Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

February 6, 2025 · 14:52

It’s al about timing

Timing is an odd thing, the ridiculous idea that could be laughed out of the house is ‘suddenly’ accepted when the timing is tweaked. That happens in all walks of life and usually thing comes with a hindrance or an opportunity. It is a balancing of events that enable timing to get away with all things normal or not. In todays world (especially politics) it is a blending of events almost like a chemist mixing volatile matters. It is no longer the 1200’s when a person mixed charcoal, sulfurous ash and gull droppings and with a hail Mary produced gunpowder. So when President Trump announced ‘his’ idea for turning Gaza into a Riviera and set boots on the ground event to move the Palestinians to other places (temporary or not) there was a hushed silence (my giggling was seen as offensive). Yet now mere hours ago Al Jazeera gives us ‘Palestinians reject Trump’s Gaza plan’ with the byline “Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have said they would “never leave, no matter what”, after US President Donald Trump proposed the US would “take over” Gaza and relocate Palestinians from there “permanently”.” And that is not all. The same Al Jazeera also gave us (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/5/non-negotiable-saudi-arabia-flatly-rejects-trumps-gaza-takeover-plan) ‘‘Non-negotiable’: Saudi Arabia flatly rejects Trump’s Gaza takeover plan’ with the setting that we are given with “Establishing a Palestinian state ‘is a firm, unwavering position’, Saudi’s Foreign Ministry says, rejecting Trump’s ethnic-cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.” As well as “Saudi Arabia reacted swiftly and sternly to US President Donald Trump’s pledge to “take over” the Gaza Strip, reiterating no normalisation deal with Israel will occur until Palestinians receive their own independent state.” So all this sweetness, which requires a cherry on top and the Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/05/trump-gaza-take-over-reaction-israel-netanyahu-middle-east-latest-live) ‘Trump officials try to walk back president’s Gaza comments – as it happened’ which gives us “Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the US president does not want to put any American troops into Gaza. Witkoff was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to clarify Trump’s comments the day before, during which he did not rule out deploying US troops to the Palestinian territory.

“Witkoff said that the president doesn’t want to put any troops into Gaza, and that he doesn’t want to spend any US money on Gaza,” the Republican senator for Missouri, Josh Hawley, said, according to the Washington Post. But Witkoff did not suggest that Trump had abandoned his proposal that Gaza’s population of 2.2 million Palestinians be displaced from their land, the paper writes. It cited one senator as saying: [Witkoff] painted a scenario of a Gazan family moving back into tents, thinking ‘I’m going to get back into a dwelling in five years,’ and that is just not going to happen. It is a wasteland of rubble.”

Yet the cherry is not found I n what was said, it is seen in what was not said. There is an overbearing amount of “does not want to”, yet what he wants to do isn’t said either. I reckon that Steve Witkoff was handed a piece of garbage with the message to sort it out (what a life he must have) and that is what he was trying to do. In all this what I seem to miss is that President Trump went in to speak his mind (sort of) and didn’t bother to rely on the people around him to test the speech he had in mind. This gives him bad reviews from the people he desperately wants money from (mainly Saudi Arabia) whilst one person stated that it would be “a breach of international law” all whilst others try to hide behind “it was prudent to sometimes “sit back” and not comment on all of Trump’s claims” which is an almost weasel setting as we have been made to believe during decades of presidency that the word of the president goes, which makes timing an interesting factor. This isn’t President Kennedy stating that we will put a man on the moon in a decade, this is someone stating to get rid of the Palestinians in no uncertain way. I would add to that that if it gets rid of Hamas he gets my blessing. But the reality is that When Egypt gets Hamas in their area they get a new dimension of troubles. As long as Hamas is focused on Israel Egypt is fine with them, in Egypt not so much. The same could be said for Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Perhaps Iran would take them, but I am not holding my breath on that and for Iran it comes with other issues. As I see it no-one wants the Palestinians as they come with added baggage of terror and violence. Did no one figure this out as the Palestinians had nowhere to run to?

As for the setting of “he doesn’t want to spend any US money on Gaza” I come to the question “Why are you getting involved?” He didn’t want to boots on the ground, he doesn’t want to spend money, so what is there? Why get involved in the first place? As I see it the democratic party of President Bartlett would have done a much better job and they are merely actors. So what gives? As for Amnesty International (that now regarded useless bunch) gives us “Donald Trump’s description of Gaza as “demolition site” completely fails to include the Israeli government’s responsibility for causing the devastation to the Palestinian territory, Amnesty International said.” Gives rise to their uselessness as this started with Hamas starting an attack on the NOVA music festival on October 7th 2023, that was the exploding powder keg and Amnesty International better start doing a much better job at giving us facts that giving us “Israeli government’s responsibility for causing the devastation” which is as I see it a new level of political uselessness. 

That is the missing setting. The responsibility of Hamas. As I see it, the only Political player who had anything to say on this was Melanie Joly (Canada) as she gave us “Canada’s longstanding position on Gaza has not changed. We are committed to achieving a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely within internationally recognised borders. There is no role for Hamas in the governance of Gaza. We support Palestinians’ right to self-determination, including from being forcibly displaced from Gaza” this is the missing piece. No matter what is done about the Palestinians it needs to clearly state that Hamas is no longer welcome in Palestine or the rest of the world. This will start again and again as they either by themself or through ‘requests’ from Iran will hit Israel again and this will start all over again and at present the Israeli’s are united and the next time could end the existence of Palestine or its people and the Palestines better be clearly aware of this. They better realize that they have lot grip on their media friends and political friends, even support will wane after the next Hamas attack. The film shots of the entire Palestinian population ‘walking out’ the hostages whilst showing them all the hate they could. 

