Tomorrow the World

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I have made my book of short stories THE GULF Reaping the Whirlwind a free download on Amazon’s Kindle for 5 days starting Monday 25th September.

I have done this because I believe that although first published in 2011 it has now become relevant again.

The book is a series of linked short stories supposedly written by a journalist featuring the ex-patriate human flotsam and jetsam that washup in the Arabian/Persian Gulf working in the oil industry.

The principle thread that runs through the stories is a critique of a soulless Western society that has forced these people to abandon their families in order to find employment and survive. But the underlying thread is the destructive effect that the discovery of huge deposits of strategic oil, and the consequent flow of billions of dollars of petro-dollars, has had on the region.

When I worked in Iran in the 70s my young Iranian trainees were keen to educate me about how the CIA engineered a coup to oust Mossadeq, the democratically elected Prime Minister, and install the corrupt Shah and his cronies, so that America could control Iranian oilfields.

And more recently, when I worked in Saudi Arabia, my young Saudi trainee engineers were keen to tell me that Israel, backed by the USA, were intent on taking over not just Gaza and the West Bank, but the whole of the Middle East and its oil wealth. And just look at recent events. Not just the appalling invasion of Gaza, but the bombing of Iran, Syria, Iraq, Qatar and Yemen.

I leave it to your judgement.

Democracy is saved

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And the irony is that it was Donald Trump who saved it. He won the presidential election fair and square by appealing to the majority on matters that concerned them (cost of living and uncontrolled immigration). He showed that elite minority interests have no appeal to the masses – and democracy is about the majority of the people, and not about elites.

Didn’t anybody learn from the French Revolution (Egalite/Fraternity etc.), or the American Revolution, or the Russian? We should be grateful that the overthrow of the new aristocracy of celebrity and show business was overthrown by peaceful means. And we should hope that Australia, where I now reside, will absorb the lessons.

Kamala Harris was never going to win. African Americans comprise about 10% of the US population, while almost 70% are nominally Caucasian. And the next biggest voting block, Latinos, are Catholic and conservative, who, once they have a good job or successful business, tend to become Republicans. It did not help Harris’s cause by appearing on stage with celebrities flaunting their affluence at a time when most people are doing it tough.

It should be remembered that the First Peoples’ here comprise about 2% of the population, and stressing minority issues, and supporting uninhibited immigration, will have no appeal while the vast majority who are struggling to cope with day to day life, and living standards are going backwards – and, surprisingly, so is life expectancy.

I look forward to the will of the people, one man one vote, prevailing here as it did in the USA.

Plus ca change …………..

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.. . . plus c’est la meme chose.” ” the more things change . . . the more they stay the same.” Or as Karl Marx said, “History repeats itself . . . first time tragedy, second time farce.”

But while events in the Middle East are certainly a tragedy of epic proportions, with so many thousands of innocents being slaughtered without pity or compassion, it is certainly beyond farce. What to me is most sickening is the hypocrisy of the American government (President/State Department/CIA) who piously slap Israel’s wrists and threaten to withdraw their support, while continuing to provide the means to wage war.

In my mind they are the enablers of this conflict. They are using the Israeli’s as their spear carriers to enable them to promote a proxy war against Iran. And there are precedents in my 40 years experience working in the Arabian/Persian Gulf.

The very first story in my book THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind”, concerns events around the Buraimi Oasis in The Emirates.in the 1950s. At that time the Emirates were a British Protectorate, and Saudi Arabia lay within the American sphere of influence. ARAMCO, the Arabian American Oil Company, armed the Saudi Police and encouraged them to invade the Buraimi Oasis in order to move the border in their favour (and many years later that proved fruitful because a giant oilfield was discovered in the disputed territory). This whole crisis was later characterised as “A neat little war between the USA and The Limies.”

Perhaps more relevant was the Americans backing the Shah of Iran to overthrow a democratically elected government so that they could usurp British interests in oil rich Persia.

