Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

January 8, 2026 · 20:37

Our lull moments

That happens, we all crave it, the option of bliss, inactivity, moments of calmness and we find it in different ways. I for one have this with a video game. Not some edge of seat Epic setting, but the Horizon setting, Skyrim, Oblivion, fall out, the list goes on. And yesterday I saw a list of two dozen games coming to the PS5 and some woke me up. There was off course Wolverine by Insomniac. I will be waiting for that one, but at that point one game turned up that I never expected The game STYX has as far as I know been a Xbox game and it is a excellent game, Stealth of the better variety. And you better rely on stealth as you are a 4’ goblin with his trusty knife. What drove me to this game that any level had several solution to solving it and you got points for completing other ways. It was a lovely time. Now its coming to Sony Playstation and we can rejoice. More important there are a few other settings we could consider. One of them is RYSE, son of Rome. The good parts is that the graphics were really good and the storyline was amazing. The two downsides were in the first was that all combat is massively repetitive. And the second one was that you had too defeat several bosses twice, after the first time he completely reset his health bar. I don’t like this, but that might just be me. So as I see it, when you redo the battle setting of Marius Titus you might have an amazing Playstation winner. So when we consider the funny part, who thought that Frankfurt had more to offer than Frankfurters? Crytek GmbH might be the next great thing coming from Germany, go that is an exaggeration, but the truth is that RYSE might have dies too soon and too small a death, so whilst some might object as it was released 12 years ago, I say ‘be still’ good games overcome systems and generations (example Mass Effect and Oblivion) and those are merely two who made the system generation jump. I think that Ryse could do the same (if the two weaknesses are dealt with) As far as I see it, everyone is looking at what might be (I do that too at times) but at times I look behind me what we left and there is plenty to be had in that direction too. I gave some of this ‘life’ in an IP solution I offered to Saudi Arabia and I still believe it can work, not merely for the games, but for the two sides of that equation that could propels Saudi Arabia’s gaming and other settings a lot further. Don’t be miffed Amazon got the same option, but they decided to ignore this whilst they are banking on AI (good luck with that).

So whilst we were given ‘Amazon Pulls AI-Powered Fallout Recap After Getting Key Story Details Wrong’ which comes with “According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Amazon is betting AI can identify key plot points for a series to be synchronized with a voiceover narration and dialogue snippets.”” Apart from the settings that are incorrect and incomplete. Amazon needs to realise that this is all programmed and the programmer might not see what needs validating and verification. They might not know, but the fans will pick up on this instantly. And Engadget gives us ‘Amazon’s AI-generated recap tool didn’t watch Fallout very closely’ this relates to games, because when these people get the AI part ‘working’ they will go over games in that same way and that is where the blunders start adding up to the folly of people who blindly believe in AI. Because I mentioned once that 2026 will be the setting of AI court cases and I was proven (yet) again correct as we are given ‘CanLII and Caseway AI reportedly moving towards settlement in copyright dispute’ as well as TechCrunch given us 8 hours ago ‘Google and Character.AI negotiate first major settlements in teen chatbot death cases’ merely two cases in the second week on January. So, how many more will follow? Only seven hours ago we were given ‘Musk lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion can head to trial, US judge says’ and all this relates to games, because last November we were given ‘Ubisoft Reveals Teammates – An AI Experiment to Change the Game’ and I reckon it will merely take one slip up to thwart the statistics of a player and he will be crying in the lap of some ambulance chaser. A setting I saw coming a mile away which a few people have experienced if they are stealth players. 

As such my lull moment gets blown away with some AI character, team mate or not. But that might merely be me, but what Ido remember was call on this setting months ago and now we see two being settled, whilst OpenAI is now entering the dock for what might cost them a pretty penny. Did those shareholders consider that this might become the destination of their investment?

