MB is holed up in Doha, Qatar & enjoying the TimTams

Followers of MB are no doubt glued to various global news channels in their home countries, consuming the explosive news from MB’s neck of the Middle East woods. MB is pleased to report that he is holed up in a decent 5-Star Hotel in Doha, Qatar, safe and well at present, by the good grace and intervention of St Patrick.

God bless St P!

As a special treat to himself at this very stressful time, MB has purchased a few days’ supply of Australian TimTam biscuits. MB can highly recommend the TimTams to any followers who find themselves in a war zone. It’s one thing to have to think about how one can exit a country with closed airports and airspace, stay sane in the face of remain-in-place orders, and how to avoid falling ordnance, let alone how to avoid AI-controlled drones and hypersonic missiles. But how to satisfy that chocolate craving is an all-together matter, but if you’re a chocoholic like MB, it must be satisfied. MB is of the opinion that satisfaction of the choc craving may well even assist followers to deal more capably with the aforementioned threats and challenges, the lingering taste of the chocolate tickling the taste buds providing a smile on the face, with the choc-fix providing heightened mental agility and problem-solving capabilities.

So, dear followers, don’t forget the TimTams!

MB decided on a short trip to Qatar for the weekend just past, arriving on Thursday evening last and intending to board his return flight on Saturday afternoon. All hell broke loose early Saturday, sadly, and soon after, the airport and airspace were closed. What to do?!

MB had a chat with the reception staff at his 5-Star, told them of his predicament, and immediately booked in for another night. MB has repeated this ritual on a daily basis since Saturday, in addition to performing the daily exercise of rebooking his return flight for one day hence. Soon, inshallah, ‘one day hence’ will prove accurate and MB may be able to return to his Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, base. Only problem is that Saudi is presently not allowing any flights to arrive from Qatar, so two stars need to align if MB is to exit Qatar anytime soon.

This was MB’s first experience of interceptor rockets being fired at drones and missiles, and the resulting percussion booms that shake buildings and rattle windows. Kids in particular are having a stressful and scary time, as MB knows from parents/friends in these circumstances. Previously, MB was far more conversant with milking a few cows or castrating a few cattle, or peppering that difficult pin position with his 7-iron, than dealing with such matters!

MB doesn’t generally get into the politics of anything on this blog format. Most people have entrenched views on almost everything, so no point. But suffice it to say that the Iranian people, and MB knows many, are a patient people. They will hand-tie 380 knots per square inch over four or five years to produce one of their iconic Persian Carpets. That’s patience, to put it mildly. So, given the Persian/Iranian mentality, there is zero chance of subjugating them any time soon, or any section of them. And for those without knowledge of the 90M+ population nation, there is an approx 50/50 split between conservatives (mostly rural) and more modern-minded progressives (mostly urban) dwellers. And when a nation is under attack, the more progressives must go into silence or hiding, lest they be accused of siding with the invaders. And in any event, they will not side with an invader that is killing their own people, whether they agree politically or not with those people. Hence there will be no “uprising”. And so the progressive cause gets set back by many years or even generations. Maybe that’s even one idea of the attacking forces.

In addition, Iran has a combined militia and army force of some 3 to 4M. Appeals to ‘lay down your arms and you can walk away unharned’ are a joke when one has any understanding of the people and the political reality within the country. And ‘boots on the ground’ is logically out of the question.

And all the foregoing without even getting into breaches of International law, illegal wars, and regional and international manipulations. Let alone human morality and decency and all should act with utmost humanity and kindness towards our fellow man. And dead schoolkids.

Enough!

Regards to all in this part of the world at present. Stay safe!

And don’t forget………………………..