Tag Archives: Islam

June 4, 2025 · 12:32

About the setting of prayers

This is about the Hajj, it is not a negative piece as I refuse to put any religion negatively. Perhaps the Catholic side as I was raised a Catholic. So as we get the the Hajj, which starts in a little over 12 hours. We start with the Bangkok Post (at https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3038397/no-permit-no-hajj-says-saudi-arabia) where we see ‘No permit, no hajj, says Saudi Arabia’. I get that and as we see “Last year, 1,301 pilgrims, most of them unregistered and lacking access to air-conditioned tents and buses, died as temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 degrees Fahrenheit)”, as well as ““Since the end of last season, we realised the biggest challenge is preventing unauthorised pilgrims from undermining the success of the hajj season,” said one official helping organise the hajj, requesting anonymity” I get that, I pointed this out in my lest years writings, even as many did not, they were all about blaming the Saudi governments of that failure. In addition, these settings of media never dug into the tour operators fleecing profits and living these tourists to their doom. But the media ignored that side of the equation as they reported their blame settings. Even with these unregistered Hajj seekers, the casualty list remains below 0.1% of the visitors, and when we filter this out we get a setting that the casualties in a setting of 51 degrees heat celsius remains a mere 0.018%, which is nothing short of absolutely astounding. I reckon that any western nation has yet to reveal a setting with over 600,000 people (half of what the Hajj got) and that little casualties. Consider that the Saudi government does nearly everything to keep people safe. A remarkable setting to say the least. 

Then we get to the second item, which is given to us by News Central Africa (at https://newscentral.africa/saudi-arabia-tightens-crackdown-on-unregistered-hajj-pilgrims-after-deadly-heatwave/) where we see ‘Saudi Arabia Tightens Crackdown on Unregistered Hajj Pilgrims After Deadly Heatwave’ and here we get “Saudi Arabia is intensifying its efforts to prevent unauthorised participation in the annual hajj pilgrimage, a year after extreme heat led to the deaths of over a thousand pilgrims, most of whom were unregistered.” With the additional “One organiser, who wished to remain anonymous, said that since the end of last year’s pilgrimage, preventing unauthorised worshippers has been a top priority. The hajj is one of Islam’s five pillars, and Muslims who are physically and financially able must perform it at least once in their lifetime. However, due to a quota system, permits are limited and distributed via a lottery, making the costly official route unaffordable for many. As a result, some pilgrims opt for cheaper, unofficial alternatives” I personally see why this person wants to stay anonymous. As I personally see it, their ‘sales staff’ seemingly saw a way around the permit setting and sold them using alternative settings. It is a speculatively view, but the setting makes sense when you consider the 1100 casualties without a permit and the 14 countries that has the ban are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria, Jordan, Algeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Yemen, and Morocco (according to a source). It makes a lot more sense when you consider the facts that ‘Nearly 270,000 pilgrims without permits stopped from entering Mecca’ (source: Euro News) where we see “Saudi Arabia has stopped nearly 269,678 pilgrims without authorisation from entering Mecca during the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The government blames overcrowding at the Hajj on participants without permits. It also says they made up large numbers of the 1,300 people who died in last year’s searing summer heat.” So, so you think the pool of an additional 15% all came to the thought by themselves, or were tour operators involved? The Guardian gave us last year that tour operators made promises that caused the deaths of several, and as I see it (at least through western media) this was never investigated. This does not mean that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia didn’t investigate this, it merely means that I don’t know what happened in that specific scenario. My view that I had last year is also seemingly proven correctly as Euro News also gave me “Officials have also imposed penalties on more than 23,000 Saudi residents for violating Hajj regulations and revoked the licenses of 400 Hajj companies.” I get that over the cuties there are a lot of companies involved, but the setting of 400 Hajj companies clearly astounds me. 

And with this I salute the Hajj 2025 participants and wish them a blessed and meaningful Hajj, and I hope for Allah’s acceptance of their pilgrimage, or in shorter terms Hajj Mubarak. Let their journey be a safe one and their pilgrimage a fulfilling one. Have a great day you all.

