Staggering, Simply Staggering -- May 23, 2015

I don't know about you, but I think this is simply amazing -- so many story lines. From Macrumors, gold Apple Watch editions -- at a price of over $16,000 each -- are now being shipped.

Go to the link to learn a bit more about delivery set-ups.

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The Saudi Shakeup -- The New Yorker

I seldom find myself agreeing with The New Yorker's political assessments in their "Talk of the Town," upfront every week. We simply have different worldviews, I suppose. Having said that, I enjoyed Steve Coll's column in the May 25, 2015 issue, in which he spoke of the new king's somewhat inauspicious beginning -- starting with a war in Yemen. By the way, that war sort of reminds me of the Spanish Civil War in which outsiders seemed to have had  a vested interest, also.

The facts: January, 2015 -- Salman bin Abdulaziz, age 79, assumed the throne of Saudi Arabia (now known as King Salman) and installed his son Mohammed bin Salman, age 34, as Minister of Defense. He holds an undergraduate degree in law from King Saud University. The king also names a nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, age 55, as the Minister of Interior.

The article is a "keeper."

My only comment in addition to what Steve Coll said: I don't exactly get a warm feeling that a 35-year-old Minister of Defense with a law degree from King Saud University will manage events in the Mideast all that well right now.

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End Of The Road For Greece?

Reuters is reporting:

Greece cannot make debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month unless it achieves a deal with creditors, its interior minister said on Sunday, the most explicit remarks yet from Athens about the likelihood of default if talks fail.

Shut out of bond markets and with bailout aid locked, cash-strapped Athens has been scraping state coffers to meet debt obligations and to pay wages and pensions. With its future as a member of the 19-nation euro zone potentially at stake, a second government minister accused its international lenders of subjecting it to slow and calculated torture.

I'm not holding my breath. The deus ex machina was invented in Greece.

Cruisin' (Sunset Sam), Michael Nesmith