Category Archives: Politics

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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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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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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Tomorrow came today

That is the setting and it is given to us by the Khaleej Times. There are two articles, the first one (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/tech/carry-less-do-more-the-huawei-matepad-mini-advantage) gives us ‘Carry less, do more: The HUAWEI MatePad mini advantage’ it shows us the new Huawei setting, all in Harmony Next, so while we might consider “The 8.8-inch OLED PaperMatte display is considerably larger than any other ebook reader of this size and offers incredibly vibrant colours. Saying this is the best ebook reader ever is not a hyperbolic statement. While that alone makes the tablet worth having, it is only the tip of what the MatePad Mini has to offer.” It is not the real power that comes from the mindset of the consumer. You see I’m what some call a brand bitch. I like my Sony TV (and my playstation more) I like my Apple devices (except that Apple phone thingamajig) and I love my Android phone. We are what we embrace and now Huawei in a world where the United States claim that China is evil we are given the new settings. You see, that anti China voice is kinda nice, but as the confidence in the United States is waning with 6 billion people, that anti-China rhetoric becomes stale and lacks credibility. And now Huawei who awaited their time is voicing into the Middle East that there is an non-United States alternative. And that comes with a few additional loopholes.

So whist we are given “Beyond readability, the MatePad Mini supports a peak brightness of 1800 nits, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and a P3 wide colour gamut for rich, lifelike visuals. Easily pocketable and featuring a vibrant, high-resolution, paper-like display, the MatePad Mini is a strong alternative to traditional eBook readers.”as well as “Powering all of this is a 6400 mAh battery, capable of delivering up to 9.5 hours of usage under dynamic conditions, and it can be filled up from zero in just 60 minutes using Turbo mode. The HUAWEI MatePad Mini is compact enough to carry anywhere, yet powerful enough to handle everything from reading to serious productivity and creative work.” And that is beyond the additional apps that give is a rather large function area. This is the first time that Apple faces a competitor larger then they are, more of more and all at a reduced price. So whilst I am Apple minded for my iPad, Huawei now had an alternative and it is loaded with functionality. Is it enough? I am not certain, but as the anti-United States feeling emerge (due to the current administration) and the feeling of resentment grows, Huawei now has a clear path into Europe and people are fed up with the anti China sentiment. Especially as it lacked evidence for the longest times and now that the United States is told to stay in its place. The sentiment for American corporations grow too and there are two settings that fuel this.

The second setting is given to us (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/tech/ai-without-the-hype-the-new-honor-600-redefines-the-smartest-smartphone-experience) where we see ‘AI without the hype: The new HONOR 600 redefines the smartest smartphone experience’ and that is the missing element ‘without the hype’ it redefines the setting of DML and ML, because that is the setting of these Fake AI worlds. Fake AI is hyped by the United States and some resent it (like me) because it is stupid. DML and ML are great tools and they come with LLM settings, which is also a great tool but it is no AI, so as we are given this, we are more easily in acceptance of this. So whilst we see “In a market flooded with overpromised AI features, the HONOR 600 stands apart, pairing a stunning 200MP camera, intuitive AI tools, and marathon battery life into a device that feels as premium as it performs” we see a delivery well beyond any phone out there today the 200MP camera. So whilst we are given “I’ve spent a little time with the new HONOR 600 these last few days, and from the moment I picked it up, it felt like I was holding something far more premium than its category suggests. The design immediately stands out. It’s slim, sleek, and beautifully balanced in the hand. The finish of our test mule in the “Golden White” colourway (there are two other colours available: Black and Orange) catches the light in a subtle but striking way, and the overall build feels refined without being flashy. It’s the kind of phone you instinctively want to show off, not because it’s loud, but because it’s quietly elegant.” We see the next device in HarmonyOS and it will be a threat to Android and iOS. Their 200 MP made it so and whilst we see the stages where some will debate (the ‘but this’ and ‘but that’ people) we see a setting that is water-mouthing for people and influencers alike (influencers are considered to be non-people). 

