Tag Archives: Media

When the media uses the media

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 So I am weirded out by a $71K contract that stays open for about 2 months and then withdrawn?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

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

Have a great day.

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Strangled by greed

I saw an article in the BBC last week, I took notice as it collided with something else I saw, but I could no longer find it. The article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6er83ene6o) gives us ‘Hollywood’s big boom has gone bust’ It is here where we see “The actor and aerial cinematographer turned his hobby of flying drones into a profitable business in 2012 just as the streaming wars were taking off. For a decade, he was flying high above film sets, creating sleek aerial shots for movies and TV shows on Netflix, Amazon and Disney. Now he’s on the verge of becoming homeless – again. He was evicted from the Huntington Beach home he shared with his wife and two young children and now is being booted from the Las Vegas apartment they moved to because they could no longer afford to live in Southern California.” As I see it, it is a much simpler equation, even as we are given “the good times ground to a halt in May 2023, when Hollywood’s writers went on strike. The strikes lasted multiple months and marked the first time since the 1960s that both writers and actors joined forces – effectively shutting down Hollywood production.” You see, some people are blaming the strike, but the strike wasn’t the reason it is a interaction drive between cinematic analysts and greed driven studio bosses. Even as we see “with layoffs at many studios – most recently at Paramount. It had a second round of layoffs this week, as the storied movie company moves to cut 15% of its workforce ahead of a merger with the production company Skydance.” And none of it is the actual reason. Hollywood has decided to rely on mediocrity and the attached collection of yes nodders towards some numbers of utterly unreliability (as I personally see it). Lets take a step back to 1966, a new youngling in Hollywood came with an idea a science fiction tainted wild western called Star Trek. Lucille Ball from Desilu Productions was one of the driving forces on pushing the success of Star Trek. In the mean time the series is the longest and most successful series in history pushing 11 spin offs and 13 movies. At the end, the cancellation of Star Trek was proclaimed In 2011 “the ranked number four on the TV Guide Network special, 25 Biggest TV Blunders” and still Hollywood will not learn. Now we see other issues in 2005 a series named Threshold was created, it lasted for one season.

The TV series was really good (my personal view) and the actors including Carla Gugino, the youthful young sprout who played the ex of Dwayne Johnson in San Andreas, Brent Spiner who played the mad scientist in Independence Day, Charles S. Dutton known for many roles, Rudy being one of them, Peter Dinklage who shined in Death at a Funeral and the game of thrones. The TV series was drenched in achieved talent, however as the TV series didn’t get the desired ratings, the series were dropped. Star Trek wasn’t enough of a lesson for Hollywood. And this wasn’t the only lesson. Defying Gravity (2009), Firefly (2002), Doll House (2009) all series dropped for the mere reason that it wasn’t bringing in the cash from day zero. As I see it Hollywood hasn’t gone bust. The audience has stopped putting their faith in Hollywood productions. An entity that doesn’t seem to comprehend Science Fiction and Fantasy is the maker of imaginary worlds? 

We see a whole range of attached reasons, but the number one reason isn’t shown. The fact that advertisements aren’t of interest to people and that is the one thing that drives players like Netflix. TV stations are fed that advertisement is the drive of all entertainment business and to some extent this is partially true. The fact that the people after 50 years still look forward to some form of Star Trek is because it is a more surreal form of escapism and that image isn’t clear to Hollywood. I see it as a reason why Canada and Australia are growing players in this field. In Hollywood every dollar needs to be spend at least twice to become valid and all that time writers are massively underpaid. I see it as the number one reason why we will soon see an overshadowing of Hollywood by Dubai Media and the MBC group. And that is before Hollywood figures out that the people demand continuation of the story. The number one issue around Threshold, Defying Gravity, Firefly and Doll House. The are regarded as not ‘profitable’ but they are represented by millions of watchers who wonder what comes next and too many of these disappointments of cancelations are getting to them and now they look at places where there is continuation. 

