The Fog of War

Perhaps the thick pockets of white-pea soup clogging up Sheikh Zayed road at 3am this sweaty morning have a practical as well as a symbolic value. They may be hiding the hordes of officially non-existent SARS victims rumoured to be scattered through Dubai, according to the Emirates Air Hostess Intelligence Network, as communicated with in Harry Ghatto's karaoke bar late last night. Despite strong reassurances from the UAE goverment that we're utterly germ-free, it seems the seeds of panic have been sown.

I wonder if they will do a special "national dress" version of the hotly=fashionable surgical mask as modelled extensively on the catwalks and pavements of Singapore and Hong Kong? A white one for men (grey or black variations to match winter dish dash, perhaps?) and a black for women?

The other main advantage to this fog is its ability to shield ones doings from the prying eyes of fellow Karama-by-the-Sea/slum-in-the-sand residents. Such is its thickness that it quite negates the need for curtains.