Tag Archives: Middle East Eye

May 21, 2026 · 00:00

I took offense

This happens, it happens to you and me and there is nothing wrong with that. In this case it was an article in the Middle East Eye (written by Andreas Krieg), Dr Andreas Krieg is a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, Royal College of Defence Studies and fellow at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. He has spent more than ten years living, studying and working across the MENA region. As such he knows a lot more about defense than I am likely to ever will. But still I took offense. It was (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-iran-war-broke-ambitions-little-sparta) were we see ‘How the Iran war broke the ambitions of ‘Little Sparta’’ and we are given “The UAE must abandon the illusion of strategic exceptionalism, and rebuild its autonomy through a collective Gulf security order” it is a decent setting, all whilst at present we see “Countries like the UAE and Qatar are moving away from pursuing purely independent, exceptionalist foreign policies, recognizing that isolated states are highly vulnerable in modern multi-front conflicts” this is seen as the “Small State” Dilemma. I am on the fence here as I am a little out of my frame of mind. Whilst we are given “The past three months have exposed the friction between Abu Dhabi’s ambitions and geopolitical realities. Iran’s attacks on Gulf infrastructure have confronted Abu Dhabi with the dissonance between its self-perception as a middle power, and its structural vulnerability as a small state.” It is one view to have and I cannot say whether it correct or not. As such we are given that “Presidential adviser Anwar Gargash recently lashed out at neighbours and partners, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “The friend has turned into a mediator instead of being a steadfast ally and supporter.”” Whist the added “His post captures the frustration in Abu Dhabi over the state’s inability to use its leverage to rally neighbours and partners around a more aggressive stance towards Iran. In an article last month, Emirati commentator Tareq al-Otaiba denounced Arab solidarity and multilateralism for its inability to collectively deter Iranian aggression. A month earlier, his older brother, the UAE’s ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, announced in an op-ed Abu Dhabi’s readiness to join an “international initiative” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with the UAE prepared to share the operational burden.” And these truths are that, they are truths, nothing more. You might say that this is all and you would be correct but when we see “Despite the UAE luring Russian money and oligarchs to its jurisdiction, Moscow did not come to Abu Dhabi’s defence. Beijing issued the familiar language of concern and stability. Washington reassured, but delivered very little in terms of deterrence.” It is here my offense started. Moscow is whatever Moscow wants to be and is in it for themselves, nothing new, then we get Beijing. I reckon that it is shy from any actions because it might cut itself in the fingers if they come out, but it is Washington and optionally Europe and the Commonwealth as well (these last two parties are my speculative addition) they all delivered very little as deterrence and that shows what friends the UAE has, it has none. Even though Washington was eager to claim the billions and throw it all aside for fake AI, no action are seen. As such I took offense and whilst I took actions the only way I know (as I have no military or diplomatic powers), I created optional IP and after I showed an idea for a canal, which is now surpassed by a pipeline and that might be the better option. Still, after the massive attacks from Iran, I handed my IP to the UAE, the first one was created in January 2019 in ‘The impact of insanity’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/01/20/the-impact-of-insanity/) where the IP would sink ships in the breakwater, closing harbours off for days, if not weeks or even months. The idea came from a Dutch bank robber who operated in the 70’s. As such I gave his idea new life. The one element I did not see was the time it would take for the ship to sink and if in case there was an inner hull I added a ring of C4, like a ribbon of prima cord (like off shore uses) and even if it would not open a hole, there would be several place where the inner hull would be punctured and the water would be coming in at a speed of several gallons per second. Then I went on creating IP to take out the rails of Iran, this would always be possible, but my way which I discussed in ‘With Ice please’ which I discussed (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2026/03/10/with-ice-please/) where I showed the idea to blow away the Rail Clips, holding the rails down. It can be done with little effort and the small explosives will do nothing to harm the rails, what happens is that the elements  holding down the rails will be removed with liquid nitrogen and a small explosion that would shatter these clips, do it in a corner, the train will not see anything wrong initially and as the rail gives way, the train will go bouncy bouncy down the hill and off the rails. It done correctly, several cargo trains will see this happening, reducing commerce for Iran and reducing the efficiency of their infrastructure. The elements that give offense was the fact that Andreas Krieg gave us that the UAE needs to be seen as a little Sparta. But as I see it, others that take offense of non-commitment and I for one created the IP that would enable the UAE to strike back. And I saw Iran as the danger that need not be around and I started to create options as early as 2019. I even had an idea to make their nuclear reactors useless, I did something, against apparently Moscow, Beijing, Washington and London that are all in it for themselves (as one would expect) but they had no problems selling fake AI settings for billions and I take offense to that, so I gave them optional solutions. And a I see it, it is a lot more than they are doing. I even crested the idea that one person could lead a massive drone attack, which came through the Iranian attack on Aramco, as such I gave the UAE (Saudi Arabia too) ‘Droning right along’ which I wrote on June 14th 2025, almost a year ago (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/06/14/droning-right-along/) I saw Iran as the danger it is and I created something for that, will it work? As I see it the China’s Chongqing drone show proves me right. My show will not be seen by a lot of people, but a dozen drones could be piloted by one person and the massive consequence for Iran is that they could lose refineries, airports and a few other places. And if you have half a dozen pilots, you could hit them all at once. Iran could say goodbye to whatever they hold on a near instant setting, it might take longer to make some instant noodles. As such whatever Andreas Krieg states, it merely creates offense as he says “All Iran needs to do to weaken the UAE strategically is to remind investors, insurers, shipping companies and expatriates that the Emirates is not an exception to the Gulf’s insecurity.” All I had to do is get even one of my IP to work correctly and it is goodbye Iran and I am willing to hand all this IP over to the UAE so that they can make it work. As such: “All I have to do, Is take away whatever Iran thinks they have. I cannot make the false claims President Trump does, because my ideas are not based on ‘beautiful big balls’ they are merely adaptations that were out there all along. They are all adaptations on ideas from WW2, with modern technology adaptations. Iran could lose it all and no billions are spent (Washington states that the Pentagon had an  estimated $29 billion directly), at best a billion is used to test the ideas and adapt the fabrication of these weapons, but the drones are already available, they merely need some programming adaption and then these drones are fitted with claymores, or a variation of them and that comes down to about $25K for the drones and the ‘packaging’ no billions were required. The package is dropped about 10 kilometer from the refinery and off they go. There are a few ways to go about it, but I am still considering that a MQ-9 Reaper could drop 2 packages with a abundant amount of cheap drones, as such tow refineries might be hit at the same time. As such, these investors might want to consider to bet against the UAE, there is every reason to consider that I could come up with a few more ideas to make Iran regret that they ever attacked the UAE, but as I see it and as I suspect that Andreas Krieg is seemingly aware of the strategy behind all the attacks on the gulf states, but I might be wrong in my assessment too, so there is that too. What I do know is that I have done more than any ‘proclaimer to be an UAE ally’ and I did it free of charge. So there!

