Category Archives: Politics

One turn deserves?

That is the intro to the question, or perhaps the conundrum given. It comes from the Caspian Post  (at https://caspianpost.com/opinion/saudi-arabia-vs-uae-is-riyadh-becoming-russia-s-new-gulf-partner), one I actually hadn’t heard before. Out is one an opinion piece, but the title reads ‘Saudi Arabia vs UAE: Is Riyadh Becoming Russia’s New Gulf Partner?’ It made me think for a short while. You see Saudi Arabia is increasingly intelligent, so I don’t think this is the real reason or the truth. But the setting is given. And with “But the geopolitical landscape has shifted. Sanctions, compliance pressures, and reputational risks have made working with Russian clients in the UAE more complicated. Not because the country has turned hostile, but because it must balance relations with the West. The environment for Russians remains attractive, yet clearly less frictionless than before. This naturally raises the question: if not only the UAE, then where next?” Then there are two settings that I have in the back of my mind. In the first there is Washington, there is an inkling of thinking that they have open the doors to a setting that might lead to destabilization, because with all other issues that America faces, the last thing they want is a more strong, more stable middle east and they might think that this setting loses cohesion when the Russians are given a jolt of ‘entertainment’ the second thing is that I wouldn’t accept that America might stoop that low, they would lose too much, too quick. So I wonder about it. As we are given “Saudi Arabia stands out as the most compelling answer. A large, wealthy, and rapidly reforming state, it is positioning itself as a future global hub. The Russia-Saudi dialogue has long been rooted in oil cooperation and OPEC+, where both sides rely on coordination rather than competition. Political communication between Moscow and Riyadh appears stable and pragmatic. The Saudi ambassador to Russia, Sami bin Mohammed Abdullah Alsadhan, recently said that “personal contacts between the leaders of our states form a solid foundation for cooperation,” and the facts support this. Putin visited Riyadh in 2007, 2019, and 2023, while King Salman made a historic trip to Moscow in 2017. Few foreign capitals have hosted such frequent top-level contact.” As well as “In October 2025, Saudia Airlines launched direct Riyadh-Moscow flights, followed by Flynas opening a Jeddah-Moscow route in December. Daily flights are expected in 2026, along with new routes from St. Petersburg and Sochi. The real turning point is the introduction of mutual visa-free travel for 90 days starting January 2026 – a clear signal encouraging tourism, business visits, and economic exchange. Riyadh expects over 200,000 Saudi tourists in Russia next year, with plans to reach 2 million annually by 2030. In 2024, the number of Saudi visitors to Russia already increased fivefold. Russian interest in the Kingdom is also growing.” But why? There are a few ideas and none are really that good. In the first there is the need for a new tourist destination, that much is clear. Russians are shunned almost everywhere in the EU, Commonwealth and America, as as such the UAE and Saudi Arabia stand out. So the question becomes what business visits? As I see it, Saudi Arabia has clearly defined needs, but does Russia hold the answers? Then there is the data. So what Saudi tourists are looking at Russia? It seems a simple answer, but there is no clear answer. If the answer is work in the Russian Petro Chemical industry, the answer might be fine, but if that links Saudi to the seller of Russian Crude the picture becomes a little distorted. Especially when Saudi Arabia does a reversed Brent Crude Oil loop, as such whilst Brent resells Saudi Oil, Saudi Arabia might be reselling Russian oil to India and a few others. It will bring money to the coffers of Russia whilst greasing the Saudi wheels of business opportunity. Is this correct, is this incorrect? It is pure speculation, but it fits a few patterns and that is what I am going with. America might bristle its nose in the direction of India buying Russian oil, but it will not do so easily as India buys Saudi oil. India is safe, Russia know nothing and Saudi Arabia sees a plain and simple business agreement. 

And whilst we ponder on “Russia exported 4.49 million tons of grain to the Kingdom that year; agricultural exports rose 24%. Shipments of beef, poultry, sunflower, and rapeseed oil increased significantly, with poultry exports up 1.8 times in early 2025. Total trade has surpassed $1 billion.

Yet compared to the scale of Saudi-US trade – $25.9 billion in 2024, with plans to reach $600 billion within four years – Russia’s presence remains modest. This does not make cooperation meaningless; rather, it underscores how early Russia is in this market. Potential exists, but realizing it will require a long-term strategy rather than episodic enthusiasm.” Personally I think that this shape has merit, it allows one player to offset its oil, whilst greasing the wheels of another and I think it is highly likely that this is done right under the eyes of America ad the EU, and after we are given ‘US lifts sanctions on Russia’s military suppliers: What’s behind decision’ a week ago where we learned that “The lifting of US sanctions against companies involved in supplying equipment to Russia’s military-industrial complex is most likely an element of limited encouragement”, whilst we also see ““There is a strong component in the negotiations between Kirill Dmitriev (the Kremlin’s special representative – ed.) and Steve Witkoff (the US president’s special envoy) and Jared Kushner (Donald Trump’s son-in-law – ed.) that relates either to the personal interests of these individuals or to their lobbying of certain interests,” the expert added.” These two pieces give a weird symmetry as business in conducted with the ‘blessing’ of America, most likely it comes at a price that is non-disclosed, but it gives Saudi Arabia a larger coin towards the setting, so there will be almost no mention on it in the media. And whilst some ‘defer’ to etiquette like “Saudi Arabia is not the UAE. It is more traditional, more conservative, and strictly follows Islamic norms. Alcohol is entirely prohibited. Dress codes matter. Social etiquette is not decorative – it is structural. Anyone entering this market must adapt or fail.

Business advisers already outline basic rules for Russians planning to work with Saudi partners: an intermediary is not necessary but extremely helpful; conversations traditionally begin with personal small talk before business; clothing should be modest; punctuality is expected even if partners may arrive late; negotiation teams should remain constant because Saudis trust people, not changing faces; women may participate in meetings but usually not as lead negotiators” but in all this there is a hidden opportunity hatch handed to Russia and whilst (as I see it) the west is seemingly ignoring all this, there is a new revenue stream going straight into the coffers of Riyadh, because business is important. Imagery is important and as I understand it, not much else.

So is this simply one good turn deserves antoerqh, or is this the 101 of Islamic business opportunity? I actually don’t know, it might be both or even neither and I ‘coincidentally’ saw a setting that does not exist. I don’t believe it is the latter part, but I am willing to go with that one too.

