Category Archives: Media

At the close of a year

This might be the last article this year (no promises). I have been haunted by a weird dream, but that is not what this is about. You see, the army recognition group gave us yesterday (at https://armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2024/saudi-arabia-eyes-up-to-100-turkish-kaan-fighter-jets-as-us-made-f-35-remains-inaccessible) ‘Saudi Arabia eyes up to 100 Turkish Kaan fighter jets as US-made F-35 remains inaccessible.’ I know nothing of this plane, so I am not going in that direction. The setting that the US set the inability of the F35 being handed to Saudi hands is worthy of responding to. You see, the pricing of the F35 is set to “$102.1 million for the F-35C.” This means that America lifted their nose at 10 – 25 billion of hard needed income. The planes, the support and engineering surplus and a few other options. I expected that China would ‘swoop’ in to get that money. It is decently plausible that their were more reasons. I am merely setting that this could also mean the end of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), you see, airbases on foreign ground are meant for allies and America has priced them out of that corner. As I see it Anthony Blinken has done away with that option. You see, only two months ago we got “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday sought to make headway with Saudi Arabia on” whatever ‘his’ administration is ‘worried’ about. You need to have an ally for that and the fact that the F35 has been ‘unavailable’ since 2012. That is over 12 years, so as the F35 faces being optionally phased out by 2030, they lost one of their biggest customers and provisional ally in the Arabic peninsula as I personally see it. 

And America? Well, who needs an ally who is never there? That is the short and sweet part of this all and for Turkey this might be the sweet deal of the century. At some point the UAE and Egypt will also require 5th gen stealth fighters. This will make it harder for America and China to get traction. I never expected that Turkey was on that level, but that shows you what I know of this field.

And this is not the first time America, Europe and China enter behind the fishnet only to end up with nothing. This potential purchase follows Saudi Arabia’s $3.1 billion agreement with Türkiye in 2023 for the acquisition of 60 Baykar AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), set for delivery in 2025 and 2026.

So, when was the last time major governments walked away from a potential 15 billion deal? America might shout tariffs and the upcoming said expansion with their 51st state (Canada), but they forget that Canada is part of a Commonwealth and in their views (the Commonwealth) it amounts to a direct assault on the Commonwealth. So when was the last time a nation was engaged with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and at least two dozen more. If they reject all imports from America, the American economy goes the way of the dodo a lot faster than the dodo did. For China it sounds like a prolonged Christmas. You see, if they get traction with the Commonwealth, a desire they never thought realistic, but going after their largest member Canada might set that deal to nominal.

That as the rejection of billions set a dangerous premise for America and Saudi Arabia can play hard to get in that instance. So the next threat by the president elect Trump will set a minefield around (presumed) Marco Rubio making his job next to impossible. 

But we will see what will happen. In the meantime we should send a congratulatory card to Turkey for this achievement.

And of course the card for the next tenant of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), but that is likely to follow in 2025/2026. As I see it, the next two years are close to essential for the next administration to avoid a governmental garage sale. But what do I know?

Still, in retrospect the dream still bugs me. The dream was a job at ADNOC, in Abu Dhabi. They had an AS400 running SPSS 6.1.3 and it had been gathering dust. It wasn’t working and the people at IBM said it was the fault of ADNOC. In the dream I merely had to remove 2 lines (reading ASCII data), two variables Alphanumeric were making a mess of things and removing the two lines solved 96% of the issue. 96% was fixed in the first hour (well for one job). I needed two additional hours to align the alphanumeric fields. And that took two hours to work out, I used Excel for that (the one Microsoft program Microsoft got right). And with that the first month was back on track. A weird setting, as I know next to nothing of ADNOC, I know that they are in oil, and that is all. I haven’t thought of that program in over 2 decades, so what gives? Well, in part technical support at SPSS was perhaps one of the most fulfilling jobs. But the powers that be didn’t see me as IBM material. O well, such is life. 

Time to head to the end of the year and see what 2025 will bring. 

Have a great day and the optional conclusion of a great year.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Military, Politics

The who now?

Arab News in Pakistan alerted me to news that threw me a bit. The story reads ‘Students in Pakistan’s north embark on over 150-kilometer march for road safety awareness’ (at https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2583931/pakistan) we are given ““This route has been constructed by FWO [Frontier Works Organisation],” he added. “However, the tunnels were not built, and this road has become more dangerous.”” This threw me a bit, you see, I am not versed in this, but shaped by Dutch and Australian education (all the way up to University) I have a certain understanding to certain matters. As I see it, a road is planned is costed and when it is approved it is build. Now I don’t know how it is costed, but I would assume (with a flair for humour) that it is that the cost of a road is set to X (per meter) and the tunnels are given to 2X+(1.5*(6*COS(distance depth))) with an increase of materials by coffee and pie. Added as well are bridges which would cost 4.1314546 times the distance in meters offset by the depth of the crevice traversed. OK, it is clear that I do not know anything about costing roads, but these matters would have been set to papers. So when I was given that the tunnels were never build I went “Huh?” Would that not be an alert to anyone involved in the creation of that traversable distance? And then we are given “Arab News contacted FWO, a construction and engineering organisation managed by the Pakistan Army, for its version. However, it was referred to the local chapter of the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, which did not respond to the query until the filing of this report.” As such there is a likely issue. It comes with the added “It has become a well of death. Accidents are common on this road, and it has devoured many precious lives. A few days ago, five people were killed after a landslide buried their car. We have grown tired of lifting bodies due to accidents.” As such I get why there is a mach for road safety and when we see the connected “Skardu is a major tourism, trekking and mountaineering hub in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region”, I wonder what is going on. When the connected tourism fatalities get exposed to western media (they love western deaths for the flammable digital dollars) we see a much larger setting. The road was partially build, the tunnels (all five) are missing, which means that there is a lot of money somewhere. What happened to that cash?

