February 6, 2026 · 13:57

Thinking of the Post

You’ve got it, the post, or more classically names the Washington Post. It has been on the mind of millions for the longest of times. In 1989 Robert Downey Jr. wishes he was a reporter for the Washington Post in Chances are. In 2017 Steven Spielberg makes Meryl Streep into its publisher Katharine Graham and over time there have been enough mentions and references to see that the Washington Post is (or sadly stated was) a global icon in news media. I still see it as a global icon, but I do realise that as a star in the top of the Christmas tree it has played its course and we all wonder how long it will hold out on that premiere position and perhaps that is how it will end, a true ornament of global media, the top of the tree. So I was a little taken back when this morning I saw the news (via most other media) that a third of its staff is about to be let go. So lets first start with what I personally see as a brazen lie, we see (at https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/how-jeff-bezos-brought-down-the-washington-post) ‘How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post’ and it comes with the byline “The Amazon founder bought thereof  paper to save it. Instead, with a mass layoff, he’s forced it into severe decline.” It was bought in August 2013, Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post and other local publications, websites, and real estate for US$ 250 million, transferring ownership to Nash Holdings LLC, Bezos’s private investment company. I have to ask the simple question. How much did the Washington Post cost Jeff Bezos up to now? I think that a newspaper who should bring in millions a day is now see as “The Post has lost around 500,000 subscribers since the end of 2020 and was set to lose $100 million in 2023, according to The New York Times.” (Source: Wiki) As such the Washington post has costed Jeff Bezos well over $350,000,000 dollars. There are only so many ‘pretty pennies’ any billionaire can fork over. And nearly ALL AMERICANS are to blame here. Consider the simple truth. If you are an American and you have not bought at least 100 newspapers as since August 2014, you are part of that problem. And I am just considering you part of that problem if you did not buy 100 Newspapers in the period 2013-2026. There are a few more reasons, but that it the crunch. As there are 350,000,000 US Citizens, we can consider you part of that problem if you bought less than 100 newspapers in 12 years. The number should be a lot higher, but you might have the divide attention between the LA Times, Boston Globe, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and a few others. News media is on the way out and they have themselves to blame for it. Instead of setting proper media trenches, America let slip the setting by allowing 6,000 newspapers to exist in the USA. That is a separation of 58,400 people per newspaper and they are all vying for advertisement money, classifieds and attention. Is it a wonder that a place like the Washington Post goes down? The utter stupidity of that is beyond me to understand. I get that there are more newspapers, local newspapers, but consider that there are merely 50 states. Where did the 6,000 newspapers go? It comes down to 120 newspapers PER STATE. And with every iteration that is out there, the big ones suffer, I reckon that several of the newspapers I mentioned are in a similar predicament and that is before they consider the online presence they have or lack to have. As spoken we get the setting (at https://www.npr.org/2026/02/04/nx-s1-5699328/washington-post-layoffs-jobs-bezos) where we see ‘Bezos orders deep job cuts at ‘Washington Post’’ which has much more business sense as a setting and here we see “The Washington Post moved Wednesday at the behest of owner Jeff Bezos to cut a third of its entire workforce. The layoffs affect every corner of the newsroom. In a newsroom Zoom call, Executive Editor Matt Murray called the move “a strategic reset” it needs to compete in the era of artificial intelligence. The paper had not evolved with the times, he said, and the changes were overdue in light of “difficult and even disappointing realities.”” Which is note completely true either. You see, there is no AI at present and all who are appeasing to that “lie” are selling themselves short. Actually AI is still two decades away but the setting that is now coming is creation of events through DML and LLM is real and when verification and validation happens it will become a problem, but as I see it, there is no real validation and verification and that happens by REAL journalists at present (editors too) but as I see it, created stories are a problem and an AI could do my blog if it had what I have and as I see it places like Grok are no where ready because they lack the ability to cater to multi dimensional viewpoints, so at present I am still a superior power there. I reckon that some of these journalistic dinosaurs are similar too (if they are not part of the Jurassic Park franchise) and that is the value they currently have and it is a dwindling setting at present. So when we get

“While acknowledging that the media industry as a whole is struggling, Baron blamed Bezos for exacerbating the newspaper’s woes through “ill-conceived decisions,” including killing an endorsement in fall 2024 of Kamala Harris for president. That choice, which Bezos took responsibility for, led hundreds of thousands of subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. Under Baron, whom Bezos inherited as executive editor, the paper flourished, flexing journalistic muscle in accountability reporting on President Trump’s first term in office. It reaped rewards from readers too, exceeding 3 million paying subscribers. It is now far below that level, according to a person at the paper with knowledge. (The person spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fears of being fired for speaking to the press.)”

It is hard to disagree (I don’t have any facts on that, but the setting of 3,000,000 paying subscribers does have a handle, it might be too small, it might not, but I think it is too small and the 6,000 newspapers are part of that. I think that a newspaper needs to have journalists, it needs to have a national/global section and I think that over 2,000 papers are unable to do that. They all hope for the materials that floats them and the advertisements that bring them dollars. Not a way to run any newspaper (my number 2,000 is purely speculative and arbitrary) but to see that one third of the newspapers are unable to fill such a gap and merely capture the faces that read headlines is part of the problem. 

That is the setting that I fear that is part of the problem and I do not agree with Jeff Bezos, but he was not part of that problem ever. And to give you the other setting, Wikipedia gives us “In 2018, Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents in Istanbul.” This is a blatant lie. I ripped a hole in that UN research with nothing more than logic and there are more settings that never made sense, but that is the world we are in now, “Guilty until proven innocent” that is the era that what some call AI is vying for and until there is proper verification and validating that is all you will get and at some point someone will say “If only we still had the Washington Post” but that is the moment when this is too late. I might live long enough for that moment too come (I am no longer a spring chicken). And at the speed things are coming, I will see this moment and say “You see, I was right all along”, but those in the thick of things will not care and others will feel to hopeless. 

