I'm pretty ignorant about tourism in the UAE, specifically Dubai. Just did a little reading. Had no idea that it was the 7^th most visitied city in the world.

While shopping isn't my bag, local art exhibits and traditional folk music make we wanna visit different major cities across the globe. Dubai apparently has a healthy dose of both.

Definitely a pretty city with a great skyline.



Seems the leaders, developers and economists know what they're doing and how to attract global tourists and MONEY. Dubai was considered a potential contender to host the 2020 Olympics, but recently announced it would instead make a bid for the 2024 Olympics (in order to have a more proper structure in place to win the bid), though they're still vying for the EXPO 2020.

IDK, since Dubai appears to wanna continue towards being a major attraction for visitors worldwide, it's possible they'll reconsider some of the laws making negative news. Don't see it happening in the UAE as a whole, but maybe Dubai?

I can see my friend aussie's point upthread. Dubai seems a very modern and cosmopolitan place to visit. I agree that foreigners, especially women, should educate themselves before traveling or relocating there, especially in regards to the conflict between the contemporary look and feel of the city versus the very rigid Islamic laws in relation to rape. One could easily wrongly assume by its exterior that the laws in Dubai are more in line with other modern cities.

Actually, people should take the time to understand the history and the laws wherever they travel for the first time, but it's amazing how many don't (from my experience).

(07-24-2013, 12:35 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: . . . the conflict between the contemporary look and feel of the city in relation to very rigid Islamic laws in relation to rape.

Let's not forget the whole booze thing, too.

Islamic hypocrites.

Allah be praised!

(07-24-2013, 12:42 PM)BlueTiki Wrote: Let's not forget the whole booze thing, too.

That was another thing that I didn't know about Dubai.

Bars serving alcohol all over the city, specifically catering to the many foreign workers and tourists who outnumber the locals.

BUT, file a complaint after having invested money in the economy by patronizing a bar or pub and get charged with "public intoxication".

Makes perfect sense.

After telling the Dubai police that she had been raped she was asked if this complaint was due to "it" not being any good, meaning they implied she was complaining because she hadn't been satisfied.

I've said this before about that area of the world - the family dog has more rights than a female.

(07-24-2013, 04:04 PM)Duchess Wrote:
I've said this before about that area of the world - the family dog has more rights than a female.

Same issue, very different view - depending on where you're sitting...



I'd like to visit various parts of the Middle East, but wouldn't want to be sitting there on a permanent basis.

That makes me recall comments that were made back when the war first started and people here were outraged that women had to be covered like that. The women there weren't outraged, that's just the way it's done there, that's their culture.

When you wear an Abaya overseas in one of these islamic countries, it is very liberating, because the clothes you are wearing are covered and people are not staring at you and checking out your body. That part is good. However, if you are a westerner they are still staring at you and staring at your hair.

Did you wear one, Aussie? I'm just curious.

Oh yes, I had a few Abayas, and sometimes I would wear a hijab too, because I have very white skin and my hair would stand out too. Not in a punk rock style just colour.

Addit: I will say something about the oppression and the contempt towards western women there. It is ingrained in the society there. So eventually it would be very subtle and gradual but it would get to me and I would have to leave. I felt like I couldn't breathe. It is a dangerous place for women.

Would the men there find the women of Mock off-putting? Are the women mostly timid there? That's the impression I have, that the women don't express their opinions or desires and that it would be frowned upon if they did.

They are abused women. I think one of the reasons they don't like us, is because they know we don't take shit from our men. Do they want to fuck us? Oh yeh, bigtime. They would be lined up like dogs.

Addit: Women have no power in those lands, at all, in any way shape or form. Make no mistake. Even Princesses are not really free. The real abused people in these lands are the third world workers, domestic workers, the working poor.

(07-24-2013, 04:27 PM)Duchess Wrote:

That makes me recall comments that were made back when the war first started and people here were outraged that women had to be covered like that. The women there weren't outraged, that's just the way it's done there, that's their culture.

You guys are so naïve! Aussie is the only one who makes sense to me because she made the experience, but like Duch saying "That's just the way it's done there" is pretty much like saying it's ok when a nigger get's crucified in the South because that's just the way it's done there.

Let's go back just 50 years ago. Right now we are in the Muslim year of 1434. So that makes it 1384.

Forget 50, let's just do 30. 30 years ago the women here, in Iran, or as it was called Persia, as well as Afghanistan, were wearing .... mini skirts. Smoking, drinking, pretty much doing what every other woman apart from Jessie the last Aboriginie of Tasmania was doing on a daily basis.