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Law, Media, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 31, 2025 · 10:06

The direction doesn’t matter

That is a weird stage to set things on, but for me in Australia, I am looking to events in the NW (actually WNW to North), Canada looks at it as events in the East (actually ESE) and Europe sees it as events to the South (actually SE), we look at things from a different perspective and in this the ABC (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-31/uae-saudi-arabia-yemen-strikes-port-weapons-shipment/106188568) we get ‘UAE withdraws personnel from Yemen after Saudi Arabia air strikes’ and the headline matters, but this is not the most important part. You see, I partially take offense to “The United Arab Emirates is pulling its personnel out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia’s bombing of an alleged shipment of weapons and vehicles it claimed had been going to a separatist group. The UAE Ministry of Defence said it would withdraw its remaining “counter-terrorism teams” from southern Yemen after Saudi Arabia issued a 24-hour deadline to the Emirates to leave and cease sending weapons and money to any group in the country.” This follows the issue I have with “Both Saudi Arabia and the Emirates intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, as the major players in a coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the north.” The ABC is wrong here, these aren’t Houthi rebels, they are Houthi Terrorists and they better realise their wrongful setting of the euphemism brush that they use in cases of Yemen events. As I see it,“A terrorist is an individual who uses or threatens violence against non-combatants (such as civilians) to create widespread fear and thereby achieve political, religious, or ideological goals.” And in all this Iran is equally guilty for enabling these terrorist events by delivering hardware and knowledge to the Houthi terrorists. We merely get “On 9 October 2021, Houthi forces launched two suicide drones on King Abdullah Airport in Jizan, Saudi Arabia. The attack left 10 wounded; six Saudi nationals, three Bangladeshi and one Sudanese as well as and minor damage to civilian property.” Yet, if the media took the trouble to question Colonel Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki of the Royal Saudi Air Force, they would get a number a lot higher and more recent of the attacks these terrorists made on Saudi Arabian soil, even though Yemeni hardware could never enabled these actions, neither was it possible to see the attacks on 14 September 2019, where drones were used to attack oil processing facilities. Houthi forces never had the knowhow and precision to follow through in that, making Iran the most likely culprit (I use culprit loosely as I never saw the evidence) and the western media is massively shy the reports on this, because that would enable Saudi Arabia to get the backing from the global population and that is a second setting the world was not ready for. It is all nice if one party is show to be the bad apple, but when too much evidence is showing to be incorrect, the people will ask questions and the media set themselves up for that stage. And there are developing stages here. As ABC gives us “But Dr Kendall said the Saudis and Emiratis supported different factions in southern Yemen, with Saudi Arabia preferring a united Yemen and the Emiratis supporting the separatist STC, which wants to create a new state in the south. That rivalry has intensified, especially after the UAE expanded its influence and military presence across southern Yemen and its islands, while Saudi Arabia responded by bombing the STC in Yemen’s eastern provinces last week. “Clashes have erupted in the past, most notably in 2019, but now is the most serious clash yet. This is a very serious disagreement about how, when and if the south should break away,” Dr Kendall said.” It shows that my knowledge is lacking involving Yemeni events and I blame the media for not keeping us up to date and that is the function of the media. ABC has been properly advising its readers (listeners and watchers too) of these events, but they likely have limiting resources. And as I see it, ABC stands mostly alone, whilst American, British and European news agencies let that chapter slide as (as I personally see it) Yemen isn’t sexy enough for the news. But that also implies that too many hand the bad card to Saudi Arabia whilst that is not the proper thing. As I see it, Iran is a lot more guilty of these bad cards than Saudi Arabia would have ever been entitled to.

We are also given ““The UAE categorically rejects any attempt to implicate the country in tensions among Yemeni parties and strongly denounces allegations that it exerted pressure on, or issued directives to, any Yemeni party to undertake military operations that would undermine the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or target its borders,” the Emirati government said in a statement.” I cannot counter that because the media never gave us the real deal, but I am willing to color both nations in happy green, whilst keeping Iran in evil red (as colours go in my view of things) and that makes coloring the borders a problem, because I have seen close (thought Arabian news sources) to half a dozen attacks on Saudi civilian targets, making the Houthi terrorist the guilty party. So why is the ABC labeling them ‘Houthi rebels’? 

It is a setting that due to one sided and limited exposure a setting of question and whilst we might see the UAE and Saudi Arabia as the noble sides, there is more going on in Yemen and that could give us a setting of doubt and we are able and willing to be in doubt, because as I see it, most of the media isn’t doing their job (as I personally see it).

