Tag Archives: Middle East

In the land of Saud

That is where is am ‘obliged’ to look. Not because of them, but because of touristy reasons. You see, I got some compelling news a few hours ago. A nice chance of the news that is hitting the United States. Some might have seen some YouTube video on a flight from London to JFK with merely one passenger. I don’t think it is real, but there you have it. The idea that someone makes a flight with only one person is utterly ridiculous. Although I have seen several video’s of airports devoid of life and passengers, so it is not out of the realm of possibilities. 

No this is a different story and it gets two sources. The first one is Cairo Scene that gives us (at https://cairoscene.com/buzz/saudi-tourism-created-over-one-million-jobs-by-august-2025) the over populous idea that ‘Saudi Tourism Created Over One Million Jobs by August 2025’ which is part of the story, but the larger bang is seen with “Saudi Arabia welcomed about 116 million visitors in 2024, surpassing its 2030 target of 100 million seven years early.” I saw the push, I anticipated that it would be made, but to make this marker seven years ahead of schedule is a rather large achievement. Where we see “Tourism contributed around 5% of gross domestic product in 2024, with plans to increase this to 10% by 2030. Saudi Arabia recorded about 116 million domestic and international visitors in 2024, exceeding its Vision 2030 target of 100 million tourists seven years ahead of schedule. Tourism’s share of national exports rose from 6% in 2019 to 11% in 2024, alongside an increased contribution to the trade surplus over the same period.” I reckon that they will go above and beyond a little more this year as many millions are no longer considering going to the United States of America and whilst we see ‘news’ of a different nature in the upcoming two years, the reality will hit the people soon enough. In this setting it might mean for the current Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that “Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate is undergoing a transformative, yet challenging period, with overall unemployment rising to 3.4% in the third quarter of 2025 from 3.2% in the second quarter, marking two consecutive quarterly increases.”There is every thoughts to consider that it will get a fair bit lower in 2026. With all the mining Saudi Arabia has planned and now the stretch towards Tourism and that is before all the people they will need in Trojena, and Sindalah. As such there are good times ahead of Saudi Arabia. Then we get more news that is seen in https://propnewstime.com/getdetailsStories/MjUxNDM=/marriott-and-al-qimmah-plan-over-2-700-new-hotel-rooms-in-saudi-arabia, although I don’t know what exactly they are (from people making claim on the digital express), they do give us ‘Marriott and Al Qimmah plan over 2,700 new hotel rooms in Saudi Arabia’, the site doesn’t really feel comfortable, and I don’t like some of the output it creates, but with the Trojena, Sindalah and Oxagon settings, the news makes sense. Even though these three are never mentioned. As such I get from Yahoo Finance (the news in Prop News Time was too dodgy) “The agreement includes JW Marriott Jeddah, The Apartments, which will be located on Jeddah Corniche Road. The property is expected to offer 356 studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with separate living areas and kitchens. Facilities will include an executive boardroom, dining venues, a children’s club, a swimming pool, and a fitness centre. It will sit adjacent to the previously announced JW Marriott Hotel Jeddah. Four Points by Sheraton Shesha, Makkah will provide 1,030 rooms near Masjid Al Haram. Four Points by Sheraton Madinah King Fahd Road will offer 800 rooms close to Masjid Al Nabawi.” As such all eyes should be looking towards Saudi Arabia for the 2026 summer season, there won’t be too much reporting in the United States unless you want to read bad news. 

As such I want to congratulate Saudi Arabia, its kingdom and its citizens on making the 2030 markers seven years early, a feat seldom seen before and I reckon that 2026 cortina and 2030 Nice will mark the way of more increased tourism in Saudi Arabia (especially Trojena) as there might not be too many people willing to visit Utah 2034 at this time. I get that the players and their family will attend, but at present the American Administration will have to show about their rudders 180 degrees with show results before many people will be daft enough to see this happen. If it were up to me, Trojena might make the cut for the 2034 olympics, at present Utah does not (no blame on the people in Utah for this). And that will up the visit ramp for Saudi Arabia even more. 

Will it hold? I doubt it, but I reckon when 2028 hits and people are confronted with the ‘real’ numbers, important people might start asking questions and whilst the media and fake news will get blamed, the setting will show that the United States of America will have become the global pariah to a much larger degree and that is a heavy look to throw and many will at that time no longer care about what is real and what is not, because there will have been increasing voices that America is no longer hospitable, safe and a few more negative items. 

This is what I expect to see and with that Saudi Arabia and UAE’s Abu Dhabi too will have gobbled up many of the visitors that might have considered United States as a destination, just in time to see the Disney Park in Abu Dhabi open its gates. And with that I have to leave you. I get that a lot is speculative, but feel free to ignore my views. Saudi Arabia made its markers and is welcome to them. For now everyone wants to see Riyadh and other places in Saudi Arabia and none of those are interested in the United States as a destination. So there is that.

Have a great day and I now have to consider that my working week starts again in 7 hours. It sucks to be caught on a Sunday (with Chocolate and Strawberries).

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The question remains

I am not here to pass judgement, because I have no idea what is at stake. You see, for most of the time (all of the time) I was in the understanding there was Yemen, the partially disposed Yemeni government and the Houthi terrorists. That is pretty much all of what I knew and now I learn that there are more sides to this. I actually figured this out around Christmas, so when I got the news that there is a rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia I was confused (and massively unhappy). You see, I like both countries and it is becoming an issue where the child (me) needs to choose between his two parents (KSA and UAE) and that is making me unhappy. I for one still am in the dream settling one day retiring to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, but I would still also like to visit Riyadh and the KSA. So this does not seem like a happy moment at present.

