Category Archives: Finance

IT said vs IT said

This is a setting we are about to enter. It was never rocket science, it was simplicity itself. And I mentioned it before, but now Forbes is also blowing the trumpet I mentioned in a clarion call in the past. The article (at https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/07/11/hallucination-insurance-why-publishers-must-re-evaluate-fact-checking/) gives us ‘Hallucination Insurance: Why Publishers Must Re-Evaluate Fact-Checking’ with “On May 20, readers of the Chicago Sun-Times discovered an unusual recommendation in their Sunday paper: a summer reading list featuring fifteen books—only five of which existed. The remaining titles were fabricated by an AI model.” We have seen these issues in the past. A Law firm stating cases that never existed is still my favourite at present. We get in continuation “Within hours, readers exposed the errors across the internet, sharply criticizing the newspaper’s credibility. This incident wasn’t merely embarrassing—it starkly highlighted the growing risks publishers face when AI-generated content isn’t rigorously verified.” We can focus on the setting about the high cost of AI errors, but as soon as the cost becomes too high, the staters of this error will get a Trump card and settle out of court, with the larger population being set in the dark on all other settings. But it goes into a nice direction “These missteps reinforce the reality that AI hallucinations and fact-checking failures are a growing, industry-wide problem. When editors fail to catch mistakes before publication, they leave readers to uncover the inaccuracies. Internal investigations ensue, editorial resources are diverted and public trust is significantly undermined.” You see, verification is key here and all of them are guilty. There is not one exception to this (as far as I can tell), there was a setting I wrote about this in 2023 in ‘Eric Winter is a god’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/07/05/eric-winter-is-a-god/) there on July 5th, I noticed a simple setting that Eric Winter (that famous guy from the Rookie) played a role in The Changeling (with the famous actor George C. Scott). The issue is two fold. The first is that Eric was less than 2 years old when the movie was made. The real person was Erick Vinther (playing a Young Man(uncredited)) This simple error is still all over Google, as I see it, only IMDB has the true story. This is a simple setting, errors happen, but in over 2 years that I reported it, no one fixed this. So consider that these errors creep into a massive bulk of data, personal data becomes inaccurate, and these errors will continue to seep into other systems. The fact that Eric Winter at some point sees his biography riddled with movies and other works where his memory fades under the guise of “Did I do this?”. And there will be more, as such verification becomes key and these errors will hamper multiple systems. And in this, I have some issues on the setting that Forbes paints. They give us “This exposes a critical editorial vulnerability: Human spot-checking alone is insufficient and not scalable for syndicated content. As the consequences of AI-driven errors become more visible, publishers should take a multi-layered approach” you see, as I see it, there is a larger setting with context checking. A near impossible setting. As people rely on granularity, the setting becomes a lot more oblique. A simple  example “Standard deviation is a measure of how spread out a set of values is, relative to the average (mean) of those values.” That is merely one version, the second one is “This refers to the error in a compass reading caused by magnetic interference from the vessel’s structure, equipment, or cargo.” 

Yet the version I learned in the 70’s is “Standard deviation, the offset between true north and magnetic north. This differs per year and the offset rotates in eastern direction in English it is called the compass deviation, in Dutch the Standard Deviation and that is the simple setting on how inaccuracies and confusions are entered in data settings (aka Meta Data) and that is where we go from bad to worse. And the Forbes article illuminates one side, but it also gives rise to the utter madness that this StarGate project will to some extent become. Data upon data and the lack of verification. 

As I see it, all these firms relying on ‘their’ version of AI and in the bowels of their data are clusters of data lacking any verification. The setting of data explodes in many directions and that lack works for me as I have cleaned data for the better pat of two decades. As I see it dozens of data entry firms are looking at a new golden age. Their assistance will be required on several levels. And if you doubt me, consider builder.ai, backed my none other than Microsoft and they were a billion dollar firm and in no time they had the expected value of zero. And after the fact we learn that 700 engineers were at the heart of builder.ai (no fault of Microsoft) but in this I wonder how Microsoft never saw this. And that is merely the start. 

We can go on on other firms and how they rely on ai for shipping and customer care and the larger setting that I speculatively predict is that people will try the stump the Amazon system. As such, what will it cost them in the end? Two days ago we were given ‘Microsoft racks up over $500 million in AI savings while slashing jobs, Bloomberg News reports’, so what will they end up saving when the data mismatches will happen? Because it will happen, it will happen to all. Because these systems are not AI, they are deeper machine learning systems optionally with LLM (Large Language Modules) parts and as AI are supposed to clear new data, they merely can work on data they have, verified data to be more precise and none of these systems are properly vetted and that will cost these companies dearly. I am speculating that the people fired on this premise might not be willing to return, making it an expensive sidestep to say the least. 

So don’t get me wrong, the Forbes article is excellent and you should read it. The end gives us “Regarding this final point, several effective tools already exist to help publishers implement scalable fact-checking, including Google Fact Check Explorer, Microsoft Recall, Full Fact AI, Logically Facts and Originality.ai Automated Fact Checker, the last of which is offered by my company.” So here we see the ‘Google Fact Check Explorer’, I do not know how far this goes, but as I showed you the setting with Eric Winter has been there for years and no correction was made. Even as IMDB doesn’t have this. I stated once before that movies should be checked against the age the actors (actresses too) had at the time of the making of the movie. And flag optional issues, in the case of Eric Winter a setting of ‘first film or TV series’ might have helped. And this is merely entertainment, the least of the data settings. So what do you think will happen when Adobe or IBM (mere examples) releases new versions and there is a glitch setting these versions in the data files? How many issues will occur then? I recollect that some programs had interfaces built to work together. Would you like to see the IT manager when that goes wrong? And it will not be one IT manager, it will be thousands of them. As I personally see it, I feel confident that there are massive gaps in the assumption of data safety of these companies. So as I introduced a term in the past namely NIP (Near Intelligent Parsing) and that is the setting that these companies need to fix on. Because there is a setting that even I cannot foresee in this. I know languages, but there is a rather large setting between systems and the systems that still use legacy data, the gaps in there are (for as much as I have seen data) decently massive and that implies inaccuracies to behold. 

I like the end of the Forbes article “Publishers shouldn’t blindly fear using AI to generate content; instead, they should proactively safeguard their credibility by ensuring claim verification. Hallucinations are a known challenge—but in 2025, there’s no justification for letting them reach the public.” It is a fair approach, but there is a rather large setting towards the field of knowledge where it is applied. You see, language is merely one side of that story, the setting of measurements. As I see it (using an example) “It represents the amount of work done when a force of one newton moves an object one meter in the direction of the force. One joule is also equivalent to one watt-second.” You see, cars and engineering use Joule in multiple ways, so what happens when the data shifts and values are missed? This is all engineer and corrector based and errors will get into the data. So what happens when lives are at stake? I am certain that this example goes a lot further than mere engineers. I reckon that similar settings exist in medical application, And who will oversee these verifications?