Have a great Boxing Day today, mine pretty much ended already with less than 6 hours to go. Time for some dinner. I reckon that today it will be rice with tuna, carrots and peas. So enjoy yours and make it a nice day today.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Politics, Tourism

The Greenland narrative

It has been less than 24 hours, but as I see it, every news agency repeats the same words “We have to have it” and “National Security” whilst there are many sources, I am going with the one where Al Jazeera hands us “United States President Donald Trump has stepped up his campaign to take over Greenland, declaring the Danish territory essential to Washington’s national security and appointing a special envoy he said would “lead the charge”.” It comes from ‘‘We have to have it’: Trump renews push for Greenland as Denmark protests’ (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/23/we-have-to-have-it-trump-renews-greenland-push-as-denmark-lodges-protest) I wonder why the rest of the world is not protesting too loudly. You see when you get a psychotic bully lying his way in the room, what will happen when he takes on the next guest, what happens when he starts again with the 51st state rhetoric, because that will happen. You see America is addicted to money, there is no reigning in this folly, we might recognise some of the signs in salespeople, driven to their pipeline at the expense of everything else. Compulsive financial behaviors, spending, driven by intense preoccupation, anxiety, or a temporary high, leading to negative life consequences like debt, and extreme stress, and they had plenty of time to adjust their way of thinking, but it will never come. So what will the world do? Protect Denmark and its colony Greenland? Let it slide? The only one upside I see is that when the Greenland ice melts (due to extensive mining), the trillions of real estate value in America’s eastern shores, in villages like New York and Washington DC. These places will evaporate and that is a good thing. We will see denials that they will take good care of Greenland, but their word has lost 99% value as I see it. So as CNN treats us to ‘Jim Beam pauses production at main distillery as bourbon inventories rise’ because no one is buying their drinks anymore and as we are given that 85% drop in spirits exported to Canada isn’t sold anymore, that rhetoric will need adjusting, the news gives us all kinds of ‘responses’ from Trump minded people on how Canada is so Liberal and the social values of Canada is leeching off America, the unsettling truth is not even whispered. America had to adjust its spending setting for over a decade, and now the final iteration is reached. As Greenland is trespassed on for whatever imaginary reason given the world abandoned the idea of being allies with America and the Commonwealth is likely to see the stage with the EU and optionally China. I reckon that China needs to get several EU nations on board. I reckon that Germany is the first to be brought on board. France will still hope that America turn away from Trumpism, but that is not a gives as America seems to rally behind the Kremlin. The definite setting is not the Kremlin, it is their own $38,000,000,000,000 ($38 trillion) debt that is managing the folly of America. And this will become a lot worse, because Canada is already rejecting America and soon others will too. America brazenly stated that they didn’t need their wood. Excellent, they found other sources to sell it to. And as the U.S. imports about 40% of the softwood lumber the nation uses each year, more than 80% of that from Canada.

President Donald Trump says that the U.S. has the capacity to meet 95% of softwood lumber demand and directed federal officials to update policies and regulatory guidelines to expand domestic timber harvesting and curb the arrival of foreign lumber. (Source: the conversation) we see the unspoken truth. The unspoken truth given here is that it was basic economy that shows tariffs to be a bad idea and the White House lacking basic economic skills is taking on the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney. A rock star in economics, former Governor of the British Bank and he is walking circles around Wall Street and Wall Street is afraid, because as the economy is falling down, they merely have to look at that White House to see the guilty party. 

And as Canadian Snowbirds are avoiding their American nesting grounds (mainly Florida) these places go dark too. That is an annual multi billion dollar loss too. So whilst America is blaming liberal Canada, they merely shot themselves in the foot and whilst we see ‘little dipped’ numbers, we also know that American sources are hiding the real numbers in play making matters worse. The mess is a lot bigger than shown and it makes sense. Because no matter how Greenland unfolds at present, the pressure on Canada stays high because they are next on the ballot of America’s never ending need for greed. Greenland merely stops the immediate bankruptcy of America and unless nothing is done within 2-3 years, America still needs Canada and that reality is facing us all. So when will we say ‘enough is enough’? There is no stopping greed, it is eternal and those in power like being in power, as such spending habits will not wane which is the first essential thing to go to turn this about. But we were all told a lie, not one, but legion of lies like ‘it will be better tomorrow’, ‘AI will fix it all and Stargate is the way’ or 100 other questions fed to us by the media. All people in sales mode, including the media hungry for digital dollars and no one was making a basic tally of amount going out and amount coming in. That tally was basically never coming, because that requires tomorrow to be there and it never was and now Greenland (under the excuse of National Security) is the first place to fall for American Greed. So how will the world react?

As a commonwealthian I stand with Canada (unreservedly) but what about Greenland? As I see it, it is Danish territory and America trying to annex it should be seen as an attack on NATO and Denmark can invoke Article 5 and Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all members as such America will invoke a war with NATO and they should come to the aid of Greenland/Denmark. Should that happen (still a presumed event) it would drown the American defense industry as all of its members will cut short all contracts with America. And as Canada are part of NATO, that setting will turn nasty in an instance as the Canadians are fed up being called the 51st state, so they have skin in the game.

I think it will not turn out this way because President Trump knows the pickle he is in. He send an envoy without diplomatic status to avoid Denmark, but as that falls flat he lost 3 out of 3 ‘pretty’ places to inhabit and as that option evaporates, America has no option but to foreclose on debts outstanding and that will not be the pretty picture we think it is. I speculatively reckon that this is less than two years away, even less when we consider that several income sources fell away during the year, tourism being the most obvious one.

So have a great day and remember to see the sunshine, it shines on the just and unjust alike.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Politics

How broke am I?

I have wondered about that for a while and asked that very same question of that place. But some economist spoke that a nation cannot be broke (technically correct) and it reminded me of a 30 year old joke. A helicopter pilot was circling buildings in Chicago, to get his bearing, but he had no clue as the fog was too thick. So he mimed asking ‘Where am I?’ To people in a building. They wrote on a large sign ‘You are in a helicopter’ he thought for a moment, set his course and altitude and within 10 minutes he landed safely at the airport. The passengers asked how he did that and the pilot answered ‘The answer was technically correct but utterly useless, so I could only have been at the IBM Statistics building, from there on it was easy’ You think this is partially useless and you will be wrong, because we are diverting our attention to the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgmd132ge4o) and the losers of that comedy. The comedy starts with ‘New Trump envoy says he will serve to make Greenland part of US’ and it is almost hilarious, but the undertow of this comedy is not a farce, it is how desperate and broke America now is. So as we are given “Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US’s special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Gov Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a “volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US”.” So loser one is Jeff Landry, who served from 1987–1998 as a Sergeant, so he knows about illegal orders. So he goes to Greenland as an envoy, not with any diplomatic status, so President Trump can feign ignorance. And this might be the final straw as Greenland bounces Landry as an unwanted person the stage is decently set so that President Trump can invade Greenland to ‘avenge’ his former governor. 

