King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dead at 90, half-brother succeeds him

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dead at 90, half-brother succeeds him | Fox News

Posted by rockymountainpirate 9 years, 3 months ago to News

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Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago

Regardless of what you might think of the Saudi royal family, King Abdullah was a major step in the right direction over his predecessors. I hope that his passing is an opportunity for even further integration with the rest of the civilized world.

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  Posted by rockymountainpirate 9 years, 3 months ago
  
  Dreamer
  
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    Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
    
    Perhaps I am a bit of a dreamer, rmp. Out of the 200 students I have in my classes each semester, about 20 are Muslim, and about 10 of those are Saudi. While Muslims will never be Objectivists, there are thousands of soon-to-be Muslim leaders that I have exposed to Gulch values while exchanging their dollars for my engineering and teaching expertise over the past 17 years. My current and past students can be reasoned with. I respect them, and they respect me.
    
    Of course, there are plenty of Muslims still living in the not-so-modern world that wholeheartedly reject Gulch values entirely. Those people must be avoided or defeated. It is not possible to reason with them.
    
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      Posted by IndianaGary 9 years, 3 months ago
      
      Therefore, I would never turn my back on them and would be prepared to defend myself at all times.
      
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        Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        As my wife routinely reminds me to do. Fortunately at Florida Tech, in the midst of teaching my engineering courses, I have been able to slip in some Gulch perspective on free enterprise, value for value trading, etc. while becoming the most popular faculty member on campus amongst the students.
        
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        Posted by jlc 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        Good for you - with respect to both teaching values as well as engineering and with respect to...respect.
        
        Jan
        
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        Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        Thanks, Jan. It's fun converting people to the concepts of free enterprise, value for value, etc. The challenging part is forcing them to (in Master Yoda's words) unlearn what they have learned.
        
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        Posted by jlc 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        I always loose against, "The glass is too full." They are so certain that what they know is Cosmic Law that I cannot make any headway against that knowledge.
        
        You are doing a good job at chipping away at facades. I agree with you on the spectral nature of Muslim philosophy and potential.
        
        Jan
        
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        Posted by norman1 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        IndianaGary when you say turn your back on them i expect you mean EVERY LAST ONE, since Mr. Brenner thinks some will go against the muslim world. If he does he is wrong.
        
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        Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        Many of those who will go against the Muslim world will choose to remain in America, as quite a few do.
        
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        Posted by norman1 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        but they are still muslim and will all they can to try and take over as they are successfully doing in europe. they should be deported even if they are born here
        
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        Posted by IndianaGary 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        Agreed.
        
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        Posted by rockymountainpirate 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        I agree with your agreement.
        
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        Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
        
        I am so prepared.
        
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    Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
    
    Perhaps when Atlantis exists, my Gulch job will be diplomat.
    
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      Posted by jbrenner 9 years, 3 months ago
      
      And if that's the case, know that I hate diplomacy.
      
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  Posted by Animal 9 years, 3 months ago
  
  And people in hell want ice water.
  
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  Posted by jdg 9 years, 3 months ago
  
  The big question in my mind is, is Saudi Arabia still letting people recruit and train jihadists there? Because if they are, then in my mind they're no better than ISIS. (Which doesn't mean I'd go to war with them yet, but does mean I'd look the other way while they and ISIS beat each other up.)
  
  In particular, are Muslims who visit SA for the Haj still getting "radicalized" while they are there?
  
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Posted by paturpin 9 years, 3 months ago

The Saudi's are interested in maintaining their rulership. They appease the fanatics among them while all the while giving lip service to the western world and our desire for freedom and democracy. They are not our friends.

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  Posted by blarman 9 years, 3 months ago
  
  What is of note is that the vast majority of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi...
  
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    Posted by freedomforall 9 years, 3 months ago
    
    According to the government's unsupportable, physically impossible conspiracy theory.
    
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    Posted by allosaur 9 years, 3 months ago
    
    That's a big time note!
    
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Posted by DrZarkov99 9 years, 3 months ago

The only problem is that the king's successor is his 79 year old half brother, who is purported to have Parkinson's or Dementia. That means that either he could back more stringent Wahabbist ideology, or be overthrown if he proves more liberal, based on charges of insanity by more radical family members. Either way, it means that modern changes to Saudi society still have a long time to wait.

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Posted by Aliona 9 years, 3 months ago

Islam is apparently not a peaceful religion. Not all Muslims are terrorists but the terrorists who want to destroy America and Isreal are Muslims. Because of traitorous teachers in our schools and universities being anti-American is kind od a fad among our young people. I'm not talking about all teachers but there are revisionists in most schools. My daughter is a freshman in high school and she has two teachers who tell their student's they are stupid if they believe in God or support republicans.

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Posted by Temlakos 9 years, 3 months ago

The king is dead. Long live the king.

Here is what the king said five years ago on the subject of Wahhabism: "there is no such thing."

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0...

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Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 3 months ago

I have seen very little progress by the Saudis. They maintain one of the most repressive of societies, especially when it comes to women. Because of the American dollar, they pretend to be our friends. Like my Granddad would say, "With friends like this, who needs enemies?"

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  Posted by jdg 9 years, 3 months ago
  
  We see very little of what happens there, because news reporters are usually forbidden to visit SA. They made an exception when they held the first local elections a few years ago, but I haven't heard if the experiment was regarded as successful or will be repeated.
  
  I guess what I'm saying is that we can't assume "no news" means much of anything in SA.
  
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Posted by splumb 9 years, 3 months ago

And I'm sure his successor will continue the practice of shoveling money to the Wahhabis by the truckload, just to keep their cushy royal lives.
Never mind the terrorism it funds; as long as it doesn't touch us.
Rot in hell, your highness.

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King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dead at 90, half-brother succeeds him | Fox News

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