Do you REALLY want to put the financial standing of the UAE against anyone else in the world? But if it makes you feel better to take an isolated example like Dubai, good for you buddy, good for you .
@bigtexxx Dubai is not anywhere near a financial meltdown. I'm not exactly sure where you get your news from but I recommend you read the Economist, Financial Times, etc. Dubai like Iceland is a nice memory from the 2000-2008 era. And even it does meltdown like you claim, it's debt is relatively small compared to other sov debt defaults like Argentina/Russia and probably won't spread outside the ME on a country basis since it alone is so leveraged (and most banks exposed to it are in Europe like HSBS/RBS and it's just ~$20 bln). All of its neighbors like SA have huge cash/oil reserves. Also, there is a power shift happening in the Emriates as we speak, Abu Dhabi long seen as the older mature brother has had enough of the flashy, brash younger Dubai and eventually it'll help Dubai after letting it sweat for a bit and with political strings attached of course. @Mathloom, don't kid yourself and think Dubai or at least aspects of what makes it Dubai (debt, real estate) is an anomaly. Greece and Italy are in similar spots as well and their 'meltdowns' can be even more serious.
1) The meltdown won't affect the region because it won't even affect the country. It will only affect Emaratis in Dubai. To the rest of the world, their business will/may shift from Dubai-backed to Abu-Dhabi backed. That's all. The drama is ridiculous. 2) I meant that Dubai is a city in a country. The other city in the country, Abu Dhabi, is among the most liquid cities in the entire world. Again, I'm just concerned about this strange obsession people have with Dubai failure. The IMF and the World Bank have both said that the whole thing is overblown and that the Central Bank has offered tons of credit lines to banks, who are the most exposed to Dubai World and Nakheel. Here's a question for you. In a Sheikhdom, who controls the Central Bank? It's not just the governor I'll tell you that much.
lol I love that you like to defend your brothers, but the see-through buildings they have their do not portend well for the future. The tower of Babel is nice, though
I would guess the Sheik. In Saudi supposedly the king can treat the treasury straightforwardly as his bank account. Don't know if this is true or not.
You know what made me laugh? I met comedian Maz Jobrani here last night and he's like "everyone's freaking out about Dubai like its meltdown and I come here and nothing has changed!! No one is even worried!" That's when I realized there's no point arguing with someone like you who doesn't know Dubai. Nice talkin to ya!
It's not an astonishing amount. It is only astonishing relative to the population of the country. Then again, so is the growth. There's far more of this going on in Vietnam, Thailand, all over Africa, for almost no money. I swear when you live so far away (Europe/US) you can't understand the whole thing. You get shown a slice of the population which is horriffic and you think that everyone had their passport torn up. Well guess what, that documentary made money off you. It did not give a dime to those who need it. It did not show the conditions back home for those laborers. In reality, the majority of them would rather be here than back home. All the Americans and the Brits and the expats love to complain but I don't see them at the labor camps helping out. No one is mentioning that their over-inflated salaries may be the main cause of this discord. The average American expatriate probably makes around $20-25k per month here. You hear them complaining, but they fail to realize they make 25 times more than the laborers. Nice to complain from up there. I'm not even going to try to prove this. Come to Dubai. I will personally take you to the labor camps and drive you around. You can ask for yourself.
....... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8407832.stm Fire attack on West Bank mosque A mosque in a village in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank has been damaged in an arson attack. Attackers set fire to bookshelves and a large area of carpet in the mosque, and sprayed graffiti in Hebrew on a wall. Palestinian residents of the village of Yasuf clashed with Israeli soldiers investigating the attack. Eyewitnesses say settlers were responsible. Attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers are increasing. A number of incidents have been captured on video. One of the slogans sprayed on the wall of the mosque in Yasuf read: "Get ready to pay the price," Israeli public radio reported. Another read: "We will burn you all." Some hard-line settlers advocate a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements. The village is located near the Jewish settlement of Tappuah. In a statement, the Israeli military said it "views the incident gravely" and that security forces were working to locate the perpetrators. But the local Palestinian governor, Munir Abushi, accused the Israeli security forces of doing too little to protect Palestinians from settler attacks. A settler organisation in the area denied that settlers were behind the attack. Meanwhile one rabbi from the south of the West Bank, Mechachem Froman, has offered to help renovate the mosque, saying attacks against holy buildings were against Jewish law. Israeli human rights groups have accused the police and army of running inadequate investigations into attacks by settlers on Palestinians. One group reported that nine out of 10 investigations into alleged attacks on Palestinians by settlers ended without anyone being charged. Settlement curb call On Wednesday, thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters staged a rally in Jerusalem in protest at a recently announced curb on settlement building in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a 10-month lull in permits for new settlement homes in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem. The order followed US and Palestinian calls for a total freeze in settlement building. Palestinian officials have refused to rejoin peace talks until a total freeze is imposed. All Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
It's probably going to get worse. The settlers will do everything they can to derail peace. They've killed a Prime Minister before. It's not to be taken lightly.
