Testing 1 . 2 . 3

Allah Akbar, welcome, bienvienedos, wilkommen.

I will use this blog site to chronicle my time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Everyone here refers to it as "The Kingdom". Thanks to an Australian blogger who responded to one of my posts on thosewackyiraqis I have decided to call this blog "The Magic Kingdom".

I guess it reflects on my time living in California as well as what exists here. In CA the Magic Kingdom is Disneyland. You know the place! It is the "Happiest Place on Earth!" Well, maybe to the well heeled but what about those who can't afford it or those who have to work there? Everything in Disneyland is fake, a image of what they want you to believe.

So to it is here. It's not so bad if you have some coin but the vast majority of folks here who toil away in the endless summer can't afford the niceties and are in most cases, indentured servants. The buildings and structures here are symbols of the unbelievable gift that these people were given by having all this oil but the facades are already crumbling away. The money is unevenly distributed, the wealthy are despised, and it is a hotbed of fundamentalism.

Where is Mickey when I need him most?