With the the overwhelming tragedy now unfolding in the Middle East my book is more relevant than ever. While not dealing directly with the Palestine/Israeli conflict, that is the background against which my stories of the expatriate experience of life in the oilfields of the Persian/Arabian oilfields are told. If nothing else they are authentic, based on events I witnessed myself, or were told to me by a reliable source.

I have no wish to profit from human misery, so I am offering my book as a 5 day free download on Amazon’s Kindle starting on Wednesday 23 October. I do this in the hope that many people will read it and gain some insight into the mentality that drives this atavistic Israeli/Palestinian conflict. As Uncle Tom says in my book:

“We understand the problem . . . we don’t understand the people.”

Or as another character, Ray says,

“They write backwards . . . they read backwards . . . and they think backwards.”

So much time spent looking in the rear view mirror and not the road ahead.

“Reaping the Whirlwind”

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Events move so fast these days that, until recently, I thought my book THE GULF, “Reaping the Whirlwind, published just ten years ago, had become history. It is a collection of character studies of typical Western expatriates, the flotsam and jetsam of modern living, washed up in the Arabian/ Persian Gulf for whatever reason.

But the background to those stories is the Arab/Israeli situation that, with recurring financial crises, the rise of China to a world power, and the resurgence of Russia under Putin, had been swept from the headlines. Now, with the horrific events unfolding in Gaza my book is relevant again.

Anybody who has ever worked in The Gulf will have been confronted with the atavistic Arab/Israeli conflict. Sometimes, if you are lucky, it will be a well-educated, well-travelled Arab, who will concede that it is a domestic dispute over land between cousins, but will insist that the Israeli Zionists will never be satisfied until they own all of the Holy Lands.  If you are unlucky, it will be an Islamic religious zealot who will reference his beliefs and his claims to The Holy Lands back 4,000 years to the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), and his first-born son Ishmael.

To Western sensibilities this seems ridiculous, but as Uncle Tom (one of the insightful characters is my book) says,

 “The West understand the problems, they don’t understand the people.”

Or, as Ray (a more down-to-earth character in my book) says,

            “They read backwards, they write backwards, and they think backwards.”

            If you are interested in the back-story to the present horrific events in Gaza, first read John Keays insightful book, “Sowing the Wind”, that explains the policy errors or the past that have led to the present day tragedy in Gaza. Then read my book, THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind”, which can be downloaded from AMAZON’s Kindle app, or it can be reviewed and bought as a paperback from my UK publisher:

Feedaread.com

P.S. In spite of the serious tone of this blog, my book is not a polemic. It is a series of stories about ordinary people surviving in an extraordinary landscape – a world as it is, and not as we wish it was -, and it is a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit finding humour and hope, despite the slings and arrows of their outrageous lives.

THE PUSSY WHIPPED PRINCE

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(Subtitle: Harry the henpecked husband)

As Hemingway once said, “In the world of sensation there is no going back.”

Prince Harry has described his circumcised penis, and his bottom being smacked whilst losing his virginity in a public place to a lecherous older woman. What can come next to generate mega for their bottomless pockets (pun intended)?

Well, he could always post pictures of his genitals on the internet? And Meghan could give us a guided tour of her collection of handcrafted bottom smacking paddles. And she could maybe reveal that she never wore knickers on formal state occasions to demonstrate her contempt for stuffy royal protocols like curtseying to The Queen? Although maybe there was a touch of envy because Pippa was reckoned to have the cutest bottom in royal circles – and a panty line would certainly detract from Meghan’s figure hugging $20,000 designer dresses.

Piers Morgan got it right when he said that Harry and Meghan’s reality TV specials were like the Kardashians, but not as classy and dignified.

Harry Windsor, to give him the title he craves, should be aware of a quote from another great writer, Walter Moseley: “In my experience beautiful people rarely give as much as they take – and they almost always come back for more.” Harry condemned Meghan from his own mouth when he warned his staff,

“What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.”