With these images (CNN Drone) they are shown the people they are and people are realising that the world without Palestine could be a better place altogether. That is what Hamas ensured and enabled. That part is hugely missing in what I see it the Palestinian setting. The cause was Hamas, not Israel. Israel is merely fed up with the setting and we cannot blame them for that. 

But that isn’t stated in any of this, so whatever people try to walk back is depending on the realization that the plan was flawed from the beginning, not merely the talk from President Trump, but the actively guilty parties in play.

Have a great day.

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February 5, 2025 · 13:25

News to me

That happens. I do not know everything and it is not my business to know everything. I learned that early in life, before I know thought I knew everything, I learned as I took the oath of a radio operator, that there is a price for knowing too I much and as such I tried to ‘calm’ the need to know too much. When it is in my business to know, I try to know the materials pretty thoroughly. I tech support there was one program I had to know, but I had to know it on dozens of systems and  for the most I knew the goods. This is not some spreadsheet or a presentation program and you know the in’s and outs of the program (not dissing these software solutions) but in one program know the issues on IBM MVS, DEC digital VMS, AS/400, Sun systems, Unit systems, Windows Systems and a whole lot more, and every mainframe had its own coordinators handbook. For the most it was OK. The dealers could help its own customers but when working deeper they came with questions on installation, data cleaning, syntaxes of the system and of course the limitations that existed per system. In an age where there was no system (it was promised, but was always a month away) I kept my head above water. So what does this have to do with the current issue?

It was given to me in the Conversation (at https://theconversation.com/trumps-trade-war-is-forcing-canada-to-revive-a-decades-old-plan-to-reduce-u-s-dependence-248433) where we get ‘Trump’s trade war is forcing Canada to revive a decades-old plan to reduce U.S. dependence’ it is here that we are given “After threatening Canada and Mexico with illegal tariffs, and Canada with annexation, United States President Donald Trump has agreed to hold off on imposing tariffs on Canada for at least 30 days. This decision came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Trump and committed to strengthening border security” with the added “Early responses seem to have coalesced around two policies: for Canada to trade less with the U.S. and more with other countries and to strengthen the internal Canadian economy.” This implies that the free trade agreements were signed up with that in mind and to ‘diverge’ Canada to go that way. It seems weird that the ‘councilors’ of this US administration did not hammer on this, or seemingly did not hammer this. You see, as I see it President trump shot himself in the foot here. And then watered all over himself. Two distinct settings that could have been avoided. Now America faces tariffs themselves and come to boot Allies of Canada are signing up deals on all markets which will cost America dearly. It also means that the Commonwealth will become stronger as one together. I don’t know (at present) where India stands, but in retail and pharmaceutical solutions there is every chance that Canada will seek solutions in that field. So as we see “But it will impose significant costs on Canadians and require a fundamental readjustment in how we think about our economy and society.” This might be fair, but that all depends on what India could help save Canada costs, if that is achieved (though pharmaceuticals mainly) the net savings for Canada are a lot greater then expected. There will be cost in the beginning yet in the end it might work out cheaper (not easier) for Canada.