That is the refractionary reality of things to come. Have a great day.

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February 5, 2026 · 17:40

Cut through the presentations

Yup, I have had enough of the presented media on how Canadians are not that much of a bother to America’s tourism setting. And for this I put attention on Now Toronto as we take a look at their side (at https://nowtoronto.com/news/are-toronto-residents-skipping-u-s-travel-heres-what-theyre-saying/) where we see ‘Are Toronto residents skipping U.S. travel? Here’s what they’re saying’ we are being told the first direct bullet points (a nice way of summary to the setting).

  • A new Abacus Data poll found nearly one in four Canadians have opted out of traveling to the U.S. due to feelings about the Trump administration, a trend reflected in Statistics Canada data showing sharp drops in both vehicle and air return trips from the U.S. in late 2025.
  • StatCan reported Canadian resident return trips by vehicle from the U.S. fell 28 per cent year-over-year in November 2025, while air travel dropped 12.1 per cent, even as overseas travel by Canadians increased 14 per cent during the same period.
  • Some Toronto residents told Now Toronto they are intentionally avoiding travel to the U.S. for political, ethical, and economic reasons, choosing alternative destinations instead, with younger Canadians more likely to scrutinize peers who continue to vacation there.

Three points that make sense and that accounts for a lot more damage than anyone would have guessed at any point in time. I particularly like the ‘peer pressure’ point. It’s like a parent gets to hear ‘Really? There?’ by their 5 year old. A nice figment of my imaginary pressure seen on the inside of my eyelids. 
And with the setting given at “Some Torontonians have told Now Toronto they’ve been boycotting travel to the U.S. in the time being. “I just feel like my dollar can be spent better elsewhere,” Olivia, a resident, said. “With all of the situation going on down there, I don’t feel like going.” Olivia said the decision to avoid the U.S. solidified in early 2025 as government policies and climate shifted. Instead, Olivia said she’s opting to travel to other regions.”

And it is this side that amounts to the bulk of other Commonwealthian’s who seem to decide on Abu Dhabi in the UAE over anywhere in the US where the vacation seems genuine and is also one of the safest places on the planet and whilst those are mere cost dressings, the food prices in America are getting out of hand and they are really fitting the budget aware traveller in Abu Dhabi, that is beside the other entertainment they have on one island and some hotels add entrance to one of these places every day for those staying in their hotels, as such we see benefit on benefit. So whilst the pressure seems to be adding to European places (like Euro Disney, Efteling and other locations) It seems that the pristine settings for Abu Dhabi is getting an amazing appeal and that is merely the first glance for a tourist. There is so much more to see and do in the UAE and now that Abu Dhabi is a mere 95 minutes from Dubai by train, that is a vacation that starlet tourist will wow for.

And whilst we still see “Olivia said she’s also more conscious of her spending choices, focusing on buying Canadian products to ensure she isn’t supporting the U.S. economy. Joel, a dual-citizen of both the U.S. and Canada says traveling there can be morally complicated. “Any political differences we have is outweighed by the fact that I have family there,” he said. “I have kids who want to see their aunts and uncles and cousins. Joel has noticed quite a difference in airport traffic in the last year or so when it comes to traveling south. “It’s faster at the border,” he said. “Because there’s no line-ups, there’s not a lot of people going.”” And as I see it, we are off to the races and as the UAE (Abu Dhabi) is erecting a massive Harry Potter addition to their Warner Brothers park, we see that also Disney is being added to Yas Island. As it is supposed to open in 2028, so there is time and there is already a lot to do, but these two players will undoubtedly become the death of American theme parks for many Canadians and now that they have an alternative, I reckon American tourism will get rightfully ignored by its northern neighbors and whilst the Winter-geese might be forced to keep their places for now. It seems that Florida will have a cruel awakening in the period 2025-2029. As as another source gave us a few hours ago that ‘Florida wants to win back its Canadian tourists’ and as we are given (at https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/florida-wants-to-win-back-its-canadian-tourists/) “Tourism leaders in Florida are reaching out to their Canadian counterparts as the U.S. has seen a travel backlash over the words and actions of President Donald Trump. As Visit Florida compiles 2025 tourism figures, the agency’s President and CEO Bryan Griffin and Carol Dover, the president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, are setting up a meeting with Canadian officials.” I’m certain that us useless as the settings of hardship were pushed through by Washington DC. So we might consider whatever we want but a vagrant in Orlando called Bumble Dora (I swear that was his name) waved a twig and whispered ‘Canadia Phohibitus’ as such Florida might wish for whatever they want, but foreign policy was dictated to all by Washington and everyone decided they have hd enough of America in that setting and when you consider what the UAE offers and what America doesn’t (or no longer) offers that reality is setting in for global tourism. So when we get the ‘presented’ “In December, Visit Florida estimated 34.339 million people traveled into the state between the start of July and end of September, up from 34.239 million during the same third quarter period in 2024. The numbers showed slight year-to-year growth in overseas visitors and domestic travelers.” You know that you are being presented a gamble with loaded dice and I reckon that not merely the Canadians have had enough of that. Consider the video that we are given (at https://youtu.be/hkr0WfTufJo?si=4gSmVZ9riFvUobmz) and the empty corridors and plane. As such a mere 100,000 less tourist is a BS setting that we are given, all whilst several sources are giving the world that the United States is getting hit by $12.5 Billion lower revenue. I think that they are off by well over $30 billion more than that (for settings that suddenly no longer matter), all whilst they were used to pump up their views when it dod matter. So whilst we understand that Florida is trying to save what it can, but to give it that swing whilst we see videos all over YouTube and TikTok appear of an empty Orlando International Airport (MCO) is not the way to go about it, but that might merely be my dubious view on the matter.

But now we get to the data that I didn’t know about. We are given “Abacus Data also reported that 33 per cent of Canadians would think less of peers who continued to travel to the U.S.

