Category Archives: Finance

The BBC woke up

That is the setting I was given this morning. After I have been saying for a few weeks now that the pieces aren’t fitting in regards to a few things. The BBC now gives us (12 hours ago) ‘The US economy is a puzzle but the pieces aren’t fitting together’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwypgx90243o) where we are being told “They say his tariffs and crackdown on immigrants risk a return of 1970s-esque “stagflation”, when a sudden oil shock prompted stagnant growth and spiraling prices, except this time the crisis would be self-inflicted. The White House has just as steadfastly dismissed those concerns, attacking the experts – and, in the case of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, firing her”, as well as “A few days later, Moody’s Analytics economist Mark Zandi declared on social media that the economy was “on the precipice of a recession”

We then read “On Friday, the US government reported that spending at retailers and restaurants rose 0.5% from June to July – and that spending in June had been stronger than previously estimated. “Consumers are down but not out,” wrote Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, which is predicting a modest recovery in spending in the months ahead, as tax cuts and a stock market recovery boost confidence.” And as I see it, there is someone adhering to specialized requests, on the go at the setting of someone. The article then states the setting that is ‘perceived’ as “forecasters expect price increases to widen in the months ahead, as firms sell down pre-tariff stock and raise prices, now that they have more confidence about what the tariff policies might be. That’s why there was so much focus on the producer price index, which measures wholesale prices commanded by US producers before they hit consumers, offering a clue to what’s coming. It accelerated at the fastest pace in more than three years in July.” I saw this in a few ways. Consider the tourism industry. We see clear fall down issues. And would luck have it, the other are responding in a very similar way. Forbes gives us ‘New $250 Visa Integrity Fee Will Cost US $11 Billion, Say Tourism Officials’ the story goes repeated by MSN, and others. At the same time we see TTW (Travel and Tour world) release over a dozen articles in the last day on other places doing other things, like giving us ‘Vermont Unifies New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Wisconsin in Boosting Tourism Industry Attracting US and Canada Tourists During This Fall’ All whilst the larger picture is that “Canadian tourism to the US has declined due to tariffs and anti-Canadian rhetoric, with a 38% drop in road trips and 24% drop in air travel in May.” And the same numbers seems to apply for June, July and likely august too. So the picture is distorted and someone with larger fingers is juicing the numbers in different stages and states. All whilst TTW used to give us a limited number of views, someone is thrashing the typewriters there giving us a large amounts of ‘debatable’ data sources. Someone does not want us to see the setting that things are a lot worse for America than the media is willing to make us realize and that it merely part of it all. 

All whilst NPR radio gives us ‘Trump is tightening the screws on corporate America — and CEOs are staying mum’ which comes (at https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5501591/trump-corporate-america-capitalism) with “Corporate America doesn’t want to fight with President Trump in public. But as a result, it’s ceding him an unprecedented amount of control over the shape — and future — of U.S. business. In the past week, the president has turned up the heat on big companies and their CEOs to an extent that is unprecedented even by Trump’s norms-shattering standards. He has publicly attacked companies and their executives throughout his political career — but now he’s demanding firings of executives who aren’t even household names, such as a corporate economist at Goldman Sachs.” Bad news is not allowed in America, not even a little. As I see it, the puzzle pieces don’t fit because the willing minority doesn’t want to give yo the goods, they want to get the jobs they aren’t qualified for or they don’t want to lose their jobs and that is because there are three more years of Trump and Elon Musk is likely the only one to be able to survive this setting, and because he is likely to be sitting on another trillion dollars of value. So why haven’t we heard from Jerome Powell? And CNN gave us (three days ago) ‘Trump is considering suing Jerome Powell, White House says’ (at https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/12/economy/trump-lawsuit-fed-chair-powell) with the setting of ““Fortunately, the economy is so good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board. I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings,” Trump wrote on his social media platform”, as well as “Firing Powell would be a legally complicated endeavor, given that Senate-confirmed members of the Fed’s board can only be fired “for cause.” However, Trump seems keen on homing in on the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovation as a possible reason that would merit a “for cause” firing. The president claimed the renovation should have been a “$50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”” A setting that could erupt in a messy situation. I ‘personally’ don’t like the guy, but as far as I can see, he’s done a really good job with the pawns and issues he could have played. He has been enormously good for America and that needs to be said. Whoever would replace him would not likely be able to do better and that would be another iron in the fire giving President Trump a heartache all over the financial setting. As I see it, Canada is lucky to get the Former British Bank governor as Prime minister of Canada. That man can slice and dice whatever America throws the way of Canada. At present Canada created new channels of income with Mexico and Europe whilst depriving America of these settings. There never will be be a 51st state for America. 

Oh, and how is America’s economy good? China has been able to stranglehold (America’s way of putting it) on rare earths minerals. So how much of these rare earths come from China? The Pentagon gave us “The Department of Defense has made a substantial commitment to domestic rare earth production by acquiring $400 million in MP Materials preferred stock. This investment converts to common shares, giving the Pentagon a 15% ownership stake and positioning it as the company’s largest shareholder, surpassing previous major stakeholders including BlackRock Fund Advisors.” So where are these materials precisely coming from? 

Small questions that have a larger impact on business. At Present China has opened new Channels to the UAE and (speculatively) Egypt as well. Egypt is looking forward to getting its fingers on the Chinese J-35A Stealth Fighter. I’ve been told that it is a cheaper version of the J20 mighty dragon that is at present not seen outside of China.

But these parts are all a setting of a larger debate, a debate that gives us that America is losing defense contracts all over the globe, and China is ready to give it a go. How accurate these ‘facts’ and numbers are are currently not on the minds of western media. Still defense is merely one angle that is sowing the trend of recession. As others are ‘silenced’ on the settings and it merely on the front of AI, we see debatable settings. Which in light of energy flaws is a super hilarious setting. These systems need electricity (and a lot of it), so how that plays out is anyones guess. 

So it is nice of the BBC to wake up, but a lot more is required to give us the goods. So Auf Wiener Schnitzel everyone and have a great day, its 16:39 and as such I have mucho food on the brain at present. It is still Friday in Vancouver, so they have some time to wait until they can have this German delicacy themselves.

