Tag Archives: United Kingdom

March 1, 2025 · 05:38

What was that about London Town?

There is a setting that we see and for some reason the media is ‘unable’ to highlight. It reminded me of a setting we saw in Love Actually, the masterpiece by Richard Curtis which included Keira Knightly as the newly created bride, Denise Richards as the pretty one of the family, Claudia Schiffer as the new girlfriend of Liam Neeson. Yet they are not the setting. It is the interaction of Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister and Billy Bob Thornton as the US president. You see, that part reflects on now when we hear Hugh Grant (as Prime Minister of the UK) say “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward I will be prepared to be much stronger.” Words that have been unlikely to come from Keir Starmer. On the side of President Trump it was a good tactic. Divide and conquer. An age old tradition to take the UK out of the race to support Canada. That is my first concern. Our Commonwealth brother is in a tough spot and they need our help. I for one was all about setting the stage of the Commonwealth and it has merit. If Whatever is exported to the USA, should now (for as much as possible) set among us, the Commonwealth nations. Moreover, the tariffs need to include all exported energy to America. The said 25%, fine, Canada can do that too. But the larger requirements are to set exports from America to Commonwealth and Europe. The first setting is oil, Crude Petroleum ($107B), Petroleum Gas ($15.7B) and Refined Petroleum ($15.1B). Then we get to deal with the rest. And as far as I can see, either Australia and New Zealand aren’t on their list, or their parts are too small. So lets ramp up what these two nations can deal with. The benefit there is that Vancouver will get a boost of income through shipping and optionally jobs too. After that there is the option how much can we shift towards Europe, as well as how much more can Canada sell to the United Kingdom. It only takes care of 40% of the current needs, but with America losing the 40% of that, especially oil, America has created their own problem. As far as I am concerned we all need to take America off the shopping lists. Australia has its own settings. Two weeks ago we saw “It came after comments on Tuesday from the US president that there would be no exceptions or exemptions on the tariffs, which will start on 12 March unless Anthony Albanese can secure an exemption.” So was there an exemption? And March 12th is less than two weeks away. For Australia the ‘loss’ is a ‘mere’ 51 billion all whilst we import from America $34.6 billion in goods and services. So what happens if we decide to drop the bigger part of $34 billion and get that from Canada and India? I don’t know if it completely balances its out, but two nations dampening America for half a trillion dollars will have an effect. As such we can state that ‘America first’ could become an essential ‘America first to the sewer’. I like it when life balances the bully into desperation. I don’t know that much about New Zealand but that has its own margins, and when that falls down for America as well, and their goods find another destination, we will have been much stronger against the so called ‘bully’.

In the other side there is nothing against America phrasing ‘America first’ it is a nationalistic setting I never opposed it. Not for Denmark, not for Germany, not for France of any other nation. National pride is essential for any nation. But the larger issue isn’t that America has a Fentanyl problem. It is related to the quote “Since 2013, the illegally manufactured fentanyl problem in the United States has become more deadly and more diverse.” The other side is that federal data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show Canada plays almost no role in the smuggling of fentanyl or other deadly street drugs into the U.S. Despite that fact, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in December to step up efforts to secure the northern border. (Source: NPR) so how is “Canada plays almost no role” the setting for the tariffs? It does not. As I personally see it America is now so broke that they have to cut every corner and alleviate every spending that they can dismiss. That is the setting I see and I have been watching this for some years. It might help, but at the most a few months and as we cull the needy Americans from resources they need, that setting will expedite matters against President Trump. And we have a duty to our Commonwealth brothers and now we must unite, because when the Wall Street boat sinks, we need to be ready for what comes next. If you want to guess what comes next. Wait until you see, social funding goes to zero. Veterans, healthcare, pensions, unemployment it all falls down. I reckon that this mess will be ten times worse than the Great Depression, which was a global economic crisis that began in 1929 and lasted until the 1930s. It was caused by the Wall Street stock market crash in the United States. And it will do so again, but this time the stakes are higher. Europe and Japan are directly impacted this time too and what comes next will fuel movies for a decade or two. Perhaps Richard Curtis will create his next gem called ‘Funds Actually’ and its release will be under 5 years after this point is reached. Perhaps a more international cast like the stock broker in Tokyo (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) who sees his wealth and family life dissolve as he trusted the words of Wall Street. And for rockers, the role of Donald Trump played by Alec Baldwin, dropping in on 10 Downing Street asking “Can I have some more please?” I actually doubt that President Trump ever used the phrase ‘please’ but it makes for a better Oliver Twist reference. 