And as I see it, this visibility is given to us by Shehbaz Shareef, a member of the Baltistan Students Federation (BSF). Whatever the equation is, it represents a lot of money, and the digging equipment wasn’t used so some construction firms are also out of revenue. You see, I expect that a construction and engineering organisation managed by the Pakistan Army might not have all that drill equipment, if they do they have a log file with times been drilling times. So where are those? 

As such this story threw me a bit, as I see it the there are a few lose screws in this story (optionally not intentional and it is not on Arab News). And as we are thinking this over I wonder what I have missed (optionally a few items) but in a setting where there is a balance of debit funds and credit labour costs. In any world the balance is maintained by setting one part against the other and now we see that a man named Shehbaz Shareef is telling us that parts of the equation is completely missing and it will result in lives (plus added costs). So I go “You’re who now?” On the lighter side of things, I just thought of a modern multifunctional Christmas tree. A tree not based on wood (the actual tree) and it all comes with lights. The ornaments are kept separate. It is all in a days work. Some will state that it is a mere x3+y3+z3=k, yet when you realise that there are a few quirks to any “Diophantine equation”. But the question becomes how did Diophantus of Alexandria come to realise that there was a Christmas tree, they didn’t exist at that point. So when you realise that the Fermat equation xd + yd − zd = 0, and now set the premise that you consider  “there is no algorithm that can correctly decide existence of integer solutions for all equations in this family.” Doesn’t that mean that any (so called) AI that is given that will optionally go nuts trying to figure this out cannot accept this unless a programmer sets the exit routine to this faltering setting. Now consider that someone had the building equation ready (by themselves) and realising this implies that someone knew that the tunnels were not there and as such Shehbaz Shareef opened a optionally dangerous hornets nest (as I personally see it). Have you ever seen any clear limelight setting see revelation all whilst the involved parties all had 13 moves to hide the skeletons who appeased certain parties. It is just an idea and I might be wrong, in the meantime I designed another patentable idea. What ever will I do next. Over the next week I will write a little less, all about people bothering me with all kinds of Christmas tree events.

Have a great day, I’ll be dreaming of Canada and the white snowy (and icy) slopes whilst being in a place with a 36 degrees Celsius heat. Have a good one.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Military, Politics, Tourism

The stage of tomorrow

Yes, many have a tomorrow stage, yet in all fairness as I can see it, the UAE is jumping forward by leaps and bounds. Only today did I see the announcement that was given in April that Harry Potter is coming to Abu Dhabi. The capital of the United Arab Emirates as about to make a dent in tourism. It already was, but now there is even more to enjoy. It already had Waterworld, SeaWorld, Ferrari World, the Yas Mall but now it is enhancing and enlarging Warner Brothers world with the setting of Harry Potter. I don’t know when it will open, but I reckon that it should be ready before the summer will be making its announcement in 2025. For America it might become a nasty shock. Orlando has put a decent effort in making the enhancements to Universal a massive project. The Epic Universe will be five parks in one right next to the original Universal park. And there is enough for all, but it is the first time that the Harry Potter fans in the Arabian peninsula get handed this world to their front door. There is more, because Universal might be seen as more of the same (it is not). But Abu Dhabi is presenting itself as the family outing of choice. This is not merely done through advertisements. The many families and couples visiting these parks are all outspoken positive on their adventure. Not through influencers, simple people. A family from the UK with mom, dad and son show the world what an amazing time they had. An Australian couple (not the Hemsworth family) do exactly the same and YouTube is filled with people who visited these parks and are outspoken positive over the experience. 

Now that Harry Potter is coming Abu Dhabi can be certain that thousands more visitors will be coming their way. In the us (2023) 1247 people were asked how they felt about Harry Potter. Only 3% was not a fan and 47% were avid fans. That implies that Abu Dhabi will be the place to be and with Yas Island where the parks are as well as some hotels are, the people would want to splurge in their 2025 vacation. With several parks in the vicinity (Waterworld and WB are neighbours) with the WB hotel between the two. And on the other side of the hotel is the Yas Mall with Ferrari world. OK, the hotel is 10 minutes from the Yas mall, but there are busses, and in all these places there are affordable food places. There is something for everyone. The United Arab Emirates seems to end the year on a high note and I reckon that there is plenty of fun to be had. 

I reckon that with Dubai being a mere 90 minutes by bus away, there is every reason to have a vacation in both spots. Week one in one place and week 2 in the other place. People could end up having the vacation of a lifetime. 

The one surprising thing for me was the UK couple where they also talk about the prices of the food places they visited. With the comparison of UK prices, the UK seems somewhat expensive in comparison. 

