Category Archives: Finance

March 14, 2022 · 21:41

Two issues connected

It is easy to see the connection, but at that point one wonders whether the real connections are made. The first article is ‘White House faces oil standoff with Saudi Arabia and UAE as prices soar’, the article (at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/13/white-house-us-joe-biden-oil-output-prices-saudi-arabia-uae) gives us “Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, are yet to agree to a phone call with the west’s most powerful man”, my takeaway is the question whether the ‘west’s most powerful man’ is actually that. We also get “Each capital is a major supplier of oil, with excess capacity, which would soften the effect on US consumers through fuel prices before midterm elections in November that threaten Democratic control of Congress” and this is enough for article one. We see a few issues, the oil pries are still soaring and so far that so called most powerful man has not really achieved anything, has he? 

In the second article called ‘Iran suspends talks with Saudi, slams Riyadh’s executions’ (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-suspends-talks-with-saudi-arabia-nour-news-2022-03-13/), which is kinda hilarious, especially as Iran had 299 documented executions in 2021. Yet the story also gives us ““Iran has unilaterally suspended talks with Saudi Arabia,” Nor News said, without providing a reason. It said no specific date had been scheduled for a new round of talks”, not unexpected, but that is the effect of diplomacy with a toddler like Iran. You see I think there is more to it. I think Russia is trying to put the pressure on the west, the US is the weakest with its ‘nuclear deal’ ego. And as Iran suspends talks they continue to enrich uranium. Delay after delay until it is too late. 

Am I correct?
To be honest, I am not certain, I could very well be wrong. But consider Russia entanglement in the middle east and especially with Iran, it wants to play tits for dad (oops) by withholding the milk (oil) and this play seems to be actually working out. President Biden did this in part to himself. And now the larger stage is pushed into directions it should not have been going in. Yemeni’s and Syrians feel more and more betrayed by the west, and honestly, I cannot blame them for that. 

My issue is that Russia is playing a way too dangerous game, as they are now part of the delays, Iran might finish what it wants and when that goes the wrong way and Israel gets its first nuclear detonation, the bars are sealed. The USA must prove its word or be seen as flaccid and irrelevant on the political stage. And their play (as I mentioned in previous articles) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was badly managed and even worse constructed and now that the US is desperate for cheaper oil they will feel the sting of biting the hand that was feeding them. It was bad already and now there is every indication that Russia is making matters worse via Iran. 

Russia is the connection. It is souring the Nuclear deal, and it has a handle on the Middle East to some degree, how much I cannot tell, but some who can are not talking (for obvious reasons) and that sets the sliding scales for the US who is now on a worsening scale economically. Even as some state that oil prices are going down, I personally feel that it is temporary. It is nowhere near the old price and there are chances that it will go back to $123.70 (March 8th) and optionally higher than that. President Biden could influence it positively, but if he does not succeed then the first sign of failure is shown and the Russians want that because for them the Republicans are easier to deal with (allegedly). For President Biden it all hangs here, He is down in the senate, but if he loses even one more seat the senate will be overwhelmingly republican and that COULD happen. He has a majority in the house, but only by 11 seats and there is no guarantee that he can hold onto them. When the house is lost as well, the Democratic Party will find obstacle after obstacle and that is what they signed on for. 

The failures in the middle east, especially Iran will haunt this administration for a long time to come. And the oil prices? Well that is still up n the air, but there are indications that this will not go their way either, it is wholly due to the way they dealt with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