The data suggested the likelihood of those polled who would scrutinize anyone traveling increased the younger the person was. “Nearly half of those aged 18 to 29 say they would think less of someone close to them for vacationing in the United States,” Abacus Data stated. “That drops among those aged 30 to 44, falls further among those 45 to 59, and remains lower among those 60 and over.”” So consider this setting with University students, as I see it, that will stop people from traveling towards the United States in plenty of ways and whilst Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal all have their own Universities, I reckon that they will stop a lot more than currently seen. Consider that any shop would have to admit that they went to the United States for a vacation. They would lose so many customers in the blink of an eye. I reckon the hardship of Florida is merely just beginning. And with every event where President Trump opens his mouth, that hardship merely increases. Don’t take my word for it, but it seems that someone named Elisabeth Booth will do something about that really soon. No idea what she is inferring but I reckon she knows best (or at least I hope so).

And this setting is not merely apt for Canadians. I have heard similar settings in Sydney, we tend to support our Canadian brothers (sisters too). So we are also looking at places like Abu Dhabi and Europe. And whilst we are given “Australians can travel for short trips, without a visa, to the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period” and as I see it, I don’t know any vacation that ever goes beyond 30 days and set against that “U.S. nonimmigrant visa fees for 2026 generally cost US$185–$315 for tourist/student visas and A new $250 “Visa Integrity Fee” is expected for many nonimmigrant visas in 2026”, so free or a VISA well over $565 dollars? Yes, I’ll take the non-US option too. For the record a tourist visa for the UAE costs $150, a simple setting where the USA priced themselves out of a market who needs to stop costs in this hard driven economy. A setting that is now hurting the settings of the United States to well over 2029 air present. I reckon that vacation in the United States are done for until long after 2029, because when the first stories come into the many destination on how their vacation to Abu Dhabi was ‘magical’ the hesitaters will come running and that will bring serious money from every other place towards the UAE and not towards the United States. Seems simple, doesn’t it?

Have a great day today.

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February 4, 2026 · 19:36

Cracks in the armour

That is at times the stage we see. It is not a stage where the we are concerned of the armour that is in play. It is like any soldier wanting the direct replacement of body armour when it stops a bullet. There is no logic in this. It is like the expectation that a bullet strikes perfectly the first impact. You might be more lucky to get a winning lottery ticket. So when I saw the Financial Times headline (the article is behind a paywall) we would have seen

The headline is ‘alarming’ as the banks seek out new buyers for data centre loans. But as I see it, Oracle has been in the thick of things for over 40 years and the current boss of Oracle is currently worth 250,000 million dollars. He basically is worth more than most board of directors of any bank in the United States. So the setting doesn’t make sense to me. This seemingly happens should Larry Ellison (father of David Ellison, big boss, actor, producer, chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance) takes an equal disastrous dive. You think that this is ‘boasting’ but the setting that we see here gives us that banks are in a downward spin and the Ellison family is well insulated of the impeding downward spiral. So here we go to the next article and we get ‘Oracle issues public clarification amid reports linking AI push to job cuts’ (at https://sea.peoplemattersglobal.com/news/strategic-hr/oracle-issues-public-clarification-amid-reports-linking-ai-push-to-job-cuts-48277) where we see “In a statement posted on its official X account, Oracle said a widely discussed Nvidia–OpenAI investment proposal had “zero impact” on its financial relationship with OpenAI and insisted it remained “highly confident” in OpenAI’s ability to raise capital and meet its commitments. The clarification followed mounting speculation that Oracle could slash as many as 30,000 jobs to help fund its AI expansion.” I am not taking sides here, but as I see it, at least 5,000 employees could find a job by opening two cloud centres. One in Saudi Arabia and one in the UAE. Techies, Trainers, consultants and that could be an influence of revenue out of those two countries. So when we see “The statement came after a turbulent weekend for companies tied to OpenAI. The Wall Street Journal reported that a proposed $100 billion Nvidia investment in OpenAI had stalled and was never finalised. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang later confirmed that the arrangement discussed last year was non-binding and did not proceed. Despite Oracle’s attempt to reassure investors, markets reacted negatively. The company’s shares fell 2.79% to $160.06 shortly after the statement was published, highlighting ongoing concern about the scale of Oracle’s financial exposure to the AI build-out.” I have a speculative arbitrary subjective view of Sam Altman (OpenAI) that he is nothing more than a lousy second hand car dealer with too big an ego. And the setting where they are ‘closing down’ the 100 billion dollar deal sounds alarming and it seems like Oracle is left with the mess of something that is in a downward spin and continues falling downward until it splatters with a sickening thump. And when we get to “Oracle’s debt burden has expanded rapidly. The company has added about $58 billion in debt in recent months, largely to finance new data centre campuses in the US, pushing total debt above $100 billion, according to analysts. Since peaking in September 2025, Oracle’s market capitalisation has fallen sharply, erasing hundreds of billions of dollars in value.” All whilst OpenAI couldn’t exist without the Oracle framework and whilst we are given all kinds of complications but there are two settings no one seems to care about. There are plenty of reasons to have a data centre, but AI doesn’t exist yet and Deeper Machine Learning (DML) and Large Language Models (LLM) do exist and they are close to magnificent, the issue is that everyone is going with the AI setting and this AI just cannot do what AI needs to be able to do and whilst we see some excellent ideas, as I see it it doesn’t give the structural settings of an additional 770 data centres are in the making and the resources that are required are rising to the spotlight and people are unhappy with it all. All this is making OpenAI (Sam Altman) rather uneasy and whilst some are shutting down $100 billion deals whilst shouting that the processors aren’t good enough and whilst Google Gemini is outperforming whatever OpenAI has and now the banks are getting jittery and the pressure gets onto the house of Oracle. I can call it that because the Pythia of Delphi gave me permission herself. So now that the bottom of the well is showing the banks go medieval on whatever they can and they try to go out from under their arrangement. Sounds like the setting banks had in 2008, doesn’t it?