I reckon that as soon as the HP experience comes closer the YouTube presentations will show that Orlando might have priced themselves out of this race. I don’t think that everyone will take the different destination, Epic Universe looks too good for that, but some will rethink where to go to in 2025 and some should at least consider that path. There is no reason to compare the two, but consider that Yas Island has a Wet’n’Wild (Australia) alternative next to Warner Brothers world and with SeaWorld the alternative to the one in San Antonio you see three parks close to one another. Not too many places can offer this, but one of them is Abu Dhabi. And there is much more on this island.

Off-course there is an alternative reason, as the UAE is a zero tax country, the combination for a new Apple or some other thingamajig on the really cheap side makes this an easy choice and with a mere 90 minutes between Dubai and Abu Dhabi the choice for most of you becomes really simple. 

Have a great Thursday, for me it started 45 minutes ago.

Leave a comment

Filed under Media, Tourism

See Eventual Opposition

That is at times the destiny of the CEO, and at times the CEO is offered assassination or is destined to be one. It is a little dark but economies all over the world have set that notion in motion. You might hide behind the old texture of ‘don’t kill the messenger’, yet at times the messenger is the heading of the message. As I see it, at times the multimillion dollar notion that the CEO gets, is his Damocles sword. And that is now more often than not set in actual stone. You see, some CEO’s have shareholders to account to, but what if the account holders are millions in a healthcare? Like most I took notice of the undoing of CEO Brian Thompson. I wasn’t surprised as it was America. But when I saw that the killer was also on terrorist charges, I took notice. At first I saw the CBC article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/luigi-mangione-tiktoks-glorification-explanation-1.7410769) giving us ‘3 reasons behind the unsettling glorification of Luigi Mangione’. And the story gave me initially more with “A fundraiser for his legal defence raised thousands of dollars before being removed. Online stores are selling T-shirts bearing his face and messages like, “In This House, Luigi Mangione Is A Hero, End of Story.” On TikTok, users posted videos with phrases like “free my man” and “my empathy is reserved for people who deserve it.”” It is flam able ‘hero’ talk and the media loves flames. It makes for easy digital dollars. Then I saw (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/luigi-mangione-murder-terrorism-charge-unitedhealthcare-ceo-1.7413037) ‘Luigi Mangione charged with murder as an act of terrorism’ that got some more attention. CBC was giving us “Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thompson’s death on a midtown Manhattan street “was a killing that was intended to evoke terror. And we’ve seen that reaction.”” It seems that Alvin Bragg is not shy of the limelight. And as I personally see it, the setting of “intended to evoke terror” feels more like the stage that the friends of Alvin Bragg might be CEO’s of healthcare systems that now fear that their ticket is about to be punched. As I see it, America has 626 health systems, which implies 625 scared CEO’s and one person who is about to become CEO and feels lightly more secure as his predecessor was assassinated. Or as I would like to see it, 625 companies with a number totalling over 330 million people and a lot of them are massively disgruntled. Yes, I reckon that they would be scared. That doesn’t make the ‘act’ of taking out ‘the trash’ an act of terrorism. But I recon that is how these 625 CEO’s would like to see this. 

So why?
As we have seen it, health care in America is falling flat for the longest of times and whilst these people were adamant to see importing medicines from Canada as an act of wrongdoing to the bonus levels of these 625 CEO’s, the people are slightly in a different stage of thinking. As I see it, some might take the cape of a healthcare CEO like a calling. They should be paid, but the setting is that 10 million is a bit much. And the 625 others might be in a similar stage. As the generic (not to exact and optionally wrong) way of thinking is that these people would amount to $6,250,000,000 on an annual level all whilst their members cannot make ends meet and their healthcare is filled with trapdoors and loopholes making their healthcare a debate between lawyers on who gets it and who does not. All that and they are losing millions in available funds. Yes, at that point we see anger and rage fill the hearts of healthcare members.

With the opted setting of “U.S. health insurance companies, as Americans swapped stories online and elsewhere of being denied coverage, left in limbo as doctors and insurers disagreed, and stuck with sizeable bills” and that makes this a terrorist act? Healthcare is broken in America, more than broken, it pretty much failed the people it is supposed to protect. Perhaps the CEO’s need t consider the millions they are taking away from the pool of money available. There are two settings. I am not against the CEO making more, but how much more is the setting that matters and that comes out in the open now. As such we could see the setting of the terrorist charge as a preemptive setting towards others, and in part of the proof that needs to be stated that is to some extent missing here. What makes it terrorism? Perhaps Alvin Bragg, the district attorney might want to make a clear case of that in the media. I do not disagree with the setting that New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch gives us with  “any attempt to rationalise this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.” Perhaps the commissioner might also enlighten us why this former CEO gets 10 million for shafting its customers in the dark. Because however you want to non-vilify the 10 million pay check, but in this stage with millions losing out on care products that they currently can’t afford. 10 million doesn’t hold a candle against the anger of people. And that is also not seen here. So as we take notice of “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.” I merely ponder the setting with ‘what makes a civilian population?’ 625 CEO’s in a population of 8,258,000 New Yorkers? And then we get ‘Affect the conduct of a unit of government?’ Is a healthcare a government installation? In that case, how come that man got 10 million? Thats more than a general makes with his finger on the nuclear button (or a few other military man). This entire setting is defunct from the word go and there is a lot more and I feel that I disagree, but I have no clear evidence to counter this. As I see it, my view would be the spirit of the law, whilst I will accept black letter law on which I lack view (in this case). 