And the question that I am getting is not the one you would expect “How broke is America?” You see after the folly of making Canada the 51st state (something that was doomed to fail) and now he is going after the Venezuelan oil calling it stolen from America. Weird, because Venezuela was never part of the USA. And now he goes after Greenland and now he get the EU and optionally Canada against him. He is after the riches of these places, minerals and expansion and it gives a rather bitter taste of alignments. The bitterness is that America might be so broke that this is their only option before they have to cancel debts they have. They cannot play this game any longer as I see it. And the wealth hidden on Greenland is all that is left to play. 

So, after he destroyed his alignments and destroying his tourism there is little left of the bankable economy of America. He stated that he didn’t need anything, but without Canadian energy settings and Canadian aluminum, America has a bitter future ahead and those enjoying this Christmas better make it count, because for Americans it is likely the last jolly Christmas they will have in close to a decade. The game is up, but there is one upside for President Trump. There is a likelihood that he drove the EU and Commonwealth straight in the arms of China

And they will reward him with the Fortnum and Mason Christmas Hamper. His final moment of eating like a King, because there will be nothing left after this mistake. His former allies see his for the enemy he has become and in a year he gave the land of the free and the home of the brave gain a reputation that is even worse than Russia has and I reckon that China owes him that hamper. America did more to advocate China’s supremacy than China could have even hoped of doing. 

And I get that the politicians (Republicans and Democrats) know the setting they are in and they are silent, because they have nothing better to offer, even if they ‘dethrone’ president Trump today, the damage is done. Tourism will be flat for close to a decade, trade is flat because no one will do business with America. Disney and Warner Brothers are evading to the UAE and Saudi Arabia to regain some of their options over the next 5-10 years. And as we see these parks evolve, we will see the American Theme parks drop down to nothing with almost no international tourists and as the prices keep on rising in these places, even Americans will be unable to afford to go there. Then there’s production, it is down over the entire field and whilst shortages increase in America, more and more will fall flat and as such America is done and when the first debt will not be followed up on, there will be a fire sale unlike any we have ever seen and that is fun, because these AI settings all training on data it has never show such events, so they are useless as some expected them to be. So where is Stargate? Where is the AI stuff? It is somewhere out there, but as it is not making revenue until 2029, it will be too late for America, but the EU will buy it all for $0.01 of the dollar because it will be the best America is hoping to get and as such the Commonwealth will let America hang as well. So as Russian tourism evolved to the number one spot in America, the wall on the Rio Grande will get a new function, not to stop traffic from south to north, but to stop Americans going south and that might be rash and I might be correct, but as I see it the Economy in Mexico will be better than the Americans economy is and it will take less than three years to get there. So the question how broke is America is one that needs contemplation because the actions of the American administration leaves no other question out there. 

And last there is the flag of Greenland, so where are the stars and stripes there? Greenland has been part of the Danish sovereignty since 1814, it is only recent that it got American interests because they need to minerals and they are seemingly willing to kill to get them and it might be the least defended one (compared to Canada and Venezuela) but Greenland is part of the EU through Denmark and those 27 states are now seeing America as the enemy it is and that might be a much tougher pill for America to swallow.

So have a great day and for the 56,836 it will be a great day, they recently learned that they have almost 500,000,000 friends who are roaring to have their backs and that is beside the allies they might get as those allies get to stick it to America.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Upgrade, next chapter

Yesterday I was thinking of a game I used to play and it left me a little underwhelmed. It was not the fault of the game maker, the game was awesome. It gave me the thought that I was in the deep with the dodo’s of the Kremlin, or the White House. The game did what they promised, but I was thinking what this game could do with current technology and settings of DMS and some LLM. There is also the thought that the game was originally a little 2D. It all fitted on an 800KB disk so I am not surprised. But consider the idea what the current settings allow for.

The idea that they had with the political tables of then (1987) and what Mindscape was able to achieve. It started as a game of geopolitics during the Cold War, created by Chris Crawford and published in 1985 on the Macintosh by Mindscape, followed by ports to a variety of platforms over the next two years and I got the AtariST version in 1987. And as sources reveal, takes the role of the President of the United States or General Secretary of the Soviet Union. The goal is to improve the player’s country’s standing in the world relative to the other superpower. During each yearly turn, random events occur that may have effects on the player’s international prestige. The player can choose to respond to these events in various ways, which may prompt a response from the other superpower. This creates brinkmanship situations between the two nations, potentially escalating to a nuclear war, which ends the game. It is my advice not to ‘antagonise’ the opponent in the Pink Kremlin, or the Black House to avoid the nuclear holocaust that follows. And why leave it there, the complications of a EU could be added, so you can see how likely little you can do as as King Gustav on charge of that small sided Sweden (population 10.5 million) and we can build on this, we can evolve this with corporate powers and the influence they hold with the likes of Strawberry, Hippolytics, Smallsoft, and a whole range of power players. See what happens when you tweak that power (or nationalise their goods) then we get to the impact of social media like SnoutTome, QuickOunce, MyTransistor, DingDong, Toucan, Connected, ScryingStone and a whole range of other groups. You could see the direct impact that trolls have when they are clearly exposed and optionally with scenarios to solve. I would recommend to leave the intelligence groups to a later date (or a DLC) to properly test the settings you have there. It could be the first simulator for audiences and students of geopolitics and social standings later. That is before you add the mess that (WatchMyGrey, AmiSix, and their offspring in France, Germany as well as Mossad does to the worlds chaos (under their tutelage) 

I wonder how no one enacted this setting, it seems to be a decently solid training and educational simulator giving students to study multidimensional settings that geopolitics present in todays industry. I’ll bet you you can’t fit that on a 800KB diskette, but there is every thought that it can be done, the social sciences tables still exist and they can vouch for the until recent messes and they are basically ready for deployment. And now that we see the world for what it is, we might also include global religion as an influence and show you why the Catholic Church doesn’t have as much as it used to be.