As I see it, I might have made Anwar Gargash proud that there was at least one party willing to assist the UAE, even if that one was a mere tourist at best. And I do understand that even if I took offense, Andreas Krieg did nothing wrong. He did his job, but the article that he wrote came over massively wrong with me and perhaps that was his intent all along (even though he possibly tried to get someone more important to take notice of what he wrote). So have a great day all, I will try to create a few more obstacles for Iran if possible.

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March 12, 2026 · 07:32

Coloring glasses

That happens, it happens to us all. We see lines from others and it colors how we see things. It isn’t always given and it isn’t always handed to us. We need to come across these settings. Some coloring adheres to our own thought and some of it was not projected at all, but it makes sense and that is where points of view are created. Here I was almost ready to talk more about the next RPG setting when two articles hit me, one was merely someone telling us about his consideration on LinkedIn, the source doesn’t seem to be too impactful. The media is too courtesan driven towards the digital dollar, so they mostly lost credibility. There are a few exceptions mind you, but in this sea in turmoil of Yuan seeking entities, there is a need for reliable information. And I am no different, I might not be the wisest person on the planet (not by a long shot) but I do try to vet my sources (as much as possible), as such I try to find two sources of information as much as possible. This isn’t always possible, but that is my worry.

The first source is from Djoomart Otorbaev who was a Former Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, as such he knows a lot more about the region that I would ever had. He gives us:

Regime Change? The West Just Created a Harder Iran.
For years, #Washington and #TelAviv believed the same thing: pressure, isolation, and a decisive military blow could break the Iranian regime from within.
Instead, they just made it stronger-and more radical.
The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has shattered the central strategic assumption behind the war.
The opposite has happened. By elevating Mojtaba Khamenei to Supreme Leader, Iran’s power structure has effectively consolidated around the hard-line security establishment, particularly the Islamic Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Reformists and moderates—already weakened—are now politically irrelevant.
The message from #Tehran is unmistakable: there will be no surrender. For the #US and #Israel, this is a strategic failure. The expectation was that decapitation strikes would either paralyse the regime or ignite internal revolt. Instead, the regime replaced its leader within hours and escalated militarily across the Persian #Gulf.
The symbolism matters.
During the Israeli strike on February 28, Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly lost not only his father but also his mother, his wife, and his son. If The White House hoped the new leader would seek compromise, it profoundly misunderstood the psychology of power in #Iran.
Personal loss in revolutionary systems rarely produces moderation. It produces vengeance.
Donald Trump has already dismissed Mojtaba as “unacceptable” and even called him weak. But inside Iran’s security apparatus the reality appears very different. Mojtaba has long-standing ties to the IRGC and reportedly enjoys strong backing among its younger and more radical commanders. In other words, the war may have elevated precisely the faction the West feared most. Operationally, Iran’s response has also revealed a deliberate strategy. Ali Larijani, now the central figure coordinating national security decisions, has overseen retaliatory strikes against targets across the Gulf. This is not the behavior of a collapsing regime.
It is just a horizontal escalation-expanding the conflict geographically and strategically to impose higher costs on a stronger opponent. History shows this tactic can work. It helped weaker states challenge American military power, for example, in #Vietnam and #Serbia. And Iran is now applying the same logic.
Ironically, the war appears to be producing something Washington never intended: a surge of Iranian nationalism.
Even many citizens who despise the regime are recoiling from the scale of destruction and the rhetoric suggesting that Iran itself could be dismantled.
Ironically, the war appears to be producing something Washington never intended: a surge of Iranian nationalism. The result is the worst possible strategic outcome for the West. And at its helm now stands a younger Khamenei-thirty years younger than the one who just died, and likely far less willing to compromise.
Regime change was supposed to weaken Iran.
Instead, it hardened it for a generation.

I believe him to give us the truth on what is happening and personally I am happy that I gave my military IP to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, they might need it and there is a larger setting that will evolve (I’ll get to that next), but the larger setting is again that President Trump has make the world stage a harder place for Americans. I can see this in myself. I auto disregard what he gives us as fact, I have never done that before regarding any US administration, but now I am on that setting. And I am not alone here.

