Tag Archives: Canada

January 21, 2025 · 02:38

Openings to your fortune

That was the thought I had. Well, it was part of this. You see last week I saw news in the Financial Review (at https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/saudi-arabia-nears-deal-to-take-big-stake-in-foxtel-s-new-owner-dazn-20250115-p5l4gr) and people will think “You and how many more?” And that is a fair view. But think of this “When you are competing with an increasing amount of contenders and when that levy comes crashing down, do you care?” When we see the fires in California, can you afford to be coy or emotionally vested in the needs of others? Good business is where you find it, an old expressions that the crime lord Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) threw in our faces in the movie Robocop (1987), but what you mis is that there is a lot of truth in that. When you are trying to make ends meet, does it matter how you got into a place? Does it yield more favor with anyone when the front door seems close and there are people waiting in line, is it that important to ‘join’ them when there is an open patio door to the same location? An entrance is an entrance. So as we see “Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in discussions to take a stake of up to 10 per cent in global streaming business DAZN, a deal that would hand the Persian Gulf kingdom an influential voice in Australian broadcaster Foxtel.” With the added “DAZN, which specialises in sports streaming, is controlled by British businessman Len Blavatnik and last month agreed to buy Foxtel from News Corp and Telstra in a deal it said valued the local group at $3.4 billion.” Now I can be certain that Len Blavatnik might not be interested in my script, but he knows people and the small herring you throw in the pool might get the attention of the big fish you want to come to your side, either as a supporting player, or even in opposition. The price? Optionally a lousy payday for the first script. But if that gives a decent guarantee that scripts 2,3, and 4 come with a (hopefully) decent payday. And now as California is a cinderblock, it also stands to reason that the pool of scripts suddenly falls (close to) dry. Bares thinking doesn’t it? Because as you are trying to make up your mind Canadians in movies are seeing their option clear to now harvest whatever can be harvested.

So why this path? 
Well for me there is a clear option, but there is more you see, as Foxtel changes hands to British businessman Len Blavatnik, we see more than a mere change, we also see opportunity. As Saudi Arabia is setting their hands to the sport section of Foxtel, there will be people who will look at whatever is there?

And now more eyes will be hopefully looking at my script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ (aka Essay), which was written for an Islamic population and now we are off to the races. How many Islamic laced scripts has Hollywood ever delivered? And now that Hollywood s partially out of business, we can hold our heads high and allow the opportunity to make a few coins.

Is it a guarantee? 
Of course it’s not, but until this happened there were little options outside of Dubai Media and Al Saudiya for me and now there is another doorway, hence the patio door will have to do for me (at present). The simplest setting that Kurtwood Smith was offering us, becomes a doorway where the optional coins reside for us. We found business by going via the side door and it might not work. Yet I feel certain that hungry revenue people will get to see it and that is exactly the door I needed. I might have to sacrifice one script for little to get the visibility to offer the other scripts for a nice fee. And the fun part is that Saudi Arabia has its media channels, but with Hollywood (partially) out of commission, they too needs their channels to produce and now they are handed another option to look at, will it work? Does it match the quality they need? Those are questions for tomorrow. Today we (or I) at least got my way onto the premises. And that was the direction of business I needed. 

And with the quote “DAZN has been expanded aggressively, not only agreeing to acquire Foxtel – along with its streaming platforms Binge and Kayo – but also paying $US1 billion to broadcast FIFA’s inaugural Club World Cup competition.” This is not my field, but they will need to fill up spaces and that will be done with reduced options and a cheap script will be exactly what they need, especially as they will need to fill time gaps for Al Saudiya. And if you think that the last paragraph was a negative one, you would be wrong. The article gives us “But Brian Han, an analyst at Morningstar, said he was not optimistic about Foxtel’s prospects. In a note to his clients last month, he said the broadcaster was “burdened with expensive sports rights and mired in the ever-competitive streaming space against the global digital behemoths”.” You see, he has a point if you think of the way everything has worked all this time. It might have BEEN about “expensive sports rights” but Saudi Arabia has between now and 2030 a massive caliber of options, and that is all Saudi terrain. Trojena will have its own ski slopes, skating rings and so much more, all Saudi. Then there is Sindalah for the water sports. And I cannot even begin to fill the idea of The Line and all will have thousands of people who need to be entertained. I think that a lot of people haven’t even begun to consider how big the transition to Saudi Arabia will be. As such getting in there first has an enormous amount of options for the eager person seeking transition. And for the ones who missed it, when you get access to one it should open up to both (via Saudi Arabia). And that is before you consider that Bangladesh has 150.36 million muslims. That is 4 times the size of the Saudi population. Do you think that Saudi Arabia isn’t looking to service their shows in Bengali? I saw that option years ago, now it is time to seek if it has options for me as well.

So whilst the rest of the world is seeking to unwind their hatred for President Trump, I’ll be seeking the options I can see for good business.

Have a sunny and wonderful day.

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January 12, 2025 · 05:58

Who’s funny now?