But to feed an excellent software firm to the wolves to keep safe is not the good setting. As I see it Oracle will come up from all this, whilst they will stop working with certain banks as I see it. And those banks will cry like little bitches stating that it was just business (a speculative view I am holding). And all whilst I wasn’t stating anything new. This was out in the open for over 2 years. As such the banks and the media have a few thing to explain to the people and they aren’t in the mod for what some will call BS.

Have a great day today, don’t forget to have some Ice Coffee if you are in a 30 degrees plus environment (like me) and feel free to ask the media all kinds of nasty questions. 

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February 4, 2026 · 00:05

The Grass on the grave

It comes with a setting. The first is the grass is always greener on the other fellows grave. The other setting is that we are on the setting that we are given that one good turn deserves another.

Do I sound a little weird? Yes, that is the case, but it comes with the numbers that we are being smacked with and as we are considering what a brain drain will do to the United States. This setting is one that might need work.

To set the first stage we are given: 

Amazon 15,000
UPS 30,000
Oracle 20,000
Microsoft 20,000
IBM 3,000

It concerns over 88,000 people who are getting made redundant in these 5 companies alone, I reckon the whole set will be a lot worse soon enough and when you think that they are with their backs against the wall, consider the following.

That is just Saudi Arabia who is in need for thousands of position, as such the Muslims in America might have a decent solution coming their way and the UAE is in a similar state, both nations needing IT staff, which puts the people at Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle in a decent state. Both places are in a good setting for job placements and those who cannot live in a more strict muslim way might consider the UAE, but that is not me side setting the job offerings in the mix, but most of these forms are doing it to deal with the cost of data centres and that is not a good enough reason for me. The brain drain that it leads to might be more disastrous than anything else the United States could be headed to.

Now both Saudi Arabia and the UAE could post advertisements in the metro sections of the news papers in the places where these job losses occur with an optional website where these people could apply and upload their resume. At that point it becomes the setting for these two nations to see who they could use and who not. At the setting we see with Aramco (Saudi Arabia) and ADNOC (UAE) and that is before they are looking at people for their data centres. I reckon that the braindyain will be very real for the United States. I reckon that the advertisement we see in the Arab News might soon have a much smaller number. 

So that is the small setting that we are facing now and the job cuts that American companies are putting themselves on, might be the solution that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and even other nations might need. So if you are on that redundancy train, here is a little reminder that “Your next big opportunity may be where you are right now” and lets see that solution work for you, because when you are one of 88,000 the setting does not work in your favor, as such I thought of giving some who might need your expertise to set the stage for you and not against you. 

So you all have a great day and I will find a way for others to know what some of you might be going through at the start of 2026.

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February 3, 2026 · 10:07

Excuse towards failure

It is an old expression and I didn’t expect to hear this again, but there you have it. To give reference. In the 90’s sales teams were all about the ‘pipeline’ and making ‘quota’ but at times the bosses of these sales teams didn’t have the right glasses on and they would overcompensate in many ways making life close to impossible for the sales teams. Now we get CEO’s and other ‘things’ needing to do the same thing towards shareholders and that is where the story starts. Reuters gives us ‘OpenAI is unsatisfied with some Nvidia chips and looking for alternatives, sources say’ and we see (at https://www.reuters.com/business/openai-is-unsatisfied-with-some-nvidia-chips-looking-alternatives-sources-say-2026-02-02/) that the setting is pretty much what I expect. As we are given “OpenAI is unsatisfied with some of Nvidia’s latest artificial intelligence chips, and it has sought alternatives since last year, eight sources familiar with the matter said, potentially complicating the relationship between the two highest-profile players in the AI boom.” As I see it, Sam Altman and his OpenAI aren’t making things happen and to thwart things as much the blame game comes into play. He has no other option, he is the top of the mountain and that means that he is subject to shareholders and the story “the chips aren’t cutting it” is as good as it gets for him. I reckon that the “sought alternatives since last year” excuse is about gaining time. But take a look at what Nvidia achieved. 

So, where are the shortcomings? Are the expectations of Same Altman realistic? And who are the 8 sources that Reuters is referring to? So when September came, some were given “Nvidia said it intended to pour as much as $100 billion into OpenAI as part of a deal that gave the chipmaker a stake in the startup and gave OpenAI the cash it needed to buy the advanced chips.

The deal had been expected to close within weeks, Reuters reported. Instead, negotiations have dragged on for months. During that time, OpenAI has struck deals with AMD and others for GPUs built to rival Nvidia’s. But its shifting product road map also has changed the kind of computational resources it requires and bogged down talks with Nvidia, a person familiar with the matter said.” This now gives pause to consider if it is merely the hardware, or the slice that OpenAI gets from it all and why go for the inferior AMD chip? Because if OpenAI claims that it is superior or even equal to Nvidia, the press better get that lowdown, because as far as I can tell there is no western equals to Nvidia (optionally the Huawei chip, but that is an assumption by me, myself and I). 

So when we get “On Saturday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang brushed off a report of tension with OpenAI, saying the idea was “nonsense” and that Nvidia planned a huge investment in OpenAI.

“Customers continue to choose NVIDIA for inference because we deliver the best performance and total cost of ownership at scale,” Nvidia said in a statement. A spokesperson for OpenAI in a separate statement said the company relies on Nvidia to power the vast majority of its inference fleet and that Nvidia delivers the best performance per dollar for inference” the simple setting is even that OpenAI Marketing is not one of those 8 sources. As such, if we cannot get clear information, could someone please alert these shareholders that OpenAI is making an optional training run with their money? 