All good questions and I cannot give you an answer, because as I see it, there is no AI, merely NIP and some tools are fine with Deeper Machine Learning, but certain people seem to believe the spin they created and that is where the corpses will show up and more often than not in the most inconvenient times. 

But that might merely be me. Well time for me to get a few hours of snore time. I have to assassinate someone tomorrow and I want it too look good for the script it serves. I am a stickler for precision in those cases. Have a great day.

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All Is Not Over

Yup that is the setting and it is a conundrum to say the least. Before I go into the explaining setting. I might need to refresh a few minds. There is no AI, Artificial doesn’t exist (yet). As I see it three components are missing and that is fine. We are making headway in this and some have one element in place. The other two are missing. So I have been speaking out against those AI ‘losers’ and it seems that no one else is listening. That’s fair. Why would you believe me over dozens of greed driven sales people. Then this morning (way too early) I saw something pass by on LinkedIn. It was brilliant, I never thought of this (I do miss parts at times) and the image below

Gives you the goods. Consider the ‘constraints’ of and actual AI. Consider the constraints of 5 AI’s. Now I take the assumption that this was all on the up and up. It is a leap, I know this. For all concerned, the poster was yanking all our chains, so you can test this yourself. Take a room with 5 strangers, ask them the simple question to pick a random number between 1 and 50 and write this on a pice of paper. Then all show them at the same time. Now if they are different people (I am referring to the old joke that all teenage boys will come up with 69 dude (and this was averted with the range 1-50) but seriously. Take 5 random people and optionally 2 might have the same answer, but for all 5 ‘proclaimed’ AI systems to give the same number is utterly impossible. 

Is it?
Well, that is the question. If they are founded on the same algorithm, there are optional gaps, then there is the setting that the data is founded on exactly the same amounts, as such I say impossible. A computer (any computer) has logics, hardware, algorithms and data. If they are all identical (which does not seem the case) the answers should be the same. But to get 5 identical answers is a drastic setting after all big tech is shedding jobs due to AI. If the image was true, the larger truth that companies need to shed jobs as they foresee a much larger economic clash. I was already on that page, but now more can do this to. Consider that this so called AI is being pushed onto support and customer care. Now consider that they all have the same flakes and errors. How many support and customer care jobs will set companies to collapse? It is an honest question. Where do you go when the company you are giving your money to is merely walking the beat towards average? A place where populism (aka the statistically most viable answer) is given?

A setting where we are merely the crunched number and not given the excellent quality support we are entitled to? I am not kidding, but this is the setting all the big tech companies are going for. All to look good on paper and that is what I see evolving. You can bitch all you like on Microsoft and Builder.ai where seemingly the AI work was done by 700 engineers. Microsoft backed the solution all whilst there was nothing to be seen on how 700 engineers were supported by hardware and software. Then we get to all systems with verifications and these elements should reveal that if AI was the real deal these systems could never have given all the same random number. 

So, all is not over. For the simple reason that if this happens, these companies need to find 61,000 people and this gives me the setting that dataconomy.com gives with “Microsoft’s Chief Commercial Officer, Judson Althoff, stated this week that the company saved over $500 million in its call center last year through the use of AI tools. This announcement follows a series of internal remarks concerning productivity gains across sales, customer service, and software engineering, as reported by Bloomberg during a recent presentation.” When these tools start bungling their job as the data becomes an issue (I see the 5 random numbers as ‘evidence’). You see, you cannot have on and not the other. I am mentioning Microsoft in this case as the quote was there, but as I see it, IBM, Amazon and Google will all have the same issue soon enough. And the first one that realizes this will get the first grasp in the 61,000 people and the last one gets the least impressive people of the bunch. And at what point will someone figure out what the price tag is on the $500 million in savings? 

It is a setting without any good end. And in the end, if the setting was faked, my conclusions are equally debatable. I will disagree as I came to this point through different means and this example was merely the icing on the cake. And I love it, because I never thought of this setting. We all miss things and I am no different. So I laugh as I saw the article as the example given was nothing short of ‘quite excellent’. As such I start the day with a smile as I enjoy being pointed at overlooking an element. That’s the person I am.

So, you all have a great day as I am starting fish day today (from young I was told Friday is fish day). Did the AI you are all embracing give you that translation and the reason why? It is a mere jab at the setting as this reenforces the verification of data. A setting I saw to be the achilles heel of that StarGate project. It is a mere $500,000,000,000 project, but that will not stop me from illustrating the situation and whilst other say that I don’t have the power to do anything. I merely counter it that these centers are unlikely to have the power to keep it going, you see power is more than an element, it becomes the biggest evil of the lot.

As stated, have a great day.

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That old song

That happens, we are at times driven to an old song. Something we sang before, or a song we heard others sing and it is a catchy song. That happened to me mere hours ago when Hacked OFF (https://www.hackedoff.org/) gave me ‘20 years after 7/7, victims of terror are still not protected’ (in an email) and as Paul Dadge states “Victims of press abuse feel let down and betrayed, and victims of terror are still not protected from being hacked and intruded on by the press.” I saw this years ago and I had a proper response (the other idea to shoot them in the head was instantly rejected by myself). You see, the media needs money and as the media is becoming ever pressured by peer pressures, they have to keep on adding the pressures. At first I thought that there was no real solution, but I got to thinking (I do that at times) and as I saw the desperate movement to digital dollars and revenue I saw a solution. You see, what is possible that judges can set the media, towards a new profit driven revenue and as such these people lose there tax exempt setting. Those ‘media’ dodo’s relying on 0% VAT now become fully VAT responsible. A month for every transgression. As such they will face a new adversary, not that pussy organisation called IPSO, but the MP of the victim and a group of three judges, one from the district the victim is in and two additional judges. They decide the fate of the transgressor and when found guilty that Media outlet will face the 20% VAT on the revenue they have that month. So these publications, like magazines, and newspapers will face the brunt of the VAT from 0% (I think it is 20% in the UK at present) and there is no hiding behind the people have a right to know. When you transgress on the privacy of people you get to pay the price. There might be a few snags in my way of thinking, but the publications that this is bound to happen we get to see all these media people crying like little bitches, just like they did at the time of judge Sir Brian Henry Leveson.

