Tag Archives: CBC

December 13, 2024 · 06:18

Demands from the people

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

Example:
I see something on Google Search (as I usually do) and I think “This might be interesting” and I take a look only to be confronted by a paywall. It is the media advertising habit. As such, if Australian politics want to make the social media pay, it comes at a price. All pay blocks are forbidden by Australian news and Australian media. You do not get to call yourself ‘entertainment’ and use the news as a advertisement campaign. An example of this is the Queensland Courier Mail. And there are many who use this method (some do not). When you charge others for your triviality, you do not get to set your bar to ‘private’, you must offer it to all without a paywall. 

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

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

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

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

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December 1, 2024 · 06:26

When the media uses the media

Yesterday I saw a message that threw me (at first). The BBC gave us (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7747l84xp1o) and we are given ‘Hitman offered $71,000 for Canadian reporter’s assassination’. As I see it, it doesn’t matter who or where, but anyone paying more than $25K for shortening the life-wire of the reporter in question is over-inflating the problem. We are given “Convicted killer Frédérick Silva confessed to La Presse that he had offered the contract to anyone willing to carry out the hit on Daniel Renaud, who was covering his trial for three murders and an attempted murder in 2021.” The first thought I had was how people could fall for this. A convicted killer handing out the job to anyone for $71K? As I personally see it who is Frédérick Silva trying to escape from? Then we get “The “contract” was in place for roughly two months, but was never carried out, La Presse reported. Silva eventually cancelled the order, he said, because he had “more important issues to deal with”.” As I see it, when a person sets up a contract, it tends to be ‘fulfilled’ within a few days. So I am weirded out by a $71K contract that stays open for about 2 months and then withdrawn? The setting does not fit as some would say. Consider the premise of anyone in the lower security tier. Day one, scope where he lives, or where he frequents. Set the stage and set up a sniping position on day two. Wait for day 3-5 for the mark to show up and end his career (with a 7.62mm prop). In case of ‘dubio’ you could set it up in week 2 as well. So all the effort in two weeks explained and a convicted killer can’t do it and no one wants a $71K job? America with its problems and everyone in that setting passes up on a $71K job? And no one sees this? I had all these doubts, so I decided to take a look at the Canadian side of things and the CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/hit-man-wanted-to-kill-journalist-1.7397281) gave me ‘Notorious Quebec hit man wanted to have La Presse journalist killed for $100K’ with the byline “a threat recently made public revealed there could have been a third attempt three years ago, when a contract was put on the head of La Presse crime reporter Daniel Renaud. “I was shaken,” Renaud was quoted saying in La Presse. “I am always careful about what I write. For me, the best guarantee for my protection is my writing.”” I read two articles and the only thing dripping off the writing is ‘how considerate’ he pretended to be seen. You see, we get one additional thing. We are given “Quebec provincial police informed Renaud in the fall of 2022 that notorious hit man Frédérick Silva, whose trial Renaud covered the year before, had put out a $100,000 contract to have the journalist killed.” If that was true the journalist either had something no one has seen yet, or there is another personal setting. So when Radio Canada gives us “Frédérick Silva was arrested in 2019 after spending months in hiding. Three years later, he decided to become a police informant and was airlifted to a secure location from jail.” So he was in hiding for months? And decided to become a police informant? What a disgrace (to some). So consider that “notorious hit man” forks out a contract. I get it, that would be needed to create an alibi and if he was so notorious some would take the contract to gain favour and fame in certain circles. And it came with a $71K bonus? I have issues with this all and I am surprised that I might be the only one. It is not the person. I wonder if anyone outside of Canada knows Daniel Renaud? That is not an attack on Daniel Renaud, he might be very famous in Canada, perhaps even more famous in Quebec. But I (and many more) have never heard of him and that is fine in this world where there are more journalists than there are pools. If you add the self proclaimed journalists we get a pool of so many people that they can replace the population of a medium sized country. So when you realise these items in the equation. Consider what these articles were all about. About a failed attempt on a life where the slightly above average precision shooter could gain an easy $71K, or a reporter that has suddenly be pushed into the limelight. 

As I see it there are way to many debatable issues here for comfort. I will let you make up your own mind.

Have a great day.