It is merely a small snag that escaped my brain this morning, but I reckon that the old software settings could still apply to settings of today, you merely have to upgrade the setting and there is plenty of options here and as they were solidly stated on those basic settings of Social sciences, in todays world they could be used through Deeper Machine Learning to a much more powerful extend. See what some see and what you are not supposed to know (sorry Blaise Metreweli) but that is also the next challenge. Instead of shouting at Toucan, you could investigate the trolls on Toucan and see what the expected result is and who the culprit behind these pretentious stages are, not to be coy, but using that Strawberry Studio to see it on the big screen, or even as a user of the Hippolytics Moon streaming service get a new lease of opportunity. An educational simulator for students and investigators of humbug gets a new side of life.

Well anyway, that was my thought I had this morning. And the names have been changed to avoid  the guilty and make me less liable, a decently appreciative setting

Have a great day. I wanted to take a nice walk, but it is 34 degrees celsius out there, bit much for a long walk. Oh and Strawberry, fix your DoDo Dos version Hawaii 26.1, when you switch off your router before you switch off your wireless, the wireless keeps on scanning the ether, even AFTER you switch of the WiFi. Sloppy programming. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, Media, Military, Politics, Science

The neighbors have coffee

That is the setting, but that is not what this is about. We are given a setting (at https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/trump-has-ordered-naval-blockade-of-sanctioned-oil-tankers-in-venezuela-he-says/gcrwrmllu) where we see ‘‘Act of war’: Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned’ Venezuela oil tankers’ and we see “But Trump on Tuesday pointed to another goal — regaining US access to Venezuelan oil production. The US armada “will only get bigger,” Trump said, until Venezuela returns “to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”” But is that true? At what point did Venezuela steal oil from America? Why assets did they steal? What land was stolen? Can we get a clear explanation of that? And if comes with two other settings. The US is pulling out all its troops out of Europe. And in the second setting we see today that one of the most successful American businesses is filing for Bankruptcy. Del Monte originated from California canners in the late 1800s, becoming a household name through the California Packing Corporation (Calpak). It has filed for bankruptcy due to the tariffs on fruits and aluminum. It drove them under in 6 months. And as I see it, a speculated setting is that President Trump will need to sue the BBC, because America is about to lose everything and not one intelligent being will do business with him beginning in 2026. 

As I said so before, America is done for and the longer everything is suspended in ‘investigations’ the longer it takes for the America people to see what hardship they are due for, not for a week or a month, but for several years and that is if someone takes over the helm of the good ship America and takes it in a 180 degree different course, there is no other way and even then it will take half a decade to clear the tourism setting that it now has and rebuild trust (which will speculatively take 3-5 years). 

So as we were given “But Trump on Tuesday pointed to another goal — regaining US access to Venezuelan oil production.” as well as “Caracas blasted Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, saying he aimed at “stealing the riches that belong to our homeland.” Venezuela has been sidestepping US oil sanctions for years, selling crude at a discounted price on the black market, mainly to China. Venezuela is estimated to have oil reserves of some 303 billion barrels, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) — more than any other nation. “If there are no oil exports, it will affect the foreign exchange market, the country’s imports … There could be an economic crisis,” Elias Ferrer of Orinoco Research, a Venezuelan advisory firm, told AFP recently.” As I personally see it (and I might be wrong) America is broke and it is about to lose whatever it has to pay for the interest on the loans they have. The Administration had a setting they tried and it backfired. Greenland isn’t giving up its land, Canada is turning down America and worse still, Canada is now making headway in impressive economic strides for Canada which is also hurting America. As I see it, the stage that was left was to ‘annex’ the Venezuelan oil fields. This is likely to fail, but more disastrous nearly all lands will gain mistrust of the American way which is now showing to be selfish at the expense of all others. That is as I see it the Legacy that President Trump is leaving behind and the sooner others see it the way (several already do) the more America sees the hurt it imposed on itself. 

And when places like Del Monte is filing for bankruptcy, it will not be alone ad the more these places are hidden due to ‘National Security’ or whatever reason is given and others are seemingly ready to follow. There is American Unagi, American Signature, parent company of furnishings retailers American Signature Furniture and Value City and more are on the list of those reading Chapter 11 of the book of economic hardship. All these facts are settings that give America a stage of disaster and the American administration remains in denial. 

Even if America succeeds with Venezuela, America is done for. No-one will trust America for decades. Not the EU, not the Commonwealth and parts of Asia will also shun America. And for a lot Canada is the more trustworthy option, so Canada will de decently well and as we recently saw Lockheed Martin is getting replaced by Saab AB and that is merely the tip of the iceberg. So whilst America withdraws the troops from Europe, Europe has one card left to play. It can throw America out of NATO and that has massive repercussions. You see America has 70,000 troops in Europe, those who are send back will likely lose their jobs, then they get a massive downturn in their defense industry. Which will upset Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. All that has a massive economic footprint. When the Europeans turn away from American hardware, America’s economy takes a swift dive into an abyss where it cannot afford the gravy trains it supported and that has other impacts as well. I reckon that the media is next, as American media gets shunned in Europe and the Commonwealth their incomes and more important their influence will wane into near nothingness. 

I honestly don’t know, but that is what I see, the markers are undeniable and they tend to cross nations, they cross interests and they cross political allies. As I see it, America might in the end have one ally left, Russia. So how does that sit with the anti-communist setting of the Republican Party? And next on that list id the waning of the CIA, you see as the Commonwealth stops trusting America, the CIA us also shunned from the meetings it needs to have and as such it is about to require a lot more money to stay afloat and that is the one thing America no longer has (at least until they get the Venezuelan oil) settings upon settings that sets the game that will be played and America is largely out of moves. They are about to falter in intelligence, they are faltering in business, the will soon falter in media and as I see it, the steps the American administration made towards Hollywood is strengthening Canadian, Australian and British film industries and those settings are getting larger and worse for America. So feel free to disagree and that is fine, but I reckon you need to investigate on yourself and see what the media is hiding from a lot of people. And as I see it, America is about to falter and leave the people in America without anything. Because the AI scare fare is about to cost American wealth trillions of dollars (according to some a number between nine and fifteen) who who gets to pay for all that? Microsoft? OpenAI? I reckon that it will come out of retirement funds and if I am wrong, I am wrong. But do come with actual numbers. We can see “US retirement funds are extensively invested in artificial intelligence (AI), primarily through large index funds, mutual funds, and ETFs that hold significant stakes in major tech companies leading the AI revolution, such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet.” As well as “Indirect Investment via Large Cap Tech Holdings: Many common retirement savings options, like S&P 500 index funds or target-date funds, have a large, concentrated exposure to the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks (Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, etc.) that are heavily driving AI innovation. Nvidia’s significant market value, for example, means it has a large weighting in many diversified portfolios, creating inherent AI exposure.” That is the bubble fear you should have and when America stops, you better have a sock with reserve funds, because that is all you can live on when it collapses.

