ChatGPT -- July 5, 2025

Locator: 48676CHATBOTS.

Going forward, I'm going to be using a lot more ChatGPT. I'm not getting lazy or lazier. Using a chatbot will raise the blog to a new level -- make it much, much better, and it will save me an incredible amount of time. In a sense, ChatGPT could make my site redundant for those who want to follow the Bakken. 

Again, the blog was developed to help me keep track of what was going on in the Bakken. My initial plans were to do it solely as an Apple word document but then realized html was a much better platform. I opened it up for readers simply to let others participate in what I was learning about the Bakken. It did not matter to me what my readers thought of how I developed the blog but I certainly didn't want to turn readers away because they often provided me great information that I would not have found on my own. I say that to push back on folks who would suggest I should not be using a chatbot.

It should be noted that I am using "ChatGPT" as a metonym and it's possible I may use multiple chatpots and/or may quit using ChatGPT, the specific chatbot, entirely. That will certainly happen if Apple's Siri ever gets its act together (I assume that will happen 4Q25).

Chatbots: A simple Google search will provide answers to who, what, when, and where, in the past and the present, but ChatGPT will provide answers to the why (past and present) and what's likely to be in the future. 

ChatGPT is only as good as one's prompts. 

An example of a good prompt that I developed myself:

ChatGPT is exceptional for conversational queries across all genres. Claude/Anthropic is superb for coders/coding/writing software. What would be a good chatbot for high-level musicians, writers/composers of music, for example.

 ChatGPT then provided an incredible reply beginning with this intro:

This is an excellent and nuanced question. You’re absolutely right that different AI models have developed distinct strengths based on their training focus and interface design. Here’s a solid overview based on current (2025) evaluations ....

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Word For The Day

Hamadryads: tree nymphs.

For some, hamadryads refer to the trees themselves, the trees with their "concurrent" nymphs residing therein.

For others, the hamadryads are the nymphs themselves. 

With her love of trees, and her love of climbing trees, as if she wants to be "one" with the trees themselves, one might think of Sophia as a hamadryad. 

Hamadryads: I first saw this word in the wild in Christopher Benfey's Red Brick Black Mountain White Clay, c. 2012 / Penguin, 2013; page 244, in the softcover edition.

Coming from the same source: isinglass. I'm very familiar with isinglass but never knew the name of translucent mica.

Link here.

Every time I come across these "things," I'm reminded of Yuval Noah Harari.

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Tinker, Tailor

The link included a memory of 2001: A Space Odyssey which reminded me of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which we watched again last night. [Yes, I "own" a copy of the movie through Amazon Prime.] Probably the greatest love story ever. Link here.

Big Story Next Week -- Arbitrators Said To Have Reached A Decision -- Hess, Chevron, Exxon -- July 5, 2025

Locator: 48675OIL.

Tech Headline For The Week? Foxconn Reports A Second Quarter Record -- July 5, 2025

Locator: 48674AAPL.

Synopsis: 

Foxconn's revenue for the second quarter of 2025 increased by 15.82% compared to the same period in 2024, achieving a record for the quarter, and the company expects third-quarter business to also grow on both a quarterly and annual basis.

 Link here.

Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, reported record second-quarter revenue on strong demand for artificial intelligence products but cautioned about geopolitical and exchange rate headwinds.

Revenue for Apple's biggest iPhone assembler jumped 15.82% year-on-year to T$1.797 trillion beating the T$1.7896 trillion LSEG SmartEstimate.

Robust AI demand led to strong revenue growth for its cloud and networking products division whose customers include AI chip firm Nvidia.

Smart consumer electronics, which includes iPhones, posted “flattish” year-on-year revenue growth affected by exchange rates.

June revenue roses 10.09% on year to T$540.237 billion, a record high for that month.

Geo-Political Headline Of The Day (Year?)

Locator: 48673CHINA. 

For me, the top issues facing the United States, right now:

• the US debt
• US Supreme Court fails to get a handle on federal judges overstepping their constitutional bounds
  
• existing immigration laws not enforced; "border security" is lost.
  
