Tag Archives: Riyadh

May 12, 2025 · 16:58

America’s shifting phase

This morning Arab News (at https://arab.news/9hjca) gave us ‘First Saudi-made THAAD system parts completed in Jeddah’ Saudi Arabia has been aiming for the need of internal national interests to have this done. We are given “Saudi Arabia has completed the first domestically manufactured components for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system launcher in Jeddah, marking a significant step forward in the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to localize its defense industry.” And as we are given “Tim Cahill, president of missiles and fire control at Lockheed Martin; Nawaf Al-Bawardi, assistant deputy of the General Authority for Military Industries; and Wasim Attieh, president of AIC.” We seemingly are all OK with this, this is not really news. Saudi Arabia was aiming for this all along. In this case the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system launcher (THAAD) was on show. But the story goes beyond that. I reckon that the FEINDEF 2025 (Spain) as from today was the second initial kick off, but there were other symptoms. There was the (DSA 2024) in Kuala Lumpur and the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX/NAVDEX) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I personally believe that Saudi Arabia kept close eyes on the ready date of this system as it allows them to gain interest from Bangladesh, Egypt and Indonesia, they might not be ‘big league’ material, but Bangladesh and Egypt represent almost $5 billion each and Indonesia represents $11 billion. Now, they don’t spend it all in one go, but Saudi Arabia is said to get a speculated part of that and even with a mere 200 million (over all three) that becomes a massive boost for the Saudi Defence industry, even more so, it would be revenue that America and Russia loses. Gives the expression “when two dogs fight for a bone, the third runs away with it” a new side to that equation. So as Lockheed Martin is locking in their services and consultancy for close to another decade, Saudi Arabia’s first delivery system is gaining strength in the defence industry. Bangladesh being 35th, Egypt 19th and Indonesia 16th. They are giving strength to the Saudi Defence industry. So as I saw that market evolve in February 10th 2022 in my story ‘Oh darn, I am missing out’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/02/10/oh-darn-i-am-missing-out/) with those decrepit tea grannies, it took Saudi Arabia a mere 3 years to evolve their own market. They now have their own industry. So cry “stop arming Saudi Arabia” all you like, the only thing they’d hurt was the British defence industry. And as I see it, they are about to do a lot more than hurt ‘the British business’, they are gaining political power by giving the Arabian nations and Asian nations their own voice, not hindered by America, Russian or British political powers. Now they (meaning Saudi Arabia) become the global political power player.

As I see that, I am reminded of the old setting that my granny complained about the essential need of the young to rely their technology, so I switched off her life support. How’s that for fun?

The world is getting smaller and the reach of every nation is increasing and now we see clear settings (not through alleged sport washing) that Saudi Arabia is becoming the larger power in the global arena. In the 2025 edition of “The Military Balance” from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is currently on the 7th place, yet if this takes off Saudi Arabia will be in a position to become 5th, optionally 4th and their defence industry will be making a profit as the Arabian nation will see that Saudi Arabia is the ‘friend’ to hold in esteem, as that starts happening Pakistan might also change vendor it is at present a mere $10 billion, but as it is only 12% of India, it might see reason to switch if Saudi Arabia is willing to talk shop and that is another slice of pie that will not end in America’s or England’s budget. As I personally see it a start has been made for Saudi Arabia to become less dependent on their oil industry. Starting ‘small’ is a beginning, so as Saudi Arabia creates more options. I reckon that they would likely evolve their drone industry next, Saudi Arabia is becoming a much larger industry. Only 5 years ago we would have seen an industry with America, Russia, China and the United Kingdom as players. Now even at 5th place, Saudi Arabia becomes the new player in town and that sets a new premise for global economies. Russia and America never had to share that revenue pie and I guess they will have to content with less as per 2026 onwards. 

A nice setting for Saudi Arabia who is likely to seek more revenue from Pakistan as it is outmatched to India at 2:1 in the best settings they can hope for and that allows for larger business benefits for Saudi Arabia. We tend to forget that war is business and their business is war. A little outdated setting, but we forget that it isn’t ugly to some, it is a payday. An essential need for any nation is to defend itself from enemies hostilities and that setting is over 2000 years old. It was given to us by Julius Caesar (that Italian dude). He did so in Commentarii de Bello Gallico at 50BC.

I reckon that the Saudi defence industry will be more than a simple blip by the time we get to 2027, still three years ahead of the schedule we saw 5 years ago. 

And as I personally see it, these tea grannies (CAAT) are still drinking tea, but the option for a biccie with that tea will soon be done for, because the revenue you hurt also impacts what you can have and they vied for less, so they will have less. I take my learning from someplace else. America decided to hurt Huawei as they were a threat, now we have HarmonyOS entering version 5.0, and Reuters gave us last November that ‘Huawei wants 100,000 apps on Harmony OS within a year’, and set that against Alphabet (Google) had announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce In January 2023, Amazon laying off 14,000 people in name of efficiency? (Source: MSN) and in 2023 Microsoft laid off approximately 10 000 employees followed by an additional 4 000 roles being cut in 2024. So with these big three ‘decimated’, who will counter Huawei? As I see it no one and now Huawei will have another industry to set foot in. Because all these Saudi systems require automation (as well as other options) as such HarmonyOS will be seen almost everywhere and that is only the beginning. Those who push to limit others, merely limit themselves and we have plenty of evidence there.

As I see it the shifting space of America is seeing that they never wanted other to be in certain places. This sounded like an idea in the 80’s when America was a global power, but they no longer are. They are mere steps away from becoming a third world country. You cannot remain a 3.4% military spending of GDP whilst being seen as a 37% of global spending. A 997 Billion invoice where in the fiscal year 2024, the U.S. federal government collected $4.92 trillion, not whilst you have $36.21 trillion in federal debt (and they cannot pass a budget either), it just cannot be done. As such the America setting will implode all whist their tech is set to impossible markers. 