But we can all agree on one thing, as I (optionally we) see it. Luigi Mangione opened a door that (at least) 625 CEO’s are scared of facing and they are scared to address that directly, so (my speculation) as I see it several of them (perhaps all of them) called them and directed Alvin Bragg to make an example of Luigi Mangione right quick. There is the premise that this will backfire in massive ways and it has been a long time coming, because healthcare was massively broken long before Barack Obama became president on January 20th 2009 and all that time these CEO’s were  speculatively overpaid by a lot. And the people are now angry. It merely reminds us of the setting you can deceive all people for some of the time, some people all of the time, but never can you deceive all of the people all of the time.

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Politics

The statistics are against me

Yup, that happens and I don’t believe it is a worrying issue. You see, it started a little over a year ago and I created my first (sort of) script. It is called ‘How to assassinate a politician’ which I later ‘reset’ to ‘Essay’. MY first script was meant specifically for an islamic audience which could have graced the walls of the UAE or the Saudi media bosses. I saw the story and it was my response to an Islamophobe population. And how to better serve it than to assassinate the biggest European islamophobic of all Geert Wilders (now PM of the Netherlands). I thought it was an excellent idea (a pure personal thought). Yet now I am confronted with ‘How the creative economy drives growth in the Middle East’ (at https://economymiddleeast.com/news/how-creative-economy-drives-growth-middle-east/). Here I see “In the UAE, a global creative hub, Dubai Media City is home to a talent pool of over 40,500 creative professionals”, so what was I thinking? Well, the short of this is that I write to feed the creative beast in me. I was unaware of just how large the Media City population was, and if you go by that setting you will never get anything done.

And whilst you are mulling over “The UN Trade and Development Creative Economy Outlook 2024 highlights the crucial role of creative industries in global trade and economic growth. According to the UNCTAD survey, the creative economy contributes between 0.5 percent and 7.3 percent of GDP and employs 0.5 percent to 12.5 percent of the workforce in various countries. “The creative economy has the right forces pushing its sails. This is not just art. It is an economic powerhouse that we must harness together, leaving no one behind,” stated Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of UNCTAD.”” You see, it is nice to hide behind numbers at one setting, but the source of the numbers matter a well. I find a little worrying setting behind the statement “The creative economy has the right forces pushing its sails. This is not just art. It is an economic powerhouse that we must harness together, leaving no one behind” my issue is in one direction “leaving no one behind”, which is nice, but that is a political statement and Grynspan was in the past Grynspan was a professor and researcher at the Economic Science Research Institute at the University of Costa Rica. This is not some anti statement. I always wonder and become ‘skeptical’ when a politician makes a “leaving no one behind” in their setting. Because that tends to rally towards “We were however forced to make choices” and that always goes at the expense of Art, especially when dollar numbers are involved. That and the setting of “employs 0.5 percent to 12.5 percent of the workforce in various countries”, which is quite the distribution. So where is it 12.5%? Hollywood with its 153,859 villagers? Some other consideration would be ‘the UNCTAD survey’, which I am not attacking now, as I have never read it. But the stage of a survey calls with me the setting of data. What data? What was filtered? How was it collected? What nations participated? Indonesia has around 277.5 million people, how many does its media (online and other) have? Simple questions really. 

When we dig into the matter, we see “Middle Eastern countries recognise the potential of the creative economy. In the region, the intersection of the digital and creative industries, in particular — encompassing the use of artificial intelligence (AI), Web3, and virtual reality — is driving innovation and economic diversification.” I still shiver at the notion that AI does not yet exist, no matter how many players boom the bubble of the AI vibe, it does not yet exist and we need to take notice of this. It might be fuelling the desire for it to be here, but it isn’t and when the world starts wondering the simple equation of “LLM’s vs AI” and true data parsing, its verification process and programmers with its algorithms the statement “According to a white paper by Dubai Design District and Dubai Media City, the global digital creative economy could grow by 11 percent annually, reaching a staggering AED27 trillion by 2030.” I fear for the fallout it precedes. And like the other papers the question of population, collection and reading the data will get a much higher priority. I winder how certain power players will address and respond to “a staggering AED27 trillion by 2030”, you see, joy of a revenue is nice, but the fear of it falling short in 5 years will be on the forefront of nearly every mind who depended on this fuelling stage. 