As such the New York Times (at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-uae-yemen-separatist-zubaidi.html) is giving us ‘Saudi Official Accuses U.A.E. of Helping Yemeni Separatist to Escape’ and we are given “Aidarous al-Zubaidi is wanted on treason charges in Yemen after he led a lightning military offensive that escalated a bitter feud between the Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

We are also given that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, in Aden, Yemen is seen as the group that has been pushing for an independent state in southern Yemen, with Emirati backing. And we see “Saudi Arabia on Thursday accused its neighbor and ally the United Arab Emirates of helping a separatist leader wanted on treason charges to escape Yemen, a claim that deepens a rift between two regional powerhouses. The separatist leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leads a group called the Southern Transitional Council, which has been pushing for an independent state in southern Yemen, with Emirati backing.” And in addition we are given “Saudi intelligence determined that Mr. al-Zubaidi fled Yemen on a boat to Somalia early Wednesday morning and that he took a plane from there to the Emirates, according to Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen”. Oh, on a side note, congratulations to Turki al-Maliki, in getting promoted to Major General, last time I mentioned him he was still a Colonel. You might not think it is important, but his reports on the Houthi terrorists are beyond reproach (as I see it), as such I trust his intelligence and reporting on face value at present. In this setting we see there are a lot more settings to this and I am not passing judgement on them, but I am passing judgement on the western media as they have left us in the dark on most of this. So whilst we are given “A spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council, Anwar al-Tamimi, said by phone that the coalition’s statement was false and that Mr. al-Zubaidi remained in southern Yemen. The Emirati government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Times could not immediately confirm Mr. al-Zubaidi’s whereabouts.” And as the Times could not verify his whereabouts, I merely see a setting that likely confirms the intelligence that the Major General has access to. 

So as we are given “The Saudi allegation was an unusually pointed salvo in the increasingly bitter feud between Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, two key U.S. allies. That feud has escalated since Mr. al-Zubaidi’s group led a lightning offensive across southern Yemen last month, seizing strategically located, oil-rich territory. Saudi officials denounced those moves, which encroached on a region bordering the kingdom, saying they threatened national security. This past weekend, forces allied with the internationally recognized Yemeni government recaptured most of the territory, plus some additional areas, with Saudi support.” I feel that this is another instance where the western media is betraying its readers by keeping them in the dark. 

So personally I am wondering what exactly the Southern Transitional Council is and what their motives are. Yes I see that the implications are that they want to slice up Yemen, I think that this is a bad thing, but that is me reacting on limited intelligence. If this setting proceeds the Houthi terrorists get to play piggy in the middle (is that an acceptable expression in a muslim setting?) with two governments in Yemen. It enables too many options for the Houthi forces and I cannot see if I am right or if I am wrong. Personally there should be no transition until the Houthi terrorists are permanently dealt with, but that I merely me and I could be way wrong here.

So as we see “Mohammed al-Ghaithi, a member of the delegation, said in a social media post on Thursday that the delegation “valued the efforts of our brothers in Saudi Arabia to invite us and host a conference on southern dialogue.”” We can clearly see that there is a dialogue with Saudi Arabia, with the additional “General al-Maliki said that Saudi intelligence had learned that Mr. al-Zubaidi had fled to Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital, transiting via Somaliland with the Emirates’ help. The Emirati government has cultivated close ties to Somaliland, a breakaway state strategically located in the horn of Africa, roughly 200 miles by sea from Aden.” And here I get all kinds of confused interactions in my brain, but the clear picture is missing. The New York Times gives us a good story and that is fine, but the larger setting of the STC is missing, and without that there remains several settings of doubt and I already voiced one of them. The article ends with a question I can get behind “It is unclear why the Emirates backed the group. Some analysts speculate that the Emirati leadership would like to hold sway in Yemeni ports located on global trade routes. Emirati officials say only that they stand by Yemenis’ rights to security and self-determination. Yemen was divided into two countries for much of its modern history, before uniting in 1990.” But as it is stated, Yemen was divided into two countries so what were they originally? Considering that this was merely 35 years ago, there is a larger setting this implies that this was within one generation, so there might be issues with that generation. So as the New York Times is one of the few that is giving us a lot more than the rest is, it gives an incomplete picture and that has me wondering how my views needs some correction, not about the Houthi terrorists. They are terrorists plain and simple. There are however other setting which are not known to me and it gives a confusing setting (to me at least).

So have a great day today and I am considering  life on Iceland (it is 44 degrees celsius in my room at present, which is 3 degrees worse than yesterday).

