Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

When one domino falls

That is always the case, isn’t it? For completely unrelated settings, one tends to dump over the other one. It isn’t fair, it doesn’t always make sense, but there you have it and whilst several players reported on it, I was pushed into motion by the Army Recognition story giving us “Canada is reexamining its plan to buy 88 F-35A fighters after Sweden used a royal state visit to promote a Gripen E or F production and R&D hub in Canada. The debate now pits industrial and political incentives against warnings from former RCAF leaders that a mixed fleet could dilute combat power and strain a tight defense budget.” It comes from the article ‘Canada Reconsiders Full U.S. F-35A Fleet As Swedish Gripen-E Fighter Offer Gains Ground’ which we see (at https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2025/canada-reconsiders-full-us-f-35a-fleet-as-swedish-gripen-e-fighter-offer-gains-ground) it isn’t merely about Swedish precision (Hasselblad is a great example), but the American administration is rearing its ugly head in a few nasty ways. There was the massive setting on the Ukraine peace plan, which according to some (unreliable sources) was delivered in Russian on a napkin, then there is the Epstein files, which first never existed, then it was a Dem Socratic hoax and now (source: the guardian) ‘US justice department renews request to unseal Epstein grand jury materials’, so the DoJ had to renew its request? This happens with “The justice department has renewed its request to unseal grand jury materials from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that led to the disgraced financier’s federal indictment on sex-trafficking charges in 2019.” And with the actions of Ambassador Pete Hoekstra  actions in Canada. These matters all influence what is happening and with ‘Hoekstra hints F-35 deal could impact stalled U.S.-Canada trade talks’ (source: CBC) the Canadians have had enough and with the lingering ‘51st state’ comments from all over the place (mostly from America)  the entire setting of $20.2 billion is about to be thrown out of the window. And would you know it, the Gripen is cheaper, has a better Arctic track record (it tends to get really cold in Calgary and Winnipeg) and it is NON-AMERICAN and whilst PM Carney is making deals all over the globe and the 2 deals with the UAE and India setting the investment score for Canada at 125 billion. That is money not going to America, merely Canada and now they also lose out on 20 billion to their defense industry. Loss upon loss upon loss. How long can America pretend that it was no big deal? 

So while we read “Canada’s fighter replacement program, long anchored on an order for 88 F-35A Lightning II jets under the Future Fighter Capability Project, has entered a new and politically charged phase, as reported by Newsweek. During a state visit to Ottawa by King Carl XVI Gustaf, Swedish officials and Saab executives pressed a structured proposal to meet part of Canada’s requirement with Gripen E or F aircraft assembled in the country, tied to sizable job-creation and technology transfer promises. According to those familiar with the discussions, the idea of a dual fleet is now being floated just as former Royal Canadian Air Force officers publicly urge Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government not to trim the F-35 buy or introduce a second fighter type that would require separate training, infrastructure, and logistics.” This makes me wonder the ‘financial position’ of these FORMER officers. Wouldn’t ask that question? I am also wondering why they became former officers, but that is me because I do not know these people and I question everything. I reckon that Lockheed Martin might be worried when they lose 20 billion, making the deal with Saudi Arabia almost essential to make a living (an exaggeration for sure).

But the story from the Canadian side is whether the Gripen can uphold keeping the Canadian air-force competitive enough over Canadian sky. I tend to think yes, but then I am not a pilot and I never flown a jet, I merely watched Tom Cruise do so. My biggest flight setting was using the bar on a jet from Amsterdam of JFK international, so there, not entirely a noob. ;-P

And as Defence Industry Europe gives us ‘Canada considers shifting F-35 order toward Sweden’s Gripen as Ottawa reviews jet procurement’ (at https://defence-industry.eu/canada-considers-shifting-f-35-order-toward-swedens-gripen-as-ottawa-reviews-jet-procurement/) with “Canada has already selected the F-35A to renew its Royal Canadian Air Force fleet and has committed to buying 88 aircraft to replace its Boeing F/A-18 Hornets. Ottawa has allocated funds for 16 F-35s now being built in Fort Worth, Texas, but the remainder of the order appears uncertain amid worsening relations between Canada and the Trump administration”, so Lockheed Martin won’t lose all the dineros, but a large amount is seemingly move towards Sweden and as I see it, Sweden now needs to properly fund two Christmas baskets (nuts that time again). One for President Trump and one for Ambassador Pete Hoekstra for making this possible, expected Hamper shown below.

You see, this all seems clear cut, but I am wondering what this domino will throw over, because that is almost certain happening, especially with the American Ambassador throwing his accusations in the air. He might be claiming that Canadians are meddling in American politics, but they started the ‘51st state’ claims and the next Canadian step might be even less nice, Canada now have options especially when they are gaining so much ground in revenue, investments and manufacturing options (aka jobs). All these parts never involved America (other than making them no longer part of any equation), so what is next? I see options in possible ammunition replacements for the entire Defense industry. Jets and ships might make the news for the larger amounts, but the steady stream of revenue that ammunition brings could also fall to other places (like the UK), so what will that cost America?

Have a great day, I am now 83 minutes removed from the upcoming breakfast and there is a subtle hint hidden in that part too.