What we have is the setting for the new stages. We see that Huawei is more readily excepted and that comes with the optional Huawei data centers and that is where the United States will truly be shown the door. And as Huawei gains traction vie the Middle East, there is every indication that the larger stages in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia will embrace that setting as these two places are over half a billion people and Huawei will gain traction to over 2 billion people in this year alone. That is the setting everyone missed and that is what is likely propping to happen. And this is the stage that the United States fears, because their ‘big beautiful whatever’ depends on an audience and one third of the global stage when somewhere else. I reckon that Germany is the first to gain Huawei powers in the EU, followed by some of the other members. My money is on the Scandinavian members driven by Denmark (because of Greenland) and Norway (because of Microsoft) and that will merely be more and more movement towards China. And whilst some will debate the bad things that is China. You forget about the 8 billion people, they are driven by consumerism and quality stuff and Huawei is showing quality and as I see it, it is the first time they are outdoing Apple and when you consider the Huawei Matebook fold. So when the new applications hit these solutions and when (perhaps they already are) we see interaction between the three you know that Apple is outdone and Google will be in a tough spot. It was never their ambition to be in this situation but some idiot in the American administration made China develop their own OS, because Android was no longer available to them, who was that again?

So we now get a new setting and I reckon it will come to blows in 2027, even as Huawei is already ready in 2026. It is a stage that is now up for grabs and when these 4 factors Tablet, phone, laptop and data center becomes available, the United States will be pricing itself out of all the above. So we are likely to see Gulf States, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Europe all switching and whilst the United States sees its influence shrinking from 6.5 to 6.2 to 4.9 to 4.5 to a 4.1 to a 3.8 billion audience panic will hit because that implies that there is an expected grow in Huawei data centers and even as it might not all go for a Huawei data center, the premise that it all remains with America data centers is absolutely ludicrous. So whilst the United States depletes its weapons even further on Iranian soil, it is merely fueling it disgust in the rest of the global population. A setting that was almost clear from the start. So where do you think this audience go when it is reduced to a mere 4.1 billion? You might think that it is clear, but the Muslim population is almost 2 billion, so do you thin that Iran will entice them to stay? Or will they merely fuel the drive towards Huawei?

Have a great day this day.

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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

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. 

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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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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Whatever the BS indicates

So, I was looking at a few matters and some connect to yesterday’s setting. As such, this morning I was given by CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-losing-losing-losing-carney-trade-9.7171738) ‘Poilievre says Carney has been ‘losing, losing, losing’ on U.S. trade war’ and I personally call out this incorrect setting (calling it a lie is so crass) as I see it, PM Mark Carney has done whatever he can to make Canada less reliable on the United States, giving the country options and not to be set to the whim of a their own version of King George III and lets face it the one in the United States, looks nowhere near as good as Nigel Hawthorne (supporting evidence below).

We are given the additional “Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre launched a pointed attack on the Liberal government’s handling of the Canada-U.S. file Tuesday, saying the results so far have fallen well short of the mark and the prime minister is “losing” the trade war. Speaking to reporters after Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new trade advisory council to help with the U.S. dispute — a body that includes some big-name Conservatives — Poilievre lashed out, saying the Liberals ran on settling the issue at the last election but there has been no discernible progress to this point.” And in a stage where that less than appealing person in Washington, is calling Canada the 51st state, giving it tariffs that got well beyond what is acceptable (whilst giving Russia allegedly no tariffs) and whilst we see “Carney says there’s been a ‘rupture’ in Canada-U.S. relationship, while Poilievre wants to draw closer”, so does any real Canadian want to vote for Pierre Poilievre (also known as Peter Polivicious by some)?

So whilst we see this and whilst we were given yesterday ‘Trump says he does not want to extend ceasefire with Iran’ (source: Reuters), today we get ‘Trump says ceasefire extended as talks with Tehran in limbo’ (source: Al Jazeera) and this is a person Canada wants to get closer to? Then we get that a lot of Canadians are christians, so do you want to get close to a person who attacks the pope on humanitarian issues as well as “President Trump has been lobbing insults at Pope Leo XIV in response to his criticisms of the war in Iran and appeals for peace, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world’s most powerful country and the world’s largest Christian denomination. But Leo criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts both before and after he was elected leader of the Catholic Church. He told reporters in November that the treatment of immigrants is “extremely disrespectful,” echoing the views of his predecessor, Pope Francis.” So do we (Commonwealthians) ever want to get close to this (so called) king? Or are we ready to steer the Commonwealth to safer waters? In that case, why would anyone ever consider the conservative PP or any of his arguments valid? OK, I will admit that the rental issues he raised last year were valid, but as I see it, no force in the Commonwealth gives rise to closer working with President Trump. 