It was just after midnight when an article hit the retinals of my eyes. It happens and most of the time it is just as it is. Not this time, this time was different. You see, a few days ago on January 9th 2025 in my view (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/01/09/is-it-semantics/) with the title ‘Is it semantics?’ I wrote “I will let you decide, yet consider that America opened to door to grow China in near exponential size, because they could end up with options in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.” As some people laughed at my ‘sense of humor’ they ridiculed the setting from ever happening. Now the BBC gave me a mere 4 hours ago ‘Reeves defends China visit and hails £600m boost to UK’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx9jggw9ndo), as I see it the die is cast and now you (Americans) get to ridicule the setting. Perhaps it was a simple joke to keep the mind of tariff changes, but that is not how it is playing out, is it? The article gives us “Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties at a time when soaring government borrowing costs threaten to squeeze UK public finances.” The added “The Treasury said Reeves’ visit to China delivered on a “commitment to explore deeper economic co-operation” between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and President Xi, made last year. BBC economics editor Faisal Islam said other European nations such as Spain have encouraged China not just to set up factories but to transfer its advanced battery technology, for example, into Europe.” Brings another setting to the table. Is that why Elon Musk wanted Starmer out? The timeline makes sense. America would have known about this in advance and the noise we heard was around the time this was going down on plan papers. So Elon Musk was pushing his ‘ideas’ through the populistic channels available to him? I knew nothing of the sort, but I predicted the setting as an available one. And now we get “other European nations such as Spain have encouraged China not just to set up factories but to transfer its advanced battery technology, for example, into Europe.” This implies that Spain is also on the China horse of economic opportunity. This implies that China is making progress towards the UK (and optionally also into Australia, Canada and New Zealand) as well as direct opening moves by Spain (and others) into Europe. America is not really laughing now, are they? In opposition we see “Tory MP and former security minister Tom Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the timing of Reeves’ visit to China was questionable. “She’s going at a time when her Budget has sacked the economy, we’ve got debt rates going up, and she looks like she’s going with a begging bowl, not with a trading deal,” he said. “That’s a real problem because actually it makes the UK look more vulnerable, and others around the world will see it too.”” 

Well, the UK doesn’t look more vulnerable. It is more vulnerable and it started 8-10 years ago when Mario Draghi decided to push his idea for spending in excess of €2 trillion. Yup, the invoice is due at some point and the UK is actively seeking solutions now, preferable before European nations do. As such I saw that dinner bell chime over 5 years ago. And as such Tom Tugendhat going for the adjusted Oliver Twist quote which was “Can I have some more please?” Doesn’t really hold water or slice the cabbage. It is reality in a nasty setting. It is the consequence of Wall Street and friends pushing hardship forward and now it is due harder choices will be made, but at this time these Wall Street friends are nowhere to be found and it comes down to Wall Street and its administration to figure it out and the Trump administration can no longer cry wolf (make China the nasty one). These administrations are in a deeper setting and are willing to give China a go, which will be good news for Tencent and Huawei in the first instance and first degree. Tencent will personally aid my need for coins and selling my idea, but that is not the issue now.

And whilst the article ends with “Liberal Democrat deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper urged the chancellor to return to the UK “to urgently address the ongoing crisis in the markets and announce a serious plan for growth”.” I wonder if the BBC relied on “Cooper urged the chancellor to return to the UK” instead of “Cooper urged the chancellor to return to the UK before the China vote is in”, there is of course the setting that this is not the case. I do not know Daisy Cooper, merely to a minimal degree. Yet at present, she has more in her stride than Australian labor PM Anthony Albanese. Yet for me the real ‘victory’ was that I optionally saw the backlash from President elect Donal Trump correctly, at least in part. And that days before the BBC gave me the rundown. So will the commonwealth unite with China? It is too early to say, but the start is here and now America starts its new administration with serious other problems. You see the group five eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and America) is nice but as it seemingly goes this setting could be 4 members short in the near future and that creates a new setting. The CIA will lose eyes in several places and they will not have the budget to rectify that any way soon (they lack other resources too). Still happy about the 51st state ‘joke’? We have asian food centers all over the commonwealth and these people feel happily fed and don’t see China as a threat. I am not saying they aren’t a threat, as I see it, merely America and its devoted fans do. The problem is that the economic hardships are real and the people are willing to give China a chance. It isn’t right or wrong. It merely is and it is a direct consequence of games that Wall Street enabled, as they disregarded a long term policy. It is the direct consequence of what I call short term Excel policies (not blaming Microsoft in this case).

We can postulate all we want, but it depends on what Chancellor Rachel Reeves brings back to Number 10 and parliament. As I personally see it, President Xi (with aid from He Lifeng) gets the option to make a clean sweep into the hardship that America is ignoring for itself and with the settings as I observed it on defense spending in several places China can put pressure on America to a much larger degree. Life can throw us the strangest curveballs.

So enjoy the day and remember that in China, they will say “我可以再多吃一點嗎？”

Have a lovely day, only 120 minutes until breakfast for me.

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January 9, 2025 · 21:53

Is it semantics?

There is a question that the entire ‘annexation’ of Canada brings to light. Is it the setting of an unintelligent person to employ humor (I try to steer clear of the word stupid) or is there a larger setting? So what is the actual meaning of this?

The previous story gave you part of that, but CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-absorb-canada-response-1.7426177) gives us (optionally) more. It starts with ‘No longer a joke: Ministers say Trump’s threats to absorb Canada need to be taken seriously’ where we are confronted with “Trump said Tuesday he’d be willing to use ‘economic force’ to join countries”, we saw that and as such it would not be enough. 

