The Indonesian Miracle

BY RICHARD DOBBS, FRASER THOMPSON, ARIEF BUDIMAN

When most people think of Indonesia today, they think of beaches and temples or of its famously teeming cities, but this country of 240 million and counting is a much more modern, diversified, and dynamic economy than many international investors and companies assume. To make the most of Indonesia's vast potential, they're going to need to change the way they think about the archipelago -- and putting these five myths to bed is a good place to start.

"Indonesia's economy is unstable."

Hardly. Far from being unstable, Indonesia has been growing steadily at an impressive rate of 4 to 6 percent over the past 10 years -- less volatile than the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, or any other developed country for that matter. Indonesian government debt has fallen by 70 percent in just a decade and is now at a level lower than in 85 percent of developed economies. Inflation, which was over 20 percent 10 years ago, now stands at 8 percent, comparable with more mature economies, such as South Africa and Turkey. Indonesia's overall economic management has also shown remarkable improvement. The World Economic Forum ranked Indonesia 25th out of 139 countries for macroeconomic stability in 2012, up sharply from 89th in 2007. For comparison, Brazil ranked 62nd and India ranked 99th.  

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Mitt Romney's Loose Cannon And A Vixen

Hantu Laut 

Mitt Romney may have too much money and think he can win the election by insulting poor working class America, literally calling them parasites.

Just as well, he is not getting much help from his tempestuous wife. 

Read the two articles below:

Why Is Mitt Romney Such A Loser?

It’s a serious question. On the basis of fundamentals, the race should be a squeaker. The Yale economist Ray Fair’s prediction model, which ignores the opinion polls and just looks at economic factors, currently puts Obama’s share of the popular vote at 49.5 per cent, implying that Romney would almost certainly get a narrow majority in the electoral college and win the election. Because the margin of error in Fair’s forecasting equation is three per cent, he isn’t really predicting a Romney victory; he’s just saying that the race should be close, really close. As of today, it isn’t. Read more.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A letter from Romney's wife

Dear Fellow-Republican,

I’m not a happy camper.

Over the past few days, some so-called Republicans have taken it upon themselves to lob some pretty harsh words in the direction of my husband. Now, it’s one thing when Mitt gets criticized by the forty-seven per cent of Americans who are parasites sucking at capitalism’s teat. But when former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan calls his campaign “a rolling calamity,” it’s time for Ann Romney to kick some ass.

Which brings me to you. This is not a fundraising appeal. Lord knows this campaign has all the money it needs, especially since Mitt went to Vegas and promised Sheldon Adelson he’d bomb Tehran on Day One. As Mitt’s wife, I’m asking you to pledge something far more valuable:

Your silence. 

By signing the pledge form below, you become an official member of Ann Romney’s Circle of Silence, an élite tier of the Romney for President Campaign. As a member of the C.O.S., you will receive priority ticketing to the Inauguration, as well as a collectible “Loose Lips Sink Mitt” ball gag. All you have to do is shut the freak up until Election Day.

That’s right, for the next forty-six days, I’m asking you to bite your tongue every time Mitt says or does something idiotic. If you think that sounds difficult, welcome to my world.

And Peggy Noonan, if you’re reading this: you want a piece of Ann Romney? Then get in the ring, girlfriend, and I’ll mess you up good.

Vote for Mitt,

Ann

She is sure one hell of a vixen! Good luck Mitt! 

How not to lose friends, if you have a wife like Mrs Romney

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My reason for joining PKR — Ibrahim Menudin

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers... Nikita Khrushchev
 

SEPT 20 — The eve of Malaysia Day marked a major turning point in my life. After a career spent largely out of the political limelight, I decided to enter mainstream politics and join Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

For some time now, I have felt a deep and growing sense of dissatisfaction with the way our country is run. We have achieved so much with what we have been given, and yet, 49 years after Malaysia was formed, and with eight years left until Wawasan 2020, many of us are still struggling with the basic necessities of life. Eighty per cent of our households still live on less than RM3,000 per month, and 40 per cent of our households live on RM1,500 per month. As the cost of living continues to increase, most of us will still struggle to make ends meet.

