I am so excited about meeting Captain Hamad!

DP World actually has a kids' website! How exciting. All the kids will be able to get to know Captain Hamad!
http://www.dpworld.ae/kidszone/web_parts/english/hello.htm

...as the model for little Captain Hamad.

Political Correctness aside, "Camel Jock" is tacky.

It's not very worldly to refer to others as "Beaners", "Jungle Bunnies", "Cracker", or "Charlie Chans."

We have a very diverse forum here...I read over at the Religion/Islam forum often. There are some wonderful posters there, mostly Americans.

Think about it. I know it's a easy shot if you're carried away telling a joke, especially if you don't have any Muslim friends, but it's not a good way to go about being a "uniter rather than a divider."

Pollyanna here...Peace...Out. :hi:

...the emirati use enslaved boys as jockeys in camel races. This well-documented fact has been prominently discussed at DU. Your scolding is in error.

...just like horse jockeys, they are chosen (sometimes by the wealthy against their will, sometimes not) because their light weight helps in winning races. This is a sport where wealth exploits children. It is not the only way children are exploited the world around. Do you know for a fact that any of the Dubai Port executives race camels? If so, post that. Child exploitation would be relevant to ethics of the exexutives of the company. If not, it's just a bit of a weak shot.

Were you referencing these children in their plight in your post? Or, are you being disingenuous?

Honesty here: Was that meant as a coarse aside that you wouldn't apply to McGruff, or Disney, or Smurfs?

The reality is that a site hires an artist. The artist's job is to create a character for children to relate to while they tell a story that indirectly sells/advertises the company's business. I don't care for any foreign (read: Non-American) company to get these port bids in the present climate. No other country.

We have European companies that administer some American ports. If it were an Italian company with a kid's page, and a kid called "Capt'n Pirelli", would you have made a crack about choir boys and priests?

Honestly?

Think about it.

Why would you think I'm being disingenuous? Your baseless assumptions--and, that's exactly what they are--are very offensive and completely unappreciated. You are WAY out of line here.

But it's not a very good joke, is it?

It's not really relevant to the port issue, and the Dubai company, is it?

Do you have information that directly connects the Dubai company executives to this practice? If so, that would be an explosive investigative post that is extremely relevant to the ethics of the company in which this administration is entrusting port administration.

If not, it's an aside that doesn't hurt you, but might just be insensitive in it's generalities.

Would you say about an Italian company's kid's page that the model of their kid captain was probably a sexually abused choir boy? Can you see the off-handedness of the remark?

It's a little Ann Coulterish to go after this issue from that angle.

And make no mistake, it can be painful in that off-handness. Not all executives in the Middle East abuse children in camel racing.

Do you have evidence that ties the Dubai group to this practice? Do you think all Middle Eastern executives indulge in child abuse for racing?

If the CIA can have a "Kids Page"...well, anyone can.