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2004-01-19 Arabia
Mahathir sez Muslims should show more tolerance
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Posted by Dan Darling 2004-01-19 12:20:31 AM|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Did Mah-hat-ma name any names? Nope.
Posted by Lucky 2004-1-19 12:42:24 AM||   2004-1-19 12:42:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 "But in the past half century, things have gone wrong.” Err! Thats because approximately a half century ago (actually a bit more in couple of cases) and excepting Turkey, Iran which was on and off a British protectorate, and of course Afghanistan and we all know how successful they became, there were *NO* muslim run states in the entire world.

Mahathir is no fool and he is feeding the masses the crap they want to hear. He knows that without oil (and other resources) and the Chinese, Malaysia would be some third world basket case, Of course he can't say that being a good muslim and all.
Posted by phil_b 2004-1-19 2:06:05 AM||   2004-1-19 2:06:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 â€œThe price of oil is $33, but the US dollar has declined by 40 percent against the euro so you’re effectively getting $20,”

Damn!!! They caught on to it.
Posted by Rafael 2004-1-19 2:07:38 AM||   2004-1-19 2:07:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 He further suggested that Saudi Arabia should sell oil for gold, not dollars, to avoid being “short-changed” by a decline in the US currency. “The price of oil is $33, but the US dollar has declined by 40 percent against the euro so you’re effectively getting $20,” Mahathir told delegates. “You’re being short-changed.”

As usual, Mahathir's grasp of economics is laughable. He doesn't seem to understand that oil at $35 a barrel is not cheap. If it goes higher, the industrialized economies will tank, bringing down with it demand for oil and oil prices in general, due to glut of unsold oil. Substitution effects will also come into play - expect the US to start moving towards non-oil alternatives for home heating in a major way.
Posted by Zhang Fei  2004-1-19 2:13:14 AM||   2004-1-19 2:13:14 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Don't you worry, Mahathir is a sharp pickle. He knows, for instance, that if the world falls into recession because of higher oil prices, then he's still covered because the price of gold tends to increase during uncertainty. They didn't give him a PhD in Economics for nothing ya know. Oh wait..
Posted by Rafael 2004-1-19 2:23:47 AM||   2004-1-19 2:23:47 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 If Iraq ends up half as bad as Malaysia is, that will be a great victory for the West. Mahathir often talks like a fool-- especially when it comes to economics-- and the Malaysian system's favoring of of (mainly Muslim) Malays over Chinese and Indian minorities is obnoxious from a liberal point of view. But that said, it's a long LONG way from Malaysia to any other Muslim-dominated country-- Turkey being the exception that proves the rule-- and Mahathir deserves some credit for that.

Facing facts, Islam is a pretty tough steer to herd into the modern world-- note, in that regard, the recent depressing news from Iraq that the IGC wants to turn family law over to-- erk-- f'ing shariah law! Facing facts, there are lots of rocks ahead of us on the road to leading Iraq to liberalism. And I just pray that we do as well in Iraq as Mahathir did in Malaysia.

Just remember y'all: a truly smart man is smart enough to play the fool when circumstances require.

Posted by TPF  2004-1-19 2:59:16 AM||   2004-1-19 2:59:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Zhang Fei - The problem is that oil is not a fungible (I believe that is the term) commodity. Excepting nuclear power, there is no obvious replacement for oil, and this is despite 30 years and billions to try and find one.

The only solution to dependance on ME oil I am aware of is to majorly crank up production of oil from the Alberta oil sands where there is a bigger reserve than all the worlds conventional oil resources put together.

The US government should issue an open contract to buy oil from this source for say 50 years at a fixed price, say $15 to $20 a barrel. I believe the current cost of production is $12 per barrel.

I am not normally in favor of subverting free markets, but we do not have a free market in oil.
Posted by phil_b 2004-1-19 3:14:26 AM||   2004-1-19 3:14:26 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 If Mahathir is so against Islamic extremism, why then is he openly backing a stated Islamist goal, namely replacing the dollar with the gold standard? Listening to the Islamic "moderates" and "extremists" quibble is like watching Stalinists and Trotskyites go at it. They may differ on the method, but they both have the same goal in mind.
Posted by 11A5S 2004-1-19 4:24:55 PM||   2004-1-19 4:24:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 I've said it before and I'll say it again, make Alberta an offer it can't refuse.

They're not happy w/the frogs running things and are starting to take certain functions inhouse, so to speak.
Posted by Anonymous2U 2004-1-19 11:02:54 PM||   2004-1-19 11:02:54 PM|| Front Page Top

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