Next we get to the Arab Weekly (at https://thearabweekly.com/lindsey-graham-got-his-war-he-has-no-idea-what-comes-next) where we see ‘Lindsey Graham got his war. He has no idea what comes next’ and we are given “A single senator, with no formal role in the chain of command, served as one of the primary architects of the most consequential American military action in decades.” I described that 2 days ago as “complete with a picture as he is standing next to his friends on the escalator” (he was taking the escalator alone), but here we also see “For nearly two decades, Lindsey Graham sat in the US Senate, giving speeches about Iran. He called the ayatollahs “religious Nazis.” He warned that diplomacy was a fool’s game and that the only thing the clerics in Iran understood was force. For nearly two decades, no one in the White House listened. Then, on a golf course in West Palm Beach, someone did. The strikes that began on February 28, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” were the product of several factors. Israeli officials lobbied aggressively, and the capture of Nicolás Maduro in January had put President Donald Trump in a confrontational mood. But the most persistent, effective voice in the president’s ear belonged to Lindsey Graham, the Senator from South Carolina. Graham’s pitch, delivered over rounds of golf and repeated in phone calls during the transition, was simple. Iran was a “spoiler” for everything Trump wanted in the Middle East, the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the normalisation with Saudi Arabia, the historical legacy. If Trump could “collapse this terrorist regime,” Graham told him, it would be “Berlin Wall stuff.”” I believe that the writer Elfadil Ibrahim struck the right chord. Yet I believe that the listener had other plans, this merely fit into the setting that needed address. And we see this in another article. In the Middle East Eye (among a few sources) give us (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/lindsey-graham-criticises-israel-over-targeting-iranian-oil-facilities) ‘Lindsey Graham criticises Israel over targeting Iranian oil facilities’ where we see “Republican senator says oil economy is ‘essential’ and that US will make a ‘tonne of money’ when Islamic republic falls” and as I see it, it was always about the oil. Canada wouldn’t budge, Greenland got European and Canadian protection and the oil from Venezuela is mostly useless, as such now we get to Iran and that isn’t falling the way it was and if we given credence to the words of Djoomart Otorbaev, America will be down in the bankruptcy dirt long before Iran falls, which I kinda accepted as the threats from Senator Graham towards Saudi Arabia were voiced. So, why ‘entice’ Saudi Arabia whilst the war is already won? I reckon it isn’t and ‘my toys’ were there to give additional protection to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, not to fuel the greed and stupidity of the United States. So whilst we are entertaining the largely dishonest quote from Senator Graham we see ““In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select. Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavour.” Israel struck over 30 oil depots in Iran on Saturday, including in Tehran and Karaj.” It merely shows how desperate the United States has become and at present the escape quotes seem to be adhered to. As I see it President Trump will likely ‘resort’ to a setting where Senator Graham is left holding the bag and that bag is getting mighty heave with each day after March 28th that Iran hasn’t fallen and my quotes over the last few days seem to be holding up to non-American scrutiny. And as I see it, the damage is increasing day after day and as the United States are getting to the tipping point of no longer being able to pay any of their bills, the excuses come that they were fighting for the freedom of the Iranian people and most of us will see the blatant ‘incorrectness’ of that statement. 

Personally I am happy that I never took up that position in Chicago in 1995, but there is no escaping what comes next. Unless you are a fat billionaire, or at least have at least a dozen million in your possession, the knock on the door will be on every other house that has bills and mortgages. So as we get back to the Arab Weekly, we see “When pressed on how exactly this transformation would occur, Graham becomes impatient. “The future of Iran is going to be determined by the Iranian people,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker when she asked whether the administration had a plan. “No, it’s not his [president Trump’s] job or my job to do this. How many times do I have to tell you?” This is fantastical thinking, unmoored from history and the messy realities of regime change. The Wall Street Journal reported that Graham “likened Iran’s leader to Adolf Hitler and told Trump that Iran was in a historically weak position,” but the comparison reveals exactly what Graham misses.  It ended because the Allies had spent years defeating the German army on multiple fronts, occupying the country, and then investing billions in its reconstruction through the Marshall Plan. The US maintained a military presence in Europe for decades, and still does. That was the actual cost of defeating Nazism, and it is a cost neither Graham nor Trump have shown any interest in bearing for Iran.” I see merely one missing ‘adaptive fact’ the part missing is that their consultancy fee is in oil at $0.50 per barrel for decades to come, because that is what the United States yearns for, it has to pay bankers and they seemingly cannot.

It might be my colored glasses and they might not be correctly adjusted, but the media is largely no help in correctly adjusting my view, that and decades of data knowledge makes ‘dislodging’ my glasses a little harder for others. And I am not saying: ‘I am Correct!’ There is plenty to consider where I might be wrong and I am fine with this, just remember that I am not hiding behind the song ‘La Vie en Rose’, I like the Grace Jones version the best. I am not living in a pink colored setting. It is cold blue and not very nice. I know that, but we need to see that America is no longer an ally, it is merely thinking of themself and they will sell any Allie and neighbor down the drain to get what they want. For that I have Canada and Greenland as evidence.

Have a great day today.

