Archive for January, 2007

US-Middle East Oil Dependency

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

The US high rate of oil consumption with depleting reserves resulted in an enormous reliance on imported oil particularly from the Middle East. On the other hand, revenue from oil exports is the backbone of oil-rich Arab countries, especially those located in the Persian Gulf region. The political instability and violent conflict in countries such Iraq and Iran, domestic opposition to current regime in Saudi Arabia, and the fact that most of 9-11 terrorists were Saudi national have all been perceived by the American consumer as warning signs of vulnerable dependence on a critical resource from an unstable region. Consequently, the U.S. is moving towards greater energy efficiency and exploration of alternative sources of energy in order that it can reduce its dependence on imported oil.

How can one understand oil dependency in the age of global economic integration? What lessons can one learn from the fact that the world community made a point of boycotting exports of Libya’s oil for almost two decades? Is oil a weapon for the producing or consuming countries to wield or for both? It will be great to crack this very issue.

Keep up to date with more articles in future as I will do my best to make it at least readable.

-batigol-

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Jangan menghina atau bersangka buruk pada orang lain

Thursday, January 11th, 2007

Slm semua,

Just wanna share what I just read which I think is extremely important. This is from the Quran Surah Al-Hujuraat (surah 49) from ayat 6-13. May all of us will benefit from this. Its a definite reminder for me and should be for everyone.

[6] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika datang kepada kamu seorang fasik membawa sesuatu berita, maka selidikilah (untuk menentukan) kebenarannya, supaya kamu tidak menimpakan sesuatu kaum dengan perkara yang tidak diingini dengan sebab kejahilan kamu (mengenainya) sehingga menjadikan kamu menyesali apa yang kamu telah lakukan.

[7] Dan ketahuilah! Bahawasanya dalam kalangan kamu ada Rasulullah (maka janganlah kemahuan atau pendapat kamu mendahului pentadbirannya); kalaulah ia menurut kehendak kamu dalam kebanyakan perkara, tentulah kamu akan mengalami kesukaran; akan tetapi (Rasulullah tidak menurut melainkan perkara yang diwahyukan kepadanya, dan kamu wahai orang-orang yang beriman hendaklah bersyukur kerana) Allah menjadikan iman suatu perkara yang kamu cintai serta di perhiaskannya dalam hati kamu dan menjadikan kekufuran dan perbuatan fasik serta perbuatan derhaka itu: Perkara-perkara yang kamu benci; mereka yang bersifat demikian ialah orang-orang yang tetap menurut jalan yang lurus.

[8] (Mereka dijadikan berkeadaan demikian) sebagai limpah kurnia dan nikmat pemberian dari Allah dan (ingatlah), Allah Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Bijaksana.

[9] Dan jika dua puak dari orang-orang yang beriman berperang, maka damaikanlah di antara keduanya; jika salah satunya berlaku zalim terhadap yang lain, maka lawanlah puak yang zalim itu sehingga dia kembali mematuhi perintah Allah; jika dia kembali patuh maka damaikanlah di antara keduanya dengan adil (menurut hukum Allah), serta berlaku adillah kamu (dalam segala perkara); sesungguhnya Allah mengasihi orang-orang yang berlaku adil.

[10] Sebenarnya orang-orang yang beriman itu adalah bersaudara, maka damaikanlah di antara dua saudara kamu (yang bertelingkah) itu dan bertakwalah kepada Allah supaya kamu beroleh rahmat.

[11] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Janganlah sesuatu puak (dari kaum lelaki) mencemuh dan merendah-rendahkan puak lelaki yang lain, (kerana) harus puak yang dicemuhkan itu lebih baik daripada mereka dan janganlah pula sesuatu puak dari kaum perempuan mencemuh dan merendah-rendahkan puak perempuan yang lain, (kerana) harus puak yang dicemuhkan itu lebih baik daripada mereka dan janganlah setengah kamu menyatakan keaiban setengahnya yang lain dan janganlah pula kamu panggil-memanggil antara satu dengan yang lain dengan gelaran yang buruk. (Larangan-larangan yang tersebut menyebabkan orang yang melakukannya menjadi fasik, maka) amatlah buruknya sebutan nama fasik (kepada seseorang) sesudah dia beriman dan (ingatlah), sesiapa yang tidak bertaubat (daripada perbuatan fasiknya) maka merekalah orang-orang yang zalim.