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When it goes beyond oil

That is the setting that Australian Mining dot com dot au gives us (at https://mining.com.au/saudi-arabias-trillion-dollar-push-future-minerals-forum/). We think that we are given ‘Saudi Arabia’s trillion-dollar push: Future Minerals Forum’, but we are given so much more. You think that the headline gives the goods, but the start gives us “Saudi Arabia’s mining sector is shifting from a long-term ambition to a near-term investment hot-spot, underpinned by mineral potential estimated at US$2.5 trillion ($3.75 trillion), as reported by the Future Minerals Forum (FMF).” A setting where some see the blatant debatable truths that America hands us all that they are doing so well in that place, whilst Saudi Arabia quietly sets the setting of over 2 trillion dollars. And the entrepreneurs are not to be trifled with as you can see that originally “According to FMF, the number of licensed mining companies operating in Saudi Arabia has grown from six in 2019 to more than 150, while exploration expenditure reached SAR$1.33 billion between 2019 and 2023.” A growth of 2,500% (in 5 years) with an exploration expenditure of well over a billion Saudi Riyals. So as we are given “EEP, run by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in partnership with the Ministry of Investment, allocated SAR$70.6 million in its first batch of funding to support lithium, copper, gold, and base metal projects. The funding enabled 440,000m of drilling, 57,000 geochemical samples being collected, and the creation of more than 50 technical roles.” This is the stuff that mining dreams are made of, well beyond the setting of the old American gold rush a setting that could make Saudi Arabia the most industrious nation this century, because the goods when found will need cleaning, melting and all sorts of actions and it will all be done in Saudi Arabia. So whilst we are given “Countries are collaborating on mineral development and recognise cross-border cooperation can meet global demand, whereas the other meaning represents minerals are positions as engines for jobs, industrialisation, and long-term economic transformation in supplier countries.” As I see it, they all want ‘cross border collaboration’ but this is a Saudi party, A Muslim setting and as I see it, Saudi Arabia sets the terms, not Wall Street and they are fighting over there on Greenland and Canadian goods, Venezuelan oil, all whilst Saudi Arabia has untapped settings. I think that Aaliyah Rogan said it best when she ended the article with “As global miners are looking to diversify geographically and secure future supply, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a credible third pillar of its economy, alongside energy and petrochemicals.” So as I see it, there is every chance that whatever America is vying for (Canada or Greenland) it comes with a lack of manpower, because as I see it, miners might not like the stage of political grievances whilst they can get a safe secure setting in Saudi Arabia for some time to come (at least 10 to 15 years). So whilst we are considering that the “Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in partnership with the Ministry of Investment, allocated SAR$70.6 million in its first batch of funding to support lithium, copper, gold, and base metal projects.” Consider the manpower they would need for this and I reckon any miner will be putting their name in the hat for such an amazing opportunity.

A setting that quietly walked passed a lot of people looked at the Greenland setting with “Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand affirmed support for Denmark, as Washington again says it wants to annex the country’s self-governing territory of Greenland. Anand spoke Tuesday with her Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and she wrote on social media that she conveyed to him “Canada’s support for the fundamental importance of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.”” (Source: Cast Net) and whilst that (for lack of a better term) RomCom is going on, Saudi Arabia is making a move for its treasures and getting the resources to mine it properly.

Isn’t it a great moment when you learn that something happened in the background and you learn of this whilst most western papers will not report on it? So, have a great day all, My Monday is almost at an end whilst Toronto is merely starting today, Vancouver joins us in less than 2 hours.

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In opposition

I don’t go into ‘in opposition’ mode too often, because it tends to be an exercise of mopping the floor whilst the tap is spilling right on the floor. And you come to the conclusion that it is better to close the tap FIRST, before you start exercising with a mop. That is merely my opinion, but it holds water (as the phrase goes). The exercise is the ABC article (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-23/f-35-fighter-jet-sale-saudi-arabia-uae-australia-weapons-exports/106029218) giving us ‘Australian F-35 exports face fresh scrutiny as jets approved for Saudi Arabia’ where we get.

So, as we get blatant stupidity from Australian shores with “The president also contradicted the 2021 US intelligence assessment by saying the crown prince “knew nothing” about Khashoggi’s killing.” I countered this case on grounds of the United Nations report by UN comedian Egsy Calamari (aka Agnes Callamard) in the article ‘That was easy!’ I found a dozen shortfalls on that report (which also uses the US Intelligence assessment) and beyond that I left the largest folly unspoken. At no time were the tapes actually forensically tested. They could have been listening to a tape with recordings of the Shadow, listening to Orson Welles. I reckon they didn’t do that, but the blatant holes in that investigation were astounding and they are paid 6 figure incomes? For what?

And the least said about “Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are among the groups who have called for arms bans to Saudi Arabia, especially after the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the country’s human rights record, and role in the Yemen war.” The better. They turning their backs on the actions of Hamas and Houthi terrorist actions is astounding. As such I do not give too much credence to the writings of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and it makes little sense, they were a force for good in the 80’s, how the world turns. 

So whilst we get “Andrew Witheford, international and crisis lead from Amnesty International Australia, said putting the highly-lethal jet into the hands of another country in the region was “problematic”.” Really? So how is that view going for America and its Venezuelan repertoire? And beyond the fact that Saudi Arabia is a stable monarchy, it is making great strides in several factors. But don’t worry China is willing to flog their Chengdu J-20 by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation at any time, and how will that help Australia? Oh, and I hereby claim my 1% bonus if Saudi Arabia switches to the Dragon, over that amount I would get (from China) $52 million, a nice retirement fund, so I can move to Toronto and Abu Dhabi, life can be fun at the autumn of your life.

How is anything that this article gives you all relevant to the setting? So as the ABC gives us “A Saudi-led coalition has been waging a war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.” We need to realise that there are no Houthi rebels, there merely are Houthi terrorists.

But do not take my word for it, ask Colonel Turki bin Saleh Al-Maliki he has the recovered several drones used on Saudi civilian airports and civilian targets. The media was so great in filtering out those facts, I wonder if you do the same. Is there a setting where Saudi Arabia uses weapons in defence of IT’S OWN COUNTRY? Yes, there is, defence works that way. But the media is eager to avoid their gaze on the rough stuff, like the Ghouta chemical attack in 2013 where the population was hit by rockets containing the chemical agent sarin. It might not seem related, but it is, when the atrocities of terrorists are laid bare, the people will ask difficult questions of the media. And that is not good for the digital dollar, is it.

So back to the story, as we are given “The UN Arms Trade Treaty, to which Australia is a party, says states must regulate the export of “parts and components” used to assemble weapons if there is knowledge the arms would be used in genocide, crimes against humanity, or certain war crimes.” We see the uncomfortable truth that they do not address action of Hamas as it is not part of the UN Arms Treaty Trade, nicely played. But this sanctimonious setting is getting on the nerves of too many people and the setting of a journalist no one cares about has been playing out for 8 years. All whilst the people are pointing fingers at the one who states that he is innocent and for the better part there is no evidence, the media takes whatever they could to get more digital dollars whilst ignoring clear evidence. So as we now against get the US intelligence assessment, most will not be clued in that some of this is based on 

we need to consider ‘an intelligence service or operative simply has to make a stab at assimilating what all this means’, this can be surmised into one single word ‘Speculation!’, it is fair for Intelligence operatives to do, but in law it is set to evidence and there is none, something I saw in 10 minutes into the initial report.” as well as “The Special Rapporteur was not allowed to obtain clones of the recordings so she could not authenticate any of the recordings. Among other aspects, such authentication would have involved examination of the recordings’ metadata such as when, how the data were created, the time and date of creation and the source and the process used to create it.