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March 10, 2022 · 13:18

The next Furlong

Yes, that happens. We all look at races, we all enter horse racing (not betting I mean) and then we look as the wrecks stack up. This story goes back to 2019, I am certain I made mention before then. It was ‘The seventh guest’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/06/21/the-seventh-guest/) when I wrote “I would like to discuss the purchase of 20-30 Chengdu J-20 fighters. In light of both a first order discount, as well as a student discount (we are all students on the path of life), I believe that should the talks be successful, that 20-30 planes at a unit cost of $27.35 million (with rebates, discounts and commission applied), in addition the 2 years of full service with no regards to hours flown, mileage traveled or missiles fired. This is based on 2016 flyaway cost. The benefit is that these fighters will be directly engaging Iranian forces and as such you will have access to a massive amount of data enabling you to start on the 6th generation fighter, optionally making you the first country to have one. We would also be interested in the testing of the Xian H-20 prototype that is now nearing completion. If the specs are as they are claiming to be, it will help us in removing morale from Tehran and from the IRGC as a whole. In this the unofficial word is that the sky is the limit as regarding to the price of this place (my 2.17% commission still applies). My client is ready to upgrade several army based parts (both light and heavy guns), however I hope that this part can be tabled until Iran decides to attack directly, at which point Saudi Arabian boots on Iranian ground becomes a direct first”, and certain people laughed, the laughed loud and pointed at me. It would never come this far. And now we see (at https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202203/1254377.shtml) ’FC-31 stealth fighter spearheads display of cutting-edge Chinese equipment at Saudi Arabia’s 1st World Defense Show’, there we see “The Chinese arms industry brought a wide selection of cutting-edge weapons and equipment, including the FC-31 stealth fighter jet, to the ongoing first edition of Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show in Riyadh. China can provide finished advanced gear and also transfer technology that enables domestic development and production, analysts said on Tuesday.” And although I lose out on a commission of 3.75% (my life sucks), the stage I saw coming in 2019 is now becoming a harsh reality for the US and the EU. Not laughing now, are they? And it is not even the worst of the setting either. That is seen when we add ‘Saudi Arabia and UAE leaders ‘decline calls with Biden’ amid fears of oil price spike’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/09/saudi-arabia-and-uae-leaders-decline-calls-with-biden-amid-fears-of-oil-price-spike) the other part I discussed a few times over is coming to fruition (for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), the entire US pariah setting on lack of EVIDENCE is a bed they themselves made. You can call the consumer names again and again, but realise that this person can shop somewhere else and can not deliver to you, ask any supermarket, ask any grocer, butcher or baker. And now these stations are coming out, China is sitting on the sidelines laughing loudly. And the entire issue in the EU is not helping any. All setting I saw YEARS ago and now it is out on the 20 yard line the US is trying to set some premise to avoid the setting that was clear in the open. So when we now see the US playing courtesan to whomever will supply cheap oil, what was the direct label for such a person? It was clear as day and I illuminated that danger years ago and the blog is ‘evidence’ that I did so. A station that could have been clearly avoided from the start and that I perhaps the biggest failure of all. If I can see it and I am not the most clever person around (around two IQ points below Alan Turing) so why did THEY not see this coming? The lack of long term vision is staggering and the need for “also transfer technology that enables domestic development and production” implies that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud implies that he is now on track with the promise towards 50% in house manufacturing via SAMI (Saudi Arabian Military Industries), so the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gets even with the people playing with them, these players are massively losing out on revenue (me on commission, darn) and these players are now in a much worse position all whilst China becomes the top dog yielding the bone the EU and US are basically fighting over. 

As such we now see how much a failure (for the US especially) Davos in the desert 2019 was. So whilst some state it was a ‘shameless return of business and government leaders to Saudi Arabia’, we can now clearly see that it is about to become a massive trove of revenue that could pass the US and EU by on a few levels and they did this themselves. It was not unforeseen and as such I wonder what the next stupid act we see coming from the US and EU? Contemplating larger concession towards Venezuela and Iran? I cannot speak on the Venezuelan side, I know too little, but the concessions towards Iran will upset both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Israel even more. And both could optionally sour the milk for both the EU and US for any 5G they hope to set in Egypt. Another place of revenue loss, was that not clear to these people?

As such I wonder how the next furlong will play out, because in the end the US and the EU are in a series of horse races. One race is defence spending, another is telecom spending and then there are still the infrastructure and manufacturing races on the schedule. All now with both the US and EU degraded to second or even third choice, because whatever you think the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needs to do, it needs to do what is best for the kingdom and that leaves Russia as a contender (for now). Several races with less than optimal choices and it could have been avoided to a much larger degree. Do not take my word, investigate and form your own opinion, but as I see it it soon becomes another stage where I get to say ‘Told you so!’