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Walking back needs

I was in a rush to find another topic to look at and no sooner was it said when my brain told me to look behind me and no sooner was it done when I noticed a Bloomberg article 

This sounds odd (and correct) as the Houston Business Journal gives us a little less than 18 hour ago ‘Texans face potential electricity price surge as power demand skyrockets’, it is odd as I noticed that term was a setting a mere 2-3 years ago. I gave the setting towards an IP idea I had. It was clear that this setting would be needed in Dubai, London and a few other places. I gave the Texan setting of Austin as a reference. As such I gave the idea that a few people should talk to Elon Musk as he is sitting on a trillion dollar idea and it would be needed all over the world. So, as some ‘now’ see that there is a larger problem, which I illustrated in ‘Is it a public service’ on November 16th 2024 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/11/16/is-it-a-public-service/) where I clearly stated that the energy is mission for a lot of this. We get the setting three months later in Bloomberg and now we get the Houston Business Journal giving us “With new data center developments, population growth and the electrification of oil fields, power demand growth is tightening the electricity market. Here’s what experts predict for the coming years.” As well as “With a rise in data center developments, population growth, and the electrification of oilfields, power demand growth is tightening the electricity market.” The latter part is a little hilarious. A setting that could be construed as the headline for the new comedy capers. What makes it a lot harder is the need Bloomberg gave us (and me months before that) that as I see it, corporate America has to foot that bill as the Data Centre needs will be required to get filled from day one, and as I see it the people of Texas need to pay ZERO. I do like the idea that corporate America will decrease the cost of living for Americans, especially when they are ‘required’ to remain carbon zero and 30 nuclear reactors are not the way to go. And this is given a lot more urgency as Americans are faced with the needs to make more electricity and the timelines to not align, especially in light of the news by Houston Business Journal given less than 24 hours ago. The other setting is that nuclear reactors require time and experience to build. As I see it, the Need for at least 3 GEN3+ reactors require at least 5 years and that is setting the reactors close to Houston and Austin. The third one should be right next to the data centre that Texas is handed. Oh, and these reactors need to be started within the next 3 months. So, when were these plans approved that fast? If not, there is little reason for a data centre when the electricity is apparently missing. 

The fact that the American people (the HBJ too) were apparently missing this information whilst I using a simple slide ruler (classic model shown below)

Got there in mere seconds almost a year ago, and I was courteous enough to write about it. So there is that to consider. Funny enough America has the solution employing the solutions by Elon Musk. I advice then to act, before the UAE (and Saudi Arabia) asks for all the batteries that Elon has in stock. That is one idea, there are more ideas and they are out there. Yet the settings are now given by the HBJ and will set Texas on a stampede for solutions I reckon no later than coming Monday. 

So when it does come, I would advice some people to walk back the needs of energy requirements and see where that leads them. The funny part is that this was a given BEFORE the Stargate project was on everyones retinas. Even as I gave my setting BEFORE Stargate, the setting becomes on why this wasn’t clearly given as project Stargate was drawn up? As we see the answers, more questions are shown on our eyes and this is the mere start of this. At present there are two operational nuclear power plants: Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant and the South Texas Project. Each plant has two reactors, and together they provide about 10% of the state’s electricity. So when we see this, we might understand the crazy presentation on AI and the setting of available energy. So when I gave my feelings on the three reactors, we see a much larger need, but is that a given? I know that I can be wrong, even if I am proven right months later. Causality does not mean proven effect, that requires a whole different setting of statistics and proof leading to this. 

So feel free to doubt me, but there are the stories and there are the newscasts and the data that nuclear reactors require time is pretty much a given. So feel free to doubt it all, I don’t mind. Just consider the setting that the Data centers require energy and who do you want that energy to get? Your fridge and microwave or an AI data center whilst we know that AI isn’t real. I leave it up to you.

Have a great day and feel free to look around you. The data is all around us all.

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The small stuff

That is where we need to look, the small stuff. In the first there is the BBC, who gives us a story that seems nice in one setting, but in the other setting we need to ask ourselves serious questions. Now as a warning I need to give you a fair warning. I am a person of ‘decent’ taste. Yet in tis universe you have people that are ‘allowed’ to give fashion knowledge and I couldn’t be further away from that cluster anywhere else in this universe. So, when you seek fashion advice. I am not part of that cluster, so be aware. As I said the BBC has the first setting (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8zwdy98k8o) where we see ‘Claire’s falls into administration with 2,150 jobs at risk’ and the hidden gem is already there. You see when we see “Fashion accessories chain Claire’s has collapsed into administration in the UK and Ireland, putting 2,150 jobs at risk. The company has 278 shops in the UK and 28 in Ireland but has been struggling with falling sales and fierce competition.” Now consider a simple truth. 278 shops. Now it is seen as a little speciality, yet how many fashion accessory shops are there? Now consider that there was a setting that the quality of life would be dwindling down as it has been for around 20 years. So in what universe does it make sense to have a cluster of 278 shops? In a world where there are “Over 10,000 businesses in the broader Clothing Retailing sector. This includes everything from large chains to smaller boutiques and specialized stores.” So, this has been going on for the better part of a decade and Claire’s could have been dwindling down for half a decade, but they didn’t and now they collapsed into Administration and put 2150 jobs at risk. So, as we are now given “Caitlin, 21 (left) and Amy, 16 (right) from Oxfordshire were shopping at Claire’s in central London on Wednesday and said the news was “quite sad because people have been going there since they were little. It’s a part of my childhood personally, said Caitlin, said she used to go a lot when she was around 11 years old.”” So, how was that realistic? I get it, we all want our knick knacks and that cluster can be found on both side of the specter of genders, But as we see it this group largely caters to one gender. This is not an issue, but with the dwindling down of the quality of life you cannot hide behind “But it is only £5-£7” in an age where many people have to turn over every penny to make it through the month. Don’t think I am ‘heartless’ (I kinda am) and people should be able to afford that once a month, but that is a far stretch from ‘once a week’, as such the setting was already a decrease of 75%, as such steps had to be taken years ago, but the ego of the people behind Claire’s had to intervene years ago. So what gives people the idea to make a ‘terrible’ setting from this?

