Tag Archives: the Guardian

OK, this is new

That happens, even to me (not that I am such a high shining light), but the news from Planet Rugby caught me unaware. You see, they give us (at https://www.planetrugby.com/news/saudi-arabia-sports-minister-makes-bold-claim-as-multi-host-2035-rugby-world-cup-bid-considered

) that the stadiums for the Rugby World Cup in 2035 are ready. Personally I think that if it fits a soccer team, it will fit a Rugby team, but what do I know. You merely have to get an eraser to wipe away the old lines and place a few new ones (and replace the goals). So as we are given “The Sports Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, has confirmed the nation’s intent to host the tournament in 10 years.” I do not oppose, I actually have no feelings at all on the matter as it just isn’t ice hockey. But the setting of Saudi Arabia hosting the Rugby World Cup is pretty much OK with me. The fact that the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are signing up for the hosting as well only sets me against Qatar. It is basically limited to the small detail that “Qatar has been a key financial supporter of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, transferring more than $1.8 billion to Hamas over the years.” And that is a big no-no for me. 

So as we are getting the quote “Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 Football World Cup, but could double down with a bid for the Rugby World Cup the following year in a never-before-seen sporting double. Following an appearance at last weekend’s Formula 1 Jeddah Grand Prix, the minister was asked about the prospect of hosting the event of a sport that Saudi Arabia seldom plays.” The idea that a venue earns its keep by not hosting one but two world events has its appeal. For me the appeal is that these venues mostly serve one purpose and that is catering to the event and then? That is the setting I wonder about and there is a second setting. You see, with all the 2030 events running the setting for Saudi Arabia presents itself to the world for more than one setting has appeal. I actually wonder if a case can be made to host Sailing races at NEOM: Sindalah. As I see it, 2030-2040 might be the decade of Saudi Arabia. There is no doubt that we will see news from Saudi hater with their human right settings (which they negate a lot when it comes to Russia, Syria, Yemen and a few other places). Saudi Arabia has a proud heritage and it is a Muslim Nation. That doesn’t mean that it should be held to ‘different’ standards. 

So when we are given “Of the three, the United Arab Emirates is by far the most competitive team, sitting inside the world’s top 50 in 49th place” and the stage of “with a decade until the potential spectacle and a likely large financial fund for the sport in Saudi Arabia, it’s impossible to rule out a rise over the next few years if their bid were to be successful” in this I have the setting that the Olympics have only be held in Greece twice, with the political setting that Emperor Theodosius I banned the games in 393 AD in order to promote Christianity (I personally think that that Pope Siricius couldn’t run if his life depended on it). Oh, and when did anyone actually run the Marathon to Marathon? Or basically when exactly did anyone laurel Pheidippides for running his heart out (quite literally)? All basic questions, aside from how many marathons have been held in Kenya. This might introduce rugby to Saudi Arabia and a few other muslim nations as well and that should never be ignored. In that light the UAE is as worthy a choice as anything else. But the case has been made by Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal to host it in Saudi Arabia. 

So, as we see the quote by the sports minister “I think our main intention is to develop sports within the kingdom” we need to see the power of that intent. And with the quote “And then today we have roughly 97 federations. We’re not going to host everything with 97 federations, but why do we have 97 federations? It’s because we want to promote sports” we see the larger issue. We also need to acknowledge that some sports are near alien for the Arabic Nations. To be honest I never expected to see the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and yet at present we see Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Bahrain part of it. All places where water doesn’t tend to get solid (a prerequisite for the game). So as such I am a little curious if Saudi Arabia will be successful in that endeavor. And to show you what could happen 

So what does it take for Saudi Arabia to show the world the existence of the image below, worn by Saudi expats, fans and Rugby tourists all over the planet? 

These are the moments that matter to a lot of people, when a nation grows into the ranks of a sport, people tend to take notice. Not these captains of industry with their $899 lunches (sorry Mr. Jesse), but the ordinary people cheering for their team (for example the Kraken) eating their simple sandwiches and burgers cheering their teams along, because that is their happy place and whilst Polo has its share of fans, the larger slice of the world cheers for Cricket, Rugby, Ice Hockey, Soccer and Football ands as such I applaud the idea to see Saudi Arabia add another game to their stage and for all the young ‘entrepreneurial’ spirits, have fun. I wonder where it will be held as well as the participating nations. Wouldn’t it be great for Saudi Arabia that the announcement will draw people out, ready to try the sport and succeeding? How wild will the cheers be for a Saudi team to get to these games?

So as previews go, here is another one. It might be a problem if they play South Africa, but they will just have to create an alternative jersey.

Have a great day and for the real Hockey players out there. It is called a biscuit, you can’t eat it. 

