Bernie Ecclestone turned the British Grand Prix into roadkill yesterday, squashing it without sentiment in his haste to do mega-deals with governments in the oil-rich Arab nations and Far East.

If the Tower of London was still trading, he would be in it, yet the decision to drop Silverstone is entirely consistent with the ruthlessness of Formula One.

Like a James Bond villain, Ecclestone must have given his cat an extra stroke last night when blame was heaped on the Government, who have invested £8 million of public money in roads around Silverstone but refuse to subsidise the multi-millionaires of the F1 paddock. Quite right, too.

Does anyone other than Sir Jackie Stewart and the British Racing Drivers Club seriously think the state should make up the £3 million shortfall between what Silverstone are offering and Ecclestone has in mind?

Bahrain, who spent £127 million building their new circuit, and Shanghai, who lavished £300 million on the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, have their own motives for wanting to be on Ecclestone’s map of rampaging egos.

Telegraph

Sour grapes my friends, sour grapes.

Here’s a comment I entered earlier on AMCGLTD about the situation (thanks to Scott for the heads-up):

Good riddance! The BRDC were trying to go cheep, and frankly with circuits like Bahrain and Shanghai, there is no place for Silverstone UNLESS it (or the government) invests heavily at upgrading the infrastructure and the track itself.

I remember driving on the circuit in a Formula Ford a few years ago and it was fun, but I can see the millions of cracks on the asphalt, when I asked why this is the case considering it is the “mother of F1 tracks” they said, no worries it’ll get fixed very quickly. That was about 4 years ago and nothing was done about that!

Cheap lot they are, and they should have been axed a few years ago.

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Every time I go to Dubai, which is averaging about once or twice a month now, I effing buy stuff unintentionally . Mostly things that can fit in my backpack without too much trouble, and this turned into a habit. But no matter, I enjoy the exercise!

I normally buy stuff at the airport as it is much more convenient for me, and I don’t get to spend too much time in town as I’m normally running around from one place to another. I must confess however that as much as possible I make time to visit two essential places, and fortunately they’re in the same location:

1. Plugins
2. Virgin megastore

Both are in the Deira City Centre Mall.

To make a long story short, let me share with you what I spent my money on this time:

DVDs: I buy a few every time I visit Dubai, mainly on the way out at the airport, but if I see something new or rare, I buy them during my visit to Virgin. The bag this time contained (haven’t watched them yet so I can’t review them):
1. Fehrenheit 9/11
2. The Cooler, William Macy must be the most underrated actor, I really like the guy and think that he’s great! I detest that twit Alec Baldwin though.
3. Twisted, hey, it’s Ashley Judd, the affirmation of the existence of God! This time she’s starring with both Andy Garcia and Samuel L. Jackson, so there is no way am I going to be disapointed in this movie.
4. Marmoulak (the Lizard), this one sounded very interesting, a story about a criminal who escapes an Iranian prison disguised as a cleric! This one is promising to be immense fun. It’s got subtitles in Arabic and English so I won’t get lost in Persian. I am really looking forward to watching this movie tomorrow afternoon.

And of course, what’s a trip without picking up a few CDs?

1. Natasha St-Pier‘s L’instant d’apres, I’ve been listening to this CD almost all afternoon and I’m all a-tingle!
2. Claude Challe’s Happiness is a brilliant double-CD. He’s the guy behind budda-bar, now that I found out that I really like his style, I’ll be after all of his work for the next trip!
3. Norah Jones‘s feels like home deluxe edition which comes with a DVD and extra tracks. I like her music, but a little at a time because otherwise I might go and hang myself. My wife likes her music though…
4. Staind, Maroon 5, Switchfoot because I thought Amna might like them and I get to be the “star dad” for all of 5 minutes!

That’s the shopping list, and I’m sure I left something or other as Arif came and raided my bag immediately he walked in the door, and took all the DVDs away.

The best thing that I really enjoyed in Dubai this time is visiting the Music Plus TV channel in the Dubai Media City with a couple of my colleagues from Bahrain TV. It was fun proving to them that these 4 or 5 young people are running a profit making, 24-hour, music and entertainment station while their own with some 700 staff continues to languish in the amoeba-pool! There is hope though, they have new management and so far they seem to be aggressive in changing the station. Time will tell. Not holding breath though.