As we consider this and we consider that the Russian stage merely sounds better (whilst it isn’t) there is every possibility that be 2027/2028 Saudi Arabia could become 4th or 3rd as a defence industry by that time. The idea that Saudi Arabia surpasses or equals America in three years is making me giggle. How the mighty fall, so how’s that for looking great, President Trump? It started on your watch in 2020 and almost a decade later you become allegedly surpassed by Saudi Arabia by 2027, a nice footnote in your memories and I reckon you will blame everyone but yourself in that writing. I am curious what the World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center will give us. I reckon that Saudi Arabia will have a few nice surprises in that show. I am willing to bet that Huawei will have a stand there to in showing us what the Internet of things driven by HarmonyOS will give the world.  I reckon you need to reserve tickets for the event  on February 8-12, 2026 now. As I see it the first day will be for the larger customers, so February 8th has been sold out to preferred customers. So, when will you optionally go? 

I won’t be invited, so let me know how the snacks were, they tend to be magnificent at these events. Now I’m hungry, time for some peppered crackers. Have a great day.

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February 26, 2025 · 05:35

The who now?

I do not know all the inn’s and out’s of sports, I freely admit that. I live in Australia and like Canada we enjoy an over interested sport community (read: a sport mindset population). 

So when I saw news item named ‘Saudi Arabia to host Islamic Games again’, I went ‘The who now?’ And this isn’t a new thing. As I read “Two decades after hosting the inaugural edition in Mecca, the nation is once again at the heart of regional sport. In November, Riyadh will welcome the world’s top athletes for the sixth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games, event aiming to strengthen brotherhood among Muslim-majority nations.” So this isn’t a new thing. It has been going on for two decades. And we are about to face the 6th edition of these games. So how come I was utterly unaware of the existence of these games? I don’t need to be muslim to enjoy games I cannot participate in (for the most, with one or two exceptions I am not able to participate on any level in sports). So I was taken aback. 

Let’s recap for the sports ignorant people who might never have heard of these events as well and I am looking at the media with utter disdain at present for not illuminating these games. The first were held in Mecca. The Islamic Solidarity Games and these games involve elite athletes of the OIC competing in a variety of sports, as such we get to see the creme de la creme in sports compete. The first were as said in Mecca (2005), the 2010 in Tehran were cancelled, in 2013 it was Indonesia to host these games, which were done in Palembang, then it was up to Baku to host them in 2017, in 2021 Turkey hosted them in Konya and now, in August 2025 they will be held in Riyadh. So what exposure did these games get? I would have loved to have seen them in Indonesia. That place doesn’t get to much exposure other then touristy occasions. 

So what sports are shown?
Well, at present 28 sports have been shown and the bulk of these sports were shown as:

Athletics (since 2005), Basketball (since 2005), Diving (since 2005), Equestrian (2005–2013), Football (since 2005), Gymnastics (since 2017), Judo (since 2017), Karate (since 2005), Swimming (since 2005), Water polo (since 2005), Weightlifting (since 2005), Wrestling (since 2017)

These are the sports we are ‘familiar’ with in a Olympic setting. Right Nike? (I am talking to the goddess, not the brand next to me now). A little less known are the sports below, or at least I don’t remember seeing them in an Olympic setting. Nike is shaking her head in disbelieve and rolling her eyes. They are: 

Bodybuilding (2025), Handball (since 2005), Table tennis (since 2005), Taekwondo (since 2005), Tennis (since 2005), Volleyball (since 2005), Wushu (since 2013)

The list is important as they are ‘enjoyed’ watching by the bulk of the world, as such I cannot believe that I had never heard of these games. 

Media bashing
You might think that I am making light of the situation and perhaps that is true, but can anyone explain how any person remains devoid of this knowledge when we have countries like Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand and America where sports seems to be on the mind of men optionally a lot more than sex? The old story (according to women) is that men look for their golf balls more than a g-spot? (no idea what they mean with that). 

It might sound weird, but there is a decent Islamic population in at least 4 of them, so why don’t these Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation and Islamic Solidarity Games enjoy a lot more exposure? As second issue I would raise that there is another hurdle optionally failed. The fact that in these 20 years Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates wasn’t a host. There might be many valid reasons, but with all the exposure that Abu Dhabi enjoys, these games could be flooded in the limelight as I personally see it. So will they host these games in 2030?

At present I am learning a whole new chapter in sports. And the next chapter will shock you. When I enter “Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh” in Google Search I do not get ONE news agency on page one. Worse still, one mention from the BBC on page 4 which was given in 2010. The western world is sunning these games to THAT degree. The western world was eager to paint Saudi Arabia black at every occasion they could find regarding the 2034 FIFA World Cup. So where are they now?

I think the western media needs to take a hard look at themselves when it comes to sport reporting. We have seen a lot of media engaged in ‘Whitewashing sports’ when it comes to Saudi Arabia, so who will take the front space when it comes to showing the thousands of athletes and the struggles they face with these games? There is something to scold western papers on the fact that they are seemingly shunning thousands of athletes. 

The more I see exposed by the biassed western media, the more l appreciate having a cat.

Have a great day, I am 165 minutes away from breakfast (we all have our little day to day priorities). 