The (sort of) hilarious stage from “The move in the UK comes after it filed for bankruptcy in the US earlier this month, where the firm said it was suffering from people moving away from bricks-and-mortar shops. The firm has $690m (£508m) of debt.” What were these ego trippers hoping for Unicorns? The setting from a $690 million gives a straight setting to my point of view. So whilst it is nice to give two people a voice, the setting is that every woman from 15-21 should be handed £5 to spend at Claire’s and when you see that isn’t possible you can clearly see that the people behind Claire’s should have acted years ago and not hide behind the wish for unicorns. Not when you are a mere 2.78% of a group and you are $690 million in debt. Seems a little short sighted doesn’t it? So, when we get “Claire’s and Icing, and is owned by a group of firms, including investment giant Elliott Management.” We might consider the setting that investment giant Elliott Management had made a silly investment in an economic downturn of the people. Some win, some lose and they lost. It is as simple as that.

In that same setting the ending of the article is sort of hilarious when we consider ““A lot of that category is sourced from Asia, and any increase in import costs hits hard when your price points are low and margins are tight,” retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth” It isn’t merely that, the setting is that there are less pennies for the cluster they were aiming for, for over a decade. I am willing to go one step further. This step could have been predicted since 2008. I am willing to lay a bet that people at Elliott Management would have ‘stated’ “This will turn around, the economy is expanding. Wait and you’ll see” That is my speculated view, and I am seemingly right, to wait until there was a debt of $690 million could be construed as evidence. 

So this is the first story, the second one is given to us by CBC. I have written about this side for over two weeks and here I have a few issues. The story reads correctly and I have no issues with the story itself, but it also hits on a few sides that has ‘shortfalls’ (as I personally see it). The story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/las-vegas-tourism-canadian-slump-1.7607707) gives us ‘Las Vegas is hurting as tourism drops. Are Canadians behind the Sin City slump?’ There is a larger setting and we love to take credit at times as it is the right of Canadians. So when we see “Las Vegas is in the midst of a slump, with the number of tourists down sharply as Canadians in particular avoid Sin City amid bilateral bad blood over trade. The total number of visitors is off more than 11 per cent year-over-year, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, one of the most dramatic declines in recent memory outside of the pandemic.” After which we are given the numbers of “Drop in Canadian air travelers to Las Vegas” and these numbers are swallowed whole. My issue is that there we see less than 100K visitors, that’s fair and it matter, but the other side of the equation is that we see a top of 11%, so at what point do we get to the point that these 11% are in no way to be seen as the ‘hardship’ given to us, unless the 11% is a lot bigger than anticipated I reckon that we might see an 11% loss as Canadians avoiding Las Vegas and they are merely a small group of a much larger issue. If we now see a $15,000 bond for tourists, which might give us that 80% of all foreign tourists are avoiding America. You see, 89% of tourist should support the larger setting of Las Vegas, unless someone was living under the assumption that Las Vegas could continue to support itself with 92% filled. Now we get the betting place long out on a mere 3% shortfall, not the best betting setting for ‘the’ house, is it?

So when we are given the stage by MGM Resorts president and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the number of Canadian visitors started to fall earlier this year and they hold some of the city’s top properties, such as Aria, Bellagio and the Cosmopolitan and part of the NHL rink, T-Mobile Arena. A dire setting for a company relying on 92% filling and coming up short 3% of that number. I reckon that more than one person are on the betting stage of numbers and when you come up short over the whole range by 3%, you will toll the bells of panic. 

Yet then we get the ‘goods’. You see, the numbers do not add up. We are given “As the director of the university’s business and economic research centre, he crunched the numbers and found Canadians contributed $3.6 billion US to the local economy last year. Canadian spending supported some 43,000 jobs in the region, more than those employed in the manufacturing sector, Miller said. That $3.6-billion figure comes close to the economic output of the local Nellis Air Force base — and that’s saying something, given it’s one of the largest and most important military installations in the U.S., with some 15,000 personnel.” In the first setting, some might find the ‘observation’ of “he crunched the numbers and found Canadians contributed $3.6 billion US to the local economy last year” I reckon they had to have these numbers clearly ahead of schedule as it sets the advertisement budgets (nearly everywhere) and if the loss of these numbers are set to 11%, the news is much worse than we get and the setting of Las Vegas is likely more dire than we are meant to believe. It implies that Asian and European visitors are connected to this and the losses are worse than given at present. And my view is warranted by other views. A source gives us that “Passenger volume at Harry Reid International Airport also declined 6.3%, from 5 million to 4.7 million” that number implies that the numbers are down from one source by over 300K visitors. I reckon that the bulk of tourists would come by plane. Another source gives us “Visitors to Las Vegas mainly come from Mexico (989,000 arrivals), Canada (886,000 arrivals), the United Kingdom (482,000 arrivals), Australia (152,000 arrivals), and Germany (125,000 arrivals).” That sounds nice, but the (as the expression goes) whales from Asia is the larger setting and when they stay away Las Vegas hurts a lot more. These 12 people represents millions of dollars and a decadent lifestyle. When that falls away the pressure isn’t merely 11%, it is a lot larger. The setting is a lot larger as we don’t have anything passed November 2024 yet and that is the larger setting as we get the larger stage of Visitor volume and convention attendance. I reckon that in Q4 2025 we are likely to get to see the larger downturn and when we get to losses of whales the larger truth of what Las Vegas is losing in income. As I see it, there is a larger truth behind the second part of the headline ‘Are Canadians behind the Sin City slump?’ I think they are part of it, but there is a larger truth hidden, America (basically its president) gave us all a headache and the fact that there are larger settings in play make it clear to me that it isn’t just Canada, there are more settings in play for Las Vegas and the news is a lot worse than anyone is willing to admit. The simpler setting (a highly speculative stage) that the loss of 100 Asian Moby Dicks represent almost the entire 11% loss that Las Vegas sees as represented, so the losses are a lot worse than given at present. When you consider that the ‘panic’ we see is more represented by 22% loss, a stage no one in Las Vegas wants to admit to is driving people like Bill Hornbuckle to near desperation, especially as his bonus is likely linked to ‘continuance’ of revenue.

