May 29, 2023 · 14:19

Prototyping rhymes with dotty

This is the setting we faced when we see ‘ChatGPT: US lawyer admits using AI for case research’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65735769). You see as I have stated before, AI does not yet exist. Whatever is now is data driven, unverified data driven no less, so even in machine learning and even deeper machine learning data is key. So when I read “A judge said the court was faced with an “unprecedented circumstance” after a filing was found to reference example legal cases that did not exist.” I see a much larger failing. You might see it too when you read “The original case involved a man suing an airline over an alleged personal injury. His legal team submitted a brief that cited several previous court cases in an attempt to prove, using precedent, why the case should move forward. But the airline’s lawyers later wrote to the judge to say they could not find several of the cases that were referenced in the brief.” You see, a case reference is ‘12-10576 – Worlds, Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, Inc. et al’. This is not new, it has been a case for decades, so when we take note of “the airline’s lawyers later wrote to the judge to say they could not find several of the cases” we can tell that the legal team of the man is screwed. You see they were unprepared as such the airline wins. A simple setting, not an unprecedented circumstance. The legal team did not do its job and the man could sue his own legal team now. As well as “Mr Schwartz added that he “greatly regrets” relying on the chatbot, which he said he had never used for legal research before and was “unaware that its content could be false”.” The joke is close to complete. You see a law student learns in his (or her) first semester what sources to use. I learned that Austlii and Jade were the good sources, as well as a few others. The US probably has other sources to check. As such relying on ChatGPT is massively stupid. It does not has any record of courts, or better stated ChatGPT would need to have the data on EVERY court case in the US and the people who do have it are not handing it out. It is their IP, their value. And until ChatGPT gets all that data it cannot function. The fact that it relied on non-existing court cases implies that the data is flawed, unverified and not fit for anything. Like any software solution 2-5 years before it hits the Alpha status. And that legal team is not done with the BS paragraph. We see that with “He has vowed to never use AI to “supplement” his legal research in future “without absolute verification of its authenticity”.” Why is it BS? He used supplement in the first, which implies he had more sources and the second is clear, AI does not (yet) exist. It is a sales hype for lazy sales people who cannot sell Machine Learning and Deeper Machine Learning. 

And the screw ups kept on coming. With “Screenshots attached to the filing appear to show a conversation between Mr Schwarz and ChatGPT. “Is varghese a real case,” reads one message, referencing Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co Ltd, one of the cases that no other lawyer could find. ChatGPT responds that yes, it is – prompting “S” to ask: “What is your source”.

After “double checking”, ChatGPT responds again that the case is real and can be found on legal reference databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw.” The natural question is the verification part to check Westlaw and LexisNexis which are real and good sources. So either would spew out the links with searches like ‘Varghese’ or ‘Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co Ltd’, with saved links and printed results. Any first year law student could get you that. It seems that this was not done. This is not on ChatGPT, this is on lazy researchers not doing their job and that is clearly in the limelight here. 

So when we get to “Both lawyers, who work for the firm Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, have been ordered to explain why they should not be disciplined at an 8 June hearing.” I merely wonder whether they still have a job after that and I reckon that it is plainly clear no one will ever hire them again. 

So how does prototyping rhyme with dotty? It does not, but if you rely on ChatGPT you should have seen that coming a mile away. 

Enjoy your first working day after the weekend.

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May 28, 2023 · 11:12

The optician’s folly

It is a setting that exists. I don’t think that I have ever faced it myself. I have met short sighted managers, people whose pupils have reshaped into dollar signs, so if it didn’t meet their revenue goals it would be invisible to the eye. I have met all kinds of stupid people, not those who lacked intelligence, but those who pig headed ran into a situation regardless of the consequence. I have seen all those and I was in the military. I saw the middle east through non touristy eyes, even though my own point of view was warped to say the least. We all have been there or saw something to that degree. Yet the larger stage that the BBC gives us (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65724065) is totally new and a new kind of weird. The article ‘Navy finds ‘perfect storm’ of problems in elite Seals course’ doesn’t really come close or do it justice. This is not on the BBC or the writer. They reported and reported correctly. Yet this setting on the US Navy Seals is beyond comprehension. It starts with “The US Navy’s report found that the programme put “candidates at significant risk” of injury and death. The investigation followed the death of a 24-year-old sailor during the course in February 2022” and goes arctic pretty much soon thereafter. You see, I was taken aback when I saw “Naval investigators found that medical care at the course was “poorly organised, poorly integrated and poorly led”, factors which it believes “likely had the most direct impact on the health and well being” of candidates.” Consider that you have a collection of sailors, they are good, really good. As such the Navy have a vested interest to keep them safe. Now some of them think that they have it to be the best of the best of the best of the best. There will be a decent amount who will not make it, we get that. To become one of the elite is questionable on a few levels, but I get that some are driven to become elite and I accept that. I would never be that good, but I get that some are. Now consider that these were already way above average sailors and that is fine. So in what universe is it OK to handle a “poorly organised, poorly integrated and poorly led medical unit?” If they are not the stuff of legend and they state that this is an attrition rate of between 70% and 85% per class. Why not keep those safe and more important keep those who make it even more safe? Even as we get the doctors lollie with “a Navy official said that 10 people identified in the report – including two high ranking officers – are facing possible prosecution for Mr Mullen’s death” the larger issue is not that it was happening, but that there was a cluster of 10 men. This implies a much larger failure and for what? There is absolutely nothing to be gained from this level of failure and I wonder how that sails on the court martial hearings of the top brass involved. 