[12] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jauhilah kebanyakan dari sangkaan (supaya kamu tidak menyangka sangkaan yang dilarang) kerana sesungguhnya sebahagian dari sangkaan itu adalah dosa dan janganlah kamu mengintip atau mencari-cari kesalahan dan keaiban orang dan janganlah setengah kamu mengumpat setengahnya yang lain. Adakah seseorang dari kamu suka memakan daging saudaranya yang telah mati? (Jika demikian keadaan mengumpat) maka sudah tentu kamu jijik kepadanya. (Oleh itu, patuhilah larangan-larangan yang tersebut) dan bertakwalah kamu kepada Allah; sesungguhnya Allah Penerima taubat, lagi Maha mengasihani.

[13] Wahai umat manusia! Sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan kamu dari lelaki dan perempuan dan Kami telah menjadikan kamu berbagai bangsa dan bersuku puak, supaya kamu berkenal-kenalan (dan beramah mesra antara satu dengan yang lain). Sesungguhnya semulia-mulia kamu di sisi Allah ialah orang yang lebih takwanya di antara kamu, (bukan yang lebih keturunan atau bangsanya). Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Mendalam PengetahuanNya (akan keadaan dan amalan kamu).

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My 20 fav quotes

Thursday, January 11th, 2007
1.      "This is an unfair world. Many of us have struggled hard and even shed blood in order to be independent. When borders are down and the world becomes a single entity, independence can become meaningless."
Mohamad Mahathir, former PM of Malaysia
2.      It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose it.
Warren Buffett, 2nd richest man on earth
3.      The masculine man says ‘No’ to a woman calmly. The Asshole says ‘No’ to a woman in an angry tone.”
David Deangelo, dating expert
4.      “If you give people tools, [and they use] their natural ability and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected
Bill gates, Microsoft
5.      Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love
                                    Mahatma Gandhi, India ’s father of nation
6.      This is my homeland no one can kick me out.”
Yasser Arafat, former Preseident of Palestine
7.      Clearly, many of our problems could have been avoided if there had been greater commitment to eradicating subsidies, monopolies and favoritism.”
Anwar Ibrahim, Former Malaysia Deputy PM
8.      I think one has to say it’s not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism. And that’s why it has to be a broad and sustained campaign
Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank President
9.      In a World where people are surrounded by darkness, ignorance and fear, it is a sign of hope to be celebrating Islam’s message of peace and light, and the last great Messenger, born and chosen to deliver them to all mankind
Yusuf Islam, singer
10.  We are not intimidated by the size of the armies, or the type of hardware the US has brought
Saddam Hussein, Former Iraq President
11.  To develop the human capital, we want our citizens to be fully equipped with knowledge, practice good moral values, have a broad mind, love the country and possess the physical and spiritual strength,”
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia PM
12.  The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.”
Tony Blair, British PM
13.  Gaining respect is priceless
Zulhaimi, my dad
14.  If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit
Bill Clinton, former US president
15.  We believe that atomic energy is a blessing given by God … It’s an opportunity. It is a clean energy. It is a healthy energy
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , Iran President
16.  The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way
Robert Kiyosaki, Investor, Businessman
17.  All the tensions and stress in the world’s oil markets are flowing into the gasoline pump. The crude oil market is very tight, and a market that’s this tight is vulnerable to politics, to hurricanes, to strikes and to emotions, and that’s what we’re seeing.
Daniel Yergin, Author
18.  There is no pressure at the top. The pressure’s being second or third
Jose Mourinho, Chelsea FC manager
19.  Listen to many, speak to a few
William Shakespeare, Poet
20.  Never give up your dreams
Qurratul Ain, My special

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A change

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

The moon looks so calm, still and gloomy. Wind blowing softly against my skin bringing my hair waving in tranquility. My eyes and my thoughts don’t seem to work together. There are questions running in my head, pressuring me with an interrogating tone. My pale, high chick bone, long brown Malay face failed to express what was beneath it. I can feel my eyes are getting moister while my palm forming a hard knuckle.
I have done so many wrong doings that have contributed to who I am today. I just hope that I could do a little favor for myself and for this world before I say goodbye. A change for the benefit of everyone…a change for the better me.

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Science and Technology : for humanitarian means?