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May 27, 2025 · 05:22

Battle against the sun

That is at time the hardship that any organizations faces and for Saudi Arabia it tends to be heat. Yesterday I saw in Arab News (at https://arab.news/w7bxj) the setting ‘Eco-friendly and safer walkways expanded by 33% at Makkah Hajj sites’ with the subtext “Saudi authorities have announced the expansion of roads made of flexible rubber asphalt by 33 percent this year. (SPA)” 

I personally do not believe to have ever seen such improvements to any event anywhere else in the world. And when you realise that the setting is stated to be “with work on the road extending from Namirah Mosque to Al-Mashaer train station in Arafat, raising the total area to 16,000 sq. meters” you will be baffled by the improvements made. I myself have walked almost 5729km within the last year, I have some experience with distances, although I have to admit that I never walked those in the Saudi sun in summer. In light of the statistics that we are given “Hajj 2025 is expected to start on June 4, subject to confirmation by Saudi Arabia’s official moon-sighting authorities.

As of May 21, 2025, 755,344 pilgrims had arrived in the Kingdom from abroad through air, land and sea entry points, according to the General Directorate of Passports, also known as the Jawazath” as well as “Saudi officials expect the number of pilgrims for Hajj this year to surpass last year’s figure, which the General Authority for Statistics counted at 1.83 million. Of that number, 1.61 million arrived from outside the Kingdom, while 221,854 were internal pilgrims, including citizens and expatriates.” These improvements will matter. You might find this strange that I am impressed with these statistics as a non-Muslim. Yet I have seen walks from all kinds of locations. Yet less than a year ago I completed the Saint Frances Way (Florence to Rome), which was 503km, so you can say that I am somewhat familiar with the concept of walking. And it will a very international event with Indonesian pilgrims are expected to form the biggest delegation again for Hajj 2025. Last year, 221,000 Indonesian pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom for Hajj, followed by Pakistan with 180,000. India was third at 175,025, Bangladesh was fourth at 127,198, and Nigeria completed the top five with 95,000 pilgrims. The expected Saudi support system is likely to baffle the world to see it in action. I saw on YouTube a video on the support system at the Hajj. It was called ‘How Millions of Hajj Meals 🍝 Are Cooked Daily In Makkah 🤍 Incredible 🤯 Hajj 2025’ by ZubairRiazz (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlHO_1XF_zU&t=100s), these meals are prepared three times a day in the Arafat Kitchen Makkah. I don’t speak Arabic, so the information wasn’t clear to me, but the view on this kitchen is totally unbelievable. I have never seen an operation like this put to view, not one Army kitchen view of this size have I ever seen before and this kitchen is there to service 1.83 million meals three times a day for the duration of the Hajj. I am not certain if this is the only kitchen working on this Hajj. But the needs of the Hajj pilgrims is well catered and cared for. 

And before you start thinking that this wasn’t done last year, think again. People are shouting about the lives lost during last years Hajj better remember that the bulk of these losses were people who didn’t have a Hajj Visa, they illegally invaded the Hajj. Even though they would have likely received food, the tents, and resting facilities are only for the owners of a Hajj Visa and they are strictly enforced. So those people miss out on the resting places (away from the sun) as well as water fountains. I wonder if any of the criminals peddling these ‘travel arrangements’ of fake Hajj permits were ever arrested and prosecuted. 

I guess we will have to see, what is clear is that the 16,000 sq. meters of new flexible rubber asphalt will improve the hardship on the elderly making the pilgrimage this year. 

Have a great day and take a walk for the bloodstream if needed.

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April 3, 2025 · 07:27

Seeking the moon

I was surprised by awn article in the New Arab last night stating ‘Did Saudi Arabia announce the start of Eid al-Fitr a day too early?’ (at https://www.newarab.com/news/did-saudi-arabia-get-eid-al-fitrs-date-wrong). Now there is one little setting that needs vocalizing. I am not a Muslim, so I can hide behind ignorance regarding Muslim matters, but to accuse one of the more conservative nations like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of this seems a little wild. So I had to look up a few matters before regarding the outcome. So let’s get my non Muslim readers a little up to date. We know that Islam is set to five pillars. One of them is Ramadan, the time of fasting. It lasts for a month and that implies no food or drinks between sunrise and sunset. I think there are rules for some, so that they can have water during the day, mainly the old and the sick. The end of fasting is set at a specific date. 

“According to a certain hadith, these festivals were initiated in Medina after the migration of Muhammad from Mecca. Anas ibn Malik, a companion of Muhammad, narrated that when Muhammad arrived in Medina, he found people celebrating two specific days in which they entertained themselves with recreation. Muhammad then remarked that God had fixed two mandatory days of festivity: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.”