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A story to consider

That is the setting and it is all based on a story. As I see it, it could be a script. A script not written as a technicolor setting in the likes of The Bourne Identity with the one and only Jason Damon. No not like that, it is more like a documentary that his brother Matt Damon narrated in 2010. The movie Inside Job. You see, it is not about the story, it becomes about the narration and the storyline and people look at a documentary differently when it involves people like Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. Yes, the story can be wielded in many ways. So as we recall the setting of September 14th 2019 where Houthi ‘forces’ attacked Aramco. It was immediately clear that Houthi forces could not have facilitated to that. They lacked infrastructure, trained personal and technical know how to do this. In the end there were three options and I came to the conclusion that Iran and their IRGC were the culprits. So my mind went considering the innovations available to me (my nog) and I came to a few innovations that at that time were merely on a drawing board. So here it is the story of Master Blaster DJ Intelligence and the scoundrel settings of tomorrow. Quite the narration isn’t it?

So as the DJ takes up the mic to blast a few settings. We see that innovation was not standing still. First there was the drone carrier and a reaper drone. The reapers could drop of each two careers at a safe distance. Then the carriers took over and they went on their merry way to deliver the drones. They were also the eyes for an overseer, all whilst the reapers went ack on their merry way. The carriers were strategically placed and from there the drones (six per carrier) were released. So as these drones are set to a target, and for the most it is set via satellite pictures and from there, the drones would be released. The automatic setting would do most of the job, but at times it needs a human eye as pictures can only see so much. And there we have it, The Abadus refinery

A setting we know that it is the largest refinery that Iran has. And now we see 9 targets, each get hit by two drones, explosive drones. And the mess that Iran is settled with is not to be seen as enviable. Basically 18 drones at $4K per drone, a little over $70K will cause billions of damage and the impact of that is seen all over Iran. As such the setting that the IRGC opened themselves up to is not the prettiest sight, it is a setting where a refinery pushing out 429,000 barrels per day and the oldest refinery, taking care of 25% of the fuel production will take millions, if not billions in damage and that is setting Iran back for decades. If there is a second refinery, like the Bandar Abbas Refinery you could cripple Iran for years (optionally) and also production comes at a stand still. So, do you still think attacking Aramco was a good idea? You see, two can play that game and I have plenty of innovative ideas in that regard. Take the reaper drones where two of them could release two careers each and they have up to 6 drones and not all are explosive drones. 1-2 could be spy drones who land at a seldom looked location and spy on the surroundings. And whilst the two reaper drones fly back to load up 4 more carrier drones you could hit both Abadus and Bandar Abbas in that same instance. Just the innovative me tinkering with ideas. 

I wonder how deep that setting exists? You see, they want to do it all, but if the distance is too great, the reaper drones are a safe way to get them to nearby whilst the carrier drones do the last 10% of the trip and release the drones of war. And that story would sound great as the voice of Master blaster DJ Intelligence (go practice you voice Matt). And that setting is an optional new way to bring a story and I reckon that the Saudi’s and in particular Al Saudiya TV would love to bring that story to the Saudi’s. Yes, there was a greed setting, but never in the way you think it was. Entertainment set in motion through the setting of a documentary. I don’t think I have seen that before (the Blair Witch project does not count). And it is all done in the setting of entertainment. The IRGC has been entertaining its population through Hezbollah and Hamas long enough. Time to give them a little entertainment themselves and it tends to come from a direction you never see coming. 

So, what do you say Mr Damon, you on board for this? Have a great day, I am off enjoying my own kind of oil, it is called coffee. 

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Is it one or the other?

That is the question I had today/this morning. You see, I saw a few things happen/unfold and it made me think on several other settings. To get there, let me take you through the settings I already knew. The first cog in this machine is American tourism. The ‘setting’ is that THEY (whoever they are) expect a $12.5 billion loss. The data from a few sources already give a multitude of that, the airports, the BNB industry and several other retail settings. Some give others the losses of 12 airports which goes far beyond the $12.5 billion and as I saw it that part is a mere $30-$45 billion, its hard to be more precise when you do not have access to the raw numbers. But in a chain trend Airfares, visas, BNB/hotels, snacks/diversities, staff incomes I got to $80-$135 billion and I think that I was being kind to the situation as I took merely the most conservative numbers, as such the damage could be decently more. 

This is merely the first cog. Second is the Canadian setting of fighters. They have set their minds on the Saab Gripen s such I thought they came for

Silly me, Gripen means Griffin and a Hogwarts professor was eager to assist me in this matter, it was apparently 

Although I have no idea how it can hide that proud flag in the clouds. What does matter that it comes with “SAAB President and CEO Micael Johansson told CTV News that the offer is on the table and Ottawa might see a boost in economic development with the added positions. The deal could be more than just parts and components; Canada may even get the go-ahead to assemble the entire Gripen on its soil.” (Initial source: CTV news) this brings close to 10,000 jobs (which was given by another source) but what non-Canadian people ‘ignore’ is that this will cost the American defense industry billions and when these puppies (that what they call little Griffins) are built in Canada, more orders will follow costing the American Defense industry a lot more. So whilst some sources say that “American tourism is predicted to start a full recovery in 2029” I think that they are overly confident that the mess this administration is making is solved by then. I think that with Vision 2030 and a few others, recovery is unlikely before 2032. And when you consider The news (at https://www.thetravel.com/fifa-world-cup-2026-usa-tourist-visa-integrity-fee-100-day-wait-time-warning-us-consul-general/) by Travel dot com, giving us ‘FIFA World Cup 2026 Travelers Warned Of $435 Fee And 100-Day Delay By U.S. Consul General’ that there is every chance that FIFA will pull the 2026 setting from America and it is my speculation that Yalla Vamos 2030 might be hosting the 2026 and leave 2030 to whomever comes next, which is Saudi Arabia, the initial thought is that they might not be ready at that time, but that is mere speculation from me and there is a chance (a small one) that Canada could step in and do the hosting in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, but that would be called ‘smirking speculation’ But the setting behind these settings is that Tourism will likely collapse in America and at that point the Banks of Wall Street will cancel the Credit Cards of America for a really long time and that will set in motion a lot of cascading events all at the same time. Now if you would voice that this would never Tom’s Hardware gave us last week ‘Sam Altman backs away from OpenAI’s statements about possible U.S. gov’t AI industry bailouts — company continues to lobby for financial support from the industry’ If his AI is so spectastic  (a combination of Fantastic and Spectacular) why does he need a bailout? And when we consider this. Microsoft once gave the AI builder a value of a billion dollars and they blew that in under a year on over 600 engineers. So why didn’t Microsoft see that? 600 engineers leave a digital footprint and they have licensed software. Microsoft didn’t catch on? And as we see the ‘unification’ of Microsoft and OpenAI have a connection. Microsoft has an investment in the OpenAI Group PBC valued at approximately $135 billion, representing a 27% stake. So there is a need to ask questions and when that bubble goes, America gets to bail that Windows 3.1 vendor out.

