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Hassan Ammar / AP
Saudi crown prince and interior minister Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud drinks coffee and welcomes Gulf Arab leaders taking part in the Gulf Cooperation Council summit on May 14.
Updated at 8:10 a.m. ET: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the hardline interior minister who spearheaded Saudi Arabia's fierce crackdown crushing al-Qaida's branch in the country after the 9/11 attacks in the United States and then rose to become next in line to the throne, has died. He was in his late 70s.
Nayef, interior minister since 1970, was the heir to Saudi King Abdullah and was appointed crown prince in October after the death of his elder brother and predecessor in the role, Crown Prince Sultan.
He had been in Switzerland since May for medical tests. No details were released about his illness.
Nayef had a reputation as a steely conservative who opposed King Abdullah's reforms and developed a formidable security infrastructure that crushed al-Qaida but also locked up some political activists.
Jane Kinninmont, London-based Chatham House's senior research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program, told msnbc.com that a pillar of the old authoritarian order in the Middle East would had gone with Nayef's death, adding:
"Prince Nayef was the most powerful conservative force in Saudi Arabia, running the interior ministry, the internal security forces and the religious police. He was opposed to women voting or driving. The next in line to the throne, Prince Salman, is seen as a more liberal figure, and is a bit younger, but it's all relative -- he's in his 60s rather than late 70s. Don't expect any radical change coming from the new crown prince -- more a subtle shift of tone."
The big question is who will be the third in line to the throne -- do they keep passing this role around the increasingly elderly sons of the first Saudi king, or choose someone from the younger generation? The family is huge and full of rivalries and they are likely to be increasingly preoccupied with their internal family politics -- which could prove a distraction from the need to reform and adapt to accommodate their own population's needs.
Funeral prayers for the prince would be held after sunset on Sunday, the royal court said in a statement. Burial traditionally follows immediately after prayers.
Will Saudi-Bahrain union plan provoke Iran?
Al Arabiya television reported that the prayers would be held in a mosque in the holy city of Mecca.
New heir?
Nayef's death means the 89-year-old King Abdullah must nominate a new heir for the second time in nine months. Defense Minister Prince Salman, 76, seen as most likely to continue King Abdullah's cautious reforms, has long been viewed as the next most senior prince in the kingdom's succession.
Nayef, King Abdullah and Salman are among the nearly 40 sons of Saudi Arabia's founder, Abdulaziz bin Saud, who established the kingdom in 1935.
Salman was made defense minister in November and had served as Riyadh governor for five decades.
Report: Saudi Arabia to buy nukes if Iran tests A-bomb
The New York Times called the prince "hard-line but pragmatic" in a profile that ran in October.
The article went on to quote an October 2009 American diplomatic cable that was obtained via WikiLeaks:
"Nayef is widely seen as a hard-line conservative who at best is lukewarm to King Abdullah’s reform initiatives ... However, it would be more accurate to describe him as a conservative pragmatist convinced that security and stability are imperative to preserve Al Saud rule and ensure prosperity for Saudi citizens."
Msnbc.com's F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
I find Royalty as appealing as Bi-Partisan Politics...
You prefer the total gridlock instead? What a way to govern any country.
Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was circa 78 yrs old (circa!).He was the Interior Minister since 1975 and Crown Pirnce since October 2011 when his older brother Sulatn died. His funeral on Sunday after prayers in a mosque in Mecca. He was being treated in Switzerland for various medical problems -in Geneve. Perhaps depending on his successor -women in saudi Arabia could have more freedoms.i.e. driving a car. Treatment of Shia at home and Bahrain.
by the looks of him. he died of over eating. good riddance to him and all the Saudi royal family. I'm sure other right wing conservatives are very sad today.
This is the same guy that mailed bombs on cargo planes out of Yemen to the US.
SCUM BAG DELUX!
The false-flag attempt was on the sophistication level of the Three Stooges - for heck's sake!
The one holding the tracking numbers of the packages is the prime suspect - get a clue!
The Saudi Intelligence Agency - headed by the dead guy Nayef - gave us just in time the tracking numbers of the packages with the bombs in them.
They were mailed out of Yemen in a false-flag attack so we could justify supporting Saudi Arabia's war against Yemen.
Nayef the terrorist is dead! HURRAH !!
I'm sure Obama,is very sad to hear of his passing for it was the Saudi's who sent him to school. Remember when George Bush met with the Saudi's, he didn't bow to them but Obama did. God rest his soul & regards to his family & friends.
No different than the popes that take over- older than the hills.
Don R WRONG...
This ones for you:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JIxtZ0JeqqU/TTevci_KLjI/AAAAAAAAA-E/t_KohiXOfN0/s400/BushSaudiPrinceAbdullahHoldingHands.jpg
Don,
Bush preferred holding their hand in public and kissing their ass in private. He allowed them to sneak out of the US just hours after 9/11. Bush/Cheney took out Saddam and has furthered their Crusade through the Middle East all in the name of Saudi Oil and overseas work for Halliburton and Bush's little drilling company. Bowing should be the least of our worries.
SH-2000.....Morning u lying POS turd...at least TWO of your Photos have been proven to be "gravely erroneous" as they are NOT TRUE PHOTOS.....Only a liberal idiot would post and use that link of trash crap.....kind of like their tiny little brain turds.
Willy......yeh, right......ur weak little mind would love to think so.
Prove it BK-3328579!