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

Everything in the world is subjective and can never be pristinely and clearly bifurcated as black and white. Similarly, in the case of science and technology; one can never say that both of it possessed such an angelic behavior as they have also brought several disasters to the world. Firmly I stand with my view that science and technology require a sufficient protection in order to filter it from the latter consequence stated above.
Knowledge and awareness evolved. It is not surprising for early modern scientists to promote and claim that their works were essentially meant for the people, environmentally and naturally friendly as they have facts in their hand. The application of science and technology is not a close system; it is prone and susceptible to the outside influence such as politics and money. The first quarter of the century, science has effectively being employed for the benefit of the human kind as a result from the least interference from both the political and economic interest. As time goes by, science has led to the creation of more and more destructive weapons especially by the nuclear superpowers which has indefinitely caused even more wars and brought instability to the world. From the World Wars in 1940’s, Gulf War in 1970’s, continued with the Biochemical massacre of the Kurds in Iraq until the latest “legitimate” invasion of Iraq, prove that science and technology have several times being massively dehumanizing. These catastrophes happened by letting the political and economic interest to be on the driving seat. However, I can never deny the fact that for every post-war, humanitarian relief with work has never been disappointing with the use of science and technology. The question is, “until when we have to bear the human population’s ‘genocide cycle’?”
Apart from that, science has as well being “exploited” in order to print additional money. World has stood as witness for case like the malfunction of the Ford Pinto in 1970’s; the car manufacturer had proceeded with their business without rectifying the car’s problem, which will force them to increase the cost. Obviously, penny was more valuable to them than the life of a person. I am not here trying to condemn and blame science for all the its miss-used, but to call for a better supervision and protection from a neutral body to make sure that it will be free from both political and economic influence. Together with that, humanitarians must never give up to continue adopting science in their noble work in order to improve their effectiveness and to build better awareness among us, the human beings. Decisively, science and technology are not necessarily beneficial.   
-batigol-

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“The Crisis of Islam” from Bernard Lewis ; My analysis

Saturday, January 6th, 2007
Salam to all,
Just wanna share my analysis on the book entitled "The Crisis of Islam" from Bernard Lewis that I have just recently read.
1) What is the crisis of Islam in Arab culture?
On a broader perspective there is no crisis in Islam in Arab culture or any other society. However one can hardly deny that there is crisis in Muslims community particularly in Middle East . It is important to understand that it is not Islam that is having any fault but it is the Muslim who wrongly practices it should carry the liability. Hitting the question, most of the Arab countries are behind in terms of economic prosperity and technological advancement because of their government’s inward policy. Furthermore, a combination of an increasing birth rate and lack of job opportunities has lead to a greater discontent among the Arab youth. Simultaneously, a rise of fundamentalist movements which offer a complete set of themes, slogans and symbols which is so efficient in marshaling support has managed to attract the frustrated and the resented from this particular Islamic bloc. This leads to the bitter and violent confrontations and the rise of militant Islam in Saudi Arabia , Iran , and Egypt , with the assistance of radical Wahabi proselytizing.
2) What is the western view on Islam seen through Lewis’s perspective?
Islam for most Westerners from Lewis’ eyes is a very unique, foreign, and alien religion and culture to comprehend. From Lewis’s perspective, Islam is a religion which is far closer to the Judeo-Christian custom than to any other great religions. He said Islam is the primary basis of both identity and loyalty. There are a number of events that have shaped the Western view on Islam today such as the firm denial of the state of Israel, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the strict Taliban regime in Afghanistan, ruthless Saddam rule in Iraq, and the latest September 11th attacks on the United States which contribute to a consensus that Islam promotes violent and terror. However, Lewis points out that in the Islamic world, they have a very dynamic sense of history and they regard it just as and if not more important than the present. This means their hostilities from the past have never faded from their memories and they tend to take vengeance. In short, from his viewpoint, westerners appreciate that Islam is a peace-worshipping religion but it has been distorted by violent extremism and they yearned to comprehend Muslims passionate enmity towards them.
3) What is the particular grievance of Arab Muslims against the US?
Arab Muslims are increasingly aware of the broadening gap between the opportunities, development and technologies of the free world outside and the atrocious deprivation within their borders. Their resentment comes naturally towards the United States as they believe that the Americans are willing by any means to restore their puppet rulers in their countries for selfish reason and worse they proved not to be a reliable benefactor as they abandoned these puppets when they faced internal problems. The United States is also perceived as a country that represents the West and is being regarded as the leader of Christendom or more generally labeled by Lewis the “Land of the Unbelievers”. Furthermore, the American way of life, as it is being promoted in media, in particular the idea of success being reflected by material gain, freedom of sexual intercourse, provide a vital threat to Islamic values. For them, the only solution is a return to the authentic Muslim way of life and the essential step would be to remove the apostate government.   
-Batigol-

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Hydrocarbon Society ( part 1 )

