Tag Archives: Turkey

The lighting of a stage

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

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

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

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

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

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Setting to lull

That is not a setting I usually entertain, but the stage is now that I am. In the first the alcoholic across the hall decided to play his music 50 dB over the allowed limit and the land lord does nothing. He is the guy who casually mentioned that he went to school with the Beatle (he does not have a Liverpool accent) and he filmed President Putin topless on a horse. He is that kind of useless. 

In the meantime I could bash the idiots brain in, but then I go to prison and I am hoping that some of my irons will result in revenue making this place a massive part of me immediate past. So I need to suck it up, which in this setting of ageism is not easy. I am still working on two other scripts, but my lack of Final Draft exposure makes it a little hard. Redesigning blog articles into script parts is not a clear cut as it should be. I might redo part in pages and then import it into Final Draft, but that is for another day. As I was looking into these scripts (I have currently 4 scripts), one has been submitted to Channels in Saudi Arabia and the UAE as this script would appeal to an Islamic population. I might want to learn the setting of Indonesia, but I reckon that these two will also show my work to the audiences in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt. That is the first. The second one is Vitam Exhauriens which played in part in New Orleans and in part all over the world. Then there is Keno Diastimas which is in an undisclosed location under water. And that has a few lovely twists. That one is an open-ended three seasons part with the open ending (I thought it was better that way and a wink in the direction of Terry Gilliam A director I have admired for a long time. The fourth one is the one that is ‘now’ in season three and is called Engonos. That one is in part in London, in part in Greece and in part in Turkey (so these parts need to be found in one locations), but that is not my problem, my ‘challenge’ is the story and these three are on my plate. I have progression in both Vitam Exhauriens and Keno Diastimas, but they have different ‘challenges’ the second one is pretty complete, but I am still uncertain about some of the elements, to make it fit better as a story and as a TV show, but that is my challenge.

The second setting is about making some issues work (not the scripts). As I see the world going to hell in a hand basket, I can merely look at what happens and see how it unfolds. There is nothing I can do about it. As Reuters is giving us ‘US unemployment rate near 4-year high as labor market hits stall speed’ as well as ‘Wall Street Week ahead inflation data looms for markets’ and that happens whilst we also get Goldman Sachs as Reuters gives us ‘Goldman takes $1 billion stake in T. Rowe to tap retirement money’ and there we get “Big financial firms such as Goldman, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley are making a big push into alternative assets, an area dominated by private equity firms, to capitalize on their growth potential and attract new clients.” And that has to go at the cost of retirement money? I am not an economist and I do not claim to be one, but there is something ‘shoddy’ (in my mind) that a bank would invest a billion dollars. It usually is to get more in return. So how does this help retirees? I made mention that the BIGFIN and government would shake the retirement tree at some point. Is this the beginning?

I do not know, but it makes me uneasy. You see, if this is happening in America now, then soon enough (I have no idea when) it will happen to the United Kingdom, Australia and Europe as well. When? That is anyones guess and I reckon that the American setting is dire enough to do this now, but it takes a lot more knowledge to confirm or scuttle the setting we see here. The Financial Times is hanging the question whether the America economy is already in recession and the should know, so it seems like the economists at large are playing musical chairs. All that whilst the Economist comes with ‘What if the AI Stockmarket blows up?’ With the byline that “We find that the potential cost has risen alarmingly high” I could have told them that over a year ago and the entire builder.ai with the setting of Microsoft pumping it up to a billion dollars wasn’t a nearly dead giveaway? 