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November 8, 2024 · 21:00

All the way from Ottawa

Yup, that was the question mark that I had. I saw it at the CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/guilbeault-china-saudi-arabia-climate-1.7376007) where we get ‘China, Saudi Arabia should pay up to help the planet cope with climate change: Guilbeault’ OK, I like my sarcasm with plenty of Maple Syrup (a personal choice). A wholesome breakfast as it says. We are given “Guilbeault wants emerging economies to contribute to a new climate goal”. This sounds nice on paper, but it doesn’t hold the pastrami. I feel uneasy as the idea sounds nice, but it seems to have all kinds of unforeseen complications. And as we consider “Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Wednesday he wants China and Saudi Arabia to contribute money to international efforts to help poorer countries struggling with the worst effects of climate change.” You know, America and Europe take its own share of decades of looting in wealth the established setting of the commodity of oil. Oh, and why give OPEC and China that bill? Where is Am Erica for that bill? I am pretty sure that some president of the US give Steven Guilbeault the finger the moment he states that out loud. There is a larger setting. You see, we could decrease the allowed oil for any nation by 10%, then there is my favourite, decrease global flights by 15% (taken in account that there are way too many flights happening). You see, the last 15 years we have seen a million flights per year more. I did a calculation once (in 2021) where I stated “That amounts to 41,000 flights a day, every single day.” I did this on November 13th 2021 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/11/13/a-cop26-truth/) in ‘A COP26 truth’ As I see it, this will have a better result. But Steven Guilbeault does not want that. He merely want to point the finger at China (to get the blessing of some president), he’ll also point the finger at Saudi Arabia which will not go anywhere. As I personally see it, this is a limelight piece. Get the shiny lights thrust upon him whilst the solution goes nowhere, and those poor poor emerging economies? Ad when we consider ““China will become, in fact, one of the biggest historic polluters in the coming years,” Guilbeault said.” What data does he have? In the coming years is speculation, as I see it, Russia will have to become a much larger polluter to get any fingers over the edge of disaster at present. There is no real data to consider that China will be anything like that. I wonder where he got the data, as the ‘data’ in march gave us all “India was declared as the third-most polluted country in 2023, after Bangladesh and Pakistan, according to a report released by Swiss air quality monitoring body, IQAir.” Which is interesting as they have a significant loss of longevity They went from eight position in 2022 to third position in 2023. Of that list of 50 cities 42 are in India. As such I call his bluff and wish him a nice day with what he has. Yes something needs to be done, pretty much everyone agrees with that. What it is, remains the question. Giving the Ace of Spades to China and Saudi Arabia is folly as I see it. The issue with any fire is to take away the air for a fire to breath, take away the fuel that propels the fire or put out the fire (the third is the lamest idea). As such you can limit oil to everyone, which will drive the price up, or take away the air for oil to burn (extremely hazardous to people). As such we are in a bind. Making this about emerging economies is just a bad option, or we lessen EVERYONE’S access to oil and the the emerging countries get their 100% and the largest economies get that limit decrease as well. I wonder how long it will take for everyone to ‘diminish’ the emerging economies. You see Steven Guilbeault blasted his statement to ‘merely’ include China and Saudi Arabia. In 2021 the United States used 20.4% of the petroleum-consuming countries it was number one with 5% more then number 2 (China), as such why didn’t Steven Guilbeault mention America? Oh, and Saudi Arabia isn’t even in that top 5. India (4.8%), Russia (3.8%) and Japan (3.5%) had those positions. As such it makes kinda sense to hand the spade to China, but not before America gets the spade as well. They both Amount to 36.1% of the petroleum-consuming countries. As such, when you consider these numbers. Is he anything more than a windy politician (like the ones from Chicago)?

It’s not all seemingly bad news. We are also given “According to one estimate, $2.4 trillion US in climate finance is needed by 2030 for investments to meet the Paris Agreement targets and related development goals.” Yes, that works with any nation with a gross federal debt surpassing $35,000,000,000,000. That really seemingly works and don’t blame President-elect Trump for that, Harris wouldn’t have been able to do that either. This is the result of sitting on your hands and too many presidents have done that going all the way back to President Clinton, which was 21 years ago. The easiest option is that we allow climate change to kill 27.8% of the population, making the decrease of 49,000 flights a day and 24.1% less oil used a manageable achievement. You see, the solution is very simple if you see the problem as simple as an arithmetic problem. Take away the people using oil and you get the same result. Oh, as a bonus consider that less food is required at that point. All simple solutions towards a conundrum that people aren’t willing to see as a real problem. Did I oversimplify the problem for you?

Have a lovely day and consider how much oil you used this week. 

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September 15, 2024 · 21:19

Delusional, Collected or Fantastic?

In this I have to warn upfront that fantastic is not a good side of collected, it is related to fantasy as in a story fantastic in nature, perhaps not as science based as Star Trek, but it started with a gut feeling. So what is in this feeling? It isn’t related to anything I am writing, not to the script I delivered to Dubai Media (no idea how bad they think it is), but two stories triggered something in me, I have no idea if it is foresight or just imagination running wild in any unforeseen direction. 

