Leader of Islamic Caliphate dies

[rainbow]

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries ... tml#page=1

Yet the US is not happy?

[trdsf]

The scary thing is that relative to the rest of his family and the rest of his government, he was the progressive one. I don't think we have a good idea which way Salman is going to go -- surely he's going to have a brief period of consolidation of power, and then... who knows? I'm not saying that Abdullah was an enlightened leader -- at best, he dragged Saudi Arabia kicking and screaming into the 16th century.

[Svartalf]

he's 79 already, his reign will be brief.

[trdsf]

Abdullah was 80 when he took the throne, and still held it for ten years. The problem they have now is that they're running out of brothers - Ibn Saud died in 1953 and the nation is still ruled by his sons, one after the other, and there are only ten left not counting Salman, the youngest of whom is 72. And the oldest of the grandsons is 80, and they're only barely in the mix yet.

The two words I would use to describe Saudi succession are "messed" and "up".

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-30956648

Saudi King Abdullah death: Lowered flags 'sickening'

An AM has denounced as "sickening" a decision to lower flags on Welsh government buildings following the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas said the move was inappropriate given the country's human rights record.

The death of Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was announced early on Friday morning.

The Welsh government said it would "normally extend this courtesy" to heads of state and royalty who had died.

The Mid and West Wales AM wrote on Twitter: "Woman beheaded on the street Blogger given 1,000 lashes Labour @WelshGovernment sees fit to fly Welsh flag at half mast #sickening #Saudi".

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has also described the decision to lower flags on government buildings as "a steaming pile of nonsense".

The UK government has asked for flags on government buildings to be lowered until 20:00 GMT on Friday, but the Welsh and Scottish governments are free to issue their own instructions.

A Welsh government spokesman said: "Flags are flying at half mast across the Welsh government estate.

(continued)

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Apparently, he was a "moderate" and a "reformer". I think that tells you everything you need to know about islam.

[laklak]

Darth Maul was a moderate compared to Emperor Palpatine.

[klr]

The scary thing is that relative to the rest of his family and the rest of his government, he was the progressive one. I don't think we have a good idea which way Salman is going to go -- surely he's going to have a brief period of consolidation of power, and then... who knows? I'm not saying that Abdullah was an enlightened leader -- at best, he dragged Saudi Arabia kicking and screaming into the 16th century.

And lets face it, he has a lot of family. The Islamic equivalent of writing Christmas cards must be a right bitch for the Saudi Royal family, all 2 million of 'em.

[trdsf]

And lets face it, he has a lot of family. The Islamic equivalent of writing Christmas cards must be a right bitch for the Saudi Royal family, all 2 million of 'em.

Yeah, there's something on the order of three to five thousand princes and princesses. Sounds like a setup for the worst Disney cartoon ever.

[JimC]

I'm sure that the liberal Saudi blogger sentenced to 1000 lashes will be mourning respectfully...

[cronus]

Saudi is no longer a swing oil producer. There are only a handful of big oil fields and each year they'll be producing less and less, significantly less and less. It is safe to say the issue of Saudi rulers are likewise going to be less important in the future as the power to dictate world affairs declines. Lot's of things will change, soon. This is the last big Royal funeral over that way.

[Seth]

I hope that whichever younger ends up in charge after all the old farts die is a modern Arab and not a radical Muslim.

Better yet, it's time to dispose of the monarchy altogether and make it a constitutional republic like the US. They can use our Constitution, but they have to not edit it.

[Svartalf]

I'm sure that the liberal Saudi blogger sentenced to 1000 lashes will be mourning respectfully...

I hope he's drowning his chagrin in booze

[Svartalf]

Saudi is no longer a swing oil producer. There are only a handful of big oil fields and each year they'll be producing less and less, significantly less and less. It is safe to say the issue of Saudi rulers are likewise going to be less important in the future as the power to dictate world affairs declines. Lot's of things will change, soon. This is the last big Royal funeral over that way.

Whoever controls Mecca and Medinah will have a major say in what happens in the muslim world...

[rainbow]

Saudi is no longer a swing oil producer. There are only a handful of big oil fields and each year they'll be producing less and less, significantly less and less. It is safe to say the issue of Saudi rulers are likewise going to be less important in the future as the power to dictate world affairs declines. Lot's of things will change, soon. This is the last big Royal funeral over that way.

A minor problem is that the West has been supplying them with lots of nice sophisticated weapons and trained them how to use them.

We don't seem to learn.