It is now as we approach Q4 that the ‘high’ costs are ‘suddenly’ getting the forefront news. And this happens in a time when America is getting hit with negative news after negative news. I saw most parts of this coming, but now we seemingly get it all in one quarter and I reckon that is the moment the larger companies start shedding more and more jobs whilst hiding behind the nonexistent AI wall. Yup, that will give several people a bloody nose to begin with and when the media wakes up from all this screaming “What’s this, how could this happen?” You know you’ve been had because they (the media) merely care about their digital dollars. So whilst we get all this, The Financial Times also gives us ‘Peter Mandelson warns US and UK must unite to halt Chinese tech supremacy’, I could not read the article as I am not a member, but here is a thought. How about becoming an actual ‘innovative’ force. Not claiming that you are, but becoming one. I am hoping that Peter Mandelson refers to the British Ambassador to the United States. You see, China is at least a furlong ahead of the rest and when we see a race that is merely 5 furlongs you are already losing that race. If the race is 12 furlongs you are less likely to become winner, at best you can hope to come a contender and I have shown that Amazon and Google dropped the ball a few times leaving billions on the floor. Al claiming that they had the AI field in hand. But there is no AI field, not yet and that realisation gives the setting. I basically handed the open victory to Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud as well as Tencent. Whether they would grab that open ball for the win is anyone’s guess, but that is where we stand. So whilst we see all kinds of places shedding thousands of people, I cannot vouch for Google doing that. There is talks that thousands were shed, but it is specific (and I do not know all the details), so whilst we see that these people are shed, we see ‘their’ reasons for shedding sales people and being replaced by AI agents. That is out in the open. I am not judging as DML is a setting that can be applied to advertising. So how that goes will be in the corridors of awaiting judgment.

Still we see a massive change happening and I am (fiercely) hoping that people like Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud see the wisdom that I bring (it would make my retirement a decent certainty). But that too is out in the open. I do know that if my retirement depends on the American setting that I end up working until the day I die in hunger. Not a setting I relish mind you.

So I end up in a waiting pattern for now. Have a great day. My Monday is off to a rocky start.

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In other news

Yes. That was the setting I was confronted with. I thought of a new settings called Dynamic [something] System called DSS. I didn’t write it up in the morning, so now my mind moved on and forgot about it. I am writing this down in case my mind recreates what it forgot at this time. It was a new approach to interactions and it came to me whilst I was replaying Skyrim (yet again). It was a fun time and my mind had a new approach to it. So now I am driven to what other news we have Oman (at https://gulfnews.com/business/energy/oman-signs-exploration-mining-deals-worth-500-million-1.500230678) giving us ‘Oman signs exploration, mining deals worth $500 million’, this is nothing new, mining deals happen with some regularity. There are three contracts in play. The first one is the Gulf Mining Materials Company. The other two are for the Novel Muscat International Company. In all this we are given that it might be about copper and chromium deposits. Chromium is important as at present this is found in South Africa, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Albania. As such it could set Oman on the international markets and it would help that country to some extent. And as there is a copper shortage (according to some) finding copper would increase the overall value of Oman. 

And in other news, I see that Oman (at https://www.zawya.com/en/economy/gcc/over-28-000-non-compliant-products-seized-in-oman-cpa-lki16yxx) is giving us ‘Over 28,000 non-compliant products seized in Oman: CPA’, now to be honest. I get that any country at times faces the setting that a product does not comply with the setting that its local source gives, in the case of Oman that is the Consumer Protection Authority. They are telling us that they seized 28,129 non-compliant products during the first half of 2025 across various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman as part of the ongoing efforts to combat the circulation of non-compliant goods and limit their spread. Part of me is wondering not just what these products are, but how did these over twenty eight thousand products were allowed into that country in the first place. I go shopping in a supermarket in Sydney and I reckon they don’t even have that many products. So how did this happen? We see some explanation with “The seized products varied and included expired items, goods not conforming to approved standards and specifications, as well as counterfeit products or those carrying misleading information.” As such one product could consist of at least 3 violations at a time. This sets the premise to something more manageable. I still have a hard time believing that setting, although as far as I know I personally have never seen that many violations at any time. 

This is the setting that other news gives me today and that is as I was unwilling to follow all the others with the same news and I still haven’t recovered the idea in gaming I had 24 hours ago.

