Tag Archives: UK

January 26, 2024 · 17:00

What is the real fear?

That was the first thought that hit me when I saw several articles like the one (at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/25/emirates-backed-stake-vodafone-security-risk-uae-uk-government) where we are given ‘UK says Emirates-backed stake in Vodafone poses national security risk’ and my first thought was ‘What?’ Now, lets be clear, I have no idea how true the statement is, for the longest time I saw Vodafail as a joke (I was a victim of their not so nice side a decade ago). Vodafone is almost everywhere (EU, UK, Australia) so why is the UK the only one crying foul? 

The article gives us “The Cabinet Office issued a notice late on Wednesday warning that the 14.6% stake held in Vodafone by Emirates Telecoms, amounted to a security concern given Vodafone’s strategic role in the UK’s telecommunications services.” Now, I don’t see the danger, but that might clearly be me. This is not my cup of tea. But all these companies whoring for dollars and investors have been playing on every field and now it is an issue? How about the board of Vodafone not whoring for investors? And why is the less than 15% a security risk? Then we are given “That move triggered the government to look into the deal under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, owing to Vodafone’s importance as strategic supplier of the UK government and being involved in the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure. However, the government had not previously made any public announcements saying it was looking into the partnership.” Now, as I personally see it, that act is 3 years old. At the moment of creation, why was there not a clear message that anyone involved in investing in infrastructure is prohibited in ‘courting’ investors? There is a clear case that if this is indeed stamped a security risk, there is a chance that the UAE can reclaim investment plus 50% damage bonus and Vodafail better cough up that dough (obviously they will charge the UK government for that).  

My question becomes ‘What is the real fear?’

In sight of “Under the terms of the strategic partnership, Emirates Telecom can increase its stake to just under 25%, while also having the opportunity to add another executive to the board if its ownership tops 20%.” I merely wonder what the danger (if any) there is. I honestly don’t know. You see Vodafone is in 16 countries and is stated to have over 160 million customers. If I had the money I might consider that and there has been several messages over the last 2 years that Vodafone cleaned up their act and services. There are several deals, mergers and investigations in place that give rise to the simple fact that certain people are placing their chess pieces (corporations) and they are (my speculation) in a stage that they do not want the UAE to be part of any of this. There is of course another option for the UAE. They could start to collect other telecom corporations and chisel the Vodafone slice down to a manageable size. I personally would start by grabbing places that give access to Germany and France, Vodafone has too much power there (and in some places too shoddy reception) and form there grow the market. France and Germany when properly grown would give access to Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. From there Germany allows growth towards Poland and Czech Republic. It is a much slower path, but I reckon that these loud mouthed politicians will run for cover when Vodafone suddenly is worth 25%-35% less. Let’s be clear, I have no idea how there is a security risk ad we aren’t given that in any clear way, but as I personally see it “a security concern given Vodafone’s strategic role in the UK’s telecommunications services” if that was really true, why was Vodafone allowed to start partnerships? Is it to attract American dollars alone? I have no idea but the UAE and the KSA are the only ones with a credit card that is not maxed out at present. 

I am not telling you this is wrong, I cannot tell. I am asking what is the real fear? Because that is the larger issue in this instance. Just my €0.02 on the matter.

Enjoy Friday that is about to start for most of you and it is gone for 71% for me at the moment, but Saturday is just behind it.

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January 2, 2024 · 23:28

Change starts now

Yup, that is the setting. We can ignore it. We can deny it and we can oppose it. All choices that any of us can make. Are they correct moves? You tell me. I am not saying what you need to believe, I cannot say what you have to trust. But change has started. It basically started lat year, but now the changes start adding up. To see this we need to see the article in the Saudi Gazette (at https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/639241). There we are given ‘Spending of visitors to Saudi Arabia soars 72% to SR100 billion in first 9 months of 2023’. Now we can wonder how much it is, but it amounts to $26,000,000,000 dollars more spend in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some will say ‘so what?’ And I get that, I have nothing to gain there either. But the fact is that the bulk of all tourists can only spend their money once. This implies that the 26 billion spend there is not getting spend anywhere else and that will matter to a whole range of people. Now, for the most I reckon these are Muslim tourists and they decided not to spend it in Amsterdam, London, Paris or some place in America. The part of the 72% more also matters. It means that as a tourist destination Saudi Arabia is starting to appeal to a whole lot of people. It means that plenty of other economies will not be getting them. As such, when a place like Australia gets only 1 billion less, it will be felt on most corners of any street. Not much mind you. However, there will be an impact. So, what do you think the impact is in London, or even America. America has had bad news after bad news and now there is one indicator that tourism has been impacted in America. It is only one indicator. I reckon that if places like Dubai also sees a larger growth. Places like Tokyo will most likely lose out. 

