Category Archives: Finance

May 2, 2026 · 14:41

The clambake that counts

That is what I believe to see when I look at the NDTV World article. The NDTV World is a global news channel launched by NDTV in October 2024, focused on providing international news from an Indian perspective. And it is giving us ‘Israel Sent UAE Laser Weapon Called ‘Iron Beam’ That Can Vapourise Iranian Drones’ (at https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-sent-uae-laser-weapon-called-iron-beam-that-can-vapourise-iranian-drones-11436712) where we are given “Tel Aviv sent a version of its Iron Beam laser defence system to the UAE, which vaporises short-range rockets and drones. It was first used by Israel against Hezbollah projectiles from Lebanon” together with “Israel had not just sent its iconic Iron Dome air defence system to the United Arab Emirates when Iran was attacking the Gulf country. According to a report by the Financial Times, Israel also sent an advanced laser to the UAE for it to defend itself from Iranian missiles and drones. The deployment of the advanced laser would be one of the first examples of major defence co-operation between Israel and the UAE. The two countries did not have diplomatic relations until US President Donald Trump brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords.” I reckon it is a step in the right direction, a setting that ‘should’ come with the destruction of its weapon systems as well as its infrastructure. My (stated limited view) on this is that when Iran infrastructure goes down, all Iran has it a surplus of trucks now needed to give the infrastructure parts to places using trucks, especially as its trains fail to work from A to B, or they are forced to use part A via C,D,F towards B, you can see the haunting delays that give and should someone take care of the out the harbours, than the equation is simplified from the second part of the Alphabet to get to locations A and B. We are also given “A regional official told the publication that the laser system was a display of “the value of being Israel’s friend”. Israel also sent over an advanced surveillance system known as ‘Spectro’ to the UAE for it to defend itself against incoming drones from as far as 20 kilometers away, especially the Shahed’s.” It seems that the attacks from Iran will have the nasty side effect that the gulf states are now ready to accept Israel cautiously in the midst, another failure of the IRGC I reckon. Add to that the systems I ‘gifted’ to the UAE and Saudi Arabia and we see an evolving setting that that should become the end of Iran and whatever teeth it imagined it had. 

And whilst the article ends with “A western official noted that the UAE became one of Iran’s primary targets in part due to its “enthusiastic” embrace of the Abraham Accords.” This could be the case, but it merely did they opposite and I wonder what the real reason could be for Iran to attack the UAE so viciously. We could speculate all we want, but I reckon my creativity is better served by creating optional weapons to aid the UAE (Saudi Arabia too) to counter whatever Iran throws at the UAE. It seems more productive to me. And as I completed my three sided attacks on the infrastructure of Iran, the one part missing seems to be the destruction of water and energy. I am partially against that, because water is life and that tends to be a one way ticket to the destruction of ones soul and at that point Iran validly start crying like a little girl. I wrote in the past a way to deal with its oil refineries, which could also be used for its energy settings, but I wonder whether bombing is the right call. I see a version that ‘eats’ away at the energy settings of Iran, but it is not immediate, still that damage would take month to fix (at the least), but here I am worried that it could escalate setting tool, because the ‘innovator’ the think its opponent is taking this lying down is delusional. So the Bushehr nuclear plant and aging hydroelectric facilities should be taken care of, I already wrote a solution to the Bushehr plant some time ago (somewhere in December 2021) but I have no knowledge of Hydroelectric facilities, so I don’t know what would be optimal and just bombing it to the stone age is not a good solution because that is a long term solution that is never a solution. I prefer a surgical trike that sets the ‘repairs’ of such a place towards months. That’s just how I am, taking it all away from an enemy frees up ‘resources’ to strike back, optional repairs commits whatever he has to resolving the issue, it seems a much better approach to dealing with an enemy like that and make no mistake, at present Iran is an enemy to the west and the gulf states at present and whilst it emits whatever friends it has, it will see that his ‘friends’ are anything but that making their own plights fail most of the time. 

So whilst I have no real setting towards the NDTV stage, I am willing to live by the setting that as long as the UAE embraces that solution, it will be fine by me. You all have a great day, almost time for me to contemplate what’s for dinner (in about 4 hours).

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May 1, 2026 · 16:42

The tourist enticer

That is what I saw yesterday (among other ideas). Although this morning I hoped to run into Mal Lanyon APM (police commissioner Sydney), he got into this job today, making my giggle moment even better. You see, I was going to walk up to him and inform him that I increased in rank today as the new Commodore (I turned 64 today) and see how that goes over. I am not anything but a dedicated glutton for chaos when the setting gives me the opportunity. 

But that is neither here nor there.