These things happen and as I have created more than half a dozen IP ideas in the last two years alone. I feel content with what I have and I am still brooding on the setting of my new Miniseries, which have gotten a few more kinks in the cables that are weaved through them.

So have a great day and try to let your spirit ascent by looking at a corner you never look at. 

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What the flip?

Roughly 10 hours ago the TTW (Travel and Tour World) released an article (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/saudi-arabia-joins-france-turkey-uk-mexico-and-egypt-as-australia-issues-new-travel-advisory-amid-unstable-security-conditions/) called ‘Saudi Arabia Joins France, Turkey, UK, Mexico, and Egypt as Australia Issues New Travel Advisory Amid Unstable Security Conditions’ and my first thought was “what the hell”. You see, American tourism is mostly at an all time low and now we get that these countries are called ‘dangerous’?

Lets be clear, EVERY country has some risk, this is nearly undeniable. The two exceptions as I see it are the United Arab Emirates and Iceland. For Iceland there are two risks. The first is falling into a volcano (yes, it happens) and being attacked by a Arctic tern because you got too close to its nest. For the UAE it is a little larger and involves cobra’s and scorpions, but unlikely to be in any of their cities. 

But back to the article and lets keep a few things clear.

Saudi Arabia
I get that some parts of Saudi Arabia are not the greatest settings to go view and we get “Travelers are advised not to travel within 30 km of the border with Yemen due to ongoing conflict in Yemen and the associated risks of missile and drone strikes.” With the additional “Australians are encouraged to read the general advice on terrorism risks and personal safety during conflicts.

Now, first of all, when you are as dim as a soup plate, you need to realise that common sense is expected from EVERY person on the planet. You might be one of the biggest idiots and featured in YouTube videos for doing stupid things, but that doesn’t make it the problem of that nation. You are expected to get an apartment with a balcony and spend your vacation in said balcony. As such when considering the distances from Yemen “approximately 200 km for cities like Jizan and Abha to over 1,000 km for Riyadh.” As such if your vacation is in Medina, Riyadh (most likely), Dammam or Jeddah, you are unlikely to travel within that 30 km. In the second part (it is said) that “personal safety during conflicts” is a bit vague. A conflict could exist during a misunderstanding in a shop or restaurant and that is not a likely case. Muslims are proud of their shops (restaurants too) and they have a set standard of hospitality (something you are less likely to experience in London) in further noticing ‘conflicts’ Saudi Arabia strikes down any military conflict in Saudi Arabia with extreme prejudice. As such you are seemingly less safe on the Sydney Harbour bridge in Sydney during a pro-Palestinian rally then ever in Saudi Arabia. 

Turkey
Here we see a more changing setting. I went to Istanbul once and I never ever felt unsafe or unwelcome. But it is the only part of Turkey I have ever see and as there are issues. The one that strikes me as a plausible setting is “Smart Traveller has specifically warned Australians to avoid public demonstrations and large gatherings, as these events are often strictly enforced by the government, with severe penalties for suspected participants. Monitoring local news and following the advice of local authorities is crucial.” And this setting makes sense on a few levels as you need to be fluent in Turkish to avoid certain complications, as such this travel advice makes sense.

United Kingdom
We are given “The national terrorism threat level in the UK remains substantial, indicating that an attack is likely. Smart Traveller has warned travelers that the possibility of terrorist activities, particularly in crowded public places, is elevated.” As well as “Travelers are reminded that petty crime, such as pickpocketing, mobile phone snatching, and theft from cars, is widespread across the UK. Visitors, especially in busy areas like London, should be extra cautious with their belongings.” There is no contest in any of this. But this was already the case for years. Still it requires mention.

France
Has a similar spread of issues, so there is no contest. But people traveling to these places should have been aware from them at least two years. There is no contest on any of this. You tend to get unlucky when you get in this situation. You would be in a similar setting when traveling to Amsterdam or Berlin.

