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peakwealth · 4 years ago

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There goes old Europe

Immigrants are needed before the sun starts to set over Europe. (Tropea, Reggio Calabria, Italy. The cone of the Strómboli volcano is visible on the horizon, to the right.)

Of all the seemingly unrelated ideas that have emerged during the Coronavirus pandemic, there are a few I find compelling. One is the proposal to tackle systemic police abuse through defunding. The other is about deciphering who will inhabit the planet in the near future.

Let's start with the latter idea which comes in the shape of detailed population projections published earlier this month in the British medical journal The Lancet (1). They are derived from the latest data set (2017) of a worldwide epidemiological survey known as The Global Burden of Disease Study, produced by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA. It covers 195 countries.

The study is a game changer. Its findings suggest, in a statistical middle-of-the-road 'reference scenario', that the world's population will peak at 9.74 billion as early as 2064 and then decline rather rapidly so that by the end of the century only 8,79 billion people would be living on Earth.

Of course, all manner of variables might lead to deviations on either side of that reference number. Alternate scenarios could work out as high as 13.6 billion in 2100 and as low as 6·3 billion (or even fewer, depending on improved female education and access to contraception in those countries where they are not adequately provided).

The underlying reason for the decline is that by 2100, 183 out of 195 countries are expected to have fertility rates well below replacement level. That's the key driver. Barring a significant influx of immigrants, twenty-three countries are likely to lose half of their populations by 2100, including the People's Republic of China, Japan, South as well as North-Korea, Thailand, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Sri Lanka, etc.

This is not news per se, it should not come as a shock. We have known about ageing populations and declining fertility in many countries for a long time, in Japan, Eastern Europe, Greece, Italy, etc. By now the fertility rate has dropped to nearly 1 in countries as diverse as Portugal, Taiwan or Moldova.

But put together and all added up, the numbers do have shock value because they paint a dramatic picture of a changing world where the pecking order could be very different. The idea of 700 million Chinese vanishing so quickly is a startling one. So is the prospect of a Europe that would be depopulated on its southern and eastern fringes, a trend foreshadowed by today’s deserted villages in Romania or an already 'empty' Spanish countryside.

While key parts of Asia and Europe shrivel away, sub-Saharan Africa is set to triple its population to 3,071 billion. The only other regions of the world expected to have a population larger in 2100 than in 2017 are Central Asia and the Middle-East-and-North-Africa (aka MENA, just shy of a billion people).

Statistics don't get more fascinating than this. They challenge the imagination and raise many complex questions about the rise and fall of civilizations, about the shifts in global power now clearly on the horizon.

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So it is instructive to look at the numbers in some detail. Some of the data may occasionally appear counterintuitive (why would Holland lose a few million people while more geriatric Belgium next door would gain population?). It should also be kept in mind that all of these figures are mere calculations, the product of statistical modeling, something the Coronavirus crisis has told us to be wary of.

First of all, the American study is at odds with widely quoted and accepted projections (so far!) from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, last updated in 2019. They assume the world's population will keep rising throughout most of the century to reach approximately 11 billion people by the year 2100.

That's a gap of two billion. The authors of the American study attribute this difference to faster declines expected in sub-Saharan African fertility (from 4,62 in 2017 to 1,73 by 2100) but even more to lower fertility in China and India (who, together, make up around three billion people today). The rapid reversal of the demographic rise of both China and India is such that it may catch some people by surprise.

Looking at the figures country by country, distinct groups emerge:

1. Developed nations with a long tradition of immigration will see moderate to sustained population growth. This includes the USA, Canada (+ 25 %), Australia (+ 50 %) and New Zealand. But together they make up less than half a billion people.

2. Some countries will see relatively little change, one way or the other. Examples include Argentina, Colombia (and Latin America as a whole), Morocco, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Burma and many West-European countries. France and the UK are set to grow a touch while Germany would lose 16 million inhabitants. But those are minor details. Peripheral Europe, however, is a different story (see below).

3. Some countries will see a moderate to heavy decline in total population compared to 2017. Although India is set to overtake China as the most populous nation, peaking at 1,6 billion around 2048, it is expected to decline later in the century, ending up at 1093 million by 2100, still number one.

- Brazil down from 212 to 165 million

- Indonesia down from 258 to 229 million

- Iran down from 82 to 70 million

- Russia down from 146 to 106 million

- Nepal down from 30 to 18 million

The Chinese century may not last long if the population declines by half. (Xian, PRC. 2015)

4. Some countries will see a massive decline in total population, including the core of South-East Asia, Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, creating serious challenges to maintain a functioning economy, a sufficient labour force and a viable tax base in geriatric societies.

- China (People's Republic) down from 1412 to 732 million

- Japan from 128 to 60 million

- Taiwan down from 24 to 11 million

- South Korea down from 53 to 27 million

- North-Korea down from 26 to 13 million

- Thailand down from 71 to 35 million

- Bulgaria down from 7 to 2,6 million

- Romania down from 19,4 to 7,8 million

- Poland down from 38 to 15 million

- Ukraine down from 45 to 17,5 million

- Greece down from 10,4 to 5,5 million

- Italy down from 61 to 30,5 million

- Spain down from 46 to 23 million

- Portugal down from 11 to 4,5 million

- Cuba down from 11,4 to 4,5 million

More people are expected in Turkey (Istanbul, 2015)

5. Some countries, other than those listed in (1), will see fairly moderate increases in total population, like Sweden, or Ecuador, Mexico, Turkey (from 80 to 102 million), Pakistan (surprisingly perhaps, from 214 to 248) .

6. There is little doubt that parts of the world will see a massive increase in population. By the end of the century Nigeria would be second only to India which is to say that there would be more people living in Nigeria than in China. Of the fifty countries with the highest current birth rate, 44 are in Africa. As the graph below shows, most of the fastest growing populations live in the poorest countries.

Many African countries are set to multiply their populations by three or four. Madagascar, Tanzania, Burkina-Faso or Mali are typical examples. But South-Sudan, one of the poorest nations on Earth, would see its population explode by a factor of seven, to almost 70 million people. Chad by a factor of more than eight. Niger by almost nine, to 185 million. Some countries continue to restrict contraception and aim for larger populations still.

Others, such as the Gabon or Congo-Brazzaville would hardly grow at all or see a moderate increase, like Ghana. The Central African Republic would even shrink. But most will be struggling not only with a huge youth bulge but with a vast, hungry working-age population. Sustained economic growth would be needed to deal with such a scenario. That would put more strain on Africa's already strained ecosystems and resources, and possibly push the entire planet over the edge of irreversible climate damage - or do so earlier than anticipated. Think, for example, deforestation, which has already reached dramatic proportions in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana or Uganda, leading to drought, crop failure and desertification.

