[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by sdorn

Slight upswing? The DOW is back up over 11,000, right back where it was before the tech bust in early 2000. There have been millions of new jobs created during Bush's administration, and most of them aren't related to housing at all. I am personally making three times as much as I did when he took office. Low interest rates have helped the economy, but not because of Greenspan. The Fed has been raising interest rates for the last three years. The economy just refuses to follow suit, and as a result interest rates have remained low. We are actually living in one of the rare times in which the yield curve is inverted. The economy is growing in large part because of the Bush tax cuts.

You're right, but the Fed's raise has been minimal. Short term rates are still extremely low. Long term rates remaining low has nothing to do with tax cuts. If the tax cuts had encouraged the population to increase spending, long term rates would've sky rocketed by now. The foreign trade policy (which has been in the works long before Bush) is one of the main reason DOW is back up, but that usually also happens during war time. So in a sense, the war that Bush has started DID help economy, but then again, that's one of the main accusation against him, that him and Cheney started the war because of them thinking we need another Pearl Harbor. Which in terms bring us back to the accusation that people at DC knew something about 911 before the attack.

[eleven24]

One thing I know is that every year since 2000 the healthcare costs for my company have increased, on average, 15-20% per year. I just got my renewal rates about an hour ago & am trying to figure out how to tell my employees that I can no longer cover 100% of the coverage for them & their families. Another 18% increase.

[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by eleven24

One thing I know is that every year since 2000 the healthcare costs for my company have increased, on average, 15-20% per year. I just got my renewal rates about an hour ago & am trying to figure out how to tell my employees that I can no longer cover 100% of the coverage for them & their families. Another 18% increase.

How many employees u got??

[noflash]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

For the first part, yes I have a friend currently serving in Iraq and she wrote to me that they indeed did find WMD...perhaps not nuclear, but they did find loads of illegal nerve agents, ect.

I respect you sharp, but that is an absolute falsehood.

On a broader note, let me list some accomplishments of the man in question:

* Attacked and took over two countries.
* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
* Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
* Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
* First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
* First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
* First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.
* Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
* In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
*Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.
* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
* Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.
* Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.
* Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
* Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
* Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
* Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
* Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
* My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.
* Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Exxon oil tanker named after her).
* First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.
* Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
* First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
* Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
* Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
* Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.
* Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
* Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
* Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
* First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).
* All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
* My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
* Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
* First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
* First US president to establish a secret shadow government.
* Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
* With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
* First US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
* First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
* Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
* Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.
* Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
* Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capital building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.
* In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
* Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
* In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.
* Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

[db17k]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

I say let's just declare California's independence. F*ck the rest of the country. Half of the BMWs come in through our ports anyways. We'll take vegas, hawaii, and alaska. New York can come too if they want. Arnold can be our first president.

this all sounds good except for arnold, bring back clinton!

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by eleven24

One thing I know is that every year since 2000 the healthcare costs for my company have increased, on average, 15-20% per year. I just got my renewal rates about an hour ago & am trying to figure out how to tell my employees that I can no longer cover 100% of the coverage for them & their families. Another 18% increase.

Healthcare costs are ridiculous. The whole system in our country for healthcare is conducive to having the best care available, but for the highest price of anywhere in the world. I have good health insurance through my company. I still have to pay like $1,500 per year for health insurance I never use, and according to what my company tells us they actually pay the majority of the cost of our health care.

I think that a big contributor to the problem is the way our health insurance system works in this country. If the government made it easier for people to purchase health insurance individually, and made it easier to use health spending accounts, the cost of health care would come down. The way it is now, people with health insurance have no incentive not to go to the doctor for every single problem they have. If you created a system where health insurance was only designed to cover major health problems, and people used their own money to pay for regular healthcare, there would be much more of a motive for health care providers to compete on cost.

Another problem is that it is tax deductible for a company to provide health insurance to its employees, but it isn't tax deductible for an individual to purchase health insurance for themself. That system makes it nearly impossible for individuals to purchase affordable health care. If the tax code was reformed so that there was no tax incentive either way, then health insurance costs would be more even. Removing these tax incentives was actually a part of Hillary Clinton's health care proposals back in the 90's when Bill Clinton was President.

