Posted on 02/21/2005 8:14:53 PM PST by CHARLITE
This message and the pictures are from a friend of a friend of mine who is a retired Air Force Lt.General.
He wrote: I toured this aircraft as it was being "remodeled" in Waco.
Yes, the sinks are solid gold and one of them is Lalique crystal. The Sultan bought the aircraft for roughly $100M; had it flown to Waco, brand-new, had the interior completely removed; and had the folks at E-Systems(now Raytheon) install $120M worth of improvements and outside.
I've gained entrance to nuclear weapons storage areas much easier than gaining entrance to see this airplane.
I wonder how many Muslim families per year could be fed, clothed and housed for the cost of the bathroom fixtures.
Is there "something wrong with this picture?" Why are Americans to blame for this? Oh, wait.......I know. I know. We keep on buying their oil. Trouble with that is that if we stopped, China, India and the rest of the world requiring the liquid gold would keep these people in 24K gold faucets anyway.
Well, to be fair, Brunei is a small Island to the north of Indonesia or Malaysia, so, technically not located in ME..
It is on the island of Borneo, and has about 350,000 people and boatloads of oil and valuable forests. I don't think there are much in the way of discontented masses there. Back to the drawing boards.
This is one plane that won't be crashed into the skyscrapers of Malaysia.
One of these days I'll post a pic of his cottage here in Las Vegas.
Pardon me, but did you notice the exotic ceilings on that private jet? Did the reporter get to see the secret liquor cabinets stashed high with every conceivable liquor and the finest wines? Did he see the Sultan's er, uh, er team of 'dancing girls?' . . . Oh, well. Waaaahtever.
WOW .. indescribable opulence .. the long corridor, is that seating on the left or just a connecting hallway between the bedroom and main salon? Just unreal .. $220M for your own plane .. and that's before it gets off the ground and needs fuel, crew, food, etc. Incredible .. thanks for the pics. Would LOVE to see the hideaway in Vegas, too. I don't know that the Sultan gets too involved in geo-politics or playing those Islamic jihadist games .. I think he's a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist and maybe a tad hedonistic, as well. Although, now that I think about it, have there been hints of kidnapping gorgeous ladies with him?
Uh, duh, yeah. I could be convinced to fly again...have a feeling he will miss the security lines in Atlanta.
The "poor, huddled masses" everywhere..black, white or brown all want what this guy has...and that's why they hate us, cause we're the rich uncle. The resentment comes with the territory. so as Denny Crain says,
" IT'S GOOD TO HATE. We get to charge them a lot and sleep good at night."
Denny Crane! Denny Crane!
Hmmmm. A veritable plethora of highly polished two dimensional reflective silicone panels on the overhead areas. I wonder what purpose those serve? To make the interior look bigger? Yeah. That must be it.
No big deal.
Hell, when I flew KC-135 tankers in SAC, they were every bit as well-appointed.
Oh yes........and monkeys DO fly out of my butt.
LOL!
lol..
"Do you suppose that displays of personal self-indulgence on this scale might have anything to do with "Muslim rage?" I don't know what the unemployment rate is in Brunei, but elsewhere in the Middle East it is very high, while the Sultan, and "folks" like Saddam, Uday, Qusay, the few thousand members of the Saudi royal family....live in the lap of luxury."
Why can't the same be said about the concentration of wealth in this country? Perhaps it's not as extreme, but isn't it possible that it soon could be? Would it be logical to expect the lower and middle (if there still is one) classes to respond with the same "rage"?
Just took a peek at your FReeper page and then took a look at your Opus to DU and all I am able to say is Hip Hip Hoooray !!
Glad you liked it. It was all the rage 'round here for a day or two after the election. Well, it tickled a few funny bones at the very least.
Well, I don't know much about the bloke.
But if it's his money, he should be able to spend it as he likes.
I suppose that's the goal of liberals, isn't it? Class division. Race division. Religious division. Cultural divide...........then CONQUER! "Level the playing field" so that everyone has the same, and opportunities to move up, to succeed....disappear. The government provides for everyone in the homogenous American, soviet-style family.
Besides, my point was that the gap is so huge between staggering wealth and abject poverty; between "stasis" or a perpetual status quo (like the caste system in India), and those few (like the Sultan) who are simply born into $250 million private jet life styles, that I'm asking, "why blame America for those gigantic, historic discrepancies?"
The left loves to preach about "social justice!" Where or when has there been "social justice" in these age-old potentates which have existed in that part of the world for hundreds of centuries, long before oceans of oil were ever discovered under their deserts, and most certainly long before there was an America.
Char
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