Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: joseph krinsky who wrote (240112)	3/20/2002 10:23:31 AM
From: joseph krinsky	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Saudi editor fired, writer jailed for scathing poem TAREK AL-ISSAWI, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, March 20, 2002 Breaking News Sections (03-20) 07:04 PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A poet who penned verses blasting Saudi Arabia's Islamic judges as corrupt and serving "tyrants" has been jailed and the newspaper editor who published the poem fired, a Saudi official said Wednesday. Prince Nayef, the interior minister, ordered Mohammed Mokhtar al-Fal, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language Al-Madina, to be fired a few days after the poem, titled "The Corrupt on Earth," appeared March 10, said the official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. The poet, Abdul Mohsen Musalam, was jailed, the official said. It was not clear what he was charged with or whether he would be formally tried. The poem was a rare public criticism in a country where dissent is not tolerated and where most of the newspapers -- including the one where the poem was printed -- are owned by the government. Musalam's poem accused the Islamic judges of taking bribes and ruling unjustly to please "tyrants." It took its title from the Quran, which rules that "the corrupt on earth" must be put to death. "It is sad that in the Muslim world, justice is suffering from a few judges who care for nothing but their bank accounts and their status with the rulers," the poem's introduction read. The poem reads, in part: "How many (sacred) verses and sayings you have slaughtered. "Your beards are smeared with blood. "You indulge a thousand tyrants and only the tyrant do you obey." Al-Fal could not be reached for comment. An official at the paper, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed al-Fal was no longer working with the paper, saying only, "The poem was published, that's that, and al-Fal is no longer with us." The judicial system in Saudi Arabia is based on Sharia, or Islamic law. A judge or panel of judges hears a case, cross-examines the defendant and possible witnesses, and pronounces the verdicts and the sentence. Unlike Western courts, the accused are not defended by lawyers, except in very rare cases where Westerners are involved and the conservative Muslim kingdom is worried about international opinion. Criticizing judges and other religious authorities is rare. Last week, Saudi newspapers launched an unprecedented attack on members of the religious police -- the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, accusing them of blocking rescue attempts by male firefighters and paramedics at a fire in a school for girls in Mecca, western Saudi Arabia. The March 11 fire ended in the death of 15 girls, and 50 others were injured. Newspapers said that the firefighters were not allowed in because some of the girls were not wearing the long dresses and head coverings required in public. Prince Nayef on Monday defended the religious police, denied the stories and criticized newspapers for reporting "news which turns out to be untrue." sfgate.com

To: joseph krinsky who wrote (240112)	3/20/2002 10:37:46 AM
From: DavesM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

re:"China hasn't been the richest, most powerful nation on Earth probably since the year 900 BC." I believe you are wrong. I guess you have never heard of Marco Polo? On the political side, China over the centuries had developed a bureaucracy that effectively ran the country and survived several foreign invaders that took over the throne. The nation was self sufficient economically. Because of their expertise in the cultivation of tea and silks, the Chinese ran large trade surpluses with the rest of the world. The importation and use of opium changed this. The collapse of the Chinese, social, political, and economic systems followed with dramatic speed.