Mexico and Egypt have their own settings and these are fair as I know the published facts to be (I have never been to Mexico).

My issue is why Saudi Arabia was added, was it because Saudi Tourism grew by over 100% and America is losing dozens of billions at present? The Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Germany (Berlin) are not on this list and I reckon a lot less safe than Riyadh, Dammam, Medina or Jeddah are. There is something of being too prepared for bad luck (as I call it) and I am not saying that this was bad advice, but you tell me, how likely are you to go within 30km of Yemen? The fact is that as far as I can tell, every major city in Saudi Arabia is well over 200km away from Yemen. Even the Neom projects are way too far away from that setting. As such you are likely to walk into the desert getting stung by a scorpion or ripped apart by a pack of hyena’s long before you get close to Yemen. So why the mention and why the instillment of fear towards Saudi Arabia? Now, lets be clear. There is some need to be aware of terrorism, but as I personally see it, these tend to be ‘confined’ to Houthi terrorist attacks and so far there has not been any serious incidents in the major cities of Saudi Arabia. So why the addition of Saudi Arabia? These terrorist issues have been in play for over 10 years. So, why the addition now?

Is it to make other places to seem less appealing over America? This is pure speculation from my side, but I reckon someone saw the 102% tourism growth I illuminated yesterday and someone must have seen that number in the source article and thought, lets make Saudi Arabia less appealing. This might be the wrong thought, but it is the speculated one I am having. You see, the warning given were in play for at least half a decade, so why now?

Have a great day and don’t get mauled by a pack of hyena’s today.

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Chapter Thirteen

That is the setting I am invoking. You see, there is something going on and there are many who say so, although I believe them to be in a sort of ‘conspiracy theorist’ setting. I kinda doubt that I am (not certain though), but I am telling you the whole story here, as a lot of it is speculative, but it comes with evidence of some sort and this story goes way back. A few days ago I set a premise to paper, I have done so before on a few occasions, but this time an idea hit me, and believe me. I am the first one to go into denial and say it was my brain. Yet after all the IP I created (some of them weapon systems) I learned to respect my brain. I figures things out even when my eyes can’t see it. 

The last time was in ‘Chaotic order and orderly chaos’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/06/15/chaotic-order-and-orderly-chaos/) on June 15th 2025. I stated:

This stuck with me in the last few days and this night it came to blows with other thoughts. First we see:

And last 

Now this is mere social media (to some junk), but going back to October 6th 2024 when I wrote ‘Is it merely political?’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/10/06/is-it-merely-political/) things started to click. You see there I wrote towards an article by Politico, where I considered the text “A loophole allows middlemen in countries like Turkey, China and India to refine Russian oil in petrol and diesel before selling it elsewhere — exempt from sanctions. According to a report first seen by POLITICO, Western countries spent $2 billion on this rebranded fuel in the first half of 2024”, the part I never really considered was that this loophole had been place for some time. And as I see it, it was likely created in the days that Iran needed that loophole. So now you have the parts. 

What I considered in the last few parts is that the world (not just America) is under attack by what Sun Tzu called ‘Inward spies’ Sun Tzu saw them as spies, double agents for the enemy, gathering intel of your forces. He never considered that organizations and governments would collide at some point and as I see it that these inward spies are now known as stakeholders. They influence via means, usually for organisations and sometimes governments to dial it up, or down as the setting requires. So a ‘leftist’ stakeholder would ‘represent’ their interest and at times, a grocery store like NIOC. We never (or better stated ‘I never’) considered it until now and I reckon that the last setting where we see the last ‘Tweet’ from a White House correspondent no less with the text “but we had already uncovered its conspiracies back in March!”, so is this a lie (likely) or are stakeholders reporting back a lot more than we are happy about? The last part is less likely but not impossible, as such it becomes more and more important to map out these stakeholders and the connections that they are entertaining. 

