Has The King Had Enough? -- February 27, 2021

Updates

February 28, 2021: the most interesting question no one is asking -- why would the Biden administration release this "classified" document. Second most important question: where might this lead? Other questions:

• who was the "audience" for this document?
• why did it take so long to be released?
• will it "have legs"?

Original Post 

I've said this more than once on the blog, my hunch: the old man's patience is running thin with his son. Worse, the heir, the Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman age 35), has built up a large number of enemies within the extended royal family. He's not yet the king; his dad is still alive at age 85, about the same age as our president.

And, today there are reports of Iran-backed rebels firing missiles over Riyadh.

Link here.

Seldom discussed: Biden is "old school." He is a devout Catholic. Not much love lost between him and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi King snubbed Obama back in 2015. Payback is hell.  

Saudi Arabia with huge debt problem, February, 2021.

Official figures and data have shown that Saudi Arabia’s debt [is now] 21 times larger in just six years, as the kingdom has lost more than half a trillion dollars since King Salman came to power at the beginning of 2015.

The old man was right: the IPO was a really, really bad idea, November 24, 2020. 

Update, August 10, 2020:

Saudi Arabia: 

• in deep trouble; Saudi Arabia sticks to dividend pledge despite plunge in earnings; paywall, Financial Times, CEO/Board of Directors have no say; the King of Saudi Arabia "directs" tht the dividend will continue to be paid; see this note (a must-read);
  
• Saudi Aramco's earnings show why Apple is now the world's most valuable company; paywall, Barron's; 
• Saudi Aramco's first-half profits plummet 50%; CEO calls results "solid"; MarketWatch,  
• Saudi Arabia turns off America's oil taps again; Bloomberg;  
• quick: what US state depends most on Saudi Arabian oil?
• US oil imports from Saudi Arabia, tracked here, EIA;
• Saudi foreign exchange reserves drop again;

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We finally got it framed!

Sophia drew this fox as part of an assignment earlier in the year. We finally got it framed.

Sophia is wearing "blue-light blocking" glasses that she wears when at the computer.