My initial view is that someone needs to take a hard look at how ratings are measured, because I think that is the core of the issue. I refuse to believe that some cancelations are valid. Consider the series Lucifer, it was booted at season 3, taken over by Netflix who did 3 seasons more. Now we see “In 2021, Lucifer was the most-streamed original series in the U.S., with 18.34 billion minutes viewed”, so how is that not a success and it makes us wonder what drove the cancelation by Fox? The stream data contradicts the Fox statement that is was a “ratings-based decision”. I think that this is happening too much and as such I have doubts that there is a issue with how ratings are ‘found’ and those in that area together with some analysts are setting the stage for whatever they think that matters, but that is merely my view on the matter.

I see it that greed driven decisions by some are strangling others from fulfilling their view. Avatar (2009) made $2,923,706,026 and I get that, but is it better than Oppenheimer (2023) $975,594,978? As I see it Wall Street wannabe’s are tainting the field of artistic achievements and I get that revenue is part of the equation, but Hollywood was the place of dreams, it has now become a nightmare for many players. Why is that? 

Enjoy the weekend.

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Kettle, pot and colouring

Yup, that is the setting for today. I saw the news yesterday or the day before and it angered me. The article (at https://cpj.org/2024/10/saudi-arabia-sentences-cartoonist-mohammed-al-ghamdi-to-23-years/) from the CPJ (committee to protect journalists) is as misguided as it is hypocritical. In the first instance I do not know Mohammed al-Ghamdi, I never saw his cartoons or red anything from him. As far as I am concerned as long as the CPJ does not hold its western journalists and editors up to any kind of standard, it needs to shut up. Yesterday I touched on the Politico article regarding Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud and it opened up some issues for me. There is more, the media neglects the interesting ‘good’ Saudi Arabia does and trivialises the harm that Saudi Arabia gets from Houthi terrorists. As such I say that the CPJ needs to shut up.

We are given that “a Saudi cartoonist for the Qatar-based Lusail newspaper, who was sentenced on an undisclosed date in 2024 to 23 years in prison on charges that his cartoons were sympathetic to Qatar and insulted the Saudi government” Saudi Arabia has laws, they might not be the laws the west heralds, but this is a Saudi event. I might not agree, but if I am in Saudi Arabia I would have to adhere to Saudi Laws and there is the chance that my articles fall in bad waters with Saudi Arabia. I do not know as I am not privy to those laws. As far as I know I never known and intentionally insulted anyone in the Saudi government (I might be wrong in this).

Countries have laws, the west (Commonwealth and Europe) for the most on the issue of freedom of speech and as such I tend to use that freedom of speech, yet in that instance I try to maintain a civil tongue. And when Charlie Hedbo was killed, I also supported France, I stood at a vigil in Sydney. I was not aware to the stage that drove someone to kill Charlie Hedbo, but I was in agreement that we had to protest this because Charlie Hedbo was not anti-Muslim. He drew on several occasions images that would have offended the church (the Vatican), as such he was equally ‘diplomatic’ on all faiths. 

Yet this is not about Charlie Hedbo, this is about the double standard the CPJ uses and until they hold western media to a serious level of account, they need to put up or shut up. 

This is pretty much it. I did not check some of the claims made and I am not saying these claims weren’t true. We get “It is time to break this longstanding pattern of imprisoning journalists. Saudi authorities must release al-Ghamdi and drop all charges against him” and I am not opposing this, but I find it interesting that numbers and reasons for imprisonment aren’t given. It this is about less then 5 journalists, it seems a trivial matter (compared to Turkey and a few other places). And lets not forget these Saudi Laws are all documented and as such these ‘journalists’ (optionally a mere one cartoonist) might have decided to leave the country, was that done? 

The CPJ gives us that 50 Journalists were killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2024. So, where is the stink on these 50 journalists? Oh, and why is it “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory” and why do we not see the segregation between “West Bank and the Gaza Strip” and “Israel”? It was a simple setting, but the CPJ seems to use a simplistic brush for that. And between 2018 and 2024 we see merely one seemingly killed and I raised plenty of articles between 2018 and 2024 shedding doubt on that setting. Another article gives us that 10 people were imprisoned all whilst the 2023 numbers have a top 10 (Saudi Arabia wasn’t there) and the top is China with 44 imprisoned, Russia with 22, Iran with 17, and Turkey with 13 imprisoned. Yet in all of these cases, we see an absence of reasons and there is the issue. The (western) press has in the last 10 years lost pretty much all credibility, as such a reason for imprisonment is required. I have an issue with the CPJ because a population with less credibility than a drug pusher in a school yard has several issues and I do not think the CPJ is in a position to demand any kind of charge drop until the status quo of journalists is re-established with a level of credibility that most of us find acceptable. The chase for digital dollars in the last decade pretty much diminished their right for a ‘protected’ status. 

