India to pay gold instead of dollars for Iranian oil

 Aswt,

           Let the fun begin. And China and UAE have ditched US Dollar and will use Yuan for oil trades.

Best regards dan salam,

Zahid

Source: Commodity Online
24 January 2012 

India to pay gold instead of dollars for Iranian oil

Read more : silver prices,gold prices,gold bullion,silver news,silver bullion,gold news,gold bullion,gold silver

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in Gold instead of the US dollar, reported DEBKAfile's intelligence and Iranian. Those sources expect China to follow suit. India and China take about one million barrels per day, or 40 percent of Iran's total exports of 2.5 million bpd. Both are superpowers in terms of gold assets.

By trading in gold, New Delhi and Beijing enable Tehran to bypass the upcoming freeze on its central bank's assets and the oil embargo which the European Union's foreign ministers agreed to impose Monday, Jan. 23. The EU currently buys around 20 percent of Iran's oil exports.

The vast sums involved in these transactions are expected, furthermore, to boost the price of gold and depress the value of the dollar on world markets.

Iran's second largest customer after China, India purchases around $12 billion a year's worth of Iranian crude, or about 12 percentof its consumption. Delhi is to execute its transactions, according to DEBKAfile, through two state-owned banks: the Calcutta-based UCO Bank, whose board of directors is made up of Indian government and Reserve Bank of India representatives; and Halk Bankasi (Peoples Bank), Turkey's seventh largest bank which is owned by the government.

An Indian delegation visited Tehran last week to discuss payment options in view of the new sanctions. The two sides were reported to have agreed that payment for the oil purchased would be partly in yen and partly in rupees. The switch to Gold was kept dark.

India thus joins China in opting out of the US-led European sanctions against Iran's international oil and financial business. Turkey announced publicly last week that it would not adhere to any sanctions against Iran's nuclear program unless they were imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The EU decision of Monday banned the signing of new oil contracts with Iran at once, while phasing out existing transactions by July 1, 2012, when the European embargo, like the measure enforced by the United States, becomes total. The European foreign ministers also approved a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Iran which handles all the country's oil transactions.

However, the damage those sanctions cause the Iranian economy will be substantially cushioned by the oil deals to be channeled through Turkish and Indian state banks. China for its part has declared its opposition to sanctions against Iran.

COMMODITY NEWSIs EU's ban on oil trade with Iran a big dumb mistake?

China and UAE ditch US Dollar, will use Yuan for oil trade
Barclays: Chinese copper imports strong in December, could abate in 1Q

China and UAE ditch US Dollar, will use Yuan for oil trade    

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): The US dollar is fast losing out its reserve currency status with China aggressively replacing the dollar with the Yuan as a currency for bi-lateral trade. The latest is an agreement signed between the China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will use the Yuan for oil trade.
The deal is worth around $5.5 billion dollars and the Chinese central bank said that the deal aims at “strengthening bilateral financial cooperation, promoting trade and investments and jointly safeguarding regional financial stability”
Earlier, Russia and Iran had decided to use Rubles as a means of currency. With both China and Russia converting their bi-lateral trades into non-US dollar deals, the greenback is now under threat of losing out its status as the world reserve currency. And the impact of such a transition will essentially tip the balance of global power

The Pandemonium of Day One at School

Assalamu 'Alaikum

The Pandemonium of Day One at School

Gone are the days when mum and dad or granny and grandpa would wait for weeks on end with the standard one child at their first days at school. I recalled my own granny from Lenggong stayed for at least a week with me at Pasar Road English Primary School Kuala Lumpur before I was confident enough to be on my own at school. It was understandable though for I had grown up with her and granddad far away in Perak before making the what I thought was a manly decision to come and live with my family and go to school in Kuala Lumpur. I still remember fondly my first teacher Miss Vimaladevi; and I still remember gleefully how I aced the city kids in the end of year standard one exam. There were no kindergartens in Lenggong Perak back then but I had the personal attention of two retired great school teachers in the likes of granny and grandpa who must have tutored me well.

