I read with amazement the continued progress being done on the Burj Dubai skyscraper in Dubai, UAE, in the Persian Gulf. But I can’t help but wonder how this massive project is funded. Especially considering that you can likely drive around many a US city and see construction projects that have stalled or outright halted due, no doubt, to the growing recession and real-estate crisis.The Burj Dubai tower still under construction but proceeding along merrily, has, since earlier this year, surpassed the 629 meter (2,063 foot) KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota to become the world's tallest man-made structure.
Developers of the new building have yet to reveal what the final height of Burj Dubai will be but it is expected to reach 900 meters (2,953 feet) when completed early next year.
But wait…there are plans by a Dubai-based competitor to build an even bigger building in the Gulf emirate.
State-owned Nakheel is planning a 1,200 meter-high (3,937 feet) tower that would comfortably surpass Burj Dubai.
Flush with windfall revenues from high oil prices, other Gulf oil states are reportedly considering joining the race to build the world's tallest building.
Saudi Arabia, which sits on a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves, is planning a mile-high (1,600 meter, 5,249 foot) tower in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, according to the London-based Middle East Economic Digest.
So next time you're filling up that Ford Expedition, rightly make this comparison in your head:
$150 to fill up my SUV = the cost of an hour with a moderately-priced "escort".
And you'd be right…either way you’re paying to get screwed.
But in the case of the Gulf state oil barons, they’re using your money to immortalize their plunder of your ass...
By erecting the biggest phallic symbols in the world.