Category: Society

Posted on

HRC’s shortsided strategy- Me or No Democrate for President?

Hillary has quoted for now for at least the third time in a week how McCain is a great friend, would make a great candidate for president and he has the experience. *SMOOCHES!* How do you beat a presidential candidate when you feed their fire and continue to say he’s qualified to be president?

“I think you’ll be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to say,” she said. “He’s never been the president, but he will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience.”

If she were to win the nod, doesn’t she think this will come back to bite her? McCain: “Hey look… even Hillary would vote for me so why shouldn’t you?”

Alas, she is very close friends with McCain, even convincing him to participate in getting shitfaced on Vodka in Estonia. And McCain put it well “What happens in Estonia stays in Estonia,” (now that’s a reference to experience don’t you think?):

And then there’s this thing about her not wanting people to know what she’s deducted in taxs over the years… no disclosure?. Hillary is saying she won’t release her returns until after she’s been made the nominee. This is contrary to historical practice. What is she hiding now? Maybe she’s trying to hid the 10,000% cattle-futures profits made in 1979 and 1978 which were hidden from us as well when Bill Clinton divulged his returns before his nod. Talk about having experience… in scandal!!!!

Posted on

Stranger in a strange land

I know I’m not a true NYer in that I wasn’t born or raised here. In fact many “true” NYers may find my moving/existence here a detriment to their own old NY and a contributor to it’s demise into yuppie town USA. Being here only 4 years I do see the gentrification get worse in that favorite establishments of old new york close up in favor of Duane Reade’s, Bank ATMs, or trendy yogurt shops. Besides north Manhattan (harlem, washington heights etc., the last remaining ethnic neighborhood is Chinatown and it too is getting caught in the crosshairs of Bloomberg’s “revitalization” campaign.

Here’s a great story from The Onion reflecting on this phenom:

Strange, It’s Almost As If This Were Some Sort Of ‘China Town’

By Matthew Pinsky
February 27, 2008 | Issue 44•09

When I left the house this morning, little did I know what wonders I’d uncover. Hidden in the middle of fast and modern downtown New York was one of the strangest, most puzzling places I had ever laid eyes upon. From the weird Chinese-like writing on the storefronts to the odd Chinese-looking people on the streets—I know this may sound crazy, but it was almost as if I’d stepped into some kind of “Chinese Town.”

I don’t know any other way to describe it.

At first, disoriented and confused, I tried asking those around me where I was. Unfortunately, most of the men and women who passed by seemed to speak only a bizarre Asian dialect unknown to me, and those who could communicate were more interested in selling me exotic cologne out of a duffel bag. I looked around for any sign of familiarity: a Best Buy, a Barnes & Noble, even a Banana Republic. But sadly all I found in this foreign place, this—well, I suppose I shall call it a “Mandarin or Szechuan Gathering Area”—was one unfamiliar wholesaler after another.

It was like something straight out of the Orient. Specifically, a municipal district out of the Orient. One more or less 12 to 15 city blocks across. In a large American city.

Indeed, this place, this “Oriental Quarter” as I’ve christened it, was unlike any other I had visited before. The scent of fried dumplings and commercially available fireworks hung heavy in the air. Films available back home only in theaters were spread on sidewalk blankets by the thousands. And those T-shirts with the slogan “Shut Up, Bitch!” sold for nearly three dollars less.

It was truly unlike anything I had ever seen in my travels to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., or Las Vegas.

Unsure of whether I had mistakenly traveled halfway across the world or walked through some sort of mystic gate into another time and space, I found myself wandering without aim or purpose. For how long, I do not know, as the Rolex watch I had purchased during my ordeal stopped working almost immediately.

I do not know where this mysterious “Chinese Zone” came from, but there it was, in the middle of the city, like some bizarre “Asian Center for Commerce and Trade.” What it was called—this “Localized Community of Residents Originally from the Far East”—I haven’t the slightest idea, though no mere label seems capable of describing it.