So am I crazy or did my brain stumble upon something? Is there a setting where stakeholders get a lot more from some interested parties? I cannot tell, but as I see it, and as I have seen what stakeholders regard as ‘their’ mission in life which usually involves money and power (read: connections) and at that point it doesn’t matter what their goals are, they are actively propagating a terrorist state, a government ploy that has been progressing terrorist organisations all over the middle east. Or did you think that all these rockets delivered to Hamas and Houthi terrorists are as cheap as a pack of milk? Some of them range between $100,000 and $1,000,000 and it varies with the range and payload. I haven’t forgotten about Hezbollah and did someone make an actual invoice of that? Consider what revenue Iran has and soon you will see that the equation doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for years. So what gives and why isn’t the media digging into this? I can give you one speculation. There is every chance that their focal points are changed by stakeholders. They merely voice where the media needs to look and with advertisement stretches they are eager to increase revenue (and change focal points). 

So am I crazy? (In my defense, I am not crazy, I am an airplane: whoooooosh). And as I can still make fun of myself (my favourite subject), there is every chance that I am not crazy. That doesn’t mean that my assessment is correct. One does not imply the other and my version of what is, is highly speculative. 

So take this for what it is. A almost simple thought, yet I am doing it on paper, so that when the time comes and the media comes with ‘an exclusive’ I can state that I got there way before them). So now that I got that of my chest I might be able to get a few hours of sleep. It is 03:15 here now and I don’t want to wait for breakfast as that is a little over 300 minutes away.

So have a great day and consider what you could do in that time, you might have guessed it, it is lunchtime in Toronto, save me some poutine will you? 

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The who now?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Are we being lied to?

You see, we might all cheer at the sight of ‘US and UK toughen sanctions on Russian oil industry’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8xlj9kkkmo) and it would have been swallowed by a lot of people, if it weren’t for the fact that I gave light to the story of Politico in ‘Is it merely political?’ On October 6th (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/10/06/is-it-merely-political/) where Politico (at https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-war-economy-pain-saudi-arabia-sink-global-oil-prices-energy-russia-opec/) introduced us to loopholes. This story is less than 3 months old. And guess what, there is no mention of of loopholes in that story, as such we can assume that they haven’t been dealt with. And the setting of ““Taking on Russian oil companies will drain Russia’s war chest – and every ruble we take from Putin’s hands helps save Ukrainian lives,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.” Is as I see it ‘a load of bollocks’. We see the mention of “the UK will join the US in directly sanctioning energy companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas” but the setting that we have known of for about 3 months, where Politico gives us “A loophole allows middlemen in countries like Turkey, China and India to refine Russian oil in petrol and diesel before selling it elsewhere — exempt from sanctions. According to a report first seen by POLITICO” as such we can ask America and the United Kingdom, so what about the loophole? The fact that it wasn’t mentioned is likely because it was never dealt with. So the one BBC page is as useless as a Watt meter in a wind farm. 

And when we consider that Turkey and India were not ‘tempered’ in processing Russian oil, was it therefor not done, or was it met with too strong opposition? The fact that Jake Lapham did not pursue this little detour makes for a lot more issues than you and me can fathom at the moment. So was this article any thing more than a waste of space?

I will let you decide, but take into account that the loophole was ‘shunned’ for the longest of time by the media at large. Therefor we can assume that they prefer to cater to big business and a lot less to informing the audience. So did anyone follow up with Gabriel Gavin, Eva Hartog and Geoffrey Smith of Politico? I reckon that the larger papers didn’t bother, as they want to appease certain parties and this article might be a little embarrassing to their stake holders.

I let you shift out what is real and what is not. The BBC lacks the parts that I lightened months ago on the premise of an article by Politico, a media party that has proven themselves a mere dozen times over. So where do you stand? And for those who want to state that it is about gas and not about oil. The Russian war Machine needs the revenue of both, and if one remains operational the Russian war machine goes on. 

Have a great day.