And this is merely my view (also shared with many in the Commonwealth) and I could be wrong, but I do not think so. As such It is time to reflect on a few things that PM Mark Carney achieved over the last year (as I am not Canadian, I reserve the right to miss a few items).

And these items are merely of the last 15 months. Also he increased trade with China, revenue the country can really use and achieved a higher trade settings with the EU and NATO, optionally also increased trade with Australia and New Zealand. All options whatever the conservatives throw in to the mix would never achieve as they are most likely not equipped with the knowledge of Economy that the present Prime Minister has.

So feel free to agree or disagree, but whatever America throws at Canada (like: Meanwhile, the Americans are demanding Canada change dairy access rules and drop some protections for its cultural sector, among other demands) which is funny, because that is decided by Canada, not the United States. 

So you all have a great day and remember it is still yesterday in Vancouver.

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For a few Yuan more

So, yesterday I saw a MarketWatch article (at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-real-meaning-of-uae-reportedly-requesting-a-dollar-swap-line-6a40d630) where we see ‘The real meaning of UAE reportedly requesting a dollar swap line’, now don’t start running like a half baked cryotoboy to it’s mommy stating the world is ending (like we saw to weeks ago when some of them ran off to the airport), the byline gives us a clear “Economists believe the UAE is signaling it wants closer ties with allies, not a bailout” and I can agree with that. I have not seen seen any Emirati panic, or make bailout mentions. We are given “A report the United Arab Emirates requested a dollar swap line with the U.S. may be more a threat the Gulf nation could shift an alliance rather than a sign it’s about to run short of the American currency, observers said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE central bank governor, Mohamed Balama,  requested a currency-swap line with the U.S. from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent while in Washington D.C. last week. The UAE is facing pressure from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, though experts say its economy so far is strong enough to maintain a dollar peg.” It comes with the additional “Tim Ash, senior strategist at RBC Bluebay Asset Management, pointed out in a posting on X, that sovereigns do not request swap lines lightly. Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign relations agreed, also highlighting on X that he doesn’t believe UAE is in any emergency need of financial assistance, given it entered this conflict with huge holdings of U.S. Treasurys and significant forex reserves in excess of $250 billion. It’s important to note that the Emiratis have asked for a swap line and not a credit line.” And that is supported with graphics on ‘UAE forex reserves versus holdings of U.S. Treasurys, in billions of dollars.CFR’ and those numbers look good, even a non economist (like me) can see that the numbers of the UAE are good. Yet what we are also given is “Gave suggests, the UAE may be “sending a not-so-subtle message to the U.S., namely “leave the region and you will quickly be replaced by China.”

It might make sense and considering the damage that the United States Congress, a document produced on April 9th 2026, by Paul Kerr gives us “Iran’s nuclear program has for decades generated widespread concern that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons. According to past U.S. intelligence assessments, Tehran has the capacity to produce nuclear weapons at some point but has halted its nuclear weapons program and has not mastered all of the necessary technologies for building such weapons. The extent to which June 2025 and February 2026 Israeli and U.S. airstrikes affected Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons is unclear.” with the added “According to official U.S. assessments, Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in late 2003. This program’s goal, according to U.S. officials and the IAEA, was to develop an implosion-style nuclear weapon for Iran’s Shahab-3 ballistic missile. A 2025 public U.S. intelligence assessment stated that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon” and that the now-former Supreme Leader had “not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated on March 4, 2026, that the agency “never had information indicating that there was a structured systematic [Iranian] program to build or to construct a nuclear weapon.”

So, there was no real nuclear danger? And the Strait of Hormuz was open before this clambake started? It seems to me that the UAE (optionally with support of all other oil producing gulf nations) should give warning to not mess with their background, especially as it is roughly 7,000 miles away from Washington DC, as such no international waterways (connected) to the United States are in danger.