Even if it doesn’t come to pass, we can TikTok and Youtube the hell out of these media alleged transgressors and if we learned something in this last two years than it is that they are feeble and money hungry, suddenly lose 20% a month at a time and they might consider being a little more ethically acceptable towards the mess they made themselves.

Just my take on the matter and I reckon even if Nathan Sparkes, Hugh Tomlinson KC, Dr Rosa Malley, Emma Jones, George Eustice, Hugh Grant, Jacqui Hames, Mandy Garner, Professor Paul Wragg, Professor Steve Barnett, Terrence Tehranian don’t think it is achievable or practical, they will go into the weekend with a giggle and a big smile. Isn’t that worth reading this article? 

It also serves as deterrent as the masses of the world are looking for larger solutions to keep the media in an ethical place. Just my 0.0284 cents on the matter (2 cents adjusted for inflation).

Have a great day today.

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Age of BS (Bill Sightseer)

That is the setting I was confronted with last night. We have all seen the US downturn in tourism and there is a certain justice in souring your own milk. This is what we saw in the last two weeks and last night the Independent gives us (at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-tourism-decline-trump-policies-b2782820.html) the repeating ‘US is the only country facing tourism decline as Trump policies to cost $29 billion in visitor revenue: study’ and for the most I was all about “seen this before” so I was about to leave it next to me, but then something happened. Travel and Tour World gave me (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/united-states-tourism-soars-to-new-heights-with-20-million-canadian-tourists-contributing-a-staggering-20-5-billion-and-fueling-job-growth-across-140000-american-positions/) ‘United States Tourism Soars To New Heights With 20 Million Canadian Tourists, Contributing A Staggering $20.5 Billion And Fueling Job Growth Across 140,000 American Positions’ are the flipping kidding me? As we have been given from a multitude of places “Amid the president’s immigration crackdown, travel bans and sweeping global tariffs, the U.S. is expected to be the only one out of 184 countries to see foreign visitor spending fall in 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. The study suggests that the U.S. economy is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international spending this year alone – but the actual shortfall might be much greater.” (Independent, July 4th) and it matches what others have given me. But no, here comes the Travel and Tour World article giving us “A remarkable 20 million Canadian tourists visited the United States, contributing a massive $20.5 billion to the U.S.economy, while also sustaining around 140,000 jobs across the United States, as reported by the U.S.Travel Association. These figures highlight the essential role Canada plays in U.S. tourism, making it the largest source of international visitors for the country. With Canada’s population of about 40 million, this represents a significant proportion—half of all Canadians visited the U.S. last year. In fact, Canada accounted for 26% of all international tourists to the U.S., which saw a total of 77 million visitors in 2024.” And CBC on July 3rd gave us “The data shows there were 88,686 fewer recorded crossings at the Peach Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden and Sumas points of entry throughout the month.” As such (apart from the confirming feeling), it seems that (as I personally see it) the U.S.Travel Association are beefing up numbers by the millions and no one reacts? How is this setting acceptable to anyone? As I see it, America might be in deeper waters than anyone thinks they are. It seems that Wall Street needs to be mismanaged so that they will give America the credits they desperately need. Apart from The deal that Canada now has with Aluminum provider Australia in stead of America, the setting is far worse then anyone is considering. The TTW article has a few other capers that makes for a weird setting “While Canada did not actively seek to “steal” American tourists, certain Canadian destinations are benefiting from a surge in European visitors. In fact, a recent study from Context Research Group highlights that Canada is experiencing an unexpected tourism boom, driven largely by European high-spenders who were previously considering U.S. destinations for their vacations. As the U.S. tourism sector struggles with internal challenges, Canada seems to be emerging as a viable and attractive alternative.” It is the word ‘steal’, you see, after the Florida setting where people seems to feel insecure and unsafe and there is the US customs setting where people are seemingly evicted by a owning a mere meme and then there are the numerous events that customs is scanning your social media, the land of the free now seemingly takes away free speech. I don’t care about the meme’s some other people send. I find it a waste of my time and as such any second hand meme might actually debunk the only vacation you can afford. That is a principle setting why people go somewhere else. And the internet is bustling with numbers of places that have a massive downturn, as such the TTW article isn’t even funny or actual in several settings. And as we have seen the amount of the 51st state mentions, the Canadians seemingly like Americans, their blood in particular. See what I did, I made an actual funny (TTW please take notice) The article has other things missing, the first quote didn’t give a timeline, whist other mentions do give a timeline, but these moments can be misread. So who is behind this? The TTW article doesn’t carry a name, neither does it state opinion piece, which might not be a setting that has weight as the TTW is not journalism, but in the B2B world the writer is often indicative of how serious you need to take an article. The Independent piece was written by James Liddell, a US News reporter and giving us (a little late) the facts we already had. The CBC article gives us the charts that show that as per February 2025 the numbers going to America started going down with 40K less visitors, in March the drop was over 80K and going on and on until June where it was a little over 80K as well, and this is merely the BC/Washington crossing. So where did they find these 20 million Canadian tourists? Did the TTW not vet the files they publish? Because as I see it, it is their name that comes up. 

Was it just the one?
So we can fret over this, but there was another reason to mention this. You see, I mentioned the Aluminum setting and as it was given to me yesterday, Canada is now in conversation with Rio Tinto as a new supplier of Aluminum, which might delight Coca Cola and a few others who are ‘diverting’ to Canada to avoid tariffs and other bad news towards their shareholders. The larger news was given to me by MSN (at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-extends-visa-free-entry-to-more-than-70-countries-to-draw-tourists/ar-AA1I9PTl) there we see ‘China extends visa-free entry to more than 70 countries to draw tourists’, I have no idea what the impact will be, but there will be thoughts on many being interested in seeing Beijing and a few other places. The fact that China has its own theme parks, Disney has two in China, one in Shanghai and one in Hong Kong. As I see it, this might be massively bad news for America as well. I have no idea what the impact will be, but 70 countries imply a loss of thousands of tourists in a time America cannot have any more bad news. And the one thing we tend to forget, most people (as assumed 90%+) can only spend their money once and thousands going to China means that they cannot spend that money in America, more importantly, many Europeans are trying to find a place far away from America (optionally Canada too) and now China makes this move. A tactical move that could hurt America a few points more. And as I see it (through the graphics) the move will hit many in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. And I think it matters, it is the Commonwealth nations, the Arabian countries and Europe that will wield the largest punch for China. So what the TTW article to dissuade people from going to China? I think that might have been a bad move as it only shows America to be more desperate than even before. And with the Rio Tinto move Canada is showing itself more than apt to counter whatever America throws at them, I reckon that yesterday’s threat on 10% addition for BRIC’s minded governments and as a bonus President Trump soured the well in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, what a 24 hour score to make.