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March 10, 2022 · 03:48

Direction of my tech

Yup, that was what I was contemplating. But only for a little while. I reckon that my 5G IP is pretty complete for a first version. There are more sides to contemplate, but it becomes to much like speculating where others might want to go. Or as some would go with (Microsoft) Contemplating where we want consumers to go next. I do not think that is the best path to take. I have several roads mapped, yet I suddenly remembered Tim Minchin, he said something to the effects of (altered for my case here) “If you chase orgasms, you’ll never get one, if you aspire to give other people orgasms you might get a dose of pleasure in the process” It actually applies to tech too. If you hunt on the statements on what people are supposed to need, you will miss the mark too often. If you give the consumer what they will need you could benefit too. So my IP was set to the consumer, to the retailer and to increase their safety. Weirdly enough as I was doing that, I came up with a few ADDITIONAL sides that the IP could deliver giving the people what they might (and might is important) need. In that process I opened a larger revenue stream on a bigger foundation. Yes, it requires Google to add functionality, but there is every indication that they will go there. That indication is set to two foundations. The first is that they need to stay ahead of Apple and others, and giving that advantage allows for this. They also need to set a larger conditional stream, based on a new metric. You see, for now we see cpc (cost per click), cpm (cost per thousand impressions) and a few more. I believe that 2022/2023 will proved that they need to add cpl (cost per location) a niche and targeted view that more likely applies to real estate and local business, but it sets a targeted revenue stream for walk videos, location videos and there are thousands of videos. GoPro alone has 10 million followers, I have not seen clear metrics on walkabout videos, but they are there in the tens of thousands and when you link that to Google Maps that market starts getting interesting. One walk on 5th venue video has 487,957 views. Consider how many real estate people would be interested if they can grab that cpl? And it is global. New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Paris, London, Munich, Amsterdam, Stockholm. Villages in Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria that need is already visibly increasing. The moment we have a connected Hybrid view with Meta that need will pretty much explode and it works for Google to have this, there are thousands of walk video makers, allowing them to flourish will enable more revenue (and Google was never sad about more revenue). For this consider the realtor Sotheby’s International Realty (London), when that option arrives, do you think it walks away from 736,891 views in just a few days? And yes, there will be more views in larger cities with tourist appeal, but when you search for a house or apartment in any place, who does not check out what YouTube has to offer? When these parts became clear to me, I adjusted the 5G IP I had, I added for a Hybrid functionality because that is where we all want to go. Even now, even as too many have NO CLUE what Facebook (now Meta) is up to, I already see that coming. And those with a gaming PC (especially with a second graphics card) will be ready in 2023/2024 when that is offered. I foresaw the need, I considered that addition and as I saw that there were more options, more choices to allow for and basically adhering to the consumer needs got me there. I come from the IT services branch, not the sales branch, so I hear what people needed, I converted to fill that need, not tell them that there is an alternative with some lame ‘What if’ statement. I reckon that 2024 will be the year when salespeople will finally put that sales tactic to bed. They want what is at point A, so you get them there. I found a method to allow industry 7,8,11,17, and 21 to enjoy what point A offers as well. Yes, I did not offer this to industry 1 through to 23 because that was not the goal and all those sales people telling me to do that, I say ‘Why?’ There is a group of consumers that have a need, that need is satisfied and offering 5 other groups to offer what they might need is nice if they are there. But the rest? What rest? They are seemingly somewhere else. Stop catering to ‘wannabe’s’ and ‘what if’ people. 

Two distinct systems with the grasp of several and a third system is starting to take shape. The two systems will have access and enable all kinds of software solutions and there I found a few options, but some of the changes seem pointless until Meta truly launches, when it does I will see all the wannabe’s running scared and running in panic not to lose the revenue. Like a wall of water coming at them and they are holding a one litre beaker. Not to stop the wave, but to fill their beaker for themselves. Some will fill it, some will not and then they look at the second ave coming, all whilst funnel giving the consumers and retailers a long term revenue though the application of a mobile pipeline. Not a pipeline ON mobiles, but a pipeline that is mobile and Hybrid will stamp that need out pretty quickly. I was fortunate enough that my need can satisfy that side in addition of what it was already doing. So whilst I believe that 2024 will be ruled by Meta, Google and Amazon, they will not be alone. I believe in that new setting Adobe will be uniquely placed to set new standards and what was a $13,000,000,000 annual revenue company could double, optionally even triple. All options that Microsoft let fly by, they relied on hype and spin and in the new setting that will not fly. It is like watching IT in 1998, all trying to sell concepts. In a time when Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta and Adobe have proven themselves, we need not wait for some roadmap of a concept product. The people have had enough of that and they are looking for alternatives. That is why I believe that Adobe will make larger waves and as a graphics company they do have the Rolls Royce solutions out there, so they do have the edge. 

It does not matter whether I am right or wrong, do you (consumer/retailer) have what you need to get the job done? Are you ready for 2023? You need to start thinking there. Most people and businesses do not have the money to buy in January 2023 what is required. And you need to think longer term, you need to think that what you buy in 2023 needs to be good to last you to December 2025. I countered that in the past by not buying the latest, but by buying one model older. It was often 40% cheaper, merely 10% slower and would last me 2-3 years. That is the stage you need to think of now. Because when Meta is introduced it will impact people and businesses. It will not end for the ‘old’ Facebook, but the shift will start, so make sure you have what you need. This is not merely for high end places, for expensive stuff. Simple pharmacies, book shops, cafe’s. For them the market will alter as well, they need to see where they are and how far they can go at present. They could wait and lose the market of course, but that is up to them. As for the direction of my tech? It is out in the open, because I tried to adhere to what the people needed and what they are most likely to need. But in the end (Q4 2022) I might have to offer alterations and additions to more closely adhere to their needs and I can, because national 5G will not be ready in many places, which works in my favour as well (yay me). 

