The corruption in China is legendary as communist officials acquire huge homes and wealth in assisting businesses take land and create industries. The Chinese government regularly responds to such corruption stories with executions but they are viewed as little more than a lethal form of public relations. Now, however, the family of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has retained lawyers after a New York Times report that the family has amassed a massive amount of wealth in accounts spread around the world. It is an ironic moment given the government’s continued refusal to allow ordinary Chinese to have real legal recourse to contest their treatment, including the lost of land. The Times article details Wen’s relatives have alleged amassed assets worth at least $2.7bn (£1.7bn) around the world.
Category: International
It appears that Bill Gates is a virtual proletariat businessman in compared to some. A website called Celebrity Net Worth calculated the wealth of well-known historical and contemporary rich guys and found that 14th century African king Mansa Musa I was the richest person in history.
Mansa Musa I had an estimated $400 billion fortune. In comparison, Gates weighs in with $136 billion. Fourteen of 25 are Americans. Here is the list of the adjusted incomes:
1. Mansa Musa I – $400 billion
2. The Rothschild family – $350 billion
3. John D. Rockefeller – $340 billion
4. Andrew Carnegie – $310 billion
5. Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov – $300 billion
6. Mir Osman Ali Khan – $230 billion
7. William The Conqueror – $229.5 billion
8. Muammar Qaddafi – $200 billion
9. Henry Ford – $199 billion
10. Cornelius Vanderbilt – $185 billion
Musa I lived between 1280 to c. 1337. He was the tenth Mansa or “King of Kings” over territory formerly belonging to the Ghana and Melle (Mali) empires.
Mansa Musa controls key shipping routes and showed great ambition. Arab-Egyptian scholar Al-Umari quotes him as saying:
The ruler who preceded me did not believe that it was impossible to reach the extremity of the ocean that encircles the earth (meaning the Atlantic). He wanted to reach that (end) and was determined to pursue his plan. So he equipped two hundred boats full of men, and many others full of gold, water and provisions sufficient for several years. He ordered the captain not to return until they had reached the other end of the ocean, or until he had exhausted the provisions and water. So they set out on their journey. They were absent for a long period, and, at last just one boat returned. When questioned the captain replied: ‘O Prince, we navigated for a long period, until we saw in the midst of the ocean a great river which flowing massively. My boat was the last one; others were ahead of me, and they were drowned in the great whirlpool and never came out again. I sailed back to escape this current.’ But the Sultan would not believe him. He ordered two thousand boats to be equipped for him and his men, and one thousand more for water and provisions. Then he conferred the regency on me for the term of his absence, and departed with his men, never to return nor to give a sign of life.
—Mansa Musa
The Romney campaign has immediately issued a press release that Mansa Musa “did build that.” However, the Obama campaign has stressed that his tax rate was still lower than the planned increase for top earners in the U.S.
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz this weekend added his voice to the call of Muslim leaders for an international blasphemy standard that criminalizes anti-religious speech. The monarch demanded the law in light of recent insults to Mohammad: “It is our duty and that of every Muslim to protect Islam and defend the prophets.” Of course, Saudi Arabia does not even allow the building of churches in its country and routinely metes out draconian sentences for those who attempt to convert followers to other religions or commit apostasy.
Continue reading “Saudi King Demands International Blasphemy Law From United Nations”
While we continue to struggle with questions of the most humane methods of execution, North Korea (the second happiest place on Earth) has implemented a new approach: death by mortar. Kim Chol, vice minister of the army, was executed by mortar for partying during the official mourning period following the death of the “Dear One,” Kim Jong-il.
Continue reading “North Korea Executes Ranking Army Minister By Mortar Shell”
This picture is reportedly what passes for classroom instruction in China. A kindergarten teacher in China gave a female student the experience of being lifted by the ears. Not only does the teacher appear to be enjoying the experience, but she later posted the photo to Weibo, the Chinese analogue of Twitter.
