Category Archives: Politics

June 24, 2022 · 18:51

The size and shape of a stage

Yes that is at times what we face and it was weirdly enough Yahoo News that got me there. Their article ‘Biden’s Saudi Arabia trip denounced as ‘frightening and enraging’ by dissidents’ (at https://au.news.yahoo.com/bidens-saudi-arabia-trip-denounced-as-frightening-and-enraging-by-dissidents-140526416.html), and yet the small part ignored is that a dissident is a person who opposes official policy. So as the US is trying to make nice with the people they need, they are hindered by the people they do not need. So when we see “the street was in front of the Saudi Embassy, and its new name was Jamal Khashoggi Way.” So in all this, how much hay is being made by a nation (Brazil) where 100% more journalists were murdered in the last week? There is a lack of the 78 million articles, a lack of some CIA report (via the UN) that it is highly likely, there is a need to paint one person white, the other person black and hoping that no one will notice that Al Jolson was not African American. That is a stage we see, that is a stage people play for and we are caught in the middle. You see, the report was dubious in a few ways. It does not make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia innocent, but it clearly shows that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is not guilty. And this all takes a harder sharp turn because the person no one (well almost no one) gives a hoot about was a columnist for the Washington Post. And the setting merely escalates from there.  

So as we see the pressing need for the US to postpone its dollar default for as much as possible, it needs business with the KSA (it is close to the only one who can afford this), they need the oil from them to be cheaper, because the US does not have enough and they all need it yesterday and the people who opposed official policy are trying to make that impossible. 

I have nothing against dissidents, some are validly so, some are to make a quick buck and get out of the mess they were in. That first group needs consideration, yet beyond them getting out they need to realise that if the dollar defaults they could end up back in Riyadh and how will they fare then? So now we get Bethany al-Haidari of the Human Rights Foundation, who gives us “Now she is worried that Biden will be sending to authoritarians around the world the message that political expediency trumps core conviction. And while that may always be the case in the world of realpolitik, the images sure to emanate from Riyadh will starkly contrast the divide between American values and practices.” It is a valid point, yet the validity is under fire from the setting of values and practices where social commitments have lost to the profits of big business. And the US government is not innocent here either. I spoke out about the essential overhaul of tax laws 24 years ago, they all called me crazy, it would sort itself out. And now? The US national debt has surpassed the $30,500,000,000,000 They are now well over $5,000,000,000,000 past the point of no return. At this point they need to reduce debt by $500,000,000,000 per year and it would still take 3 generations for the debt to become manageable. What do you think will go out the window first? Values or practices? A setting where the larger gain for the US will be Elon Musk, they know it and that is why they hate him. Mobile and energy power in the hands of one man, one man who is seemingly a lot more clever than Bill Gates and Larry Ellison combined and one generation later.  The politicians are scared, they opened a door they refused to close and now they are setting down with a mess all over the place, because they could not adhere to values and they are left with the practices that re out there at tax laws that are still unadjusted. 

The USA is about to become a mess for well over two generations and the media is silent, because they want their digital dollars, it is all they have left and it does not adhere to values, merely to the painting of flames and flaming targets. Elon Musk can wait until desperation takes over, Google, Amazon and IBM can wait and over that time Microsoft will merely become more desperate to spin their failures. Big tech in a world that merely adheres to the practices that they can adhere to for their board members and share holders. That is the world that needs to appease  to either Bethany al-Haidari or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. I reckon that the Bethany al-Haidari in this world are figuring out that they will be getting the short end of the stick, one that was handed to big business, not merely big tech. And Biden might be the last president before the Dollar buckles completely and the US becomes a third world nation. 

Are you depressed yet? 

Good, you need to see what is coming and for the longest of times, even as the media is trying to spin that all is well, all is not well and all is getting worse. As I stated, I do not give one hoot. It was clear to me when I saw the UN report that this was a hack job, that this was a well articulated magician’s trick and in the end how much visibility did we see on the 42 murdered journalists in Brazil? Journalists, not some columnist. And that is before we realise that Turkey has it own skeletons in their closet and when that gets out in the open we see the media is not indifferent, it is and has been actively hostile towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as such the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can take its time and wait and watch the US go under one step at a time and at present quicker than several months ago. That is the reality, that is the impact of what some call realpolitik. It sounds nice on paper, but realpolitik is all about the practices, especially those who bring profit, values be damned. But the people who are lulled to sleep will see and face that part soon enough. 

So consider what you read and do your own research, do not take my word as gospel. I try to be as honest as possible, but I too adhere to practice more than value. I accept values and I admire those fighting for values, but in a place with 30 trillion in debt values will not last long, because every politician will see revenue as for the good of all and in that world people like Elon Musk are the options of tomorrow and no one has a better plan, because when that was an option the flaccid politicians saw it was easier to call me (and others) crazy and not in touch with reality, and that was not that long ago, these same people will now hide behind “It is difficult, it is a complex situation”, you tell me how I could see what was coming and I do not have an economy degree. I have three degrees, none in economy.

Enjoy your Friday and try to have a little fun.