There is a side I fully agree with. It is seen in “In November, Dubai Media City underscored the essential role of multicultural creativity at this year’s Global Media Congress held in ADNEC Center Abu Dhabi.” I believe that true creativity can only be seen in a multicultural setting as such the UAE has a jump on all other nations as I personally see it and even as I shiver at the 40,500 setting (I am not debating or attacking it) I understand that my script had very little chance to begin with. I am still proud I wrote it and there are three more coming (not with Islamic values in mind), but that is the state of the world. Creativity is where our thoughts take us. And we respond as we would or as we can. The first one was islamic in nature, but that doesn’t mean all will be and multicultural is the first step of being truly creative. What matters to me are a few things and the stage of the numbers is one, articles rarely spell that out and as such it becomes my setting that I wish I knew more of UNCTAD and their numbers, because it is at the heart of the matter here. And here is the spiller (or killer). You see, the UN Trade and Development has a UNCTADstat Data centre. I took a look (at https://unctadstat.unctad.org/datacentre/) where I found “International trade in creative services: estimates for individual economies” an experimental part that has data from 2010 to 2018 and shows us Saudi Arabia, but not the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as such I wonder where the numbers are coming from. The article does not give us that part. I saw the Creative Economy Outlook 2024. The word ‘Statistics’ is given to us 23 times, and always with references like {Key Statistics and Trends in Trade Policy 2022. UNCTAD/DITC/TAB/2023/2. Geneva.} Yet the report gives us no real numbers (like raw data) or the reference to raw data has exactly 0 hits. As such I tend to have a more skeptical view on such a presentation. As such when ‘confirming’ the survey, I see another ‘hitch’ the fact that the phrase ‘in countries where data is available’ is missing from the article. It happens, but as I see it, it is kinda sloppy. With the rather large setting shown (in the UN pdf) that we see “inputs received through the 2024 UNCTAD Survey on the Creative Economy from the following countries: Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Benin, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uzbekistan and Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.” And here we get the other shoe dropped. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are not mentioned at all. This is not on these countries, but as I see it The editorial of the Middle East economy has a little explaining to do (as I personally see it), it might be merely semantics, but that is at times how I roll.

And there is more on the graphics, one pie chart merely shows Saudi Arabia and the UAE as part of the EMEA region, as such I wonder which part of the 21% is Europe, because that sets a much larger premise of advertisement per region and population. There is no real way that Saudi Arabia and the UAE can compete in advertising against a population of 742 million europeans. As such I start to develop questions (as I would).

Well that was it for now, I’ll add the United Nations PDF at the bottom, it took me less than 10 minutes to scope out the questions you see here and if I took a little more time I will find a lot more. But that is the setting of a political brief (as I see it), I also didn’t see (I might have missed that) on the definition of the media and what sources are set to what medium. You see, there is a chart on Global video games revenues, and predictively set (based on data) this is always an upward spiral because there are no sources (or data) available for the Playstation 6, the Nintendo Switch 2, or the Tencent handheld. They are the tomorrow systems and there is no data on any of that a present. But the larger audiences are already looking into these parts. So what gives on the data?

A mere simple question that has no easy answer, I get that, because presumption is always on what is known, but take the simple setting in 2012 the PS4 was released. It got more than 50 million consoles out and obliterated the Microsoft product. In 2016 Microsoft merely gave us all Xbox live numbers. So when we see that, what numbers does UNCTAD have to set the Total video games revenue from 225 to 312 billion and Video games advertising from 75 to 137 billion between 2023 and 2027? A lot higher than Traditional games which went from 55 to 62 billion? The numbers do not reflect each other. As you might guess that sets gaming in a dead drop against advertisement, a bad business practice as I personally see it. And I could go on but when you see it was a forecast based on PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027 (so based on what numbers?) This is merely what I found in under an hour. As such question all numbers that have no accompanying response setting (aka N). 

Also when we get the Countries with the most significant art markets by value of sales in 2023 and we see USA, France, UK, China and other with France at 7% and other at 15%, where do the UAE and Saudi Arabia end up? Consider that a place with 40,500 members do not surpass France and are part of the 15% What is the setting for them? I wonder if the Middle East Economy had those questions in mind when they released that story. As I see it a simple question really.

Have a great Monday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media, Politics

What is it?

You know the setting that came (if I remember correctly) from the original TV-series ‘The Untouchables. The start was always “the names have been changed to protect the innocent”, what if it becomes “The names have been changed for the progression of greed”? As such we get:

This was a simple story, I am all about the stories and about the settings of an RPG. In that setting you cannot have a one track mind and as I see it the people forcing us into advertisements for the need of greed, need to be stopped. I am not against advertisements, I am against forcing it down our throats, which is why some of the IP I created will not allow advertisements and that is how I see it. Some will be fine with it, others are not (the greedy people). And I created this setting to fight the overwhelming setting of greed.

And I needed a hobby for this Sunday. What is more lovely than to create an offset to ‘Microsoft’s ad revenues surge 19% in latest quarter’ with this? So do I mind that they recorded Revenues were $64.7 billion, Net income was $22 billion. No, I do not. It is wrong to okay Google and say it is wrong for Microsoft to make that penny. I believe that it is wrong to force it down out throats. That where marketeers come into play. And they must be stopped, their hinger for advertising is insatiable and my idea stops it to some extent. When the world does something to stop insatiable greed we will have a chance, but I won’t hold my breath. So my creative mind selected an idea to stop them. Creativity yay. 

