or just for special tourists?
http://www.latimes.com/
Dubai court sentences couple for sex on beach
Ali Haider / EPA
British tourist Vince Acors, 34, from Bromley, south east London, leaves court after a trial hearing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in September.
By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
5:03 AM PDT, October 16, 2008
CAIRO -- A British couple whose drunken escapade led to sex on the beach, tabloid headlines and a clash between Western permissiveness and Islamic values were sentenced today by a Dubai court to three months in prison.
Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer were each sentenced to jail, fined $272 for drinking alcohol and ordered to be deported immediately upon leaving prison. The pair were found guilty of having premarital sex after a taxi had picked them up from a Champagne brunch at a five-star hotel and drove them to Jumeirah beach in the United Arab Emirates' most culturally tolerant emirate of Dubai.
This verdict does not make sense," Hassan Mattar, the couple's lawyer, told reporters after the guilty verdicts, which also included indecency. "I'm going to appeal it."
Prosecutor Faisal Abdelmalek Ahil said he expected a harsher sentence. "I'm not happy," he said outside of court. "It's very light. It's normal for a sentence to be six months to a year for an offense such as this."
Acors, 34, and Palmer, 36, who was fired from her job as a publishing executive following her arrest, were not in court when the verdict was handed down. Palmer had claimed that she and Acors were only kissing and hugging and that a medical report showed they did not have sex. Mattar argued that testimony from witnesses, including a police officer who said he saw them having sex on a lounger, were false.
The case, which grew out of a tryst on July 5, quickly became a morality tale set amid globalization and Dubai's skyline of sharp-angled, glittering high-rises. The emirate is a financial hub in the Middle East, catering to tourists and multibillion-dollar business deals. It is also an Islamic state straining to balance Western influence and wealth with religious traditions that forbid alcohol, sex outside of marriage and homosexuality.
Police often look the other way when it comes to gambling, prostitution and frolics in the surf. But Muslim conservatives have been warning that Dubai's openness to international markets and its quests to build the world's tallest skyscrapers and sponsor expensive horse races are corrupting society. This is especially sensitive given that foreigners, a mix of Western professionals and Asian laborers, make up 85% of the UAE's population of 5.6 million.
The media in Britain portrayed the case as another disturbing sign of the nation's alcohol problem. The British Broadcasting Co. reported that the verdict shows that "tourists are ignoring the emirate's strict Islamic laws and that the outcome of this case will be a warning that such drunken behavior will not be tolerated in public."
jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com
Oct 15, 2008
Oct 14, 2008
Race poisons US campaign
from saudi arabia :
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=115443&d=14&m=10&y=2008
JOHN McCain’s sidekick Sarah Palin has proved to be more sound bite than substance, as we witnessed with embarrassment during the Katie Couric interview on CBS. There is also a side to her that loves to plunge the stiletto into where it hurts the most as we know from “Troopergate” as well as personal smears against Barack Obama.
Palin’s nomination just goes to show the desperation of the McCain camp, which is currently badly trailing in the polls. The lady from Alaska was roped in to add excitement, which she did admirably at first before the cracks in her perfectly groomed façade began to appear.
Historian Simon Schama, who authored the book “The American Future: a History” has pointed a finger at McCain for running a campaign that is divisive and blasted Palin’s recent comment concerning Obama — “Mr. Obama is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America” — as being “morally repellent” due to its racist undertones.
Congressman John Lewis is likeminded. He has accused the McCain-Palin ticket of “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” and compared the ambience of some Republican rallies with those in America’s segregationist history.
Even worse, Palin has been making snide suggestions to her campaign’s supporters that Obama is “palling around with terrorists”.
This nasty assertion was based on the fact that the Democratic presidential hopeful had served on a charitable committee with one professor William Ayers, who had been an anti-Vietnam War dissident in his youth. She neglected to mention that Obama was only eight when Ayers and a friend were plotting against the state, or the fact that Ayers has since morphed into a respected member of society. Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest Obama and Ayers were ever close buddies. But when it comes to the general population, Palin’s smears have failed to reach their intended target — the undecided voter. In many cases they have been turned off by such low and dirty tactics, which have served to rile up McCain loyalists to the extent they are becoming mob-like.
Booing or screaming “off with his head!” or “terrorist!” at the mere mention of Obama’s name turn Republican rallies into bloodthirsty theaters where Madame Guillotine wouldn’t look out of place as a prop along with crocheting crones. But it seems that McCain is becoming nervous at this below-the-belt approach which could have major repercussions if nut-jobs get the message that a terrorist lover with dodgy antecedents is about to move into the White House. Indeed, were Obama ever to be attacked by one of the McCain-Palin faithful, it could be argued that statements from the wannabe president and his VP contributed to inciting violence against their competitor or at the very least nurtured fear and xenophobia.