As I see it, I wouldn’t take the entire TTW article too seriously, but as a part in a larger setting it gives us (optionally wrong) that there is a larger setting in America, the cracks are seemingly showing and that presents a larger setting for multiple players, all stating the same thing. Doing business in America is starting to become a folly for anyone entertaining that thought. A setting that is merely the consequence of the last 12 months. For America a bad thing, for the business entrepreneurs a new horizon they haven’t see for a long time and what is new tends to be sexy and explorable for the eager greed driven minds.

Have a great day today.

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O square B square

Yup, sounds like a conundrum but it isn’t one. It is rather simple. The BBC alerted me to this this morning around 3 o’clock clock in the morning. It refers to OOBB, or Out Of Breath Bully, or in simple terms ‘Trump threatens extra 10% tariff on nations siding with Brics’. You see, the setting becomes “the original group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.” So how did I get to this? Simple, Indonesia has 260,000,000 people (say consumers). People as is now seemingly lost to America and as such they will cater to the EU and Arabic nations (which coincidentally happens to appease my IP as well and hopefully the Kingdom Holding), Iran was never siding with America, but the other two, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? Will America suddenly find loopholes to avoid these two? I reckon that if I can humbly suggest to ADNOC and Aramco that they set aside 500,000 barrels of oil per day from America towards China and as such I am humbly requesting a mere 1% of the additional profit by this charter change, or 5% of the additional profits should America pay for the additional ‘hardship’. I reckon that I might score $0.20 per barrel and that amounts to $1 million from either delivery channels per day, that is $2,000,000 per day towards the retirement fund for little old me, as such my dream retirement becomes a reality (living on Yas Island in a nice apartment) and a few additional perks. And there is reason to do this. Someone needs to explain to the White House individual that threats are nice, but at some point people will take genuine offense. As I see it China has already had enough and the new adversaries namely Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE pretty much has had enough of that too. They laugh now, but the world is seeing the threats of America to be a hindrance of doing global business. So as this escalates they all have a new trading partner in Canada, as well as Australia ands the United Kingdom. China and the Arabic nations will be delighted to get a 100,000,000 consumers who will turn away from America to a much larger degree and Canada gets two additional depositories for Canadian alcohol. 

The setting of ‘on nations siding with Brics’ was just plain stupid and stupidity should never be rewarded. So as we take notice of “US President Donald Trump has warned that countries which side with the policies of the Brics alliance that go against US interests will be hit with an extra 10% tariff. “Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on social media.” shows two settings. The first is that this social media call was shortsighted to say the least and the second part is that this implies (yet again) that is facing a lot more economic hardship then it is ready to admit to and getting that out is a victory all by itself as the bulk of the western media is in denial of this and I saw this months ago, actually, I saw this on October 4th 2021 (world animal day no less) in my story ‘Utter Insanity’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/10/04/utter-insanity/) no less. It was (as I personally saw it) the moment the US debt passed the point of no return. All these pretenders with settings like “Next year will be better” and “They are doing really good, I saw the plans”, the second setting reminded me of crazy Star Trek fans, who claimed that NASA was testing teleportation in secret (I am, after two decades, still laughing on that setting). And the bluffing ‘no exception’ is the candle and icing on the cake). 

So, see this for what it is but America has at present a debt surpassing $37 trillion ($37,000,000,000,000), as such they accumulated an additional 12 trillion in just 4 years. So, when the banks no longer go with the ‘we are too big to go bankrupt’ what will you have? What will you do? Because when the banks shut down America loses whatever social safeties and social security they think they still have. It was a simple setting and you could have gotten there if someone explained the working of the Abacus. A calculator that was invented a mere 4400 years ago. So whilst the article also gives us “Last week, Trump said Japan could face a “30% or 35%” tariff if the country failed to reach a deal with the US by Wednesday.” All kinds of threats we see, but acting on these threats implies that America is willing to burn the bridges it has and now that three new players enter the scene, the setting changes. Does the world need America? Canada and the rest of the Commonwealth doubt this, now that the Arabic countries are added to the masses, more will doubt that setting. So whilst America implodes through the threats they are voicing, the UK needs to find a way to get back to the majority of the Commonwealth as the rest unites with Canada. Now that America is opening a new battle ground with the BRICS nations (in all honesty, no one cares about Russia) the setting changes and America soon needs to rely on Russia and Venezuela for oil. That should be fun watching this unfold on TV. I reckon that this setting gets more viewers than the Kardashians. A simple setting that had nowhere to go from the very beginning. I know it is merely my view, but if you consider the setting and the debts and other hardships America called over itself you would see the same thing.

Consider that over the next 8 weeks as tourism in America dies, consider all the other connected services that will fail and consider then that America will need to come up with 4.06% of 37 trillion, a mere 8.3% of that due on a monthly basis and that is how America edges towards an abyss of none avoidance. That is the setting of any bully, when the invoice is due, they suddenly have people to blame and all other excuses come forth, they never fess up to the mess they clearly created. 

As I personally see it, this threat was the one he should never have made, not with Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the mix. Have a great day.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, United Arab Emirates, BBC, Commonwealth, Canada, Russia, China, BRICS, Japan, EU, President Trump, Aramco, ADNOC, Indonesia, Abu Dhabi, Kingdom Holding, 

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Honey and ladders

Yup, it sounds and is a Childs game. It is based on the old original Snakes and ladders, which I haven’t played since the 70’s I reckon. I saw this Childs game in a larger version in a place called Burwood. Where the honey is the decline and the ladders go up. It is a simple game and this game only has 36 squares. A simple game with a roof in the open as such parents gets to have fun with their children, or even children playing together. A small 30 minutes of joy I reckon.

