Sure Dubai is great, but...

I understand people from Dubai being proud of their accomplishments and their city. In just a short time it has been transformed, for both good and bad. But come on, this editorial about the purchase of the QEII has got to set a new record for over-the-top silliness:

"Move over Las Vegas, we've got Bawadi. Paris? Our Eiffel Tower will be bigger than yours."

Uh, yeah, sure, Bawadi will make everyone forget Las Vegas. And maybe it is just me, but the Eiffel Tower is not the only thing that I would want to go to Paris to see.

"Now a grand old dame of a vessel that has crossed the Atlantic 800 times and circumnavigated the globe 25 times will spend her glory years inspiring awe in tourists who've come to gawk at Dubai's modern wonders."

Um, wouldn't the QEII's glory years by the years she spent crossing the Atlantic and sailing around the world?

"...the mascot Modhesh is developing an international reputation."

OK, the way that this is phrased now makes me think that whoever wrote this realizes how silly this is at this point; I love the ambiguous phrasing of "developing an international reputation". The only reputation that I have seen it developing is not one you would brag about. Some typical reactions are "Kill Modhesh", or "The Tide of Evil", my personal favorite.

"Good luck finding someone who hasn't heard of the Palm Jumeirah."

Actually, luck isn't needed if you just get out of the Emirates. I would be surprised if you went up to people at random in the US or Europe and asked "What is the Palm Jumeirah" if anyone could tell you. I know that no one that I know in the States could do so.