He is just another hopelessly infatuated man who cannot control a demanding wife. He should think on about his late grand-uncle, the Duke of Windsor (King Edward VII) who gave up his throne for the love of an American divorcee. He ended his days as a melancholy ghost hovering on the outer fringes of café society. The parallels are spooky. As Karl Marx said,

“History repeats itself. First time tragedy, second time farce.”

Right now, Harry Windsor is revelling in his bolshie adolescent role of “Black sheep of the family” just taking the piss out of his family, and making his millions. Maybe the Royal household are right to ignore it, get on with the job, and let it burn itself out. But what has happened to the British love of irony and satire (and generally taking the piss)?

We are treating the Harry and Meaghan soap opera act far too seriously.

Quite a few years ago I listened to a wonderful satire on American Forces Radio (very unusual because Americans, usually take themselves far too seriously and don’t take the piss). But this was called the HILL ‘n BILL show, supposedly broadcast from the Santa Monica Lewinsky studios. The set up was President Bill Clinton and Hillary sitting in bed on a Sunday night while she berated him for his poor performance the previous week and set his agenda for the coming week. Hillary’s dialogue was up-to-date and whip smart, in the way that only American sitcom writers can do (think CHEERS and FRASIER), and Bill’s only contribution was (in a down home Hillbilly accent), “Aw shucks Hill, do I have to?” while scarfing down 2 Big Macs and a side of ribs, and slurping a giant Coke.

What could those writers do with a show called MEG ‘n MILLIONS broadcast from the over the top Knightsbridge Arab throne room in their Montecito mansion? Throne Room being UK slang for lavatory.

What happened to the “Real World”

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Still grappling with my return to good health and the frightening virtual world I now live in.

Obviously the COVID pandemic dominates everything. Living in NSW Australia, I am baffled by the State and Federal governments declaration of FREEDOM DAY just before Christmas, and their decision that life was back to normal, no need for precautions and just “let it rip’ and go out dancing and drinking.

Result! Overnight infections went from between 1-200 to 20,000, and as a consequence the daily death rate went for 1 or 2 to close to 100. And of course it is not the fault of the politicians. It was “the peoples” fault for not acting responsibly.

It reminds me of Donald Reagan’s comment on professional politicians. “They are like diapers. They are full of shit and need changing regularly.”

Perhaps worse in the longer term is that the unfettered internet has blow away two basic pillars of our democracy: An accused person is entitled to:

  1. A presumption of innocence
  2. Once accused, that the case is “sub judicae’

Now all the crazies on the internet, and most of the “legitimate” media, seem to feel free to conduct a trial by media that destroys all chance of a free trial. Investigative journalism is one thing – advocacy journalism is quite another, and should be banned.

And finally, the internet has become a monster that needs feeding with ever more scandalous gossip, and gives sustenance to people who, in previous times, would have been reviled. Nowhere is that more clear than the Harry and Meghan soap opera. Here is a man who was born into the privileged world of the British Royal Family. Who holds titles, and commissions, bestowed on him by The Queen (and has inherited multiple fortunes from his royal connections) yet seems to feel free to diss and undermine his grandmother, an old woman at the end of a life of faultless service to her people and her country. What a low life.

He should be stripped of his titles, and members of his regiment should present him personally with 4 white feathers (look it up).

For sure, my book THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind” is now a historical novel, based as it is in a world where duty, and honour, and patriotism (but not ultra-nationalism) still counted for something. With the speed of change now full throttle, (and with The Queen almost certainly dead and buried) maybe in another decade it will truly be historical, and will be as popular as novels from the Tudor era.

Or maybe there will be a huge corrections, and people will grow sick of the narcissistic excesses of the internet and PR dominated advocacy journalism – and view my book as something of value.

Vain Hope????????

Ancient History?

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To continue from yesterday’s blog, how the World has changed in the 2 years I have been absent on sick leave. And how dramatically it has changed since I published my first blog that promoted my first book THE GULF: “Reaping the Whirlwind.” 9 years ago.