Continue reading “China Photo Triggers International Outcry”
The world has watched as Russian President Vladimir Putin destroys the fledgling democracy movement in Russia and reinstates authoritarian government to that nation. While actively (and admittedly) crafting a cult of personality around manufactured Superhuman exploits, Putin has striven to reinstate the oppressive laws from the Soviet era. In the face of continuing protests, Putin appears intent to show that he can and will do anything he wants with critics. This month his underlings arrested the best known protest organizer Sergei Udaltsov while his government has shutdown international human rights organizations and NGOs. At the same time, his government has passed a new law in the lower house of the Duma to radically expand the definition of treason in Russia. Udaltsov led the largest protests against Putin as part of a campaign of “Russia Without Putin.”
Tunisan Nadar Khiari, 28, will soon be back on his way to Tunisia and should consider himself fortunate that he avoided a longer stay in Sweden after an despicable crime caught on camera. Khiari was waiting for a train when he saw a drunk man fall on to the train tracks. At first, the video below suggests that Khiari is coming to the man’s aid. Instead, Khiari jumps down and robs the unconscious man and leaves him on the tracks where the man is struck and lost his foot (but miraculously survived).
In a blow to science and rational thought, Italian prosecutors have succeeded in convicting seven of that country’s leading scientists of manslaughter for failing to predict the 2009 earthquake that struck central Italy. Despite objections from the world’s science community that such accurate and consistent predictions are still impossible, the government blamed the scientists for failing to alert the public that an earthquake was coming.
Continue reading “Leading Italian Scientists Convicted Of Failing To Predict 2009 Earthquake”
You many recall the demand of Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi for a new anti-blasphemy law at the United Nations. One of Mursi’s chief aides, Emad Abdel Ghaffour, “we call for legislation or a resolution to criminalize contempt of Islam as a religion and its Prophet. The voice of reason in the West will prevail if there is mutual respect, dialogue and efficient lobbying for this critical resolution.” That does not appear to be a two-way street with Morsi or his followers. Morsi was shown this week attending prayers and listening to cleric Futouh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour calling for the destruction of all Jews and their supporters. Observers report that Morsi not only did not object or distance himself from the remarks, but appears to say “Amen” after the specific call for death to all Jews.
Turkey was long a bastion of secular politics — a rare position in the Muslim world. After the ascension of an Islamic party-controlled government, however, religious extremism is taking hold in a variety of areas to the alarm of civil libertarians in Turkey and around the world. The most recent example is a series of books issued to schoolchildren that are filled with anti-Semitic and anti-Darwinian references. Darwin is actually described as a Jew (he wasn’t) with a big nose and a weird fetish for monkeys.
Continue reading “Turkish Schoolchildren Issued Anti-Semitic and Anti-Darwin Textbooks”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger
If he said it once, Mitt Romney has said it a thousand times. President Obama should have let GM and Chrysler go bankrupt instead of “bailing” them out. (paraphrased) Of course, the discussion usually revolves around how Unions allegedly made out like bandits in the bailout to the detriment of the country and our economy. What has been selectively left out of the discussion was the role played in the bailout by vulture capitalists in reaping an enormous profit from the bailout. According to Greg Palast, the bailout created an opportunity for the vultures to swoop in and make huge profits. All at tax payer expense! Continue reading “Did Romney Profit from the Auto Bailout?”
Richard III may be the Rodney Dangerfield of sovereigns. He “got no respect” by Shakespeare (in my favorite play, Richard III) and appears to have gotten even less respect in his burial. Indeed, if a recent human skeleton recovered under a parking lot proves to be Richard III, he came close to be dug up and thrown out by a construction crew in the nineteenth century. Indeed, the Queen mother’s words to her hated son in the play appears to have been an omen: ““Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end; Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.”
French President François Hollande has attracted considerable international attention in his new tax policies including a 75% tax rate for super wealthy citizens. Now, Hollande is moving to eradicate another inequity between wealthy and non-wealthy families: homework. Hollande believes that homework exacerbates the unfairness since wealthier parents have greater ability to work with their children at night than do average working parents.
Continue reading “French Government Moves To Ban Homework To Achieve Social Equality”
On Sunday, I ran a column in the Washington Post detailing how free speech is dying in the West. That column featured cases from England prominently as have many stories on this blog. Now we have yet another free speech case to add to our collection from our cousins across the pond. Barry Thew, 39, was arrested after he wore a handmade tee shirt with offensive anti-police words. He was given four months for his exercise of what should be protected free speech.