The fact that Saudi Arabia has been trying to appeal to a larger audience for tourism goes way beyond Islamic tourists. The moment their winter resort and their other places start opening up in the next 4 years, European and American tourist destinations will need to cater in a whole new way and they are for the most broke. They catered to self for so long that there are too little reserves left. The fact that more and more people are considering the UAE as a theme park destination over Disney-world is only now beginning to sink in. Ron DeSantis really messed that up. We get news messages like “Yes, fewer people are visiting Disney World, but the company has shown that it can raise profits by doing a better job serving fewer guests.” It is my speculations that either revenue goes down, or they will cater to a ‘wealthier’ audience, which implies it is a slippery scale to bad times for them too. Then Florida lose a 1 billion investment option by Disney (thanks to their own governor) and at that point an image starts to shape. Be careful what you see, because one swallow does not mean summer has started. Yet the larger stage that Saudi Arabia is creating will imply that their $26 billion windfall is merely the start of more. It does not guarantee success, it merely means that failure is almost no longer a consideration for Saudi Arabia. These things are not the same. But the thing that matters to me is that if that amount was spend there, it was not spend anywhere else and that is the stick that western tourism needs to deal with. There is every chance that it is already to late. There are a few indicators that the Muslim population (which is closing in on 2 billion people) are selecting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as their destination. That is the takeaway that I am seeing from a few articles, not just the one I am referring to now. 

There were more indicators and I wrote about them last year, but to see the result of 72% more in the last year is a definite number that has a much larger impact on global tourism. We will hear all versions of wisdom on how ‘experts’ say that there are solutions. I wonder where they are. You see the west and America specifically haunted the Islamic population and that population is looking for other places to visit. Now this will not imply all Muslims, but consider that 400 million go on vacation in 2024. The chances that they select Saudi Arabia and/or United Arab Emirates over all other destinations is not a large call to make. These players have been catering and perfecting their offers for a few years now and the hostilities they all faced everywhere else has them reeling for a solution and these two players have offers in spades. So as we see 2024, we need to keep an eye on what revenue goes where because the impact is close to global. 

Change is starting to become visible now, but it started last year and as these two deliver more, more and more muslims will consider another place to visit. Preferably in a place where they get a decent treatment as Muslims. It was never a hard sell, it was pretty obvious to begin with.

Enjoy today.

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December 31, 2023 · 07:56

Here come the drums

That is the setting I saw yesterday. In the Netherlands We hear from the General of the army, or as some would say ‘hoogedelgestrenge generaal Martin Wijnen’ In most not so Dutch linguistic settings we can suffice with General Martin Wijnen. (At https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1850033/dutch-army-war-russia-eu-nato), in the article ‘Dutch must prepare for war! Army boss BEGS nation to arm up ‘as Russia getting stronger’’ we see the clear warning. There are too many indicators that Russia has no intent on stopping with the Ukraine. I used the British Newspapers Express. They weren’t alone, but at times we need to change venue. Whilst we might not agree with “The Dutch army chief has raised the alarm that “Russia is getting stronger” and that leader Geert Wilders, and his counterparts in the EU, needs to better prepare the Netherlands for war with Putin’s forces.” The clear truth of the matter is that Russia is about to mobiles up to 2.2 million soldiers. It is the old ‘dumb marketing strategy’ throw enough resources at a problem and the problem goes away. No matter how strong the Ukraine is, with that many additional soldiers they can just throw themselves at the Ukrainian battlements until the Ukrainian bullets run out. Not really the humane approach, but we never bothered to call Vladimir Putin out on that quirky detail did we? 

We were also given “The Netherlands should not think our safety is guaranteed because we are 1,500 kilometres away [from Russians].” I tend to agree. The fact that several nations are now sending weapons to Russia is also a factor. Russian junk is about to be replaced by working materials. The Ukrainians might have sunk a boatload of drones, but that is not all that is going there, is it? 

