Wonder why gas costs so much? Here's one reason...

[Cool]

[p style="text-align: left;"][font face="tahoma, arial, helvetica" size="2"]Subject: FW: Your Gasoline Purchases at Work[/font][/p][p style="text-align: left;"]
[/p]

[font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"]AN ENGINEERING MASTER PIECE [/font]
[font face="tahoma, arial, helvetica" size="1"]During the construction phase...... [/font]
[font face="tahoma, arial, helvetica" size="2"]Dubai[/font] , [font face="verdana, helvetica" size="2"]United Arab Emirates [/font][font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"][a href="vny!://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n_dubai_ski_resort1.htm"][img]vny!://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/0/D/E/ski_dubai1_sm.jpg" alt="Emailed pictures chronicle the completion of a massive indoor ski resort built on desert sands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates" border="0" height="214" vspace="3" width="375"]
Click to Enlarge[/a][/font][/p][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"]All finished.     Notice the palm trees outside..........[/font]
[font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"][a href="vny!://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n_dubai_ski_resort2.htm"][img]vny!://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/0/E/E/ski_dubai2_sm.jpg" alt="An engineering masterpiece" border="0" height="191" vspace="3" width="375"]
Click to Enlarge[/a][/font][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"][/font][/p][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"]Remember, this is in the middle of the desert.... The very HOT desert where temperatures get up to 120 degrees..... [/font][/p][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"]Unbelievable! [/font][/p][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"]But true..... [/font][/p][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"]The INSIDE view: [/font][/p][font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"][a href="vny!://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n_dubai_ski_resort3.htm"][img]vny!://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/0/F/E/ski_dubai3_sm.jpg" alt="Remember, this is in the middle of the desert. The very HOT desert where temperatures get up to 120 degrees..." border="0" height="250" vspace="3" width="375"]
Click to Enlarge[/a][/font][/p][font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"][a href="vny!://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n_dubai_ski_resort4.htm"][img]vny!://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/0/G/E/ski_dubai4_sm.jpg" alt="Emailed photo of a massive indoor ski resort built on desert sands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates" border="0" height="253" vspace="3" width="375"]
Click to Enlarge[/a][/font][/p][font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"][a href="vny!://urbanlegends.about.com/library/n_dubai_ski_resort5.htm"][img]vny!://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/0/H/E/ski_dubai5_sm.jpg" alt="Emailed picture of a massive indoor ski resort built on desert sands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates" border="0" height="261" vspace="3" width="375"]

[/a][/font][/p][font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"]Why is gasoline $2.39 a gallon for regular unleaded??? Supply anddemand??? That must be it.... we want them to supply us with the oiland they demand that we pay the price! [/font][/p]

[TehBorken]

Wow. An indoor snow storm...in the middle of the desert. I think I've seen just about everything now.

[49er]

$2.39/gallon....must be old pics.  [/DIV]anyway, cannot fault them for upgrading the standard of living for their people...and they have so much disposable income.......what's obscene are the middle men, the oil companies..........making record profits in billions of dollars in the past quarter

[Cowpoke]

How appropriate that it is shaped like a phallus.  Bend over, America!

[tenkani]

"cannot fault them for upgrading the standard of living for their people..." LOL! Like this thing was created for "the people". There are a number of theme parks and outrageously expensive theme hotels in the middle east. They cater exclusively to oil barons, celebs and the like. Don't kid yourself that the common man is benefitting much from oil profits.

That said, I'm not complaining about oil prices. Europeans pay a lot more and American oil companies are reaping MASSIVE profits. They jacked up their prices after Katrina hit well above where they needed to be, which is why they made record profits last year. Price gouging during a disaster is truly one of the most disgusting things I can think of. I don't mean to ramble, but our own corporations are at LEAST as disgusting as the middle eastern oil barons.

[Sportsdude]

you should see the building they are building in either bahrain or dubai I can't remember but its going to be the tallest thing ever built.

[Sportsdude]

