A politically incorrect pamphlet hitting on all the unspeakable stuff: Politics. Economics. Fiscal Policy. Foreign Policy. Moral Issues. Culture. Investments. Religion. Humor. Life.
This looks like the opening salvo of S&A's Eight Blunders of the Modern World series!
Hmmm, let's see...
A) Dubai=Babylon C) Ran out of professional athletes/lovers of year-round golf?
I'm going to have to choose B)The Hotel of Doom, because IF it is ever finished who the hell is going to be allowed/could afford/would want to stay there?
Definitely B. Who the hell wants to go to North Korea for any reason? Certainly not on vacation. Who will ever stay there? They'll turn it into a prison or housing project soon enough.
My vote is split between "A" and "C". North Korea can be forgiven for being way ahead of the US and Dubai with its "investment property" project - the Ryugyong dates back to around 1990. They pioneered this field!
Dubai,North Korea Hotel, Some stupid condo project in Scottsdale. . .
I guess number one and two put number three in its place as built by small time grifters. . .but I guess I would choose the North Korea Hotel as the worlds worst. . .The Dubai tower may actually fill some day during the next bubble. . .you KNOW there will be another bubble.
Okay Keith, I can't pass this one up, even though I don't know enough about any of these properties to be firm in my opinion. All three signify dumbassery in the extreme, but choosing the dumbest building depends on the metrics for stupidity that one uses.
The Chateaux on Central reek of hubris; wtf is this thing doing in Phoenix? It looks like a major boondoggle.
The Ryugyong hotel in Pyonyang is beyond stupid; it is criminal. If N. Korea had some different priorities, it might could be closer to food security and true self-reliance (and that roughly translates "juche", doesn't it?).
The Burj in Dubai takes the prize, I think. This tiny desert nation is so egregiously over-leveraged that it strains my imagination.
If I were thinking in terms of return on investment, Pyongyang is dumbest. However, in terms of gambling with the resources of an entire nation, it seems Dubai would "take the cake" instead.
The ecological frailty of this tiny nation would seem to make the Burj marginally dumber than the Ryugyong. N. Korea may be a harsh land, with fields better suited to millet and barley than for rice, but it could hypothetically feed itself. Dubai has to do well in business decisions, or they have next to nothing to fall back on.
The Al-Burq has set all kinds of records so has some tourism and icon value for Dubai.
The Ryugyong could be successful if the N. Koreans got their act together and allowed tourism to open up into the country. I've been to South Korea a few times and would visit N. Korea if it were safe.
Building C is by far the dumbest. Does nothing for the Phoenix area besides trap a bunch of FB'ers.
cocaine kudlow said the recession is over and we are in a new bull market.would someone take away his drugs please.I have a condo in downtown sacramento 4 sale,anyone interested?If you like homeless people pissing in your yard you will love this gem.
Without a doubt - My vote is for the Ryugyong Hotel.
1) The Ryugyong Hotel took something like 1 to 2% of North Korea's GDP ($700,000+).
2)People literally starved due to the misallocation of resources. This was not the ONLY reason 1 to 2 million people starved in North Korea in the early 1990's but it did not help.
3) The building was never finished and the concrete skeleton has towered over Pyongyang for the last two decades.
3) North Korea is now spending MORE money to put some lipstick on the pig. They are putting a glass facade on the structurally inadaquate building to make it look better.
Take a look for "Ryugyong Hotel" on Flickr.com for some great shots of the city skyline showing of this glory of North Korea.
I just found out they are putting MORE money into the building and now trying to complete it!
So my vote is Ryugyong for not only being a ghost building for 2 decades now a pit that they are throwing MORE money they dont have at it!
How about this for dumbest move of the new administration? LOL i had to laugh knowing the humor that is going to come from this appointment.. http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/president-obama-appoints-amanda-simpson-a-transgender-woman-to-commerce-post/19302032
A more interesting question is "Which of these buildings will be destroyed first?"
My vote is for the Burj al Babel. It's gonna look so kewl when it burns and/or falls over sideways. I hope it lands in the sea, and I also hope that none of the slave workers they used to build it are harmed when it collapses. Bonus points if some sheikhs are having a party on the upper floors when it goes.