Then we get to “The report also found that some students turned to performance-enhancing drugs to improve their chances of completing BUD/S, a long-standing issue that the Navy had been slow to address.” This is another notch on the top brass addressing list. A place like the Navy Seals with ‘a long-standing issue that the Navy had been slow to address’? The Navy Seals no less, someone didn’t want this to be dealt with. A sort of accepted level of cheating. Will the person do whatever needs to be done? That is more than a tall order and it stands that those who make it, some will be dopey’s and more importantly they will have mental health issues, because when you are willing to do whatever needs to be done, the civilian side in that person will not be working properly and that person becomes a hazard to all around him. That is a setting that is clear from the very start and the top brass did not see that? Where did they get their ranks? With a pack of butter at the 7-11? 

I have ousted and firm believes and I get that plenty will not adhere to that, or even accept that. I was in favour of targeted killing from the start. To see this I need to give you the talk. You see most judges are to my point of view cowards, they adhere to the golden calf. Why you ask? The law is there for us all and it keeps 80% within lines. 19.997% are criminals and repeat offenders and the law deals with that, I am all for that. Yet there is a 0.003% that are driven by chaos, to hurt and kills whatever needs hurting or killing. They will never stop and until they are dead everyone is at risk. So it is a rare thing but it needs to be done. Now consider that the Navy has a training camp that creates people that are part of that 0.003% group. This is not fighting fire with fire, this is creating a fire and walking away, let nature run its course. Now in the wild this might optionally happen. Yet what to do when such a fire is set in Tampa Florida? A place with over 35% forests in the city and that city has 387,000 people, what then? As such, for a unit like the Navy Seals better than expected medical needs would be essential, when you unite these two views you will see that keeping these seals at the top of their game would be essential. As such the failure of the top brass here is a much larger failure than anyone ever considered. I am not sure if the Navy and its secretary Carlos Del Toro have any clue how large the failings are in this place. If not for those who are then at the very least for the ones who did not make it, because no one in the navy likes failure. We get that some have their sights set too high and this happens, but that is why these training camps exist. Many will wash out and they will understand it was not for them, but they were still better than good sailors and that waste is perhaps the most grievous failing. They failed the man of the navy to an unacceptable level and for the “slow to address” side? Well that is a whole other enchilada that the Navy and its JAG division will need to take a hard and harsh look at.

Enjoy the near end of the weekend.

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May 27, 2023 · 12:47

Ding Ding, the premise is set

Yes, this is not new, I made mention of this danger several times over the last two years. And now the media is tarting to catch on. The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/26/russian-weapons-manufacturers-hosted-at-saudi-trade-event) gives us ‘Russian weapons manufacturers hosted at Saudi trade event’, you see, some might think one part, or the other part, but personally I believe that they were invited as a courtesy. There is the option that they were invited to make sure that the China offers are financially sharp, but that is the sales world for you. You see, they might offer Russian Helicopters, like the Ka-52 Alligator helicopter. Yet the Ukrainians have ben shooting them out of the sky by the dozens, so the options are speculatively not there I reckon and the way Russia is losing hardware, every machined piece of cavalry and artillery better come with a ballpoint (for write off purposes). This was the stage that was going to happen no matter how you slice it. The US thought it was clever and it is now (not so) cleverly losing billions in defence spending by Saudi Arabia and its allies. So when we see “Perhaps the most significant participant in the meetings with the Saudis is Rostec, a Russian state-owned defence systems” and we consider the byline “Companies with direct links to Russian military set to attend, which is likely to heighten tensions with US” no one seems to be noticing that Stephanie Kirchgaessner with her anti-Saudi writing is involved and the larger question is missing is “a similar trade forum with Chinese businesses had also been held recently, although those businesses did not involve firms with connections to the Chinese military.” Really? 

The Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group has no links to the Chinese Military? Tell me another one. Then there is “What is different here, and these recent business events are just one sign of it, is a major reorientation of Saudi policy towards Russia and China, and away from the USA and west Europe”, which comes from some unnamed source. The fun part is that I have ben saying this for close to two years and the first year there was an option to turn this around, yet the US and UK were sitting on their hands and now it is seemingly too late. This is the consequence of a stupid game played by the Pentagon, US Congress, the White House (in and out of office) and the House of Commons. This is the result of stupidity and there is no “heighten tensions with US”, the US is about to lose so much revenue that certain banking moguls will cut up the US credit card (and lower credit ratings in the process). 

