A meme on big Harvard donor Bill Ackman's Diversity/Equity/Inclusion irony (J. ExWilliams)

Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). You can find her writings and commentaries, including the meme ​"Harvard donor's DEI Nightmare on Wall Street," at landturn.com/blog.

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5.  "How you don't know what day of the week it is?"

Me: Early grade school. Got the impression that it was a big deal to forget the day; didn't know why it was though.

​I've since learned how to estimate the time of day when I don't have a watch, and determine at least 2 directions if I don't have a compass. Every once in a while, though, I still confuse a day of the week.

4.  "If you're out past midnight, you're looking for trouble."

It turns out that NEOM is one Saudi project for the "tourism and foreign direct investment I believed to be Riyadh's intention." At the time, I noted that the 2018 "reforms on women's liberties and the political shakedown on ruling family members" gave me the impression that the Crown Prince wanted to modernize the country's world image for the future of its economy.

​See "Why I think Saudi Arabia is modernizing itself right now" below.

In that regard, I can't imagine Dubai -- a renown lifestyle destination there on the Arabian Peninsula -- was not an inspiration for the concept of NEOM's built environment.

According to neom.com, it'll be, "The land of the future, where the greatest minds and best talents are empowered to embody pioneering ideas and exceed boundaries in a world inspired by imagination." And in April, BUSINESS INSIDER reported that the country's northwest enclave plans to have "glow-in-the-dark beaches, ski slopes, an artificial moon, robot butlers, and flying taxis." 

It reminds me of spectacles like the MGM Grand and the Sphinx and pyramid hotels that amused me during family trips to Vegas growing up. NEOM's vision statement above is well-stated though. Very well-stated.

Earlier this year, allAfrica [distributed] a report about Waterfall City in South Africa. I haven't looked much further into the planned city of "Connection, Commerce, Care, and Community," but it is, like its Saudi peer, a smart city. However, Waterfall City is a functioning locale with residents; national; and multinational tenants. NEOM seems much larger in scale and with some features of a resort. However, the project appears to be in its planning-and-marketing phase right now.

It's further evident that Saudi Arabia is active in diversifying its image and economy with its winning bid to host the WTA finals, 2024-2026. At $15.25 million, this year's prize will set a record for the women's sport.

A follow-up comment on "Why I think Saudi Arabia is modernizing itself right now" (J. ExWilliams)

Note: Slightly edited for adaptation to a standalone post.

Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). She once served as a representative of Saudi Arabia and Libya, respectively, for the Model U.N. You can find her editorials and perspectives, including "Saudi Arabia's smart city an example of my impression of its initial cultural reforms," at landturn.com/blog. 

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In February, I stayed off of social media for the entire month. Beforehand, I posted to Facebook that I would not "grant [it] and its partners access to my correspondence, intellectual property, and usage during Black History Month." 

It was my acknowledgement of Black History Month as a time to commemorate/highlight/recognize historic and historical achievements and accomplishments of Black people, especially in the United States and Canada. I didn't care to relinquish my social media activity to a Black digital aggregate for business-to-consumer purposes or otherwise.

In collaboration with The Markup, Consumer Reports revealed that each Facebook user who participated in its study had had, on average, 2000+ companies that shared his/her/their info with the social media clearinghouse -- I mean, company. My awareness of this mass collection of personal info is part of the reason I don't care to "download the app" or register a new online account for one-time or infrequent use (i.e. job or rental applications).

For example, I used to buy work clothes/shoes from Old Navy when it required an account for online purchases. It would annoy me that there was no guest checkout for my order, which I placed every once in a while. Eventually, I signed up for a dang account. Ultimately, I took my business elsewhere.

Similarly, credit cards and digital payments have dozens or more data points with which to sell, share, track, and target consumers for ads/offers/promos/disclosure/surveillance and so forth.

The PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is, for example, wonderful for the industry of digital payments. I believe its best practices garner consumer trust within and across national borders for companies that facilitate Web payments. But the strength of PCI DSS is the digital data security in a payment's life cycle (e.g., storage or destruction). Very broadly, it includes but is not limited to:

• Payment information (i.e. credit card number)
• Manner of transmission of that payment (encryption)
• Info that specifies the personage of the payer or cardholder (PII)

​I believe a federal data privacy law and FTC regulation would protect digital consumers in the United States. It would restrict the sale of consumer info from payments, invoices, bills, etc. and the misuse of consumer info shared between entities and commercial partners.

Request that Congress keep up with the 21st Century. Enact FEDERAL legislation to protect our data privacy. Sign the petition from Consumer Reports.

A response to the email "Protect My Privacy! Ask Congress to Pass a Strong Privacy Law" (Consumer Reports)

Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). You can find her editorials, including "Data privacy law would upgrade Congress to the 21st Century," at landturn.com/blog.

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