[TABLE cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD vAlign=top align=right width=325][TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD align=middle][A title="aka: 
 -Tower of Dubai" style="CURSOR: help"][FONT class=pgt]Burj Dubai
[/FONT][/A]
[TABLE class=list cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD]1 Burj Dubai Boulevard
Dubai DU United Arab Emirates
[A href="vny!://skyscraperpage.com/site/link/?vny!%3A%2F%2Fburjdubai.com%2F" target=_blank]vny!://burjdubai.com/[/A]
[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
[TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD vAlign=top][TABLE class=list cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD]Status:[/TD][TD align=middle]construction[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][FONT class=med]Construction Dates[/FONT][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]  Started:[/TD][TD align=middle]2004[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]  Finished:[/TD][TD align=middle]2008[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Floor Count:[/TD][TD align=middle]160[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][TD height="100%"][img height="98%" alt="" hspace=4 src="vny!://skyscraperpage.com/graphics/dotblack.png" width=1] [/TD][TD vAlign=top][TABLE class=list cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD][FONT class=med]Building Uses[/FONT] [/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • mixed use[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • hotel[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • office[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • residential[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • retail[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][FONT class=med]Structural Types[/FONT] [/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • highrise[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • pole[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][FONT class=med]Architectural Style[/FONT] [/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • postmodern[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][FONT class=med]Materials[/FONT] [/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • aluminium[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • glass[/TD][/TR][TR][TD] • steel[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
[TABLE class=list cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=300][TBODY][TR][TD width="22%"]Heights[/TD][TD align=middle width="25%"]Value[/TD][TD width="5%"][/TD][TD width="53%"]Source / Comments[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][/TD][TD colSpan=3][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Spire[/TD][TD align=right]705.0 m[/TD][TD][/TD][TD]skyscrapers.com[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][/TD][TD colSpan=3]may exceed to 905.00m[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][/TD][TD bgColor=black colSpan=3 height=1][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
[TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300][TBODY][TR][TD][FONT class=med]Description
- The Height of Burj Dubai is being kept private, and will not be told until it is complete. According to the developers, it will be the tallest building on earth. Work on foundations is set to start in January 2004.

- When anounced in early 2003, the Burj Dubai's design was the same as the 560 meter Melbourne Grollo Tower design. However, in May 2003 a new design by SOM was released.

- As of November 2004, the Burj Dubai's height and floor count (originally believed to be 705 meters and 160 floors, respectively) are not final. There are rumors suggesting that the building may be as high as 900 meters.

- An observation deck will be located on the 124th floor
[/FONT][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
[TABLE class=list cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"][TBODY][TR][TD colSpan=3]Companies[/TD][/TR][TR][TD colSpan=3][img height=1 alt="" src="vny!://skyscraperpage.com/graphics/dotblack.png" width="100%" vspace=4][/TD][/TR][TR][TD][A class=bhu href="vny!://skyscraperpage.com/site/link/?vny!%3A%2F%2Fwww.som.com%2F" target=_blank]Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP[/A][/TD][TD] - [/TD][TD]architect[/TD][TR][TD colSpan=3][img height=1 alt="" src="vny!://skyscraperpage.com/graphics/dotblack.png" width="100%" vspace=4][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]EMAAR Properties[/TD][TD] - [/TD][TD]developer[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][TD]   [/TD][TD vAlign=top align=middle][TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0][TBODY][TR][TD width=20]  [/TD][TD vAlign=bottom][SCRIPT language=DOH!script1.3 src="/diagrams/jsgraphics.js" type=text/XXXXscript][/SCRIPT][SCRIPT language=DOH!script1.3 src="/diagrams/image.js" type=text/XXXXscript][/SCRIPT][SCRIPT][!--myImageParams = new Array();myImageParams['drawingID']   = 32704;myImageParams['width']       = 250;myImageParams['height']      = 705;myImageParams['illustrator'] = 'Nightsky';myImage = new image(myImageParams)myImage.Output();//--][/SCRIPT][TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=250][TBODY][TR][TD style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(vny!://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/images/32704.gif)" width=250 height=705][img height=705 alt="Drawing © Nightsky
Drawing ID: 32704" src="vny!://skyscraperpage.com/graphics/dotclear.gif" width=250 border=0][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]

[Sportsdude]

and the people that built the coolest hotel on the planet.[/DIV][img height=593 src="vny!://users.volja.net/jkodri3/Zanimive_slikice/BURJ-AL-ARAB.jpg" width=587]

are wanting to build this:

It will be 200 plus stories tall.Dubai is turning into the Monaco of the Desert. Its pretty liberal too for an arab country.

[tenkani]

Well, Dubai welcomed Jack-O with open arms, so that says something...

[Sportsdude]

actually that was bahrain, differnt country. Dubai is famous for that hotel, the most lucerative horse race on the planet, f1 race, and the golf tournament tiger woods plays in every year.

[49er]

........cater exclusively to oil barons, celebs and the like. Don't kid yourself that the common man is benefitting much from oil profits.[/DIV] I may be wrong.........but I don't think citizens of some of these oil rich middle eastern countries have to work.  They hire their labor from neighboring countries.  Anyway before we throw stones at them....look at what we have done in Las Vegas

[Sportsdude]

or arizona.

[tenkani]

I think you're right 49er, at least in some of the oil countries. But not having to work, essentially being on a cushy form of welfare, doesn't mean you are invited to hang out at exclusive hotels with Jack-O and the prince of Bahrain     :P

Jack-O was in Dubai as well. I believe he owns property there and that's also where he "accidentally" used the ladies room...

[Tor Johnston]

Let's get that oil out of the Alberta tar sands!

[tenkani]

Careful! Don't forget the War of 1812!!!!11   *snicker*