But that problem isn’t limited to Africa.

- Afghanistan up from 33 to 130 million

- Tajikistan up from 9 to 24 million

- Iraq up from 43 to 108 million

- Philippines up from 103 to 169 million

- Algeria up from 40 to 79 million

- Egypt up from 96 to 199 million

- Nigeria up from 206 to 791 million

- Chad up from 15 to 123 million

- Niger up from 21 to 185 million (with a current fertility rate of around 7)

- Burundi up from 11 to 43 million

- Madagascar up from 26 to 106 million

- Democratic Republic of Congo up from 81 to 246 million

- Angola up from 28 to 84 million

- Tanzania up from 54 to 186 million

- Ethiopia up from 103 to 223

- Sudan up from 40 to 82 million

- South-Sudan up from 10 to 69 million

- Bolivia up from 11 to 23 million

- Peru up from 33 to 52 million

7. Some countries just stand out from the pack:

- Bangladesh down from 157 to 81 million

- Papua New Guinea up from 9 to 27 million

- Israel up from 9 to 24 million

- El Salvador down from 6 to 1,4 million (as people are expected to flee this notoriously violent country)

____________________________________________________________

HOW WILL THEY COPE? The red lines at the bottom of this graph (the UNDP Human Development Index over time until 2018) are those of the sub-Saharan African countries projected to have rapid population growth this century. The bottom line is that of Niger. The line at the very top is Norway. It shows the economic, environmental and human challenges facing those countries. Though falling, continental Africa’s total fertility rate is currently still around 4,4. (Screenshot)

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Behind these figures looms a historic reconfiguration of what the world will look like, not just demographically, but in terms of political, economic and cultural dominance.

"Africa and the Arab world will shape our future, while Europe and Asia will recede in their influence", says the editor-in-chief of The Lancet, Dr. Richard Horton.

Most of the countries that are to see the fastest population growth are politely referred to as ‘low income’. Many are politically unstable, under jihadist threat, have authoritarian regimes and are often constrained by religion (mostly, but not only, by Islam).

The old, broadly secular world, already in retreat, will likely recede further. It comprises not only most of Europe and the Americas, but much of South-East Asia and Australasia, regions that have been in the process of shedding their religious identities for a long time. Thailand is Buddhist in name or appearance only; same for Japan and Shintoism; China has essentially become a pragmatic, deconfessionalized country focused on material wealth and, lately, on power.

The idea of Nigeria and India becoming dominant powers in the new world order will take some getting used to as the lights begin to fade in the great capitals of geriatric Europe, or in Tokyo and Singapore.

Of course demographics are not written in stone, nor do dwindling populations necessarily lead to equivalent economic collapse. Countries have tools at their disposal to try and change things. Although Japan would be ‘half empty' by 2100, the study suggests it would remain the fourth largest economy (after the USA, China and India) while Nigeria would be in ninth spot. South-Korea would drop precipitously to number 20 and Spain to number 28. Implied in all of this is that countries with ever more ageing, unproductive people will need many more immigrants to keep their economies afloat. How this can be achieved in a political climate of identitarian anxiety and populism is another matter.

But whatever the great demographic aggiornamento turns out to be, it is likely to coincide with the other convulsions that are approaching: global warming, habitat destruction, species extinction, resource depletion, food and water insecurity, political instability, etc.

Rising seas, extreme weather and disease alone could trigger demographic consequences well beyond the study’s scope.

It may be that by century’s end, large chunks of the planet will have become uninhabitable and the human species will be in rapid retreat. Few would still worry about who lives where, or how many. The multilayered chaos could be such that it wouldn’t matter anymore.

But for now, it is something to keep in mind.

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(1) https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30677-2/fulltext

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leagueofbane · 7 years ago

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“Your company is far more appealing than Barsad’s.”

Nyssa contemplates her next move, while Bane and Talia celebrate their reunion, in this next installment of my Bane fic THE DEMON’S LEGACY.

(This story is also available at Ao3 and FanFiction.net.)

Chapter 4

Diya Panjabi’s home was cramped and dark, located on the second floor of a tiny three-story dwelling made of mud bricks, typical for the village. Nyssa reached the door via a pale blue, steep exterior staircase with no railing and with small steps that would prove a challenge for her mother once she grew elderly. Nyssa often tried to convince her mother to move to a ground-floor dwelling, offering to buy one for her, but her stubborn parent always refused.

“This has been my home since I was born,” she always said. “This is where you were born, daughter. I am comfortable here.”

The home itself had only two windows and received sparse light due to the proximity of the neighboring buildings. While the structures protected it from the broiling Rajasthan sun, they also stole any breeze. Two rooms made up the interior—a modest bedroom and a larger room that served as both kitchen, dining room and living space. A pair of fans whirred away in the latter room, and the television Nyssa had bought her mother a few years ago had some Indian cooking show on. The scent of dum aloo and galaouti kebabs made Nyssa’s mouth water and reminded of her childhood. She was shocked to see her mother now at the stove.

“Maji!” she scolded, setting down the bundle of unsold goods brought home from the bazaar. “Why are you out of bed? I’ll do the cooking. Haven’t we already discussed this?”

Diya was twenty years older than Nyssa, but the hard years of her life, the heartbreak over the desertion of Nyssa’s father and his later death, had taken its toll by adding ten years to the leathery skin of her round face and to her dark eyes as well. But her smile at the sight of her daughter took away some of that wear.

“I am feeling much better, betee.” With a bamboo spoon, she shooed away Nyssa’s solicitous hands.

“I don’t care if you are. Sit down at the table and let me finish this.”

Her mother chuckled. “My daughter is no cook.”

“True enough, but it looks like everything’s almost done anyway. You’ve always had good timing, Maji. When I was little, you would be just setting the food on the table when I’d come home from playing with my friends.”

“It was you who had the timing, betee. Your nose was keen and you had the appetite of a boy.” She glanced toward the unsold merchandise. “It looks like you did well today.”

“Well, everyone is eager to help you, so they buy,” Nyssa shrugged, “whether they really need anything or have the money.”

Her mother turned back to the stove. “I remember they were not so eager to help me when I was young.” She sighed. “But that was a different life. I am glad they no longer judge me for it. And many who did are dead now.”

“Sit down, Maji. Please. Let me finish.”

The fact that her mother obeyed belied the fact that she was not as well as she claimed.

As Diya eased herself into a chair at the two-person table, she gave a dry laugh, “If sales are so good, perhaps I should be sick more often and let my beautiful daughter sell my wares. No doubt the men of the village used sympathy for me as an excuse to loiter around your stall.”

“Whatever works, Maji.”

“You always knew how to use your beauty to your advantage.”

