Category Archives: Military

A symphony in only two parts?

That is the question at times. We see two events, two articles and we forget that there are a dozen other connections. I am not different, at times I overlook them too, not always but frequently. It is a mix of a larger stage, more connections, more unregistered events. Yet for now we start with the first nail in the coffin of American economy. The article from Reuters (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-invites-chinas-xi-visit-wsj-2022-03-14/) gives us ‘Saudi Arabia invites China’s Xi to visit’, the article states that this could be as early as may. Right before the Midterms in November 2022 the US is now likely to face that dozens upon dozens of billions walk from the US side straight into the hands of China (and me missing out on commission, darn). Is this a given? No, of course not. There could be a dozen reasons why President Xi Jinping might be visiting. But how often has ANY Chinese president done that? And Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is eager to set his defence and SAMI to higher values and I was clear in the two years that this was coming and as far as I can tell, President Biden has soured the waters enough for this to become a reality. Some focusses on weapons being sold, I say in THIS economy you should not ignore the nations Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, who are the largest importers. In this stage where the US HELD 37% and China only 5.2% the stage is now set where China can progress a lot higher on that list and should they get the bulk of Saudi and SAMI attention there is a clear stage where the new numbers will represent (2023/2024) could state that the US hold 25% and China then could be holding 17.2%, it then places China right next to Russian exports and the US a lot more to that stage, a stage where it is now an almost fair fight between the US, Russia and China, but to be clear was that EVER an economic stage where you WANT a fair fight? A stage where China overtakes both France and Germany as supplier? This is the stage that could inhabit the Middle East and that is merely the beginning. You see the partnerships that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt have also sets Egypt in the sights of China as a defence trade partner, a stage a few people overlooked and that drives Chinese export achievable needs up a lot more. So the damage to the US might increase over the coming year and those who want to be in denial, go right ahead, the article with ““The crown prince and Xi are close friends and both understand that there is huge potential for stronger ties,” the report quoted a Saudi official as saying. “It is not just ‘They buy oil from us and we buy weapons from them’.”” I like the part “It is not just ‘They buy oil from us and we buy weapons from them’” the best, it might not be merely just, for China that is a good deal in several ways and when that deal gives China more oil, it will mean that it gives the US less oil a stage they feared for some time and the oil market has been volatile on these fears alone. So when I was mentioning that whatever relief the oil prices give us today, tomorrow will be different and now we see that fear come to fruition, not immediately mind you, but the price of fuel will go up again and again, how high? I cannot tell but the stage where we saw the American administration make statements like “You can pump more oil, so pump more oil!”, it was nice but there is now every chance that the extra oil (plus a little more) goes to China. Will the UAE do the same? I cannot tell, but the US better become best buddies with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al Maktoum, because if I see this right, the US will need every friend it can muster in their oil needs (a few others too) and in that need they better realise that catering to Iran will not merely be unrewarding, it will soon become dangerous on more than one field as well. I mentioned two years ago that yielding the Middle East to China would be one of the most dangerous things ever, and that was merely economically. Now we see one field exposed and the construction opportunities in Neom could also go towards China, a stage that makes the US (EU too) more and more irrelevant, a stage the US themselves threw upon their own economic needs. Now that it is becoming more and more realistic these people will not be allowed to cry with the “Why oh why” statement like little chihuahua’s. Or as my grandmother used to say “You do not bite the hand that feeds you” a practical lesson that the US will now face within the next 3 months and the 2 years that follow. A stage that the Biden Administration failed to spot in some stage of ignorance and now as we see it optionally unfold (it might be that President Xi Jinping is visiting to buy real estate in Neom) some might see the dangers that are coming the next year or so and the impact over the next decade. I merely loose out on commission (oh, poor poor me). 

 

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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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Not so funny now, is it?