As I personally see it, Sam Altman is coming up short for meeting expectations, especially as he is  trying to catch up with Google’s Gemini. I reckon that this will give him nightmares too. But overall the setting is one I expected to come, because in the end AI doesn’t yet exist and now that 100% of that hardware vendors are intentionally wrongfully label their chips AI (they’ll call it ‘Alternative  Intelligence’ at some point) and that is when the class cases will plaster every courthouse from Alberta to Zurich and I reckon it will not take that much longer, especially when the excuse that the chips aren’t good enough are coming out. I might have believed them if it was the Adler chip (a 80186 joke), but it is Nvidia, the hardware darling of the IT world.

As such my skepticism overtakes my feeling of fairness and openminded justice (that being said, justice is almost never openminded) but do not take my word on this, ask the OpenAI program with all that AI in play. 

So time for some ZZZZZZ’s, you all have a great day. I am ready to snore mine away.

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February 3, 2026 · 06:05

There is a problem

These are words you are unlikely to hear from tourist boards and they don’t like to give out that kind of information, because when you go on vacation, the numbers are always good. That has been the setting for almost 2 months, but today the Financial Times (at https://www.ft.com/content/5230100f-dfbd-428a-a554-f671e46ba3db) gives its readers ‘Disney warns of hit to US theme parks as foreign tourist numbers fall’, I saw the writing on that wall the moment we saw YouTube videos on how deserted the Epic Universe was. We saw the ‘negative’ views on rides and many other settings, the kind which puzzled me because that should have been addressed at the staging times and the makers of Epic Universe should have known better, but now we see “Disney said there would only be modest growth in its experiences business in the current quarter. The guidance comes after a 6 per cent drop in foreign visitors to the US last year, according to industry body the World Travel & Tourism Council, amid tensions between the Trump administration and other countries, including Mexico and Canada.” I personally believe that the damage is greater, but that might be a pure subjective thought process. There are a few thoughts that “Some investors, analysts and former company executives see D’Amaro, who is expanding the cruise fleet to 13 and overseeing the construction of a new theme park in Abu Dhabi, as the likeliest internal candidate to succeed Iger. “Investors are expecting it to be Josh D’Amaro,” said Rich Greenfield, veteran media analyst at LightShed Partners. “I don’t think anyone owns Disney [stock] for any reason other than the theme parks now.” Revenue from Disney’s streaming business, led by Walden, rose 11 per cent in the quarter. The company’s film studios had a number of hits in the holiday season, including Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2. But marketing costs for the new releases offset the higher theatrical revenue in the quarter” evoke, but that too is subjective. As I see it, Disney lucked out by setting the Abu Dhabi stage, but there is seemingly more. We see this from “marketing costs for the new releases offset the higher theatrical revenue in the quarter” it hands the setting that I have been seeing over the last two years. It isn’t the marketing cost, it has been the turnaround from awareness to booking the outing (or vacation) and it is based on numbers and thoughts that are the foundations of a relic. You see, it comes back to the old Direct Marketing setting of the 90’s. People thought that throwing more money at it gets you the numbers, but in this instance there are two hindrances. The first is the Trump administration and the negativity that ‘America’ now brings. Add to that issues with rides and costs. A new kind of marketing is required and tourism isn’t ready for that, just like the Direct Marketeers had in the 90’s. In the marketing industry is was the step that augmented ‘engagement’, that is now the number one setting, not blatant advertising. And it comes with a hindsight issue. The numbers they are collecting now no longer suffices, but that is a lesson they will learn soon enough. So even if the negativity is dealt with, there is still the catering to engagement. I gave a few ideas in the past (in my blog) and there are further needs. As places like Disney is catering to children, that needs to come across as essential. Weirdly enough Supermarkets are doing it to engage with the children thought Disney and Harry Potter collections, I saw that as key to engagement, by catering to that side and one example I had given was to create placemats that could be used as ‘stages’ in this with the characters in this. Like Disney or Harry Potter characters that were handed out. The stage was to set the background of the event you catered to and as younger ones now had access to mobiles to create their own movies, these elements could be used to create an imaginary repartee. Get influencers to create settings that these younger targets could use to boost creativity because that is pure engagement. The job for Disney and like minded places need to create optional software (a mere example) that gives these people that creativity, and the nice part is that these solutions have no ‘use by’ data and they could be expanded through every event a year has. By tapping into that creativity you will be creating yearning and desire to be part of that story. And you know when a younger player wants it bad enough, it tends to happen, no matter that it costs the parents $209-$229 per person (less for kids 3-9 years old) and that is merely the beginning. You see food and snacks will set you back around $100 per adult per day for a mix of snacks and meals. So at $700 you are out of pocket for two adults and additional cost for the child and in this economy you need a more than mere awareness. That is the setting that Abu Dhabi seems to be avoiding, but it comes at other prices. And engagement can solve a lot of these issues right of the bat. As such operators like Miral have a steep path to go, but the fun pat is that they can use the approach of all their parks and that implies to some degree that one solution serves all, a pretty nice setting to have. But that is merely the first step, to get the younger players on board, get the right influencers to head the engagement setting all using the nearly same solution to cater to all.

Is this a figment?

That is the right question, but when we consider player like Cristiano Ronaldo (with 670,000,000 followers) we get ‘smaller’ influencers like Selena Gomez, Lionel Messi, MrBeast, but we aren’t vying to them, you see getting the people behind Bluey, PAW Patrol, Gabby’s Dollhouse, Numberblocks, and Sesame Street, can be much more effective and they can be found in any country and seeing where your people are coming from is a first to set up that requirement and other countries have other favourite but the same solution applies. Get these people to drive engagement and you get a new engine of engagement, because the TV is already vying for engagement, as such why invent the wheel two times over? Use that solution to create engagement. 

And as we see the stage of engagement, we can wonder what solutions will be invoked by Disney, Universal and Warner Brothers and as such places like Miral can head them all off by heading that way before the others have figured out what they need to do. A seemingly simple setting, but it comes with the hidden traps that need to be avoided, a stage all trendsetters face.