“And so did you. If I recall the story correctly, that’s how you snagged my father’s attention.” She glanced over her shoulder. “And speaking of him, I saw Maysam El Fadil today. There was a boy with her. A cute little thing who wanted one of your dolls.”

Her mother chuckled. “Yes, he loves to take them apart, Maysam tells me. Typical boy—destroy instead of build.”

“He said he takes them apart to make them better.”

“He is a precocious one.”

“Who is he?”

Now her mother’s smile vanished, and she began to fidget with the plate in front of her. “I don’t ask such questions of Maysam El Fadil. No one with any sense would.”

“Maji, you do know his name, right?”

“Of course,” she mumbled.

“Henri is not an Arabic name, as you know. And how strange that he has the same name as my father. So who is he?”

“What does it matter?”

Nyssa shrugged one shoulder. “I’m just curious. Aren’t you? Maysam seems to love the boy very much, so that leads me to believe she’s close to his parent or parents. Why else would they have a child living in the palace who obviously is of mixed blood, judging by his name and appearance, I mean?”

“I hope you didn’t ask any impertinent questions of Maysam or the child.”

“Of course not. You didn’t raise an idiot, did you?” She offered a humoring smile and a wink before bringing the food to the table.

“Don’t stick your nose into El Fadil business. It will only bring trouble to both of us.”

Nyssa said nothing more about the boy during the meal, for she wanted to avoid upsetting her mother or opening old wounds. But later, when night had invaded their home and her mother lay asleep in her room, Nyssa remained awake on the sofa, thinking about the encounter in the bazaar.

The child was significant. She just knew it in her bones. His name…could it betray a secret? No, she was thinking crazy. Henri Ducard was dead, as was his wife, years ago, according to the stories. And their daughter, Talia, was also dead, well before that boy was born. Or was she? A body had never been found in the aftermath of the Gotham siege. The Gotham police commissioner claimed Talia had died in front of him after the truck she had been driving crashed. But Commissioner Gordon had not remained at the site of her demise for long that day. There had been no one else around until later when the citizens emerged from their homes, saved from nuclear annihilation by the Batman flying Bane’s bomb out to sea. The League’s men surely had removed Talia, alive or dead. The global community believed her dead, and Bane as well.

But, in the gray world of mercenaries, Nyssa had heard rumors from three years ago when the terrorist known as Al Thi’b, the Wolf, had been killed. Although the Americans claimed responsibility for the operation, mercenaries who sometimes operated in the murky world of Islamic radicals claimed the American story was not completely true. Shortly before Al Thi’b’s death, the Saudi terrorist had been contacted by someone offering the sale of a ballistic missile as bait. If that part of the story was true, there were few people or organizations in the world who could or would deal in such weaponry, the League of Shadows being one of them. Al Thi’b wouldn’t have met with the seller without first having proof of the missile’s existence. Who would be so bold except the League’s commander to flaunt such a weapon? It smacked of Bane, but if he lived, why would he work with the Americans, and, equally important, why would the Americans have worked with Bane? Some sort of deal, of course; what else could it be? Something that mutually benefitted both sides.

So if Bane indeed lived, perhaps Talia did as well. Maybe she was still Demon Head of the League. Perhaps that little boy with Maysam was Talia’s child. Who else could Maysam love as much as she obviously loved that boy? And who was the father?

Years ago, when Siddig El Fadil had died of a heart attack, a rumor flew through the village that a beautiful young woman who looked very much like Melisande had attended the funeral. The ceremony had been private, of course, so who knew if the whispers were true? But it caught Nyssa’s attention when she had visited her mother a short while after Siddig had been buried. She had rarely considered that she may have half-siblings. If the woman at the funeral was indeed Melisande’s daughter, then she had to have been born in prison. Surely the father wasn’t just some random inmate; if so, Nyssa doubted the El Fadil household would have allowed Melisande’s daughter to attend the funeral, even if Maysam had insisted it be allowed. And the fact that this woman didn’t appear until after Siddig was dead further stirred Nyssa’s curiosity that the mystery woman might indeed be her half-sister. Siddig El Fadil’s shame over Melisande secretly marrying the infidel Henri Ducard had led to his daughter’s imprisonment. No way could he have known Melisande was pregnant at the time he had banished her. If he had, the gossiping villagers had little doubt that Siddig would have terminated the pregnancy, or worse. But with Siddig dead, that meant Melisande’s daughter could safely visit her grandmother without fear of her grandfather’s vengefulness.

Over the years, Nyssa had eventually pushed aside her curiosity. Discussing the possibility of having a half-sister only caused her mother pain. Nyssa hated her father for being responsible for such sorrow. Her own pain she could bear but not her mother’s. Yet when Nyssa learned of her father’s death, waves of conflicting emotions had drowned her. Unexpectedly, she had been consumed by grief. All the what-ifs revisited her from her years growing up in the village. And learning that her father had been the head of such an infamous organization as the League of Shadows further intrigued her about how her life would have been different if her father had stayed with them. The little girl in her had hoped that perhaps one day she would meet him, that they might finally have a relationship. But the Batman had ended any such hope.

What of Talia’s relationship with their father? According to Commissioner Gordon, Talia had claimed to be finishing her father’s work with the Gotham siege. If true, she must have had a meaningful relationship with their father. The thought used to make Nyssa jealous and angry. How could her father love Talia while completely forgetting his first daughter? And had he bothered to tell Talia that she had a half-sister? Or had he been too embarrassed by his abandonment to admit such a thing?

Nyssa sighed and wished she could sleep. Her father was dead and perhaps her half-sister, too. Why should she lose precious sleep tonight thinking about them?

The boy. Henri.

The name couldn’t be simply a coincidence, just as her coming back to the village and meeting him in the bazaar couldn’t be simply a coincidence. There was a reason behind the timing of it all. She needed to find out what that reason was. She needed to know if her half-sister truly was dead or alive. And if Talia was indeed dead, then that meant Nyssa was now heir to the Demon. Was it a position she wanted to pursue, her birthright? It was a question she had toyed with ever since her father’s death.

One corner of her mouth curled into a smile. Her father had taken so much from her mother, from her. Perhaps it was only fitting if she tried to claim what had once been his.

###

Talia set her dessert plate on the small table between her and Maysam, every last morsel of mafruka devoured. She gazed out over the palace courtyards in the haze of late evening, watched a distant flock of starlings wheel and plunge against the backdrop of purple sky before darting away toward the village. Picking up her coffee cup, she blew gently against the dark liquid as she noted her grandmother’s troubled expression. She had just returned from seeing Abrams out.

“Is something wrong, Jiddah?”

Maysam snapped out of her trance, but her frown remained. Bane also watched her closely from his chair near the veranda railing. Barsad raised his eyebrows with interest from where he sat on the other side of Maysam. Next to him, Sanjana stared down at her coffee cup, as if not hearing Talia’s inquiry.