As I see it, don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket and at this point America has all the eggs of its ‘kingdom’ in one plastic bag and it reckon that bag is showing rips and soon enough the eggs fall away into an abyss where Microsoft can’t get to it. The resources will flee to Google, IBM, Amazon and a few other places and it is the other places that will reap havoc on the American economy. So when the tally is made, America has a real problem and this administration called the storm over its own head and I am not alone feeling this way. When you consider the validation and verification of data, pretty much the first step in data related systems you can see that things do not add up and it will not take long for others to see that too. And in part the others will want to prove that THEIR data is sweet and the way they do that is to ask questions of the data of others. A tell tale sign that the bubble is about to implode and at present it is given at ‘Global AI spend to total US$1.5 trillion’ (source: ARNnet) but that puppy has been blown up to a lot more as the speculators that they have a great dane, so when that bubble implodes it will cost a whole lot of people a lot of money. I reckon that it will take until 2026/2027 to hit the walls. Even as Forbes gave us less than 24 hours ago ‘OpenAI Just Issued An AI Risk Warning. Your Job Could Be Impacted’ and they talk about ASI (too many now know that AI doesn’t exist) where we see “Superintelligence is also referred to as ASI (artificial superintelligence) which varies slightly from AGI (artificial general intelligence) in that it’s all about machines being able to exceed even the most advanced and highly gifted cognitive abilities, according to IBM.” And we also get “OpenAI acknowledges the potential dangers associated with advancing AI to this level, and they continue by making it clear what can be anticipated and what will be needed for this experiment to be a safe success” so these statements, now consider the simple facts of Data Verification and Data Validation, when these parts are missing any ‘super intelligence’ merely comes across as the village idiot. I can already see the Microsoft Copilot advertisement “We now offer the copilot with everyones favourite son, the village idiot Clippy II” (OK, I am being mean, I loved my clippy in the Office 95 days) but I reckon you are now getting clued in to the disaster that is coming? 

It isn’t merely the AI bubble, or the American economy, or any of these related settings. It is that they are happening almost at the same time, so a nasdaq screen where all the firms are shown in deep red showing a $10 trillion write-off is not out of the blue. That setting better be clear to anyone out there. This is merely my point of view and I might be wrong to read the data as it is, but I am not alone and more people are seeing the fringe of the speculative gold stream showing it Pyrite origins. Have a great day it is another 2 hours before Vancouver joins us on this Monday. Time for me to consider a nice cup of coffee (my personal drug of choice).

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Social denial

The guardian brought me ‘up’ to speed on a matter, they did so a few days ago, but I had other matters to deal with. The story (at https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/12/foreign-prisoners-killed-saudi-arabian-jail-tabuk-prison-egyptians-executed-non-violent-drug-crimes-mohammed-bin-salman) gives us ‘‘I’ll be executed on Tuesday’: families reveal panicked last calls from foreigners on Saudi’s death row’ and the text gives us “foreign nationals who have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for non-violent drug crimes” there is no easy way to say this. “They entered the drug traffic setting of there own free will” some will say that there is no ‘free’ will here and I kinda accept that. But Saudi Arabia has a grim view on drugs and it has had this for years. Consider the alternative, America has had an annual US federal drug war budget that has reached $39 billion, with cumulative spending since 1971 estimated at $1 trillion. What sanity do you have with 1 trillion to hand out to nothing? As I see it, the drug trade has no winners, merely losers and perhaps 1-2 elevated people for the time it takes someone to over take them (violently) and the stage restarts. There is no winning this and as such Saudi Arabia and a few other places (I think Indonesia and Turkey) has little to no problems putting these people to death. And the Guardian is socially constructing this setting. 12 happy innocent looking faces. But those they ensnare in their drug trade through pushing drugs are a simple setting for them, the simple setting is “more money for me” and that is the stage Saudi Arabia is avoiding and putting to terminal sleep forever. So when we see “Many of those sentenced to death were probably innocent or forced into drug trafficking, say human rights groups. “They’re poor, they’re marginalised. No one listens to them,” says Jeed Basyouni from the charity Reprieve.” I am willing to consider that they were ‘forced’ into the drug trade, but they went along and for whatever reason the drug trade goes on. I get that these social charity places have to be and they do more then protect drug pusher, but the setting is that we see, all for “just a few hundred dollars”, yet the drug trade in Saudi Arabia is a target for these drug traders. In 2022 we were given “Experts say Saudi Arabia is one of the largest and most lucrative regional destinations for drugs, and that status is only intensifying.” Considering that America has had its beef since before 1971 implies that Saudi Arabia had an easy time an now as they see what it costs America, they are not about to hand over 1 trillion dollars to drug dealers. You can get a lot of Shawarmas for that with an additional side dish of Baklava. And anyone thinking that they can get away from capture in Saudi Arabia is fooling themselves. The larger setting is also ignored. It is all imported by hundreds of foreign nationals. And Saudi Arabia is having none of this. So when we are given the stage of people executed in Saudi Arabia from 1 Jan to 3 Nov 2025, we see 219 people, 400% of those guilty of murder and 7300% of those executed for sexual offenses. As I see it, Egypt (where nearly all convicted drug executions seem to come from) has a serious problem and as everyone wants to blame Saudi Arabia, the setting is that someone is pushing them to make this stupid setting, because Saudi Arabia never had any other consideration that Islam teaches that alcohol and other drugs are prohibited because they induce intoxication or a mind-altered state. And as we see that Islam prohibits all intoxicants, including narcotics, citing multiple texts in the Quran and Hadith (Unlu & Sahin, 2016). We need to consider that Egyptians knew this. 90% is islamic in Egypt, so I get the question what is the religion of these people? That number is not given, there is optionally the chance that these are Christians rolling the dice (speculation as I have no clear numbers on this) and that is the flaw in this setting. The word muslim appears in that tory merely once, at the very end when we see the names of these 12 people, so there is a chance that all 12 were muslims, but is that true for all 219 executions? 

