Tag Archives: Greece

July 13, 2024 · 10:45

6 days a week

This article was shown on Aljazeera (at https://aje.io/lflym6). The story states ‘Why is Greece introducing a six-day working week?’ It seems like a simple enough question. The setting is that Greece needs to kickstart its economy (yet again) and as Greece has no resources, a shortage of people, hospitality is one of the few ways to get this done. We see “While some countries in the world are considering a switch to a four-day working week, Greece is swinging in the opposite direction.” It makes perfect sense to do this. But it is not that simple. We see the following rules “Greece’s new law gives employers in some industries, including businesses that offer 24/7 services, the right to compel employees to work a sixth day in return for an additional 40 percent of their daily wage added to their regular daily wage on the extra working day.” This comes down to someone making €500 a week giving the new setting of €640 a week the €500 plus €100 +40$ getting them to €640. When we see the shortages people have, plenty will accept this idea. I do oppose the setting that Elizabeth Gozme hands us with “Numerous studies have shown that overwork has a detrimental impact on one’s mental health and can often lead to burnout, she said.” I am certain that I can poke holes in that study. You see those studies were done when there was an abundance of revenue sources and when the current revenue was on the three year old premise of cost of living. Now that people are under fire from a simple thing as cost of living, the extra income will point them to a better setting of living. It is not the greatest of ideas, but there is truth in the setting. The option of more money is at present an essential need. The lowering of a debt driven setting for all families will please plenty of people. It will not please all, but with this setting of a 6 day week, call centres might have an option against their competitors in Portugal, Ireland or on Malta. 

The other disagreement I have is with “According to Eurostat, Greeks already work longer hours than most Europeans”, this might be true, but for the most part it was at a set income, now the people get the additional funds. It is not the best reason but I believe it is likely the solution to several settings. The other part iOS that Greece is trying to come into a new era. One where the debts are lowered, a setting which please both residents and government. As such I see a positive side in all of this. In this the Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/01/greece-introduces-growth-oriented-six-day-working-week) hands us also “Pro-business government says measure is needed due to shrinking population and shortage of skilled workers” where I see that the shortage of skilled workers is the greatest handicap the Greeks currently seem to have. 

So a new work week setting is the start of a great free Saturday for me.

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January 14, 2024 · 22:25

Creating new gaming IP

That happened to me today. I think it started yesterday. Yesterday I watched the walkthrough of God of War 2. I hadn’t seen that since I played the game in 2007 on the PS2. I might have replayed it in 2008. I am not certain. I do know I played the game more than once. But since then the PS3, PS4 and PS5 came and I forgot about it. I replayed the God of War 3 on PS4 (remaster) as well as the original release and watching GoW2 set something in motion and it came to fruition with GoW3. To be clear. This is not some GoW clone, or sequel setting. I believe that would be Santa Monica Studio IP and it would be theirs. I suddenly thought it through as a new IP. More of an RPG but set in ancient Greece. Set in Byzantine Greece (around 400AD) we get a shifting setting but that could benefit the story. I am not revealing too much here, as I am still working things out. But consider what we know, important is also what we do not know and we get the optional setting for a very different IP. An RPG that involves the Greek gods, Greece, history and events that are often overlooked or forgotten. A new kind of educational IP with optional slash and sneaky sneaky (I was always up for sneaky sneaky). Now consider that setting and with two options. Normal and VR play. I do not know too much on VR play as I never played it, but I reckon that if we get this right the interest might be enormous. Even now I am thinking outside the box. Making the player optionally learn ancient greek in the process. There is so much out there and so much to be included that it almost boggles the mind (almost is not always a given). Did you know that it was Aristotle who came up with the Aristotle’s Hole. A pinhole camera in 500BC. There was no film yet, but the foundation of the Camera Obscura is that old. So what happens when we twist that in another way? What happens when the journey is not slaying, but educational? What happens if the game is about repairing (or breaking and repairing)? When (apart from the movie Wreck it Ralph) did you see a game that was about fixing stuff? It doesn’t seem to appealing, but it could be. You merely need to twist the setting on what is broken and why it is broken. 

I myself have always been a huge fan or replayability. As such the RPG has a little snag. You need to create allegiance and throughout the game that allegiance is the guiding star in the game. But what happens when you replay it with another allegiance? What will you fix then, there will be overlap, there will be some similarity, but consider that one part is never seen again for each of the directions you chose. Also, we need to hit other snags. Not complications, merely the outcome of choices you make in the game. So you could replay the game several times giving you optionally other outcomes and other challenges. To this degree a game was never created because those in charge wanted 99% coverage on one game. That time has gone and passed. The impact of Skyrim is making that clear as day and the fact that some people have well over 1000 hours invested in that game is ample evidence that there is space for such a game. I would say that this is up to Santa Monica Studios, but they have their own IP (and they are busy with a new game). So this gets to go towards the non Microsoft indie developers. I still think Amazon is the best choice, but a case now could be made for Tencent and their handheld. I am not ruling out Apple with their Arcade. Yet Apple tends to ‘hide’ in niches and that is not a place where truly great games are made, good games yes, great games a lot less so. And I like my IP to grow beyond expectations. As such I am not ruling out Apple, but I am not holding my breath. That being said Ultima III (by Richard Garriott) was released on the Apple II in 1983. That game got me hooked on RPG games (I had the CBM64 version). 

