December 3, 2009 by Robert Bonnett
According to a report on the Pravda website, the country spends more on its armed forces than any other in the Middle East. More specifically $40.5 billion in 2009, which equates to 10% of the nation’s GDP. Israel, the region’s second largest arms buyer, spends a mere third as much – around $13 billion. To put Saudi Arabia’s $40.5 billion into perspective, Russia spends nearly $60 billion per annum on its military, the United Kingdom and France about $65 billion a piece, China $85 billion, and the USA over $600 billion – that alone is circa 40% of global defence spending. Those top five purchasers are, coincidentally, also amongst the leading arms exporters.
Back to Saudi Arabia, though. Its arms budget has, as with neighbouring countries, continued to rise despite the worldwide economic crisis. So why didn’t they spend some of that money on sewers instead? Over 500 people died in Jeddah last week, owing to flash floods brought on by heavy rain. The death toll – around 100 if Saudi officialdom is to be believed, which it’s not (find out why, here) – will probably run into the thousands, as many people were swept out to sea in the deluge. It all could have been avoided, if, that is, four out of the five million inhabitants in the city were served by adequate sewage and treatment facilities, the lack of which led to the flooding. What serves those people instead is a corrupt and in-denial government, who’d rather lay down the law instead of drainage pipes, and buy machine guns in preference to manholes.
I’ll finish by quoting Reem Asaad (the lady who’s leading the revolution against Saudi Arabia’s underwear business) “Aside from the relief work, people are angry and furious with the municipal mismanagement that contributed to this disaster. Many are calling for public questioning and penalty of those directly involved, mainly government officers and subcontractors.”
Posted in Random | Tagged Arms Expenditure, China, Israel, Jeddah Floods, Middle East, Military Spending, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA | Leave a Comment »
November 29, 2009 by Robert Bonnett
And all because one of its contributors wrote articles critical of his former employer. A court in Cherepovets placed the internet magazine (http://zhurnal.lib.ru/) on the Justice Ministry’s list of extremist publications after retired Severstal employee Vitaly Dunayev used the site to publish articles attacking the steel and mining giant’s owner, Alexei Mordashov.
The court ruling sees the entire samizdat website pigeonholed alongside those of neo-Nazi and radical Islamist groups. Distribution of any of its articles, and not just those penned by Dunayev, whose essays, according to The Moscow Times, were described by prosecutors as “propaganda” against officials and Severstal management, is, as a result, a criminal offence punishable by a fine and/or spell in gaol.
Severstal is, coincidentally, the city’s main employer. Funny that . . . .
Posted in Back In The USSR | Tagged Alexei Mordashov, Censorship, Free Speech, Russia, Samizdat, Severstal, Soviet, Vitaly Dunayev | Leave a Comment »
November 28, 2009 by Robert Bonnett
What’s this? Not like the politically correct fellows at the BBC to venture into such dangerous territory:
Mein Kampf A Hit On Dhaka Streets
Street vendors in the Bangladeshi capital, we’re told, have discovered an “unusual bestseller”. One such colporteur, Mabul, informed Auntie Beeb that Mein Kampf is in constant demand and “all the rage among educated people”. Sales were particularly strong in the week running up to the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday owing to the book’s popularity as a gift for friends and family.
But, “unusual bestseller”? Really? That Hitler’s autobiographical political manifesto should be in the same league as Dan Brown’s latest effort in a country with a predominantly Muslim population should come as no great surprise. It has for decades sold well in many parts of the Islamic world. What the article fails to address is why this is so.
If some people are to be believed, Islam and Nazism are two peas in a pod. “Churchill even observed the similarities between the Qur’an and Mein Kampf,” is the usual line put forward to bolster such claims. And it’s true, he did. I would, even as someone with a very positive outlook towards Islam, have to concede that vague parallels exist between the two books. Emphasis here on the word “vague”. Progressive and encouraging passages in the Qur’an far outweigh those of an unfavourable nature. The same can’t be said of Mein Kampf.
The oft cited connection between Hitler’s regime and the Islamic extremists of the day – a relationship, incidentally, that many try to brush under their prayer mats the carpet – overlooks the countless Muslims who fought and opposed the Nazis. But, as with the superficial similitude between Mein Kampf and the Qur’an, said union has wrongly led some Muslims to believe they share the same goals and ideals as Hitler, and many non-Muslims to unfairly paint Islam as little short of Nazism.
It’s not – although, admittedly, some Muslims do behave like Nazis . . . .
Posted in Hitler And His Lederhosen Gang | Tagged Bangladesh, Dhaka, Eid, Islam, Islamic Extremism, Mein Kampf, Muslims, Nazism, Qur’an | Leave a Comment »