“No,” Maysam said. “Nothing’s wrong. But there is something I want to say, an apology for my behavior at dinner.”

“Apology?” Talia echoed.

“Yes, for what I said to Aaron about Diya’s daughter. I shouldn’t have dismissed his concerns, especially in front of others. I apologized to him just now, and I want to do the same to all of you.”

Barsad came to her aid with an amused smile. “Abrams didn’t think twice about what you said, I’m sure. He’s a crusty old bastard. He’d never think badly of you.”

“All the same, I’m sorry.”

Sanjana had lifted her head when Maysam first said the word apology, and now she blinked with surprise at the older woman before returning her attention to her coffee. Then she leaned over and spoke quietly into Barsad’s ear. Barsad stood.

“Well, we’re going to say good night.” He took Sanjana’s hands to help her extricate her unwieldy body from her chair. “We’re both exhausted.”

“Thank you for dinner, Madam,” Sanjana said demurely.

Standing, Maysam said, “I’m glad you both came.”

Bane had also stood, and he gave Sanjana a warm smile and nod as she passed by into the dining room with Barsad.

After their footfalls had died away, Talia said, “I wonder if Sanjana will ever stop calling you Madam.”

“Perhaps she never will,” Bane said. “She is a respectful girl, as she should be to Maysam.”

“Because I’m old?” Maysam teased with a small smile.

Bane grinned. “I never said that.”

“Well, I am old. Old and foolish to have treated Aaron the way I did.”

“Jiddah.” Talia touched her hand on the arm of her wicker chair. “It’s not a big deal. None of us took it as an insult toward him. And neither did he, I’m sure.”

Maysam sighed. “He is a skittish one, though. I fear hurting his feelings.”

Talia laughed. “He’s a bit tougher than that, Jiddah.”

“Don’t let his hard outer shell fool you, hafida. He is a sensitive man. That is why he is so deeply scarred and why he protects himself emotionally.”

A spark of mischief danced in Talia’s sapphire eyes. “Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Don’t tease me about this again, hafida.”

“But why not? It’s so fun.”

“Habibati,” Bane gently chided Talia, eyebrows raised. “Leave her be.”

“But they’re so cute together, don’t you think? And they could have such fun.”

“You speak as if I am a teenager,” Maysam said. “I am an old woman, older than Aaron. Why would he want anything to do with me in the way you are thinking?”

“And how am I thinking?”

“Perhaps,” Bane rumbled, “it is time for us to retire as well, Talia.”

“You aren’t dead, Jiddah, and neither is Abrams. There’s still more for you in life.”

“There is plenty for me already—I have my great-grandson and my loving granddaughter to keep me busy, even if she does sometimes stick her nose in my business.”

“Yes, you’ve devoted your last two years to our child, and we love you for it. But we would also love to see you happy in other ways. You deserve a good man, and Abrams is that.”

“I told you, he is not interested.”

“You don’t believe that. He’s just mortally shy, Jiddah. Give him some more time. I know he cares for you. He just doesn��t know how to show it and whether he can because of working for you.”

Maysam snorted. “You are a foolish girl.”

“I think she’s right,” Bane said.

Maysam stared at him in surprise.

“Abrams does care for you.”

“He has spoken to you of this?”

“Of course not. But I know what I see when he looks at you. I, too, am a man, after all.” He winked.

Maysam blushed.

Bane got to his feet. “Now, I must retire. We must retire.” He held his hand out to Talia, who frowned at him but accepted his hand and stood. “Thank you for dinner, Maysam.”

Maysam embraced him. “I’m so glad you’re back, Haris. We have all missed you so much, especially Henri. He worships you.”

“I’m pleased to be back.” He kissed her cheek. “Good night.”

###

“Poor Barsad,” Talia said as she and Bane walked down the long hallway toward their suite. “He was trying so hard during dinner to draw Sanjana into the conversation.”

“It is a difficult situation for Sanjana. I have suggested to him that he take her away from here, to dwell elsewhere, but you can imagine what he said to that.”

“Before he devoted himself to Sanjana, he devoted himself to you, his brother. You know nothing will ever come between you two, not even the mother of his child.”

“It should not be this way,” Bane grumbled. “The girl deserves a better life.”

“Maybe, but it seems to me her life was far worse before she came to the palace.”

“Indeed, but still, she will always be in Maysam’s shadow here at the palace.”

Talia glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was within hearing distance. “Do you think she suspects Barsad’s old affair with Maysam? Could that be adding to her discomfort?”

“Women are uncannily intuitive,” Bane quietly said. “But I surely hope she continues to be ignorant of that part of Barsad’s life. It would crush her. And I can’t imagine she could allow herself to remain at the palace.”

“But Jiddah is…well, older now.”

“Of course Sanjana would not fear a rekindling of the relationship, but, as a woman, can you honestly say such a revelation wouldn’t disconcert you, especially when she already feels intimidated by Maysam?”

Talia frowned. “True, it would add to the awkwardness. But if Sanjana does suspect or find out, I think it wouldn’t have the same effect on her if Jiddah and Abrams were together.”

“Perhaps.”

They reached their suite and entered through the door at the near end, one which led into the spa. This door, like the other one farther down the hall, was guarded by one of the League’s men, part of the small security force that lived at the palace since Talia had come to reside here full time.

The spa was lit dimly by a few of the recessed lights in the low ceiling. Their dull golden shine danced upon the placid water of the rectangular pool. None of the myriad of scented candles were lit, so the smell of chlorine dominated the room. Talia and Bane had made love many times here, both in and out of the water. Bane used the spa even more than Talia did. She often found him relaxing in its warmth in the evenings after dinner, for it soothed his aching back. Afterwards, she sometimes spoiled him with a massage. She always did whatever she could to relieve his pain. But tonight Talia knew without asking that he would not indulge himself; she could tell by the looseness of his arm around her how tired he was from his mission and his long journey home.

They passed through the Romanesque spa and down the hallway. A guard stood in front of Henri’s bedroom door, and he smiled white teeth in his dark face, a smile that always coaxed the same from Talia. This was Mohammad Adeyemi—known as Yemi—a burly Nigerian who had been rescued from the pit prison with Bane, an old friend who had once saved Talia’s life when she had been an infant. Since becoming a member of the League of Shadows, he continued to protect her as the head of her personal security and now Henri’s as well. Officially, Yemi’s detail was to protect Bane as Demon Head, since Talia no longer held any position in the League after becoming pregnant and relinquishing command to Bane. But Bane made it clear to Yemi and his men that Talia and Henri’s safety was their priority, not him.

“He hasn’t stirred,” Yemi whispered.

“Thank goodness,” Talia murmured. “Thank you, Yemi. Have a good night.”

