australian frigates under these new 'rules'. Indonesia also unhappy that the Australians named a specific hotel chain in the country under threat of terrorist bombings. Deputy sheriff status indeed...
How do Australia keep doing it? 5 for 78 yesterday, the tail wags and they get Pakistan out and could have enforced the follow on if they wanted to - talking Test Match Cricket here LOL. But the mention of the cricket in this surf is due to the fact that yes, I am a Billy Bowden fan - he was a bit nuts in the one day circuit, but he has matured into a really really good Test umpire. Respect him a lot - and yes, I am biased towards a fellow Kiwi LOL.
Hmm, choice of movies for the evening - Apollo 13, Walter Cronkite currently crying about Armstrong on the moon, The Specialist (bleah) or Mighty Ducks 3 - probably about the most hockey I will see all season - the latest negotiation between the league and players went down the tube. Go the minor leagues LOL :)
Later peeps
Pauly
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