Tremors and Dallas Austin

Hey friends,

On Thursday morning, at 1am, there were tremors felt in Dubai/ Sharjah. This isnt the first time, but something like the 3rd time already. The last one happened in November last year, when I was in Pakistan. I always fear for this city should God forbid an earthquake strikes here. When I was in university, my civil engineering professor, who is also an earthquake expert, claims that if an earthquake strikes here, then the building will fall down like a pack of cards, all because the engineers here dont take into consideration the earthquake codes when designing buildings! It's no joke that Dubai/ Sharjah is experiencing tremors of this kind. I mean, God forbid, what if there is an earthquake and the older buildings fall down? It's not a good thing to think off.

On a more lighter note, I am not sure how many of you have heard that supermodel Naomi Campbell celebrated her birthday here last month at Burj Al Arab, which was spread over three days epitomizing the height of luxury and extravagance. One of her friend invited for the birthday was rapper star, who I honestly had not heard off before, Dallas Austin from the States. He was apprehended here at the Dubai airport for possessing cocaine. Now we all know that drugs are forbidden from being brought into the country and it carries a jail sentence.

However, the judges here in Dubai are thinking of pardoning Dallas Austin, all because they think he brought in the cocaine for personal use and not for peddling. So, like, can anyone bring in cocaine and claim it's for personal use? I don't think so. It becomes so clear that the judges here want to let go of Dallas Austin because he is a celebrity and he is an American, and should Dubai put him into jail, the American media will give Dubai a very bad name! At the back of my mind, I knew he would be released, because Dubai likes to caters to the interests of the West. I wonder why the ordinary people who are caught are not being pardoned?

Mansur