So whether you are in agreement or not of capital punishment, the larger story is that it had been known that Saudi Arabia executes people for these crimes and it has no intention to shell over a trillion dollars to the drug trade. As I see it, they feel comfortable sentencing them all to death. America might have considered that point decades ago and whilst we want to cry over these poor poor criminals. There are no non-violent drug crimes, the victims of these crimes become the puppet of violence and other transgressions and Saudi Arabia is having none of that. So I have to wonder when Europe and America are much more appealing targets, why are these people going to Saudi Arabia? That is the setting everyone is overlooking, because you can get from Egypt to Crete, Greece and Italy when you use a dinghy and steer roughly 310 degrees (an exaggeration for sure), but that seems more appealing then Saudi Arabia and seemingly no one is looking at the data that way.

Have a great day, it is 31 degrees here now, so I am seeking shades and icy cold water. Monday morning is a mere 8 house away for me now. 

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On the edge of legality

There are two things on my mind. The first one will be addressed after this. The second one was in my mind before I knew it. It is the stuff of nightmares. A setting that could collapse the entire Microsoft. Not for real, it is a story, a script and a far fetched one at that, but the idea has merit. To unleash global fear and mistrust on the slap of a keyboard? What is there not to like. It would be epic to say the least and why Microsoft? Simple, it has the most dodo inspiring population (those dreaming of extinction) And as such I set the idea in motion, but after I finished the other works. I put it here so that I do not forget it and the keywords are optical fibre, blacklight and Diatomite Celite, the simple keywords that can topple a presumptuous great setting. But that is enough of that. You see, I missed the news about 3 days ago (had other things on my mind) but it flew past my eyes today and I caught it this afternoon. The guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/10/uae-says-it-will-not-join-gaza-stabilisation-force-without-clear-legal-framework) gives us ‘UAE refuses to join Gaza stabilisation force without clear legal framework’ it caught me surprised. The idea of a ‘stabilizing force’ without a clear legal framework seems adamant (wherever it is held). So when we are given “Plans for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force charged with disarming Hamas inside Gaza face growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates said it would not participate because it did not yet see a clear legal framework for the force.” So what are the Americans and the UN doing not setting a clear legal framework for this setting? With that setting we are also given “The UAE’s decision, announced by the senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel has left the territory.”  My first question becomes, what is the UN doing? For years they are so hoping for peace and now it seems they haven’t even considered setting a legal framework for those in that mess? As for the second issue the idea comes that Hamas needs at least a legal framework, if not you are fighting lawlessness with more lawlessness and to see that come America is not that difficult to observe, but to see that setting come from the UN is a bit ghastly. So as such I would agree with the statement by “Dr. Anwar Gargash said: “The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.”” And as we consider this, the setting of Gaza is becoming less and less stable. So as I read “Neither the UN nor the 15-strong security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, overseeing the implementation of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.” I wonder, why the UN didn’t set up a legal framework, for agreement, or for alteration, but as I see it, none of that seems to have been done, or at least the Guardian fails to report on it, but that is no attack or opposition to the Guardian. It merely got me by surprise and made me wonder why we are paying millions upon millions to the UN when we see a (seemingly and alleged) flaw like this.

So why a I wondering about this? As I see the world claiming Israel for the slaughter Hamas instilled. I also see the UN failing at its duty to cater to any solution. And the failures seem to be adding up, but that is my (with absolute lack of expertise on matters of diplomacy and the function of the United Nations) view on the matter. So what gives? And in all this, I completely agree with the position that Dr. Anwar Gargash is taking. 

So have a great day and consider the legal framework you face at breakfast (everyone for himself/herself) and don’t take away the Labneh until you see the white in their eyes. But that is my flaky sense of humor. For now I have to consider the idea that there is a cable under the Indian ocean with my sense of innovative humor. Have fun everyone.

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Is it a bird, it is Superman?