Take a look at the words of the latest McCain campaign ad:
“Do you know Bill Ayers ran the violent left-wing activist group called Weather Underground? We know Ayers’ wife was on the FBI’s most wanted list. We know they bombed the Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge’s home. We know Ayers said ‘I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough’. But Barack’s friendship with terrorist Ayers isn’t the issue...”
Things came to a head when McCain was driven to grab a microphone from a female supporter, who said she didn’t trust Obama because he is “an Arab”. It’s easy to understand how some feeble-minded person could construe this linkage from anti-Obama propaganda being regurgitated by the campaign and the Republican mouthpiece Fox News, which never misses an opportunity to stick in the knife.
If you remember it was Fox that dredged up the story about Obama’s early childhood in Indonesia, while somehow converting his mixed gender school into “a madrasah” and banged away for months at Obama’s connection with the fiery Rev. Jeremiah Wright whom they portrayed as anti-American.
But McCain’s response to the poor misguided woman who called Obama “an Arab” is even more telling. “No, no, no Ma’am. He’s a decent family man citizen that I happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues...he’s not (an Arab). Eh! What on earth is this supposed to mean? The implication is Arabs can’t be decent family men or citizens. The woman used “Arab” as a derogatory label yet McCain didn’t respond at all to this slur. For instance, he could have said, “No, Ma’am, he’s not an Arab, but even if he were you are here to judge candidates on their capability to perform the job, not their ethnicity”. It seems to me that ambition has led McCain to recklessly risk his reputation during its pursuit. Already known as a man whose anger is volatile and unpredictable, he is heading a muck-chucking campaign. He was a victim of a brutal attack by his opponent when he ran in 2000 and should know better.
By contrast, Obama has kept his cool and refrained from going for the jugular and whereas McCain will always have to shake off the slime, Obama is likely to emerge smelling of roses, albeit faintly.
May the best man win! After all, what better answer could there be to racism’s ugly emerging head?
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=115443&d=14&m=10&y=2008
JOHN McCain’s sidekick Sarah Palin has proved to be more sound bite than substance, as we witnessed with embarrassment during the Katie Couric interview on CBS. There is also a side to her that loves to plunge the stiletto into where it hurts the most as we know from “Troopergate” as well as personal smears against Barack Obama.
Palin’s nomination just goes to show the desperation of the McCain camp, which is currently badly trailing in the polls. The lady from Alaska was roped in to add excitement, which she did admirably at first before the cracks in her perfectly groomed façade began to appear.
Historian Simon Schama, who authored the book “The American Future: a History” has pointed a finger at McCain for running a campaign that is divisive and blasted Palin’s recent comment concerning Obama — “Mr. Obama is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America” — as being “morally repellent” due to its racist undertones.
Congressman John Lewis is likeminded. He has accused the McCain-Palin ticket of “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” and compared the ambience of some Republican rallies with those in America’s segregationist history.
Even worse, Palin has been making snide suggestions to her campaign’s supporters that Obama is “palling around with terrorists”.
This nasty assertion was based on the fact that the Democratic presidential hopeful had served on a charitable committee with one professor William Ayers, who had been an anti-Vietnam War dissident in his youth. She neglected to mention that Obama was only eight when Ayers and a friend were plotting against the state, or the fact that Ayers has since morphed into a respected member of society. Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest Obama and Ayers were ever close buddies. But when it comes to the general population, Palin’s smears have failed to reach their intended target — the undecided voter. In many cases they have been turned off by such low and dirty tactics, which have served to rile up McCain loyalists to the extent they are becoming mob-like.
Booing or screaming “off with his head!” or “terrorist!” at the mere mention of Obama’s name turn Republican rallies into bloodthirsty theaters where Madame Guillotine wouldn’t look out of place as a prop along with crocheting crones. But it seems that McCain is becoming nervous at this below-the-belt approach which could have major repercussions if nut-jobs get the message that a terrorist lover with dodgy antecedents is about to move into the White House. Indeed, were Obama ever to be attacked by one of the McCain-Palin faithful, it could be argued that statements from the wannabe president and his VP contributed to inciting violence against their competitor or at the very least nurtured fear and xenophobia.
