My Local News: True Grit Edition

I read a lot of internet, mostly for my own amusement.  I will glance at CNN's homepage every day or so, but mostly I read snarky blogs that link to the news and I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, you know, so I'm informed, but not that informed.  I almost never watch TV news, even though half of my English language channels are news broadcasts (Fox, CNN International, Bloomberg, BBC News, and Al Jazeera).  When I do watch TV news, I usually choose Al Jazeera.  Al Jazeera is pretty depressing though, which makes me think they are actually covering important happenings.  There is no "Cute Puppy of the Day" or "Happy Birthday Octogenarians!" on Al Jazeera.  You will see graphic photos and video of beheadings or bomb-devastated cities, which is why I don't watch it very often.

Don't think about that.  Look at the baby pandas instead.

As for getting the local news, I usually catch the short news segments on the radio (so at least now I know metered parking spaces charge from 8am-Midnight), the good talk about town can be found on that local forum I don't post at anymore, and the local papers have websites.  Usually the stories covered by The National or Gulf News are as hard hitting as this one:

Abu Dhabi Hotels on track for guest target

or

Global woes stay abroad as UAE's economy powers on

Both of these stories seem to me to be, at the very least, exaggerations.  But hey, the UAE is just looking at the world through rose colored glasses, right?  You can find real information out there can't you?

You Shall Not Pass

Along with things that are illegal in the UAE (Skype, Atheism, pornography), anything that might be considered insulting to Islam or that the government just plain doesn't want you to see is blocked.

Wait, Sabrina, did you say Skype is illegal in the UAE? 

That's right, reader.  VOIP programs (i.e. phone calls over the internet) are illegal here.  So is using a VPN or proxy server in order to get around these blocks.  Not that the UAE will acknowledge that they are censoring anything. 

There's this little gem I just saw today (might be especially interesting for you, Sister):
Why are Fifty Shades of Grey sequels being pulled from UAE shelves?
The article, in case you don't care to read it, says that although the book hasn't been banned, the government hasn't given permission for it to be sold either.  The UAE is desperate to be seen by outsiders as a liberal country and wants people to come here and spend money, but they want to appear to their citizens that they are still an Islamic Republic that does not condone such things are naughty books.

Also banned

That was a bit of a tangent from what I originally intended to write (please forgive me, someone seems to have stabbed an ice pick into my eye).  The local new websites seem to have taken a dark turn.  No longer is the front page filled with stories about happy children going back to newly built schools, athletes who are making the country proud, or hard-hitting stories about new recycling initiatives.  Now we're getting some gritty stuff.  Stuff I wouldn't expect to even be acknowledged by the official media, especially after the website was shut down for a couple weeks following an expose on female genital mutilation in the UAE they published almost two years ago. 

Only one in 10 sex attacks against women in UAE reported to police
This information does not surprise me a bit.  That this information is published?  That's pretty surprising.  The article doesn't urge more women to come forward, however.  That would be a little unfair, considering a woman who has been raped has committed a crime herself (adultery or fornication outside of marriage) and would most likely face jail herself.  My personal plan if I get sexually assaulted:  Get to the airport and get out of here as fast as I can. 

Bad blood from prison days blamed for UAE gang's attack on two men
I knew that prison conditions here must be unimaginably horrible, I did not know that the UAE had gangs.  I have trouble even envisioning a local gang. 

I'm sure it doesn't look like this.

Hunt for killer after woman found stabbed in abandoned car in UAE
Wow.  There are dozens of abandoned cars around here.  I wonder if they all have bodies in the trunk.

Or the car just gets so dirty, people give up cleaning it, and buy a new one.

Feel free to peruse the rest of the news at your leisure, or don't.  Just know that it's darker and scarier than it was a month ago. 

And for my grandma: A link to the real estate ads.  Just divide the price by 4 to get a general idea of what it costs for a place here per year.  This search is for places similar to what Dan and I have.