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June 22, 2022 · 01:18

The Jamocratic joke

Yup a wordplay and it is not the only one I have, but it is one of the less ‘hurtful’ ones. In the first, I have a republican mindset, I have always had that. I oppose Trump in all its glorified stupidity. I believe the US lost a great man with the passing of John McCain and I think the republicans wrongfully stabbed Liz Cheney in the back on the words of a bully, but we will have a reckoning on that later. Today we start with SkyNews who gave us ‘‘Morally bankrupt’: Biden ‘humiliated’ by Saudi Arabia and oil companies’ (at https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/united-states/morally-bankrupt-biden-humilitaed-by-saudi-arabia-and-oil-companies/video/5819a070a892b5de3db7a8f259bff9c6), now granted the news is 2 days old. I wanted a little time to mull things over, but the text as given by “The president said it’s “unacceptable” that oil companies are making record profits during “a time of war.”” Oh? America is in a war? Who are they in war with? With their ‘proud boys’, with their failures? The list goes on and it is not a nice list. They gave the power to Wall Street and Wall Street ants ledgers, not excuses. 

And we were given a list of the oil companies

Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron, BP, and Shell.

Marathon made $69B in 2020, that was their operating income, Their Net profit was $9.9B in 2020. Valero might have had a larger revenue $117B (2018), but a much lower Net profit which was a mere $4B (2018), Exxon mobile was the bigger player with $276B (2021), yet only with a Net income of $23B (2021), less than 10%. Are they corporations? Yes they are! They own responsibility to their shareholders and 10% does not add up to much and the statement of “record profits” does not add up, well not completely. You see Biden was handed a bad hand and the Russians gave that to him, so to see him blame American companies is one failure, to nag and bitch to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after he vowed to make them a pariah on something lacking clear evidence is a second failure. None of these players owe him, or the American people anything. This is the setting of a commodity driven economy. Consider the list. The US is one of the top three oil producing nations, so why is all that oil squandered? Why did the presidents (all of them, Republicans as well) not halt the consumption of oil? Why was something not done 20 years ago? I have articles spanning back decades on this folly. In 2015 Americans told me to shut up (fair enough), but now they do not get to scream! 

They can have ice cream (to soften the blow) but not whinge and whine. 

You see the problem is so much larger, and the US is part of that problem, it was never part of that solution. In 1999 crude oil was at an almost all time low of $19.35 a barrel. The cost was so low that oil providers started to shut down, the only time is was lower was in July 1946. Oil has had a rollercoaster life with tops in 2008 ($187) and April 1980 ($142), so as it is now at around $114 I would say “You ain’t seen nothing yet”, oh and before I forget what wars were the US in in 2008, or 1980? 

No, as I see it when you decide to hand the reigns to Wall Street, you cannot ‘yap’ like the little chihuahua. A commodity driven economy does not care, it does not care that your granny is sick, that the dog ate your homework, or that the mistress will not have sex with you as you only bought her a Microlino instead of a Dodge Challenger. All parts a commodity driven economy cares nothing about.

And Saudi Arabia? They need to do what is best for their country, not what matters to their greed driven customers. Does it hurt me? Yes it does, but that is the world I live in. I do not control oil, I do not control wealth, as such I am its plaything just like anyone else. As such SkyNews has a point with “US President Joe Biden has been criticised as “morally bankrupt” and “weak” in regard to his energy policy after it was revealed he is planning to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss the global oil crisis.” Yes, it is one way to look, but if he cannot control the American people who are eager to dig a deeper grave by the day (they are almost deep enough to say ‘Nǐ hǎo’ to the Chinese people) and no one in the US is stopping the need for oil, higher prices is where it will be. A simple setting of Supply and Demand.

It is getting worse, less than 3 hours ago we were informed (by Reuters) “Egypt and Saudi Arabia have signed 14 agreements valued at $7.7 billion during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman” in addition there is “the establishment of a $150 million “pharmaceutical city” by Egypt’s Pharco Pharmaceuticals in Saudi Arabia” That is the true benefit of being a true ally to Saudi Arabia, a setting now starts that will cost the American coffers billions, just as I predicted will happen in 2016, 2018, 2020 and now we see the first (or second) impact in 2022. The US pharmaceutical branch in Saudi Arabia will lose power, Egypt will rise. Egypt will offer services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for billions, those billions are lost to the US and the EU. This is the impact of a failed policy that never had any strength to begin with. 

So in all this, the administrations of the US (not President Biden) failed its citizens. The administration set the paper tiger in motion that looks nice, but when the people around it know that this tiger is paper (unlike the one below)

There will be a lack of reaction, a lack of adherence and that is when we realise there was never any need to adhere to anything. So the American people pissed off the KSA and Elon Musk (both energy saviours). So how exactly was that letter anything but a bad idea even before it was written? I see it was a desperate act of an administration that saw its fuel policy go to $5.87 (from $2.17) a rise of well over 100%. We get the desperation of the letter, but the expectation of success is equally laughable. As such what is the letter anything else but an admission that bankruptcy is merely just around the corner? When this all comes to blow the larger setting will come into play and there Wall Street will get to learn the lesson that absolute greed has merely one direction and it is not a good one, but those in Wall Street will have packed up their 8 or 9 figure balance and they will have headed for a zero tax shelter with warm sands and warm beaches. The rest? Well good luck to them. Oh and do not forget winter (and the need for heating fuel) is a mere 17 weeks away now. 

