Tag Archives: Riyadh

May 22, 2023 · 22:23

From bad to worse

This happens, things are not great and at that point someone states ‘watch this’ and opens the floodgates of disaster. This happened in part when Governor DeSantis decided to ‘douse the mouse’ an intensely stupid action if ever there was one. And now the CBC gives us (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/florida-travel-warnings-naacp-lgbtq-1.6850920) the simple headline ‘NAACP among civil rights groups warning tourists about Florida in wake of ‘hostile’ laws’. For those not aware, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) has set out a travel warning (at https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-issues-travel-advisory-florida) there we see “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of colour and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalises the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of colour.” As such the one state that relies on its annual tourism revenue (2021) gives us “Florida visitors contributed $101.9 billion to Florida’s economy and supported over 1.7 million Florida jobs” that comes with “According to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, for every $1 the state invests in VISIT FLORIDA, $3.27 in state tax revenue is generated”, if only 10% is lost, how much damage will Florida endure as this governor is vying for the seat of presidency and does this on a national level? In addition to what I wrote over the last week, we will see national revenues dwindle down with DeSantis in control of whatever get gets control of. It is even less interesting for the Republican Party as they are enduring two losers in their ranks in power in a decade and it could be a lot worse. And they are in turn empowering China and enabling Saudi Arabia in their own ways. Because in that setting there could be a massive push to grow a sort of Disney world in the United Arab Emirates, but founded much more on the Arabian nights and all kinds of Middle Eastern fairy tales. A setting that is not make believe. The existence of the Boulevard Riyadh City is evidence enough that a theme park a blended theme park could push tourism and revenue in the UAE to a decent amount and no matter how hetero sexual that cluster is, the actions by DeSantis is making them uneasy. The hostilities and the ‘Karen’s of America’ are making the people unwilling to visit the US, unwilling to chance disruptive activities and they are seeking it somewhere else and yes Disney-world Paris would be their first choice, but that place will fill up fast and too many people is a negative impact as well. No matter how we see it, to book for tickets for a place that is too often at 110% is no easy choice. The UAE already has the Dubai mall and from there growth becomes easier (not to mention the Ferrari park in Abu Dhabi) and as such the UAE will have a few options all over the land. And when they consider that this could open a market for millions on Indonesians as well (and depriving the US of even more) they have choices to consider. 

So whatever DeSantis thought he was doing, he will have crushed the Florida economy being the first Floridan governor to do so and this economy after all the covid lockdowns was not that strong to begin with. Basically he becomes the straw that broke the Florida’s Panthers back.

So as one state goes from bad to worse, how many other states will suffer that level of income loss? 

Enjoy the first day towards the next weekend.

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May 11, 2023 · 00:38

The bigger shift

The news that caught me today is (at https://dohanews.co/saudi-arabia-mulls-launch-of-english-news-channel-to-rival-al-jazeera-reports/) giving us ‘Saudi Arabia mulls launch of English news channel to rival Al Jazeera’. I actually originally got it from the Financial Times, but they are behind a paywall, so I cannot use them as a source. So Saudi Arabia is now considering an English News Channel. This changes things. First E-Sports, now sports (Messi And Ronaldo), Formula one and now we get “A Saudi state-backed media organisation is considering the development of an international English-language news station, seen as an effort to counter Qatar’s flagship Al Jazeera network and boost the kingdom’s media influence”. I personally think that there is another reason. You see, if tourism develops in Saudi Arabia, the need for an English Channel rises and it’s need will rise exponentially. It also allows to dig into advertisement funds that have been denied them for decades. You see, the advertiser goes to where the people and the money is. The money is already in Saudi Arabia, but soon so will be the people. The stages of sports will allow Saudi Arabia exclusive news channelling and that leads to more revenue and more visibility. Even as we are given “The Saudi Research and Media Group reportedly approached media consultancies to assess the viability and scope of the endeavour, according to a number of people familiar with the project, the Financial Times reported. They said it will be the second-largest English-language broadcaster in the Arab world, after Al Jazeera English, although the preparations are still in the early stages.” And this is not all, there is another reason. As western media ‘embraced’ their Share holder, stake holder and advertiser approach to filtering information. They lost credibility and the audience. Most places no longer call it news, they refer to it as information entertainment (Fox anyone?) In addition to this, the west would finally get real information on Aramco (not filtered by Brent), on SAMI (not filtered by the pentagon) and sports. It would even propel interest into things like Camel racing, the Emirates Ice Hockey League and from that we could see the development of a Saudi Ice Hockey league. We know that they are still not a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, but to see Saudi Arabia grow teams in Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh, taking on the UAE teams from the Emirates Hockey League (EHL). We could see names like Abu Dhabi Scorpions, Abu Dhabi Storms, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai White Bears, Dubai Mighty Camels propel all over the western TV stations. 