When you see the elements stack up, I see that this is the most prevalent setting and when the numbers are counted, can anyone give rise to the Fox statement “The massive GOP bill would also direct $4 trillion toward raising the debt limit” I think America is about to surpass its debt limit with exceeding arrogance and that is never good, because like gamblers going all in again and again disregarding the issue in front of them just as long as they get one win, that setting is one of the most dangerous. Not only because the current administration is ignorant of the setting of now, but they let the bet it hoping they get some too. When you take approach to the budgets, how does this ever help anyone?

Have a lovely weekend. 

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February 26, 2025 · 05:35

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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January 27, 2025 · 04:22

A call to arms

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

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

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

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

turingDownload

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

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

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

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

Try to have a great day.

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January 12, 2025 · 05:58

Who’s funny now?

It was just after midnight when an article hit the retinals of my eyes. It happens and most of the time it is just as it is. Not this time, this time was different. You see, a few days ago on January 9th 2025 in my view (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/01/09/is-it-semantics/) with the title ‘Is it semantics?’ I wrote “I will let you decide, yet consider that America opened to door to grow China in near exponential size, because they could end up with options in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.” As some people laughed at my ‘sense of humor’ they ridiculed the setting from ever happening. Now the BBC gave me a mere 4 hours ago ‘Reeves defends China visit and hails £600m boost to UK’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx9jggw9ndo), as I see it the die is cast and now you (Americans) get to ridicule the setting. Perhaps it was a simple joke to keep the mind of tariff changes, but that is not how it is playing out, is it? The article gives us “Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties at a time when soaring government borrowing costs threaten to squeeze UK public finances.” The added “The Treasury said Reeves’ visit to China delivered on a “commitment to explore deeper economic co-operation” between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and President Xi, made last year. BBC economics editor Faisal Islam said other European nations such as Spain have encouraged China not just to set up factories but to transfer its advanced battery technology, for example, into Europe.” Brings another setting to the table. Is that why Elon Musk wanted Starmer out? The timeline makes sense. America would have known about this in advance and the noise we heard was around the time this was going down on plan papers. So Elon Musk was pushing his ‘ideas’ through the populistic channels available to him? I knew nothing of the sort, but I predicted the setting as an available one. And now we get “other European nations such as Spain have encouraged China not just to set up factories but to transfer its advanced battery technology, for example, into Europe.” This implies that Spain is also on the China horse of economic opportunity. This implies that China is making progress towards the UK (and optionally also into Australia, Canada and New Zealand) as well as direct opening moves by Spain (and others) into Europe. America is not really laughing now, are they? In opposition we see “Tory MP and former security minister Tom Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the timing of Reeves’ visit to China was questionable. “She’s going at a time when her Budget has sacked the economy, we’ve got debt rates going up, and she looks like she’s going with a begging bowl, not with a trading deal,” he said. “That’s a real problem because actually it makes the UK look more vulnerable, and others around the world will see it too.”” 

Well, the UK doesn’t look more vulnerable. It is more vulnerable and it started 8-10 years ago when Mario Draghi decided to push his idea for spending in excess of €2 trillion. Yup, the invoice is due at some point and the UK is actively seeking solutions now, preferable before European nations do. As such I saw that dinner bell chime over 5 years ago. And as such Tom Tugendhat going for the adjusted Oliver Twist quote which was “Can I have some more please?” Doesn’t really hold water or slice the cabbage. It is reality in a nasty setting. It is the consequence of Wall Street and friends pushing hardship forward and now it is due harder choices will be made, but at this time these Wall Street friends are nowhere to be found and it comes down to Wall Street and its administration to figure it out and the Trump administration can no longer cry wolf (make China the nasty one). These administrations are in a deeper setting and are willing to give China a go, which will be good news for Tencent and Huawei in the first instance and first degree. Tencent will personally aid my need for coins and selling my idea, but that is not the issue now.