Still a game with a few natural settings. There is joy and less joy and it takes you on the rollercoaster of high and low. A setting that the American Administration has never apparently seen as the Independent (at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-tourism-decline-trump-policies-b2782820.html) gives us ‘US is the only country facing tourism decline as Trump policies to cost $29 billion in visitor revenue: study’, although I don’t completely agree with the setting as America is the only country facing a tsunami of abandonment   and as such I reckon the the word ‘decline’ is not incorrect, it is merely highly misleading when we look at the ‘decline’. I wrote about it earlier, but the numbers have drastically increased and a country that has so little going for it needs all the marbles they can muster. As such we might stop at “Amid the president’s immigration crackdown, travel bans and sweeping global tariffs, the U.S. is expected to be the only one out of 184 countries to see foreign visitor spending fall in 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.” With the addition of “The study suggests that the U.S. economy is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international spending this year alone – but the actual shortfall might be much greater.” This implies that the amount of small businesses that go down is vastly understated and America will be on route of the largest unemployment wave they have seen in decades. It does not help that Microsoft is laying of another 9000 people, IBM laid of 8000, just to rehire them (I reckon that they have new contract stipulations), Meta gets rid to up to 20% for teams over 150 men, so the total isn’t visible to me, but when you add the numbers. TechCrunch gives us that 2025 will be at the expense of over 22,000 jobs. So, I reckon that Aramco might be shopping for willing people as it is massively expanding. So in this new settling atmosphere the decline of 29 billion is more than bad news and in the meantime the wannabe influencers on YouTube are exploding that bad news through the same story edited in new ways with different examples making the impact seem wore than it is. Don’t get me wrong, 29 billion is plenty bad, but you don’t need to exploit it twice over. I reckon this is done to get more followers. Not a game I am willing to play mind you.

Still the bad news is apparently taken in strides with the America Administration at this point. As such whilst the Guardian gives us “US adds 147,000 jobs in June, surpassing expectations amid Trump trade war”, so was this including the 8,000 jobs that IBM added whilst firing them in the first place? A setting that the byline hands us with “Economists anticipated drop, but 8,000 new positions were added in June compared with May, with unemployment rate down to 4.1%” what a coincidence, did IBM just rehire these people? Is it therefor a new job or a rehired job? I actually don’t know and that is the ‘enigma’ of black bookkeeping based on ‘active’ souls. I will have to ask Mephisto when I see him again. 

In other news, there is a growing concern for the economy, the news comes from Fox, so take this in stride as they have shown a few times to butter the bacon. The news ‘Americans trapped in side hustle economy as 9-to-5 jobs no longer pay the bills’ and I personally feel that the setting that players like Uber Eats bring. I reckon that this is the kind of side hustle that comes with hidden traps (they say they don’t but I reckon that people assume a few matters, while these players leave them in the dark for a reason. As such, things like Fuel, insurance and a few other settings are not (as I personally see them) clearly defined. There is the setting of “account hacking and unauthorized orders.” As such I get that one such an issue and your day income is pretty much gone. As such (and Uber Eats is not the only player in town) there are a few settings where the danger to side-hustles is the larger danger to the income over all. This will come to blows soon enough. I reckon that before the end of summer a few situations will get out of hand and this will mean that there is another down wind hitting the industries. Because these restaurants will depend on deliveries. And without deliveries, you are a food place in the middle of nowhere with no place to go. 

Adding these elements together and you do not have great news. More like a tragedy of unbridled proportions. And whilst this morning the Financial Review gives us ‘Trump plans to start notifying countries of US tariffs of up to 70pc’, I reckon the bloc of nations that will set new borders towards normalizing the stage they have with nations that were previously seen as ‘hostile as per American notice’, there is even a larger concern that some of these nations might enter the bloc with China, lets face it, they have nothing more to lose and as such America loses a lot more than they bargained for a educational step that honey and ladders bring. The steps you need to take to get to the next ladder to cross. And this game is rigged by governments themself. A setting we rarely see, but now with the EU, in disarray, the chance is more likely then not that China gets to call EU ministers and offer ‘a helping hand’, this implies the losses of a lot more billions and actually bring hardship to the American tech as these people will now consider change. Consider Huawei, TikTok, Tencent and Alibaba. How much damage can they do to the American economy? And when the EU and the United Kingdom are convinced. How much effort does China need to make to get Australia and New Zealand on board? At that point the only ‘ally’ America has is the one they pissed of the most (yes, it is Canada). Is this scenario beyond realism? I don’t think so and the setting that America with Tariffs and Tourism gave us was a mere start of more and the setting that we were ‘sullied’ into a complacent setting of what democracy is.

As such the EU and others are now seeing America as the big evil, not the liberator, but the bully that stops democracy. In this, this morning I was given an image as to what America is. It is a strong view of what the ‘anti-Americans’ see America developing in. I am not on their level. I am merely anti-stupid and I am seeing way too much of that too.

So have a great day and consider what you stand with and what you remain silent about. For me it is easy, as a Commonwealthian I am massively pro-Canada. It is really that simple. So any move America makes against Canada, I see it personal as all those in the Commonwealth need to see this (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and of course Canada self). So when your intelligence apparatus pisses off 4 of the 5 parties in your intelligence system. How much of a system do you really have left? That is the setting China was hoping for and when you consider the acts that America did in its pro-Russia views, the line is cast and China realizes that it can continue without Russia, as it now has a clear stage where it might get the Commonwealth and the EU align with them. A setting that gets too many benefits and ends the dollar as a currency. Did you think I forgot about that? The EU is set to 450 million people, the full Commonwealth is set to 2.5 Billion. As such that becomes 36% of the global population, the Arabic nations is already switching away from America (to a degree), so when American tech is holding onto their version of AI, the setting seems to be one of desperation, when this comes to blows, they need to be out of the realm of victimisation and that is where we are. A comedy that turned to tragedy yesterday and the people are hoping for a nice twist so they can laugh again and I am not sure if that is a possibility. You think I was trying to sell my IP to the Arabian countries on a whim? I reckon that the setting soon will be that this is the only place that might be able to buy it. As I see it American companies will soon deal in swap trades and IOU invoices. When that happens you better believe that the last stage is on route to your point of view. That is merely how I see it and I have been trying to make strides in that direction. I might be a millionaire, but when 9800 millionaires move to the UAE, you better believe that the gig is about to be up.

Have a great day this Saturday, Vancouver will catch up with us in under 170 minutes.

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Carmine, Crimson and Sanguine

It almost sounds like a joke doesn’t it. Three colours were walking down the road claiming that they were the most blood red there was. Almost like the massive amount of idiots that keep on claiming that you have to tax the rich, especially now around the wedding of the most illustrious creator of Amazon. Let me help you remember that he went on Jimmy Kimmel and others whilst correctly claiming that he made little to no money. He didn’t and we all laughed (including me). I knew that there was more to that story, but he played his role perfectly. He adhered to the law and through that he became untouchable. So keep on shouting tax the rich and wear yourself out. 

