Daily Mail fail again

The Mail seem to have a slight problem with the whereabouts of the French Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy. As I have pointed out before, Saint-Barth in French or St. Barts in English,is not in Barbados , nor can you land there in a private jet, the hotel is Hotel Saint Barth Isle de France not the Hotel de France, the nightclub on Pointe Milou is Le Ti StBarth not Ti St Barts. So I was unsurprised to read today that

'Victoria's Secret Model Candice Swanepoel certainly cannot be accused of being shy about flaunting her body.
The curvy blonde adjusted her ample assets as they poured out of a neon green bikini top, yesterday on a beach in St Barts, the South of France, but struggled to contain them.'

Sorry Daily Mail but St Barts is not in the South of France.

Meanwhile another, or maybe the same, 'DAILY MAIL REPORTER' has managed to report on another couple's holiday correctly:

'The phrase 'they make a handsome couple' seems woefully lacking when referring to presenter Brooke Burke and her new husband David Charvet, as they're both perfect physical specimens.

And before you accuse of hyperbole, take a good look at these pictures of the couple, who are both 39, enjoying their honeymoon on the French Caribbean island of St. Barts.'

Odd but then maybe the reporter was distracted, here's Candice Swanpoel's first photo from that Mail article...

.... sorry what was my point?

Daily Mail fail (reprise)

The Mail's blank spot when it comes to reporting celebs on the Caribbean Island of St Barths continues. Last time it was misreporting the name of a hotel, this time it's a nightclub:

'Casual couple: A dressed down Fergie and husband Josh dined at the Ti St Barts restaurant'

That should be Le Ti StBarth.

Daily Mail fail

The Mail reports that:

'The model is on holiday in the West Indies island, staying at the infamous Hotel de France with her long-time boyfriend and property figure, Maurice Dabbah.'

Daily Mail fail - as far as I am aware there is no Hotel de France on St Barths. I suppose Victoria Silvstedt may be staying at the Hotel Saint Barth Isle de France on the island of St Barths. And why 'infamous'; maybe the drinks prices?

Daily Mail idiocy

This Daily Mail article on celebrities New Year Caribbean holiday plans is the usual envy raising article and an excuse to show pretty women in bikinis, and none the worse for that BUT then I saw this

"Celebrities staying at other islands in the Caribbean, including Barbados, have been reportedly offered private jets to ferry them to St Barts to welcome in 2010."

Private jets landing on St Barts? Really? Here's some video of small propeller powered planes landing at SBH, fancy landing a small jet?

Here's an experienced pilot getting it wrong in a slow landing propeller powered plane...

crash SBH from Mo Po on Vimeo.

Landing a Twin Otter at St Barts airport from the "wrong" direction

For some reason this looks scarier than the normal "tricky" landing over the hill...

Weird Google searches

google.jp (Japan) - tube real manns pov tori black - And this blog is at Number 3 for my piece about free tube travel!

google.ca (Canada) - racism st barths - This blog is number 6 for a piece about crash landing on St Barths/St Barts.

St Barths (SBH) crash landing

crash SBH from Mo Po on Vimeo.

I've landed at St Barths airport quite a few times as a passenger not a pilot and it can be scary but that landing was started too late. In my view the pilot should have aborted and gone around again.



Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Lazy journalism

According to Simon Cable in The Mail

"The singer (Bono) is currently enjoying a break at the exclusive St Barts resort in Barbados with his wife of 26 years, Ali and supermodel turned photographer Helena Christensen."

Simon Cable reports that the 48 year old singer

"revealed a rather hefty set of 'man-boobs', while his rather dashing stubble has been replaced by a thick goatee beard."

Leaving aside Bono's looks which seem fine for a man of his age, it's his politics I find repulsive, I was wondering where this exclusive St Barts resort on Barbados was. Somehow I think Simon Cable may be confusing the rather British island of Barbados with the very chic French Caribbean island of St Barths/St Barts (actually St Barthelemy) some miles away to the North West.

Maybe Simon Cable could take a leaf out of the uncredited Daily Mail Reporter who managed to report on Helena Christensen who was "spotted in a tiny purple bikini as she holidayed in St Barts.

"After all that report continues "She is in the Caribbean resort with son, Mingus, nine, U2 frontman Bono, his wife Ali Hewson and their children, Elijah, nine and seven-year-old John."

You can't say you weren't warned Gordon

Recalling the twice disgraced Peter Mandelson was always a risk and Gordon Brown was warned. Last week news broke that questions were being raised over Peter Mandleson accepting hospitality from Oleg Deripaska, Russia’s richest man, at around the time that Peter Mandelson had approved trade concessions worth up to £50m a year to the Russian tycoon. Today I see that:

"Lord Mandelson has accepted hospitality from a second businessman who has benefited from key European Union decisions during his term as trade commissioner. Mandelson, the new business secretary, has been a guest of Nat Rothschild, a hedge fund manager from the famous banking dynasty, on the Caribbean island of St Barts. He has also accepted flights from the Rothschild family, said to include trips to Moscow on a private jet. Rothschild, 37, is co-chairman of Atticus Capital, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds. At the time of Mittal Steel’s hostile takeover bid of Arcelor, its European rival in early 2006, Atticus Capital had shares in both companies. Atticus lobbied vigorously for the takeover and Mandelson helped to scotch the opposition, warning that the European commission would resist the “emotion of economic nationalism”."

The Times reports that:

"Mandelson says the decision to approve the Mittal deal was taken without him being consulted."

Many are asking how long it will before Lord Mandelson has to resign for a third time? I doubt he will resign, Gordon Brown cannot afford such a resignation and will encourage Lord Mandelson to brazen it out.

Dangerous landings

The ever excellent Theo Spark has a famous photo of a plane approaching St JEan airport in St Barths on his website today. I thought that I should put up some video of landings at the same airport.