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March 9, 2022 · 17:08

Microsoft, for cold laundry

Yes, there is a need to go there. You see there is the setting that we kick Microsoft as a civic duty, but how long do you need to kick them for it to be regarded as for personal pleasure? Yes, that is the question and it is more to the point than you think it is. Two days ago I wrote ‘What we hope for’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/03/07/what-we-hope-for/) there I gave the setting that Microsoft is in more trouble than we think they are. They are losing the gaming niche, the ‘tablet’ niche, the cloud niche, the SaaS niche and optionally the office niche as well. That is a lot of terrain to lose. I also stated there ““Microsoft is in talks to acquire cybersecurity research and incident response company Mandiant, according to people familiar with the discussions, a deal that would bolster efforts to protect customers from hacks and breaches”, you see, it is not merely “bolster efforts to protect customers”, it is about preventing and protecting the customers you have and as we are seeing several Microsoft issues”, a few hours ago I learned that they do not even have that. ArabNews gives us ‘Google buys Mandiant for $5.4 billion’, the article (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2038611/business-economy) “Google is fortifying its cloud services with a $5.4 billion acquisition of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, the companies announced Tuesday”, as such the clouds around Microsoft seem increasingly less secure soon enough. Microsoft will find someone (I think) and they need to find someone and set the stage to a stronger Microsoft. Yet as I see it they lose gaming to Amazon (I was happy to help Amazon do that), their Surface thingamajig will lose to the Apple iPad more and more, and the Mac Air book takes what is left and the cloud is increasingly less and less secure, as such they are losing market share to all the other cloud providers. The SaaS niche is different, it relies on the cloud, lose one and you tend to lose the other as well to some degree. So now the last straw for Microsoft is their good old Office backbone. It is firm (for now) but the cyber issues will affect their mail system and it already has had a few issues. But the big push could come from a very different angle. Adobe will be the largest player in several ways. There is additional consideration that when business aligns for Meta, Adobe will get a fair share of that business and should they push for the an ‘office setting’ they could clearly clean house. The last setting is pure speculation. There is no educated guess in play. They need their version of Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Mail versions to impact Microsoft even larger, but that is not outside of their abilities to do so and moreover, as Meta will go in 2024 Adobe will feel forced to go there. If only to cater to the millions of GoPro users who will see new business ventures in a Hybrid setting of the Web, Web3.0 and Meta. I think that Google lacks more elements than Adobe does so Adobe is in a good place. No matter how we think it will go, I feel more and more certain that Microsoft is about to lose a hell of a lot more than they bargained for. I wonder if they ever saw that part coming as they increasingly believed the spin they put out there as well. Consider their 2018 setting: ‘The most powerful console in the world’, it was surpassed by the weakest (Nintendo Switch), it will optionally also be surpassed by the Amazon Luna (if I get it my way, ha ha ha). At that point, what did $68.7 billion get them (as well as the $7.5 billion for Bethesda)? Seventy five billion to end up in 4th position in gaming? Google buying what they need for Cyber security? One could argue that soon the buzzards will circle Microsoft, but that might be a little too negative. 

I saw Microsoft grow from nothing to the behemoth that decided what we wanted. Now it is turning out that too many are eager to find someone else, in too many IT fields. There will be Microsoft lovers out there, eager to state that I am wrong. I could be, I freely admit it, but when you put the facts together, when you collect the information out there and the weaknesses that they show gives a larger rise to my version (which has speculative sides) and the largest setting is the one we do not have. What will Adobe do in 2023/2024. It will impact several players a lot.

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March 9, 2022 · 11:40

OK, this is new.

I got another IP idea, but it is not for me. Well, it is for me, but it is not in a direction that I am set to, so I put it here so that someone can get rich on that part of the equation. The idea came from super cold ankles and the larger stage we see now in Europe with heating prices that go through the roof. The setting started with an idea that grew and grew. 

So in the first part I was thinking of warm socks (see image), the top of the sock is loose and slightly thicker. So that we keep our ankles warm. The socks have plastic elements. In the tip a soft-bar, behind the heel two knobs, these socks connect to the sole, slide the bar in the sole and press the knobs to the heel. These elements are the stage to keep the soles stuck to the sock. We need to wash the socks every now and then. We could go for some velcro bottom of the sock that connects to the sole of the shoe, but I think it would damage the sock more and quicker as well. There is the thought to create. Sneaker that has the same materials a normal sneakers, but they are thinner and softer to be more representative of socks. Both are options, yet I believe that the energy prices will amount to so much more over the next 16-23 months that people will go for such a solution to keep their feet warm than anything else. If I am correct it will be a market with millions of consumers. I went to four shoe stores today, but no one has anything like that and they had not heard of anything like that either. 

So I have to admit that this is new, I never think in these directions and there might be a solution out there. But in one shopping mall that services well over 37,000 not one store had the item, or knowledge of the item. Oh, and there were three large (Wall-mart sided) shops as well, so I have to wonder if there is anything out there in that direction. So I am putting it here in case there is a serious Al Bundy out there with the need to create something a lot of people will need soon enough. You see in some places heating oil is up 70%-90% and that is just the US, the prices in the EU are going through the roof and other places are not out of the woods either, so I see a multi million consumer market. So was I the first to see it?

I honestly cannot tell, but I am putting it out here for people considering their own IP. So good luck and good hunting. 