Take a look at the words of the latest McCain campaign ad:
“Do you know Bill Ayers ran the violent left-wing activist group called Weather Underground? We know Ayers’ wife was on the FBI’s most wanted list. We know they bombed the Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge’s home. We know Ayers said ‘I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough’. But Barack’s friendship with terrorist Ayers isn’t the issue...”
Things came to a head when McCain was driven to grab a microphone from a female supporter, who said she didn’t trust Obama because he is “an Arab”. It’s easy to understand how some feeble-minded person could construe this linkage from anti-Obama propaganda being regurgitated by the campaign and the Republican mouthpiece Fox News, which never misses an opportunity to stick in the knife.
If you remember it was Fox that dredged up the story about Obama’s early childhood in Indonesia, while somehow converting his mixed gender school into “a madrasah” and banged away for months at Obama’s connection with the fiery Rev. Jeremiah Wright whom they portrayed as anti-American.
But McCain’s response to the poor misguided woman who called Obama “an Arab” is even more telling. “No, no, no Ma’am. He’s a decent family man citizen that I happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues...he’s not (an Arab). Eh! What on earth is this supposed to mean? The implication is Arabs can’t be decent family men or citizens. The woman used “Arab” as a derogatory label yet McCain didn’t respond at all to this slur. For instance, he could have said, “No, Ma’am, he’s not an Arab, but even if he were you are here to judge candidates on their capability to perform the job, not their ethnicity”. It seems to me that ambition has led McCain to recklessly risk his reputation during its pursuit. Already known as a man whose anger is volatile and unpredictable, he is heading a muck-chucking campaign. He was a victim of a brutal attack by his opponent when he ran in 2000 and should know better.
By contrast, Obama has kept his cool and refrained from going for the jugular and whereas McCain will always have to shake off the slime, Obama is likely to emerge smelling of roses, albeit faintly.
May the best man win! After all, what better answer could there be to racism’s ugly emerging head?
Oct 11, 2008
last gasp
http://www.latimes.com/
Alaska investigators say it was OK to fire a state commissioner, but her efforts against a trooper went too far.
By Charles Piller and Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 11, 2008
ANCHORAGE -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin violated ethics laws and abused her power as governor in pressing to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, an independent legislative investigation concluded Friday.
In a report whose release was the subject of a high-stakes political showdown that went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, investigator Stephen Branchflower documented that former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was subjected to a veritable barrage of demands from Palin, her husband and her staff to fire the trooper, Mike Wooten, whom they saw as unfit for the job. Wooten had been involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister.
The report found that his refusal to fire the trooper was "likely a contributing factor" in Monegan's termination in July, but it also concluded that the governor's decision was "a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority" to hire and fire department heads.
Though the findings partially vindicate Palin's claims that she had legitimate reasons for firing Monegan, their suggestion that she used her husband and staff to conduct a campaign against a state employee in what was perceived by some as a personal vendetta could damage her ability to portray herself as a reform-minded, experienced executive ready to step into the White House as John McCain's vice president.
The Democratic Party was quick to use the report as fresh ammunition. "Gov. Palin has violated Alaskans' trust," said Patti Higgins, Alaska's state Democratic Party chairwoman. "I hope that in light of this finding, Gov. Palin will stop playing partisan politics to the detriment of Alaska's future."
Palin has insisted that Monegan was fired because he flouted her plans to limit spending in his department. Todd Palin has admitted he made several inquiries about Wooten because of concerns that the trooper had behaved improperly, by driving under the influence of alcohol, shooting a moose without a permit, threatening Palin's father and striking his own stepson with a low-level electric Taser.
"We feel the governor is vindicated. . . . She had the authority and acted with the proper authority" in removing Monegan, Meghan Stapleton, a McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman, said in an interview.
She said neither the governor nor her husband had done anything "but what the state dictates" and had legitimate concerns about Wooten's behavior. "Todd will do what he has to do to protect his family and the community against an abusive trooper," Stapleton said.
Yet the report documents a clear campaign within the governor's office to get rid of Wooten, despite Monegan's repeated warnings that the state was risking a lawsuit as a result of the contacts because Wooten had already been investigated and disciplined in connection with the same complaints.
These contacts came not only from the governor herself -- who spoke to Monegan personally, by telephone and by e-mail -- but from her chief of staff, several other senior staff members and even the state attorney general.
The report establishes for the first time that Palin deliberately set up Todd Palin to handle communications over the Wooten matter after Monegan warned her it was inappropriate for her to be making such contacts herself.
The governor and her husband were motivated by "passion and frustration," Monegan testified. "They wanted severe discipline, probably termination, and . . . I had this ominous feeling that I may not be long for this job if I didn't somehow respond accordingly."