But in addition to the MarketWatch article, we see the Canadian DeepDive giving us (at https://thedeepdive.ca/uae-threatens-yuan-oil-trade-if-us-denies-dollar-lifeline-as-iran-war-drains-reserves/) ‘UAE Threatens Yuan Oil Trade if US Denies Dollar Lifeline as Iran War Drains Reserves’. The first part of opposition (by me) is that MarketWatch shows that the reserves are good. Basically DeepDive is not lying, reserves are seemingly being drained and that does not imply that the UAE reserves are in danger. But here we see “Central Bank Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama brought the proposal to Federal Reserve officials and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington last week, the Journal reported. Abu Dhabi’s position, relayed through multiple officials: the war has strained its finances, dollar reserves could come under pressure, and if Washington does not provide a liquidity facility, the UAE may have little choice but to settle oil and gas trades in yuan or other non-dollar currencies. Emirati officials also told their US counterparts that Trump’s decision to attack Iran was what drew the country into the conflict to begin with. No formal application for a swap line has been submitted.” It is like the message Louis Gave, chief executive officer at Gavekal Research gave us, we merely get more information here. So like MarketWatch we see here “a bilateral currency swap with the Federal Reserve — would allow the UAE Central Bank to draw down dollars against dirhams at the prevailing exchange rate, effectively insuring against a hard-currency crunch without requiring emergency asset sales. 

The Fed currently holds standing arrangements of this kind with five central banks: the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank. Extending one to the UAE would mark a meaningful expansion of the Fed’s wartime financial commitments.” I am not enough of an economist to see the larger implications, but as I see it, President Trump started shitting in its economic backyard and now the people affected are saying (my of voicing it) “Stop this or we walk away from the US dollar in trade”, now you might think that I am overstating the ‘danger’ but consider that the US dollar is already under stress from a 39 trillion dollar debt (aka $39,000,000,000,000) and now when the Dollar trade offset is impacting trade other means of revenue would seemingly fall away, because it is never a simple setting (is it), and this would be the Home Run that China would love to see evolve. Do you really think this would be merely about oil? When oil starts, others will seek shelter and that is before others dump their $5 trillion (aka $5,000,000,000,000) in US treasury bonds. There have been noises that smaller amounts were ‘dismissed’ but the larger amounts are a worry for Wall Street, they are highly unlikely able to survive this pressure, as such the United States Administration better come up with a solution and quite fast. 

All this whilst Al Jazeera gives us ‘Iran war live: Uncertainty over talks, Trump insists deal to come ‘quickly’’ with the added “Iran says it has no plans to send negotiators to Pakistan for a new round of talks after the United States seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Still, President Donald Trump says US team, led by Vice President JD Vance, is on its way to Islamabad” So, one has no plans to send someone, whist the other states someone is on the way? How is that communicating? How is that any solution? That is the premise (given to us 14 minutes ago) that someone like China needs to dethrone the US dollar, so when China gives a solution in the next 24 hours, whilst President Trump starts commenting on his big beautiful solution for the world, the premise of the United States Dollar being removed from the oil trade becomes real. Do you really think that this is just about oil? Because this setting would require the better part of a decade to unwind. It is too early for me to say that the US dollar is out of this, but the other elements might make the pressures of the Dollar in the oil trade unmanageable. 

It is merely my point of view, no biggie. Have a great day, still 120 minutes until breakfast for me. I, hungry, all whilst it is lunchtime in Vancouver, what a bastards.