So here we see the intense lie. You see, these are two different matters and not even remotely related. The wealth of Bezos (at present) is said to be 237,000 million. Do you think he will do anything illegal? This caper of 50 million is nothing compared to what he has. It is expected that he will make 23,500 million this year. He doesn’t need to do anything but keep it all legal. He is not attacking anything, or anyone. Trump is not cutting medicare for him in any way. It has always what I said, the issue were the lawmakers and they pathed a way for the Bezos minded people (like Sergei Brin, Andy Jesse and Satya Nadella) they are relying on the laws to be followed like nice black lettered people (their accountants and lawyers) should. The law enabled them and this has been going on since President Clinton. This is the first president to change the color of accounting ink to black. This had not happened since 1970 (President Richard Nixon) and even in this moment the tax laws had to be rewritten, but I would give him a pass as he got the books in the black. No president since has been ale to do this. And for over 15 years I gave the saying that an overhaul was needed, but the lawmakers never thought this through. Even more, those economic media people ignored it too. It is them the people should be targeting. But no one seemingly is listening, because the ‘tax the rich’ claims go on and on and on. The lawmakers have been the issue all along (OK, the financial stakeholders have likely more guilt) and nearly all fell for for that trap, mainly because the media (read: News) isn’t educating people. They all hide watching the entertaining morning shows where the news can be filtered to what gives the most entertainment.

So as we now consider that there are bills that are hurting healthcare not because of Bezos and like minded people. It is because America is broke, some say bankrupt and that starts the entertaining setting that a country cannot be bankrupt, they have too many resources and Canada has even more and as such President Trump wants it as a 51st state. But the drop dead point has now been passed. The ink of the books have turned sanguine red, blood red and it is the blood of American taxpayers that are now bleeding. It is not because of Jeff Bezos, his ship is done (apparently he has one that is massive and called Koru), no the lawmakers are now trying to please the thousands of millionaires that have less than 100,000,000 and they need to fill their pockets as much as they can before the tap is turned off, because they fear that this will not keep them and their children safe. They are now the drivers to get as much wealth as they can, so that they can evade to a none tax haven like Monaco, the Bahamas or the UAE (there are a few more) and these people do not need to rely on non-extradition as they never broke any laws, because the lawmakers made it legal from the very start.

This is why the Democratic noise is laughable and going nowhere. So as we take notice of ‘Jennifer Get In Good Trouble’ and she is raising the right alarm, because there is a massive loss of these rural settings coming to their front door. But the truth of the matter is that this is (as I personally see it) one of the final hurdles that sets the collapse of America, it can no longer continue and only if the laws had been properly adjusted America could have continued for at least a decade longer. Now the cuts start and whilst many see Bezos, Brin and Nadella as the ‘evil’ people, they are not. They adhered to the tax laws in America and in all that time no one considered adjusting the tax laws to become more fair and this is on ALL politicians, not merely the republican because since president Clinton there were two democrats in office. You will need to ask them for an explanation. 

The final straws of America are stretched beyond snapping point and that is where everything turns to a brown goo (yes, it is shit). And it could have been largely avoided by properly taxing corporations. Didn’t you consider that when Apple and Microsoft became multi trillion dollar entities? Even with all the failed setting Microsoft went through? It has a market capitalisation of 3.66 trillion, And they had a tax bill of $19.651 billion. So a company now worth 3660 billion merely pays less then 20 billion? That is 0.54% and that setting is not raising questions?

So, why not? And I merely use them as an example because as I see it, they entire FAANG group is equally ‘guilty’ and the lawmakers of America tax laws are blind to that? So be cool, leave Jeff Bezos alone and direct your anger at the IRS who is in charge of that near dead carcass. That is the setting of tax laws and tax loopholes and the law allowed people to use them and the American administrations have had decades to do something about it. It is the bed Americans made for themselves.

So you might want to blame Trump for it all, but the damage is a lot larger and it is seen on both sides of the political isle. 

Have a great day, optionally with a Canadiano.

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That day, today

We all have that day, the one day that is tattooed into our brains. The Americans have the 4th of July, the Dutch have April 30th, queens day going back to Queen Juliana as it was her birthday, a day that Queen Beatrix kept as her birthday was in January. The new King (aka King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands was born April 27th) so it is not to big a sidestep. Others (especially those who served) have other dates in mind. They are the dates that are in their brains and it differs per nationality, no matter if you are a Commonwealthian or not. These days matter to those who are there and now for Canadians there is Canada day, a day they celebrate on July 1st. The British North America Act (today known as the Constitution Act, 1867) creates Canada. June 20, 1868: Governor General Lord Monck signs a proclamation that requests all Her Majesty’s subjects across Canada to celebrate July 1. So they get to be thankful of Lord Monck (in a way) and remember that he instilled this setting and I reckon that today and this year it matters a lot more. Canada moved out of the scope of the American insult (aka State 51) and according to Fox News ‘Trump continues with comments about Canada being 51st state’ and “Donald Trump said Canada is a ‘very tough country to deal with’ and should be the 51st state, and that the USMCA is ‘no good.’” So, in short we were given a mere 5 years ago “The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which entered into force on July 1, 2020, is a free trade agreement that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It aims to create a more balanced and reciprocal trade relationship among the three countries, supporting high-paying jobs and growing the North American economy.” And as such, as I personally see it. Why did PM Carney suspend the digital services tax? I reckon that the insults give weight to instigating this setting, not suspend it. OK, I reckon that the PM has a truckload of reasons, but America is waving the ‘we win’ flag but the setting is a lot less happy for them. I still see America one step away from collapsing and the ‘news’ I saw yesterday gives me reason to re-enforce this way of thinking, when corporations like Coca Cola, GM, Alcoa, Campbells and a few more steering towards the north shore of the American plateau. Things are a lot worse than even I imagined. So why is America condoning this level of stupidity? And why is Canada resisting the coup de grace unto the near dead carcass called America? I reckon that some of these Tech firms might get a better deal in Vancouver anyways (personal reflection). And getting them people to move to ski shores a mere 2 hours away might seal the deal with the bulk of these companies.

So as I see it, some president needs to be cut down to size and the insults of the 51st state is a good enough reason. That and the tariff’s being one of the dreaded nail into a corpse collection system (coffin seems too crass) is a good enough reason for me. And as we see ““It’s very simple. Prime Minister Carney and Canada caved to President Trump and the United States of America,” Ms Leavitt said.” We need to get a little infuriated to the blonde spokesperson. The Commonwealth dies not cave to America, a lot of us see that America is about to cave to the world economy and the debts it holds. A mere $36,215,828,296,013 (as stated by sources). This set the debt to $106,112 for EVERY American individual and after the deportations it becomes  more, how much is unknown at present. So did Canada cave Karoline, or did some American Moguls plead with PM Mark Carney as this act would ensure that the dollar might actually  collapse and end the reign of the almighty dollar? 