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Retrospectively the media

That is what is happening, but how did it start? Around In 2007, News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were convicted of illegal interception of phone messages. According to the News of the World, this was an isolated incident, but The Guardian claimed that evidence existed that this practice extended beyond Goodman and Mulcaire. It started a whole mess which was shown to the world and as such the media was no longer any reliable source. Several cases hit the limelight, but for the largest setting, it was the media that was largely the problem. At some point (after Leveson) Hacked off was created with amongst them Hugh Grant Board member, actor (famous for comedies like Love Actually and Heretic) as well as one of the phone-hacking victims. I do not want to skip the Leveson enquiries. Yet that part is the larger issue, not the inquiry as much as the blatant support of the media by political players and basically the larger stage of a corrupt media. Hacked off gave us “In March 2013, the three main political parties supported the implementation of Leveson’s reforms, and so did the public. In fact more than 175,000 people signed our petition calling for immediate implementation. 10 years later however, this has still not happened. Press abuse continues and in the place of the PCC, the majority of newspapers in the UK are ‘regulated’ by another toothless complaints-handling body, IPSO.” Yet a week ago in ‘A letter from Hugh’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/03/20/a-letter-from-hugh/) I got a letter from Hugh Grant giving us all the option to write to our MP’s and today I received 

Here we see that “Our records show that a staggering 97% of MPs have now received letters from the public calling for action on press reform.” Now, we get the larger view. You see, the media doesn’t want the Leveson papers implemented and the people do. So what will the politicians do? That is the larger setting because the Media will see its visibility crumble when this happens. So what will the politicians do? I have set this stage in my blog several times over the last few years. The media is no longer reliable to any level and the pro-Hamas stories from the BBC is showing too many that the media is basically done for. Consider the fact that the UK is characterised by a comparatively large national press with 11 national daily newspapers, and 10 Sunday sister titles (this is more than France, Germany and USA). Seven of these titles publish special editions for Scotland, and these compete with three Scottish dailies. National newspapers are typically divided into three sectors which relate to their physical size, as well as the quantity of news, values and quality of content: broadsheet (also known as quality), mid-market, and tabloid. They are (mostly) all vying for the attention of the 69 million people in the UK. The turnaround is with “Print newspapers are read by 1 in 4 adults over 15 every day (13.6 million daily) and reach larger audiences weekly (24.9 million) and monthly (30.8 million). Print Circulation has fallen approximately 40 percent between 2010 and 2018.” And all these newspapers have advertising and that is the larger issue. That is money for the publications and as that 40% is cutting deeper and deeper. The media will resort to larger non-news steps, mostly to gain digital dollars from their audience. And with 97% off the MPs are getting requests to act, there is not much to do and I reckon that action will follow. Perhaps we will see another episode from some editor in chief stating like a little cry bitch that they can be trusted, that they will give a tooth to IPSO, but the larger setting of people are over the stage of misbehaving. Oh, and before you all think I am exaggerating, on March 14th 2014 I gave you all ‘Bad Journalism’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2014/03/25/bad-journalism/) where we were shown “Flight MH370 ‘suicide mission’“, so where is the evidence? Was any evidence ever given to us? The media is done for and I see it as places like the Khaleej Times, the New Arab and Al Arabiya are now more reliable than the western press has been for over 10 years.

So now the wait starts for action from British political parties. I wonder how long they can sit on their hands before the people have had enough. I wonder how many editors will cry like the little bitches they have been for years. And IPSO? Well they are soon to be under a microscope too.

Have a great day. 