People might not like my view on the matter, but that is my preview on the matter. Perhaps the CPJ would like to rewrite the article in something more palatable?

Have a great Saturday.

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When the credit card stops

That is the setting for the US of A. The BBC gives us ‘US debt would increase under Harris and soar under Trump – study’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce81g9593dro). We are given that there is basically no escape for America, I have articles going back to 2018 where I give sight of what is coming. Oh, and by the way at what point do you cancel someones credit card? We are given “Donald Trump’s campaign proposals would increase the US national debt by double the amount Kamala Harris’s would, according to a new analysis by a non-partisan group.” We are also given “Trump would add $7.5tn” now consider that the interest on this would be around 450 billion, just on the increase alone. Now consider that the total debt is 500% larger and now consider that the US economy needs to come up 2.25 Trillion EACH YEAR to deal with the interest alone and I saw that coming 5 years ago and the news media and these so called financial experts never saw this? I do not believe this. We were all told and presented a story. And they are about to lose whatever leeway they thought they could hang over us. The media was the tool some were able to use (with what I speculatively see) as stake holders to ‘bring’ the presentation. And the media seemingly was left in the dark, or were they?

The problem is that we cannot see or prove any of this. But consider that I saw this coming for over 5 years and I do NOT have an economic degree. What makes you think that I am more clever than these financial wizard in the media (CNN, BBC, WSJ, the Guardian) and many more? Do you really think that they made a miscalculation? They isn’t nickel and dime stuff, this is about 35 trillion dollars. How much sneaky bookkeeping is involved to put such an amount under the tables? This would require the cooperation of media, banks and governments. So when your retirement falls away, who will you blame? The media? The Banks? The Governments? Seems ludicrous, almost some crazy conspiracy. But consider the facts. Consider the evidence and the avoidance of the media to address certain economic facts. That is not some cooky setting, the evidence is out there on the internet. Consider all the media and consider what the media never gave us. I can tell you more, but it is time to consider what I am telling you here and make your own mind up. 

Now consider that the EU had six trillion euros in taxable revenue in 2022. Now we see that America is optionally about to increase its debt more that the taxable income of 27 countries and it does not raise an issue? Now we know that plenty of EU countries have a GDP that equals an apple and an egg. But together they should amount to a fair amount considering that these countries have a total population of 449.2 million, which is a lot more than America (about 34%). Now consider that people pay taxation, companies pay taxation as well. But the tax breaks are mostly for companies. As such I look at the people. There is a baseline that extremely roughly applies and when that baseline is applied the numbers do not match up as I personally see it and I have seen this setting for over 5 years and the media ignores it all. 

Could I be wrong?
Yes definitely, but overall certain numbers create levels of equilibrium and I see that these numbers aren’t here at the moment. And the media seeing these debt levels fail them could also be seen as optional evidence. So how does it work? It seems clear that the media can no longer be trusted (in my opinion). So how to get the numbers? I cannot give you my sources, so you are a little on your own in that regard.

Have a great day.

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Here come the drums

We were also given “The Netherlands should not think our safety is guaranteed because we are 1,500 kilometres away [from Russians].” I tend to agree. The fact that several nations are now sending weapons to Russia is also a factor. Russian junk is about to be replaced by working materials. The Ukrainians might have sunk a boatload of drones, but that is not all that is going there, is it? 