With a sly grin and a glance at Bane, Yemi said, “You, too,” then left them.

Talia peeked into Henri’s room, Bane’s gentle hand upon her shoulder. She watched her son sleep, listened to his deep breaths fluttering against the pillow. So innocent, so sweet. If only he was as placid while awake.

Bane kissed her softly on the cheek and embraced her from behind. She sighed and touched his hand, so relieved to have him here to take some of the pressure of parenthood from her. Life was simple and secure when he was near. Their family was complete, that sense of protection she remembered in the vaguest of ways from long, long ago in prison when her mother still lived and Bane was her father, brother, and best friend. More of a feeling than a memory, really, for how clear were the memories of a five-year-old?

Afraid Henri might sense their presence and awaken, Talia pressed back against Bane to encourage him to retreat. His stirring manhood made itself known. She loved how much he still desired her, even as tired as he was.

Pulling Henri’s door silently shut, she whispered, “I’m going to wash up for bed. Would you mind pouring me a glass of wine?”

Bane sensually kissed her neck, making her body tingle. “Your wish is my command. Don’t be long, my dove.” Then he freed her and headed down the hallway.

Talia watched him, noting how his usually-lumbering steps were often lighter whenever he was aroused. Distraction eased his aches and pains. She was glad to be responsible for it. Whatever she could give him, she would. After all, no matter how much she did for him, she could never repay him for his lifelong devotion.

In the obscenely large bathroom, she washed her face and brushed her teeth, thinking about her grandmother and Abrams. She wished there would be a breakthrough in their relationship, especially now with Barsad so close to becoming a father. Though her grandmother never said anything about how Barsad’s relationship with Sanjana affected her, Talia knew there was still a lingering nostalgia in her grandmother over the torrid affair she had had with Barsad years before he had met Bane, back when he worked for the El Fadil family. It was not that her grandmother still carried a torch for Barsad but instead, Talia surmised, it was merely a natural loneliness from seeing those around her in love, especially a man whom she had once called her own. Talia was confident a relationship with Aaron Abrams would fill the hole in her grandmother’s life.

Talia frowned, knowing Abrams was a tough nut to crack. Bane had confided to her what Abrams once told him in prison, before Talia had even been born. There had been a prisoner, called the Vulture, who had befriended Bane directly after Bane’s mother had died, when the boy was most vulnerable. Unbeknownst to Bane, the inmate was a pedophile. Abrams had told him to be cautious around the Vulture on more than one occasion. From what Abrams had said, Bane later realized—after the Vulture tried to rape him—that Abrams’s warnings had come from personal experience with a similar deviant, though Abrams never clarified or elaborated. Seeing Abrams every day and witnessing his tightly guarded ways, Talia figured his behavior even now was influenced by the abuse he suffered in the past. Though Abrams was comfortable with Yemi, Bane, and Barsad and had forged a strong friendship, he had never confided the secrets of his youth to any of them. That life, and Abrams’s life in the pit, were memories he refused to revisit. Perhaps he feared that entering an intimate relationship with Maysam—or any woman—would lead to uncomfortable questions about his past.

Lately, Maysam talked more and more about trying to get closer to Abrams. She often pondered aloud her confusion over why Abrams refused to explore their relationship, especially when his body language revealed his interest in her. On more than one occasion, Talia considered telling her grandmother what she and Bane suspected about Abrams’s past, but she held her tongue, not wanting to say something so intimate about her friend, especially when she had no confirmation that he had indeed been abused and certainly had no permission to do so even if she had proof. Instead, Talia had couched her reasons for his distance with mere speculation, safe things like a broken heart or even a sexual dysfunction, hoping this would satisfy her grandmother. Yet, Maysam’s wistful search for answers continued, and it wounded Talia’s heart.

“What is taking you so long, habibati?” Bane’s voice startled Talia.

In the mirror, she watched him approach from the doorway, naked and still aroused. The sight of his stiff, bobbing member instantly stirred her, initiating a rush of molten heat from within her.

“I was thinking of Jiddah and Abrams.”

Bane’s tree-like arms slipped around her, and he buried his nose in her long, dark hair. “It is true Abrams moves with the speed of a glacier, but rest assured he is moving inevitably in Maysam’s direction. Patience, little mouse. Look how long I had to wait for you, but it was well worth it. Your grandmother will think the same in time.” He pulled her against him, not allowing her to turn and face him. “Now, no more talk of romance except our own.”

His hand lazily unzipped her pants, dipping inside. She wore no underwear to hinder his exploration. Another gush of liquid desire, coating his fingers as he made her writhe slightly and close her eyes. His other hand tugged her pants off her hips, and they folded like an accordion around her bare feet. He growled softly and kissed her neck, sending further tremors of delight through her.

With the inescapable fortitude of a mountain, Bane pinned her against the white marble vanity, a willing captive, her hands braced along the far edge of the sink. She loved it when he took charge. It was almost always this way when he returned from a mission, as if he felt the need to dominate and reclaim her. Sometimes she would pretend to resist, just to increase the sexual tension and his determination, but he always won, bending her to his will, the only man who ever could.

Deftly his fingers unbuttoned the first couple of buttons on her blouse, enough to make it easy for him to drag it over her head. His fingers trailed through her mane, then down between her shoulder blades. As he pressed her torso toward the sink, she tilted her pelvis to offer what he desired, to encourage him. Between her thighs, his skillful fingers continued to tantalize her, making her impatient. She already panted in anticipation, his warm manhood pressed against her buttocks. She arched herself even more, wanting his cock between her legs, wanting to reach for it but unable to because of the vanity against her belly.

Finally his erection rubbed against her swollen heat. Talia moaned and tried to move, in vain.

“You are trapped, my love,” he murmured hoarsely in her ear. “Like a beautiful butterfly in a spider’s web. A spider who wishes to devour you.”

He rubbed his penis against her womanhood, torturing her further. He smeared her warmth the length of his erection. She bent closer to the sink, opening herself even wider to him, like a flower as the sun rises. His other hand fondled her dangling breasts. How she wanted to touch him, to quench her own thirst. But he was unrelenting in his pressure against the vanity, and finally he glided inside her, nearly lifting her off her feet, her toes curling.

His hands took hold of her hips, and he began to move, first with shallow thrusts, but not so shallow that he would drift outside of her and need to begin again. But he was cognizant of how uncomfortable her position was against the marble, so his thrusts soon went deeper, harder, faster. More than once she lost her footing, but the pinning force of his body kept her anchored.

In the mirror’s reflection, animal passion contorted his face, his eyes pressed shut in concentration, his mouth slightly open to emit grunts of pleasure. No mask to deprive Talia of his handsome visage. Even the scars from the surgeries failed to detract from his looks. She longed to run her fingers through his short, unkempt brown hair.