The moment you think with blinkers is the moment the gaming world passes you by and that is what I did. I removed the blinkers (unintentional) and my mind created the foundation of a new game. One never done before (as far as I can tell) and it is not a small game either. Alexandria, Antioch, Mystras, Ephesus, Mesembria, Reggio Calabria and several other places. That could open a door to a whole range of other games too (not sequels). 

A stage one walkthrough opened the door to. Whilst Microsoft is making new waves (and adding things to Windows 10) whilst we see more issues, what did I do? I created something new. Whilst we get ‘FTC Demands Microsoft Unveil Plans for Ubisoft Amid Activision Blizzard Scrutiny’, I came up with a novel idea. Whilst Bethesda is still releasing patches to a game they released in September 2023. I came up with yet another gaming IP. 

The $0.02 question
You see, what I claim and what is to become can be very different. I think this will be a success (if executed properly), but that is no guarantee that it will be, I do know that. What I also see is that I have come up with several pieces of IP, all whilst Microsoft buys its way to an early grave (with not much to show for it in the end).

Am I right? Am I wrong? That is for others to decide. I know what I have and what I am placing here is a setting that is now public. Over time I will add a lot more and that is also evidence on how those larger players keep on failing. Alexander Hamilton once said “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. In this, I stand for innovation, I stand for the pathways ignored. It doesn’t make me better, wiser or wealthier. But it does make me more creative and with cleaning data and gaming that is an edge you should never ignore. It cannot be bought, it could merely be borrowed for a time and the person who has it is the real gem in any crown. Feel free to disagree, but the evidence for well over 2000 years have shown that to be true. 

So here I am feeling happy with another piece of IP I need to work out (still working on a script) as such I might not be posting part 2 of this in the next few days, but it will come.

Enjoy the day, For me Monday is now 100 minutes away.

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January 3, 2024 · 21:40

A strange evolving setting

I saw the article last night (really really early this morning) and it gave me something to think about. The article (at https://www.deccanherald.com/business/economy/with-russian-oil-imports-falling-india-turns-to-saudi-arabia-2832708) comes from Deccan Herald. I do not know them, but it is an Indian paper. The west doesn’t seem to have this. So lets look at what is weird. 

It starts with “at least five cargoes of the sweet Sokol variant heading to other locations, data from vessel tracking agencies showed.” Then there is “China appears to be the final solution for some cargoes” so whilst we see that imports of Saudi oil, rose by about 4 per cent, Russian oil declined by 22%, the numbers do not add up. I personally believe that Russia is in more trouble then they are letting on. I personally believe that a chunk of that oil is going to Iran to pay for drones. Iran might have oil, but it is embargoed, Russian oil is not and they can make transfer sales and fill their coffers up that way. Now, all this needs to be taken lightly, because there is only one source and I am speculating of that. Consider the deal Russian suppliers had with India. Also consider that by late July 2023, Iran had sent at least 400 Shahed and Mohajer series drones to Russia. That is close to $20 million, per $60 a barrel that is a whole lot of oil and the fact that India is getting less implies (implies is not a fact) that Russia has more than one issue at present. The Shahed drones are running out, more are needed and Russia (through several sources) are lacking in capabilities to get their own drones to the front. This all adds up that Russia has increasing issues to maintain their battlefronts, to maintain their Russian oil supplies and to maintain their manufacturing facilities. Napoleon lost with a lot less problems.

So whilst Saudi Arabia is seeing more revenue from their oil stocks, the question is how long that happens. It is not on Saudi Arabia, but once it is shown that Russia is lacking in a few ways the larger station comes that Russia will be fighting internal and external wars. 

So how right am I?
That remains the larger question. If any of the presented facts through sources is wrong, the entire domino wall comes tumbling down. None of this could be verified and the fact that only the Deccan Herald had this is also a point for debate. There are differences between the data of Kpler and Vortexa and that is fine. But the stage where Russia is delivering 22% less whilst there are implied reasons and none of this backed up by facts, together with the one mention of China with “China appears to be the final solution for some cargoes” makes me think that there is more going on and somehow someone paid for all those drones, Iran doesn’t give these toys away. 

So there is a stage where merely some of it could be right, but which part? 

In addition to Yesterday
Yesterday I talked about tourism. What I failed to mention is that there was data on the UAE. Reuters gave it 4 days ago (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uaes-abu-dhabi-sees-non-oil-gdp-growth-77-q3-2023-statement-2023-12-29/), I missed it.  There we see ‘UAE’s Abu Dhabi sees non-oil GDP growth of 7.7% in Q3 2023 -statement’. This is huge and it is non-oil growth. Now, this is not merely tourism, this is on more sides, but tourism will be taking a chunk of this. Poland with 1.4% growth is the biggest in the EU last year. This implies that the United Arab Emirates outperformed all EU nations by well over 500%. That is massive. Now, comparing GDP’s is unbalanced and incorrect, I get that. However, these settings imply that tourism in the US and EU are taking a serious dive in 2024. We can debate that this is merely a hiccup, or that it is nothing, a mere blip on the radar. But in light of their faltering GDP and places like Greece, Spain, Italy, London, Paris, New York and Florida need tourism these blips could have severe impacts in these places. If continued there is every chance that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will get access to $25-$30 billion and other places do not. Do you still think it is a little hiccup? Even when we see “Florida visitors contributed $101.9 billion to Florida’s economy and supported over 1.7 million Florida jobs (2021)” now consider that to be 5% less. How many jobs will go south? The European nations cannot even consider losing that much, it would be like the impact of Greek tourism (2002-2008) but now over three nations. That impact will be seen. 