Nope, it is a plane and it is heading for Saudi Arabia as we read (at https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/11/08/saudi-arabia-to-buy-48-f-35-worth-142-billion/) ‘Saudi Arabia to Buy 48 Most Expensive Fighter Jet in the World Worth $142 Billion’, as such the first hurdle of the Pentagon has allegedly been passed. We are given “Saudi Arabia’s request for F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters is reportedly progressing within the Pentagon, according to sources cited by Reuters. The move could make Riyadh (RUH) the first Arab nation to field a fifth-generation stealth jet, breaking Israel’s exclusive control of the platform in the region.” And let’s face it, they can afford these bad boys. And it would make any Russian equipped Iranian flight force obsolete. Some say the best air force is one you never have to fly. I disagree. I say  “I prefer the air force  you only have to fly once. That’s how the veterans did it, that’s how allies do it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far” (yes, I stole this quote from Iron Man, so sue me) it is like Australia being attacked by New Zealand in Sopwith Camels in the past, it never went anywhere. As such these 48 birds will await with baited breath for Iran to make a silly mistake and it will be the last mistake they will ever make. I reckon that these 48 can take on at least 98 of their Sukhoi Su-57 and Russia (at present) seemingly only made 29 of them, the rest is outstanding, as such Iran will no longer have options in the air as soon as the first set of these bad boys arrive. 

I never understood the reluctance to sell these planes to their own ally, but in the end it seems that Saudi Arabia is getting them. And when we see “The potential sale aligns with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense agenda, as his administration approved a $142 billion arms package for the Kingdom in May 2025. Although the F-35 was initially excluded, the latest discussions suggest it has now advanced to the Defense Secretary level, signaling renewed momentum.” This event started in 2017 and it appears that Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud (who was elected to this position in 2022) did not wander in the situation, as it seems he went in and got the job done. This is no attack on its predecessor as the American administration had been dragging its feet since day one (a presumption that I am making) but now the good news is flying all over the Arabian peninsula and as I see it a defeat by horse no show through Iran. 

In opposition I see “Tel Aviv has repeatedly emphasized its right to maintain military superiority under U.S. law, which restricts Washington from supplying equivalent systems to neighboring states”, I am in opposition here as Iran is the danger and Israel knows this. Saudi Arabia had been adamant on protecting its own borders and this will do this. And as I see it, the Israeli response is (seemingly) ludicrous. With “Israeli officials and defense analysts have voiced concern that F-35 deliveries to Saudi Arabia could erode this advantage. They warn that potential technology transfers to Russia, China, or Iran—however speculative—could compromise sensitive systems.” It is a decent preemptive fear to have, but as Iran is no friend of Saudi Arabia and handing any technology to Russia would only make it stronger seems to be a weird fear to have. I get that Israel has these fears but as Saudi Arabia needs its own borders secure, I reckon that this is too far fetched a fear to have. It’s like I would have a fear being attacked by Piranha’s, all whist the closest lake is miles away. 

So I reckon that there will be salutes and felicitations going all over Riyadh at present.

Have a great day and don’t have too many dreams on Australia being attacked by Sopwith Camels, they don’t have the range to make it from Wellington to Sydney.

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At the benefit of Riyadh

That is what I saw a few days ago, but as with all matters, the people who see the advantage do not always see what they have. You see, almost 3 years ago I wrote ‘Girdle your loins’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/30/girdle-your-loins/) where I have both Kingdom Holdings, Saudi Arabia and Amazon the stage where they could set the stage of an additional 6 billion a year with optionally enlarging this to about 15 billion a year (a cautious conservative estimate) and that was merely the beginning. I tried to hand it to Google, but the person I had to seal to was not in the office (it was in the Covid lockdown stage) and 2 days later they dumped the Google Stadia. So, I was depending on Amazon (and Andy Jessy), or the Kingdom Holding, but there I had to deal with   Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud. And he has never heard of me, so I was up going nowhere. And I get it, a billionaire gets thousands of ‘pleads’ in a daily basis and I don’t amount to much. I get that. But that doesn’t take away the anguish of having the idea of a lifetime (well 50 million dollars plus change) and as it holds billions of revenue, I was in a decent position, but over the last three years my changes has dwindled, even Tencent was leaving the idea in the ground and for the life of me I cannot understand why these so called ‘self made billionaires’ leave this much revenue one the floor. I get the idea that if it isn’t AI, it is worthless, but the sentiment behind that is flawed as AI doesn’t exist and the issues I raised with energy and validation and verification of data are showing a much larger setting now (see yesterday’s blog). 

But as Saudi Arabia bought Electronic Arts the issue changes. You see the second pillar on the story ‘Girdle your loins’ has a new lease on life as Electronic Arts brought some of the highest rated games during 1985-1999 and that is the focal point of a lot of games and as Saudi Arabia owns the IP now, the games that are published as Bullfrog will be worth a massive amount. 