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June 29, 2025 · 05:22

Honestly, I have a question

It doesn’t happen that often, but the Middle East Eye left me with a question this morning. The headline ‘UAE ambassador’s firm linked to Bangladesh airports data deal’ was nothing strange. These things happen and if it helps Bangladesh, why worry? It was the setting of “Top diplomat’s business links to Emirati-backed project to upgrade passenger information systems prompt conflict of interest concerns”, it was the setting of “prompt conflict of interest concerns” made me wonder why there were conflicts of interests? Perhaps I am seeing the role of Ambassador incorrectly, perhaps I am simply thrown for a loop (I get an abundance of data every 24 hours), so it might be me. Yet when I see “An Emirati state-owned business appointed to set up a new passenger information system at Bangladeshi airports sub-contracted part of the project to a company co-owned by the UAE’s own ambassador to the country. Documents seen by Middle East Eye appear to raise questions about whether the arrangement delivers value for money for the Bangladeshi government or travelers facing higher prices as a consequence of inflated costs linked to the new system.” The first question that comes to mind is “Does the press get to see it all?” I reckon that perhaps the Bangladeshi media sees more (or perhaps a lot more) and as such, is there even an issue? You see, the term “value for money” tends to have ramifications, like how was this amount arrived at? Then we do get the goods in “Iftekhar Zaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, called for an investigation into the deal, which he said appeared to amount to “a clear case of conflict of interests and an abuse of power”. Zaman told MEE: “As a public servant, an ambassador cannot be involved in any business activity without specific approval of the government.” OK, I can get along with this. The two settings that Iftekhar Zaman gives us are “an ambassador cannot be involved in any business activity without specific approval of the government” and “an abuse of power”. So first the abuse of power. The question becomes does any foreign ambassador have the ability to abuse power in any foreign country? I would state that this ambassador paints a rather nasty large target on his or her own back. An ambassador (as I see it) promotes his own country and offers stronger ties with that country (as an ambassador paints the picture why its own country is the best option). That is how I see it. As I personally see it, the ambassador is merely a pass through option for any Emirate business and as I am personally considering, the only stated ‘abuse’ would be to the business that Iftekhar Zaman prefers. As such that is the second setting. The first setting of “an ambassador cannot be involved in any business activity without specific approval of the government” this is a larger issue. In the first it is his involvement with the company he owns 34% of. As I see it the only issue is that other Emirati corporations might optionally be taken off the table. This is not on Bangladesh, but this might be on the table in the UAE (if this situation exists) and how many contenders were there for that position? American firms need to ‘scold’ their ambassador for letting this opportunity slip by as do the British, French and German corporations. So how many contenders were there? Aside from this setting was the Bangladeshi government involved? Did it need to be involved? If this is a logistic setting for a private airport, the government might not even be involved. All questions that the Middle East Eye had to lay out in this article. As for the “They also raise questions about a potential conflict of interest on the part of the UAE’s ambassador in Bangladesh, Abdulla Ali Alhmoudi, who has promoted closer ties between the aviation sectors in the two countries.” As such the job of an Ambassador is to promote its countries options and considerations that his (or her) nation has. As such Abdulla Ali Alhmoudi seems to be doing his job, that he owns 34% of that company is merely icing on the cake. And as the airport is concerned he brought a yummy cake to the attention of the airport. As such a “an investigation into the deal” seems one, but I ask you. Shouldn’t the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh be involved? That is if this setting had to be on his desk to decide on. The fact that the airport hadn’t ‘involved’ him might require an answer, yet if the answer is that this was not his responsibility, is this case not merely a setting that gets limelight, the limelight that Iftekhar Zaman wants more spotlight? I am asking this as MEE didn’t give you “Iftekhar Zaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, the organisation that is responsible for all information system at Bangladeshi airports” and MEE didn’t give anything on the vetting process, or who else was involved. I see a lot of questions and not much answers. And wouldn’t it be fun if the honorable Abdulla Ali Alhmoudi makes a claim for damages because of this article? There is no issue on freedom of the press. The article missed a few balls and ignored other balls and that has consequences in a lot of settings. You see, the setting of “The new passenger information system is being implemented in order to bring Bangladeshi airports in line with international standards requiring the collection of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.” The question is what was the competition? I don’t know but airports all have systems and several are national based, some have IBM systems and others have other systems. So what was the pool of contenders? Then we get “Alhmoudi was serving as the UAE’s charge d’affaires in Dhaka – the second-highest diplomatic post in the country – raising questions about whether he was already using his position to advance business interests.” Ehh, small question. Isn’t that his job as Ambassador? The setting of “advance business interests” should be seen as “advance Emirati business interests” and that is seemingly what he is doing. The only setting that could evolve is the setting that he didn’t advance business interests of OTHER Emirati corporations to promote the setting of Emirates Technology Solutions (Etek) based in Fujairah, a company that is Emirati state-owned. As such it seems like he was doing his job. As such there are questions but they would be pointed at MEE and optionally Iftekhar Zaman. Then we do get some other players, but there are also issues, but as I see it MEE is off the hook (as the expression goes) and we are left with “A CAAB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the aviation authority planned to implement SITA through a company charging a “comparatively higher cost” than the ICAO recommendation of $3.50 per passenger, and raised concerns that the additional burden would fall on passengers, namely Bangladeshi labourers working abroad.” And there we have the setting “A CAAB official, speaking on condition of anonymity” yes, I have seen that setting before (in other   cases) and that tends to be someone who wants fame, or wants to promotes a third person, or that person wants to be seen as ‘in the know’, which gives us all matters of issues. There is another setting. You see “comparatively higher cost” is a loaded case. You see, when we have this setting we have two issues, the initial cost let’s say a initial million setting and a pass through cost. So if corporation one charges $125,000,000 and $4 per passenger and corporation two charges $15,000,000 and $5.50 per passenger the setting goes to how many passengers pass through this setting (these are fictive numbers) only if the airport has more than 110,000,000 passengers it becomes an actual issue, and that is a whole truckload of passengers. Then there are the service fees and maintenance costs of an IT system and we see none of that here. 

As such, why are these facts missing? Did the anonymous person not have this data? As such my question to MEE is” ‘Where are these missing facts?’ And that is the question I am confronted with. 

So do with this what you want and have a great day, my Sunday breakfast is now a mere 215 minutes away.

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September 29, 2024 · 22:23

The first stage in a setting

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

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

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

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

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September 6, 2024 · 13:48

As the situation changes

The Middle East Monitor made me rethink somethings that I gave the audience (read: you). In this article (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240905-saudi-issuing-licences-for-new-airlines/) we see ‘Saudi issuing licences for new airlines’ with the underlying text “A Saudi official said yesterday that the kingdom is working on issuing new licences for airlines to operate within the country. The statement was made by Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia, during his participation in the Egypt International Aviation and Space Exhibition in the Egyptian New Alamein City.” It is a setting that makes sense in a few ways. But as this setting ‘explodes’ the stages of tourism in Saudi Arabia, there is another side to consider. I raised it on the 25th of January 2024 in ‘Those happy dreams’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/01/25/those-happy-dreams/) there I have an image

You see, Saudi Arabia might be a little better off changing the service industry, or better stated the way it works. It might have made sense in older western days. Everyone wanted crumbs of the pie, but in this new stage a new system where we see one arrival and one departure, the NICE (an Israeli system) approach used in their cloud solution makes more sense and as such an Arabic designed system that has a cloud approach to tourism as well as a new ‘decentralised’ system might make a lot of sense. Consider that Saudi Arabia has the following settings either already there or coming soon. Trojena, Sindalah, Magna,  and Medina. After this we get the links with the UAE and Egypt. That is a multitude of hundreds of thousands of tourists. It will require a whole new way of doing business. Not the side of cashing in. It requires a new way of infrastructure, and Tourism is for the most replicating the same idea over and over again. It the past it made sense, in this setting it does not. They can all make claims that it is the way to do business. I disagree, this is how I saw the image in January. In the lower left the Arrival box and in the upper right the Departure box. In between there is nothing (at present), The setting is changing however. In stead of all replicating the same stage, have everyone access the same cloud, but with the difference that the customer is central in all this. The tourist will not have to register a multitude of ways, over and over again. They are in a cloud and everyone with the a booking for that tourist will have access to that tourist’s records and they can add their settings. 

