Notes From The Mideast -- December 16, 2018

I'm going to take a break in a few minutes, but there are huge things happening in the Mideast right now.

More and more stories that OPEC is more and more irrelevant (something we talked about years ago).

Saudi Arabia is under huge pressure from all sides. MBS has his hands full, not to say, that he also has blood on his hands, regardless of what Mike Pompeo and his boss have to say about that.

Saudi Arabia may end up "recognizing" Israel in 2019. From wiki:

As of 2018, 161 of the 192 UN member states recognize Israel. 31 UN member states do not recognize Israel. These include 18 members of the Arab League: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Whether it's official or not, a handshake photograph seen around the world will be almost as good.

Jared Kushner could get a lot of credit if that were to happen.

Qatar, breaks from OPEC, says it may invest $20 billion in the US -- and not just in its core competency, natural gas. 

And that's just what is being reported in the past couple of weeks.  

By the way, regardless of how Pompeo/Trump are addressing the Khashoggi affair, imagine how #44 would have handled it. Or #43. Or #42. Or #41. Scary.  

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Top Ten Movies

Updates

May 12, 2020: add The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Definitely on the top ten list. Looking at the original post, how did I miss Twin Peaks (television movie/series) and Mulholland Drive which I would put together as a set. 

Original Post

We've talked about this before. For a movie to get to my "Top Ten" list, I have to be willing to watch it many times a years. Not that I necessarily would but if someone were to ask me if I would like to watch "such and such a movie" tonight -- a movie that I had seen a dozen times and willing to watch again -- that movie would be a candidate for my "Top Ten" list.

I saw Clint Eastwood's The Mule yesterday. A good movie, but I have no desire to see it again.

I watched Birdman again two nights ago; it's on my "Top Ten" list.

I watched Casablanca again last night: it's on my "Top Ten" list and might be #1 on that list. 

Others on my "Top Ten" list: Midnight in Paris; maybe, Lost in Translation." 

Dr Zhivago is an interesting exception to the rule. It's on my "Top Ten" list but I can't watch it  -- it is way too sad. Incredibly sad. I'll re-watch it rarely.

Another exception: Lawrence of Arabia. To some extent, same reason as given for Dr Zhivago. 

A movie on the cusp of moving into the "Top Ten": The Great Gatsby.  

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? The first half. 

A top ten music video disguised as a movie? Kinky Boots.



Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Norah Jones