So how accurate is this?
It is not. The reported numbers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are, but how it affects others is not directly seen and can only be speculated on. What is clear that money spend there will not be spend anywhere else and that implies well over 25 billion lost to other places. How much each is impacted remains a guess. 

So enjoy the day and consider that special deals this summer will be all over Europe and America, so you might get a decently prized vacation this year.

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December 12, 2023 · 10:22

Making a case

This is something different. I have been accused plenty of times. Hatred of one, disgust of another and so on. So in light of that, lets give you a setting where I show you what Ubisoft could have done (could still do actually). I was making a somewhat delusional setting of me attending the University of Toronto getting a Master of Arts in Greek and Latin. It would be my fourth degree. I currently hold three degrees, making me a dirty old man. As such, a fourth degree feels essential. I have two graduate degrees and a Master (Intellectual property). So I was contemplating a few things and the idea connected to Ubisoft making a newer version of Playstation Home (not limited to Sony consoles) and a few things started to connect. Did you know that France currently has 500K students in Latin? I did not know that. Now consider that we use games in VR mode for language training. There is Greek (Athens), Latin/Italian (Florence, Monteriggioni, Venice, Rome), French (Paris) and so on. 

For the most Ubisoft has the graphics. Now we need to add a few limitations (no climbing or killing) and ion VR we listen to actual conversations in the designed language. Students will be learning languages in front of their console. Consider that (according to some) we see these numbers annually French: 120 million, Italian: 2 million and I have no clear numbers for the other two. 

Yet, as the library increases, the impact and interest in these language studies also increases.   So students get a real grasp of languages in specified languages. Now consider the one number I left behind. 

AC Syndicate London could cater to two billion (yes, 2,000,000,000) students of the English language. Listening to actual conversations, learning the language and more importantly learning some historical culture. Now, the language models need massive upgrades, they need to add 100,000 conversations and I reckon that when Universities sign up, they too will (hopefully) add a part to all this. 

A simple setting (except for the VR part) that was already designed. Now take away the climbing and killing and it becomes an educational tool, all whilst ‘their’ version of Playstation Home could still come. So what happens when Arabic (AC Mirage) is added as well? All settings that Ubisoft could have considered and implemented, growing their gaming population into an educational population as well. I reckon that a slice of 2 billion English students could be encouragement enough. 

All settings that not only push Ubisoft forward. It also grows the streaming population on a global scale. Consider that China has 400,000,000 English students. Now consider these people contemplating a Tencent Technology handheld to aid them in English studies. It would make that console the biggest console in history almost overnight (in less then two years is more credible). All revenues that Ubisoft overlooked. The consequence of staring with blinkers. What is in the corner of your eyes, tends to pass you by unnoticed. 

Just a thought for the day, enjoy yours.

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June 20, 2023 · 23:04

One source confirms

That is where I stand. Today I got news from the Asia Times on something I have been saying for some time. Now, one source does not make it true, but the information given here and pretty much nowhere else should give people a place to start, moreover it could also be seen as the underlying problem to something a lot more dangerous. The article (at https://asiatimes.com/2023/06/eu-push-to-rip-and-replace-huawei-5g-meets-resistance/) gives us ‘EU push to rip and replace Huawei 5G meets resistance’ where we see “EU Commissioner Thierry Breton wants Germany and other European countries to stop dragging their feet and eliminate Chinese equipment from their 5G telecom networks. The European telecom industry and Huawei are pushing back.” This is the start of something I have stated for a long time, yet now we get “Deutsche Telekom quickly rejected claims that mobile networks built by China’s Huawei could be altered remotely to cause damage or steal data. In a June 16 statement to the German news site golem.de, a spokesman for the German telecom provider declared, “No [software] update can be introduced into the live system that was not fully tested for functionality and security.”” This shows the first chink in the EU armour. This is followed by “The network management systems are located in a high-security network that is completely separated from the Internet and from the company’s office communications network,” said Deutsche Telekom executive Stephan Broszio, according to press reports. “Access to this network is granted only to a few employees subject to strict security review. A remote attack by the producer firm [namely Huawei] is not possible.” In addition we get “Austria’s chief telecommunications regulator, Klaus Steinmauer, told the Austrian News Agency that he “saw no danger from Huawei,” adding, “I don’t know of a single instance” of problems” As I personally see it, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton either publishes clear evidence of these dangers, or he should move to Washington DC and become an Uber driver. You see if there is evidence fine, but for years now we see boasts and never was any evidence given. I see this as a problem and now that the US cannot foot any bills, the others are stating that the US needs to eff off (you know what I mean). I reckon it is not long until these telecom companies will demand that the EU foot the bills for hundreds of billions in hardware change, foot the bill for adjusting that hardware and foot the bill for loss due to diminished broadband capacity. In the meantime Saudi Arabia is extending its reach into Africa and the Mediterranean, after which the telecoms will get loss upon loss and handing over what margins they had to the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), because that is now merely one step away. That was given to us in April with ‘Saudi Telecom Buys Mobile Tower Unit in Europe from United Group’, which now gives them access to Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia, after which the access towards Italy, Greece, Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean is all but a simple flick of a switch. 

