Dynaverse.net
Off Topic => Ten Forward => Topic started by: Electric Eye on March 17, 2007, 10:35:33 pm
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You say Dubai, I say hello.
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Sunday, March 18, 2007
I think I may have figured out why gasoline prices have gone up about a dime a gallon in the last couple of weeks.
Maybe it's because Halliburton, the giant oil services company that landed the big contract to rebuild Iraq, is moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai.
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The Halliburton execs have to pay for those plane tickets somehow. And you know how it is when you move in a hurry: The airlines really soak you on the tickets.
Have you checked lately on how much it costs to get Mayflower to drive all your stuff from Houston to the United Arab Emirates?
Halliburton chief executive Dave Lesar says the company is moving to Dubai to take advantage of the big oil markets in the Middle East and Asia.
I suspect there's more to it than that.
Dubai is that rich place in the Middle East that you see on TV with the big hotel shaped like a sail — the $1,361-a-night, seven-star Burj Al Arab Hotel. Maybe they're going for the golf.
Then there's Ski Dubai, that fancy indoor ski area where you can slalom down a 400-meter slope when it's 128 degrees outside.
Meanwhile, Houston has the Beer Can House.
Then again, maybe Halliburton is just trying to get away from all the mosquitoes.
Some cynics will say Halliburton is moving because it wants people to forget about Iraq. This is the company that was given a $2.4 billion no-bid contract to supply the U.S. military, and what has it done so far?
Does the Green Zone have a Starbucks yet? I think they should have given Disney the contract. If they had, you know there'd be a theme park up by now.
Then again, maybe Halliburton is moving because of the disappearing money.
Last month, the feds said the company was responsible for $2.7 billion in contractor waste and excess billing in Iraq. And did I mention that Dick Cheney used to be chief executive at Halliburton?
Maybe they can teach him to sing the new Beatles knockoff, "You say Dubai, and I say hello."
It's probably a good thing for the Houston Chamber of Commerce that Halliburton is getting out of there. After Enron, it needs another company with a funny reputation like it needs another NASA astronaut driving to Florida in a diaper.
After the Enron debacle, does Houston really want a repeat performance? That's all that town needs: more national TV coverage with anchormen standing in front of business signs in downtown Houston. Remember seeing the crooked E over and over again on the news? Do Houstonians really want to turn on the tube and see a crooked H?
I'm just wondering how long it'll be before the Halliburton people get homesick for Houston and want to come back for the humidity. Why not? The heat's already on 'em.
John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 445-3606 or jkelso@statesman.com.
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Next up? We have our first V.P. renouncing the United States and moving to Dubai! :o
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Yeah... welcome to a week ago in H&S... speaking of which... probably a good place for this thread (too).
GE-Raven
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It would be more appropriate for H & S - It almost got a tirade from me about all the traitorous execgrrrrarrrggghhhh.
No, will not go there. Will not say I told you so! Will remain calm. Remember, lower blood pressure!
See, it don't belong in this nice place...:)
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It would be more appropriate for H & S - It almost got a tirade from me about all the traitorous execgrrrrarrrggghhhh.
No, will not go there. Will not say I told you so! Will remain calm. Remember, lower blood pressure!
See, it don't belong in this nice place...:)
Agreed... I have a feeling no mods actually look here any more :-p
So if TheJudge and I agree on something... it must be true. Well other than Judy Garland being a fabulous performer. :-)
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When my partner saw me in the Dynaverse with this really intense look on my face, he went "Oh no! You haven't gone and gotten yourself back into that political section have you?"
He was worried for my health....*sigh*
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Heh... my Wife says similar things to me TheJudge. We have to knock this off... if we keep supporting each other, well people will talk.
Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours?
Why do the neighbors chatter all day, behind their doors?
I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue.
Here is the gist, a practical list of "don'ts" for you.
Don't throw bouquets at me
Don't please my folks too much
Don't laugh at my jokes too much
People will say we're in love!
Don't sigh and gaze at me
Your sighs are so like mine
Your eyes mustn't glow like mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't start collecting things
Give me my rose and my glove.
Sweetheart they're suspecting things
People will say we're in love.
Don't praise my charm too much
Don't look so vain with me
Don't stand in the rain with me
People will say we're in love!
Don't take my arm too much
Don't keep your hand in mine
Your hand feels so grand in mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't dance all night with me
Till the stars fade from above.
They'll see it's alright with me
People will say we're in love.
God Bless ya Rogers and Hammerstein.
GE-Raven
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I'm not the one quoting Rogers and Hammerstein, or admiring Judy Garland. :)
However, I'll certainly share that beer with you. I could really use a drink today (let's just say work's becoming a pain when the Buidling Trades union turns around and supports a toll road going through a state park and you're trying to stop the toll road).
What was this topic about before our love fest started? Oh yeah. Dubai. You know, I hated the place when I was there. Too darn hot and the beer tasted like swill. 136 degrees was just a little too much for this swabbie. Heck, even the water was hot, just over 89 degrees (all farenheit. I'm an American darn it and don't know metric to save my life!). I remember our nuke engineers were worried because the salt water intake was pumping in water that was almost too warm to cool down the reactors...oh yeah, those were the days! Halliburton is welcome to go there...as long as they stop getting US contracts...(like that will ever happen...well at least before 2009).
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I brew my own beer now. Wife got me a Keg-a-rator for Christmas :-) Right now got a nice German Oktoberfest on tap. And an Irish/Imperial stout (Added some rye malt and brewer's licorice to the mix) in the Wings. Next beer is either a Dunkel Weiss or a Scottish Ale. Haven't decided yet.
I would send you some, but the Feds and Mail folks take a dim view of shipping home-brewed alcohol across state lines I suppose.
GE-Raven
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Not likely to ever stop. Halliburton has been getting contracts from the US government since Bush 41. And they got more no-bid contracts during Clinton's Administration than they did from Bush 43.