Another step achieved by ego grandstanding and inactions. So where will Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a few other players go to? My money is currently on the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, but it is a speculative view and I lack certain levels of industry knowledge in that direction. As such I could be wrong, but I do feel that the failures in the Ukraine makes Russia a non-player in this game. Merely a column C option and it is there to make sure that those in Column A and B keep their prices down. This make makes it (for me) about half a dozen predictions right on the nose. Not bad in this day and age I reckon.

Enjoy the Weekend

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May 26, 2023 · 15:04

Human rights versus?

That is at times the question. Don’t get me wrong, human rights is a good thing and we need to take heed, but hat happens when it stops life in other ways? In this case the setting is against Microsoft and here I do not oppose Microsoft, that is folly in some cases and this is one. It all started when early this morning I got ‘Saudi Arabia: Microsoft Should Suspend Data Center Plans’ via some newspaper (at https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/23/saudi-arabia-microsoft-should-suspend-data-center-plans). Why? Saudi Arabia is a nation and it is entitled to have its data centres. The text that is part is “Microsoft should suspend its plans to invest in a new cloud data center in Saudi Arabia until it can demonstrate how it will mitigate potential rights abuses, 18 human right groups said today. There is an enormous risk that Saudi authorities may obtain access to data stored in Microsoft’s cloud data center, thus posing unique and direct threats to human rights and privacy, the human rights groups said.” Really? Corporate America and governmental America have been treading all over EVERYONES privacy and rights for years, so where are those warnings? In other news. I personally do not care, you see Tencent with news (at https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/20230510-05-tencent-takes-steps-toward-chinas-biggest-data-center) gives us ‘Tencent Takes Steps Toward China’s Biggest Data Center’ and I feel certain that they are ready to step in and setup a Data Center for the Saudi government in Saudi Arabia as well, just a few more billion in revenue for China. This is simple, plain and out in the open. Tencent is hoping for more options in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and the Human Rights groups are handing this to them. A nation that is now almost a week from financial collapse needs whatever it can get and losing jobs and revenue to China is not helping, especially after the clambake that Governor Ron DeSantis arranged and that is costing Florida thousands of jobs and a million in revenue, so making Microsoft lose billions as well does not help (but it does aid my prediction that Microsoft will collapse, or implode in 2026). As such, when we see “Microsoft needs to conduct a thorough human rights due diligence process and publicly detail how it will mitigate the potential adverse human rights impacts associated with Saudi Arabia hosting the data center”, we need to realise that Microsoft needs to keep its head above water, it needs to deal with governments and it needs to deal with them and sell stuff. For those Humane jokes, how many from Cambridge Analytics are in prison? How many people from the ECHELON system have been prosecuted? How many privacy laws did they break? The list of questions go on and this anti-Saudi rhetoric is quite simply a joke. Is Saudi Arabia perfect? No, it is not, no nation is, but there are bigger fish to fry. Iran and Pakistan are merely two on that list and then there are the Russian transgressions. How much visibility did they push on that front? The larger folly is not what they do now, but what options would open with Microsoft for a dialogue for diplomatic conversations is one (not all but at least one) and that too will aid to what they refer to as human rights. But that part is not nice enough, too long a track, but now, if this falls through Tencent technologies will step in and take that revenue too. This is seen with “At least 10,000 servers are functioning smoothly and all the cooling equipment is installed, Wang added. Upon completion, the number of servers should reach 800,000, and the computing power should be 10 times that of the world’s most powerful supercomputing center. The Yangtze River Delta hub will provide cloud computing services to the public, including instant messaging, image processing, and medical insurance payments. Moreover, the center supports Tencent’s ChatGPT-like HunyanAide project, per Wang.” Do you think Saudi Arabia (UAE too) is ready for that kind of data center power? How many jobs will the US and US consultants lose and how many will China gain? Did you think of that and that is when you realise how the HR groups are in China, how massively did these HR groups shoot themselves in the foot? 

It might seem like a cheap joke, yet at present these human rights groups are a much bigger danger than Russia has been in the last three decades, that is something to mull over I reckon.

Have a nice day and it is now less than 60 hours until the end of the weekend. 