Have a lovely day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media, Science, Stories

Calling a bluff

That happens, some people bluff and others tend to call the bluff. That is the setting that president elect Trump called on himself. We all heard how the upcoming Trump administration called the setting that they opened. They threatened the Canadian Trudeau administration on tariffs when “Trump threatened in a social media post to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both Mexico and Canada, vowing to keep them in place until “such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”” As I see it, a larger setting that the US called upon itself. The war on drugs has been going on since June 17, 1971, during which President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one”. I get that, drugs are the filth of any civilisation. Perhaps America could have changed tactics decades ago, when it was set to ‘the black population’, being white an wealthy enabled cocaine habits, all whilst crack users got the bulk of the heavy punishment. I cannot voice any opinion because it is too far from my bed. Yet the media used that setting to give us “New Jack City” and “Boys N the Hood” with an entertaining “Cocaine bear” for good measure. I reckon that “Traffic” is one of the best views on the subject (there are many I never saw).

So after half a century of failure the President elect Trump now blame the neighbouring countries. Well two can play at that. In the first I suggest any American arrested on drug charges (outside of USA) get the death penalty. No options, no trials, just point and click the gun. In the second we consider the stage that Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford is suggesting (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/12/canada-ontario-premier-trump-tariffs). With ‘Ontario leader threatens to halt energy exports to US if Trump imposes tariffs’. This is actually not a bad move (better than my idea). At present we have the idea that Canada’s revenue from electricity exports to the United States hit a record high of C$ 5.8bn. Quebec is the largest exporter, with Ontario following second at 13.9m megawatt-hours of power sent south. Of course the setback is that Ontario loses that near essential revenue. But consider that America loses 13.9m megawatt-hours of power which adds to the hardship America has at present and the next 2 quarters that hardship could be seen as close to debilitating. 

So should the Trump administration push the tariff bluff, the payback that follows is nothing short of a banger of a payback. I see all these bad press moments of Doug Ford, I cannot answer whether they are valid, but I reckon this one is on point and only 6 hours ago we were also given ‘Ontario premier suggests stopping US liquor imports over Trump tariff threat’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/13/ontario-trump-tariff-liquor) not a big thing for the non alcoholics and lets face it, Ryan Reynolds gives us Gin (perhaps soon Canadian Gin too), Dan Ackroyd (part Canadian) gives us Crystal Head Vodka and Canada also has its Whiskey types. As such, it will hurt America a lot more than it will Canada. 

There are other drinks that come from outside of the USA. There is Jenever (Dutch Gin, Netherlands), Gin (UK), Aquavit and Absolute Vodka (Sweden) not to mention the dozen of wines from the French speaking regions (like France). Oh, and Raki and Ouzo are Greek. As such plenty of non-American options. As I personally see it, the response to the Trump bluff will be countered in a few ways and it is my belief that the Trump Administration will be forced to do a 180 degree on the spot, that is if they would like to keep their other ventures running somewhat smooth. 

I personally think that Doug Ford called an upcoming bluff in several ways and all are promising answers to the situation that Canada is in no way to blame for. So what do they want? A 8,891 km wall? Who pays for that? As I see it, the war was essential for a long time, but as the ‘law’ unfairly differentiate the rich and the pour on drugs, this was never going in any direction fast. 

It seemed like such an easy solution but that was never go down well, because the complexities that American law allowed for made it way too complex (as I personally see it).

Have a great weekend, Toronto joins un on this Saturday in 2 hours.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Politics

Demands from the people

That is what buzzed through my mind when I was confronted with ‘Australia wants to make digital platforms pay for news — even if they block it, like Meta did here’ a mere hour ago (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/australia-social-media-ban-1.7408426) You see, the media (and politics) are so willing to make social media the bad apple. It must come at a price. 

I have more issues with “The Australian government said Thursday it will tax large digital platforms and search engines unless they agree to share revenue with Australian news media organisations.” You see, soon others (like game makers) will rely on other means to get revenue and this is a handle that allows them to get a slice of it. Of course there are all kinds of ways that these are monitored and that will open even more doors. To be honest I look at Australian media less then a dozen times a year at present. They are that much trivialised by themselves. 

As such Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland created a new problem (as I see it). How to police the media, because that is the second hurdle. There is at that point no longer “the people have a right to know”, it becomes all the people should get to know. The difference seems trivial, but it is not. And as a third base, it is no longer an option to filter the news. Stakeholders and share holders do not get to tell the audience that it is in their best interest. No, no, it all becomes available to everyone at that point. I wonder how long it will take for political parties to see that they tied their own shoelaces together. 

As such it will (I speculate) too long for the media to seek another path to managing their own news. And the bar will be set massively low when other parties hide behind ‘right to express yourself’ into a setting not unlike ‘we communicate our news to the world’ and that is merely the beginning. Soon thereafter every cause will have a ‘news’ cycle because they are given free money by the Australian government. I think that Meta, Google and TikTok are already aware of that danger. It seems like the media will soon see the demand from the people and some will see this as ‘newsworthy’ demanding a few coins from Google (et al) in the process. 