So my speculation might be wrong but it seems to make sense. But I need to emphasize that my view is speculative.

Have a great day and don’t put it all on number 10 (it is crowded by labor). 

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In other news

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

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

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

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

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

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The setting stage

There is a setting stage is sight, but is it truly a sewing stage? It is a valid question because these things matter. This who only see doom tend to be conspiracy sayers, not conspiracy slayers. We all have the rational of insight, but to what degree?

As I said in ‘The Implied stage’ five days ago (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/08/06/the-implied-stage/) that the expected damage to American Tourism would be a lot worse than $29 billion. I speculatively expect it to be at least 80 billion. Now we get in the first instance mere hours ago (at https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/las-vegas-tourism-figures-plummet-as-potential-us-downturn-looms/news-story/1a3f72933d35041549684453c0756cc2) “The figures coincide with a downturn in international tourism to the United States and come amid President Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war, which has frustrated travelers. Las Vegas saw around 400,000 fewer visitors in June 2025 compared with the same month in 2024.” This is only at the halfway point so the damage is still intensifying. We are seeing this in several articles all over the internet. Then we get, AS (aka Diario AS S.L.,  at https://en.as.com/latest_news/these-states-are-feeling-the-pain-the-number-of-canadians-travelling-to-the-us-has-dropped-by-more-than-30-n/) giving us “Data from Statistics Canada shows the number of people driving back to the Great White North from the U.S. in June was down 33.1% compared with the same month last year. It was the sixth consecutive month in which a year-over-year decline was recorded. As for air travelers, the same figure dropped by 22.1%.” Lets make this clear, this is just Canadian data, I reckon that globally there is a clear slump and the whole of America is feeling that slap and even as it is not everywhere as bad as it is, the impact on tourism related settings is massive and they all have to pay monthly bills. This is the the largest unexplored setting. So as News also gives us “The city’s fortunes, buoyed by its large gambling market and appeal to travelers with disposable income, are often seen as a bellwether for the broader US economy.” The one fact that is not seen here is that these hotels made investments and in that setting payments are due. So as we ignore the fact that these hotels might be going short for at least a year, we get a edited setting. A setting  where Las Vegas (and other places) will drain whatever they bring to the banks to overcome these shortfalls. In addition we are given ““This is a wake-up call for the US government,” said Julia Simpson, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council. “While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.” The Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment. While some industries have benefited from the tariffs, others have struggled and may be forced to pass costs on to customers. Some travelers have also pledged to avoid visiting the United States as a form of protest against the administration’s policies.” It is the last sentence “Some travelers have also pledged to avoid visiting the United States as a form of protest” I would be in this group as I take offense of our Canadian sisters (and brothers) being seen as part of the 51st state, as do most Canadians. Then there are the LGTBBQ groups that took offense to Florida taking a hostile stance on their lifestyle. Yes, I was making a funny, I don’t understand these groups, but I am not hostile to them. I don’t become violent to them, I tend to deflect with humor (or what I consider to be humor). 

That is the larger setting we all should have. There are too many hate groups all over the map. Anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, racial groups, the list goes on and as America showed that they were not ‘welcome’ they and their friends took offense and decided to go somewhere else. Now this might not amount to much, perhaps a 2% impact, but these are merely 3 groups and now we get to 6% and as they have larger groups of friends the impact merely increases. And friends are a weird group, they tend to feel that they do not want to be seen as ‘offensive’ to their friends and as such they have no problems with realigning their destination. As such Canadians go somewhere else and so do the Europeans. When you consider these elements there is no way that this damage is limited to $29 billion. And as they leave America, so will bed and breakfast places look at 30% less guests. They will suddenly have to fire staff all over the place making this tumble-block events all over the place. So, whilst we tend to focus on Orlando and Las Vegas as the impact is sene the clearest there, but take the larger tourist traps like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Miami they will all feel the pinch and the escalating of a downturned economy. 

Yet it isn’t all negative. Gambling News (at https://www.gamblingnews.com/news/las-vegas-casino-boss-challenges-claims-of-tourism-downturn/) gives us ‘Las Vegas Casino Boss Challenges Claims of Tourism Downturn’ I don’t believe he is right to the larger degree, but he makes a fair point. He gives us “Circa Resort & Casino CEO Derek Stevens argued that claims of declining interest in visiting Las Vegas do not apply across the board, describing the broader “Vegas is dying” narrative as overstated”, as well as “The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports that 3.1 million people visited the city in June, which is 11.3% less than the same month last year. This has led some to think that fewer people want to visit. Yet Stevens said this is not true for all parts of the industry, calling the wider “Vegas is dying” story an exaggeration, reported Fox News.” He gives a fair point and I do not support the thoughts that FoxNews gives us all with “Vegas is dying”. As I see it, Vegas will get wounded, it will lose air, but it will not go down. When it all comes to blows Las Vegas will survive. Still Derek Stevens has a valid point that it will not hit across the board. Some will get hit harder, some less so. I reckon those who diversified their income settings have a much bigger chance to make it through. The one statement I disagree with is “He thought that by next year, both tourism and the broader Las Vegas economy would be on more solid ground.” I disagree because President Trump will at present remain in office until 2029 and if he doesn’t do an about face, America will suffer until at least 2028. By next year some other tourist places will gain momentum in part at present by all the people who took it as ‘an alternative’ will now see that their alternative was excellent and that will drive more people to alternative destinations. So many places will not be dead, but they will suffer the hardship of over-tourism getting replaced by a massive streak of under-tourism and there is a chance that it will set a new record explosion of crimes in America, so they will see what London has been experiencing for 5-10 years. We are given “In London, the most recent crime data (April 2024 – March 2025) indicates a rise in overall crime, with approximately 132.6 crimes per 1,000 people, according to Plumplot.” This implies that a tourist to London has a one in eight chance of getting robbed, or some other setting towards losing what they have. At that point people are reassessing their chances and when that comes to America, the tourist settings will merely dwindle down to a much larger degree. It is a new setting of cause and effect now to a string of domino’s. One domino pushed over the next and the next, but now we get a domino chain effect. The first domino pushes over the next which is up to 50% larger than the previous one, the second pushed over the third domino up to 50% larger than the second domino and so on. This stage is overlooked as people focus on one field but this setting is larger, it affects a lot more and that becomes an increasing scope. This is what I predicted 5 days ago and now we see the domino’s topple. I might have been ‘cautious’ with my $80 billion damage, I know that but as far as I can see it, I got there ahead of media (yet again) and when the people wake up because the media tried to keep them asleep there will be a larger impact. How is anyones guess and I have no clue because this is the kind of impact no one can really predict as there is no data aiding us. So how is AI helping you now? Will it have a meltdown calling itself a failure or will it show that capital punishment is the only solution? The fact that there is no data on this, is why I never considered it a solution, not yet anyway. 