But there is more, the setting of “Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s assertions that Canada should become the 51st state should be taken seriously, after he initially dismissed them as a joke. “The joke is over,” LeBlanc told reporters in French. “The president and his allies continue to repeat this — we know it’s not going anywhere — but the fact that he’s repeating it, it’s not very constructive.”” You see, this is true. But as we have surmised several times in the past, there is a need for any politician to seek the limelight (not that this is always wrong). As such we are given and shown that Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and International Trade Minister Mary Ng all have their say. Yet, they all miss a few corners. You see we are overwhelmingly confronted with ‘influencers’ all seeking limelight and they ‘know’ that outbursts of Donald Trump give them the emotional rhetoric to flame settings. Now they all get the chance to drill into 40 million Canadians, all eager to grow their ‘momentum’ that is the lose for to a lot of this. And it is a lot like the setting in the Patriot (that movie with Mel Gibson). Why swap 1 political party 5800 kilometers away when you could have 58 political players 100 kilometers away? That would make no sense and Canadians need to be aware of this. What is the optional stage oil that people like Donald Trump and Kevon O’Leary (a Canadian no less) will opt for the direct marketing of 40 million Canadians to get the upper hand. Whatever O’Leary claims, he will be in it for the money. He wants to ‘secure’ his 400 million and preferably add some (hundreds of) millions to it and as I see it, anyway will do. The man is the direct opposite of Ryan Reynolds. He is in it for his money in his own way, but a lot more intelligent. Any party he engaged with enriched him and he enriched them by a lot. And there is a social/national pride in his achievements. That is the proper way enterprising and capitalism needs to work. I wonder why no one sees that. 

The larger issue is not that, it is the setting what the Commonwealth needs to do. At some point it is forced to bulk up their borders and that is the strapping setting. The UK, Australia and New Zealand will be forced to take a stance. Optionally not New Zealand, their Sopwith Camels don’t have the range to fly to the US. And I don’t think that they have an operational Army either, good enough for humanitarian jobs and rescue operations, but actual war on another shore? I doubt that.

So the Commonwealth could start crying foul and invite China to become the aid party of choice. China will love that, now it gets army and navy posts right at the front door of America. And now we get a new Cuban missile crises, but one at the front door of Los Angeles, Hollywood (the burning one), Chicago, New York and Washington DC. Yes, a real good sense of humor, mr. President elect. And let the influencers get the blame, it was his posts (allegedly) that is setting the flames sprawling and unlike the ones in California, these flames will have a national impact. Americans asked for this, they elected the man. So what comes out is on their own heads. As a commonwealthian I share the feelings of Justin Trudeau who said on January 7th (source: CBC) ‘Trudeau says ‘not a snowball’s chance in hell’ Canada joins U.S.’ And as that setting evolves I wonder if I should swap my optional future in Toronto with a more secure lifestyle in Abu Dhabi. The idea of having an apartment next to a mall (Yas Mall) and 4 tourist attraction becomes highly appealing especially if the Harry Potter universe is added in 2025 to the Warner Brothers Abu Dhabi park. Perhaps IBM needs IBM Statistics support staff in Abu Dhabi. With a (delusional) sign on bonus of $15 million I’ll be game to witch Australia for the United Arab Emirates. Still willing to move to Toronto (for the same amount mr Ellison), so what are my options? Unless something is done with the President elect, I merely see the UAE as an option. Consider that, that people are willing to leave Canada and the beauty it holds for a different kind of beauty (UAE, Abu Dhabi). And in the end it will merely delay the bankruptcy by 5 years, which gets Trump out of deep water and after that America will drag Canada into the same mess it created for itself, well done Wall Street.

All that for a sense of delusional humor? I will let you decide, yet consider that America opened to door to grow China in near exponential size, because they could end up with options in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. As Elon Musk has shifted his interest into ousting Keir Starmer from the post of PM of the United Kingdom (which is not the worst idea), however whatever he wants to replace him with will be a person HE can control and that is not on with me.

The last country will open doors all over Europe. How is the expensionarlism of Trump hitting you now? On the upside, these four nations will see a larger investment from China in their regions. Not the best option, but taking in account what America had in mind a optional preferable one.

Have an optional great day.

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January 9, 2025 · 02:13

When insanity is like desperation

There is always the setting of misjudging ones opponent. That happens of course, but what happens when the opponent is an ally? That is the premise of the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg9gvg3452o) where we are given ‘Europe will not allow attacks, says France, after Trump Greenland threat’. This is not the first setting. It started with the setting that America (President-elect Trump) stated that it was a great idea if Canada became the 51st state of America and we see the news handing us the setting that Kevin O’Leary gives us that it was a great idea if that would happen. Now at that point I had two issues. The first is that O’leary is a Canadian, and no less a multi millionaire to the amount of somewhere in the near half a billion range. He is known to be clever so my hairs in the back of my went up. You see, I am a commonwealthian and handing over land that is ‘ours’ to America is a big no no in my book. 

The issue however went from bad to worse. We now see that Trump has his eyes set on Greenland and the lands around the Panama Canal. As such I am in doubt of what s going on. I refuse to believe that it is the simple ramblings of a madman. I understand that he is merely throwing ideas around, but we are given (in that story) “Asked if he would rule out using military or economic force in order to take over Greenland or the Panama Canal, Trump said: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. “But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”” And then an idea hit me in the head (it did hurt). So what if America is so bankrupt that America (President-elect Trump) sees that this could be the final presidency of the United States? There is a lose thought that there is correlation between ‘expansion need’ and economic security. And America has $36.22 trillion debt. Even at a mere 2% that amounts to $722 billion in annual interest (the interest is higher than 2%) and that is the kind of anchor that ends any economy. To set this into other sights, if Greenland and Canada become part of the United States, the look and feel of debt goes down, or in better words, 40 million more taxpayers and the resources of Canada (and Greenland) become American resources. I just bet that Kevin O’Leary has his ideas on how to exploit that setting, no sharks required. 

