Pounds of flesh?

The rumour mill is buzzing that this comment on the esteemed publication popbitch refers to a Dubai/ex-Dubai hack. Certainly, there has been a marked increase in the number of UAE stories being leaked to the site in the last year...

Which newspaper hack is on sick leave thanks to management discovering that he has been fiddling expenses to up to half a million pounds over the last few years? He was so creative he set up friends and family members as fake contributors and paid them for imaginary stories.

The hack offered to pay back most of the cash if management didn't prosecute but is now threatening to spill the beans on all sorts of senior management fiddles if they go ahead.

It poses an interesting question as to the nature of expenses. Most hacks have done it at some time, even if it's claiming for a business lunch with a mate from PR... what policies exist for claiming back expenses in Dubai? Do companies reimburse expenses willingly?

Truly inspirational

The latest heart-warming news to come out of ITP is the Inspire Awards - just 74 days away, according to the website.

Inspire Dubai is a celebration of our Emirate’s most amazing individuals – the unsung heroes and heroines who make Dubai what it is for the 1.5 million of us who call it home.

Hope there's a special category for the amazing individuals at ITP - the organisers - for managing not to gag as they wrote the copy. And another category to those ITPers who manage to go into work, time and again, with no praise and no thanks from their masters. DMO would love to sponsor that category....

And a special word goes out to the kind souls in Garhoud who are selflessly putting on this event. And selling sponsorship around it. Hope all the profits go to a charity other than the Directors' Bentley Fund.

Launch your missiles at the KT relaunch

By request, a Khaleej Times relaunch thread.

Your opinions on The Nation's Favourite No 1. Revamped Newspaper please.

PS: Anyone else still dearly miss the "dear readers" editorial letters by former KT Dear Leader Mohammed A.R. Galadari? You can still find them here - Comment Section - if you are feeling nostalgic.

Starting a magazine in Dubai

A question from curious george:

If someone wanted to start a mag in dxb how should they go about doing that and if ITPs practices are norm (lying, scamming, cheating, etc), could an honest mag ever have a chance?

Any advice/answers welcome.

Car crash reporting

For a moment, we thought the combination of the sweaty smoggy haze of Dubai and pre-vacation excitement had turned us soft and fluffy, when we let this piece in Gulf News slip through the cracks. Luckily, we woke up with hangovers today and wanted to vent.

Could we have reached new depths in the UAE with Gulf News' My car saved me from death? We would urge you to read it in its full glory. Stand-out quotes from the driver include:

"I felt safe and protected in my Volvo S80... During the accident I really praised myself for driving a Volvo."

Good job that the manufacturers were on hand to provide a quote as well:

"The testimony of Eric Brouwer demonstrates that the Volvo S80 has been developed to make it one of the safest cars in its class....[He} is a living proof that Volvo is committed to manufacture vehicles with high safety criteria."

Next week: a news story about how many hot women are attracted to a convertible. Brought to you by the makers of Porsche.

Vanity fare

It seems the UAE isn't the only country that loves its vanity publishing . Wonder if the Cook County magazine had better or worse spelling and grammar than we get here?

Hands on services

Cracking piece in the Kipp Report today, questioning whether Gulf News has been running ads for massage parlours with benefits. Interesting to see German girls are charged at a premium; they must have particularly good hands.

Has anyone else noticed adverts like this in UAE publications?

For what it's worth, I think the Kipp Report is pretty good.