Then we are given “In 1972, then-Secretary of State for External Affairs Mitchell Sharp wrote a paper called “Canada-US Relations: Options for the Future.” At the time, international politics were in a moment of transition, and the U.S. was recalibrating its understanding of its national interest.” It is here we are given (at https://gac.canadiana.ca/view/ooe.b1557737E_001/329) a lot more then we bargained for. It is a 332 page paper, as such the 46MB file is not here, but in its original location. As such I would surmise that American administrations forgot about ‘the U.S. was recalibrating its understanding of its national interest’ it seemingly forgot about this. I prefer to think that the setting of pending bankruptcy is making them knee jerk themselves into the next month and the next and the next. Yet there is a rather nasty hindsight to this (not for me). There is a rather urgent need to reassess criminal behavior. So the settings we see in London and other cities (like Los Angeles) imply that a more Venezuelan setting will come to America (thanks to Steve Inman) his comments are setting a new side to the debate. There is no doubt that these ‘free $1000 thefts’ will result in a need to shoot to kill escalation and for the most no one has a problem with that. This escalation is right on the horizon now. The $1000 misdemeanor setting will  (according to some) take care of the freeloaders and especially shopkeepers are fine with that. So as America does away with its freeloaders we still have an issue in Canada and for the most part I hesitate to consider what made America consider its tariff setting, especially as Canada was considering the paper in 1972, it might have been long, but not too long and in light of current trends this setting was on the horizon as were other options and now that America is feeling its first brunt with BRICS, there was a cautious tale on the horizon. And now that the US administration is setting up a ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ with the underlying ““We have tremendous potential,” Trump said while signing the order from the Oval Office on Monday. “I think in a short period of time, we’d have one of the biggest funds.”” (Source: The Guardian) I personally disagree. They HAD tremendous potential and now that they started the tariff wars (it doesn’t matter if it is on hold for 30 days). Canada is now looking at setting additional channels with the Commonwealth, whilst diminishing trade and we now see that there is a 1972 paper who did the hard stuff. The question is how much of that is still valid. I actually don’t know that, but I left the link for your reference. Then there is the options that America left on the floor and now China has an inner track to set a lot more towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I mentioned it more then once in the last two years. As America stifled the sale of their F35, China has been active on at least two weapons trade shows to give rise to the Chengdu J-20 from the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. Did you think that China left a call for a few dozen billion unanswered? At $110,000,000 that implies at least 3 squadrons and guess what, they will not be compatible with whatever Northrop Grumman or Raytheon has to offer. As such there could be a bigger shift in that setting. And as soon as China ‘proves’ that the Chengdu J-20 is at least equal or even superior to the F35, America loses that game too. You see, China only have to prove it is at least equal, a much lower threshold. Add that to the Canadian setting and as Canada can prove goods to the UAE and Saudi Arabia (optionally Egypt and Bangladesh) that are a few more markets where Canada will get slices of pizza that were meant for America. All that for a tariff? So how much more does America have to lose to show its ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ to be close to irrelevant. Yes, others will profit too. Yet Canada never wanted this setting in the first place and that is where short term considerations make some lose ‘their’ war. And just for consideration. Fentanyl is not new. As given by some “Fentanyl was synthesized in 1960 as an intravenous anesthetic and went on the market in the U.S. in 1968. Transdermal fentanyl was developed in the 1980s and was subsequently used for pain management in cancer patients” it was invented by the Belgiums and it has been on the market over half a century. So it is not new, the (speculated) non-actions by America made it an easy drug to score big on. In addition, it is a pharmaceutical  with a boxed warning. So why is it not a controlled substance set to a narcotic? Lets consider that narcotics were ‘outlawed’ in 1914 and went to the American market in 1968. So why was it even allowed? And even as we see in the Conversation where we are given “For the Third Option to be viable today, Canadians must embrace an independent Canadian identity based on respect for democracy, pluralism, the rule of law and human rights. It likely requires consensus that U.S. authoritarianism is wholly unacceptable to Canada.” And this third option point is now reached and so far (as is visible) nearly all the Commonwealth nations. As I see the Australian parties weaseling (my personal assessment) as “Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell is seeking talks with America” (source: News) where we see no clear message to Canada in support as a Commonwealth nation (like weasels as I personally see it). At this setting Scotland shows itself as a much more honorable Commonwealth nation, but the larger issue will be India, as that is where the massive parts of retail goes. I get that India is playing a sensitive game but something must give at some point, Canada needs us now. From a personal note, Canada was there for the Netherlands in WW2. As Dutch born I will stand with Canada on this.

Yet the larger setting is missed. In the end Canada is not the larger play. It will be China and what it can grab from America on the long term from them involving Saudi Arabia, the UAE and optionally Egypt as well.

So have a loverly day and if you are in America try drinking Tim Hortons for a change. It might wake you up faster, stronger and better.

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February 4, 2025 · 18:08

The aim of the game

There are a few things on our plates and I dealt with what I personally care about (see previous materials). There is a setting that I am too hesitant to mention. I found a new way to disrupt global communications but it is not for here. You see, there is a danger to reveal a new innovative part when the agent of opposition is out of my hands. I think I know how to disrupt it, but the way to stop it does not seem to work, so its a one way solution which is never a solution. This matters as I thought it out in a mere hour and I rather be busy with reengineering games. There is a larger setting here. I used to work for a company that is now part of IBM. I actually miss those times. Still, the work was what I liked. So now I try to find a work place where I can be happy working Technical Support or Customer Care. It is merely the way I am. As such to bring a solution whilst I cannot control the stage as it escalates is also not my setting. It is perhaps part of the neatly boxing of things. I do not mind chaos, but uncontrollable chaos is not the way I roll.

These points matter. So how to coin in on those ideas? You see, we are all alike to some extent, yet we are less alike in other settings. This all reflects on the news in Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2588847/saudi-arabia) where we see ‘Saudi project clears 732 Houthi mines in Yemen’ this happened in the last few days as we see “Members of Saudi Arabia’s Project Masam removed 732 explosive devices from various regions of Yemen last week.” And when you see “Ousama Al-Gosaibi, the initiative’s managing director, said a total of 480,526 mines had been cleared since its inception in 2018.” Here we see the part that is the evil that constitutes Houthi Terrorists. They do not care who gets hurt, not the children, not the civilians and not the elderly. They want others to clean the mess they created and they do not care who gets hurt in the process and that is why they are one of three groups that need to be eradicated. And the more hurtful settings is that the western press is ignoring this setting. They are all about the evil Saudi’s but these people are putting their lives on the line to assist the Yemeni’s survive these horrendous times. And Newsweek goes as far as giving us ‘How Donald Trump Should Deal With Saudi Arabia’, granted this is an opinion piece and that is for the most all we get. The Arab News is the only one giving voice to the massive setting what these people are facing. They were awarded the Medal of Bravery – Republic of Yemen in 2023. The western press? Nothing as far as I know. That is what balanced news should look like. 