So have a great day and I reckon that you need to look at where your next vacation should be, there is every chance that it will be the last vacation a lot of us will be able to afford for some time to come.

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It’s not the smell

During today’s pre-morning (last night) I was alerted to a story on the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckglnk6yxlko). Now, I get the sentiment, but there is something off about it all. 

It is about Bourbon and the headline gives us ‘How Kentucky bourbon went from boom to bust’ and we get a few issues in this article. But first (famous last words). I am not a great drinker. I have a sip every now and then and my personal favourite is Cognac XO. I am driven towards Martell or Hennessy. I had a Cognac booklet on Cognac Brands at some point and these two were set to 95.2 and 95.1 (I honestly forgot which got which) there was also a brand (forgot the name) that scored a little higher (around 97.4) and it was almost twice the price. I had one glass and I could not tell the difference and why pay twice as much when my tastebuds cannot differentiate? So I kept to these two and budget driven as I tend to be, the cheapest of the two. Beyond that I drink Rum, Glenfiddich single malt and the last bottle of Rum I bought was three years ago and I still haven’t finished the bottle. So, you can say I am not much for drinking, but I am not anti-alcohol (except when driving a car). 

So what gives?
We are given the quote “President Donald Trump’s global tariffs have been the final straw. The EU has announced retaliatory tariffs against US goods, including Kentucky bourbon and Californian wine, although implementation has been delayed for six months. Meanwhile, most provinces in Canada have stopped importing American alcoholic beverages in retaliation. The country accounts for about 10% of Kentucky’s $9bn (£6.7bn) whiskey and bourbon business.” And to this (in part) I say ‘Yay Canada’ but that is not the part that ‘bothers’ me. The response was nice to read, but it wasn’t it either ““That’s worse than a tariff, because it’s literally taking your sales away, completely removing our products from the shelves … that’s a very disproportionate response,” Lawson Whiting, the CEO of Brown-Forman, which produces Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, said back in March when Canadian provinces announced their plan to stop buying US booze.” (That will teach yanks not to mess with our Canadian brethren and the BS quote of “Canada would make a great 51st state”) The issue is seen down the article. It starts off with:

It is the setting I gave above. What business model is set to “The country accounts for about 10% of Kentucky’s $9bn (£6.7bn) whiskey and bourbon business.” To set the stage where one country is responsible for 10% of its revenue and we see businesses go into receivership. That part does not make sense. As I see it, there are more places where US drinks are starting to get banned, or the reason of bankruptcy is not what we read here. So where one country stops drinking and we see the setting of a ‘bust economy regarding Whiskey sours?’ Perhaps not the most eloquent setting, but the stage seems to be ‘rigged’ in some way.

So as we are focussing on the smell, I will ‘plagiarize’ Shakespeare and hide behind William’s  quote “Something is rotten in the state of Kentucky” There is a chance that these distillers were barely making the revenues and that is fine. But for one nation (named Canada) to have this big an impact all while we see drops in revenue around 10% does not make sense to me. I reckon that America needs to ‘embrace’ its local product and not hide behind the sour grapes from France (ok, that’s funny).

I am not a drinker, but I know what I like and it is a distinct taste and it includes bourbon, which I haven’t drunk in years and at present I support my Canadian brethren (sisters too) and I stopped buying American Drinks (sorry Ryan Reynolds) for now. Fortunately for me Cognac is French and Glenfiddich is Scottish, so for the next few years I’m good. 

Did anyone else pick up on the skewness of this setting? And if we are not given the right parts in this equation, what else in America’s economy is not sounding right to you?

Anyway, I am now 240 minutes from breakfast, but whose counting? Canada has its own versions of Whiskey, Rum and even a butter tart vodka. So look hard and you’ll find a reason to support Canada, so Commonwealthian’s unite.

Have a great day and consider Rum from Quebec (just learned about this, I never knew).

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An upcoming stage

There is a new, or better stated upgraded stage on the Horizon. Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2611276/business-economy) gives us ‘Saudi Arabia’s drive to build a defense powerhouse’ Where we see “Saudi Arabia’s military equipment manufacturing sector is undergoing a significant expansion, emerging as a pivotal element of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy to boost domestic industrial capacity.” It is not new, we were alerted to this years ago. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made it clear that near 2030 it needed to be able to create its own defense needs. This was clear from the beginning and as Such I kept tabs on this as anyone working in this sector tends to make clear and precise coin and a lot more than anyone else does. It is not greed, but it is the ethical need to get more money the traverses the need of the many. And it is not that I want to do things, but the need to create financial independence is pretty strong in any of us. But I looked deeper. I looked at the options of the day after tomorrow, not the next hour or the next day. Plenty can do that, it is the deeper look and the settling of possible accounts is where AI cannot take us. I can only look from the data it has and the ability to look to the day after tomorrow takes a lot more, it requires the ability to look at lateral processes, to see what comes after next and I reckon that I am seeing a few options here. 