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Next butcher in line

Yup, that happens. So what do you do when the customers is looking at the boss of the butcher and that customer is just sick of their treatment of the surrounding the they poison? What would you do? I have my ‘go to’ guy in my corner. The name is Jimmy and he is all about chickens and has been for years. His chickens (drumsticks) are the greatest and I have them nearly every day. So what would you do if you are saddened and sickened of his dealings, by hime or his staff with to his customers? Would you take that hit and keep on serving him business? So here is ABC with the news. At https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-14/3-billion-united-states-meat-trade-to-china-at-risk/105052220 we are given a mere 12 hours ago ‘US meat trade days away from getting ‘kicked out’ of China’, that is the situation and even if we consider the impact on America, consider that China now has three eager supply points. You see Canada sets the sitting with “$9.5 billion in red meat products, including pork, beef, lamb, and horse, with the United States being a major destination.” Then there is Australia with “the USA is Australia’s largest beef export destination accounting for 27.5% of total beef export flows this year, which is up from 22.7% in 2023.” This represents 27.5% of 17 billion dollars a year, as such America is now on a slanty side of bad news. Last there is New Zealand with “In 2024, the United States was the leading beef export market for New Zealand, with an export value of approximately 1.74 billion New Zealand dollars.” Now when we add the numbers we get the setting that America is about to lose close to 16 billion dollars in beef import. So what happens when America gets that much of a drain of revenue? Lets be clear, that is the obvious danger and China is about to get several happy moments by sticking it to America and add the UK, who is a ‘mere’ £1.77 billion last year (2024) with a small part going to North America and that puts us deep into the 16 billion dollars. The one small side step is that the population tends to go mad when the daily requirements fall away and that is what America enabled to itself; alongside with the notion that the people in the Commonwealth are done with President Trumps barbaric setting of attacking Canada, as such we are nearly all willing to become China’s new supply agent for meat. As ABC gives us “Hundreds of abattoirs in the United States are at risk of being banned from exporting meat to China, because their China export licenses are due to expire this weekend.” So, what happens when the American population, being a mere 340,123,988 people (roughly) will not get access to their hamburgers? Did the American Capitol and White House ever hear of a stampede? That is what taking away their daily needs away amounts to and as I see it, the people surrounding President Xi Jinping are ready for and that is what (I expect) the bad news that people in the White House are in a presented stage of telling the man who ‘elevated’ the term ‘you’re fired’ to, which is a new low for that person who has to bring the bad news. And it also shifts the larger premise. You can only hold something over anyone’s head when you are the billion dollar customer they tended to push around. The Commonwealth might be in line for a new delivery address. It opens up a few doors for the inhabitants of 174 Chang’an Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing. A stage that falls in our lap because beyond ABC news, there weren’t too many sources and this news is 12 hours old. So where was the media? The Google search term “meat import America” gives us a mere two pages and no items from the BBC, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, the Boston Globe, the LA Times or the SF Courier. The Australian had it behind a pay wall, so it is not interesting what they have to say. But as ABC gives us ““The expiry date for several hundred more US establishments is in March and April and [China Customs] has not responded to US government facility registration renewal requests,” it said in statement.” With the added “So what we’re looking at right now in America, is waking up Monday morning and having $US3 billion ($A4.77B) worth of beef, pork and poultry no longer eligible to export to China”, as that being said, I would like to add “Well, Brett Stuart, the news is a lot worse. There is now also the chance you will lose 17 billion in imports because they found a new butcher. As such they could mostly be out of a job and the supermarket isles of meat might be rather empty. So how is your day going now?

Of course this is not a given, but that is the effects of a trade war, so how are these numbers spiking up? By the way, the liquor importer Dan Murphy (Australian) is still eagerly selling ‘American Whiskey’, as such the brotherly love for Canada is a little missing, but we will get there. As such there is space for improvement. America forgot that with export, there is also import of other goods and a 25% tariff will be having a deadly impact and now China has itself a new ball game. I reckon that it will (for them) be a decent level of revenge for the setting Huawei was put under. But not to fret, Americans could all become vegetarians and start working their obesity stages by getting used to coleslaw sandwiches. 

I wonder what happens when the America media sounds the alarm bells on this premise. How much is the value of meat advertising in America? You see, that is the third stage. When two sides impact, the third side is a given. What is that worth? Do they still think that their ‘51st state’ aspirations was a good idea? 

So at what point will America decide that these billboards will be about coleslaw grazing?

The one danger no one saw coming, what happens when the meat industry will have to vie for new import addresses. How much will the price of meat options increase? Simple questions really. I wonder what news we will see from Washington DC and other places. I reckon the rice wine will flow richly at a certain address in Beijing this weekend. 

So you all have a great day and try to enjoy the alfalfa sandwich you might want to try this weekend (just for the feeling). And Canadians, have a great day too, some of the Commonwealth people do consider your options first as well. 

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Repetition of a speculated lie

That is the setting that the Guardian is giving us (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/07/saudi-arabia-ukraine-us-talks-analysis) with the underlying text “a country with ambitions to be a major diplomatic player despite its horrific human rights record, including the kidnap and murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018”, so how often does a lie need to be repeated before people might accept it as a truth? 

You see on February 27, 2021 I wrote ‘That was easy!’ (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/02/27/that-was-easy/) where I blew the massive disregard for evidence to smithereens, an essay presumably written by UN essay writer Eggy Calamari. The report of a lot of pages and several times I blew their ‘assessment’ apart on simple logic. So, does that make me correct? No, but I firmly believe that a person is innocent until PROVEN guilty and that was not to be seen. Just as an apology is not a valid defense, a ‘highly likely’ from the CIA does not constitute evidence. ‘Highly likely’ is a speculation at best, as such it is not evidence. Moreover no one actually did a forensic analyses on these so called tapes. As such it is a mere document of collected speculations. One source gave me that JK escaped to Tora Tora with a young mistress. I do not believe that, but there are speculations all over the field and now with the Guardian 4 years later I basically had enough. 

The terms “kidnap and murder”and “murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi” connects to other articles, so there is that too. The first one connects to a 5 year old article named ‘‘Mockery of justice’ after Saudis convict eight over Khashoggi killing’ and the other is ‘‘He couldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel’: Jamal Khashoggi’s widow on their life and his death’. All speculative views. So in 5 years no one was able to prove anything, as such his Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are innocent. You think I am kidding? No, I am not. Evidence is central here and the media have been using the JK case as a cash cow for digital dollars. 