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February 22, 2025 · 19:01

A marker was reached

On the second of December 2024 (one of several) mentions for the eradication of Hamas (among others) was called by me, I did so in the story ‘When it rains it pours’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/12/02/when-it-rains-it-pours-2/) there I put “Saudi Arabia has been under attack through Iranian proxies for too long and as such the three terrorist organizations Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi their eradication becomes a near essential.” IU don’t do this lightly. At some point Iran will set the stage of their ‘wanted’ assistance, all for the greater good of Shia muslims everywhere and they will strike against Saudi Arabia and the UAE. All for a bigger seat at the Muslim table. Iran will go for that at their earliest convenience (read : tactical opportunity) and I reckon that Hamas will be the first to ‘approve’ the action. I was under the impression that this stage was going to happen, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE might wait for too long to take affirmative actions. That was until today. Today, mostly via LinkedIn I saw the news that we see below:

Here we are shown “What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah.” and a source gave us “Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti makes shocking statement against Hamas” in this we are talking about Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh. He was appointed in June 1999, serving islam most of his life and was appointed to a seat of leadership as early as 1969. We can therefor clearly see that he knows all levels of Islam (as I personally see this) and for a person like this to speak out against the acts of Hamas is a first sign that the days of Hamas are numbered. You see, they cannot hide behind islam with their hatred of jews to such a degree that clear sounds come from one of the most conservative Islam places for those people to speak out against Hamas. I might not phrase it in the best ways, but as I see it Hamas is about to take a dive for their own mass hatred. When other Islamic clerics follow the words of Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh, Gaza’s and Hamas will only be able to rely on the scraps that Iran will give them and they have problems of their own now. As I see it the pro Gaza rallies everywhere will dry up and those who rallied for Gaza will have to investigate their own souls and face their own anti-semitic side of things. 

I got the initial setting from Mr. Noor Dahri, he is the Founder and Executive Director of Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism – ITCT, a UK based Counter Islamist Terrorism Think Tank. He is an independent researcher in Counter Islamist Terrorism and Radicalisation. And it is important that we see this, there is a larger context in the acts of Hamas, especially as even islamics are opposing their action. When the dust settles Hamas will have but one recourse, to let go all the Jewish captives they still have and when the second hurdle is passed and optionally the bulk will have been killed there are two settings. The first is that Israel will go insane with rage (which is really bad for all Gaza) and the more important side is that Islam kill turn against Hamas, making them useless to say the least. 

But beyond what could be and what is, is the clear voice of Grand Mufti Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh who gave us “What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah.” The one voice of reason that all people could and themselves behind. Muslims, Christians and Jews. It might be the first time a setting like this happens and recognizing this is essential. Even for a simple blogger like me. We can all hide behind populistic hate and numbers in a blog, but that was never my setup. And seeing the voice of reason is essential, no matter the faith he belongs to. 

Have a nice Saturday and an optional really lazy Sunday to come.

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February 19, 2025 · 21:36

Realignment

Part one
Part one is seen in the CBC article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/donald-trump-water-canada-peter-lougheed-1.7459583) where we see ‘Trump’s musings on ‘very large faucet’ in Canada part of looming water crisis, say researchers’ and we are given “In 2005, former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed warned against sharing Canada’s water supply with the United States, suggesting Alberta’s most important resource was water, not oil and gas. “We should communicate to the United States very quickly how firm we are about it,” Lougheed said.” This was a mere 11 years before Trumps first presidency. So when we see “U.S. President Donald Trump wants to tap into Canada’s water, saying there’s a “very large faucet” that can be turned on to drain water from north to south and help with American shortages. We look at the question of water sovereignty — and whether Canada is ready to protect its resources.” We need to realize that America made its bed with the tariffs and I say let them pay, $13.25 per 25M3 of water as added tariff over the $53 per 25m3. Sounds about right. So how long will it take until Trump (aka OBWH) realizes that he took the wrong fight to the wrong party? Oh and leaks south of the border are his problem and with the current infrastructure, I reckon we can wait for that to go wrong and that time can be set in hours (at the most). So whilst we were given “Massive amounts coming out from the mountains, from the melts,” Trump said in January. “And even without it, even during the summer, it’s a natural flow of water. They would have had so much water they wouldn’t have known what to do with it. You would have never had the fires.”” Ads I see it, the Canadians know exactly to do with this, charge the Americans. And as Trump reiterates on cheap oil, we can give him an education. When a commodity is in short supply prices go up, not down. It was a simple equation that was set half a century ago, as such Cheap oil from Saudi Arabia is a figment of his imagination. What would they do with it? Well, selling to China remains an option. And Canada has options too, the Commonwealth. As for the reasoning? I still believe that America is running out of funds and that their infrastructure is about to buckle (a personal speculation). 

But with the tariffs, he opened up a whole new stage of short selling his own options. 

Part Two
I was thinking of what we could do to bring the pain to America and in comes the Canadian ‘darling’ of out of the box thinking. The name is Ryan Reynolds. You see, as gaming is set to dwindle down to abysmal settings (mainly due to Microsoft) Canada has options. In the first there is Ubisoft Montreal (Canada), then there are options in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec. So I have been re-playing Ratchet and Clank (PS4 remake) and I had the idea to get the last 4 achievements. During the play through I was considering that the flaky nature of the game could well be done by others (not a copy, but true new IP). Considering that the game was made in 2016 and sold almost 4 million games, it is still popular now, 9 years later. That takes near perfection to do. And it can be done again. As such I thought that with the voice of Ryan Reynolds (optionally with a sidekick voiced by Blake Lively) there is space for new IP. I haven’t worked that out yeet, but with America falling out of grace with millions of people it is an option for Canada to shine and with Sony being a Japanese company, there will be space to grow in the Commonwealth, Europe and Japan. Three places Trump pissed off. As such I say we need to grow, help Canada grow and let the pieces fall where they may. The style of Ratchet and clank is flaky, funny and unique. As such we need to prevent a R&C clone. But that is decently easy. The trick will be to find the animation and design in a unique way. To set the stage we need to rely on Ryan Reynolds (Blake Lively too) to set the stage with the voices. The rest will follow (I’m making it overly easy which is not the case) but the stage would be that America will feel the second sting of lost revenue and it was all because short sighted advisors in the White House thought that tariffs were the solution and after that JD Vance was stupid enough to blame Europe for all kinds of matters and that gives Canada the opportunity to sell to Europe as well and as they already set the stage to the Commonwealth we see a optional stage of 900,000,000 consumers and they are happy to see a non-American vendor. 