In addition we were given “The Netherlands is one of the founding members of NATO and is a staunch backer of Ukraine. Last week, outgoing PM Mark Rutte announced that his country would be sending Volodymyr Zelensky 18 F-16 fighter jets to fight the Russians.” Russia is unlikely to take kindly to that and there is no indication just how ready Germany and Poland are for an direct conflict with Russian forces, that 1,500,000 meter barrier is not going to last long is it? The best outcome is to make sure that the Ukraine wins this war, but at the speed that Russia is bombing the Ukraine, there might not be much left of it in the next 26 weeks. After that? I fully believe that the Ukrainians will fight for every inch of the Ukraine, but when there is nothing left one of the few options remaining is to fight Russia in Russia and that is a very different war, one they are less equipped for. 

As such I believe there is a lot of merit to the words of Martin Wijnen. The fact that the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands is pro-Russian will not help matters much, although the moment one assault on the Netherlands takes place he better change direction, or become the first Regent to face the deadly mobs since the execution of Johan de Witt on August 20th 1672. But not to worry, I feel certain that the media, YouTubers and TikTokkers will be there to cover it all in 4K.

The words of the general sound true. There is a worry and the worry should not be trivialised. No matter how it continues with the Ukraine, Russia needs a win, it needs one soon and Putin needs one to appease his Kremlin cronies. 

We have seen the damage that the Ukraine has dealt Russia, but they have a lot more and some of it actually works. My biggest fear is that Putin takes a lesson from the Hitler playbook and takes out a city in the Netherlands, not unlike was done on May 14th 1940. To think of that, how long until France, Germany and Belgium face that very same danger? I have no idea, and I reckon the rest of the world would instantly turn against Russia, still, there are too many ‘what if’s’ in that equation and I (for the most) hate what if settings. It fuels too much super good, or super bad thinking, extremes away from the expected and most unexpected norms. It fuels the wrong part of the thinker, which I personally believe is never a good thing. 

In all this General Wijnen is not alone in this setting, but I do believe too many nations remain silent on the matter. Germany spoke out for strengthening their armed forces, but in this setting the United Kingdom did not, neither (as far as I am aware) did France and for the most their Legion Etrangere is the only one ready to face whatever comes their way. And these 9,000 troops, their Legio Patria Nostra (or as I gigglingly call them, the well educated fathers of the night) could deal with about 40% of the total of Russian forces, but what would be left for the Dutch? OK, still enough, but France and Belgium better get ready to consider the darker setting of Europe as we consider the words of General Wijnen. 

So now on a lighter tone, it is time for the same joke I have been telling friends for well over a decade.

Enjoy this final day and stay safe around fireworks.

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A dangerous escalation

Before I go into the story, I need you to know something. Hamas is a terrorist organisation, no doubt about it. Governments and the United Nations are bending over backwards to avoid phrasing any sentence that combines Hamas and Terrorist. So I have been watching the ‘pro-Palestinian’ events. Too many are riddles with anti-semitics. And as some spokesperson from the United Nations, the simple looking broad with the saggy tits. I had enough. Israel has a right to defend themselves. Yet, I also agree with the actor Misha Collins, who on Twitter stated that what is happening now amounts to war crimes. I cannot disagree with him. Hamas is fully integrated in the west bank, into its populations. The hospitals (at least one) goes into tunnels with weapon caches. All issues. Now that you know that lets get into the article and the actual dangers that Israel is about to face. And Israel went bug-nuts, more then ever. I get the why, but the setting still stands. Israel is basically guilty of war crimes. I have no idea how they could have acted differently. Hamas killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians and a large group of them children, people were kidnapped and taken into the west bank. Israel lost their cool and went nuts. 

The article (at https://ara.tv/6a4dp) gives us ‘Saudi Crown Prince calls on all countries to stop arms exports to Israel’. I get it Saudi Arabia is a Muslim nation, as such it will side with Muslims. Also on October 20th the BBC gave us “Prince Turki al-Faisal has publicly condemned both Hamas and Israel for attacking civilians” this matters to everyone. Hamas is now and will remain a terrorist organisation, even if the United Nations are in denial. The danger is seen with “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged all nations during an extraordinary BRICS summit on Tuesday to cease weapon exports to Israel.” The title gave us the goods, but it is now a more dangerous setting. You see Saudi Arabia is now a stronger voice in BRICS, they have the money, they have the economic future and that has been enough of an incentive for all governments to react. As I see these useless United Nations, the people who would not clearly act against Houthi terrorists are now even more useless. And when Saudi Arabia gets the upper voice, the UN is mostly done for. 