The simplest setting of law, Evidence, you either have it or you do not and no one has any clear evidence and the US intelligence assessment of ‘Highly Likely’ does not hold water in court. 

The simplest of settings and it is interesting how the media is filled with Islamophobes drenched in anti Saudi sentiment, it is not a completely correct setting, but that is how I see it. As such I am in opposition for the simple reason of evidence. And consider this, Andrew Witheford, gives us  “The F-35 used to only be sold to essentially liberal democratic countries” is that not a from of discrimination? By the way if all sounds right, America has become a (according to some) an authoritarianism, as such why is Australia even producing the parts of the F-35? Just a small question to cleanse the pallet. 

Have a great day today, Monday is now less than 325 minutes away. 

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Then there is that

I saw an interesting piece in the Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2625701) we are given ‘Saudi firms sign agreements to develop Syrian oil and gas fields’ I see it as interesting as it is perhaps a first step to see funds ending up in Syrian hands which might start a healing process. So there is a lot more to be seen with “Under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy, four Saudi companies signed agreements on Dec. 10 with the Syrian Petroleum Co. covering technical support, development, and production in Syria’s oil and gas fields.”A war that lasted for over 13 years drained the resources out of that land (2011 – 2024) and with this step a first step towards recovery has been found. And with “The agreements signed include an agreement between ADES Holding Co. and the Syrian Petroleum Co., which defines the fundamental principles for the development, operation, and production of gas fields.” And with this step “This includes five gas fields: Abu Rabah, Qumqum, North Al-Faidh, Tayyas, and Zamlah Al-Mahr, and any other area agreed upon by both parties later.” I cannot say how much will be rolling in, but as I see it there would be millions a day rolling in when these fields become operational, millions that country needs to restore a lot of what was broken beyond belief. And with “Under this agreement, the Arabian Drilling Co. will provide platforms for drilling onshore wells, platforms for providing related maintenance services, as well as providing necessary maintenance services, operational support, and training and development of the national workforce.” The Syrian population might see a lasting prosperity, because there is no price that can be set on the training and development of a countries resources, the man power it has. It tends to have a lasting effect on what they can achieve. So that is all good news as I see it. 

All whilst the Guardian reports “While country’s return to global stage has filled many Syrians with pride, domestically old grievances threaten efforts to rebuild the state” with the added “Syrians from across the country gathered and raised their voices to celebrate the end of the regime, raising the revolutionary three-starred-Syrian flag and chanting for freedom. In a speech at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, the man who was to become the country’s president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, promised to rebuild a “strong and just Syria” for all of its components, promising reconstruction for the ruined country.” That comes with an added surprise. You see “Assad and his family were granted asylum in Moscow in December 2024 and recent reports suggest they are living in quiet exile under Russian protection” but that also comes with the fact that Syrians are not to pleased with Russia at present and Assad might not have brought all what he had with him, as such millions are still in Syria and when the money runs out, Russia is likely to hold no future promise for themselves and other construction companies will be active, likely Saudi and optionally Emirati construction companies will get the benefit of this. Russia will have shut themselves out and as the oil reserves are brought to bare, countries who are now pushed towards Russian oil revenues are given the chance to switch to a new Syrian company, the now People’s Syrian Petroleum Company, or perhaps now aptly named the PSPC (a speculative thought) With this a first much larger step has been made in the lives of Syria, a recovery step that will set it to a much brighter future than they thought was coming to them, thirteen years of war tends to do this, but with this step a first big step towards recovery is made real. 

Some sources state that Syria had access to 2,500,000,000 barrels over and when the oil production of 95,000 BPD is restored there is every chance that Syrian lives will end up with a much better prospect and as I see it, Saudi Arabia has every chance to make this happen. Then there are the options that a restored Latakia has on trade and tourism with a direct setting towards a ferry service with Cyprus an Turkey, it could then also bring forwards other prosperous options for the Syrian people as well as invite other parties to evolve those steps. Like the Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/08/stalled-justice-violence-syria-assad-one-year-on) recounts, there is a painful process still happening because decades of slaughtering and executing families in Karm Al Zaytoon Neighborhood as a part of the sectarian cleansing massacre by Assad Loyalists is not going away and as I have a legal education I would be pushed towards evidence, but where to get that? And I reckon that being part of the Alawite sect will come at a price at present, so there is that too. It will not all be roses and moonshine, but with the restoration of Syrian oil a large step towards recovery will be made. How this is done largely sits with the people now in power in Syria, but with engaging with Saudi Arabia to restore their oil production they will make the first steps in restoring Syria to what it could have been and might now be for real. 

A glorious day for Syrians, so you all have a great day. It’s Saturday here with only Wellington ahead of me, the rest of the world will follow me into Saturday in the next few hours, Abu Dhabi. (In three hours) is first to follow (as the first timeline I keep an eye on).