Have a great day.

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February 2, 2026 · 11:46

And we’re off

That sounds like the starting noise of a race and you might not be wrong. You see, Abu Dhabi News gives us ‘Non-oil trade reaches 38.8 billion dirhams in nine months’ that boils down to C$15 billion in Canadian terms (A$ 15.2 billion in Australian settings). That is massive and this is excluding their largest stage, oil. As such it reflects on Real estate, groceries, Apple products and entry tickets to the attractions on Yas Island. This is big! 

We are given “The UAE and Kuwait continue to strengthen their economic and commercial relations through sustained bilateral trade growth, with non-oil trade reaching 50 billion dirhams in 2024, reflecting a 9% increase compared to 45.7 billion dirhams in 2023. This UAE-Kuwait economic partnership demonstrates the strategic depth of cooperation between the two Gulf nations, according to official data from the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism.” The idea that they surpassed their 2024 numbers by well over 9% is reason to give it more attention. It implies that the UAE is surpassing their non-oil stage by approximately 9% year on year. I personally think that their windfall is coming from tourism (with people being fed up with the United States) might speculative, but when you look at the presented windfall that Yas Island is giving Abu Dhabi that  speculation is not that much of a stretch. 

And the settings for a pairing of Kuwait and UAE stage seems a stretch, but as we are given “Kuwait ranks as the 14th largest global trading partner for the UAE in 2024 and fourth among Arab nations. Meanwhile, the UAE serves as Kuwait’s second-largest trading partner worldwide and first among Arab and Gulf states. The Emirates captures approximately 20% of Kuwait’s non-oil exports, according to official statistics.

Additionally, trade between the two countries represented nearly two-thirds of Kuwait’s total trade with GCC countries during 2024. The UAE holds the top position globally in receiving Kuwait’s non-oil exports, accounting for more than 15.7% of Kuwait’s total non-oil export volume. In imports, the Emirates ranked second globally for Kuwait in 2023.” It might not seems that much of a reach. I personally felt that over 5 years ago, the stabilizing factor that Saudi Arabia and the UAE might become to the Arabian table of economic placement was overreach (stated by some) but this news is sounding that I was right all along. As the western press seems to relish breaking up this winning team, there is a setting that we are not looking at. Even if there was some discord between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the need that this is properly looked at requires us all to consider Al Arabiya and the Khaleej Times to be a much better source of information than most of the Western media a they are in league with whatever influencers are baiting their digital dollars and the flames that these players like to present. In addition to the previous quote, it seems relevant to include “The UAE hosts more than 1,700 Kuwaiti trademarks, 13 registered commercial agencies, and 15 Kuwaiti companies, according to Ministry of Economy and Tourism data. Key Kuwaiti investment sectors in the Emirates include financial services and insurance, manufacturing, real estate, information and communications, wholesale and retail trade, mining, construction, hospitality, transportation, and professional services.” It implies that the stabilizing influence of the UAE is growing. Should Bahrain, Oman and Egypt find the solution on this stabilizing dinner table then there is no reason to see the Arab world anything else than part of a new world order where Islam could find its solace that they are well represented. If Saudi Arabia gets Turkey, Libya and Morocco onboard then we get a new setting, not merely an Arab world stage, but an expanding Arab world (something that makes both the United States and Israel frightening) but the reality is that the United States are pretty much done for and they always ‘screamed’ the phrase “Money Talks and bullshit walks”, now that they are held to the same premise might not seem nice but it is the reality they created and now that the $38 trillion of debt is biting them hard as the interest of over a trillion dollars is due every year is downing whatever they have left and as Canada is a commonwealth nation that is liking their optional EU setting and their optional new trading connections to China is setting themselves up for a larger slice of the economic pie, whilst the pie of the United States is getting smaller by the quarter. In that setting The Arab World is the new larger stage player that is seen in a positive light by both China and the EU and those Islamophobic influencer stories will be actively banned from the media (about a decade to late) and as such the stabilizing effect that I foresaw about a decade ago is coming to pass into reality. As such the story given to us by Sami Mohamed is not merely reporting it is prophecy coming to pass, but I must admit that it was seemingly my prophecy alone and I am kinda happy that this is happening. It means that I saw the stages over the last decade correctly and whatever ‘pseudo’ economists and journalists who were stating that the US economy is doing great are now in a ratchet state of denial and hiding behind excuses like ‘it was a complex situation’ my response? I saw it as a non-economist, you should have been on board from the get go. And I might do this later as I put it in my blog and recall their responses holding my non-economic degrees against their so called decades of expertise and time is my ally here. As the reports are set to Internet and their publications, I merely need to keep record and that might be frightening to them, but it is what it is and the settings by others are proving me right.

Within half a century the Arab world went from ‘appeasing nation’ into the invited head setting of any table and they waited long enough. Now those who called them ally (at a cost) are pulled into the limelight and held in front of a mirror. As such the Abu Dhabi News gave me more than one reason to celebrate and I reckon there is more to come, we only concluded one month in 2026, I reckon that by month 8 a lot more clarity is seen in several connections. 

So you all have a great day, I am feeling fine at present.

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February 1, 2026 · 14:14

Sinking a dilemma

It was what I was thinking not just this morning, but in the past as well You see, people are so ‘upset’ about the danger towards the setting of Iran, that they seemingly are overlooking the obvious. The Strait of Hormuz is seemingly the blockade that Iran would like to ‘enforce’ if at all possible, but when you consider that the solution to this might be a lot less when you consider that a canal could be dug, starting north of Sharjah, going south south east towards Adhen and after that east towards Sharm and then out and straight into the Gulf of Oman. I reckon that this will also give the UAE several financial options. 