Today we hardly see the crying kids on day one of school; kindergartens have braced them not to fear school anymore. I remembered sending Zahir off to his first day at Kindergarten no further than the house gate as he jumped into the school van with elder sisters Adlin and Adila. Zahir hardly looked back to wave goodbye to his mum and dad, eager to start his preschool. Today the pandemonium doesn’t happen with kids; it’s actually confined to the parents. Arriving at Zahir’s school the second day of the new year to attend the school’s standard one orientation day we saw parents almost bumping into street lights as they videocammed their child’s first walk into the school gate. Cameras were flashing everywhere like a paparazzi’s annual gathering as parents take pictures of their kids in school uniform. We were a little bit guilty of that also with Zahir although slightly less picture taking compared to Adlin and Adila a few years ago when they went to kindergarten in that foreign land. Kids first had to assemble in the courtyard while the entertaining headmistress with a microphone kept the kids alert with endless chatter and words of encouragement. Again it was the parents who were overexcited whilst I’m sure I saw one or two kids yawned. I wondered why some parents raised laptops towards their kids until my wife nudged me and said that that was actually an Ipad and the parents were actually taking pictures of their kids with it. Well what do I know, my education with technology stopped at IPhones.

The parents then gathered at the school hall which was actually the ground floor of a school block without walls but with ceiling fans. We were briefed on KSSR, Linus and JQaf. I missed Adila’s standard one orientation a couple of years ago and had always wondered why they were quoting Charlie Brown’s pal Linus at school. For those who are not enlightened KSSR is not the name of a new country in the Balkans and JQaf is not a new washing powder brand. Linus is a program that ensures the kids’ literacy and numeracy; and KSSR is the new primary school curriculum to replace KBSR where UPSR exams will only count for 60% of marks; 40% to come from schoolwork, or what the grownups will call coursework. I didn’t remember too much about JQaf but I recalled the Ustaz* thanking the previous prime minister for raising the importance of the Arabic language and Islamic education with JQaf.

With Agama* school in the morning and Kebangsaan* school in the afternoon for Adila and Zahir, and the reverse for Adlin being in standard four now, we knew we had to have the house gate semi permanently opened as endless streams of school vans will come and go, to pick up and deliver the school children throughout the day. We worked out there was a gap mid-afternoon when all are at school and not expected home for a few hours where mum and dad could slip out to Giant for a quiet  afternoon shopping and tea. That’s what we did and returned home to greet Adlin at the house gate. Zahir and Adila will be home by 7 pm and we called it a day, thankful for a successful first school day. That was when we got a call from Jamil the school van driver that Zahir and Adila were nowhere to be seen for the home trip from Kebangsaan school.

Sensing I should do something I half drove and half walked with Adlin to school to avoid the school jam and check out on the missing kids. We have briefed Adila to pick her younger brother from class for the walk to the school van so we were confident of bumping into them somewhere outside the school. Our hearts sanked when they were nowhere to be found, neither in class nor outside the school. I called Jamil to go on and send the other kid homes as there was no point in him staying on.

Wife called the Agama school whose van we used to send the kids to Kebangsaan school and they said they will call all vans just in case Zahir and Adila went into the wrong van. The Kebangsaan school now almost deserted I drove to Agama school to get news first hand. My heart sank further as one by one the van drivers reported that the missing children were not in their van. I was gradually slipping from the calm father to the berserk father mode when Jamil sheepishly called the school and reported apologetically that the kids were actually in his van all the time but he could not see them from his driver’s seat. Adila later reported that she called out yes when Uncle Jamil called her name but the big girl upfront blocked her view and voice. We put it down to tired kids and an inexperienced new school van driver. Alhamdulillah* all’s well that ends well; praise be to Allah that always creates little incidents for us to be thankful for mundane things He grants, like kids coming home safely from school. As I left the Agama school premises with Adlin to greet the missing siblings at home there was another father who was still pacing the school lounge waiting for news of his still missing child. We du’a* all’s well that ends well for him as well. We always tell our kids school is fun; it’s actually adventurous for parents as well, with roller coasters of emotions thrown in. Alhamdulillah.