And whilst the article ends with “Liberal Democrat deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper urged the chancellor to return to the UK “to urgently address the ongoing crisis in the markets and announce a serious plan for growth”.” I wonder if the BBC relied on “Cooper urged the chancellor to return to the UK” instead of “Cooper urged the chancellor to return to the UK before the China vote is in”, there is of course the setting that this is not the case. I do not know Daisy Cooper, merely to a minimal degree. Yet at present, she has more in her stride than Australian labor PM Anthony Albanese. Yet for me the real ‘victory’ was that I optionally saw the backlash from President elect Donal Trump correctly, at least in part. And that days before the BBC gave me the rundown. So will the commonwealth unite with China? It is too early to say, but the start is here and now America starts its new administration with serious other problems. You see the group five eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and America) is nice but as it seemingly goes this setting could be 4 members short in the near future and that creates a new setting. The CIA will lose eyes in several places and they will not have the budget to rectify that any way soon (they lack other resources too). Still happy about the 51st state ‘joke’? We have asian food centers all over the commonwealth and these people feel happily fed and don’t see China as a threat. I am not saying they aren’t a threat, as I see it, merely America and its devoted fans do. The problem is that the economic hardships are real and the people are willing to give China a chance. It isn’t right or wrong. It merely is and it is a direct consequence of games that Wall Street enabled, as they disregarded a long term policy. It is the direct consequence of what I call short term Excel policies (not blaming Microsoft in this case).

We can postulate all we want, but it depends on what Chancellor Rachel Reeves brings back to Number 10 and parliament. As I personally see it, President Xi (with aid from He Lifeng) gets the option to make a clean sweep into the hardship that America is ignoring for itself and with the settings as I observed it on defense spending in several places China can put pressure on America to a much larger degree. Life can throw us the strangest curveballs.

So enjoy the day and remember that in China, they will say “我可以再多吃一點嗎？”

Have a lovely day, only 120 minutes until breakfast for me.

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January 9, 2025 · 21:53

Is it semantics?

There is a question that the entire ‘annexation’ of Canada brings to light. Is it the setting of an unintelligent person to employ humor (I try to steer clear of the word stupid) or is there a larger setting? So what is the actual meaning of this?

The previous story gave you part of that, but CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-absorb-canada-response-1.7426177) gives us (optionally) more. It starts with ‘No longer a joke: Ministers say Trump’s threats to absorb Canada need to be taken seriously’ where we are confronted with “Trump said Tuesday he’d be willing to use ‘economic force’ to join countries”, we saw that and as such it would not be enough. 

But there is more, the setting of “Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s assertions that Canada should become the 51st state should be taken seriously, after he initially dismissed them as a joke. “The joke is over,” LeBlanc told reporters in French. “The president and his allies continue to repeat this — we know it’s not going anywhere — but the fact that he’s repeating it, it’s not very constructive.”” You see, this is true. But as we have surmised several times in the past, there is a need for any politician to seek the limelight (not that this is always wrong). As such we are given and shown that Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and International Trade Minister Mary Ng all have their say. Yet, they all miss a few corners. You see we are overwhelmingly confronted with ‘influencers’ all seeking limelight and they ‘know’ that outbursts of Donald Trump give them the emotional rhetoric to flame settings. Now they all get the chance to drill into 40 million Canadians, all eager to grow their ‘momentum’ that is the lose for to a lot of this. And it is a lot like the setting in the Patriot (that movie with Mel Gibson). Why swap 1 political party 5800 kilometers away when you could have 58 political players 100 kilometers away? That would make no sense and Canadians need to be aware of this. What is the optional stage oil that people like Donald Trump and Kevon O’Leary (a Canadian no less) will opt for the direct marketing of 40 million Canadians to get the upper hand. Whatever O’Leary claims, he will be in it for the money. He wants to ‘secure’ his 400 million and preferably add some (hundreds of) millions to it and as I see it, anyway will do. The man is the direct opposite of Ryan Reynolds. He is in it for his money in his own way, but a lot more intelligent. Any party he engaged with enriched him and he enriched them by a lot. And there is a social/national pride in his achievements. That is the proper way enterprising and capitalism needs to work. I wonder why no one sees that. 

The larger issue is not that, it is the setting what the Commonwealth needs to do. At some point it is forced to bulk up their borders and that is the strapping setting. The UK, Australia and New Zealand will be forced to take a stance. Optionally not New Zealand, their Sopwith Camels don’t have the range to fly to the US. And I don’t think that they have an operational Army either, good enough for humanitarian jobs and rescue operations, but actual war on another shore? I doubt that.

