King Abdullah

Buckingham Palace flag at half mast for #KingAbdullah? Remember when the Queen didn’t want to lower them for #PrincessDiana?

by

Obama-bows-to-Saudi-King

abdullah and obama

obama-saudi-king-abdullah

Obama, Other Western Politicians And Media Praise Saudi King Abdullah … That Led The World In Beheadings, Whipped Bloggers For Criticism & Banned Women From Driving:

by

Obama-bows-to-Saudi-King

– Obama Issues Statement On The Death Of Saudi King Abdullah, Praises “Vision”, US-Saudi Relationship (ZeroHedge, Jan 22, 2015):

Just released by the White House:

Statement by the President on the Death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz

It is with deep respect that I express my personal condolences and the sympathies of the American people to the family of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and to the people of Saudi Arabia.

King Abdullah’s life spanned from before the birth of modern Saudi Arabia through its emergence as a critical force within the global economy and a leader among Arab and Islamic nations.  He took bold steps in advancing the Arab Peace Initiative, an endeavor that will outlive him as an enduring contribution to the search for peace in the region.  At home, King Abdullah’s vision was dedicated to the education of his people and to greater engagement with the world.

As our countries worked together to confront many challenges, I always valued King Abdullah’s perspective and appreciated our genuine and warm friendship.  As a leader, he was always candid and had the courage of his convictions.  One of those convictions was his steadfast and passionate belief in the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship as a force for stability and security in the Middle East and beyond.  The closeness and strength of the partnership between our two countries is part of King Abdullah’s legacy.

May God grant him peace.

And while Obama was impressed by Abdullah’s vision to the “education of his people” he had no comment on the one US “ally” which has beheaded a record number of people in recent years making even ISIS blush by comarpison, as reported in US Ally, Saudi Arabia Beheads 87 In 2014, Up Over 10% From 2013 and also Record Beheadings And The Mass Arrest Of Christians.

abdullah and obama

Don’t miss:

– Western Politicians and Media Rush To Issue Tributes To King That Led The World In Beheadings, Whipped Bloggers For Criticism & Banned Women From Driving (Washington’s Blog, Jan 23, 2015):

American politicians and mainstream media are falling all over themselves praising the late Saudi King Abdullah.

Other Western leaders are singing from the same hymn sheet.

But the truth is verydifferent …

Read moreObama, Other Western Politicians And Media Praise Saudi King Abdullah … That Led The World In Beheadings, Whipped Bloggers For Criticism & Banned Women From Driving:

The World’s Biggest Landowners

by

– The World’s 15 Biggest Landowners (Business Insider, Mar, 18, 2011):

The world’s total land mass consists of 36.8 billion acres of inhabitable land.

An incredible 21 percent of this land is owned by a short list of landowners, according to The New Statesman.

Of course that includes the Queen of England, who nominally owns places like Canada and Australia. The list also includes American billionaires like Ted Turner and the Irving family.

#15 Ted Turner

Land: Acreage totaling over 2 million. In The United States, he owns thousands of square miles of hunting grounds in Georgia and Montana. He also has roughly 11,000 acres of land in the Patagonia region of Argentina.

Background: Turner, an iconic America entrepreneur founded the Turner Broadcasting System that launched CNN and several others before being sold to Time Warner for yet another Turner fortune. The eccentric Turner is an avowed outdoorsman and has acquired land to use in his passion for fishing and hunting.

Acreage estimates provided by The New Statesman.

#14 Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa of Qatar

Land: Basically… Qatar. The King owns the country and all 4,415 miles of it.
Background: Bin Khalifa has a been a modernizing voice and Western-friendly face in the Middle East since taking the throne in 1995.

Acreage estimates provided by The New Statesman.

#13 James, Arthur and John Irving

Land: The approximately 3.6 million acres of land held in Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia make the Irvings the largest landowners in those states and provinces.
Background: As heirs to the J.D. Irving Group of Companies fortune, the three Canadian brothers also inherited thousands of square miles of forest land that the company uses as paper and pulp materials in one part of their very diversified business portfolio.

Read moreThe World’s Biggest Landowners

Robert Fisk: Saudis Mobilise Thousands of Troops to Quell Growing Revolt

by


Saudi security forces in armoured vehicles responding to the threat of a Shia uprising this week

Saudi Arabia was yesterday drafting up to 10,000 security personnel into its north-eastern Shia Muslim provinces, clogging the highways into Dammam and other cities with busloads of troops in fear of next week’s “day of rage” by what is now called the “Hunayn Revolution”.