And in 2024 we see:

  • Total land area cleared: 10,511,927 m²
  • Total anti-personnel (AP) mines cleared: 246
  • Total anti-tank (AT) mines cleared: 3,258
  • Total unexploded ordnance (UXO) cleared: 45,882
  • Total IEDs removed: 237

An almost inhuman task and they have been doing it since 2018. And since then 480,526 mines have been disposed of. And in other news. As the Ottawa Treaty 1997 is being trampled on by Houthi terrorists is it an idea for western politicians to take to battle a setting to make the Houthi terrorists the bad guys? In connection to this, Houthi terrorists (as far as I know) are not able to produce 480,526 mines, as such the real bad players need to be held to account, which is most likely Iran (my speculative view). I think it is time that the west stands up to this. Because Project Masam employs 580 staff in and outside of Yemen and that is just not right. It implies that every member of Masam deactivated 829 mines and when every mine is a presumptuous ‘BOOM’ I would argue that the mental stress on these people is a lot larger then anyone can imagine. As such the press needs to wake (the fuck) up and start doing their jobs and include all the works because Saudi Arabia has done plenty good for the Arab world, but we almost never get to see that, do we? In this setting I think we need innovation to mine cleaning and how to get the human element out of this setting, without relying on dogs. I have untested ideas and I think IBM might be able to solve the stage if they are up for it (and you need to realize, having an idea is less than a concept of a workable solution).

Have a productive day today.

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February 3, 2025 · 22:05

The edge of imagination 

That where we are at times. We all are and some use it to fuel the idea they have. We can speculate all we want, but there are words that the Star Trek Communicator fueled the concept of the mobile phone (don’t know if it is). Then later on the Star Trek Pad (TNG) was the base for the Kindle and also the iPad. We can deny, we can be offended. But the truth of the matter is that any innovation required a group of people thinking in the same way, that is how innovation starts. When the thoughts of this are set to a base, the base grows and the concept becomes a real thing. I have always believed that to be true. So whilst we think that all inventions are in the trend of Oppenheimer that person is not completely wrong, because the imaginations comes from whomever employs it, but usually it take a nudge. The iPad and mobile phone being clear examples of that. There were some bad examples (losers trying to fraud their way through) but they get found out soon enough and now we see medical devices on the same Trent as the losers were, but these people imagined the solution though. They went the additional step.

This is the foundation, now consider that DisneyWorld has the ride Rise of the resistance and galaxy’s edge. We know Star Wars and that is fine, but these two places in the eyes of a child will boost that child’s imagination and that is where the setting changes. That child could be there seeing the life sized version of a Tie fighter and that thought will remain with the child and in 15 years the concept of something he did not realize becomes reality, true innovation. What it is? I don’t know, not my thoughts. I merely thought of Newt Scamander in the series fantastic beasts and I came up with giggle water. A drink in the movie magic based, but the drink could be real. I set that out in a blog around when that movie came out. You see we have all kinds of fuzzy drinks. So what happens when you add Nitrogen (laughing gas) to the syrup that will contain the nitrous oxide and with the added liquid (most likely water, or fruit juice) we now have giggle water. Of course as it is ‘regulated’ all over the place someone in that field would have to tinker with my idea. But can you ignore a fan fleet of millions when it comes to any new drink? Only Coca Cola started with nothing. There is a whole fleet of people now in range and in the Harry Potter field everyone is going nuts about butter beer. Can you imagine having the one good no one else has? 

Did anyone else consider this? Possibly, but they might not have heard of laughing gas, it was discontinued when better alternatives were found, but that doesn’t make the idea useless, it can be applied to other fields. Innovation is the combination of thoughts and imagination and the one solving it has a future ahead. I think I had my fair share of innovations and more are coming. To get into a field I am not even qualified is folly. To be true, I was not qualified in the field of nuclear ‘solutions’ either. But someone had to deal with Iran (and now Russia as well). As such I started a thought that could be interesting. As such I figured that as Russia has 38 reactors, when half a dozen melt down they will end up having a massive energy problem. Simple problem, simple solution and when you consider that a snow globe drove this idea, you can see that innovation can be found anywhere. 

This led me to the setting that America gave us all. The trade wars. Now America has plenty but not all in America. You see Disney is also in Europe, Universal is also win the UAE. So if all people of the commonwealth denounce their visit to America and chose these two other locations America will soon have a new problem. So what if we all disregard America as a destination for the next two years? Disney reported an annual revenue of $88.898B, they beat expectations by a mere 7%, so what if all in the commonwealth and Europe select other places and now Disney falls short for 50%? and Universal is doing equally good, that is until President Trump pulled the rug from under them. You see I like Theme parks, but if I can enjoy another one I would like it to be outside of America. I am a member of the Commonwealth and be decided to blame Canada and Mexico for their own irresponsible spending. As such The Dutch has the Efteling, Harry Potter can be found in London, Japan and soon the UAE (Warner Brothers Theme park) and several other parks are there all over the world. Saudi Arabia will soon have the alternative to Aspen and Utah, Canada has Whistler and Blue Mountains in Ontario and a such there is every chance that they could all get more Mexicans. President Trump did not really consider that, did he? In that same setting Universal (before covid) had 5.5 million tourists, so what happens when that slows down to less then 3 million, how long until Orlando has a massive budget problem? How long until businesses collapse due to a stupid idea that seemingly only President Trump likes. How long until the America economy goes below sustainable (I believe it is on the line now) measures that collapses the larger companies is slicing whatever they have?