Bane’s fingers dug into her hips. His speed, his urgency accelerated, and Talia gripped the faucet fixtures to brace against him. The edge of the vanity bruised her hip bones, but the pain only served to heighten her own excitement. As if sensing she was about to lose the ability to keep him from forcing her headfirst into the mirror, he snaked one arm between her belly and the vanity, locking her against his driving pelvis. Deeper, deeper until she cried out in ecstasy, knuckles turning white as she clenched the gold fixtures, no longer able to look in the mirror, to see anything. Instead she just felt—felt his power, her surrender, their consummation; heard their mingled outcries, echoing against the glass and marble.

He caught her as she collapsed, kept her tight against him while he shuddered out his last, his breath leaving him in one long exhale. Slowly, reluctantly he withdrew, wrapped both arms around her limp form. His legs trembled, and he succumbed to their weakness, drawing her with him to the cool floor where they sat together. Talia sighed and remained in his arms, sitting between his hard-muscled legs, his slimy, sated member against her. She leaned against his chest, and he kissed the top of her head.

“How I’ve missed this,” Talia murmured, her finger trailing across his bulging pectorals. “I wish you would never have to leave us.”

He kissed her lips. “If I had my wish, you would be with me always, my dear, you and our difficult boy cub.” Mischief glinted in his eyes. “Your company is far more appealing than Barsad’s.”

She smiled her appreciation, welcomed another kiss, then relaxed against him once more.

Bane hugged her close, breathing in the bouquet of her hair and the lingering scent from their union. “Let us take a shower, habibati, and wash ourselves clean before bed. I will need my rest if I am to entertain our son all day tomorrow, as he will demand. And I can see how very tired you are, perhaps more so than I.”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I don’t think I ever had a tougher mission during my years in the League than what I face now, raising a child.”

Bane chuckled. “Well, at least I will be here for a while to relieve you.”

Her frown came again, bringing with it the melancholy she had been experiencing for the past few weeks, since Bane had left. But how to explain it to him? She preferred not to burden him with her troubles, though her grandmother insisted she speak with him about it. She remembered how he had probed her gaze earlier, upon his return, and asked if something was wrong. Of course he knew something was amiss; he was always so in tune with her, as she was with him. If she tried to keep her feelings to herself, he would find a way to pry the secret out of her, so perhaps her grandmother was right.

As Bane helped Talia to her feet, she thought of Henri’s latest act of defiance. Perhaps when she showed Bane the evidence, he would thoroughly understand the level of her frustration. If anyone could change Henri’s behavior, it was his father. Talia had nearly given up.

#Bane #Talia al Ghul #nyssa al ghul #The Demon's Legacy #Baniac

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awesomecolorfulcollectorwombat · 6 years ago

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Anand Giridharadas on Saudi Money and Silicon Valley Hypocrisy

New Post has been published on http://iwebhostingreviews.com/vexx/anand-giridharadas-on-saudi-money-and-silicon-valley-hypocrisy/

Anand Giridharadas on Saudi Money and Silicon Valley Hypocrisy

Silicon Valley’s deep financial ties to Saudi Arabia illustrate “the hypocrisy behind the ‘change the world’ fantasy” pushed by tech companies, said journalist Anand Giridharadas. Saudi backing for popular apps like Uber, Slack, and Wag offers proof that “the most idealistic companies on earth—in rhetoric—are very happy to take the dirtiest money on earth to grow and grow and grow,” he said.

Giridharadas, author of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the Word, spoke at the WIRED25 festival on Sunday, on a panel about the trouble with techno-utopianism. He argued that the uproar around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was allegedly killed by Saudi agents last week, forces the tech industry to face the reality of the Saudis.

The relationship has worked well for the Saudis, Giridharadas said, who have financed popular apps as “a form of influence peddling” to distract people from things like the way oil contributes to climate change.

However, in light of the graphic details that have emerged about Khashoggi’s alleged murder, Silicon Valley can “no longer hide behind an idea that it’s another player in Davos in the Desert,” he said, referring to an upcoming festival in Riyadh arranged by the Saudi government. Several tech luminaries scheduled to speak at the summit have dropped out following Khashoggi’s disappearance and possible murder. But there’s been no reckoning with the billions the Saudi government has funneled into tech companies through its Public Investment Fund.

Anand Giridharadas

Amy Lombard

The panel was moderated by Virginia Heffernan, an author and contributor to WIRED, who quickly challenged Giridharadas on the idea that anyone came to Silicon Valley to associate themselves with repressive regimes. Heffernan offered her own brief experience with the Saudi government as an instance of good intentions. Years ago, Heffernan said she was paid about $24,000 for two speaking gigs in Saudi Arabia, even though the sessions were later cancelled. Perhaps receiving such a large sum, roughly a quarter of what she made while she had been on staff at the New York Times, colored her view of the regime. “I suddenly thought Saudi Arabia is not that bad,” she said.

“I think that that’s what the VCs think,” Heffernan said. “Suddenly the money’s flowing and yet we’re beholden to them.”

Giridharadas agreed. “The winners of our age are not bad people. They’re not evil people. They are there people motivated, as they ought to be under the system that we have, by the pursuit of profit. And that makes them very good at a bunch of things like building businesses and creating things and inventing things,” he said. But what his book Winners Take All explores is the way that pairing the pursuit of profit with the rhetoric of social change has led us to a place where we look to the same tech leaders funded by the Saudi to save the world.

“How did we decide to outsource the improvement of the human condition to those people?” Giridharadas asked. “The Saudi thing and your experience illustrate [that] it’s not bad people, but it’s just people who are ill-positioned to balance the voice of greed with the voice of the good.”

More Great WIRED Stories

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magicwebsitesnet · 6 years ago

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Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince http://www.nature-business.com/business-saudi-admission-on-khashoggis-death-wont-touch-reformist-crown-prince/

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

US officials say privately that an operation to target Khashoggi could never have happened without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, the de facto head of government. The arrest of 18 men, some from bin Salman’s inner circle, can only make the argument that he had no knowledge of it harder to swallow. Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.

How a figure embroiled in such a horrific scandal could survive politically seems unfathomable. But the Khashoggi case is just one of many missteps the 33-year-old Crown Prince has tangled himself in, and the extraordinary amount of impunity he has enjoyed suggests his position is unlikely to change.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

Some of the biggest names in global business and senior ministers from around the world, for example, have canceled plans to attend an investment conference in the kingdom, dubbed “Davos in the desert.” The Crown Prince’s 2030 vision for the economy was going to be a centerpiece of the event.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

While US President Donald Trump has said he believes the Saudis’ version of events — although he added that a US review of the investigation was yet to be completed — members of Congress of both parties are already pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“There is a tremendous amount of international pressure, but it won’t amount to much in terms of getting him to step down. The international community has no ability to influence King Salman to say ‘drop your son,’” Quilliam told CNN.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

“We’re starting to understand what Trump’s all about. He’s a transactional politician, and issues concerning human rights don’t really feature. Even if it weren’t for Trump, the US-Saudi relationship is not about to be derailed.”