The subscript of my book was “It’s all about oil” – and indeed in those days OPEC (remember them and their dominance) and fluctuating crude oil prices were never out of the headlines. Now environmental issues are centre-stage, and it seems that the long slow murder of the international oil industry has begun with Egon Musk’s success with battery technology, and electric motor cars.

For the moment coal seems to be the main target, but oil will surely follow?

The focus of geopolitics has now shifted from the MidEast to Asia-Pacific. I am fortunate to find myself – once again – at the centre of events. So why am I reluctant to change gear? Because for me the whole basis of my Judaeo, Christian, Islamic civilization was born, dveloped and reined in that region. The Fertile Crescent.

It will be a Tectonic shift for me to focus my efforts on Asia Pacific and its rim.

For the moment my book is still available on AMAZON’s Kindle – or from my publisher FEEDAREAD on their website as a paperback.

If you like reading insights into the making of history – read it.

Back from the Dead

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Well almost. After a 2 year hiatus caused by severe complications after routine knee replacement surgery. OMG how the world has changed.

Is my main focus, The Arabian/Persian Gulf, still valid in the (post?) Covid/Global Warming world??????

Only time will tell I guess.

If I have any readers at all, watch this space.

In my prolonged recovery phase I have started with art lesson again, and have become obsessed with the 1900-10 era in Paris where artists like Picasso, Braque and Matisse were forced to paint form the imagination, and not copy nature – because photography had made natural art redundant.

In fact the modern art world was probably initiated by Cezanne “Close your eyes to see” and burst dramatically on the scene by the amazing outpourings of Van Gogh and Gaugin. Hopefully I will not become too academic and will let my art flow freely and spontaneously?

In my short stories, I have tried now to change from my rather pessimistic European outlokk, to the more positive “Spit in your eye and choke you,” attitudes of my adopted country Australia – although I still yearn for the 20 years of blissul and childlike happiness I found living in Mediterranean Spain. Espanya Querida!.

Watch this space

Does Jeff Bezos need my US$100?

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Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest man, so why does he need my $100?

My book THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind” has had about 50 downloads on Jeff’s Amazon KINDLE. That should have earned me between about US$120-150 crossing the threshold of US$100 when I am supposed to receive a cheque. But Jeff splits my account between US downloads, UK downloads, and a few German and Spanish downloads and I haven’t crossed the magic threshold in any single market – so I don’t get a cheque.

Of course my $100 is insignificant in Jeff’s 112 Billion dollar fortune – but he has 2.8 million authors on the US site, and 1.4 million on the UK site. Making the generous assumption that 50% of authors actually earn enough to get cheques, then Jeff is withholding around US$150,000,000 of author’s royalties – and realistically, probably a lot more.

So I am asking you to talk to your friends and get them to download about 10 copies of my book from amazon.com Kindle site so that I can cross the threshold at least in the US, and get a US$100 cheque.

To be honest US$100 I not really significant to me either, but why should Jeff have it? I promise you if I get the cheque it will go in full to charity. My reward will be knowing that a few more people will read my book which will give them authentic insights into the Mid-East between the 1960s and 2001 – and the events that led to 9/11.

And perhaps somebody should start a movement to clear a lot of other marginal authors from Kindle and send the money to charity, and deplete Jeff’s nice little cash cow.

To help you and others make the decision about my book here is the Foreword to THE GULF; “Reaping the Whirlwind.”

Foreword: Reaping the Whirlwind

Oil is the ultimate prize, equated with world mastery.
Winston Churchill

In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell

Dazzled by the imperial splendours of exotic India—the Jewel in the Crown—and distracted by Byzantine political intrigues in Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad, the Arabian/Persian Gulf became a neglected backwater of the British Empire that allowed America to establish a dominant presence in Saudi Arabia and usurp British interests in Iran.

After WW2 America’s thirst for cheap oil developed the region rapidly from a collection of feudal Emirates into independent nation states of international significance ruled by ruthless despots. And when in 1972 they seized control of their crude oil supplies, and imposed a five-fold increase in price, it became a glittering modern arena of Western hedonism in conflict with austere Wahhabi and mystical Sufi Islam.