But leave it to players like EU Commissioner Thierry Breton to ignore the obvious. On the upside, with my language skills, I would gain another job option to another company and in this day and age that matters, especially as big tech is shedding thousands of positions. 

And even as the article ends with “it would help dispel suspicions that Breton and the European Commission are simply following instructions from the US.” I reckon that until we see actual EVIDENCE of the nefarious implied deeds by Huawei, that feeling will not go away, not for a long time.

So enjoy the day whoever you telecom with, today, or tomorrow. 

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February 25, 2023 · 20:36

Narrative

We all heard it, we all see it. There is a narrative, it is supplied by stakeholders and it does not matter whether it is an academic, a greed hoarder or what should be regarded as a traitor. It does not matter whether this was for Russia or for China. The narrative has overwhelmed their senses and others took that time to make a rather large consideration, all whilst we are pushed into the  narrative of greed driven players.  We saw the noise that people like Mike Burgess made and that illuminated the second tier of problems Australia has, the UK and other commonwealth nations have taken notice. But because the people who were supposed to do their jobs did not, other things were missed. Things that seem irrelevant, trivial, yet they are not. You see, I alerted readers to a few issues over the last 3-5 years. They weren’t simple settings and for the longest time I had no idea there was a much larger plan. There still is debate whether the larger plan is merely conspiracy theory and those claiming that it is would not be opposed too strongly. So whilst we see one thing happen, the clever tactician will see that there are a lot more elements happening. Almost like individual cogs that are one cog separated from one another. As cogs are united with missing cogs, we see a much larger machine in play, but it is one without identity.

Last May we were give via Arab news “Etihad Etisalat Co., known as Mobily, has signed an initial agreement with Telecom Egypt to build the first submarine cable system to directly connect Saudi Arabia to Egypt.” This is nothing new, this happens all the time, but there are a whole range of arrangements that Egypt has been making with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is where the money is. I myself have offered at least one IP to both the Saudi government and Kingdom Holdings, as such these steps make sense, but there is more. You see Egypt with its 100 million Muslims also lead to Turkey and Greece, extending one cable is relatively simple and that gives Saudi Arabia a first handhold into the EU and its optional hundreds of millions of customers. That is the setting and the impact is ignored. The stakeholders were not paying attention and their ignorance is what some were banking on. Is it ignorance? I make one claim, but neither can be supported. The larger stage (also why I offered one IP part to Saudi Arabia) is that Saudi Arabia is about to become the largest 5G player in the middle East, together with whomever in India becomes the power player, they will optionally unite with China and now we have a much larger ballgame, the EU becomes trivialised in 5G, no matter what games and what unsupported accusations the EU unite against. Huawei had the larger game in mind and now we see optional unison between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia and they link to China. Half a billion people and that is before Bangla Desh joins the equation, now as others join the Saudi 5G circle the EU will have a new stage, one where they are the smaller player and the telecom companies have no idea how to proceed, the narrative overwhelmed their senses and they weren’t watching what entered the corner of the room.

Is it real or is it fake. You merely have to seek out the articles I wrote and how they were ignored by others. Before the end of 2024 Saudi Arabia is in the market to be the largest 5G supplier in the Middle East with options all over Europe. Saudi Arabia and Huawei got it there and the claims and accusations will not hold up. Is it the media? I cannot say for certain because the stakeholders did their job well, too well. Yet I noticed the line all over the Middle East and Africa and most of you could have too, but that is on you. So when you consider “The GCC region is expected to have 62 million 5G mobile subscribers by 2026 and they will account for nearly 73 percent of all mobile subscriptions in the region, according to a report released last year by the Swedish company Ericsson” which was given to us 3 months after the intent of the submarine cables. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are merely one part. The 100 million people in Egypt as well as the the 200 million in Indonesia are seemingly ignored. I reckon that the 62 million mark will be surpassed before the end of 2024 and when we suddenly hear alarm bells, it will be because the stakeholders will look beyond their greed, but it will already be too late. There was a larger stage and there was a larger plan, the plan goes a lot further than what I can see, but that is because I am not in the loop. I took notice as it benefitted MY IP and as such I saw that 1+1+1 made 4 (one for me), as such I took notice and I adjusted my IP accordingly. Now we have a setting that is close to advancement. Where it ends I do not know, but it is clear that Saudi Arabia had a much larger plan for their needs and they are getting closer to fulfilling it. And the US games did not matter, China was there to fill up the space and now the US with no options left are about to be trivialised by their own narrative makers. That is merely how I see it, but I let you consider the narrative for yourself, make up your own mind.