This al started in 2018. In that year I wrote 4 articles. In the first setting a premise that the entire matter does not fit the bill, the bodged assassination, the larger station of failure through complexity. It never made sense and I was clear about that. Yet I believe that MI5 ignored me on this (I would too, honestly) but I would investigate. You cannot be so warped as to think it would stay there. And I gave the larger station in ‘Something for the Silver Screen?’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2018/03/17/something-for-the-silver-screen/), ‘The man in the middle’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2018/08/07/the-man-in-the-middle/), ‘Could I be wrong?’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2018/09/06/could-i-be-wrong/), and ‘Investigating Self’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2018/09/12/investigating-self/). Over 4 articles I set a scene that optionally  included KalVista Laboratories and Porton Biopharma, not because they were guilty, but because they had the equipment that a Novichok maker required. There was laughter all around and I merely ignored it. Now the guardian (in an opinion piece) gives us ‘Putin has already deployed a chemical weapon. In Salisbury’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/13/putin-has-already-deployed-a-chemical-weapon-in-salisbury), we see different parts here. Parts I never considered addressing or investigating, as it was not part of the out and open pieces seen. The Guardian gives us “It’s just four years too late. Because he’s already used unconventional weapons. Not in Ukraine, but right here, in Britain. On 4 March 2018, Putin deployed a chemical weapon against a civilian population. Our civilian population. Us.” As well as “The poisoning of Sergei Skripal may have played out in the British press as a “botched assassination attempt”, but that’s just half of a more terrifying story.” So in all it seems that someone is late to the party and before you wonder who, it is MI5. It is 4 years later and I am partially proven correct. Partial because even as I noticed the wallet fatteners, the station of uninvestigated county. I never had anything on Evgeny Lebedev (I had nothing to link him on in the first place) but that makes my scene a mere partial one. It seems that Carole Cadwalladr had more information and better linked information than I had. On the other hand I offered Leonard Rink from the beginning, others did not. And in the end the two Russian cathedral visitors might have been nothing more than a decoy, I gave doubt to a lot of issues there and no one else did (yay me). A station optionally missed by both CIA and MI5, I do say optionally as that is a hand you show no one and I get that. And when we are given “A year later, the Guardian would reveal that Johnson had travelled directly from that summit to the Italian villa of Evgeny Lebedev, the UK-based Russian newspaper proprietor. It published a photograph showing him alone and dishevelled at San Francesco d’Assisi airport, no security in sight.” Is anyone wondering if there is a security breach in progress? I certainly am. We can try and fit the pieces what we have, but it might be folly. There is enough indication that neither Carole or me have a complete picture, she merely make me boast towards a certain person at GCHQ “Not so funny now, is it?” And that is as good as my ego let it be, but I will snore like a baby soon enough (in about 635 seconds). 

Enjoy Monday!

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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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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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The intelligence nightmare

Yes, that is how I see it. You think that you have seen it all? It is about to get worse and the BBC actually is showing us the start of it. With ‘Thousands of pro-Russia Serbs march in Belgrade’ we are merely scratching the surface. The article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-60630351) does not give much, but it gives us “Friday’s march was a show of support for Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine. Serbia has religious, ethnic and political ties with Russia that have existed for centuries” You see it is a lot worse, Serbian arms dealers are all over Europe. Paces like Rotterdam, London and Paris come to mind, but there are more and now as we see all the pro Russian events starting, we see a stage where Serbs could destabilise most of western Europe. They can fuel lone wolves tying hands all over the place and they sit back and watch the chaos unfold. A setting Moscow really likes. So how speculative is this? Well the issues with arm dealers in these three places alone are worrisome and they have been for the longest of times seeing a lot more visibility in 2020. Now with this BBC article it is still speculative to connect the two, but I am not sure that it is merely speculation. There have been issues for the longest of times and it is merely brought to the surface and a more visible pedestal now. 

The problem is that a lot was not monitored for the longest of time and now the intelligence organisations are lacking information on too many sides. Some sources (unconfirmed ones) give rise to activities in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, USA, Norway, Montenegro and Austria. Do you really think it is all speculation? They have been busy under nearly everyones noses for over a decade and now that Russia is pushing the buttons, some are claiming allegiance, some are waking up and some are set to set Western Europe on fire. Which is which? I cannot tell, but there are connections on all kinds of levels. Did no one consider why Russian weaponry was relatively easy to get in Amsterdam and Rotterdam? In 2020 the Times gave us “While Serbia had a glut of Cold War-era stockpiles and a robust but underused defence industry, the Iraqi government was ill-equipped to battle an insurgency. So in late 2007 the two countries struck a £190 million deal to bring Serbian assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, explosives and other ordnance to Iraq”, I personally believe that these pipelines were there to also get Russian weapons into Iraq, and not merely the ones they have, to a larger degree the Russians provided hardware and that sets a new station, the station of storage. The Netherlands has been (for the longest time), a transitional port of arms, but there is also the speculation (never proven) that at times a container was ‘misplaced’ and ended on Dutch soil, a container filled with arms. So, how much of this is speculation? There is a fair amount of it, but I worked in the harbours of Rotterdam, when I was young and gullible, so anything is possible. Yet in this day and age, when serbs are ‘proclaiming loyalty’ do you want to take that chance? I will let you figure it out.