Fiery foreign relations

The Crown Prince, known by the initials MBS, has made an extraordinary debut in Saudi politics, embarking on a series of high-profile, politically risky moves to consolidate his rise and to begin remaking the kingdom in his own image.

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

Bin Salman’s consolidation of power at home came through a highly publicized palace coup masked as an “anti-corruption drive” last year, in which he had senior government figures, top advisers and businesspeople

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Around the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen, was detained while visiting Saudi Arabia on an official visit, according to multiple sources. While in Riyadh, he resigned as prime minister in a bizarre recorded statement. He

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

Even Canada has not been spared bin Salman’s overreach. After officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights violations and demanded the release of imprisoned activists, Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment deals, suspended flights to Canada, reassigned students studying there and expelled Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, while recalling its own.

But it is the Crown Prince’s handling of the proxy war at Saudi Arabia’s southern border that is perhaps most telling. In his additional role as defense minister, bin Salman has intensified the country’s assault on rebels in Yemen, in operations that have also killed thousands of civilians.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement,” adding it was “hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

“If you look at the track record of the Crown Prince, he’s presided over one failure after another over the last two years — the war in Yemen, the detention of the Lebanese Prime Minister, the blockade of Qatar .. you can go down the line and one would ask, if this fellow was applying for a job, what administration would hire him, or give him a promotion?

“So I think we’ve got serious reservations about his suitability for the job and long term I think we need to have some very frank conversations with the Saudis about how this is going to be handled going forward.”

Armida van Rij from The Policy Institute at King’s College in London pointed to the pressure Saudi Arabia’s allies are now under to respond to the Khashoggi case, saying it should be “a defining moment in UK-Saudi relations.”

“At a time when the UK is reshaping it’s foreign policy and the role it would like to play on the global stage, and when it states that as part of that role it wants to defend and uphold the international rules based order, the UK risks significant reputational damage if it were to take a softer stance on this than it did with Russia over the Novichok attack,” she told CNN.

“This admission from the Saudi authorities should not stand in the way of the remainder of the investigation. There are still important questions that remain unanswered, such as who gave the order, and who knew? What happened to Khashoggi’s body?”

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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captainblogger100posts · 6 years ago

Text

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

Fiery foreign relations

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

0 notes

computacionalblog · 6 years ago

Text

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

Fiery foreign relations

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

0 notes

internetbetterforall · 6 years ago

Text

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

Fiery foreign relations

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

0 notes

blogcompetnetall · 6 years ago

Text

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

Fiery foreign relations

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

0 notes

dwestfieldblog · 7 years ago

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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY AMORAL COMPASS

Back from a couple of weeks from the island...I managed to avoid watching any TV news whatsoever, but of course ended up going through a daily paper to catch up up the unfolding nightmares...The easy stuff first...the greeting phrase 'Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen' is no longer acceptable to use as an address to passengers on the London Underground...because of 'belonging to yesterday' and might be construed somehow as offensive to those with sex changes and those who are undetermined as to their gender. It has been substituted with 'Good morning everyone'. Hmm. Surely after having thought long and hard (arf) about about penis removal, vaginal implants and oestrogen supplements and the male right to wear female clothes OR vice versa etc etc, one would be HAPPY to be called that which the individual truly felt themselves to be? Political correctness is a soul numbingly ridiculous conceit which will lead to total destruction of sanity and will only breed deeper mistrust and hatreds among dangerous idiots. And a sense of misplaced righteous pride among those who seek to fill their time with utterly empty causes.

If you are a bisexual woman, you are a female. If you are a masculine lesbian, you are a female, If youare a cross-dressing man, you are a male in touch with your feminine side. If you are a homosexual man who takes the more 'submissive' role, you are a gay male.Etc etc. If you are pre Op, you are the sex your heart tells you you are, male or female. If you are a human being who could take actual offence at being called a lady or a gentleman, you are a moron.Well, then again, who likes being pigeon-holed eh?Arf. Next....

Brexit will apparently cost 36 billion pounds, WELL worth it eh? We will just have to print more notes on plastic paper. Every penny helps...and at least G.B got 3.5 billion quid from selling arms to Saudi Arabia, so we will only be morally bankrupt. Britain on the hunt for more useful cheap deals includes Chlorine dioxide washed chickens from the always healthy USA. Dr Fox of our government blustered that Americans have been eating such for years and there is nothing wrong with them... Ermmmm...Hmmm...Eventually we will find that Fox ends up on the board of chicken exporters. No puns needed. It's all foul:-) (Fowl, geddit?) How much of the imported chicken is real anyway? Pumped with water and antibiotics...Mc Donalds continue to advertise that their burgers are 100percent cow. Yes...hooves, tails, entrails and eyeballs all. But at least they are being truthful eh? Let's hope the politicians in the pay of Monsanto are the first to discover their grandchildren are born with three arms. (Or more likely, they only eat the expensive foods not imported for the proletariat.)

Speaking of antibiotics... the English newspapers were full of the 'new' idea that now, perhaps, maybe, people should not finish their course of such pills when they feel better. In direct contradiction to the accepted usual doctor's warning to take the full box/es to make sure. The building of resistance is growing. Another story mentioned that the regular drinking of alcohol can stave off future diabetes...I am only just starting to think (yes I am this slow) that doctors haveno real feckin idea about some basics, even after centuries of experiments on human white mice.

Meanwhile...Wu Xialou the three foot Chinese robot now in use, which can create arrest warrants and approve indictments...'Case management robots'...love the way they almost look friendly. Not long before Robocop is a reality. And AI goes all Terminator on us.

'When people who can read and write start fighting on behalf of people who can't, you just end up with another kind of stupidity. If you want to help them, build a big library or something somewhereand leave the door open'. T.P

So, one more time for the world...thrill at the possibilities of existence...

www.halexandria.org/home.htm

Meanwhile again, 'various' countries continue to respond to threats they themselves created in order to justify their heinous actions. Hello to Turkey, North Korea, Russia, the USA and...well,most countries have been doing this for a while. History is full of messianic little men with complexes wanting to make their country great. Hello Nero, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Blair, Putin and Trump. How tall is Erdogan? Or the next guy...The Pilsbury Dough Boy/Kim Wrong Un has been rejoicing over his North Korean penis missile now being able to reach 6,200 miles. Hello America. Duck Fart's rhetoric matches Chairman Cheese's bizarre rants for rant. Little dogs like to make noise. 'Fire and fury' indeed. Yap yap yap, have them put down. (Using only sarcasm and satire of course. Wouldn't want the NSA to think I meant such admirable leaders should be shot like rabid canines. No sir.)

