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now this is what i call progression


Onyte9

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This actually isint a part of the original downtown. The original downtown is much more ped friendly. Unfortunately the super tall skyscraper area of town is not. Its my understand that the Emeraites Tower was built on this stretch of road and then the land became extremely desirable and more skyscrapers followed. As most of you already know they are consturcting what will be the tallest building in the world by far. Burj Dubai will stand at an estimated 2625 feet tall.

dubai_skyline.jpg

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Poorly thought out, yep, but still makes a helluva picture. So what happens to Dubai when the oil runs out? From what I've heard, that's only about 20 years away. That's heresay, I haven't seen any "facts" so to speak. But it's something I'm sure they're thinking about no matter when it happens.

And something else for them to think about:

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1024-dubai.html

I'd been concerned about the artificial islands Dubai has been building, but it seems damage to marine systems might be one of the least of their concerns.

So, yeah, bna, not only is the "strip" bad planning, their investments in the islands might prove quite devastating as well. Good thing they'll have boats.

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You'd be safe basically anywhere you go. Trust me. The fears people have of travelling to the middle east, while justifiable, are WAY overblown. Of course the media certainly doesn't help when the only coverage of the Middle East if when they show an angry mob or a bomb blowing up in Iraq. The middle east is the safest region in the world in terms of crime, and the people there are absolutely wonderfully welcoming and kind. I think it's based on the family orientedness of Muslim culture. In anycase, it's very safe. I mean, how often do you hear about anything happening to American tourists? It'd be all over the news if it did, and you never hear about it. I promise you won't regret it. I just got back from Egypt and loved every minute of it. Met so many genuinely warm people too.
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Poorly thought out, yep, but still makes a helluva picture. So what happens to Dubai when the oil runs out? From what I've heard, that's only about 20 years away. That's heresay, I haven't seen any "facts" so to speak. But it's something I'm sure they're thinking about no matter when it happens.
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No problem! I know that I had a few hang ups before I went too, but they were shattered once I got there. I've only been to Egypt and Turkey as far as the middle east is concerned, so I can only assume that the rest is similar, but yeah, definitely take the chance if you get it. A fantastic place. It's a shame it gets such a bad wrap.
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I think it all depends on where you are going. Turkey is very "westernized" and largely wants to be European, so it is fairly safe for Americans in comparison to other places. Egypt isn't quite as radicalized as it once was...seems to be much more stable than its days when it was fighting the war with Israel. Parts of Lebanon would be ok, but it's still unstable and you'd have to be on guard with Syria stirring up so much trouble there. American tourists shouldn't go around waving an American flag there. Iran...most of the people I hear are warm and friendly and love "western" ways, yet the mullahs are hard-core conservative and are the ones that are seeking civil war in Iraq in favor of the Shiites. Wouldn't travel to Iran right now unless you are with a national that knows what he/she is doing. Remember the Iran hostage crisis? Saudi Arabia...hard to say. SA is known as an American ally, yet many, many in the Royal family are suspected to despise Americans and one of the most hard-core conservative muslim sects is growing there. This is the country where most of the 911 hijackers are from.

All in all...it depends on which middle east country you go to (I wouldn't really consider Egypt the middle east (it's in Africa) or Turkey either, it's more in Europe. I'm sure the majority of your everyday people would be kind...just stay out of the "hot" areas right now. May wanna wait a while before vacationing in Baghdad. :shades:

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Although I think this geo-political/east-west discussion is fascinating and I would love to get involved, I sorta don't think it belongs on this forum, unless maybe in the coffee house. But I did just wanna jump in on Titanhog's contention that Egypt is not in the middle east. Surely, we can all see that the majority of the land mass of Egypt lies in north Africa, but a goodly chunk of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, connects the rest of Egypt/Africa to the Levant/Israel-Palestine and Arabia. And politically, there is no doubt that Egypt is a middle eastern, Arab-Muslim country, being the permanent location for the Arab League, a prominent player in negotiations among Middle Eastern nations and generally just being considered by everybody to be a Middle Eastern country. Which in no way contradicts or dampens its historically diverse culture and history.

As for Turkey, I think the rest of Europe is currently wrestling with just how European Turkey is or can be. The verdict won't be in for some time. Historically, Constantinople/Istanbul has been a crossroads between east and west, but I think since around AD 1453, the rest of Turkey (especially the Asian side of the Bosporus) could be considered solidly in the eastern sphere and not European.

Here's a cool view of Egypt, the Sinai, the Levant and "Arabia" from space, just for kicks and giggles:

Sinai%20Peninsula.jpg

and a map of the Middle East

middle_east_pol_2003.jpg

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Although I think this geo-political/east-west discussion is fascinating and I would love to get involved, I sorta don't think it belongs on this forum, unless maybe in the coffee house. But I did just wanna jump in on Titanhog's contention that Egypt is not in the middle east. Surely, we can all see that the majority of the land mass of Egypt lies in north Africa, but a goodly chunk of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, connects the rest of Egypt to Israel and Arabia. And politically, there is no doubt that Egypt is a middle eastern, Arab-Muslim country, being the permanent location for the Arab League, a prominent player in negotiations among Middle Eastern nations and generally just being considered by everybody to be a Middle Eastern country. Which in no way contradicts or dampens its historically diverse culture and history.

As for Turkey, I think the rest of Europe is currently wrestling with just how European Turkey is or can be. The verdict won't be in for some time. Historically, Constantinople/Istanbul has been a crossroads between east and west, but I think since around AD 1453, the rest of Turkey (especially the Asian side of the Bosporus) could be considered solidly in the eastern sphere and not European.

Here's a cool view of Egypt, the Sinai, the Levant and "Arabia" from space, just for kicks and giggles:

Sinai%20Peninsula.jpg

and a map of the Middle East

middle_east_pol_2003.jpg

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Maybe agree that Egypt and Turkey are on the "fringes" of the Middle East? :)

Not trying to start a geo-political conversation...just a reply about visiting that region. Never been myself, so I probably shouldn't act as if I know what it's like. I just try to keep up with what's going on by reading and I love history and geography.

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