The Arab News gives us “Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to localize 50 percent of its military spending by the end of the decade. The sector’s regulator, the General Authority for Military Industries, reported notable progress, with localization rising from 4 percent in 2018 to 19.35 percent in 2024 — reflecting steady advances toward self-sufficiency in defense manufacturing.” This is fine and predictable as most of it was advertised by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia years ago. Yet at present I was thinking what comes next. You see, this is what I expect to come next (after 2027) Saudi Arabia completes its first factories in Saudi Arabia, I expect at least one in Jeddah. When that is up Saudi Arabia will create larger client drives. I expect Egypt, Pakistan, Oman and Jordan are an expected first. They will grow and get the contracts. I reckon that Pakistan is the greater challenge as China has a lot of goods and effort put into that place. But the setting everyone is forgetting is that there is one sizable pie and what Saudi Arabia gains, others will lose. So consider that America is losing Tourism, Technology and Finance, so as we get closer to 2027/2028 and America also loses out on chunks of Defense, which was $117.9 billion for the FY2024. As such I reckon that a mere 10%-20% should push America over the edge and it is not only Saudi Arabia, The EU is also fishing for the billions in contracts that are up for grabs and as America is alienating it former allies, they will fish for larger snacks from that dinner plate there is every chance that not only will Saudi Arabia succeed, but there is the chance that there will be a stronger union between Saudi Arabia and Europe. After the G5 settings we now get a larger defense stage. And in all this, it simply weaken America to an other stage.

Am I right? Am I wrong?

I reckon that the ‘AI surfers’ will tell you that I am wrong and that is fine. But the signs are already there and I do know data. I worked on such a setting for decades. So as we are given “According to its April 2024 report Trends in World Military Expenditure, SIPRI said global military spending exceeded $2.7 trillion in 2024, marking a decade of continuous annual growth and a 37 percent increase between 2015 and 2024” everyone wants in and it merely makes America weaker. Don’t get your hopes up that it ends for America. This is too big for anyone. The setting that follows is that America will need to compete for contracts with Saudi Arabia and Europe for contracts that ended up being for America by default. When that stops we see yet another field where it must compete, a setting they haven’t had for decades and soon there will be another player vying for the $2.7 trillion. In this field “Saudi Arabia led the region with $80.3 billion, ranking seventh globally, just $1.5 billion behind the UK.” And the setting here is that by 2030 the rest of the world will be default lose $40B that Saudi Arabia will now keep in-house and it also means that their defense spending will go down. But when at least two of the aforementioned nations will get their defense spending at least partially from Saudi Arabia. The pie parts will take on new dimensions. And that is before we consider that some player might get access to materials they never had access to.

It will grow the Saudi Arabian slice a lot more than ever considered and that is before we consider the parties that once turned to Iran, Saudi Arabia will grow into a defense power player (to some extent) and will gain larger momentum in the industry. So don’t look at tomorrow, plenty of people do that, consider what could happen the day after tomorrow, where others aren’t looking for now and where predictive analytics does not work because the data does not yet exist. Will it help me?  I don’t know. The simple setting is that traversing any path where it merely serves you will project the simple setting of delusion. That is not my path or goal. So whilst she will go in an islamophobia rage, others might see that this is exactly how others lost revenue and this path is not nearly done yet. 

Have a great day.

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The emotional grab

That is at times a setting. I got this article two days ago in my sights, but I rejected it for the obvious reasons. But today I had some second thoughts, so I took a hold of it. There are a few settings that I need to explain. When a newspaper needs 7000 words to give you the issues that you could have gotten from 700 words, we usually see that there is something under it all. In this case we see all these ‘emotional’ settings, because there is basically nothing to be seen. This isn’t entirely true, but the gist of it comes to that. The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/07/long-read-british-bribery-britain-arms-deals-saudi-arabia-ian-foxley) gives us ‘Very British bribery: the whistleblower who exposed the UK’s dodgy arms deals with Saudi Arabia’ and the headline gives us ‘dodgy arms deals’ and that takes some explanation. The United Kingdom is a nation, a monarchy no less. As such it can sell weapons to other nations. Saud Arabia is a monarchy too, as such is there something dodgy going on?

And in that story, we see one photo of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, which was taken in Riyadh, May 2009. It is the only time that his royal highness is mentioned. There is no mention of him anywhere in the article, I checked. So why is he there? Because of the mention of Saudi Arabia? 

Then we get the wife Emma, she is mentioned four times, and twice by name. What is her involvement? Or is she merely dressing (like a Window) making this story more ‘humane’ The more I read it, the less it makes sense. The first is that it took 7000 words to say nothing, the second that it is lacking a few items. The first is that Declassified (at https://www.declassifieduk.org/britains-secret-saudi-military-support-programme/) gave us a lot more information which was RELEASED in 2019. A simple setting is that the London School of Economics had 24 alumni working there. So at what point did the Guardian interview, or at least try to interview any of them? The 2019 story also gives us “Earlier this year, another US military official, Colonel Kevin Lambert, manager of the US’s own SANG modernisation programme, confirmed that the SANG was “executing combat operations in the Yemen conflict”.” The Guardian article doesn’t even mention Yemen once. In addition, the story is riddled with emotion. Things like “an accountant called Michael Paterson, was “a madman”” this might be true, but what purpose does it serve? If it is about dodgy deals, why is the wife involved? I get that she gets to be mentioned once (at the beginning) optionally twice (at departure), but the other two mentions? As I stated, the more data you see, the less is valued and it is not valued because there is more useless data, at times more data is to hide that you have none. So, then we get the ‘abundance’ of data. In this I refer to “Another time, a colleague casually joked about a Saudi general being willing to sign anything GPT suggested, on account of something called “bought in services”. Foxley didn’t recognise the term and when he began asking about it, he received only vague non-answers about “things we buy in”.” 47 words that could have been set through “GPT used ‘bought in services’ to hide acquisition of Saudi top military signing for services” I simplified it in 15 words, one third and then I would set the situation to evidence, which is massively lacking here. Then we get the word ‘bribery’ used 13 times, but how? Once is to mention the Bribery Act which was passed in 2010. It is important three times. The first is “Foxley could not have known bribery was rife in Saudi Arabia” (i’ll get to this later) and “Not only had the government ratted him out to GPT when he discovered the bribery conspiracy”, so who did rat him out? And is ratting him out the correct phrase here? The third time is “The MoD and the government “had been running the scam, the bribery, since 1978, ever since the project was set up”” So, exactly what scam were they running? A scam implies that criminal acts are being committed by the UK government. What is the scam exactly and who is involved? Then we get the one setting where it is important. It is given with ““Do you know about the Cayman Islands?” Paterson asked. Over the following 90 minutes, the accountant set out a series of discoveries that implicated GPT in years of bribery and corruption. What neither man knew was that the scheme they had stumbled upon had been overseen and authorised for decades, in both Britain and Saudi Arabia, by the highest levels of government.” Here we get the following settings. The Cayman Islands and what evidence is there of bribery and corruption? The setting is given in the article as well. “It doesn’t invalidate the invoices and the payments to Simec” as such, bribery is merely a smudging word and there is no evidence of bribery or corruption. 