Thursday, January 4th, 2007
Churchill argued that war with Germany was not inevitable as Germany ’s intentions were not necessarily agrresive. He said that the money would have been better spent on social programs rather than on extra weapons and battleships. On July 1911, a German nasal vessel was sent by Kaiser Wilhelm to the coast of Morocco . The mission was to check French influence in Africa and shape out a perfect base for Germany . The improvement and buildup of the German Army had caused uneasiness among its European neighbors and in specific challenging France and Britain ’s global power. These clashes of imperial super powers prior to World War 1 had ignited a great military competition on the high seas.
This situation called the British Navy and other imperialists to convert their traditional fuel, coal, to oil for its power source. Many doubted that this conversion would mean a secure safe supply of Welsh coal will be replaced by a distant and insecure oil supplies from Iran or Persia as it was known back then.
Throughout the 20th century oil has meant mastery. The quest for this mastery for the last 100 years has made us a “Hydrocarbon Society”. About 80 years after Churchill made a sudden commitment to Petroleum, after 2 World Wars and a long Cold War, the invasion of Kuwait (as most historians put it this way) by Saddam Hussein, war in Bosnia Herzegovina, the fall of Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Iraq invasion by the United States and the most recently Iran, as one of the world richest oil supplier is on the verge of being sanctioned by the United Nations led by United States, proved that almost every major conflicts that happened in this hectic century has been oil concentric.
-BATIGOL-
REFERRENCES :
-The Prize by Daniel Yergin
-documentary = The Oil Factor behind War on Terror

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Poor Saddam ..poor Iraq

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

Saddam Hussein was finally executed a few days ago. He was the president of Iraq for the past 2 decades until the United States of America invaded the country in 2003. It is still fresh in my mind when the story blew my cap off when I was sitting in the Universiti Teknologi Petronas’s library doing my homework. Prior to that moment, I almost thought that it would be impossible for a country to invade another in this so-called modern millenium century.

Here are some hidden facts about Iraq. According to Dr Micheal Parenti, one of North America’s leading radical writers on US imperialism and intervensionism, it is a secret in America, it is a secret in most of the mainstream media all over the world, it is a secret in abundants of talk shows that Saddam Hussein was actually put in power by CIA, sponsored by the US to stop the Iraqi democratic revolution in late 1970’s. And Saddam did just that. He destroyed the Kurdish Democratic party, he demolished the Iraqi Communist party which was a reformist party and he even slaughtered some of his political allies in his party called Baath. He was Washington’s boy. For Saddam to stand alone to develope chemically driven weapon of mass destruction, the possibility for that to happen is less than 10 %.

So Saddam’s regime was aided by the US to build those chemical factories with adequate technologies, experties and capital during the Iraq-Iran war and the massacre of the Kurdish ethnic. Basically Saddam was the US’s baby boy until they got out of line on oil prices. Up to this time, Saddam was seemingly incapable to be controlled and started to portray himself as an economic nationalist. He initiated public education programme. He introduced public health service. As a result, prior ro economic sanction in 1991, Iraq had the highest standard of living in the Middle East. He also had his own dream ; to bring Iraqi civilization to glory just like what’s in history.

The then President of the US, George Bush the first, decided to attack Iraq on one lame reason ; Iraq is threatening to invade Saudi Arabia. This is far from possible, a total fabrication. Then the invasion of Kuwait. A few sorces say that Iraq was trying to free Kuwait from being a US military base and some others say that Iraq was trying to control Kuwaiti’s oil. In accordance to my research, the latter reason seems highly unlikely since Iraq has the second highest oil reserves in the world and most of them still untouched.

Anyways, the Us government managed to influenced the UN to apply economic sanctions to Iraq. This move has weakened Iraq so badly. Iraq is bankrupt, its economy and infrastructure shattered by years of economic sanctions. Then came Bush the second and he finished his father’s ambition with military oppression. Here it goes again with another lame reason ; Iraq has weapon of mass destruction and it is a threat to our national security. It has proven wrong until now. Iraq didnt fight as though they are a threat. Instead who is exactly the threat now? Suprisingly enough, Saddam was charged and penalized for the massacre of the kurds?..interesting huh?one reason after another.

The world oil resources has declined so badly and it is assumed to dry by 2020. Middle East will be the only place having the black gold during this time. And due to high dependancy on oil based technologies and products, the largest oil consumer on Earth has no other option but to own it.

A former Pentagon’s Planning Officer said that the US is definitely uninvited to invest in Iraq when the santions end. The threat of losing Iraq to other powers from Europe during this time will devastate US dream to control oil supply of the world. In essence, US will no longer has the capability to be unipolar.

Poor Saddam…poor Iraq…..

-Batigol-

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