This is no boast, no grandstanding. The last four events West Bank, Ukraine, Yemen and Syria. In all these matters the UN achieved almost nothing, mere grandstanding and the fuel for a gravy train. That is all the UN now amounts to. So as BRICS grows and there is absolutely zero doubt that this will not happen. All kinds of nations will want a piece of that for their economy. That deflates the UN, sets larger issues with the EU and as you have seen in America, too many voices are not merely against Ukraine, they are more and more pro Russian. That is the future we see coming on all channels but the media is making a populist mockery of it all. And now that things need to be achieved the Kingdom in Saudi Arabia is hugely placed to make it happen. It gets to be worse (or better for me) for that. I once wrote the (partial) script of ‘How to assassinate a politician’ that politician is now the largest person in the Dutch election. Geert Wilders, the anti-Muslim far right voice has the most votes. I might just offer my writing again to Al-Arabiya, Al Saudiya, or Dubai TV. The fact that Geert Wilders is about to become prime minister of the Netherlands might make my script worth a few pennies. 

Still the larger station for Israel changes. There could soon be a setting that the State of Israel will end up standing alone. When America and the Commonwealth need to choose their economies or Israel is not entirely unlikely. I have no idea how that will play out, but as the Ukrainian pressures play out, Russia will be in a new stage. Side with BRICS and Saudi Arabia and end up with the tick of NATO at their front door, or make sure that Europe diversifies. The danger for Israel is not complete, but it is growing and Hamas ends up with winning a war they should never have been allowed to win. Because the moment a terrorist organisation wins a war, we all lose, no exception to that setting. That much is certain and the media stands on its own shores, the one with digital dollars, the populist voice. Because flames get responses, get clicks and sets the populistic people on a typing rampage creating even more clicks. 

Enjoy the day. It is almost Friday for me.

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Speculating towards something?

That is the setting, I have been keeping my eyes on Bangladesh for more than one reason. You see, Bangladesh with its 170,000,000 people represent an upcoming population that has never been considered for several retail groups, but that nation could become a more important group. China sees this, Saudi Arabia sees this and that is where the next article comes into play. The article (at https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2023/11/18/japan-brings-bangladesh-into-the-folds-of-new-security-framework/) gives us ‘Japan brings Bangladesh into the folds of new security framework’ which also gives us “Japan maintains economic partnerships with most Asian countries, particularly Bangladesh. Dhaka has received around US$25 billion in development and economic assistance from Tokyo since 1972 and around US$9.2 billion of this has been overseas development assistance.” I believe it is one truth, but not the one that matters to Japan. When America implodes, so will Japan, unless they make new friends fast. And when Japan embraces 170 million Muslims, they stand a chance to get some relief from Saudi Arabia and optionally the UAE too. That is what I am speculating is behind this move. Yes, there is a stage that Japan can use for retail purposes, but there is a larger stage. As per March, Japan is dealing with a $9.2 trillion debt. When America collapses (not if, when) Japan will lose a lot more and whatever they have banked against the dollar will fall away, as such Japan needs another path. China is not one due to historical stages, Russia is equally unavailable. As such this path seems the most intelligent one and even as it is not the best path, it might be one of the few left available to the former friends of the United States. And in continuation of this speculation, when things implode, the BRICS players would like to keep as many as larger players on their side as possible and Japan is not great, it is a huge economic player. 

So as I see it (and I could be wrong), Japan and a few others will need to realign their priorities in allies and economic sides and Japan seemingly just made their first move. I wonder when either Saudi Arabia or the UAE will set another path towards Indonesia and its 273 million citizens. This makes the setting fro BRICS a larger one, with two additional nations they get almost half a billion consumer and this is the stage that is merely in its starting place. When these two nations get the chance to become workers in Neom, optionally additional domains we get a new setting for economy and that is where Japan is banking on. It is trying to get a slice of that pie and as America has been in denial of too much we see that their ‘friends’ are reevaluating their options and there is now an optional case that Japan made the first move. 

