Tag Archives: Middle East

March 4, 2026 · 12:42

Can we say Ole?

This is a setting that remains to be seen. Not from my side. I am fine with it and there are a few reasons for that. But it all started with a few news casts were we see (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/3/spain-baulks-at-trumps-threat-to-cut-off-all-trade-over-nato-iran-stance) the Al Jazeera setting. The title ‘Spain baulks at Trump’s threat to cut off all trade over NATO, Iran stance’ and it comes with “Spain has said the US should be mindful of international law and bilateral trade agreements with the European Union, after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut off all trade with the country for refusing to let the US military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran.” And it is a simple setting and in this I stand with Spain. No formal declaration of war exists between a NATO ally (or NATO) and Iran as such there are issues with international law and simply put, it makes the United States of America the aggressor (together with Israel). I am not against these hits, but that is me, a person, an individual that does not matter, an individual that has no bearing on international law. So for the Bully named Shit (or was it bullshit named something) to set the premise of what some describe as “US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut trade with Spain over the ban on using their military bases during the Iran war.” And this act will bite back. Of that I have no doubt. You see America was never directly attacked, this is the ‘benefit’ of a proxy war. Don’t get me wrong. What was done had to be done and it had to be done a lot sooner than now. We might notice it not that Iran is attacking Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia all in one setting. But it started that the United States and Israel decided to preemptively strike against Iran. There was never a formal declaration of war, as such there are all kinds of labels we can throw at this, but in international law the NATO partners are playing a dangerous game. Iran now has (to some extent) international law in its side. And bullying Spain with trade sanctions because Spain will not allow attacks on Iran from base activity in Spain is understandable. Al Jazeera also gives us “On Tuesday, before a meeting with German Chancellor Frederich Merz, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in Washington, DC, that “Spain has been terrible” for not allowing the US to use its bases. He said that he had told his secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, to “cut off all dealings” with Spain. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” the US president said.” It seems nice, but President Trump might want to talk to congress, he avoided them in the past and now that he is attacking Iran without a formal declaration of war there might be legal sides to all this. As such, how are the facilities in Germany used? Can we get a run down on them? What about the logistical sides? What is run from Italy or the UK? What are the settings there? I got word that the UK is allowing the attacks on Iran, but hat about the other bases? There is no clear indications of who is allowed and who is not. It seems like merely Spain does not and I see their problem. There is no declaration of war, USA is merely bombing Iran. And what evidence is there? We are merely given ““It was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” the president said. And with that, the botched rollout of the Trump administration’s case for war enters yet another chapter.” What evidence is there? Iran attacked with “The UAE’s ministry of defence said that 165 ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles and 541 drones had been launched from Iran towards the country so far. Three people have been killed and 58 injured, the authorities said.” (Source: the independent) Between Iran and the UAE is a little river called the Persian golf (I believe that is Iranian propaganda, I personally believe the its real name is the straight of Dammam), so if you consider this, how successful would any attack on the USA be? I get that Israel would strike against Iran and the need to strike Iran is there, but the United States of America should have given a declaration of war with the approval of Congress. As stated (in senate.gov) we see “The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war. Congress has declared war on 11 occasions, including its first declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812. Congress approved its last formal declaration of war during World War II. Since that time it has agreed to resolutions authorizing the use of military force and continues to shape U.S. military policy through appropriations and oversight.” As far asI can see, President Trump did not do this and did not let Congress proclaim a war. Now they are in it and likely it comes now, but that also gives other players a disastrous setting on international law as after all what Iran has done, there is every chance that the United States of America is seen as the aggressor in this. So what was this about? Iranian oil? Your guess is as good as mine, because things were done out of synch as the IT term goes. 

So, is ‘Ole’ the proper term here? If so, it will be up to Spain to shout that word but the setting is a lot more complex that most of us can see and as I see it Saudi Arabia has a first strike option as it has under proxy war attack by Iran for at least two years now by Houthi terrorists (using Iranian equipment to attack Saudi Arabia). 

So what comes next? That is the question, but this setting has every chance of escalating at present. The question becomes how many attacks will Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar endure over the next week. We will see what comes next and I do not think we have to wait long.

Have a great (and peaceful) day.

