18 month old declared illegal

The law will be implemented equally . Without exceptions it seems. The story is here.

I was going to write about this weeks ago. It's very interesting to me to see exactly who gets hot and bothered under their collar in this city about how women dress. Why is it so often men who react the in the most extreme manner to this topic? It's such a contentious issue and has started many an argument 'tween friends.

7days newspaper has published a letter by a reader who is complaining that she was harassed in a popular nightclub in Dubai.

Its amazing when you scratch the surface with people , what kind of attitudes you uncover. A few of the comments for this letter have left me agog! The lady in question was advised on a number on points!

" If you can't take the heat , then get out of the kitchen "

"Its a club, not a place of worship. Drunkards and such will always be acting up in places like this. You're surprised? And don't single out Dubai. This happens around the world. "

Ok, so I could submit a reply to 7 days about this - but lets face it , I'm a long winded kind of person and I'm sure they have a max quota of words per letter!

For the record, this kind of thing does NOT happen all over the world. Its called sexual harassment and is far less frequent in some places than it is in others . Further more, if you wear a short skirt , people may look at you and perhaps think a little less of you - but they should damn well know that this does not give them any right to act on whatever little perverted impulse seeing your knees has created in them!

I wrote something recently on this issue but I never bothered putting it up on the blog. However I DO remember writing " hotness is hotness - you can't dull it down !"
It matters not to these people whether I am wearing a sack or a short skirt , if they are that way inclined , and have THAT little amount of respect for women- then they are going to MAUL you or at least try to !

So what to do? It's a catch 22 in this country , where really , as a woman, your presence in nightclubs to begin with casts aspersions over your virtuosity. You could fight the attitudes and continue to raise hell every time you are molested. Or you can take the advise of those 21st century men in 7 days , and get the hell over it , cos really , what else did you expect!

When are men in this country going to stop citing ridiculous reasons for unacceptable behaviour! For the record, this has happened to me on numerous occasions in the Middle East - although admittedly never in Dubai. Syria seemed to be teeming with perverts and gropers the last time I was there and in Jordan , I had somebody camp outside by hotel room banging on the door with a fist full of cash for my "services". I would like to add at this juncture that I don't even own a mini skirt.

There is most definitely a dress code here that should be adhered to . I tend to think that nightclubs are a little less restrictive in these matters because you are, after all, going there to drink , its hardly in keeping with the whole traditional Dubai ethos. Most girls I know will stay on the conservative side of dressing . I don't know anybody here who shows off an excess of flesh. To be honest, the attitude is , "why would you invite the inane staring - which , on a " I'm covered up to my neck and down to my ankles " day , is intense to say the least !

So , the bottom line is , GET A GRIP BOYS! No matter what your religion , your responsibility to behave in a respectful manner remains. Nobody invites assault onto themselves. I think that women here, although they know this statement is true, have it eroded somewhat in their minds living here year after year. With insinuations such as some of those comments in 7 days , its no surprise . If someone puts his hand up a girls skirt - why is it acceptable for our first question to be " How long was your skirt ?"

Put a ring on it ....

If you like it then you’d better put a ring on it ….

What IS going on people?? I know we are approaching wedding season , but Dubai seems to be going ga- ga!

I know for a fact , that if I was living in Ireland , nobody would dare ask me why I wasn’t married - or insinuate that I am not in a serious relationship without a rock on my left ring finger - but clearly - these rules do not hold in Dubai !

Obviously , culture and religious restraints dictate that people do not live together, but lets face it , when you are from a western background , you generally don’t get married without living with your partner beforehand.
( Please step in and correct me , but I’m taking a cross section of my Irish girlfriends between 25 and 35 )

I’m seeing a spate of engagements here that I think , if the happy couples were on home turf , would not be happening . ( A bit like who you end up being friends with here, you may not typically be friends with them if you were back home - but when in Rome and all that )

On discussing this further with friend’s based in UAE , I have discovered a startling trend in women beginning in their late 20’s! It begins with eyeing every potential man as a husband. What religion is he? Where will we live ? Would my parents like him? And all these are coming up in the first month or two of a relationship! It’s gone beyond a joke !

It seems that , by some form of osmosis , be it through the media , or merely by social circumstances, girls of a certain age slowly but surely begin to regard themselves as less than whole unless they are married , or at least have a wedding in the wings !

The woman begins to notice the genuine pity in the eyes of colleagues , and can draw more than one parallel between herself and Bridget Jones . She may own more than one cat , which doesn’t help with the image of being single and content
( sorry )


So by some twisted , self fulfilling prophecy , scores of previously independent minded women are now dedicating themselves to meeting “ Mr. Right”! Once they have him, they start the mental check list . Perhaps she has given herself one year to an engagement , she might stretch the engagement out to another year or so , under the guise of “ saving up for the wedding “ , and then , oh yes, there’s the kiddies to think of .

Boys , beware of the new breed of woman out there, she is under pressure, time isn’t on her side if she is to birth Sprog #1 before her ovaries have begun to shrivel .
It is no longer considered rude to quiz a couple about the possibility of impending nuptials. Bridezilla’s are being spawned across Dubai by the societies unforgiving attitude towards the single woman.

Sooooo , I’ve compiled my own top ten reasons not to get married yet !!