I think it is high time that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia takes new steps to silence these innuendo’s. If I had anything to say about this, I would give the media a taste of its own medicine. The Guardian (at al) would be banned from covering sport (and other) news in Saudi Arabia. I reckon that The Times, The Express, The Observer and others (the UK has dozens of newspapers) can cover Sport in Saudi Arabia, the Guardian gets banned until 2035 for all these events. When they are on the outside looking in, they will soon start screaming like little tea grannies on how unfair life is for them. 

I personally also think out is time for Saudi Arabia to take a harder stance on who their allies really are. It is nice that President Trump is coming for a investment donation of 1 trillion, however the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been barred from the F35 for a long time now. So if China could arrange for the J20 to be released to Saudi Arabia, they would be a much more worthy ally. So why doesn’t Saudi Arabia invest that money in China? Their might be larger considerations and I would not be privy to them, but an ally that merely claims to be an ally and whilst Saudi Arabia was under attack from Houthi terrorists, The US channels or assistance remains closed, even though several parties (including Colonel Turki bin Saleh Al-Maliki) who had shown several times that the Houthi terrorists were using Iranian drones to attack civilian Saudi targets (King Abdullah Airport in the southwestern Jizan province). The western media overlooked (I my view intentionally) that side of the story. And there is a lot more. As I personally see it intentionally silencing these matters should be seen as worse, but that is merely my point of view.

Oh, and the fact that I saw in hours these facts over 4 years ago and the ‘media’ never corrected their point of view is another matter entirely. They had no problems with replicating that work of fiction ‘Blood and Oil’ who used art of effective or persuasive writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech to make a case that never was. That is how I see it (to be certain I bought the book and I shot it to hell within the hour (I only looked at the Khashoggi mentions)

So how is the Guardian sizing up right now?

I reckon that there is a price to pay for these settings and it is time that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making these people pay for the intentional distortion of truth, but I am not in command of anything in Saudi Arabia, so my view could be ignored. If it wan’t for that pesky setting that China has another option to put America (and the UK) out of business in certain parts of the world. I wonder if Iran could hand America a trillion dollars (and a lot more for several other parts). 

Did I oversimplify matter for the average reader? Have a great Saturday. I am off to a decent Saturday and Vancouver is still 9 hours away from Saturday.

 

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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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And the bubble said ‘Bang’

This is what we usually see, or at times hear as well. Now I am not an AI expert, not even a journeyman in the ways of AI, But the father of AI namely Alan Turing stated the setting of AI. He was that good as he set the foundation of AI in the 50’s, half a century before we were able to get a handle on this. Oh, and in case you forget what he looks like, he has been immortalised on the £50 note.

And as such I feel certain that there is no AI (at present) and now this bubble comes banging on the doors of big-tech as they just lost a trillion dollars in market value. Are you interested in seeing what that looks like? Well see below and scratch the back of your heads.

We start with Business Insider (at https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tech-stock-sell-off-deepseek-ai-chatgpt-china-nvidia-chips-2025-1) where we are given ‘DeepSeek tech wipeout erases more than $1 trillion in market cap as AI panic grips Wall Street’ and I find it slightly hilarious as we see “AI panic”, you see, bubbles have that effect on markets. This takes me back to 2012 when the Australian Telstra had no recourse at that point to let the waves of 4G work for them (they had 3.5G at best) so what did they do? They called the product 4G, problem solved. I think they took some damage over time, but they prevented others taking the lead as they were lagging to some extent. Here in this case we are given “US stocks plummeted on Monday as traders fled the tech sector and erased more than $1 trillion in market cap amid panic over a new artificial intelligence app from a Chinese startup.” Now let me be clear, there is no AI. Not in America and not in China. What both do have is Deeper Machine Learning and LLM’s and these parts would in the end be part of a real AI. Just not the primary part (see my earlier works). Why has happened (me being speculative) is that China had an innovative idea of Deeper Machine Learning and package this innovatively with LLM modules so that the end result would be a much more efficient system. The Economic Times (at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/worlds-richest-people-lose-108-billion-after-deepseek-selloff/articleshow/117615451.cms) gives us ‘World’s richest people lose $108 billion after DeepSeek selloff’ what is more prudent is “DeepSeek’s dark-horse entry into the AI race, which it says cost just $5.6 million to develop, is a challenge to Silicon Valley’s narrative that massive capital spending is essential to developing the strongest models.” So all these ‘vendors’ and especially President Trump who stated “Emergence of cheaper Chinese rival has wiped $1tn off the value of leading US tech companies” (source: the Guardian). And with the Stargate investment on the mark for about 500 billion dollars it comes as a lightning strike. I wonder what the world makes of this. In all honesty I do not know what to believe and the setting of DeepSeek the game will change. In the first there are dozens of programers who need to figure out how the cost cutting was possible. Then there is the setting of what DeepSeek can actually do and here is the kicker. DeepSeek is free as such there will be a lot of people digging into that. What I wonder is what data is being collected by Chinese artificial intelligence company Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. It would be my take on the matter. When something is too cheap to be true, you better believe that there is a snag on the road making you look precisely in the wrong direction. I admit it is the cynic in me speaking, but the stage that they made a solution for 6 million (not Lee Majors) against ChatGPT coming at 100 million, the difference is just too big and I don’t like the difference. I know I might be all wrong here, but that is the initial intake I take in the matter. 