All whilst ABC gave us this image which is striking. There is a whole range of elements in action, some in the hearts of the Yemeni and the media just won’t give us the real deal. Why is that?

Have a great day and today is the last day of the year here, tomorrow will be another year.

Leave a comment

Filed under Law, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 29, 2025 · 17:07

When it goes beyond oil

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

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

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

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 28, 2025 · 14:13

Are doornails really dead?

I got a nice surprise today. I got a story (at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/2025-was-the-year-xbox-died-130000467.html), the only inaccuracy I think is that the contraption was dead already, for about 2 years. So I got to wonder. What happened to:

Mojang studios (Mincecraft) $ 2.5 billion
ZeniMax Media, Bethesda $ 7.5 billion
Activision/Blizzard $68.7 billion

Which gives us $78.7 Billion and it shouldn’t be allowed to go into a bad bank, that interest is still due. The last purchase was only completed in October 2023. So what happens, sell it to Saudi Arabia? The interest (said to be around 5%) implies that Microsoft is still meant to pay $3.935 billion interest on an annual basis and there is no way it gets to be reflected away, although I might advise Saudi Arabia in particularly Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi that he should not offer a Halala over $50 billion for the entire package. I don’t think Microsoft is allowed any leeway for their intentional stupidity. That being said, they bought Mojang studios in 2014 and they did mighty fine work on their Minecraft product, including the PS5 (which still needs the PS4 disc), but that is small fry. The result is truly amazing and the fact that it is still one of the most popular games on any console is due to the Microsoft teams and credit where credit is due I say. Still, as the optional spokesperson for Saudi Commerce, I think it is essential that the Saudi Fleet of airplanes need to be give to all its Microsoft 2024 Flight Simulator players free of charge the fleet of planes that are part of the Saudia airlines, which consists of Airbus A320-200, Airbus A330-300, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10, as well as include the King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah) and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in the base setting of the Flight Simulator 2024. I think that Saudi Arabia is due some VIP treatment if Microsoft wants to flog away their failures. I think that Saudi Arabia is due that privilege. 

I think if you want the grease the wheels of commerce, you better take out your best effort, but that is merely me speaking. This all started in 2013 when they upset the gaming industry, by thinking they could strong-arm gamers towards the Xbox, whilst they never actually understood gamers (I point to the Don Mattrick, the former president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, widely remembered for controversial stupid statement of “Fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360”) my response was ‘Fuck you Mattrick” and I placed a handful of gaming IP on my blogs for anyone not Microsoft. That’s how I react and these people are still welcome too all that, especially as the Xbox is now dead on arrival, a proper vivisectioned console at your local morgue. So whilst the article gives you “Xbox didn’t enter 2025 in a great state, and it’s leaving the year grasping for help, like an Arc Raider player desperate for a revival after being knocked out. Microsoft cancelled the Perfect Dark reboot and Everwild, two of the most interesting games in its weak upcoming slate. The company brought titles like Forza Horizon 5 over to the PlayStation 5, which prompted Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham to declare he no longer needed an Xbox.” He never needed one and I did mine away years ago, it was just a dust collection setting and I merely held on to it because of Elite Dangerous and Subnautica, when they became available on PS4/PS5, the fate of my coaster to be (Xbox One) was set. Some regrets, but the Xbox360 was awesome, so not that much and it was my first setting for Oblivion and Skyrim, which I also have on Sony. We were also given “There was a chance for Microsoft to reinvigorate the Xbox brand with the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X gaming handhelds, but the $600 and $1,000 launch prices placed them out of reach for most gamers. It also doesn’t help that Windows still isn’t well-optimized for portable devices with touchscreens, and those systems also aren’t compatible with older Xbox titles like the consoles. At the very least, Microsoft now has a handheld foothold. But a future portable Xbox console would need to be significantly cheaper to compete with the likes of the Steam Deck, which starts at $549 (following the discontinuation of the $400 LCD model).” But as I personally see it, Microsoft tends to lose interests in solutions that dos not make them shine and the Xbox had nearly rusted through as I personally see it, but there was the news which was available for about three days now and I had other matters on my mind, so it was a nice setting today, I was proved correct all along and as Saudi Arabia is vying to be a digital powerhouse, the setting if upgraded to a better shine, what was left of Microsoft games, might get a decent second life, but the additions to the Microsoft Flight-simulator 2024 will be required, although they might include it as a package deal for the nice price of $50 billion, not a penny more, including the Flight Simulator 2024 might make it worth the time of Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, but that is merely my view on the matter. And there is the setting we need to consider, the Xbox came to life (with massive help of Dwayne Johnson) and grew to new heights in 2005, it actually became a competitor to Sony and made Sony release the PS4 and PS5 with the immense upgrades. Gamers rejoiced and then in 12 years (due to Don Mattrick as I personally see it) it went from hightop to basement level bargain value. Still, I am not happy. Sony was better with Microsoft chasing its tail and that needs to be said and the results as we still see every day its awesome and as I see it, Todd Howard now needs to say the words “Elder Scrolls 6 is coming to Playstation” the Sony and the gaming world needs to hear those words. The Microsoft blame game of ‘perhaps’ and ‘we will service all gamers’ is disingenuous at best and not appreciated. 