And whilst you do the Intelligence organisations of Europe will have to take a harsh look at what they have on the Serbs in their domain, because they really do not get to have a choice in that matter, not anymore.

And me? I have found a few more cogs to add to the previous story, I like to remain creative.

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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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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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The thin ice

We all step on it at times, at the moment it is me, I am standing on the thin ice, but I feel it is important to stand here. I see all the anti Russian propaganda and tweets and I get it, I really do. But then two events were shown that made me wonder. The first one was given to us by Reuters. It was (at https://www.reuters.com/world/us-orders-12-russian-un-diplomats-leave-by-march-7-russian-envoy-2022-02-28/) ‘U.S. expels 12 Russian U.N. diplomats over security concerns’, not just diplomats, UN diplomats. It is true, the UN value has been overrated for some time, but in this case, I am not sure it is a good idea. The article gives us “The U.S. mission to the United Nations described the Russian diplomats as “intelligence operatives” who had been “engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”” It does have the term ‘national security’, so I reckon we will not hear the actual truth until 2042. Then we get “Those diplomats that have been asked to leave the United States were engaged in activities that were not in accordance with their responsibilities and obligations as diplomats”, I cannot oppose it, I cannot disagree with this, because I actually do not know, but it was ‘months’ in some setting of investigation and they chose today of all days to come forth with this? That does not make it not true, but it raises questions, it raises several questions and I am not the person with the answer. Perhaps they interfered with the US shakedown on oligarchs, perhaps they were actual spies. And when I saw it I initially shrugged and let it go. But then David Heroux (CBC) gives us the image below and it is important to see it. 

You see, I have always been a fan of the idea to keep politics OUT of sports. Sports are to be left alone, now that does not mean that it is always possible, but really? Throw the Russian Paralympic committee out? Of all the places they COULD have been thrown out, that was the Paralympic place. And at present the least said about the UEFA and FIFA their actions the better, these money grabbing dodo’s are not worth any consideration at all.

You see, this is not merely about the Russians, it is about us. What did WE actually do in Syria? What did WE do when there was a chemical attack? The US was cowardly enough to keep to the left and out of it, yes that was not what they investigated. The doctors reported, the US has several satellites overhead, but NO ONE saw anything. Then we see a similar setting in Yemen again. How many actions AGAINST Iran were taken, I am not talking about economic sanctions. I am talking ACTUAL actions. Some might have seen news (somewhere in 2021) that Iran exported more oil, yet did not make more money, they stated that middle men gained more profits, so the CIA and FBI can hand over a list of those middle man people can it not? I reckon not. A nation that is bankrupt needs every coin they can get and this game has been going on for years.

It is the hypocrisy we see. I am all for Ukraine, I think they are allowed everything we can offer, but that was not the case for Syrians, that was not for Yemeni’s was it?

I get it, that some people have vested interests and that is fine, governments should keep vested interests out of it. At present Syrians and Yemeni’s wonder why the Ukraine can get help in days, whilst they were waiting for years. I cannot explain that injustice, can you? So, I here admit that I am on thin ice, I really do. Yet there is a larger injustice seen and it should not stop people from helping people in the Ukraine, but they need to understand that there have been fires going on since March 2011. I would state that we do not close ALL the doors towards Russia, which makes me wonder about the UN issue, but I admit, it might have valid reasons, the timeline is just a little too warped and there the media is optionally equally at fault. Yet at present I feel convinced we need to keep politics out of sports, there will be a time when that informal route is the only route we have and we should keep it safe, in addition we keep the athletes out of politics, games are for us all, politics are (alas) not. We are given an hour ago by the Guardian ‘Russia’s NHL hero Alex Ovechkin has a rare chance to hit Putin where it hurts’, I disagree. He is an athlete, in the NHL and he is very good. He is not someone’s political tool. We get that people need to speak out, and if he does it of his own accord that is fine, it is his right. But it is not ours to make him our political tool. A lot of people might not agree with me, but that is where I stand. I get it, in the past he was pro-Putin, his choice and at present he most likely regrets this and it is his option to alter that course (make amends seems to crass). It is not treason, he is still Russian, he merely plays a game in the US an he is one of the best on the planet. We all make mistakes, some small, some larger. Yet should he be held accountable for actions he cannot control when the CIA refuses to shine the limelight on Iranian actions because the national security agenda has different topics? There are two measurements in play and we are fed both at the same time. It is dangerous and it is wrong. Feel free to disagree (it is your right) yet also take time to ask people in Syria and Yemen how they feel about these two measurements. Just my thoughts on the matter.