The first story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/certified-teacher-struggles-schools-1.7323688) tells us the story based out of New Brunswick giving us ‘Certified teacher struggling to land full-time job in spite of shortage’, this gives us “New Brunswick anglophone schools started the year at least 32 teachers short, according to union”. As such I see saw initially two directions. The one is that the union is banking on staff that they can not realistically hope for. The second is that the schools are out of funds, they do not have enough funds to complete even one year. I do not have any evidence to the stage of the second side of it all. But then I saw a third side. It brushed my senses. It comes from the Evangelical Focus (at https://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/27839/christian-schools-rise-in-germany) ‘Christian schools rise in Germany’ with the setting that has a different premise, in Germany of all places. You see, in this I see the republican sides (many nations). They tried the influencers, they tried fear mongering. But they are coming up short and now these same people are involved in visibility fights with Russia, or China and people are panicking. But the right sees a need to control the narrative and in this religion has been for a long time their favourite tool. So is one the evidence to the other? No, it is not. But there could be a clear path of evidence that the Muslim population needs. First the Catholic press to avoid putting 6% of their clergy in prison (see: Spotlight movie). As such another path is needed or the people. Is Islam the answer? I am certain that this path is seen as optional, hence we see the rise of christian schools. The third stage links indirectly to the first, it is now France (at https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240914-why-french-teachers-walking-away-from-jobs-education-france) which gives us ‘Why so many French teachers are calling it quits’ with “French teachers are quitting in record numbers, overwhelmed by low pay, crowded classrooms and increasing demands. Despite successive reforms by previous governments, staffing shortages persist. And leaving the profession is often a difficult process. With the announcement of a new education minister just around the corner, will France’s public education crisis finally ease up?” And there is the rub, one already has a shorts (Canada), one resolved the shortage (Germany) and one is pushing the shortage (France). Germany and France settles the need of pressure from the EU, they are the strongest voices and a clergy approach to schools puts the mind at ease for a future generation or two. That depends if there is a real push in place. But we have a new influencer stage coming. And soon this will hit TipTok and YouTube in a larger scale, how large? I have no idea, so here is the phase whether I am merely delusional, I am seeing data connected in a personal stage that could be genius or foolish (anyone’s bet). But am I wrong? That is my first question. Then we see a new stage evolving, Iranian satellites being launched by the IRGC and there is already a fear that this is a prelude to an attack on Israel and at that point the influencers are getting hit with dozens of high paying contracts. The narrative will need to be fed. I think it will be a sudden protest by Iran stating that they will cooperate with any decision the west offers. It puts Iran back on the table and as Israel was destroyed, they will receive millions of prayers by Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen and Jordan. Iran is back on the table. That will be my moment to decide to give all my support to Saudi Arabia, there is no narrative with Iran at the table. The west and east are willing to sacrifice Israel for a longer time at the table with goodies. In this the dangers of influencers are shown and no one is willing to do anything about it. No matter what they think, the FBI files on influencers will be ignored to too large an extent. The narrative for the west is everything. How do you think that the European Union Government Debt is 12.7 trillion dollars? Now add the US debt ($35 trillion) and Japan ($9.23 trillion) and they decide on the narrative? I think it is important to them that the narrative is controlled, that hatred (anti muslim) is fuelled in all kinds of ways, by the next ave of people, the next wave needs to be ‘protected’ and that is where the clergy comes in. They are always happy to help those who enable them. A nice circle that enables the people who waste money to a new weird degree and in this they are all banking on a nearly non-existent world of Quantum computers with 1 trillion up for grabs between now and 2035. I reckon within the next 6 months certain stake holders will tie this with amazing amount of money towards the AI, all whilst the two are nearly there, but not quite. Seemingly in the UK they have a £630,000,000 investment in something that not yet works (source unavailable).  But the simplicity of this is that an actual AI requires a trinary system, currently systems will not work, or only in part. We are still in the binary stage. I made mention of this on August 8th 2022, two years ago in the story Altered Image. I did not record all the details, but the Ypsilon particle will enable trinary based systems when the proven theory allows the practical setting to emerge and at that point I saw IBM as the most likely one to pursue this. That and shallow circuits will be the cornerstone of a real AI field. 

So as we see this. Am I merely delusional? Is this a factual presumption towards what could come (based on the facts I have been exposed to), or is this merely my creative side founding facts to fantasy, but my mind did not make the leap to a new storyline. I already have three stories evolving and merely published a first one. Four stories in less than a year, not bad. 

Well, feel free to Judge me, but this is what is (at present), enjoy your day.

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September 3, 2024 · 19:37

The Saudi Dissent

There is a premise, the utter need of the so called utter mighty to be kept in check. That is not a new saying, it goes back to the days of the roman empire. Some refer to this as ‘power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’ This is to a larger stage true for all christian based governments. As first piece of evidence I would like to submit the Treaty of Clermont 1094, it set the beginning of the crusades under Pope Urban II. There are examples that go deep into the Roman Empire days with one year having 4 Roman emperors. But this example is the setting we get from a derivation of that saying, but more stated as ‘power corrupts, wannabe powers corrupt a lot quicker’. This is the premise and with this we get to the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gz8934wrro) The piece has a setting of baloney (as the phrase goes) and with “We were surprised that there was a royal decree to allow the ground interventions,” Jabri says. “He forged the signature of his dad for that royal decree. The king’s mental capacity was deteriorating.” It is a stage where I left the article for the most, but as we now see this being copied all over the western media. It is time to take up the baton calling the media on their BS. You see, what evidence is there? Is it Saad al-Jabri? He is both an alleged traitor and alleged thief. For this I need to take you back to another article I wrote in 2020 (August 11th) in ‘The 51st State’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2020/08/11/the-51st-state/), I had an issue with him then. The media never caught on it seems. The first was the quote

Gulf News (at https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/report-fugitive-saudi-official-misspent-11b-in-government-funds-1.72662340) gives us ‘Fugitive Saudi official misspent $11b in government funds’, and lets face it, if I walked away with $11,000,000,000 I would move to Canada, buy the Edmonton Oilers, or the Calgary Flames, buy a nice mansion in either city, train to be their goalie and live the life until I die. It is a plan, not a plan everyone will embrace, but I like that plan, especially if I have that much money.

We then get :

Oh, and the quote gives is “Al Jabri, a 61-year-old with a doctorate in computer science, was the virtual No 2 in the Saudi Interior Ministry, which was run for years by Mohammed bin Nayef. Al Jabri ran a special ministry fund that mixed government spending on high-priority antiterrorism efforts with bonuses for himself and others, according to documents reviewed by the Journal and interviews with Saudi officials and Al Jabri’s confidants,” the WSJ report read”. In all this and in fact of that accusation of corruption and through that (as well as) “spending on high-priority antiterrorism efforts with bonuses for himself and others”, who else was paid? So in this, how much investigation was done by the FBI, for did they allegedly acquire enough self-funding to be above the law? I am merely asking!

This should have given us the setting that we need to dissect anything the man gives us especially as there is a realistic chance that the Government of Saudi Arabia has a sore feeling about the west being a speaking platform for people like that. If there was ANY evidence, we were not given it and that stage has been around for over 4 years (at present)

Then we get to 2021, the eighth of December in ‘Six of one’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/12/08/six-of-one/) There we get a few items, like

So as some might remember “Aljabri gained worldwide attention last year when he filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., alleging he had been the target of a failed assassination plot orchestrated by Mohammed bin Salman”, an assassination attempt? In Canada? So why is the US courts involved? Why is this not set in Canada? Then we get “Sakab Saudi Holding Company, “had no operational business” despite receiving $8 billion US in government funding and was used “almost exclusively” as a vehicle to funnel money to the other companies”. My issue here is not merely whether this is on the up and up, it is happening under the noses (optionally with blessing) of the CSIS, this is an Unites States setting (with $8,000,000,000) and it is happening in Canada. 

As well as:

what we get is “he made at least $385M — and says there’s ‘nothing unusual’ about it”, really? Last time most people made a mere few millions, close to every tax agent within 50 miles came calling for a cup of coffee, but then I must have forgotten about the US and their $8,000,000,000 investment opportunity.

Now we get the first bullet (as the saying goes), these interviews are 4 years old, at no time was there a mention of forged signatures. And this was after 4 years of Yemeni atrocities by Houthi terrorists. So I have issues. Is this some drip-drip intelligence setting? If so, the US and its CIA, as well as the NSA have been sleeping at the wheel and this in pushed onto CSIS territory. 

He did more interviews, as far as I remember the Toronto Star, the BBC, CBC and Wall Street Journal. They all dropped the ball on journalism and now the Times is following them. I have an issue with an alleged criminal with these transgressions to get such a speaking platform. Now, there could be a case that there is evidence and I think that this needs to be shown. Oh, and I have some jealousy issues with any governmental person gets to go home with well over $385,000,000, we all would have that. Perhaps a little more transparency by the CIA would have helped that these positions of government have such pay checks. It as that simple a setting and the CIA should have seen that. These simple ad-hoc statements without evidence is something the media should know better that to merely accept them. It gives the nasty vibe that they are doing the work of governments making Saudi Arabia look bad. It is somewhat of a repetition that Clermont give us in 1094. Didn’t we basically went on a pilferage there, calling it pilgrimage? That was over 1000 years ago and we are still seeing the fallout from that event.

In a ‘fair’ space Saudi Arabia might decide to lower the delivery of oil to Europe and America by 100,000 barrels a day each and offer that to China for the same amount (no real reason that it should cost Saudi Arabia). I reckon China will happily agree and Europe as well as America? Well, you made a platform for a alleged thief and alleged traitor (the display of evidence towards the forged autograph will prove that part). I reckon that these two places will implode a lot faster then they thought. 

That is merely my oversimplification of the Gordian knot. Sometimes it is just better to burn what its tying. As people will shout that I am wrong. This is fair enough, but they opened the door of spouting news without evidence or justification. The interviews going back to 2020 are online and visible. So where is the mention? There is no stage of ‘it was complex’ a non-monarch is accused of forging the monarchs signature. In the western world that is high treason and in the near past they hung people for that (see: Nuremberg trials).

Oh before I forget, I just uncovered a wannabe mole in the CIA. Can I collect please? I know it will not be $385,000,000. Yet a $38,500,000 fee is reasonable (I think). It allows me my apartment in Toronto and a house in Golden Oaks Orlando. So I can celebrate an abundant retirement in Disney World and Universal world (both in Orlando). There is an option that the CIA will object to(fair enough), but then they should give us the evidence, don’t you agree? Lets not forget that the US courts did not allow the Saudi lawyers to present evidence in their courts. Turnabout is such a nasty feeling when you become the object of evidence. 

Still, have a great day. As the Vancouverians are joining us in this Tuesday, the whole planet is now aligned to the same day. Enjoy.

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July 22, 2024 · 20:17

What’s the deal?

That is the question and it goes beyond simple branding. It is the CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fake-labour-documents-sold-abroad-1.7253257) who gives us ‘Scams selling fake jobs to foreign workers may be operating outside Canada’ The routine is decently simple. 

  1. Someone in the world sets up links.
  2. They promise a job (at a charge)
  3. Person is scammed and in this example a 31-year-old from Lagos says a fellow Nigerian sold him fake documents after promising a job in Canada.

The problem is that not every one is internet savvy and more important. They think that Facebook (and other social media) is a safe space.

There is another way to look at this. For one “a travel agent who specialised in providing visas to Canada and the U.K.”

Let’s take this one step at a time. There are literally thousands waiting to get legally into Canada and the U.K.. With citizens in these places setting the stage. Do you really think that such a person has any chance? People in these places know people too. Do you think that they would allow the job to go to any foreigner they do not know, when they know people that they would happily offer the job to someone they know? In addition, there are genuine shortages, but they tend to be specialised jobs like nurses, doctors and so on. And when you are on social media who can tell which person is real, who is a scammer and who is a troll farm.

There is almost literally the chance that a offer that is too good to be true is either a scammer or a troll seeking intel. And the chances of a good deal go down and down more and more. 

There is a second part, but foreigners might not know that unless they investigate. You see labour market impact assessments (LMIA’s) cannot be sold, that I actually illegal. 

And on a second note, this year on the Hajj, hundred of people got killed by so called travel agents, there is every chance that they weren’t even a recognised travel agent (I have no data proving or disproving that).

Australia has a offering of empty appartments that is around 1%, do you think that those with an apartment will offer it on Facebook to strangers? They can make a bundle in cash and in social commitments to people they know. And that is mostly without risk. I would love to move to Canada (I think that an outstanding donation from Jeff Bezos or Andy Jassy has 98.9% more chance for me than any Facebook claim) and I never met any of these two youthful young sprouts. 😛

The article also has a statement that I firmly believe in “If it sounds too good to be true, it is. And generally speaking, an employer in Canada is not going to ask you for money to extend a job to you.” That is especially true for social media. The bulk of posts in social media is that they are out for money, it is the rule of me, myself and my bank account. The bulk of these people are honest dealers, tradesman or retail. But the bump of scammers is growing, especially in this economy. There is one statement I have an issue with. It is “Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault denounced LMIA fraudsters for targeting “vulnerable people.”” He is correct, but that group of people in this economy is getting larger fast. So new options are needed. I believe that here the embassies are the option. They should give clear notice to anyone going to their sites how to get on a track to become a foreign worker/resident/citizen. Also give clear scammer warning and especially that the sale of LMIA documents is illegal. Now, The Australian page for Canada is clear and direct, however I did not see the LMIA issue. I think there should be a warning for scammers (on every consul page) and why a Facebook group mail is nearly always a scam.

Me? Well I will in part rely on the sale of IP and get enough to retire in Toronto, we all have wishes and this is mine. 

Anyway have a lovely day, my day is almost done whilst in Vancouver it is 5 hours until this morning’s breakfast. Enjoy!

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February 9, 2024 · 19:46

Is Israel failing?

That is a serious question. Hamas started all this and it was the straw that broke the camels back. The response was overwhelming. Well over 50% of Gaza has been reduced to rubble. But behind all this is a second tier that needs addressing. It is the UNRWA. We saw the accusations, we saw government pull out funds. I am OK with that, but now the media is starting another track. Australian ABC gives us that politician Penny Wong has questions. That is fair enough. 10 hours ago, the Guardian gives us ‘We don’t have all the facts on UNRWA allegations, Penny Wong admits’, now it is starting to become a problem. 

