The Audi A8 in SILVER was made for a sheik.... IT IS NOT SILVER in COLOR, IT IS MADE out of SILVER!!!!! 

Amazing what $3.00 US a gallon gas can buy, isn't it?  Do you get the feeling these guys have more money than they know what to do with it?

And Now For a Discouraging Word!!

LETTER ONE
-----Original Message-----
From: Caitlin Rieckhoff
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 4:19 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Beautiful Hotel

Hey,

Somehow I wondered across your site and landed on the place where you claim the Emirates palace hotel was a Palace for the Sheikh. Well that's bullshit, I live in Abu-Dhabi, on the corniche, and the Emirates Palace is actually a real hotel, when it first opened

Me and my friends rented a room in it to party in.

I'm really disapionted in your site.

Caitlin Rieckhoff
 

REPLY TO LETTER ONE

On 11/11/05, Rick Archer <dance@ssqq.com> wrote:

I did not mean to publish inaccurate information. I simply reprinted what someone sent me. Since this web site is about dancing, I apologize for not upholding the highest standards of journalism.

I will be happy to publish whatever information you can furnish about the hotel... it's correct name, etc

LETTER TWO
-----Original Message-----
From: Caitlin Rieckhoff
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2005 1:27 AM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Beautiful Hotel

http://www.emiratespalace.com/

 

LETTER THREE
-----Original Message-----
From: Caitlin Rieckhoff
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 2:19 PM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Beautiful Hotel

Dir Sir,
I was the one who e-mailed you a couple weeks back bitching to you about your hotel article, and I wish to apologize. I realize now that your site is infact a dance studio site with extra's and would like to explain to you why I wrote you about the misinformation. As an Arab American in these past years I have delt with some extreme raciscm and infact have left the state's mainly to get away from it. And then when randomly browsing the web saw your sight and the image that it gave of arabs did offend me, but the fact that this article would only increase the misguided view that some american's have of the middle east. Anyways, I'm sorry for any inconvience I have caused you.
Sincerly,
C. R.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Archer
Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2005 7:22 AM
To: Caitlin Rieckhoff
Subject: RE: Beautiful Hotel

Caitlin, don't worry about it. You had every right to set the story straight. In fact I appreciated your letter. I realized that some jerk was using the pictures to stir up more animosity against wealthy Arabs. And I added that point to the website.

My motives for posting the pictures were simple - I thought the pictures of the hotel were beautiful. Lifestyles of the rich and famous as they say. You might have noticed I did the same thing with the burj al arab hotel.

I am sure it is difficult to be of Arabian descent in America right now. Once upon a time the Indians were the bad guys in the movies, then it was the Nazis, then it was the Russians, then it was black drug lords, and currently the Arabs get to be the bad guys due to our fear of terrorism.

Personally I have no axes to grind. There are good people and evil people of every race and nationality.

I must say with a name like Caitlin Rieckhoff, I wouldn't have guessed you are an Arab-American!

Rick Archer
SSQQ Dance Studio
Houston Texas
 

(Editor's Note: I visited the web site Ms. Rieckhoff supplied above. Sure enough, the "Sultan's Palace" is actually a hotel known as the Emirates Palace. 

A quick glance at the web site shows all the same pictures as printed above except the ones with the blood-raising pictures of the silver cars.

http://www.emiratespalace.com/

You don't think someone actually put some "disinformation" out on the Internet and I bought it, hook line and sinker, do you?

The truth is that many Westerners carry a lot of resentment towards wealthy Arabs. Some guy - I don't know who - used the pictures from the Emirates Palace website to exploit this bitterness via the Internet.

I am sure many people of Mideastern descent aren't too thrilled with Americans either and little propaganda tricks like the email I bought into don't help the situation very much.  It was sent to me by a friend who didn't bother to check it for veracity. Nor did I. 

I will leave the pictures up, but be sure if you look at them again, do so with a grain of salt.

And I will leave you all with this question.  How did a woman who lives in Abu Dhabi managed to run across a Houston, Texas, dance studio website?

My guess is she probably hit on something from the fascinating story below.  

Enjoy.
Rick Archer
November 2005

Another Email From the Other Side of the World

-----Original Message-----
From: Upandhi
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 1:12 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Dubai Abu Dhabi

So Rick, what are Abu Dhabi and Dubai doing on a Houston dance school website anyway? No criticism, just an observation.

Anyway, you point out some of the fanciful things being done in this part of the world. Just to provide you a little more background, Dubai itself doesn't have that much oil and what it has is running out fast. It's because of that they decided to embark on other things like trade, tourism and now real estate projects to diversify the economy. Sure, a little oil money in the background helped--as all these projects are government subsidized. But all three trade, tourism and real estate have been such stunning successes that they are pumping a whole lot more money into the economy than oil ever did. Oil at present accounts for
something like 8% of GDP.

That's Dubai. Abu Dhabi on the other hand is all about oil--swimming in it and money. Abu Dhabi is the largest of several emirates and Abu Dhabi is the country's capital. They really can't stand being upstaged by Dubai right and left on the world stage. So the Emirates Palace Hotel is Abu Dhabi's response to everything Dubai. They built it in about two years--if that. I live here and it just came up like nothing. It's supposed to be the largest hotel in the world--acreage-wise and one of the world's largest buildings. As a local resident I have to say everything Dubai tries to do is over the top, but admirably so. They sort of have a Midas touch. Abu Dhabi on the other hand is bureaucratic and unimaginative and has a hard time keeping up.

Bruce

 -----Original Message-----
From: Upandhi
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 1:42 PM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Re: Dubai Abu Dhabi

Thanks Rick. I like the exposure and am happy to share this place with more people. Even though I live here I never came across nice photos of the interior of the Burj Al Arab till I saw those on your site.

Funny how the web works. I've been in the Emirates Palace and have a friend who works there. As nice as it is--and it's way too expensive--what it really needs is to age. It'll probably be a really stunning sight in about 20 years when the gardens really mature and the marble starts to crack a bit.