In the end the tourist had to register mostly once, the rest will have the records and they can add their parts, a link in the record base with the reference to their own system where they can keep their records secure. There is still works that needs doing, but I had years in mind to evolve this antiquated system. Now as we see that “Saudi saw a surge in tourism in 2023, with around 27 million international visitors spending over 100 billion riyals, while domestic tourist numbers reached 77 million.” A new tourist recording stage made by Saudi’s and it is all in local hands. A new system that caters to the Arabians, and those who do not want it, will have to find another way to make money. As this setting gets developed we see that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and optionally Egypt get a new system with the tourist in the centre. In the second sight is that intelligent LLM models will be catering to the specific person, the data will be more up to date and more to the point of the tourist. I foresee that this new system will break borders in many ways and whilst some will sell an ‘AI’ system for the tourist, whilst merely braking even for the caterer in that system. This system will actually have one tourist in mind. The one it is catering too. I came to that conclusion over 6 months ago. Now that the borders are moved to include millions more tourists, this system will be clearly superior as it caters to that person, or that family in a stage that it aligns all new places. 

As I see the article in the Middle East Eye, the situation I drew came up again. A setting that is drawn from the tourist, not the hotel or flight event. There are still hurdles. Like how can this system align with other systems? My question becomes ‘How can we make things easier for the tourist?’ You see, in the next 10 years we can either address this or se the tourist go the path of comfort and that is where this approach can make a change for thousands of tourists. The centre piece in this is that the tourist is on a vacation, they want comfort and that can be approached by giving them a different ride towards their initial destination and beyond.

You see, the larger tourist group wants a unique view on their entire trip and Saudi Arabia (as well as the UAE) are delivering it to a lager degree. Now it is time to set the stage to a complete overhaul and 2030 is a mere 8 years away. If Saudi Arabia gets to have the other venues as well (Olympics to name but one) it will have to consider this larger change now or face near inhumane pressure points on several occasions. You can address the venue on its own or cater to a system that can reduce pressures all over. It would also call in a national call centre that takes care of all venues from a few points. I see opportunities all over, but I realise that there would be initial design flaws (from my side). It becomes a larger issue when some will see reason to drown this idea as they see a failing revenue point for them. In this I call to a place like Ticketmaster. How hard was their start until venues started to trust their setting? It could be a genuine opportunity for Saudi Arabia to guide and light the way to countries like the China, UAE, Egypt and Indonesia. And when more countries align to that setting the tourist industry gets a real overhaul optionally gaining more and more countries to that way of thinking.

Have a great day.

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August 29, 2024 · 23:34

Awareness is fuel to any cause

That is the skeptical look I have. You see social media is a flammable stage of all kinds of woke and non woke commitments. Some are real and most aren’t very real in the mindset of anyone else. I am not belittling any ‘cause’ but that is how I feel. We get exposure to a million and one causes and they are the settings for a mere speculated 100,000 people. Everyone has a cause and most of them have a dozen causes. I will not bother you with the amount of influencers touching on any cause that helps THEM get more visibility. It is a crackpot mix of people at times. So when I saw the Middle East Eye give us ‘How the UAE crushes dissent by arbitrarily revoking citizenship’, I became a little more aware. The opinion story (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-uae-crushes-dissent-arbitrarily-revoking-citizenship) gives us the link to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan with the stage that he is pictured in Abu Dhabi on 6 December 2023 is a nice touch, but he is not mentioned in the opinion piece, not even once. So why is his picture there? Then we get to the MENA group, which is mentioned once “A report by the Mena Rights Group, published last month, exposed the extensive and troubling nature of this trend”, as such I have questions. With the “the extensive and troubling nature” it is the first mention I see of this. We see the mention “3 March 2011, when 133 Emirati academics, judges, lawyers, students and human rights defenders signed a petition addressed to the president of the UAE and the Federal Supreme Council, calling for democratic reforms”. As such there are seemingly mentions of this since 2011 and this I the first time I hear of it? There is no visible mention of the MENA rights group in Al Jazeera or Arab News, as such I have questions on the validity of this. We see the mention of “Many affected by this practice are either defendants in the “UAE84” trial or their family members.” With a reference that it was “politically motivated and marred by fair trial violations.” As such I raise questions. You see, if that was the case, would it not be in nearly every Muslim writing from Al Jazeera to Arab News, not to mention the Guardian, BBC and a whole range of American woke news casts? Then we get to one of the writers of the opinion piece Jenan al-Marzooqi. Is that a relative of the accused Ibrahim al-Marzooqi? It might be, but I do not know this. The opinion piece is largely a one sided mention relying on the MENA Rights group who was founded in 2018 in Geneva. I would think that if it was an actual counted group a whole range of newspapers (western and Arabic) would have made mention of it, perhaps they did, but this is the first I see of this.

We then see the mention of “citizenship revocation be applied under the principle of proportionality – a principle that was clearly disregarded in this case.” With the word proportionality referring to the link (at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/newyork/Documents/Human-Rights-Responses-to-Foreign-Fighters-web_final.pdf) a United Nations document. This is funny, but when you read the document the reference is toward “American Convention on Human Rights, art. 20.” A serious notion, if it was not for the setting that this is playing not in America. With the stage of “deprivation of nationality must be in conformity with domestic law” we get an issue, but I am not sure it is an important one. I am not the expert on Emirati law, a setting not raised in this case. That document also gives us “Some States also allow the deprivation of nationality for naturalised mono-nationals, thereby leaving them stateless.” Is that the case in UAE law? If it is the opinion piece becomes largely pointless, if they only had thought of including that point in the opinion piece. Add to this “In July 2016, five of his six children travelled to the US for medical treatment.” Really? 5 of his 6 children? All for medical treatment? It could be, but this one liner gives a serious boost to disregarding this piece (in my humble opinion). And when we get “concluded last month with at least 43 defendants sentenced to life in prison on bogus terrorism charges” where the word ‘bogus’ is a personal view by the opinion writer and could be ignored. You see if it was serious, that line was accompanied with at least one paragraph addressing that setting, giving optional weight to the word ‘bogus’.

