MetaFilter posts tagged with saudi

Crying Freeman

cimbrog — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:50:39 -0800

Chas Freeman says goodbye. While not a direct appointee of President Obama or in a position to make policy, Chas Freeman found himself the middle of a firestorm over being selected as chairman of the NIC. Many are saying that he was chased out due to his views on Israel. Others are saying the problem is related to some comments on China or his Saudi Ties. So was this the result of a powerful lobby flexing its muscles or are people boxing with shadows?

The Construction Site Called Saudi Arabia

stbalbach — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:47:23 -0800

Six new cities are planed in The Construction Site Called Saudi Arabia. "The vision is to turn the kingdom into a major industrial power by 2020. Drawings of these new towns depict a cross of the futuristic “Blade Runner” and traditional Arabic design." The cities will focus on petrochemicals, aluminum, steel and fertilizers, and will together have four times the geographical area of Hong Kong, three times the population of Dubai, and an economic output equal to Singapore’s. First city: King Abdullah Economic City Official Wikipedia CNN clip Second city: Jazan Economic City Wikipedia Third city: Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Musaed Economic City Press release Fourth city: Knowledge Economic City, Medina Official Fifth city: {unknown} Press release Sixth city: {unknown}

"50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come here as suicide bombers"

amberglow — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:50:29 -0800

The "same people who attacked us on 9/11"? It may be the very latest talking point from the Administration, but it's actually true--altho it's not Al Qaeda in Iraq, but Saudis. Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia ... A historical note: 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis.

Blair defends Saudi probe ruling

zouhair — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:58:22 -0800

So much for Democracy, Tony Blair has hit back at claims a corruption probe into a Saudi arms deal with BAE Systems was dropped after commercial and political pressure.

Saudi Aramco

mckenney — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 11:34:13 -0800

Saudi Aramco is the state-owned oil production company in Saudi Arabia. It's also the largest oil company in the world. Its headquarters are in Dhahran (wiki), a city owned by Saudi Aramco (other cities being Abqaiq, Ras Tanura, and Udailiyah), which houses numerous expats and native Saudis. You might have heard about Dhahran recently as they just fielded a Little League World Series team (featuring a 6'8", 256 lb. first baseman...

They have no idea what an Arab is. . .

exlotuseater — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 14:57:14 -0800

Seeing Only Evil: An Interview with Retired CIA Agent Robert Baer, Author of See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War Against Terrorism.

Justice - Saudi Style

atticus — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 09:53:17 -0800

50 lashes per week for 15 weeks seems a bit harsh to me. even for witchcraft.

The Religious Policeman

dydecker — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 01:25:24 -0800

Conversation between two mothers in a Saudi supermarket: "Oh hello, haven't seen you for ages, how's little Abdullah?" "Little Abdullah? He's really big now. He went off to Iraq to be a suicide bomber. And little Mohammad?" "Same thing. No longer little either. He also went off to be a suicide bomber in Iraq." "There you go. Don't children blow up quickly these days?" After a spooky year-long hiatus, The Religious Policeman blog is back, now sticking it to the Saudi Arabian authorities from the safety of England.

Peak oil is fun for everyone!

afu — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 21:47:31 -0800

Even as oil prices hit record highs, the Saudi’s are now warning that they do not have the oil supply to keep up with future demand. With news like this it’s time to start taking peak oil seriously. Matthew R. Simmons, a former bush advisor, recently wrote a book that examines the future prospects of Saudi oil reserves and the implications for global oil production. He finds that the amount of oil left in the big fields may be much lower than is publicly reported and that there is no where else in the world where we can find the oil to make up for the shortfall. This interview with Simmons (part 2, part 3) was one of the scariest things I’ve read in awhile. I guess it’s time to buy a hybrid… (Peak oil previously talked about here and here and here)

Another happy couple denied their human rights

casu marzu — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:02:09 -0800

Texas House votes to ban gay unions. A layout editor for The Dallas Morning News has some fun with it. [via TheAgitator]

April 22: Earth Day or Peak Oil Day?

DAJ — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 17:34:03 -0800

Today the Saudi Oil Minister announced that they are setting aside OPEC production quotas. Is the end for OPEC? More importantly, when the Texas Railroad Commission did the same thing in 1971, it signaled the peaking of US oil production. Oil prices keep rising, and the Main Stream Media blames it on tight refinery capacity. But simple economics tells us that this should actually cause crude prices to drop. So what is happening? Is this the peak of global oil production? President Bush is concerned, and he is hosting Crown Prince Abdullah at the Crawford Ranch this week. Leading Oil & Gas investment banker Matt Simmons thinks that the peak is upon us, and even the Saudi Oil Minister admits that they probably won’t find any more light, sweet crude…

Suing the Saudis

Asparagirl — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 00:13:12 -0800

Suing the Saudis The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has decided to join a $7 billion lawsuit that was filed last week by bond brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 of its employees--two thirds of the firm--in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, which was three years ago today. It looks like they may be gearing up to use RICO: "[The lawsuit said] Saudi Arabia engaged in a pattern of racketeering as it participated directly or indirectly in al Qaida's work through its "alter-ego" charities and relief organisations, which it funded and controlled." Al Qaida is named as a co-defendant, and four Saudis are mentioned by name: the interior minister, the defense minister, the governor of Riyadh, and the British ambassador, all members of the Saudi royal family.

A prosecution under the patriot act

rdr — Tue, 27 Apr 2004 02:10:26 -0800

"The Patriot Act defends our liberty, is what it does, under the Constitution of the United States" A saudi national is being prosecuted for maintaining web sites that advocated violent jihad. [nytimes, reg. req.]