A world as it is, not as we wish it to be.

Reaping the Whirlwind spans 40 years and is journalistic: a collection of stories highlighting dramatic events featuring strong but damaged characters—expatriates washed up in The Gulf trying to survive in a rapidly changing world.

It is a classic hero’s journey.

The narrator is an idealistic young journalist sent from the UK to The Gulf in the early 60s by his Editor—his mentor. He encounters an atavistic society more corrupt than he had ever imagined. And he finds that the world of the foreign correspondent is more like show business than a serious profession trying to write as honestly as possible the first rough draft of history.

So he begins a lifelong private war.

He meets with Woman as Temptress—but fails to find love—and enters the Belly of the Whale, confronting corruption and hypocrisy no matter what the personal cost. He recalls the suffering and sacrifices of previous generations that built Western civilization—something that has been forgotten by adultlescent Baby Boomers living in their affluent bubble. He returns to the UK armed with a boon that will burst that bubble and change society for the better. But he is too late.

A Merry Christmas to my follower, and thanks for your support

The Sun Also Goeth Down

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The biblical phrase “The Sun also rises”, most famously used by Ernest Hemingway as the sub-title to his novel FIESTA, actually says “The suns also rises, and the sun also goeth down and hastens to the place where it arose”. This leads me to wonder if the developed World  weary of the Middle East and its intractable problems, is turning its attention to the Indo-Pacific region where every day in the Gregorian calendar has its beginning?

We see the urgency of dealing with the rise of China as an aggressive superpower, and the economic rise of India, and its problems with Pakistan that in some ways mirrors the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It is atavistic, religious, tribal, nuclearized and about territory (West Bank/Kashmir)?

The tagline of my book THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind” starts with the sentence “It’s all about oil.” And certainly the rise of the Arabian/Persian Gulf from a sleepy tribal backwater of the British Empire to a region of sovereign states of international significance was driven by the thirst of the West for cheap oil, and the abrupt rise in crude oil prices from $5 to $25 per barrel in the 1970s.

Now, with the wide availability of shale oil and coal seam gas in the short term, and the projected dominance of electric motor cars in the medium term, the significance of secure and cheap crude oil supplies is becoming irrelevant. Will The Gulf once again become a sleepy backwater, not of the British Empire as it once was, but of American Imperialism?

“The sun also goeth down” is certainly true. . . but then the sun will also rise again, and by all that is normal to us, and most of what is manufactured for us, it will rise in The Far East.

If The West had so many problems with its cultural clash with a few million Arabs and Israelis, how are they going to deal with the problems of 1.5 Billion Chinese (and their spear carriers the North Koreans), a billion Indians and Pakistanis, s70 million Indonesian Muslims – not to mention Malays, Thais, Filipinos and assorted Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians – and 125 million Japanese?

I hope the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office is up to it (I actually know Dominic Raab the UK Foreign Secretary and he’s a very clever man). And I hope the EU can come up with a coherent foreign policy – some hope.

Except that I love life so much, I am almost glad I’m nearing the end of my life. But what about my grandkids and the World that they will inherit? Maybe they’ll get lucky. Global warming will make this planet uninhabitable, and technology will be so developed that they will be able to rock(et)-off to a better galaxy???

Times and technology are changing so rapidly that the conflicts I dramatized in my book THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind”, that was published just a few years ago, are beginning to look like scenes in a historical novel. At least it they are authentic and not based on reading unreliable historians rewriting history to favour the winners. I did live through those times and witness the events I used as the seeds of my stories. And I certainly did not favour the winners.

I lived and I worked with the ordinary working people (and I never once met an ordinary person) in Iran, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi – and for 10 years in Saudi Arabia.

You can review and buy my book, THE GULF “Reaping the Whirlwind” and its fictionalizations of real events in the Middle East in Kindle format at:

amazon.com

Or in paperback edition on my publisher’s website:

feedaread.com