So the Commonwealth could start crying foul and invite China to become the aid party of choice. China will love that, now it gets army and navy posts right at the front door of America. And now we get a new Cuban missile crises, but one at the front door of Los Angeles, Hollywood (the burning one), Chicago, New York and Washington DC. Yes, a real good sense of humor, mr. President elect. And let the influencers get the blame, it was his posts (allegedly) that is setting the flames sprawling and unlike the ones in California, these flames will have a national impact. Americans asked for this, they elected the man. So what comes out is on their own heads. As a commonwealthian I share the feelings of Justin Trudeau who said on January 7th (source: CBC) ‘Trudeau says ‘not a snowball’s chance in hell’ Canada joins U.S.’ And as that setting evolves I wonder if I should swap my optional future in Toronto with a more secure lifestyle in Abu Dhabi. The idea of having an apartment next to a mall (Yas Mall) and 4 tourist attraction becomes highly appealing especially if the Harry Potter universe is added in 2025 to the Warner Brothers Abu Dhabi park. Perhaps IBM needs IBM Statistics support staff in Abu Dhabi. With a (delusional) sign on bonus of $15 million I’ll be game to witch Australia for the United Arab Emirates. Still willing to move to Toronto (for the same amount mr Ellison), so what are my options? Unless something is done with the President elect, I merely see the UAE as an option. Consider that, that people are willing to leave Canada and the beauty it holds for a different kind of beauty (UAE, Abu Dhabi). And in the end it will merely delay the bankruptcy by 5 years, which gets Trump out of deep water and after that America will drag Canada into the same mess it created for itself, well done Wall Street.

All that for a sense of delusional humor? I will let you decide, yet consider that America opened to door to grow China in near exponential size, because they could end up with options in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. As Elon Musk has shifted his interest into ousting Keir Starmer from the post of PM of the United Kingdom (which is not the worst idea), however whatever he wants to replace him with will be a person HE can control and that is not on with me.

The last country will open doors all over Europe. How is the expensionarlism of Trump hitting you now? On the upside, these four nations will see a larger investment from China in their regions. Not the best option, but taking in account what America had in mind a optional preferable one.

Have an optional great day.

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December 29, 2024 · 22:00

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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December 11, 2024 · 16:59

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.

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It is what it is. Have a great day.

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October 31, 2024 · 18:39

A day of flags

Something crossed my path and it puzzled me for a moment. An article passed me by on the Khaleej Times and for a moment I was stumped. The article (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-sheikh-mohammed-calls-on-all-institutions-to-raise-flag-at-11am-on-november-1) gave me ‘Sheikh Mohammed calls on all institutions to raise flag at 11am on November 1’ where we see “As UAE celebrates Flag Day, the Dubai Ruler has called on all ministries and institutions to raise the flag at the same time, 11am on November 1.” So, what stumped me? The reason for it is quite natural. I however grew up in the Netherlands and there flag day is on June 22nd when the herring season starts. It amounts to a national herring eating day. For the Dutch it is a delicacy.

And with that in mind my first reaction was “The UAE doesn’t have herring” which for a (previous) Dutchman seems quite naturally. The setting or flag day is a national day in many countries and the UAE has plenty to be proud of. In Sweden it is celebrated on June 6th. That day in 1905 Sweden dissolved the union it had with Norway. On that day the Swedish flag became a reality.

In France it is celebrated on July 14th. This is due to the storming on the Bastille on July 14th 1789 which marked the beginning of the French Revolution. In the United Kingdom it has multiple meanings. 

As I see it, it differs per nation and they all have their own reasons. As such it seems to be an event of jubilee and tomorrow it is the United Arab Emirates that have reason to celebrate. We also get “The leader also invited “all sons of the nation to participate in this occasion.” Flag Day is an expression of love for the nation, loyalty to the flag, and “our renewed determination to keep the flag of our union flying high, expressing the pride, glory and dignity of the United Arab Emirates,”” Ever nation has reasons and the UAE also has its reason, proudly dipped in pride for its nation. Some might think ‘So what?’ But they would be missing the point. You see whether you are born there or it becomes your new nationality because you decided that the UAE is your new home. We should all have pride in the nation we embraced and celebrate the flag day we chose. As a simple question. Do you now the day of your flag day? As I see it, it doesn’t matter if you were born there. When you embrace your new grounds I believe that you should embrace the flag and your new national anthem. It doesn’t stop you from becoming a global citizen, but any global citizen is derived from a national sense of pride. That is perhaps debatable, but I believe that to be true. 

Have a lovely day.