First there is the toll that ships have to pay to avoid any complications with Iran, then there are options for crew and vessels to optionally restock and refresh what they have in either Umm Al Quwain, Adhen or Sharm. This setting might bring several opportunities and there is the national pride of a canal though the UAE which might be an eye-catcher to all those yachts getting to Dubai. And there are risks but some can be levied beforehand and I reckon there might be plenty of oil companies happy to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, especially if there are any complications with the American clambake in Iran (they are trying to have one, but getting anything reliable form the White House is dodgy at best. And as a non-geologist, I have no idea what these hills (optional mountain ranges east of Adhen) will bring. But the professionals in this business will be able to ascertain what are dangers and what are mere complications that can be ‘negated’ and the Salmon canal I drew is a bit arbitrary (read: random) perhaps a canal more south towards Sharjah would be preferred. There are plenty of other thoughts, but I looked at the problem and I thought “What if we just avoid the Straight of Hormuz?” A simple thought and drawing a line is also simple, but I reckon that is when the professionals come into play and they have their own settings. Another benefit is that the Al Bidya Mosque is likely to get hundreds more visitors and there are multiple other opportunities, but also I think risk, because when tourists suddenly swarm a area, other not so nice settings come out the woodwork. But those are thoughts for another day. I am merely happy that I had another idea in a non-related area of expertise. For me it means that my brain is working creatively and optionally correctly. 

There is merely the setting that could open the eyes of others and considering what could be gained, I reckon it is something from the UAE who needs to do this. Another setting is that with the Straight of Hormuz out of the way, plenty of other yachters might consider setting their eyesight on Dubai. And optionally through the Suez Canal, but that might be overthinking it. It is merely the other side of opportunity that is at times the drag we all have. 

Have a great day and enjoy your coffee today (I am resorting to ice coffee as it is 30 degrees in my room now).

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January 31, 2026 · 17:14

What is true?

That is at time the question. You see there are settings where we see accusations and at times I wonder what is true. The setting given to us is given by Memri (at https://www.memri.org/reports/saudi-arabia-draws-closer-pro-muslim-brotherhood-axis-terror-–-and-wages-intensive-media) and we see:

Now, I have questions, because as much as I understand the given settings from Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood. And some sources give me “As of 2015, it is considered a terrorist organization by the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.” As such I have doubt that this is the settings that Saudi Arabia is embracing. It makes much more sense (in light of what we see here) that the quote “Saudi Arabia has recently made a sharp turn in policy. While drawing closer to Qatar and Turkey – the patrons of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization some of whose branches are designated as terrorist in the U.S. –  it is simultaneously waging an unprecedented media campaign against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is leading a determined global campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood axis of terrorism.” Is a misleading one. There is the definite chance that it is the intention of 

Saudi Arabia for guide Qatar and Turkey away from the Muslim brotherhood as there is much to be gained for all three to see the Muslim brotherhood lose sources of their enablement. Now, I am not Muslim and I don’t see any merit in questioning these settings, but when I look at the critics on Memri, I am given “Critics argue that MEMRI often provides selective, out-of-context translations to portray the Arab and Muslim world negatively, functioning as a pro-Israel propaganda machine.” And as such we would never see any pro-israeli source misrepresent Saudi needs would it? (In case you missed this, the previous part was sarcasm) there are a few settings that don’t ring true (or non-authentic). You see, this was about the Muslim brotherhood as such why do we get “Al-Tuwaijri accused Abu Dhabi of assisting Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza by spying against this organization, providing the location of its rocket launchers, and supplying equipment and ammunition to Israel via bases in Yemen, Eritrea, and Somalia. Finally, he claimed that Abu Dhabi is involved in combating the Muslims and Islamic organizations in the West, which apparently refers to the UAE’s campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood and similar extremist Islamic groups.” It is out of context and to that setting I say ‘Where is the evidence that this is happening?’ I for one do not believe this because the oldest ‘premise’ is that Israel only trusts what Israel can find themselves and they would never ‘rely’ in Arabic intelligence and even if that was the case, no journalist or think tank would ever have that kind of intelligence and from that setting the article sounds another degree of untrue. And whilst some might ‘trust’ the Muslim Brotherhood. To me it comes at a price no one would ever want to pay, not Saudi Arabia and not the UAE. This sounds like an Iranian ploy to drive people asunder and not in a nice way. And at present Iran cannot do anything because the Americans are breathing down there necks and with Hamas out of commission the dubious honor is given to the Muslim Brotherhood. As such there is optional debate on a lot of things, not in the least regarding Y. Yehoshua who in 2026 is said to be working on “As of January 2026, he has been reporting on the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attacks, including investigations into failures, leadership changes within the IDF, and operations against Hamas leaders.” As I personally see it Hamas and the MB are as much a threat to Saudi Arabia as any enemy they currently have and as such things ring untrue. So when we look at H. Varulkar I get more questions than answers, mainly because I am not Muslim and I do not look at Muslim issues, as such there is a lot I do not know, but the news here does not sound correct. As I see it, at present the ‘job’ of Memri seems to be to create a larger rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Is this true? What is true? I believe it to be the essential repair of the rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And the time is essential for those who want to create a rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE need to strike now, because as I see it Iran cannot make any moves in the near future and as such they got an Israeli journalist to do their dirty work (it is seemingly the case, whether this is correct is beyond me), but the entire setting comes across as untrue and hollow. And me for one wonders about the article, there is a certain lack off evidence. We merely get the alleged ‘stopgap’ “Bin Bakhit cited the Quranic verse which states that “Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but rather a Muslim monotheist” (Quran 3:67), and emphasized that these two narratives cannot be reconciled.” Perhaps this is an explanation, but if it was, it would be a lot more ‘fattened’ with reason as to why it was an explanation. But here my non-Muslim side comes rearing its head as the meaning by me is diminished to some extent. And for these ‘journalists’ to merely ‘assume’ that one direction is in play is another failing of the article. The fact that the interests of Saudi Arabia was to diminish the hold the Muslim Brotherhood has on Qatar and Turkey is not even contemplated in the article (perhaps it wasn’t needed) and then there is the third setting, Egypt has 120 million people and they regard the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation and recently we were given “In January 2026, the U.S. and Egypt recognized the group as a threat due to its alleged continued involvement in extremist ideologies, terror, and links to organizations like Hamas.” As such I see more reasons why there is a debatable setting to this article and it pushes Saudi Arabia in a setting of distrust by too many ‘allies’ Saudi Arabia has. As such the article comes across as untrue, but then I have been wrong before and I am not Muslim, as such I might not see the elements that matter, but that is my view and as the Western media is currently not to be trusted there are a few settings that allow certain people and organisations to play the cards they have to seed mistrust in too many eyes. 