If the west is embracing sports Saudi Arabia has the making to replace a whole collection of news channels that lost too much credibility. And it isn’t merely influence. As I personally see it the KSA lacks perception and awareness in the view of the non Arabian people and this could be a first step to open that door. Beyond that there are several markets where the KSA could set foot into and in this world in this current economic climate that will go a long way, what is important that the first steps are made setting the larger stage towards doing something and that is where it is at. Will it happen? This happening is a logical step after setting claims towards E-sports, Formula 1, Football and Ice hockey. Beyond that is the stage where the people will get first looks on the Line (that long building) and several other innovations coming towards us from Saudi Arabia. 

A bigger shift is underway and the US with their deceptive ‘entertainment’ like Fox and even CNN, they will have nothing to counter it. In the last 5 years they wasted too much credibility opening the door to other players and as I see it the KSA stands to add an audience of close to half a billion in the first 2 years, would you like to see the advertisement money on that pool? 

Enjoy the day before Friday.

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April 9, 2023 · 11:44

Presentations of what exactly?

That is where my mind is at today. This is not some setting of she said…she said. This is not one against the other, this is about what is real and what is mediated fake. There is a gap there that is as wide as the Grand Canyon, but the media is intent on making that gap seem like a little bump, something that can be discussed, even if they have made no headway in over two decades. 

To see this, we need to look at two sources. The first source is the Middle East monitor (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230408-cia-chief-visits-saudi-arabia-to-express-frustration-about-iran-rapprochement/) 

Source 1
Here we are given ‘CIA chief visits Saudi Arabia to express frustration about Iran rapprochement’ with the text “Burns told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the US felt “blindsided” by Riyadh’s rapprochement with Iran and Syria – Washington’s global rivals – according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. It cited a US official who said Burns discussed cooperation on intelligence and counterterrorism with Saudi officials.”

This is followed by my personal view

“Bill Burns, in my personal view you achieved fuck all, in two decades Iran was able to push, your governments actions had no impact and over the last three years we saw Iran successfully smuggle weapons and gear to Houthi Terrorists. The media (with a little push) ignored the presentations of Colonel Turki Al-Maliki. Your organisation ignored facts, your organisation drowned voices and all for the good of the United States at the expense of everything. It is also a personal view that the CIA has been acting to achieve maximum destabilisation so that the USA had the big presentation to be the solution to everything Middle East based. How long did you think that you could continue that path?”

I believe now and have always been of the mind that Saudi Arabia needs to do what is best for its country and its citizens. On a side note ‘rapprochement’ means “an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations”, which is presently not the case and might take some time to get to that level. So as we are given “The United States and Saudi Arabia for decades have cooperated closely on counter-terrorism and other intelligence matters” I have a few other issues, it is my personal belief that the US merely wants to know everything that they can (which makes sense) and they are doing it at the cost of everything and anyone. In this we can point at the case of the alleged thief and alleged traitor Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri. So how are they working together whilst Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri controls a CIA portfolio of a lot of money. So how close is the USA working with Saudi Arabia? It is merely a question, but the numbers are starting to add up and now that Saudi Arabia has decided to lower the oil deliveries by a million barrels, the US economy is starting to hurt really bad in America. It will not be visible for at least 60-90 days, but by the summer the US will be in deep waters and they need a solution, their inactions are going to be the cause of their own downfall. 

Source 2
The second source is Reuters (at https://www.reuters.com/world/cias-burns-reaffirmed-intelligence-cooperation-saudi-arabia-visit-us-official-2023-04-06/) where we see ‘CIA’s Burns reaffirmed intelligence cooperation on Saudi Arabia visit – US official’ we get to see here “The United States and Saudi Arabia for decades have cooperated closely on counterterrorism and other intelligence matters” the rest could be seen as bland bla bla. 

The US is now in a larger stage of being pushed out of the Middle East. I made references to this for at least a year, first failed strategies, then the failed actions regarding Yemen and now the economy will falter. The options for the US are now falling away faster and faster and they did it to themselves.

Saudi Arabia must do what is best for its nation and its citizens and the events we saw in the last 5 years give rise to the fact that the USA is no longer the best option. And whilst we lay blame (not me), consider the actions of the last 5 years including the UN essay writer. Consider what WAS real and what might have been, and we were given what might have been too often and now that China has been successfully courting Saudi Arabia other issues will come. Iran is considering a new stage where it cannot fight Saudi Arabia AND Israel. It is therefor in a stage to make islamic choices towards Saudi Arabia and that allows for Iran to focus on Israel. It does not sound good for Houthi terrorists, but that is life. And now the US will lose a lot more than they counted on and the damage is getting worse, a lot worse. Their arms industry is losing grounds to China, which implies that that well is drying up faster than a saucer of water in the Rub’ Al Khali. What happens next is anyones guess but as I personally see it, the US policies have failed and now they need to rectify largely or be cast out of the region, on the upside, the US can still cater to Tel Aviv and whatever space they have.