Wassalam,
Zahid

*Note: Ustaz = religious teacher
            Agama school = religious school
            Kebangsaan school = national school
            Alhamdulillah = Praise be to Allah
            Du'a = pray
            UPSR exams = end of primary school exams

Conversation with Douglas

Assalamu 'Alaikum,

Conversation with Douglas

Dear Douglas,

                     Thank you for a thought provoking piece. I concur with the sentiments of your thoughts and go further to say it should be a year of reflection and understanding of the situation humans find themselves in. Our problem began many centuries ago when the West begun the sacking of religion from life and creating the new dogma called Secularism. Shame on us for never taking the time to reflect on what happened, its consequences and how to remedy the situation. All the knowledge borne of that era treated religion as a nuisance, a drug and an irrelevance to life. None considered the difference between religion and the practitioners of religion. Many failed to see, and threw out the baby with the bath water. And double shame for the Muslims who embraced the slumber and floated blissfully lost with the rest of mankind. The word of God so religiously brought by the love of a Prophet which prises the secrets of the universe piece by piece, layer by layer was rarely valued or referred to, to solve the problems of mankind. The words of men became more valuable than the word of God. Can the word of man match the following findings by the word of God? :

Illusion

Assalamu 'Alaikum,

Illusion

It’s wonderful to believe what is easy and natural to believe. Life is so much easier. The rain falls as convectional in the late afternoon as the sun’s heat in the morning absorbed the earth moisture and turned it into clouds which were later naturally seeded by uprising particles turning it into rain. With the recent change in weather Malaysia seems to have winter. As we stopped at the peak of the East West highway on the way to Kelantan today the car thermometer said it was 21C outside which is pretty cold for an equatorial country. If one exposed ourselves to nature by walking in the rain or not properly covered up against the elements the virus in the air will invade our body and make us sick. These are natural causes and effect which we have understood from time immemorial. Conditioned by the truth of nature we unconsciously extend our beliefs to situations which are man-made. The naiveté of men and innocence of humans are preyed on by certain humans who understand such weaknesses of humanity.

IAEA Exposed as Israeli Spy Front

AEA Exposed as Israeli Spy Front

138

IAEA Cries ‘Wolf’ Over Iran Nukes

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/11/25/iaea-cries-wolf-over-iran-nukes/

By Gordon Duff,  Senior Editor

This week, the media, all of it, traced stories about Iran’s nuclear weapons program to its real source. 

The IAEA, which has been unable to locate the vast Dimona nuclear facility in Israel or even begin to ask questions about Israel’s illegal nuclear arsenal, has put together a “rigged” report built of rumors and spin. 

The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), a “quasi-official” group is, in fact, an Israeli intelligence organization, long infiltrated, long engulfed, long ago a force for propaganda and, primarily, an organization tasked with helping Israel “hide” its nuclear arsenal “in plain sight” while fabricating evidence.

To make it more plain, the IAEA is, in fact, a clandestine intelligence organization tasked by Israel to bring about a conflict between the United States and certain European powers and Iran.

It is a conflict that may eventually involve Russia, China, a conflict that is intended to manipulate fuel markets, crash currencies, sell arms and do everything but make the world more secure.

And who is a pariah nation?

From: zahid aziz
Subject: RE: [MCOBA:93003] Nuclear Iran risks becoming a pariah nation
To: "mcoba google"
Date: Thursday, November 24, 2011, 3:56 PM

Assalamu 'Alaikum,

                             Another story to discredit a Muslim nation with Nuclear capability. The real Pariah is a so called super power whose supreme leader have to bow to the whims and fancy of Israel because the super power's crazy election system requires chunks of money which supporters of Israel have in abundance. A system where the best leader is the most learned is considered mediaval. Fine, so we have a system where the rich rules and the rich in our present day are Zionists.

                       The pariah nation is a nation so deep in debt if it is a company its position is -USD65 trillion negative shareholders funds. A pariah nation is a nation who can no longer sell its country's bond's to refinance it's international debts. When other countries do not take up its bonds its Federal Reserve simply printed more paper currency for the pariah nation's government to buy its own debt and then declare to the world its bond is two times oversubscribed!