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September 26, 2024 · 17:47

Xenophobia

Xenophobia is a real thing, it is not the version we see in Star Trek. Xenophobia quite literally translates to ‘foreign fear’. The fear of foreign issues. The media exploits it for any flames it can create, as fear invites flames, flames create ‘clicks’ and clicks translate to advertisement money. It is the simplest way for media to use people to generate revenue for them. Yet I saw the other f this exploited fear in another way last night. I was about to write an article to something related to this, as such that story gets pushed back and now I focus on this as it is related to the bigger picture. 

The first trigger were the Crusade memes we have seen this year (there were a few). Now I like the age of Crusades to some degree, but we were deceived to a much larger degree. The crusades were mostly the nobles pillaging the Arabian lands and it was done with the blessing of Pope Urban II. The treaty of Claremont (1094) gave rise to this and many people (often in states of near starving) rallied to the sound of the the call to free the land of Christ, which was largely ludicrous as that was Jerusalem and that was debatable Jewish/Saracen (Muslim). So here came the crusades and that was a massive slaughter around Accra, Jerusalem and a few other places. Yes, there are a few inaccuracies here, but the sentiment is decently sound. An interesting telling is seen in the movie Kingdom of Heaven by Ridley Scott. The western world had a decent technological advantage, but they could not stop the Arabian nations to unite in their anger to the west. Between 1092 and 1291 approximately 1.7 million people died. These people died by warfare, disease, starvation, and murder by banditry. In the current Russian losses against the Ukrainian defenders there were merely 647,800 losses, so the losses were then 300% larger. So what do you think will happen now that the Arabian lands have an economic advantage and the west no longer have a technological advantage? Did the Karen’s of this world consider that small setting in ‘their’ crusades?

And when you consider that stage, we get to the article that ‘set’ me off. It was the Daily Mail (at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-13889805/Anthony-Joshua-Daniel-Dubois-selling-national-soul-Saudi-PR-silence-criticism-SIMON-JORDAN.html) where we see ‘SIMON JORDAN: We must stop selling our sporting soul to the Saudis, I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be bought’ It is a weird sense. You see, the owners of whatever is there to be sold, because they want money and the Saudi’s (and other nations) have it. The byline “I found it a tad perplexing to sit in our own Wembley stadium on Saturday night and listen to the national anthem of Saudi Arabia” which is nice, because on September 23 1932 the country Saudi Arabia was established. The Saudi’s are proud of this and they should be allowed to be proud. So I went over to YouTube and I found the Saudi National anthem. It was beautiful. Now, I was lucky because I cannot speak Arabic to any degree. I cannot even order a Shawarma if my life depended on it (as I die of starvation), as such YouTube was the answer as the movie had the song and the texts both in Arabic and English. 

Hasten!
To glory and supremacy,
Exalt the Creator of heavens!
And raise the green flag
Carrying the written light of aegis;
Repeat: “Allahu Akbar!”
O my country!
My country,
As pride of Muslims live on!
Long live the King
For the flag
And the land!

It reveres their country, their faith, their king and their flag. What is wrong about that? Because it isn’t revering the Union Jack? The owners (the governing body of English football, the Football Association) decided to honour the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on their national day. I see nothing wrong with that. So how did he come to “I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be bought”? Shouldn’t his first though be “I don’t like the sense that everything in this country is there solely to be sold” In that the question refers to their inner ‘christian’ being, get cash now before it is too late. And in this America is already ahead of them, making all kinds of ‘unions’ before the wells of wealth run dry. And when we get “Though I consider myself a capitalist, I find it a little bit distasteful that we seem so willing to give away our national soul for the right price” and there is the larger story. The idea that the people would hand over ‘their national soul’, they sold their soul for a price and the buyer was willing to buy. I don’t see this part anywhere. We then get “I turned up to our most iconic sporting arena in the country, recognisable around the globe and the seat of our national game, to watch two British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua, and it felt like downtown Riyadh.” And I wonder (apart from the fact that Riyadh is prettier and a lot cleaner than London). Wembley Stadium is, as far as I can tell, still owned by the Football Association, so what gives? Was it merely a sign of respect to play the Saudi National anthem on their national day? I don’t know what the driving force was to playing that song, but I am willing to see that it as a sign of respect to the Saudi involvement on their national day. But what do I know. What is interesting is that the Daily Mail gives us “A British journalist has claimed he was barred from Saturday’s showpiece fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley after labelling the event an ‘unashamed sportwashing exercise’.” Was this the case? I do not know as too many media is about creating flames. Perhaps that journalist could not afford the ticket and whomever he ‘represented’ had another journalist assigned to the event. I do not know, but I wonder what the facts are. The Daily Mail is a decent expert in creating flames and this time around they let Simon Jordan create the flames. 