Eid al-Fitr begins at sunset on the night of the first sighting of the crescent moon. The night on which the moon is sighted. If the moon is not observed immediately after the 29th day of the previous lunar month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the holiday is celebrated the following day. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated for one to three days, depending on the country. It is forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid, and a specific prayer is nominated for this day. As an obligatory act of charity, money is paid to the poor and the needy (zakat al-Fitr) before performing the ‘Eid prayer’.

That is as far as I got, so the festivities around the end of Ramadan is important and that is the debate, did Saudi Arabia call that mandate too early? And the byline from the New Arab is ‘showing’ “Reports and rumours online said Saudi Arabia got the timing of Eid al-Fitr wrong, but there has been no official statement from the kingdom saying this.” I cannot say that this is the case, but the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia got this wrong is close to stunning. The Kingdom and its inhabitants live for Islam and such an accusation cannot be ignored, for me personally it seems not a biggie, but for an Islamic? It comes with the added “While some Arab countries announced Eid al-Fitr falls on Sunday, others said it was Monday. Egypt, Jordan, Syria and several other Sunni-majority countries broke with the Saudi announcement and celebrated on Monday. Shia-majority Iran also declared the festivities to begin on Monday, as well as Oman’s Ibadi religious authorities.” It comes with the added “Many astronomers and experts had rejected the idea that Eid al-Fitr could take place on Sunday, saying it was impossible to sight the moon on the preceding Saturday. The Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomical Centre said a Saturday sighting would be have been impossible from the eastern hemisphere using any type of method.

Saudi astronomer Bader al-Omaira also told Gulf News that the sighting of a crescent would have been impossible, largely due to a solar eclipse which took place on Saturday, after which sightings of the moon are not possible for several hours.” And the added setting gives it weight, according to some that the sighting of the moon was not possible for several hours makes it the debate. I for one seem to shrug at the accusation. But in the setting of not being a Muslim, I do not care that much and I am ‘heavily’ opposed to fasting, but then I need to turn every dollar around and sometime like a real accountant, I squeeze a dollar bill until it releases three 50cent coins. Life is hard at times. So I don’t celebrate too much. Yet I do understand the Muslims that have an issue with the setting of stopping their pillar of fasting a day early. Off course I do see the ‘accusation’ of “In 2011, there were reports that Saudi authorities who observe the skies to record the sighting of the moon mistook Saturn for the moon. This reportedly happened again in 2019.” That is the idea that I can see Saturn and mistake it for the pancake that hangs over our heads. I kinda find the idea to funny to ignore. There is the little setting that at the closest setting (we move in eclipses) Saturn is 746,000,000 km away, the moon I mere 360,000 km, as such I want to wonder who looks for the moon?  And that is before I’m ‘entertaining’ a few other parts. 

And here is the surprise I got, there is a difference between Sunni and Shia in Islam.

“As ritual dictates, Sunnis praise God in a loud voice while going to the Eid prayer:
Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illà l-Lāh. Allāhu Akbar, Allahu akbar, wa-li-l-Lāh al-ḥamd.
Recitation ceases when they get to the place of Eid or once the Imam commences activities.”

It s the first time that I am made aware that there is a difference between the two versions of Islam. The other part is the detection of the moon, “While some countries use astronomical calculations and technology like telescopes, others insist that it must be seen with the naked eye.” I understand that in the past like pre 1650, we had to rely on the naked eye, and to some degree I am on board that it should be done with the naked eye, but is it a sin to let technology aid us, in these matters? I am merely voicing the question and perhaps there is an Imam giving us a resounding yes to that question, as I said I am not Muslim.

The fact that Saudi Arabia was accused of something so profoundly Muslim startled me to some degree and I am not on anyones side. I merely found the occasion strange and as such I devoted a blog page to the effect.

Have a lovely day and at present I don’t see a moon, the sun got in the way of that at 07:23

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February 26, 2025 · 05:35

The who now?

I do not know all the inn’s and out’s of sports, I freely admit that. I live in Australia and like Canada we enjoy an over interested sport community (read: a sport mindset population). 

So when I saw news item named ‘Saudi Arabia to host Islamic Games again’, I went ‘The who now?’ And this isn’t a new thing. As I read “Two decades after hosting the inaugural edition in Mecca, the nation is once again at the heart of regional sport. In November, Riyadh will welcome the world’s top athletes for the sixth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games, event aiming to strengthen brotherhood among Muslim-majority nations.” So this isn’t a new thing. It has been going on for two decades. And we are about to face the 6th edition of these games. So how come I was utterly unaware of the existence of these games? I don’t need to be muslim to enjoy games I cannot participate in (for the most, with one or two exceptions I am not able to participate on any level in sports). So I was taken aback. 