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The new IP, the old stage

Yes, that is the station I found myself in this morning. It was not completely new to me, I did write about it in the past (too tired to find the exact article as I have written in excess of 2250 articles at present), but the stage is a little different now. Consider war (see the TV for specifics), we know it and it is now closer to many homes than it was months ago. But we nearly always played an EA or Ubisoft version with respawning NPC soldiers. What if the setting is staged finite and no spawning all over the place? What if the stage is London, Munich, Amsterdam or Paris? A stage where you get inserted into a random location and your war-zone is a 10 block radius from there. Google Maps has nearly every detail, so do other mapping solutions. And you could be defending, escorting local civilians and giving aid. You get no choice until you get to a certain rank. How long would YOU last? It is time to teach the gaming soldiers a little realism. And when you face that you think different on Call of Duty Beachhead with high realism. That is nothing! I think some people are catching on what it is like, somehow they take more notice on events in the Ukraine than they ever did in Yemen or Syria. I like games that have NEVER be done before. A lot of my IP is set to stages never done before and that is where we optionally see a side of gaming that is totally new and innovative. Others were there before you with other games (several examples in this year alone) and I believe that this is the way to go, whether it is a console or streaming system, innovation beats iteration EVERY. Time. 

And as these systems are more powerful, we get a setting where we can launch a game like that (or kart) in our own streets, redefining gaming realism acceptance on a few levels. I remember seeing Red Dawn, the Chris Hemsworth edition (I saw both editions) and when we see one of the kids state “We are living Call of duty and it sucks”, I heard someone giggle behind me stating that this would be cool. Yes, the response of a wannabe soldier. I however was in the Middle East, I saw what Hamas did, I saw the bodies. That wakes you up real fast and perhaps a game is not the worst setting to educate people. It has been done before and perhaps it is time to unite these elements. I don’t know, is it wisdom or folly to go that way? I honestly do not. On one side I am merely creating new IP, but I want something deeper in gaming IP, and amazing story (Horizons Forbidden West) is one way to go, when it goes to stories the game Portal (by Rob Swigart) is another direction and that can be equally fulfilling. Still there is a call, not one of duty, but one of fulfilment. We all have it, we want to plant our flag, set our footprint and leave some kind of legacy. When you are a dedicated gamer, we all want to be a Sid Meier, a Peter Molyneux or a Richard Garriott. Not everyone are driven to release mutant camels and that is fair, but where we will be going (streaming systems) and what is possible is almost at the touch and I personally think it is important to push Microsoft out of this market before there way remains the only gaming-less option.  The problem is that it would have been easier if Google had taken up some form of game creation department and with the fact that gaming revenue is predicted to be $138,000,000,000 by 2023 is something that seems overwhelmingly attractive, but that is me and for now my idea to sell 50,000,000+ systems remain under lock and key (on a cloud location far far from home). But it is merely one direction and there are plenty of other directions, the revenue speculation opens those doors and even as a large chunk is set to microtransactions, the people are seemingly fed up with the EA and Ubisoft stage of microtransactions. I also gave a few other options (go look for them) and they are largely set to streaming systems. So is there an upside to THIS IP I now mentioned? No, it is merely another road one could wander, and it is here because I cannot wander them all and I am handing my ideas for free use to Amazon and Sony developers. It is a choice I made as Google decided not to create games. The old stage is seemingly fading, or at least I think it is fading, and what is around the corner is almost within reach and it will be bright and exciting, that is what I think, you might think different and rely on great franchises (like Gran Turismo) to set your beaker of desire. That is fair, gaming is what YOU want it to be, I merely want there to be alternatives for you to consider trying.

That’s how I roll.

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