AT LEAST THE ARABS ARE PUTTING OUR $110/BARREL OIL MONEY TO GOOD USE!

I never have been a big fan of beauty pageants. I think this would sour me for sure on them. "Camel Beauty Pageant,"..."Test Tube Purebred Camels"..."Remote Controlled Robot Camel Jockeys"...This whole deal is ignorant...

Dubai crown prince buys camel for record 2.7 mln dlrs

The crown prince of the United Arab Emirates of Dubai has bought a female camel for a record 2.72 million dollars, an organiser at a camel beauty pageant said on Monday.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum "bought camels... worth 16.5 million dirhams (4.49 million dollars), including a female camel... for 10 million dirhams (2.72 million dollars)," Hamad bin Kardoum al-Amiri said.

Amiri, quoted by the official WAM news agency, made the remarks on the sidelines of the nine-day beauty pageant which opened on Wednesday in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.

More than 10,000 camels -- including females which are the fasting racing camels -- from across the Gulf are competing for prize money totalling around 9.5 million dollars. One hundred cars are also up for grabs.

The contest is part of a camel festival in Abu Dhabi that aims to celebrate and preserve the region's cultural heritage.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that make up the UAE federation, produced the world's first test-tube purebred camel and has begun using remote-controlled robot riders in its camel races in place of child jockeys.