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The bare numbers

Politico gave us less than I day ago that Iran fired over 90% of its missiles and drones on civilian infrastructure targets. With ‘UAE official: More than 90% of Iran’s targets were civilian infrastructure’ (at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/19/united-arab-emirates-iran-civilian-infrastructure-00880064) we see a few facts. The first is the absolute worthlessness of António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations and from me there is no reason to call him ‘His Excellency’, his silence on this matter is deafening. We are given “Reem Al Hashimy, the UAE’s minister of state for international cooperation, said during a Sunday morning appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that Iran was seeking to destroy the UAE’s “model of prosperity and tolerance.” With the additional ““We used our oil wealth to build an economic powerhouse. They used their wealth for nuclear programs that are nefarious, for missiles, drones, proxies, etc.,” she told host Jonathan Karl. “So whereas we tried to become and have become an international, global, responsible player, they are a pariah state. And they wanted to break that model, but they underestimated our resolve.” The UAE has faced a barrage of attacks from Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran in late February. While the Gulf state, like many of its neighbors, initially opposed the war, it has since shifted its tone as it considers how to avoid the breakout of a larger regional war.

It seems to me that the United Nations is failing is plenty of ways, but perhaps they are busy playing host to another mission at present.  He ends with “Asked if she harbored concerns about Trump’s threats, Al Hashimy said the UAE believes that “maximum pressure” is necessary to move forward, while cautioning against civilian attacks. “Ultimately, we don’t want to hurt the Iranian people. That’s very important to mention. But at the same time, it’s the Revolutionary Guard that have taken forward a military stance and a posture not against the U.S. and Israel alone, but against the very neighborhood that they operate in through the Gulf states.”” I hope that the UAE optionally is willing to test the solutions I handed them (and the KSA as well) to destroy the infrastructures of Iran as well (I published them over the last month, one for shipping, one for trains and optionally one for trucking). It was my personal believe that Iran options come to a stand still when all three are hit. 

The fact that it seemingly is Politico illuminating that side of the nastiness of the Iranian war will find its way to the mainstream media soon enough. 

On the other side, the BS setting of influencers who give us that the Dubai mall is empty, usually with a picture of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on the starting page is making me angry, as such an image of the entrance to the mall of Dubai less than 24 hours ago.

I think that Google needs to do something about the use of misinformation on its YouTube pages. I am all for freedom of speech, but that comes with a healthy dose of accountability.

It seems that the UAE is under attack from several parties, not just Iran, it is easy to hide behind the bare numbers in the middle of Ramadan, but Ramadan is now over so whilst over a million people are attending the Hajj, an event that Saudi Arabia just officially opened the doors to, we need to see what is real and what is not. Perhaps the idea of a web view outside of the Dubai mall and perhaps some other places, so that the world can see the BS that these wannabe influencers are handing you.

Just a thought to entertain, I remain a decent ally of the UAE and the prosperity and goodwill they advertise. And even as Iran is still attacking Abu Dhabi, visiting Yas Island remains a firm number one on my bucket list for now, so it is my wish that the Harry Potter addition to Warner Brothers Theme parks, especially as the ones in the United States are basically no longer a good idea.

Have a great day

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The competition is moving

Yesterday (less than 24 hours ago) I took notice of an article in the South China Morning Post (at https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3350460/nvidias-jensen-huang-warns-huawei-chips-deepseek-ai-models-would-be-horrible-us) where we see ‘Nvidia’s Jensen Huang warns Huawei chips for DeepSeek AI models would be ‘horrible’ for US’, so we see everyones favourite boy-scout giving us that Huawei could be either a terrible setting of everyone (us) or it could be horrible for the United States (US), I don’t know about the first one, the second one the United States did to themselves. And the setting of overvaluation by the United States on fake AI, versus undervaluation of Chinese fake AI is considerable as the United States is giving value to what China sees as a mere 3% valuation. I am willing to go with “You had that coming” and in addition as I see it the Huawei MateBook Fold (2TB SSD / 32GB RAM) is an engineering marvel. 

It is the first product to be an actual threat to Apple’s iPad and that was long overdue. Don’t get me wrong, I have been an avid fan of the iPad and I had one since 2011, so you might say I was there almost at the start and it never let me down, 2 years ago I got the iPad Air and it is still doing its bit for me every day (almost every hour). That is true innovation and now the Huawei is surpassing it with the Huawei MateBook Fold, it makes us think that Microsoft is still in the water scuttling its own future. Huawei is that much ahead of the rest. And now Jensen gives us “What do you think happens when it is equipped with a chip running DeepSeek in the background? 