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June 20, 2022 · 21:11

Online death dealers

Yes, it sounds ominous, but it is no JK Rowling, it is no fabrication of the H Potter variety. This is healthcare. And it woke me up when I saw the advertisement on Google YouTube today. You see, the advertisement sounds dangerous right off the bat. And the weird part is that the warnings at ABC are two years old. They gave us (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-05/instant-online-prescription-app-raises-medical-safety-concerns/11925700) ‘‘Instant’ prescription providers prompt warnings from GPs and pharmacists’. There we see “Doctor and pharmacist peak bodies are voicing concerns about online services offering “instant” prescriptions to people who fill out a digital questionnaire, arguing they heighten the risk to patients.” In addition we get “Instant Scripts is one of several online platforms offering immediate prescriptions for medications such as pain management, steroid creams and anti-depressants by having patients fill out a digital questionnaire.” So first we get the entire Oxycontin issue, and now they let an online setting handle pain management? How long until someone gives the people the setting if you need Drug A, you need to answer the following questions (and so on). So how dangerous is this setting?

I personally believe that it is very dangerous. The fact that a patient (optionally an addicted one) can circumvent both doctor and pharmacy is likely the most dangerous one of all and I reckon the makers covered themselves with “You must always be completely honest” or something of that effect. Yes, because a written warning always helps when the person is addicted. So when we get to “But the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia are both concerned a growing number of companies are trying to shake up traditional healthcare in the name of convenience.” I wonder whether it will be convenience or profit that some companies will adhere to. 

As such I have issues and perhaps they are hot valid ones, but the ABC supported my train of thoughts hours ago on the 5th of February 2020. Whatever we call it, an algorithm, a script that leads to a prescription, the only one who can do it safely is the GP of the patient and I have seen several options from my GP so wonder how essential that ‘instant’ part is. And when the issues start, when the complications start, where will the app builders be? Where will the people be who signed of on this? Simple questions that the greed driven will avoid and counter with some claim that is likely to have little foundation in reality. Is an app like this valid? If we take away the ‘instant’ part yes. In rural settings this app could do a lot of good, take away the stress from several parties, least of all the patient, but the ‘instant’ part makes it dangerous. It to some effect reverberates in another statement I saw today. “We cannot get rid of guns, but what if a citizen needs to be over 25 to own one?” I feel that this idea has merit. We cannot control the immediate, so what happens when we set the age, just like voting and alcohol? And it is the same for this app. ‘Instant’ is not acceptable, but the app itself could do a lot of good, if only it goes via a GP for approval, and this GP has to sign off on it. Suddenly ‘instant’ no longer applies, is no longer valid. Consider the doctor signing off on a prescription that has lasting damage? This is one issue the doctor cannot avoid, one the pharmacist cannot avoid. And there is reason for this. How many pharmacists selling Oxycontin have gone to prison? I wrote about it as early as 2019 (before the ABC article) in ‘A larger failure’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/10/13/a-larger-failure/) A stage that was even dealt with in 1978, a reference to ‘When in doubt’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/08/31/when-in-doubt/) So well over a year before there is a clear setting that gives pause to anything offered ‘instantly’ and now you want to do away with GP’s and pharmacists (to some degree)?

With them in place there was still a gap to sell 76,000,000,000 opioid pills. How many will the ‘instant’ marker allow for? And the moment the people see the Google advertisement and figure out that certain combinations guarantee certain ‘solutions’ how will this not go from bad to worse?

On the other hand, if we can get rid of 35% of the population this way, go right ahead, it will benefit nature in other ways. So have a good thought of what you want and how you want it.

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June 18, 2022 · 05:09

The needy, the greedy and Dopey

Yes, a reference if ever there was one. Yet in the stage of an article that was the thought that hit me a second later. The article came from the Guardian titled ‘Fossil fuel firms ‘have humanity by the throat’, says UN head in blistering attack’. The article (at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/17/fossil-fuel-firms-un-head-antonio-guterres-blistering-attack) gives us all kinds of ‘information’ And we pause when we see “Fossil fuel companies and the banks that finance them “have humanity by the throat”, the UN secretary general has said, in a “blistering” attack on the industry and its backers, who are pulling in record profits amid energy prices sent soaring by the Ukraine war.” Yet the truth is not really that profound, is it? We can blame the oil dealers, but the truth of the matter is that for well over 20 years governments were dragging its heels in the investment that was essential for their nation, The US, the UK, Commonwealth nations, EU nations. None of them are without blame. And as such United Tony goes on a ramble of blaming. And with “They exploited precisely the same scandalous tactics as big tobacco decades before. Like tobacco interests, fossil fuel interests and their financial accomplices must not escape responsibility.” And where were the governments? Filling their pockets on that taxation. But that is something we do not get to see either is it? For centuries the world created a commodities environment and that should have stopped 30 years ago, or should have been deflated 30 years ago and now that the hole is deeper than one thought the blame game starts and the pointing fingers commences in earnest, but if you want to see the guilty party you only need to look into a mirror. 

And in the USA, where we see average diesel prices at $5.798. In November 2020 is was $2.462, in May 2008 it was $4.723, In June 1996 is was $1.179. This was a volatile market to begin with, there were clear warnings in 2008, which was 14 years ago and the 12 years before that there were more indicators. So where was the United Nations then? Where were the politicians then? So the tantrum the Guardian is giving us sounds nice, but the lack of actions is overwhelming as such we could go with the blame on ‘fossil fuel producers and financiers’ yet in all this where were the politicians, where was the media? The same media that shorted an EEA report that CLEARLY showed that 50% of ALL pollution was created by 147 facilities and I illuminated that in earlier articles, where was the Guardian at that point where its reporter was eager to blame all those jet owners? 