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January 19, 2023 · 20:46

Mirror mirror on the wall

This continues from ‘Me, myself and I make 4’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/01/12/me-myself-and-i-make-4/) a week ago. In the mean time. I decided on a name for this. The series is called ‘Engonos’ which is Greek for grandson. Last week it all ended with a meeting in Athens with Lord Zeus himself and the crazy notion that I left with him. It is time to mull that over. 

Over the next few days I travelled back to France, then to America to the mansion. I had to take these trips to gather my thoughts and moving with a starting point from a place where no one watches you is always better then from a place where everyone seems to notice most of your moves. I still had not teleported for two reasons. One this is something that requires skill and energy and that is easily restored in Tartarus, the second part is that Lord Hades needed an update of all that I had started. It is not something that was done lightly and there were still pawn on the board, or better stated there were pieces that were on the board and I made them pawns because their value were still undetermined. It is not the sam, it is not the best thing to do but it was how my mind worked. There were still a few things to sort out and Asclepius was not the first thing to sort out. There were issues and it was time to take another look at the Lamp of Helios, it was an idea, but I would have to master it a lot better and I know just the place where to test it a bit better. The first thing I did was return to Crete, to the place that could take me to Lord Hades, or grandad for short. I was about to start the arrangements when I noticed a small in the house. It was not a normal smell and it seemed stronger upstairs. I saw the staff looking disinterested, working on whatever they were doing and they were doing it well, the house was spotless. I followed the smell only to see that there was a new door in my room, the door was always there, and this door looked the same, but was not the same. I slowly touched the door with my fingers. The door looked like wood, but had the feel of ironwood. The hinges also looked a lot stronger and heavier. I opened the door, the bathroom was the same with one difference. The mirror on the right wall was new, It was some brass like frame with a slightly larger body sized mirror. It was a little over two meters high, it was around 120 centimetres wide and started about to inches of the floor. The mirror had a brass type shine. It was pretty but nothing I would ever want in a bathroom.  The smell was a little stronger here. I shifted focus and the mirror was not entirely what it seemed. It phased and I saw the makings of a marble room. I fitted my hand into the mirror and let the rest of me follow. I was suddenly in a marble room, I looked out and I recognised the place immediately. It was a room in the palace of Lord Hades. I walked in and summoned my bident. I walked around and soon found the stairs down and into the reception area. A shade bowed to me and gestured towards the left. I gestured Psychofagos away and went there. Lord Hades looked at me. You found the mirror? Yes, thank you lord. I bowed  to him with respect and every fibre of my being bowed in respect to him. I just met with Lord Zeus in Athens. I gave him the entire rundown on the meeting. Lord Hades looked at me. Why would I forgo my biggest source of energy? Because soon there is nothing left and then we end up being in a place that is dead, no life, nothing reborn and nothing restored. Even now we will end with less because so much life is now extinct. Restoring ill not bring them back, but we can return to a better place. Over time Lord Zeus will return most of his powers as his powers is the clean sky. Lord Poseidon will lose the most as so much life is gone from there and much of it cannot be saved. It is too late for that. But you my lord you will gain the most. Even as much of life will be removed, their life source will be yours. And we will return to healthier times and they will also feed you, but we need to act and we need to act larger than before. Can we replicate the machines without Heaphestus? Hades looked at me. Yes, they will be smaller, but they can be made. How many do you need? How many can you make? We need at least 999 more, especially if they are smaller and they need to be added to the system, we have a good engine, but we need a massive tank, the energy of almost 8 billion souls will be added. Even then we need to use a large part to reinvigorate you. You are being recharged, now we need to focus on restoring your younger self my lord.

Hades looked and nodded. You have done well Hades said. There is one more thing. Lord Zeus gave me the power of teleportation, it has been added to my bident. Hades held his hand up and I instantly knew what he meant. I summoned psychofagos and handed it to Hades. He stared at it. You need to practise this thing and be aware, whenever you teleport Zeus will instantly know where you came from and where you go to. I nodded, I was certain that there was a snag and this was it. Anything else? Hades seemed in thought, it seems that your state of mind will be visible to him for a moment. He does not accept duplicity, the mirror will help but if you teleport right after that, whatever you had in mind will be visible to him. I nodded. It changed a few things not too much, but I had to be careful. It also meant that I needed another way to get to Crete. Hades picked up on that. There is another mirror, one in Iraklion in the museum. They hung it as a mirror for the people. It is easy to get in and out of the museum. The other part of that mirror is over there and he pointed to a far wall. The passing is easy and anyone seeing you will instantly forget it, in the sphere of the mirror you are invisible for a short time as you move between realms. It is no more than 5 seconds, so doing this in the evening is the best. There is no camera there and you can go through the small window, you are on the 3rd floor, next to a window, but it is the roof access you need, you can easily get to anywhere from there. 

I bowed and was about to walk away. Engonos, be weary of Asclepius. He will not accept your actions, he will try to stop you or make sure that you fail. I nodded. I had expected this. Asclepius reverence of life was almost legendary millennia ago, even now as people cause the death of so much, he would not act against them, not sure why but I had an alternative to consider. One that wasn’t the easiest, that was until the present of Lord Zeus came by. 

