Dubai makes me want to puke.

[cali]

Is there any country so dedicated to spitting on the environment? to conspicuous consumption? they make us look like amateurs.

Artifical Islands for the super rich. 2 inside ski areas and now a refrigerated beach.

What a country.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5338099.ece

[liberal N proud]

1. They take obscenity to a new level

[Deja Q]

2. Good. Then people will stop railing on the US as being the core problem to the universe.

It isn't.

[Fumesucker]

4. Dubai has a population of 1,241,000

The US is somewhat over 300 million now.

Even if the average citizen of Dubai consumed ten times as much per capita as Americans that would still be only 12,410,000/300,000,000 or 4.1% as much as America consumes.

[cali]

5. true enough, but that hardly excuses what's going on there.

[Fumesucker]

11. Take a look at the post I was replying to...

Kind of insinuated that Dubai was the source of the world's problems.

[maxsolomon]

6. oh, well never mind.

since we're bad, no one else can be criticized.

[Fumesucker]

13. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone..

I've read that somewhere.. :eyes:

[cali]

14. criticism isn't casting stones

and it's utterly ridiculous to think that one can't criticize things that happen elsewhere.

[Fumesucker]

16. Such criticism would be far less hypocritical

Were it not coming from the single greediest resource hogging nation on the planet.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Disregard.

They use about the same per capita.

[Maru Kitteh]

33. Dubai is a study in wealth disparity.

Bill Gates and the Oracle of Omaha aside, our most privileged class can only sigh in envy at the gluttonous excess of the handful of Dubai's "finest" men, while our poor can at the very least be thankful that they are not indentured, beaten by their "employers" and poor in Dubai.

[Dorian Gray]

47. Yes...but if all the nations in that region joined together into one

big giant nation and they all used that much, then there would be a problem.

Their overconsumption is just as insidious as ours.

[stillcool]

3. No wonder why Hallibuton..

moved their headquarters there.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. They will not be the only ones..

Dubai is also developing as a hub for service industries such as IT and finance, with the establishment of industry-specific free zones throughout the city. Dubai Internet City, combined with Dubai Media City as part of TECOM (Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority) is one such enclave whose members include IT firms such as EMC Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft, and IBM, and media organisations such as MBC, CNN, BBC, Reuters and AP.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was established in March 2000 as a secondary market for trading securities and bonds, both local and foreign. As of fourth quarter 2006, its trading volume stood at about 400 billion shares, worth US$ 95 billion in total. The DFM had a market capitalisation of about US$ 87 billion

Many international news agencies such as Reuters, APTN, Bloomberg and MBC as well as network news channels operated out of Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City.

[stillcool]

18. my favorite description..

of Dubai is the Las Vegas of the Middle east.

[Greyhound]

9. Fear not, billions of your dollars are their way to prop it up.

The parasites will not have to suffer any deprivation or even inconvenience, thanks to Uncles Paulson and Bernanke.

[JCMach1]

38. I posted about CITI bailing out Dubai to the tune of 8billion yesterday...

[blm]

43. Dubai has Poppy Bush and Clinton at their beck and call lobbying for them.

.

[madokie]

10. Aren't we for the most part where all the money for their extravance comes from?

[cali]

12. sure. not just us, of course.

[The Stranger]

15. Given the size and power of the U.S., it dwarfs any damages Dubai could do to the enviroment .

They make no one look like "amateurs."

Not to even begin to mention China.

[cali]

19. the U.S. and China are obviously much, much larger countries

and the average citizen here (including most likely you) uses far too many resources to support an unsustainable lifestyle. That doesn't mean that what's happening in Dubai isn't revolting.

[The Stranger]

51. It is a question of degrees, and much, much larger countries impact the Earth much, much more.

"Revolting" sounds like a personal distaste and not useful here.

[Ilsa]

17. Just call it New Sodom & let them be the object of ridicule.

[benld74]

20. Sorry, I thought you meant this 'W'

[TahitiNut]

21. Thorstein Veblen would regard it as a premier example of what he predicted 100 years ago.

:shrug: Even so, I think he'd be amazed by it.

[Thothmes]

22. They also have universal health care.

[Texasgal]

23. Yup! That wonderful healthcare

where women cannot get pap smears or breast exams. :eyes:

[Thothmes]

24. Source for that statement?

[Texasgal]

25. Here:

Google is your friend.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCallPlus/Story?id=3758969&page=1

Doctors say breast cancer still carries social stigma in the region.

"Ladies who are married are really worried about what will the effect of a diagnosis be on their husbands and families, so many of them will opt not to do a mammogram," said Omniyat Hajri, a UAE physician who treats breast cancer patients.

Many women never learn the necessity of self-breast exams and early detection — important in these Middle Eastern countries, where, on average, women get breast cancer 10 years earlier when the disease is more deadly.

[clyrc]

34. Women can get breast exams and pap smears

I know from experience. My daughters go to a mostly Muslim school, and they had a breast cancer awareness day a few weeks ago. Both my girls bought pink ribbons, and wore them.