The setting is tourism in the Middle East and as I have given a few ideas to the UAE, it only stands to right I do something similar for Saudi Arabia. The first thing that came to mind was what was there’ and we can see that Hollywood Boulevard is there, but as I see it nearly 249 million Europeans (aged 15+) made at least one personal tourism trip in 2024, as well tens of millions of Canadians make travel their touristic setting and I am happy to see more than 90% that will no longer make the United States that destination. A lot will seek out Europe and Asia their destination, yet it would be nice to see a lot more going to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) as such I thought of reasons for them to seek the locations out. The UAE has its pigeons in a row and I added an idea or two there, but now it is time for Saudi Arabia to get a few ideas. They have several options, but I reckon not enough. You need to ‘entertain’ these flocks for over a week and here I see options. One of them is that the Netherlands has the holy land foundation, the idea is nice, but what if this village is more representing an educational view of Saudi Arabia from before it was founded? A place representing the looks of an Arabian village (circa 1700-1900) complete with the guides and ‘local’ population to give it form? It could serve as an educational setting for the local population as well. Combine this with a few of the 1001 tales, not the politically correct ‘adjusted’ version of Ali Baba and the 40 fighters for the Palestinian cause. So consider that the 1001 tales includes numerous stories depict jinn, ghouls, ape people, sorcerers, magicians, and legendary places, which are often intermingled with real people and geography, I reckon that you could have at least a dozen stories all over the place and there are more to include or even replace the ones that have been there for a few seasons making the attraction a long term want to see idea. I reckon that it should be in Riyadh, but that would be up to the Saudi government to decide upon. In addition, the Dutch also have the Archeon, a place with historic settings of three villages, a bronze age dwelling, a Roman dwelling (complete with a fighting rink), a bathhouse and a few other settings and a middle age village (from around 1400), these places are built using the materials that were available in those days and they had their own cuisine. The roman lamb was magnificent and the Abbeys Waffles with hot cherry sauce and whipped cream has to be tried to be believed. There are merely two settings and there is a lot more. Stockholm has the Vasa museum, and it has power because of the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. The idea cannot be replicated, but France has the Puy du Fou in the Vendée region being the most prominent, offering an immersive walkthrough attraction titled Le Mystère de La Pérouse. That idea can be translated to a walk though on a replication of a VOC ship (I wrote about this earlier) and these settings are for the Saudi population just as entertaining as it is for tourists. Add to that a eating place (you cannot call that a restaurant) in the image of the galley of a Man of War which should hold enough place and it could evolve into a place with more than this, optionally a modern submarine (complete with periscope) would be the tourist setting that Saudi Arabia adds to this collection. It was my thought to stay away from the ‘American’ entertaining ideas. Abu Dhabi already has these settings in place and they did this rather well. As such the idea is to create things that are NOT there. And these are the three ideas I see. So whilst we are now given ‘Most Americans Now Say U.S. Foreign Policy Ignores the Interests of Other Countries’ it is now the goal to isolate ‘that’ United States from the rest of the world and fortunately Europe and Asia have plenty of ideas to fuel the beacons of Saudi Arabia and its tourism attractions. It might be shallow but I came up with these settings in merely a few days and these setting s could be transferred to other places. It might not all be placed in Riyadh, for example the Puy du Fou could be added to the Sindalah resort, right next to its Marina. And other places could be considered as well as Saudi Arabia seeks to franchise a new setting that is created with branding and visibility, so that tourists and Saudi’s see the places they recognise from other places and they need not be identical. It was one of the attraction that gave places like Planet Hollywood its attraction on a global setting. 

So as I see it, there is plenty to do and as Saudi Arabia gets a slice of these 249,000,000 tourists, the setting is to do this now, when the United States is creating global disgust. A good place to start I say. 

Have a great day, Vancouver joins us to today in 15 minutes.

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April 30, 2026 · 14:17

The syrup of some

Deutsche Welle gave me a view, it is a optional view and I am using optional because I know much too little about this. The story (at https://www.dw.com/en/why-uaes-opec-exit-is-a-blow-to-saudi-arabia/a-76975354) gives us ‘Why UAE’s OPEC exit is a blow to Saudi Arabia’ it feels different from other views stating that the break up of OPEC is a win for President Trump, which is another view to have. But here we see “The United Arab Emirates is leaving OPEC to pump more oil on its own terms. The break strips Saudi Arabia of a key partner and adds to growing uncertainty over the cartel’s future.” Yes, the UAE could pump more, but I don’t think it will lead to the uncertainty of the oil cartel (named Open and Opec+) You see, this large blip on all our radars will come with other settings. It will give the gulf states a claim for Iranian oil (repair costs) and that could be sold directly to China and Europe, they will exclude the United States as it is the cause of all this mess. At which point others will reject offers from Brent oil as it is American oil and there is no telling how deep the rejection goes and the weird part is that this might open up European talks with Iran as it reimburses damages to the gulf states (namely: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq) it is not the win Iran was looking for, but it is a win as they can make a case that the United States lost. Will it go that way? Time will tell.

It all reminded me towards an old feud (1985) where a colleague accused me from hoarding the ‘Rinse Appelstroop’ on my sandwich, all whilst the sandwich can only contain a mere part of the entire tub. So when we see “For years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has clashed with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s most powerful member, over these quotas. The UAE has invested heavily to expand its oil industry and grow its market share, but OPEC limits have repeatedly held it back.” And it reminded me of the feud my co worker gave me over the syrup, almost like oil. I have no idea on where it is all set in the oil industry, but the idea to give into America is nothing less than a joke. They claimed that they have all the oil they need, so why would they need some handhold over oil? The one commercial thing I do know is that as the offer of oil increases the price goes down, as such the Middle East needs to take care of how they deal with this, because oil even as a commodity has a lifespan, once you get to the bottom of the barrel, the amount of oil you can still produce come close to that number shaped like an ‘O’ (hint: it is zero). 

So whilst I get that they all have needs, the idea that there might be an imbalanced amount towards one country is dangerous, but I get it, the UAE must do what is best for the UAE, Saudi Arabia must do what what is best for Saudi Arabia. But underneath all that we see “The UAE currently produces roughly 3.2 to 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) under quotas but holds spare capacity of nearly 4.8 million bpd, Reuters news agency reported. Plans call for a hike in output toward 5 million bpd by next year.” And no one is looking at the amounts that might still be available for drilling. So what happens when that finishes? Everyone claps to attention but there is no clear vision for the future. And all the ‘influencers’ giving us the YouTube version of what comes tomorrow better find a good news source, because no one has an answer toward the ‘what now’ equation when the oils run out. 