The more I read of this article, the more I wonder what Middle East Eye had in mind with this opinion piece. I am not saying it is invalid, it is an opinion piece after all. Validity is given through evidence, or at least that is what I have always believed. Validity and verification go hand in hand. At the end we see one answer and two more linked names. 

  • Jenan al-Marzooqi is a human rights activist and the daughter of Emirati prisoner of conscience Abdulsalam Mohammed Darwish al-Marzooqi
  • Estelle Allemann is a legal fellow at MENA Rights Group
  • Alexandra Tarzikhan is the legal adviser for Southwest Asia and North Africa with the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights.

All very neat, so we have one MENA Rights Group waving their hand for visibility, one activist and a legal adviser linked to the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights.

I would have thought that 2 of them would have created a much better piece. This gets me to the issue of what were they after? You see, I do have legal training, but I am not a lawyer, I have been a Trade Mark Attorney. And as I see it, there are all kinds of verifications missing. Basically, there is no indiction that anything illegal (according to UAE law) was done, or at least the article does not clearly shows this. I did not completely ready the links to the other articles. When a case is made in THIS opinion piece, you have to present the evidence in THIS opinion piece, not link to it. Even if you merely quote it. I feel that more and more media (news and other media) are making a mess of things. They all have to get to the news and opinion pieces faster and as such they create short cuts and deprive the readers of a complete view of the matter, whether it is an opinion piece of now and a legal adviser, as well as a Human Rights person would (or at least should) know this.

We all create awareness, mostly to fuel the fire that lights us. This is not wrong, especially in this social networking world. We have always done this to some degree, but now we have merely increased the visibility of us. Whether that is a good thing remains to be seen. If there is one winner it is the MENA rights group, they got the most visibility here.

Have a lovely day. My Friday starts in 26 minutes.

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August 9, 2023 · 21:14

Late to the party

Yes, that was me. In this case I got late to the party. This is about an article by Stephanie Kirchgaessner where (at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/18/snapchat-saudi-arabia-ties) which is almost a month old where we see ‘Saudis accused of using Snapchat to promote crown prince and silence critics’. I have had my issues with her. This is massively anti Saudi, she is what I regard to be a tool for any anti-Saudi activity. Yet, I need to keep a clear mind and let me take you through what I found.

Metrics
1. the Saudi culture ministry, has more than 20 million users in the kingdom – including an estimated 90% of 13-to-34-year-olds.
2. One senior Snap Inc executive recently called it an “extension of the [kingdom’s] social fabric”. One of the company’s largest single investors is Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who in 2018 invested $250m in the company.
These are the metrics, there are more numbers in the article to ‘spice up’ the article. 

Accusations
The accusations include the following.
1. Saudi Arabia appears to be exploiting the US messaging app Snapchat to promote the image of its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, while also imposing draconian sentences on influencers who use the platform to post even mild criticism of the future king.

So, it is ‘appears’? What evidence is supporting the ‘appears’? 

Then we get to ‘imposing draconian sentences’ on what people, what are the metrics, what are the numbers and names of those who received these draconian sentences? 

Then we get more emotions with “Close watchers of Saudi-based verified accounts say the platform is used by many influencers to promote Bin Salman’s image, with influencers widely and uniformly sharing any new photographs of the prince or other video content that promotes him.” We see more things like ‘many’, we are not given something like “Well over a hundred influencers”, we merely get many. 

Then we are given “People who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity to protect contacts in the kingdom say that posts (or “Snaps”) are closely monitored by Saudi security services. In one case, influencers who are not political were questioned by security services for not posting enough fawning Snaps about the crown prince, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.” So not only is the Guardian ‘hiding’ behind anonymity, we get ‘people’ again, no numbers, not ‘a group of witnesses’, merely people. Then we get the question on what evidence there is that Saudi security was monitoring? None was given as far as I can tell. Is evidence not essential here? It is followed by ‘in one case’ so is this the only case? And is that one case the same person as ‘according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter’? All questions and an utter lack of clarity. Is this what the Guardian adds up to? 

My setting is not that I am stating that Saudi Arabia is innocent, but if they are guilty, it better comes with ACTUAL evidence. Then we also get to see “One Saudi Snapchat influencer, Mansour Al-Raqiba, who has more than 2 million followers, was arrested in May 2022 in connection to social media posts in which he acknowledged having been blackmailed by an individual who claimed they had heard him criticising Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic plan. A person familiar with the case said Raqiba had been sentenced to 27 years in jail.” So, if he has been sentenced, there is a court case? Where was this case set? This quote links to another article by the same writer from June 2023, all emotions and a total lack of what I regard to be evidence. Can someone muzzle this chihuahua? You see, there is nothing, not even in Arab News or Al-Jazeera on Mansour Al-Raqiba. I am not debating his existence, or his activities. I found one other article in the Telegraph giving us ‘Saudi star escapes jail time in London following accusations of animal cruelty’, the article is behind a paywall, so that is all I have. You would think that if a person had that many follower, the papers would be filled with his exploits and his snapchat activities. There is a total lack of this. 

There is a lot more, but I will let you discover them. I believe that the Guardian is losing its grip on reality. I have had my issues with Stephanie Kirchgaessner in the past. It seems to me that if she has nothing, she merely bashes Saudi Arabia. You see, if this is not the case the evidence would be a lot better. You can make a case towards any security (in this case Saudi), but with places like snapchat there should be a mountain of evidence. In that regard the flimsy approach to the University of Toronto Citizen Lab would have a lot more. We are merely given “Petroleum-enriched Gulf oligarchs have a disturbing track record of punishing social media users, and employing multidimensional digital influence operations to silence critics and undertake transnational repression”, so what EXACTLY is ‘multidimensional digital influence operations’? The lack of specifics and precise explanations make me wonder if any of it is real. And that is not on me, that is on the flimsy and shady writing by Stephanie Kirchgaessner. 