I joined PKR because I believe it is time for change. It is time that we took back the future, the future that is continually being promised to all of us, but is only being realised by so few.

In the shorter term, we have to tackle the economic mismanagement that is currently plaguing our country. The current administration's “solution” to spend our way out of our problems is not a solution; it is part of the problem. Our national debt stands at 53 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, and at least one-third of our federal budget is funded by Petronas. We need to restructure the way our budget is funded and the way our budget is spent, and we need to re-think the way our government-linked companies (GLCs) operate.

In the longer term, we need to address our national standard of education. Our students are becoming less competitive because we have come to depend on a system of rote memorisation and indoctrination rather than on a system of building intellect and promoting lateral thinking. Thirty per cent of our students do not even complete SPM. Many private schools have been founded to address some concerns that our children are not getting the level of education they need. Our priority should be to raise the quality of education of all our national schools, so that if we want to send our children to private schools, it is because we want to, not because we feel we have to. Our overarching philosophy should be not just to educate our students, but to liberalise the minds of all Malaysians, young and old.

I am also entering PKR to help the people of Labuan. As a native of Labuan, I long to see a great and prosperous future for my homeland. I have been fortunate enough to have enjoyed immense opportunity. My goal now is to make these opportunities, and so many more, available to everyone, by allowing Labuan to realise its true potential. We need to lower the skyrocketing living costs that are burdening the average Labuanite, and properly position and promote Labuan as an international hub for oil and gas, education, and financial services.Read more.

Bigots Vs Bigots

Hantu Laut

In every religion there are bigots who violate other religion out of ignorance, sheer stupidity and for some, throwing insults, merely, for orgasmic whirl of thrills. 

People like obscured Florida Pastor Terry Jones and film maker Sam Becile who made the film "Innocence of Muslims" to insult Muslims and Prophet Muhammad are more dangerous that Al Qaeda terrorists as they can stir up mass violence with lethal consequence among the world's Muslim population. 

Jones, from a small never heard of nondenominational Christian church is an attention seeker who may be suffering from serious bouts of attention deficit syndrome. His ways of seeking fame is by burning the Korans. Just as well, bigoted Muslims around the world gave him the attention he wanted...... a celebrity of sorts.

The U.S, the bastion of freedom of expression, as Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had said, will not stop anyone from expressing themselves no matter how distasteful they are. The carnage that stemmed out of this freedom of expression that enraged Muslims into violent reaction that killed the U.S Ambassador to Libya and a couple of other American. 



The U.S stance advocating protection of free speech even if it can cause mass violent hysteria on a global scale is beyond the pale. Its refusal to prosecute the tormentors giving free speech as the excuse is most deplorable and has given rise to more madness and copycats casting more insults at Muslims worldwide.

European official are worried that Europe may be the next battleground over the anti-Islam video. German officials mulled a ban of a planned screening of the film in Berlin and in French a weekly magazine published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, some showing him naked. Muslim community leaders appealed for calm, but can they control the religious fervour of million of Muslims.

Can they control the madness of 6 million Muslims in French, 4 million in Germany, 20 million in Russia and million more in other part of Europe?

It is deplorable hypocrisy using freedom of expression as an excuse not to take action to stop desecration of other religions. 

You can't call an African American a "nigger" or the Whites  as "white thrashes" but it is fine to thrash and insult other people's religion and called it freedom of expression.Racism is outlawed in the West but insulting religions is perfectly alright.

As there are as many bigots in Christianity, there are just as many in Islam.

Hypocrisy is homage that vice pays to virtue.

It is about time the hypocritical West draw a line between freedom of expression and freedom to insult, may it be race, colour or creed.