So whilst we are getting “OPEC has already been under strain from repeated quota breaches by members such as Iraq and Nigeria, and from Russia’s inconsistent compliance within OPEC+. The UAE’s departure adds to that sense of fragmentation. In his analysis for Capital Economics,  Oxley warned that, in the medium term, if other producers with spare capacity “see the UAE successfully gaining flexibility and market share” outside OPEC, “others may follow.”” I understand that point of view, but I don’t think I can agree. The bully tactics of the United States will also give strength to Saudi Arabia as they might want to get issues resolved through Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Gabon and the Congo. There is definitely data that OPEC will be slightly weaker, but the oil that is gained in output will most likely go to China and the setting as of 9 April 2026, the UAE has intercepted and destroyed 537 ballistic missiles, 2,256 drone attacks and 26 cruise missiles fired from Iran, and that is mostly due to the acts of the United States. It is hard to hold them accountable as Iran attacked with the missiles, as such it is on Iran and as some state over 90% were allegedly aimed on civilian targets, as such the UAE demands reparations and so they should, but after that, should oil still be delivered to the instigator of these attacks? I don’t think it is that clear cut even as some state that Iran’s nuclear options were ludicrously limited (I don’t believe they were non-existent). So whilst the UAE could benefit from their withdrawal from OPEC, I see that the weak response from the gulf states towards the UAE is partially to blame for this. 

The conversation had some additional things (at https://theconversation.com/the-uae-is-leaving-the-opec-oil-cartel-what-could-that-mean-for-oil-prices-281734) here we see ‘The UAE is leaving the OPEC oil cartel. What could that mean for oil prices?’, we see here “the UAE is one of the world’s top ten oil producers. The country also has the capacity to increase its output by about one million barrels per day”, which amounts to 6 million barrels a week (one day of rest) and that gives us at least and additional half a billion dollars a week, something the UAE can likely use, especially if it goes towards a solution avoiding the Strait of Hormuz which I wrote about in ‘Sinking a dilemma’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2026/02/01/sinking-a-dilemma/) I have no idea if that is the path the UAE will sail, but that makes sense, the Strait and the issues with Iran are massively out of play and it also helps with the other gulf states as they (for a fee) use that solution and that is all before the massive attention the harbours of Abu Dhabi and Dubai will enjoy with all these loaded skippers who can now avoid Iranian waters. I only see upsides here, but that channel will require a serious amount cash, there is no doubt about that and it is not merely now, whenever Iran throws a tantrum, the strait becomes the bottleneck for all gulf states. Better to remove that problem completely.

So whilst we are given “OPEC’s influence on the oil price depends on coordinated changes in production. By agreeing to collectively limit, or to expand, the supply of oil in the market, OPEC can manipulate the price to meet its objectives. The UAE alone is the world’s eighth-largest oil producer, and accounts for about 4% of the world’s oil production.” As such I might imagine that the UAE has an issue with the imposed limits and that is before we consider if Das Island is under limits as well. As such it makes sense that the UAE ight want to leave OPEC, but let it be clear, Iran forced this on the rest of OPEC and as such their desperation will also amount to the wrath that these members have as their grip on maximized profits wane. 

Merely a small view on the setting and I get that not everyone agrees, not everyone is charmed by Appelstroop (a Dutch product). Have a great day.

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April 29, 2026 · 11:05

The bad news

That is what was going through my mind the day before yesterday and yesterday I saw something by Al Jazeera who illustrates it to you in a more profound way. They ‘quoted’ “Iran says US no longer in position to ’dictate’ policy to other nations”

I don’t give in to the setting to Iran on anything because they are regarded as utterly evil by me, but as I see it, this one they got right. You see, the United States is as far as I see it the United States is insolvent. All other parties are so ready to debate the fine ‘tactics’ of what is insolvent. But the setting is now that the United States is a liability of 47.1 trillion dollars (according to some), their debt has now surpassed to 38 trillion and if the first set of numbers is correct, the interest is will in 2026 surpass $1,500,000,000,000 and that is a whole range of zero’s. To understand how I got to be this clever (the Dutch singer Herman Brood disagrees because he told me that I would never be clever). I wrote the story (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2014/08/26/about-america-chapter-11/) ‘About America, chapter 11’, I wrote it on August 26th 2014. You think that this was too early, but at that point the debt had surpassed 18 trillion then and there was no exit strategy, there still isn’t one, but the debt has more than doubled and the IRS allegedly collected approximately $5.23 trillion, that implies that a third is spend on interest and in that setting President Trump wants to spend a trillion more in defense spending? You have got to be kidding. And whilst we are on the Trump discussion. He pissed of whatever ally he had and they will all let him drown with all his debt. So, he is playing nice with the Middle East and the members of the Gulf States that have cash. I also stated that the AI court cases will increase and I was right “As of April 2026, AI-related court cases are rapidly increasing, focusing on two main areas: AI misuse in legal filings (hallucinated case law) and intellectual property disputes over AI training data.” And I have seen first hand that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg considering “intellectual property disputes over AI training data” and these disgruntled parties are international and those not having some agreement in place will get their payday and their golden checks all whilst they come out of the coffers of the United States, leaving the United States more destitute than ever before. 

So in this case Iran might be correct, the days that the United States is “in position to ’dictate’ policy to other nations” are over. They might do so, for a few weeks, but when the larger bills come calling, we will see a different America and at that point I fear for the well being of my Canadian brothers (sisters too), because whatever Canada has, the United States will need and they will blame on the world their own inability to keep their spending habits in order. As I see it, the only path for the Commonwealth is a path that partners with China and Europe to create one big block (not the cheesy kind) but this is what I expect to happen, because as I see it, the intercepted Iranian tankers are heading wherever the US Navy wants to take them and according to some this is called ‘Western Piracy’, I am unsure what to call it, but it does give more weight to the insolvency issues I am seeing. And whilst some see this as the beginning of a Ponzi scheme of handling things (I am on that boat too), how long do you think that this will continue before all allies that the United States once had will see this as unacceptable and the new allies will almost immediately shy away and whilst the Media has a shrinking reliability, it merely fuels that Middle Eastern media in gaining a more prominent traction with the west. 

So feel free to disagree with what I write, but also take time to investigated the news as it is and compare it to what you know. As such I ended the article in 2014 with “I reckon soon enough we will get more and more long winded talks, but in the end no one is saying anything because those who will be making the speeches are at the heart of what went wrong and no one wants to hold on to that guilt when those left without their house ask them the question ‘where are my savings?’.”