There is every chance that Trump will voice in two weeks that he was just throwing ideas around, but that is not a given. Now that he realizes that the EU will go to war and the UK, NewZealand and Australia will stand next to the leader of the Canada against Trump that setting becomes dodgy to say the least. We will see an entirely new setting. And in that setting China will see it’s own needed promise of gaining economic strength on the global stage. So as we are given “Trump suggested the island was crucial to military efforts to track Chinese and Russian ships, which he said are “all over the place”.” He seemingly forgets that in that instance Europe will invite China for ‘support’ and in that setting the US military will have to vacate all European base settings. The problem is that this could invite Russia to expand to the west, unless China has already been invited and that is a new stage of poker for territory. Is that what will happen? I honestly don’t know. Yet, we also never saw the setting that America would seek expansion into their north and west, so all bets are off as I see it. 

How this plays out is anyones guess and for the most of it all, many see President elect Trump as a clown, so we tend to downplay his rhetoric, but in seriousness, he might be pushed due to the debts and the fact that America has close to no way of paying that debt in the coming three years. So in his presidency America is highly likely to go bankrupt. As I personally see it, that is good news for me, because when that hits all IP will gain value, especially if it is IP outside of America. Still, we need to see what the American administration does when the new president is in office. As I see how this evolves people like Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are giving their view on the ramblings of a elected president and that spells bad news for America. The question becomes how will China react? In other news, there is an upside for Saudi Arabia, as it seemingly is Lockheed Martin would come for sale and Saudi Arabia is willing to pay top dollar, as such the question becomes ‘Did James D. Taiclet consider relocating to Riyadh?’ Not the weirdest question to throw into the rink.

We will know within two weeks whether we will get some ‘Just kidding’ news article or whether we see countries in Europe sharpen their axes to start another conflict. 

Have a great day.

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December 29, 2024 · 22:00

At the close of a year

This might be the last article this year (no promises). I have been haunted by a weird dream, but that is not what this is about. You see, the army recognition group gave us yesterday (at https://armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2024/saudi-arabia-eyes-up-to-100-turkish-kaan-fighter-jets-as-us-made-f-35-remains-inaccessible) ‘Saudi Arabia eyes up to 100 Turkish Kaan fighter jets as US-made F-35 remains inaccessible.’ I know nothing of this plane, so I am not going in that direction. The setting that the US set the inability of the F35 being handed to Saudi hands is worthy of responding to. You see, the pricing of the F35 is set to “$102.1 million for the F-35C.” This means that America lifted their nose at 10 – 25 billion of hard needed income. The planes, the support and engineering surplus and a few other options. I expected that China would ‘swoop’ in to get that money. It is decently plausible that their were more reasons. I am merely setting that this could also mean the end of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), you see, airbases on foreign ground are meant for allies and America has priced them out of that corner. As I see it Anthony Blinken has done away with that option. You see, only two months ago we got “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday sought to make headway with Saudi Arabia on” whatever ‘his’ administration is ‘worried’ about. You need to have an ally for that and the fact that the F35 has been ‘unavailable’ since 2012. That is over 12 years, so as the F35 faces being optionally phased out by 2030, they lost one of their biggest customers and provisional ally in the Arabic peninsula as I personally see it. 

And America? Well, who needs an ally who is never there? That is the short and sweet part of this all and for Turkey this might be the sweet deal of the century. At some point the UAE and Egypt will also require 5th gen stealth fighters. This will make it harder for America and China to get traction. I never expected that Turkey was on that level, but that shows you what I know of this field.

And this is not the first time America, Europe and China enter behind the fishnet only to end up with nothing. This potential purchase follows Saudi Arabia’s $3.1 billion agreement with Türkiye in 2023 for the acquisition of 60 Baykar AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), set for delivery in 2025 and 2026.

So, when was the last time major governments walked away from a potential 15 billion deal? America might shout tariffs and the upcoming said expansion with their 51st state (Canada), but they forget that Canada is part of a Commonwealth and in their views (the Commonwealth) it amounts to a direct assault on the Commonwealth. So when was the last time a nation was engaged with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and at least two dozen more. If they reject all imports from America, the American economy goes the way of the dodo a lot faster than the dodo did. For China it sounds like a prolonged Christmas. You see, if they get traction with the Commonwealth, a desire they never thought realistic, but going after their largest member Canada might set that deal to nominal.

That as the rejection of billions set a dangerous premise for America and Saudi Arabia can play hard to get in that instance. So the next threat by the president elect Trump will set a minefield around (presumed) Marco Rubio making his job next to impossible. 

But we will see what will happen. In the meantime we should send a congratulatory card to Turkey for this achievement.

And of course the card for the next tenant of the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), but that is likely to follow in 2025/2026. As I see it, the next two years are close to essential for the next administration to avoid a governmental garage sale. But what do I know?