If it all works out there is a massive change in the so called AI field. A Chinese party basically sunk the American opposition. In other news, there is possibly reason to giggle here. You see, Microsoft Invested Nearly $14 Billion In OpenAI and that was merely months ago and now we see that  someone else did it at 43% of the investment and after all the hassles they had (Xbox) they shouldn’t be spending recklessly I get it, they merely all had that price picture and now we see another Chinese firm playing the super innovator. It is making me giggle. In opposition to this, we see all kind of player (Google, IBM, Meta, Oracle, Palantir) playing a similar game of what some call AI and they have set the bar really high, as such I wonder how they will continue the game if it turns out that DeepSeek really is the ‘bomb’ of Deeper Machine Learning. I reckon there will be a few interesting weeks coming up. 

Have fun, I need to lie still for 6 hours until breakfast (my life sucks).

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Calling a bluff

That happens, some people bluff and others tend to call the bluff. That is the setting that president elect Trump called on himself. We all heard how the upcoming Trump administration called the setting that they opened. They threatened the Canadian Trudeau administration on tariffs when “Trump threatened in a social media post to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both Mexico and Canada, vowing to keep them in place until “such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”” As I see it, a larger setting that the US called upon itself. The war on drugs has been going on since June 17, 1971, during which President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one”. I get that, drugs are the filth of any civilisation. Perhaps America could have changed tactics decades ago, when it was set to ‘the black population’, being white an wealthy enabled cocaine habits, all whilst crack users got the bulk of the heavy punishment. I cannot voice any opinion because it is too far from my bed. Yet the media used that setting to give us “New Jack City” and “Boys N the Hood” with an entertaining “Cocaine bear” for good measure. I reckon that “Traffic” is one of the best views on the subject (there are many I never saw).

So after half a century of failure the President elect Trump now blame the neighbouring countries. Well two can play at that. In the first I suggest any American arrested on drug charges (outside of USA) get the death penalty. No options, no trials, just point and click the gun. In the second we consider the stage that Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford is suggesting (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/12/canada-ontario-premier-trump-tariffs). With ‘Ontario leader threatens to halt energy exports to US if Trump imposes tariffs’. This is actually not a bad move (better than my idea). At present we have the idea that Canada’s revenue from electricity exports to the United States hit a record high of C$ 5.8bn. Quebec is the largest exporter, with Ontario following second at 13.9m megawatt-hours of power sent south. Of course the setback is that Ontario loses that near essential revenue. But consider that America loses 13.9m megawatt-hours of power which adds to the hardship America has at present and the next 2 quarters that hardship could be seen as close to debilitating. 

So should the Trump administration push the tariff bluff, the payback that follows is nothing short of a banger of a payback. I see all these bad press moments of Doug Ford, I cannot answer whether they are valid, but I reckon this one is on point and only 6 hours ago we were also given ‘Ontario premier suggests stopping US liquor imports over Trump tariff threat’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/13/ontario-trump-tariff-liquor) not a big thing for the non alcoholics and lets face it, Ryan Reynolds gives us Gin (perhaps soon Canadian Gin too), Dan Ackroyd (part Canadian) gives us Crystal Head Vodka and Canada also has its Whiskey types. As such, it will hurt America a lot more than it will Canada. 

There are other drinks that come from outside of the USA. There is Jenever (Dutch Gin, Netherlands), Gin (UK), Aquavit and Absolute Vodka (Sweden) not to mention the dozen of wines from the French speaking regions (like France). Oh, and Raki and Ouzo are Greek. As such plenty of non-American options. As I personally see it, the response to the Trump bluff will be countered in a few ways and it is my belief that the Trump Administration will be forced to do a 180 degree on the spot, that is if they would like to keep their other ventures running somewhat smooth. 

I personally think that Doug Ford called an upcoming bluff in several ways and all are promising answers to the situation that Canada is in no way to blame for. So what do they want? A 8,891 km wall? Who pays for that? As I see it, the war was essential for a long time, but as the ‘law’ unfairly differentiate the rich and the pour on drugs, this was never going in any direction fast. 

It seemed like such an easy solution but that was never go down well, because the complexities that American law allowed for made it way too complex (as I personally see it).