• the growing Muslim population in the US: 
• lack of assimilation; a lack of acculturation; lack of cultural integration;
• allowing Sharia law to take hold in jurisdictions below the state level; 
• there are already two fatwas with regard to the US president;
  
• EU regulators wreak havoc on US companies through economic blackmail
  
• California defaults
• Texas turns "blue"
• Trump's tax policies get reversed by future administrations 
• Trump's "green energy policies" get reversed by future administrations
  
• NATO fails to adjust to new world order
  
• US annexes Canada
  

The top three above are the top three in any order. The bottom seven are the bottom seven, again in any order.

China does not make the top ten list of issues facing the United States.

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CHINA

Geo-Political Headline Of The Day (Year?)

Updates

July 6, 2025: the NYT has had one article on this story, link here. The NYT does not mention that Xi won't be attending the summit in Rio de Janeiro and what that means for BRICS. Other than that, I found it a pretty good article. 

July 5, 2025: Iran is isolated. Looks for BRICS to get help. BRICS won't touch Iran. Link here.

Original Post 

Headline is here (above) but the story will have to be found elsewhere. It will be interesting how The NYT covers this story. 

Woody Allen, or some such wag, once said, 90% of life is showing up." Xi did not even show up at the BRICS summit where he would be "top dog."

Compare that with Trump's visit to the Mideast before the B-2s. He took a dozen billionaires, including the wealthiest man in the world, and brokered dozens of deals across the region. Even had Xi shown up at the BRICS summit he would have had none of Trump's money, tech billionaires, or gravitas. In many ways, Xi would have looked like a small man among other small men (and women).

But this is huge, Xi not even attending the summit. Of course, he had nothing to offer, but it does raise questions:

• short term:
• is Xi ill?
• is Xi's hold on China weakening?
• did Trump re-write the geo-political reality in the Mideast?
• long term:
• is China blowing off talks of a BRICS comeback, or this simply a bump in the road?
• is BRICS dead; if not, is the C in BRICS going to have to be changed to ... let's say ... Canada?
  

If India is the "I" in BRICS, it also suggests the China's Belt and Road Initiative is dying, if not already dead.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR) or the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy launched by China in 2013. It aims to connect Asia, Europe, and Africa through land-based and maritime networks (think India), promoting trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

The "One Belt One Road (OBOR)" initiative is not to be confused with the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).

Time For A Movie Interlude -- July 5, 2025

Locator: 48672MOVIE.

The Coen Brothers film rankings.

Link here.

Ethan Coen (by himself) and Honey Don't -- opens in theaters August 22, 2025; trailer here:

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Iran: From July, 2025 -- The Next Decade

We're going to be overwhelmed by YouTube videos on this subject for the next year. Right, wrong, indifferent. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Trump's policies, these videos are going to be ubiquitous over the next well months. Victor Davis Hanson will probably have the best analysis.

How "the" war in Iran will completely cripple Russia. Link here.

Reminder:

Seven US B-2 bombers were used to strike Iranian nuclear facilities as part of Operation Midnight Hammer.

These bombers were tasked with delivering GBU-57 MOP bunker-busting bombs. The operation targeted the Fordow and Natanz nuclear enrichment facilities.

The U.S. Air Force has 19 B-2 Spirit stealth bombers in service. Initially, the U.S. had 21, but one was lost in a 2008 crash and another in 2022.In the operation against Iranian nuclear facilities, US B-2 bombers dropped a total of 14 GBU-57 "bunker buster" bombs. These bombs were used to target the Fordow enrichment facility and a second nuclear site. The operation, named "Midnight Hammer," also involved other precision-guided weapons like Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from submarines.

The Russian void in Iran will be filled by ... not China ... but Turkey, the US, and Saudi Arabia.

We're going to get a lot of "propaganda" that China will step in to fill the void (they won't). We will also get a lot of "propaganda" that Turkey will step in to fill the void. That's partly true, but Saudi Arabia and the US will be watching closely. The economic potential in the Mideast following the 35-minute US war on Iran will be huge for those countries rushing to fill the void left by Russia, and each will want a piece of that economic pie. My hunch: Saudi Arabia is most "needful" of that potential and won't let China step on the Muslims.

The Hormuz Strait:

• I generally disregard any analyst who raises this canard: Iran can shut down the Hormuz Strait.Fact: the Hormuz Strait has never been shut down and never will be by Iran.
• If, if, if, if --- the Hormuz Strait is shut down, "we" have bigger problems than oil in the Mideast.  
• any media outlet, particularly CNBC, that talks about the risk of the strait closing tells me that CNBC is not serious on this issue.