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March 9, 2022 · 03:24

It’s not the car

Yes, the car is not in play, well not directly anyway. It all started with yesterday’s article. After I wrote ‘Opensource GEOINT’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/03/08/opensource-geoint/) I started to brood on a few items. And as I brooded on a few more connections I realised that my 5G IP will double in value before 2025, that is a lot! It is a lot in any setting, no matter the innovation you bring, there is a certain value, a certain base that sets the value and beyond the base it can grow, no one denies it, but these are not the 90’s. To get into a NEW field is pretty unheard of, but to connect to it not that much, so the doubling worried me a little. You see, when any person sees a doubling of value (upping by 100%) that person tends to be delusional, anyone will agree to that, so I started to dig around and I was contemplating issues for a lot of today (whilst watching Christian Bale as the Batman) then something came to me. You see I suddenly realised that this is not about Covid, wars or anything else. When the rest of the world wakes up (at some point they will) their Business Intelligence side will want to connect, want to set markers. In the first it is too ‘correlate’ the old marketing to the new setting. It will not work, yet they will try anyway. It is then that some of the hardware people will consider Hybrid technology, first 1.0, but it is Hybrid 2.0 and Hybrid 3.0 that matters. You see, the people, businesses and wannabe entrepreneurs want the connection between Hybrid and real life on one system and there is where we will see the interactions and the exploding Hybrid technologies in play. For me that will work great. My IP was never designed for that, but can evolve to this in simple ways. Hence the doubling and when you sell something that can occupy BOTH spaces the hardware will sell itself a lot easier. Even now I am seeing the evolution go further, go beyond what I initially imagined and now it becomes more than I envisioned. When sold I leave a historic legacy for whomever comes next, for whomever is willing to dream the next stage of innovation, a place business minded iterator can no longer go. I reckon that by 2026 others will want to get into that field but for now I have a 4 year advantage. I reckon that is symmetry. You see in a previous working life. I gave my bosses the idea to set up a a system where people will get free websites, and marketing will be at the axial informing them all. You will state that this is Facebook, but I gave the idea to them in 1997, 4 years BEFORE Facebook. Now I get to do it again in a different way and those bosses will never be trusted again. They can read up on THEIR mission statement, I actually feel vindicated now, never imagined that this would happen and when the IP is sold (hopefully to Google or Amazon) I can relax and enjoy my early retirement in a comfortable place. 

In the mean time I will consider what else I can do to add to the IP I have now and contemplate what the Hybrid could bring me, where people (at present) are not looking yet. It is the simple difference between a business intelligence person limited to an Excel view of life and the dreamer who sees the paintings and wonders how the colours were applied and then realises that another brush could do the trick, a small wink at ‘After a fact to begin a fact’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/12/16/after-a-fact-to-begin-a-fact/) where I came up with a new paint spray solution (OK, to be honest it was for military reasons) and I am not a painter. How many paint sprays could be sold in that manner? How many painters does the world have, how many could use a new brush to improve or even alter their styles? The excel person will state that the group is not big enough. I merely state it was a beginning. When Meta takes off it will grab billions and my IP will merely grow internationally and I get my royalties (hopefully) when things work out, but twice in a row I got there 4 years early, not the worst headline to live with. And still, it is not about the car, I never really needed one.

 

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March 6, 2022 · 22:11

The bad track

I am optionally on the wrong track, yet it is not an accident, it is an intentional choice I make. You see, we see too many ‘populist’ settings going on and I am starting to wonder if we are on the wrong track. Now, most of us are clear. The war in the Ukraine is wrong, Russia started this and there needs to be repercussions. Some have taken to confiscate whatever they could that is owned by Russian Oligarchs (weirdly enough I see almost no residence confiscations in London). Yachts and all other possessions are available. I have mixed feelings. Those with clear support to the Russian government and what is happening now is clear. The rest makes me wonder and for some reason the AP article ‘Fleeing sanctions, oligarchs seek safe ports for superyachts’ (at https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-boris-johnson-europe-united-states-10a82777a3b4a6ccafc38c223b659a03) something woke up. It was the quote ““We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets,” President Joe Biden said during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, addressing the oligarchs. “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”” So, please explain to me (with evidence) those ‘ill-begotten gains’? It is a serious question. In this specific case we see Alisher Usmanov a metals magnate and early investor in Facebook. So how much did Facebook make him? Is that ill-begotten? There are two trains of thoughts. The first is that we see a new McCarthy mindset starting, which is their choice, but let’s be honest about it. The second track is that the US is so bankrupt that it is now in a stage to confiscate whatever it can to survive. I am not siding with Alisher Usmanov. And if he has done wrong, fine. But in that case this article was a piss poor job and then some. He was also one of the initial people connected to Mail.ru, so he seems to be a smart cookie who got involved with IT projects when it had the greatest impact, nothing ill begotten, merely good timing. Now, this does not mean that I am right, or that they are wrong. There is too much that I do not know. But this comes across as a legalised form of ‘Tax the rich’ which is now transformed into ‘confiscate whatever the rich has’ a democrat party BS approach. So what will happen when it is suddenly the wealth of Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, Sergei Brin, Larry  Page, Tim. Cook and Jeff Bezos dealing with the bills the American government cannot deal with because they refused to clean house for over two decades? 