So whilst we are given “Its partnership with AMD could easily lead to new handhelds, and it also gives Microsoft a leg up in producing a compact and powerful Xbox PC. After all, why should the company keep trying to go toe-to-toe with Sony’s closed PlayStation platform? Why shouldn’t Microsoft embrace its PC roots to give us a gaming desktop under our TVs? The company has already committed to bringing new Xbox games to PCs immediately, so the line between the two is already blurring. It may be a risk, but evolving into a PC proves there’s still life in the Xbox brand. And crucially, it’s also something Sony can’t easily replicate.” You see, the gamers feel betrayed by Microsoft, even those having an Xbox, they aren’t (don’t say ever in this case) going to trust Microsoft, they tried to play gamers and these players don’t like to be played, they take this personally and that is what Microsoft did in a few ways as I personally see it.

So you all have a good day and those owning a Playstation have pleasant dreams, because Microsoft just bought the bucket from Davey Jones locker. I reckon that this setting is hardest on Phil Spencer, who tried to do everything to make Microsoft gaming work. I think he did a fine job, but Microsoft overhead was ruled (as I see it) by Excel users and that goes against the grain of gamers. Have a great day today, my time for a late lunch now.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 26, 2025 · 19:50

One turn deserves?

That is the intro to the question, or perhaps the conundrum given. It comes from the Caspian Post  (at https://caspianpost.com/opinion/saudi-arabia-vs-uae-is-riyadh-becoming-russia-s-new-gulf-partner), one I actually hadn’t heard before. Out is one an opinion piece, but the title reads ‘Saudi Arabia vs UAE: Is Riyadh Becoming Russia’s New Gulf Partner?’ It made me think for a short while. You see Saudi Arabia is increasingly intelligent, so I don’t think this is the real reason or the truth. But the setting is given. And with “But the geopolitical landscape has shifted. Sanctions, compliance pressures, and reputational risks have made working with Russian clients in the UAE more complicated. Not because the country has turned hostile, but because it must balance relations with the West. The environment for Russians remains attractive, yet clearly less frictionless than before. This naturally raises the question: if not only the UAE, then where next?” Then there are two settings that I have in the back of my mind. In the first there is Washington, there is an inkling of thinking that they have open the doors to a setting that might lead to destabilization, because with all other issues that America faces, the last thing they want is a more strong, more stable middle east and they might think that this setting loses cohesion when the Russians are given a jolt of ‘entertainment’ the second thing is that I wouldn’t accept that America might stoop that low, they would lose too much, too quick. So I wonder about it. As we are given “Saudi Arabia stands out as the most compelling answer. A large, wealthy, and rapidly reforming state, it is positioning itself as a future global hub. The Russia-Saudi dialogue has long been rooted in oil cooperation and OPEC+, where both sides rely on coordination rather than competition. Political communication between Moscow and Riyadh appears stable and pragmatic. The Saudi ambassador to Russia, Sami bin Mohammed Abdullah Alsadhan, recently said that “personal contacts between the leaders of our states form a solid foundation for cooperation,” and the facts support this. Putin visited Riyadh in 2007, 2019, and 2023, while King Salman made a historic trip to Moscow in 2017. Few foreign capitals have hosted such frequent top-level contact.” As well as “In October 2025, Saudia Airlines launched direct Riyadh-Moscow flights, followed by Flynas opening a Jeddah-Moscow route in December. Daily flights are expected in 2026, along with new routes from St. Petersburg and Sochi. The real turning point is the introduction of mutual visa-free travel for 90 days starting January 2026 – a clear signal encouraging tourism, business visits, and economic exchange. Riyadh expects over 200,000 Saudi tourists in Russia next year, with plans to reach 2 million annually by 2030. In 2024, the number of Saudi visitors to Russia already increased fivefold. Russian interest in the Kingdom is also growing.” But why? There are a few ideas and none are really that good. In the first there is the need for a new tourist destination, that much is clear. Russians are shunned almost everywhere in the EU, Commonwealth and America, as as such the UAE and Saudi Arabia stand out. So the question becomes what business visits? As I see it, Saudi Arabia has clearly defined needs, but does Russia hold the answers? Then there is the data. So what Saudi tourists are looking at Russia? It seems a simple answer, but there is no clear answer. If the answer is work in the Russian Petro Chemical industry, the answer might be fine, but if that links Saudi to the seller of Russian Crude the picture becomes a little distorted. Especially when Saudi Arabia does a reversed Brent Crude Oil loop, as such whilst Brent resells Saudi Oil, Saudi Arabia might be reselling Russian oil to India and a few others. It will bring money to the coffers of Russia whilst greasing the Saudi wheels of business opportunity. Is this correct, is this incorrect? It is pure speculation, but it fits a few patterns and that is what I am going with. America might bristle its nose in the direction of India buying Russian oil, but it will not do so easily as India buys Saudi oil. India is safe, Russia know nothing and Saudi Arabia sees a plain and simple business agreement. 