Have a great weekend, Toronto joins un on this Saturday in 2 hours.

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Sheep to the slaughter

There was a view, I agreed but not for the same reasons. I agree that Brexit was needed but for different reasons. You see, I saw the EU corruption for what it was. A setting where banks had their own little club, the club of 22. And there we saw Mario Draghi was a welcomed sight. I was hesitant to see it for good. Even as Mark Carney had its own ideas, he was right. Brexit was the way and the way was going to be hard. Now we see the Guardian embraces the story ‘Majority of Brexit voters ‘would accept free movement’ to access single market’, the carrot for idiots. There was no free movement, there was merely what others would allow us to do and that free movement comes at a price. So as we are given “A majority of Britons who voted to leave the EU would now accept a return to free movement in exchange for access to the single market, according to a cross-Europe study that also found a reciprocal desire in member states for closer links with the UK.” Yes but at a price. Now that the ‘settings’ are reset, the stupidity of the EU opens up again. The EU was on the verge of collapse as they are in denial of the consequences. You see we are given “85% of the EU’s debt has been incurred since 2020” but the story was worse, much worse. The debt of the EU has been calculated at €14,300,832,000,000 it was that bad (still is), the breaking through Brexit made sure that the UK was no longer held to account to that debt. Now that the trolls and corrupt ‘friends’ of the Euro got their stories to account going on since 31 January 2020 they finally won and the reset is about to take place (the fact that the idiot Keir Starmer assisted in the matter was a great help to the EU). What is the matter? Well in part they are right, the UK benefits from the strength of the EU matters on one side, the opposing setting is also true. A family with 27 family members and I reckon that 6 or them are nothing less than a newer version of the village idiot. They have a voice, but they also were chomping at the bit to get access to the credit card of the EU and that is not a good thing. The second that the banks come in, the setting will be final. The Greeks are loving this. There is every chance that the Greeks will blow out their debt again. The reason is simple, they don’t have what it takes and they take what everyone else has. That was an I personally think is the remaining setting. They are not alone, but they were the most visible one in 2019. Now that stage will erupt again. The EU doesn’t have the checks and balances it needs to stop that level of idiocy. 

We are also given “The report found about half of Britons believed greater engagement with the EU was the best way to bolster the UK economy (50%), strengthen security (53%), effectively manage migration (58%), tackle climate change (48%), allow Ukraine to stand up to Russia (48%), and for Britain to stand up to the US (46%) and China (49%).” My issue becomes. What data? How was the data collected? When we see ‘effectively manage migration (58%)’ how many want to push their migration numbers to UK? How many are are anti China minded? As we are given ‘for Britain to stand up to China (49%)’, are they sure they meant ‘for Britain to stand up for China’ and in all this the new markers are presented and not given towards the Middle East. That becomes a nastier kettle of fish. In the end, when the tally is shaped there will be anger towards the media for not letting us know the truth. I reckon that at some point media moguls will go the way of Brian Thompson but now with a mere rope and a tree as support for their distrust of the media. We are almost at that tipping point and reversing Brexit will give us the stage in 12 months or less. At that point the finger pointing starts and the media will lose whatever support they had. As I personally see it, the largest issue is seen in the last paragraph. With: “The Brexit-era divisions have faded and both European and British citizens realise that they need each other to get safer. Governments now need to catch up with public opinion and offer an ambitious reset.” One side is the media “British citizens realise that they need each other to get safer” and this is largely because a false picture was given for years and as this is shown to be wrong, the people will go for the throat of the media. This is no longer the 90’s where the media had overwhelming powers. Now they are held to account and optionally with their lives. As for the ‘ambitious reset’ this is largely enabled by banks and their need for the reset of their credit cards. What comes next will be the stuff of nightmares. It won’t happen directly, it will be a soft landing, like landing in a pool of molten lead. Within a year the UK will get their new demands handed to them and that will be the game, the EU (Germany) will win and suddenly they will they will side with Russian demands. As such the Ukraine will suffer and the EU will suffer too. The Americans will hand Russia through the Republican Party. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say the United States is providing too much support to Ukraine (42% vs. 13%) (source: Pew research Centre). And when that comes to blow, America will distance from the EU. It was too hard and they have too little cash left. A setting that was always come to pass. As such the anti-China sentiment was in favour of America, as they pushed their goods. So how long do you think that setting will last? In all this, the solution to embrace the Middle East and China was a larger option then anyone thinks. It gave the EU breathing space against Russia. Now the UK is in the mix and the only option (I believe they have) is to open the door to BRICS and China. It don’t think it is a good option, but it is better to see that then to see the new maps of 2040’s stating Netherlands Oblast (or more likely Holland Oblast). That danger is more and more real as America lets the Republican setting of “U.S. support for Ukraine” getting smothered to death.