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March 21, 2023 · 23:45

The unplanned story

That happens to us all and there are any number of reasons. I thought I was done with the subject for now, that is until CB gave me ‘Nordstrom Canada will launch sales at its closing stores starting Tuesday’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nordstrom-canada-liquidating-stores-1.6784540) about 11 hours ago. There was no surprise. I covered this in part in ‘It as one keyword’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/03/04/it-was-one-keyword/) and that story links to a few others. I casually captured the folly of Nordstrom but I left a few things out. You see, we can all agree if you have been working from a place of loss from day one, there is a weakness in your business model, but I do not think it was enough. Covid was too unexpected and the world reeled on it, but it was already to late as I saw it and even if my IP was accepted by the right people, for Nordstrom it was already too late, it would have merely given them a little more time, time they could not hand them a better result. Their business model and their prediction model was off by too much.

You see, to see this we need to look at a picture. The picture is below. 

As you see here, we see a mall and this time around it is not the Toronto Eaton Centre, this is the Hyat Mall in Riyadh and it show the same weakness, which is the problem for malls. Yet as I see it, the problem is a lot bigger for western malls (USA, UK, EU) they have the same touch, the tough of non identity. You can scream the name all you like, but these malls are all the same. Go to a mall anywhere in the US and you could not tell where you were from walking there. It was a formula that malls were based on and between 1990-2015 that made sense, but after Covid the world changed and that is where the problems starts for these malls, all 116,000 of them. Yet there is a solution and both Gucci and Tiffany is already tapping into that, but I reckon they are missing part of it and that is where Google, Samsung and Apple come in. I wonder if these two players figure out what I saw over 6 months ago and it is a juicy one. Optionally Elon Musk could use it to give more needs to his Pi Phone but in itself it is still an android solution. The image is based on identity and interaction. You see, that need is not effort, it is engagement. Market Research (at least a few of them) have seen that engagement is the metric that really matters and Augmented reality is the core of that and that is what is missing in malls. Lets be clear, for Nordstrom it is too late, the question becomes will malls change into retail graveyard places over the next 5-10 years or are they given a new lease on life and that matters. How much real estate is in 116,000 malls? When they die the local places will light up and I personally am a firm believer in ‘Support your local hooker’ which was an expression we used in the 70’s. 

So am I right because Gucci and Tiffany are tapping into that idea? No, I believe I am right because the nature of the beast (the consumer) has changed and is still changing. They are catching on that a new prerogative is required and AR gets them there. So when they are done with ageism and other forms of consumer categorisation, they will figure out that their predictive model is wrong on a few levels and that is where we see the larger stage change. I merely wonder if some of them will wake up in time. If not, I watch it all go to hell and when it does I can point to my previous articles and tell them “Told you so” and whatever excuse they have will not hold up, because I wrote it months ago and I wrote it in several stories over a span of about a year (perhaps a little longer). So when they wake up, I wonder if it is to the board directors who are fed up with the colour rd in their books, or the conveyancer trying to measure up the place for new usage. I can’t be to the smell of coffee, because it is too late for that and it will not be to me as Amazon, Apple and Google all decided they never needed me. Fine, whatever.

So when we complete the consideration of “In approving Dacks’ liquidation request, Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz agreed, saying Nordstrom is facing a “difficult time, but this process is unfolding in a very co-operative manner.””

At least I kept it out of the hands of Microsoft, not a bad stage to consider. Yet consider two final things. The first is Nordstroms liquidation actual liquidation or euthanasia? The second is, is Nordstrom alone? How many other places are on the brink of really bad times in the next 5 years? 

Have a great day.

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February 4, 2023 · 20:55

Success of terrorism

That is the shout and plenty of you will not agree, I get that but lets look at the stage that we ourselves created. 25 years ago the Taliban was small, insignificant, just another wannabe party. Then Osama Bin Laden made a failed attempt on the US. The action was successful, the outcome less so. You see, he wanted the Twin towers to burn throughout the day and night. At night billions would see the twin towers burn and like torches illuminate New Yorkers, it would have been some sight. In one strike a demoralised America. The outcome was different, the towers collapsed and America got angry, really angry and you know what happened next. On May 2nd 2011 he was killed. One martyr and now the Taliban are in charge in Afghanistan. NATO and America lost. They got beat. The one word that got them there was ‘indecisiveness’, when they acted they did not. Actions I saw coming a mile away on 2005 onwards were ignored and the Taliban went largely asleep, only to awaken when America pulled out and within a week the Taliban had control of over 80% of all hardware, they took the country in less than a week. This you can look up, this is all there for the reading and now we are about to face the same setting again. The Taliban (via the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan) will do this again, now they are going for Pakistan. So what will be the epitaph of the west? “If only we acted” that is today’s lesson. The first part we get from ‘Pakistan mosque bombing survivors traumatised but undeterred’ (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/31/never-imagined-pakistans-blast-victims-mourned) we see all the grandstanding as we are told that “At least 100 people killed and more than 225 wounded in a suicide attack in the northwestern city of Peshawar” a mere 150 kilometres from Islamabad. We also get “The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable, This is no less than an attack on Pakistan.” We get this from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and we get his answer, we really do. But the USA and NATO showed the Taliban the path to success the last time around, as such this time around the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan knows what to do. They are willing to fight 25 years to get the job done. And there is a clear setting. For whatever reason Pakistan has been left weaker through years of sanctions and other actions. Now that there is a path to success the 

Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan are grabbing their options. So, as we also are given ‘What is behind the rising violent attacks in Pakistan?’ (At https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/2/what-is-behind-the-rising-attacks-in-pakistan) we need to realise that the quote “Pakistan decided to cooperate with the US when it invaded Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. US forces targeted armed groups, including TTP, along the Pakistan-Afghan border for decades. Washington-Islamabad ties have remained cold since 2011, when al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. The US accused Pakistan of sheltering the Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.” And all that could be true, but the aftermath was not properly taken care of and now that these forces are reinvigorated in part by the success that the Taliban has by governing Afghanistan these two players are ready to tackle a much larger target. They are ready to take the war for governing to Pakistan, which will also have larger impacts in India as well. The Ukrainian situation merely works FOR the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan as both the US forces and NATO forces and their equipment is spread too thin all over the theatres of action. We see the news of actions intensifying in Al Jazeera but the other places do not mention it as much, it is not sexy enough. But I reckon that this changes when the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan makes one successful blast in Islamabad. That will wake people up, but depending on the damage there it might be too late. I reckon that if Pakistan is left without serious resources the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan has a decent chance of changing governments by 2030, perhaps in time to attend festivities in Riyadh, that is the jackpot for them and if you say, this is one event, you would be right, but the setting is that TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani has been blamed for more than 100 attacks since walking out of a ceasefire with the Pakistani government last November. 100 attacks in three months. That shows that they have resources, equipment and a mindset to resolve the issue with that plenty of people willing to be a martyr. Pakistan is in serious troubles and we need to take heed, because Afghanistan was merely one nation. Pakistan is the 23rd-largest worldwide in terms of GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP). According to a 2021 estimate, the country has a population of 227 million people (5th-largest worldwide). That is not merely a nation that is the jackpot price that the Taliban awaits getting. And make no mistake, this time around the indecisiveness of the USA and NATO will have a long lasting global impact. That is what we face. Feel free to check data, feel free to check the papers, but also realise that any new day of inactions merely helps the TTP (Pakistani Taliban) to get closer to THEIR goals and they are not YOUR goals. 

Enjoy the weekend!

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October 27, 2022 · 06:58

The day After

Yes, I am a little slow today. The giddiness and Cheshire Cat behaviour in me after yesterday’s article slowed me down considerably. It is not everyday that you realise that you have a corner that tech giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft (optionally Apple too) are overlooking. You want to shout what they aren’t seeing from every rooftop, but that gives them the idea and leaves me out of pocket, so I am refraining from this. And at the moment the commercial manager from the Saudi Consulate is already 4 week late, as such there are (hopefully) more gains for me.

But it is not about that, but there is a link to some degree. Several give it to you, but I am going with the South China Morning Post who gives us ‘Saudi Arabia reaffirms energy ties with China amid US fears over oil cuts’. The article (at https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3197218/saudi-arabia-reaffirms-energy-ties-china-amid-us-fears-over-oil-cuts) also gives us:
 

  • Saudi and Chinese energy officials agree to expand links in energy.
  • Riyadh’s relations with Washington have long been unbalanced and the kingdom has more options now, Chinese analyst says.

And I warned for this some time ago, and there is a second speculative setting. A second decrees is not entirely fictive. The stage where Russia will push for this is decently large, Russia has a voice in OPEC+ and America has made enemies, especially by not dealing with Iran. Any win they get here reflects positive on Iran, it leaves a positive light on Russian acts and leaves America and the EU with negativity. I warned about this around February 10th 2022 (well over 10 months ago) when I wrote “The US has a massive disadvantage especially when they were all huffy and puffy on Saudi Arabia, reality bites and that presentable stage will have to be stopped at the earliest convenience (not for me, I am happy if the BAE takes over), yet these stages (also the one the CAAT forced) are all stages that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took notice of and China will be happy to show that with every presentation they bring.” The stage with tea grannies (image was there as well), and now we see the deployment of that stage and of course Russia wants every pound of hardship given to the EU and the US. In this OPEC+ is a much larger stage where Saudi Arabia is a strong voice, but not the only voice and Russia has other allies. The problems here is that this stage works for China, so not because it helps Russia, but because China has a lot more to gain, especially when the EU and US are slowed down. I did not have a view on the stage a day or a week ago, I saw this danger 10 months ago. So when we are given “Riyadh’s relations with Washington have long been unbalanced” we are given a much larger truth. The Biden administration has options 10 months ago, now not that many and China’s grip is growing, Washington allowed it to be that way. Washington has a delusional stage that reflects on ‘We can have our cake and eat it too’, it is delusional because you cannot have or do two good things at the same time that are impossible to have or do at the same time. You can have cake, or eat cake, but the ‘analysts and theorists’ come with that example, yes we can and where are those dopey’s now? Now that the ball is handed to the other party when you are deep into defence? 