I moved towards my room but then thought against it. It was morning in California, meaning it was  early to mid evening in Greece. I walked to the mirror and stared at it. The museum came into view, it was empty and the window showed a streetlight, implying that the streets were already dark. I walked through the mirror, listening sharply for sounds. I heard clinging of keys, about 15 metres away. I looked around and saw the window, then I looked up and saw nothing. I slowly silently moved into the next room, there was a hatch there but it seemed locked. I moved back and stared, suddenly like the cave in Gladesville an open hatch appeared I jumped through and the ceiling turned back to solid ceiling. I walked silently over the roof, seeing the camera’s. They were all pointing towards the street, the building next to it also had camera’s, but I was out of their view at the moment. I saw a clean path out of their view and I jumped up the attached building. From there I could go anywhere and I slowly glided to the street that was empty and from there I went to the nearest decent Hotel I could find and booked a room. Tomorrow I would o more, now I would lay down on a bed and think things over I needed to make sure that I had all the elements clean and at hand, this was a one way trip and missing too many elements would cause too many other problems. The idea was still shaping, but I suddenly realised that mankind had a delete function, one that I was about to use for my own purpose. I merely had to push the right sanctimonious religious nut and this world had plenty of those, they were almost everywhere.

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December 21, 2022 · 22:42

The question remains

I got news about 10 hours ago from Al Arabiya. There we are given ‘Saudi Arabia approves draft agreements on atomic energy, economic crime’ (at https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2022/12/21/Saudi-Arabia-approves-draft-agreements-on-atomic-energy-economic-crime)

The article gives us a few items that require the limelight, even as the western papers give it no attention, the event described here is one with a lit of impact.

  • members approved a framework agreement to cooperate with Morocco in “the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy”
  • a draft Memorandum of Understanding with Uzbekistan to help allow the countries to exchange of information “related to money laundering, terrorist financing and related crimes,”
  • a draft agreement with Greece, to foster cooperation in health between the countries, 
  • a draft agreement with Italy to help encourage direct investments between the countries, and a draft agreement with Ghana to develop non-oil exports between the states.

These are the four big ones, there are four more. And when you consider the map, we see that within a year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be the largest economic partner for the important parts of North Africa, Egypt, Morocco and as ties are stronger connected with Tel Aviv, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now the powerhouse in the Mediterranean. Greece, Italy and soon better ties with Turkey. This was always going to happen, I predicted it, but my view was that this was 3-4 years away. It seems I missed the target by at least 2 years. 2023 will open the doors and I reckon that larger gains will be Made in 2024. Saudi Arabia is now in a setting where it will be able to drive commerce that is not oil based soon enough and stronger than ever before. 

And that is before you see the steps that China is opening up, but it also implies that China is a lot stronger to become the defence dealer of choice, billions and billions of dollars that are about to be lost to the EU and US. I warned them that this was coming and now the steps of making sure it happens will become a reality. It does not make me happy as I miss out on my 3.75% bonus check and on $27,800,000,000 that is a lofty loss. Such is life!

Now there is a second stage in play, the article does not bear it out, but I reckon that the Kingdom Holding Company will get a few other options going their way. I do not know how, but the Kingdom loves partners in this (I learned that at the Saudi Consulate several weeks ago). What is in play is that there are several options for Israeli growth. Not just the NSO group, but NICE with their CXone platform will set a larger stage of cloud centres for the Line and Neom. From there as they make their solution more Arabic, they will get a handle on several fields in several nations. And we all see the stages as they evolve, well that is if you read English Saudi News casts, the west seems to filter it away and when we see too much of this, it becomes a joke what the west is and has been the last decade. Filtering news information was never a good idea and you are about to see why. Saudi Arabia is active in growing business in Egypt, Morocco, Greece, Italy, Indonesia, and China. Consider the loss of revenue for the EU and the US? Is no one asking questions? And this is merely what can be seen for 2023. I reckon that several nations will go into crises mode in the next week, because some of them were moved from consideration column A to column C. Only a blind person ignores is and one with an oversized ego ignores it. When will we learn that we cater to the players who have it and the US doesn’t have it, and the EU has even less at present. There is every indication that by 2025 the Saudi Telecom Company will be the biggest player in North Africa and the Middle East. This will have larger implications when Indonesia is added to that network. It was a simple cascade stage and it is about to become a reality. From there there is every chance that the STC will enter Europe as a new player and one wielding a formidable bat. That is what I see as optional changes. So whilst we see the EU and US with contracting economies, we get to see another one grow and it is about to grow by a lot.

Have fun!

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October 18, 2022 · 18:59

The rut of the game

Yup, I am in a rut, it happens to us all. Anyone claiming that it will never happen to them is lying to you, there is no exception to that rule. We will all face it, whether we are in creative more, in production mode, in management mode or in operation mode. Rut is a dangerous thing, it tends to precede burnout for some. You see rut is not always dull, it is not always repetitive, but the brain sees a return to similar enough settings to treat it that way and it comes across as dull and/or repetitive. But there is a much larger issue in play and I cannot define it. 