We had Magic Carpet (1+2), Dungeon Keeper (1+2), Populous (1+2) and there is another upside. These games can be released in the original setting (with upgraded sound and graphics) and there is the setting that these games can be ‘islamiphied’ giving a game like Populous the setting to add the graphics of an Arabic themed land, with optional setting that added libraries can be unlocked in the game as you conquer the lands it adds a cauldron with a graphic theme and that gives the player a new stride on the game. And that is one house who had additional titles, as such the setting for Riyadh increases to a larger setting and one that brings in the money. Wouldn’t it be nice if (as I personally see it) that the investment of $55 billion will earn itself back in under a decade by additional means? That is what Google, Amazon and others left on the floor. And only 20 hours ago the Guardian gave us ‘Boom or bubble? Inside the $3tn AI datacentre spending spree’ with the byline “Investment in these vast warehouses is huge but some worry the debt-fuelled exuberance will backfire” with the setting of “Google’s owner Alphabet has reported revenues of $100bn in a single quarter for the first time, helped by growing demand for its AI infrastructure, while Apple and Amazon have also just reported strong results.” And still the media avoids certain matters as we are given “Goldman Sachs expects it to double by the end of 2030. This carries a further infrastructure cost of its own, according to Goldman, with $720bn of grid spending needed to meet that energy demand.” So double the effort by 2030? Is that a critical holding, because as I personally see it, the American economy doesn’t have that long and the energy setting is critical as is validating and verifying the Deeper Machine Learning data sets, an issue that is ‘circumvented’ by nearly all. As such I personally feel that my solution as a way around shortage of funds was seemingly (a personal view) a good idea to have in the back pocket and I was eager to hand it to Google (just to keep it out of the hands of Microsoft) but alas, I was not that fortunate. And make no mistake. I wanted to cash in on my ideas as anyone would, so there is no altruistic setting here. I am not better than all (just better than most) and now it seems that Saudi Arabia and through it I reckon Kingdom Holdings have the inside track on billions left on the floor. I wonder if they will make a deal with Tencent to make it work. 

Have a great day. I will dream of icy cold water (it is 28 degrees celsius now) and the taste of refreshing icy cold water appeals to me at present.

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A new low

Yup and it is not a bad thing, but a setting of happy happy joy joy. I learned a few hours ago that Saudi Arabia (of all places) was mentioned (at https://renewablesnow.com/news/saudi-arabia-claims-record-low-wind-cost-in-4-5-gw-renewables-awards-1283966/) with ‘Saudi Arabia claims record-low wind cost in 4.5 GW renewables awards’ not the Netherlands, or Sweden (where stormy winds are king) it is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is heralded as the new low in wind power. I have to admit that it took me by surprise. The mention of “a record-low global cost for wind power generation at USD 13.38 (EUR 11.49) per MWh” for the people in Saudi Arabia. That makes a setting of €0.01149 per kWh (if I calculated that correctly) is is one way to put down the living expenses of people all over the planet and when you consider that in Europe (EU) the price of electricity is approximately €0.1899 we can assume that even at 50% the electricity firms will still make a profit. As I see it, good news for all the people in Europe (and a few more places beyond that) and I never expected that the land of oil would set the charge of renewables, not in my lifetime. So we should see the joy on what Saudi Arabia achieved here. We are given “The government-owned entity, which is responsible for procuring electricity from independent power producers (IPPs), said on Monday that the initiative is part of the sixth phase of the National Renewable Energy Programme, supervised by the Ministry of Energy. The contracted projects are spread across four provinces in the Kingdom and represent a combined investment of more than SAR 9 billion (USD 2.4bn/EUR 2.06bn)” as well as “The wind project, the 1.5-GW Dawadmi in Riyadh Province, has achieved the lowest leveled cost of electricity (LCOE) for wind power generation so far, according to the statement.” So a hip hip and a hurray for the people who made that happen. Because that is the kind of achievement that could help over a billion people getting their expenses down and the setting that we might see a 50% less costs on energy is a new threshold for anyone requiring power. The article also shows a table of the 5 places where this is happening and how much is being generated. As I see it, the wind-farms currently being created might see a revisit from new people with additional insights in this strength of the energy woods and I reckon we will see a lot more additions in a few places soon enough drowning costs for people all over the world.

I feel giddy at this point. It is not often that you see an impressive downing of the cost of living, but this is definitely one we all should applaud.

Have a great day today.

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The bubble to end all bubbles

That is what I saw mere minutes ago. It was yesterday’s piece at the Financial Review. An opinion piece by Gita Gopinath. Now normally I tend to ignore opinion pieces, but due to the fact that over time Financial Review has shown a good back on several matters and I picked up on the title ‘The crash that could torch $US35trn of wealth’ (at https://www.afr.com/wealth/investing/the-crash-that-could-torch-us35trn-of-wealth-20251016-p5n31w) gives pause for alarm. As America has its tourism issues, its economy issue and its technology issues a $35,000 billion write-off would be nothing less than a disaster in the making. I wrote about this a few times, but even I shudder to think of how large this bubble has become. The 2008 crash was half of that and the documentary Inside Job does a great way to explain this. Take this movie together with the movie Margin Call and you get a picture of what was done to the people of the world.