Let’s recap for the sports ignorant people who might never have heard of these events as well and I am looking at the media with utter disdain at present for not illuminating these games. The first were held in Mecca. The Islamic Solidarity Games and these games involve elite athletes of the OIC competing in a variety of sports, as such we get to see the creme de la creme in sports compete. The first were as said in Mecca (2005), the 2010 in Tehran were cancelled, in 2013 it was Indonesia to host these games, which were done in Palembang, then it was up to Baku to host them in 2017, in 2021 Turkey hosted them in Konya and now, in August 2025 they will be held in Riyadh. So what exposure did these games get? I would have loved to have seen them in Indonesia. That place doesn’t get to much exposure other then touristy occasions. 

So what sports are shown?
Well, at present 28 sports have been shown and the bulk of these sports were shown as:

Athletics (since 2005), Basketball (since 2005), Diving (since 2005), Equestrian (2005–2013), Football (since 2005), Gymnastics (since 2017), Judo (since 2017), Karate (since 2005), Swimming (since 2005), Water polo (since 2005), Weightlifting (since 2005), Wrestling (since 2017)

These are the sports we are ‘familiar’ with in a Olympic setting. Right Nike? (I am talking to the goddess, not the brand next to me now). A little less known are the sports below, or at least I don’t remember seeing them in an Olympic setting. Nike is shaking her head in disbelieve and rolling her eyes. They are: 

Bodybuilding (2025), Handball (since 2005), Table tennis (since 2005), Taekwondo (since 2005), Tennis (since 2005), Volleyball (since 2005), Wushu (since 2013)

The list is important as they are ‘enjoyed’ watching by the bulk of the world, as such I cannot believe that I had never heard of these games. 

Media bashing
You might think that I am making light of the situation and perhaps that is true, but can anyone explain how any person remains devoid of this knowledge when we have countries like Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand and America where sports seems to be on the mind of men optionally a lot more than sex? The old story (according to women) is that men look for their golf balls more than a g-spot? (no idea what they mean with that). 

It might sound weird, but there is a decent Islamic population in at least 4 of them, so why don’t these Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation and Islamic Solidarity Games enjoy a lot more exposure? As second issue I would raise that there is another hurdle optionally failed. The fact that in these 20 years Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates wasn’t a host. There might be many valid reasons, but with all the exposure that Abu Dhabi enjoys, these games could be flooded in the limelight as I personally see it. So will they host these games in 2030?

At present I am learning a whole new chapter in sports. And the next chapter will shock you. When I enter “Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh” in Google Search I do not get ONE news agency on page one. Worse still, one mention from the BBC on page 4 which was given in 2010. The western world is sunning these games to THAT degree. The western world was eager to paint Saudi Arabia black at every occasion they could find regarding the 2034 FIFA World Cup. So where are they now?

I think the western media needs to take a hard look at themselves when it comes to sport reporting. We have seen a lot of media engaged in ‘Whitewashing sports’ when it comes to Saudi Arabia, so who will take the front space when it comes to showing the thousands of athletes and the struggles they face with these games? There is something to scold western papers on the fact that they are seemingly shunning thousands of athletes. 

The more I see exposed by the biassed western media, the more l appreciate having a cat.

Have a great day, I am 165 minutes away from breakfast (we all have our little day to day priorities). 

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February 13, 2025 · 04:10

The enemy of fun

We all hate advertisements, we do. We merely have been lulled to sleep to accept that these things happen. My initial setting for the new IP was to benefit in game-line advertisements and now I see that ‘Valve Doubles Down On Banning Forced In-Game Ads In Steam Games’. As such I say “Yes! Someone else figured it out too”. It feels like some level of vindication. You see, I thought I was alone in this, but Valve is not a simple gaming location. It is the original place of Half-Life and that is the game that set the tone in the two thousands and is now worth billions. 

They set the tone and are now doubling down on “Banning Forced In-Game Ads”, which fells me feel vindicated, and it is the fourth element that I heralded in my IP, four parts that set my console setting apart. Games, social media, no ads and collective cohesion. All parts that make any console great. So I am feeling mighty good (a little less as I never was able to see it), but the overwhelming feeling that I was right all along makes it up to some extent. The article phrases it as “a customer gets blocked after a certain amount of playtime and has to pay to continue and keep their progress. These types of monetization are considered predatory and are not allowed in Steam games.” Exactly how I felt about it. I’ll be honest there is space for some advertising, because it allows for unification of people, but not on time lines and not in games. I was adamant in this. And lets face it, to set the space to unifies one group of over 500 million gamers (among others) was the idea I tried to sell Kingdom Holdings. 