Branchflower concluded in his report that these contacts were a breach of ethics and an abuse of the governor's office.
"The evidence supports the conclusion that Gov. Palin, at the least, engaged in 'official action' by her inaction, if not her active participation or assistance to her husband in attempting to get Trooper Wooten fired," the investigation concluded, adding that "there is evidence of her active participation."
The report found that Palin "knowingly, as that term is defined in the [ethics] statutes, permitted Todd Palin to use the governor's office and the resources of the governor's office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired." The report also said that Todd Palin at one point asked to see Wooten's personnel file.
The state Ethics Act holds that public officials have a duty of public trust that prevents them from attempting to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action.
The report made no specific recommendations on penalties or how to proceed.
Civil penalties range, theoretically, from impeachment by the Legislature to a reprimand or a fine of up to $5,000 by the state personnel board, but most legislative sources thought it unlikely any action would be taken.
"We have the power to investigate. We have the power to change law based on the investigation. We don't have the power to convene a grand jury, for example, and seek an indictment," Sen. Kim Elton, the Democratic chairman of the legislative council, said in a telephone interview. "We understood at the beginning that we were on a fact-finding mission, but we don't have the power to prosecute."
Twelve members of the Legislature's 14-member Legislative Council, the interim body that meets when the Legislature is not in session, deliberated in closed session over the findings for most of the day before voting unanimously to release the 263-page document publicly. Two members voted by telephone.
The council is made up of 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
Several Republican legislators had launched a legal effort to halt the inquiry, which they said had become tainted by politics after Palin's nomination to the GOP ticket
"The whole thing was turned into a circus act," complained Republican Rep. Bob Lynn. "Sarah Palin and Todd Palin were trying to defend their family. These people were threatened by Trooper Wooten. They did what any reasonable person would do -- protect their family."
Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican who has often clashed with Palin, said further action would be up to the state personnel board, which is carrying out a separate inquiry.
"I would not want that report to my credit," she said of the findings against Palin. "The problem with power is that it's very easy to use in the wrong way. We have to leave personal business at home."
Monegan said he believed that the Palins were motivated out of emotion stemming from family issues, a phenomenon he said he had encountered frequently as a law enforcement officer.
He said the couple were especially consternated with his response to their complaint that Wooten had shot a female moose without a permit.
Upon investigation, he said, he learned that Palin's sister had a permit for the moose and was present when it was shot. In addition, he said, Gov. Palin's father had butchered the moose.
"I pointed out that there are people also involved in this incident that theoretically could also be charged," Monegan told Todd Palin. "And he said, 'I didn't want that. I only want Wooten charged.' "
Gov. Palin called a few days later. "The sole topic was Michael Wooten," Monegan said, and he told her the same thing he had told her husband.
The last direct conversation he had with the governor on the subject, he said, was on Feb. 13, 2007, on the way to a birthday celebration for a state senator.
"We were walking down the stairs, the governor mentioned to me, she says, 'I'd like to talk to you about Wooten.' And I said, 'Ma'am, I need you to keep an arm's length at this -- on this issue. And if you have further complaints on him, I can deal with Todd on it.'
"And she goes, 'That's a better idea.' "
Alaska investigators say it was OK to fire a state commissioner, but her efforts against a trooper went too far.
By Charles Piller and Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 11, 2008
ANCHORAGE -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin violated ethics laws and abused her power as governor in pressing to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, an independent legislative investigation concluded Friday.
In a report whose release was the subject of a high-stakes political showdown that went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, investigator Stephen Branchflower documented that former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was subjected to a veritable barrage of demands from Palin, her husband and her staff to fire the trooper, Mike Wooten, whom they saw as unfit for the job. Wooten had been involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister.
The report found that his refusal to fire the trooper was "likely a contributing factor" in Monegan's termination in July, but it also concluded that the governor's decision was "a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority" to hire and fire department heads.
Though the findings partially vindicate Palin's claims that she had legitimate reasons for firing Monegan, their suggestion that she used her husband and staff to conduct a campaign against a state employee in what was perceived by some as a personal vendetta could damage her ability to portray herself as a reform-minded, experienced executive ready to step into the White House as John McCain's vice president.
The Democratic Party was quick to use the report as fresh ammunition. "Gov. Palin has violated Alaskans' trust," said Patti Higgins, Alaska's state Democratic Party chairwoman. "I hope that in light of this finding, Gov. Palin will stop playing partisan politics to the detriment of Alaska's future."
