The Coming Fall of the House of Saud: Austerity is in, and the Countdown to Saudi Arabia's Fire Sale is On! [part 2/2]

"Did somebody say they want to make a deal?" The greatest deal maker the world has ever seen, flanked by his wife on his right and the king of Saudi Arabia on his left, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and the princess of the United States playing mental footsie

No, Not NEOM Nor Even Women Can Save Saudi Arabia and its Monarchy from Peak Oil and Collapse [part 1/2]

You know things have taken a turn for the desperate when women have started to drive. Or rather, when they're about to start driving in Saudi Arabia. Although repeated efforts over the years to allow Saudi Arabian Miss Daisies to drive themselves haven't managed to budge things in the slightest,

Bands of Gypsies, Assisting us in Achieving Harmony in the Face of Collapse [part 4/6]

Fanfare Ciocărlia's lead vocalists (and trumpet players) Rădulescu Lazăr and Costică "Cimai" Trifan, as well as the late Ioan Ivancea Back before I'd discovered Fanfare Ciocărlia and was (almost contently) listening to nothing but Taraf de Haïdouks, Kočani Orkestar, and their Band of Gypsies combo act, I spent some time

Imposing Limits to Music in the Age of Limits to Growth [part 2/6]

All digital reproductions are equally made with zeroes and ones, although some zeroes and ones are more equal than others So for a guy like me who's making somewhat of a return to the world of music but who's fully aware of the already underway protracted collapse of industrial civilization,

The Music Industry: Aiming for the Singularity But Hitting Collapse Instead [part 1/6]

The appearance of the music industry's various formats, plotted along M. King Hubbert's 1956 projection of worldwide oil extraction rates Although the world economy hasn't been booming lately this hasn't meant that the booming has been reduced to economizing, what with the boom booms having gone through such a transformation