The crappy Phoenix projects will go next. The Ryugyong -- I think that will still be there when North Korea implodes and the South takes over. The South Koreans will keep it around, finish it properly and use it as a symbol of their new nation and/or headquarters for a lot of corporations.
Bukko you actually beat me to commenting on the slave labor used to build that Dubai disaster. My heart breaks for the Bangladeshi, East African, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan laborers who live in those labor camps and very often work construction jobs with no shoes and are paid virtually nothing. That place is a pest hole for the non-rich.
Q:In interviews in the past you said that's why we needed to change the political process; that's why you thought that candidate Obama was the best choice for President.
Volcker: True. But has he been able to do that at this point? It doesn't look that way. I think that's unfortunate. I wish the Administration would pay more attention to what's needed to improve the ordinary functioning of government. We can't even fight a war with our own people any more. We've got to hire Blackwater. I think people have lost confidence in government, they've lost trust in government, and it shows. This isn't a question just of this Administration. It's been kind of a steady, downhill path.
Q:Yes, but this Administration came in and said it would change. That was the mantra of the campaign. So what happened?
Volcker: It shows you it's not that easy to change.
B is, without doubt, the ugliest and stupidest but it is followed closely by A), for sure. and we know the first is the new Dubai building. that 2nd one is just truly hideous. I bet it's also impractical for using, too, on the interior, given its shape.
To wash the 24,348 windows, a horizontal track has been installed on the exterior of Burj Khalifa at levels 40, 73 and 109. Each track holds a 1.5 tonne bucket machine which moves horizontally and then vertically using heavy cables. Above level 109, up to tier 27 traditional cradles from davits are used. The top of the spire, however, is reserved for specialist window cleaners, who brave the heights and high winds dangling by ropes to clean and inspect the top of the pinnacle.[49] Under normal conditions, when all building maintenance units will be operational, it will take 36 workers three to four months to clean the entire exterior facade.[40][50]
Unmanned machines will clean the top 27 additional tiers and the glass spire. The cleaning system was developed in Australia at a cost of A$8 million.[51]
Wonder if these are our modern day pyramids. Ever think perhaps those Egyptians were thinking the same thing with their "bubble" and built the pyramids as some sort of investment scheme?
I saw a comment on nytimes where someone called the burj dubai a monument to the new great depression, as the empire state building's opening ushered in GD1. msnj
Burj Khalifa tower is a candidate for dumbest building ?
It is the most sophisticated, extravagant and truly luxurious publicly accessible building ever built till date anywhere in the world.
Do I detect a case of mad jealousy affecting a lot of folks out here because it happens to be in Dubai and not in the West ? Before even considering the Burj, what about those ugly buildings on the Vegas strip you call casinos ? Are these gambling dens not the dumbest buildings in the dumbest city and symptomatic of the speculation we saw and continue to see regarding housing in the US that started this downturn ?
I'll tell you what is dumb about the Burj - it would be the fact that there was no need to build it wasting this much of money, especially when you consider that ongoing maintenance costs are going to cost more than what it took to build the thing.
This looks like the opening salvo of S&A's Eight Blunders of the Modern World series!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, let's see...
A) Dubai=Babylon
C) Ran out of professional athletes/lovers of year-round golf?
I'm going to have to choose B)The Hotel of Doom, because IF it is ever finished who the hell is going to be allowed/could afford/would want to stay there?
Definitely B. Who the hell wants to go to North Korea for any reason? Certainly not on vacation. Who will ever stay there? They'll turn it into a prison or housing project soon enough.
ReplyDeleteGreg Swann recommends all three
ReplyDeleteWInchester Mystery House?
ReplyDeleteHands down A)
ReplyDeleteNon Muslims
(aka - homicidal maniacs)
might as well jump off the top of building.
I have to go with B. That thing's hideous.
ReplyDeleteHoly God what a choice. All are breathtakingly ugly.
ReplyDeletefirst person to jump off of Build a)
ReplyDeletegets an extra virgin..
2nd and 3rd, qualify to enter a drawing for a slightly used one.
My vote is split between "A" and "C". North Korea can be forgiven for being way ahead of the US and Dubai with its "investment property" project - the Ryugyong dates back to around 1990. They pioneered this field!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to buy all 3 with donald trumps checkbook and then flip them to gullable us investors.Honestly I only recognize the one in dubai.