The AP does give us at the end “But actually seizing the behemoth boats could prove challenging. Russian billionaires have had decades to shield their money and assets in the West from governments that might try to tax or seize them”, which is fair enough. I am still in the mindset that SOME oligarchs should pay, not sure if all should, but I do admit I really do not know any of them and the media cannot be trusted, they are all on the populist track. OK, not all, but way to many of them are. We can consider that Roman Abramovich was either good or bad, I do not know. Too be honest, I never cared for football (read: soccer) so I am a little out of touch there. But as far as I can tell, everything Roman Abramovich did was to ensure the stage of Chelsea and it’s continuation. We can boast that giving the sale of Chelsea to Ukraine is a political push (the man is a politician after all) and a few other sides as well, and there perhaps his deception worked. Because I personally believe that the man is a soccer nut trying to preserve Chelsea. Does that make him evil? I personally do not think so. I also understand that some policies will hurt the good and the bad, but there is an increased feeling that the US is doing it for other reasons and as the media have no given us a really good stage of where all these funds go, we should wonder what is going on. 

I am not stating that what is done is wrong, but I am wondering why certain things were done and WHERE these funds are going to. Is that wrong? So I might be on the wrong track, but it is mainly because no one is properly illuminating the right track and the media are all about ‘the quote’ but are less about the clear explanation. I merely looked at two people, the US has a list of 96 oligarchs. I reckon there are clearly a few super pro-Putin people there, and we get it, it will rain on the good and the bad alike, but it seems that the media has a lot to make up for, especially when it comes to properly informing us, because that lack set me on the track I am on now.

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March 5, 2022 · 05:46

Where are we heading?

That is the stage we comment on and most comment on events in Europe, most would and that is not bad. But something happened in Lebanon that got my attention (something is always happening there). You see, many might have noticed ‘UAE set to be put on money laundering watchdog’s ‘grey list,’ report says’ (source: CNBC), we are given quotes like “The Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to combatting money laundering and illicit cash flows, is set to put the United Arab Emirates on its “grey list” over concerns that the Gulf country isn’t sufficiently stemming illegal financial activities”, now I am not debating it, it might be true, it might not. I cannot lay claims to events I have no data on. But whilst we see that, Reuters also gives us (at https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/lebanese-bank-closes-over-30-british-held-accounts-after-uk-ruling-depositors-2022-03-04/) ‘Lebanese bank closes over 30 British-held accounts after UK ruling-depositors’ group’. There we see “A Bank Audi official told Reuters the bank was “asking that the UK residents apply the terms applicable to anyone opening a new account: no international transfers, no cash withdrawals””, so just to help me out. You create a bank account and you are not allowed to withdraw cash? How does that make the bank a bank? And we also get “More than $100 billion remains stuck in a banking system paralysed since 2019, when the economy collapsed due to decades of unsustainable state spending, corruption and waste”, as such my question becomes what on earth is the Financial Action Task Force doing monitoring banks? First Credit Suisse, through state sponsored hacking and now we see Bank Audi. Two elements showing a massive cash stage running into the hundreds of billions. So what the hell is the Financial Action Task Force doing? Why are they not investigating banks? We see the mention of Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the mention of nations, not banks. Banks are seemingly flying below the radar and we see an alleged flaccid response from action groups. Oh and it would be nice to see specifics. Not some journo’s BS approach towards emotional garbage. I discussed this in ‘The presumption is mine’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/02/21/the-presumption-is-mine/) where I wrote “so all that space on what amounts to 0.03% of the entire amount. Just like the ICIJ, shortsighted and a waste of time. So we get repeated invitations to explain 0.03% of what is such a massive leak? Is anyone waking up yet?”, now if the FATF did its job and also gives us why the UAE needs to be on a grey list and NOT the bank it becomes a different story, optionally an acceptable one. That same setting applies to Switzerland, home to 242 banks and Credit Suisse. Oh, and before I forget the data leak never explained (it never will) why such harsh methods needs to be applied to the other 242 banks. No one ever asked that question, not other authorities, not the wannabe journalists either. Is that not weird too?

We need to see where we are going and what games certain parties are playing. I saw the Credit Suisse for nothing but a simple fishing expedition. A chumming exercise by the NSA (most likely culprit) to get some of the fish out there. And no one saw that? I am clever, but I am not that clever (compared to self proclaimed clever people), which (as I personally see it) implies orchestration. 

Am I right, am I wrong? I also ask that question from myself. The Switzerland setting alerted me to weirdness of it all, the UAE draws the setting to the surface. The UAE and its 20 local and 30 foreign banks. Yes that is also the case, so the FATF better come with a very good and very large folder with evidence on a whole range of banks. And before you think the UAE does nothing, we saw a week ago “The government confiscated assets worth $625m last year.” As such I hope that the FATF can prove its setting of “concerns that the Gulf country isn’t sufficiently stemming illegal financial activities” it seems that the UAE has proven activities, so is the FATF merely blowing its own horn? Perhaps it needs to look into the Audi bank and a few other banks too and several of them are not in Switzerland or the UAE. When we see quotes like “About $227.8 million money laundering in USA in 2020 according to our calculation that based 2020 Money Laundering Offense Report”, so how much did the US confiscate? Just asking.

