Sandier Pastures

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that evolution had created.

“What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!”, he said to himself. As he was walking along the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned to see what the cause was, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charging right towards him. He ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing, He ran even faster, crying in fear. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.

At that moment, the Atheist cried out “Oh my God!….” Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky,

“You deny my existence for all of these years; teach others I don”t exist; and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?”

The atheist looked directly into the light “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?” “Very well,” said the voice.

The light went out. The river ran again. And the sounds of the forest resumed.

And then the bear dropped his right paw ….. brought both paws together…bowed his head and spoke:

“Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful.”

By the word island I do not mean a solitary piece of land where shipwreck survivors get washed up ashore. Dubai is known for the ‘islands’ they created.

In The News: First residents move into the Palm Jumeirah

A few years ago, there was nothing but the unbroken sea. Now a new land which is made from sand dredged up from the bottom of the Arabian gulf and rocks from nearby mountains rised from the sea in a lovely form of a palm tree. 

After a very massive delay in construction work, first residents of Palm Jumeirah moved into their houses according to the news here today. The AP profiles Andrew Dukes who was the first to move into his island mansion paid around $1.36 for his house over a year ago. It is now worth nearly, stunningly, double!

One of Palm Jumeirah’s first residents Duke Andrews and his kayak. He is planning to windsurf after kayaking.

Palm Jumeirah is just the first of the palm islands. Take note the plural form. ISLAND-S. Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira will humble the size of Palm Jumeirah, the smallest of the palm islands. Click the images to enlarge.

This is something people said couldn’t be done. Well, now it’s been done.

British soccer stars, including David Beckham, have bought properties on the Palm Jumeirah, according to Palm developer Nakheel’s website. So if you want to see David and his bare chest everyday, go buy a property there now.

Others are said to have taken a look. Nakheel’s website claims popstar Michael Jackson, supermodel Naomi Campbell and actor Denzel Washington have shown interest.

The developers say the first 4,000 condos and homes sold on Palm Jumeirah went to citizens of the UAE and other Arabian Gulf countries.

Britons accounted for about 25 per cent of the buyers with the rest from 75 different nationalities, including several Americans.

These facts I just read in the papers. We plan to go there sometime in the weekend to walk on the man-made shores. I’ll be back to let you know how it feels.