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Law, Media, Politics

President Bully

Here I was, telling myself that the world is screwed up and behest and behold the world shows me I am right. So as a well known person (who I will not name) set the world on fire with his tweet (see below), I suddenly had a massive idea and as I am already working on three scripts I thought I put the idea here, for the entertaining person (likely an American democrat) to make this into a real script. Feel free to hack it in many ways you see fit and know that I would be happy to receive a donation for the idea, but that is largely in your hands. Know that I put this here for all to enjoy.

So as the world is on fire (seeing the massive response to this tweet on both the Republican and Democratic side of the isle) I thought that a script that pleases at least 40% of the American people might be the way to go. So here goes.

So this is what I have so far and I have had the tweet for less then 4 hours. So in view of the loss of Rob Reiner, who gave us  All in the Family (My introduction to Rob Reiner), the Princess bride, When Harry met Sally, Misery and a Few good men and several others. I think I countered the tweet by @realDonaldTrump, I think I got my creative revenge. I didn’t get to introduce on how Ivanka and Barron Trump had to flee to Russia as most Americans had their fill of the Trumps where they get to be toys of the Russian Mafia. Well the world turns in many unexpected ways. 

How you like my sense of consideration Mister President? 

Have a lovely day and take a moment to remember the works of Rob Reiner. I have many good and happy thoughts of his work, even if a never realised what an impact he had on me as a teenager watching Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton giving us their version of America.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Military, movies, Politics

In opposition

I don’t go into ‘in opposition’ mode too often, because it tends to be an exercise of mopping the floor whilst the tap is spilling right on the floor. And you come to the conclusion that it is better to close the tap FIRST, before you start exercising with a mop. That is merely my opinion, but it holds water (as the phrase goes). The exercise is the ABC article (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-23/f-35-fighter-jet-sale-saudi-arabia-uae-australia-weapons-exports/106029218) giving us ‘Australian F-35 exports face fresh scrutiny as jets approved for Saudi Arabia’ where we get.

So, as we get blatant stupidity from Australian shores with “The president also contradicted the 2021 US intelligence assessment by saying the crown prince “knew nothing” about Khashoggi’s killing.” I countered this case on grounds of the United Nations report by UN comedian Egsy Calamari (aka Agnes Callamard) in the article ‘That was easy!’ I found a dozen shortfalls on that report (which also uses the US Intelligence assessment) and beyond that I left the largest folly unspoken. At no time were the tapes actually forensically tested. They could have been listening to a tape with recordings of the Shadow, listening to Orson Welles. I reckon they didn’t do that, but the blatant holes in that investigation were astounding and they are paid 6 figure incomes? For what?

And the least said about “Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are among the groups who have called for arms bans to Saudi Arabia, especially after the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the country’s human rights record, and role in the Yemen war.” The better. They turning their backs on the actions of Hamas and Houthi terrorist actions is astounding. As such I do not give too much credence to the writings of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and it makes little sense, they were a force for good in the 80’s, how the world turns. 

So whilst we get “Andrew Witheford, international and crisis lead from Amnesty International Australia, said putting the highly-lethal jet into the hands of another country in the region was “problematic”.” Really? So how is that view going for America and its Venezuelan repertoire? And beyond the fact that Saudi Arabia is a stable monarchy, it is making great strides in several factors. But don’t worry China is willing to flog their Chengdu J-20 by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation at any time, and how will that help Australia? Oh, and I hereby claim my 1% bonus if Saudi Arabia switches to the Dragon, over that amount I would get (from China) $52 million, a nice retirement fund, so I can move to Toronto and Abu Dhabi, life can be fun at the autumn of your life.

How is anything that this article gives you all relevant to the setting? So as the ABC gives us “A Saudi-led coalition has been waging a war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.” We need to realise that there are no Houthi rebels, there merely are Houthi terrorists.

But do not take my word for it, ask Colonel Turki bin Saleh Al-Maliki he has the recovered several drones used on Saudi civilian airports and civilian targets. The media was so great in filtering out those facts, I wonder if you do the same. Is there a setting where Saudi Arabia uses weapons in defence of IT’S OWN COUNTRY? Yes, there is, defence works that way. But the media is eager to avoid their gaze on the rough stuff, like the Ghouta chemical attack in 2013 where the population was hit by rockets containing the chemical agent sarin. It might not seem related, but it is, when the atrocities of terrorists are laid bare, the people will ask difficult questions of the media. And that is not good for the digital dollar, is it.

So back to the story, as we are given “The UN Arms Trade Treaty, to which Australia is a party, says states must regulate the export of “parts and components” used to assemble weapons if there is knowledge the arms would be used in genocide, crimes against humanity, or certain war crimes.” We see the uncomfortable truth that they do not address action of Hamas as it is not part of the UN Arms Treaty Trade, nicely played. But this sanctimonious setting is getting on the nerves of too many people and the setting of a journalist no one cares about has been playing out for 8 years. All whilst the people are pointing fingers at the one who states that he is innocent and for the better part there is no evidence, the media takes whatever they could to get more digital dollars whilst ignoring clear evidence. So as we now against get the US intelligence assessment, most will not be clued in that some of this is based on 

we need to consider ‘an intelligence service or operative simply has to make a stab at assimilating what all this means’, this can be surmised into one single word ‘Speculation!’, it is fair for Intelligence operatives to do, but in law it is set to evidence and there is none, something I saw in 10 minutes into the initial report.” as well as “The Special Rapporteur was not allowed to obtain clones of the recordings so she could not authenticate any of the recordings. Among other aspects, such authentication would have involved examination of the recordings’ metadata such as when, how the data were created, the time and date of creation and the source and the process used to create it.

The simplest setting of law, Evidence, you either have it or you do not and no one has any clear evidence and the US intelligence assessment of ‘Highly Likely’ does not hold water in court. 