10. You have signed no contract , so , like an absent minded employer who didn’t finalize the hiring process, you can leave this and get a new gig at any point should you wish to do so !

9. Your child bearing hips are still called curvaceous - and thankfully , don’t have a child perched on them yet.

8. You can still see the absurdity of women shortening their husbands name to “dh” ( dear husband ) in conversation - a sad reference to far too much time spent on a certain internet forum .

7. Your employers still pay you a housing allowance. Because we all know that when someone gets married here, the offers become less generous and you have to get your husband to sign his consent for you to do run of the mill tasks like getting a drivers license. Who knew the age of consent was actually only 18 till the day you got hitched !


6. No obligation to shave legs/moustache/ any other decidedly unfeminine ( yet perfectly apparent in all women ) features

5. COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE TV REMOTE

4. You get to look at married couples with families and notice that , although you are just as exhausted and burnt out as they are, you fatigue is from the excess of partying and not getting up at 5am to do the school run and all that comes with it!

3. You can STILL sell your car , quit your job and work in a bar in Goa/ Antibes/Galway/ or somewhere equally exotic if the fancy takes you .

2. Snot , poo, wee and dribble are ( hopefully ) the stuff of distant , distant nightmares. Unless of course you are a teacher, in which case , suck it up - and think of how strong your immune system now is after years of exposure !

1. Rest assured that , despite Bridget Jones description of “ smug marrieds “ , your married friends will , at some point , lament to you the loss of their single days of freedom - in much the same way we tell teenagers that the teens are the most carefree years of their lives. And you get to respond piously “ Yeah it’s fab, can you take your kid back now , I promised the girls I’d go meet them for brunch “

The " HE " of this duo found this and its too good to leave festering away in youtube land... hope this guy makes it big. Have a listen

She said, He said nothing!

A good friend rightly pointed out the innaccuracy in the title of this blog. Her brilliant suggestion was to change the name of the blog to " She said, He said nothing ". I'm strongly considering this.
Thanks to cartoon stock.com for this cartoon!

Atlantis Mania

So, we went to Atlantis last night - to the new club , "sanctuary". Now, I declared many moons ago that I was over the club scene in Dubai . Its full of posers, movers and shakers , the " look at me " crowd. Don't get me wrong , I'm not above getting blind drunk and making a twat of myself on the dancefloor but , you know , it gets kind of old !

Anyway , I came out of retirement last night to experience the decadence that is " Sanctuary ". I have to say - the Atlantis hotel looks like it was kind of thrown together in terms of interior design and workmanship . Its as though someone said " Quick , Mr. Trumps helicopter will land in ten minutes - throw up that light there , stick up some stone cladding here. Whats that you say - you only have puke green and sickly paint left? Come on , time is money GO GO GO ! "

I won't be entirely unfair here though - the actual club was nice . In true Dubai fashion - money changed hands so we could put our rears on a seat . We duely complied and settled into our night .

By 1:00 am ,the ladies toilets ( theres only one ladies room ) had flooded , rendering me cross legged. Im pretty sure the dancing girls on the balcony had started to dribble baby lotion from their long , fake tanned limbs onto the open mouthed gawpers staring pervily ( is that a word ?) at them . The music got faster and more rave like - and I realised that my poor choice of whiskey and coke obviously did not blast me into lift off with the rest of the club. Truth be told , I heard more than one person utter " You know what I need right now? An E! " Yes , THAT kind of music.

But , dear friends, the night had a silver lining ! Oh yes , just when I was feeling like : " I'm too old to be doing this " I got asked for I.D. !!! That's right- I might feel like an old granny at times - but hey , I don't look it ! Must be my exercise and healthy eating regime .... !

Anyway , I don't think Atlantis is the club for me - too thumpity thumpity - give me Rockbottom any day Come on , you all know you loved it at some point - and thou shalt return , at some weak moment and weep at the drunken simplicity of it all .Any club where I can wear my flipflops and a tank top without feeling like a fashion failure , or not get an inferiority complex about my lack of tangerine complexion or blonde hair extensions , gets my "yes" vote !

Now , I'm going to see whether or not the recalled Irish Pork products my mother brought for me are really as dangerous as the news reports say .It would be a shame to waste some Irish rashers for your hangover just because of a few measly toxins !

unbelievable...

It is with great disgust that I have to report the total disregard that my mother ship's government seems to have with its peoples wishes . Ireland is supposedly democratic. Europe does not like that the Irish people have voted " No" to the Lisbon Treaty .

Its my understanding that many other European governments did not even put this Treaty to referendum. I was quite proud to learn that the Irish people would exercise their democratic right to vote on the future of their country , while other nations were not given the choice. Alas , it seems we were dooped!

The Irish public voted " No" to the treaty, and whether we , the government , or the EU parliment like it or not , the people have spoken . End of story , right? Its a democracy , right?

Apparently not ! Our Taoiseach ( prime minister ) , Mr. Cowen , depicted in the graffiti above, has decided to override the democratic wishes of the Irish public, by asking us to vote again. we now have two choices , vote "yes" , or , vote " yes " .

I am thoroughly ashamed of our government. BIFFO , ( Big Ignorant F$&*ker From Offaly) as our taoiseach is affectionately known, has decided to put it to vote again - wonder what kind of scaremongering lies ahead in order to produce the desired vote. Oh , the shame of it !