As such I wonder where are some of the saving left, because a Ponzi scheme approach will more easily use the funds of any bank and replace it with an IOU. 

So you all have a decent day, if possible a great day and I call on all Commonwealthians to consider the plight of the Canadians, because no matter how good they are doing, due to PM Mark Carney, they will soon have over 300,000,000 angry Americans looking for a way out and a better way than the hollow shell they are (allegedly) in at present.

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April 28, 2026 · 19:53

Battle lines

As per yesterday several things occupy my brain, even a new technology (which I will discuss at a later stage) today is about OpenAI and Microsoft. I was ‘alerted’ to this yesterday through through Seeking alpha. I think I heard it before that, but I ignored it. Seeking Alpha (at https://seekingalpha.com/news/4579947-microsoft-falls-as-openai-partnership-evolves-says-it-will-no-longer-pay-revenue-share) gives us ‘Microsoft in focus as OpenAI partnership evolves, says it will no longer pay revenue share’ and we are given “Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose fractionally on Monday as the tech giant and OpenAI (OPENAI) said their partnership has continued to evolve, and OpenAI’s license will become non-exclusive. “Today, we are announcing an amended agreement to simplify our partnership and the way we work together, grounded in flexibility, certainty and a focus on delivering the benefits of AI broadly,” Microsoft wrote in a statement on its website. “The greater predictability in the amended agreement strengthens our joint ability to build and operate AI platforms at scale while providing both companies the flexibility to pursue new opportunities.”” In my mind I hear “Someone has figured out that this setting is based on shallow settings, the reality is dawning on them”, so whilst we are given “As part of the altered agreement, Microsoft will remain OpenAI’s primary cloud partner, and OpenAI products will ship on Azure first. However, there is now a tweak that says if Microsoft “cannot and chooses not to support the necessary capabilities,” OpenAI can go elsewhere. Julian Lin, Investing Group Leader for Best Of Breed Growth Stocks, said the deal is actually a “net positive” for Microsoft, despite the share price reaction.” I personally believe that OpenAI might present a hardcore liability for Microsoft and they are seeking to insulate from that fallout. And it might be merely my feelings in this and that is fine, but when you see the Anthropic setting, the DeepSeek setting there are several other elements that are roaring is near ugly heard and that has to go somewhere, something has got to break and it seems the ‘staged’ setting of evolutionary contract agree ments, might be part of all that. In retrospect I have no idea how OpenAI and Musk will battle their settings (and I partially do not care either). But the elements are there and whilst we are all about OpenAI, this concept selling setting rubs me the wrong way. So whilst we ‘might’ see ‘OpenAI Misses Key Revenue, User Targets in High-Stakes Sprint Toward IPO’, all whilst some say “do you guys even use ChatGPT/OpenAI anymore? I find myself preferring Claude/Gemini to be honest”, I take a different turn, I don’t use any of them. Basically because they are all fake AI. Real AI is about a decade away, if not 2 decades. I might die before real AI is released, so I kinda do not care.

ComputerWorld, only today (a mere few hours ago) gave us (at https://www.computerworld.com/article/4163971/microsoft-openai-change-contract-terms-again.html) ‘Microsoft, OpenAI change contract terms–again’ starts with “When the two firms announced a revised agreement on Monday, it reinforced the need for enterprise IT executives to work with as many major AI players as possible, given the constantly changing landscape.” I do not disagree, but remember that Microsoft went all out about 5 years ago and whilst we saw all kinds of ‘total wreck approaches’ the ‘partnership’ went on and now that we see “the need for enterprise IT executives to work with as many major AI players as possible”, we might accept that, but we see no DeepSeek, do we? So whilst we see that Microsoft increased its stake and solidified its position as a major investor less than 6 months ago, these plans are now changing. So does Microsoft see something, or do they fear something? And then ComputerWorld gives us “One key component within earlier versions of the Microsoft-OpenAI deal was the change in the relationship if OpenAI ever achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI), a term that eludes a concrete definition but generally refers to AI that equals or exceeds human capabilities.” I find it funny because of all these definitions across the fake AI field. Do they really not see that it is about to fall apart? (Story to follow likely tomorrow). And when this war of the fakers is seen (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic) there is every chance that OpenAI ends up in last position (see another ‘winner’ chosen by Microsoft), but this war setting is almost real, but until there is a real revenue stream coming in, there is unlikely to be a real winner. So whilst ComputerWorld focusses on the market changes with “Analysts and consultants generally agreed that this altered agreement will reinforce, and should extend, the current enterprise IT trend of hedging bets by striking arrangements with a variety of AI providers, including the major hyperscalers. Beyond future-proofing enterprises’ AI efforts, some of those agreements are for practical issues, such as the need to work with global AI firms specializing in different languages that the enterprise needs.” And you already know where this goes next. So, when was the last time you saw this kinda bla bla settings in the last 45 years? I tend to go back to the early 90’s where they all tried to sign businesses up to concept selling, all whilst there was no revenue stream detectable. We see it now here. I get that analysts are not the most revenue sturdy people, but consultants need their revenue streams. It is their bread and butter. And what was that “for practical issues” about? You see ComputerWorld writes a good story and revenue is mentioned four times, three is shown next “In addition, the company’s role as a major investor in OpenAI is driving a different revenue relationship, it said: “Microsoft will no longer pay a revenue share to OpenAI. Revenue share payments from OpenAI to Microsoft continue through 2030, independent of OpenAI’s technology progress, at the same percentage but subject to a total cap. ”” interesting how salespeople are not that fuzzed about revenue. It is their income and bonus setting. So what was this really about?

Wouldn’t we like to know this? Just a few settings for todays stride in the coming week. And now I need to contemplate what I next write about the bad news, or the new technology. My conundrum  for the last 4 hours of the day.