As such United Tony should get contemplate a decent grip on reality. 

So whilst we now see “The Guardian understands Guterres has been incensed by the recent behaviour of fossil fuel companies, which have been reaping a bonanza from energy prices sent soaring by the Ukraine war. Much of these bumper profits are likely to be invested in fresh exploration and expansion of fossil fuel resources.” All this with an earlier jab towards Saudi Arabia and the ‘need’ for President Biden to go there. Yes, there is a splinter of truth there, but the larger issues is that oil is a commodity, one many do not have and lets face it. The top three are United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. So if the US is one of the three top producers, why does it need Saudi oil? Did anyone consider THAT part of the equation? The US should have limited fossil requirements decades ago, but did they? So why is United Tony ignoring that part of the equation? And then we see the political ‘outrage’ with headlines like ‘Biden Was Always Going to Need Saudi Arabia’ and “Why Biden Needs Saudi Arabia: to produce oil and deter Iran” yet the simple truth is that Saudi Arabia needs to do what is best for Saudi Arabia and the US needs to produce more oil, or set the stage that less oil is required a simple setting that was out in the open for decades. Yet we also see a lack of actions from the United Nations and United Tony to set a clear agenda to LIMIT the need for oil. We see a lot of noise and we saw that for the longest of times, but how much ACTUAL actions were taken? Consider that one of the top three nations is appealing to Saudi Arabia to produce more. We get that he is not going to Moscow, we get that his actions are limited but this is a train-wreck from beginning to end. And the United Nations are a mere sample of Mukimono on the diner table and we need to realise this. 

So when we see “Fossil fuel firms ‘have humanity by the throat’” we want to blame, but who can we blame but our own reflection? So when people ask me ‘What did you do?’ I can say “I never bothered with a drivers license, I never owned a car. I walked nearly every day to and from public transportation” and in over half a century I only desperately needed a car LESS than a dozen times and they nearly all were part of moving day actions. Who else can make that claim? Yes, some call me Dopey for not having a car. Yet I saw people requiring $80 a week just to park the bloody thing, so who is the Dopey? Them or me?

Dependence on oil is a bad thing, but not addressing that need is worse. The politicians and people are mere junkies for the black goo. They can alter the language and give excuses but that is what a junkie does and those who wanted a solution found another way, so which nations have another solution? Yes, I reckon you will not be able to find one, even as New Zealand might be the closest to being one, it is in the same goo, just not as deep as all the other nations. 

It would have been nice for António Guterres (United Tony) to address the needy (US) the greedy (the political players) and tell the Dopey’s (the people) that the first step in addressing this problem is admitting to yourself in the mirror that you have one. Because the people are just as much to blame as anyone else. If you want to make claim that you are not the problem then leave your car at home for a week, for one week do without it. You will be surprised how many excuses you can come up with to grab the car, just like a junkie does. I feel fine, I have been without a car for half a century. So from the time we saw the Morris Marina until the Maruti Swift, I never had any of them. I get that there are times that a car is essential, we all get that, but I throw back at you that this year alone there are 1.446 billion cars, in 1970 the world had 200,000,000 cars. Over 50 years we saw a 723% growth of cars and some are essential, I get that, but 723%? We are all part of that problem, we drove the commodity of oil into the stratosphere and we are too scared (or cowardly) to admit that and the oil producing nations are having a great day, the Ukrainian war is merely an excuse. You see, 50% of that war (Russia) has its own supply and they have plenty. But that part is equally not illuminated. Why is that?

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June 11, 2022 · 20:51

And America loses yet again

Yes that is the setting. Al Jazeera dos not voice it in this way. They give us (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/11/iran-says-oil-sales-strong-despite-ukraine-war-changes) with the headline ‘Iran says oil sales strong despite effect of Ukraine war’ it shows that Iran basically gets a decent share of $120,000,000 a day, that amounts to $43,800,000,000 a year. That puts them on around the 45th best funded nation. So where are these economic sanctions now? They removed the nuclear monitoring camera’s, where is the action? Let’s be clear, this in not on the Biden administration. Yet their inaction will count against them, Iran is making a jester out of America and the Yanks are letting them. 

Iran is rubbing it in and the quote “Overall, the outlets said Iran has sold 40 percent more crude, oil derivatives, natural gas and gas condensate in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year that ended on May 21 compared with the corresponding period last year.” And Al Jazeera is kind enough to give us “refraining from publishing detailed figures as the country remains under stringent US sanctions.” I personally do not see that many sanctions, not with a nation in 45th position for budget availability (out of 230). It seems that the US has failed yet again and the failures are adding up and slamming whatever credibility the US has left. It takes me to a side that is not indicative (but could be) on YouTube last week, some might have seen a video of a nightwatch falling asleep on the spot and shooting themselves. Some say hilarious, I think it is pathetic, but that is me. What followed was that someone told me “What if we give every American a weapon, watch them shoot themselves, walk in and call it South Canada?“ The man had a point and I for one had the smirk to consider telling Candace Owens what happens next. Especially when we see the Canadian State of Simcoe Monacan which is Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and anything east of that. The state is named after John Graves Simcoe and the Monacan Indian Nation as per request by the First Nation, any southern state will have a one third representation from local natives. The Commonwealth accepted that requested for South Canada.  At that point will people like Candace Owens shout for the rights of people? I think that scream will be more like it, when the shoe is on the other foot the game changes drastically and that needs to be seen. Iran is playing a long term game and it is not far from completion. It is time for America to take a more active role in the downfall of Iran. If not for the US, then for Saudi Arabia, Israel and several other nations that are being pushed by Iran and even as I believe that they are getting more money, the tactics of Iran are starting to show well beyond the Yemeni borders. When they get of even one attack to the degree they are hoping for, the credibility of the US will drop to below zero. 

