WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OVER THERE?

[Diogenes]

http://www.dubai-architecture.info/DUB-GAL1.htm

[Raos]

They do have, and will have, some absolutely spectacular architecture.

[Cleisthenis]

(eeps all caps!)

I have a relative who is in Afghanistan right now on his 2nd tour of duty, and on his way home a couple weeks ago for a mid-tour break they stopped in Dubai, and he said that he saw the base of the Burj Dubai in the distance - already the tallest free stranding structure in the world - and it blew him away.

(most recent wikipedia picture)

[Raos]

A friend of mine actually just got a job offer to teach in Dubai, and he's moving there in August or September.  I'm rather looking forward to the pictures he posts when he gets there.

[Cleisthenis]

What was the offer?

[Raos]

Teaching high school IB science and history, if my memory serves.

[Cleisthenis]

Sorry, I meant what kind of dough were they offering? I've heard some crazy stories that I'm not sure are true with nursing jobs etc...

[Raos]

Oh, I really don't know how much he's getting, but I would imagine it's a rather tidy sum.

[Diogenes]

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article5576.html

 Remember all that wild-assed Architecture ?

[Raos]

Some of the more creative financing going on in Dubai is certainly a valid criticism as I see it, but I don't think the prospect of oil prices dropping back to reasonable prices is really a danger that Dubai has any reason to be all that concerned about.  Cheap oil was the bubble, though it lasted long, that has burst.  Besides which, regardless of the economic fate of Dubai, that wild-assed architecture is still no less wild-assed, and not likely to be rivalled any time soon.

I think rather more interesting is what they have to say about Singapore's success, which they compare to what Dubai is trying to do.

Singapore's growth has been built on two factors:

    * The extremely high education level of its population (relative to income at first, in the 1960s, but in absolute terms now).
    * And an obsessive focus on moving up the value chain in everything it does.

So simple, so obvious, and yet we still see precious little of it in our political leadership in so much of the world.

[Diogenes]

Yup!  There is just enough of the ethicalist in me to see gigajillions of ostentatious  displays of spending for the already greedy and damned little Noblesse oblige, especially in these time of talk of world wide  economic melt down.


 Isn’t there not something about being our brother’s keeper
 In scriptures?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige
"Noblesse oblige" is generally used to imply that with wealth, power and prestige come responsibilities. The phrase is sometimes used derisively, in the sense of condescending or hypocritical social responsibility. In American English especially, the term has also been applied more broadly to those who are capable of simple acts to help another, usually one who is less fortunate.
In ethical discussion, it is sometimes used to summarize a moral economy wherein privilege must be balanced by duty towards those who lack such privilege or who cannot perform such duty. Finally, it has been used recently primarily to refer to public responsibilities of the rich, famous and powerful, notably to provide good examples of behaviour or to exceed minimal standards of decency.
 I know my line of thought holds no sway especially in a province the had it’s welfare cases fleeing to British Columbia
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4SKPB_enCA282CA283&q=Alberta%27s+welfare+recipients+sent+to+BC+By+Ralph+Klein

Do I hear a toche'
 Nope, probably not

[Raos]

I could hardly care less what is and is not in scripture.  Scripture is by no means my guide.

Beyond that, there are many ways of being ostentatious, and Dubai is not exactly isolated in the pursuit of excess.  Since you bring up Alberta, though, one can easily make the observation that fiscal mismanagement and a lack of concern for all members of society stemming from greed and disparity is entirely possible when surroundedy by crappy, unassuming buildings.  If its architecture were damning Dubai, then Alberta should be a utopian paradise.

[Diogenes]

 
Whatever hehehe