It is impossible to keep up with what is going on in the Middle East, and I, humbly say, that I know a great deal about the Middle East and am personally familiar with many from the Middle East. They are often on opposing sides from one other, but that does change, back and forth. I know a secret about a Middle East ruler but I am not talking or telling, I am not that stupid,
So allegiances, for me have been shifting. But one stance remains – a considered opinion about the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. An exploration of words and word forms is in order.
The first to be explored is confuse. All three definitions apply: cause (someone) to become bewildered or perplexed. That used in a sentence: Past and present blurred together, confusing her still further. Another definition is to make (something) more complex or less easy to understand. That definition used in a sentence: The points made by the authors confuse rather than clarify the issue. Then this one: identify wrongly; mistake. A lot of people confuse the UAE with Qatar or another sentence: Purchasers might confuse the two products, deodorants and anti-perspirants.
Synonyms are all over the map (so to speak) baffle, mystify, bemuse, perplex, puzzle, confound, befog, nonplus, disconcert, throw, set someone thinking; informal flummox, discombobulate, faze, stump, beat, fox, make someone scratch their head, floor, fog; ANTONYMS enlighten AND: complicate, muddle, jumble, garble, make complex, make (more) difficult, blur, obscure, make unclear, cloud, obfuscate ANTONYMS simplify. Then again; mix up, muddle up, confound, misinterpret as, mistake for. ANTONYMS distinguish
So to begin, I may be middled, mixed up muddled and jumbled but do believe these words were spoken by the Ruler of Dubai, but could be wrong. Something quite profound, and of course, these are not the exact words. My great grandfather rode a camel, my grandfather rode a camel, I ride in a Mercedes, my son rides in a Land Rover, my grandson rides in a Land Rover; my great grandson will be riding on a camel Those are the shifting sans of the Middle East.
No where is such a dilemma more evident than Saudi Arabia and I have the proof. This most recent news: “RIYADH—If Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman realizes his dream, a $500 billion city-state dubbed Neom will one day rise from the desert, transforming Saudi Arabia by drawing billions of dollars in new investment as the kingdom attempts to reduce its dependence on oil before its crude reserves run dry.So far, however, Neom has been mired in delays and hit by an exodus of employees who are straining under the weight of the prince’s ambitious vision. Engineers have struggled with demands to blow a hole a half-mile long and 30 stories high in the side of a mountain, to house a honeycomb of hotels and residences. Another directive to construct 10 palaces, each bigger than a football field, attracted more than 50 different designs, but left staff wondering whether anyone would purchase homes that could list at up to $400 million each, according to a review of the project’s plans and interviews with those who have been involved in Neom’s development.”
This from the Wall Street Journal: “Former employee Aimee Bothwell, who worked in the division focused on creating a food industry, said employees were drilled to believe in Neom but few risked questioning the project’s culture or feasibility. “When I left, I felt almost as though I was emerging from some sort of cult,” she said.”
So the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has this dream, but is it realizable??? Perhaps, and most probably not! But this is my involvement in all of this, which is quite simply none of my business. (Well, except I want to go to Mecca one day). Implausibly, improbably, far-fetchedly unrealistically preposterously and inconceivably I have a copy of a May 31, 1943 Life magazine in my possession. It informs, with photographs taken at the time, just where Saudi Arabia was before the discovery of oil made the country incredibly rich. The starkest photo is the Main Street of Riad (as it was called then). Here is the caption on the photograph: This is the city market place, and on the lamppost in the background the heads of beheaded criminals are suspended some days as an example, The beheading would take place here too. Photographer Landry got permission from the Kind to photograph the streets of Road one day at 5:30; was not allowed to get out of the car for fear Wahhabin might assault him. Both the cover of the magazine and this chilling image will be pictured. The story is entitled The King of Arabia” Ibn Saud, A Self Made Monarch, Rules a Nation Just Emerging From the Time of Mohammed. He was a great man and an amazing ruler – one of his sons, his second Feisal perhaps an even greater ruler. Faisel was assassinated, things went bad and look who Saudi Arabia seems stuck with at the moment. There is every indication that the Main Street may return to its 1943 state. I do not recall where I purchased the magazine, found it when unpacking my belongings from their six and a half year hiatus in storage. But the magazine is dated May 31, 1943 which is just two days after the day of my birth. I think it was purchased from an antique store in the foothills, maybe thirty years ago. More will follow from the lengthly article/ Page 76 is particularly fascinating and it is King Ibn Saud’s Pronouncement on the Palestine Problem. I have not read it yet as the translation is in small print and I cannot find my close up glasses. Stay tuned!
But then what complicates, garbles and obscures the situation even further is the shifting sans of allegiances within the region. Qatar and Saudi Arabia were not exactly friends but all of a sudden the Emir of Qatar has become a buddy of the Crown Prince. The blockade is lifted, hugs exchanged at the Saudi airport, initiated by the Crown Prince but the Emir of Qatar he is back again. One does have to wonder why when there is so much else going on and he was once an advocate of Palestine. Then during the Emir’s visit to Saudi Arabia the Prime Minister of Turkey also visits. Now Turkey and Saudi Arabia have not exactly been friends since the butchery of the journalist.
One, absolutely anyone could say that it is none of my business. Just because I had my face painted like the flag of Qatar does not mean that I am qualified to give diplomatic advice to the country. But the problem with absolute rulers is this – nobody scratches their head and says:
Me: Excuse me but do you know what you are doing????
That has been called sass and I am most good at sass.
Israel is absolutely hopeless and must be contained but that may be in the hands of Allah. First perhaps, Israeli must receive the warning. Repent, believe, perform a charitable act. It is in the Qur’an. Israel consider yourself warned.
But onto something completely different. Instagram can provide inspiration, although at times it is cluttered with too much of Fazza, with bothersome ads and photos of dogs. One woman wrote: “Letting go does not mean you do not care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” This was attributed to Deborah Reber. The person wrote: “I am taking all the time and energy that I give to others and focus on me. When all is said and done I am the only person I have control over. “ I did respond:
Me: My goodness, that is SO true. Thank you for that. I will put it on my blog.
I have and my life has become more serene and has a sense of inner peace when I stop looking to others for recognition, contact and caring – well some others, not all others. Some people are simply, for whatever reason, incapable. It is best to limit one’s caring to people who can, and do, care back.
Or what about this one, that in a way says the same thing. “Stop giving people the straw to suck the life out of you.” That is so apt. Apt means: appropriate or suitable in the circumstances. In other words: fitting, appropriate, befitting, relevant, felicitous, congruous, applicable, judicious, apposite, apropos, to the purpose, to the point; perfect, ideal, right, just right, made to order, tailor-made; convenient, expedient, useful, timely; informal spot on.
Stop giving people the straw to suck the life out of you is spot on. SO SPOT ON.