You see, to get access to over 50 million Muslims in past one and up to 200 million during phase two was overwhelmingly appealing. You see Kingdom Holding had in 2022 $13.6 billion and my solution allowed it to speculatively grow it by 50% in phase one would be appealing to any investor and whilst they are in whose main interests are financial services, real estate, tourism and hospitality, media, entertainment, petrochemicals, aviation and technology. To grow the setting of entertainment by that much in what I see 1 swoop and gather the view of millions would be seen as interesting to people like Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud would seem interesting (apparently I was wrong), and in that same setting neither was Andy Jessy seemingly interested to grow his business by an expected 50 million consoles during phase one. So I must see things wrong. Yet the vindication now shown by Valve gives me the idea that I was right in more then one way and such there is a doubt within me. What am I missing? 

So on one hand I saw what Microsoft missed all along (they miss a lot) and others (like Google) stepped out of that field, so I am wondering what I am missing. The numbers are speaking in my direction, the elements are in my favor and as Unreal Engine 5 gives rise to the option on one branch we see a near complete setting. In that same setting we would see that there are 32.5 million small businesses in the United States, and a growing number are Muslim-owned. I lack specific numbers as I do not even know whether they are collected. Yet in this one source gave me that around 2020, Muslims around the world spent a total of two trillion U.S. dollars across the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, fashion, travel, and media/recreation sectors. The largest market for Muslim consumers is the halal food and beverage sector. It expectedly grows from 2 billion to 2.8 billion in 2025 (Source: Statista). As such the growth of that nature is nearly unprecedented and I tired to handle a level of unification and here was my solution that enabled it. So I am in doubt, on one hand my predictions are coming through in several ways and on the other hand it seems to be missed by the two (optionally three) people who are on the forefront of it all (Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud and Andy Jessy/Jeff Bezos), so what am I doing wrong? Oh, and I went through one of the purest players in the world, the gamers. You see gamers can ‘infect’ their enthusiasm on the audience around them, I have seen that happen for over 30 years. 

So what was I doing wrong? Are there players who are walls around these people? If they cannot get a slice, no-one can? Well there is one player they never thought of. It is Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent and Tencent is hungry for more markets and America with their anti China sentiment played (hopefully) right into my hands. The idea that I am that much right cannot be a simple ‘delusional’ setting as some say. To much went my way of thinking in this. 

So what does it take for some people to see that there was more than laying off around 14,000 managers to reduce costs and improve operations, I get that trimming is at times required, but what do you do when you are offered a simple upgrade of billions in the first phase? Tell me, and I see if I can around that. And now there is another path (hopefully granting me my coins) and I have been brooding over this for almost three years (one does what one can).

But in the end, my blog has had the goods that long, so there is no setting of “You are telling us that now?” There was a clear indication (mailed to them too) and the blog has the three years of stages online. My only defense so that some cannot make claim to “other sources” I feel that I did the right thing, but did I? The is the question I ask myself. You see, if only I see it, it can be called delusion, but more and more things out there (also in print) show that I was right all along. Now that we see the Valve story out there in Hot Hardware (at https://hothardware.com/news/valve-bans-ingame-ads-steam) and several others show that my train of thought was correct all along. 

That was the little nag that was keeping me awake this Thursday (at 03:00). Try to have a great day today. Me? I am walking into Mordor as a challenge, so how happy could I be?