Then we get to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is a Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist and royal. He is also the founder and CEO of the Kingdom Holding Company. I have been looking into that for other reasons. In the article he is mentioned once, regarding the investment. So what is he here? Window dressing? 

Then we get to Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri. We get “Snapchat’s popularity makes it an ideal tool for a repressive regime that exploits Snapchat in the dissemination of state propaganda, character assassination of detractors, and surveillance of activists and influencers”. What we do not get is that he is living in exile in Canada. We are also not given that he walked out toward exile with more millions than the sum of all US generals have (Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri is a former general from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), we are also not given what the Middle East Eye gives us (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-saudi-arabia-former-spy-chief-crown-prince-case-thrown) where we are given ‘US judge throws out former spy chief’s case against crown prince’ which was given to us in October 2022. Where we see “Jabri’s lawyers argued that, given the close ties Jabri had developed with the US intelligence community, the crown prince “purposefully targeted” the United States because his alleged attempt to kill the former spy chief was meant to disrupt US-Saudi intelligence sharing.” So why is this case, a case of someone living in exile in Canada being heard in the US courts? Why was this not given to the Canadian courts? Too many questions on an article that has too many flimsy sides and if I can see that in minutes, why did the chief editor of the Guardian (Katharine Viner) not see this? And the questions just keep on coming. Was there ever a serious case against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? I am not stating this is not the case, I am stating that the article gives us serious doubts that there is a serious case against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

In case you doubt me (which is always fair enough), read up and make your own mind up. It is there for a reason, not to follow, but to grow and learn.

On the upside, I came up with another game , another piece of IP that could be freeware for developers for the Amazon Luna and Tencent handheld only. It is a streaming game (the only way this would work I reckon) and as such I am planning to post this tomorrow. Yup, after the mid-week running up to weekend.

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April 26, 2023 · 02:31

Is the die cast?

That is the question, personally I think it is, America dug its own grave and I am not asking you to take my word for this. Lets take a look at two pieces of ‘evidence’ handed to us. The first is Al Jazeera. They give us (at https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/25/can-china-replace-the-us-in-the-middle-east) the headline ‘Can China replace the US in the Middle East?’ The question asked here is a much better question than you think. The article (by Erin Hale) gives us “China still does not have the ability to replace the US in the Middle East, where Washington has dozens of military bases and allies it has committed to defending. But Beijing might not want to take on that responsibility yet in any case, experts say” this was part of the short answer and it is a good considerations to have. The problem is that this is based on US sided ‘experts’. People like that have gotten too much wrong, yet are they getting this wrong? That is the larger stage that we cannot answer. You thin you can, but none of is actually can. But there are two more quotes that ‘sully’ the waters here. The first is “the United States has not conducted itself particularly responsibly for the last 20 years”, the second one is “Beijing is viewed as an ideologically neutral trading partner, which has long maintained a policy of non-interference in the domestic issues of Middle Eastern countries, from politics to human rights, making it a less controversial mediator than countries like the US” these two statements are strong. Beijing has no real experience in the Middle East, which also means they have no negative marks against them, which works in their favour. Yet the larger stage of security is in the hands of the US and that looks good in the eyes of the Middle Eastern partners. In addition, the US has more than three dozen military bases in the Middle East. A stage that not only is hard to replace, but there would be indications that China is uneasy trying to replace those. In addition it means a massive contribution of troops to the Middle East, a stage they do not fully comprehend, more important, they are likely to make a mess of certain parts in a time when they cannot afford them. 

This gets us to the second article, which has some links to the first one. It comes from the Middle East Eye (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-rejoins-worlds-top-five-military-spenders-says-report) where we are given ‘Saudi Arabia rejoins world’s top five military spenders, says report’ and this is the big part. You see, the article gives us that Riyadh spend an estimated $75,000,000,000 last year in military goods (hardware and software). The problem is that as of 2023 onwards a much larger slice of that cake will go to China. The US (EU too) messed up by a lot and that comes at a cost. The second part is that these military base options are to some degree connected to the sale of military hardware, now that is to an increasing amount falling towards China the US needs to do something, but they are left without options at present. We see “Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican Mike Lee – came together to introduce legislation that would require US President Biden’s administration to report on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and possibly cut off all US security assistance to the kingdom.” A stage that sounds like a threat yet it comes with the opportunity for China and with that opportunity we see a much larger shift in staging. The US made their own bed, would not unite in one view and up to 50 billion will be whisked away from their table. In a stage where the US is one step away from a collapsing dollar and the implosion of its economy they have decided to bite that feeds them. How stupid is that? And in a stage where they could lose more and more oil, promising to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” is more than bad strategy. You see 67 journalists were murdered in 2022. How much actions were taken? The one that no one gives a hoot about is the poster child for the US, all whilst the evidence was lacking, the United Nations report reads like a joke and still people push that narrative. As such several countries, not just Saudi Arabia are in a stage to hand the US their walking papers. As the MEE ends with “Current and former US officials who previously spoke with MEE were back-footed by the agreement” and that is not all, the off balance part is the smallest detail. You see with all the banking issues, losing billions in revenue will have larger consequences and a new stage. Players like Chengdu will now have a much larger audience in 2023/2024, implying that the Airforce stage that once was will be no more. Both the US and Russia needs to accept that China is now a major player with the buyers that can afford 5th generation fighter aircrafts and that list of people allowed to own one will drastically increase, setting a new problem for the US, the EU and Russia. In all this I personally believe that the die was cast in 2018, some disagree and they are welcome to disagree. Some offer good explanations for their point of view, I might not agree but that is irrelevant. The question for the us is “is the die cast?” There is no real answer coming. Experts that are scared for their income, scared to give anything but a ‘pro-American’ view is fine, until reality creeps in. The reality is that both the US and EU are too close to bankrupt to accept these losses as is. I have no idea what they will do and their own issue is internal as their internal ‘opponents’ are trying to poison the political well. All those people trying to get the deal going get to deal with people shouting anti Islam propaganda and the Middle East has (as I personally see it) had enough of that. Now that China is making headway, the options change and for the US (EU too) not for the better. 