For me it started with one of the series I was writing. I got to the stage that I wanted to up the ante and add to the flavour of Greek mythology. So my mind wandered all over the field and I suddenly remembered an old (very old) lesson. You see organised crime and corrupt officials have the same flaw, the same weakness. It is ‘unfathomable loss’. So even if they have no issues stealing from you. When you start killing their children they go all huffy and puffy on these innocent kids, however they never considered your innocence when they stole from you and there lies the rub. But that setting is also dangerous because the main player gets ‘changed’ in the process, no matter how close he is related to Hades. As such I started to recall one of the lost episodes (I truly forgot where I put them). You see, you can orchestrate a player, you can expose them to the social media (with images and YouTube footage) hoping that one of the caught players will lose their mind and kill for you. You can take strife and do the killing yourself and kills those corrupt protection people as well. But the rut starts when that becomes repetitive. You need to change the menu, even though the act remains the same the journey to these acts can alter, and for me there is the added setting of taking a Greek take on the events. The adulterous female party can be thrown in that Turkish cave (formerly Greek) and let the change to a Medusa be the act where her lover the corrupt politician ends up relying on mercy which will never come and as a statue he will be as dead as anything else and placing that statue in the garden of a certain enabler should create the right tone. Not only can he explain the statue, but when they examine the statue he would be in much warmer waters than he would be happy with. And that is merely the first three players. I need a few more, but then the rut set in. Avoiding the repetitive is essential, as such looking for Greek solutions might not make the right cocktail, even though it feels right. There were a few options, but I wanted to keep that player out of the equation until much later (like the season 2 cliffhanger). 

So the rut that I fight is against relying on the repetitive, the mundane and the creation based on existing paths. Now I could hand him an accuracy International AX338, but that is out of character. But it would be a tool that the protective details have access to and we only need to change the ammunition for one with more ‘bang’, an altered bullet and the bolt system would end up seeking refuge in the skull of the shooter. Yes, that might work, but I would need to check some elemental engineering principles (which will take some time). And that is one problem solved, but like the old Greek dramas, I need something with fireworks, like a gift, but not the gift, the wrapping becomes the killer, so it needs to be fun enough so that the reader sees the gift and sees the menace that the gift represents, even as the wrapping will be the killer in the room, yes that might work. 

Still two solutions to find and doing this whilst I fight the rut of the matter is not the greatest setting for any creative mind, but there I am ploughing ahead trying to change the stage, change the setting and change the speed of things in motion. It is what it is. That is the danger of rut too, relying on yourself is dangerous, because what the mind sees as different could merely be a change of perspective and that is an additional danger that every creative mind faces. And in that I am no different than any other creative mind. That too matters (for me at least).

So whilst I try to fight the rut of the game, I might do some gaming in the process of working things out. It always worked in the past.

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September 12, 2022 · 16:24

In Crete we trust

The trip to Crete was simple and interestingly enough lacking all comforts. Rhea and Demeter did not like luxuries, as such we first had the trip to Piraeus, then the ferry to Crete which would take us to Iraklion and from there 45 kilometres SSE was Gortyn, it was in the municipality of Agioi Deka. The archeological site was clear and easy enough. The problem is that no one had a clear clue where to go from there. And in this the fact that Rhea was Mother to Hades and as such my great grandmother did seemingly not help any. So as we were exploring the archeological places we saw all kinds of old things, but nothing that would aid us. It was hours later when we were near another building that I noticed something. There was a black hole, a pit that is darker than anything I had ever seen before. There was nothing there. I walked to the pit and asked Demeter what “Agesilaos” meant. They quickly looked towards me, almost shouting “Watch out” but it was too late, the pit swallowed me and it seemed that neither saw me go and that was the larger problem, the hole swallowed me and dragged me down. My instincts called forth Psychofagos, it shone and it cast waves of energy whilst setting an aura of protection around me. I then saw a lot more, the hole was a sea of arms dragging me down, dragging me to the bottom of wherever this was and about a minute or two thereafter the arms were gone and I was in free-fall towards the bottom. The bident slowed me and gave me a little light, but this darkness was nothing like the ocean, it was a much deeper dark and my eyes could not penetrate it with any kind of light. I went down and down and ended finally at the bottom of where ever I expected to be.  I reckon I had arrived in Tartarus. 