Still, in retrospect the dream still bugs me. The dream was a job at ADNOC, in Abu Dhabi. They had an AS400 running SPSS 6.1.3 and it had been gathering dust. It wasn’t working and the people at IBM said it was the fault of ADNOC. In the dream I merely had to remove 2 lines (reading ASCII data), two variables Alphanumeric were making a mess of things and removing the two lines solved 96% of the issue. 96% was fixed in the first hour (well for one job). I needed two additional hours to align the alphanumeric fields. And that took two hours to work out, I used Excel for that (the one Microsoft program Microsoft got right). And with that the first month was back on track. A weird setting, as I know next to nothing of ADNOC, I know that they are in oil, and that is all. I haven’t thought of that program in over 2 decades, so what gives? Well, in part technical support at SPSS was perhaps one of the most fulfilling jobs. But the powers that be didn’t see me as IBM material. O well, such is life. 

Time to head to the end of the year and see what 2025 will bring. 

Have a great day and the optional conclusion of a great year.

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December 18, 2024 · 12:22

See Eventual Opposition

That is at times the destiny of the CEO, and at times the CEO is offered assassination or is destined to be one. It is a little dark but economies all over the world have set that notion in motion. You might hide behind the old texture of ‘don’t kill the messenger’, yet at times the messenger is the heading of the message. As I see it, at times the multimillion dollar notion that the CEO gets, is his Damocles sword. And that is now more often than not set in actual stone. You see, some CEO’s have shareholders to account to, but what if the account holders are millions in a healthcare? Like most I took notice of the undoing of CEO Brian Thompson. I wasn’t surprised as it was America. But when I saw that the killer was also on terrorist charges, I took notice. At first I saw the CBC article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/luigi-mangione-tiktoks-glorification-explanation-1.7410769) giving us ‘3 reasons behind the unsettling glorification of Luigi Mangione’. And the story gave me initially more with “A fundraiser for his legal defence raised thousands of dollars before being removed. Online stores are selling T-shirts bearing his face and messages like, “In This House, Luigi Mangione Is A Hero, End of Story.” On TikTok, users posted videos with phrases like “free my man” and “my empathy is reserved for people who deserve it.”” It is flam able ‘hero’ talk and the media loves flames. It makes for easy digital dollars. Then I saw (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/luigi-mangione-murder-terrorism-charge-unitedhealthcare-ceo-1.7413037) ‘Luigi Mangione charged with murder as an act of terrorism’ that got some more attention. CBC was giving us “Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thompson’s death on a midtown Manhattan street “was a killing that was intended to evoke terror. And we’ve seen that reaction.”” It seems that Alvin Bragg is not shy of the limelight. And as I personally see it, the setting of “intended to evoke terror” feels more like the stage that the friends of Alvin Bragg might be CEO’s of healthcare systems that now fear that their ticket is about to be punched. As I see it, America has 626 health systems, which implies 625 scared CEO’s and one person who is about to become CEO and feels lightly more secure as his predecessor was assassinated. Or as I would like to see it, 625 companies with a number totalling over 330 million people and a lot of them are massively disgruntled. Yes, I reckon that they would be scared. That doesn’t make the ‘act’ of taking out ‘the trash’ an act of terrorism. But I recon that is how these 625 CEO’s would like to see this. 

So why?
As we have seen it, health care in America is falling flat for the longest of times and whilst these people were adamant to see importing medicines from Canada as an act of wrongdoing to the bonus levels of these 625 CEO’s, the people are slightly in a different stage of thinking. As I see it, some might take the cape of a healthcare CEO like a calling. They should be paid, but the setting is that 10 million is a bit much. And the 625 others might be in a similar stage. As the generic (not to exact and optionally wrong) way of thinking is that these people would amount to $6,250,000,000 on an annual level all whilst their members cannot make ends meet and their healthcare is filled with trapdoors and loopholes making their healthcare a debate between lawyers on who gets it and who does not. All that and they are losing millions in available funds. Yes, at that point we see anger and rage fill the hearts of healthcare members.

With the opted setting of “U.S. health insurance companies, as Americans swapped stories online and elsewhere of being denied coverage, left in limbo as doctors and insurers disagreed, and stuck with sizeable bills” and that makes this a terrorist act? Healthcare is broken in America, more than broken, it pretty much failed the people it is supposed to protect. Perhaps the CEO’s need t consider the millions they are taking away from the pool of money available. There are two settings. I am not against the CEO making more, but how much more is the setting that matters and that comes out in the open now. As such we could see the setting of the terrorist charge as a preemptive setting towards others, and in part of the proof that needs to be stated that is to some extent missing here. What makes it terrorism? Perhaps Alvin Bragg, the district attorney might want to make a clear case of that in the media. I do not disagree with the setting that New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch gives us with  “any attempt to rationalise this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.” Perhaps the commissioner might also enlighten us why this former CEO gets 10 million for shafting its customers in the dark. Because however you want to non-vilify the 10 million pay check, but in this stage with millions losing out on care products that they currently can’t afford. 10 million doesn’t hold a candle against the anger of people. And that is also not seen here. So as we take notice of “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.” I merely ponder the setting with ‘what makes a civilian population?’ 625 CEO’s in a population of 8,258,000 New Yorkers? And then we get ‘Affect the conduct of a unit of government?’ Is a healthcare a government installation? In that case, how come that man got 10 million? Thats more than a general makes with his finger on the nuclear button (or a few other military man). This entire setting is defunct from the word go and there is a lot more and I feel that I disagree, but I have no clear evidence to counter this. As I see it, my view would be the spirit of the law, whilst I will accept black letter law on which I lack view (in this case). 