This is more than 100% worse and it started with the delusional setting of salespeople taking the easy road and giving the rest of the world how amazing AI was going to be. The quote “I calculate that a market correction of the same magnitude as the dotcom crash could wipe out over $US20 trillion ($30 trillion) in wealth for American households, equivalent to roughly 70 per cent of American GDP in 2024. This is several times larger than the losses incurred during the crash of the early 2000s. The implications for consumption would be grave. Consumption growth is already weaker than it was preceding the dotcom crash. A shock of this magnitude could cut it by 3.5 percentage points, translating into a 2-percentage-point hit to overall GDP growth, even before accounting for declines in investment” should stop you in your tracks. With the additional “Foreign investors could face wealth losses exceeding $US15 trillion, or about 20 per cent of the rest of the world’s GDP. For comparison, the dotcom crash resulted in foreign losses of around $US2 trillion, roughly $US4 trillion in today’s money and less than 10 per cent of rest-of-world GDP at the time. This stark increase in spillovers underscores how vulnerable global demand is to shocks originating in America” was not unknown to me, but I did not figure on the damage exceeding 10 trillion, here I see I was off by 50% (which comes due to a lack of an economic degree on my side), but data I know, in and out. I saw some of this and I tried to warn people and especially the Emirati people (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/10/20/the-start-of-something-bad/) in ‘The start of something bad’ only two days ago. And the reason why it would be worse is seen in the next setting of the Financial Review. We are given “Historically, the rest of the world has found some cushion in the dollar’s tendency to rise during crises. This “flight to safety” has helped mitigate the impact of lost dollar-denominated wealth on foreign consumption. The greenback’s strength has long provided global insurance, often appreciating even when the crisis originates in America, as investors seek refuge in dollar assets. There are, though, reasons to believe that this dynamic may not hold in the next crisis. Despite well-founded expectations that American tariffs and expansionary fiscal policy would bolster the dollar, it has instead fallen against most major currencies.” I kinda saw that two days ago, but not to this degree (the Financial Review writes it better) When that bubble burst it will not allow for shelter and the people involved will be hit massively. As I see it Nvidia will survive by will see its value decreased by 90%. Oracle will get hit less but it will still take a beating. Microsoft will be up for sale in the bargain basement and after builder.ai, the bubble will stick to them like gum in hair and they will not be able to shake the event. Others (Google, IBM, Amazon) will be hit, but they will get through this. As I see it, the only high standard that is maintained will be Adobe. Their “AI” options are soundly set in Deeper Machine Learning. As I see it, they will tend to be the shelter of choice if at all possible. 

The only part I disagree with is “Although this does not mark the end of the dollar’s dominance, it does reflect growing unease among foreign investors about the currency’s trajectory. Increasingly, they are hedging against dollar risk – a sign of waning confidence.” As I see it, the dollar comes to an end with this bubble. I do not know what people will rush to, but the dollar is no longer the place to be. As I see it there will be a flock going towards the Yuan, the Dirham and the Bitcoin, but personally I have no idea if the Bitcoin survives. You see, a $35,000 write-off will come from some currency and those hiding in Bitcoin will lose a lot, no telling how much, but it will be close to astronomical. The Financial Review gives us “Perceptions of the strength and independence of American institutions, particularly the Federal Reserve, play a crucial role in maintaining investor confidence.” That independence is close to obsolete. This administration took care of that with all the tariffs, all the tourist settings and the economy is also shaky. It might not be but someone took the trouble of not reporting the ‘goodness’ of their setting. The labour statistics are nowhere to be found and that is shaking investor confidence. All that whilst Paramount is shaking thousands of people of their employment tree, this year alone Microsoft shed 15,000 jobs, IBM is said to have fired 21,000 jobs, making Google’s 100 job losses trivial in comparison. In this setting and with the missing labor statistics the investor confidence would be in the basement and even if the Federal reserve doused that paper in the scent of Luis Vuitton it would not matter much. At present Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the best places for these investors and America knows this. They have oil to fall back on and as I see it, no matter how the AI bubble bursts, they can retrench this into service roles and data acquisition roles. That is what Europe fears, American held data used to safely drip the economy to health using IP values from everywhere. And this is not the first time I wrote about this in ‘That one flaky promise’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/01/29/that-one-flaky-promise/) where I saw the dangers of America ‘annexing’ whatever it had and that was BEFORE AI and the bubble it created. I swear that danger almost 4 years ago. That setting will implode the rest of what America thought they would have. As I see it, a strong setting of IP and storage of it could help both Saudi Arabia and the UAE (a likely preferred choice) to evade to (those who can afford it) because when this bubble goes it will wipe out whatever most of us hold for dear and those who had their patents in the US. This is mere (intense) speculation, but do you think that this American administration will not do this? It had no trouble with tariffs and the setting of THEIR ‘big beautiful America’ at the expense of everything. They even tried to make Canada and Greenland part of America. I don’t think so and as I see it, when that bubble goes America is pretty much done for. All because Americans believe that Cash is King. So their salespeople live by the dollar and will waste it at a moments notice for their personal needs. Should you doubt that please watch Inside Job and see what they did there. I reckon that Iceland is now getting back on its feet al will enjoy the view on the impact crater that Wall Street leaves behind. 

I need to end this with a word of caution. This was base on an opinion piece, so as that is wrong, so is my view. But I based it on the data I had available and the prediction that I saw in 2022, so there was no AI bubble at that time. So is my view more accurate now? That cannot be said and it is based on what desperate people do and as I see it America is about to become really desperate. So enjoy your coffee today, which I will do also and I will assist a young woman named Aloy help her defeat some machines. They were not Microsoft products, so they should work. Now lets make them a lot less functional and that Deathbringer looks like a right monster.

Have a great day and try not to get too depressed by the not so good news I am partially bringing.

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The start of something bad

That is how I saw the news (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/tech/dubais-10000-ai-firms-goal-to-redefine-competitiveness-power-uaes-startup-vision) with the headline ‘Dubai’s 10,000 AI-firms goal to redefine competitiveness,  power UAE’s startup vision’ there is always a risk when you start a new startup, but the drive to something that doesn’t even exist is downright folly (as I see it) and now it is driven to a 10,000 times setting of folly. That is what I perceive. But lets go through the setting to explain what I am seeing.