And whilst we ponder on “Russia exported 4.49 million tons of grain to the Kingdom that year; agricultural exports rose 24%. Shipments of beef, poultry, sunflower, and rapeseed oil increased significantly, with poultry exports up 1.8 times in early 2025. Total trade has surpassed $1 billion.

Yet compared to the scale of Saudi-US trade – $25.9 billion in 2024, with plans to reach $600 billion within four years – Russia’s presence remains modest. This does not make cooperation meaningless; rather, it underscores how early Russia is in this market. Potential exists, but realizing it will require a long-term strategy rather than episodic enthusiasm.” Personally I think that this shape has merit, it allows one player to offset its oil, whilst greasing the wheels of another and I think it is highly likely that this is done right under the eyes of America ad the EU, and after we are given ‘US lifts sanctions on Russia’s military suppliers: What’s behind decision’ a week ago where we learned that “The lifting of US sanctions against companies involved in supplying equipment to Russia’s military-industrial complex is most likely an element of limited encouragement”, whilst we also see ““There is a strong component in the negotiations between Kirill Dmitriev (the Kremlin’s special representative – ed.) and Steve Witkoff (the US president’s special envoy) and Jared Kushner (Donald Trump’s son-in-law – ed.) that relates either to the personal interests of these individuals or to their lobbying of certain interests,” the expert added.” These two pieces give a weird symmetry as business in conducted with the ‘blessing’ of America, most likely it comes at a price that is non-disclosed, but it gives Saudi Arabia a larger coin towards the setting, so there will be almost no mention on it in the media. And whilst some ‘defer’ to etiquette like “Saudi Arabia is not the UAE. It is more traditional, more conservative, and strictly follows Islamic norms. Alcohol is entirely prohibited. Dress codes matter. Social etiquette is not decorative – it is structural. Anyone entering this market must adapt or fail.

Business advisers already outline basic rules for Russians planning to work with Saudi partners: an intermediary is not necessary but extremely helpful; conversations traditionally begin with personal small talk before business; clothing should be modest; punctuality is expected even if partners may arrive late; negotiation teams should remain constant because Saudis trust people, not changing faces; women may participate in meetings but usually not as lead negotiators” but in all this there is a hidden opportunity hatch handed to Russia and whilst (as I see it) the west is seemingly ignoring all this, there is a new revenue stream going straight into the coffers of Riyadh, because business is important. Imagery is important and as I understand it, not much else.