Have a great one today.

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April 26, 2026 · 21:15

Delaying the matter

That is what I see, but it does not mean that this is the real setting. It might be a simple setting that resides between my two ears, but the story given is making me wonder what is going on. The story started 15 hours ago in Inside the Magic where (at https://insidethemagic.net/2026/04/conflicting-reports-about-a-possible-delay-at-disneys-disneyland-abu-dhabi-project-over-iran-tensions-rl1/) I was given ‘Disneyland Abu Dhabi Delayed? Conflicting Reports Swirl as Middle East Tensions Cloud Disney’s $10 Billion Dream’ Inside that article we see

“Due to the continuing situation in the region it’s likely that #AbuDhabi and #Disneyland will be delayed for several years.  Doesn’t mean the idea is abandoned, just delayed.  Following this story on http://YouTube.com/jimhshull”

I never met Jim Shull, he is a Former Walt Disney Imagineer with 33 years of experience under his belt, who worked on projects like Shanghai Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. I have an issue with this ‘timed’ delay. It sounds like the next average Disney setting to bring forth delay so the only they are allowed there (besides all who are there already) and throwing amounts across like that $10,000,000,000 is the piece of cheese to let the others bite the dust. I do not favour this setting and as I see it, America has a lot of problems coming up in 2026 and 2027, their tourism numbers are highly likely to drop further. As such anyone (serious parties) should be allowed to get to Abu Dhabi and if Disney is about to drop delay after delay, their place in the best stream of tourism on the planet will be set to forfeit. But this is only my view on the matter and there is likely enough opposition to my idea. Don’t get me wrong, there is likely a delay, but as I see it 6 months to a year. Nothing more and if Iran will resume its attacks on the UAE and other gulf states. I handed my Military IP to the UAE free of charge, as such I have done my duty to the UAE (to Saudi Arabia too). Whilst the crypto-bitches are heralding the downfall of the UAE, I gave the UAE optional settings of defence, to destroy the infrastructure of Iran, without bombing it to the stone age (that is too America a solution) and whilst they are alleged to have used up to of April 2026, the U.S. military has severely depleted its missile stockpiles, expending roughly $24 billion in major munitions during the first seven weeks of the Iran war. Over 45% of Precision Strike Missiles, 50% of THAAD interceptors, and 1,100 long-range cruise missiles were used, leading to critical shortages that could take 4 years to replenish. Funny, because the weapons I designed would cost no more that one billion max (for all three solutions) and would also be ready for sale increasing the coffers of the UAE. So, it is fun to see my optional solutions outperform DARPA by a lot (or so I say).

But this is not about me, it is about Disney. So as we are shown “In a tweet from late April 2026, Shull highlighted the conflicting reports” about the park’s progress. Shull, who often emphasizes the reality of “lines on paper” vs. “boots on the ground,” suggested that the current regional instability makes the ambitious construction timeline virtually unattainable.” It is hard for me to comment on that, it would be his word against Disney, but a delay of years is seemingly out of the question (my personal view) and I also think that the executive council – government t of Abu Dhabi should talk to the Dutch player ‘the Efteling’ and this is not some random place. I saw it several times in my youth, it has been a contender for the big prices for a long time and they were able to capture 2026 IAAPA Brass Ring Excellence Award (Best Sustainability Program), 2025 Golden Ticket Award (Best New Family Attraction), 2025 Thea Award (Outstanding Achievement), 2018 Thea Award & Park World Excellence Awards, 2017 & 2018 Best Theme Park in the World, ANWB Best Day Out in the Netherlands, the last one is a Dutch award and they won that several times, including 2024, 2021, 2019, 2017.  I think it would be a good idea to introduce the UAE to other solutions (beyond WB and Disney) and the alleged delays might be a good reason to look to additional sources. The UAE will need every option to be used if there is to be traction to gain tourists, that is clear. 

Inside the Magic shows one side that is missing almost everywhere else. “Shull’s commentary points to a fundamental reality: theme parks are not just creative endeavors; they are massive infrastructure projects that require stable supply chains, thousands of international workers, and a secure environment for future tourists. With missile strikes recently reported in nearby Dubai and the temporary “darkness” of several parks at Dubai Parks and Resorts, Shull’s skepticism carries weight. Many industry watchers interpreted his tweet as a sign that internal discussions at Disney may be far more focused on “risk mitigation” than “exchange of ideas.”” There is a good side to risk mitigation, any business needs to do this and Iran is throwing sand in every cog they can. I personally see this as an act of desperation. The Iranians are allegedly tired of their republic, the people are tired of the Iranian republic and that includes the Gulf states the people in charge are scared of their options outside of that republic, as such their desperation. But the Inside the Magic article illuminated that there are people who are scared of risk, they have had their cushy jobs for too long and consider the wheeling and dealing of a nation where they are gaining wealth whilst sleeping. Disney is allegedly looking at what is real and that is fine, but the delay of years is about something else. They fear the competition and they fear their infrastructure in the United States collapsing. So they want some form of exclusivity, which is a big no-no in my view. Exclusivity is fine if you are building and participating, not so much as you are delaying. The UAE must do what is best for the UAE and its citizens and the word ‘delay’ does not hold water in that equation. It seems like these business analysts are all about maximizing profits at zero risk, when did that happen? Because any endeavour comes with risks, it always has. 

The article also has two views and they sound good. 

  1. The Optimists (Reid/Sylt/Miral): This group argues that theme parks are 50-year investments. They view the current conflict as a “small blip” in a 15- to 20-year master plan. To them, Disney’s “exchange of ideas” is proof that the gears are still turning behind the scenes, and the domain registration is evidence of long-term ambition.
  2. The Realists (Shull/Niles): This group believes that “external factors show no respect for developers’ plans.” They argue that the longer the conflict continues, the more likely it is to face a “silent delay,” which means construction is quietly pushed back. At the same time, the company waits for a more favorable global climate.