Am I right? Am I wrong?
That remains the question, my speculative view comes from the data available to me, it does not make me correct, but I see it that I am more likely than not correct. A stage we all faced. I am willing to become critical of my view, slice and dice it, merge the data streams and see what I can prove through that. I am still a decent amount away from proving it all, but I feel that It is clear that Bangladesh wasn’t merely for some security framework, the larger stage is still in play. It is still fluidic but the media at large is less and less reliable. Consider the media streams that gave ANY view on this stage and then ask yourself the question why did they not make mention of it? 

Just 20 hours until my weekend is over, enjoy yours.

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Sides of currency

That is the setting, it is never sides of a coin. That was in the old days when things were simple. Things are no longer simple and that is why it took me so long to take on this issue. To be honest, the one clarion voice in all this has been the actor Misha Collins. I will get back to that later.

For now it is important to know that I am not anti-Israel, I am not anti-palestine. I am anti-Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organisation and my largest issue is that the western media was eager to ‘forget’ the events that started all this. The Nova Festival in a rural farmland area near the Gaza-Israel border was just one of multiple locations hit by Hamas on October 7th. It was the spark in a powder keg and we are seeing the results of all that. Yet that was weeks ago. What started this were two stories. The first was given by Al Jazeera (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/11/saudi-arabia-to-host-arab-islamic-summit-to-unify-efforts-on-gaza) giving us ‘Arab-Islamic summit rejects justifying Gaza war as Israeli self-defence’ there we see that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) gives us “This is a humanitarian catastrophe that has proved the failure of the international community and the UN Security Council to put an end to Israel’s gross violations of international humanitarian laws, and prove the dual standards adopted by the world,” I do not completely agree. This all started by acts of terror by Hamas and Israel has hd enough. We are also given by a source I do not know (at https://unitedwithisrael-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/unitedwithisrael.org/saudis-help-block-anti-israel-measures-at-arab-summit/amp/) where we are given ‘Saudis and 8 More Arab Countries Block Anti-Israel Measures at Arab Summit’, I cannot say how correct this is because Al Jazeera makes no mention of this. I added the article because it is important in other ways.

Important to know 
We get all kinds of information, in this we get all kinds of information through LinkedIn, through Twitter (X to some). The first is about anti-semitism

This matters. I do not know if these events in London are really all pro-palestine. I believe that is not the case. It is riddled with anti-semitism and quite frankly it bothers me because anti-semitism is now worse than it was in 1933, this will go from bad to worse soon enough and it is making this world not a nice place. All these children with no idea what is going on ripping the posters of kidnapped jews from the walls, smiling like they matter, these children really do not matter. If you are willing to hide real events you have no value whatsoever. It is a dangerous thing to say, because the media is partially to blame. Some are intentionally misreporting and misrepresenting events. 

Image two is more dangerous. It implies that Arabs in Israel aren’t protesting against Israel. I fail to believe that 100% would not protest, but it is possible. Still I haven’t seen any media really reporting on this. Is it true, or is it false?

These things matter. You see with deepfakes, advanced learning machines we get data and images that cater to anyone who has the money to set these things in motion and the media is part of that. 

What needs to happen
The first part is that Saudi Arabia needs to clearly advertise a site that gives the true settings. What was said in these events. Where does Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud stand? This is important because he is the stabilising voice of the Middle East and there is now a stage where we no longer can trust the media to give us the low down on what is ACTUALLY being said, were we get the real deal on where certain parties stand.  

The Actor
Now we get to Misha Collins. He stated on Twitter (X to some) something that struck a nerve. You can see it (at https://x.com/mishacollins/status/1723909073219772737?t=Nrp0sJig4eyEqYW4aIY_iA&s=03) it is amazingly good. He does give the setting from two sides and we need to ac knowledge that Israel had true grievances. The operative word was ‘had’. This has gone on for too long and in the end Hamas is not getting hit, merely the people from Gaza are and the top Hamas person is safely in Qatar, so what is now the point? 