In addition we were given “The Netherlands is one of the founding members of NATO and is a staunch backer of Ukraine. Last week, outgoing PM Mark Rutte announced that his country would be sending Volodymyr Zelensky 18 F-16 fighter jets to fight the Russians.” Russia is unlikely to take kindly to that and there is no indication just how ready Germany and Poland are for an direct conflict with Russian forces, that 1,500,000 meter barrier is not going to last long is it? The best outcome is to make sure that the Ukraine wins this war, but at the speed that Russia is bombing the Ukraine, there might not be much left of it in the next 26 weeks. After that? I fully believe that the Ukrainians will fight for every inch of the Ukraine, but when there is nothing left one of the few options remaining is to fight Russia in Russia and that is a very different war, one they are less equipped for. 

As such I believe there is a lot of merit to the words of Martin Wijnen. The fact that the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands is pro-Russian will not help matters much, although the moment one assault on the Netherlands takes place he better change direction, or become the first Regent to face the deadly mobs since the execution of Johan de Witt on August 20th 1672. But not to worry, I feel certain that the media, YouTubers and TikTokkers will be there to cover it all in 4K.

The words of the general sound true. There is a worry and the worry should not be trivialised. No matter how it continues with the Ukraine, Russia needs a win, it needs one soon and Putin needs one to appease his Kremlin cronies. 

We have seen the damage that the Ukraine has dealt Russia, but they have a lot more and some of it actually works. My biggest fear is that Putin takes a lesson from the Hitler playbook and takes out a city in the Netherlands, not unlike was done on May 14th 1940. To think of that, how long until France, Germany and Belgium face that very same danger? I have no idea, and I reckon the rest of the world would instantly turn against Russia, still, there are too many ‘what if’s’ in that equation and I (for the most) hate what if settings. It fuels too much super good, or super bad thinking, extremes away from the expected and most unexpected norms. It fuels the wrong part of the thinker, which I personally believe is never a good thing. 

In all this General Wijnen is not alone in this setting, but I do believe too many nations remain silent on the matter. Germany spoke out for strengthening their armed forces, but in this setting the United Kingdom did not, neither (as far as I am aware) did France and for the most their Legion Etrangere is the only one ready to face whatever comes their way. And these 9,000 troops, their Legio Patria Nostra (or as I gigglingly call them, the well educated fathers of the night) could deal with about 40% of the total of Russian forces, but what would be left for the Dutch? OK, still enough, but France and Belgium better get ready to consider the darker setting of Europe as we consider the words of General Wijnen. 

So now on a lighter tone, it is time for the same joke I have been telling friends for well over a decade.

Q: Do you know the definition of sex 2023?
A: Todays is the last day to find out.

Enjoy this final day and stay safe around fireworks.

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December 18, 2023 · 10:22

Commonwealth Internet Intelligence

This is the call, it is a simple one. In this I believe it should have started well over a year ago, but that is just me. Perhaps it has already started, but I wouldn’t know that. The setting started with an image

There was also a text. The text was that a Russian Troll was able to shutdown an Ukrainian information channel on YouTube. Interesting how Google wasn’t able to disseminate information. Yet this opened up a new need. 

The Commonwealth needs to set a rather large collection system. It needs to collect all relevant data from all relevant social media sources on who is spreading what. And there is no freedom of speech, when you tally towards terrorist organisations you become the problem. Another source (Newsweek) gives us ‘Russia Loses 37 Artillery Systems, 1,250 Troops and 19 Tanks in a Day: Kyiv’ (at https://www.newsweek.com/russia-artillery-systems-casualty-count-tanks-avdiivka-ukraine-1853110) that news is less than 12 hours old. The losses in Russia are adding up to something surpassing the total of losses from WW2 (German and allied) and the losses in tanks surpass the total tank stock of several NATO nations. Russia is about to get desperate and internet lies are cheap. As such the Commonwealth (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and United Kingdom) will need to keep tabs on what is being spread. When you consider the abilities of a software solution like Trollrensics and the modelling setting of Palantir you should be able to get a lot more aggregated intelligence. Those who cannot afford Palantir could look at IBM modeller. A setting that has now become essential. You see, from disinformation comes the setting of lone wolves and that is the next step that Russia will rely on and that chaos will hamper any nation, as such there needs to be a clear data collection  and the laws need to be equally adjusted, so that some 17 year old idiot cannot hide behind “I wanted to look cool”. Siding with terrorism needs to come at a price and as we want to reduce their rights (I believe it to be a valid option) we need to collect that data to make sense of it all. It remains a tall order in light of troll farms and identity theft, but a longer term data collection setting should allow us to see the true data and make sense of it all. You see, we get that some people accidentally or not get one message wrong, but to get a whole range wrong is a much larger problem and I reckon that Russia could be relying on lone wolves from mid 2024 onwards. They are already (according to some sources) pushing expats and now that their losses include the purchase of 346,000 body bags (from start until now) that setting becomes even more an issue. The 135,000 new conscriptions doesn’t even come close to what they need, especially as their deployment and resources are dwindling down to alarming rates as well. You can see this in whatever way you want, yet the setting is that the 20th largest army brought the second largest army to their knees and even if tougher times are ahead. Even when US support falls on its knees, the setting does become that Russia will need to rely on lone wolves and misinformation making the needs for a CII essential. I reckon that a player like GCHQ will hoist the banners on how it should be run, but the other nations need to get on board fast. The US is not much of an ally in all this and the Commonwealth better get ready when the others are all about the talk and not much about actions. The fact that YouTube (read: Google) was unable to see the truth behind Russian trolls is further evidence still in the need for additional social media data collection. 