So is this simply one good turn deserves antoerqh, or is this the 101 of Islamic business opportunity? I actually don’t know, it might be both or even neither and I ‘coincidentally’ saw a setting that does not exist. I don’t believe it is the latter part, but I am willing to go with that one too.

Have a great Boxing Day today, mine pretty much ended already with less than 6 hours to go. Time for some dinner. I reckon that today it will be rice with tuna, carrots and peas. So enjoy yours and make it a nice day today.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Politics, Tourism

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 25, 2025 · 21:44

The boat has left

That is a weird setting, but that might be the case for a lot of people. It is the Financial Express who gives us (at https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-ibm-to-skill-5-million-indian-youth-in-ai-cybersecurity-and-quantum-computing-by-2030-details-inside-4082018/) the headline ‘IBM to skill 5 million Indian youth in AI, cybersecurity and quantum computing by 2030’ you might think it is nothing to get hung over about, but you would be wrong. Even as some ‘claim’ to give good courses (some actually do), it is IBM who has had that inside track in several ways. As such (or perhaps to consider as I see it), the labour market will be drowning in Indian entrepreneurs by 2032 (and a whole before that). I reckon that these people will bolster the Indian go getter market and they will branch out to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a few other places. As such if you think the US labour market is merely cooling, think again. These people will be highly wanted in India, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, UK, Australia, Canada and the EU long before we get to 2030. There will be an Indian wave of go getters all over the world and the places that needed to get active weren’t for much too long. So as we see “India possesses the talent and ambition to lead the world in AI & Quantum. Fluency in frontier technologies will define economic competitiveness, scientific progress and societal transformation,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our commitment to skill five million people is an investment in that future. By democratizing access to advanced skills, we are enabling the youth and students to build, innovate and accelerate India’s growth.”” And these people will be highly skilled in all things IBM (perhaps not in IBM Statistics or IBM Miner) but that is little cause for alarm. These people will also bring forth IBM skills and products, so this setting takes care of two pipelines, skills and products. And all that time AWS was hounding the AI field. It is nice, but as these people are highly skilled in whatever IBM holds, there is a mismatch on what is required. OK, that last part is speculative, but that is what I would do.

I reckon that Microsoft and OpenAI also might have a problem here. You see we also get “IBM also continues to strengthen school-level readiness by co-developing the AI curriculum for senior secondary students, along with teaching resources including the AI Project Cookbook, Teacher Handbook and explainer modules. These programs are designed to embed computational thinking and responsible AI principles early, while enabling teachers to deliver AI education confidently and at scale.” As such these people get a schooling in evolved from famous systems like Deep Blue and Watson and as such IBM provides a flexible ecosystem allowing choice from various foundation models (like Granite, Llama, Mistral). Whatever they partnered with doesn’t matter. This is the IBM show, partners take a second stage chair. And as I see it, IBM did something nicely spectacular because they get a choir of 5 million evangelizing Watsoners all over the world and in that instance Watson grows from niche to mainstream and that will feel good for all the shareholders who kept their trust in Arvind Krishna (I will give a nice ‘Well done sir’) in this instance. Because it is starting to look like the old premise ‘When two dogs fight over a bone, the third one takes it gone’ So in the fight we saw with OpenAI and Google, we now see that the future is banked on by IBM. This doesn’t make the others useless in any way, but IBM set the future towards Watson in a rather nice way and that has to count for something.

What a nice end of year this will be this year. Because at the drop of a hat, it wasn’t merely Google or OpenAI, as I see it now IBM because the third major player in this duet and as I see innovation, this is how innovative strides are made, by having to refocus your tasks, that is the real innovation maker in this world. 

A lovely ending to Christmas Day. Have a great upcoming boxing day you all.

Leave a comment

Filed under IT, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 23, 2025 · 10:08

How broke am I?