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March 4, 2022 · 18:50

Time to press subtotal

Yes, that is what one article brought out in me. The need for a tally, the need to check what the subtotal is about at present. The article that did this was (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-crown-prince-plays-oil-card-quest-us-recognition-2022-03-03/) ‘Saudi crown prince plays the oil card in quest for U.S. recognition’. We might think that this is a simple list, but it is not. There is a much larger play in motion and it is time to call out the jesters of the game, when we play bridge they are not allowed to play anyway.

  1. ‘U.S. wants action from suppliers to tame oil prices’. My first response would be, how can you be this fucking stupid? Prices come from demand, or at least that is one side of it. Others do not need to open the valve because you need more. You have had DECADES to do something and you did nothing, now that your credit card is about to be cancelled, you can throw a tantrum, but you YOU did this to yourself. Perhaps you remember the COP26, the call to do something about fossil fuels. At present “United States deforestation has caused the destruction of virgin forests by 75% percent since 1600”, so how much forests were grown or started to grow since COP26? How much stoppage was achieved to fossil fuels? We know it takes time, but it is not up to the US to set pricing, you do not set pricing of something you are a mere consumer of. We all have these issues and yet, you let pharmaceuticals set the price, you set consumerism to price X plus Y% annual whilst it should be cheaper over time. All settings for consumerism all whilst you want cheap oil? That does not add up.
  2. ‘OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia has spare oil capacity’, yes that is true, but is there a law where they HAVE to increase production? You seem to forget that fossil fuels are finite, when it is gone, it s gone forever and consumption is going through the roof since 1950. 
  3. ‘Saudi wants more U.S. support in Yemen war’ yes that is the interesting part is it not? The west remains driven to not report on Iranian actions and that is now starting to hurt. Saudi Arabia has the oil card and that is now cause for exchange for services. The US will have to pay one way or another way. Perhaps the US needs a reminder from November 2021. ‘U.S. senators move to block $650 mln arms sale to Saudi Arabia’ which was their right, but when you sit at the fuel pump paying $3.5 per gallon more, be sure to thank the senators Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee for the extra price. Also the US treasure cannot tax on revenue missed, so that $650,000,000 had more than one side. In addition, the overall slashing of $3,900,000,000 (and more) could come at a much higher price. So the National People’s Congress, as such the tenants of Renda Huitang West Road gracefully thank the United States for handing them this forthcoming revenue.

We can call it anyway we would like, but we are dependent of a substance only few have and for decades many voices have been screaming to lessen the dependability on fossil fuel. Inactions and overspending has now set the stage that we see here. And it is “ended U.S. support for offensive operations in Riyadh’s costly war against Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen” where we see the larger folly. We are given “Iran-aligned Houthis” all whilst Iran has had a much larger active role for 3-5 years. Perhaps the Abqaiq–Khurais attack of 14 September 2019, the basic stage of Houthis being unable to attack Aramco that precise needs to be revisited. In addition the failures we saw in 2 subsequent years could be seen as evidence that Houthi forces could not have completed that attack. 

There is a lot set in this stage and the US is now seeing the impact of choices made. And even as the media keeps on pushing on “implicating Prince Mohammed in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi”, a report that I read and it refers to ‘highly likely’ which does not constitute evidence, in addition to this the acts of the Iranian puppet (Turkey) gives us more questions and in three years I have seen over a dozen media step over the one forensic fact that the report hides by not reporting on it. No one has tested the FULL tape forensically to test whether the voice was indeed Jamal Khashoggi. There was never a proper test. Not by the CIA, not by the NSA and not by the United Nations. You thought I overlooked that, but I did not and a such I have known all these years that the report was a farce, it was a work of fiction by drowning it in loosely related facts. Just like that book ‘Blood and Oil’, and now that the other side comes up, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sees no reason to offer a helping hand. Now I can understand “Biden has refused to speak to Prince Mohammed directly, saying 86-year-old King Salman is his counterpart” technically this is true, but it also shows that the Biden Administration has not made one step towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as such, why should that very same kingdom make a step towards a nation that has nothing left to spend? Because that is what Americans always stated in boardrooms all over the world “Money talks, bullshit walks”, as such the US now sees the ‘keep on walking’ signs in more and more places and after too many pushed stages they see that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is telling them the same, the people need cheap oil and none is coming. Well President Biden could always ask President Putin for a helping hand, but I do not think that this will happen. So as the United States can supply itself the 79% of oil needed. It has two options, make sure that the American economy lowers usage by one fifth, or find another solution (like pay more) for oil. The other options were tailored to be non options by (what I personally see) as short sighted and stupid ways to ‘create’ option after option and now that that list is empty the US is in a bad place, it played itself right there.