Innovation comes in all sizes and directions. So when will we see a webpage with a connected database mapping all theme parks on the world so that people from the Commonwealth and Europe can seek alternative travel arrangements? Consider that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have done nearly all to become the better solution for tourism. Their airports are top node and their theme parks are too. Warner Brothers will still syphon some funds to America, but it is meager pickings for the yanks as their theme parks are on the edge of shutting down. 

That is the other side of innovation, making sure that America dwindles down to nothing. You see, there is a down side to Trade Wars. This is merely one side of this, there are a few others but I reckon the Canadians are already on that part.

As I see it, the stupid side of this world can be found between Canada and Mexico. And they are finding out that there is a cost to electing the wrong president (not sure if the other party had a real contender)

So have a nice day and consider the chance that you yourself have an idea that could be innovative, there is 100% certainty that I am not the only one and innovations can be found in any field, it merely needs fuel and imagination is the best fuel.

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February 2, 2025 · 17:04

The one does not imply the other

We have seen the news on tariffs, we have seen the news on DeepSeek and it has exploded the views on LinkedIn as every influencer wants to cash in on the news on DeepSeek, in one way or another.

However, we forgot about one part. We forgot that we still have a nation called Ukraine that is at war with Russia. Some time ago we saw that Russia is unable to fight this war alone, so they called in the help of North Korea. We all saw them being proud as peacocks marching in unison and it looks impressive to almost any soldier and their generals. Yet the reality is different. We are given (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjder8zgk48o) ‘Ukraine says North Koreans may have pulled out of front line’, my first thought was “Is it merely a regrouping tactic?” That happens. We can on the offense, we can select defense or we can evade. Evasion makes sense after the losses reported, but evasion towards what? Regrouping, or pulling out. Regrouping makes more sense to me. 

The BBC reports “Western officials told the BBC that, out of some 11,000 troops sent from North Korea to fight for Russia, 1,000 had been killed in just three months.” A setting that boils down to decimation of ones troops. This is not surprising, as war is a lot different from parades. But decimation is a serious setting. It amounts to the knowledge that most opponents could do serious damage to the North Korean army. So whilst it might bolster 1.3 million active troops. A decent skirmish could cost that army 130,000 troops and that is merely in the first three months. The larger setting is that Russia mistook parade strength in actual battle strength and that is just not the case. The Ukrainians know that and also realize that the fight is not yet over, more important the smudge they delivered will also soil Kim Jong Un and he does not take kindly to get soiled. I reckon that the regroup comes with the message that they better be successful or not come back at all. This is the setting of desperation and desperate soldiers are a lot more dangerous. I am inclined to believe the quote “The newspaper quoted US officials as saying the withdrawal may not be a permanent one, and the soldiers could return after receiving additional training or after the Russians come up with new ways of deploying them to avoid such heavy casualties.” The BBC gave us. There is every chance that they will get reinforcements from Pyongyang and the clear message to succeed or do not come back alive.

That last part is speculation bordering on presumption, yet with the facade we have seen with President Putin and Supreme leader Kim Jong Un my view seems to be a decently accurate one. My biggest worry is how much damage will Ukraine get in the coming year, because this is not over, not even close and unless Russia is given a truckload of damage, this will not end. Hence my two inventions that could have woken up DARPA with the intent that they test the ‘contraptions’ before handing it to Ukraine. As such I created something to block ports (a sneaky stealth system) and smelting to meltdown nuclear reactors. If the ones in South Russia stop working that army loses a lot of power (and heating) setting the Russian army to a stand still, should places like the Port of Olya gets stopped to utilize troops and materials for the front the reinforcement setting fall short. I saw that the solution is less effective in Odessa as it is a much more spread but part of the harbor could be blocked, the Nuclear reactor solution has a few question marks and both inventions were designed to aid Saudi Arabia and take Iran out of the equation. But they work on Russian principles as such it should work for both. 

Yet, this is not about me, it never was. People don’t consider the larger window. When a near defeated President Putin runs to North Korea for help, what more will he do? Consider that he mobilizes all his troops and North Korea does theirs. Do you think South Korea will be overlooked? The larger setting is that should (being the operative word) be successful, the pressure on Japan grows immensely. Do you think that any dictator (sorry I meant supreme leader) will simply stop at one win? Do you think Ukraine is enough for President Putin? It is this the shallowness how some people think?

The reality is quite different. They see that losses are a mere hinder block to more and they both want more, they both are on the verge of seeing the loss of basic necessities in their countries and they realize that they are now on borrowed time, they both are. They need a decent win to ‘depart’ the scene with the honor of victory and that is where we currently stand. Russia and North Korea never counted on the tenacity of Zelensky and his troops. So where will this go? That depends on the support the Ukrainian troops receive in the near future and that is where we come in, preferably as soon as possible. 

Have a great day in supposedly peaceful resolution.

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January 27, 2025 · 04:22

A call to arms

That is what is in me. Calling you all up to arms. The first issue is Donald Trump, the president of Unites States of bankruptcy. And we see this possibly quite clearly. The first part is (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/buy-canadian-tariff-threat-implications-1.7439117) where we see ‘Why ‘buying Canadian’ isn’t as easy as it sounds’ And we are given “Can shrewd shopping truly help Canada push back on economic threats from the United States? If you believe the rhetoric from some political leaders, every little bit helps — especially if consumers pay closer attention to labels.” I believe we need to do more, we the people of the commonwealth must unite, Canada is our larger brother and the United States of Bankruptcy have no business making claim to it as the 51st state. There is no opportunity as that weasel Kevin O’Leary states. America has to fine ways to raise its economic awareness of go under. And the oil and forests of Canada are not the way. As a commonwealth Australia, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the other 8 nations have a duty, yes duty I say to if whenever possible to buy Canadian. As such all American maple syrups go from the shelves right now and are replaced with the real Canadian version. 