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May 25, 2023 · 11:49

The balancing scales

This story comes from two different directions, not too different, but there is no real link between the two (it will make sense, I promise). I (and millions with me) saw the Sony Showcase 2023. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I do not think that this is on Sony, it is on me and to illustrate that, I will have to make a few sidesteps. In the first, you all know how I loathe Microsoft, they did this themselves (and their customer care with them) but we need to acknowledge and accept that Sony is now better because of Microsoft not in spite off. Sony grew to new heights as they were at each others throats. As they were battling for supremacy the gamers in both camps got a much better console and we all rejoiced. The issue (as I personally see it) is that the same needs to happen to games, driving games and gaming to new heights.  This is one and for me the most important reason to hope that Starfield, a Microsoft exclusive will become a 90%+ game. It will up the ante for Sony (and optionally Amazon Luna too). The show started with Fairgame$ a multi gamer experience which (even if it was not) smelled a lot like Ubisoft, all smooth, all overwhelming, but the real deal? We will have to wait and see. Helldivers 2 was very Starship Troopers, Phantom Blade 0 looked like an upgraded Sekiro and Towers of Aghasba had a Zelda feel to it. The games were nice, they were very turbo. They had their good moments too, or at least moments I lived for and I am not stating that all games need to be set to me, but when you saw that Telescope looking like the telescope from Alien (more futuristic), what did you think? Then we get some foam game that was clearly based upon Nintendo Splatoon, a turbo edition. This happens and I am happy for the PS5 people who get to have a go at this game, but all this is iteration and gaming, real good gaming gets offered innovation, we need that to evolve gaming and that is one of the reasons why I hope that Starfield is the game every gamers waits for. I had my moments, I loved Spiderman 2, I saw the new parts and they looked good, they really do, but is it innovation? I feel uncertain, there were more games. I can’t wait to get my hands on Alan Wake 2, it seems to be a winner, but seems is the operative word, it is gameplay we need and we saw little of that (apart from Spiderman 2). Yet the story behind this is that we need actual innovation in gaming on every console and this time around Microsoft seemingly gets to have first dibs on that, but we will know for sure in September. 

This links to the second part of it. I am replaying AC Origins and now I got to the curse of the pharaoh which is graphically a new height. Yet here my mind wandered, I had played it before and I cherished it. I took a sidestep to Valerian and Laureline (in Dutch: Ravian), I grew up with that comic as well with the Trigan Empire and things started to blend, started to mingle. So what if this game is not an assassins game and you cannot climb, hide or anything. Almost like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, but now with a much larger stealth part, no killing. The idea floated in my mind when I saw the Star Trek Voyager episode Displaced in season 3. So what happens when we get to the two worlds Aaru and Aten. So when we get there we know nothing, we get to live lives, we get to walk around and we get to missions, but not in the usual ways. We need to be part of, or hear conversations to open this story and both worlds will have a dozen story lines. No Sekmet scorpions or Cobra’s. You think it is boring, but this is not a game for everyone, it is one where the story is everything and Ubisoft has shown that it can create good stories.  

This interacts when we doe in one world, we wake up in the other and vice vera, so you need to die at times (it is a hassle, but so is life). As such we get to learn that this is a prison and we need to learn why we are prisoners (a little The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley where we get to see versions of stagnation and conformity) and for this the ancient civilisations were great. Life was simple and the mind is much easier observed and classified when it does the simple things. Yet how to set this in gaming? Ubisoft had its device, but what happens when the world is the device? What happens when the wold is not part of the mind, but the mind has to adhere to that world? No matter how complex we are, the mind controls is and as such we are shown new iterations and that could lead to innovations. But in this the story is everything.

We can speculate and ejaculate all over innovation, yet unless we are holding it in our hands (sorry, no pun intended) we have no idea what innovation looks like, the mind will not fill in the blanks, our wills do and that is why Google and Amazon missed out (at least twice already) So how do we get about to find the next innovator in gaming? Well we can dump all the BI people stating they have no clue and rely on the artsy people to dream the new game. Perhaps one with tech savvy skills, because art only gets us so far, tech does the rest, not Business Intelligence. 

This is my view and there will be people telling me I am wrong here. I will let you decide. For now, I want the new iteration of System Shock. Mainly because how the initial game made me feel, just like Mass Effect 1 ten years later. I miss that feeling to some degree, which I personally believe is the reason that some remaster are great reminders.

Enjoy the day.

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May 24, 2023 · 21:37

Fair is the way

To start this off, I am a Sony guy. I have loved my PlayStation one through five and that is it. I am done with Xbox, Microsoft blew its own death march and that is that for me. Still, I do believe in fairness, Microsoft will have its own glorious days, it has had them in the past and it will have them in the future. As such its exclusive massive failure called Redfall does not help it much. Yet this is also another matter, as such when I saw ‘I regret to inform you that the Starfield review discourse has already begun’ I was somewhat offended. You see, no matter what it is a title and it does not matter who brought it, or that it is an Xbox exclusive. It should be judged fairly. 