But we can all agree on one thing, as I (optionally we) see it. Luigi Mangione opened a door that (at least) 625 CEO’s are scared of facing and they are scared to address that directly, so (my speculation) as I see it several of them (perhaps all of them) called them and directed Alvin Bragg to make an example of Luigi Mangione right quick. There is the premise that this will backfire in massive ways and it has been a long time coming, because healthcare was massively broken long before Barack Obama became president on January 20th 2009 and all that time these CEO’s were  speculatively overpaid by a lot. And the people are now angry. It merely reminds us of the setting you can deceive all people for some of the time, some people all of the time, but never can you deceive all of the people all of the time.

Have a great day.

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December 14, 2024 · 14:10

Calling a bluff

That happens, some people bluff and others tend to call the bluff. That is the setting that president elect Trump called on himself. We all heard how the upcoming Trump administration called the setting that they opened. They threatened the Canadian Trudeau administration on tariffs when “Trump threatened in a social media post to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both Mexico and Canada, vowing to keep them in place until “such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”” As I see it, a larger setting that the US called upon itself. The war on drugs has been going on since June 17, 1971, during which President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one”. I get that, drugs are the filth of any civilisation. Perhaps America could have changed tactics decades ago, when it was set to ‘the black population’, being white an wealthy enabled cocaine habits, all whilst crack users got the bulk of the heavy punishment. I cannot voice any opinion because it is too far from my bed. Yet the media used that setting to give us “New Jack City” and “Boys N the Hood” with an entertaining “Cocaine bear” for good measure. I reckon that “Traffic” is one of the best views on the subject (there are many I never saw).

So after half a century of failure the President elect Trump now blame the neighbouring countries. Well two can play at that. In the first I suggest any American arrested on drug charges (outside of USA) get the death penalty. No options, no trials, just point and click the gun. In the second we consider the stage that Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford is suggesting (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/12/canada-ontario-premier-trump-tariffs). With ‘Ontario leader threatens to halt energy exports to US if Trump imposes tariffs’. This is actually not a bad move (better than my idea). At present we have the idea that Canada’s revenue from electricity exports to the United States hit a record high of C$ 5.8bn. Quebec is the largest exporter, with Ontario following second at 13.9m megawatt-hours of power sent south. Of course the setback is that Ontario loses that near essential revenue. But consider that America loses 13.9m megawatt-hours of power which adds to the hardship America has at present and the next 2 quarters that hardship could be seen as close to debilitating. 

So should the Trump administration push the tariff bluff, the payback that follows is nothing short of a banger of a payback. I see all these bad press moments of Doug Ford, I cannot answer whether they are valid, but I reckon this one is on point and only 6 hours ago we were also given ‘Ontario premier suggests stopping US liquor imports over Trump tariff threat’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/13/ontario-trump-tariff-liquor) not a big thing for the non alcoholics and lets face it, Ryan Reynolds gives us Gin (perhaps soon Canadian Gin too), Dan Ackroyd (part Canadian) gives us Crystal Head Vodka and Canada also has its Whiskey types. As such, it will hurt America a lot more than it will Canada. 

There are other drinks that come from outside of the USA. There is Jenever (Dutch Gin, Netherlands), Gin (UK), Aquavit and Absolute Vodka (Sweden) not to mention the dozen of wines from the French speaking regions (like France). Oh, and Raki and Ouzo are Greek. As such plenty of non-American options. As I personally see it, the response to the Trump bluff will be countered in a few ways and it is my belief that the Trump Administration will be forced to do a 180 degree on the spot, that is if they would like to keep their other ventures running somewhat smooth. 

I personally think that Doug Ford called an upcoming bluff in several ways and all are promising answers to the situation that Canada is in no way to blame for. So what do they want? A 8,891 km wall? Who pays for that? As I see it, the war was essential for a long time, but as the ‘law’ unfairly differentiate the rich and the pour on drugs, this was never going in any direction fast. 

It seemed like such an easy solution but that was never go down well, because the complexities that American law allowed for made it way too complex (as I personally see it).

Have a great weekend, Toronto joins un on this Saturday in 2 hours.