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The increased revenue setting

That is what we look for and I found another setting in something called Airport technology. You see, we see ‘King Salman International Airport, Saudi Arabia’  (at https://www.airport-technology.com/projects/king-salman-international-airport-saudi-arabia/) and the facts are clear. An airport that covers about 57km², positioning it among the largest airports by footprint and is said to “KSIA is expected to handle up to 120 million travelers by 2030, and up to 185 million passengers and 3.5 million tonnes of cargo by 2050” But I saw more. You see, on the 26th of September I wrote ‘That one idea’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/09/26/that-one-idea/) where I saw the presentation of an Near Intelligent Parsing (NIP) thought that could revolutionise lost and found settings in airports, on railway stations and a few other places, the instant winners of this idea would be Dubai International, Abu Dhabi international, London Heathrow and several other places and now also King Salman International Airport (KSIA), I would make some alterations to it all. In stead of entering it all, use PDA’s to records the data as it happens and when it is all entered use what they use in Australian hospitals for wristbands, print that data and attack it to whatever is found. If this is properly done, it will be done in mere minutes and within an hour people can look for the items, they could pick it up on the way back, in some cases it could be delivered to their hotel. This would be customer service of a much higher degree. And as I see it, the five airports (namely King Khalid International Airport, King Abdulaziz International Airport, King Salman International Airport,  Dubai International Airport and Zayed International Airport) could become the frontrunner to make an Near Intelligent Parsing (NIP) solution (not calling a solution based on DML/LLM AI) that could be the next solution for airports al over the world and there is some personal gratification to see America talk about how great their AI solutions are, whilst the little guy in Australia found a solution and hands it over to either Saudi Arabia or the UAE. A solution that was out there in the open and players like Microsoft (Google and Amazon too) merely left it laying on the floor and the elements were clearly there, so I hand it over to these two hungry places with the need to see what it can offer for them and in this it isn’t mine. It was presented by Roger Garcia (from Interworks) and the printing setting is already out there. Merely the joining of two solutions and they are done. So as I see it, another folly for Microsoft (honestly Google and Amazon too). This setting could have been seen by a larger number of players and they all seemingly fell asleep on the job. But if I know what Saudi’s and Emirati’s do when they see something that will work for them. They get really active. And so they should.

And consider that these airports will cater to close to half a billion travelers annually, and as such they will need a much better solution than whatever they at present have and there is the setting for Interworks. And when these solutions set the station towards delivering what was lost, the quality scores will go skywards and that is the second setting where the west is bottoming out. One presentation set the option from grind to red carpet walking. A setting overlooked by those captains of industry.

Good work guys!

So whilst I start preparing for the next IP thought I am having there is still some space to counter the US and its flaming EU critique. Let us remind America that the EU was the collection of ideas from America retail who were tired of dealing with all those currencies and in the late 80’s AMERICANS decided to sell the Euro to Europeans, all because they couldn’t sort out their currency software (or currency logistics) and now that it starts working against them they cry like little girls. Go cry me a river. In the meantime I will put ideas worth multiple millions online and let it fly for the revenue hungry salespeople (and consultants). In this case it wasn’t my idea, I merely adjusted an idea from Interworks and slapped some IP (owned by others) to make a more robust solution. I merely hope to positively charge my karma for when it matters.

Have a great day, except Vancouver, they are still somewhere yesterday.

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Social denial

The guardian brought me ‘up’ to speed on a matter, they did so a few days ago, but I had other matters to deal with. The story (at https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/12/foreign-prisoners-killed-saudi-arabian-jail-tabuk-prison-egyptians-executed-non-violent-drug-crimes-mohammed-bin-salman) gives us ‘‘I’ll be executed on Tuesday’: families reveal panicked last calls from foreigners on Saudi’s death row’ and the text gives us “foreign nationals who have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for non-violent drug crimes” there is no easy way to say this. “They entered the drug traffic setting of there own free will” some will say that there is no ‘free’ will here and I kinda accept that. But Saudi Arabia has a grim view on drugs and it has had this for years. Consider the alternative, America has had an annual US federal drug war budget that has reached $39 billion, with cumulative spending since 1971 estimated at $1 trillion. What sanity do you have with 1 trillion to hand out to nothing? As I see it, the drug trade has no winners, merely losers and perhaps 1-2 elevated people for the time it takes someone to over take them (violently) and the stage restarts. There is no winning this and as such Saudi Arabia and a few other places (I think Indonesia and Turkey) has little to no problems putting these people to death. And the Guardian is socially constructing this setting. 12 happy innocent looking faces. But those they ensnare in their drug trade through pushing drugs are a simple setting for them, the simple setting is “more money for me” and that is the stage Saudi Arabia is avoiding and putting to terminal sleep forever. So when we see “Many of those sentenced to death were probably innocent or forced into drug trafficking, say human rights groups. “They’re poor, they’re marginalised. No one listens to them,” says Jeed Basyouni from the charity Reprieve.” I am willing to consider that they were ‘forced’ into the drug trade, but they went along and for whatever reason the drug trade goes on. I get that these social charity places have to be and they do more then protect drug pusher, but the setting is that we see, all for “just a few hundred dollars”, yet the drug trade in Saudi Arabia is a target for these drug traders. In 2022 we were given “Experts say Saudi Arabia is one of the largest and most lucrative regional destinations for drugs, and that status is only intensifying.” Considering that America has had its beef since before 1971 implies that Saudi Arabia had an easy time an now as they see what it costs America, they are not about to hand over 1 trillion dollars to drug dealers. You can get a lot of Shawarmas for that with an additional side dish of Baklava. And anyone thinking that they can get away from capture in Saudi Arabia is fooling themselves. The larger setting is also ignored. It is all imported by hundreds of foreign nationals. And Saudi Arabia is having none of this. So when we are given the stage of people executed in Saudi Arabia from 1 Jan to 3 Nov 2025, we see 219 people, 400% of those guilty of murder and 7300% of those executed for sexual offenses. As I see it, Egypt (where nearly all convicted drug executions seem to come from) has a serious problem and as everyone wants to blame Saudi Arabia, the setting is that someone is pushing them to make this stupid setting, because Saudi Arabia never had any other consideration that Islam teaches that alcohol and other drugs are prohibited because they induce intoxication or a mind-altered state. And as we see that Islam prohibits all intoxicants, including narcotics, citing multiple texts in the Quran and Hadith (Unlu & Sahin, 2016). We need to consider that Egyptians knew this. 90% is islamic in Egypt, so I get the question what is the religion of these people? That number is not given, there is optionally the chance that these are Christians rolling the dice (speculation as I have no clear numbers on this) and that is the flaw in this setting. The word muslim appears in that tory merely once, at the very end when we see the names of these 12 people, so there is a chance that all 12 were muslims, but is that true for all 219 executions? 

