Gossip and a time for unity

What the UAE hates is criticism, and frowns from others. Whilst no-one really likes criticism or judgment, especially if it is public, it is a particularly Arab trait to hate being gossiped about. Let's look at the chain of events:

Global slowdown
UAE slowdown
Moody's negative outlook on UAE banks
Abu Dhabi injects money to prop up banks
Concern that Abu Dhabi hasn't propped up Dubai

So what's next? Is this the move that signifies Abu Dhabi's power? Or is this a timing game? Whatever happens, the oil is the power - and Abu Dhabi holds that. The smart move would be to arraneg a front to the world that the UAE is united - and that is no doubt what will happen. After all, if either Dubai or Abu Dhabi fails, the UAE fails.

Focus on Dubai as Abu Dhabi looks to its own

Pigeon Smuggling from Dubai

Someone in Dubai wasn't doing their job?


Customs officers in Australia have caught a man who was trying to smuggle two pigeons into the country ... in his trousers.

The 23-year-old man - who had just got off a 10 hour flight from Dubai to Sydney - was initially quizzed when officers found he was carrying a container of eggs.

But when they took him to a private interview room they noticed he was walking funny and on examination they found he was wearing tights with a live pigeon concealed in each leg.

We couldn't get identification for the individual and only know that he likes birds and has hairy legs. He now faces a maximum penalty for wildlife smuggling offenses of 10 years imprisonment and/or a $110,000 fine.


Man tried to smuggle pigeons in trousers

Economic Crisis?

Hummer H2 convertible spotted in Abu Dhabi.



Everyone is envious.

Dubai's Cancelled projects

If you haven't received the list on email that has been circulating over the past coupel weeks, you will do soon. It will say something like "Dubai has cancelled $76bn worth of property development projects", "I don't know whether this is true or not but certainly scary or what", "$76 Billion worth of projects down the drain" or something similar. The Kipp Report put it up yesterday, but it would be safe to say that the way that others have circulated it have painted Dubai as collapsing. Kipp puts it right:

If the list is accurate, then approximately $72.563 billion worth of projects are on hold, and $3.275 billion have been cancelled.

Kipp called a number of the developers on the list to confirm the rumors, and received mixed results. According to the list, Falcon City of Wonders, which it claims is being built by ETA Star, has been cancelled. However, the development is being built by Salem Al Moosa Enterprise.

Yet, Damac Property’s projects that are listed as “on hold,” such as Water’s Edge in Business Bay, and Business Bay: Burjside Boulevard are “experiencing delays,” explained the customer service operator.



So, here is the issue, not much looks to be cancelled - more so things are on hold. This is probably due to needing financing - and so what is happening is that things are being phased, rather than being cancelled. No doubt, if you research some of the list, you will find that some have stalled. But you might find that these will come back to life at a later point in time. Indeed when we get through this lull and we go back over this list, you will find that most of them will be reskinned to bring them to fruition. Or what we will find is that those companies in the UAE who have ready access to cash will be taking these projects on.

The worrying thing that we need to be aware of is that a hold or a phasing can lead to developers going bust, and whilst that may not lead to projects being cancelled in the end - it may lead to investors losing their money....

List of losers
Projects worth $75bn on hold or cancelled, says HSBC

Podcars, Masdar & Abu Dhabi

To some, Masdar is unbelieveable, but in the background things are happening that will blow your mind. For some cities, to transition from a centuries old transport system would take another century or so. But when you have a clean slate as Masdar do...and the money to back that, interesting things can happen:



In Masdar, where the streets will be entirely free of automobiles, a network of these compact electric taxis will provide clean and quiet transportation to the city’s residents, as well as commuters. The first PRT cars are set to begin running later this year.

It certainly is a far cry from the white and gold cabs

Read the detail at Treehugger

The Sphere Hotel, Dubai

Give a futuristic interior designer free reign to come up with a concept would wow, and you are bound to come up with something impractical like the sphere hotel. Round, probably unsafe, located on a cliff, and you can only get there by helicopter, unless you can do a Tom Cruise and waltz in MI2 style. It will obviously be cool, but as a pod to the future, it doesn't have much life. Cliffs are always eroded away - and that is fact.




But as with all things these days, there will be some green:

Apart from offering a secluded retreat in the very lap of nature, the Sphere will also promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. With moist beach air flowing across the structure, the Sphere will make use of natural air conditioning. While the hotel will exploit the natural light coming through the glass panels to light the rooms during the daytime, on the other, the thermal glass facade will generate adequate solar power to fulfill all energy requirements.

It falls into the "not sure how crazy you're going to get next" category, I believe.

Sphere Hotel Concept is Stunning
Milla Rezanova

Job Lay offs in the UAE

If the Piers Morgan interview painted a rosey picture over the situation, this paints a realist, for regular earners (normal people) who aren't in the bling. Hard times in the UAE. Indeed:

Embedded video from CNN Video

If you are listening correctly, 8% reduction in population, means something - less jobs...in some industries.