Remember when the Atlantis, The Palm hotel opened back in November with a $20 million party of fireworks and a whole host of celebrities from Oprah to Kylie Minogue to Charlize Theron to Wesley Snipes?
Yeah well it turns out that Wesley Snipes, who was recently convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for not filing income tax, is currently out on bail, and only allowed to travel abroad only to London and Bangkok for film commitments.
And then photos of him at the Atlantis party showed up, and now we get this: "Judge Yanks Snipes' Passport".
Oops.
Next we have the answer to an age old question - what happens when you flip the bird in Dubai?
I was always told it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad. The article itself isn't that interesting, besides the first sentence (emphasis mine): "A deputy CEO of a real estate group has been cleared of charges for pulling his middle finger in public, a crime punishable by deportation."
Damn!
You think the boys at immigration on the US side would laugh at you when you told them you were kicked out of a country for flipping someone off?
Next, a more serious story, Dubai has banned smoking shisha (you know, hookah pipes): "Dubai Municipality bans smoking shisha in public".
People over there must be livid - this is a key part of local custom. It'd be a little like taking away their coffee, or not letting them drive at 200 miles per hour on city streets.
Then we have sports - the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens just finished. In the inaugural women's event Australia beat New Zealand in overtime on Sunday.
I wonder how women playing rugby went over with the locals? Or are they all still pissy because they can't smoke in public?
For the men's event Wales won.
Next, for fun, apparently David Hasselhoff is currently is spending some time in Dubai.
Lastly, a story that harkens back to what put Dubai on the map. No, I don't mean terribly phallic mega-skyscrapers, I mean sex-in-public.
And apparently someone has done it again.
This guy is screwed though - apparently he's claimed in court that no one was watching him when he had consensual sex with his female partner on Jumeirah beach.
You just admitted it! You idiot!
What can you say, he's from Myanmar. Those Brits did lying and being smarmy so much better.
Wonder if those two ever got married back in England ...