kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
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Post by kayevcee on Apr 11, 2011 7:24:28 GMT
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Post by blueshift on Apr 11, 2011 8:14:35 GMT
Good grief.
I do wish that article was written better though, the style is so overwrought and poncy that it is a struggle to read.
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Post by sf1378 on Apr 11, 2011 13:24:01 GMT
Bastards article went on and on! However, I'm disgusted by what I did read...especially how they take passports and work you like slaves in Roman times.
To be frank, I have nothing buy disdain for the Arab world....they seem to either be Draconian, militant or nothing but trouble. Britains now immured in THREE wars, well, if troops are deployed in Libya that is...an eventuality no less. I hate the way they expect the rest of society and culture to respect them and then do nothing but insult and try and smash their version of life onto other cultures. It disgusts me.
Speaking of Libya, I'm disgusted the British Governments aiding Libya, what with WPC Yvonne Fletchers shooting, the capitulation of the then Govt into allowing the murder and other staff to leave the UK and moreover the Libyan state sponsored Lockerbie incident....why help rotten crap like that - these people 'cheered' back then and now its all 'feel sorry for them'....bollocks.
I could go further, but I guess my real sentiments are apparent toward the Arab world...Yes, there are moderates but since around 9/11 it just sounds worser and worser....from terrorism to basic human rights abuses. Yes, you get out of there real quick and make sure you don't get into debt!
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Post by sf1378 on Apr 11, 2011 13:27:11 GMT
Anyhow, aside from my rant....why you out there? Student? Whats your internship in? |
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kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
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Post by kayevcee on Apr 11, 2011 14:07:55 GMT
We should neither wander from the point nor tar whole civilisations with the brushes intended for their leaders. The civilians battling Gaddhafi's mercenaries in Libya had nothing to do with his policies before they rose up against him.
I'm at a university in Saudi Arabia- the first co-ed university in the country and exempt from some of the more barmy laws. It looks fine and above board but the cracks show more and more the longer I'm here. The construction workers and maintenance staff generally carry on without a word but occasionally a student gets information out of one about what's going on behind the scenes. Unions are illegal here and contracts are often revised without workers' consent or hope of appeal. Saudi's in no danger of running out of oil money any time in the next 75 years so there'll be very little pressure to change anything for the better. It's bloody tragic but I don't know how to help. Organised protests are illegal here too, as demonstrated by the immediate arrest of all protesters in the 'day of rage' last month. The whole place is stitched up like a kipper.
-Nick
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Post by Bogatan on Apr 11, 2011 14:39:28 GMT
To a point the Emari I feel for, even if they aren't comfortable with the situation theres little in their laws or even history to help them and even if they could, if the alternative was returning to a time when they had to walk to a well for water each day and no health care that would be a big sacrifice.
It's more troubling reading the views of the expats. They have a choice and can leave returning to lives that while maybe not as decadant will be perfectly comfortable.
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Post by sf1378 on Apr 11, 2011 18:21:03 GMT
Thats true bogatan. I'm sure they could either go to the British Consultate/Embassy and ask for help getting home or ask a family member or friend in Blighty to help pay for their airfare...If I were in schtook I'd do that asap. However, I feel more sorry for the Asians that are tricked into going over there and have their passports seized and forced into hard labour....its tantamount to slavery from the time of the Pharoahs or Romans...disgusting. Poor things, who have they got to bail them out? And even if they could, how can they afford to repay their Consulates or Embassies?
Oddly enough, after reading this topic originally I saw an ad on tv for Dubai featuring Freddie Flintoff and Myleene Klass...I'm sure if they knew the facts they may have thought differently, but then again I may be giving them the benefit of doubt; when I saw an Asian blue shirted worked in the add it sent chills down my spine knowing the fact they work their nuts off and suffer in reality.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 11, 2011 19:03:11 GMT
Excellent article and quite a disturbing read.
As for the Arab world, just like any other society on Earth there are good people and bad people.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Apr 11, 2011 21:12:24 GMT
It is a very good article, and very unsettling reading. The thing that does worry me about Dubai is that it is an attempt to build a modern, prosperous nation on the basis of..... absolutely nothing. No strategic resources to speak of, an odd industrial profile.... What this article does I guess is roll back the curtain and let us see the rather seamy way that particular illusion is done. Like Saudi Arabia there does seem to be a lot of very energetic painting over of the cracks in the hope that they won't show.
(Not a great believer that you can simply tar an entire chunk of the planet as The Arab World and somehow believe that makes all of its people equivalent. It would be rather like saying that Welsh people are the same as Norwegians because they both are in the Western World. Like anywhere else on the planet you will find a broad cross-section of people everywhere and that not all of them have much in common with their leaders du jour at any given time.)
Karl
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Post by sf1378 on Apr 11, 2011 22:01:02 GMT
I was typing something out about the Arab world but Im more happy to someday discuss it all over a drink with you all, and not meaning a drunken rant, more a healthy intelligent disscussion  It was all getting to long to type so just thought I'd type this instead. Its really a complicated matter all in all isn't it, not cut and dried. But I should have reiterated, there are good and bad in all cultures, Ralphs comment made me realise I'd not been clear on that sentiment. |
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Post by legios on Apr 12, 2011 20:10:56 GMT
There is perhaps an irony that after this discussion I opened my Metro and this morning and saw an advert for Emirates Airlines where they were advertising free two-night five star stopovers in Dubai with every business class ticket on certain routes. I cannot help but think that the article has done its work when I reflect that this sounds less appealing than it might have done a few days ago. (From a relatively low starting point mind you - the whole region is too warm for me anyway, my natural instincts are to head towards the poles not the equator on climate grounds.)
Karl
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kayevcee
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
The Weather Wizard
Posts: 5,527
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Post by kayevcee on Apr 12, 2011 21:33:26 GMT
Bizarrely, it's been overcast all week and the temperature has been the right side of bearable most days since we got back in January. There were even a few spots of rain yesterday! I heard about a project being planned to construct artificial mountains to create air movement and encourage cloud formation. I can't help thinking it would be easier to move.
-Nick
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