That is a stage that is becoming increasingly hard for the US. They lost the option of being a super power a long time ago, they forfeit what they have because they believed the wrong people and now that is becomes a game of spin, we see the larger stage that ABC showed in the beginning of the month with ‘US ammunition supplies dwindle as Ukraine war drains stockpiles’, yes they were willing to hand it out, but they aren’t replenishing stocks, as such the Ukraine will soon be dependent on the EU and the US cannot afford to replenish its stock at present and the makers of ammunition are all about the green, they have profit margins. As such the day after looks less and less appealing. So they are losing provisions on one side and are losing revenue and resources on the other side. An unbalanced stage from the beginning and that is the larger folly. But the US can revisit those theorists with their ‘You can have your cake and eat it too’ and ask for an explanation. They will not get anything useful, but that is the problem with these theorists on inactivity. I gave the world this view 10 months ago and reading between the lines there was a lot more, but the US doesn’t pay me, so I see no reason to spell it out to them, they pay massive amounts to people to do that for them.

Giving the stage to every Tom, Dick, Harry and tea granny with a cause is now costing too many players too much and the invoice will be due, in this case the invoice is most likely offered to China who sees several reasons and several benefits. If you want to warn us of the Chinese danger, handing them billions in revenue is not a good idea. It diminishes your danger message and it leaves you with empty coffers as well. Wasn’t the Huawei story enough of a warning? 

I will let you mull that all over today, have a great one.

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October 19, 2022 · 17:29

She just doesn’t get it

OK, I have been sitting on this for a few hours. It started when I saw the article (at https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/oct/17/senator-raises-alarm-saudis-could-share-us-defence-technology-with-russia) titled ‘Senator raises alarm Saudis could share US defense technology with Russia’, I wondered who wanted to play the daily mail card with a title like that and of course, everyone favourite political tool and least acceptable journalist Stephanie Kirchgaessner was there. The person who bashes Saudi Arabia whenever she can. So I decided to take a gander towards PROPERLY informing the people. Well, we all need a hobby, don’t we?

It starts from the very beginning. “A senior Democratic lawmaker has raised alarms about the possibility that sensitive US defense technology could be shared with Russia by Saudi Arabia in the wake of the kingdom’s recent decision to side with Moscow over the interests of the US” this is the first shovel of BS. The kingdom doesn’t side, it seeks a path that is the best for any nation, its own nation. And in continuation the US did this to themselves! So when we get in continuation “following Opec+’s decision to cut oil production, said he would “dig deeper into the risk” in discussions with the Pentagon.” OK, OPEC+ decided to cut oil production, this is the right of OPEC+. Now, we can argue if it was Russia pushing that button, which might make sense, but I did not see the papers on that meeting, so I actually do not know the exact setting there. But oil production was cut and here lies the rub. “If you want cheap oil, you do not bite the hand that feeds you that cheap oil. President Biden promised to make Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman al Saud a pariah and he did keep his word. But it was never based on any actual facts and any factual rulings. So when this happened the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was treated as a lessened ally. This has CONSEQUENCES! So I was pretty much howling with laughter when President Biden and Boris Johnson went like shivering little chihuahuas asking for cheap oil. OK, Boris Johnson probably took a page out of Oliver Twist and asked “please sir, can I have some more?” But both faltered and failed. 

As such we now get “The decision was seen in the US capital as a sign of Riyadh siding with Russia in its war with Ukraine, and as a possible attempt to hurt Joe Biden and Democrats ahead of next month’s critical midterm election by raising the price of petrol at the pump” Now, I personally disagree with the Russia setting, but I get that some might think that. Why? Because they are missing the obvious especially some journalist who is friends with an UN essay writer named Eggy Calamari (or something like that). To see this, you merely need the use of a calculator or an Abacus. We get part of this from Robert Kaufman in Newsweek “The U.S. imports oil because consumption of oil products—about 20 million barrels per day—is greater than the quantity of crude oil it produces, about 18 million barrels per day” this is supported by the EIA (Energy Information Administration) who gives us “the United States exported about 8.54 million b/d of petroleum to 176 countries and 4 U.S. territories.” So it sells its own oil for $100 per barrel (fictive example number) whilst expecting that it can buy crude oil from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for $60 per barrel (also fictive example number) hence pocketing $40 per barrel in its own pocket and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia basically says that this stopes now. The US can buy oil at the Brent Crude Oil price and the greedy people do not want that, so now they need to do with less, even though they know that they sell the bulk of their oil, leaving the US and its citizens without oil. And no one is looking at that part of the equation. 