So what happened?

America put the Shah into Iran after a nasty coup by the CIA, one of its most brilliant moves, to secure that area. The guy enjoyed his power, leaving many victims along his way. Obviously those victims didn't like being tortured, so did their families.

Iraq? Saddam was a close friend of America. America placed him there and gave him all the power. For oil. Then Saddam got fed up and came up with the idea to sell his oil for Euros and not only Dollars. Which would be a total disaster for America. Can't have that, Saddam must die! Even so just a few years back all of America giving him a big hand shake.

Then comes France. America can't have all the oil on the planet, just ask Total, so Europe must also secure some areas, which means stir up some shit. In comes Khomeini.

Living in a nice apartment provided by France, but now the American sponsored Shah of Iran must go, so Khomeini comes back to Iran, and all those mini skirts turn into burkas, and all of Islam becomes the equivalent of all of America following the KKK.

Coming back to the Muslim Calendar. Amazingly out Witch Hunts were about the same time in the Christian Calendar. Why do you try to put women down? Because it takes care of half the population, or in another way, it shuts up half the population. It is about political control.

Amazingly the people, just like with Gadaffi, who were the first and most commited to that very cause when it happened, were .... women.

So now go and try to make sense of that.

(07-24-2013, 06:58 PM)Mohammed Wrote: You guys are so naïve! Aussie is the only one who makes sense to me because she made the experience, but like Duch saying "That's just the way it's done there" is pretty much like saying it's ok when a nigger get's crucified in the South because that's just the way it's done there.

I had always heard/read that it was the culture, that it had always been that way. I don't profess to know anything about the way of life over there but I have said several times that the family dog has more rights than the women do. I say that because that's the impression I'm left with after hearing/reading the things I have.

(07-24-2013, 06:58 PM)Mohammed Wrote: "That's just the way it's done there"

However, it IS a true statement.

Regardless of greedy Western Imperialistic influences, these people dictate the lives they want to live.

Oppression and ignorance isn't included with US foreign aid.

That's local flavor.

BTW - We don't crucify our niggers. That would be making them too much like Jesus or Spartacus.

I think that the Arab nations are more honest about the way it treats its women. Western nations do it too. It's the same in other areas too, such as government.

(07-24-2013, 07:26 PM)aussiefriend Wrote: I think that the Arab nations are more honest about the way it treats its women. Western nations do it too. It's the same in other areas too, such as government.

I have no idea what you are trying to say.

(07-24-2013, 07:46 PM)BlueTiki Wrote:

(07-24-2013, 07:26 PM)aussiefriend Wrote: I think that the Arab nations are more honest about the way it treats its women. Western nations do it too. It's the same in other areas too, such as government.

I have no idea what you are trying to say.

Hold up, Tiki.

Mo will translate it for us naive ones.

(07-24-2013, 06:58 PM)Mohammed Wrote: Amazingly the people, just like with Gadaffi, who were the first and most commited to that very cause when it happened, were .... women.

So, Mr. Prophet, how does your closing statement here contradict what Duchess posted or even the cartoon to which she responded?

It doesn't, if I understand what you're currently espousing correctly.

You've done a full pirouette in regards to your views in this thread as far as I can see.

So, which is it? Is a western woman who's resided in the Middle East and claims that Dubai's modern exterior hides a very real backwards attitude towards women and presents dangers to uneducated female visitors/residents speaking as a traumatized silly child who knows no better, OR is she on-the-money based on insight gained from personal experience?

(07-24-2013, 07:46 PM)BlueTiki Wrote: I have no idea what you are trying to say.

Briefly, coz I am setting up mini recording studio downstairs. Although we are not as obvious in our mistreatment of women, and the corruption in our governments, our racism, it's there. Our culture is different to theirs but the same exists in our culture, they are more open about their bigotry. Hope that makes sense. Not that I condone any of it of course.

Imagine an Alien out in space, being given numbers about daily rapes and murders of our countries, and according to those to decide which country to land on. Guess which place will be right at the bottom. Or at least in the bottom ten.

It would be ... you.

However, as we all know, America is fucking gorgeous. You got Mc Donalds, the Grand Canyon, Harleys and the biggest consumption of drugs on the planet. So obviously not everything is bad. But then ....

Your schools are dangerous, as are your movie halls. If you only listen to your bad news, and they are plenty, one might wonder why, or more importantly how, people manage to live there.