ReplyDeletesorry off topic.
ReplyDeleteIn my research of commercial fc's I just came across this gem of a corporate name:
Smart Flyp, LLC
Yes, the prop is in foreclosure.
What a dip shit.
I think B is an apartment in Phoenix, Arizona during the bubble. Where units were selling for outrageous money.
ReplyDeleteDubai,North Korea Hotel, Some stupid condo project in Scottsdale. . .
ReplyDeleteI guess number one and two put number three in its place as built by small time grifters. . .but I guess I would choose the North Korea Hotel as the worlds worst. . .The Dubai tower may actually fill some day during the next bubble. . .you KNOW there will be another bubble.
Comment number 3 (anon) wins hands down - "Greg Swann recommends all three"
ReplyDeleteOkay Keith, I can't pass this one up, even though I don't know enough about any of these properties to be firm in my opinion. All three signify dumbassery in the extreme, but choosing the dumbest building depends on the metrics for stupidity that one uses.
ReplyDeleteThe Chateaux on Central reek of hubris; wtf is this thing doing in Phoenix? It looks like a major boondoggle.
The Ryugyong hotel in Pyonyang is beyond stupid; it is criminal. If N. Korea had some different priorities, it might could be closer to food security and true self-reliance (and that roughly translates "juche", doesn't it?).
The Burj in Dubai takes the prize, I think. This tiny desert nation is so egregiously over-leveraged that it strains my imagination.
If I were thinking in terms of return on investment, Pyongyang is dumbest. However, in terms of gambling with the resources of an entire nation, it seems Dubai would "take the cake" instead.
The ecological frailty of this tiny nation would seem to make the Burj marginally dumber than the Ryugyong. N. Korea may be a harsh land, with fields better suited to millet and barley than for rice, but it could hypothetically feed itself. Dubai has to do well in business decisions, or they have next to nothing to fall back on.
Which did you choose, Keith?
Tower A is clearly the dumbest project, but perhaps the developers never read about what happened to the Tower of Babel.
ReplyDeleteThe Al-Burq has set all kinds of records so has some tourism and icon value for Dubai.
ReplyDeleteThe Ryugyong could be successful if the N. Koreans got their act together and allowed tourism to open up into the country. I've been to South Korea a few times and would visit N. Korea if it were safe.
Building C is by far the dumbest. Does nothing for the Phoenix area besides trap a bunch of FB'ers.
-Mike
.
ReplyDeleteThe House of Congress
it don't get much dumber!
.
cocaine kudlow said the recession is over and we are in a new bull market.would someone take away his drugs please.I have a condo in downtown sacramento 4 sale,anyone interested?If you like homeless people pissing in your yard you will love this gem.
ReplyDeleteC. - For sure, absolutely no economic sense involved in this mess.
ReplyDeleteA. - Small penis syndrome...Burj Dubai or whatever the hell they renamed it for the new masters.
C - That is Chateaux on Central....a COMPLETELY dead development about 2 blocks from where I live near downtown Phoenix.
Miss you, Keith.
Without a doubt - My vote is for the Ryugyong Hotel.
ReplyDelete1) The Ryugyong Hotel took something like 1 to 2% of North Korea's GDP ($700,000+).
2)People literally starved due to the misallocation of resources. This was not the ONLY reason 1 to 2 million people starved in North Korea in the early 1990's but it did not help.
3) The building was never finished and the concrete skeleton has towered over Pyongyang for the last two decades.
3) North Korea is now spending MORE money to put some lipstick on the pig. They are putting a glass facade on the structurally inadaquate building to make it look better.
Take a look for "Ryugyong Hotel" on Flickr.com for some great shots of the city skyline showing of this glory of North Korea.
I just found out they are putting MORE money into the building and now trying to complete it!
So my vote is Ryugyong for not only being a ghost building for 2 decades now a pit that they are throwing MORE money they dont have at it!
How about this for dumbest move of the new administration? LOL i had to laugh knowing the humor that is going to come from this appointment.. http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/president-obama-appoints-amanda-simpson-a-transgender-woman-to-commerce-post/19302032
ReplyDeleteA more interesting question is "Which of these buildings will be destroyed first?"