“First they banned dolls, then they banned stuffed toys and now this. I don’t know where all this will stop,” said Turki, a 20-year-old student in Riyadh who did not want to give his full name and who owns a cell phone camera he bought locally.

Last December, the Interior Ministry announced a ban on importing dolls and stuffed animals, and gave merchants three months to get rid of them.

Because of their popularity, the ban on camera cell phones could fizzle like a similar crackdown on satellite dish antennas. Several years ago, the government launched a halfhearted campaign to ban satellite dishes to placate ultra-religious factions opposed to Saudis watching foreign television channels that show unveiled women, and more.

Despite the ban, rooftops in every Saudi city are covered with them, and subscriptions to a variety of foreign channels are freely sold.

Guardian Unlimited

p a t h e t i c !

Following on from the news of the arrest of a human rights activist a few days ago, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has now permanently closed the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, thus penalising a whole organisation for the public censure of one of its directors of the government and the prime minister. I’m not sure what the government thought it would gain by this drastic action, and I don’t understand that with taking on such an unwise step it will be in the direct spotlight of the whole world and as importantly, the “new age” detractors all over the world now have a reason to point and say “I told you so” and that the excellent steps taken to drag this country out of the dark ages by our King lacks real sincerely.

I do not condone Abdulhadi’s method at all, as I believe that there are better ways of criticising the government and its officials than what he has done. Regardless, he has the full constitutionally guaranteed right just as anyone else in Bahrain to openly constructively criticise the regime and its components in the hope that this criticism will be the catalyst for change for the better. In my mind, and I guess in the minds of everyone following this situation is the only prisoner of conscience in Bahrain at the moment. He should not be in prison, and if the government does have a real case against him, then it should follow the very same principals it approved by going to court.

Does this situation auger well for our future? More personally, does that mean that as I have countlessly criticised the government and its officials in this blog that I am now personally in danger of incarceration? What about other bloggers, journalists and the normal person in the street? If this situation is not corrected immediately, then they probably have to build more prisons as in the very short 4 years since the King has launched his sweeping reforms, Bahrainis and residents have become more vocal, so far without fear, and through our criticisms we saw some changes happen for the better. We have been holding our heads high because of these reforms and we completely bought into them, but skeptics abound, and this situation just fuels their poisonous fire.

Let’s just see two of the most important reactions to this situation:

Bahrain: Concern over the detention of human rights defender and closure of human rights centre

Following an initial communication with the Ambassador of Bahrain to London, Amnesty International wrote to His Majesty, Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain on 28 September 2004, expressing concern over the detention of human rights defender, ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Khawaja, Executive Director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR).

Amnesty International is writing again to the government to express its concern over the summary closure of the BCHR. The BCHR was reportedly closed on the authority of the Ministry of Labour on 28 September 2004. According to reports received by Amnesty International, news about its closure was received by newspapers prior to the members or directors of the BCHR.

….

The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides for the right “to complain about the policies and actions of individual officials and governmental bodies with regard to violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms…”

Amnesty International

and from the US:

U.S. raps Bahrain on rights

The U.S. State Department Wednesday expressed concern over the closing of a human rights organization in Bahrain and the detention of its leader.

We are concerned that this could represent some sort of step backwards, department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Bahrain shut down the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and detained its leader, Abdul-Hadi al-Khawajah, who had made remarks critical of the government’s management of the economy.

Boucher said the department was seeking additional information from the Bahraini government.

Bahrain, a key U.S. ally, is seen a one of the most progressive nations in the Persian Gulf region. There has been a spate of democratic and economic reforms, including municipal and parliamentary elections based on universal suffrage.

BigNewsNetwork

My ardent hope is that this situation is corrected immediately, and I hereby call all Bahrainis to put pressure on the parliament, government and free-thinkers on this lovely island to stand together and demand that (1) free Abdulhadi Al-Khawajah unconditionally, (2) rescind the archaic society laws and replace that with a more free structure that guarantees freedoms of expression, and (3) fire the Minister of Labour and Social affairs as he has not contributed anything to the development of the country other than being the ogre and policeman harassing political and social and cultural societies, that is not even taking into account his policies on the labour market’s current disastrous affairs. And to think that this guy was one of the leaders of the opposition in exile just a few years ago! The mind boggles.

Thank God that we have Shaikh Salman, a young, passionate and sincere person who if given a chance, would change this country into a much more progressive, prosperous and safe country as we have never experienced before.