                     

The Truth about Money

Assalamu ‘Alaikum

The Truth about Money

In 1982 the fresh graduate’s salary is RM1,200, his cheapest new car is RM14,000 and a house will cost RM60,000. Today a fresh graduate earns just RM1000 more at RM2200 but the cheapest new car is RM40,000 and a new house is RM300,000. This has little to do with increasing steel and building materials prices but more to do with the way nations create money which is not really explained to the populace. Happy to get his job the fresh graduate is informed he will be paid RM2200 per month. For the moment we will not even think about the fresh school leaver who earns a wage of RM1000 per month. Now the graduate employee believes one year from now he can buy the same number of goods with his salary as he can today. Nobody informs him the truth about money and he believes that money is just paper currency and coins and that somehow governments will always ensure the nation’s total amount of money will remain unchanged.

Why do ordinary Americans have to suffer?

Senior Associate, St. Antony's College, Oxford University

GET UPDATES FROM Sharmine Narwani

If Netanyahu Lies, Why Do We Keep Listening?

For Middle East watchers, the revelation that a major head of state called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" is, well, not exactly news. French president Nicholas Sarkozy needs to get in line behind the many other politicians who have thrown up their arms over Netanyahu's unusual - even for politics - propensity for duplicity.

Former Clinton White House Spokesman Joe Lockhart, in his book "The Truth About Camp David" calls the Israeli prime minister, "one of the most obnoxious individuals you're going to come into - just a liar and a cheat. He could open his mouth and you could have no confidence that anything that came out of it was the truth."

The latest brouhaha over Netanyahu's character emerged at the G-20 meeting in Cannes last week, when reporters unintentionally caught three minutes of candid conversation between Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama. Here is the conversation according to the New York Times:

"I cannot stand him," Mr. Sarkozy was quoted as saying. "He is a liar." Mr. Obama is reported to have replied, "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"

Sacrifice

Assalamu 'Alaikum,

Sacrifice

Nope, I did not rise in the ranks. From the Eidul Adha* just after marriage to today my main contribution to the proceedings is again to sit on the cow while it is being slaughtered. The Rambo knife I bought at Kuala Kangsar R&R a long time ago is again just for show and a conversation  piece. I had harboured hopes of doing something more important this year but just like the rugby school trials in days gone by, I was again this year just an also ran. Determined to learn something this time I cut my teeth in the ‘lapah’ procedures being responsible for deskinning half a leg of the cow. Even that was due to the sympathy of Abe Long, my brother in law who sensed my desire to do something more important this year. The fact that a cow is 50% stomach full of chewed grass, no longer surprised as it did the first time I engaged with the slaughtering process. This time I learnt that skinning the cow begins with the legs and just underneath the neck of the cow till you meet half way in the groin.  Tok Aboh reminded us to be careful with the skin to ensure it remains whole and intact as it is to be given away to a pondok who can turn it into something useful.

Dear Melissa

Assalamu 'Alaikum,

Dear Melissa,

I am so glad you found my blog. By the time you read this I am probably long gone. I wish I was there when your mum gave birth to you but it was not to be as God had other plans. The reason I am writing to you is so you know a little about your granddad and most of all I did my best to protect you. Honestly I did. I saw what was coming for you and your generation I raised the alarm bells everywhere I went but Melissa, I am so sorry nobody heard me. I was not a leader of a country, a world famous author nor any kind of famous person. I was an ordinary Grandad who thought about a lot of things and mostly I fear what I foresaw will happen to you. I was mostly a finance guy and I saw the ravages of finance that is going to destroy the life of my grand daughter.

Who are we to say

'Wait'?

His Majesty delivering his 'titah' at the launch of the International Seminar on Islamic Law. Picture: BT/ Saifulizam

   

Thursday, October 13, 2011

His Majesty on enforcing Islamic law

"WHO ARE WE, in the presence of Allah (SWT), to say 'no or wait'; considering that (Islamic) law was not only formulated, but has been stated in Al-Quran and Al-Hadiths for more than 1,400 years."

This was the message in the titah of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam who yesterday reiterated calls for Brunei to implement Islamic law, particularly through the establishment of an Islamic Criminal Act.

The Real Reason Why Gadaffi Was Killed

All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again

======================================
http://www.wealthwire.com/news/economy/2089

The Coming Derivatives Crisis That Could Destroy the Entire Global Financial System

Most people have no idea that Wall Street has become a gigantic financial casino. 