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January 11, 2025 · 08:49

The Hardship coming

I got hit by an article in the New Arab. The article (at https://www.newarab.com/news/saudi-arabia-prepares-another-hajj-menaced-extreme-heat) gives us ‘Saudi Arabia prepares for another hajj threatened by extreme heat’ and it brought a few thoughts from last year around. In 2024 we were given “at least 1,301 people on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca died due to extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 50 °C (122 °F). Extreme heat caused heat stroke and dehydration, leading to the deaths.” As well as “At least 2,764 cases of heat-related illness, like heat stroke, were reported on 16 June alone.” What is abundantly missed is that the bulk (83%) of the fatalities were caused by people who did the tour without the permit, they took the ‘cheap’ tickets and these tour operators never had the permits for these people, I wonder if any of them were ever caught. Anyway, we now get via the New Arab “Saudi Arabia will implement extra precautions to avoid a similar incident to last year where hundreds died due to the extreme heat.” And we are also given “The vast majority of hajj pilgrims come from abroad, and diplomats involved in their countries’ responses to last year’s crisis told AFP at the time that most deaths were heat-related.” It is interesting that there is no mention of the exploitative moves the tour operators made, which caused the deaths of their customers. We are given “Saudi authorities “need to make arrangements not just for registered numbers but also for additional numbers”, particularly cooling and emergency health facilities, he said.” I cannot disagree with that, but how many extra provision does one need to make? 2024 had 1.8 million pilgrims. So how many extra is enough? And for that matter, Saudi Arabia had a decent system, as such pilgrims need a pilgrim pass. That part seems simple enough but what of the tour operators? Those who pushed for an excuse tourist visa and told them that there would be options for them? Those are the real criminals. In a pilgrimage where Saudi Arabia provides for 1.8 million is not the bad partition, they provided as good as possible. The larger issue that the weather was murder last year, with temperatures exceeding 50 °C. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Saudi Arabia was 53 °C (2021). So what will happen this year? Will the Hajj 2025 be burdened by extreme temperatures? 

So now we are given “But even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs spur many to attempt the hajj without a permit, though they risk arrest and deportation if caught.” As such the ‘risk deportation’ seems like small fries when compared to ‘weather assisted suicide’, but that is just me. 

And the one part I never saw answered anywhere was that 83% of the death are survivors that means that means that a little over 200 cases were people with permits, which taken with 1.8 million pilgrims is pretty amazing. Now the part I never saw was how many without permits survived the ordeal, as such there are scores of people who never had permits, used resources and were handed assistance by caretakers. So how much more is enough? Personally on route I would suggest more care tents and the tents should be twice the size. There is only so much anyone can do, but that might be a decent start. There is little more I can think of. The problem is that there are numerous places where problems could arise, the pilgrimage is a long road and there are the stretches and bottlenecks. It is the bottlenecks where I fear many fatalities could occur. Especially when the caretakers need to chose between Hajj permit and non-Hajj permit, it will be the agonizing hardship that any caretaker faces. One glass of water and who to give it to? His instructions might be clear the permit holder gets it and he will comply, but he will be torn inside. Any care taker would. I will be looking into the Hajj this year but not for religious reasons and I wonder how many will watch the event and more important when will something be done about the exploitative tour-operators? Consider the alternative, What if the general tourism visa would not be possible from one month pre Hajj, until one week post Hajj? Would that solve a lot of issues? There is a side in me, always trying to solve problems, solve puzzles. But that is just me. 

Have a great day.

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November 11, 2024 · 18:19

The unspoken truth

That is a setting we relish and fear. There is no escaping it. When some people relish the setting of total freedom, they also fear how some people might abuse that same level of freedom. We applaud the freedom of speech, but we also fear the people that abuse it, like ‘Just Stop Oil’ for example. There was an advertisement the other day. The setting was an art exhibit and two “oilers” step up to defile a work of art. Then we see a middle aged man walk up to them and shoot them in the head, a simple execution. And for a lot of them (including me) there was a sense of calm, a satisfying feeling. These abusers of ‘freedom’ were dealt with. The future innocent art was saved. The art defilers were dealt with. That is the consequence of ‘freedom of speech’, you need to be held accountable. It refers to the very beginning of my blog. On June 19th 2012 I wrote ‘The accountability act – 2015’ in this I wrote “Why 2015? Well an act like this does not grow out of a goose feather and ink jar over night. If we think of a law that could make a real change, and would be a real stop to some of the acts of greed, then it will take time and a lot of effort too.” I gave the powers that could be 3 years to get their act together. As far as I know they never did. And this reverts to a new case, an act that happened that happened on 7 October 2023. The BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4vw1l8xvdo) gave us ‘Gaza’s top Islamic scholar issues fatwa criticising 7 October attack’ where we see “Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is one of the region’s most respected religious authorities, so his legal opinion carries significant weight among Gaza’s two million population, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.” 