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March 2, 2026 · 18:39

As I say it is

That is the setting now, I am making assumptions and I prefer to call them prepositions. I know that I might be wrong, but in this day and age, the stories we were told bring across the pictures we are set in and today the stories come from the Khaleej Times. The first one (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-president-advisor-anwar-gargash-regional-tensions) where we see ‘‘Your war is not with neighbours’: UAE diplomat calls on Iran to act responsibly’ and I agree with Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Advisor to the UAE President. He gives us ““The Iranian aggression against the Gulf states has miscalculated and isolated Iran at a critical juncture. Your war is not with neighbours, and this escalation only confirms the narrative of those who see Iran as the primary source of danger in the region, and its missile program as a constant source of instability. “Return to reason, to your surroundings, and deal with your neighbours rationally and responsibly before the circle of isolation and escalation widens,” he added.” For part I completely agree with him, the part of me that does not is seeing the panic rising in Iran and now that Ali Khamenei has been proclaimed dead I fear that the panic will merely increase. 

So, how am I getting to the conclusion? For that we need the second article of the Khaleeh Times which we see (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/emergencies/killed-injured-uae-intercept-iranian-ballistic-missiles-drones) where we see ‘3 killed, 58 injured as UAE intercepts 165 ballistic missiles, 541 Iranian drones’ I likely could do more damage with one drone in Dubai as we see that Iran fired 165 missiles and 541 drones. The equation is severely out of balance, it feels like desperation and when a nation like Iran is desperate with the only friendly nation is likely to be Russia, as such I see that the desperation might lead the ones who are now in charge into a more desperate situation and that never ends well. 

So, we are given “Since Saturday, February 28, a total of 165 ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the UAE have been detected. Of these, 152 were destroyed, while 13 fell into the sea. Two cruise missiles were detected and destroyed. Additionally, 541 Iranian drones were detected; 506 were intercepted and destroyed, while 35 reached UAE territory, causing material damage.” It shows me that the Iranian is massively inaccurate. You see, these nations are on par with each other Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran will have similar abilities, so to see Iran to fail to such an extent merely shows me that their abilities are failing and against both Israel and the United States they have zero chance of getting out of this. I don’t feel sorry for them, they did this to themselves, but to see a nation like Iran get lost in the weeds to this degree is more then slightly unsettling. As I said, they did this to themselves, but to see any nation to be this close to the edge of an abyss at a point whilst the other nations are seemingly unaware of how close to the edge they are is at least unsettling. 

Am I right? Am I wrong? I can leave it up to you to decide, have a great day today.

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March 1, 2026 · 22:41

Desperation is their middle name

There is  setting I was confronted with this morning. At first I wouldn’t believe it, but as the evidence came in over YouTube (via a massive amount of sources) I had to admit that Iran should now be known as the Desperate Islamic Republic of Iran. The fact that Iran is slamming Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and a few other places (also in Saudi Arabia). It shows that Iran is now desperate. Don’t get me wrong, they are also hitting US base locations, which makes sense, but the locations in the UAE in Abu Dhabi and Dubai do not (except for a Trump location hit). So the BBC gives us (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c204px4zddro) ‘Luxury Dubai hotel hit as Iran launches retaliatory strikes across region’ where we see “A luxury hotel in Dubai was hit as Iran launched strikes across the region in retaliation for a “massive” and ongoing attack against it by the US and Israel. Video verified by the BBC shows a fire raging at Fairmont The Palm Hotel on Saturday in the United Arab Emirates’ largest city. Thick black smoke rises into the sky.

Local officials also said four people were injured in a blaze at a building in the Palm Jumeirah area. They gave no further details.” I (to some extent) know that area and as far as I can tell there are no military targeting in, around or near the Palm Jumeirah area. This shows the desperation of Iran, like a toddler thinking that if they hit the nations around them, the others will scream at America and Israel. As I stated mere desperation. And as we are given “Iranian media earlier said that it had launched an attack on Dubai, although it is not clear what they are targeting. A British woman told the BBC that she was at the Dubai Marina, just off Jumeirah Beach, when the strikes hit on Saturday. She heard a “loud bang” and saw a “big puff of black smoke” before a “flurry of missiles were intercepted” above her for around five minutes.” To be honest, there is nothing military in Dubai to be targeting. The Port of Jebel Ali is likely to be used a a naval resupply point, but it is over 5km away from Palm Jumeirah. So this calls in the question on how accurate are these missiles to being with and the Shahed drones are ‘piloted’ which merely supports the desperation of Iran. 