So as I read “Speaking on the XboxEra podcast over the weekend, leaker Nick Baker suggested that “it doesn’t matter if Starfield is great – I’m already convinced that no-one wants to give Starfield high review scores.” Baker’s thesis is that ‘low’ scores ranging from 7-8.5 out of 10 would be handed down to spin up a news cycle about Xbox’s continued difficulties over recent years.” I got angry. I do not believe that real reviewers (I was one from 1986 through to 1999) would do that. There are two kinds of reviewers. The real reviewers like Eurogamer, and a few like them and there are sycophants internet wannabe influencers who think that dissing one side will bring the other side to them. The real reviewers like Eurogamer and IGN will give you the real deal, others will not. As for the other part I read “But Baker isn’t the only one already focusing on Starfield and its eventual review scores. A recent Forbes article suggests that the Metacritic scores attached to the rest of Bethesda’s catalogue (skirting awkwardly around Fallout 76’s 55%) are more than enough evidence that Starfield is on track for a similar appraisal.” I had to pause, did this  Nick Baker have a case? I for one do not know. I saw the trailer and it blew me away. I was happy for Xbox gamers as they seemingly had a winner for their system. And lets face it Xbox needs a win, especially if it is an exclusive. I haven’t seen anything since, but mostly I wasn’t looking. Why stare at a game you will never play? And the other side is that the game is not finished. It isn’t due until September, September 6th is slightly more precise. So there is well over 3 months to go, and if that date is correct the gold master will be announced in about 8 weeks. As such, how can any clear review be out there? No one gets to see a real version before the gold master as such there should not now, not be any review with a meta score. The trailer is not a reason for any review, but if there was, the trailer I saw makes this a 90% game. I had not felt these gaming butterflies since the Mass Effect 1 trailer and that was in 2006, they had another trailer for the sequel which was in March 2009 and it blew our socks off, moreover Mass Effect 2 is still up to this date one of the best tactical shooters in history, it was THAT good. 

As such I am willing to wait until the real Starfield rears its exclusive head and I will be seeing an actual gameplay on YouTube knowing I will never buy it as I will never get an Xbox, still there are over 18 million Xbox gamers around the world, and why should they not have an amazing gaming journey? I know it is merely half of the PS5 population, but that is a marketing problem for Bethesda, they need not market where they are not. What they need worry about is getting a fair shake and they are entitled to a fair shake, no matter what orchestra they blow from. I believe that above all other things.

Have a great day.

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May 23, 2023 · 21:45

The two coloured fence

It is always nice to see fences in books, images and within the mind. They usually have one colour and more often then not it is a white fence. This is what our mind perceives, yet what happens when the fence has two colours, each side it’s own colour and the neighbour has the other colour. Both unaware as they both see one colour. This was my mindset when I saw ‘Assad in Saudi Arabia reflects the Middle East’s new normal’ (at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/22/assad-saudi-arabia-reflects-middle-easts-new-normal/) the issue here is that it is a decent version to hold, and it isn’t set to both neighbours, it is optionally seeing one side, not wrong, not at fault, it merely is. The thought sparked through when I saw “Assad, who experienced a rehabilitation arguably years in the making, but which was no less jarring for his critics and opponents. A decade ago, officials in the Gulf monarchies were conspiring on ways to oust Assad. They poured resources and arms into the civil war raging in Syria, backing a motley grouping of anti-Assad rebels. As Assad turned his guns on his own people, bombing Syrian cities and unleashing chemical weapons on civilians, they placed the regime in a deep freeze, casting it out of the Arab League” this happened, there is no denying it, so when we are given “British Syrian activist Razan Saffour told my colleagues, reflecting on the Syrian regime’s return to the Arab League. “Instead of holding Assad accountable for his heinous crimes … he is welcomed and even rewarded, as if the past 12 years of suffering and bloodshed never occurred,”” There is no denying this, but we all changed the circus of events. For the largest extent the west scuffled its feet, it jigged in place to avoid any actions in Yemen and Syria, even the chemical attack in Ghouta had no activity from anyone in the west. The Middle East is still reeling all over the place and Saudi Arabia with its own Ally USA who deserted them when they needed them the most had to change tactics. It cannot have a war on both fronts and the war in Ukraine opened up a new dialogue, uniting the Arab League nations, with Saudi Arabia strongly at the helm. With Syria it stands to get the side of Oman, Jordan and I believe Palestine, Egypt is already on the Saudi side and they pretty much deliver the dialogues with Algeria and Libya, Yemen is an unknown at present and the UAE should be a strong ally if Saudi Arabia brings a strong united front, but that is how I optionally (wrongly) see it. The more nations Saudi Arabia unites, the easier the other come along to the Saudi side. This now gives the west a much larger problem, because the trump cards Saudi Arabia holds is China and that is a massive part of the Middle East where China now gets a larger influence. There is then the larger benefit, it takes Russia out of the equation for all of them and that is what the league requires. Russia meddling is for them a problem and the Sudan has enough problems. The Middle East doesn’t need to be the clambake buffet that Russia serves. Saudi Arabia has larger plans and 2030 is merely kicking it off, it is not the destination for Saudi Arabia, it is only 6 years away and all this is coming to some kind of pinnacle (not sure what shape it ill take) but whenever it kicks off, the puzzle pieces will start to shape the image we will get. Egypt and it 5G alliance, the economic beachheads in Palestine and Syria pushing towards Jordan with the water investments, Saudi Arabia is shoring up all the borders of the Arab Leagues. You will see them as separate issues, but I am not certain. It is like watching a symphony unfold whilst the west watches the string section listening to its music, yet when you try to align the brass, woodwork and percussion, it doesn’t work yet. Why? I believe that they aren’t called to attention yet, when they do the entirety of the music will alter and to a decent degree, at that point the sections are all aligning to something more, something we haven’t heard anywhere before. The west was always about the diva’s, and they called their own form of attention drowning out the music. Here we see a different score, all about a symphony we weren’t ready for and that will alter the sound, because the stage is not merely assisted, it is a much larger front and the US blew its options. I reckon that Saudi Arabia is testing whether China could hold that place and that is the sum of the symphony we will get to see and I reckon that this starts in 2029 with the opening acts in 2030. 