I reckon that I can work on the gaming idea soon, Perhaps even sooner if I consider a few CBM64 games. You see, plenty of that is UK IP and optionally no longer protected.

As such we see that from Microsoft and their ‘lessened intelligence’ pissed off millions of gamers in 2013, and with the losses they have they aren’t happy. So whilst I have the setting to make them lose more money and that is a work in progress in the meantime we get President Trump adding spice to that to piss off 743 million Europeans and 2.5 billion Commonwealthian’s. Smart move Mr. President. And I reckon that Japan likes the setting they face and in the meantime Tencent (China) has its own gaming solution that can stream as well. So in three directions a lot of revenue goes elsewhere.

As I see it, America has one option and that is to bring a clear victory home from Riyadh. If the Russians get anywhere of some level of win, most of the planet will become anti-American. And soon thereafter America becomes the isolated pariah. 

In the meantime Canada can ‘profit’ from the hardship that California faces and as such Vancouver can create more movies and TV series. I reckon that together with the UK and others they can upsell their services which America can no longer provide for the time being. 

As we see these elements that are in play, consider that billions of interest are required every month to pay for the almost $37,000,000,000,000 debt, or did you forget that such a debt has interest? At 1% it ends up being over 35 billion and it is never merely 1%.

As such I say, America did this to themselves. They re-elected that guy (not sure if the Democrats really had a proper person to become president). 

So enjoy that lovely cup of tea (coffee is also good) and consider how Canada can give a little more pain to America. Tariffs? Let that be an American worry this day.

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February 18, 2025 · 15:02

Time is key

The has always been a truth when you look at certain matters. But time as the property of opportunity is usually only looked at in one way. Now consider the truthful setting with a republican administration. I am not in Anti-republican mode (where some are), I am seeing the opportunity in the propagation of entertaining values. I am basically at least a step ahead of the masses as they are still raging over Trump This, Trump that (I have nothing against trumpetists) but the setting could be set to a new chapter in both education and entertainment. You see, we look at the new, but we forget that greats have passed the days of JK Rowling, Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer. You see, the 70’s belonged to Alister McLean, Desmond Bagley and Robert Ludlum. Now lets take one specific title. The chancellor Manuscript by Robert Ludlum. The story is about a protagonist called Peter Chancellor. As a student he comes across snippets that could lead to a massive conspiracy that is set around American administrations (plural) he gets discredited by ‘powers that be’ but a member gets him to adjust his course and he becomes a writer. He creates that setting in a book named Reichstag and his path to glory is set. The member who adjusted it was aligned to a group named Inver Brass and the man is Stefan Varak (aka Alan Longworth) an operative of the NSC (unknown alphabet group), they are looking for the Hoover archives. In this day and age that is the setting which will please the millions of conspiracy theorists we have now. And yes, I was too late. In January 2010 director Marc Forster acquired the rights of the novel to make it into a feature film. Leonardo DiCaprio was set to star and produce the film and Peter O’Brien was attached to write the script for the film. So there was someone in front of me. Well, I am not much of rewriter and likely these people are way better then me as Leonardo DiCaprio seemingly signed on for this. 

The larger setting is that these writers will have a much larger setting now then they ever had. We are in a setting of treats and as Robert Ludlum was the man behind the origins of the Bourne franchise, you know that you are in for a treat to say the least. 

We see that this American administration is setting a new premise for entertainment. Yes, there always will be a Saturday Night Life and a few others, but the big screen will also have its moments. And Robert Ludlum writer of 27 novels still has its course to play. In my view the stage of The Parsifal Mosaic has merit and yes, around 2012 Ron Howard has been attached by Universal Pictures to direct the film adaption. So, I am behind on this for a little while, but not to fret, there is still nothing (as far as I know) in the pipeline. So my voice still counts. Not as a member of the creation in this, but to recognise the setting as a valid one, I am definitely the seeming voice of reason here. A setting that is often ignored. You see, like Steve Jobs, I do not have to be the innovator, but I can recognise the ones that are the innovators and that has a level of merit that is surely lacking in this world. And if you think I am kidding, consider the talks in Riyadh between Trump and Putin whilst they carve up the non-America and non-Russian world next week (Europe and Canada) and lets see how wrong I am then. And when you stop to consider Desmond Bagley, consider his first novel The Enemy and see what could be done in a age of industrialists in command of the worlds (Novichok anyone?) And not in the setting that Roget Moore gave us in 2001, but something truly dark and scary, especially when the right director is found. Consider a setting where the code is set to a mechanical computer (a transit) and the plans are spread over rails and Choo Choo trains. Where the setting of computers are helpful, but not when the tracks are unknown and that setting could be all over the place. In all the settings we have a seeming lone wolf religious zealot attack against a geneticist and the escalations when someone connects several unaligned dots and we see, not merely some MI-5 setting, but their failing when they overlook one simple piece of evidence that was in front of them. The conspiracy theorist wet dream so to say. 

These writers are getting a new else on life and the ones that inherited their IP might end up with a much larger check for a long time to come and I am merely scratching the surface. There are more writers then these three of them and as I personally see it, the movie makers in the 80’s thought of merely a few extra coins, whilst these works of art could be a new way of tapping the vein to serious coins for the one who sees them. So when we consider writers, in Sweden Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy in the period 1970-1990, what other treasures were ignored by the larger Hollywood crowds? Now that Canada, Korea (southern part), Australia and New Zealand are in a stronger position, what more can we expect on the silver screen?

