Dispatch from AMEA
Stepping and Fetching on the Arabian Peninsula
Barbarians at the Velvet Rope
The king is dead. Long live the king. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, BFF of the House of Bush and staunch ally in "The Global War on Terror" (literally 'GWOT' in Pentagon-speak - an acronym I first encountered at BAE Systems while working on extending the production of Mine Resistant Anti-Personnel Vehicles [MRAPs - come on, now, get into that old acroynmic spirit with me!]) was succeeded by Crown Prince Salman.
King Abdullah died yesterday in Riyadh. The incoming monarch's spokesman tweeted from the Palace: "The filling station remains open, and his Highness King Salman reminds our friends in the West that regular and premium are on sale at prices that can't last long." A follow up post moments later in Arabic said, simply: "It's great to be king!"
Certain Rebels (details are difficult to tease out; the rotating cast of competing insurgents changes faster than late-night TeeVee talk show hosts) have taken over neighboring Yemen and placed a lot of very important and powerful (at least until about 36 hours ago) former rulers of the Sultanate on 'no-fly' lists, providing further evidence that even cultures which pretend enmity with the Great Satan secretly covet the Amerikan Caliphate's whimsical and deft Orwellian facility with language. (No-fly in this context meaning, almost certainly, 'no-head' at some point in the immediate future for the unfortunates on this list.)
Vs. 
Place Your Bets
Journalists, courting long interludes of confinement in orange jump-suits punctuated by dramatic Face Book Videos featuring the regionally popular 'no-head' endings, report that certain more bold elements of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant ('ISIL' - which doesn't have the ring of your typical NASA or USDOD alphabet sobriquet - but isn't it flattering that they're making an effort . . .) are testing the defenses on the Northern Saudi border. Although one suspects that pickup trucks tricked out with bed-mounted 50 cals - what their African brethren dubbed 'Technicals' some time ago for reasons which remain shrouded in the lore of human mischief - would be no match for a squadron of F-15s piloted by Princeton educated aviators sporting smart and crisply starched Dishdasha.
Meanwhile, in the Emirate of Dubai, things seem eerily untouched by events occurring, literally, just down the road.
Panicky types might be packing up, but I'll admit I remain more frightened of your average Texas highway patrolman than of most of these newly famous freedom fighters of tomorrow. Whether this stems from simple stupidity or something more . . . difficult to pin down... is a subject for a future post.
Following that long ago advice of Bush II concerning the best course to follow when confronted with political uncertainty and economic jitters; I'm off to the Gold Souk. Rolexes and a box of gourmet dates in May for everyone.
M. Lee
-casual watcher of the skies above