Dubai Factotems 2

• The vehicle of choice for off road dune bashing is the Toyota Land Cruiser. All the tour companies use them for their sand dune excursion trips. These cars get abused on the dunes for about an hour every day. Gotta be a tough SUV.
• The loaner shotgun at the Jebel Ali Shooting Club is a Beretta over and under 12 gauge. Not too shabby.
• The loaner pistols at the Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club are Glock, Makarov or CZ 9mm for autoloaders, and Smith & Wesson for revolvers. All the Arab boys want to come in and shoot the .357. They can't hit anything, they just want to go "boom, boom".
• Burj Dubai is the tallest building in the world and is still under construction.
• News Item from June 7, 2007: "The United Arab Emirates has announced an amnesty for illegal workers. Under the terms of the amnesty, which began on June 4, illegal workers have 3 months to either legalize their status or leave. Workers not complying face up to 10 years in prison followed by deportation, while their employers could be imprisoned for one month and fined 50,000 dirhams." ($14,000 US) Makes you wonder why the US can’t institute a similar policy.
• Loans are easy to get in Dubai. But if you default, you go to jail. Most banks will loan money with only an undated blank check as collateral. If you don't pay, they use the check to pay off the loan and if it bounces, you are guilty of bank fraud. About 40% of the jail population, or about 3000 people, are doing time for non-payment of loans. And you can't get out unless someone pays your debt. And you thought the recent loan industry debacle was tough! There is no concept of bankruptcy in Dubai and debtors prison, even though rejected years ago by the west, is still in fashion in the sandland. Where is Charles Dickens when you need him?
• Although you might think otherwise, the oil sector supplies only about 5% of Dubai's GDP and that share is dropping. Down to 5.1% from 5.4% last year. Where is the money coming from? Dubai is the third largest re-exporter of goods after Hong Kong and Singapore after a major trade deal with the Chi-Coms. Also, real estate here is crazier than a Florida condo boom. But how many people will buy a one bedroom apartment at $250,000 and up?
• I go to the Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club to maintain my proficiency with a handgun. There is a very nice pistol range there. The club is also sponsored by Shell Oil Company. There is a large Shell logo over the firing line at the pistol range. I wonder how Shell feels about having its corporate logo associated with an activity involving firearms in an Arab country?
• Americans take our personal freedoms for granted. For example, I recently read a complaint in a travel blog that tourists coming to Dubai with daughters over 12 years old, were required to rent a second room. Evidently, once a female child reaches 12 years of age, by law, she can no longer share a room with her parents (father). Its a hell of a culture that doesn't trust a father to be in the same room with his 12 year old daughter.
• And during Ramadan, even though it may be 120 degrees outside, westerners are forced to comply with the requirement for fasting under Islam. No water or fluids may be taken. Restaurants are closed, by law, until 7:00PM. How can a country that wants to promote tourism from the west force tourists to comply with Islamic Law? Oh, and if you are gay, you are violating the law if you want to cohabit a hotel room.
• A Qatari investment firm is making plans for a full buy out of the UK supermarket firm Sainsbury's. It will be interesting to see what happens. Would it turn into a retail powerhouse like Harrods or would it mean more Islamification of the UK?