The world no matter how it is tweaked by the greed driven need for digital dollars, has had enough of the media at large. There is a (seemingly) staged setting that the world of Sunni Islam is seeing the fallout the world is having. It is happening in nearly all countries in the world. Shia Islam has embraced Terrorism in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Gaza (Hamas) and Yemen (Houthi) and the world is basically fed up with this path. Now we see the BBC story and there is a chance that Sunni Islam is isolating Shia Islam and this stage could be used to isolate and invalidate Iran. So as we are given “A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic legal ruling from a respected religious scholar usually based on the Quran or the Sunnah – the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad. Dr Dayah’s fatwa, which was published in a detailed six-page document, criticises Hamas for what he calls “violating Islamic principles governing jihad”.” There is a chance that the Gazan population have had enough of Hamas to the larger degree and this paper might push them to the curve of decisions. Lets see the impact On October 10th we were given “An estimated 75,000 tonnes of explosives have been dropped on Gaza with experts predicting it could take years to clear the debris amounting to more than 42 million tonnes, which is also rife with unexploded bombs. Gaza’s Media Office estimates direct damage caused by Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip at $33bn.” Now as I personally see it, the Gaza Media Office is not impartial and their data is debatable. But we also get from Unitar on September 30th we were given “Those 66% of damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip account for 163,778 structures in total. This includes 52,564 structures that have been destroyed, 18,913 severely damaged, 35,591 possibly damaged structures and 56,710 moderately affected.” I feel that this needs to be scrutinised to a much larger degree. The media uses it for digital dollars, they are willing to obfuscate the data as much as they can, but clarity could resolve a lot of issues and Dr Dayah’s fatwa could be a first step to do just that. For the people in Gaza it is imperative that they get clarity. Hamas will not give that. How many people were living in these 163,788 buildings? And this Fatwa was the one thing Iran did not count on. The Iranians are in a bind. They opened the door for Israel to attack them directly, attack their oil reserves. The oil reserves enable the terrorist acts of Iran and when these are gone Iran is in a stale mate with no option but to handover all they thought they gained. The first being the isolation of three terrorist organisation. It will isolate Iran to the largest of degrees and with that gone so do their ‘allies’ China, India and Russia. Russia might hold on as they have other needs, but without oil India and China are pretty much out. It is my personal view on the matter, however this could start a new wave. One that invalidates Iran and give the stability and powers for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to create a new foundation of stability. And lets be clear (and optionally honest) do you really want Iran, the country that embraced terrorism for decades to the largest degree at that table?

This is the setting we are pushed into and lets all hope that it works out for the best. Have a great Monday.

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October 29, 2024 · 06:03

The telling signs

That is at times the question. What one sees is not seen by all, there is no blame or shame in this. We can’t be looking in all directions, the simplest of reasons is that life is in front of you and we tend to look at life (for most of the time). As such I saw two articles pass by, well one actually (it makes sense soon enough).

The first one was the New Arab (at https://www.newarab.com/news/saudi-arabia-starts-work-huge-gold-kaaba-style-structure) handing us ‘Saudi Arabia starts work on massive gold ‘Kaaba’ style structure despite criticism’, my first setting was the word criticism. The word comes through 5 times including the title and three times it gives us “amid criticism that it resembles the Kaaba holy site in Mecca”, which is incorrect. 

The Kaaba (as the pictures show me) is not an actual cube, I could be wrong as I have never been to Mecca for I am not a Muslim. The second setting is that the dimensions are off by a mile. This building will be 400 by 400 by 400 meters. I will hazard a guess that this structure could be seen from space, one of the few. The other part is that this would be a monumental achievement. As for the critique from social media, I let that be. I didn’t look into it and I reckon it will serve no purpose. The important setting for me (and initial worry) is seen with “The development will have retail, hospitality, leisure and office space facilities and is believed to be big enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings in it when complete, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said.” You see, filling up 20 empire state building takes time and resources. That is beside the infrastructure needed. As my abacus dictates to me, that building alone would need to be fuelled and that takes at least a small nuclear reactor to do so. As I saw it there is an option if the outer walls have a second inner layer comprised of solar panels you will alleviate a lot of power requirements and even fuel more power to the city. I reckon someone looked at this at present, but it is the initial worry I see. That and getting water pumped to +400 meters. There are a few things, but the designers would have worked out these elements long before now. My mind is merely struggling with a building comprised of 64 million cubic metres. What is a fact is the massive achievements that Saudi engineers will make. A true world marvel. The previous achievement from that region was a near 5000 years ago (yes, they were the pyramids). That and the Neom structures will show the world that Saudi Arabia has made its match to anything else that was built on this planet.

I see a few other issues, but I will hold them. Not to sound stupid, but it might sound me anti-achievement and I refuse to be one of those negative people. 

