[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', 'D')oesn't hypocrisy require knowledge of both sides? I'd say it's stupidity. They haven't been told to care about it by the media yet.

[backstop]

Given that the ports now not being sold to Dubai are among the very last that are still US owned,

maybe the background to this affair is an intentional snubbing of Bush,

led by Rep majority with security overtones and backed by Dem minority as an irresistible temptation,

with the Rep goal being to persuade voters that Bush is not a real Republican ?

If so, then if his poll ratings fail to improve dramatically, more such major snubs would seem predictable.

regards,

Backstop

[Jellric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')sn't it funny that the basic argument of the protesters is that they feel uncomfortable with a foreign corporation controling $6.8 billion of our "strategic assests" in this case sea ports...... but when the USA hands off over $600 billion of our debt (mostly to foreigners) every year in the form of our current account deficit, strangely enough I don't hear to many protesters complaining our national security is being threatened?

*hypocrisy???*

[big_rc]

This has to be the most stupidest thing Congress has done in a very long time. Those reactionary idiots that we call lawmakers have completely screwed up. Here is why. Currently, the good old USA is running monstrous deficits. We get away with it because our good Arab friends recycle their enormous oil-wealth profits by buying our debt. If that stops (hell, if it even slows down), the dollar is going to get completely hammered (along with a huge spike in interest rates). We have just given a very bad signal to the international investing community that you can only play by our rules. This is bad news folks. I wouldn't be suprised if the Arab coutries just decided to send us a little reverse signal in return just to let us know that they have alot more power than we think they do.

[smiley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')o my mind the best bit of this farce is the fact that these were among the very last US ports that were still US owned, but nobody has told the US public !

[coyote]

I'm actually a little bummed that Dubai defused the political situation by withdrawing their bid. I was kind of looking forward to a GOP meltdown...

[jaws]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('LadyRuby', 'M')ore on how it's all about trade and money-making.

[UIUCstudent01]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jaws', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('LadyRuby', 'M')ore on how it's all about trade and money-making.

[Luckystars]

edit

[oilfreeandhappy]

Do you ever wonder what all that oil money buys? Check out this link about Dubai.
http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/dubai.htm

In 2008, the Burj Dubai will be opening, making it the tallest
building in the world. I must admit, it's impressive!

[willjones4]

how ironic, looks like a beautiful sinking ship...

[spartacus]

Dubai has little oil, and generates most of its wealth from tourism. There are very few locals, with the largest part of the population made up of expats. Admittedly, it's very glittzy.....but I don't see it disappearing into the sand when the oil runs out (unlike Saudi).

[matt21811]

Saudi is not going to run out of oil for 70 years. As oil becomes more scarce, its price will rise, this will compensate for the lower volumes sold.
The only issue they need to worry about is how to invest all the money they make so their population will continue successfully after the transition out of oil. They have 70 years to get that right. I'll be dead before I get see if they were successful or not.

[Kingcoal]

Yeah, look at this project: Palm Island

Too bad sea level rise is inevitable in the future.

[Luckystars]

Dubai has created manmade private islands named ‘World’ the smallest island being Rhode Island just under one acre and the largest being Australia 34 acres. Continental USA is nearly sold-out to members of congress and Bushco. They will not retire in the USA as they will most likely have a bounty on their heads when the real truth comes out.
Being close to the remaining oil is a big plus, as 2022 is the end of the oil age.

[LadyRuby]

Hello world. When a middle eastern country is proud to announce it's prepared to live without oil, shouldn't this be a wake up call? Although from this article I'm not convinced by any stretch that they're ready to live without oil.

Chaotic Dubai builds up ... as oil dries up

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ''')We are now ready to live without oil,' says Dubai's Department of Tourism. Transformation of city-emirate on the Gulf part of a plan 'to position Dubai as the leading centre for commerce and tourism in the world'

There are more than 100 nationalities and every stratum of society in this city-emirate on the Gulf, from rich Arab sheikhs to expat Western executives and Asian labourers. And every day, they share the most equalizing experience: sitting in traffic jams.

"The traffic is ruining this city," says Raflek, an Indian driver, as we idle in a sea of cars on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai's main thoroughfare and the most dramatic example of the transformation of this tiny emirate from another oil-rich Gulf state to a can-do capitalist mecca.

Ten years ago, there were a couple of towers along this road. Today, gleaming hotels, shopping malls and skyscrapers line up end-to-end along its several-kilometre stretch, broken up by sandy lots where construction has not yet started but the billboards are already up.

"It is getting to be like London, where all we talk about is the traffic and the weather," says Claire Malcolm, a British expat who has been working in Dubai for the past four years. The endless traffic jams that can turn a half-hour commute into a two-hour stall in the sweltering desert are the most visible growing pains in what has become the world's biggest construction zone -- all fuelled because Dubai is running out of oil.

...

The population is growing at a rate of 8% a year as guest workers stream in. It is estimated local Emiratis will represent only 4% of the population by 2010. Sandwiched between the sea and the desert, Dubai is sprawling out into both. Ambitious man-made islands, such as the Palm Jumeriah and the World projects, are being dredged out of the Gulf. Mini-cities and duty-free zones, where foreign companies are attracted by the "light" regulations -- no income or corporate taxes -- are pushing back the desert. There are Media and Internet City, Healthcare City and even Humanitarian City, with its Middle Eastern headquarters of organizations such as Unicef and the World Wildlife Foundation. Two dozen schools are planned for Academic City, which will include separate men's and women's universities. Then there are the infrastructure projects: roads, bridges, canals and a subway line, to be completed in 2011.

But the clock is ticking in Dubai. It is estimated Dubai's oil reserves will be depleted by 2016. Dubai's construction chaos is, in fact, part of a well-orchestrated plan for life after oil. Dubai's economy grew by 16% in 2005, compared with a growth rate for the UAE of 7%. Oil now accounts for only 6% of Dubai's income.

"We are now ready to live without oil," says Hamad Mohammed bin Mejren, manager, Department of Tourism, for the government of Dubai. Tourism is now one of Dubai's biggest earners. From six million visitors in 2005, the target is to reach 15 million annual visitors by 2010. "Our vision is to position Dubai as the leading centre for commerce and tourism in the world."

...

Closer to home, there are voices in Alberta calling for a similar plan for the future to lessen the province's dependency on oil. "No one is interested in talking about diversity because everyone is so busy making money," says Todd Hirsch, the chief economist at the Canada West Foundation, and author of a recent report on the province's economic future titled As Good as it Gets. According to Mr. Hirsch, Alberta's booming oil economy is stifling the growth of other sectors. "We won't run out of oil -- there's so much oil here. But at some point in time, the world is going to get over its dependency on crude oil and the big question is, what will Alberta do at that point."

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('LadyRuby', 'H')ello world. When a middle eastern country is proud to announce it's prepared to live without oil, shouldn't this be a wake up call? Although from this article I'm not convinced by any stretch that they're ready to live without oil.

[Novus]

Dubai will end up like the ancient city of Shibam. Six hundred years ago it was the most advanced city in the world but have since become a joke carried on the winds of history. Shibam the pre-modern city that build sky-scrapers 500 years before Chicago is desolate and abandoned.

link to iamge

link to image

[DantesPeak]

Incredable stuff - total depletion by 2016.

Novus - quite a spectacular ME example there. I agree, although I think with the rising sea levels of GW, a boat may be preferable to a camel ride in the part of the city near the port.

Those that own property or businesses in the UAE best sell out now or quite soon, or even better, make plans to leave.

[Sleepybag]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ubai as the leading centre for commerce and tourism in the world