So am I right? Am I wrong? I reckon it is anyones guess. Have a great day today.

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January 30, 2026 · 19:57

Filters

If life is filtering, we are thrown between conspiracy theories and perceived loyalty information. Then there are the setting of media influencer and media de influencing. We are thrown in these 4 battles and the media is part of at least two of them, almost all time. And there is no going back. Yes, this is highly speculative but there is an underlying consideration to that. I am forgoing the first two for now (even as my view might be seen as ‘evidence’ of the first view. 

When we go for the second two there is ‘new’ evidence. I have said over the last 5 years that nothing gets printed by the media unless it has approval of the shareholders, the stake holders and the advertisers. That is how the media tends to work and then there is a new layer that works for some of the media. Flames are published at the bequest of the designers (or the editors) through which the digital dollar elopers work. Flames get people riled up, they respond to flames more eagerly and that results in clicks, hence digital dollars. As such the media has lost their point of neutral view and left us with the view that captures their clicks. This is not only detrimental to the truthful view (aka the news they bring) but it also gives us their wanted view, their ‘click-ability’ as views go. 

So the new ‘evidence’ is seen in a few ways. There is Forbes who gives us “Over the past decade, Oracle stock has emerged as a premier capital-return engine, distributing a remarkable $158 billion to shareholders—the 9th highest total in corporate history. This payout is composed of $35 billion in dividends and a massive $123 billion in share buybacks, representing roughly 31.5% of the company’s current market capitalization. Separately, earnings and revenues beat expectations, but the stock went down? Supported by resilient cash flows from its shift to cloud-based infrastructure and database services, Oracle’s strategy emphasizes enhancing earnings per share through aggressive stock repurchases. While it trails leaders like Apple ($847 billion) and Microsoft ($368 billion) in sheer volume, Oracle’s consistent return of capital highlights a mature balance between funding its high-growth cloud and AI initiatives and rewarding its long-term investor base with reliable financial yields.” Forbes gives us this news (at https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2026/01/29/how-oracle-stock-returned-158b-to-shareholders/) and could be seen as ‘news’, some will see it that way (including me) but what caused this all? Was it a mere setting that players like the Motley Fool (at https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/01/29/why-oracle-stock-slumped-on-thursday/) who gives us ‘Why Oracle Stock Slumped on Thursday’ with the subtext “There was no company-specific news to explain the enterprise database and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist’s decline. However, a cloud competitor posted results that investors found wanting. Oracle released the results that were greeted with a similar, chilly reception. Revenue of $16.1 billion grew 14% year over year, while adjusted EPS of $2.26 jumped 54%. Its remaining performance obligation (RPO) jumped 438% to $523 billion, highlighting Oracle’s vast backlog.” It could be seen as news and perhaps it merely is. There is however a new power in play and I cannot see the full form because the bulk of the media is hovering away from visibility and they no longer have trustworthiness. I believe that a new power is rising to undo what corporations are doing, I merely believe that it works at the bequest of some governments to either short sell whatever these companies have or represent, or to gain through short selling. I know it is merely speculation but this is my belief. Now there are ‘hairy’ investment settings and they are on Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle to some degree, but there is another force at work here and I cannot see the complete stage, merely shadows and shims of it, the media has become too unreliable and they want to cut back on the value of these three participant (optionally more participants). I know I have spoken out against AI on numerous occasions, but now we get certain parties illuminating the parts the required no illumination and I don’t think it is by accident.

What Gives?
SO, am I the conspiracy theorist, or the perceived loyalty information giver? I could be the second part (the first one too). I almost blindly belief in the good of Oracle, so the second is an option and it is perceived as I do not work for Oracle, as such I am not in the know. Oracle has been a force for good for over 30 years, as such the faith in Oracle is almost blindly, is that a correct setting to take?

I know that Oracle is in the deep with all these data centres, but are then all owned by Oracle? Are certain governmental parties driving the price down so they can cut costs? As per now Major hyperscalers (Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta) are expected to invest approximately $400 billion in 2026 alone to meet this demand. In the U.S. specifically, nearly 3,000 new data centers are planned or under construction, adding to over 4,000 already operational. 3,000 planned per 2026 as such Oracle stock should be going through the roof (Alpha, Amazon and Microsoft wouldn’t be doing so badly either), but that is not what we are seeing. And I have to wonder why. There are of-course energy issues, but Oracle is providing the technology. So how many data centres are owned by oracle? The image does not compute (as the term goes) and the image is not being given to us clearly by the media and that gives us the two second filters. So isn’t anyone wondering what is in play here? Most will not care either way and for the most neither do I, but in the current political situation where the United States does what it damn well likes regardless of all other voices now gives us a new setting, the transference of powers to a new wielder and neither of them likes the power the current 4 biotech are wielding and they might have gotten away with it if they left Oracle alone, that gave me the lights and some might say they are merely pretty Christmas lights, they are a little out of time, but I am seeing dashboard warning lights and not the good kind. As such is it me (it could be) or is there more to this all?

That is now the question and as such as the weekend is starting for me and Vancouver has to go through today, find your way to coffee because there is never a bad time to have a cup of that.

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