In this Patton was absolutely right (Patton, 1970) “Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time” and here we see the stage, the Economic sanctions were the move of a loser watching energy unfold and diminish. But that tactic only works if all participants are driven to that goal and with Iran they never were. That is how I see it, so whilst you wonder what the other states are called in the future, remember that Candace Owens forced Canadian hands, sometimes when we are in the markets we do the one clever thing, we avoid the screaming fishwives. A simple act, especially when the people decide that overstepping lines are unacceptable. But that is not the case is it? The long term actions show that failure and as we take tally, we better take tally of what else we are missing because the removal of 27 camera’s was planned, the question is why. It was not merely to show that the US failed, that the UN failed. That has been a known issue. What do the 27 camera’s allow for? That is the question I have and perhaps it is seemingly nothing, but that is not the case with Iran, is it? 

I will let you figure it out. I honestly do not know at present.

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June 11, 2022 · 00:01

A royal nuisance

The day started so nice. I was about to give more IP to the world and then Vladimir Putin decided to play to play the Russian megalomaniac on the dramatic chords of Ivan the terrible. So I decided to have a little fun of my own. The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/10/putin-compares-himself-to-peter-the-great-in-quest-to-take-back-russian-lands) where we are given “Vladimir Putin has compared himself to the 18th-century Russian tsar Peter the Great, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands.” Really? Perhaps he does not remember Peter (or Pjotr as we called him) in a town called Schiedam (Netherlands) he learned shipping there and lets be honest, he learned well. That needs to be said upfront. But he learned from the likes of me and now it is my turn. It started this on February 27th 2022 where I introduced the Kraken Torpedo. In the mean time I have come up with a launching system that can drop it with canister and all from a plane, we merely need to know where it is and that technology already exists. 64 Kraken torpedo’s to counter the 64 submarines the Russian navy has and that is all they have. You see the Kraken is guided but does not explode. It dives to the depth and approaches the submarine, two rings with a glue that is a mix of the adhesiveness of a gecko and a Barnacle. The ring attaches to the submarine and then something happens. The front ring grows making the torpedo stand out. At that point the cables (3-4) having a hook releases and as the submarine moves at some point the hook gets to the propeller and thats when chaos kicks in. In seconds the propeller take in the cables like an Italian devours spaghetti. And when the cable ends the propeller rips up the torpedo and the inner core comes out. Racing to the propeller the sticky end of this torpedo hits the end full on and the sticky part will be all over the rudders locking them in place. The sticky part will get on the shaft making propulsion harder and harder and there is no getting out of that mess without months in dry-dock. There are still a few dings, dangs and Knicks to work out. But a simple method to incapacitate a submarine (64 times), so where is Pjotr now? Dead like all the others and after the Ukraine failures, this simple solution ends the madness of Putin the not so great. I wanted peace and quiet. 

So now the score is 

Lawlordtobe – D.A.R.P.A. 2-0 (aka nil, zip, nada)

So here is the idea, D.A.R.P.A gets Amazon to buy my IP (so they can get the Amazon Military bonus and I can retire) and they get this idea for free (and I’ll throw in my stealth system to sink the Iranian navy in there). Basically it would be a freebee for DARPA, but I did give my idea of sinking Iranians to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. You see, inaction and Iran does not sit well with me and you guys have been too inactive when it came to Iran. Oh and there is a crazy thought. That idea might work on the Russians too. Consider a place like Arkhangelsk harbour being inaccessible for up to a year or two, where would their navy refuel? 

As such one crazy person with imagination (me) got a little more done than one organisation (at 675 North Randolph St.) with the 241 employees all over the place. Two navies? I should be getting medals (as well as coffee with a toasted blueberry muffin) Let it never be known that I work for free and charity, we work for the cherished bliss of coffee!

It makes me a royal nuisance, but you know, I have to keep busy one way or another.

Have a fun day!

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June 8, 2022 · 19:35

What the media silences

Yes, that is again the topic of discussion. The BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61709782) gives us ‘Elon Musk threatens to walk away from Twitter deal’, in there we see “Mr Musk has said he believes spam and fake accounts represent a far greater share than the less than 5% of daily users that Twitter reports publicly.” The media knows this to be true, several others know this to be true, I know this to be true and one other party that we are about to be introduced to knows this to be true too.