That is the question I am struggling with. Can or should Israel be allowed to continue when 100 people from Gaza are killed and merely 2-3 Hamas operators? That is a price much to high, on the other side we see that as long as Hamas is in charge in Gaza this setting is unlikely to change. 

I understand that Hamas needs to be stopped, but this needs a very different approach and bombing Gaza into the stone age will not make it so. 

As such I have been struggling with several issues, but the largest issue is that the western media is no longer to be trusted and that makes it much harder, add to that deep fakes and populist agenda’s that are more often then not anti-semitic in nature makes us all run for the hills, we can no longer tell what is real and it is my hope that Al Jazeera and Arab News will become the real sources of information, but that is merely one thought. 

This weekend is hard, harder then most and it is all happening whilst we all see the Santa Claus stands and commercialisation of Christmas events, all whilst the reality for the west bank is one that is not including reindeers. 

I will not tell you to enjoy the weekend. I get it, you want to but it is time to mull a few things over.

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Denial in 3, 2, 1…

That is at times the setting. We know that denials are coming and it is often no more than a shoe drop away, or at least that is how I usually tend to see denials. For the most I do not care about American politics, it is watching someone else’s petulant children in some creche go nuts all whilst most of us, especially those who haven’t fathered any children (to the best of my knowledge) to see this as an opportune moment to massively consider remaining a bachelor. 

Three
Here we have (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-20/sidney-powell-pleads-guilty-donald-trump-georgia-election-fraud/103000142) the first of three events. ‘Former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election interference case’ you see, some will see the simple side which is seen in “Powell admitted to plotting to unlawfully access secure election machines in rural Coffee County in south-eastern Georgia in January 2021”, yet the larger issues is  seemingly evaded. We see this when we consider “a felony involving moral turpitude, forgery, fraud, a history of dishonesty, consistent lack of attention to clients, alcoholism or drug abuse which affect the attorney’s ability to practice, theft of funds, or any pattern of violation of the professional code of ethics” and the only thing we see here is “The plea agreement calls for her to be sentenced to six years of probation” My personal setting is one of anger. That [stricken word for trollop] avoided disbarment? Was it the words? We get it ‘plotting’ is not ‘acting’ and as such we see the larger setting. Lawyers are all tripping over one another to avoid getting disbarred. I reckon that the moment this happens, they become advisors to ambulance chasers and such kind of people. On the other side, Uber is always looking for drivers, or there is the option of a hair salon where she can brag that she was hoodwinked to eager hearing ears there. Perhaps those clients will only listen if it comes with a discount. 

Two
This is seen (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67174576) where we are given ‘Second Trump lawyer pleads guilty to conspiracy’ where we are told that Kenneth Chesebro is linked to “Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to file false documents. His deal with prosecutors on Friday came as jury selection began in his case. The trial will no longer go forward.” And he too seemingly avoids disbarment. Either the prosecution is weak or they are merely stacking up the plea deals to dump the entire mess on Donald the duck Trump (the writer apologises to Walt Disney for making the reference). 

We need to see that this is merely two out of seventeen. One made a deal last September (that person might have gotten the best deal of all) but the larger stage is no longer what will happen to the former President, but it becomes how much hardship will that former president face. You see when he is thrown in jail and his proud boys are there too, they might not take too kindly to a person who made them look stupid in public. 

One
This one is in the wind, but (at https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-fined-almost-8000-for-violating-gag-order-in-new-york-civil-trial-20231021-p5edz5.html) we are given ‘Trump fined almost $8000 for violating gag order in New York civil trial’ and we are also given “Justice Arthur Engoron said a Trump social media post attacking the judge’s clerk – which was later deleted from the former president’s Truth Social platform – had remained visible on his 2024 campaign website two weeks after an order was issued to take it down”, so only $8000? I reckon he has had lunch meetings that costed more. But the start has begun and whilst I doubt if the judge will impose stricter fines (the past is not in that favour), this is a start and all this took well over 2 years. The insurrection which started on January 6, 2021 is finally getting to the point where the big players are up. Even as this is still in court, I am not holding my breath. You see US history will have to accept that this is the first president that could face jail-time for actions committed. America has shown itself to remain in denial to act on such matters. 