As I see it, there will soon be a rush for coins from nearly every location. Have a great Friday, I am about to gander to the breakfast table.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics

Sheep to the slaughter

There was a view, I agreed but not for the same reasons. I agree that Brexit was needed but for different reasons. You see, I saw the EU corruption for what it was. A setting where banks had their own little club, the club of 22. And there we saw Mario Draghi was a welcomed sight. I was hesitant to see it for good. Even as Mark Carney had its own ideas, he was right. Brexit was the way and the way was going to be hard. Now we see the Guardian embraces the story ‘Majority of Brexit voters ‘would accept free movement’ to access single market’, the carrot for idiots. There was no free movement, there was merely what others would allow us to do and that free movement comes at a price. So as we are given “A majority of Britons who voted to leave the EU would now accept a return to free movement in exchange for access to the single market, according to a cross-Europe study that also found a reciprocal desire in member states for closer links with the UK.” Yes but at a price. Now that the ‘settings’ are reset, the stupidity of the EU opens up again. The EU was on the verge of collapse as they are in denial of the consequences. You see we are given “85% of the EU’s debt has been incurred since 2020” but the story was worse, much worse. The debt of the EU has been calculated at €14,300,832,000,000 it was that bad (still is), the breaking through Brexit made sure that the UK was no longer held to account to that debt. Now that the trolls and corrupt ‘friends’ of the Euro got their stories to account going on since 31 January 2020 they finally won and the reset is about to take place (the fact that the idiot Keir Starmer assisted in the matter was a great help to the EU). What is the matter? Well in part they are right, the UK benefits from the strength of the EU matters on one side, the opposing setting is also true. A family with 27 family members and I reckon that 6 or them are nothing less than a newer version of the village idiot. They have a voice, but they also were chomping at the bit to get access to the credit card of the EU and that is not a good thing. The second that the banks come in, the setting will be final. The Greeks are loving this. There is every chance that the Greeks will blow out their debt again. The reason is simple, they don’t have what it takes and they take what everyone else has. That was an I personally think is the remaining setting. They are not alone, but they were the most visible one in 2019. Now that stage will erupt again. The EU doesn’t have the checks and balances it needs to stop that level of idiocy. 

We are also given “The report found about half of Britons believed greater engagement with the EU was the best way to bolster the UK economy (50%), strengthen security (53%), effectively manage migration (58%), tackle climate change (48%), allow Ukraine to stand up to Russia (48%), and for Britain to stand up to the US (46%) and China (49%).” My issue becomes. What data? How was the data collected? When we see ‘effectively manage migration (58%)’ how many want to push their migration numbers to UK? How many are are anti China minded? As we are given ‘for Britain to stand up to China (49%)’, are they sure they meant ‘for Britain to stand up for China’ and in all this the new markers are presented and not given towards the Middle East. That becomes a nastier kettle of fish. In the end, when the tally is shaped there will be anger towards the media for not letting us know the truth. I reckon that at some point media moguls will go the way of Brian Thompson but now with a mere rope and a tree as support for their distrust of the media. We are almost at that tipping point and reversing Brexit will give us the stage in 12 months or less. At that point the finger pointing starts and the media will lose whatever support they had. As I personally see it, the largest issue is seen in the last paragraph. With: “The Brexit-era divisions have faded and both European and British citizens realise that they need each other to get safer. Governments now need to catch up with public opinion and offer an ambitious reset.” One side is the media “British citizens realise that they need each other to get safer” and this is largely because a false picture was given for years and as this is shown to be wrong, the people will go for the throat of the media. This is no longer the 90’s where the media had overwhelming powers. Now they are held to account and optionally with their lives. As for the ‘ambitious reset’ this is largely enabled by banks and their need for the reset of their credit cards. What comes next will be the stuff of nightmares. It won’t happen directly, it will be a soft landing, like landing in a pool of molten lead. Within a year the UK will get their new demands handed to them and that will be the game, the EU (Germany) will win and suddenly they will they will side with Russian demands. As such the Ukraine will suffer and the EU will suffer too. The Americans will hand Russia through the Republican Party. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say the United States is providing too much support to Ukraine (42% vs. 13%) (source: Pew research Centre). And when that comes to blow, America will distance from the EU. It was too hard and they have too little cash left. A setting that was always come to pass. As such the anti-China sentiment was in favour of America, as they pushed their goods. So how long do you think that setting will last? In all this, the solution to embrace the Middle East and China was a larger option then anyone thinks. It gave the EU breathing space against Russia. Now the UK is in the mix and the only option (I believe they have) is to open the door to BRICS and China. It don’t think it is a good option, but it is better to see that then to see the new maps of 2040’s stating Netherlands Oblast (or more likely Holland Oblast). That danger is more and more real as America lets the Republican setting of “U.S. support for Ukraine” getting smothered to death.

As I personally see it, Europeans are leading themselves as lambs to the slaughter. What a disgusting end to the foundry of civilisation (1095 – 2040). 

Could I be wrong? I hope I am, but the wrong people got to speak at media events and I am keeping a list of media people who are leading the run towards the gallows. Like the Dutch writer Marga Minco who wrote Bitter herbs (1957). As the character in that book who through the personal inside of people decided who was handed to the devils and who went the way of angels. I reckon that not many media people are going the way of angels. And those howling that they merely viewed that the people had a right to know will see the digital age as the one serving them, not the people. There needs to be a tally, especially of the media.

