The Twin Towers (1368ft) were once the tallest buildings. Islamic terrorists destroyed them early in this decade. Today, near the decade's end, the Burj Dubai (2716ft) is opened. It's height equals the Twin Towers combined. The symbolism of height and global status is obvious, but unremarked in the West.

Burj Dubai is funded by high oil prices, paid by the West to the Arabs. Oil prices are high because Western governments have prevented domestic exploration and production. So there is less oil, more dependence on our enemies and more pollution in the world. The only practical response has been expansion of bio-fuel production at taxpayer expense; hence food shortages because of misallocated land. It's nice that liberals get to feel virtuous tho. Would that self-approval were an alternative energy source.

Burj Dubai, a finger in the sky.

Mick: I like Mark's imagery, but I thought this might be a good place to add a related, but different observation. The last world-record holder skyscraper built in the U.S. was the Willis (formerly the Sears) Tower, constructed in 1974. Why no further attempts are supertalls? Hundreds of skyscrapers have been built in the U.S. since then, but no one is particularly interested in setting records. The reason is simple--there is no longer an economic justification for such projects. With the advent of the internet, businesses are far more decentralized and it makes much more sense to build in landscaped business parks closer to where people actually live. Effectively, new technologies have rendered the supertall obsolete.

Except in Islamic countries...

The truly rich don't flaunt symbols of their wealth. When Sam Walton of Walmart fame, was asked why he drove an old Ford pickup truck rather than a Rolls Royce, Walton replied that you can't put dogs in the Rolls Royce. Sam Walton was a billionaire because he understood what had value and what didn't.

Look at the picture and note that there is nothing around the Burj Dubai. This is emblematic of the old Texan observation--Big hat, no cattle. When you visit New York City, Chicago or London, you see a sea of skyscrapers--to the extend that they become mundane, an unremarkable part of the landscape where wealth and power are simply taken in stride.

The lonely Burj Dubai is a monument to impotence.