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December 9, 2024 · 18:47

To box office, or not to box office

That is the question and the question is valid as the movies opened up in 2018 with a revenue of $2.6m, seems little but in the few years that passed, annual revenue went up to a quarter of a billion, as such screen daily kept an eye on the Saudi market (at https://www.screendaily.com/features/is-saudi-arabias-box-office-boom-over-or-set-to-rise-again/5199910.article) in that same setting I created the script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ about the assassination of Islamophobe Geert Wilders (the current prime minister of the Netherlands) the alternative title was ‘Essay’ (I came up with that later). I aimed it for the Arabic (Saudi Arabia/UAE) market. I contacted 2-3 player, but I never heard back from them. I thought that through streaming they could also get to the Egyptian market (as well as the Indonesian markets) The ‘bad vibe’ feelings in Indonesian markets might be well received. A Dutch politician getting the Sukarno treatment might keep Indonesian people on their couch watching the demise of the Prime Minister five times over. Anyway, those were my thoughts and it seems that they didn’t agree with me. Still the setting remains. As we get “At least one of the major exhibitor groups operating in Saudi is said to be exploring a possible sale amid high debt levels incurred during its rapid expansion. Last year, AMC Entertainment Holdings, the world’s biggest cinema chain, exited the Saudi market in the face of intense competition, selling to Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven), which is operated by the government’s Public Investment Fund.” The intense competition was why I tried the streamers as a possible interested party. We can think box office all we want, but in the end, the people need to be entertained at home. The last time I went to the cinema, it was $19 for the movie and popcorn and a soda set me back another tenner. That’s three months of Netflix. I reckon we need to consider the home office and for a lot of Saudi’s (as well as Indonesians, Egyptians and people in the UAE) the same setting is looming. It is not that streaming is better, it is merely more affordable. Now that Apple is getting more into Saudi Arabia, it will be soon that Apple TV is coming too (or already there). And with the setting of “Bidding wars for titles from major US sellers were common, but less so now. Minimum guarantees have dropped as a result, reflecting the reality of a market that has levelled out. “When Saudi opened up, almost any film would work. But now audiences are a lot more selective,” says the executive.” Makes me feel that there is still a chance of my script making it to the screens of people. The movie plays part in the Netherlands and part in Dammam (no real reason why I chose it) and one scene in Iran. The setting of a movie that deals with islamophobia was appealing to me, because it is something nearly any Islamic person is exposed to (especially in Europe) and as such I created an idea with my copy of Final Draft (given to me for that reason) and a stronger view is given with “One bright spot is the market for Arabic-language content, particularly from Egypt. The figures underline the executive’s point: the top five box-office films of the year so far include two Egyptian titles (action drama Sons Of Rizk 3 and romantic comedy Gawaza Toxic) and one Saudi comedy (Shabab El-Bomb). According to Comscore, Egyptian titles now account for an impressive 25% of the Saudi market, while local Saudi features have a 7% share. US films, by comparison, take 53% of box office in the country.” My movie is not in Arabic, but it was designed with the stage of an Arabic version in mind. I merely lack the language skills to make it directly in Arabic. Now I see that this setting is given with “Egyptian titles now account for an impressive 25%” gives me hope that my final curtain call is not here yet. Yes, it is hope because I had never written a script before this and as I look at the tally where beside ‘How to assassinate a politician’ I am working on ‘Kenos Diastima’ (a TV series in the making), ‘Engonos’ (TV series in the making) and ‘Residuam Vitam’ (mini series in the making). I created these series partly to keep my writing skills up and it wasn’t until ‘How to assassinate a politician’ had formed more completely in my mind that I decided to make it in a script (in Final Draft) and when I started pushing that title did I start to set the blackboard for ‘Residuam Vitam’ which is still forming. 

And as we see this we also need to take notice of Adon Quinn, CEO of Saudi exhibitor Muvi Cinemas, believes that Arabic content can help drive future growth. I am willing to agree, but that is really in my favour. You see it is nice that things go to cinema (happy to help), but I reckon that the streamers in the UAE (Dubai Media) and Saudi Arabia (Aloula) will make the larger difference. The need for Egypt and Indonesia seem clear and Indonesia with a population of 277 million potential viewers should not be underestimated. As Quinn tells us “He points out the wider Saudi box-office slowdown echoes what has happened in markets around the world this year. Its main cause, he says, is the depleted supply of content caused by Covid and last year’s Holly­wood actors and writers strikes. “The strikes had a big impact on the first half of 2024,” he observes. “We’ve seen when the right content is there, the audience is there.”” But he also exposes a problem. The depleted supply is seemingly due to Hollywood. Still tapping the Canadian, Swedish and western European markets might not be a bad idea. Especially as California is about to get a few additional issues and they are not yet polarised into tinseltown (Hollywood). 

There are definitely options for the Arabic market, but I reckon that the streamers will have a much better time they do not need a movie distribution system and they can get a lot of traction roping in a potential viewing group of well over 400,000,000 people. You can fish in a barrel, but the same barrel holding either 400 million or a mere 35 million, that is the setting as I see it and as I have noticed Dubai Media is ready to get on board with that setting (I saw it was ‘proclaimed’ by certain individuals on LinkedIn). 

The market is where you cater to it and I thought it was a good idea to cater to the Arabic markets. Have a great day.

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November 27, 2024 · 17:06

Saudi Fun craft

That is on the agenda. Most people are hauling what they can to see their name in COP29, but the others (or those who put their name down already) are trying to be seen as the anti-China voice in the middle east. Because that is what Trump wants, right?

That is the setting of the next wannabe, the next facilitator or the next service provider. Saudi Arabia, Aramco, the UAE and ADNOC’s next need, that is what their limited view states. I cannot agree. That was what the region needed, the next iteration however is as subtle as a maul to a shin.

You see, most are ‘reacting’ to ‘Better offer needed if the US wants to pull Saudi Arabia away from China’ (Amwaj media) or ‘Saudi Arabia seeks mining deals with Chinese, Indian and Canadian firms in industry push’ (AL-monitor). There are more headlines, but the cautious player notices that America (or USA) is in several instances no longer mentioned. That is the actual play. President  elect Trump has a problem. His library is not on the mind of those who need to have it on their minds and that is a plural issue. Microsoft might be ‘offering’ the world to the UAE in AI, but the critics who know a thing or two are skeptical. I cannot tell if there is a silence delay, or an actual disregard in play for the USA. You need to be in the know with China and a certain palace in Riyadh to know the actual setting. And in this Amwaj gives us “if Washington truly wants Riyadh to join the US camp, it should come up with a better offer—instead of a proposition with strings attached.” Funny that, I said something similar on March 11th 2020 in ‘Who is Miss Calculation?’ (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2020/03/11/who-is-miss-calculation/) the words are not the same, but the spirit was. As most would embrace Good business is where you find it, others went for Money talks, bullshit walks. So who was president then?