So whether you are in agreement or not of capital punishment, the larger story is that it had been known that Saudi Arabia executes people for these crimes and it has no intention to shell over a trillion dollars to the drug trade. As I see it, they feel comfortable sentencing them all to death. America might have considered that point decades ago and whilst we want to cry over these poor poor criminals. There are no non-violent drug crimes, the victims of these crimes become the puppet of violence and other transgressions and Saudi Arabia is having none of that. So I have to wonder when Europe and America are much more appealing targets, why are these people going to Saudi Arabia? That is the setting everyone is overlooking, because you can get from Egypt to Crete, Greece and Italy when you use a dinghy and steer roughly 310 degrees (an exaggeration for sure), but that seems more appealing then Saudi Arabia and seemingly no one is looking at the data that way.

Have a great day, it is 31 degrees here now, so I am seeking shades and icy cold water. Monday morning is a mere 8 house away for me now. 

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Is it a bird, it is Superman?

Nope, it is a plane and it is heading for Saudi Arabia as we read (at https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/11/08/saudi-arabia-to-buy-48-f-35-worth-142-billion/) ‘Saudi Arabia to Buy 48 Most Expensive Fighter Jet in the World Worth $142 Billion’, as such the first hurdle of the Pentagon has allegedly been passed. We are given “Saudi Arabia’s request for F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters is reportedly progressing within the Pentagon, according to sources cited by Reuters. The move could make Riyadh (RUH) the first Arab nation to field a fifth-generation stealth jet, breaking Israel’s exclusive control of the platform in the region.” And let’s face it, they can afford these bad boys. And it would make any Russian equipped Iranian flight force obsolete. Some say the best air force is one you never have to fly. I disagree. I say  “I prefer the air force  you only have to fly once. That’s how the veterans did it, that’s how allies do it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far” (yes, I stole this quote from Iron Man, so sue me) it is like Australia being attacked by New Zealand in Sopwith Camels in the past, it never went anywhere. As such these 48 birds will await with baited breath for Iran to make a silly mistake and it will be the last mistake they will ever make. I reckon that these 48 can take on at least 98 of their Sukhoi Su-57 and Russia (at present) seemingly only made 29 of them, the rest is outstanding, as such Iran will no longer have options in the air as soon as the first set of these bad boys arrive. 

I never understood the reluctance to sell these planes to their own ally, but in the end it seems that Saudi Arabia is getting them. And when we see “The potential sale aligns with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense agenda, as his administration approved a $142 billion arms package for the Kingdom in May 2025. Although the F-35 was initially excluded, the latest discussions suggest it has now advanced to the Defense Secretary level, signaling renewed momentum.” This event started in 2017 and it appears that Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud (who was elected to this position in 2022) did not wander in the situation, as it seems he went in and got the job done. This is no attack on its predecessor as the American administration had been dragging its feet since day one (a presumption that I am making) but now the good news is flying all over the Arabian peninsula and as I see it a defeat by horse no show through Iran. 

In opposition I see “Tel Aviv has repeatedly emphasized its right to maintain military superiority under U.S. law, which restricts Washington from supplying equivalent systems to neighboring states”, I am in opposition here as Iran is the danger and Israel knows this. Saudi Arabia had been adamant on protecting its own borders and this will do this. And as I see it, the Israeli response is (seemingly) ludicrous. With “Israeli officials and defense analysts have voiced concern that F-35 deliveries to Saudi Arabia could erode this advantage. They warn that potential technology transfers to Russia, China, or Iran—however speculative—could compromise sensitive systems.” It is a decent preemptive fear to have, but as Iran is no friend of Saudi Arabia and handing any technology to Russia would only make it stronger seems to be a weird fear to have. I get that Israel has these fears but as Saudi Arabia needs its own borders secure, I reckon that this is too far fetched a fear to have. It’s like I would have a fear being attacked by Piranha’s, all whist the closest lake is miles away. 

So I reckon that there will be salutes and felicitations going all over Riyadh at present.

Have a great day and don’t have too many dreams on Australia being attacked by Sopwith Camels, they don’t have the range to make it from Wellington to Sydney.

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The eye on the other things

That is me (to some extent) I was in hospital for the last 30 hours getting rid of skin  and er on my eye lid, the most ridiculous place to get it I say and as such I wasn’t able to keep an eye on things (whatever will I think of next). The clear setting it gives is that I was able to mesmerize on a few of the old IP things I had designed and consider a few ‘alterations’ of this. From Sushi shaped power packs plus to Real Estate enhancements, they all passed the queue. So as I am listening to Bear McCreary’s soundtracks of Battlestar Galactica (the stomping grounds of Edward James Olmos) I am reading Al Jazeera’s piece ‘Trump expects expansion of Abraham accords soon, hopes S Arabia will join’ (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/17/trump-expects-expansion-of-abraham-accords-soon-hopes-s-arabia-will-join) and a thought was slamming my mind. There are two issues. The first is the byline “Widespread regional anger over Israel’s war on Gaza, and beyond, will likely prove a major obstacle to any further signatories to the accords.” The name Hamas is mentioned once, once after all the atrocities they did to the Palestinians ad no word from all these pro Palestinian losers all over the world. It seems that Hamas scored too large a victory and something needs to be done. As I said several times in the past. Palestine is only possible AFTER Hamas is eradicated. And I am not at all certain that Iran isn’t still addressing THEIR needs to Hamas. 