The simplest of settings and it is interesting how the media is filled with Islamophobes drenched in anti Saudi sentiment, it is not a completely correct setting, but that is how I see it. As such I am in opposition for the simple reason of evidence. And consider this, Andrew Witheford, gives us  “The F-35 used to only be sold to essentially liberal democratic countries” is that not a from of discrimination? By the way if all sounds right, America has become a (according to some) an authoritarianism, as such why is Australia even producing the parts of the F-35? Just a small question to cleanse the pallet. 

Have a great day today, Monday is now less than 325 minutes away. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Military, Politics

Then there is that

I saw an interesting piece in the Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2625701) we are given ‘Saudi firms sign agreements to develop Syrian oil and gas fields’ I see it as interesting as it is perhaps a first step to see funds ending up in Syrian hands which might start a healing process. So there is a lot more to be seen with “Under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy, four Saudi companies signed agreements on Dec. 10 with the Syrian Petroleum Co. covering technical support, development, and production in Syria’s oil and gas fields.”A war that lasted for over 13 years drained the resources out of that land (2011 – 2024) and with this step a first step towards recovery has been found. And with “The agreements signed include an agreement between ADES Holding Co. and the Syrian Petroleum Co., which defines the fundamental principles for the development, operation, and production of gas fields.” And with this step “This includes five gas fields: Abu Rabah, Qumqum, North Al-Faidh, Tayyas, and Zamlah Al-Mahr, and any other area agreed upon by both parties later.” I cannot say how much will be rolling in, but as I see it there would be millions a day rolling in when these fields become operational, millions that country needs to restore a lot of what was broken beyond belief. And with “Under this agreement, the Arabian Drilling Co. will provide platforms for drilling onshore wells, platforms for providing related maintenance services, as well as providing necessary maintenance services, operational support, and training and development of the national workforce.” The Syrian population might see a lasting prosperity, because there is no price that can be set on the training and development of a countries resources, the man power it has. It tends to have a lasting effect on what they can achieve. So that is all good news as I see it. 

All whilst the Guardian reports “While country’s return to global stage has filled many Syrians with pride, domestically old grievances threaten efforts to rebuild the state” with the added “Syrians from across the country gathered and raised their voices to celebrate the end of the regime, raising the revolutionary three-starred-Syrian flag and chanting for freedom. In a speech at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, the man who was to become the country’s president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, promised to rebuild a “strong and just Syria” for all of its components, promising reconstruction for the ruined country.” That comes with an added surprise. You see “Assad and his family were granted asylum in Moscow in December 2024 and recent reports suggest they are living in quiet exile under Russian protection” but that also comes with the fact that Syrians are not to pleased with Russia at present and Assad might not have brought all what he had with him, as such millions are still in Syria and when the money runs out, Russia is likely to hold no future promise for themselves and other construction companies will be active, likely Saudi and optionally Emirati construction companies will get the benefit of this. Russia will have shut themselves out and as the oil reserves are brought to bare, countries who are now pushed towards Russian oil revenues are given the chance to switch to a new Syrian company, the now People’s Syrian Petroleum Company, or perhaps now aptly named the PSPC (a speculative thought) With this a first much larger step has been made in the lives of Syria, a recovery step that will set it to a much brighter future than they thought was coming to them, thirteen years of war tends to do this, but with this step a first big step towards recovery is made real. 

Some sources state that Syria had access to 2,500,000,000 barrels over and when the oil production of 95,000 BPD is restored there is every chance that Syrian lives will end up with a much better prospect and as I see it, Saudi Arabia has every chance to make this happen. Then there are the options that a restored Latakia has on trade and tourism with a direct setting towards a ferry service with Cyprus an Turkey, it could then also bring forwards other prosperous options for the Syrian people as well as invite other parties to evolve those steps. Like the Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/08/stalled-justice-violence-syria-assad-one-year-on) recounts, there is a painful process still happening because decades of slaughtering and executing families in Karm Al Zaytoon Neighborhood as a part of the sectarian cleansing massacre by Assad Loyalists is not going away and as I have a legal education I would be pushed towards evidence, but where to get that? And I reckon that being part of the Alawite sect will come at a price at present, so there is that too. It will not all be roses and moonshine, but with the restoration of Syrian oil a large step towards recovery will be made. How this is done largely sits with the people now in power in Syria, but with engaging with Saudi Arabia to restore their oil production they will make the first steps in restoring Syria to what it could have been and might now be for real. 

A glorious day for Syrians, so you all have a great day. It’s Saturday here with only Wellington ahead of me, the rest of the world will follow me into Saturday in the next few hours, Abu Dhabi. (In three hours) is first to follow (as the first timeline I keep an eye on).

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Dropped balls

There are several balls that have been dropped by a whole range of entities (cannot call them people) and there is a larger setting. 

First there is Bioware with an at some point appearing Mass Effect and I wrote about the options of a remade and remastered Mass Effect 45 where you get Mass Effect 5 as well as an upgraded and ‘corrected’ Mass Effect 4. I did this in 2018 (might have been 2019) but it was over 6 years ago and I get that AAA games take time, especially if they are done in Unreal engine 5, that sucker takes heaps of precision, especially in the setting that Mass Effect has (and their is need for precision here) and that is merely the first. Then there is need for pointing out several matters. You see, Google with whatever version they are working gives when we ask for “Intelligence UAE” (I was apparently looking for SIA) but I got 

Now consider that the UAE is one of the safest countries in the world, as such, we have an issue. Yet when I ask for “UAE safety 2025” I get: 

Now consider that I ask this in 2025 and then try to question the first setting. As I have always said AI does not exist and the current Near Intelligent Parsing (NIP) that is managed by software engineers (programmers) and the setting we see here in Google is equally questionable by all who cater in the AI field. I also made mention of this in ‘And Grok ploughed on’ on November 27th (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/11/27/and-grok-ploughed-on/) a setting that many aren/t looking at, all whilst the people at large need to recheck everything some NIP solution is and gives, whilst most of these are quite literally riddled with bugs (also called programmer features).