Have a great day and if you are with the media, the gallows are down the lane to the left, overlooking the emptiness of the fields of bankruptcy.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Politics

Out of bounds

Is the setting we should enable. You see, there are. Few sides and many of them come from an unreliable media (which includes nearly ALL media). We are given ‘Jamal Khashoggi’s widow urges Starmer to raise husband’s murder at Saudi meeting’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/09/jamal-khashoggis-widow-urges-starmer-to-raise-husbands-at-saudi-meeting). You see, my issue (since the very beginning) has been that the data is unsubstantiated, lacks reliability and a few other settings. 

In the very first is that there is not now, nor has there been ever a body. Forensic evidence has been lacking since day one and in the clear setting (based on law) we can say that Jamal Khashoggi has been missing, but that is all. The media has been rife with all kinds of speculations based on grainy pictures. Pictures that could have been taken in the White House for all we know. Ever since it was on my radar, going back to 2020, I started the stages in ‘Demanding Dismissal’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/07/04/demanding-dismissal/) where I gave a report on the stages that I had an issue with. The larger debatable presented truths was debated by me in “[92] Turkish Intelligence assessed that he may have been dead within ten minutes after entering the Consulate. Here we are treated to ‘he may have been dead’, ‘may’ refers to speculation, not fact, the footnote gives us “The ten minutes reference is based on the fact that after ten minutes, Mr. Khashoggi voice was not heard”, this implies that Turkish Intelligence has 100% of the embassy bugged and wired, that is extremely doubtful on several levels.” I debate the issues set in the UN document and basically attack the UN for doing such a hatchet job on an attack against a monarchy that was seen in the document which I will attach at the bottom. As such the Guardian giving us “Jamal Khashoggi’s widow has urged Keir Starmer to raise her husband’s murder at his meeting with the Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.” Get’s my response of ‘What murder? What evidence can you present?’ You think I am joking, but I am not. More important, the document (from the United Nations under essay writer Agnes Calamard) gives the much larger setting (made by me) of “The report mentions ‘interrogation’ 4 times, yet these so called tapes on the torture/interrogation of Jamal Khashoggi. Who heard them? How were they forensically tested and who tested and seconded any report of these findings and optional facts?” The tapes which spiralled the non-logical media into flame driven and digital currency driven idiots. Up to now, 4 years later I have yet to see any report on the settings of the ‘interrogation tapes’ none of this was ever presented and the Turkish media (who flamed things out of proportions all by themself) has yet to present any kind of intelligence or mere forensic evidence of this media. 

As such I have an issue with that. I have less of an issue with “We look here to your country, to the UK and to the US and most western countries, with respect because you have justice and you care for democratic and human rights. Forgetting Jamal’s case does not align with the values of justice and democratic and human rights in your country.” It is her view on the matter. The setting that the so called transgressions happened in a foreign location in a foreign country, neither of them United Kingdom or United States makes it a nice statement, but that is all it is. Oh and by the way, should Keir Starmer open his mouth in that case, I will demand loudly that he also raises his voice for all the Turkish Journalists that have died in Turkish captivity. Not one but dozens of them. I get why Hanan Elatr Khashoggi raises the issue, but al far as I know at least one source stated that Jamal was with a 19 year old (now 25 year old) mistress on a location in Bora Bora. I cannot vouch for the quality of that intelligence, but there you have it and as far as I was able to tell, none of the media looked into that matter, either to debunk or verify that ‘setting’. As such, I can tell that the attacks should be seen as merely anti-Saudi rhetoric. 

As such as we see “The government said the project aimed to generate £250m of investment and was expected to create more than 1,000 skilled jobs in Greater Manchester.” And as I (personally) see it. 1000 skilled jobs versus one journalist no one cares about, the journalist loses. Is it that bland a situation? Yes, it is. Mainly because no valid evidence has ever been produced. The CIA report gave us “please explain to me how the United States has any actual evidence regarding the events in a foreign nation on a consulate that is another nations grounds? How was this evidence collected? Creating a mountain of non-substantial evidence is not really evidence, even as circumstantial evidence that is founded on probability will not hold water, even if the statement “officials have said they have high confidence“, they lost the credibility they had with a silver briefcase holding evidence on WMD in Iraq, you do remember that part, don’t you? (It was roughly 16 years ago)” If it was actual evidence, the CIA would not hand us “officials have said they have high confidence” it blands the taste of spices and merely gives us the burger with the taste of a drip-mat. And it is always nice that the Guardian (not the most reliable source on Saudi intel) is wrecking up the past with an article like this. I countered their (and other sources) forms of ‘evidence’ within an hour. And the UN essay involved helped immensely. It came from statements in the document like “officials have said they have high confidence”, “he may have been dead” as well as “Mr. Khashoggi had been injected with something, passed out, and taken alive from the Consulate in some box or container” shows massive levels of speculation. I can do that as I was on the other side of the Indian Ocean, they (as I see it) cannot. And should Keir Starmer put 4,000 British jobs valued at a quarter of a billion at risk for something that is highly speculative and placed out of the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom from day one, he should be regarded as more stupid than anyone would hazard a guess on. Just my point of view and I get why Hanan Elatr Khashoggi takes that stage, but no one else will put their livelihood on the line. With the exception of those wanting the limelight for a useless cause (those people do exist), as such I see this article as one that should be out of bounds from the very start.

It is what it is. Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Law, Media, Politics