Fatigued from so much walking and regretting the consumption of a rare local delicacy made of penguin and a wooden stick, I sat down on a nearby park bench to collect my bearings. It was then that I spotted amid the unfamiliar chaos what appeared to be another American. However, this man turned out to be a visitor from France who spoke a language even harder to understand than the one spoken by the Shanghai men.

What he was doing walking around this Chinese place, God only knows.

By the Lord’s good grace or luck’s kind hand, I somehow managed to locate the narrow exit portal of this godforsaken “Town of China” at the corner of Mott and Canal, and crossed back into my beloved homeland with great haste. I do not know if the wondrous foreign land I happened upon remains there still, though I would not be surprised if the entire “Densely Populated Asian Community That Follows the Customs of Its Home Country, But Is Nonetheless Ultimately Bound By the Laws of the State of New York” evaporated instantly as does a dream upon waking.

I write these words now so that one day my great grandchildren will read, with rapt fascination, this account of my travels through a place that cannot be described by a pithy, mutually agreed-upon nickname. But first, I must find my way out of this fresh set of wholly alien surroundings—a place I can only describe as a rather diminutive, yet strangely representative version of Italy.

Posted on

Dubai – the fasted growing city in the world

Dubai is one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is a fast developing city which is sometimes called “Dubai City” to distinguish it from the emirate. The city lays claim to some of the world’s largest man-made structures, among these the artificial islands known as Palm Islands built on the Arabian Sea. Dubai currently holds the record for the world’s tallest structure, named Burj Dubai, which is currently under construction (from wikipedia).

Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed road in 1990:

Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed road in 2003:

Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed road in 2006:

In June 2006, Dubai has 24% of the world’s cranes (est. 125,000) and now closer to 1/3 of the worlds cranes.

The Dubai Waterfront. When completed it will become the largest waterfront development in the world.

The Palm Jumeirah Islands were built in 5 years are artificial islands built on land reclamation and owned by the government.

New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands. They are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space. Three of these Palms will be made with the last one being the largest of them all.

Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities. It is expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people. It is advertised as being visible from the moon.

The World islands. 300 artificially created islands in the shape of the world. Each island will have an estimated cost of $25-30 million.

The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai. The worlds tallest hotel. Considered the only ‘7 star’ hotel and the most luxurious hotel in the world. It stands on an artificial island in the sea.

Hydropolis Underwater Hotel and Resort, the world’s first underwater hotel. Entirely built in Germany and then assembled in Dubai, it is scheduled to be completed by 2009 after many delays.

The Burj Dubai. Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be complete in September 2009. At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world’s tallest building when finished. It will be almost 40% taller than the the current tallest building, the Taipei 101. The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$ 4.1 billion.

This is what downtown Dubai will look like in late 2009. More than 164 stories of the Burj Dubai have already been completed. It is already the worlds tallest man made structure and it is still not scheduled to be completed for at least another year.

The Al Burj will be the centerpiece of the Dubai Waterfront. Once completed it will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Dubai.

It was announced that the final height of this tower will be 1200 meters which would make it more than 30% taller than the Burj Dubai and three times as tall as the Empire State Building.

The Burj al Alam, or The World Tower. Upon completion it will rank as the world’s highest hotel. It is expected to be finished by 2009. At 480 meters it will only be 28 meters shorter than the Taipei 101.

Dubailand. Currently, the largest amusement park collection in the world is Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the United states with 58,000 employees. Dubailand will be twice the size.

Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles^2) at an estimated $20 billion price tag. The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.

Dubai Sports City. A huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubailand.

Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubailand will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily.

The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 highrise buildings when finished. It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project is shown. Most of the other high rise buildings will be finished by 2009-2010.

The Dubai Mall will be the largest shopping mall in the world with over 9 million square feet of shopping and around 1000 stores. It will be completed in August of this year (2008).

Ski Dubai, which is already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world. This is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility that is being planned.

Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and The Princess Tower, which will be the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, will line the Dubai Marina.

The UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah Spaceport would be the first spaceport in the world if construction ever gets under way.

* The Dubai Metro system, once completed (2009), will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world.
* The Dubai World Central International Airport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed. It will also eventually become the busiest airport in the world, based on passenger volume.
* There are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens.