Tag Archives: Decimus Junius Juvenalis

A few days ago 

A few days ago we had the impact of the ban of Jimmy Kimmel and that impact it had. Disney need to raise all awareness flags because like the little weasels they seemingly are, the subscriptions were cut. According to some sources almost $4 billion in subscriptions were lost. Some will howl with laughter, but the impact is a little bigger. You see, soon after that (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/disney-subscription-increase-1.7641020) we are given by CBC that ‘Disney+ is raising subscription prices for the 4th year in a row’, one could say this is exactly why I prefer physical media, but Disney wants people to ‘embrace’ Disney plus forever. That Will never do for me. So as the CBC is giving us “Starting Oct. 21, the ad-supported Disney+ plan will increase by $2 US to $11.99 US per month, while the ad-free premium tier will rise $3 US to $18.99 US a month. Annual premium subscriptions will jump $30 US to $189.99 US. Bundled packages combining Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+ will also see price hikes, according to the company’s website.” This makes them more expensive than Netflix. We see all the iterations and the settings that others bring, but the short and sweet stuff is that there is a case to be made for owning physical media. You see, what these streamers seem to forget is that the subscription will have two sides. The subscription and the price of internet streaming. Some providers have ‘a tentacle’ setting that those bytes are disregarded from your internet subscription. Yet as I see it, when the going gets tough, those ‘arrangements’ will fall flat and the prices really will add to the equation. And as we are given “The price increase also appears to apply to Canadians. An email sent to a Disney+ subscriber and reviewed by CBC News shows that the cost of a premium subscription will jump from $119.99 to $159.99 on Oct. 28, though it’s unclear if there are other Canadian price increases” we see this setting (optional) in “it’s unclear if there are other Canadian price increases” but we need to reconsider some streaming solutions and weirdly enough. I raised that very topic in ‘Choice, can you choose?’ which I brought to you on January 9th 2021 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/01/09/choice-can-you-choose/) and there we see the setting evolve and I was only 4 years ahead of the rest. I also (not there) raise the setting that someone brings is a collective of these channels, because there is the setting that people are willing to pay $20 a month for both Disney+ and Netflix, optionally a little more for others to be included. So when you have Netflix $18 + Disney Plus $19. Would it be an idea to get BOTH for $25? (I personally would prefer $20), but that is where the setting is set. At present the setting does not allow BOTH to be included and in this time where (especially the Americans) will have to live on the Roman setting of Bread and Games which was opted be the Roman Poet Decimus Junius Juvenalis and as I see the setting where “Roman government used free food and public entertainment to pacify the populace and prevent revolts, a practice now used to describe any form of mass distraction that diverts attention from societal grievances” is pretty much what the American government needs at present (my speculated view). And as we see the settings of Army deployments in America, ICE dressing up like bank robbers and a whole range of other settings gives rise to my point of view. 

So will Disney evolve? Will we see the Blu-ray version of the Mandalorian? Or will we see the settings of accumulated streaming? Tune in next week when you will hear nurse Piggy say “Oh doctor, he is not 5G compatible” we look back and see how relaxing and entertaining the Muppet Show really was and we still remember that after 50 years these 5 seasons are still on the minds and in the hearts of millions of people. Well done Jim Hanson and Frank Oz.

Timeless humor is truly timeless. Have a great day and don’t get your coffee from the Swedish chef. I ordered it with the music of the Beatles and got a handful of those critters in his cup of Covfefe.

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As the idea erupted

This happens, we do one thing and suddenly an idea erupts. In this case I was thinking of the second script that I am generating in Final Draft.

It was a setting that made me think for a moment. And this setting came from the days of the Commodore Amiga. I even was working an reset emulated version of the game in Macromedia Flash, just 1-2 weeks before I suddenly was made redundant. I suddenly had to relocate from Stockholm to Gorinchem when I got screwed over by my previous boss. But the thought got to me and I thought “Wouldn’t this make a great small budget movie?” An ‘almost’ one person movie with its own narration. Most of the movie in a sort of CGI and an interaction with computers and a sort of deserted place. It might not be the Hollywood stage of stories and not really for the big screen, but an idea that a streaming company might like or consider. In a stage where they have to pump billion into material, a low budget might have a much better chance. They can test an actor or actress as well as the director and director of filming in a cheaper setting. As such 3-5 people straight out of film school. I reckon that Pedro Pascal, Tom Hanks, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Steven Spielberg would be too expensive. But there are over 50,000 actors many of them do not have a place in Bel Air, not to mention of the amount of Directors in the field. New players have a hard time getting through. So, here the speculated number race through my head and now there is a viable setting. The stage of using low budget films to create a talent pool of newbies. You know people like Pedro Pascal had a lucky break. Considering he was the man behind Napoleon Dynamite (vote for Pedro), I know I can be quirky (read: funny) at times. Still the premise remains, luck isn’t always available so what then? I believe that low budget movies are part of that key and places like Dubai Media are likely to break through their own confinements and start breaking through into the West European streaming markets. There is an upside to that. When the current borders by Netflix and Disney plus start pushing their own limitations others could be there taking up the slack. You see one source is stating ‘The US will need 22,700 film directors over the next 10 years’, I cannot vouch for the accuracy there. Yet this implies that ever upper level University will need to fight off job offers with a stick for 100% of their art students. I nice setting, but not realistic. Adding a talent pool becomes essential and not merely for these people, they will all need scripts. There are plenty of them around, but how good are they?

These elements put the larger streamers on the spot and those ready to grow could enter new fields. This puts Dubai Media in a nice place and lets not forget iQiyi and Tencent Media either. America might hate all that is Chinese, but I reckon that Europe is more open to this stage. As the mindset goes that in the first century Decimus Junius Juvenalis stated “Give them bread and games and they will never revolt” It was around the age of Emperor Trajan. What strikes me was that no-one considered owning the bakers. It might be merely a coin per bread, however the Colosseum had 50-80 thousand spectators and that makes for a nice penny. And there were more places over the empire of Rome where these places had crowds. Being the admiral of baker makes perfect sense to me. Even today ‘give them bread and games’ applies but in this setting nowadays growing the streaming services makes a lot more sense. And there to centrality of content becomes a new focal point. Everyone is looking towards Hollywood, but there is a problem there. California is losing their focus, they are saturated, so new borders are required. The Middle East and Asia make sense and when Europe finds out that the American prices are getting too high the aforementioned three players as well as other other streamers will see their markets erupt. Not to mention countries like Indonesia and Bangladesh that over these two countries have a little over half a billion citizens, we see a disrupted market. All looking at California and Hollywood to hand them materials, but the ongoing mass emigration of residents and businesses from California to other U.S. states (Texas) or countries is about to leave California is a near desperate state and the desperate need to pay a lot more. That opens the doors for the Middle East and Asia to make their mark. It is almost the proverbial butterfingered aide putting all egg in one basket. 

All that came to me in a near instant (in less than on hour) whilst was contemplating a low budget movie. I have no idea yet how to do that (I have three other projects in my brains) but it is something to keep in mind. Considering that this setting will take time to implode (before 2026) I still have time and until the end of the year I need to focus on the next two projects but Residuam Vitam comes first. 

Enjoy this Sunday 

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Sportwashing, what does it mean?

I have had my issues with the media for the longest of times. This time something on sportwashing, written by a woman (of course) where the Guardian gives us (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/revealed-saudi-arabia-6bn-spend-on-sportswashing) ‘Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s $6bn spend on ‘sportswashing’’. This setting comes across as a massive joke (to say the least). So when we are given “Billions deployed since early 2021 in a move critics say is an attempt to distract from human rights record”, so who are these critics? Names please? The reality is a lot easier to set in. This is not about some wash, this is about the beginning of the end for media players all over the globe. The setting al almost 2000 years old and was given to us by Decimus Junius Juvenalis who phrased ‘panem et circenses’. He accused his world of “to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction, or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace, by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses).” The west (especially America) took this to heart and for decades it worked for them. We all got the NFL, NBA, NHL and so on. The problem becomes when the well dries up, when the coffers are empty. This was an event that people like Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (aka Caligula) faced and now the west does too. That being said, as I stated a few times over, Saudi Arabia is about to become the largest 5G hub in history, connecting Africa, Asia and Europe via Saudi Arabia (STC), as such the new (soon to become released) news channel makes sense. In addition to that they need to create waves of watchers and as these high end sports will all set the focus to Saudi Arabia. Football, Formula One, eSports, Golf and that list keeps on growing. Soon all eyes will be on the STC and the MBC Group soon enough and that matters, the MBC group started in 1991 and in 31 years they grew and they are about to become the biggest player of them all. I saw part of this and adjusted my IP accordingly (to some degree). And as they go live, the advertisers will walk away from the BS channels we watched for decades. Advertisers will go where the money is and that has nothing to do with sportwashing. That is the business of the day. As such I have no idea where people like Ruth Michaelson get their ideas but they are massively flawed. Then she starts to add fictive settings based on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, which is interesting (apart from that essay joke by the UN), no one ever presented clear and defining evidence on that part. It is my speculation that some people accepted some form of guilt after the immense bashing by the media and political players (I will exempt the Washington Post from this). It all starts to take shape and tis shape took some time to gather as this was a long play and the media is finally starting to figure out what I saw well over a year ago. These media people are about to become obsolete. All these ads in the UK and US, now pushing female football. This is simple, as I see it the other gender will be broadcasted all over the channels that the MBC group has and once they start owning stations in Europe the final part of this strategy becomes clear and just like Google buying YouTube, the MBC group will gather billions in advertisement revenue within the span of a year making Fox News close to obsolete, moreover over 300 sports channels will at some point show the MBC group logo and that is when the coins really start flowing into the coffers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Losers like Microsoft and peers like Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta will bend over backwards to connect in some partnership to the MBC group. As such the evidence is out there in all kinds of messages and news casts. You’ll have to dig, because the western press has been drowning whatever news came from the KSA, but it is out there, as such I wonder who came up with the lame term ‘Whitewashing’ more important, as the media does close to nothing to the actions in places like Iran, do you think that Saudi Arabia needs to spend billions to hide whatever Human Rights issue is in play in Saudi Arabia? What a farce that presumption is. Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations rule and act according to the Quran, the rules of Islam and they are just a few steps away from being the most dominant religion on the planet. Perhaps doing something about catholic paedophiles well over a decade ago was the best course, but feel free to disagree on that one. And there is a second upside, the NHL will prosper as other nations add their visibility to the global population, not in the least by the UAE Ice Sports Federation and its 50 members. Did you know that the Ice Sports Federation in the UAE was that big? What else are you not ware of and what is being kept out of western news? So which Cricket fan saw any matches on TV that were Pakistani or Indian based? Consider all the sports we will be getting soon and wonder why the others did not give us that, kept it from us. Why?  It boils down to money and short earned cash at that, when you play the long game the earning are different and the earnings could be long term. So consider all the sports that the US and EU have to bid for, all whilst they have no money left, only on paper, but that does not pay the invoice, especially when the banks fold. 

Enjoy the day, one day left to the day before the weekend that comes.

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Panem et circenses

Yes, this setting is as old as the hills, the Italian hills mind you. We get this view from Decimus Junius Juvenalis who had a view on life and society 1800-1900 years ago that seems to reflect on the now. His view reflected on superficial appeasement, a stage we have been in for around 20-30 years. We (a collection of nations) became nanny states, but the politicians have no way to deal with the impact of the cost of living in that way. So whilst we might notice that politicians are here to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace, even as most comprehend that Donald Trump is merely the latest version of bad management, he is not alone, this is happening all over Europe as well, and to some extent the media is playing along as long as their owners get a slice of that pie, or is that pizza?

No matter how we tell ourselves it is, we created this stage by letting a few loose cannons set expenditure without accountability. So when I see ‘The only answer: squeeze the super-rich’, I wonder if he has any clue on how deranged that path of thinking truly is. In this, I have to take caution. I might not agree with Simon Jenkins, yet he is entitled to his view. I feel that it is unacceptable to merely bash the man with a dictionary. So as we see the full title ‘Covid has made inequality even worse. The only answer: squeeze the super-rich’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/news/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/covid-inequality-worse-squeeze-super-rich), it is the by-line that matters. Here we see “It’s not right that the world’s 10 richest people have amassed £400bn since the start of the pandemic while billions struggle”, in this he might not be wrong, but does he have a case? Consider that COVID was not any person’s fault, it merely was, we had the Spanish flu 100 years ago, we have COVID now and these 10 people are not to blame, whilst the politicians made the people lazy and content with bread and games (McDonalds & Netflix), some went out and did something, they had made solutions that applied to isolation and they got to cash in. My IP would have been great, yet it was never designed for that, I looked at the plans for Neom City (Saudi Arabia) and came up with the solution, all whilst I also designed an additional system to optionally limit cyber crimes, and if it is not sold soon, I will make it Public Domain and let the hungry feast on that free IP and ruffle a few feathers along the way. 

So when I saw ‘squeeze the super-rich’, all whilst politicians are largely to blame as they refused to overhaul tax laws for 20-30 years, and even make more essential adjustments to tax write offs in the last 10 years, you see where I found the snare of the loom of discord in the writing of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. So when I see “it is hard to quarrel with the report’s conclusion that current economic policies have enabled “a super-rich elite to amass wealth in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression, while billions of people are struggling to make ends meet””, all whilst the Great Depression is the stage we face, can anyone help me remember who set the stage of the the 47-storey Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that opened in 1931 at a cost of $42 million ($600 million today)? The rich had a really good life then and some truck out, greed driven and losing their fortune as the depression hit America, 70 years ago, so how was that solved? Well, we got rid of plenty of people by setting the stage towards WW2, we look at people like J. Paul Getty and Barbara Hutton, but we fail to notice the mess that politicians allowed to happen in the first place, so how will it end now? We might blame that list of 10, but what happens when I get lucky (you gotta get lucky sometimes), will it be my fault, or was my crime to innovate what people forgot about and I got to cash in? Most of us, we all catered to some politicians by accepting the Hamburger and watch Netflix (or Disney Plus), I wonder if anyone on the lit of 10 had any time to watch Netflix, to get the hamburger (the second most likely yes). There is a saying that I saw a few years back: “behind every successful man or woman is a deactivated Facebook account”. There is a ring of truth there and it sets the stage of emotional flames on social media, so whilst we drown in those messages and responses, we forgot to look at the ball and watch someone else take it to success. It is the impact of bread and circuses and even as there is some acceptance on the view of Simon Jenkins, he is seemingly ignoring the bread and circuses stage that has been going on for 20 years, even if one of the ten is paying for the circus, there is a stage where we see that politicians failed its population close to completely, as I see it, it is time to ask the hard questions, but that is a stage that politicians dread, so they will appeal to the media to set all kinds of talks that are about emotion and less about fact, or sales deals for vaccines where the EU relies on the word ‘hope’ and not on the clear contract that needed to be there (see yesterday’s article for details). 

The stage of Panem et circenses will come to a halt soon enough, because the governments of a whole list of nations are out of money, they all owe the banks and the list of 10, who can now set a very different agenda, you are either a consumer, and enabler or useless. If you fall into category 3 hard times are ahead, hard times unlike you ever faced because governments will no longer be able to assist you. It is the price of a nanny state, it’s good going until the invoice is due, at which point the people behind that push are gone, gone like snowflakes in a heatwave. So whilst Jenkins gives us “it is for governments to track down and police those who, far from not paying enough tax, pay little or none at all. They grow rich by keeping their wealth offshore and refusing to contribute to treasuries from which they and their families draw a lifetime of benefit. The billions of dollars in the world’s protected tax havens”, I merely wonder if he comprehends the setting that these tax havens and tax options exist because politicians refused to take care of business in the last 20 years, the stage that they all avoid is that these super rich people did not break any laws, their accountants saw options, their accountants used options that governments allowed to happen. All whilst they now flame Google on news, in a stage that this is to aid a few Murdoch type of people, all whilst the tax overhaul would have helped all, you did realise this, did you not? And when Google does go, as I stated days ago, small business will suffer to a much larger degree than they ever thought possible, and why? All because papers are no longer dependent on news, they are dependent on their advertisers, a stage of what I personally see as filtered content (instead of news) has a much larger impact, the people are seeing this too and they resort to apps by Al Jazeera, BBC, the Guardian et al. And the people are also realising that the politicians are part of the problem, not part of the solution, but so far there is no real solution, yet in my view, the first part of a solution is seeing that you have a problem and as I personally see it those relying on Panem et circenses are a massive problem. In the year that we had COVID, I designed the foundation of 5G IP, the setting for almost a dozen video games, 2 movies and a TV series. Now, I need to find a way to sell it in a trustworthy way (or make it public domain), because that stage too is still thwart with dangers, enablers look in two ways, those they enable so that they are enabled and those they serve enabling them to the position that they are in now and in all this, the laws and politicians have set a stage that is unequal, but not in the way Simon Jenkins sees it it is inequality to further those in key positions. These so called friends of the media and politicians who offer you a golden deal, yet they will never deliver, they merely apologise for setting the wrong stage due to miscommunication from your side and then walk off with your idea. 

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