Don't worry, Hajj. Your President Obama has usurped power and is king in action if not in title. Your Senate and House of Representatives must be comfortable with the situation, else they would not surrender to King Obama's power grabs.
Vladimir- the next Crown Prince to succeed Nayef Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud will be his yonger brother Salman who is now Def. Minister. Right now John Kerry,John McCain and Lindsay Graham are in Qatar.
Birthers make comments that are almost as stupid as this one.
Congrats.
I fell SO safe knowing that the brilliant Sen. John Kerry, who served in Viet Nam you know, and then courageously threw back someone else's medals and led Jane Fonda's merry band of fake vets around the country in "Winter Soldier", is in Saudi along with a guy who never truly got over his PTSD from being held prisoner in North Viet Nam so long and a guy who is a far-right conservative at home and a moderate in D.C, because with this crew representing our national interests, then everything is sure to be just fine!
We're a nation of political hypocrites and bull@!$%#ters. After it was revealed that there were NO WMD's in Iraq, Cheney and Bush reverted to that old "seeds of democracy" crap as rationale for a war that killed thousands of our soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Democracy in Viet Nam, democracy in Central America, democracy in the Middle East, democracy, democracy, democracy...Horse @!$%#! We are more than willing to embrace military dictators, or the most repressive monarchies in the world if it suits our purpose (usually oil supplies). These guys wont let women vote or even drive and yet we are quite content to kiss and snuggle with them. Hey, we need the oil.
Absolutely. "Our" foreign diplomacy is one of appeasement. It doesn't matter that our "allies" are worst terrorists than our "enemies." It is nothing but corporatism or, more accurately, fascism. Whatever is best for corporations, it doesn't matter how brutally they treat their citizens. this has been "our" policy since we first decided on "empire." It is a destructive policy that allows the elites to gain more wealth at the cost of humanity. What a sad state of affairs. Sadly, it has come to affect U.S. citizens as well as many other countries. Perhaps because it is already destroying America's economy,things might change.
What a joke of rulers in Saudi Arabia, home to Muslims' holiest Mecca and Medina.
With the death of Nayef, it will be one less oil price manipulating nuisance and funder of their Sunni extremist Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques all over the world.
The army of Saudi liabilities and nuisances is too big!
Democracy is dead, no more than a side show for billionaires to fight it out for control for their special interests. The voters are manipulated by media and disinformation. i am not saying that a stupid "Royal" family is the way to go but the Chinese model may be the best.
The sooner all these old conservative criminals die off the sooner the world will be safe for TRUE DEMOCRACY. I just wish the Koch brothers and Murdoch would hurry up and kick the bucket. Maybe we'll get lucky and a comet will hit the Bohemian Grove while all leaders of the conservative movement are running around in white sheets worshipping their big wooden owl this summer.
You feel the same way I felt, when the right wing elected a coke-snorting coward who ran from his National Guard post into daddy's arms to avoid even GOING anywhere in the service. Once in office, he concocted a story about WMD in Iraq, guaranteed BILLIONS for Halliburton, and then, once he enjoyed his Mission Accomplished moment, he bent his will toward destroying housing, banking and our whole economy... meanwhile, every mindless, BuyBull-sucking, brainwashed, cultist right-wing moron in the country decided to put him in for Two Terms, just to ensure complete, full-scale economic destruction.
That's the Republican Party for ya, my friend...
Will they bury him with his favorite camel?
You do know that story was proven wrong on more than 1 liberal news network, it was also shown to be false on Fox News, Breitbart's site, New York Times, ect. Yet you keep saying it, what is wrong with you people. I know, you have been taken over by the psychos in your party, GOOD JOB!!!
BW, Bush was better to hold his hand in public and kiss his arse in private than Obama bowing to him in public and still kiss his arse in private.
Please, show me. SHOW ME WHERE it was proven wrong, other than in your history-rewritten mind. Dumbya was a goddam coward. And still is...
And talk about "proven wrong" -- how many of the right-wing continue blabbing about Obama's Birth Certificate, despite the FACT that
1. Hawaii's GOP Governor, a supporter of McCain authenticated it publically, more than once. the research was done and it's a snopes.com -- http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp
2. The Honolulu Newspaper announced his birth in the newspaper back when it happened. Is the whacko conservative movement still suggesting the Dem Party has a time machine, and were able to go back in time and pop-in a birth announcement in the Honolulu News?
Whack Job City... are you its Mayor?
I am not a birther, try again. Ok, here are some links to show that it is wrong.
(first paragraph)
There's more, but I dont want to get banned...
Oh, and most conservatives don't believe it, in fact, we denounce it openly. You however, never seem to go after the wackos in your own party.All you do is point to us and say "Look what they believe, they all believe that". And don't say Hannity, he never believed it, it just made good commentary...
WHY THE HELL CANT I POST ANY LINKS!!! I HAD 5 UP THERE!!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT, JUST USE GOOGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ Fuzzy...Not his favorite camel, but close. His favorite fleet of Rolls Royces and Bentleys.
takes intelligence to work a computer... yeah "go find it yourself"
good job, punkin!
Obama's Apparent Bow to Saudi King Outrages Conservatives | Fox ...
George W. Bush and the King of Saudi - YouTube
They all suck the Saudi Oil Cock.
Bushbama 2012!
Regardless of what you think of the Saudi Royal family and their politics you've got to admit they're one good looking bunch.
Yup, beyond handsome and....rich, which enhances physical beauty no end.
As to Bush and drugs.....hmmmm.