This sh** is why I have no problem equating these settlers to terrorists. Not only are they literally holding the Israeli state and the peace process hostage, but they are also defaming the name of the Jewish faith, in the same way the Islamic terrorists are defaming their faith. Israel's very existence will always be threatened as long as these lunatics are running the show behind the scenes. No one has a spine to stand up to them, and the only one who arguably did was murdered in cold blood. Cant defeat the enemy without until you first defeat the enemy within.
Humans are so stupid. We are so so stupid. To think that someone who was gifted a country based on torture in the past can, less than a century later, threaten to do the same to someone else shows me how incredibly stupid we are. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lXQhmgpPR2A&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lXQhmgpPR2A&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
More videos, some recent, some not.. <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j5QfkojvsjI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j5QfkojvsjI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4CK7ICiUowE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4CK7ICiUowE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a1461M9pqP8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a1461M9pqP8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X19OY9hfeJc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X19OY9hfeJc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Didn't know we're up against each other buddy. Sorry if I offended you or mistakenly said that the settlers are the only bad people on earth. If it makes you feel better, I can't see myself feeling better for being able to find more videos of human atrocities than you can.
Not offended and no apology needed. You have always been an insightful, intelligent and thoughtful poster. I know you understand that there are two sides to every position and the extremists on either side make it very difficult to defend either position. As long as there are groups of people sworn to the extermination of Israel, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt for being a little paranoid. It does not excuse their behavior but it helps to understand it.
Thanks, I take that as a huge compliment. I do appreciate that you're able to keep it civil whether you agree or disagree with posters. Regarding Israel, I understand the paranoia to a certain extent. After all, they believe over 1 billion Muslims want to exterminate their 18 million population. But to me, there are some things which can't be excused. Everything the settlers do is inexcusable. Using women/children as shields was inexcusable. Hamas and Fatah fighting over who has a bigger dick is inexcusable. It's become very difficult for both sides to segregate the "haters" from everyone else. But in some cases, it's easy. I don't believe the average Israeli is the same as the average Israeli settler. But I do hold the average Israeli somewhat responsible for allowing the settlers to do what they do. Just like I blame regional countries for abandoning Palestine. I blame the United States for not scrutinizing the use of its foreign aid. I'll admit there was definitely a time where I would stubbornly support any Palestinian action. But I saw for myself. That helped in two ways. It showed me the reality of what's going on. But more importantly, it showed me what everyone needs to see (a set of key components) to understand what is happening to civilians in the Palestinian-Israeli territory. One of those key components is the actions of the settlers. I can't imagine someone would disagree with me in that they are a key component to the continuing existance of the conflict and that they tend to stay under the radar relative to their impact on the situation. Hope that clears it up..
It's quite ironic that the Israeli government sends some of the most extreme nationalists and right-wingers into the illegal settlements on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It's like 3 F-U's at once. 1. Continued occupation that results in apartheid-style control of the West Bank. 2. Building of settlements in the West Bank that is basically an informal declaration that the Israeli government is annexing land that does not belong to them. 3. Populating these illegal settlements with people who have the mindset that the entire occupied land is rightfully theirs. Imagine if Palestine was already an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. How would Israel feel if the PNA sent Hamas members to East Jerusalem and started living in areas of West Jerusalem?
I'm dumbfounded as to why these settlers are not being stopped. Why a 10-month freeze? Why not an indefinite freeze? The irony is that if Israel has to retreat to its 1967 borders, they will have a bunch of homeless people on their hands lol. Doesn't anyone else see the irony in that??
Is there a more racist regime than Israel in this world? If people condemned racism and apartheid in South Africa, they should do the same in Israel/Palestine.