Wood and other stuff needs to be bought from Canadian dealers only. It might not be enough, yet tell me honestly when Trump attacks us, should we not respond? If he attacks one of us all with tariffs and we, all 15 replace American goods whenever possible with Canadian, adding to that notion by switching oil by Canada ($11.8B), United Kingdom ($11.4B), and India ($10.8B) from America to Canada, it will hurt America at least 33 billion right there, the other Commonwealth nations might not be the largest customers, but every little bit helps. Oh, and if we all stop American import oil, America can stop crying like a bitch to make oil cheaper from Saudi Arabia, they can now provide for their own oil. 

It might not be enough, but if the dent is great enough, America will think twice with their ambition to annex Canada into America. So as we see “Make sure we send a message to big retailers. Costco, Sobeys, Walmart, Metro and Loblaws. Buy Canadian products.” Our Commonwealth nations could add Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Co-op, Sainsbury’s and a few others to that list. And this would also benefit the UK. So how much of a dent is needed for America to realize that pissing of the ally they once had was a really bad idea? The second article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-premiers-buy-canadian-trade-war-1.7438587) also gives us in ‘Trudeau, premiers urge shoppers to buy Canadian as country prepares for a trade war’ “As a possible trade war with the U.S. looms, Trudeau and the premiers are now furiously trying to dismantle long-standing internal barriers to make it easier to trade goods and move workers across provincial borders.” And in that case, their brothers and sisters in the Commonwealth should also be heeding the call they face. 

And do not relent, let America face the hardcore upgrade to financial pains by removing massive parts of their income. It is the least we can do. Must of us could get the oil needed from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This could open additional markets for both sides. As such there could be a call to add Aramco and ADNOC fueled gas stations. My temporary issue is that we see “Our refinery at Lytton (ample) uses crude oil largely sourced from Australia, New Zealand, south-east Asia, Africa, and North America.” As such North America should be rescinded from that list and replaced with oil from Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Ampol has over 1900 locations in Australia and 262 in New Zealand, time to upgrade that list of places. As I said it might not be enough, but in hardship the Commonwealth has such together and our big brother needs out help now. We all should unite and let the baboonish call to make the 51st state a thing of the past. We see that America is also making the call to invest 500 billion into AI and that might be (might is the operative word) the final straw for their collapsing economy. You see there is only one definition of AI and it was handed to us by Alan Turing. Based on his paper 1950 paper ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ (see https://www.turing.org.uk/scrapbook/test.html) 

turingDownload

(source: University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC))

As I see it, what we have now is an exploding predictive analytics model set so verbose that it never learns, it merely sets all the combinations of the set in data. It was a decent solution in 1986 when it was Chessmaster 2000 brought by The Software Toolworks and later after passing several hands until 2009 it was in the hands of Ubisoft. The Chessmaster 9000 was said to have an ELO of 2718. Data formats had evolved, but the larger setting was that the system never really evolved and in 1986 our concepts of data were different. Like some rainbow tables approach to the presentation of data we grew more attuned to the situation, but it still isn’t AI. A predictive analytical model using deeper machine learning and LLM model is of course much better, but it just isn’t AI and the elements requiring AI are not in existence yet. We now know what it should look like and a Dutch Physicist has now proven and shown the Epsilon particle to exist, but it isn’t here yet. For that matter until that evolves into a trinary system we are out of luck and President Trump puts 500 billion in this? This will always go sideways in the direction no revenue will come from and at some points the banks will want to see their revenue. A simple setting that is coming the way of America with no recourse. So yes, I am calling to arms to protect Canada, our Commonwealth brother. 

So why the AI part?
If America is to be set to their decisions, then the folly they employ is also a measurement and a hindrance to success. I do not oppose the effort, but in this ago that a solution is ‘presented’ as the holy grail and the future financial solution, the fact that it will never work at present is also the hindrance for the presented result. I don’t care that Microsoft is plunging billions in this and whilst securing 3.5 million carbon credits. The bigger setting is a joke (as I personally see this) like toddlers playing Texas Hold’em poker. With the pot merely increasing and when you realize that this could cost you the hand and in the case of America their nation. In this I believe it is essential to stand by Canada. We see all these companies vesting their chances and the effort is good, but the risk is theirs at present and now President Trump is making the country the presented bet of a folly hand. And it matters and no one is considering that too much will be lost, not even the media.

The media is not looking (or too little) at the dangers of data poisoning and malicious use of the data train in development. These two settings involve people and there is a near complete lack of verification of data and that could cost us all in time. So whilst America is willing to hedge its bet by presenting a solution that cannot yet exist (or in the near future) we can leave them to their sorry state and hand protection to our brother Canada to keep it secure and out of American hands. As such I call to arms.

Try to have a great day.

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January 25, 2025 · 05:31

How does commerce work?