Guess you're not to conversant with Obama's 'chooming' and 'TA' as in total absorbtion of marijuana smoke. He DEFINITELY inhaled and, in an endearing gesture, he 'fanned' his dope dealer and his little gang of drug addict buddies in his HS yearbook. He also snorted lots of blow so guess you had better add Obama to your list of people to disdain for drug use.
Obama is known currently as the 'Choomer in Chief' and we are so proud to realize just how pampered and drug addled our current president was. Perhaps that is why he doesn't want his records from Occidental released.
Makes one sad to realize that his drug dealer was killed by a jealous homosexual lover. But then, Obama did thank him for his services, without which, said 'chooming' would have been far more difficult to achieve. Wonder where they got the pot and coke? His dealer was probably sorely missed upon his untimely demise.
patsy and mygirl. They always say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sure glad I do not have your eyes. Because they are ugly.
my girl, the rest of your posts. In order to write what you did, you have to be on drugs yourself. What a kook.
Obama/Biden 2012
ah, mygirl.... what would one of your BS posts be like without some denigrating comment about gays... we'll probably never know, since that's one of your obsessions you bring up all the time... you must be a christian...
Gee, MYGIRL, you sure seem to know a lot about it. You shared the same drug dealer? Wow, you shoulda stayed on pot and stayed off the hard stuff you're on now. :-)
don r. b.
You have no idea what you're talking about. The Bush family has been in bed with the Saud's for generations.
With that bunch of geriatric old geezers running the oily desert kingdom, we can expect more of the same: repression, corruption, stagnation.
And what else would you expect from a country that founded itself as a monarchy less than eighty years ago? It's the year 1433 according to their calendar...that sounds about right.
Condolences to a True Friend and US Ally fighting against the FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAMIC Al Quada and the FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAMIC SHIA REPUBLIC OF IRAN.
Sunnis = "Moderate", "Liberal", "Modern" Interpretation of the Holy Koran (Quran), the Fiqh (Reason) Laws. Negotiations First, use of Force as a last resort (usually request others to use force for them thru negotiations).
Example of a Sunnis Nation: US Ally Saudi Arabia.
Shia = Fundamentalist Islamic (aka Muslims = definition Islamic Believers completely subjugated to Islam) Interpretation of the Holy Koran (Quran) as current Laws as Shia (Sharia) Laws and the Ancient Islamic Customs (Hadith) as Laws. Use of Armed Force First, not "Empty Words" (negotiations), this is why there are less and less Sunnis, as "the Dead do not complain". No other interpretations are allowed, the Sunnis being Islamic Heretics according to the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia. The 100% Belief in the Holy Koran (Quran) Calls to All Islamic Believers to War Against the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers, the "Islamic World's" Forever Alliance of 1933 with Chancellor Hitler, everything that Fundamentalist Islamic Amin Al Husseini accomplished and Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists are the SuperStars of Fundamentalist Shia Islam.
Example of a Shia Nation: Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran.
Sure mimi jacques you go "treat" the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia.
Sure Bluelake, Frogmorton!, and all the UNINFORMED that voted for your NONSENSE posts how about this you go do your Homework (Research) instead of spouting Partisan baloney:
Start with US Law, H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998" (Bush was not President) Section 2 Justification Weapons of Mass Destruction; President Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address; US Law 2002 Iraqi War Resolution; 2002 Operation Hotel California, especially us augmented by the US Army 10th Special Forces capturing the Iraqis Chemical Weapons Facility at Sargat.
So Bluelake, Frogmorton!, and all the UNINFORMED that voted for your NONSENSE posts now who are the "political hypocrites and bull@!$%#ters."
In March of 2009 President Obama stated his Policy that resulted in the Overthrows of US Allies Governments Worldwide, the US and US Allies lost the Iraqis Oil that could have paid for the US Military Liberation of Iraq with Decades of Iraqis Oil all lost to the Russian Federation and Chinese 2011. US European Allies loss of the Strategic Libyan Oil to the Chinese thru negotiations with the Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists aka "Libyan Rebels" and Qatar. Increased Strategic Sphere of Influence of the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran Worldwide (including South and Central Americas).
US Ally King of Saudi Arabia, "President Obama gave Iraq to Iran as a Gift on a Golden Platter".
Jonathan-1982062,
Told you so Jonathan-1982062 all your other Nonsense posts about how the US Ally Saudi Arabia are the Terrorists as Sunnis. So now here this article is stating exactly what I was saying about the US Ally Saudi Arabia SUNNIS going after the FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAMIC SHIA FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAMIC JIHADISTS.
You cannot twist the Truth, as the Truth will always eventually be KNOWN.
Your only excuse, Jonathan-1982062, is that you are a Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Muslim and attempting (Failing) to Undermine one of the Last US Allies, US Ally Saudi Arabia, by posting Taqiya (Lies to Advance Islam) as part of your Fundamentalist Islamic Mandatory Islamic Tithes.
david. what are you smokin? i wanna try it the next time i have a bad cold and just want to escape from reality...
There ARE such people as moderate Sunnis, it's just that the Wahabi are not amongst them. They are the heirs to the founder of "modern" Islamic fundamentalism.
fuzzy44: For all his crimes, Nayef deserves to be buried with a pig!
Nice try when you cannot dispute the Observed Firsthand Facts, or the Historically Documented Facts;
your failed attempt to attack the person conveying the Facts that dispell your fiction and lack of knowledge. This article also does that too.
so
SO? I hope they find his will before the other bad guys do. Surely he left all the oil in Saudi Arabia to US.
Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un
Do wop do wop she bang she bang.
Rama lama ding dong
rama lama f*** ur self ^
Must have been all that fat soaked Kobe Beef imported from Japan.....next?
It is actually a rare condition that causes extreme shock simultaneously to the body and the mind. It occurs when someone who has grown up eating goat, drinking tepid water from a cistern and living around women in beekeeper suits is served champagne and foie gras by a blue-eyed blonde in a miniskirt.
"foie gras, blonde in a miniskirt" ? No, no, a conservative saudi would never engage in that sort of behavior. ( roll of the eyes).
I could really go for a blue-eyed blonde in a miniskirt right now.
"He had been in Switzerland since May for medical tests."
These people don't permit Bibles and non-Muslim holy places in their Saudi Arabia.
For treatments they line up to western nations, infidel nations.
With such blatant double standards and hypocrisy, anything is possible from these seventh century desert mindset, highly corrupt, autocratic and bigoted rulers!
Oh yeah, because people who follow the BuyBull and the filthy, hateful cult of christianity --- they don't suffer from double standards, hypocrisy, and sweeping hatred for others, do they? Especially millions of people in their own country!
Good thing these BuyBull/christian folks in the US don't hate gays and women and other religions and non-whites folks and equality and and... oh... wait a minute...
We Christians LOVE God. Just not the one those Jews and Arabs love...
If only we could get them to accept Jesus.
start by proving your cult's jesus-myth actually exists. after 2000 years, your inability to do that doesn't do your cult nonsense any good. a lot of folks just aren't interested in your mythical cult creatures.
just sayin...
Frog, think that notsojingo is just dripping with irony with that one.
Rlquall
You nailed it!
DRIP DRIP DRIP!!!
Sorry Frog, I was just making a point that is so often made by the Evangelical Christians in their tenants of Salvation. I really do not mind what anyone finds to be a Higher Power, and am not attacking Christians, per se.
Just the Phony Baloney Hypocrites preaching out of both sides of their mouths and off their sleeves. Many Christians do wonderful things in the name of Christ by just being good hearted and caring humans. The value system of Christians/Muslims/Atheists, etc is not something to throw a blanket statement over, but most of the Right Wing Nut Jobs that believe the utter and constant BS of the Political Right just leaves me in sad wonderment.
And therein lies the problem. If you accept everything as true on faith and do not question it, the path leads the Sheep to slaughter eventually. And they don't care if they take you down with them.
Many are content to already have theirs(though many do not really have much), so why think progressively or grow past long standing prejudices and hate based on stereotypes. Not saying that there are not people of all stripes and creed that deserve a bad rap. But keep that to the deserving.
A Vicious Circle. But let's All try to be more what we preach of good, or no one will ever grow beyond the Wall self built which locks us into morose contentedness. I am willing to accept something when it proves out.
So far the Republicans have not muchto me for the last 30+ years which has maintained a redeeming and fruitful benefit for anyone but the Corporate Rich and Very Well Off. Unfortunately, the Dems are due to stop playing footsie, and take the fight above all of this mediocrity. Both Parties Are Guilty of not bringing us a lasting prosperity. It is what I call The Punch & Judy Puppet Show. And we all stay for every performance.
But I am still hoping...
Gotta crash. Another long day at work closing in. Be Well, All.
Peace
Who cares ?
We all should, since the "next in line" could upset the current "balance of power" within SA and the entire Middle East.
Obviously you do, because you took the time not only to read to article but also to comment on it as well.
I thought Liam Neeson shot this guy in the forehead for taking his daughter..
I swear I saw in the movie Taken.
Still sounds like nothings gonna change.
Why change when you think that you've got the Western world by the gonads? But, the key, of course, is to keep the gerontocracy in power. These half-brothers only apparently trust each other and not their sons, which says a lot about them and the men whom they have caused to be brought into the world. Whenever anything is run solely by elderly people, it becomes brittle and broken. Look at China under Mao at the end and for the first few years after his death and compare it with China today. It took the old men either stepping or being swept aside. Look at the Catholic Church and its governance by reactionary old men. As someone who appreciates the free market and freedom of expression, I find it amazingly bad that the country with so much of the world's petroleum reserves is run by a tribal system where freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and women's rights are totally impossible.
I doubt he actually read the article before commenting.
When these international liabilities die, I do read and enjoy!
I wish more die along with him!
As far as balance of power and so on, these people are most ungrateful and biggest backstabbers.
Just see 9/11 and the oil price manipulations using Iraqi wars and now sanctions on Iranian oil!
yeah, good thing President Cheney and VP Bush didn't have anything to do with all that, huh Jonathan?
Put a sock in it david - setting up your phony arguments.
Frogmorton: Sometimes you can't name the real culprits!
STOP TROLLING AND SPAMING NEWSVINE, reported to Tyler. Your post of #5.9 - Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:12 AM HST is before my post of #1.38 - Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:24 PM HST
And that is the point, you already LOST the Arguement as proven by this Article that proves your previous posts NULL and DEVOID of Facts.
The only cheetah that you are, is the one that gets wacked in the nuts and face:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLj8H0GSap0
You need to change your screen name to Wile E. Coyote fo Road Runner with your ACME Nonsense lack of Education.
You can't take it with you.
Ancient Egyptians thought they could
yeah, it's better to go by much more intelligent cults, like the BuyBull cults (like christianity) -- who think that everything worth living for occurs after you die. "living for the afterlife" -- oh wait, that's what the egyptians did, too... gee, imagine that...