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for the Burj al Babel. It's gonna look so kewl when it burns and/or falls over sideways. I hope it lands in the sea, and I also hope that none of the slave workers they used to build it are harmed when it collapses. Bonus points if some sheikhs are having a party on the upper floors when it goes.
The crappy Phoenix projects will go next. The Ryugyong -- I think that will still be there when North Korea implodes and the South takes over. The South Koreans will keep it around, finish it properly and use it as a symbol of their new nation and/or headquarters for a lot of corporations.
Bukko you actually beat me to commenting on the slave labor used to build that Dubai disaster. My heart breaks for the Bangladeshi, East African, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan laborers who live in those labor camps and very often work construction jobs with no shoes and are paid virtually nothing. That place is a pest hole for the non-rich.
ReplyDeletePaul Volcker on Obama's administration:
ReplyDeleteQ:In interviews in the past you said that's why we needed to change the political process; that's why you thought that candidate Obama was the best choice for President.
Volcker: True. But has he been able to do that at this point? It doesn't look that way. I think that's unfortunate. I wish the Administration would pay more attention to what's needed to improve the ordinary functioning of government. We can't even fight a war with our own people any more. We've got to hire Blackwater. I think people have lost confidence in government, they've lost trust in government, and it shows. This isn't a question just of this Administration. It's been kind of a steady, downhill path.
Q:Yes, but this Administration came in and said it would change. That was the mantra of the campaign. So what happened?
Volcker: It shows you it's not that easy to change.
Anyone interested in seeing what kind of labor built the latest Dubai marvel and check out this Ben Anderson/BBC documentary:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vbs.tv/watch/vbs-news/the-slaves-of-dubai
PS: it's not just construction jobs, it's also house hold help, etc.
B is, without doubt, the ugliest and stupidest but it is followed closely by A), for sure. and we know the first is the new Dubai building. that 2nd one is just truly hideous. I bet it's also impractical for using, too, on the interior, given its shape.
ReplyDeleteMo Rage
the blog
Do people feel more important if they are in some idol to the Gods . Do people feel better if they have more trinkets than the next guy ?
ReplyDeleteThe smartest person in the room is a person who enjoys life without all
the hype .
They are all dumb.
ReplyDeleteI hope they have a big bottle of windex.
From Wikipedia,
To wash the 24,348 windows, a horizontal track has been installed on the exterior of Burj Khalifa at levels 40, 73 and 109. Each track holds a 1.5 tonne bucket machine which moves horizontally and then vertically using heavy cables. Above level 109, up to tier 27 traditional cradles from davits are used. The top of the spire, however, is reserved for specialist window cleaners, who brave the heights and high winds dangling by ropes to clean and inspect the top of the pinnacle.[49] Under normal conditions, when all building maintenance units will be operational, it will take 36 workers three to four months to clean the entire exterior facade.[40][50]
Unmanned machines will clean the top 27 additional tiers and the glass spire. The cleaning system was developed in Australia at a cost of A$8 million.[51]
Wonder if these are our modern day pyramids. Ever think perhaps those Egyptians were thinking the same thing with their "bubble" and built the pyramids as some sort of investment scheme?
ReplyDeleteI saw a comment on nytimes where someone called the burj dubai a monument to the new great depression, as the empire state building's opening ushered in GD1.
ReplyDeletemsnj
B) is NOT a dumb building, or do you know any other hotel in Pyongyang? Now if this ugly bastard frat boy dictator was a bit more inviting...
ReplyDeleteBurj Khalifa tower is a candidate for dumbest building ?
ReplyDeleteIt is the most sophisticated, extravagant and truly luxurious publicly accessible building ever built till date anywhere in the world.
Do I detect a case of mad jealousy affecting a lot of folks out here because it happens to be in Dubai and not in the West ? Before even considering the Burj, what about those ugly buildings on the Vegas strip you call casinos ? Are these gambling dens not the dumbest buildings in the dumbest city and symptomatic of the speculation we saw and continue to see regarding housing in the US that started this downturn ?
I'll tell you what is dumb about the Burj - it would be the fact that there was no need to build it wasting this much of money, especially when you consider that ongoing maintenance costs are going to cost more than what it took to build the thing.
"first person to jump off of Build a)
ReplyDeletegets an extra virgin.."
Already happened. Read the news! No virgin delivered.
rhymes with myopia. http://www.miapoliscity.com/
ReplyDelete