Consider that I could be completely wrong, and my paraphrasing sounds nice, but it holds no water. Yet consider that Saudi Arabia has several trillions all over the league invested, we merely thought they had no connections, but I am not certain of that. You see, I always believed that Saudi Arabia will do what is best for ITS own nation and ITS own citizens, when that is accepted as true, then the investments change shape and we see that Iran and Yemen are merely disruptive sides, sides it cannot use and there Syria plays a second role. If Yemen and Iran are cast out when Russia does become desperate (it close to being that now) those nations feel the dangers of total chaos, Wagner made sure of that part of the brief. In this the war in the Ukraine opened doors for Saudi Arabia, it didn’t close them. This is how I see it, this is how I interpret the data, but then again I could be wrong, at present with all the IP and other settings I might say ‘There is a first time for anything’ I have ben right so far, even with my IP sides made public, in at least two cases the world is moving there and I can now sit and watch the unfolding of a few items. We all have to sit, watch and adjust our course. Every business does that, even when they leave billions on the floor. It is common sense to make sure that the mission and course are on track. A lesson I learned in the 90’s. I considered what was and I saw that it was short sighted, but I did not take into consideration the personal course of some, were merely on self focus, not on the company. As such I need to consider that as part of the course, not what is best for the company but what is best for the shareholders and the executives. I reckon the course of Governor Ron DeSantis is a perfect example. Whatever HE needs at the expense of nearly everyone in Florida. So whatever colour the fence has is whatever they think it needs to be, but there is the other side of the fence and when you see both colours you have a much better chance of seeing the whole playing field. It was never on the Washington Post, I merely noticed other elements and I personally believe that they were part of a bigger picture and it fits the timeline of 2030, but again, I could be wrong. 

Enjoy the day.

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May 22, 2023 · 22:23

From bad to worse

This happens, things are not great and at that point someone states ‘watch this’ and opens the floodgates of disaster. This happened in part when Governor DeSantis decided to ‘douse the mouse’ an intensely stupid action if ever there was one. And now the CBC gives us (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/florida-travel-warnings-naacp-lgbtq-1.6850920) the simple headline ‘NAACP among civil rights groups warning tourists about Florida in wake of ‘hostile’ laws’. For those not aware, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) has set out a travel warning (at https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-issues-travel-advisory-florida) there we see “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of colour and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalises the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of colour.” As such the one state that relies on its annual tourism revenue (2021) gives us “Florida visitors contributed $101.9 billion to Florida’s economy and supported over 1.7 million Florida jobs” that comes with “According to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, for every $1 the state invests in VISIT FLORIDA, $3.27 in state tax revenue is generated”, if only 10% is lost, how much damage will Florida endure as this governor is vying for the seat of presidency and does this on a national level? In addition to what I wrote over the last week, we will see national revenues dwindle down with DeSantis in control of whatever get gets control of. It is even less interesting for the Republican Party as they are enduring two losers in their ranks in power in a decade and it could be a lot worse. And they are in turn empowering China and enabling Saudi Arabia in their own ways. Because in that setting there could be a massive push to grow a sort of Disney world in the United Arab Emirates, but founded much more on the Arabian nights and all kinds of Middle Eastern fairy tales. A setting that is not make believe. The existence of the Boulevard Riyadh City is evidence enough that a theme park a blended theme park could push tourism and revenue in the UAE to a decent amount and no matter how hetero sexual that cluster is, the actions by DeSantis is making them uneasy. The hostilities and the ‘Karen’s of America’ are making the people unwilling to visit the US, unwilling to chance disruptive activities and they are seeking it somewhere else and yes Disney-world Paris would be their first choice, but that place will fill up fast and too many people is a negative impact as well. No matter how we see it, to book for tickets for a place that is too often at 110% is no easy choice. The UAE already has the Dubai mall and from there growth becomes easier (not to mention the Ferrari park in Abu Dhabi) and as such the UAE will have a few options all over the land. And when they consider that this could open a market for millions on Indonesians as well (and depriving the US of even more) they have choices to consider. 