For reference, there are voices that the successor is already known:

I personally would prefer the British pound of the Canadian dollar, but that might not be a realistic possibility. So I would advise ms Leavitt to imbue a little humility into her boss, because at some point we have had enough and we all get that house of cards to collapse. I know, it is not easy being the most debt riddles nation on the planet, but America wouldn’t reign in their horses believing that they were too big to collapse, and here is a newsflash. “When you piss off everyone in the field, including your own team, collapse is the probably the best you could hope for

So as we look towards the celebrations of Canada Day, we all can see that Canada, at present has a lot going for it and this turnaround is largely due to the former “Marky Mark of the British Bank”, so I see this as two boxers, one dabbles in economy (President Trump to be clear) and the other is the almost undisputed heavy weight champion of the world (Prime Minister Mark Carney) and this match is about to get nasty (for America), so I would advise Ms Leavitt to seize here ‘cave’ references and just for references, as I personally see it Canada has the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand firmly in its corner. As I personally see it America seemingly losing friends a lot faster than they can. Oh, just for references can we get a real tally of what President Trump is bringing in towards its economy, because as I see it, the trillions ‘promised’ towards America is stated to be about 50% short. However, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  (UAE) are doing well at present. So is the sales pipeline of America broken?

Have a great day and as such to all (especially Canadians) a really great Canada Day and remember:

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The reality of the matter

That is at times a setting we hope to see, but it is only possible if you take the western media out of the picture. I have ‘debated’ this setting a few times earlier and as we discontinue considering the western media as a source we get a very different picture. To ‘support’ my view I had the microphone (or better stated the feather and ink jar, or optionally the keyboard) to AlJazeera who (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/11/fact-checking-trumps-claim-of-securing-10-trillion-in-investments-for-us) gives us ‘Fact-checking Trump’s claim of securing $10 trillion in investments for US’ there we see “The White House reports $5.1 trillion in promised investments, with $4.3 trillion newly pledged. But experts say $2.1 trillion may not fully happen.” This setting alone gives us a few ‘issues’. Is the 4.3 trillion part of the 5.1 trillion? But AlJazeera was on the ball, the give us “We tallied the White House’s public lists of investments; they amount to $2.1 trillion in corporate investments, or at most $5.1 trillion when including promised investments from other countries. Experts cautioned that the promised corporate investments are not guaranteed to materialise in full, or during Trump’s presidency, and some of them would have occurred regardless of who was president.” I am willing to ‘ignore’ the part the “some of them would have occurred regardless of who was president” and there is the setting of that sci-fi TV series that the world is investing 500B in called Stargate. But the larger setting is that either 50%, or optionally 41% may not happen, as such we wonder how long does America really have? It is an open question because I actually do not know. The hammering of tourism and small business will have an impact and it goes massively beyond the $21 billion of direct losses that is predicted.

So why bring this up?
Now we get to the real deal, with is given to us by the Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2606252/business-economy) where we see ‘Saudi FDI net inflows jump 44% in Q1 to $5.9bn’ as we consider that we are given that “foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2025, up 44 percent year on year, driven by rising inflows and sharply lower capital outflows”, as such I wonder if the Saudi government might pull investments out of America (a massive speculation on my side) and as I would see it, based on fictive claims by the American administration. And in this I see both the lessened and diminished losses that America will have to fess up to as well as positive investments that are unlikely to come through. It is like these salespeople who made claims in the 90’s that their sales pipeline was almost ‘full’ and that pipeline was riddles with people who were unable to make up their minds, people who are awaiting confirmations of new releases and that kind of ‘issues’. So that ‘full pipeline’ was not considering close to 50% that seemed to be the issues that customers were unable to find peace with. And investors are customers. The sort to not take kindly to corporations (and administrations) not delivering on their promises. That is the setting we might not seem to get a clear view on. All this is happening whist the Guardian gives us “Annualized inflation hit 2.4% in May, up from 2.3% in April, as Trump pushes ahead with controversial trade plans”, so whilst inflation is bringing down the house (as the expression goes) we see the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia getting a 44% boost of FDI in Quarter 1 2025. As such I wonder how many of the not coming through investors in America have decided to alter course and invest in Saudi Arabia. I do not pretend to know, because I do not. Yet the setting that somehow the people have ‘found’ $5.9 billion. It makes muck more logical sense that these so called investors have figured out that Saudi Arabia is a much safer fertile ground for their money trees than America is. That and the report that the UAE has reported that over 9,800 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) are moving to the UAE. They both make sense and the setting that you do not put all your eggs in one basket (a rule I tend to live by) is speculatively in place. As such these people move to the UAE but put 40% in Saudi Arabia and 40% in the UAE. They are the places where money trees have a decent chance of prospering. That is what the cold data seems to imply to me. So feel free to call my insight wrong, but I feel I have to stand with that. And when you consider the impact that ADNOC has on the UAE and Aramco has on the KSA, these thoughts are likely to be a lot more correct that a journalist claiming that America is sound and safe. The data from the last 8 weeks give me a very different picture and I wrote about it. 

Now that the gloves seemingly come off in the caper between America and Canada seemingly proves me right. In one corner America has an administration that is in conflict with its own Pentagon and a few other matters (like a boasting president) and in the other corner we see Canada with PM Mark Carney who was the former Governor of the British Bank with more degrees than any thermometer has, or as I used to say ‘Marky Mark of the British Bank’, we all assign nick names for officials. My mother told me to not use bad language as such the nick name for a particular president is avoided.

The reality of the matter is that the ‘good’ setting cannot exist when we see the investment spree into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and personally I think that the investment in the KSA is the true one and both cannot exist. As such America is in a shape that is much worse than anyone is considering. I need to keep my eyes on this as I will have to adjust my views if other intelligence reaches me and I believe I need to keep you all updated on this. That is beside the point of me still trying to get the Kingdom Holding Company to buy one of my IP’s, we all have our own agenda’s and I am no different. We all have our farming plans and I am getting close to ‘mandatory’ retirement and it is a really sweet dream to retire to Yas Island enjoying 4 themes parks and a rather large mall to live out my days is relative luxury (luxury is a inherent satisfaction stage) and as there are 9800 millionaires coming to that nation there is a drive to beat them to it (preferably with a nice stack of coins).

So make of this all what you will, but two nations are showing that they have the results that matter, so where does that leave the people who hide behind the seemingly promise that America is doing fine? As such I have a lot more faith in Canada coming through this intact. 