Think of this what you will, but in your heart I believe you know that I am right, or at least not entirely incorrect. I see that there is a chasm between the two, any critical thinker would see that.

Enjoy the start of a new week.

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December 14, 2023 · 19:52

Our menu: Delusional stew for all.

Yup, a meal that is free of charge, but that is how it feels to me (and I am hungry). This has started some time ago for me and the blablabla is nice, but it distracts me. On the up hand I came up with the pilot of yet another TV series, but I have enough at present. You see, what set me off today (off being a big word), was ‘No ‘phase-out’, but Dubai deal puts oil and gas sector on notice’ (at https://www.climatechangenews.com/2023/12/13/no-phase-out-but-dubai-deal-puts-oil-and-gas-sector-on-notice/), you think it is delusional, think again. We are also given “The “UAE consensus” did not go so far as to call for a “phase-out” as more than a hundred countries wanted. It settled on “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”.” You want to see how delusional this is? Lets take a look. In the first OPEC removes their delivery by 1,000,000 barrels of oil per day, they keep on producing for China, but the West (USA, Canada, UK, EU) get that less per day, this is not phasing out, but it is moving that way. Now consider that impact

USA 450,000 bpd less, Canada 100,000, United Kingdom 100,000 an the EU loses 350,00 bpd. I give it less than 60 days before all hell breaks lose. Brent will export less than 5% as all goes to America and with that change America collapses broke in 60 days, Canada will lose most of its shit, UK will become too expensive to live and the EU breaks down on its own issues. 60 days is all that is required for chaos to unfold in the west. That is what you are celebrating, aren’t you?

I am not against diminishing oil, but at present it isn’t realistic. Alternative solutions were stopped for the longest of times and the funny part here, when that comes back the crows will shout All hail Musk. That is the reality. You see, the internet without powers is not a nice thing and that makes the Musk solution the only internet on the planet. With that much less oil fuel prices will double and with proper isolation (example London), the people will freeze to death. I am game for all that, are you?

You see, the second part is “One delegation not joining in the ovation was Saudi Arabia. Oil-exporting states fought hard against the phase-out language that appeared in earlier drafts.” This makes sense, but what does not is that EVERYONE steered clear from the noise by Brent crude oil, the one American supplier to hundreds of nations and that stops soon after the limitations are reached. And with that all on the table you see that Crude becomes nationalistic and the rest suffers and drowns (or chokes) on a lack of oil.

All these people, all collectively talking on what needs to be done and nothing is being done. I saw it before COP26 and with the animosity against Elon Musk, the one solution holder this merely goes from bad to worse. I reckon that he has his solutions in place in has house and that people like Bill Gates have similar solutions in place. As such when this goes south really far, we have America and about 2000 houses with power. The rest? I think it was the Roman senate who said in unity ‘fuck the poor’ and that will be a simple repetition. 

As such when we get to “Samoa complained they were not yet in the room when the deal was adopted. Small island states had pleaded for a rapid fossil fuel phase-out to hold global warming to 1.5C, seen as critical for their survival.” Their is your first example of the world screwing over the poor. So why were they not in the room? Anyone? Anyone? 

I already stated that this point would be broken at the end of COP26, and so far my numbers hold up (partial coincidence) and that larger stage is merely fuelled by the joke that we see is presented now. Phasing out oil sounds nice, but the four players mentioned earlier cannot see the reality of that ever happening, on the upside, when America collapses, all the eyes will suddenly look at Brent oil for the first time and wonder what will happen there, because a collapsed America implies that Brent will have to export nearly all its oil making life in the USA a lot harsher. The only thing I found was by Reuters giving us “Brent crude futures edged back down towards $97 a barrel on Tuesday because (whatever reason) after two days of back-to-back speeches by world leaders, the COP28 climate” You don’t think Brent has its extensions and override policies in place? That is the reality of things and board of directors tend to be greed driven, so that was easily seen. 