[Thothmes]

37. You chose not to answer the question I asked,

which is your source that Dubai does not pay for these medical services for women. Which was you claim. A cultural or social tabu against these procedures is a whole hell of a lot different that a government not providing these services if the individual desires to avail themselves of those services. Regoogle your friend.

[JCMach1]

39. Exactly... there was stigma in the US concerning this issues until the last 10-15yrs as well

The UAE is majorly trying to raise awareness concerning woman's health issues.

[Dorian Gray]

48. That article

says that they choose not to get them, not that they aren't provided to those that want them.

[JCMach1]

40. Sorry, but I get better care here than in the U.S.

Sad but true, that.

[TheWraith]

26. A refrigerated beach? Isn't that rather missing the point? nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. Noticed this story on the same page: Prince Phillip attacks big families

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3908588.ece

He had 4 kids... that's a pretty big family by today's standards.

[bdamomma]

28. it is considered the Paris of the Middle East.

[Sultana]

32. WRONG!

Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East, DXB is the Las Vegas... :)

[clyrc]

29. I love Dubai

I live in a neighboring Emirate, and I go to Dubai a lot. I love the multicultural atmosphere and the amazing people I have met. I decided a few years ago that I would not try to defend the indefensible when it comes to this country, I would admit there are some things that are very wrong, and upsetting, but also I admit that I love it because in ways it is such a fascinating country. Anyone who hates it should come visit me and let me show you around some of the more interesting places.

[TheKentuckian]

30. Sweet. I'll be the 1st to say pay my bill and I'll play sidekick

[clyrc]

35. Gotta get my parents here, first

I'm bringing them over as their 40 year wedding anniversary present. Mom will love the malls, and dad will love the picture taking opportunities in the desert and on the beaches.

[JCMach1]

41. Like everywhere there is good and bad... Excess $$$ has led to excess

Shocking, huh!

There are many good things about Dubai... but CYLRC is right, I can't defend some of the stupidity that happens here.

Labor is the biggest issue in my book. But, even that's a more complex issue if you delve into it.

For every excess there are some very cool and good things such as Masdar City http://www.masdaruae.com/home/index.aspx

Masdar City is the most ambitious sustainable development in the world today - it will be the world's first zero carbon, zero waste city powered entirely by renewable energy sources...

[Blue_Tires]

31. i wonder how much pentagon money dished out in the 'war on terror'

eventually went to pay for some 16-year-old's gold-plated lamborghini.....

[salguine]

36. Okay, one more time:

[JCMach1]

42. I agree... over 3/4 of the country are non-citizen workers

Even the military! It would take about 5 min. to secure a revolution...

[Sultana]

49. LOL

:rofl:

[BlooInBloo]

44. We manufacture snow for people to ski on.

[dysfunctional press]

45. maybe this article will make you feel better: "Is Dubai’s Party Over?"...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172641

Is Dubai’s Party Over?

In Dubai last month, a very different kind of pageant was held, but if Tuchman were still around she'd have been taking notes. This triumph was billed as a world-beating blowout, a $20 million star-smacked extravaganza with the likes of Charlize Theron, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jordan, and Robert De Niro in attendance. The fireworks display was so enormous it could only truly be appreciated from the heavens (literally—it was visible from space). The occasion was the opening of the $1.5 billion Atlantis resort complex on an enormous artificial archipelago shaped like a palm tree. The point of the party, its promoters explained, was to show the world that Dubai is a land of fantasies come true, an over-the-top destination for good times. But among many of the guests, the mood was funereal. As the fireworks exploded, the global economy was imploding. Many of Dubai's overleveraged fortunes were crumbling, and no one was sure where to turn. The old buoys seemed to have been swept away.

"It's a tragedy in the making," said a senior executive with one of the city's biggest real-estate-development companies as he peered into his champagne. "A lot of people are going to get hurt. A lot of dreams are going to be shattered," he said, referring not only to the erstwhile rich and the speculators. Imported workers are already being exported, jobless, back to their homes. Skyscrapers are standing unfinished, baking in the sun. "Have you seen all those ships lined up on the horizon?" he said, gesturing toward the open gulf. "They're stuck out there full of steel and concrete nobody wants anymore...."

[mitchum]

46. It needs more guillotines

[grassfed]

50. World's First 'Zero-Carbon' City launched in the EMIRATES

There has been much progressive environmental news coming out of the Gulf, which intends to become the world hub of green technology. And yes, their new cities are freewheeling and not perfect as is your town I'm sure.

A few examples among thousands:

ENVIRONMENT-UAE: Coming Up - World's First 'Zero-Carbon' City
A city free of cars, pedestrian-friendly, powered by renewable energy and surrounded by wind and photovoltaic farms -- all in the middle of a petroleum-rich desert.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38187

ECO-OASIS IN ABU DHABI
Guess Who's Building a Green City?
In a delicious irony, Abu Dhabi is pouring oil billions into a zero-emissions metropolis in the desert.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,523319,00.html

Architects in the Gulf
http://www.dezeen.com/?s=uae