Have a great, innovative day today.

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January 15, 2025 · 06:26

Tea with Yellowcake

That happens, we have some tea and we want something to snack with the tea, I also have that need with coffee, but there I tend to simply rely on the trusty toasted Blueberry muffin. Its yummy with some coffee, preferably a cappuccino. Tea has different needs, for the most I have some Tiramisu, or a Black Forest Cake. The other thing I used to love and it seems to be the limiting Dutch option of the Cream Cake, I haven’t seen it anywhere outside of the Netherlands and Belgium. Anywhere else it is not the yummy experience.

As for yummy options, Aljazeera (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/14/saudi-arabia-announces-plans-to-enrich-and-sell-uranium) gives us now ‘Saudi Arabia announces plans to enrich and sell uranium’ and before you start blaming Saudi Arabia with all kinds of messes, remember that the west (particularly USA) was unable to contain Iran with their nuclear messes. Remember Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Between 2005-2013 he made a right mess and enriched to his heart content, Saudi Arabia was confronted with over half a decade of worrisome Iranian tactics as was Israel. In that setting Saudi Arabia had set the tone that they weren’t starting this, but they would match Iran in their actions. And now we get “Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud told a conference in Dhahran on Monday that the move is part of a strategy to monetise all minerals, according to Reuters news agency.” I say if you need to do something, you better get some coins out of it. And it seems that Saudi Arabia is doing just that. It is the setting of “Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure”, withdrawing the US from a landmark deal which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Tehran adhered to the deal until Washington’s withdrawal, but then began rolling back its commitments.” And the setting that Iran rolled back its commitments is (my personal view) the reason that Saudi Arabia made these steps. The fact that they are clever about it and let this setting evolve through its own funding might be a speculative reason for this. All that time that America and the EU smoothed over the actions of Iran is precisely the reason that we are facing this. In all honesty I feel more secure with Saudi Arabia doing this than Iran ever did. It was the initial reason why I created the (optional and untested) Meltdown solution. There is nothing like a nuclear reactor melting down on itself, and when I saw images of Chernobyl my brain went to work and the result was put in ‘Keeping my promise, part 1’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/12/14/keeping-my-promise-part-1/) and the hilarious part of this was that Iran would be spending a few billions only to see it meltdown in the first month. I do have a quirky sense of humor. But as things go, Saudi Arabia is in the market of selling the stuff and it is their mineral and I think that good business is where you find it. I reckon it will take America a few days to shout at the world and they will ‘demand’ a peaceful solution. I say stuff that. They could never contain Iran (and the world applauded their non-actions) and look where that has got them. So whilst we see “Riyadh has yet to fire up its first nuclear reactor, which allows its program to still be monitored under the Small Quantities Protocol (SQP), an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency that exempts less advanced states from many reporting obligations and inspections.” We have to see that Saudi Arabia is much more than sand and oil (they have tourist space as well). Now that they are moving into the yellowcake market we need to see what comes up. I reckon that it won’t be the money fountain they would wish for as yellowcake goes for roughly $60 per kilo. It is roughly the price of tuna, so there is that issue to consider. Yet the foundation of ‘part of a strategy to monetise all minerals’ is something I would applaud and nearly every country should consider this. There are of course ethical issues to consider, but if the world does nothing about Iran, they have no business interfering with Saudi Arabia either, apart from the small fact that I trust Saudi Arabia a whole lot more than Iran.

So have a great day and do try the Tiramisu today with coffee. 

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November 22, 2024 · 20:41

The end is nigh

Yup, it is. And not in a normal way. There is no demon sprouting on the land. You see Lucifer Morningstar has greed driven politicians doing his dirty work and what is more satisfying than any person digging his own grave? So how did this setting deploy? Well as the DoJ decided that there agenda matters most they are about to force Google its Chrome browser. (At https://www.itnews.com.au/news/google-must-sell-chrome-us-doj-argues-613298) We see “Google must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with rivals and take other measures – including possibly selling Android – to end its monopoly on online search, prosecutors argued to a judge” Its always the stupid and greedy that redefines the borders of hell. Anyway, whatever his ‘personal’ reasons are the game is literally afoot. In this instance whist that is considered Europe and the Middle East will select the dollars for donuts option and in this we need to consider the second cog in this wheel. It is given to us by Politico (at https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-china-huawei-ban-2029-5g-networks-government-greens-lawmaker-4g-strand/) which they gave us in July. There we are given ‘Germany goes soft on China, dragging out Huawei ban until 2029’ and this ban will be delayed again and again. Lets not forget that American anti-Chinese actions led to this. And no matter how we feel about it. The Americans NEVER gave ample evidence for any of it. So as one start to ferment the sentiments of how stupid this American administration is, Huawei will add to this. You see Huawei now has HarmonyOS and it has a few other arrows in its quiver. The larger setting for the internet of things was ignored for too long. And as Germany delays, so will France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and the Nordic regions. Like domino stones they will tumble each other. All whilst this administration will find another person to take a metal briefcase to the European leaders like a pop star and we saw that before. So the evidence better be real this time around. Still that will take time and in the meantime we are given by Huawei Central (at https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-matepad-pro-13-2-2025-will-reshape-office-experience-ceo/) We are “shown” ‘Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 2025 will reshape office experience: CEO’ and this is the larger setting. For when Google loses market share, in that same instance Microsoft loses market share as well. The Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 2025 is now only 4 days away. With HarmonyOS it will be able to connect nearly all other devices. As we are shown that the “Multi-Window enables users to open several apps in split-screen mode for multitasking. One can also swipe an app inward from the left/right edge to bring up the Multi-Window dock. It’s a useful tool for office work, meetings, and more.” That is precisely why politicians should stay away from technology decisions. Basically they are too stupid to see the forest through the trees and in this instance there will be a massive jolt to Google, Microsoft and I reckon that Apple will also see a dip in revenue. Or as some will say “It sucks to be you” to the Attorney General. 