On the upside, as I was reading and watching these parts, I saw something I will not publish here, but the larger stage could be devastating to any party exposed to it and whilst I am happy to hand that over to the Ukraine. I would feel a sense of guilt to do so. Nothing against Ukraine, but it requires a different mindset and I feel uneasy to set it that way.

This relates to the article as it is a mindset that none of the involved lawyers had, as such their probations are seen by me as massively uneasy. You see “an apology letter to citizens of Georgia” is a bloody joke. A nation that prided itself on democracy is playing pussy to the events that destroys that same democracy they hold so high, so proud. Harsh words from a judge are not enough. Actions were required and actions are seemingly at best limited. This is why I will not cheer on the entire Trump case until a final verdict is passed. You see, there is still some chance that he gets off on technicalities and several people will offer their resignation to make up for it, all whilst they know that their future will be well tended too. That is the unacceptable side of democracy. Acting for the presented greater good and that reminds me of an old saying “adding water to the wine”. Yet at what point does one forget the taste of water or the taste of wine? When we forget what either was, what becomes of us? 

A simple question to get you to ponder through the upcoming Monday.

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The job never evolved

There was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald and it angered me. The article (at https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/recruitment-labour-hire-companies-collapse-amid-worker-reluctance-to-swap-jobs-20231006-p5ea8q.html) gives us ‘Recruitment, labour hire companies collapse amid worker reluctance to swap jobs’ it is there that we are given “the slowing economy makes employers more reluctant to fork out money to external recruitment firms who are struggling to fill job vacancies with qualified candidates.” First of all, the recruitment firms in Australia are a joke. They never learned anything. They keep on playing the same games for resume collections and mass marketing job filling. Over the last 10 years I have had less than a dozen confirmation emails. We are talking in excess of 300 job applications and less then a dozen replied with something like ‘We have received your resume’ or even ‘We regret to inform you that you have not been selected’ Less then a dozen in over 300 applications. That is the recruitment firm setting, a setting that has less credibility than a cocaine pusher in Sydney’s drug capital called Kings Cross.

They are all about cutting corners and all about reducing costs, all whilst they lose more and more credibility. As such there is every chance that employers are more and more becoming self sufficient in this task. There are more and more corporations with talent pages and career pages.

And the stage of “recruitment agencies were struggling with more vacancies than they could find qualified candidates for” is laughable to say the least. Ageism is merely one factor, the other factor is that more and more recruitment agencies have staff members that seemingly have no clue what they are doing. In one event I met the same recruiter a week later by pure chance and he stated that he hadn’t had any time to read my resume. But there he was collecting more resume’s.

So why don’t we give the setting a twist towards the reality of the stage? Perhaps it should be ‘hire companies collapse due to staff competency and repeated outdated actions’, I think that this is a much more to the point reason. In addition we see all kinds of recruitment firms popping up. There is every chance that one person was good at what he or she did and started their own firm. Makes perfect sense to me, but now we have 8 instead of one firm and these 8 firms are not communicative at all, the previous version wasn’t either. 

There are of course valid reasons and the SMH gives it to us via “A broader collapse in the construction industry, including high-profile businesses Porter Davis and Mahercorp, has reverberated through labour hire companies such as Duet Recruitment, ARI Recruitment, Collar Up Recruitment, GRB 365 Recruitment and PG Labour Services, who have called in administrators as their work dries up”. I reckon that in IT similar settings are happening. Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are all shedding jobs. So there would be an impact. Yet the larger issue is that we see dozens of jobs every day in LinkedIn and those jobs are often pushed by recruiters, who keep on doing the same thing again and again and not communicating any of this. So when we see ‘worker reluctance to swap jobs’, the setting might be that these workers do not trust recruitment firms. All promising a calf with golden horns but in the end whatever they promise isn’t set in stone. Firms promising warm calling and inbound calls all whilst the result is that they are cold calling firms and people don’t like cold callers and whatever bonus is promised is a joke. Recruiters haven’t learned their lesson in over a decade and they continue in the trend of  direct mail companies, all whilst that setting is decades old. You either evolve or you become irrelevant. It is that simple.

Enjoy the day.

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