I first went to Dubai in 1975, before the madness took off. Then it was interesting, dusty and hot. I since, unfortunately, have been back many times, but more fortunately, only ever in transit, and I loathe it.

The place has come to represent everything that is wrong in the world. Naked greed, corruption on a massive scale - read Misha Glenny's McMafia for an understanding of the role Dubai plays in global gangsterism - squandering of resources on a global scale, pushing a totally unsustainable, massively resource intensive lifestyle that sees the squandering of nations' wealth by the kleptocrats & oligarchs who spend their time there while whole swathes of the people of these same nations often live in abject poverty and squalor, along with a display of naked wealth and bling that even Donald Trump must envy, hypocrisy that is staggering, with pious demands for "correct" behaviour and harsh punishments for breaching this, while bars and clubs sell alcohol by the barrel load and are packed wall to wall with Chinese & Russian prostitutes, along with rich Gulf patrons from Dubai, Saudi, Pakistan, etc., not to mention the hordes of Westerners who want to live the same totally hedonistic, but ultimately empty lives, based on exploitation of cheap South & East Asian labour and a wealth generated from oil - one of the primary factors behind global warming. The place is worse than an embarrassment. It is shameful.

And this suppurating pustule of a country is right next door to the so pious guardian of Islamic morals, yet not once do I recall reading of an al Quaida, IS or any other fundamentalist attack on the place. And why? Because woven into the fabric of its corruption is also the small fact that Dubai is one of the major global conduits for funding to these very same groups that should despise everything the place stands for. And they are not going to kill the golden goose now, are they. If there are any benefit in global warming, it is that this obscenity will disappear under the rising waters.