It is the reality of the matter that is important and those stating that the reality of the matter will be that I am absolutely bug nuts is a fair call. Time will prove my views correctly. It is the benefit of a blog, it tends to be time stamped. 

Have a great day (even if it is Monday), except Canada. It is still Sunday there.

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Honestly, I have a question

It doesn’t happen that often, but the Middle East Eye left me with a question this morning. The headline ‘UAE ambassador’s firm linked to Bangladesh airports data deal’ was nothing strange. These things happen and if it helps Bangladesh, why worry? It was the setting of “Top diplomat’s business links to Emirati-backed project to upgrade passenger information systems prompt conflict of interest concerns”, it was the setting of “prompt conflict of interest concerns” made me wonder why there were conflicts of interests? Perhaps I am seeing the role of Ambassador incorrectly, perhaps I am simply thrown for a loop (I get an abundance of data every 24 hours), so it might be me. Yet when I see “An Emirati state-owned business appointed to set up a new passenger information system at Bangladeshi airports sub-contracted part of the project to a company co-owned by the UAE’s own ambassador to the country. Documents seen by Middle East Eye appear to raise questions about whether the arrangement delivers value for money for the Bangladeshi government or travelers facing higher prices as a consequence of inflated costs linked to the new system.” The first question that comes to mind is “Does the press get to see it all?” I reckon that perhaps the Bangladeshi media sees more (or perhaps a lot more) and as such, is there even an issue? You see, the term “value for money” tends to have ramifications, like how was this amount arrived at? Then we do get the goods in “Iftekhar Zaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, called for an investigation into the deal, which he said appeared to amount to “a clear case of conflict of interests and an abuse of power”. Zaman told MEE: “As a public servant, an ambassador cannot be involved in any business activity without specific approval of the government.” OK, I can get along with this. The two settings that Iftekhar Zaman gives us are “an ambassador cannot be involved in any business activity without specific approval of the government” and “an abuse of power”. So first the abuse of power. The question becomes does any foreign ambassador have the ability to abuse power in any foreign country? I would state that this ambassador paints a rather nasty large target on his or her own back. An ambassador (as I see it) promotes his own country and offers stronger ties with that country (as an ambassador paints the picture why its own country is the best option). That is how I see it. As I personally see it, the ambassador is merely a pass through option for any Emirate business and as I am personally considering, the only stated ‘abuse’ would be to the business that Iftekhar Zaman prefers. As such that is the second setting. The first setting of “an ambassador cannot be involved in any business activity without specific approval of the government” this is a larger issue. In the first it is his involvement with the company he owns 34% of. As I see it the only issue is that other Emirati corporations might optionally be taken off the table. This is not on Bangladesh, but this might be on the table in the UAE (if this situation exists) and how many contenders were there for that position? American firms need to ‘scold’ their ambassador for letting this opportunity slip by as do the British, French and German corporations. So how many contenders were there? Aside from this setting was the Bangladeshi government involved? Did it need to be involved? If this is a logistic setting for a private airport, the government might not even be involved. All questions that the Middle East Eye had to lay out in this article. As for the “They also raise questions about a potential conflict of interest on the part of the UAE’s ambassador in Bangladesh, Abdulla Ali Alhmoudi, who has promoted closer ties between the aviation sectors in the two countries.” As such the job of an Ambassador is to promote its countries options and considerations that his (or her) nation has. As such Abdulla Ali Alhmoudi seems to be doing his job, that he owns 34% of that company is merely icing on the cake. And as the airport is concerned he brought a yummy cake to the attention of the airport. As such a “an investigation into the deal” seems one, but I ask you. Shouldn’t the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh be involved? That is if this setting had to be on his desk to decide on. The fact that the airport hadn’t ‘involved’ him might require an answer, yet if the answer is that this was not his responsibility, is this case not merely a setting that gets limelight, the limelight that Iftekhar Zaman wants more spotlight? I am asking this as MEE didn’t give you “Iftekhar Zaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, the organisation that is responsible for all information system at Bangladeshi airports” and MEE didn’t give anything on the vetting process, or who else was involved. I see a lot of questions and not much answers. And wouldn’t it be fun if the honorable Abdulla Ali Alhmoudi makes a claim for damages because of this article? There is no issue on freedom of the press. The article missed a few balls and ignored other balls and that has consequences in a lot of settings. You see, the setting of “The new passenger information system is being implemented in order to bring Bangladeshi airports in line with international standards requiring the collection of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.” The question is what was the competition? I don’t know but airports all have systems and several are national based, some have IBM systems and others have other systems. So what was the pool of contenders? Then we get “Alhmoudi was serving as the UAE’s charge d’affaires in Dhaka – the second-highest diplomatic post in the country – raising questions about whether he was already using his position to advance business interests.” Ehh, small question. Isn’t that his job as Ambassador? The setting of “advance business interests” should be seen as “advance Emirati business interests” and that is seemingly what he is doing. The only setting that could evolve is the setting that he didn’t advance business interests of OTHER Emirati corporations to promote the setting of Emirates Technology Solutions (Etek) based in Fujairah, a company that is Emirati state-owned. As such it seems like he was doing his job. As such there are questions but they would be pointed at MEE and optionally Iftekhar Zaman. Then we do get some other players, but there are also issues, but as I see it MEE is off the hook (as the expression goes) and we are left with “A CAAB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the aviation authority planned to implement SITA through a company charging a “comparatively higher cost” than the ICAO recommendation of $3.50 per passenger, and raised concerns that the additional burden would fall on passengers, namely Bangladeshi labourers working abroad.” And there we have the setting “A CAAB official, speaking on condition of anonymity” yes, I have seen that setting before (in other   cases) and that tends to be someone who wants fame, or wants to promotes a third person, or that person wants to be seen as ‘in the know’, which gives us all matters of issues. There is another setting. You see “comparatively higher cost” is a loaded case. You see, when we have this setting we have two issues, the initial cost let’s say a initial million setting and a pass through cost. So if corporation one charges $125,000,000 and $4 per passenger and corporation two charges $15,000,000 and $5.50 per passenger the setting goes to how many passengers pass through this setting (these are fictive numbers) only if the airport has more than 110,000,000 passengers it becomes an actual issue, and that is a whole truckload of passengers. Then there are the service fees and maintenance costs of an IT system and we see none of that here. 

As such, why are these facts missing? Did the anonymous person not have this data? As such my question to MEE is” ‘Where are these missing facts?’ And that is the question I am confronted with. 

So do with this what you want and have a great day, my Sunday breakfast is now a mere 215 minutes away.

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