The views are good, but I have a personal issue with “the company waits for a more favorable global climate” it is a realistic view, but lets remember that their own President started this. And the conflict is in a state where we have no idea where anything is going and that is not good for the UAE, but until Iran is resolved (optionally deleted from existence) that is what it is. I cannot change this or make it better, only to do what might be of use to the UAE, it is all I can do.

Have a great day.

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April 25, 2026 · 23:45

Accusation without evidence

That is the path I saw today on the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqxgxx9nrqo), now hear me out. Even as we are being told ‘White House memo claims mass AI theft by Chinese firms’ we have to acknowledge that it comes from that same place that gave us that “‘someone’ claimed “$18 trillion” in new investments”, “prices are down” and “Ukraine for starting the war with Russia, suggesting they should have surrendered territory to avoid it” as such I am willing to disbelief this. Also China has DeepSeek and it does so (it’s speculations) at a fraction of the cost.

And whilst we are getting “The White House has said it will work more closely with US artificial intelligence (AI) firms to combat “industrial-scale campaigns” by foreign actors to steal advances in the technology. Michael Kratsios, Director of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in an internal memo that the administration had new information indicating “foreign entities, principally based in China” were exploiting American firms.” My mind goes not different directions. The first being:

If you have shattering IP valued at billions of dollars you have proper cyber security installed. That is merely my thought, others might have another opinion. 

My mind is racing towards a different setting. You see, OpenAI and its ‘co-conspirators’ are not delivering on the premise that gave too many people well over half a trillion dollars want to see return on investment and none is coming and now (not unlike the concept sellers in the 90’s) they need a blamable party. So what is easier than to blame China? Now, I am not saying that China is innocent, but in all this one might need evidence to make a case and none of it seems to be coming. As such we are given ““foreign entities, principally based in China” were exploiting American firms. Through a process called “distilling”, such firms are essentially copying AI technology developed by US companies, he said.” OK, I’ll bite, so where is the evidence? Why, if this distilling is a problem are these outputs not better protected, so there is no ‘distilling’? Simple question, perhaps when Oracle was needed, the cheapskates decided to rely on Azure? I have no idea, I am merely offering options as the evidence is clearly lacking. 

So whilst the article ens with “While Kratsios did not name any foreign entities, leading AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have said they are dealing with such distillation activity.” I reckon that the distillation culprits like House Spirits Distillery and Angostura Distillery were made exempt? 

You think that I am making a funny and I was, but this has been going on for months and these so called high priced (fake) AI corporations have been absent in their cyber security? How does this distilling happen? All things missing from the BBC article and are unlikely on the mind of the White House as the article seems to imply it comes from the very beginning where we saw “it will work more closely with US artificial intelligence (AI) firms to combat “industrial-scale campaigns” by foreign actors to steal advances in the technology” you see, the first part would be ‘How did they achieve this?’ Which we do not see and the state of cyber security we don’t see either, both seem rather obvious in that setting. 

So as I said China might not be innocent, but in that same setting we see that the United States and their (fake) AI firms are apparently clueless. Don’t take my word for it, just look at the scraps on this table and see where the crumbs aren’t dealt with and I see no part in all this that shouts ‘China is guilty’ that would require actual evidence. So if that is seemingly is not required counter the idea of this AI scheme to be the part of a scam to wipe out trillions on the exchange, which might be the case, but the setting of ‘no evidence’ is apparently in effect and that goes both ways. As I see it, someone wants to see evidence of AI and whilst they invested billions, there is a greed driven setting that the profits all go to China as they stole the plans, but is that really so? Even distilled plans need refinement and the source data is missing. So, how would they proceed? The setting does not make complete sense to me. Any innovation requires a foundation, even DeepSeek would like to have one, or it is simply a sifting solution and the power remains with these innovative wannabe’s (sorry, a paraphrased term).

So have a great day and wonder why the accusation was made, because that setting is likely to be in dollar numbers and where is that money now? Have a great day.

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April 25, 2026 · 14:21

How many?

ABC just told me that an hour ago ‘US boosts Iran war assets with third aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush’ (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-25/uss-george-hw-bush-arrives-middle-east-military-assets-boost/106601060) with “About 5,000 troops and dozens of fighter jets are aboard USS George HW Bush.” The additional “The USS George HW Bush entered waters near Iran after a week of chaos in the Strait of Hormuz, with no sign of peace talks resuming.” The setting we have been given “We won, Iran is lost” should be casually dismissed. We are given “The USS George HW Bush strike group is comprised of nearly 5,000 sailors, the US Navy said. It includes the flagship carrier, which comes with nine aircraft squadrons. The George HW Bush is also accompanied by the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Ross, USS Donald Cook and USS Mason. The US describes Arleigh Burke-class destroyers as the “backbone” of the navy’s surface fleet, designed to provide mission capabilities such as anti-aircraft, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare.” All whilst we now see that The Bush is joining the carriers USS Gerald R Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln. It is a little off putting that there are three carriers there now. I am not the most tactical person you have ever met, but when you consider that the IRGC would consider an aircraft carrier to be a nice trophy, why do you think they consider three of these bad boys are? But, they have nothing to fear, as President Trump stated that they had already defeated Iran, they were bombed into the stone age (I am paraphrasing here), so those three carriers have nothing to fear, do they?

We also get a list of deployed units, from ships to drones and I realised that the IRGC needs but a spare to unite this in a full blown war. One visionary act and it could be anything, a tanker rigged as a kamikaze item, a modern version of the fire ships of 1588. Now ships are more defended against fires, but what about acid probes on the keel of the boat? You can defend all you want, but the idea that was overlooked can scuttle a fleet and that is the setting that the United States is overlooking. The IRGC is for all intent and purposes desperate they will try anything. Ad in this strait, this small patch of water, the United States deployed 24 vessels, all on that small patch of water. It takes merely a spark to ignite it all. I personally belief that this is the latest folly in a whole range of bad decisions. 

