Everything counts in large amounts.

[reddragdiva]

• Don't go to Dubai. Online petition here. Further reading: 1, 2, 3, 4. Please spread this around.

• Darwinian daily diary.

Last night I had a marvellous date with the breathtakingly beautiful and wonderful spikeylady, where we went down the Waterfront in Streatham with a pile of other poly bi perverts. The pub specialises in girly cocktails, which everyone else got smashed on, and has no real beer (though I can cope with Staropramen) but does great pizzas. Then back to her place to sit up talking rubbish for ages. I thoroughly approve of Jessamy in every way.

Today Freda greeted me with much clinging. Apparently she'd been looking at the door all evening waiting for me to say goodnight to her. BAD DADDY. Guilt. Guilt. I bounced her in the air lots this afternoon, which she liked. And is actually giving me rippling biceps.

Tonight is pubbing for jezebel_z's birthday, but Freda is way too fractious and teething to leave to arkady alone. So I'm writing here and not tidying the pit, ahem.

Comments

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

My take that I posted in someone else's journal in reply to a commenter who figured the girlfriend wasn't telling the full story (my family have lived/worked in UAE for most of the last 10 years):

The friend resident in Dubai http://pixthulu.livejournal.com/23108.html
sounds a lot more reasonable and sane, and the story makes sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if German passport-holders were treated with more suspicion than Brits/Americans, and certainly if he doesn't look like the usual wealthy tourist profile, they've probably assumed he's involved in drugs, prostitution, or other crime - my dad used to get the 'prostitute plane' from Baku to Dubai for the weekend and saw the Russian/Eastern European women getting *very* different treatment at immigration.

Going to Dubai knowing that drugs might show up in your urine sample is just stupid, though.

This could be any country, though. Immigration officers are often racist but importantly are not to be messed with (remember UK Customs officers have way more powers than the police!) At least the UAE ones tend to be polite and don't point guns at you, unlike the ones at various US airports. I've had way more trouble getting into the US, despite an American passport - the UAE resident's visa all in Arabic was the main problem.