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At the close of a year

This might be the last article this year (no promises). I have been haunted by a weird dream, but that is not what this is about. You see, the army recognition group gave us yesterday (at https://armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2024/saudi-arabia-eyes-up-to-100-turkish-kaan-fighter-jets-as-us-made-f-35-remains-inaccessible) ‘Saudi Arabia eyes up to 100 Turkish Kaan fighter jets as US-made F-35 remains inaccessible.’ I know nothing of this plane, so I am not going in that direction. The setting that the US set the inability of the F35 being handed to Saudi hands is worthy of responding to. You see, the pricing of the F35 is set to “$102.1 million for the F-35C.” This means that America lifted their nose at 10 – 25 billion of hard needed income. The planes, the support and engineering surplus and a few other options. I expected that China would ‘swoop’ in to get that money. It is decently plausible that their were more reasons. I am merely setting that this could also mean the end of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), you see, airbases on foreign ground are meant for allies and America has priced them out of that corner. As I see it Anthony Blinken has done away with that option. You see, only two months ago we got “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday sought to make headway with Saudi Arabia on” whatever ‘his’ administration is ‘worried’ about. You need to have an ally for that and the fact that the F35 has been ‘unavailable’ since 2012. That is over 12 years, so as the F35 faces being optionally phased out by 2030, they lost one of their biggest customers and provisional ally in the Arabic peninsula as I personally see it. 

And America? Well, who needs an ally who is never there? That is the short and sweet part of this all and for Turkey this might be the sweet deal of the century. At some point the UAE and Egypt will also require 5th gen stealth fighters. This will make it harder for America and China to get traction. I never expected that Turkey was on that level, but that shows you what I know of this field.

And this is not the first time America, Europe and China enter behind the fishnet only to end up with nothing. This potential purchase follows Saudi Arabia’s $3.1 billion agreement with Türkiye in 2023 for the acquisition of 60 Baykar AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), set for delivery in 2025 and 2026.

So, when was the last time major governments walked away from a potential 15 billion deal? America might shout tariffs and the upcoming said expansion with their 51st state (Canada), but they forget that Canada is part of a Commonwealth and in their views (the Commonwealth) it amounts to a direct assault on the Commonwealth. So when was the last time a nation was engaged with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and at least two dozen more. If they reject all imports from America, the American economy goes the way of the dodo a lot faster than the dodo did. For China it sounds like a prolonged Christmas. You see, if they get traction with the Commonwealth, a desire they never thought realistic, but going after their largest member Canada might set that deal to nominal.

That as the rejection of billions set a dangerous premise for America and Saudi Arabia can play hard to get in that instance. So the next threat by the president elect Trump will set a minefield around (presumed) Marco Rubio making his job next to impossible. 

But we will see what will happen. In the meantime we should send a congratulatory card to Turkey for this achievement.

And of course the card for the next tenant of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), but that is likely to follow in 2025/2026. As I see it, the next two years are close to essential for the next administration to avoid a governmental garage sale. But what do I know?

Still, in retrospect the dream still bugs me. The dream was a job at ADNOC, in Abu Dhabi. They had an AS400 running SPSS 6.1.3 and it had been gathering dust. It wasn’t working and the people at IBM said it was the fault of ADNOC. In the dream I merely had to remove 2 lines (reading ASCII data), two variables Alphanumeric were making a mess of things and removing the two lines solved 96% of the issue. 96% was fixed in the first hour (well for one job). I needed two additional hours to align the alphanumeric fields. And that took two hours to work out, I used Excel for that (the one Microsoft program Microsoft got right). And with that the first month was back on track. A weird setting, as I know next to nothing of ADNOC, I know that they are in oil, and that is all. I haven’t thought of that program in over 2 decades, so what gives? Well, in part technical support at SPSS was perhaps one of the most fulfilling jobs. But the powers that be didn’t see me as IBM material. O well, such is life. 

Time to head to the end of the year and see what 2025 will bring. 

Have a great day and the optional conclusion of a great year.