So whilst some give us ‘US envoy and Trump’s son-in-law to travel to Pakistan amid hopes for renewed Iran peace talks’ the delays and denials of issues makes me think that Iran is not done plotting yet, it is not done scheming and no matter how desperate they are, the desperate will make unpredictable jumps and here we have a unique setting with three aircraft carriers in one patch of water. I have no idea what Iran will do, but they would want to send a signal heard all over the world and as I see it, the United States is currently ‘fueling’ that. In addition we get words from Michael Hudson is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City giving us ‘The Ponzi Economy Is Breaking’, yesterday on April 24th we are given “Is another financial crisis brewing in the US economy? Economist Michael Hudson explains the dangers.” Reports suggest the US economy may be on the verge of another financial crisis, with major problems in the $3 trillion private credit market. Economist Michael Hudson explains the dangers of Wall Street’s Ponzi schemes.” This is funny, because on April 2nd in ‘The idea is not novel’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2026/04/02/the-idea-is-not-novel/) I gave the world “That is what I feel at present. CNBC gave us all 12 hour ago the ominous title ‘Trump is paying TSA agents — but where is the money coming from?’” Where I raised “Where does the money Trump is using come from? How much is available? How long can Trump continue to pay TSA agents if Congress doesn’t soon come to a deal?” You think they are unrelated, yes they are unrelated, but there is cause and effect. If the IRGC ignites that spark, what do you think happens next? 3 carriers and 5000 troops bring a while’s range of bad media to the surface. It would be a range of “United States doomed” to “Iran beats United States” and every media will be howling for digital dollars attention.

And most likely I am wrong, remember? Iran lost the war weeks ago, they have nothing to bring to the table. But what happens if I am proven right? Think about that and think on the United States economy when that Ponzi scheme setting blows up in the faces of Wall Street. Just something to think about. Have a great day.

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April 24, 2026 · 01:54

The butler did it

That was the primary thought I has when I faced the BBC Article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62j4ldp2jqo) telling me ‘OpenAI faces criminal probe over role of ChatGPT in shooting’ and we are given “Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said on Tuesday his office had been looking into the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot by a man who allegedly shot several people at the campus in Tallahassee.”, personally I stand with “An OpenAI spokesperson said: “ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime.”” I am hesitant to stand opposite a professional especially with the lack of evidence shown in the BBC article that we see. But the idea that some fake AI picks up a gun like the next Cyberdyne hoodlum (optionally looking strikingly like Arnold Schwarzenegger) and mopping the floor with cadavers as the staccato of automatic fire hits campus os a little much. There is even no evidence in the form of logs reading of Chatbot lingo stating n the form of:

“I am your god, you will obey me and for now I state as stated once even before Abraham walked the earth, you will bend down these mortals in the using a Knight’s Armament LAMG for better accuracy because you have the body of a little bitch. So go, I am your god, I comment you”

As for how the suspect, 20-year old FSU student Phoenix Ikner, who is now in jail awaiting trial, interacted with ChatGPT, OpenAI’s spokesperson said the chatbot “did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity”

So, as such what evidence is there towards prosecuting OpenAI? I don’t mind as it fuels the flames of entertainment and trying to be a useful git I would like to offer Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier the thought that he should be aware of (after he had his free pound of flesh from the media). 

Rule 11 requires attorneys to conduct “due diligence” to ensure a claim has a factual basis and is not filed to harass or cause unnecessary delays.

Because in the end, without evidence of ‘convolution’ of the mind or thoughts of (evidence supported) ’co-conspiracy’ FSU student Phoenix Ikner is likely to face a long stretch in Hotel Sing Sing with the optional inoculation by Dr. Death. I don’t call the shots, that is up to the judge in this matter. 

But from the lack of evidence that the BBC gives, I reckon that OpenAI is off the hook and that is merely me and in opposition of my usual banter in economy, I do hold law degrees (invalid in the United States). As such I have to wonder if the article had anything to do with that shooting at all? Over 30% is about ChatGPT and it hold a photo of Sam Altman, so it seems that at least two parties are more interested in media exposure, because (as I personally see it) we would, if it was about the crime, get an image of Florida State University, optionally with grieving people. So what gives?

I might have oversimplified the issue, what do you say? Have a great day, oh wait. I need some exposure too, so lets add to this by switching to YouTube. In that matter yesterday, I saw a video by Nancy Wheeler and when it troubled my mind I wanted to rewatch parts of that video, so as I searched for “Nancy Wheeler economy”, which was needed as there is a fictive character of Nancy Wheeler who messes up your internet soufflé. She gives us that there is a crises coming, and she states is underway already. As such I wondered and for the life of me, I could not find the Nancy Wheeler in real life outside of YouTube. That doesn’t mean she does not exist, but with the facts given I was weirdly surprised that the media had not picked that up. She gives us that there are three weaknesses creeping up on all of us:

Sovereign debt trap
Currency bifurcation machine 
Shadow liquidity crises

Now it sounds massive and cool (which makes the media not picking this up weird), and she talks a nice deal. I a lacking economy knowledge, so I was almost mesmerized, A really pretty youthful young sprout asking for my attention has that effect on me. But there was something in what she said. She stated: “The buyers [of the debt] have changed, the maturities have shortened and the exit doors have gotten smaller”

This caught me, because that sounds about right, so I wonder why the media didn’t pick this up. It is not to prove that she was right, but considering the reasoning that the media wants its pound of flesh, they didn’t go for debunking this either. So what is the silence? Don’t get me wrong, for all we know Nancy Wheeler could be a massively pretty doom speaker and this tends to be an automatic media magnet (she is more appealing in looks than Jerome Powell ever will be) and as I am blissfully ignorant on economy there is no way I can tell the difference of one against the other (facts).