That is the larger stage, the media is losing more and more reliability as they more and more depend on ‘clicks’ from flames. We do not know what to believe and the article does not help. For one, an no point do we see who the owner of Wembley Stadium is, as far as I know it is still owned by the Football Association. The article does not bear that out, not even once. Weird isn’t it. Oh and before you start a crusade, remember that wars are won by those who are better informed and as such you would get a massive beating from whomever represents the new Saracens. Something to think about.

Have a lovely day.

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August 8, 2024 · 12:00

How to measure success?

That is the question is was facing today. It wasn’t about my success (or lack thereof). It was about the olympics. One member (a fellow Australian) was happy because we had two additional gold members over the United Kingdom. But there was something wrong with that train of thought. It was too American. Don’t get me wrong, as I see it it is great to have more golden medals, but in my old fashioned way of life (and thinking) it is weird that the runners up get to live. I must be going soft in my old age.

You see with Australia grasping a 14-12-9 achievement and the United Kingdom holding onto 12-15-19 at present this list could go into any direction. However, this got me thinking. How do you measure success? Don’t get me wrong the gold number are nice, yet it is not a true list of achievement, is it? I have been pondering this and my mind took me to the old 1,2,3 squared allocation. So Bronze counts as 1, Silver as 4 and gold as 9. Now we get to 183 for Australia and 187 for the United Kingdom. UK won by a nose-hair as jockeys tend to say. So is this actually fair? How can medals be universally set? I don’t think that a boxer will accept equal points to an equestrian, in support, the horse will not go along with that either. Still there is a need to give some level of equality especially as the best of the best of the best in any of these disciplines are competing, yet the simple set to look at the golden medals seems wrong (possibly Canadian Summer McIntosh might agree but she just got 3 golden and one silver medal), at 17 she got (as far as I know) a tied second place with a few others all with three golden medals in the French Olympics. 

However I still ponder, is my formula the right one? It seems to be, but it might be my own shortsightedness to think so. 

Still, the question remains, how do you measure success, and not just in sports. In the 90’s I was subject KRA’s (Key Result Areas) and I accepted them as I had no knowledge on how to measure success. Even in customer care and Technical Support these numbers (when applied to the field I was in) made perfect sense. At some point you need to consider what to measure and how to measure it. Medals are a finite point of achievement, customer care is a little bit more fluidic. So how to go about it? The Olympic medallist might have kicked this off, but my brain takes into all directions. So with one movie script under my belt (for assessment with Dubai Media) am I more successful in scripting then all my friends (both of them)? They are not in that field, so how to generalise some metrics? You see we can grab Z-scores but as far as I can see that is a near obsolete approach to matters (perhaps what the people call AI use this) and now we get to the next bit and why I used Summer McIntosh as an example. These were her first Olympics, so how could there be a Z-score of her and how would it be reliable (or relatable)? Previous competitions? These were her first olympics and even in global events the pressures are different. 

And the field becomes even more complex, you see whatever they call these systems based on LLM’s and Deeper Machine Learning, it is either set by a programmer, or set by data and there the problem becomes a lot larger as both are used. Without proper verification and a number of constraints the equation becomes a GIGO rule (Garbage In Garbage Out).

I wonder how much some players consider success. Most will measure success by their ability to bring home the bonus funds. To some extent I accept that, but when you consider how they went about getting that success becomes a larger issue. In this I take the conceptual setting of Awareness versus Engagement in market research. Awareness could be shown how many impressions (or clicks) something gets, whilst engagement requires interaction with the solution. As I have always stated Engagement wins every time, but the large companies often herald views per thousand (or clicks as a secondary). So who get the price turkey at the end? Large Language Models with (Deeper) Machine Learning what some call a version of AI has issues and the world is waking up to Nvidia (not meant in a bad way). You see there is currently no AI, not yet anyway. What there is (the LLM and DML reference) is awesome and it can do great stuff, but it has issues like the legal sector recently saw. There is a lack of verification and that will be an issue in plenty of fields. 

Have a successful day.

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