You see, Twitter seemingly hides itself behind ‘daily users’ yet the truth is not that nice. Ever since Covid things have escalated. Anti vaxxers creating account after account, supporting each other and their fake accounts. The Ukrainian war made things worse. Russian Trolls, politicians supporting Russian needs in the Netherlands all. Connected to trolls and troll like behaviour. There we see a new player (since around 2014). It is the firm Trollrensics (at https://www.trollrensics.com) that shows actual data. And do not get fooled by the shy “His software and algorithms have helped uncover and analyse a significant number of troll networks and disinfo campaigns.” They have 8 years of data from all kinds of sources including Twitter showing millions of fake accounts. Even as I personally thought that the fake accounts are around 20%, they have numbers that indicate that these numbers are much closer to 50% and the media is steering clear. Others are steering clear. Twitter represents billions and the media loves people who have billions no matter what foundation it is on. And there we get the new stage. With ““As Twitter’s prospective owner, Mr Musk is clearly entitled to the requested data to enable him to prepare for transitioning Twitter’s business to his ownership and to facilitate his transaction financing. To do both, he must have a complete and accurate understanding of the very core of Twitter’s business model – its active user base,” lawyer Mike Ringler wrote in the letter.” We get to see the other side. Twitter hopes for $45,000,000,000 for a 50% population, so in what universe will an intelligent person pay twice the price? In what universe will any person pay for fake data, altered and weighted data? It is raw data that counts and too much comes from Russian and Chinese trolls. Too much of it come from click farms. Too much of this comes from non people. The game has for over a decade been about engagement and Twitter failed that test (miserably) and is now in a stage where they prefer to get out with a $45,000,000,000 camping voucher. Speculatively where the women are loose, the sun always shines and the booze pours uninterrupted. 

So when we see the option below, some people might get the idea. 

Below we see the assurance and under there is how these things come to play. 

The third is a random click-farm and this one might not have been used for Twitter activities, however considering that these matters have been going on since well before 2019. 

The impact is real and it is also all over Twitter. Several sources give us that most of these activities are in China and the profits are lucrative as this is not labour intensive. Twitter is keeping its doors locked and the media is not knocking on these doors, even though there is news all over the globe on click farms. So why is the media not digging deeper? Simple it is fear. The media needs Twitter and it needs Facebook and Google (who they pissed off), so they are letting Twitter be. That is how I personally see it and in all the settings Elon Musk is correct and he is a lot more intelligent than anyone gives him credit for. He has seen what Twitter is, what Twitter can be and he is willing to pay a fair price and that goes against the grain of its board of directors who are all about ‘daily users’ all whilst some sources are setting the stage that well over 40% are fake accounts. And the 5% and its ‘daily user’ label is not bringing home the bacon and as such Elon Musk and via him Mike Ringler are asking questions. Questions that people at Twitter do not want to answer. And it is important that you do not believe me, dig yourself! When we tart digging into engagement locations and time frame of certain accounts, a new timeline becomes visible, a timeline too many do not want to see, because the impact could indicate that Elon Musk could get Twitter for a mere $15,000,000,000 and that is the fear of some. OK, I get it I would not want to lose $30 billion either, but in that is it not strange that the media is not all over Twitter asking questions? They merely need to dig into the engagement line and where these engagements come from and when you see the click farm, you might realise that a location large enough for about 15 people should not house a click farm with 150-300 mobile phones. It is like being in a sweets shop wth 150 children. You wouldn’t last a minute, but one person can click on 300 phones easily enough and there is enough data, merely an unwilling media digging deeper and as we see the Twitter folly evolve more people should be catching on how the media is BS’ing us. Because this data has ben out in the open for the longest time. And even now as the BBC gives us “Texas attorney general Ken Paxton entered the debate on Monday, saying he had launched an investigation into Twitter for “potentially false reporting over its fake bot accounts”. Twitter has until 27 June to respond to his request for information.” It does not take away the stage that this has been out in the open and the media ignored a lot of this, I personally believe that they ignored it intentionally, to what end is anyone’s guess.

The fact that players like Trollrensics have had data spanning years with supporting evidence makes the acts of the media even more debatable, but that might merely be my view on the matter.

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June 8, 2022 · 03:03

Vindaloo on the side

It started two days ago. I honestly do not remember who the source was, but it stuck in the back of my mind. It also stuck how the large media trivialised (BBC excepted) the matters at hand. So I decided to take a gander. I first stopped at Arab News who gave us (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2097311/saudi-arabia) ‘Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states and Muslim institutions denounce Indian official’s insults against Prophet Muhammad’, so not the western news, not the Italian daily prophet (Vatican News), no merely the Gulf States and Islamic Institutions. So as we are given “Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries and Muslim institutions on Sunday condemned the remarks against Prophet Muhammad by a top official in India’s ruling party, with some demanding concrete action to end such acts of Islamophobia.” So whilst the Washington Post gives us “Sumit Ganguly, a professor of political science at Indiana University gives us “At home, a lynching takes place and Modi remains deafeningly silent. Now, he feels compelled to act because he realises the damage abroad could be extensive. When it comes to foreign policy, the stakes are high.”” Yes and there is the problem, an act merely because the international stakes are too high. It is time to get to part 2, that is the part given to us by the BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61701908) where we see ‘Nupur Sharma: Prophet Muhammad row deepens India’s diplomatic woes’, and the power is given to us by “Ms Sharma’s – angered the country’s minority Muslim community, leading to sporadic protests in some states. The BBC is not repeating Ms Sharma’s remarks as they are offensive in nature”, the statement was SO offensive, to the degree that the BBC will not comment by quoting the statement. What we do see is “Analysts say that the top leadership of the party and the government may have to make public statements on the issue. Not doing so, they say, runs the risk of damaging India’s ties with the Arab world and Iran.” As I personally see it India has pissed off Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia all at the same time, a decent achievement if I do say so myself. And the setting of this is not whether thee are acts, the acts are too slow in a nation that has had its long term issues with Muslim communities. The lack of direct action against discrimination. I am a little on the fence. If others (christians) have to adhere to Muslim rules in Saudi Arabia, there would be the setting that Muslims have to adhere to India’s (Hindu) rules. But to allow blatant insults against ones religion is a dangerous step, not merely national, yet in this there is the international stage too and as I personally see it the (far too) slow reactions by its Indian government and Narendra Modi will have (or is that should have) repercussions and not merely in India. It is NDTV (New Delhi Television) gives an interesting view. They give us ‘PM Modi, The Djinn Is Out Of The Bottle And Out Of Control’ it shows that there is way too much support for the discriminatory views of Nupur Sharma, lets not forget here that she was until recently the spokesperson of the BJP, as such, how did she get there?