Aussie understands the hilarious hypocrisy going on here. She lived it. Everybody else from the looks of it, knows as much about it like I do about Angelina Jollies private life and character from what I gather from the news. The only difference being, bad news are the preferred ones.

So lets take a look at this place and my own theory about it. These are my own believes and should not be done without any adult supervision. Do NOT try this at home!

Anyway ....

(07-24-2013, 07:05 PM)Duchess Wrote: I had always heard/read that it was the culture, that it had always been that way. I don't profess to know anything about the way of life over there but I have said several times that the family dog has more rights than the women do. I say that because that's the impression I'm left with after hearing/reading the things I have.[/i][/size]

No, if you take any Muslim from a hundred years back and take him here, he would shake his head about what happened to women. It was about a hundred years ago that some guy came up with these conservative ideas and that time everybody around here thought of him as a joke. So what happened?

Welcome to religion.



Religion is a funny thing. Islam at the moment is at the year 1343. I find that ironic because it was during our Middle Ages in Christianity that we had something profound going on with our women as well.

Welcome to my little home town of Idstein.



Idstein is a cute little town in the middle of the wonderful forests of the Taunus, and that there is our "Hexenturm" or Witch Tower. As we all know, Witches are bad!



But some of us quite like them that way, however, those times it was a bit different. It must have been good times so, as you could walk around, point your finger at whoever you didn't like or had a grudge against, "What you mean you don't wanna fuck me? Watch this .... witch!", but then had to be careful if you had a pimple growing on your nose I guess. So that tower was used to get the poor folks to confess thru various entertaining methods, before they were paraded across town to the general burning area in the center of the city for all to watch. Somewhat understandable as they had no TV that time.

These are the names of the people who were part of that monthly Matinee.



They say if you spend the night during a full moon there, you can still here the silent screams and sobs floating thru the tower. Ok, that one I just made up.

So religion is a man thing. We are still waiting for the first female prophet. And just like with most things when you take some men, put them together in a dodgy room for some time, they tend to come up with the most idiotic ideas, even more so if you remove all the alcohol and tell them "This is very serious business!", just like the EU.

So learning from us, they also build their own Witch Tower in Dubai.



So how did they get to their current state? Clearly it wasn't like this just a few years back as the women of Kabul and Tehran were walking happily in their mini skirts and make up thru their cities.

In 1930 oil was discovered in one of the poorest areas on the planet. One that was populated by some Bedouin tribes who as their only wealth had a huge collection of sand castles. In comes the house of Saud, proclaiming himself King. To keep the peace, he made a deal with one of the more conservative tribes. They were placed in charge of keeping the religious affairs.

The house of Saud don't give a shit, just as most of the Saudi's don't, which you will witness if you see them outside of Saudi Arabia, or even there in their own homes. They just love to fuck and get wasted by large amounts of Chevas and Blue Label. But not outside!

Oh no, for if they are caught by the Ulema, the religious police, they are in big trouble. So to keep their well financed lives in a peaceful way, they look proper and decent, go to the Mosque, book in with the family at the Ritz Carlton, only to show up the week after with 10 Russian hookers.

And it got even worse when you had those fanatics occupy the Mosque, as the King agreed to give them more power. Here in Yemen? There is a huge amount of cash that came into this country just to keep it unstable and to follow certain footsteps. And it seems that if you shove a few million dollars into a Sheik's face, they tend to not give a shit about plenty of things.

And America? Dares not to interfere with one of the countries that is the least on the list of Democracy.

Then to that came Khomeini, starting this conservative trend after the Shah, and just like our witch hunts it is all about controlling the women. Because women are scary, as can be clearly seen on that picture up there.

Same thing happened here in Yemen. To control the population, and if you suppress your women, you already control half of it. Just like the Catholic Priests controlling their Altar Boys.

If Africa would be run by their women, it would be Paradise. Just like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iraq and so many others.

No, because of one incident every few months that obviously involves a hand full of idiots, I sure don't condemn a whole country, or else America would be on the top list of places not to go judging by its daily track record.

Men are stupid, we all know that, but what actually amazes me more is the trend being followed and enforced by women themselves. I have plenty of former party girls from Indonesia who are now covered from head to toe. Same in South Africa where it has become quite fashionable for some reason.

But lets see where this all will be going. Apparently from what I hear, the Taliban has put up a headquarter in Doha, and it is being said they do enjoy the shopping and KFC.

Maybe all we have to do is send Chicken into Afghanistan instead of troops.