So am I right or am I wrong?
That remains to be seen, but as I see it, the demand for the Google ‘simplification’ will open the doors of HarmonyOS to Europe and for a much stronger setting to the Middle East. And with the uncertainty of the Google stage. Huawei and their data centres. The setting of Google will make a lot of people nervous and that works for Huawei. We were given last year “The launch of the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region was announced at the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023. The new cloud region, located in an STC/Center3 data centre in Riyadh, offers three availability zones. It is the company’s first region in the Middle East.” How long will it take for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to follow suit? And how happy do you think Microsoft will be to do their ‘AI’ work in a Huawei data centre? All this will come to pass (unless someone muzzles the AG). There is a setting to it all and one brick will stumble the next one and the next one. It is the result of the internet of things. And with the Huawei MatePad Pro there is more than just the connectivity. It will slow iPad sales and from there Microsoft will find themselves in more hot waters (some they did to themselves) and the UAE will demand that Microsoft will do its AI work wherever it needs to be and as such Microsoft will enable Huawei even more. All this because someone has anti-Google feelings. For 15 years Google found and created an innovative road. It is not up to the DoJ to reward stupidity to the competitors of Google. They forgot the basics and these settings will now work for China as well. 

And as we see that Politico gives us “Under the agreement, components manufactured by Huawei, China’s leading 5G equipment maker, are to be banned from sensitive core network infrastructure by the end of 2026, rather than by the end of 2025 as previously envisaged, as reported by POLITICO. When it comes to the radio access networks (RAN) such as antenna masts, Huawei components would have to be removed by the end of 2029 instead of the end of 2026. This is a satisfactory outcome for German operators, who were in the process of upgrading these networks anyway, thus limiting extra costs.” You see one thing, but I see that there is no real America by 2027, as such the ban becomes moot. Add to this the expansions that Saudi Arabia is making with the STC. The Saudi Telecom Company is already making waves in Egypt and now it seems Portugal as well all this enables Huawei more and more growth and as Google starts to falter the European politicians will try to divert whatever they can as to not be eaten by their ‘allies’. As the west falls to Huawei and the STC the more hardship America will face. It all started by attacking its own base and by attacking Google they basically drowned their own livestock and  from there the business opportunities they had. Funny for me, not so much for Microsoft who basically let it happen and now that the office suite is under attack (from next week) we will see all kinds of spin by one player on how hard it will be for the shifters. The overt setting was that (an oversimplified setting) the Department of Justice should have stayed out of matters. They hide behind ‘monopoly’ but that game states that all players are equal whilst that setting hasn’t been true for decades. The world had Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Google and Oracle. The others are spinning, making presumptuous presentations on whatever wasn’t real yet and now there will be a tap on the door. How will it end?

I honestly have no idea. The only thing I foresee is that with the breaking up of Google the end will be nigh for those relying on ‘scripted’ settings for the better things that it will bring. Because that just ain’t so. For things to become better true innovators are needed. And the bigger part of those are not in America. The 5 I mentioned has them, but when the For each of those China might have an alternative. Huawei could now replace Google (in part), Tencent with Huawei will be able to replace parts of Apple. As I see it only Oracle has a steady foundation and it all depends on the DoJ waking up what they are about to unleash and still if they do not Credibility towards Google will wane, that much the DoJ already achieved. I wonder if they realise what they are about to achieve. 

The world seems to become more and more Chinese oriented. Well, that is what this administration seemingly wanted.

Have fun with the fallout.

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October 29, 2024 · 06:03

The telling signs

That is at times the question. What one sees is not seen by all, there is no blame or shame in this. We can’t be looking in all directions, the simplest of reasons is that life is in front of you and we tend to look at life (for most of the time). As such I saw two articles pass by, well one actually (it makes sense soon enough).

The first one was the New Arab (at https://www.newarab.com/news/saudi-arabia-starts-work-huge-gold-kaaba-style-structure) handing us ‘Saudi Arabia starts work on massive gold ‘Kaaba’ style structure despite criticism’, my first setting was the word criticism. The word comes through 5 times including the title and three times it gives us “amid criticism that it resembles the Kaaba holy site in Mecca”, which is incorrect. 

The Kaaba (as the pictures show me) is not an actual cube, I could be wrong as I have never been to Mecca for I am not a Muslim. The second setting is that the dimensions are off by a mile. This building will be 400 by 400 by 400 meters. I will hazard a guess that this structure could be seen from space, one of the few. The other part is that this would be a monumental achievement. As for the critique from social media, I let that be. I didn’t look into it and I reckon it will serve no purpose. The important setting for me (and initial worry) is seen with “The development will have retail, hospitality, leisure and office space facilities and is believed to be big enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings in it when complete, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said.” You see, filling up 20 empire state building takes time and resources. That is beside the infrastructure needed. As my abacus dictates to me, that building alone would need to be fuelled and that takes at least a small nuclear reactor to do so. As I saw it there is an option if the outer walls have a second inner layer comprised of solar panels you will alleviate a lot of power requirements and even fuel more power to the city. I reckon someone looked at this at present, but it is the initial worry I see. That and getting water pumped to +400 meters. There are a few things, but the designers would have worked out these elements long before now. My mind is merely struggling with a building comprised of 64 million cubic metres. What is a fact is the massive achievements that Saudi engineers will make. A true world marvel. The previous achievement from that region was a near 5000 years ago (yes, they were the pyramids). That and the Neom structures will show the world that Saudi Arabia has made its match to anything else that was built on this planet.