It started as I was curious about Project Raven (I knew nothing of this about 24 hours ago), I am not completely dim to that setting as Wiki gives us “Project Raven was a confidential initiative to help the UAE surveil other governments, militants, and human rights activists. Its team included former U.S. intelligence agents, who applied their training to hack phones and computers belonging to Project Raven’s victims. The operation was based in a converted mansion in a suburb of Abu Dhabi in Khalifa City nicknamed “the Villa.”” I know that Wiki isn’t the most reliable ever, but at present it is more reliable then the press and the media, but what I needed to learn were names, namely Karl Gumtow and Cyberpoint. Basically as I am also looking for a job, and there was word that they were operating in Australia as well (which was proven to be incorrect). 

But there was a setting that places like LinkedIn never considered, the NIP setting of connected business and whilst we can call this a dropped ball, the setting is clear. These companies can never be found by some as the short sighted LinkedIn people are still on the page of “Are you hiring at present?” And they ask it of people who never hired in the first place, as well as flooding the mail system because that is a metric that they can measure (and it is utterly useless). 

But that setting is out there, so perhaps a competitor of LinkedIn could step in? Considering that Saudi Arabia is advertising that they have over 3000+ available positions (source: Arab News) and not just them, ADNOC is also hiring, but people need to know this and that is a filtered setting. There might be a reason that these two firms are merely looking for local staff, but as I see it, companies in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and perhaps France is looking for people they cannot find. As such as I personally see it, LinkedIn dropped the ball there as well. 

Then we get numerous places, outside of the gaming industry and the tech industry Some give us jobs like Healthcare (Nurses, Aged Care, Support Workers), Technology (Data Scientists, IT, AI/ML Specialists, Cybersecurity), and Trades/Construction (Electricians, Plumbers, Managers), so where is that knowledge going to? Let’s confront places like Canada, who is short on a lot of them and where is the offer for UK people, apparently they have an unemployment that recently rose to 5.0% (as of September 2025), its highest level in years, with 1.79 million people jobless. As such where will they go? If they do not want to go anywhere, that is fine, but in this stage, where people either accept jobs in other places or drown in rising cost there is a new setting, one that approaches the great depression (1929 to 1939) in that stage people would travel for days. By 1933, the U.S. unemployment rate had risen to 25%, about one-third of farmers had lost their land, and 9,000 of its 25,000 banks had gone out of business. People would travel to other states to get a job and support their families. It was not uncommon for people to hobo to California or Texas to find a job and send dollars home to keep their families safe. As I see it, these days are returning and people will Tavel all over the EU to get the same, or even go to the lands of opportunity like the UAE and see what can be gotten there. We aren’t in that stage yet, but that stage is just around the corner, especially for America as it is (apparently) “The US is experiencing significant job losses in late 2025, with layoffs reaching a five-year high, exceeding 1.17 million by November, driven by high inflation, interest rates, corporate corrections after pandemic hiring, and AI adoption, impacting sectors like tech, retail, and government, leading to a tougher job market with fewer new jobs and lower seasonal hiring.” I might seem low when the population if over 335 million, but that doesn’t matter to those who lost their jobs and these raking in the money handing out jobs (like recruitment company) and they are merely Direct Mailing all over the place to get their revenue. There is a larger need that is clear in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and several other places. 

As I personally see it, they are all in the mindset of “How can I get the same revenue for less work” instead of “How can I achieve more” because the second setting cleanses the Job loss setting and I am not saying that it solves everything, perhaps not even anything, but the lack in the mindset is the new prepared mind, which is currently not preparing at all.

And when you think that the US job losses are high now, consider what happened in 2026 when the impact of snowbirds is truly seen on the balance sheets in Florida and California. I reckon that in 2026 San Diego will face a massive job loss percentage and that is before the B&B that will go bankrupt in California as well as Florida hits US administration records. The Trump administration is losing more and more and as I see it, those waves will hit faster and faster in 2026. In the meantime there is every chance that Canada will be the next El Dorado, right in the middle of the snow as that is where fresh drinking water is found, America lost that setting too, because as I see it, no real investigation had been made for close to 10 years and whatever we see is a mere “Generally safe” and that it is the homeowners duty to check their wells. But no one is looking how the groundwater are impacted by chemicals and there is (as far as I can tell) no real investigation there. 

All balls that are dropped, some merely impact individuals and some impact whole population. All whilst places like Australia, Canada and New Zealand have larger settings to truly check these numbers. Did I show too much balls here? (Sorry, intentional grammar folly) The balls we see are not always the balls we care about, but they need to be shown to show that there is a larger failing and it is a very global failing. A setting we all saw coming, but it wasn’t our responsibility and it was not on our plate. Newsflash! The media isn’t doing its job and as such we need to have a wider look at things that COULD affect us, our families and our loved ones. 

Have a great day, except Vancouver and Toronto where I have to say “have a great yesterday”, my personal ever ready time travel jokes remain. 

Leave a comment

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

Really? One or the other?

That is the setting I find myself in. One is either a conspiracy theorist or a fake news provider. It is weirdly never both, or neither. Look at the news and the media is every bit as guilty on this, so what are we supposed to think? 

I had several things thrown at me (actually at my laptop). First there was the image:

And as CNN voices (at https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/10/europe/denmark-intelligence-report-intl) “Denmark has labeled the United States as a potential security concern for the first time in an annual report released by one of its intelligence agencies, offering more evidence of the increasingly fraught transatlantic alliance between Europe and the US.

The report, compiled by the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS), warns that the US “uses economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will and no longer rules out the use of military force, even against allies.”

It was a sight we had seen over the last few weeks and now official people (in Europe) are starting to recognise the American administration as a hostile one. The problem here is that most news was about 15 hours old, whilst I got the image yesterday, as such the tailoring of media is still going on and the setting we needed to see (like honest and direct reporting) takes a back set to, how will I diplomatically phrase is, the media keeps on whoring for digital dollars and all whilst they listen to ‘stake holders’ it is a decently ugly setting. Not all mind you, but a fair bit and whilst I do not consider Google innocent, there is no evidence linking them, but someone is making sure that some news will not reach the Google search and should you call me a conspiracy theorist, you could have a case. You see there is a lot of ‘material’ on conspiracy theory and whilst I personally like “conspiracy theories have been closely linked to prejudice and propaganda” but nowadays the setting is reinforced by another setting, you see in the ‘old’ days we had a decent setting from the media, but as some of the News given to people is now seen as entertainment in many countries (example: Today show, Sunrise) is several nations they have copied that setting, there its another stage. The media can now no longer be trusted that we are given the goods and as such the Conspiracy Theory evolves into a much larger sinkhole, because once you are in there, there is very little chance of escaping it and you are likely to create a form of cognitive bias called “illusory pattern perception” and that is the hidden trap. The best thing is to evade it all and let it slide and believe nothing you see, but that leads to isolationism. So what is the best course of action?