So then we get to the second article, also from the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0z9012291o) there we see ‘Bowen: A dangerous moment, but US and Israel see opportunity not to be missed’ where we see “It will have become even more so after US President Donald Trump said that Iran’s long-time Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on day one of the US-Israeli air strikes. His death was later confirmed on Iranian state TV.” In addition we are given “Israel and the United States have calculated that the Islamic regime in Iran is vulnerable – dealing with a severe economic crisis, the fallout from the brutal crackdown on protesters at the start of the year and with defences still badly damaged by last summer’s war. Their conclusion seems to have been that this was an opportunity that should not be squandered.” All that makes sense to me and as I see the Iranian regime as utterly evil. I am not willing to give them an inch on the some bleeding heart setting, especially as they are launching drones and missiles on population area’s. Not merely American, but an Islamic nation. As I see it, all nations need to rescind their pleads for Iran. I would like to add that they targeted places in Saudi Arabia as well, but I do not know where these attacks took place at present, the News outlets were focussed on the attacks on Dubai and Doha. 

No matter how you slice it, as I see it, Iran is pretty desperate at present and it will get worse as the Islamic nations will let them rot by themselves. As far as I can see it Amy nation that was attacked with drones and missiles is not that eager to give financial support, but that might merely be me.

Have a great day

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February 9, 2026 · 00:43

Repetition to be

This is what happens, I was rereading my last article (read: blog) and I noticed a few things. I stand by my word, but it could have been said more clearly and as I saw another piece of evidence, I thought it was important to add this to the ‘current’ (as in previous) article. I like clarity although plenty of people have an issue with the ways I write and it should be said that I don’t write for the masses. It just isn’t me and I am not here to win hearts, I leave that to the George Clooneys out there. 

There is still a abundance of speculation, although I have been in IT for over half a century, as such I can rely on presumption. And as the events are coming to pass, we are seeing elements. I personally think the Microsoft is not in a good place, although that part is speculative. You see no matter what OpenAI does, it will fail and it is running out of time. No, this setting comes before that. The EU is largely rejecting Microsoft and what they bring. In Germany at present 30,000 employees are switching from Microsoft to solutions like LibreOffice and Open Xchange. Denmark is switching more profound to similar solutions and France is shifting 500,000 workstations to open source software, equally schools and public sources are making equal changes. Then we get Italy who is switching 150,000 PC’s towards open-source platforms, Austria is already making the shift, at present if armed forces have shifted to open-source. The EU in general: Due to GDPR, European regulators have challenged the use of Microsoft cloud services over data transfers to the US. 

So as we see at present what some say will happen when President Trump switches the ‘internet’ to OFF and there is more happening and some presented stages are ahead by a decent amount. This implies that a large amount of up to 450,000,000 accounts are switching (I am assuming here the nearly all Europeans have some sort of Microsoft account). Just as they are deeper into the ‘fake’ AI setting and with the GDPR in place they cannot copy what is not in ‘their’ cloud. It is happening now, so don’t take notice of the doom speakers. 
Microsoft is seemingly doubling down on everything to make these copies happen before they are switched off. I don’t think they will make it, or at best a partial download and that will affect those 770 data centres that are being build (I cannot say how many of them are Microsoft), when the EU and its data falls away, I wonder how many of these centres will be canceled (for the weirdest reasons) and we will see a new complication. You see all these firms who ‘abandoned’ over 150,000 employees will suddenly see that this brain-drain will complicate life a lot more than they are happy with. 
So as Microsoft is now seeing this noose coming towards them (or they are walking towards their noose). What matters is that the timing was off and the bully tactics of President Trump will show them, that they came short of what they needed. If only they had 6 more months (or if the president would have behaved himself) they might have made it, but now as the world awakens that data is currency and they were about to be robbed of everything they had, the US will now need a different path, because when the data viability would be locked to the EU, and the US and most of the US corporations will be pushed in the open and lacking 450,000,000 data bringers a day, their setting for assumed revenue will go basically into the toilet.

Did you never wonder why the USA needed 770 data centres? And they are unlikely to be all Microsoft data centres, but there will be a fair amount. So what happened to that StarGate project? The information that I saw (source: CNBC) was that “10 data centers were being built in Abilene, Texas, with plans to expand to more states and countries, like the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.” There is more to this and in light of these Data centers giving whatever they have to the United States, what are the plans now for the UK and Norway? And there are more questions for the UAE, how clear is it that they are handing over their data to the United States (OK, I apologise, they merely get insight into all data that is managed by an American firm, but does that not amount to the same thing) because Oracle, OpenAI and Microsoft are American firms. So I have no idea how Softbank fits into this as it is Japanese. As such, is Stargate LLC still happening? It is stated to be costing 500 billion? So what happened? All questions, but the doom speakers are out there. Even I am getting messages on LinkedIn on how the data goes dark if President Trump throws the switch. Why was I included? By a person I had never heard before. The US is now nervous because the EU will get others (read: Commonwealth nations) to do the same thing and as I see it, there is well over 80% chance that LibreOffice will be the most popular solution in 2026 and everyone is likely to switch. As such Microsoft just gained a lot of data space, but that might be merely my sense of humor. 