So whatever DeSantis thought he was doing, he will have crushed the Florida economy being the first Floridan governor to do so and this economy after all the covid lockdowns was not that strong to begin with. Basically he becomes the straw that broke the Florida’s Panthers back.

So as one state goes from bad to worse, how many other states will suffer that level of income loss? 

Enjoy the first day towards the next weekend.

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May 21, 2023 · 23:53

The perception of others

This is a case, this is often a case and in this case. I am one of the others. You see the ‘news’ is no longer that, it is often filtered information. Information that is accepted by shareholders, stake holders and advertisers, as such the people are seen and treated more often than not as a distant fourth. This setting came to the forefront when I saw ‘G7 takes stand against China’s “economic coercion”’ (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-65662720) where we are given “And in not one but two statements, the leaders of the world’s richest democracies made clear to Beijing their stance on divisive issues such as the Indo-Pacific and Taiwan. But the most important part of their message centred on what they called “economic coercion””  Now here we need to pause. These people do not lie (at least I hope they do not), but lets take a look at the evidence. The first is the ‘world’s richest democracies’, these nations are

1. Canada, debt around $ 2,100,000,000,000
2. France, debt around € 3,000,000,000,000
3. Germany, debt around € 2,600,000,000,000
4. Italy, debt around $ 3,000,000,000,000
5. Japan, debt around $ 9,300,000,000,000
6. UK, debt around £ 2,500,000,000,000
7. USA, debt around $ 32,500,000,000,000

Yes, they are really rich (in debt). To give a little consideration “As of April 2023 it costs $460 billion to maintain the debt, which is 13% of the total federal spending” for the US, their interest is $460,000,000,000 to pay for the interest and 13% of the entire budget is to pay for the interest. So all this talk about debt ceilings is close to null and void. Not unlike a Ponzi scheme the US government is taking out new loans to pay for the INTEREST of old loans. When did that ever go good? But that is not what this is about. The next stage is about ‘economic coercion’ something America and others have done for decades. Economic coercion is a political tool that the US pushed all over the middle east, and now that Saudi Arabia and other are pulling their contract with the US and giving options to China it is coercion? I mentioned it a few days ago (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/05/19/the-stupidity-of-some/) in ‘The stupidity of some’, I made mention of some elements then and several other articles before that. One should not bite the hands that feeds you and I reckon that is why other players were invited to this party as well (no matter what they say). The US is broke and needs others to do some of the heavy lifting. This is OK, or at least that is why allies stick together, but the bulk is deeply in debt with Canada and Australia in a much better position. Germany had industrial revenues so it is not that bad off either. But this is not bout that, it becomes clear when we see “Now, they worry they are being held hostage. In recent years, Beijing has been unafraid to slap trade sanctions on countries that have displeased them. This includes South Korea, when Seoul installed a US missile defence system, and Australia during a recent period of chilly relations.” They worry? So are they being held hostage, or are they not. Lets be clear all these players have engaged with some form of economic coercion in the past, it is a valid political tool, but now that the shoe is on the other foot, the US is worried. It is losing its grip on the Middle East and as Saudi Arabia is uniting its nations and leagues with the added Syria, Egypt and now optionally Iran as well, the stage changes for the west in the Middle East. China has been invited there now and that worries all players of team G7. You see with them losing 5%-10% revenue to China due to all kinds of reasons they are now scared that someone (the big banks like the Rothschilds) will cancel THEIR credit card and that has them scared silly. I would be to, I really would. This is just a few reasons why I tried to sell my IP to Saudi Arabia and Kingdom Holdings (optionally the UAE too). Amazon and Google were asleep and not caring (perhaps they didn’t like my IP) and Microsoft is not invited to that party and optionally Tencent Technologies is.

You see, the stage, several stages are turning to China as an option. Does China have any less debt? I cannot tell, but they are drilling into new business like nothing we see and that has the G7 scared. 

