News and notes from around the interweb:
- King Mswati III arrived in [Abu Dhabi in] a private jet, accompanied by 15 wives, 30 children, and around 100 attendants Eswatini (née Swaziland) is Africa’s last absolute monarchy. Mswati has ruled since 1986. The previous king ruled for 82 years. Video resurfaced and is going viral.
His father, the former king of Swaziland, is said to have had over 70 wives, some reports claim as many as 125, along with more than 210 children and nearly 1,000 grandchildren.
King Mswati III himself has 30 wives, though recent reports mention 15 currently accompanying him, and more than 35 children. He has ruled Eswatini since 1986 and is regarded as one of the wealthiest monarchs in the world, with an estimated net worth exceeding $1 billion. ..Each year, he selects a new bride during the traditional ‘Reed Dance’ ceremony
- This week the Department of Transportation said the government shutdown meant to funding for Essential Air Service. I argued that this was pure discretion on DOT’s part, likely looking to leverage affected members of Congress. In the first Trump term, DOT opted to continue EAS support when the government shut down.
And now just a couple of days later DOT suddenly found the money to continue the program during the shutdown.
- I believe they actually did this shortly after October 7…
Oman Air removes "ISRAEL" from its aerial images and replaces it with the STATE OF PALESTINE. pic.twitter.com/zCIBLeljhs
— The Resonance (@Partisan_12) October 6, 2025
- Hyatt all-inclusive marketing shifts from convenience and what you get to creating quality time, “treating trips more as a form of restoration than escape.”
- Amex is now an ad platform you’d think at $895 you’d be a customer, but you’re actually the product.
American Express worked with brands including Marriott Bonvoy, Macy’s and TUMI to develop campaigns that reached targeted Card Members with relevant, contextual ads as they booked travel on AmexTravel.com. As examples:
- Marriott Bonvoy successfully used Amex Ads to reach and convert American Express Card Members who had booked a flight on AmexTravel.com but had not booked a hotel. Leveraging Amex’s first-party transaction and travel booking data, Marriott achieved results 3x higher than its target benchmark2.
- Amex Ads helped TUMI drive sales by reaching Card Members during and after booking travel using ads on AmexTravel.com and post-booking email from Amex Travel, with results that were 30% higher than TUMI’s target benchmark2.
- New American Airlines club lounge food Admirals Clubs in November, Flagship in December. We get Magnolia Bakery vanilla cupcakes in Austin, oddly a dozen cities get them but no New York clubs even though they’re a New York bakery. We also get Korean barbecue pork. As always, devil is in the execution but nice to see the food rotating!
- What Riyadh Air’s business class lounge will look like
- Amex is now an ad platform you’d think at $895 you’d be a customer, but you’re actually the product.
Gary wins on the EAS argument! It is ironic how we, in the USA, always ‘find the money’ when it affects the rich, but, I assure you, even without a shutdown, if those were ‘flights for the poor,’ they’d’ve already gotten rid of it long-ago (probably starting in the 1980s…) Socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for everyone else.
As to the ‘king,’ uh, yeah, maybe we should have ‘kings’ in the USA… 3 wives, or 15…
Oh, I meant, *should not* have kings… uh oh, too late! Guess, we’re a monarchy now…
Yep, that’s what a king does. Maybe the delusional leftists at the no kings rallies should take note. Btw, an actual king would not tolerate a no kings rally, you’d be dead or in jail. Everything these clowns do is performative.
It will be great when the time comes that these people realize they are truly living in a fantasy.
@Mantis — So, according to you, an American who left the country for Asia (a bastion of freedom…), advises ‘leftists’ to ‘take note’ and… not exercise their freedoms of assembly and speech?
*yawn*. You’re not very smart. I’m living abroad for a year. You can’t win a political argument based on my current location. Do you ever have anything substantive to say? You know, if you have nothing to say, it is ok to just sit a few out. Nobody will miss you.
Readers might mock Kimg Mswati but he is a man of strength and principles. He gas seen China bully Taiwan, expel it from the UN, and send attack aircraft towards Taiwan daily in mock attacks. In response, the King has the courage to have diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). The US and most countries are too scared to do so.
As far as EAS, Pueblo Colorado seems like an odd choice. It has a population of over 110,000 and has had mainline jet service before. Now it has EAS only service to DEN and that’s it. I wonder if it could support 2 daily CRJ700 flights to DFW?
@Mantis — I get it, it’s near bedtime over there. Yawning is healthy. Happy to assist you.
For when you wake up, recall you claimed that I bring no substance, which is false (I’m still against ‘kings’ as a form of government, as I think and hope you are, too, so, technically, we agree, no?).
More generally, as you can see above on the EAS topic, I regularly bring many ideas and ‘facts’ to my comments; it’s just that you happen to disagree with my positions sometimes, which is fine by me, and you can and should debate, if you wish; meanwhile, you are the only one engaged in ad hominems, personal attacks, and other logical fallacies, so far (calling me ‘not very smart’). Boohoo.
1990:
@Mantis — So, according to you, an American who left the country for Asia (a bastion of freedom…), advises ‘leftists’ to ‘take note’ and… not exercise their freedoms of assembly and speech?
What country is Asia? Not on my maps. 🙂
@Alan Z — That would be helpful.
For instance, living in countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Israel, even Vietnam, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc., would exercise more ‘freedoms’ than say, Russia, mainland China, North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, or many of the Stans.
Asia covers a lot. I recall the SNL ‘Jeopardy’ bit with Will Ferrell… ‘Name this continent… ASIA….’
Who knows, maybe Mantis will give us the truth, or he’ll just keep calling me silly names. I feel it’s a ‘win’ for me, either way. Some say, less is more; I’ve always felt, more is more. Feed me, Dr. Mantis Toboggan. Feed us all. The spicier the better!
Glad that AA is rotating food selection in the Admirals’ Clubs, because the stuff they had in the Club at ATL looked absolutely repulsive. That said, their breakfast sausage rotated the first of the month and this flavor is actually edible.