Saudi Arabia’s worst nightmare – the arrival of the new Arab awakening of rebellion and insurrection in the kingdom – is now casting its long shadow over the House of Saud. Provoked by the Shia majority uprising in the neighbouring Sunni-dominated island of Bahrain, where protesters are calling for the overthrow of the ruling al-Khalifa family, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is widely reported to have told the Bahraini authorities that if they do not crush their Shia revolt, his own forces will.

The opposition is expecting at least 20,000 Saudis to gather in Riyadh and in the Shia Muslim provinces of the north-east of the country in six days, to demand an end to corruption and, if necessary, the overthrow of the House of Saud. Saudi security forces have deployed troops and armed police across the Qatif area – where most of Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslims live – and yesterday would-be protesters circulated photographs of armoured vehicles and buses of the state-security police on a highway near the port city of Dammam.

Read moreRobert Fisk: Saudis Mobilise Thousands of Troops to Quell Growing Revolt

Helicopter Ben Step Aside, Meet Enola Gay Abdullah: Whorism Goes Global

by


(Click on images to enlarge.)

And so the scramble to buy people’s love and undying affection moves beyond the Casual Encounters section on Craigslist. After Helicopter Ben and Teleprompter Barack came up with the brilliant plan to give $2,000 to every underwater homeowner, Saudi Arabia blows everyone out of the water with the biggest social whoring attempt to date.

“King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced financial support measures, worth an estimated SR135bn ($36bn), in a bid to avert the kind of popular unrest that has toppled leaders across the region and is now closing in on Libya’s Muammer Gaddafi. The measures include a 15 per cent salary rise for public employees to offset inflation, reprieves for imprisoned debtors, and financial aid for students and the unemployed.”

Unfortunately for Saudi, Bahrain tried this and failed. Also, once you start down this path, there is no turning back, as people demand more and more. Just how many printing presses does Saudi Arabia have? At least we now know that the political system that follows capitalism after its violent end is always and everywhere whorism, in those brief moments before total anarchy takes over and the inevitable systemic reset button is finally pushed.

From the FT:

Saudi Arabia’s ruling family has thus far been spared the type of popular discontent that has toppled presidents in Tunisia and Egypt and brought Libya to the brink of civil war.

The announcement of the Saudi relief measures coincided with King Abdullah’s return to the country after three months. He had been abroad for medical treatment. Among those on hand to greet him was King Hamid bin Isa al-Khalifa of neighbouring Bahrain, which is struggling to contain a surging opposition movement.

The cash-rich Saudi government has pledged to spend $400bn by the end of 2014 to improve education, infrastructure and healthcare. “The king is trying to create wider trickle- down of wealth in the shape of social welfare,’’ said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi. “The budget can handle that, but it is an aspirin to ease medium-term pain, not a solution for the long-term housing, and unemployment issue.”

Obviously, only the most deluded can hope this is anything remotely close to a long-term strategy. The heroin drip is now fully active and the public will simply demand more and more in exchange for not rioting one more day.

Read moreHelicopter Ben Step Aside, Meet Enola Gay Abdullah: Whorism Goes Global

Saudi King Orders $37 Billion In Handouts To Prevent Popular Uprising

by

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi King Abdullah returned home on Wednesday after a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth some $37 billion in an apparent bid to insulate the world’s top oil exporter from an Arab protest wave.

The king, who had been convalescing in Morocco after back surgery in New York in November, stood as he descended from the plane in a special lift. He then took to a wheelchair.

Hundreds of men in white robes performed a traditional Bedouin sword dance on carpets laid out at Riyadh airport for the return of the monarch, thought to be 87.

Abdullah left his ailing octogenarian half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan, in charge during his absence.

Before Abdullah arrived, state media announced an action plan to help lower- and middle-income people among the 18 million Saudi nationals. It includes pay rises to offset inflation, unemployment benefits and affordable family housing.

Saudi Arabia has so far escaped popular protests against poverty, corruption and oppression that have raged across the Arab world, toppling entrenched leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and even spreading to Bahrain, linked to the kingdom by a causeway.

Read moreSaudi King Orders $37 Billion In Handouts To Prevent Popular Uprising

The Kingdom ‘braces for nuclear war’

by

Saudi Arabia is reportedly preparing to counter any ‘radioactive hazards’ which may result from a US strike on Iran’s nuclear plants.

Popular government-guided Saudi newspaper Okaz recently reported that the Saudi Shura Council approved of nuclear fallout preparation plans only a day after US Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Kingdom’s high ranking officials, including King Abdullah.

As a result of the Shura ruling, the Saudi government will start the implementation of ‘national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the Kingdom following expert warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactors’.

Read moreThe Kingdom ‘braces for nuclear war’