I wonder how spacious it will be on the inside. You see we think in (mostly) western dimensions and from the last 10 years we have seen buildings with a different approach. As such are all floors 18 feet high? There is a lot not known and I to some extent fear knowing to much in advance, but I am still curious. The other thing I wonder about is the impact it will have. Not impact as a social need, but the houses around the Mukaab. Depending on the position of their house, the Mukaab could now shield it from the blazing sun for at least part of the day. I wonder what will happen to these places. For now, we will watch (in awe) and see over the next 5 years how that building comes together.  The other article comes later today.

Have a fun day

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September 29, 2024 · 22:23

The first stage in a setting

This is the first of two, the second is of a much lighter sense, as such I am leaving this for desert. The first one (this one) is heavy and will offend a whole lot of people. I have stated this opinion before, but that stage got back in my mind after I saw this article (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-crown-prince-personally-doesnt-care-palestine-issue) where we are given ‘Saudi crown prince said he personally ‘doesn’t care’ about Palestinian issue’, it sounds nice. We are then given “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he does not personally care about what he referred to as the “Palestinian issue”, according to a report in The Atlantic.” I do Care and as the foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia (Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud) tells us “Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat on Thursday announced the launch of a new initiative to establish a Palestinian state and garner support for the implementation of a two-state solution after decades of international efforts failed, leading the region to the brink of an all-out war”, which several sources told us including Al-Arabiya (at https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2024/09/27/saudi-arabia-announces-new-global-coalition-to-establish-palestinian-state).

My view is that I have nothing against the establishment of Palestine, but it does urgently require the eradication of Hamas. Hamas is a hate only party and sooner or later they will abide by the ‘requests’ of Iran and hit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran wants to be at the head of the table, or they will ensure that no one will sit there and destabilisation continues. That time has passed and Iran still depends on Houthi and Hamas to bring their point across in the most violent way possible. Now that Hezbollah has been carved into pieces by Israel, Houthi terrorists will think twice on continuing on a path where they ‘assist’ Iran in any way possible. And sooner or later (probably sooner) Iran will find a way for Palestinians or Yemeni’s to find a low paying jobs just to throw wherever they are (in the KSA or UAE) to foul things up. In simple ways that will demand long term repairs or even reconstructing parts that were already done and soon (either Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates) will through ‘anonymous’ sources to get a larger seat for Iran at the table. This is not speculation, it is presumption based on the actions of Iran over the last 20 years. And as such The eradication of Hamas is a given need. When they fall away Iran has merely Yemen to fall back onto and that stops Iran (for now) in its tracks. As Yemen (read Houthi terrorists) sees what damage Israel did to Hezbollah and Hamas next, they will choose a non-violent path, especially when Iran stops taking their calls. 

I believe that there are options especially as Iran loses the two terrorist allies they have. I don’t think it will be the end of it, but I believe that stability in the middle east is essential to a better world and too many power players think that destabilisation is key to their wealth. That needs to stop. I know that it is merely my view and many will state that I am wrong, but as I see it, there are too many people having blind faith in Iran turning a page to a better future, all whilst this path has been walked by administrations for 3 decades. It is time to call it quits. We need solutions there and they need to be made by the right people. Oh, and for those that think that this isn’t essential. Remember that Hamas on 7 October 2023 initiated a sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part of the attack, 364 individuals, mostly civilians, were killed and many more wounded at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival during the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret near kibbutz Re’im and they took 40 people hostage. As far as we know from those 40 hostages, 14 of the hostages are still being held captive. That has been the focal point for Israel. And the setting that we see with the ‘proclaimed’ 40,000 deaths and it was clear months ago that Israel stated ‘Let our people go’ that is what Hamas pushed for and now that Hezbollah has lost pretty much the complete top of their structure (pager by pager) Iran is worried and so should Hamas be. I get that Saudi Arabia wants to stand by Muslims and that is something a lot of people understand, but it does require the eradication of Hamas. Hamas did this to themselves on October 7th 2023. Saudi Arabia (as well as the UAE) need to focus on stability for the middle east and in this case I count Egypt as a middle eastern player. Egypt will be important to Saudi Arabia down the line with 5G advancements as well as the fact that 111 million Egyptians are a great goal for the Saudi Broadcasting Authority, they could largely increase their visibility, moreover, it would allow Egypt to broadcast to Muslims in Spain, France, Italy and Greece. And from there, optionally to more nations in Europe. But that is merely my insight lacking view on the matter. OK, it has a personal view. As more islamic people get connected to streaming TV and streaming solutions, my script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ might actually be released at some point (my ego tends to seek solutions too).

It is almost Monday now. So have a great day and you will hopefully enjoy this Sunday.

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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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