Never seen a u-haul behind a hearse.
I was stationed at our Embassy in Jeddah when Nayef was Interior Minister. Since no religion other than Islam can be practiced openly, we gathered in the courtyard of the Belgian Embassy for Mass. We were singing Christmas Carols one December and Nayef called our ambassador and told him no more! Then we had to retreat to the auditorium at our Embassy for Mass. I'm having a tough time working up a lot of sympathy for Nayef's passing.
Everything about that culture, or lack of it, is so distasteful. But then westerners who work there do it for the money, and the money only...
Maybe your singing was off key?
On an aside note (or is it assad note?), wasn't his wardobe designed by Abdul the Tentmaker?
Actually, Sharkey, it was by Yanni Camelsace and Yves St. Goatherd.
T,
First of all, Thank You for your service. I, for one, have absolutely no sympathy (or empathy) for a dynasty that uses its influence to abuse woman and restrict freedom. If Islam was so wonderful, there would be no need to prevent the open practice of other faiths. Perhaps they are worried the rest of us will open the eyes and ears of their people and abandon this barbaric "belief system". Trouble from these "Omar the Tentmaker" wearing monsters has been going on for hundreds of years. The barbary pirates gave President Jefferson trouble. When will everyone in the west realize they have the same objective now as then...World domination...
Christians want to do the same thing here. All religions are BS.
Also these guys are self appointed royalty and there are thousands of princes. I reguard them just like the silly royalty BS practiced in England.
"On an aside note (or is it assad note?), wasn't his wardobe designed by Abdul the Tentmaker?"
Actually I think it was Abdul's brother Omar the Tentmaker.
I doubt that. Christian missionaries and other Christians have been trying to convert Muslims at the sword ever since the Crusades. It hasn't worked very well.
Perhaps you should spend some time reading up on history.
I wonder how many people, following mass, leave their cult buildings determined to limit the rights of women and gays in our own country?
Oh wait -- I keep forgetting -- when BuyBull-believers hate on others in our own country, it's ok. Because the BuyBull cult is the RIGHT cult! The BuyBull god hates the same people you do, so it's ok. But when those Damm Muslims oppress others, BOY O BOY, it sure feels righteous to speak out against THEIR Hate, doesn't it!!
jesus h nipple! the hypocrisy and two-faced double-speak of christianity will NEVER cease to amaze me.
Often, what xian missionaries do is worse - because they do it mostly to children. They have been caught, time after time, setting up shop in needy, third-world countries, full of food, clothing, medical needs -- especially for the children. And then, you find out that they refuse any services to those children unless they agree to daily brainwashing in BuyBull classes. The christian childrens fund was caught doing that in 2002, and several others have been, too. remember all the christian hijinks in Haiti...? it never stops, especially when children are involved. But of course, we don't have to explain that to anyone in the pedophile catholic cult or in several of the christian churches all over the US where congregation leaders have been raping children for decades... So much for those "better values" and "one path to Gawd" -- what twaddle and nonsense.
Will they ever appoint a female? Doh Silly me! What the hell is a woman capable of? Damn! I should know my place! I'll shut up now.
Why should they appoint a female? Because that makes it more "fair"? ....
This is Saudi Arabia. Are you kidding? Not for at least 100 more years, unless something drastically changes there.
The day they will appoint a female, they will start serving bacon for breakfast and let you open your own church there.. You will be able to drive to your church wearing normal clothes, without a male escort or fear of death.
But I am comparing our democracy to a medieval petrocracy...
Baldman
It should be based on Merit, but I see no reason why a woman can't do as well as a man. Unfortunately, this is the Saudis... and we don't meddle in their airfares, because the GOP wants to make sure we get all of that black gold.
IAT,
Are you suggesting we do without their "black gold"?
Oh, right, we have Obumma's wind mills to supply our power...we don't need that stinkin' oil, do we?
By the way, why do we care about their "airfares" unless we're flying their airplanes?
Baldman,
Actually a woman could probably solve the problems... It has nothing to do with fairness...Simply ability.
What "problems" are those, Meg? No women in positions of power?!
Maybe it's simply because I'm a man and, therefore, incapable of appreciating your logic; however, I don't think your approach is any more reasonable than that of the (shall we say) ageists who seem to believe the Saudi's "problems" stem from having rulers who are 60-years-old-plus.
Ability is not based upon the calendar - or one's genitalia.
Apparently, "fairness" is in the eye of the beholder.
GBL
Logic4U
YES/NO. Its time we stop relying on foreign oil and start getting our own
First, that's President Obama. The lack of respect from whiners and complains about the office of the Presidency is astounding. We have the ability to create reusable greener energy right here at home and could do it. DO your homework and see just how much solar, hydro electric, wind, and hydrogen gas power we have right now.
However, when you have OIL corporations (who receive over 4 billion in our tax dollars) why would want to change that? Do you enjoy paying higher taxes because I don't
Ignored and irrelevant
Its about time! At six million per windmill with half of that coming as federal subsidies I highly doubt we will be energy independant anytime soon
Hmmm...changing the topic? Wait -- are we talking about the Muslim need for Men In Control? Or, are we back to talking about the Pedophile Catholic Cult and the many sects within the christian cult that are all Men In Control?
do I see more of our Western Hypocrisy here? Take a look at the cults we worship here. Let's not forget, hmmm???
Or, what about the right-wing's attitude about Female Presidents...