The Islamic community might be forced to dump all Indian goods and services and this now gives a massive handle to the US and the EU. If they get the $15,000,000,000 of crude oil that usually goes to India its nation will face a massive recession. India lives on cars, petrol and a mobile industry. If even over 25% falls away the Indian government will face a situation they never faced before, not to this degree. A setting where India faces more hardship as it deals in oil with Iran and Russia or see the average quality of life in India fall for well over 20%, how much it falls? I honestly cannot tell and my 20% might be overly optimistic. 

So even as the BBC gives us “Experts said the controversy could overshadow some of India’s recent diplomatic successes with the UAE and other nations.” I reckon it is nothing compared to the internal mess that could happen when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decides to move the oil tap from India to the US and Europe. Their worries will be over to a much larger degree, but at that point it will suck to be in India. When 300 million cars can no longer run because fuel prices went from 96.35 ₹/L to 396.50 ₹/L that is when panic and utter chaos will rule India and I reckon Pakistan will not be overly upset about that setting either. As such the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi will need another option, another direction and it seems to me that they re stuck in the mud with no one around to help them. Some will state that it was her right to speak, but is open discrimination a right? Nupur Sharma might have started something that she was unable to contain or adjust for and we will see what happens next because something has to give in this equation and your guess is just as good as mine. There is too much I do not know on the interactions in India, but I do know that tapping a tiger on the balls was not the way to go, especially if there is no fence separating the tiger from the tapper, but that might just be me.

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June 5, 2022 · 16:43

An apolitical setting

That is where I find myself. It comes from the BBC with the article ‘Ukraine anger as Macron says ‘Don’t humiliate Russia’’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61691816). I see the dangers, I see the anger and I see the fears. We are given “Ukraine’s foreign minister has hit out at French President Emmanuel Macron after he said it was vital that Russia was not humiliated over its invasion”, we are also given “Mr Macron has repeatedly spoken to Mr Putin by phone in an effort to broker a ceasefire and negotiations. The French attempts to maintain a dialogue with the Kremlin leader contrast with the US and UK positions.” Now we all feel that Russia needs to lose and the Ukraine has (for the most) clearly shown that, but the defeat needs to be worse than that. I am for the most on the side of the US and UK. Yet there is visible wisdom on the side of France. You see Russia might still at some point embrace ‘In for a penny, in for a pound’ and that is the danger setting. You see, if that pound is nuclear driven there is every chance that life in France will end, as will it all over Europe, the UK and the US. But for France the cost is larger. The top exports from France will be gone forever. It will start with end of the cheese and wine clubs. This might be seem trivial, but consider that this stage will end for ALL ETERNITY French wines and French cheeses. Yes, Sweden has good cheese, Wisconsin has good cheeses, as does the Netherlands. Good wines are allegedly found in California, they are found in Italy, Greece and South Australia as well as in New Zealand. Should this go South, it will no longer be available from France. So I get the stance of France. 

If we believe that the players could be swayed by political settings, keeping one open seems imperative. Yet the setting that defeat needs to be more pronounced is also essential. I feel that it is important that after September 30th it will no longer be allowed for Russians to hold property and/or businesses outside of Russia. They cannot have anything to say in non-Russian nations. When you consider the Russian billionaires in the field and their fortunes will be destined by yachting between Dubai and Russian territory their lust for life will diminish. The family of Russians  will not be allowed schooling and life outside of Russia. When this setting is seen over generations, we see the unrest that Russia faces. It will be a situation that goes far beyond Moscow on the Hudson. As such I to a point support the setting that President Macron sets with “Mr Macron told French regional media that Russia’s leader had “isolated himself”.