I see a few other issues, but I will hold them. Not to sound stupid, but it might sound me anti-achievement and I refuse to be one of those negative people. 

I wonder how spacious it will be on the inside. You see we think in (mostly) western dimensions and from the last 10 years we have seen buildings with a different approach. As such are all floors 18 feet high? There is a lot not known and I to some extent fear knowing to much in advance, but I am still curious. The other thing I wonder about is the impact it will have. Not impact as a social need, but the houses around the Mukaab. Depending on the position of their house, the Mukaab could now shield it from the blazing sun for at least part of the day. I wonder what will happen to these places. For now, we will watch (in awe) and see over the next 5 years how that building comes together.  The other article comes later today.

Have a fun day

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October 6, 2024 · 20:05

Is it merely political?

That was the thought I had. It came from Politico, as such I would believe that it was political. Yet the larger premise is on the setting of circumstance. This sounds weirdly spooky, but it is the best I can offer. The story (at https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-war-economy-pain-saudi-arabia-sink-global-oil-prices-energy-russia-opec/) starts with ‘Putin’s war economy faces pain if Saudis sink global oil prices’ which is a partial truth, but it goes further then that. We are given “A Saudi move to grab market share will squeeze the Kremlin’s finances, experts argue” which is only a partial truth. The entire part is followed by “Riyadh is increasingly frustrated with other petrostates’ failure to coordinate on cutting supply to raise oil prices to about $100 per barrel — up from the current $70. Oil traders say Saudi Arabia is now set to respond by flexing its muscles and turning the tables on smaller producers, exporting more oil itself to grab market share and profits, even as prices fall.” We are also given “The Financial Times reported last week that Saudi Arabia could abandon its long-held ambitions to limit the crude supply to push prices to around $100 a barrel. Oil market experts have little doubt that Saudi Arabia has the enormous production and export capacity to change tactics and gun for market domination through volume instead.” In this view I need to align a few positions. What is missing is that America (the United Kingdom also) are depending in keeping oil cheap. So that is missing. Hanging it on the Russian needs is a bit dorky. Yes, they both matter, but the US an EU need for cheap oil missing as a pre-made need, is just dorky (I can’t find a better word for this). You see when there is a lack of a commodity prices go up and now this fails? The world requires (at present) that 2.4 million barrels per day pumped more than now and that is not done. I actually speculated this a year ago when I stated that we can pump 4 barrels at $3, or 3 barrels at $4. The amount gained is still the same but at 25% less oil. It is a simple equation (and an incorrect version) but the the premise remains. I went through to the next stage that Saudi Arabia could pump 2 barrels as the price goes up to $6, still the same revenue but now at half the oil delivered. This is how commerce works on commodities. I still doubt the statement that the $100 per barrel cannot be reached, I merely believe that certain stakeholders want the premise to keep their pockets lined. How? I cannot tell, I am not an oil person, I merely use it through various means. So what gives? 

When we get to ““The global economy is fairly sluggish and oil demand is not as high as the Saudis would want,” said Ajay Parmar, director of oil markets analytics at commodities intelligence firm ICIS.” I have issues here. You see, this means that the Russia delivers all oil. There is not a lack of demand, some people are playing a high end game to keep their pockets lined. If I had it my way (pretend that I am the new CEO of Aramco, a very fake one) I would stop 5.5 million barrels a day from reaching the US, EU and UK, in the combination 3,2 and .5 it would take less than 90 days for it all to implode. As Tesla is more and more lacking is quality, the other nations will need 2-3 years to overcome their downfall and in that time China is the new superpower with America stumbling over the edge of the abyss. That is clear in my (optionally wrong) point of view. The setting that Politico gives is too partial and slightly too flawed. 

Yes Russia has a problem and they are welcome to the problems they get to harvest now. A second problem is “Russia’s fossil fuel profits have also risen by 41 percent in the first half of this year alone, according to Moscow’s finance ministry, despite Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.” I don’t doubt these numbers, but who paid for that oil? I doubt is was merely China, North Korea and India. Although these countries were involved. I saw last year that India was buying some of the oil, China is a definite and I guess that North Korea had to pay for their weapons and it seems like a logical choice for them to accept oil as payment. So who more? 

Politico should have stated “Russia’s fossil fuel profits have also risen by 41 percent (from 1M barrels to 1.41M barrels)” but they didn’t if Russia only sold 50,000 barrels it will not be an issue, but that is not the case, is it?

Now if you doubt my reasoning. That is fine. But we have seen plenty of issues where prices go up the moment that commodities has a higher demand. Yet the article does not give us that does it? And who is Ajay Parmar? This article leaves me with plenty of questions and no answers. So in all this, Is Russia in actual trouble? To some degree, but I see this as an alternative way for Saudi Arabia to give in to the west requiring cheap oil. I personally believe that Politico missed their mark and as such loses credibility as such. The one part that I do see is “A loophole allows middlemen in countries like Turkey, China and India to refine Russian oil in petrol and diesel before selling it elsewhere — exempt from sanctions. According to a report first seen by POLITICO, Western countries spent $2 billion on this rebranded fuel in the first half of 2024” As such that should be the story and the story is that more and more nations are fuelling Russian revenue through refining Russian oil and filling their pockets. As such there is a momentum being built, one that is not addressed and one that is trivialised as such I expect that plenty of newspapers will fuel their revenue by posting this story. The 41% is now shown to be big business, especially when we see Turkey and India and how they are short on cash pretty much all of the time.

So we are seeing a larger stage. In the first on where is Russian oil going to and in the second what countries are fuelling their demands for cheap oil? A nice spreadsheet would have been nice, but that was a part that Politico oversaw (I guess).

