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2007-10-07 Africa North

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Posted by Fred 2007-10-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11139 views ] Top
File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1 Mr. Leuchtag: Come sit down. Have a brandy with us.

Mrs. Leuchtag: To celebrate our leaving for America tomorrow.

Posted by Besoeker 2007-10-07 07:32|| 2007-10-07 07:32|| Front Page Top

#2 American workers may cost more for payroll, but you don't have to worry about shit like this. You don't have to worry about the govt. nationalizing your assets, you don't have to bribe rival warlords and criminal gangs , you don't need a metal detector at the employee turnstile.

And you don't have to pay us to pray 5 times a day instead of work.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2007-10-07 09:05|| 2007-10-07 09:05|| Front Page Top

#3 Investing money in the manufacturing sector in Arab countries is a fast way to lose money. A big reason is the popularity of terrorism in those countries.

Here are some basic facts about the situation:

Foreign investment in the Arab world, outside of oil and gas, is miniscule in comparison to such investments that have been pouring into Asia. Per capita foreign direct investment is the lowest for any region in the world outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Only about 3% of all Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) goes to the Arab world. The Arab world's percentage of overall world trade has declined by almost 35% since 1980 to just 3%. Most of this is oil and gas.

Manufacturing exports, a source of employment generation and income stabilization, are miniscule compared to exports of oil and gas. Total manufacturing exports of the region are far less than they could be. Manufacturing exports from Israel, population 6 million, are about $24 billion per year. Manufacturing exports from Turkey, population about 67 million, are about $25 billion. Total Arab world (population 240 million) manufacturing exports are about $19 billion. ....

Unemployment for the entire group of countries is about 15%. Combined unemployment and underemployment could be as high as 20-25%. In some countries the unemployment rates are truly stunning: Algeria, 30%; Iraq, before the war, was possibly 50%, after the war and until recently it could be in the 80-90% range; the West Bank and Gaza could be as high as 35-50% and in some areas as much as 75%. First time job seekers have the worst of it. About 80% of the unemployed in Egypt are first time job seekers. Real wages have declined in almost all occupations in Egypt since 1980. ...

Egypt, for example, has about 1.2 million new Egyptians each year. It needs to produce about 750,000 jobs per year. It is only producing about 350,000 per year.

There is hope that new industries might also be started, such as in auto parts [like Michelin] and other intermediate goods, to supply factories in the EU, for example. ...

R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP are the lowest outside of sub-Saharan Africa. International patenting, and scientific and engineering publications are well behind most regions in per capita terms. There are many persons working in R&D, science and engineering, but there is something [Islam] stopping them from reaching their massive potential. ...

Poverty seems to be on the increase in the region. Many studies point to increases in poverty in Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt and Algeria over the past decade. .... About 14% of Arabs live under $1 a day according to some sources. Some observers suggest it could be as much as 20+%. Possibly about 22-30% of the Arab world lives on less than $2 a day. .... $2 a day works out to $730 per year, which is ... the income of an average unskilled to semi-skilled working person in the urban areas of Egypt and Algeria.

.... urbanization, attempts at industrialization ... were all sources of hope for the people of the Arab world. In most cases these hopes have been dashed and shattered. .... This is a region that has had its share of violence. If only the youth knew how much this violence, and the trillions that went into military expenditures for these wars and conflicts [have] cost the Arabs. Past violence has sapped the Arabs of trillions of dollars of potential income and wealth.

So what might the future hold? That is really up to the Arabs, their governments, and those who care about the region. There will be a large increase in the number of people seeking jobs in a mostly stagnant economic region. .... The Arabs, a great people, deserve better than what they have gotten so far - and far better than the cold and dangerous, and most likely economically more destitute, world that the extremists are offering up. .... prosperous and free people have no use for extremists.

Posted by Mike Sylwester 2007-10-07 10:28|| 2007-10-07 10:28|| Front Page Top

#4 As Fisk would say to a fellow manufacturer: "Time to retire".

The Arabs, a great people, deserve better than what they have gotten so far

Bullshit! They're getting exactly what their terrorist-loving asses deserve. [spit]

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-10-07 10:34|| 2007-10-07 10:34|| Front Page Top

#5 They're getting the full benefits of over-population;
a large, testosterone-saturated, teen-aged demographic; a fixation on a 7th-century culture not suited for 21st century urban living; and Koran-based education.

Posted by Darrell 2007-10-07 10:49|| 2007-10-07 10:49|| Front Page Top

#6 you don't have to bribe rival warlords and criminal gangs

Yes, we're much more civilized. Here you pony up the money to "reelection funds" and "give aways" at the bargaining table you know the company your successors will have in a decade can not sustain. It's all in degree and politeness. :)

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-10-07 11:28|| 2007-10-07 11:28|| Front Page Top

#7 As Fisk would say to a fellow manufacturer: "Time to retire".

ROTF. Great double entendre. Too bad so few are old enough to get it.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-10-07 11:32|| 2007-10-07 11:32|| Front Page Top

#8 Thank you, NS.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-10-07 12:29|| 2007-10-07 12:29|| Front Page Top

#9 Now there's the battered face of a certain reporte you could photoshop in...

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-10-07 12:43|| 2007-10-07 12:43|| Front Page Top

#10 Other than Israel, I wouldn't put 2 cents in the entire Middle East. And I would block ALL foreign aid, because it subsidizes enemy ideologies. We need to starve the savages until they adopt our way of thinking, and start liquidating their parasitic elites.

Posted by McZoid 2007-10-07 17:44|| 2007-10-07 17:44|| Front Page Top

#11 Useful information, Mike S.

Birth rates in the Palestinian territories had been dropping, I b'lieve, from nine offspring per mother to four. I haven't noticed any statistics on death rate changes since 1967, especially by age group, but I'd bet the graphs are up across the groups, and especially in the key 15-30 demographic. It's all very well to have extra sons to donate to jihad, as the Palestinians like to boast, but without husbands the daughters produce no grandchildren.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-10-07 21:23|| 2007-10-07 21:23|| Front Page Top

#12 but without husbands the daughters produce no grandchildren.

that's what Paleo Grandads and Dads are for... fewer branches on the Paleo Islamic family tree to corrupt

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-10-07 21:52|| 2007-10-07 21:52|| Front Page Top

23:40 Mike N
23:35 gorb
23:25 Mike N.
22:31 JosephMendiola
22:24 JosephMendiola
22:19 JosephMendiola
22:17 JosephMendiola
22:13 JosephMendiola
22:07 Victor Emmanuel Unomoting3635
22:06 SteveS
21:59 SteveS
21:52 Frank G
21:40 trailing wife
21:23 trailing wife
21:21 mcsegeek1
21:18 JosephMendiola
21:17 mcsegeek1
21:15 Pappy
20:59 Phinater Thraviger
20:45 Eric Jablow
20:38 JosephMendiola
20:34 Bright Pebbles
20:31 Silentbrick
20:28 JosephMendiola