King of Saudi King Abdullah Dies Opening the Door to More Uncertainty
The king of Saudi King Abdullah died on Friday after two decades of power. This presents some concern because historically whenever such changes take place, often those dissatisfied with the government begin to make their move. Consequently, this change in power brings risk of rising civil unrest where protests have been increasing. The decline in crude oil prices also introduces new problems as we are looking at also changes in budgets. This also comes when the war cycle is rising and ISIS is on the move. All of this introduces another wildcard to the mix for 2015.75 moving into 2020.05.
Israel revolted upon the death of the last Julio-Claudian emperor Nero in 68AD. The throne for Rome was then up for grabs and several generals fought it out. Vespasian (69-79AD) won. He was forced to crush the Jews because if he did not respond, then all the previously conquered regions would have revolted as well and the Roman Empire would have collapsed. This is the danger that always exists following such profound changes.
Saudi Arabia has been the cornerstone in the oil markets and Middle East stability for a long time. Of course, they have also been the source of wealth against their enemy Iran because the Shiite branch of Islam disagrees that there should be a king and that the state should be ruled by a cleric.
King Abdullah was like the Japanese emperor Meiji. King Abdullah modernized his country introducing many reforms including opening a coed university and including women on the Shura Council, which was an unelected advisory council. That is unacceptable to ISIS and the Shiites to say the least.
Now King Abdullah has been succeeded by his half-brother Crown Prince Salman who is 79. Salman has served as defense minister since 2011.
Computing Power
Lack of a Free press
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, I have noticed that not merely Sundance refused to show your movie, but with all your amazing forecasts, one would think the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, New York Times, Washington Post, and Bloomberg, would be pounding on your door for an interview. You would imagine they would write about what your computer has accomplished that will obviously change the world perspective of how everything truly works. Bloomberg indeed “scrubbed” you from their files. Is this lack of any integrity among the press a sign of the times that also goes hand and hand with the collapse of empires?
Thank you for your enlightenment.
ANSWER: Unfortunately yes. The lack of free press is part of the decline and fall. Once the press lays down, that starts the decline of a nation. Freedom and human rights cannot exist if the freedom of speech is suppressed. Why would any of mainstream media report the successful forecasts of our model when they spent so much time cheering the government or selling the propaganda that Euroland was a flawless great idea? The implications of our model are important. It demonstrates that domestic policy objectives of a nation are often overruled by the international trends. Thus, politicians cannot honestly say vote for me and I will bring change. We can only live with the trend – not fight it.
The right to remain silent comes from the trial of John Lilburne (1615-1657) who published a newsletter that protested against the king. There was the infamous English court of the Star Chamber (Court of Chancery) with its 96% criminal conviction rate, which we in the USA have passed in Federal Courts. The famous trial of John Lilburne before the Star Chamber in 1637 is where he stood tall and objected to the King’s torture. Lilburne’s crime was handing out pamphlets against the king. He was a leader in the Leveller Movement of the 1640s and was a prolific pamphleteer who defended religious and individual liberty of the people. Lilburne defended himself vigorously in court, quoting from the great jurist Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634) whose work the Institutes was the seminal statement of English law. It was Lilburne, who established the right to remain silent enshrined in the Constitution of the United States known as the Fifth Amendment prohibition against compelled Self-Incrimination, which they have once again effectively overruled. Lilburne proudly declared:
“Another fundamental right I then contended for, was, that no man’s conscience ought to be racked by oaths imposed, to answer to questions concerning himself in matters criminal or pretended to be so.”
Suppression of the press ALWAYS precedes major political reform and revolution. The fact that major newspapers or TV shows will tout analysis that they KNOW does not work is part of the cycle. It’s not the individual journalist, it is management. No individual journalist removed me from Bloomberg’s computers. That came from the top down. They conspired in denying me my constitutional rights by never reporting my side of the story even once. They ONLY reported the government allegations. Just how does one get $1 billion out of a bank and the bank has no idea where the money went. They assume their readers are fools. You have to have a withdrawal slip or a wire. That statement from the outset by the government set the tone – this was all about protecting the banks. They traced every wire in Madoff’s case. How was that so impossible in mine? Simple – in the end the bank plead guilty with no jail time provided they return the money that was never withdrawn by me or wired to some secret place. Such allegations were just impossible yet they would never print that. Answer – scrub me from the computers, pretend I do not exist, and ignore any movie
This has always been about suppression.
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