As I see it, the United Kingdom needs to walk a fine line to make deals with some nations and these high ranking officials are entitled to a commission, or a consultancy fee and as Generals were mentioned they are most likely allowed consultancy fees. I am using ‘most likely’ because I do not know Saudi law in these matters. In case of Simmer, that is up to the Saudi government. This article is a simple act of slinging mud, see what sticks and I fear it is very little as this article is missing all kinds of connections and evidence. So when we see “Eight Saudis received a collective £10m between 2007 and 2012 alone” and weirdly enough, this article doesn’t name these people as we are also given “the British government had authorised the entire scheme – had won out.” As such 7000 words to fulfill the setting that was decided over a year ago. So, what exactly was the meaning of this? Seems a fair question as there are settings that are not given, too much emotion in the entire article and a massive amount of facts that just aren’t there. 

So what was exactly the call for this article? To smear the Saudi Government? To smear the British government? As such we also get both Cook and Mason were acquitted. Then a mention that one of them is separately convicted for taking kickbacks, while he was a civil servant at the MoD, before he became part of the GPT. A simple unrelated misconduct offence.

In the end I wonder what this article served. It was not the truth (too much emotion and too little evidence for that), was this another anti-Saudi smear campaign? I am not sure but as we see the lack of evidence and no reference to the declassifieduk site, which could have been used to spice up the article. I reckon that this counterbalanced the article and the article would make even less sense. But that is merely my view on the matter.

Have a great day, 360 minutes until breakfast.

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The implied stage

This is not fact, but it is implied and I will explain the logic behind this. Less than 24 hours ago  Time and Travel World (TTW) gave us ‘Tunisia Joins Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Greece, Saudi Arabia, and UAE in the Booming Tourism Sector with Record Tourist Arrivals and Earnings in First Half of 2025: New Report’ (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/tunisia-joins-spain-mexico-brazil-costa-rica-greece-saudi-arabia-and-uae-in-the-booming-tourism-sector-with-record-tourist-arrivals-and-earnings-in-first-half-of-2025-new-report/) Here we see among more given facts “Spain has been one of the top performers in the global tourism recovery of 2025. The country welcomed nearly 25.6 million international tourists in the first four months of 2025, marking a 7.1% increase compared to 2024. Spain’s tourism numbers have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, highlighting the nation’s enduring appeal. Notably, April 2025 set a record with 8.6 million visitors, marking a 10% rise from the previous year. This surge was driven by a strong recovery in both leisure and business travel.” This doesn’t seem like a lot. But take the slightly more complete setting of

This gives us 80,000,000 tourists most of them only able to pay for one vacation a year and they are not going to America. As such (and taking notice that this does not include Canada) I feel certain that the damage to American tourism will surpass the $29 billion we are currently given. How much more, that is hard to say. So whilst we are now given smash articles (as I call them) to voice applause for all the efforts that Epic Universe gives us in Orlando (and I do agree what I see on YouTube does look amazing) the American tourism industry will face at least until 2027 to return to some kind of normal and that is optimistically speaking. I reckon that it will take 3 years after President Trump leaves office for this to get back to some kind of normal. And I get that Florida is now casting the heave rods to get national tourism up. Yet without international tourists it will become a nasty time of hardship for the places that rely on international tourists. 

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Florida, New York will all feel the pinch that these millions of tourists used to bring with fat wallets and they are now going anywhere else. That is money no longer in the bank of America and likely these people are unlikely to revisit America at present. A lot needs to change for that.

The most conservative calculations I get to implies that the losses for America start at $80 billion and might get to $115 billion by the end of the year. I also think that the Winter vacations are less likely to be affected. The snowboard and ski population tend to rely on what they know and slopes can be dependable. As such people who were bound for Aspen will return to aspen (the largest part), people tend to ski what they know and it makes for a loyal crowd. Places like Aspen have in addition a social side and these two make for a dependable setting. And it is not that place. Likely places like Deer Mountain Village (South Dakota) have a similar stage. But this implies that America needs to regain most of their losses from the winter vacation people. At this point there is no predicting on how the winter locations will be hurt by what is called the “visa integrity fee” and now we get the visa bond which will hurt winter tourism as that is a young persons game and they are massively unlikely to dish out ‘US to charge some foreign travelers up to $23,000 in visa bonds’ (source: ABC News), as such there is no way to tell how it will affect winter tourism, yet I feel certain that Whistler (Canada, B.C.) and Blue Mountain (Canada, Ont.) will be able to accommodate these people, and beyond that there is Europe with their snowy hills (aka mountains). 