First there is the novel setting and it is one that needs explaining. You see AI doesn’t yet exist, even what we have now is merely DML (Deeper Machine Learning) and it is accompanied at times with LLM (Large Language Models) and these solutions can actually be great, but the foundations of AI are not yet met and take it from me it matters. Actually never take my word, so lets throw some settings at you. First there is ‘Deloitte to pay money back to Albanese government after using AI in $440,000 report’ and then we get to ‘Lawyer caught using AI-generated false citations in court case penalised in Australian first’ (sources for both is the Guardian). There is something behind this. The setting of verification is adamant in both, You see, whatever we now call AI isn’t it and whatever data is thrown at it is taken almost literally at face value. Data Verification is overlooked at nearly every corner and then we get to Microsoft with its ‘support’ of builder.ai with the mention that it was goo. It lasted less than a month and the ‘backing’ of a billion dollar went away like snow in a heatwave. They used 700 engineers to do what could not be done (as I personally see it). So we have these settings that is already out there. 

Then (two weeks ago) the Guardian gives us (at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/08/bank-of-england-warns-of-growing-risk-that-ai-bubble-could-burst) ‘Bank of England warns of growing risk that AI bubble could burst’ with the byline “Possibility of ‘sharp market correction has increased’, says Bank’s financial policy committee” now consider this setting with the valuation of 10,000 firms getting a rather large ‘market correction’ and I think that this happens when it is the least opportune for the UAE. This take me to the old expression we had in the 80’s “You can lose your money in three ways, first there are women, which is the prettiest way to lose your money, then through gambling, which is the quickest way to lose your money and third way is thought IT, which is the surest way to lost your money” and now I would like to add “the fourth way is AI, which is both quick and sure to lose your money” that is the prefix to the equation. And the setting we aren’t given is set out in several pieces all over the place. One of them was given to us in ABC News (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-20/ai-crypto-bubbles-speculative-mania/105884508) with ‘If AI and crypto aren’t bubbles, we could be in big trouble’ where we see “What if the trillions of dollars placed on those bets turn out to be good investments? The disruption will be epic, and terrible. A lot of speculative manias are just fun for a while and then the last in lose their shirts, not much harm done, like the tulips of 1635, and the comic book and silver bubbles of the late 1980s. Sometimes the losses are so great that banks go broke as well, which leads to a frozen financial system, recession and unemployment, as in 1929 and 2008.” As I personally see it, America is going all in as they are already beyond broke, so they have nothing to lose, but the UAE and Saudi Arabia have plenty to lose and the American first are good to squander whatever these two have. I reckon that Oracle has its fallback position so it is largely of, but OpenAI is willing to chance it all. And that is the American portfolio, Microsoft and a few others. They are playing bluff with as I see it, the wrong players and when others are ignoring the warnings of the Bank of England they merely get what is coming for them and it is a game I do not approve of, because it is based on the bluff that gets us ‘we are too big to fail’ and I do not agree, but they will say that it is all based on retirement numbers and other ‘needly’ things. This is why America needs Canada to become the 51st state so desperately, they are (as I personally see it) ready to use whatever troll army they have to smear Canada. But I am not having it and as I see “Dubai’s bold target to attract 10,000 artificial intelligence firms by 2030 is evolving from vision to execution, signaling a new phase in the emirate’s transformation into a global technology powerhouse. As a follow-up to earlier announcements positioning the UAE as the “Startup Capital of the World,” recent developments in AI infrastructure, capital inflows, and global partnerships show how this goal is being operationalised — potentially reshaping Dubai’s economic structure and reinforcing its competitive edge in the global digital economy.” I believe that those behind this are having the best interests at heard for the Emirati, but I do not trust the people behind this drive (outside of the UAE). I believe that this bubble will burst after the funds are met with smiles only for these people to go out of business with a bulky severance check. It is almost like the role Ryan Gosling played in the Big Short where Jared Vennett receives a bonus of $47 million for profits made on his CDSs. It feels almost too alike. And I feel I have to speak up. Now, if someone can sink my logic, I am fine with that, but let those running to this future verify whatever they have and not merely accept what is said. I am happy to be wrong but the setting feels off (by a lot) and I rather be wrong then be silent on this, because as I see it, when there is a ‘market correction’ of $2,000,000,000,000 you can consider yourself sold down the river because there is a cost of such a correction and it should 100% be on the American shores and 0% of the Arabic, Commonwealth or European shores. But that is merely my short sighted view on the matter. 

So when we get to “Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, said the goal reflects the UAE’s determination to lead globally in frontier technology. “Dubai’s target to attract 10,000 AI companies over the next five years is not a dream — it is a commitment to building the world’s most dynamic and future-ready digital economy,” he said. “We already host more than 1,500 pure AI companies — the highest number in the region — but this is just the beginning. Our strategy is to bring in creators and producers of technology, not just users. That’s how we sustain competitiveness and shape the industries of tomorrow.”” I am slightly worried, because there is an impact of these 1,500 companies. Now, be warned there are plenty of great applications of DML and LLM and these firms should be protected. But the setting of 10,000 AI companies worry me, as AI doesn’t yet exist and the stage for Agentic programming is clear and certain. I would like to rephrase this into “We should keep a clear line of achievements in what is referred to as AI and what AI companies are supposed to see as clear achievements” This requires explanation as I see whatever is called as AI as NIP (Near Intelligent Parsing) and that is currently the impact of DML and LLM and I have seen several good projects but that is set onto a stage that has a definite pipeline of achievements and interests parties. And for the most the threshold is a curve of verifiable data. That data is scrutinized to a larger degree and tends to be (at times) based on the first legacy data. It still requires cleaning but to a smaller degree to dat that comes from wherever. 

So do not dissuade from your plans to enter the AI field, but be clear about what it is based on and particularly the data that is being used. So have a great day and as we get to my lunch time there is ample space for that now. Enjoy your day.

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