The Dems put up someone smart and capable like Hillary, and the GOP loses control, denigrating her at every opportunity, even to jabbing fun at her clothes if it would take her down a notch...
The GOP reply, who is THEIR female icon for "leadership"?? -- go find some unknown airhead, BuyBull-beating, anti-everything, Party of NO, dishonest nazi female who's as dumb as a mud fence, but pretty pretty pretty!! And, ultimately, a filthy goddam Quitter who walked away from her post as Governor (sounds familiar) I mean WOW. Talk about the typical Conservative whack-jobbery that runs rampant in this country. All Hat and No Cattle. Just like the Dumbya before her. Those are the "leaders" of their party.
And now -- they go for a mormon, who before, the mainstream xians in the US referred to mormons as whacky cultists. Now he's their savior. Again, no adherence to values, just hype and dishonest nonsense.
It's just amazing...amazing how much our own right-wing, who would love a BuyBull Theocracy controlling the US, is so much like the Saudis.
ssmike
Do some homework and see how much wind power is produced in this country. Then come back and show me where it costs 6 million in subsidies.
Oh, I forget that massive tax credits are NOT really subsidies.
Anyones death is sad. No matter who or what they were. A life that went bad or a life that did good, it is not for us to judge or second guess. Let that be the higher powers judgement.
Why is any ones death sad? They have only left this material world. It should be rejoiced!
Normally, I would agree with you. However, when Bin Laden died, I was not sad, and justice was served.
Is that so? My family rejoiced when Hitler died...it is sad when someone who enriches humaniy leaves this earth. To the destroyers of humanity and civiliztion, I say GOOD RIDDANCE..
Why would death be sad. Accoding to all religions life is but a step to better things. I like the way they celebrate it in NO with the marching bands and uptempo music as opposed to the tears and wailing .....
funny how xians forget that. they tell you how joyous it will be to join their jesus-myth, but always lamenting the death of people.
whatever. cultism is silly and follows absolutely no logic or critical thought.
I feel for his family and those who loved him. However, they're a nasty bunch, those Saudis. Expect some major international sucking-up by those eager to keep the oil pipeline open. That will include the USA and President Obama.
The Saudis got a pass on 9/11, don't forget.
Actually I'm not feeling nothing here. It's just a story of passing interest. I am curious about the guy taking over. Sounds like he's thinks before he speaks but still more of the same.
Whoever he is, he will be answering to clerics you and I have never heard of.
Truth of the matter that a lot of people do not realize is the US does not get that much oil from the middle east. Fluctuations in pricing are driven more by scammers manipulations than acual supply and demand.
This is the same guy that mailed bombs on cargo planes out of Yemen to the US.
SCUM BAG DELUX!
The false-flag attempt was on the sophistication level of the Three Stooges - for heck's sake!
The one holding the tracking numbers of the packages is the prime suspect - get a clue!
The Saudi Intelligence Agency - headed by the dead guy Nayef - gave us just in time the tracking numbers of the packages with the bombs in them.
They were mailed out of Yemen in a false-flag attack so we could justify supporting Saudi Arabia's war against Yemen.
Nayef the terrorist is dead! HURRAH !!
Another Carter, Clinton, Bush and Hussein Zero donor gone. Good Riddance To Them ALL. One-By-One Until They're GONE!
Condolences to his family and friends.
That said, im not much of a fan of royalty. Especially royalty thats still "in-charge". Britains royalty is easier to stomach, since they are just a figurehead, and not actual rulers. I dont believe in a "caste system". These guys live too good considering the poverty that people still suffer in their country. And their holier than thou attitudes dont help much either.
I look forward to the day all the old world "elites" are gone. I probably wont be here to see it, but the world will sure be better off.
Caste system is whats next here if the GOP has their way.
SH-2000...we actually already have a caste system. It is called the DimoCrap Party. Top of the System is the Hollywierdos and Elitists (Clooney et al, Obamas', Bill maher, George Soros) and then you have all the stratified Entitlement Leeches, and then all the Welfare Suckers, Then the Illegals, they you. Quite an array of Trash i note. We will call it the DimoCrap Trash Caste System.
I see someone has had their hater-aid this morning. Really? Dimocraps , Hollywierdos and Elitists is that all ya got this morning?
Calling names make you feel good? But you had a Hollywierdo at the top of your party that all of you treated like a god. Let's try this, instead of name calling, we list our disagreements and then discuss them?
My disagreements with your statement:
1. You do not know this person
2. Just because it is not your opinion, does not make it crap
See how that works. No need to blood pressure cuffs or heart medications, because I am willing to discuss this with you in a calm and rational manner. Now are you going to prove all of those that think that Conservatives (note I did not say Republicans) are arrogant, self serving, pigheaded, cruel and greedy wrong and have a discussion?
BK,
You do understand that our entire political system is obsolete don't you? How can anyone with half a brain rah-rah for either party in a country that has slowly twisted in the wind while our economy withers and people suffer, while war is waged and money that used to support programs that promised a better tomorrow are de-funded to buy more drones and wreak more havoc around the globe?
Corporate CEO's and world bankers hold the strings that work the mouths of our politicians. Anyone who believes otherwise needs to wake up to the fact that we don't elect anyone anymore, our politicians are bought and paid for by corporate America and other interested parties around the world. We are barraged with advertisements and fed so much propaganda that no one could possibly understand what any candidate stands for. This obfuscation is deliberate because the only work candidates intend to accomplish once in office relates to protecting the wealth of corporate fat cats and world banks.