As for their “AI” settings, that system that would be doing a lot by “AI” and whilst we were told that “Microsoft is deeply integrating AI across its operations, with CEO Satya Nadella stating that 20%–30% of code in company repositories is generated by AI”, so whilst everyone is rejoicing, we should also consider that we still see (on a daily basis) that email delivery failures (blocked as spam by Outlook/Hotmail) or job application rejections (rejected by automated systems or after interviews) are still the setting of mainstream (not small exceptions) and that is the setting that comes with a dwindling consumer setting and Microsoft is spending a rather large chunk of the $700,000,000,000 that is due in 2026 (not all of it is Microsoft). So what happens when your customers reject you, but the bills are still due? Yup, that noose is coming towards Microsoft nicely. It is apparently a not so nice event, did anyone tell Satya Nadella this? I reckon we will see a much more serious Nadella now that he is going the way of the noose. 

And here the news separates a little as I was given a few hours ago (at https://www.cryptopolitan.com/qatar-taps-microsoft-to-build-ai-systems/) that ‘Qatar taps Microsoft to build AI systems to cater to government services’, as such dies Qatar knows what ‘befalls’ their data? The article gives us “The platform is also expected to help the ministry develop and deploy intelligent AI agents, an automated system capable of handling tasks ranging from processing applications to answering queries, without the lengthy development cycles traditionally associated with government IT projects. The factory will be built on Microsoft’s technology infrastructure and will be designed to integrate easily with existing government systems.” Yet as I see it, America has insight into all this because of the CLOUD Act (2018): 

This U.S. law allows U.S. law enforcement to compel U.S.-based technology companies to disclose data (emails, files, etc.) stored on their servers, regardless of whether that data is physically located in the United States or overseas. This means if a European or Asian company uses a U.S.-based cloud provider, the U.S. government can legally demand access to that data.

So at what point is the setting “disclose data (emails, files, etc.)” even if there was a legal reason, the term ‘files’ is seemingly not limited, as such it could be anything and that is a hard pill to swallow. Before we know it it will contain any IP stored and I wrote about that risk (not connected to the cloud act) because of the debt the US had at that point (I think it was merely 25 trillion at that point), The danger that a desperate government will go looking through all that IP out there presented a little too much danger for my senses, so I made a lot of it public domain. I might not end up with anything, but no-one else will get those marbles for their own greedy needs. As I see it, the big-Tech doesn’t really like Public Domain, but that might be merely my gut feeling (which has no relation to any academic setting). Does Qatar know what it is in for? Perhaps they are, and a lot of it is wildly ‘rejected’ by influencers who are trying to ingratiate themselves to whomever (I mostly don’t care) 

The second bit of news which I saw just an hour ago and was published last year (at https://www.xda-developers.com/libreoffice-is-right-about-microsoft/) gives us ‘LibreOffice is right about Microsoft, and it matters more than you think’ here we see (written by Simon Batt)  “I reported on LibreOffice accusing Microsoft’s “artificially complex” Office XML format of being a “lock-in strategy.” The basis of LibreOffice’s argument was that Microsoft’s usage of the XML format deliberately locked people into using Office over open-source software. It also touches upon how Windows 10 is losing support soon, and how people are being corralled into Windows 11 whether they like it or not. However, LibreOffice touches upon an interesting point. While Microsoft is to blame for its practices, the fault also lies with us a little for going along with it. And you know what? They’re totally right.” It is a different setting and it sparked memories I had regarding the war Microsoft had with Netscape in the 90’s. 

Now that the world has LibreOffice it has choices, but because of the actions of the White House no one has a clue how the world will be hit and in what way. We can no longer trust someone telling us that it all will be fine, because that setting is as I see it near impossible. 

So, what will the rest of the world do? When they realise that the US has access to all data in data storage with American companies? I reckon it will upend the US economy to the largest degree and this is just the beginning. The red lights of rejection are glowing in more and more places and none of them are nice. President Trump made sure of that with his tariff threats and now that the settings are coming home to play, it is even more interesting. What will some do? What will the EU do and I reckon that the Middle East are looking for their own solutions, because they are clued in enough to see what is coming their way. It becomes a setting where no one trusts the United States and what they want requires trust, it is no longer there, so Microsoft is as I see it in a bind and it is largely their own fault. For me it is a little more complex, both Snowflake and Oracle are American companies. What happens there? If the US Administration wants to ‘hijack’ that data, the cloud act of 2018 allows them to do that. In how much danger are we really? I am willing to trust both Snowflake and Oracle. It is the US Administration I have little (read: no) faith in at present and that is not going away any day soon.