A stage that has a restaurant, it serves a delusional menu. It is free and you can have as much as you like.

That is what is happening and when the world settles bak in 2-3 weeks the issues start arriving on how impossible these goals really are. I reckon the ‘depending’ media already have speakers in place for that event.

Enjoy your day. 

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December 1, 2023 · 21:27

Who did you once trust?

That is on the edge of my mind when Reuters gives us (at https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-pushes-antitrust-action-against-microsoft-uk-cloud-market-2023-11-30/) ‘Google pushes for antitrust action against Microsoft in UK cloud market’. In the one hand, we get these kind of issues all the time, the big boys are fighting over terrain, nothing new here. But what does matter is ““With Microsoft’s licensing restrictions in particular, UK customers are left with no economically reasonable alternative but to use Azure as their cloud services provider, even if they prefer the prices, quality, security, innovations, and features of rivals,” Google said in its letter to the CMA.” As well as “Asked why Amazon, which boasts a larger share of the cloud market than Microsoft, did not pose a similarly anticompetitive risk, Zavery said AWS consumers were not facing the same restrictions.” And the operative word is ‘restrictions’, a setting once employed by IBM. It comes from the old expression “Go IBM or go home”, an expression I had not heard since 1991. A setting that gives further pause when we see “Google made six recommendations to the CMA, including forcing Microsoft to improve interoperability for customers using Azure and alongside other cloud services, and banning it from withholding security updates from those that switch.” A consideration that shows us yet again what a bad choice Microsoft has become. Another source gives us “The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) launched an investigation into Britain’s cloud computing industry in October, following a referral from media regulator Ofcom which highlighted Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance of the market.” This can be seen in one view. The one part that we could consider is that one has a superior product and the other is a bully, Microsoft does not have the superior product. The marketshare settings are Amazon (33%), Azure (22%) and Google (11%), the rest (like Oracle and IBM) are a lot smaller. Now consider that one isn’t playing nice (read: playing the bully), what is the actual setting that should be? I reckon that Amazon would get a decently larger share, some will go to Google giving me pause to think that the Google/Adobe partnership becomes a lot more important and it decreases Microsoft yet again, all because they decided not to play nice, something they have done a few times over as I personally see it.

What is important is that I saw several sources, yet not one of them is a British newspaper, so when did the UK Media think that reporting on this is not in the interest of the British people? How deep are they in the pocket of Microsoft? Don’t take my work for it, seek it for yourself and see just how useless British media has become.

Enjoy the day, my weekend has started, you will be there soon too.

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November 28, 2023 · 00:55

Jokes in denial

Yup, we see that at times, we see the jokes making claims and then we see them equally in denial making us wonder what this was all about. This doesn’t start with the BBC article, yet it is a good starting point to make my case. The article (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67508331) gives us ‘COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals’ and my first reaction is ‘and?’ You see good business is where you find it and a climate change event has hundreds of people all looking for an edge to make their bank accounts fat. This is not new, FIFA has done it for decades as has plenty of other players. But I digress. 

You see, we are then given “The documents – obtained by independent journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting working alongside the BBC – were prepared by the UAE’s COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments ahead of the COP28 summit, which starts on 30 November.” As such, where is the evidence? A mention of an independent journalist? Which one? Then we see a screenshot of something I could optionally create with PC Write in seconds (a 1983 text editor). If this is such a large issues, where is the ACTUAL evidence? This is the ICIJ joke all over again. Now consider the quote “This year it is being hosted by the UAE in Dubai and is due to be attended by 167 world leaders, including the Pope and King Charles III.” Now consider the setting the UK is in. Should the option arise where the UAE could sell the UK oil at $2 cheaper. Do you think that the UK would not accept? Consider that the UK In 2021, some 13 million metric tons of crude oil from Norway and that the larger image is “Norway ($11.7B), United States ($5.48B), Russia ($1.41B), Libya ($1.37B), and Nigeria ($1.19B)” (estimated numbers in 2021). That means that the UK would save well over a billion dollars. With the shortages they currently have a billion solves a lot of issues. Should it therefor not be done? Oh, and that is if there is ACTUAL evidence on the matter. I am willing to go on faith that ANY event will open doors to business arrangements. It will not hinder or lessen the impact of COP28 will it? And all this is related to someone claiming that they have documents, so where are they? What are these sources? Two simple questions.