The big Wall Street banks are making tens of billions of dollars a year in the derivatives market, and nobody in the financial community wants the party to end. The word "derivatives" sounds complicated and technical, but understanding them is really not that hard.

A derivative is essentially a fancy way of saying that a bet has been made. Originally, these bets were designed to hedge risk, but today the derivatives market has mushroomed into a mountain of speculation unlike anything the world has ever seen before. Estimates of the notional value of the worldwide derivatives market go from $600 trillion all the way up to $1.5 quadrillion. Keep in mind that the GDP of the entire world is only somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 trillion.

The danger to the global financial system posed by derivatives is so great that Warren Buffet once called them "financial weapons of mass destruction". For now, the financial powers that be are trying to keep the casino rolling, but it is inevitable that at some point this entire mess is going to come crashing down. When it does, we are going to be facing a derivatives crisis that really could destroy the entire global financial system.

Melangkah ke Kelab Elit Jutawan Trilliana

Assalamu 'Alaikum


From: zaziz@hotmail.com
To: mcoba-mail@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [MCOBA:88150] Group warns of RM1 trillion debt by 2020
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:41:53 +0000


Hutang semasa negara ialah RM437 billion pada 30 Jun 2011 di mana RM16 billion adalah hutang luar negara. Ini mewakili 51% daripada KDNK. Untuk perspektif bandingan potensi masalah hutang negara,  hutang negara Greece adalah 110% daripada KDNK, sementara negara-negara "PIG" - Portugal, Ireland dan Sepanyol menghampiri 70% daripada KDNK. Oleh itu, kita tidak jauh dari segi masalah yang sama pada masa akan datang. Jika tidak dibendung warisan hutang ini akan diserahkan kepada anak-anak dan cucu kita untuk ditanggung. Hutang luar negara kita masih agak kecil, jadi jika kita mendengar pemimpin-pemimpin kita memuji-muji pengeluaran Penerbitan Sukuk Sovereign baru, iaitu meminjam dari luar Negara, janganlah menggalakkan mereka. Ditakuti kita ikut ke jalan Negara Pakistan yang terpaksa meminjam  wang asing untuk membayar gaji kakitangan Kerajaan.

On the road to the trillionaire club

From: zaziz@hotmail.com
To: mcoba-mail@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [MCOBA:88150] Group warns of RM1 trillion debt by 2020
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:41:53 +0000

Aswt,

        Current debt is RM437 billion as at 30 June 2011 of which RM16 billion is foreign debt. This represents 51% of GDP. As a perspective of the potential problem Greece national debt is 110% of GDP whilst the PIG countries Portugal, Ireland and Spain approaches 70% of GDP. We are therefore not far of in terms of future trouble. If not checked this legacy of debt will be passed to our children and grandchildren to bear. Our foreign debt is still relatively small so if you hear of our leaders wax lyrical on new Sovereign Sukuk Issuance please do not encourage them further lest we go down the road of Pakistan who have to borrow foreign to pay govt servants salaries.

In Sri Lanka, we believe.

Assalamu ‘Alaikum,

In Sri Lanka, we believe.

These signs were everywhere in this beautiful country.

“They wanted almost two thirds of the country when their population was only less than 10%,” said Naushad. “But why?” I countered. “He didn’t want it to end, he was having such a good time with all the money coming in from sympathisers throughout the world. Truth is, he was in a dead end, he couldn’t end the war even if he wanted to, he was in such a fix,” Naushad described the options of the last rebel leader to succumbed in the country’s 30 year debilitating civil war. A thought running through my mind now is that the shape a country is in is inextricable from the leaders the people chose.

Jangan tangisi yang dah pergi

Assalamu 'Alaikum

Jangan tangisi yang dah pergi

“Farhan, bila kau ke luar negara?” tanya Zarif kepada sahabat karibnya. “Entahlah tunggu papa dapat gaji untuk beli teket kapal terbang ku, kata tak lama lagi pinjaman Bank Dunia kepada Negara akan diluluskan dan segala penjawat kerajaan akan mendapati gaji.” “Ah, baik berita tu. Apa kerja yang kau dapat diRiyadh tu?’ bertanya Zarif lagi. “Supir kepada sebuah keluarga Arab disana.” jawab Farhan. “Winston adik ku ingin kesana juga tapi susah la sikit berugama Katholik, mereka bukan serupa kita buleh hidup sebumbung dan sekeluarga berlainan ugama.” “Ya lah mereka tidak hip saperti kita, tokok Zarif dengan bangga. “Habis kau bagaimana If?” tanya Farhan.

