The Institute (協会)

I like that one you've posted - it makes me hungry for a ham and swiss sandwich. What a wild place, though... Like Las Vegas in the Middle East.

Yeah, the place is really, really booming.

...willing to bet that they're not (yet) killing innovation with excessive regulation or taxes.

just wait, though, till all these buildings get built, and the politicians-or-rulers-of-other-stripes realize that they've got these corporations by the balls...

sad thing is...we could EASILY have these buildings built here in the states...and likely for half the cost...but no political entity is going to let it happen.

Dubai looks way cool. National Geographic featured Dubai City in it's January 07 issue with a photo of it's desolation in the 1990's next to a photo from today. Total transformation!

Dubai, maybe. I think it would be cool to leave this country and for good. There's nothing new under the sun here anymore.

Anthony - I like your blog, it seems fresh in a revolving world. But even your blog seems to attrack the same lame brains over and over. I could almost profile some how some will respond to a given post.

Until a year ago I was working for a small international company that moved its headquarters to Dubai. The chief reason to move those offices were low tax rates.

From what I gather its an unsettled city with a huge ex-pat population (mostly from the UK). The construction workers are brought in from other countries in the region and are paid fairly low wages. So you have a country ruled by Sunni Arabs that is populated by westerners who want all the trappings of the west -- alcohol, restaurants, glitter, things to do, etc. Add to this mix the underpaid workers and its a very peculiar place. Last year stories surfaced about the construction workers visiting the beaches and leering at women in their bikinis (they had never seen western women). Officials have cracked down on such behavior but it caused quite a stir and drove westerners away from the beach.

One family that relocated to Dubai told the story of having a small plumbing problem in their brand new apartment building. A plumber was located and showed up without any tools. He came back again and still didn't have what he needed to do the repair (he expected to be paid for both visits too). Finally the family found a way to make the repair themselves.

I guess if you like 115 F weather for much of the year then Dubai is your place. I don't know about religious freedom but it might be hard to find a church or start one. Some Arab countries (Saudi Arabia) have large numbers of westerners that are kept in compounds/settlements apart from the general population. There the westerners can enjoy things that are familiar to them and I think that they can have their own churches too (no alcohol though).

While the architectural boom is interesting in an of itself I find that the real interesting thing is the social experiment that Dubai and the UAE are engaged in. Mixing observant Muslims with westerners is fraught with many dangers. Perhaps they can pull it off and set the tone for neighboring states.

I have a friend who was over in Dubai two months ago for a few days and he said there were actually quite a few Christian churches in the city. He said they weren't exactly in ideal locations but they were there nevertheless. From what my friend says it does sound like a western city in the Middle East.

I have also heard quite a few rumblings about the shady labor practices there. It is astonishing how quickly this city has come upon the scene. Word is that the demand for cranes is outrageous because they are all being put to use in Dubai.

Did anyone else notice the Hummer in the picture.

Gotta include your bread and butter, I suppose.