I have wondered about that for a while and asked that very same question of that place. But some economist spoke that a nation cannot be broke (technically correct) and it reminded me of a 30 year old joke. A helicopter pilot was circling buildings in Chicago, to get his bearing, but he had no clue as the fog was too thick. So he mimed asking ‘Where am I?’ To people in a building. They wrote on a large sign ‘You are in a helicopter’ he thought for a moment, set his course and altitude and within 10 minutes he landed safely at the airport. The passengers asked how he did that and the pilot answered ‘The answer was technically correct but utterly useless, so I could only have been at the IBM Statistics building, from there on it was easy’ You think this is partially useless and you will be wrong, because we are diverting our attention to the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgmd132ge4o) and the losers of that comedy. The comedy starts with ‘New Trump envoy says he will serve to make Greenland part of US’ and it is almost hilarious, but the undertow of this comedy is not a farce, it is how desperate and broke America now is. So as we are given “Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US’s special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Gov Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a “volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US”.” So loser one is Jeff Landry, who served from 1987–1998 as a Sergeant, so he knows about illegal orders. So he goes to Greenland as an envoy, not with any diplomatic status, so President Trump can feign ignorance. And this might be the final straw as Greenland bounces Landry as an unwanted person the stage is decently set so that President Trump can invade Greenland to ‘avenge’ his former governor. 

And the question that I am getting is not the one you would expect “How broke is America?” You see after the folly of making Canada the 51st state (something that was doomed to fail) and now he is going after the Venezuelan oil calling it stolen from America. Weird, because Venezuela was never part of the USA. And now he goes after Greenland and now he get the EU and optionally Canada against him. He is after the riches of these places, minerals and expansion and it gives a rather bitter taste of alignments. The bitterness is that America might be so broke that this is their only option before they have to cancel debts they have. They cannot play this game any longer as I see it. And the wealth hidden on Greenland is all that is left to play. 

So, after he destroyed his alignments and destroying his tourism there is little left of the bankable economy of America. He stated that he didn’t need anything, but without Canadian energy settings and Canadian aluminum, America has a bitter future ahead and those enjoying this Christmas better make it count, because for Americans it is likely the last jolly Christmas they will have in close to a decade. The game is up, but there is one upside for President Trump. There is a likelihood that he drove the EU and Commonwealth straight in the arms of China

And they will reward him with the Fortnum and Mason Christmas Hamper. His final moment of eating like a King, because there will be nothing left after this mistake. His former allies see his for the enemy he has become and in a year he gave the land of the free and the home of the brave gain a reputation that is even worse than Russia has and I reckon that China owes him that hamper. America did more to advocate China’s supremacy than China could have even hoped of doing. 

And I get that the politicians (Republicans and Democrats) know the setting they are in and they are silent, because they have nothing better to offer, even if they ‘dethrone’ president Trump today, the damage is done. Tourism will be flat for close to a decade, trade is flat because no one will do business with America. Disney and Warner Brothers are evading to the UAE and Saudi Arabia to regain some of their options over the next 5-10 years. And as we see these parks evolve, we will see the American Theme parks drop down to nothing with almost no international tourists and as the prices keep on rising in these places, even Americans will be unable to afford to go there. Then there’s production, it is down over the entire field and whilst shortages increase in America, more and more will fall flat and as such America is done and when the first debt will not be followed up on, there will be a fire sale unlike any we have ever seen and that is fun, because these AI settings all training on data it has never show such events, so they are useless as some expected them to be. So where is Stargate? Where is the AI stuff? It is somewhere out there, but as it is not making revenue until 2029, it will be too late for America, but the EU will buy it all for $0.01 of the dollar because it will be the best America is hoping to get and as such the Commonwealth will let America hang as well. So as Russian tourism evolved to the number one spot in America, the wall on the Rio Grande will get a new function, not to stop traffic from south to north, but to stop Americans going south and that might be rash and I might be correct, but as I see it the Economy in Mexico will be better than the Americans economy is and it will take less than three years to get there. So the question how broke is America is one that needs contemplation because the actions of the American administration leaves no other question out there. 

And last there is the flag of Greenland, so where are the stars and stripes there? Greenland has been part of the Danish sovereignty since 1814, it is only recent that it got American interests because they need to minerals and they are seemingly willing to kill to get them and it might be the least defended one (compared to Canada and Venezuela) but Greenland is part of the EU through Denmark and those 27 states are now seeing America as the enemy it is and that might be a much tougher pill for America to swallow.