As I personally see it, Europeans are leading themselves as lambs to the slaughter. What a disgusting end to the foundry of civilisation (1095 – 2040). 

Could I be wrong? I hope I am, but the wrong people got to speak at media events and I am keeping a list of media people who are leading the run towards the gallows. Like the Dutch writer Marga Minco who wrote Bitter herbs (1957). As the character in that book who through the personal inside of people decided who was handed to the devils and who went the way of angels. I reckon that not many media people are going the way of angels. And those howling that they merely viewed that the people had a right to know will see the digital age as the one serving them, not the people. There needs to be a tally, especially of the media.

Have a great day and if you are with the media, the gallows are down the lane to the left, overlooking the emptiness of the fields of bankruptcy.

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Out of bounds

Is the setting we should enable. You see, there are. Few sides and many of them come from an unreliable media (which includes nearly ALL media). We are given ‘Jamal Khashoggi’s widow urges Starmer to raise husband’s murder at Saudi meeting’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/09/jamal-khashoggis-widow-urges-starmer-to-raise-husbands-at-saudi-meeting). You see, my issue (since the very beginning) has been that the data is unsubstantiated, lacks reliability and a few other settings. 

In the very first is that there is not now, nor has there been ever a body. Forensic evidence has been lacking since day one and in the clear setting (based on law) we can say that Jamal Khashoggi has been missing, but that is all. The media has been rife with all kinds of speculations based on grainy pictures. Pictures that could have been taken in the White House for all we know. Ever since it was on my radar, going back to 2020, I started the stages in ‘Demanding Dismissal’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2019/07/04/demanding-dismissal/) where I gave a report on the stages that I had an issue with. The larger debatable presented truths was debated by me in “[92] Turkish Intelligence assessed that he may have been dead within ten minutes after entering the Consulate. Here we are treated to ‘he may have been dead’, ‘may’ refers to speculation, not fact, the footnote gives us “The ten minutes reference is based on the fact that after ten minutes, Mr. Khashoggi voice was not heard”, this implies that Turkish Intelligence has 100% of the embassy bugged and wired, that is extremely doubtful on several levels.” I debate the issues set in the UN document and basically attack the UN for doing such a hatchet job on an attack against a monarchy that was seen in the document which I will attach at the bottom. As such the Guardian giving us “Jamal Khashoggi’s widow has urged Keir Starmer to raise her husband’s murder at his meeting with the Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.” Get’s my response of ‘What murder? What evidence can you present?’ You think I am joking, but I am not. More important, the document (from the United Nations under essay writer Agnes Calamard) gives the much larger setting (made by me) of “The report mentions ‘interrogation’ 4 times, yet these so called tapes on the torture/interrogation of Jamal Khashoggi. Who heard them? How were they forensically tested and who tested and seconded any report of these findings and optional facts?” The tapes which spiralled the non-logical media into flame driven and digital currency driven idiots. Up to now, 4 years later I have yet to see any report on the settings of the ‘interrogation tapes’ none of this was ever presented and the Turkish media (who flamed things out of proportions all by themself) has yet to present any kind of intelligence or mere forensic evidence of this media. 

As such I have an issue with that. I have less of an issue with “We look here to your country, to the UK and to the US and most western countries, with respect because you have justice and you care for democratic and human rights. Forgetting Jamal’s case does not align with the values of justice and democratic and human rights in your country.” It is her view on the matter. The setting that the so called transgressions happened in a foreign location in a foreign country, neither of them United Kingdom or United States makes it a nice statement, but that is all it is. Oh and by the way, should Keir Starmer open his mouth in that case, I will demand loudly that he also raises his voice for all the Turkish Journalists that have died in Turkish captivity. Not one but dozens of them. I get why Hanan Elatr Khashoggi raises the issue, but al far as I know at least one source stated that Jamal was with a 19 year old (now 25 year old) mistress on a location in Bora Bora. I cannot vouch for the quality of that intelligence, but there you have it and as far as I was able to tell, none of the media looked into that matter, either to debunk or verify that ‘setting’. As such, I can tell that the attacks should be seen as merely anti-Saudi rhetoric. 