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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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Kettle, pot and colouring

Yup, that is the setting for today. I saw the news yesterday or the day before and it angered me. The article (at https://cpj.org/2024/10/saudi-arabia-sentences-cartoonist-mohammed-al-ghamdi-to-23-years/) from the CPJ (committee to protect journalists) is as misguided as it is hypocritical. In the first instance I do not know Mohammed al-Ghamdi, I never saw his cartoons or red anything from him. As far as I am concerned as long as the CPJ does not hold its western journalists and editors up to any kind of standard, it needs to shut up. Yesterday I touched on the Politico article regarding Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud and it opened up some issues for me. There is more, the media neglects the interesting ‘good’ Saudi Arabia does and trivialises the harm that Saudi Arabia gets from Houthi terrorists. As such I say that the CPJ needs to shut up.

We are given that “a Saudi cartoonist for the Qatar-based Lusail newspaper, who was sentenced on an undisclosed date in 2024 to 23 years in prison on charges that his cartoons were sympathetic to Qatar and insulted the Saudi government” Saudi Arabia has laws, they might not be the laws the west heralds, but this is a Saudi event. I might not agree, but if I am in Saudi Arabia I would have to adhere to Saudi Laws and there is the chance that my articles fall in bad waters with Saudi Arabia. I do not know as I am not privy to those laws. As far as I know I never known and intentionally insulted anyone in the Saudi government (I might be wrong in this).

Countries have laws, the west (Commonwealth and Europe) for the most on the issue of freedom of speech and as such I tend to use that freedom of speech, yet in that instance I try to maintain a civil tongue. And when Charlie Hedbo was killed, I also supported France, I stood at a vigil in Sydney. I was not aware to the stage that drove someone to kill Charlie Hedbo, but I was in agreement that we had to protest this because Charlie Hedbo was not anti-Muslim. He drew on several occasions images that would have offended the church (the Vatican), as such he was equally ‘diplomatic’ on all faiths. 

Yet this is not about Charlie Hedbo, this is about the double standard the CPJ uses and until they hold western media to a serious level of account, they need to put up or shut up. 

This is pretty much it. I did not check some of the claims made and I am not saying these claims weren’t true. We get “It is time to break this longstanding pattern of imprisoning journalists. Saudi authorities must release al-Ghamdi and drop all charges against him” and I am not opposing this, but I find it interesting that numbers and reasons for imprisonment aren’t given. It this is about less then 5 journalists, it seems a trivial matter (compared to Turkey and a few other places). And lets not forget these Saudi Laws are all documented and as such these ‘journalists’ (optionally a mere one cartoonist) might have decided to leave the country, was that done? 

The CPJ gives us that 50 Journalists were killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2024. So, where is the stink on these 50 journalists? Oh, and why is it “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory” and why do we not see the segregation between “West Bank and the Gaza Strip” and “Israel”? It was a simple setting, but the CPJ seems to use a simplistic brush for that. And between 2018 and 2024 we see merely one seemingly killed and I raised plenty of articles between 2018 and 2024 shedding doubt on that setting. Another article gives us that 10 people were imprisoned all whilst the 2023 numbers have a top 10 (Saudi Arabia wasn’t there) and the top is China with 44 imprisoned, Russia with 22, Iran with 17, and Turkey with 13 imprisoned. Yet in all of these cases, we see an absence of reasons and there is the issue. The (western) press has in the last 10 years lost pretty much all credibility, as such a reason for imprisonment is required. I have an issue with the CPJ because a population with less credibility than a drug pusher in a school yard has several issues and I do not think the CPJ is in a position to demand any kind of charge drop until the status quo of journalists is re-established with a level of credibility that most of us find acceptable. The chase for digital dollars in the last decade pretty much diminished their right for a ‘protected’ status. 

People might not like my view on the matter, but that is my preview on the matter. Perhaps the CPJ would like to rewrite the article in something more palatable?

Have a great Saturday.

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