As such, I hope I am a little more clear now and I added a few more facts to this, so it is as I personally see it a win-win setting (for me at least). So, have a great day today and I will try to be a little more clear next time around.

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February 8, 2026 · 17:17

Sighting the noose

This is almost a real setting. There is still a abundance of speculation, although I have been in IT for over half a century, as such I can rely on presumption. And as the events are coming to pass, we are seeing elements. I personally think the Microsoft is not in a good place, although that part is speculative. You see no matter what OpenAI does, it will fail and it is running out of time. No, this setting comes before that. The EU is largely rejecting Microsoft and what they bring. In Germany at present 30,000 employees are switching from Microsoft to solutions like LibreOffice and Open Xchange. Denmark is switching more profound to similar solutions. France is shifting 500,000 workstations. To open source software, equally schools and public sources are making equal changes. Italy is switching 150,000 PC’s towards open-source platforms, Austria is already making the shift, at present if armed forces have shifted to open-source. EU (General): Due to GDPR, European regulators have challenged the use of Microsoft cloud services over data transfers to the US. We see at present what happens when President Trump switches the internet to OFF and there is more happening and some are ahead by a decent amount. This implies that the bulk of 450,000,000 accounts are switching. Just as they are deeper into the ‘fake’ AI setting and with the GDPR in place they cannot copy what is not in ‘their’ cloud. It is happening now, so don’t take notice of the doom speakers. Microsoft is doubling down in everything to make these copies happen before they are switched off. I don’t think they will make it, or at best a partial download and that will affect those 770 data centres that are being build, when the EU and its data falls away, I wonder how many of these centres will be canceled (for the weirdest reasons) and will see a new complication. You see all these firms who ‘abandoned’ over 150,000 employees will suddenly see that this braindyain will complicate life a lot more than they are happy with. So as Microsoft is now seeing this nose coming towards them (or they are walking towards their noose). What matters is that the timing was off and the bully tactics of President Trump will show them, that they came short of what they needed. If only they had 6 more months (or if the president would have behaved himself) they might have made it, but now as the world awakens that data is currency and they were about to be robbed of everything they had, the US will now need a different path, because when the data viability would be locked to the EU, and the US and most of the US corporations will be pushed in the open and lacking 450,000,000 data bringers a day, their setting for revenue will go basically into the toilet.

Did you never wonder why the USA needed 770 data centres? So what happened to that StarGate project? Is that still happening? It is stated to be costing 500 billion? So what happened? All questions, but the doom speakers are out there. Even I am getting messages on LinkedIn on how the data goes dark if President Trump throws the switch. Why was I included? By a person I had never heard before. The US is now nervous because the EU will get others (read: Commonwealth nations) to do the same thing and as I see it, there is well over 80% chance that LibreOffice will be the most popular solution in 2026 and everyone is likely to switch. As such Microsoft just gained a lot of data space, but that might be merely my sense of humor. 

As for their “AI” settings, that system that would be doing a lot by “AI” and whilst we were told that “Microsoft is deeply integrating AI across its operations, with CEO Satya Nadella stating that 20%–30% of code in company repositories is generated by AI”, so whilst everyone is rejoicing, we should also consider that we still see (on a daily basis) that email delivery failures (blocked as spam by Outlook/Hotmail) or job application rejections (rejected by automated systems or after interviews) are still the setting of mainstream (not small exceptions) and that is the setting that comes with a dwindling consumer setting and Microsoft is spending a rather large chink of the $700,000,000,000 that is due in 2026. So what happens when your customers reject you, but the bills are still due? Yup, that noose is coming towards Microsoft nicely. It is apparently a not so nice event, did anyone tell Satya Nadella this? I reckon we will see a much more serious Nadella now that he is going the way of the noose. 

But what will the rest of the world do? When they realise that the US has access to all data in data storage with American companies? I reckon it will upend the US economy to the largest degree and I reckon it is just the beginning. The red lights of rejection are glowing in more and more places and none of them are nice. President Trump made sure of that with his tariff threats and now that the settings are coming home to play, it is even more interesting. What will some do? What will the EU do and I reckon that the Middle East are looking for their own solutions, because they are clued in enough to see what is coming their way. It becomes a setting where no one trusts the United States and what they want requires trust, it is no longer there, so Microsoft is in a bind and it is largely their own fault.

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January 18, 2026 · 19:21

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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January 10, 2026 · 14:21

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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December 29, 2025 · 17:07

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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December 14, 2025 · 18:36

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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December 13, 2025 · 04:03

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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