The joke in denial
Now it is time to refer to the joke in denial. 

This all started with ‘Uniform Nameless Entitlement Perforation’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2020/12/10/uniform-nameless-entitlement-perforation/), it was my response to that Guardian idiot with its ‘jets for the rich must stop’ You see the EEA had given us a document on environmental damage in December 2020, it shows that 147 facilities created 50% of that damage. I even added that document at the end.1% creates 50% of all the damage and the Guardian and the BBC never picked up on it, they didn’t even attack the document, they never drilled into the data. They did NOTHING. That makes them the jokes in denial. Now, if they opposed the document and handed us the evidence that would have been fair. But we got nothing and now we get even more garbage without actual or factual evidence. Why is that?

Consider that this day and have fun.

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November 16, 2023 · 20:24

Just a tally

Yes, we like our tallies, it gives us a feel of accomplishment even if what is behind that tally is beyond our control. I have tallied my way through life and even as some was directly applicable to me, some was not.

Yet there is a realisation and it sets off at the very beginning. The realisation of comparison. I might have a tally that includes 2 21 year old women, 1 22 year old and 4 23 year old, without comparison and meaning it is a little hollow. If it is your ‘black book’ some will applaud, when it is your achievements in a retail shop a lot less so, especially when it involved a mall.So one with out the other is meaningless and the other way around it tends to be pointless.

So here we are looking at

And we are given the numbers. But what does it mean? You see the Dutch Army had at the height of the cold war age 1000 tanks, at the moment according to some sources it merely has 18 tanks (no idea how correct that is). And as you see, the Russians have lost 5,362 tanks during its Ukrainian offensive. This becomes a whole different crumbled cookie when you consider that (according to one source) has 12,556 tanks. Now the tally becomes a much larger consideration. This implies that on what I consider to be a meaningless war, a war of terror they lost 42% of all tanks, as such the Russian armoured assault power has almost diminished by 50%, that ain’t nothing that is half the battle gone against an armed force that was considered 21st on the world ranking list. As such the tally continues and when you consider that they lost 22 warships, all whilst the UK has a total of 70 warships. This might not seem much against the 290 that Russia is supposed to have, but if the spread of that navy is anything to go by Russia is indeed in trouble on several fronts. Now we might giggle and expect scenes from the battleship Potemkin to become a reality. The supply and support issues we have seen in recent days might not make that setting too unrealistic. Now that Ukraine has access to more modern airplanes, the 322 they lost will up by a lot soon enough. Yet they were supposed to have 900 of these bad boys and well over q third is now gone and that was before the F16’s were roaring over Ukrainian sky. A meaning less war, based on lies and Russia seemingly have lost 50% of its tanks and 33% of its fighter jets and that is all before we see the losses of helicopters and 313,000 troops. On the other hand that means that over 250,000 Russian women are cold at night. Can we reintroduce the concept of prima nocta in St Petersburg? 

I might not be a monarch, but at times I am just like any other horny little teenager. Is it fair? Nope, but they weren’t fair on Ukraine either so something needs to give. In addition, this might be the first time in history that Russian gender imbalance was so outspoken, as such beyond the military parts, the Russian social parts will also see changes and impacts all over the field. In addition, as the gender curve changes, the jobs that have been overwhelmingly male will also change. It will not immediately meltdown the economic vibe in the larger cities, but there will be a larger impact. There is no upside for Russia, the dead do not contribute and it cost the Russian government nothing. Conscription is up and when over 17 you can now be drafted into the Russian army. On the other side we see “aims to increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going on defense” yet that is also a loaded stage. You see tanks ned time to get assembled, planes need assembly and the labour force required is currently down by a lot. All that I saw coming close to a year ago. We are also given (source: ABC News) “Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy to a war footing, but could pose a problem in the long term” and no one considered the impact of no tenants, the pricing bubble of apartments, especially in St Petersburg and Moscow and several other linked factors. All that was optionally visible with a mere tally. 

When you diminish 300K people it might not seem a lot on the scale of Moscow (12 million) or St. Petersburg (250K) but overall that impacts start counting in several ways and there is one little thing the Russians overlooked. The dead do not pay taxation, so how will that increased budget come to pass? Something will have to give way and that doesn’t spell well for the current population of Russia. Suddenly my reference towards prima nocta doesn’t sound too weird, does it? You see we overlook that in WW2, the Nazi’s relied on 34,000 women over 500 Nazi-run brothels across occupied Europe to keep their troops in check. So how long until Russia takes a page from that charter? 250,000 women all manless and all serving mother to be Russia. The tally does not make sense, but to some it starts adding up to a new setting and behind all that is Bratva, a group overlooked by too many and now that their bosses have lost their capital in the west and their homes all over the west they will start getting creative fast. When you see the tally and what it connects to you get new iterations of what could be, not what should be and the nice thing about a tally it is a one dimensional application of simple numbers. 