Saudia Affirmative Action

rks404 — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:24:06 -0800

Saudization is the process of hiring Saudi Arabian nationals to join the Saudi workforce and is an interesting counterpoint to the US phenomena of outsourcing. The goal of Saudization is to discourage reliance on foreign workers as well as to combat domestic unemployment, which is worsened by the rapidly swelling ranks of restive, undereducated youth. Unfortunately it's not as easy to put into practice as it sounds.

Intruders in the House of Saud, Part I: The Jihadi Who Kept Asking Why

y2karl — Sun, 07 Mar 2004 13:15:04 -0800

The Jihadi Who Kept Asking Why - An unlikely group of onetime religious jihadists have recently stepped into the midst of the debate on Saudi Arabia's future. They belong to a larger circle of liberals, intellectuals, professors, former Wahhabi scholars, judges and even women who are discussing subjects in the media that were taboo before 9/11 -- questions about terrorism, about Wahhabi discrimination toward Muslims of the Shiite and Sufi sects (whom they consider apostates), about alcohol, about AIDS, about the rights of women to drive and work. The ex-jihadists are fluent in Islam and, more important, in the lingo of the underground terrorists, and they've surfaced from the extremist subculture with a message for the Wahhabi official clerics, the royal family and even their complicit American allies: Wake up. It's you who created us. We are not an aberration.
From The Agonist--where the editorial comment this is an absolutely excellent article and a must read is quite indisputable. From entering Salafiyya in Google comes the fascinating polemic The Salafi Cult. better known as the Khawarij.

Rebellion brewing in Saudi city

Postroad — Wed, 28 Jan 2004 11:23:16 -0800

Rebellion brewing in Saudi city The tiny city of Sakaka in the remote al-Jouf province that borders Iraq may seem an unlikely setting for the beginning of a revolution against the ruling al-Saud family. But one does not have to spend too long here to realise that this is what is happening.

Tawhid vs. Taqarub

homunculus — Mon, 29 Dec 2003 11:04:07 -0800

The Saudi Paradox. "Saudi Arabia is in the throes of a crisis, but its elite is bitterly divided on how to escape it. Crown Prince Abdullah leads a camp of liberal reformers seeking rapprochement with the West, while Prince Nayef, the interior minister, sides with an anti-American Wahhabi religious establishment that has much in common with al Qaeda. Abdullah cuts a higher profile abroad -- but at home Nayef casts a longer and darker shadow."

The TRILLIAN dollar question.

skallas — Sun, 19 Oct 2003 21:29:10 -0800

The TRILLIAN dollar question. Will the Saudi Royal family recieve diplomatic immunity for helping finance Osama and Al Qaeda all these years? A lawsuit filed by 9/11 victims last year which demands reparations from the Saudis will come to a close next week. Background story here: Evidently there's precedent for pay-out.

A Saudi film director makes her debut...

greengrl — Thu, 29 May 2003 08:27:03 -0800

Haifaa al-Mansour might be the only active female Saudi filmmaker in existence. Her film recently debuted at a festival in the United Arab Emirates, and although it didn't win, it did create quite a stir among the attendees. Her father, also a director, and her family helped her get the project off the ground in a country where some believe even owning a television set is a sin, and where women have very little opportunity outside the home. Using the web as a means of distribution, al-Mansour hopes to someday see her creations on the big screen all over the world.

Voyageman — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 07:56:02 -0800

"God's boys on both sides of the Atlantic" It began back in February. Now, 6 letters, 350+ intellectuals later, the great debate rages on, though apparently and regrettably now censored in Saudi Arabia. Pity.

homunculus — Tue, 09 Jul 2002 22:07:44 -0800

With friends like the Saudis, who needs enemies? "There is, then, no real need for us to be frightened by the loss of the kingdom's oil friendship. But we should be concerned by the evidence of its strategic enmity. It may be true that the Saudis are neither Iraqis nor Iranians nor Libyans; but it is quite dangerous enough that they are Saudis."

semmi — Tue, 02 Jul 2002 20:08:50 -0800

Ah, the law in Florida. (NYT) The rich princess pushed her maid down a flight of stairs, but will be allowed to plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of battery without having to appear in court, pay a $1,000 fine and give a judge a letter of regret about injuries to her Indonesian maid in the incident. All this because the maid cannot be in court. After she went home to Jakarta in May for her mother's funeral, the United States Embassy there denied her a visa to return to Florida and testify on the grounds that she might try to stay in this country illegally. The maid is also the primary witness in a federal investigation of the princess for possibly employing Ms. Soryono under conditions of involuntary servitude, the Justice Department said. After the court hearing in Orlando, this federal investigation appears likely to end without charges.

boaz — Tue, 30 Apr 2002 21:16:20 -0800

Hamas accepts Saudi peace plan:

"There has been generation after generation (of war). Now there is a generation who needs to live in peace, and not worry about their safety," said [Hamas executive Ismail Abu] Shanab. "So it is a generation that wants to practice living in peace and postpone historical issues. We speak of historical Palestine, and practical reality."

Since their official position is that "Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason" (Hamas Charter, Article 32), this is a dramatic change in policy indeed. I'm gobsmacked; this is utterly unbelievable, yet apparently real. And genuinely hopeful IMHO. What do you think?

aacheson — Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:30:20 -0800

The best solution I've heard so far to end the mess in Israel. A Saudi Prince suggests plan that trades occupied land in return for the Arab world recognizing the Israeli state. Is it a viable plan? Will Barak have the courage to give it a shot? Could the Arab nations ever recognize a Jewish state? Could Palestine and Israel coexist peacefully next to each other?

JanetLand — Wed, 23 Jan 2002 05:39:11 -0800

Dress code for female troops in Saudi Arabia changed. An update to this thread. They don't have to wear abayas any more, but they still can't drive cars.