“I think, and I told him, that he made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself and for history,” he said. “Isolating oneself is one thing, but being able to get out of it is a difficult path,” he added. Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi has aligned himself with Mr Macron, suggesting Europe wants “some credible negotiations”.” Yet I do believe that there will be the essential need for a larger cost to the Russian people. I have had some issues with the economic assault on people like Roman Abramovich, but the time has passed and they have (for the most) not spoken out loudly enough against the acts of the Russian state, its acts in Ukraine and it gets to be worse. The recent burning down of the All Saints Skete of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra in the city of Sviatohirsk, Donetsk region is merely one of the most visible settings and there needs to be a price to pay for all Russians. So to some degree I side with President Macron, but that setting is not sailing when we give a pass to certain people after the war. That much WW2 has shown us a little too clearly. So whatever comes next, Russia needs to realise that the invoice is due and it will be staggeringly high, higher than the one Germany was given on 28 June 1919 in Versailles. We can flicker over the treaty required that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas colonies. We can also look at the simple setting that in that same treaty they were given the limitations of

  • The German army was limited to 100,000 men.
  • Conscription (forced army service) was banned; soldiers had to be volunteers.
  • Germany was not allowed armoured vehicles, submarines or aircraft.
  • The navy could build only six battleships.
  • The Rhineland became a demilitarised zone.

In Russian terms it means that they will be limited to protecting the China-Russia border, because the setting will play after this one. And controlling that much area with 6 ships? Good luck with that idea. Optionally only 5 as they lost another one in the Ukraine. As such I reckon that the Russian oligarchs will sell whatever they have and quietly live out their days in places like Dubai. It is not a given, merely a speculation.

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June 2, 2022 · 03:56

Local norms

This happens we attend or tend to adhere to “something that is usual, typical, or standard”, there is no hidden trap here. Or so I thought for the longest of times. I saw the sign outside the supermarket “Only with Face-mask are you allowed in this place”, so I adjusted my norm. However, I made a mistake, apparently the rest of the clothing was not optional. So with only a face-mask I still did not get in, silly me.

So when I saw the news ‘French restaurant in Saudi Arabia bans hijab, causing outrage’ (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220526-french-restaurant-in-saudi-arabia-bans-hijab-causing-outrage/) I wondered what possessed the restaurant holder to set the stage towards: “last week and early this week to have prevented the entry of women who wear the hijab and the abaya, the loose-fitting robe worn by women in the Kingdom. Men who wear the traditional thobe – or long robe – were also reportedly banned from the restaurant” Let us be clear. This was in SAUDI ARABIA, an Islamic nation that has (decently) strict rules on clothing and behaviour. As such Bagatelle Jeddah is not given a long life. And it seems that this is what happened. I cannot respond to “the restaurant had been heavily criticised by many due to its “tasteless” and bland food.” As I never ate there. There is also “a social media user named Ameera Al Qahtani, for example, said it “does not deserve any star. Because it refuses to allow women [wearing] the hijab, and refuses the Saudi dress for men. They need to be kicked out of Jeddah. They don’t respect our religion, and this makes me very angry.”” It seems that there is more playing, more under the populous I mean. It comes to a point at the very end where we are given “It is the most recent example of concerns regarding the societal tensions resulting from the clash between Saudi society’s conservative values and the new era of liberalisation encouraged by the Saudi government to cater to tourists” To be honest, I saw the disgusting ‘catering to tourist’ setting on Crete (Greece). The orthodox church has rules. But tourist consider themselves above that, why? People should not go into a church without proper attire (more than a tank top), I do not get it, if I were to go to Saudi Arabia, I know I have to adjust, I need to adjust to Islamic settings. Isn’t that why I go see another nation? And there are reasons to go there. The grand mosque in Riyadh is stated to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. There is the Kingdom Centre and Riyadh has several other places that people would want to see. If you cannot afford the trip (I am on that list too) there is a YouTuber named Jason Billam Travel who created some awesome videos of walking trips of Riyadh. And I got to see a little more than I bargained for, showing me jut how little I know of Saudi Arabia, but the western press is not really about informing us, are they? So (at https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonBillamTravel) you can see the Video of Riyadh (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk_4wPK6oks) where you can see more than you bargained for. There was another video which I could not find but seek “Riyadh Walking tour” and you will see jut so much more (if you cannot afford to go there).

Places like ‘Boulevard Riyadh City’ that shows me how little I know of Saudi Arabia, how little we are shown of Saudi Arabia, why is that? And lets be clear, we are visiting THEIR nation, it is an islamic nation, so we know we will have to adhere to certain differences. There will always be a debate of what we expect and what is tolerated. But a nation does not changes norms to us, we adhere to the norms of them. That is expected in London, Paris, New York and why not Riyadh? I just realised that the idea I gave here months ago (Augmented reality) might also work really nice in Riyadh too, but about that another day. I get that there could be a setting of “the new era of liberalisation encouraged by the Saudi government to cater to tourists”. Yet in all honesty. At present I hav e no idea what the opposing side “Saudi society’s conservative values” are. Yet consider in the US. Do they not adhere (to some degree) to the rules of the Amish? Do the Amish have rights? So why would you deny these rights to Saudi Arabia? Are their values and norms mine? I doubt it, I was brought up somewhere else. Yet I would want to visit it, see the places with my own eyes, as such I will have to adjust that is the rule in India, in Greece, in Egypt and as such in Saudi Arabia too. Is that not why you visit places? To see the sights and feel the brush of culture in that nation? If not then like me most can do with YouTube to show us the way. And the more I see, the more I consider what is any norm, the weirder the setting of Bagatelle Jeddah becomes. Now, I will accept that we do not see both sides, but the idea to attack a national norm in that nation seems like the most stupid ways of suicide, but that might just be me.

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