[noflash]

BTW, Michael Moore's next documentary is on the health care system.

[timzerofive]

Affordable health care is a tremendous problem with no immediate solution in sight I believe. It's difficult even just to identify the problems plaguing the system. I wonder if one mentality a lot of americans have is a contributing factor... It doesn't matter if I get sick or hurt, I have insurance. Instead of taking care of themselves, they go out and jump off a building on a skateboard, or eat until they're obessed and call it an illness. It's ok if I brake my arm, or I need my stomache stabled, because I have insurance.

[cdheaven]

i dont know how to do the little picture of the guy clapping. but i would like to right now. the list was soo long i got bored 9/10ths of the way through. thats pretty sad. if anyone can make a list one quarter as long with realisitc accomplishments he has made, i will vote for jeb next term.

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by noflash

I respect you sharp, but that is an absolute falsehood.

On a broader note, let me list some accomplishments of the man in question:

* Attacked and took over two countries.
* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
* Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
* Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
* First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
* First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
* First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.
* Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
* In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
*Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.
* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
* Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.
* Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.
* Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
* Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
* Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
* Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
* Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
* My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.
* Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Exxon oil tanker named after her).
* First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.
* Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
* First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
* Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
* Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
* Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.
* Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
* Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
* Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
* First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).
* All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
* My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
* Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
* First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
* First US president to establish a secret shadow government.
* Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
* With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
* First US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
* First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
* Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
* Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.
* Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
* Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capital building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.
* In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
* Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
* In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.
* Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

This ridiculous list, which is mostly false, was released several years ago prior to the last election. Guess what, no one believed all the lies then, and no one does now. In fact, Bush was re-elected in 2004. How could that have happened if all of the stuff in this list was true? Don't you think just about everything in this list would have been great talking points for Kerry's campaign? Don't you think the moderators at the debates would have just loved to grill Bush about stuff like this if it were true?

Before people go digging up lists of crap off the internet, how about doing some research and write about something they actually know? They could read a book or two (the kind without pictures), listen to some AM talk radio (Air America is a good liberal source; Sean Hannity, Neil Boortz, Rush Limbaugh are all good conservative sources), read some newspapers (Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.), and even watch some news shows on television. Maybe after they spend a few months learning a little something about the subject they are talking about they can come back and write an intelligent, well thought out argument for their position. They can even put it in list form, as long as they write it themself rather than copying and pasting something they found on the internet.

[noflash]

Originally Posted by cdheaven

i dont know how to do the little picture of the guy clapping. but i would like to right now. the list was soo long i got bored 9/10ths of the way through. thats pretty sad. if anyone can make a list one quarter as long with realisitc accomplishments he has made, i will vote for jeb next term.

Great logic as always cdh!

You can't be a rebel and a republican!

[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by sdorn

This ridiculous list, which is mostly false, was released several years ago prior to the last election. Guess what, no one believed all the lies then, and no one does now. In fact, Bush was re-elected in 2004. How could that have happened if all of the stuff in this list was true? Don't you think just about everything in this list would have been great talking points for Kerry's campaign? Don't you think the moderators at the debates would have just loved to grill Bush about stuff like this if it were true?

Which brings us back to the topic, damn red states. Look at the distribution of the states that voted for him and think about it. Also, a lot of the items on list WERE used against him in Kerry's campaign, did you even watch the campaigns and debates? How did Bush still win? Red states.

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

Which brings us back to the topic, damn red states. Look at the distribution of the states that voted for him and think about it. Also, a lot of the items on list WERE used against him in Kerry's campaign, did you even watch the campaigns and debates? How did Bush still win? Red states.

An even better map is the one that shows which counties voted for Bush. Forget red states, the whole country is red. There are just a few blue cities who are trying to screw it up for the rest of us.



Here is a population density map based on the 2000 census, which is the most recent data I could find.

[timzerofive]

How about you reevaluate that map based on population.

[uofmtiger]

i dont know how to do the little picture of the guy clapping. but i would like to right now. the list was soo long i got bored 9/10ths of the way through. thats pretty sad. if anyone can make a list one quarter as long with realisitc accomplishments he has made, i will vote for jeb next term.