As such as we see “The government said the project aimed to generate £250m of investment and was expected to create more than 1,000 skilled jobs in Greater Manchester.” And as I (personally) see it. 1000 skilled jobs versus one journalist no one cares about, the journalist loses. Is it that bland a situation? Yes, it is. Mainly because no valid evidence has ever been produced. The CIA report gave us “please explain to me how the United States has any actual evidence regarding the events in a foreign nation on a consulate that is another nations grounds? How was this evidence collected? Creating a mountain of non-substantial evidence is not really evidence, even as circumstantial evidence that is founded on probability will not hold water, even if the statement “officials have said they have high confidence“, they lost the credibility they had with a silver briefcase holding evidence on WMD in Iraq, you do remember that part, don’t you? (It was roughly 16 years ago)” If it was actual evidence, the CIA would not hand us “officials have said they have high confidence” it blands the taste of spices and merely gives us the burger with the taste of a drip-mat. And it is always nice that the Guardian (not the most reliable source on Saudi intel) is wrecking up the past with an article like this. I countered their (and other sources) forms of ‘evidence’ within an hour. And the UN essay involved helped immensely. It came from statements in the document like “officials have said they have high confidence”, “he may have been dead” as well as “Mr. Khashoggi had been injected with something, passed out, and taken alive from the Consulate in some box or container” shows massive levels of speculation. I can do that as I was on the other side of the Indian Ocean, they (as I see it) cannot. And should Keir Starmer put 4,000 British jobs valued at a quarter of a billion at risk for something that is highly speculative and placed out of the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom from day one, he should be regarded as more stupid than anyone would hazard a guess on. Just my point of view and I get why Hanan Elatr Khashoggi takes that stage, but no one else will put their livelihood on the line. With the exception of those wanting the limelight for a useless cause (those people do exist), as such I see this article as one that should be out of bounds from the very start.

It is what it is. Have a great day.

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One pond is not like the other

This happens. We are not always aware, but it pays off to check. It is an easy mistake to make in Europe and America, but there are rules and thinking that you are from a ‘free’ society does not mean you can ignore the rules another place has. As such we get to The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/20/london-18-year-old-arrested-in-dubai-for-sex-with-17-year-old). You see, there are strict rules in some places. Most of them involve drugs, criminal activities or sex. We are given “We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict. My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.” And there we see the first red flag. With “she was secretive with her family because they were strict” we get the problem. And with “Fakana was charged because the girl’s mother found their chats and pictures back in the UK.

It is understood the woman subsequently contacted police in Dubai and Fakana was arrested.” And with the premise of “Sex outside marriage is legal for tourists, but only if both parties are over 18.” We see an entire life getting squandered. I have no clear picture how the mother was about it all, but as she called the police in Dubai I can guess that she was not OK with it. And the bleeding heart stage of “Fakana’s family has called on the foreign secretary, David Lammy – their local MP – to intervene.” We get nothing. You see he broke the law and that is the real drive. The UAE sees crime and deals harshly with it. We can ‘break down’ the setting as much as we want and the Guardian does this in the byline with “Marcus Fakana could face two decades in jail for having sex with girl, also from London, while on holiday in UAE”, no the setting is much simpler. He had sex with an underage girl and the parents (at least the mother) of the girl are not OK with it. Don’t get me wrong, I was a teenager once (I think that was at the time of the Crusades) and I get the setting, but the law is the law. And he should be lucky. If he had smoked a joint afterwards he might hang in the real sense of the word. And he is lucky because the punishment in the UAE for rape of a minor is the firing squad. And if she maintains that she was not ready for that he gets to feel what many have felt before. That is the part we do not see here. 

There is an abundance of party timers and as long as they party in Europe they tend to be fine. When the age difference is low (like in this case) many places have the Romeo and Juliet law. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia (mostly Muslim countries) do not. So the ‘excuse’ “has since turned 18” will not work. She was a minor in the eyes of the law. As such the sentence “Detained in Dubai, which campaigns to help people it says have suffered injustice in the UAE” does not work. He broke the law and she was still a minor. All that beside the point that the UAE has strict laws regarding sex outside marriage. And that should have been the first issue for the parents of Marcus Fakana. It pays to know the minimum of local laws. And do not blame Islamic law. In North Carolina and Virginia Oral Sex is a Felony, and that is regardless of the marital status. So, rejoice his life could have been blown after he was blown. 

And the media is partly responsible for this mess (to a degree). The Independent gives us ‘Briton, 18, facing 20-year jail sentence in Dubai over holiday romance with 17-year-old girl’, no, he had sex with a minor. And the word minor is not given once in the article in the Independent. The Standard makes the same mistake. We are led to believe that it is so unfair. But the simplicity is that countries have laws and other countries have different laws and this is one law the parents should have made clear to their son. And as for the excuse ““The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time,” said Radha Stirling, the chief executive of Detained in Dubai” I get that she has a job to do and with that the second excuse should not hold water either, it is “This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.” Yes Dubai should. You see, she was a minor. Ignorance is not a valid defence. I personally believe that he should not serve 20 years, but there need to be consequences. The media handling of the issues is making that clear. Perhaps a month (at the most) and after that he becomes persona non grata. I reckon that he gets that in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and several other nations will deny him access to.

I am for the most a black letter law person. I do believe in the spirit of the law and for me (and many others) this is not a serious case, but for the parents of the girl it is. In islamic law the ‘spoiled’ woman is not a good one (sorry for that term). And it could have been prevented if Marcus would have been told of the laws of the land he visits. 

So I am willing to blame the parents more than Marcus, but in the end he must face the music.

Enjoy the day, it is almost Friday here

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