So, at present I feel that the damage is likely to be the conservative number I gave earlier and it might be higher, but there is no data on this. This is a setting that has never happened before and as America is getting confronted on the silly notion that you can keep any hotel filled to over 90%, that cluster of delusional thinkers are getting a massive boost of reality at present. Three days ago we were given Las Vegas is empty, given to us by a ‘tourist’ wearing a Vegas Golden Knights polo. Now we see: ““Las Vegas is empty”: Viral video sparks alarming questions about US tourism decline” this is a bit late, isn’t it? I predicted some of these elements almost a week earlier. I never discussed Las Vegas airport, but that should have been done by the local people and now we see “Viral video sparks alarming questions”? How delusional do you need to get to the ostrich effect (bury your head in the sand) to avoid clear settings? This is setting the larger stage (source: money control) “The viral moment comes on the heels of an official report by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), which noted a 6.5% drop in hotel occupancy and a fall in average room rates from $194 to $163. Even more alarming was a 41% year-over-year decline in traffic at Harry Reid Airport, according to the same report.” So, who had been sitting on these numbers? What doesn’t the American administrations want Americans want to know?

Simple question, yet are the answers as simple as it seems? When will Florida present the numbers and when will they sound the alarm? I simply crunched the numbers and I saw this a month ago (July 9th) in ‘Age of BS (Bill Sightseer)’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/07/09/age-of-bs-bill-sightseer/), as such where did you see this in American media? Only 14 hours ago, the American people were given ‘Orange County Tourist De­vel­opment Tax col­lec­tions surge 10.3% in June from a year ago’ and I need to give the larger setting. A Disney Tourist blogger gave us on May 25th “Epic Universe is almost empty. Dead. Devoid of guests. A ghost town.” Someone on YouTube gave a similar story but that is about it. Americans are allergic to bad news. I get that, none of us like this, but when the bills can no longer be paid as people al over Florida get the axe is news people need to know, but that might just be me. 

So the stage isn’t set, it is implied. A set stage has proper numbers and the media is giving half stories (as I personally see it) but the signs are clear. This doesn’t make it set stage, a mere implied stage and when the numbers come out in Q4 2025, a lot of people get a rude awakening and when they have invested in a bad and breakfast solution they might require a larger stage to survive the 3-8 quarters that follow. There is no way to be more precise than that.

Try to have a great day today.

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Where the coins are

Yup, there it is, I said it. The article (at https://ara.tv/4eecj) gives us ‘US, Saudi Arabia hold high-level defense meeting at the Pentagon’ and right of the bat, we are ‘fed’ a lie (as I see it). We are given “The Pentagon’s top policy chief called Saudi Arabia a “critical, longstanding defense partner” working to become more capable and self-reliant.” Why is it a lie? Well, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been waiting for inclusion into the F-35 program. So, even as Belgium is included into that program, they are still awaiting delivery. Belgium a European nation that was overrun by the German army in 18 days (it took so long as most German soldiers were on foot or on bicycle) that country is more prestigious than Saudi Arabia? #JustSaying

I reckon it is the reason that China is making massive headways into the Arabic nations. And there it is, the additional quote ““The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a critical, longstanding defense partner for the United States that seeks to grow more capable and self-reliant in its defense. We are working hard to partner with Saudi Arabia to enable it to do so,” Colby said in a post on X.” I wonder when the defense department relies on X instead of the world wide news to disperse that information. It is a hard thing to comprehend.

I reckon that America is so desperate for cash (now that they damaged their tourism industry) that they can only turn to China and Saudi Arabia for additional funds. As Saudi Arabia has a lot more oil, the UAE was overlooked. But the setting is here America needs coins and as such I would have thought that someone in the Pentagon (it is rumored that this is managed by people at 1690 Air Force Pentagon, Washington, DC 20330-1670)

That being said, someone should have whispered to them to include Saudi Arabia to the F-35 list, but who am I saying this? I am still happy to get a nice bonus from the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) (at No. 88, Weiyi Road, Huang Tianba, Qingyang District, Chengdu City, Sichuan, China, postal code 610091) If you can’t beat them, join them I say. And I was always happy to get a nice (optionally fat) check. The new apartment will set me back $7M and there is the need to get some cash to the UAE (my optional Yas Island retirement location), as such bringing a customer the size of Saudi Arabia might get me my dream retirement.

As such you might wonder why this byline? That is easy as we are given “Colby welcomed Saudi efforts to build up its self-defense capabilities and “to make greater contributions toward achieving shared regional objectives,” Parnell added. The meeting came amid a series of recent US arms sales to the Kingdom. Earlier this year, the Trump administration approved a $3.5 billion weapons deal that included 1,000 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and 50 AIM-120C-8 guidance sections.” I say that either Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has a doofus (aka dodo) as a personal assistant, or he has been missing briefs for years. Saudi Arabia steered to self reliance in several fields (including defense) even before 2019, so the response you read before might be seen as nothing less than a joke. As for the ‘funds’ already spend, as I see it, Chan is just as willing to receive such payment for its abilities for Saudi Arabia to defend itself. I get that there is one stronger and one weaker. But I do not know who that is between these two. As such it might be anyones guess. I suggest you ask someone at Raytheon who has the better equipment and why.

So it is nice to see this article and there is no blame on AlArabiya, but until it refers to America seeing Saudi Arabia as a full fledged partner in global defense by selling them the F-35, these stories come across like that moment in Oliver Twist asking for some more. Charles Dickens wrote about that little orphan in 1838, so it might have been a while. Still the setting of America bothers me, not the meeting with Saudi Arabia, but the building of not-so-good moments in several areas in America going from tariffs to tourism. America is bleeding and through their own actions they are bleeding allies just as quickly as anything else. Not even the penguins on McDonald Island are happy to see President Trump.

So as we are given the final quote ““Both leaders recognized US-Saudi defense cooperation as a force multiplier for regional security, and reviewed opportunities to deepen cooperation,” said Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman.” Well, as a non-Pentagon source might I suggest including Saudi Arabia as another party for the F-35? That should deepen cooperation by a lot. #JustSaying

It is moments like these that I wholly embrace the old saying “Sarcasm is great, when it backfires it become irony” and that is important too, so just in case AlArabiya is hungry for more stories, the address of the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation can be found in the story. 

Have a great day this Tuesday, it’s still Monday in Vancouver, so they get this article in about 14 hours.

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