We don't have a "Royal Family" we have royal corporations, royal world banks, and royally ignorant fools who think their votes still matter, that our elected representatives still represent US! How naive can we be?
A two party system? A two party sham! Really a single party, focused only on maintaining the status-quo for the wealthiest, no matter the consequences. No vision for a better tomorrow, only a vision for what strings need to be pulled to secure re-election!
What a sickening JOKE!
Hey Sighbey: I thought you were trapped in the computer the other day!
Well said sighber !! Americans are getting fat and lazy again !! Too busy playing with their phones and video games to be aware of what the @!$%# is happening to our country !!Where is our Teddy !!
Sighber, you got it right. I'm afraid the only solution we have left is to have an armed rebellion. The congress critters will be the richest people hanging from the gallows.
Nope, their owners will be the richest.
Sighber - you are right on. What we call democracy is a sham controlled by special interest groups. This is true in all country's. If they loose elections they use their courts and military to govern.
sighber,
There was only one problem with your post:
You attempted to inject logic into this debate!
[Thanks, by the way.]
GBL
Is it 'spring' in Saudi Arabia yet?
Nope, even now it's still the dead of 'winter'.
Yep, we're all going to die. But with billions of dollars and hundreds of the worlds best physicians you would think he'd get a break on the reaper. Nope. What about us slubs who can't even afford to get a tooth pulled or wait for hours in an ER with blood dripping on the floor? I grew up very poor but at one evenings dinner, my father remarked to us "this food is great, this is what the rich people eat". Prince Sultan would be a great King to KSA.
There go's the price of GAS ! We will end up paying the funeral expence.......
I believe all chains of "Royalty" should simply be abolished. As no one is going to listen to little'ol me, perhaps a suggestion: With 40 original sons to choose from, think about picking one of the latter born who hasn't already passed average life expectancy.
Crowned Morons.
First we have to rid ourselves of King Hussein. NOVEMBER 2012 and he is pfffft ....gone, like a fizzling fart.
Right maybe replace him with.....Trump !?...McCain !?...or maybe dig up Ronnie !! great he'd raise your taxes back up twice as high !! How about another Bush baby !! might as well finish off this country the good old boy way ...@!$%# it to death ..damn ignorant tea bagger !! (BK what are you the Burger King guy)
Yep, Obama sucks. Romney sucks harder. America is screwed regardless of who gets in the White House, although if Romney gets in, we'll go down the drain faster with GOP in the Oval office and Congress. At least with a Democrat in the White House, we had gridlock, which slowed down the inevitable crash.
Well put, Flbikerchick!
Looks like he might have blown up from drinking too much crude oil. He looks like one of the Bishops or Cardinals in The Catholic Church...all bloated with laziness and bigotry and discrimination and backwardness. Burp, fart...gone!!!
Actually, I was thinking he looks a lot like a bloated Snidely Whiplash.
LMFAO!!
Yunt-hunt-nuh!
I'm no political type expert, but common sense tells me that the person being appointed should probably be below the age of 65.....time for some new blood people!
@ MSNBC Staff who reported this - get your facts straight. One portion of this article states that Prince Salman is in his 60's, and 2 paragraphs later, you say that he is 76....not quite the same. So which is it? This is almost as bad as Yahoo News reporters.
The Lammer, why did you click on the link and why did you continue to read? I also see that your reading comprehension is not what it should be. This is the part of the article that you either failed to read or where to LAZY to read:
Jane Kinninmont, London-based Chatham House's senior research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program said a pillar of the old authoritarian order in the Middle East would had gone with Nayef's death, adding:
"Prince Nayef was the most powerful conservative force in Saudi Arabia, running the interior ministry, the internal security forces and the religious police. He was opposed to women voting or driving. The next in line to the throne, Prince Salman, is seen as a more liberal figure, and is a bit younger, but it's all relative -- he's in his 60s rather than late 70s. Don't expect any radical change coming from the new crown prince -- more a subtle shift of tone."
Jane Kinninmont was the one that said that about his age. All MSNBC did was report what she said!!! Next time read the whole article, don't skip lines and maybe you will be able to discuss the topic with the grown-ups.
Who would believe even a "certified" birth certificate for one of these guys? They can get any official document that they think that they need forged. No one really knows how old that they are. And their family, unlike Pres. Obama's, has been in power pretty much "forever" by the standards of anyone living now. So while I'm far from a "birther", I wouldn't believe anything you could offer as proof of any of these guys' ages. All I know is that they are being incredibly self-centered and short-sighted to maintain all real power in the elderly generation of one inbred family, and I would suggest that a lot of them know this and just DON'T CARE.
The Lammer, you are correct. It doesn't matter if MSNBC is quoting someone else or not (as stupidvoter is stuck on), they should take note of the age discrepancy and settle it. As it reads now there is no way to know if Prince Salman is in his 60s as the expert quotes, or 76 as stated later in the article. Sloppy.
Stupid voter is directing abusive comments against anyone who notes this problem in the article. He can't seem to grasp that the discrepancy is apparent to any careful reader and that the article is flawed because of it.
CLEARLY, the expert is talking about Prince Salman, the very same Prince Salman who is referenced later in this same article as being age 76. Since the whole thrust of the article is about the aging line(s) of succession in Saudi royalty, this discrepancy regarding the age of Prince Salman does a disservice to all careful readers trying to understand the situation there.