There of plenty of rebuttals with actual links to sources that discredit many of the "unrealistic" statements in the "resume".

You can also find many sites that have even longer lists that show his accomplishments. If you want, I can post one of the pro-Bush lists here. Just let me know. I have become pretty good at using search engines and it will only take me a second to find the sources. I am not saying I have done the leg work to see if any of the statements on the other websites are true, but I am sure they are just as "realistic" as the resume above.

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

How about you reevaluate that map based on population.

Looks to me like all you guys are flocking toward the water. You can see the blue counties along the Mississippi River, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean.

[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by sdorn

Looks to me like all you guys are flocking toward the water. You can see the blue counties along the Mississippi River, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean.

Hahahah... huh??? Historically, cities sprout up next to water sources... so I think the flocking in going the other way.

[timzerofive]

Originally Posted by uofmtiger

There of plenty of rebuttals with actual links to sources that discredit many of the "unrealistic" statements in the "resume".

You can also find many sites that have even longer lists that show his accomplishments. If you want, I can post one of the pro-Bush lists here. Just let me know. I have become pretty good at using search engines and it will only take me a second to find the sources. I am not saying I have done the leg work to see if any of the statements on the other websites are true, but I am sure they are just as "realistic" as the resume above.

Please do. I am interested.

[uofmtiger]

Here is the PDF of one of the rebuttals:

http://www.filestash.net/The_Truth.pdf

Here are some of the accomplishments according to one webpage:

KEEP IN MIND, I TAKE NO CREDIT FOR THE WORTHINESS OR TRUTHFULNESS OF THIS INFORMATION. I am only posting it to show that there are other lists:

Budget, Taxes & Economy

1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history.

2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.

3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority.

5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty.

6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people.

7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.

8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America.

9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.

10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.

11. Signed trade promotion authority.

12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches.

13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States.

14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes.

15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home.

16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled.

17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child.

18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000.

19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans.

20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.


Education & Employment Training

1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act.

2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education.

3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.)

4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight.

5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance.

6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards.

7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems.

8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers.

Defense & Foreign Policy

1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom.

2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured.

3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror.

4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed.

5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network.

6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century.

7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.

8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency.

9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.

10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year.

11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.

12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.

13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command.

14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs.

15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry.

16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006.

17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy.

18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments.

19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year.

20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports.

21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.

Globalization & Internationalism

1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant).

2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.

3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).

4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer.

5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country."

Government Reform

1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises.

2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs.

3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers.

5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1163304/posts

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by timzerofive

How about you reevaluate that map based on population.

I added a population map to my post with the other map, so they could be compared easily. There is obviously some correlation between larger populations and blue counties. It is common knowledge that mostly urban areas tend to have larger Democratic populations. Republicans tend to live out in the suburbs in the big houses. However, the correlation is nowhere near perfect. There are many counties with very large populations that were also red counties.

[db17k]

Originally Posted by sdorn

An even better map is the one that shows which counties voted for Bush. Forget red states, the whole country is red. There are just a few blue cities who are trying to screw it up for the rest of us.



Here is a population density map based on the 2000 census, which is the most recent data I could find.

DOWN WITH UTAH & OAKLAHOMA!

[JB 330ci]

I see no reason why this deal should not go through. If people would take the time to view the facts and not listen to "talking heads" people would know the real reasons.

-If anyone ever visited the UAE people would know that the US miitary depends on this same company for the security of ports in the UAE...If it's good enough for the military overseas where there is a bigger chance of an attack than I think it is good enough for the US.

- U.S. Ports have been ran by foreign compaines for years. The only reason this hit the spot light is because it's an Arab company from the UAE. No one complained about the British running our ports.

- The U.S. Customs and Coast Guard will still guard the US and secure the ports. The company is for operations at the port, and security at the port to deter crime. Federal Agencies still control and will control who can enter, exit, and who can dock at ports. This is why we have a Coast Guard and Customs.

- UAE has and still remains one of the countries supporting the GWOT. I could see if Iran, Syria, or Nigeria tried to run our ports but in reality the UAE is a moderate country...has anyone been to Dubai? It's a great place.