The dark side of Dubai

On a stopover at Dubai airport in March of this year, I picked up a copy of Gulf News that in one of its articles asked "Can you hold hands with your partner in public in Dubai?". The blogosphere had been "abuzz with this question", the article said. Well, that this should be a question to be considered is somewhat beyond me (unless journalism's sole purpose should be to distract) for there are quite some other things that we should actually be concerned with when it comes to Dubai. I suggest to read Johann Hari's "The dark side of Dubai" in The Independent of 7 April 2009 - it is excellent journalism, it left me disturbed and I felt I had learned quite a bit. Here's the link.