So when I saw “Both Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress have expressed frustration with the move and called for a realignment in the Saudi relationship, with the US president warning that Saudi would face “consequences” for the move”, my living room just filled with laughter. What consequences? The KSA can watch the US implode upon itself and it better realises that there is also a consequence to it selling its oil. You stopped treating the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) as an ally years ago, you wasted time by censoring too much of the actions by Iran on the KSA and Iran’s actions in Yemen. All this was enough to stop the pumps and Russia would not have been a factor. It is my personal speculation that the KSA is keeping a distance between them and Russia, too close ties might make them lose a lot more friends and the KSA would be left with Russia, Lithuania and North Korea, two nations it does not care about for one inch. And that was all visible, but the wannabe journo does not give you that, does she?

There is however one side that is valid. It comes from Senator Blumenthal. “Richard Blumenthal  seeks reassurances from Pentagon that ‘they are on top of’ risk of sharing information with Gulf state” I believe the question to be unfounded, but it is a fair question. There is an essential need for the US to seek the best path for America and keeping classified out of Russian hands is a fair call to make. Yet the added “siding with the Russians in this manner – is so dramatic. I think it calls for a response” is partly false. You see OPEC+ is a group of 23 members and Saudi Arabia is only one of them. That majority is a lot larger and I do not know (but expects) that Saudi Arabia was one of them. This is the consequence of dropping Saudi Arabia as an ally. The BS sanctions in the US and the UK with the tea granny organisation (CAAT) all whilst Iran is attacking without consequence and now that Iran is sending its drones to Russia, will these two players do anything at all? or will thy merely pretend to make calls to Tehran all whilst they know perfectly well that this will have no consequence? When you drop a friend from your party you should not cry over the fact that there are consequences of that act. Even on the premise of all this, I was happy to offer my IP to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If this enables more power to them to include technology and social media, my choice will give me the same pebbles but now with a much larger stage where the other wannabe’s can cry over even more spilled milk.

So when we are given “Jeff Abramson, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, said Saudi Arabia had been a major purchaser of US military equipment, including some of its most sophisticated weapons systems, for decades” true, but not lately isn’t it? That is why China is at the gates of Riyadh ready to sell THEIR equipment to Saudi Arabia, making the US lose even more billions in revenue, and in part this was paid for with millions of barrels of oil per day, as such the United States did this to themselves, but I do recognise that they want their secrets to remain THEIR secrets, especially as we see that Russian hardware is buckling all over Russia and the Ukraine. And it is then we see the larger screw up. It is given with “It is plausible that the Saudis have information about those weapons”, this implies that Jeff Abramson is not clear or is in cautious denial implying that there is no danger or he just doesn’t know what the commercial people informed Saudi Arabia about and it seems to me that Stephanie Kirchgaessner never picked up on that because there is no follow up on the foundation of ‘plausible’ and in addition we see “Prince Khalid bin Salman, said on Twitter that the decision by OPEC+ to cut oil output was made unanimously for “purely” economic reasons” which raises the question of what the US will do about the other 22 votes? This article raises one decent question and hides it in the BS of several other sides. Yes, the Guardian is really proud of the journo they have there, aren’t they?

I wonder what comes next, but if I have my way that would be a moot point because the impact would cost tech firms well over $500 million a month, they will not lose all that money, but they will lose a chunk of it and with that a lot more in the aftermath. Yes, these people really keep their eyes on the price. 