That is at times the question. As I see it President Trump has a flawed nd warped view of one. We get that from the Middle East Monitor, aka MEMO (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250123-trump-calls-for-1-trillion-saudi-investment-lower-oil-prices/) where we are given ‘Trump calls for $1 trillion Saudi investment, lower oil prices’ And I thought it was an error, but it was not (several publications give me a similar view). The weirdest part is “US President Donald Trump, on Thursday, said he will demand Saudi Arabia and OPEC bring down the cost of oil and will ask Riyadh to increase a planned US investment package to $1 trillion from an initial reported $600 billion” (source: Reuters). And the weird part is set in fact. When we see that USA exports 10.15 barrels of oil daily and IMPORTS 8.53 million barrels of oil, we come to the conclusion that America want cheap oil so that they can get a better margin on selling their oil (which will not be cheaper). So why would Saudi Arabia and Aramco do that? Would anyone do that? As such I think that America is thinking of getting the (speculated) $40,000,000 a day margin to settle their mega trillion dollar debt. It also makes me wonder how close are they to becoming bankrupt? And beside that, they want Saudi Arabia to invest a trillion dollars over 4 years. To be honest it seems like a radical stupid notion to get someone to invest a trillion dollars and lower the price of oil so that Saudi Arabia will be regarded as a friend? Sounds a weird approach to business to me. The quote given is ““But I’ll be asking the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion,” Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them.”” So exactly how has America been good to Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia has not been able to acquire the F35? Whilst Saudi Arabia civilian targets were hit by Houthi Terrorists, America did not come forward to sell necessarily equipment. So how has America shown themselves as a worthy ally?

You see, in my books an ACTUAL ally will aid when needed and supply hardware when needed (and paid for in some cases). There is also the notion that Iran have been circumventing the US Navy in several cases to deliver hardware to Houthi Terrorists, some navy. The funny part that MEMO describes “he will demand Saudi Arabia and OPEC bring down the cost of oil”, so now Saudi Arabia is seen separate from OPEC? OPEC is called that as it is the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. So, Saudi Arabia is not part of OPEC? A weird setting as I see it and if America is as broke as it seems to be, it makes some sense, but this would be regarded as a desperate knee jerk move (as I see it).

And on this setting, it has every notion of driving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia straight into the fold of China and their plans for the world according to China. So how does that help America?

Just a thought to have this lovely Saturday morning.

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January 21, 2025 · 02:38

Openings to your fortune

That was the thought I had. Well, it was part of this. You see last week I saw news in the Financial Review (at https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/saudi-arabia-nears-deal-to-take-big-stake-in-foxtel-s-new-owner-dazn-20250115-p5l4gr) and people will think “You and how many more?” And that is a fair view. But think of this “When you are competing with an increasing amount of contenders and when that levy comes crashing down, do you care?” When we see the fires in California, can you afford to be coy or emotionally vested in the needs of others? Good business is where you find it, an old expressions that the crime lord Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) threw in our faces in the movie Robocop (1987), but what you mis is that there is a lot of truth in that. When you are trying to make ends meet, does it matter how you got into a place? Does it yield more favor with anyone when the front door seems close and there are people waiting in line, is it that important to ‘join’ them when there is an open patio door to the same location? An entrance is an entrance. So as we see “Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in discussions to take a stake of up to 10 per cent in global streaming business DAZN, a deal that would hand the Persian Gulf kingdom an influential voice in Australian broadcaster Foxtel.” With the added “DAZN, which specialises in sports streaming, is controlled by British businessman Len Blavatnik and last month agreed to buy Foxtel from News Corp and Telstra in a deal it said valued the local group at $3.4 billion.” Now I can be certain that Len Blavatnik might not be interested in my script, but he knows people and the small herring you throw in the pool might get the attention of the big fish you want to come to your side, either as a supporting player, or even in opposition. The price? Optionally a lousy payday for the first script. But if that gives a decent guarantee that scripts 2,3, and 4 come with a (hopefully) decent payday. And now as California is a cinderblock, it also stands to reason that the pool of scripts suddenly falls (close to) dry. Bares thinking doesn’t it? Because as you are trying to make up your mind Canadians in movies are seeing their option clear to now harvest whatever can be harvested.

So why this path? 
Well for me there is a clear option, but there is more you see, as Foxtel changes hands to British businessman Len Blavatnik, we see more than a mere change, we also see opportunity. As Saudi Arabia is setting their hands to the sport section of Foxtel, there will be people who will look at whatever is there?

And now more eyes will be hopefully looking at my script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ (aka Essay), which was written for an Islamic population and now we are off to the races. How many Islamic laced scripts has Hollywood ever delivered? And now that Hollywood s partially out of business, we can hold our heads high and allow the opportunity to make a few coins.

Is it a guarantee? 
Of course it’s not, but until this happened there were little options outside of Dubai Media and Al Saudiya for me and now there is another doorway, hence the patio door will have to do for me (at present). The simplest setting that Kurtwood Smith was offering us, becomes a doorway where the optional coins reside for us. We found business by going via the side door and it might not work. Yet I feel certain that hungry revenue people will get to see it and that is exactly the door I needed. I might have to sacrifice one script for little to get the visibility to offer the other scripts for a nice fee. And the fun part is that Saudi Arabia has its media channels, but with Hollywood (partially) out of commission, they too needs their channels to produce and now they are handed another option to look at, will it work? Does it match the quality they need? Those are questions for tomorrow. Today we (or I) at least got my way onto the premises. And that was the direction of business I needed. 

