The American Spectator

And these are merely the highlights, with literally THOUSANDS of more-anonymous office, apartment/condo and hotel towers going up 24x7. Many might chalk up this ostentatious development to mere use of oil’s “found wealth” (or the more cynical, to use of laundered Afghan heroin-dollars!), and may question whether this vast investment will indeed be the infrastructure of a self-sustaining economy once the black gold runs dry, or just eventually be buried under the fine dust of the incessant (and HOT!) desert winds.

Yet one living in the U.S. needn’t look too far to find a “service economy” that seems to be humming along just fine with a big emphasis on construction counterbalancing a meager manufacturing sector as most of us design, market, move or sell goods made in other countries, or tend to the administration/legal/finance facets of business. Not to mention entire other sectors such as healthcare, hospitality, not-for-profit and — dare I speak as if it’s potentially a good thing? — government.

p>Manufacturing may be essential for China/India/Pakistan/Indonesia and other countries with burgeoning populations but little per-capita wealth. For selected parts of the Gulf region, however, skipping the Industrial Revolution may be as successful a strategy as countries that “skipped” directly cellular phone service without first laying down much of a land-line network. br> — Kevin Amaro br> Hayward, California /p>

Eureka! Now I understand why Senators Kennedy and Kerry are such useless bags of wind. One inherited money and the other married it. Neither of them produced it by the sweat of their brows. So naturally they both think that giving away taxpayers’ money is perfectly natural.

p>But how do they continue to bamboozle the voters in Massachusetts? br> — Bob Johnson br> Bedford, Texas /p> p> NO PLACE FOR JOE