“Aku supir kepada Dato’ Widiyanto ahli niaga tersohor diKelang tu.” kata Zarif.

A speech by a man the secretly controlled world media demonised

The full text of Ahmedinejad's speech at the United Nations (as per UN Report)



Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am grateful to the Almighty Allah who granted me, once more, the opportunity to appear before this world assembly. I have the pleasure to express my sincere thanks to H.E. Joseph Deiss, president of the sixty-fifth session for his tremendous efforts during his tenure. I also would like to congratulate H.E Nassir Abdulaziz AI-Nasser on his election as the president of sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly and wish him all success.

Let me seize the moment to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in the past year, particularly to the victims of the tragic famine in Somalia and the devastating flood in Pakistan and especially the earthquake and the ensuing explosions in the nuclear power plant in Japan. I urge everyone to intensify their assistance and aid to the affected populations in these countries.

Over the past years, I spoke about different global issues, and the need to introduce fundamental changes in the current international order.

A bunch of roses on a Sunday morning

Assalamu 'Alaikum,

A bunch of roses on a Sunday morning

“I will be embarrassed walking home with this bouquet of roses,” I said. “No,” the lady florist said, “all the wives who see you will be jealous. You didn’t just buy the flowers, you walked home with it!” Yes there were knowing smiles from the male motorists seeing me jogging with the bunch of purple roses, smiles that said wonder what he’s done to carry such a big apology for all the world to see.

A Statement from Anwar Ibrahim

http://www.asiasentinel.com/images//dsai-statement-from-the-dock.doc

STATEMENT FROM THE DOCK

My name is Anwar bin Ibrahim. I am the leader of the Opposition in Parliament. In the 1990s, I was the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister until September 1998 when then Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad sacked me after I had refused to resign. He had told me to resign or face dire consequences including criminal prosecution for alleged sexual and corruption offences. I refused and all hell broke loose. My unceremonious and grossly unjust dismissal simultaneously orchestrated with a trial by media under Mahathir’s complete control triggered mass and widespread demonstrations throughout the country and launched the movement for change and reform known in our history as the Reformasi era.

After a series of show trials during which every rule in the book on evidence and criminal procedure was violated with impunity at the hands of the prosecution and the courts, I was convicted and sentenced to a total of 15 years.

Ringgit sukuk sales head for record as Gulf taps market

Assalamu 'Alaikum,
                                 Whilst government use of Islamic instruments is always good for the growth of Islamic finance we need to keep a close watch on total foreign borrowings so that it won't go out of hand. That's the danger about debt, its unforgiving. Pakistan played with fire a long time ago and now borrows foreign funds to pay their civil servants salaries. In 1968 Ecuador took a billion dollar loan they dont need and today 50% of annual budget revenue is to pay World bank interest. Its always best not to borrow unless you really have to. If you have to, let it be for clear cut foreign revenue earnings project which is self redeeming in terms of repayment. To borrow for grandiose domestic project is always a gamble.

Today I read a letter which touched my soul

Assalamu 'Alaikum

Today I read a letter which touched my soul

To those of my generation mollycuddled into a safe life by circumstances will never understand the desperation of a graduate without a job. In our times a graduation is a ticket to a comfortable and safe life. The idea of a graduate not getting a job is beyond our comprehension. This is what we have governments for, to think far into the future to avoid such pitfalls. In 1980s to anticipate that in 2011 there will be thousands of young graduates without a job is the reason we placed these people in government. This is the trust we placed in them so that we can go on with our daily lives; happy with the thought we have appointed and paid these people to think about our children’s future. We certainly did not elect them to plunder the country to enrich the selected few.

America in Decline by Noam Chomsky - A Review by a Malaysian Muslim

America in Decline by Noam Chomsky - A Review by a Malaysian Muslim

Corporate power’s ascendancy over politics and society – by now mostly financial – has reached the point that both political organizations, which at this stage barely resemble traditional parties, are far to the right of the population on the major issues under debate.

