Barbershop Blues in Abu Dhabi

Dhimmitude

Dhimmitude is the word of the day, and if you don't know it, you'll need to learn it to figure out this sword fight:

Calling the recent holding hands/no kissing law Dhimmitude, this Daily Dish, got the beginnings of a super angry flame:

I'm a resident of Abu Dhabi and -- I will assure you -- no defender of Dubai or even the Emirates. But tossing around that vile word Dhimmitude -- which belongs to the Charles Johnsons of the world -- is rather a preposterous notion in this context, as is theocracy. I would suspect that in your run-of-the-mill Islamic theocracy I would have a hard time driving to the store and bringing home a few cases of beer, or going to a restaurant to eat a plate of pork and wash it down with a bottle of wine.

If you can handle it....he continues with his rant

Dhimmitude - wikipedia

Urbanization of Dubai

On further trawling of the Earth Observatory site, I found my favourite demonstration of Dubai's transformation:

Dust off the United Arab Emirates

Anyone rememebr the sand storm, at the end of Feb. The Earth Observatory picked it up.



Heat and dust storms plagued the United Arab Emirates at the end of February 2009. Temperatures soared to 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest February temperatures since record keeping began in 1974. Pushed by winds gusting to 35 knots (65 kilometers per hour), dust storms reduced visibility throughout the region, according to the United Arab Emirates-based publication The National.

Parallel plumes of dust blow off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and over the Persian Gulf in this image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on February 28, 2009. In this true-color image, the beige plumes of dust partially obscure the satellite’s view of the ocean water. In some places, the dust appears to form wave patterns that run perpendicular to the dust plumes. Neither the capital city of Abu Zabi (also known as Abu Zaby or Abu Dhabi) nor the human-engineered Palm Island Resorts escape the plumes.

Part of the Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter, or Rub’ al Khali, the United Arab Emirates is covered by sand seas and dry salt lakes. The sand and fine sediments provide ample material for dust storms.


Check out Nasa's Site for more

Oil Price Expectations

Oil Price High (July): $150
Current Oil Price (Now): $53
Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi (2009) $40-44
Sheikh Khalifa fair price (2009) $70-75

Torture by proxy

Naji Hamdan, an American Muslim who had lived in Dubai since 2006, says he was arrested on unspecified charges of promoting terrorism last year and tortured into signing a confession after FBI agents from Los Angeles showed up in the UAE to question him:

The evidence of U.S. involvement is circumstantial and sometimes ambiguous. Arulanantham said the UAE prosecutor in the case traveled to the United States in February. He said that a week after the habeas petition made public Hamdan's detention, custody was transferred to the UAE criminal justice system, where he faces nonspecific charges of "promoting terrorism." Justice Department lawyers say the transfer lines up with the expiration of a 90-day UAE limit on secret detention.

The FBI issued a statement saying it does not ask other governments to arrest people on its behalf, but in court papers it stops short of denying the involvement of any U.S. agency in Hamdan's detention.

"In terrorism matters, we routinely work with foreign counterparts," Richard Kolko, a bureau spokesman, said in a statement.

You can't hide, even if you are innocent.

American Muslim's Case Poses a Test

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Some great pictures of Sheikh Zayed Mosque - no wonder they are calling it a new architectural masterpiece.

The Grand Mosque


See more - Abu Dhabi's newest masterpiece