babble is rabble.ca's discussion board but it's much more than that: it's an online community for folks who just won't shut up. It's a place to tell each other — and the world — what's up with our work and campaigns.
In Saudi Arabia, it's still good to be royalty
March 4, 2011 - 6:14pm
I suppose it's too late to get adopted. 
Brunei has pretty wasteful royal recipients of oil wealth. I don't know why the populace of these two countries don't overthrow the bastards.
The Saudi royals have acted quickly to forestall any possible uprising in response to the outrage generated by this babble thread:
Saudi Arabia imposes ban on all protests
Saudi Arabia has a large number of "temporary" workers whose legal status is inferior to full "subjects" (which is probably a better term than "citizen" under such a regime). 20% of the population is non-Saudis and 31% of the population is made up of foreign nationals living in SA. The Kingdom didn't officially get rid of slavery until the 1960's. There is still traffic in woman in that country.
It's difficult to think of a country more in need of a regime change.
Saudi Arabia's worst nightmare - the arrival of the new Arab awakening of rebellion and insurrection in the kingdom - is now casting its long shadow over the House of Saud. Provoked by the Shia majority uprising in the neighbouring Sunni-dominated island of Bahrain, where protesters are calling for the overthrow of the ruling al-Khalifa family, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is widely reported to have told the Bahraini authorities that if they do not crush their Shia revolt, his own forces will.
The opposition is expecting at least 20,000 Saudis to gather in Riyadh and in the Shia Muslim provinces of the north-east of the country in six days, to demand an end to corruption and, if necessary, the overthrow of the House of Saud. Saudi security forces have deployed troops and armed police across the Qatif area - where most of Saudi Arabia's Shia Muslims live - and yesterday would-be protesters circulated photographs of armoured vehicles and buses of the state-security police on a highway near the port city of Dammam.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudis-mobilise-thou...
An uprising in Saudi Arabia would be amazing to see - and bloody.
Saudi foreign minister warns against protests
excerpt:
"The kingdom does not interfere in the affairs of others and will not allow for anyone to interfere in its own affairs," Prince Saud al-Faisal said today at a press conference in Saudi Arabia's port of Jiddah. Using a figure of speech, he said his regime would "cut off any finger" raised against the regime.
excerpt:
A Facebook page calling for a "Saudi Revolution 11 March" in Saudi Arabia has attracted close to 9,000 fans. Messages posted on the page calls for protests on March 11 and 20 and urges people to gather in mosques across the country including Mecca and Riyadh. The page calls for the regime's ouster and lists demands including the election of a ruler and members of the advisory assembly known as the Shura Council.
In a recent news bit I read of a Saudi muckety-muck suggesting that perhaps it's time to let Saudi women drive cars, and he noted that if this change were made, the kingdom would no longer require the services of 750,000 drivers.
Three quarters of a million drivers.
It's always interesting to see one prejudice defeated by another, deeper prejudice.
Meeting Slogans with Gunfire: Saudi Security Forces use live ammunition against protestors.
I'm sure NATO is firing up the airplanes as we speak. We'll save the women of Arabia!
Saudi Protests Highlight US Hypocrisy grtv
Serial human rights abuser Saudi Arabia goes largely ignored by the west for 70 years. Most Saudi nationals are afraid to protest. Newz media exaggerating the situation as usual.
Canadian arms sales 2007-09 top $1.4B
Between 2007 and 2009, Canadian companies exported about $1.4-billion in arms with the United Kingdom, Australia and Saudi Arabia topping the list of buyers.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the Saudi dictatorship uses those US and Canadian weapons on protestors.
We haven't had any major incidents yet, because Saudi Arabia makes all forms of protest illegal, bans most social media, and quietly executes "terrorists" (also known as people against corrupt dictatorships).
Apparently, it's much more important that we attack the democratic failings of Venezuels who had the audacity to no longer publicly fund TV networks that help organize coups against the elected government.
Canadian William Sampson was tortured by the Saudis, while the Canadian regime looked on and did nothing. Eventually, Sampson was part of a prisoner exchange in which Saudis in Git-mo were released.
Sidebar: Which is the more barbaric regime? The one that is known to torture, or the one that looks on and does nothing for its own citizens that are tortured?
Al Qaeda Urges Saudis to Topple Ruling Dynasty
http://www.rt.com/news/al-qaeda-saudi-arabia-538/
"The chief of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network has called on the Saudi people following the ouster of four Arab rulers in the wake of the Arab Spring revolutions. Ayman al Zawahiri, who assumed leadership of the terror group after the killing of Osama bin Laden last year, addressed the Saudis in a video posted on an Islamist website asking them 'Why don't you follow the example of your brothers in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and the Levant?'
'Muslim brothers in the land of the holy mosques! A year has passed since the uprising of the Arab people against their rulers...my dear brothers, why do you still accept to be ruled by the Al-Saud family? They are one of the worst, corrupt governments, who steal your money,' he said..."