So is it correct? Is she wrong and she made a point that the debt surpassed the 97.1 trillion. Is it a gimmick for the call to ‘accurate’ reporting? As such the video (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TqjlaiU_N8) gives us the goods and I let you decide how right or wrong she is. 

Well that is all there is on this Friday (for me) when you all rejoin me on this Friday I will have more to say (in approximately 20 hours). Have a great day the next 20 hours.

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April 23, 2026 · 07:30

Bleeding on the spot

That is at times the setting, we tend to ignore it, we laugh, we giggle, and sometimes we cry. If it is your own body, you will likely panic. So as I saw Tom’s Hardware (at https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/cerebras-files-for-ipo-company-remains-unprofitable-despite-20x-revenue-growth) give us ‘Cerebras files for IPO — company remains unprofitable despite 20x revenue growth’ I tend to frown. There are settings with little profit (like the Big Mac for $1.95) which at 20 times still becomes a decent amount (all $6 of them), we get that other factors that remove profit margins, but when the setting becomes “Bleeding money at a rapid rate” it becomes a worry. You see, the business plan makes sense or is a hail Mary (not unlike the Macintosh Performa) this is an intentional setting I am giving, because that Hail Mary became the PowerMac and then the G4 and G5. These were the systems that put Apple on several maps and from there the big wins became visible. A Hail Mary that worked. But here we are given “Cerebras, the supplier of wafer-scale AI processors, has filed for an IPO for the second time after it cancelled such plans due to its ties with G42, an Abu Dhabi-based AI company backed by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, last year. Financial results disclosed as part of the filing reveal that Cerebras appears to be one of the fastest-growing AI hardware companies right now. However, 86% of its revenue comes from two customers, and the company is bleeding money.” From this limited information I would gather that the business plan is highly likely flawed. And we are given that the 86% comes from just two customers (G42 and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, MBZUAI). Now I would go with the Business plan, but there might be reasons for this and the settings that AI processors give could still be a solution if these two clients put in the considerable work (no critique on the two trendsetters). As we see that “The remaining 14% of revenue is generated by a fragmented base of smaller enterprise, government, and cloud customers, but none contribute enough individually to reduce Cerebras’ heavy reliance on its top two clients. More recently, Cerebras inked agreements to supply its AI hardware to Amazon Web Services and OpenAI, which will diversify revenue streams for the company.” But the larger option is gaining traction. Now for the most we can ignore the fact that they are American (which is at present never a good selling point), but they  are also in Toronto and Bangalore. The issue is that they are no threat to Nvidia and they don’t need to be, the idea is that they could skim the market and take up traction pretty much anywhere. I reckon that they have done that, but there is the option that they could optionally feed data centers in China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, if that works and they could get the first one in these places, they are likely to gain several other corporations and locations for implementation. The reasoning I have is that there are several sounds from customers that they have a lack of processors, so are they tapped? It seems so as we see “Cerebras has a massive $24.6 billion backlog (including the $20 billion OpenAI deal), which provides strong demand visibility. The company expects to recognize approximately 15% of this revenue within the first 24 months through December 31, 2027, 43% during months 25 to 48, and the remainder thereafter. Still, Cerebras warns that converting this backlog into revenue depends on the manufacturing capacity of its partners, infrastructure deployment, and power availability.” It makes me wonder why the quote “Bleeding money at a rapid rate” was given. So as we see “Cerebras recorded a $363 million gain from a change in the fair value (and extinguishment) of a forward contract liability: the company had a financial obligation whose value was reduced, which allows it to book that reduction as income. If the value was not reduced, the company would be unprofitable. In fact, Cerebras’ operating losses totaled $145.9 million in 2025.” But even so, as I see it (with my lack of economy studies) thematic doesn’t seem to add up and my mind goes back to the business plan. It is my simplistic mind that goes with the setting that Cerebras either has a product that works or they have not. If they do, the client has to pay and there are no freebees in this market, you do that if the product is shoddy, and the salesperson either deals with the buyer correctly, or they don’t. It is my rather simplistic setting of customer service, “we have a product and we would love to have you as customer, yet, our product is not free”, it will rock your world (for a price) and within that setting (and the right business plan) Cerebras should do just fine. As such I don’t get the setting we see. So as we are also given “Cerebras postponed its IPO plans in 2024 after a national security review examined its ties with Abu Dhabi-based G42 amid concerns about potential foreign access to advanced AI processors. G42 is both a customer and investor of Cerebras, which controls a 1% stake in the company that it acquired for $40 million in 2021.” This is an issue as it involves 50% of their customer base and what is this “potential foreign access to advanced AI processors”? Is this another American setting (not unlike their stance towards Huawei)? You see China is sized at 1.413 billion, as such it is over 4 times the size of the USA, the United States can either play nice or go down with the ship they are sinking themselves. Cerebras could go towards the EU as well as India and partially fund the data centers there and get longer lasting revenue, but that is almost the only options that are there. This market is getting saturated and it is not a market that has time and options for prima donna’s, this is my simplistic view. So as the article ends with “Cerebras has not specified an official fundraising target in its IPO filing, but current market expectations point to a roughly $3 billion raise. This is significantly higher than earlier $1 billion plans, which reflect the company’s rapid revenue growth and the scale of its AI infrastructure ambitions.” It also signals that the ‘bleeding effect’ is a temporary setting, depending on how the IPO evolves. Yet as I see it, the IPO has a lot less chance of being successful as long as the “Bleeding money at a rapid rate” vision is in place. But as I see it, enlarging their customer base precedes the need for an IPO, because no I matter how good the IPO is, it is facing slaughter when the customer base is set to two. But as I stated, my lack of economy might be the ruling red herring here. 

And whilst I leave you with this article and a few hidden hints, I will go and look what happens to Cerebras before June, May it have a nice time.

Have an interesting day today (‘great’ is oversold too much, even by me).

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