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October 17, 2022 · 19:55

The ranking of potatoes

There was an insight in July. In this I wrote “I sometimes get a month subscription to load up on missed things and I have to as we all have budgets. I reckon that the UK is facing a much harder time. When they get to decide on two of the items (Food, Rent and heating) Netflix will be the first to go, and after that cheaper internet deals” and guess what. The Guardian gave us 4 hours ago (at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/oct/17/uk-homes-cancel-streaming-services-to-reduce-spending) ‘UK homes cancel streaming services to reduce spending’, all whilst my quote comes from Realisation, which is three months older (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/07/14/realisation-2/), so the issues given three months ago were largely ignored (like wannabe analysts stating that the loss of subscriptions were a mystery to them, or something like that). I saw the writing on the wall and the Guardian caught up three months later. As such I look at “total number of homes with at least one subscription fell by 937,000 from January to September” I see no real mystery here. As such we also get “The premiere of two of the most-hyped and expensive shows of all time – the $650m (£580m) productions of Rings of Power and House of the Dragon – failed to prove a big enough draw to reverse a decline of another 234,000 homes with at least one paid streaming service in the third quarter” yes, because these people really want to put their housing or food on the template of chance when it comes to a TV series and the setting that they are the most expensive or most hyped shows do not matter. People need to pay for food, people ned to pay rent and these elements were out on the shelf for too long. There is no real cap on food and the rent cap is limited to say the least. So these series miss out and those who have a few quid left, they will buy it when it is released on bluray. Which is given to us as “as cost-conscious households choose paying for essentials – such as energy, food and mortgage repayments – over home entertainment”, a simple part of the equation I saw three months ago and that is to some extent the solution I saw in gathering 50 million subscriptions. Because that will become a much larger station and it will get the one doing it $500 million or more. But then these people were aware, were they not? Consider that I accused Amazon and Google of letting that lie on the floor and three months after I stated the writing was coming to a wall near them. They did wake up and investigate, did they not? For all I care Elon Musk can buy it now and make life for them and Microsoft a lot harder. But I cannot do that yet, I am still awaiting response from Riyadh. So when we are given “The world’s biggest streamer, which has cut staff and become more disciplined with its $17bn annual content budget after earlier this year reporting its first subscriber declines in a decade, is forecast to add just 1 million new signups globally when it reports third quarter figures on Tuesday” I wonder if they caught on at all. More disciplined is a joke expression, it is like Google with their wannabe cheerleading “I am a lion”, all nice, but we know that the hunt is done by the lionesses, the lions just get them pregnant twice a day if possible. You see the lions are their for the lionesses the real hunters and “lions mate roughly every 15 to 20 minutes for two or three days—200 to 300 times in succession”, as such when you realise that what were the salespeople hoping at Google? For me the laughing matter becomes when (or if) Riyadh buys my IP, when they trump Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook all in one swoop. I wonder who will be crying like a chihuahua then? Will it be Reed Hastings, Andy Jassy, Satya Nadella, Mark Zuckerberg or all of them? And it was not a hard equation, the fact that I saw this coming 26 weeks ago makes it that easy and there is optionally more, but I want to have a little more fun with this, as I should be allowed to.

The ranking of potatoes is not who is the biggest, it becomes a ranking of whom was the most idle of the lot and that insight might give you a few handles on where you have to go with what you have. 

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October 6, 2022 · 20:07

Wall and writing

Yup that is the setting and it will be clear soon enough. It was a day in July when I wrote (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/07/18/for-those-not-seeing-the-oil-field/) titled ‘For those not seeing the oil field’, there I wrote “What happens when they sell 2.5 million barrels a day less and let that go to the US shortage?” So this was three months ago and now we see at NPR (at https://www.npr.org/2022/10/05/1126754169/opec-oil-production-cut) “The OPEC+ alliance announced a 2 million barrels a day cut in oil production Wednesday”, so I was off by only 500,000 barrels a day. I mentioned on a few occasions ‘I told you so’ and this time around it ill cost you, it will cost you a lot, because 2 million barrels less implies a fuel price rise of 10%-20% from the start and still in that time no one asked Brent oil any heavy questions. It is a commercial enterprise and as such it does not care about Americans and their cheap fuel needs. So whilst we all stare at “President Biden has been trying to rein in prices at the gas pump ahead of the midterm elections” all whilst he did close to nothing to rein in Brent and their selling of well over 75% of their stock abroad. You just cannot have it both ways. If you wanted cheap oil, they needed to treat Saudi Arabia as a real ally to a much better degree than they did. Consider going to the pastry shop asking: “Yo fat fuck, gimme a pastry for 10 cents” what are the chances that will work? Even if you make it “Sir can you please sell me a pastry for 10 cents” there will not be too many shops who will do that. A friend might, but America did whatever they could to make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a pariah whilst embracing the delay tactics of Iran, Saudi Arabia’s proxy enemy. This was all going to happen one way or another and the fake claims on Russia and Saudi Arabia are a joke. This all plays straight into the hands of China who optionally might end up with that extra oil. All settings that were out in the open from the beginning. On the other hand if oil prices go up, Saudi Arabia might be more interested in my IT solution that gives them at least $500 million a month extra. Time will tell (the commercial manager in the Saudi Consulate in Sydney is seemingly too busy to see me). Well time will tell what comes next but for now Americans will see fuel prices jump, they will see their wages go towards arming thanksgiving and Christmas households and all whilst they are all ‘enjoying’ dinner wearing thicker pants and an extra jumper. As such fashion houses take notice of those needs. 