Even as Tartarus was dark, there was a lot more light here, or at least a lot more light for the likes of me. I could see a decent distance and I was amazed how this cave could go unnoticed by geological people up above. I started to notice a lot more. There were millions of bodies in all forms of disappearance, disappearance was the best word I could muster. The bodies were black, sooted black and some bodies moved, crawled over the ground, unable to stand. It was a view that called forth all kinds of pity, but I felt none of it. A little further the red glow of lava became clear. The bodies seem to avoid the lava, as should I I reckoned, but there was what could be seen as a path, close to the lava, where there were no bodies. I made for that strip and I was able to travel a decent amount further. The bodies were piling up higher and as I saw the lava stream split up, I also saw something that represented some ancient Greek fountain. I walked towards the fountain, but cautiously as it was a little away from the lava and now the bodies as I saw them were numerous. It was not one fountain, there were three fountains. They were empty, bodies all around them and in them, but no water. These fountains did seem to have had a function at some point. It took some minutes when I noticed that the three fountains were set around some symbol, it was in the ground, but I could not make it out, it was too dirty. I called for a shockwave and as the shock revealed the plaque, which was a silver plaque of a bident, the bodies started to move, there was a sound, like a hungry moan and they were set on me, and they were less then 5 metres away. The plaque bothered me, there was no reason for a bident to be shown here. I then remembered the work Hephaestus had done on my bident and the plaque made a lot more sense now, I turned it around and hit the plaque hard, very hard and the shockwave, pushed all the bodies away from me and blew whatever was in the fountains away as well and now there was a visible act. The fountains came to live. There was a blue stream coming from the three fountains all outwardly and it had a miraculous effect, the bodies hundreds of them were devoured and the bodies went to ash and vanished. The fountain now had something in them, but it was not water. It had a blue glow but was not liquid, it was gaseous and as the fountains filled up the higher part of fountain became some kind of faucet, sending the blue stream towards a higher place, but that was all I could see. Now with the knowledge I had gained, I cautiously touched the blue gas and it surrounded me, it went into me and revived me. I pulled my hand away. I started to comprehend the fountains and with that I went into the direction of where the stream went. It took almost 30 minutes to get to the next stage. This fountain was a lot larger and there were merely two of them there. Between the two was the same plaque and I repeated the exercise. These fountains had almost half a dozen faucets in each fountain, but not towards each other. And as I hit them the same thing happened, but now there was a much stronger effect. The one who got the stream from the one I had just cleaned was filling up, the other was not. I looked around and saw down the hill in the other direction three fountains, not working. Sliding on the air I got there in under 5 minutes and I hit this plaque as well and the effect was the same as the first one bodies all over the place, the fountain cleaning up and they all three started to work, the bodies disintegrating and the sounds of moans were clearly heard, but it mattered not, the blue waves came and devoured all in its path. I returned to the two large fountains and saw that the second one was filling up as well. I now started to see a stream that was a little below the surface. My Olympian sight saw what was or seemed to be a pipe that went up the hill and as I followed this path, I saw a third fountain, even larger than the second ones, more resembling the first fountain, but larger and slowly filling up. I also noticed that this fountain had two more holes, two more pipes I assumed and my plan started to take shape. I followed the first hole and it went in another direction, I followed that path and yes, there were two fountains a little over an hour from the largest fountain. And they too linked to two groups of three fountains. And as I cleaned the fountains, the bodies vanished and they too became the blue streams of gas. It was the third branch that was a different one, the two fountains were simple and clean, but when I went down, I noticed that there were larger creatures at the base of these fountains and there was a sound, not moans but growls. I readied my bident and moved forward. The power of my bident was not to be trifled with, the creature growled and snarled, there was a much louder growl, almost a scream and it was ready to attack me. It then hit me that it might have the same weakness and I slammed the plaque and yes that definitely had an impact, not a disastrous one for the creature, but it was howling. And it was now keeping its distance, and there was the rub for them, they were all attracted to the blue gleam like moths to the flame and the flame would consume them. The creature took minutes to devour, pulling back whenever it could, but the gleam was too attractive for it and minutes later it was also devoured, all whilst Mose cadavers had mere seconds to be devoured. And as I moved back to the highest fountain I started to see the waves of bodies, all attracted to the blue waves and I saw that the fountains were filling up more and more. As I came back to the largest fountain, I saw it was well over half full and it was pointing a new stream from the top of its pinnacle to the top of a hill and there I saw a building, not a large one, but a building none the less. I went up that hill and saw the doors, they were huge copper doors with the symbol of Hades. I entered, in there was a huge statue, a statue of Hades but as I looked at the stature, it was a statue made from one block of marble, solid and with an unrelenting gaze. And as I observed the statue, I noticed small details that were part of him and then I noticed his penis, which was decently huge, but much too detailed for any mason to carve. Then I looked back to the head, this was not a statue, this was Hades. I then noticed how only one bowl was filling up. I took notice of the second bowl and looked towards the other direction, the side I had not seen and there too I cleaned out all the fountains. Here two places had larger creatures, but they too were no match for me and no match for Psychofagos or the fountains. It was a few hours later when I returned and I saw that both bowls were now filling up and that is where they stayed. I noticed the overflow onto the floor and some went into me, but not into hades and it was then that I took a different step, I focused on the green stone and slammed my bident into his calf. It went into the marble and the green stone went from dormant to bright green. I kept the bident there and then I noticed the blue gleam entering his leg and the marble faded to show flesh. It was then that I removed the bident. I took a step back and saw how the body was slowly changing to flesh and the body showed the smallest movement. It was almost two hours later when the head moved and looked towards me. Another hour before he spoke. Hello grandson, I am Hades. It was not the family reunion I ever considered, but who is ready to meet family you never knew you had?

End of Season 1

Yes, yesterday I wrote article/story number 2500, now I have completed part of this journey. What I wrote today was the nightmare I had months ago, it drove me to write the stories that led to this story, the nightmare of months ago now in writing and we all have our moment when we think that we are the channel of gods, but to be honest, I never considered something like that and to be chosen by Hades himself is laughable, but it led me to the story you have read over the past few months. What comes next? I cannot tell, perhaps another nightmare (I hope not), and if it needs to be one, let it be one where I am the joy-toy of Laura Vandervoort (we are all allowed our delusional moments, aren’t we). But that is an optional story for an other day.

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