The second thought that came to mind was that there is nothing on ‘What is important to Saudi Arabia’ as it stands there is no real certainty that Qatar (Al Jazeera) isn’t addressing its own needs and shuffling it to their audience giving it a non-Iranian paint job.

So as the eye is on what is important to Saudi Arabia we are given “one week into the all-encompassing and fragile Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas” which has the one mention of Hamas, but the setting of ““I hope to see Saudi Arabia go in, and I hope to see others go in. I think when Saudi Arabia goes in, everybody goes in,” Trump said in an interview broadcast Friday on Fox Business Network.” Is a setting that is ‘innocently’ undersold, but the stronger sense remains. When did President Trump, or the players in the EU address what was important to Saudi Arabia? So when we get the larger setting of “The “Abraham Accords” secured agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan” we optionally only see the UAE as the larger player and I tend to agree that any balance in the Arabic Middle East will require the UAE and Saudi Arabia see eye to eye on matters as such the article doesn’t lies, but it largely misrepresents what is required and whatever Accords that are named after the Israelite people is a nice touch of presentation, but it is like the flim flam artist wants you to think and not to think too much about. Yes, there is a larger setting for Israel, but it is what Saudi Arabia needs now, and we get that Israel wants you to think that this is what all of the Arabic peninsula wants, but what does Saudi Arabia want? I actually do not know and I reckon a lot of you do not, but no one is asking that question of the ruling lines of Saudi Arabia and I reckon that their words are misrepresented at nearly every turn with “Is this what you meant?” Whilst diminishing the words spoken. As a reference I will give you the massive quote spoken by UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dV4m43xZmY) That is the setting we are swimming against with the Pro-Palestinian losers all over Europe, USA, Canada and Australia (and other regions) and me for one wants to see where are the interests of Saudi Arabia. What do they say? 

I actually do not know what it is and we aren’t given that setting by anyone (as I personally see it). So whilst we are pro-Trump, anti-Trump or even Trump card looking, where is the stage where we see what is important to Saudi Arabia?

So as we are given “Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem appealed to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks to mend relations with the Lebanese armed group, aligned with Iran, and build a common front against Israel.” No one is speaking about the atrocities of Hamas in the last week, why not? So whilst there is too much anti-Israel sentiment, there is also a lack of seeing what Saudi Arabia requires of the region. And that is (as I personally see it) an absolute requirement where the UAE and Saudi Arabia take the podium and speak their minds to all willing to listen because that is still a central piece, the willingness and need to listen what the others say, not the bullies and limelight seeking politicians of whatever nation gets the limelight, the high order of Saudi and Emirati people speaking of what is required, not filtered by pro Iranian sentiment and I personally feel that is the beginning of others seeing the stupidity they embraced by thinking that Hamas or Iran had any peace requirement. They only talked about self, the merely labelled it wrong.

So have a great day and whilst I contemplate on the optional medical setting that might have gone wrong (eye feels bad), I need to set my timeline to a healing line, not the timeline of now and immediate, because we are seeing that this goes nowhere for those concerned.

So have a great day with some coffee and may I suggest a Chicken Shawarma at 8 Dammam Branch Rd, Al Yarmuk, Riyadh? It was recommended through Google. 

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The opposing voice

That’s me (if you were wondering). The setting is that I take offense to the media and the way they are conducting their business. The larger setting is that I have no overwhelming love for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I have no business in Saudi Arabia, I have no relatives, no experience there and I have never been there. The simple setting is that I could have business there, but I do not. I am however drenched in fair play and the media settings are in an abundance of corruption, whoring (for the digital dollar) and smearing for the ‘friends’ they claim to have. Claim is as good as anything, because the political field is forever in flux. 

And the media is to be held to account much higher standard than they are now. So as the Guardian gives their new ‘abundance’ of smearing through their emotional settings like “and was the kind of expert – passionate, principled, always glad to hop on the phone – that journalists loved having in their digital Rolodex”, yes smearing the goo to soften the reader and something broke in me. So here goes:

Money talks: the deep ties between Twitter and Saudi Arabia’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/09/twitter-saudi-arabia-deep-ties-elon-musk-prince-mohammed)

Where we see “Ali al-Ahmed didn’t think that Elon Musk was responsible for the decline and fall of Twitter. Musk was another face representing an old regime. And its sins began well before Musk bumbled into Twitter HQ, in October 2022, carrying a porcelain sink. (In an attempt at humor, Musk posted a video of himself arriving at the Twitter offices carrying a sink with the caption “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”)” The first ‘error’ Elon Musk wasn’t responsible for anything (as I see it) he overpaid for a social media for well over 50% ($44 billion) A friend of mine and myself saw that the accounts were ‘spiked’ and that fake accounts were abundant. My personal view was that he paid over $15B too much for it and that is his right. As well as that Musk wasn’t ‘old’ regime anything. And at present is is ‘valued’ at $52.3 billion, so he made ten billion in just three years, that is not old anything, It is a massive influx of value (I never saw that). 