That is the reality of so called sitting on their asses and getting surpassed by all the western technology. Add to this 6G Huawei is researching with “70 GHz mmWave for short-range communication, aiming for speeds exceeding 10 Gbit/s and sub-millisecond latency” some say that US sanctions will prevent this, but Huawei is the innovator, nothing comes near this and the so called west, including Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia (New Zealand too) have had enough of greed driven sanctions by the United States. Germany already went overboard (as stated by some) giving France and Italy enough settings to follow suit. So when Huawei gets to install its pilots in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the rest will almost be standing still, as the current setting is that their 5G is about 700% faster than anyone else (almost twice as fast as South Korea has) and that was almost 5 years ago (source: Statista) and I talked about that in one of my blog articles raising awareness for smart ware. So as I see it, the moment Huawei releases its combines tablet to the west, the United States is done and I reckon that Apple will lose a lot of customers, It will also be the point where Huawei will make its HarmonyOS NEXT (or HarmonyOS 5) to the larger collective in Europe and from that point the United States is no longer working at 41% (at the speed comparison Statista gave us) it will be reduced to a mere 23%-38% of whatever will be running in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. That is the setting and the DeepSeek chip is making it a much easier jump as the United States was honey coating the chains with (fake) AI and now Huawei is nearly at a point where they can state “We have AI too in all our Huawei models” and it comes at mere pennies to the dollar (compared all the other providers). As such Huawei was working in the background and the United States willing to strangle any press releases (a speculation by me) on the subject.

So whilst we are given “If “future AI models are optimised in a very different way than the American tech stack”, and as “AI diffuses out into the rest of the world” with Chinese standards and technology, China “will become superior to” the US, Huang said on the Dwarkesh Podcast on Wednesday. The conversation came ahead of the much-awaited launch of DeepSeek’s V4 foundation model, expected later this month. US news outlet The Information reported earlier this month that V4 would run on Huawei’s latest Ascend 950PR processor, while a separate report by Reuters last month suggested that the model had been trained on Nvidia’s Blackwell chips, which would be a violation of US export controls.” So whilst I have no idea how accurate the Reuters article is (never read it) I can surmise that the Products from the United States (like Apple) are unlikely to have anything to counter the Ascend 950PR processor, off course I am always happy to be proven wrong, but the setting I reported on in 2024 where the iMac has a mere 24GB RAM and 2TB drive, which should have been at least 64GB RAM and 4TB drive before 2025, is still in the old settings. 

Either that technology is unable or the people of Apple are sitting on their hands is nothing less of a joke, even if it is now possible to get it in Orange, Revell has given Apple that option for a mere €3 per model and Revell had that option for years (if not decades) so whilst we get the ‘innovation’ of colour, it is not, it is mere iteration and there are a few other settings were these innovators are sitting on their asses (optionally overdosing on viagra). Innovation is a game that is unrelenting and I have warned the larger audience of that for years, if not decades. 

Now the hard truths come calling and Huawei is the next innovation that is up for grabs and whilst Apple comes with the claim “Center Stage front camera with a new 18-megapixel square sensor, a 6.3-inch display with 120Hz ProMotion (available on the standard model for the first time), and the high-efficiency A19 chip.” It is not innovation, it is iteration and I see iteration as the next step from an innovative setting. That is what has been around for a long time and the days of the Apple iPad might be numbered now. I reckon that Huawei is unlikely to bust the Apple iPhone numbers for some time, but there is a danger that the Huawei Mate X6 (or the models that come after that) are unlikely to bash iPhone or Google Pixels as they are (for now) too expensive, but these new versions are ready to knock on our doors. So there is danger to be seen (for western technology) in the words of Jensen Huang and as the United States is massively anti-China, I wonder if Canada might be the next stage for illuminating the North American customers. I have no idea how Canadians are staged towards Chinese technology, but as their stance towards the Trump administration grows more hostile, there is every chance that this stage might go successful for China, especially if the US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra gives us another of his diplomatic jabs, as I see it, every time he says something more and more Canadians get a fresh doze of anti-Americanism. I’m just calling it as I see it.

Have a great day and consider the words of Jensen Huang, he might be more on the ball than I am (never a truer word was spoken). 

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