And with the quote “DAZN has been expanded aggressively, not only agreeing to acquire Foxtel – along with its streaming platforms Binge and Kayo – but also paying $US1 billion to broadcast FIFA’s inaugural Club World Cup competition.” This is not my field, but they will need to fill up spaces and that will be done with reduced options and a cheap script will be exactly what they need, especially as they will need to fill time gaps for Al Saudiya. And if you think that the last paragraph was a negative one, you would be wrong. The article gives us “But Brian Han, an analyst at Morningstar, said he was not optimistic about Foxtel’s prospects. In a note to his clients last month, he said the broadcaster was “burdened with expensive sports rights and mired in the ever-competitive streaming space against the global digital behemoths”.” You see, he has a point if you think of the way everything has worked all this time. It might have BEEN about “expensive sports rights” but Saudi Arabia has between now and 2030 a massive caliber of options, and that is all Saudi terrain. Trojena will have its own ski slopes, skating rings and so much more, all Saudi. Then there is Sindalah for the water sports. And I cannot even begin to fill the idea of The Line and all will have thousands of people who need to be entertained. I think that a lot of people haven’t even begun to consider how big the transition to Saudi Arabia will be. As such getting in there first has an enormous amount of options for the eager person seeking transition. And for the ones who missed it, when you get access to one it should open up to both (via Saudi Arabia). And that is before you consider that Bangladesh has 150.36 million muslims. That is 4 times the size of the Saudi population. Do you think that Saudi Arabia isn’t looking to service their shows in Bengali? I saw that option years ago, now it is time to seek if it has options for me as well.

So whilst the rest of the world is seeking to unwind their hatred for President Trump, I’ll be seeking the options I can see for good business.

Have a sunny and wonderful day.

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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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January 11, 2025 · 08:49

The Hardship coming

I got hit by an article in the New Arab. The article (at https://www.newarab.com/news/saudi-arabia-prepares-another-hajj-menaced-extreme-heat) gives us ‘Saudi Arabia prepares for another hajj threatened by extreme heat’ and it brought a few thoughts from last year around. In 2024 we were given “at least 1,301 people on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca died due to extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 50 °C (122 °F). Extreme heat caused heat stroke and dehydration, leading to the deaths.” As well as “At least 2,764 cases of heat-related illness, like heat stroke, were reported on 16 June alone.” What is abundantly missed is that the bulk (83%) of the fatalities were caused by people who did the tour without the permit, they took the ‘cheap’ tickets and these tour operators never had the permits for these people, I wonder if any of them were ever caught. Anyway, we now get via the New Arab “Saudi Arabia will implement extra precautions to avoid a similar incident to last year where hundreds died due to the extreme heat.” And we are also given “The vast majority of hajj pilgrims come from abroad, and diplomats involved in their countries’ responses to last year’s crisis told AFP at the time that most deaths were heat-related.” It is interesting that there is no mention of the exploitative moves the tour operators made, which caused the deaths of their customers. We are given “Saudi authorities “need to make arrangements not just for registered numbers but also for additional numbers”, particularly cooling and emergency health facilities, he said.” I cannot disagree with that, but how many extra provision does one need to make? 2024 had 1.8 million pilgrims. So how many extra is enough? And for that matter, Saudi Arabia had a decent system, as such pilgrims need a pilgrim pass. That part seems simple enough but what of the tour operators? Those who pushed for an excuse tourist visa and told them that there would be options for them? Those are the real criminals. In a pilgrimage where Saudi Arabia provides for 1.8 million is not the bad partition, they provided as good as possible. The larger issue that the weather was murder last year, with temperatures exceeding 50 °C. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Saudi Arabia was 53 °C (2021). So what will happen this year? Will the Hajj 2025 be burdened by extreme temperatures? 

So now we are given “But even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs spur many to attempt the hajj without a permit, though they risk arrest and deportation if caught.” As such the ‘risk deportation’ seems like small fries when compared to ‘weather assisted suicide’, but that is just me. 

And the one part I never saw answered anywhere was that 83% of the death are survivors that means that means that a little over 200 cases were people with permits, which taken with 1.8 million pilgrims is pretty amazing. Now the part I never saw was how many without permits survived the ordeal, as such there are scores of people who never had permits, used resources and were handed assistance by caretakers. So how much more is enough? Personally on route I would suggest more care tents and the tents should be twice the size. There is only so much anyone can do, but that might be a decent start. There is little more I can think of. The problem is that there are numerous places where problems could arise, the pilgrimage is a long road and there are the stretches and bottlenecks. It is the bottlenecks where I fear many fatalities could occur. Especially when the caretakers need to chose between Hajj permit and non-Hajj permit, it will be the agonizing hardship that any caretaker faces. One glass of water and who to give it to? His instructions might be clear the permit holder gets it and he will comply, but he will be torn inside. Any care taker would. I will be looking into the Hajj this year but not for religious reasons and I wonder how many will watch the event and more important when will something be done about the exploitative tour-operators? Consider the alternative, What if the general tourism visa would not be possible from one month pre Hajj, until one week post Hajj? Would that solve a lot of issues? There is a side in me, always trying to solve problems, solve puzzles. But that is just me. 

Have a great day.

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