These are not alone. We see news from Channel 4, CBC and other sources making similar claims. Now, for the most the media has lost pretty much all credibility with me, so I have doubts. Yet in all this Israel has one option. To make this document public knowledge through all the sources it can trust. In the mean time, the new Arab (at https://www.newarab.com/news/no-evidence-israeli-unrwa-claims-six-page-dossier) gives us ‘Channel 4 says ‘no evidence’ for Israel’s UNRWA claims in six-page dossier’, so what gives? 

As I said, Israel’s (pretty much) only option left is to make that dossier public. If it is evidence (clear evidence mind you) the media becomes even less reliable than it already is. And lets not forget the UN Essay that newspapers used to smear the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I poked holes in that one in under an hour. I am pretty sure I can do the same here if it does not hold up to scrutiny. 

So the question remains, is Israel failing here? The fact that the UN sacked a dozen or more workers implied that there was an issue. They weren’t set to zero hours, whilst an investigation was done, They were sacked immediately. This implied something was wrong, something was afoot. But now we get that this so called dossier does not hold evidence. It does not sound like Israel, but that accusation should be investigated as well. We are also given “inconsistencies have since appeared in Israel’s narrative, with documents shared with Sky News by Israel naming 6 rather than 12 staff as allegedly involved in the attacks. No explanation has been provided yet for this.” Now, I get that the other 6 might have intelligence value by not naming them, as such it might have been not documented (might being the operative word). Yet why mention these people at all? There are question marks and I am happy to hand the ace of spades to the media, but too many (some very respectable) are making similar mention. As such Israel needs to do something. Hamas is a blight on all and soon they will become a blight on the Muslim world. As such, should Israel deal with them now, it is fine by me. Later when they play these games to wring power away from Saudi Arabia and the UAE towards themselves and Iran it becomes a whole new mess of destabilisation and these dumb individuals are one trick ponies. They know no other way. Better to deal with them now before they create chaos in Saudi Arabia and the UAE afterwards, then These two will have to deal with them and that is a larger problem. Gaza is almost gone, Hamas will spread via Qatar all over the Arabian peninsula, it will flame all the nations there. It is my view, but I feel that I see this anticipated view correctly. So Israel needs to show the evidence to everyone, so that politicians and media cannot hide behind “I misread that? It was a simple miscommunication”, we need to get ahead of this and I reckon that this dossier once printed in the Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post and Haaretz will be picked up by everyone else. No matter what happens next, time is running short for Israel. They might have created waves, however the media is counter waving them with their own waves and the people are caught in the middle. NONE of them have produced the dossier or used clear quotes on what the dossier says, as such Israel has an option left and I reckon it might decide the fate of the UNRWA. 

I agree that it is my view, but I feel that I am seeing it all correctly. I will let you decide which view is the correct one. I am getting close to Saturday, in Vancouver Friday just started.

Enjoy the day.

 

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January 8, 2024 · 01:17

Is it me?

This is a question we must all ask ourselves. In this case, it might be me. You see, I have issues with the CBC article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-ontario-cities-aoda-1.7054848) where we see ‘Ontario cities need help — and cash — to meet 2025 accessibility deadline, advocates say’. There is (as I personally see it) a lot missing. The first thing I missed was ‘by 2025’, is that January 1st or December 31st? It is a serious question, the article does not bare that out (or was that bear that out)?

The second part is a partial setting. So when was this all agreed upon? Pre or post Covid. It might be well known, but the article should have given us that in stead of trying to find it. You see, pre Covid issues will have delays all off them (at least 90% off them) will face delays because the world has never faced covid before and Canada had a trucker issue as well. 

So when we get to “The city’s latest report on its accessibility progress listed 56 out of 63 of its accessibility goals as complete as of the end of 2022” I might not be up to speed on a few matters (as I am a little distant from Canada, yet in this 56 out of 63 is a decent achievement. The problem is that we see no timeline. So what timeframe were these 56 achievements gotten by? If it is one year it is awesome, when it has taken 10 years not that much greatness. But the article does not bare that out, does it? 

Then we get “In September, the TTC acknowledged 13 out of its 70 subway stations won’t meet the standards outlined in the AODA by 2025” I personally say that those without nuance will always slam, and advocates are really good at slamming, especially when they can ignore nuance. The other way around they are all about nuance, so go figure. There is also the missing part on why the TTC that 13 of its subway stations are missing these outlines standards. A list would have been helpful.

AODA
Now we need to look at a side of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). I have nothing against it, I am all for such a setting even though it does not aid or help me. I recognise the stage it should protect. The fact is that I am a numbers man (data, not excel). So these 13 subway stations. What is missing and what size of ontarians are hurt because of it? It is a simple enough question. Now, this is not some kind of trivialisation. The numbers I am seeing are “The recent approximations show that there are estimated to be 382,700 deaf and 3,827,000 hard of hearing people in Canada (CAD, n.d., Malkowski, 2021). Out of these numbers, there are approximately 144,990 deaf and 1,449,000 hard of hearing Ontarians (Malkowski, 2021).” These are serious numbers. So how many blind? How many with mobility issues? More important what could be fixed? That 13 stations are missing out is one thing, how much they are missing out of is another and that too is not given to us. You see there are two kinds of people, the one whinges about everything, the other one tries to fix as much as possible and there is also a snag. Too much information is missing, the article does not bare out what could be fixed and how much more time is required? 

This is not an attack, but these are questions that should have been on the front of the mind of the chief editor of the CBC (I think that would be Brodie Fenlon), a mere simple setting we need to address. It is also a case that some subway stations have other constructions nearby which might have made issues more complex and Toronto is filled with construction tape and construction inhibitors all over the city. The final part is seen under a photograph. It is “The city of Toronto, along with other Ontario cities, needs more cash to help reach its accessibility goals faster” a simple setting that doesn’t get the attention it needs to have. So was it a budgeting issue, was it due to other factors? The more I look at the article, the more questions it raises and the first batch of questions goes straight to the CBC. Too much was missing here and the missing parts weren’t for a follow up. They should have placed it in this article.

This is how I see it and here I might be wrong. Too many people claiming to be journalists are blatantly dim on simple top-line graphics and numbers (or tables and charts) giving clarity where there clearly is none. So why was that?

Just a thought for Ontarians as they get through Sunday. Here it is Monday, so they could call me and ask what will happen tomorrow? A simply joke but it has me in stitches every time. In support of that, should I come to Toronto, I will be time travelling ;-).

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December 28, 2023 · 23:31

Not changing sides

It was a setting I found myself in. You see, there is nothing wrong with bashing Microsoft. The question at times is how long until the bashing is no longer a civic duty, but personal pleasure. As such I started reading the article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/new-york-times-openai-lawsuit-copyright-1.70697010) where we see ‘New York Times sues OpenAI, Microsoft for copyright infringement’ it is there where we are given a few part. The first that caught my eye was ““Defendants seek to free-ride on the Times’s massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment,” according to the complaint filed Wednesday in Manhattan Federal Court.” To see why I am (to some extent) siding with Microsoft on this is that a newspaper is only in value until it is printed. At that point it becomes public domain. Now the paper has a case when you consider the situation that someone is copying THEIR result for personal gain. Yet, this is not the case here. They are teaching a machine learning model to create new work. Consider that this is not an easy part. First the machine needs to learn ALL the articles that a certain writer has written. So not all the articles of the New York Times. But separately the articles from every writer. Now we could (operative word) to a setting where something alike is created on new properties, events that are the now. So that is no longer a copy, that is an original created article in the style of a certain writer. 

As such when we see the delusional statement from the New York Times giving us “The Times is not seeking a specific amount of damages, but said it believes OpenAI and Microsoft have caused “billions of dollars” in damages by illegally copying and using its works.” Delusional for valuing itself billions of dollars whilst their revenue was a lot less than a billion dollars. Then there is the other setting. Is learning from public domain a crime? Even if it includes the articles of tomorrow, is it a crime then? You see, the law is not ready for machine learning algorithm. It isn’t even ready for the concept of machine learning at present. 

Now, this doesn’t apply to everything. Newspapers are the vocalisations of fact (or at least used to be). The issues on skating towards design patents is a whole other mess. 

As such OpenAi and Microsoft are facing an uphill battle, yet in the case of the New York Times and perhaps the Washington Post and the Guardian I am not so sure. You see, as I see it, it hangs on one simple setting. Is a published newspaper to be regarded as Public Domain? The paper is owned, as such these articles cannot be resold, but there is the grinding cog. It was never used as such. It was a learning model to create new original work and that is a setting newspapers were never ready for. None of these media laws will give coverage on that setting. This is probably why the NY Times is crying foul by the billions. 

The law in these settings is complex, but overall as a learning model I do not believe the NY Times has a case. and I could be wrong. My setting is that articles published become public domain to some degree. At worst OpenAI (Microsoft too) would need to own one copy of every newspaper used, but that is as far as I can go. 

The dangers here is not merely that this is done, it is “often taken from the internet” this becomes an exercise on ‘trust but verify’. There is so much fake and edited materials on the internet. One slip up and the machine learning routines fail. So we see not merely the writer. We see writer, publication, time of release, path of release, connected issues, connected articles all these elements hurt the machine learning algorithm. One slip up and it is back to the drawing board teaching the system often from scratch.

And all that is before we consider that editors also change stories and adjust for length, as such it is a slightly bigger mess than you consider from the start. To see that we need to return to June this year when we were given “The FTC is demanding documents from Open AI, ChatGPT’s creator, about data security and whether its chatbot generates false information.” If we consider the impact we need to realise that the chatbot does not generate false information, it was handed wrong and false information from the start the model merely did what the model was given. That is the danger. The operators and programmers not properly vetting information.

