$1.5 Billion Star Trek Theme Park Coming To Jordan 233
MikeChino writes "King Abdullah of Jordan (who was once an extra in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager) has given the green light to a $1.5 billion Star Trek theme park that will boldly take Jordan where no Gulf state has gone before. While the theme park will not be powered by dilithium crystals, it will utilize green technology in order to lower its carbon footprint — all of its electricity will be generated by renewable sources." Just a few weeks ago Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Ahyan carved his name in the desert so it could be seen from space. It looks like Sci-fi has finally made it to the Middle East. I can't wait for them to discover Firefly.
Mix attitude (Score:5, Interesting)
On the one hand, this is pretty cool, and the general values of Stark Trek (of which free thought and egalitarianism are pretty high on the list) are good things to promote in areas like Jordan. However, the fact that the monarch is already a Trekkie and yet is country is like what it is today doesn't speak highly of how much influence it has really had on him. (Jordan is not nearly as badly off as say Syria, but it is by no means a functioning democracy with human rights. Far from it.) Moreover, the people who go to this will almost certainly be outside tourists, whether Westerners, or rich people from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. So this will probably do very little to directly benefit Jordanians, who have a lot of problems. Again, Jordan's problems aren't nearly as severe as many other countries in the region, the literacy rate is the second highest out of it and its immediate neighbors http://www.indexmundi.com/jordan/literacy.html [indexmundi.com] but there's still a decent chunk of around 10% who can't read. And there's severe unemployment- this project might help with that, but it is tough to tell.
The fact that they are making the park green is noteworthy. Unlike many of the oil states in the region, Jordan's total oil reserve is comparatively small, but they do have a lot of oil shale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_in_Jordan [wikipedia.org] which becomes more valuable as people run out of oil. So it isn't completely clear why Jordan would want to promote green tech other than actual ideology (well and self-interest for when everyone else's oil runs out and they still want their stuff to not be insanely expensive. But that's surprisingly far-sighed in the circumstances). It should be interesting to see where this goes in the next few years.
Re:For $1.5B they could do a lot for scifi (Score:4, Interesting)
This is NOT Mecca. This is Jordan. (Score:4, Interesting)
The previous king was often the only voice of reason on matters pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He was the only one to criticize both sides when they deserved it. The current king was not the crown prince, but the previous king changed his choice of successor at the last minute. Thankfully, king Abdullah has continued his father's tradition.
King Abdullah did things in his youth that he probably would not have done were he the crown prince. Things like appearing as an extra in a Star Trek: TNG episode. I believe that makes him the only monarch on the planet ever to appear in a Star Trek episode. Clearly, he is more of a Star Trek fan than I thought, and good for him.
Re:Mix attitude (Score:4, Interesting)
The (extended) interview with the Jordanian UN Ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad was also quite good (and hilarious):
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-1-2011/exclusive---zeid-ra-ad-extended-interview-pt--1 [thedailyshow.com]
Or if you're Canadian, like me:
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/exclusive-interviews/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart---prince-zeid-raad-extended-interview/#clip426425 [thecomedynetwork.ca]
Abdullah was supposed to show up again to promote his book, but given the situation in the Middle East, he sent the Ambassador instead. Interestingly enough, he's a Pretender to the Throne of Iraq--if they ever brought back the monarchy, I think they could do quite a bit worse than him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Zeid_bin_Ra'ad [wikipedia.org]
Let me preface what I'm about to say by saying that from everything I've read and seen, and with the comparative openness of Jordan and Jordanian society, I think King Abdullah (and King Hussein before him) is a good man and leader, and in no way compares to some of the people that follow. I think many foreign dignitaries come off quite well on the Daily Show and the Colbert Report (like Pakistani ex-president Pervez Musharraf, and former Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak)--it's their opportunity to present themselves to a good portion of the American public (and given the international distribution, probably a not-insignificant amount of viewers throughout the western world). I have a feeling that were Asma (Emma) and/or Bashar al-Assad ever to go on, they'd probably be similarly charming and well-spoken. During World War II, Joseph Stalin cultivated the image of Uncle Joe in Allied countries.
All that said, Jordan hasn't launched invasions of its neighbours, there don't seem to be mass-graves or concentration camps in Jordan, there haven't been brutal and bloody crackdowns (as in Libya or Syria), and Jordan is open enough to the rest of the world that we'd probably be able to tell.