For the public, the primary domestic concern is unemployment. Under current circumstances, that crisis can be overcome only by a significant government stimulus, well beyond the recent one, which barely matched decline in state and local spending – though even that limited initiative probably saved millions of jobs.

For financial institutions the primary concern is the deficit. Therefore, only the deficit is under discussion. A large majority of the population favor addressing the deficit by taxing the very rich (72 percent, 27 percent opposed), reports a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Cutting health programs is opposed by overwhelming majorities (69 percent Medicaid, 78 percent Medicare). The likely outcome is therefore the opposite.

The Program on International Policy Attitudes surveyed how the public would eliminate the deficit. PIPA director Steven Kull writes, “Clearly both the administration and the Republican-led House (of Representatives) are out of step with the public’s values and priorities in regard to the budget.”

The survey illustrates the deep divide: “The biggest difference in spending is that the public favored deep cuts in defense spending, while the administration and the House propose modest increases. The public also favored more spending on job training, education and pollution control than did either the administration or the House.”

The final “compromise” – more accurately, capitulation to the far right – is the opposite throughout, and is almost certain to lead to slower growth and long-term harm to all but the rich and the corporations, which are enjoying record profits."

They are talking about America here, right? :)

"Two major elements were financialization (the shift of investor preference from industrial production to so-called FIRE: finance, insurance, real estate) and the offshoring of production. The ideological triumph of “free market doctrines,” highly selective as always, administered further blows, as they were translated into deregulation, rules of corporate governance linking huge CEO rewards to short-term profit, and other such policy decisions.

The resulting concentration of wealth yielded greater political power, accelerating a vicious cycle that has led to extraordinary wealth for a fraction of 1 percent of the population, mainly CEOs of major corporations, hedge fund managers and the like, while for the large majority real incomes have virtually stagnated."

Implementation of Islamic Economics would put this right.

America in Decline

America in Decline

Friday 5 August 2011

by: Noam Chomsky, Truthout | Op-Ed

“It is a common theme” that the United States, which “only a few years ago was hailed to stride the world as a colossus with unparalleled power and unmatched appeal is in decline, ominously facing the prospect of its final decay,” Giacomo Chiozza writes in the current Political Science Quarterly.

The theme is indeed widely believed. And with some reason, though a number of qualifications are in order. To start with, the decline has proceeded since the high point of U.S. power after World War II, and the remarkable triumphalism of the post-Gulf War '90s was mostly self-delusion.

Another common theme, at least among those who are not willfully blind, is that American decline is in no small measure self-inflicted. The comic opera in Washington this summer, which disgusts the country and bewilders the world, may have no analogue in the annals of parliamentary democracy.

The spectacle is even coming to frighten the sponsors of the charade. Corporate power is now concerned that the extremists they helped put in office may in fact bring down the edifice on which their own wealth and privilege relies, the powerful nanny state that caters to their interests.

Corporate power’s ascendancy over politics and society – by now mostly financial – has reached the point that both political organizations, which at this stage barely resemble traditional parties, are far to the right of the population on the major issues under debate.

Al Quran & Science

Al Quran & Science

(5 Ramadhan 1432 Hijrah) 5/8/11

Honey Bees
The worker bees, those who gather pollen and make the honey, are actually all females. The male bees do not make honey. This was only known recently. However more than1400 years ago the Quran refers to bees that generate the honey as females (the Arabic grammar is in the female mode):
^{[Quran 16.68-69]}
And your Lord (Allah) revealed to the bees: Build your hives in mountains, trees and in what people build. Then eat (for females) from every fruit and follow (for females) your Lord's enslaved paths, fromtheir bellies (for females) exits drink of different colors, in it healing for man. These are signs for those who contemplate. (Surah An Nahl 16:68-69)
For the word "eat": "Kuli" is for females; "Kul" is for males. The Quran used "Kuli" (females).
For the word "follow a path": "Usluki" is for females; "Usluk" is for males. The Quran used "Usluki" (females).
For the word "their bellies": "butuniha" is for females; "butunihim" is for males. The Quran used "butuniha" (females).