Almost the end of the year, enjoy.

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December 25, 2023 · 16:01

How stupid could stupid become?

Yup that was the question and it all started with an article by the CBC. I had to read it twice because I could not believe my eyes. But yes, I did not read it wrong and that is where the howling began. Lets start at the beginning. It all started with ‘Want a job? You’ll have to convince our AI bot first’, the story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/recruitment-ai-tools-risk-bias-hidden-workers-keywords-1.6718151) gives us “Ever carefully crafted a job application for a role you’re certain that you’re perfect for, only to never hear back? There’s a good chance no one ever saw your application — even if you took the internet’s advice to copy-paste all of the skills from the job description” this gives us a problem on several factors, but the two I am focussing on is IT and recruiters. IT is the first. AI does not exist, not yet at least. What you see are all kinds of data driven tools, primarily set to Machine Learning and Deeper Machine Learning. First off, these tools are awesome. In their proper setting they can reduce workloads and automate CERTAIN processes.

But these machines cannot build, they cannot construct and they cannot deconstruct. To see whether a resume and a position match together you need the second tier, the recruiter (or your own HR department). There are skills involved and at times this skill is more of an art. Seeing how much alike a person is to the position is an art. You can test via a resume of minimum skills are available. Yes, at times it take a certain amount of Excel levels, it might take SQL skill levels or perhaps a good telephone voice. A good HR person (or recruiter) can see this. Machine Learning will not ever get it right. It might get close. 

So whilst we laugh at these experts, the story is less nice, the dangers are decently severe. You see, this is some side of cost reduction, all whilst too many recruiters have no clue what they are doing, I have met a boatload of them. They will brush it off with “This is what the client wants” but it is already too late, they were clueless from the start and it is getting worse. The article also gives  us a nice handle “They found more than 90 per cent of companies were using tools like ATS to initially filter and rank candidates. But they often weren’t using it well. Sometimes, candidates were scored against bloated job descriptions filled with unnecessary and inflexible criteria, which left some qualified candidates “hidden” below others the software deemed a more perfect fit.” It is the “they often weren’t using it well”, you see any machine learning is based on a precise setting, if the setting does not fit, the presented solution is close to useless. And it goes from bad to worse. You see it is seen with “even when the AI claims to be “bias-free.”” You see EVERY Machine learning solution is biased. Bias through data conversion (the programmer), bias through miscommunication (HR, executive and programmer misalignment) and that list goes on. If the data is not presented correctly, it goes wrong and there is no turning back. As such we could speculate that well over 50% of firms using ATS are not getting the best applicant, they are optionally leaving them to real recruiters, and as such handing to their competitors. Wouldn’t that be fun? 

So when we get to “So for now, it’s up to employers and their hiring teams to understand how their AI software works — and any potential downsides” which is a certain way to piss your pants laughing. It is a more personal view, but hiring teams tend to be decently clueless on Machine Learning (what they call AI). That is not their fault. They were never trained for this, yet consider what they are losing out of? Consider a person who never had military training, you now push them in a war stage with a rifle. So how long will this person be alive? And when this person was a scribe, how will he wield his weapon? Consider the man was a trompetist and the fun starts. 

The data mismatches and keeps this person alive by stating he is not a good soldier, lucky bastard. 

The foundation is data and filling jobs is the need of an HR department. Yes, machine learning could optionally reduce the time going through the resume’s. Yet bias sets in at age, ageism is real in Australia and they cannot find people? How quaint, especially in an aging population. Now consider what an executive knows about a job (mostly any job) and what HR knows and consider how most jobs are lost to translation in any machine learning environment. 

Oh, and I haven’t even considered some of these ‘tests’ that recruiters have. Utterly hilarious and we are given that this is up to what they call AI? Oh, the tears are rolling down my cheeks, what fun today is, Christmas day no less. I haven’t had this much fun since my fathers funeral.

So if you wonder how stupid can get, see how recruiters are destroying a market all by themselves. They had to change gears and approach at least 3 years ago. The only thing I see are more and more clueless recruiters and they are ALL trying to fill the same position. And the CBC and their article also gives us this gem “it’s also important to question who built the AI and whose data it was trained on, pointing to the example of Amazon, which in 2018 scrapped its internal recruiting AI tool after discovering it was biased against female job applicants.” So this is a flaw of the lowest level, merely gender. Now consider that recruiters are telling people to copy LinkedIn texts for their resume. How much more bias and wrong filters will pop up? Because that is the result of a recruiter too, they want their bonus and will get it anyway they can. So how many wrong hires have firms made in the last year alone? Amazon might be the visible one, but that list is a lot larger than you think and it goes to the global corporate top. 

So consider what you are facing, consider what these people face and laugh, its Christmas.

Enjoy today.

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