Still as we see one part, we also see the part that some want us to see, appointed awareness. A combination of social awareness and the influence of appointing. A formal arrangement to create a designed social awareness. The ability to understand a situation as the offical parties would like others to see them. But as I see it, this will be at the expense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Is that fair all whilst Russia is handed loophole after loophole, as long as the west gets its oil cheap. How is this not exploitation? 

Consider what is being done and at what expense? The question is simple enough. 

Enjoy the Sunday you have left to you.

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September 26, 2024 · 17:47

Xenophobia

Xenophobia is a real thing, it is not the version we see in Star Trek. Xenophobia quite literally translates to ‘foreign fear’. The fear of foreign issues. The media exploits it for any flames it can create, as fear invites flames, flames create ‘clicks’ and clicks translate to advertisement money. It is the simplest way for media to use people to generate revenue for them. Yet I saw the other f this exploited fear in another way last night. I was about to write an article to something related to this, as such that story gets pushed back and now I focus on this as it is related to the bigger picture. 

The first trigger were the Crusade memes we have seen this year (there were a few). Now I like the age of Crusades to some degree, but we were deceived to a much larger degree. The crusades were mostly the nobles pillaging the Arabian lands and it was done with the blessing of Pope Urban II. The treaty of Claremont (1094) gave rise to this and many people (often in states of near starving) rallied to the sound of the the call to free the land of Christ, which was largely ludicrous as that was Jerusalem and that was debatable Jewish/Saracen (Muslim). So here came the crusades and that was a massive slaughter around Accra, Jerusalem and a few other places. Yes, there are a few inaccuracies here, but the sentiment is decently sound. An interesting telling is seen in the movie Kingdom of Heaven by Ridley Scott. The western world had a decent technological advantage, but they could not stop the Arabian nations to unite in their anger to the west. Between 1092 and 1291 approximately 1.7 million people died. These people died by warfare, disease, starvation, and murder by banditry. In the current Russian losses against the Ukrainian defenders there were merely 647,800 losses, so the losses were then 300% larger. So what do you think will happen now that the Arabian lands have an economic advantage and the west no longer have a technological advantage? Did the Karen’s of this world consider that small setting in ‘their’ crusades?

And when you consider that stage, we get to the article that ‘set’ me off. It was the Daily Mail (at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-13889805/Anthony-Joshua-Daniel-Dubois-selling-national-soul-Saudi-PR-silence-criticism-SIMON-JORDAN.html) where we see ‘SIMON JORDAN: We must stop selling our sporting soul to the Saudis, I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be bought’ It is a weird sense. You see, the owners of whatever is there to be sold, because they want money and the Saudi’s (and other nations) have it. The byline “I found it a tad perplexing to sit in our own Wembley stadium on Saturday night and listen to the national anthem of Saudi Arabia” which is nice, because on September 23 1932 the country Saudi Arabia was established. The Saudi’s are proud of this and they should be allowed to be proud. So I went over to YouTube and I found the Saudi National anthem. It was beautiful. Now, I was lucky because I cannot speak Arabic to any degree. I cannot even order a Shawarma if my life depended on it (as I die of starvation), as such YouTube was the answer as the movie had the song and the texts both in Arabic and English. 

Hasten!
To glory and supremacy,
Exalt the Creator of heavens!
And raise the green flag
Carrying the written light of aegis;
Repeat: “Allahu Akbar!”
O my country!
My country,
As pride of Muslims live on!
Long live the King
For the flag
And the land!

It reveres their country, their faith, their king and their flag. What is wrong about that? Because it isn’t revering the Union Jack? The owners (the governing body of English football, the Football Association) decided to honour the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on their national day. I see nothing wrong with that. So how did he come to “I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be bought”? Shouldn’t his first though be “I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be sold” In that the question refers to their inner ‘christian’ being, get cash now before it is too late. And in this America is already ahead of them, making all kinds of ‘unions’ before the wells of wealth run dry. And when we get “Though I consider myself a capitalist, I find it a little bit distasteful that we seem so willing to give away our national soul for the right price” and there is the larger story. The idea that the people would hand over ‘their national soul’, they sold their soul for a price and the buyer was willing to buy. I don’t see this part anywhere. We then get “I turned up to our most iconic sporting arena in the country, recognisable around the globe and the seat of our national game, to watch two British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua, and it felt like downtown Riyadh.” And I wonder (apart from the fact that Riyadh is prettier and a lot cleaner than London). Wembley Stadium is, as far as I can tell, still owned by the Football Association, so what gives? Was it merely a sign of respect to play the Saudi National anthem on their national day? I don’t know what the driving force was to playing that song, but I am willing to see that it as a sign of respect to the Saudi involvement on their national day. But what do I know. What is interesting is that the Daily Mail gives us “A British journalist has claimed he was barred from Saturday’s showpiece fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley after labelling the event an ‘unashamed sportwashing exercise’.” Was this the case? I do not know as too many media is about creating flames. Perhaps that journalist could not afford the ticket and whomever he ‘represented’ had another journalist assigned to the event. I do not know, but I wonder what the facts are. The Daily Mail is a decent expert in creating flames and this time around they let Simon Jordan create the flames. 

That is the larger stage, the media is losing more and more reliability as they more and more depend on ‘clicks’ from flames. We do not know what to believe and the article does not help. For one, an no point do we see who the owner of Wembley Stadium is, as far as I know it is still owned by the Football Association. The article does not bear that out, not even once. Weird isn’t it. Oh and before you start a crusade, remember that wars are won by those who are better informed and as such you would get a massive beating from whomever represents the new Saracens. Something to think about.

Have a lovely day.

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