So have a great day and for the 56,836 it will be a great day, they recently learned that they have almost 500,000,000 friends who are roaring to have their backs and that is beside the allies they might get as those allies get to stick it to America.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 14, 2025 · 18:36

In opposition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 13, 2025 · 04:03

Then there is that

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

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

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

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

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 11, 2025 · 01:11

The lighting of a stage

That is what I am wondering about. You see, first we hear that Netflix is acquiring Warner Brothers and a few connected things too. A day later we hear “US president Donald Trump says the Netflix deal ‘could be a problem’” Next thing we hear that the son in law (Jared Kushner) is spearheading this hostile takeover. Of course all the conspiracy boys are in town blowing this up to an amazing extent. I think that there might be a setting where the boundaries of ethical borders could possibly have been trespassed on, but as I don’t know the clear picture, I will refrain from voicing them. There is of course the setting we can ‘debate’ on.

As the Business Insider has a more oiled version of what has happened. The story (at https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wbd-saudi-arabia-qatar-abu-dhabi-elllison-hostile-billions-2025-12) which comes with the headline ‘Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi want to put billions into Paramount/WBD. Why?’ It is after all a fair question and I am a little thrown by the setting that this is Qatar AND Saudi Arabia AND the UAE are working together on this. I can figure out the why, but about that later. You see, Business Insider has an additional gem to throw our way. It is “Those three nations won’t have any say over a combined Paramount-WBD, the Ellisons say. So what will they get?” And we are given “The governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi want to invest billions of dollars into a would-be mega media conglomerate made up of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.” And there is a part missing, the gaming IP’s that is floating around there. But the end of the article gives us “If Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi are looking to put anything close to $24 billion into an enormously powerful media conglomerate — one with huge reach in both the US and ambitions for the rest of the world — will they be satisfied with purely financial returns? Or do they expect something else for their money?” I get that part, you see I had been working on IP doing that very same thing. There are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world and there is only so much the current studios can cater for and with this they have a firm hand towards places like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia which together with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE sets the handle to over 50% of the entire Muslim population. And as there is clear evidence to see real growth in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE for tourism and as that growth continues more is needed and with Paramount and Warner Bros. They have just that. I was fishing another angle, but that too was driven towards these 1.9 billion customers. Too bad Amazon never accepted this issue and the Saudi government (Sydney Consulate) did not accept it either, as such I was out of luck and Google had dropped their Stadia. So I was out of luck in that too. Still I considered other avenues as well. I got one Script done and offered it to Dubai Media, but they weren’t accepting any scripts at present (or my script was really bad, which is equally an option) 

But I saw these stages all over the Middle East happening and in that setting there is a growing chance. America with its valve setting is not a real option. Every script can only when the 15 middleman get a share of all that and I will much rather give it away to Canada and never get a penny. But the script was meant for a Muslim audience, so not much use in Canada. The other three optionally, but they are still being written. A have written megabytes of script, but it hasn’t been ironed out yet. I am relatively new to Final Draft. 

So am I correct? I believe so, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (I have no idea about Qatar) will need professionals that are decently up to speed and buying Paramount and Warner Bros. will do that. So, when all these professionals are directed towards new grounds with Saudi/Emirati directors and cast they can get a lot more done fast and I reckon they already have a set amount of scripts and screenings ready to get started the moment 2026 knocks on the front door. 

And with the media up and running the Saudi and Emirati media for all their venues is pretty much a given. Not just that, but the African nations are predominantly Muslim, so they can also capture the hearts of them too. Now add Egypt and Turkey and this media engine gets real global potential. Yes, the entire venue makes sense to me, but for me it was clear as I initially investigated that setting for my own IP, so I looked at the equation and I saw clarity, the fact that the price got upped makes perfect sense to me and in that setting Netflix merely loses. The west better start realising that on this planet Muslims are 1:4, 25% and that is a clear destination for the media centers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, so whilst we are so involved with individuality, they merely approached every Muslim asking “Would you like this” and all muslims will very likely make an affirmative sound. We all look at the stage and wonder what was going on and others look at what lighting it needs and they cater to that hand, Now I need to wonder if my script is really bad or do I talk to another media channel. Well, that is my worry and it is for today as it is 01:00 now. Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, Media, movies, sport, Tourism

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,