Consider the next setting

ABC gives us ‘Donald Trump criticises ‘weak’ leaders of ‘decaying’ Europe and hints he could stop backing Ukraine’ (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/trump-criticises-european-leaders-as-weak/106122876) with the text “The US president also hinted he could walk away from supporting Ukraine and suggested it could cede territory to Moscow, as “Russia has the upper hand” and that “at some point, size will win”. “And this is a massive size … when you take a look at the numbers. I mean, the numbers are just crazy,” Mr Trump added.” He might make that claim but as I see it, a Nation with the 20th army in size is slapping that country being one of the top three like a bitch wanting relief and as such they have slapped 1,185,080 opponents silly and as we are given that 69507 vehicles and fuel tanks have been destroyed, 157 more then yesterday. 

This setting is driving President Putin close to insane as we are given ‘Russia’s Syzran oil refinery halts operations after Ukrainian drone strike’ and it is not a surprise, I wrote about it on February 27th 2023 (over two years ago, at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/02/27/on-the-subject-of-failure/) where we see in the article ‘On the subject of failure’ with the text 

You see that oil can then not be used to heat Russian houses, fuel power and fuel mobility. In addition it would be a first direct proof that the Russian Army has no place to go, or at least not operational. If it was merely missiles the issue would be small (except for the Ukraine), I am speculating that it is about a lot more, even if we accept that Russia is sending troops with 40 year old ammunition. The fact that they cannot do this with a renewed offensive is up on the wall and now we see how deployment and supply lines are on the front issues. If they cannot get supplies they will need to acquire them and China is nearly the only option and that is merely the beginning of the issue. Thee news has shown enough issues with soldiers personal gear and debatable mobile hardware (tanks and other things requiring wheels). This is not the stage of some new tanks, this is about the refurbished T-72 tanks that are almost 50 years old, implying that whatever anti tank comes their way will slice through their armour like a hot knife through butter and that is if the refurbishments were properly done, which in light of several issues is now a matter for debate. ” and this is over two years old, as such the statement ““Russia has the upper hand” and that “at some point, size will win”” comes across as insanely stupid. And his military council (if he listens to them) should tell him the same and whilst Russia is Yes, bigger. The Ukrainian army has been hurting the Russians in several ways by destroying pipelines and tankers. As such Russia cannot get revenue, because the oil is never delivered. Now, as the Syzran oil refinery is stopping production the hardship for Russia increases. Because the heating of large cities is about to stop in several places and that will set a new stage for Russia, sell oil, or warm its population. So what to do? 

I reckon that there is a Russian/American answer and a Ukrainian setting and they are about to get several donations from Nato and now that Canada is coming to Nato, the Ukrainians might actually get a shipload (read: shitload) of cold weather gear and materials. So bigger doesn’t always win, the prepared mind does and the Ukrainians have been very prepared. 

This issue here is that the media should be on top of this all and they are not. Why not? There is something seriously wrong with the media and the longer I look, the more convinced I get to be. So is this the trap? Am I conspiracy theoretically delusional, or is there a setting where the seesaw of common sense gets to be out of balance because the media doesn’t anchor sane or a setting of common sense? 

There are complications and the setting here doesn’t really compute for a lot as they are merely loosely related and there is a danger too. I gave it to you readers some time ago. If you have baskets of apples and oranges and put them all in a bucket, you cannot say it is a bucket of fruit. It is simplistically correct, but it isn’t the correct setting unless we specify that the fruit is only apples and oranges. Because some people see the statement that it is a bucket of fruit and they start looking for Bananas and Grapes, which was not in that setting. 

In the second degree, I stated (quite clearly) that The Russia infrastructure in under pressures from several sides and that was two years ago. In the meantime Russia went crying to North Korea and China for help whilst still selling oil to India. And the press is nowhere to be found (in a matter of speaking) and in the meantime a source gives us ‘De Wever does not rule out legal action if EU bypasses Belgium over frozen Russian assets’ (source: Belga News Agency) and we might want to ‘raise the finger’ at Belgium, but Belga gives us “De Wever questioned whether such a move would be legally sound if based on Article 122, which is intended for emergency situations. He argued that such conditions do not apply at present” and we are also given “Merz and Von der Leyen, who visited him in Brussels on Friday, understood the logic behind Belgium’s position and that it has no intention of obstructing Europe. If the three conditions can be secured by the 18 December summit, Belgian approval is not impossible” my issue is that scores of media aren’t looking at that part, merely flaming a sight for digital dollars, but how many have looked at Article 122? When I seek in Google over the last 24 hours, only Euractiv and the Belga News Agency looked at this. Why only those two? Where is the Guardian, the NOS (Dutch News) and several others? That is the setting we see over too many topics and the people are basically losing their mind. Article 122 gives us:

Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is an “emergency clause” allowing the EU to act swiftly in exceptional economic situations, like energy crises or natural disasters, by enabling the Council to adopt measures (often bypassing the Parliament) to provide solidarity and financial aid to member states facing severe difficulties, serving as a crisis tool but raising debate over efficiency versus democratic oversight. 

So to give clarity:

Article 122(1) (Economic Difficulties): Allows the Council, on a Commission proposal, to take appropriate measures, in a spirit of solidarity, when a Member State faces severe difficulties, especially in energy supply. And the Ukraine is not a member of the EU. 

Article 122(2) (Natural Disasters/Exceptional Occurrences): Permits the Council to grant financial assistance to a Member State facing or threatened by severe difficulties due to natural disasters or events beyond its control. 

A war is not a natural disaster, but exceptional occurrences do apply, Still, the Ukraine is not a member state and as such Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever seems to have acted correctly and the media does not bear that out, or at least as far as I can tell 2 did and Europe has around 140 “news only” TV channels that are available in Europe, so where is the rest? What does it take for the news to do its work whilst not hiding itself behind entertainment? I ask you this and when you consider the stages that we have seen and the exploration the media has shown to have engaged in, what are they doing and why are they not taxed 20% GST? If you hide behind entertainment you can cough up the tax dollars too. So did I oversimplify the problem here?

Have a great day, for me it is almost Friday, 174 minutes and counting (I really am).

Leave a comment

Filed under Law, Media, Military, Politics