"It's good news week.."

The repatriation of OFW's from Lebanon continues to be somewhat chaotic...I could be way out of line here...but it seems the RP govt. is happy to have the remittances from the OFW's help the economy here...but when the govt. needs to help the OFWs...that's another story.

The bombing of the bridges on the coastal highway in Lebanon, takes the war right to the doorstep of where I was working...I am now at the stage where for the first time in my life I cannot watch the news....the BBC has not been on in my house for about a week now...I can take it on the net as it seems just that bit more removed...

And in today's FT....how the war affects the region...Jordan in particular from a tourist perspective, the hotels in Amman may be full with Lebanese and expats evacuated from Beirut...but that does not help the bedouin in Wadi Rum and Petra, the hotels in Aqaba and the traders in Kerak and Madaba.

Another "honour killing" in Jordan....

The victim, a 22-year-old divorcee, was shot six times at the family home at around mid-night on Thursday, the source told The Jordan Times.

The suspect allegedly shot his sister in front of his parents and siblings following and argument concerning her alleged “immoral behaviour,” the source added.

“The suspect then headed to the nearest police station and turned himself in and handed the pistol allegedly used in the murder to officers on duty,” said the source, adding that the youth claimed to have killed his sister for reasons of family honour.

[...]

the victim became the 10th woman murdered this year in so-called honour crimes and the second to be killed within the space of a week.

On July 29, a 26-year-old Jordan Valley woman was hacked to death by her 69-year-old mother and sister after delivering a baby out of wedlock.

The victim delivered a baby boy on the day of the murder.

Mayon Volcano looks as if she is getting rather excited...or experiencing 'quiet unrest'...and I thought the Brits were the masters of understatement...(Captain Oates..."I am just going outside and may be some time")

When Hong Kong screws up....it does it properly. Should it have remained at T3, should the Airport Express have been closed, should the airlines have done more to help their passengers...these questions can be debated until the cows come home...but it would be nice if all concerned could learn from the incident so next time around we don't look like we have the most incompetent airport in the region...

I love dogs and when I when I am settled somewhere with fields and open spaces and clean air...I shall have one or two...however, one should never, ever underestimate the power of a dog to turn nasty, any dog...at any time...

The Scottish accent can be hard to understand...and that's coming from a Scot...albeit one with no accent... I used to work with a Hong Kong Chinese girl who had spent the majority of her childhood in Glasgow...and to be honest...I could very rarely understand immediately what she said...it would take a second or two for me to get what she had said...amusingly enough she apparently spoke Cantonese with the same Glaswegian accent...it's a miracle she ever got anything achieved at work!!! Those of you who have read Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island will remember this..

And on a lighter note...in England....a 'Masturbate-athon'...seriously!And who ever said the English were conservative??!!