So when we get to “They called for “de-risking”- a policy that Ms von der Leyen, who is attending the summit, has championed. This is a more moderate version of the US’ idea of “decoupling” from China, where they would talk tougher in diplomacy, diversify trade sources, and protect trade and technology.” We see the larger stage, the ‘west’ will diversify trade sources, so that new and emerging economies can only do business with them if they do not do business with China. Almost like Sony did with retailers in 1998/1999. Those who were showing the SEGA Dreamcast would not be getting the PS2. It scared a lot of retailers because PS2 was a winning system and it did. The same was done much earlier with VHS pushing out Betamax (which was superior). A tool used again and again. Yet the larger stage is not these emerging economies, they are a factor, it is what will Saudi Arabia and the UAE do, they are now aligning the next decade and they were the big spenders all over the place and that setting is now heading for China (not sure if it is a done deal) and in this Egypt is important. With them championing Huawei and their G5, Egypt aligns with Saudi Arabia and a lot of commerce and Egypt then becomes a 5G beachhead all over the mediterranean and Africa. This will benefit China a lot. And as we get to “The US is already doing this with its ban on exports of chips and chip technology to China, which Japan and the Netherlands have joined. The G7 is making clear such efforts would not only continue, but ramp up, despite Beijing’s protestations.” This is the stage that is evolving and it is a dangerous move to make. I get why it is done. In the first I am not stating that China is innocent, I am stating that they all used these tools and the debts are drowning their actions. The danger is that if there are any innovative people in China, they will come with an alternative. I have no idea what, but I recall a nice example. The US created a specific ballpoint pen that could be used in space, they spend millions on that solution somehow and Russia? They used a pencil. We saw the Huawei block by Google and now Huawei is rocking the Harmony OS which is available in 77 languages. It is different from both Google and Apple, so what happens when Harmony becomes the tool of choice in the Middle East? You can ban and block, but the danger is that someone finds another way just like Toshiba in Russia decades ago and there was no alternative, as such Toshiba grew and grew with an entire market where they had no competition. Will it happen again? I am certain of it, when one resource closes people look for another resource, it is a natural continuation. Only really stupid people think that no one can get around them and I wonder what will come next. As such I have issues and the BBC did nothing wrong here, they reported, they used quotes and they adhered to something (not sure what). I am showing you that what is said is not merely dangerous it is deceptive. It these are the richest democratic economies, why is there a 50 trillion dollar debt (actually it is decently higher at present). A debt of 50,000 billion and no one is asking questions. I get it (to some degree) Russia is now a problem, the Ukraine is dealing with it, but it can only do so much. It needs support and I agree they do need it and I believe they deserve all the help we can give them, yet across the waters there is no one dealing with the actual debt, they are merely prolonging a complete collapse that will have too many deep in debt for decades. Retirement plans will collapse, health care will collapse and we will all blame someone, but no one is looking at how we all let this happen and now those with the option will look towards the Middle East (including me), a lot are looking at China as an option and a global brain drain will be the consequence. All settings that the G7 will have to consider, because they all have a lot to lose.

Enjoy the start of Monday up to 12 hours (for some) from now. 

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May 21, 2023 · 01:01

Deployment Evolution

We all evolve what we make, what we consider and what we design, it is a natural act. There are no hidden flaws or weaknesses. We evolve what we see, what we can. It is in our nature. So, two years go I came up with two ideas, the first was to meltdown an Iranian nuclear reactor in a new novel way, and the second one was to take care of the Iranian navy (America was doing efff all). And would you believe it, these two ideas should work on Russian hardware too. Yet today a thought occurred to me. I am not aware if it is true, but the Russian deploy water microphones to make sure no one gets the drop on their strategic locations. As I was thinking that, I remembered something from my youth. In 1775 David Bushnell designed a one man submarine. I saw the blueprints, they were awesome. He came up with the idea, the concept and the design almost a century before Jules Verne came up with 20,000 leagues under the sea. He was that much of an innovator. So now we have better equipment and we could make a carbon fibre solution. Yet what about those microphones? It seems to me that these microphones cannot detect chemical propulsion. People are so about machines, fossil fuels and nuclear rods that they forget that chemical propulsion comes from the 19th century. I would call that vessel the USS Antoine Lavoisier, credit where credit is due and the French had their great moments. 

In addition, when we deploy a silicone hose that at deployment is coated with the same chemicals a clamp has to attach itself to anything and the hose is filled with two elements. The first is thermite. The second is a wire with attached balls and we deploy it over the length (or a large  enough length) of any boat or submarine and we end the connection with a chemical fuse no one would be the wiser. And the nice thing is that if that activation is nicely timed, we do not merely take out the vessel, we take out the port as it is blocked for a considerable length of time. The second one was already designed, the first part was new. I hd initially a drone in mind, but in this way there is no signal, no nothing. Merely silence and a suddenly sinking craft. The balls are no more than in inch. You see, the explosion need not be big, merely enough to create small gaps in the inner hull, the outer hull has a strip missing bigger than the titanic, as such the outer hull is now filling with water changing the rules of Archimedes on that vessel,  the blasts will create enough small holes so that the inner hull starts filling too and even if the alarms sound, the two dozen small gaps is flooding in water and by the time the crew is alert the damage is too far gone and Archimedes waves at the vessel no longer able to remain afloat, and out next generation turtle (optionally looking very different) moves way like Don Juan silently into the night avoiding a livid husband. 

Whatever will I come up next. Perhaps a new way to deploy EMP drones. This should keep the MIG’s in their stables. So in three small mental exercises (two at present) I took care of Russian reactors, The Navy and soon the airforce. No need to do anything about the Russian army. The Ukrainians are slapping that near to death horse. So what has DARPA been up to lately? 

I earned my cookie today! And all of you? Enjoy the final day of your weekend.

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