I get it, some will frown, some will say I am wrong, but they will all be worried. I took the simplest application of numbers and took a gander on where it COULD lead to. In my defense, the path of the greed driven tends to be highly predictable, but that is merely my view on the matter.

Enjoy the day.

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November 4, 2023 · 22:16

Voice of the Peoples Republic

It is not a voice we hear often, most times we try to ignore that voice on a multitudes of given premises that are by some account unverified. We merely accepted it and for the most we see the Tiananmen square image. We were all lulled into a state of denial and sleepiness. Now I am not stating that the pavements of President Xi are innocent, that is not the case I am going for. Consider that well over a dozen communities in the America’s are now extinct, all due to the greed of the Vatican. How do YOU see the Vatican? That is a serious question and you should ponder it. You see, some of this surfaces when we consider the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67305453) giving us ‘China and Australia: Frenemies who need each other’, I get the premise, yet this premise is incorrect for us. You see, as far as I know China has never engaged in hostilities with either Australia or New Zealand. We are also not at war with them. We merely boastingly push them away because of America. The article gives us “In recent years Australia and China have accused each other over human rights violations and perceived threats to national security. Public perceptions of the other side are more negative than they have ever been. But when it comes to trade, they cannot afford to let go of each other. At the peak of their trading relationship in 2020, almost half of Australia’s exports went to China.” It is true, we (Australia) do need China. America has less an less options to fund whatever they overspend. For China Australia (optionally New Zealand too) is a path setting a trade and commerce setting with the entire Commonwealth, with Canada optionally abstaining due to the borders of America. But that gives them Australia, New Zealand, India, Bangladesh, Bahamas, Jamaica, and in the end the United Kingdom and optionally Tuvalu. Tuvalu sounds like a joke, but the moment China gets to place a base there, Hawaii becomes an interesting setting. A place where the USA is no longer safe and it impacts most of the Pacific Oceans strategic area. 

The article is also giving us “Sure enough, a string of Chinese tariffs and restrictions followed on an estimated $20bn (£16.4bn) worth of Australian goods. Among the many products affected were barley, beef, wine, coal, timber and lobster. “Basically the Chinese government was sending a message. They were unhappy with the Australian government and decided to use economic coercion to make that point,” Professor Golley added.” Getting back to that, did we ever see a complete document on the origin of Covid-19? We saw that the media whore itself to all the digital dollars we can get, we saw some of the accusations, but were we ever presented a clear version of what actually happened? Preferably from an independent source? We have acted or presumed acting against China for the longest of times, but it is time to disregard certain media, disregard certain politicians (US politicians) and start listening to what we (in a national sense) need to get ahead. The fintech people made that abundantly clear and most of them are on Wall Street. Then we get something that gives me a question mark. We are given “He reminded Australians that trade with China was worth more than with Japan, the US and South Korea combined. Clearly, normalising relations between what he called “two highly complementary economies” would be a priority for his government. Whether China’s so-called economic coercion was successful is doubtful. Australia is still openly critical of Beijing on several fronts – but there is no question that Australian businesses and workers took a hit because of China’s trade restrictions.” The first is that America is becoming a liability. As its economic value decreases, so does the voice it holds and lets be clear America has used its own version of coercion for the longest of times. Its defence apparatus, the hardware we were ‘allowed’ to obtain and that list goes on. There is a question on economic-coercion from China, I am not saying it isn’t (or wasn’t) happening. I am stating that as the media has remained silent on too many sides, it is also the least reliable one. It is the cross that players like the Sydney Morning Herald (and other Australian papers) will have to carry. There is truth that China needs Australia, I reckon it needs New Zealand too. In all this BRICS will win and America will lose more and more ‘allies’, the economy has pushed for that part. I reckon that once the they acquire a clear business setting with the United Kingdom, the settings for Margrethe Vestager (EU commissioner) will change a lot. Her digital age will change from a field of dreams into a harsh pitfall as EU members will side with the UK hoping to salvage whatever they can, the EU will soon thereafter collapse, it is on the brink of failure right now. The EU had in March a total debt exceeding $14,689,200,000,000. So how long until more banks will have to pull the plug? I gave you all part of this in ‘The finality of French freedom’ which I wrote (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2017/03/17/the-finality-of-french-freedom/) on March 17th 2017. I saw the dangers SIX YEARS AGO. I compared the EU economy kept in place by 4 anchors, with the UK gone it would be three anchors. So the moment China gets the setting to woe the Commonwealth to the BRICS organisation, the EU anchors will collapse. I even mentioned that that economy cannot be maintained with two anchors and I believe that France will buckle before Germany will. The greed and gravy train embellished economy will not support itself when the gravy train collapses, these politicians will side with whatever pays their food stamps and America has none left at present. So yes, we might call China a frenemy, which sounds clever. Yet where is the evidence? We see a mention of coercion, but is it not the customer who is allowed to decide WHERE to buy? Were trade agreements broken? It might be, I merely do not know and the media is not properly informing us. This BBC article is good, it gave us more questions then answers and that is not a bad thing. The issues for a place like America is that the straws are now escaping their grasp and with each iteration we see BRICS gaining strength. It alas means that Russia will be in a stronger position and I reckon that for Chine, for them to win the long term gain they will need to remove Russia out of the equation. Russia is seeing that and is trying to set up more partnerships. But the overall picture with the players is somewhat clear. America and Russia fought so long that the sum of them is now less than the total power of
China and it is now fuelled with Middle East trillions, the one player that had all the cash was shunned and rejected on ego driven factors by America, how stupid was that and I have warned about that stupidity for well over a year. 