In this I really like the analyses that James Dorsey, senior fellow at National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute gives us “Saudi Arabia … has sought not to be seen acting against Russian interests. In doing so, the kingdom could kill two birds with one stone: keep the door open to Moscow and give President Joe Biden some payback for his refusal to engage with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” yes, that sounds about right, but it is more than that. It is my personal view that more is needed for Neom 2030 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not want to be dependent on one additional player, US tactics made that clear. I reckon that Saudi Arabia wants a larger commitment by China to get involved. Huawei gave them a true 5G network, but it will not be enough for Neom, there are a few sides that are needed and China could offer it, lowering US investment and options even more and I reckon that Chinese congress is willing for two reasons. In the first income is good, in the second it puts UN options in the Middle East over a barrel, a new setting that the US is not ready for. By the way that is not necessarily an oil barrel, a barrel of sand (or grain) will do just as nicely. You see, some still believe in the stage of President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 maxim: “You’re either with us or against us.” It was a fair setting then, with a debt of $30,000,000,000,000 that setting is fading, more quickly as the US decided to play a few games that did not sit well with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or as some might say “You made your bed, now lie in it and try to get sleep”, a setting the US is not ready for. Yet in the overall play and with the Ukrainian tensions we see the sounds from Syria and Yemen come wondering why they NEVER got those considerations and that sets the statement “You’re either with us or against us” on a shifty foundation, so it is not strange that more and more people will call for that bluff only for them to learn that the US has very little options to move left.

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March 3, 2022 · 02:49

Coming from simpler times

I have been thinking of the simple time, the past, the adherence to simplicity that is within all of us. It is the time before the Romans (original Italians). It was the Greek setting of life. We worked for the glory of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. I reckon I would work for the glory of Hades, not because the others were not worthy, it would be that Hades seemed more real than the others. We are all confronted with our mortality, as such we would move towards the realm for Hades and it would be up to him if I serve him in the afterlife, or if I was destined for another place. And I would not be alone, 5000-3000 years ago many would be like me. If it was the greens versus the blues, I reckon I would be a blue. But overall the setting would be similar. Now we move to recently (1941), if any non-German would openly side with Adolf Hitler, if anyone would opt to not vote actions against Adolf Hitler, the populous (populism) would find that person and string him up  at the nearest tree. There are at times actions that are completely unacceptable and the Russians did that by cluster bombing CIVILIAN targets. And still they are malnourished, their equipment breaks down at the earliest notion and I see all levels of inactions. Just like Syria, just like Yemen and other places. Inaction for a reason that makes no sense. As such can anyone explain this list?

This is not right versus wrong, this is not communism versus the other side, this is acceptable versus unacceptable and the Russian actions have been unacceptable. People will state that I was in favour of Putin, I never stated this, I never was. Read the articles. I thought it was a stupid move to push politics into sports, sports and politics need to remain separated, it always does for all kinds of reasons, but in the first to stop sports to become the stepping stone for politics. I always oppose stupidity and the west has shown to adhere to greed over common sense (aka greed driven stupidity) too often. Consider the stage (as I see it), a nation (Ukraine) elects an entertainer (a clown) as the president of the Ukraine. We see the people laugh, giggle and I giggled too. I had nothing against the man, he was democratically elected and I am fine with that. In the time he put his positive marker on the Ukraine. I took little notice because the Ukraine is on the other side of the planet and I personally do not know too many people from there.
I am familiar with Alexei Ponikarovsky (Maple Leafs),  Dmytro Tolkunov (Ramparts) and a few others. But I know little of the Ukraine. Now as escalations have come to THEIR towns, I learn a lot more about the governments around me and their initial inactions and after that sending stuff (military and non military) all whilst civilian organisations take intelligence to a greater level (Trollrensics), all whilst the stage evolves we see their people take effort and the Dutch Nieuwsuur seemingly (according to what I have) cancelling what these people had to tell them. A person who translates, knows the places that are hit and the people that are there and the media turns away? That is what our sophistication brought, inactions towards what some call a tyrant. I am on the fence on that term, but there is an upside. Russia is 28 times the size of the Ukraine, there is more and I can list them, but I found a nice image that does it easier. 

And that image should tell you something about karma too. When the military power in 21st place can hold back the military power in 2nd place for a week, what does that tell you about the spending of the second best and the impact it has had on its population for decades? Also there are voices that are telling me that the FSB is opposing this war, how wrong was acting against the Ukraine from the very first minute?

And whilst I stop myself from posturing, taking the comedian side, I can tell you that Bette Midler stated (tweeted) it the best.

Consider where you stand, consider who you allow to represent your voice, I really hope it is not one of the earlier names seen, because in that case you are in deep trouble, because no matter how this ends, there will be a reckoning, it is the populist approach and it is bout to be turned against those relying on the populist voice to advance their political strategies. What comes around really comes around this time around. 

So for the glory of Hades, all hail the Comedian.

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