Palin has insisted that Monegan was fired because he flouted her plans to limit spending in his department. Todd Palin has admitted he made several inquiries about Wooten because of concerns that the trooper had behaved improperly, by driving under the influence of alcohol, shooting a moose without a permit, threatening Palin's father and striking his own stepson with a low-level electric Taser.
"We feel the governor is vindicated. . . . She had the authority and acted with the proper authority" in removing Monegan, Meghan Stapleton, a McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman, said in an interview.
She said neither the governor nor her husband had done anything "but what the state dictates" and had legitimate concerns about Wooten's behavior. "Todd will do what he has to do to protect his family and the community against an abusive trooper," Stapleton said.
Yet the report documents a clear campaign within the governor's office to get rid of Wooten, despite Monegan's repeated warnings that the state was risking a lawsuit as a result of the contacts because Wooten had already been investigated and disciplined in connection with the same complaints.
These contacts came not only from the governor herself -- who spoke to Monegan personally, by telephone and by e-mail -- but from her chief of staff, several other senior staff members and even the state attorney general.
The report establishes for the first time that Palin deliberately set up Todd Palin to handle communications over the Wooten matter after Monegan warned her it was inappropriate for her to be making such contacts herself.
The governor and her husband were motivated by "passion and frustration," Monegan testified. "They wanted severe discipline, probably termination, and . . . I had this ominous feeling that I may not be long for this job if I didn't somehow respond accordingly."
Branchflower concluded in his report that these contacts were a breach of ethics and an abuse of the governor's office.
"The evidence supports the conclusion that Gov. Palin, at the least, engaged in 'official action' by her inaction, if not her active participation or assistance to her husband in attempting to get Trooper Wooten fired," the investigation concluded, adding that "there is evidence of her active participation."
The report found that Palin "knowingly, as that term is defined in the [ethics] statutes, permitted Todd Palin to use the governor's office and the resources of the governor's office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired." The report also said that Todd Palin at one point asked to see Wooten's personnel file.
The state Ethics Act holds that public officials have a duty of public trust that prevents them from attempting to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action.
The report made no specific recommendations on penalties or how to proceed.
Civil penalties range, theoretically, from impeachment by the Legislature to a reprimand or a fine of up to $5,000 by the state personnel board, but most legislative sources thought it unlikely any action would be taken.
"We have the power to investigate. We have the power to change law based on the investigation. We don't have the power to convene a grand jury, for example, and seek an indictment," Sen. Kim Elton, the Democratic chairman of the legislative council, said in a telephone interview. "We understood at the beginning that we were on a fact-finding mission, but we don't have the power to prosecute."
Twelve members of the Legislature's 14-member Legislative Council, the interim body that meets when the Legislature is not in session, deliberated in closed session over the findings for most of the day before voting unanimously to release the 263-page document publicly. Two members voted by telephone.
The council is made up of 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
Several Republican legislators had launched a legal effort to halt the inquiry, which they said had become tainted by politics after Palin's nomination to the GOP ticket
"The whole thing was turned into a circus act," complained Republican Rep. Bob Lynn. "Sarah Palin and Todd Palin were trying to defend their family. These people were threatened by Trooper Wooten. They did what any reasonable person would do -- protect their family."
Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican who has often clashed with Palin, said further action would be up to the state personnel board, which is carrying out a separate inquiry.
"I would not want that report to my credit," she said of the findings against Palin. "The problem with power is that it's very easy to use in the wrong way. We have to leave personal business at home."
Monegan said he believed that the Palins were motivated out of emotion stemming from family issues, a phenomenon he said he had encountered frequently as a law enforcement officer.
He said the couple were especially consternated with his response to their complaint that Wooten had shot a female moose without a permit.
Upon investigation, he said, he learned that Palin's sister had a permit for the moose and was present when it was shot. In addition, he said, Gov. Palin's father had butchered the moose.
"I pointed out that there are people also involved in this incident that theoretically could also be charged," Monegan told Todd Palin. "And he said, 'I didn't want that. I only want Wooten charged.' "
Gov. Palin called a few days later. "The sole topic was Michael Wooten," Monegan said, and he told her the same thing he had told her husband.
The last direct conversation he had with the governor on the subject, he said, was on Feb. 13, 2007, on the way to a birthday celebration for a state senator.
"We were walking down the stairs, the governor mentioned to me, she says, 'I'd like to talk to you about Wooten.' And I said, 'Ma'am, I need you to keep an arm's length at this -- on this issue. And if you have further complaints on him, I can deal with Todd on it.'
"And she goes, 'That's a better idea.' "
Oct 6, 2008
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