 
Seas
The difference in temperature, salinity and CO₂ concentrations in seas cause water to separate into layers. This was only known recently. However Moslems knew about it all along:
^{[Quran 55.19-20]}
He [Allah] has made the two seas meet, between them a barrier that they don't transgress. (Surah Ar Rahman 55:19-20)


Not only light cannot reach deep waters but also the water layers down there are not flat but wavy, that is, the seas have internal waves just as they have surface waves. However Moslems also knew about this long before it was discovered:
^{[Quran 24.40]}
Or like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with waves topped by waves, topped by clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hand, he will not see it! If Allah does not give light to a person he will not have light! (Surah An Nur 24:40)
The Quran talked about internal waves long before it was discovered. Also, sunlight cannot penetrate more than few hundred meters into the seas. It is so dark down there that you cannot see your own hand.


The water cover about 71% of the Earth's surface. This is also the same ratio the word "water" and word "Land" appear in the Quran. "Water" 32 times and "Land" 13 times. The ratio of "Water" to the total (Water + Land) = 32/(32+13) = 71%.

Tectonics
Earth's crust has been slowly moving for billions of years. Not only mountains are still slowly moving but also whole continents. Moslems say that this is what Allah says:
^{[Quran 27.88]}
You see the mountains and think they are firmly fixed: but they are moving away just like the clouds are moving away: (such is) the artistry of Allah, Who disposes of all things in perfect order: For He knows all what you do.
(Surah An Naml 27:88)

Cloud Seeding
During cloud formation, water can become supercooled, that is, it can get below freezing point but remain not frozen! This stage is so unstable that we can add some catalyst molecules to trigger rain. Historically humans used silver iodide, frozen carbon dioxide and some salts to trigger rain. This is known as cloud seeding.

However nature uses different material to seed the clouds. Nature uses both sea salt and land dust to trigger rain: Wind at the surface of the seas causes waves to roll. Those waves release aerosols into the air carrying the sea salt. The wind carry both the sea salt and the land dust to the clouds. The sea salt and land dust cause the supercooled water to coalesce and trigger precipitation.
^{[Quran 15:22]}
And We send the seeding winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water, though you are not the guardians of its stores. (Surah Al Hijr 15:22)

Atmospheric Pressure
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude; The higher the altitude the more difficult breathing becomes. Moslems say that this is what Allah says. The Quran says that as we ascend to the sky it becomes more difficult for us to breath:
^{[Quran 6.125]}
Those whom Allah wants to guide, He opens their chests to Islam; And those whom He wants to leave astray, He makes their chests tight and constricted, as if they are ascending to the sky: Such is the penalty of Allah on those who refuse to believe. (Surah Al An’Aam 6:125)

Brain Functions
For centuries it was thought that the frontal part of the human brain handled vision (simply because it is near the eyes). Today we know that this part handles speech, not vision. (the part that handles vision turned out to be at the rear of the brain
The Quran says that disbelievers will be dragged from there liar forehead, that is, the speech part where they utter lies is at the forehead.
^{[Quran 96.16]}
A lying sinful forehead.(Surah Al-'Alaq 96:16)


Genetics
Females have XX chromosomes, that is, they can only give one X chromosome. But since males have XY chromosomes then men can either give the X or the Y chromosome. This means that it is actually the males who determine the sex of the baby (by giving either the X or the Y chromosome).
^{[Quran 53:45-46]}
And He (Allah) creates pairs, male and female, from semen emitted.
The Quran says that it is the semen that determines whether the baby is male or female. But since semen only comes from males then this means that it is the males who determine the sex of the baby.

(Surah An Najm 53:45-46)



These are just some of the facts which shows that:

The Qur'an, this extraordinary book which was revealed to the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (PBUH), is a source of inspiration and true knowledge. The book of Islam-no matter what subject it refers to-is being proved as Allah's Word as each new piece of historical, scientific or archaeological information comes to light. Facts about scientific subjects and the news delivered to us about the past and future, facts that no one could have known at the time of the Qur'an's revelation, are announced in its verses. It is impossible for this information, to have been known with the level of knowledge and technology available in 7th Century Arabia.