Then Ali Al-Ahmed gives us the one truth that matters ““They care about making money. Twitter and Facebook are not champions or models for human rights. These people are nothing but money-grubbers.” Twitter had banned Ahmed’s Arabic-language Twitter account, which had 36,000” that is social media for you and as I see it LinkedIn is about to be set to that same drive. It is all about the communications that are being drawn to catering (to whom is the question). Then we get the ‘dubious’ part (cannot agree, whether I see it that way or not). “For Saudi authorities, Twitter was an asset in every sense. The billionaire Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was Twitter’s largest outside shareholder, and the site had become a key tool in the government’s apparatus of surveillance and control.” Is it really? It might be, but that is social media for you. If you share with the world, you share with EVERYONE, not just your ‘core’ people and the Saudi Government might as well take notice (as does the German, French, America and Commonwealth nations). Then we get a ‘tainted’ part. With “Ahmed believed his Twitter account had been compromised. He worried that spies had access to it, which would endanger dissident Saudis with whom he exchanged private messages. This wasn’t an idle concern. One of his contacts was Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, an aid worker who, in 2018, was abducted by Saudi security forces for running a satirical Twitter account that parodied members of the government. Abdulrahman, who was then 37, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.” There is a hidden truth, EVERY Twitter account is compromised. We do it ourselves and whether it is some security forces or hackers, they all try to get information and the Chinese, Israeli and Russians make the Saudi security forces look like little kids in the playground. And the writer knows this. So there.

Then we get the (seemingly) big lie “As the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi demonstrated, the Saudi state pursued vigorous methods of transnational repression, allegedly sending hit squads after enemies abroad.” In the first place. Where is the evidence? What makes a murder brutal? There is no body, as such Jamal Khashoggi is merely missing and the press knows this (apparently he moved to bora bora with a 19 year old mistress) but that is something I am willing to dismiss as have no evidence of this. The second lie is “Saudi state pursued vigorous methods of transnational repression, allegedly sending hit squads after enemies abroad” this might be true, but it requires evidence (that pesky requirement) and I do not see the evidence given by Saad Aljabri as evidence. He silenced a few settings through the CIA to set silent the evidence against him. The truth and all the truth is my motto and he has allegedly over 3,000,000,000 reasons not to be honest. Then we get the ‘meh’ setting. In “Prince Mohammed used his country’s bottomless reserves of oil and capital to flood Silicon Valley, politics, sports leagues and other power centers with cash and influence. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Peter Thiel’s investment vehicle, Founders Fund, were among the most notable recipients of Saudi money, but they were just two among hundreds. In 2016, Uber received an astonishing $3.5bn from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Blackstone’s infrastructure fund got $20bn. By autumn 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported, Saudi Arabia had become “the largest single funding source for US startups”.” So Saudi Arabia is setting wealth to create wealth? Isn’t that the proper use of Business Intelligence? So they had the money and they were starting up companies (to get a return on investment I reckon) and then we get another setting ““They’re surveillance states. They’re police states,” said Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown University. “They want to use the latest technology in order to continue to remain in power and surveil their populations. So they have another interest in trying to sort of be the beneficiaries of hi-tech developments, hoping that that will help them internally with their own political rule.”” Might be seen as direct settings of intelligence and I would say that this is a valid use of technology. The west is run over by Hamas and Gaza sympathizers and we do nothing. Saudi Arabia knows how dangerous that could become and they are making sure that these people do not succeed and I reckon that the UAE is on that setting too. There is something to be said for the Saudi approach when we see the ‘news’ that is spread through social media. As I see it, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests are rampant in the streets of Europe and they are ‘supporting’ one another making life in Europe less and less interesting and the populist agenda is somehow fed through that. Saudi Arabia has no interest in getting involved through that setting.

Then we get the ‘dangerous’ part ““Since late 2017 or January of 2018, Prince Mohammed has exercised control over more Twitter stock than is owned by Twitter’s founder,” according to a civil complaint filed against Twitter and the consulting firm McKinsey by Omar Abdulaziz, a film director and Saudi exile. Abdulaziz said that the consultancy helped finger him as a prominent online dissident, leading to his Twitter account being hacked. (In 2020, Canadian authorities warned Abdulaziz that he was a target of a Saudi kill team.) According to Abdulaziz’s original complaint, “Because of the tremendous wealth of key figures in [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia], major corporations have enabled, collaborated with, and turned a blind eye to [its] efforts to suppress, torture, falsely imprison, terrorise and murder dissenters both within Saudi Arabia and around the world.” Twitter had given the Saudi government a reach well beyond its borders.” It is dangerous as it assumes several parts. In part as the setting of Omar Abdulaziz, he failed a complaint, how did that end? We do not know. We are given that “finger him as a prominent online dissident, leading to his Twitter account being hacked”, so was this on McKinsey? He was out there getting ‘visibility’ as a film director and some might not like that (for all kinds of reasons) it might have been an Islamophobe. Then we get “In 2020, Canadian authorities warned Abdulaziz that he was a target of a Saudi kill team.” What authorities? I reckon that the CSIS got wind of something and did their job, but where is the evidence? I get that the CSIS gets all kinds of information (Saad Aljabri anyone)? So they did their job (if they were the source). So what was that Saudi Kill team? Overzealous football supporters? And with “suppress, torture, falsely imprison, terrorise and murder dissenters both within Saudi Arabia and around the world.” Twitter had given the Saudi government a reach well beyond its borders” we get another setting of ‘seemingly’ setting the stage. Where evidence doesn’t exist, the media drenches the story in emotion and what we call soft pressures and I have had enough whilst this happens they are pushed around and they want their digital dollars. And this is how the seemingly get it. And in conclusion, Twitter doesn’t give them anything, because some already showed me that others use Twitter (say X) for exactly the same reason and that gives the population of one (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) a much larger pool with Trolls, Russian, China, Commonwealth, America, CIA, NSA, DIA, Democratic corporations and a whole range of alphabet combinations and there are several who would like to take out someone they don’t care about and lay the blame on Saudi Arabia for all the interesting reasons that we might not see. 

So this is how I see emotional articles from the Guardian at present. Feel free to disagree because that is how I am. Have a great day.

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