Enjoy the day. 

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September 30, 2022 · 02:09

The opportune moment of my IP

There was a side I never, or almost never talked about, merely because it was interacting with other options and therefor it had a slippery side of becoming unpredictable. The second wave of my first IP bundle had an evolutionary stage that went straight into the Metaverse. Now I see that Saudi Arabia (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-neom-invests-1bn-metaverse) as I see it the Middle East Eye reports ‘Saudi Arabia’s Neom invests $1bn in metaverse’, it could cover my IP as well, so as we see “The company has invested $1bn in 2022 in AI projects that include a metaverse platform, in the hope that it will advance Tonomus’ goal of positioning Neom as the world’s first “cognitive community”” add my monthly $500M solution to that and it becomes a much larger powerhouse and it goes a lot further than making the UAE jealous. The IP as offered to the Saudi Consulate (in Sydney) gives rise to much more than I expected, if these two are united (something I hoped to do in 2024)  this goes a lot further than even I expected in the term I expected things to go and it goes beyond AI or mere Saudi interests. This impacts several nations all with access, making Neom an instant power hub for technology and streaming.  Although originally not part of their design Tonomus would have the ability to be well over 100% more powerful within 2 years. So even as we see “Dubai announced a metaverse plan in July that aims to deliver 40,000 new jobs and $4bn to the city’s economy in five years.” I saw another path that they were not looking at and now Saudi Arabia has the setting for $6,000,000,000 annual within 5 years and a lot of jobs, not that many, but their setting it total, my setting is annual, as such I win, or actually the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wins if my structure is accepted into the whole frame and that number is merely on my side of the equation, their side could spell it to be a lot more for a lot longer because my scope enhances their scope, something I never banked on because it was not part of my design, and there is a secondary part to that too, you see the Metaverse was an optional enhancement to my IP, so there are waves upon waves (as I see it) and that means that the old approach is next to the new approach and I have to giggle to myself, when I see the utter stupidity of Optus, whilst seeing my own innovation, a side that neither Amazon nor google saw, or saw coming enhances my IP even more and should the KSA buy it, the nextgen powerhouses of IT will no longer be in the US, or EU. They will be in the Middle East because it is not merely what Saudi Arabia, or the UAE does. It is what they can achieve together, a side I never considered and I feel decently certain that none of the other players had considered that either.

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January 2, 2022 · 18:49

The company we keep

There is a setting that we tend to ignore, we are by the grace of our own undoing limited by the company we keep. And here is the problem, when that person is Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri it tends to be a problem (for the US). The man is allegedly a traitor (decently proven) and a thief (a little less proven). Although, when a person comes into a country with $387,000,000 questions tend to rise, especially when that person was an intelligence officer. I will be honest, to the best of my knowledge no government pays its intelligence officers THAT well. Doubt me? Ask MI5 (+4420 7930 9000) or MI6 (same number), I could give you a whole range of numbers, but after these two and the laughter you’ll experience, you will have had enough of it. Oh, I just discovered that the money Al Jabri had amounts to 50% of the entire DGSE budget, so there.

So why does this matter?
Well normally I do not give a hoot, no matter how it plays, but when the Middle East Eye gives us ‘US court dismisses Saudi case against former intelligence officer Saad al-Jabri’ (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-saad-aljabri-us-court-dismisses-case) it does matter. For one, the man is and lives in Canada, so why is the US involved? The quote “US government intervened to stop classified documents being used in the case as it would ‘harm national security’” if there was a real national security issue it might sway people and it does make sense to protect national security. And when we are given “As a top spy, Jabri worked with the CIA on counter-terrorism projects. He was a close aide to Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the former Saudi interior minister ousted by Mohammed bin Salman as heir to the throne in a 2017 palace coup, which prompted Jabri to flee to Canada.” In this is no one wondering why he did not move to the US? So when we are given “Sakab accused Jabri of embezzling state funds while working under Mohammed bin Nayef, which Jabri denies” question need to be asked and they are not being asked. Why is that? Then we get another setting that was reported on earlier and we see with the quote “Jabri filed a lawsuit in the US saying that Canadian authorities foiled a plot by a 50-strong “hit squad” sent by Mohammed bin Salman to kill him in Canada. The alleged incident is said to have occurred less than two weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.” So pardon my directness. If someone needs Al Jabri dead, one person might fit the bill, 50 do not. This was about something else and in this there is a case that the US is looking away. So whilst there is no claim on the Canadian side, all this goes to court in the US (yet again) and no one is asking questions. 

As for the imagination, depending on the security he has, a mere one person job with a drone carrying a claymore will most likely do the trick, the other 49 were overkill and useless. If the hit is done properly, the pilot is 4-6 blocks away, has a near direct line of sight, flies in boom! Problem solved. Yet in all this I am not afraid to ask questions from the other side either. When we see the quote “a lawsuit filed by a Saudi state-owned firm, Sakab Saudi Holding, which accused Jabri of embezzling state funds.” What evidence does Sakab Saudi Holding have and if it is enough, why not hand it to the press? At this point no one is getting anywhere and as far as Bazooka Joe knows, Al Jabri is a mere CIA operative working on counter-terrorism projects. So why does he have to do that from Canada? It is a simple enough question. 

The Americans made. Choice, which is fair enough, but why is Al Jabri hiding in Canada? And in all this we see case after case and no one is looking into the matter how Al Jabri got his fortune, or why exactly he has access to billions? Then we see Al Jabri pleading to the US to get his kids out of Saudi Arabia, so why not ask Canada? He is hiding there, is he not? There is however an upside to all this, at some point if the US would like to hold onto the weapons sales with Saudi Arabia, they might have to retracts all protection from Al Jabri, should be fun seeing exactly what protection Canada will offer, and particularly where the alleged stolen fortune from Saudi Arabia becomes a national security issue for the US, perhaps the CIA was involved in that heist. I actually  do not know, I am merely speculating but the more I read on these events the less any of it makes sense, from any side. 

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