Referring to the situation, a spokesman for the Chinese government was quoted as saying; 'The man with nothing to lose does not fear the man with something to lose'. AKA'The barefoot man does not fear the man with no shoes'.

Donald actually referred to global warming as being a hoax invented by China. No, not fake news. Safe in a world where every president is as paranoid as the people.

POTUS/DOOFUS...arf...I saw a documentary last week which reminded me that good old boy President Nixon (a very honest guy) used to speak of himself often in the third person, just like Duck Fart continues to do. Draw your own conclusions on the wall in blood graffiti. But now, after many workplace postings of those 'absolutely qualified' to do their jobs and who, a few weeks later were sacked for following the law, or believing in their own importance more than paying obeisance to the president, the White House is now full of generals...(an 'axis of adults' as it has been described)... So, things are looking up eh? Obviously the world is far safer in the hands of those directly connected to the military industrial complex who follow the orders of a mentally unbalanced gurning egomaniac. And as for his plan to work with Russia on a 'cyber security unit'...'Not the dumbest idea I have ever heard, but it's pretty close', as a member of the Senate's armed services committee said. Yup.

Watch closely for his reactions to Russia's imminent massive wargames.... 100,000 soldiers to be in play on the Eastern side...Is this whereFinland, Estonia et al are invaded to protect the holders of Russian passports?

'There is nothing better than an external threat to keep everyone focused in the wrong direction'.

My last blog had wrong information, (aka; 'alternative facts') courtesy of Russian sources being quoted in the Western press, it seems that the Daesh death cult leader Baggy Daddy is still alive. Would have thought he was looking forward to fast track paradise but it appears that clinging to the desert like an infectious sand tick and having sex with kidnapped under aged girls is more preferable. Better luck next time says the unsmiling peace monger.

A true shame on Hindus in India for false accusations, leading to actual murder against Moslems for being rude in various ways to cows. Yes, yum yum cows. The killers have had no punishment whatsoever. Legal terms of imprisonment for killing a cow can be from 5 to 14 years (very reasonable eh?...whereas manslaughter can be 2 years. Nice to see a country who gave the world Yoga have such a balanced perspective.) The world expects this crap from other mainstream religions, not you.

Another TV reality show bites the big one...Eden. Paradise Lost...23 people (of course) agreed to be put into the Scottish highlands with the most basic tools, enough food for first 100 days. Of course they divided up fast into male/female Alphas/ Betas/Lord of the Flies factions and imploded fast into dire horribleness. If the future of our beautiful planet is to be decided/populated by those types who wantto be on television, we are absolutely fecked. Fecked is the mystery word tonight...it avoids me having to pretend to be polite and use asterisks, whilst retaining the clear meaning. It has appeared due to me watching a great interview with Cillian Murphy.

Sherlock or Homeland,Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards, Peaky Blinders, Taboo,or Billions,better and better TV series, at last, great acting, direction and scripts, some real intelligence on television to balance the mass culture of dumbing down via the conspiracy of counter-evolution. But just maybe....

'Good and bad are fairy tales, we have evolved to attach an emotional significance to what is nothing more than the survival strategy of the pack animal'. We are conditioned to attach divinity to utility... good isn't really good, evil isn't really wrong...'The Holmes sister...

And now a long quote by a dead American genius, circa 1982.

‘’People are just not accustomed to excellence because, when you go to school you are not given the criteria by which to judge between quality this or quality that. All they do is teach you just enough to be some kind of a slug in a factory, to do your job so you can take home a pay check, and consume some other stuff that someone else makes. The thing that separates Americans apart from the rest of the cultures in the world is we're so fukcing stupid. This country's been around for a couple hundred years and we think we're hot shit...we don't even realise that other countries have thousands of years of history and culture and they're proud of it, and when we deal on an international level with foreigners in policy...they must laugh up their sleeves at us because we are nothing. We are culturally nothing. We're only interested in the bottom line. And I think that a country that doesn't do something to sustain its culture, whatever it is, doesn't invest in it, doesn't keep it happening, isn't proud of it,maybe they just shouldn't exist, because its the culture and the beautiful things a society produces, those are the things which should survive for thousands of years, not the designer jeans.’’

Something almost normal, (for a change)...In the last blog I wrote that magpies sound like Edgard Varese...having spent a couple of weeks doing gardening in England, I will alter to that 'they sound exactly like a wire rake being scraped across concrete'. Check it out after you have spent an hour cutting down a ten foot hedge......

'the main object of the ego's desire to separate from the wave is to avoid death'

Walking around the streets and watching, sitting at home catching up on the newspapers...If Britain ever has to fight a war with soldiery again, we are surely doomed. There is a hollow which has been created in my country in the last few decades, an energy lost. Teach Bravery, Morality and determination at schools. The mass are hypnotised and malleable. Perhaps the freezing shower of Brexit will result in some type of revolution but we have undermined ourselves and are naked, wide open and powerless to be taken total advantage of...by both our former allies as well as our genuine enemies.

Getting closer to the future of serotonin, noradrenalin and dopamine in newborns to determine their predilection to becoming criminals/ rebels/ sociopaths/ musicians etc. By 2023 don't be surprised if your baby is taken away for longer than normal and injected with extra balanced goodness at the same time as being implanted. A brave new world, right around the corner...Mind you (arf) most of us could do with more serotonin, might just make us evolve into better human beings...Speaking of which/witch....

www.RAWILLUMINATION.NET

Have fun, you astral kids...23 skiddoo and all hail Discordia....

How am I? Thank you for asking...I now have a new health problem to go with the six others...at some point all of them will make themselves felt at the same time as a new depression and I will do the holy deed (not a joke or a cry for help, just calmly factual) but not just yet. 37 songs recorded so far in 12 five hour sessions...I have decided on one more session of recording to finish the two double cds, plus an extra cd of strange things and am doing the next book while there is 'time'. Apparently, I am a 'romanticist' and 'libertarian'. Loved the way the first epithet was used in a very negative way by a religious pragmatist.I am just optimistic enough to believe that human entropy can be avoided...the pessimist occasionally wonders if extinction is also a type of evolution. Dancers on a postcard to the unusual address...Deliver us from evil, for WE are the power and the glory.

'I remember when all this will be again'.

Lucid Dreaming in the Sky with ....Maybe a lover losing control, maybe the moonlight of alcohol. Maybe the temple of a mystic cabal, maybe the muse of a young femme fatale..

.Holy days over...time to go back to school...bunk off and self educate...it never did me no harm eh? See you after the autumnal equinox...Love. Love more.

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