...Same outfits as The Catholic Bishops and Cardinals....a hole put in the middle of a window drape for them to stick their fat head through....beacuse their glutony and lazines make putting on a pair of pants and belt impossibe......Cardinals, Sheiks, Bishops, all the men parading around in their robes, or so-called "religious garb". It's nothing of the sort....it's the only thing these lazy, fat bastard, self indulgent pigs can put on over their bellies.
With 40 sons all old as dirt by the time they get to the grandsons they'll be old as dirt. With such a long twisted line of succession it's only a matter of time before they divide into factions and start killing each other off. Then when they're fighting someone else will come in and finish them off and take power for themselves. Hopefully the USA stays out of it. But that's like hoping a politician tells the truth.
I feel sorry for some people who talk about Saudi Arabia and women in Saudi Arabia without any knowledge. First of all Kingdom might not be the appropriate way of govern or lead people but it is in Arabic country and it has been for so many years. Secondly, How did you know that women in Saudi Arabia have no rights? it is either you are stupid or you just want Muslim women be like European women who have no principles in their life? You have to understand that Women in Islam have more rights than Men, it is just you don't have any knowledge of it. and please you people stop pretending that you care about our women and community. We know how to deal with ourselves in our way not your way.
"Saudi Student" well, since you are, you obviously are part of the Royal Family, which explains your tiny, weenie, little bias, and HUGE misrepreprentation of the FACTS.
Maybe you have it backwards, rather than "Women in Islam have more rights than men, it's just that YOU have no knowledge of it"..It sould be..."Women in Islam have more rights than men, it's just that THEY have no knowledge of it"
Do you acknowledge that Nayef was a terrorist?
How dare you insult my mother and sister and say they have no principles ? Typical arab bulls..t. Arab women have more rights ? What a joke ! Saudi student my a.. !! Our domestic animals are treated better than your women, everybody in the civilized world knows that.
I'm sure they feel very "privleged" to be considered as all potential sluts and temptresses who are either too stupid or too immoral to allowed to drive, and just love not being allowed to express their own opinions publically, or go anywhere without a male chaperone. This is the horror which results when people with a mindset straight out of the Middle Ages meets billions of dollars and modern technology (all invented in the West under a system which makes place for creative thought and doesn't seek totally to define itself by a seventh-century text).
I'm willing to bet Saudi Student is studying somewhere in Europe or the US, not the country he's so proud of.
Saudi Student can you be more specific? I must have missed something. Maybe you have "more rights than men" but the average Saudi woman does not. 40 sons? Female children were not even mentioned. THAT is the Saudi way.
Well said and i agree with you Saudi Student:
I am Pakistani living in Saudi Arabia since 20 years and it is clear to me
Saudi Arabia is one of the leading Islamic and peaceful country,
Including all Muslim countries Saudi-Arabia have complete rights for women but in Islamic way, ... not an American / European way !
Saleem,
May I quote you with that in the future?
Pax Islama....
Saudi Student, I am very much aware of the rights extended to woman according to the Koran.
On the other hand, I am also aware of how the Koran then contradicts those rights by claiming men have superiority over their relationships with women.
Furthermore, in most Muslim countries under some type of Theocracy, whether royal, some semblance of democracy or outright theocratic--those governments seldom make laws based on the Koran directly. Instead, many of those laws are based on the prevailing culture. Quite often, they are in conflict with the Koran, when the entire Koran is taken into account.
For example, the Koran does specifically state that men and women are equal; however, it further states that "Men are the protectors and maintainers of women because God has given the one more (strength) than the other and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient and guard in (the husband's) absence what God would have them guard."
Therefore, it's the prevailing culture from which most of Sharia Law is based upon not the actual Koran, but rather loose interpretations of the Koran, usually bent to meet the needs of those in power.
That is certainly the case in Saudi Arabia.
Now yes, folks in the Muslim world have their principles and those principles do vary throughout the Muslim world; it is offensive, however, to assert that European woman have no principles. On the contrary, many European woman hold high principles above even those coded in Sharia law.
Generalizing makes you just as guilty as any Westerner in regards to the lack of cultural understanding and acknowledgement.
Just like I tell my counterparts here in Asia about American culture: "Don't believe everything you see in popular culture. It's so far from reality that it's almost stunning Americans even let Hollywood misrepresent us in such manners."
Careful. You just described mainstream christian America, too.
don r. b. wrote "I'm sure Obama,is very sad to hear of his passing for it was the Saudi's who sent him to school. Remember when George Bush met with the Saudi's, he didn't bow to them but Obama did."
Wow..talk about blind. There is a photograph of Bush kissing the man directly on his lips as is a custom in Saudi Arabia. Blinded by hate for that Black Man in the White House. And oh yea..the Saudis sent president Obama to school? Haha..it just gets crazier everyday. The Bush family got mega-billions out of the royal family in gas subsidies. Now thats the truth.
The "truth" is that Bush engaged in a custom that is traditionally engaged in between two equals, while Obama engaged in a custom that is traditionally engaged in between an inferior and a superior person. The POTUS should bow before no man, but should kiss, shake hands, whatever with other leaders according to whatever the custom is between two persons of equal rank, for in protocol he is "inferior" to no one.
Bush continued on to kiss their asses daily and probably slipped a little tongue in there as well ! Obama ain't takin any crap from those goat herders give him any @!$%# and your on his @!$%# list ..and his list ends with a big bang !!
They're gonna need something about as thick as the front door to the mountain at NORAD to carry this muthaflucka's fat dead ass around in the streets. Jus' sayin'
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