The writing was on the walls and I saw that danger happen 3 months ago. So whilst the US and UK went to Riyadh to ‘kindly please send more cheap oil our ways’ they forgot the first rule of diplomacy (politics too), you cannot make that effort empty handed and then let other organisations slap Saudi Arabia around, it never ever works that way. So when we consider “Yasser Elguindi, the head of macro research at Energy Aspects, says there’s a perception that the Saudis are trying to push prices back to or above $100 per barrel by cutting production and tightening the market. He says the magnitude of the proposed cut has caught people by surprise”, take time to notice that I saw that danger three months ago, so the ‘by surprise’ part is either hollow or a clear first show of reduced levels of competency. Yes the latter part is pure speculation, but feel free to check my earlier article, and consider what is up.

No matter how you slice it, the timing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is pretty good, winter is coming. Where did I hear that before? No matter what, it will be a cold Christmas this year for a lot of Americans. I wonder what the impact will be in the states like New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, not to mention Washington DC. But the media might continue to avoid the Brent Crude Oil settings and for President Biden and the current PM of the United Kingdom I suggest that they take time and get the Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy or brush up on what you learned there. It might help matters a little. Just some food for thought.

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September 25, 2022 · 00:48

Freebee for Majid

Yes, that happens. I get an idea that is not really on my plate and I hand it over. And as the Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) is part of the Ministry of Media, it seems only fair that I hand it over to the man with the plan, the man in charge Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi. It is up to him to decide if this has any option of succeeding. If someone else takes this on, that is not up to me. I have other issues to deal with. I got this idea whilst watching the remake of Candyman. I like it, it is superior than the previous edition and even as there are a few issues with it, there was no real objections. And whilst I was thinking that through this idea came to mind. 

Riyadh
It was a warm day, the sun was warming everything it touched and in the shadows was a man, his name was Henri Cernuschi, he was a banker, but not related to the Cernuschi family from the late 18th century. He was from Javrezac France and had an economy degree from the Sorbonne in Economie du Development. When he had his degree he had issues getting a job, he had no connections, he was eager to make a mark but in the end he gave his resume to an online place for resume’s and two weeks later the SAMA (Saudi Central Bank) offered him a position in Riyadh. Off course he eagerly accepted and he got to do the things asked of him. French bank papers were scanned and he looked if they were all up to scratch and correct. In the end he was to some extent an overpaid office clerk. He was not complaining, the money was good and he had amassed a nice sum over the last three years. But as all bankers, he got greedy and it was a paper he saw in some evening where he read “they are highly associated with financial risk-taking and gambling behaviours” it took a hold of him and held him in his grasp. If he could instil a level of superstition, he might profit, profit even more. And as such he set out a plan to instil superstition. 

There was no real action in the next few months, but he started to learn as much as he could on Arab superstitions, there was quite the number, yet nothing stood out to him. It was two day later when when he stumbled upon a book regarding the Afreet.

It was not until a bank trip to Jeddah that he started to have an idea. What happened if he could summon an afreet? What happens when that superstition took hold? 

This is the start, I would like to add a lot more, but the general idea come now and not in a story. You see, he starts learning the elements of such a summoning and he does it all nearly flawless, but as he prepared the 4 anchors he accidentally steps on one of the anchors that should keep the afreet to the small space in a basement. He becomes the anchor of the summon and the second part he overlooked that only a sorcerer can hold an Afreet as such the Afreet could break the shackles at any point, yet as anchor the man cannot be harmed and thus starts a larger stage. He does not know what he invited to be attached to his soul and an ancient afreet gets free rein in Riyadh. 

It is one of the clerks that recognises some of the symptoms and soon thereafter she understands the dangers the bank is in and she warns her boss, who does not dismiss the stage. The woman is very afraid and tells him of the stories her grandmother told her. The manager sets in motion a quiet investigation and sees the danger they face and as such he grows an idea to deal with it. He spices up the man’s achievements and sends him on official business to London and sends the spiced resume to people he knows. During the event in London the man is approached by a few companies and in the end one firm takes on his business and as such they invite the afreet.

London
It is one year later, London is in a setting of failed events, failed economics and even more disastrous elements in Fintech. No one can find any relationship. And as the Afreet grows in power, it learns of the crusades, and it becomes a lot more malevolent. Diseases, old diseases start forming in the UK and the weird parts are that the medics find links to St Olave-towards-the-Tower, as well as St Giles-without-Cripplegate. Both places of worship were investigated inch by inch and no findings were found, but they were on the lookout. As the months unfolded the Afreet started to get a lay of the financial land and he wrecks upon it. Banking systems stall and money goes missing. It was an Arabic cybersecurity officer that finds links in the display and links them to the stories of old. As he digs into the data he finds 5 people who have been to the middle east, Henri Cernuschi being one of them.

That’s all I got in a few hours and if you can make more of it, good luck to the Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) for making it into a new kind of horror.

A small note. What happens when the anchor dies? Perhaps it gives the Afreet freedom to go wherever he wants. Just a thought.

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