How is your weekend going?

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November 2, 2023 · 08:47

The flag of me and my parents

The Khaleej Times stopped me in my tracks today. There was nothing critical about it, no reference to Gaza, no reference to British anti-semitism, it was a simple story of pride. The article (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/dubai-over-200-items-in-uae-flag-colours-sold-in-supermarkets-as-nov-3-draws-close) gives us ‘Over 200 items in UAE flag colours sold in supermarkets as Nov 3 draws close’. I have seen these events before. Queens day/Kings day in the Netherlands April 30th, National Day of Sweden on June 6th, The Queen’s birthday on 21 April (United Kingdom) and I have seen how people tend to react in very positive ways. As such I took notice of the fact that we see “The spirit of patriotism is taking over Dubai yet again, as Flag Day (November 3) draws closer. The vibrant hues of red, green, white and black have taken over souqs, supermarkets, and grocery stores in the city” gave me pause to smile. I reckon that with all the achievements in the UAE, including two astronauts namely Sultan Al Neyadi and Hazza alMansouri that nation has a lot to be proud of. Tallest building, biggest growth, consistent growing economy and even an Olympic gold medal in 2004 by Ahmed Al-Maktoum. They might not have competed in any Winter Olympics yet, but I reckon that this is no longer of the table. The fact that Saudi athlete Fayik Abdi is the first to do this is an indication that he will soon no longer be alone. As a little comparison consider that Fayik is now 44th on the Men’s giant slalom. The 44th position belongs to a citizen of Saudi Arabia, ahead of people from Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. 

The fact that the UAE competed in the 2023 IIHF World Championship Division II is a decent indication that more is to come, as such the UAE has plenty to be proud of. We all (those who have been to Dubai) will buy a T-shirt like below and a hat, but that tends to be as far that we as tourists take it. 

There are plenty of other options and I have seen how nations take pride in their country and for me it was always nice to see how other nations did this. I have been through Australia Day with a hat and beer stubby, two things I would never have bought in other conditions, but on Australia Day? Absolutely. 

We all have these moments, but if you travel, or on vacation, take a look how other nations celebrate it and see if you can add one or two items to your souvenir range.

I for one now know that the UAE celebrates November 3rd which is on a Friday this year. I wonder what other things I will see on the YouTube walk around tours for Dubai that day. It would be nice to see people go enthusiastically nuts over their own nation. We see the Dutch go absolutely orange on April 30th, they even have a special orange bitter that sells out on that day. We all have our points of celebrating our roots. Some have Canada day and worship a syrup tree, America has its 4th of July. We all have our moments, but the larger fun part is not the commercialisation, it is seeing the pride that people take in their own nation. And when you see how people take pride, are you on par with your own nation, are you more or are you less devoted to your nation and your nation of origin? 

Simple questions, but the answer tends to be less simple. We all have that and we all adhere to certain values, even if they are hidden under our skin. 

Enjoy the day.

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