It does not matter, policies are always on a turntable, but the disc hits that direction 33 times a minute. Faster if you play a CD. No matter whose president when this matter resurfaces. China had a while to set his ducks in a row and he merely needs to watch the fallout whilst he takes shelter regarding the massive boink the Americas show when things turn sour.

America needs a positive hit and that implies being close friends with the Arabian allies UAE and Saudi Arabia. All whilst they know that they need to be friends with China as well. And that is a bitter pill to swallow for America. The tables turn even further as elemental deals (where America would have been the A-team for Arabia) we now see China, India and Canada taking slices of that pie as well. I send stern warnings in 2020 and now we see it happen. So consider that America had the biggest part of that pie until 2015, now we see that America (with $36,000,000,000,000 debt) ends up with a suspected mere 45% of that pie, 55% went into other directions. Add to that the deals Europe and Australia expects to make before Jan 1st 2025 and you see that Saudi Arabia is doing what it needs to do for its country. It might not look nice, but that is the reality of it all and I gave the people heads up for over 4 years. Now it all ‘looks like a crises’ that does not mean it is. It is merely a crises when you were unaware of it all and America was very aware. So seeks the sands with COP29 all whilst there are over 41000 flights each day and many are not needed. So how is that for “biologically formed organic matter”. Yes they will stop some of this all whilst a massive chunk of of these 41000 flight each day could be deleted. So where is COP29 now?

And it gets to be bad, or worse for America. The Tariff deal for Canada is seen as disastrous. But when it can deal with China and Saudi Arabia, what Canada loses on one side, it will gain more on the other side, America painted itself in a corner. And for the sweeter deal? It might be too late for that. China has gained about 15% of the pie that was meant for America, as such the bills will be pushed along forward and there is actual consideration that America would have to lease its land to others to make a shilling and it is not shillings that America needs. It needs a wheelbarrow of these coins. As I see it, America now has less than 4 turns until it can no longer make any moves. It wont be able to afford the entry fee to make a move. As such I personally believe that America has been playing the wrong game. They were playing chess whilst Chinese chess was needed. They never used the board optimal and now that they figured out the game, it is too late for that.

In my own view (optionally a wrong one), the friends of Trump are heading for the hills. They will not get away Scott free, but they will get away. The rest gets saddled with the biggest invoice in human history and they cannot foot the bill. And don’t think that this is not on you all. Your pensions are about to go the way of Lehman Brothers 2003. The loans that are still outgoing will be foreclosed by the banks foreclosing your banks and you end up having nothing to live upon. That too was blatantly obvious before the end of 2023. Now it matters to whom have the flexibility to make moves with whatever capital they have. Don’t rely on the stock markets. Have investments that are mobile, or optionally real estate. I feel certain that it will come to blows in 2025 when America shows that it has issues settling the bills they have. That is when panic goes global. And when you see this unfold those with a decent penny in Aramco and ADNOC will have a return on investment, the rest? Whatever of these rest players will be left alive in Q2 2025, because there is no reality that this will be true.

And when you ask how come? That would be fair and the answer wa staring you in the face. Country 1 gave payment to a debt of country 2 and Country 2 gave payment to a debt of country 1. So what is that called? And this had been going on for decades. I thought the barn was done away with when we learned of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic going south on the debit line. However, the worst was dealt with. This time around it might be worse. The USA would need to call themselves bankrupt and the impact of that is beyond my ability to see, but I am willing to place a bet that China knows exactly what to do. You see, when this comes to pass China and others can vie for the 6,278,000 billion barrels a day it imports. It might be cheaper then getting their own oil, but that is where it is headed. India and China will try to get the largest chunk of it. As such Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Colombia will need new customers and I reckon India and China will be chomping at the bits to get these slices of oil. It will impact global economy to a much larger extent. And that was merely the first part. Consider that Huawei is taking over another slice of technology and you have one country falling short on several fields, merely because they did not think things through. So wanna seen what happens when you owe a bank a massive amount of cash and you can only cover 60% of the monthly payments?

How long until this party is over?

Enjoy the day.

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November 19, 2024 · 00:43

Where is the west now?

The Arab News gave me an article that made me shiver. No, this is not some BBC article or a similar article by the Guardian. The article (at https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2579777/world) gives us ‘Emergency declared in New Delhi as smog hits highest level this year’. This is not some article about luxury jets. We are given “Pollution in Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area — home to around 55 million people — reached the “severe plus” category as some areas reached an Air Quality Index score of 484, this year’s highest, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.” It comes with an added “Delhi was ranked as the most polluted city in the world on Monday by Swiss group IQAir, with a concentration of PM 2.5, 138.4 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommended levels.” That is not nothing. 138.4 times higher. Or as they might say 13840% of the recommended levels. We see Reuters, AP News, not the BBC and not the Guardian. I reckon that it doesn’t involve jets from the ultra rich. We are given that “Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at forecast company Skymet Weather, said people in the capital region are faced with serious health risks.” This is a frightening revelation. I keep on wondering how it could have gotten this bad. I have experienced smog in Europe, but I reckon that the Indians see that as a cool summer breeze compared to what they face. I wonder if there is a to the point card with up to date information (per day) how the rest of the world would react. I also wonder who will get the blame for this. I do believe that there would be enough blame to go around in the Indian political structure. Yet there is in me a realisation that New Delhi needs to do something about the population. As of 2024, the population of New Delhi, the capital of India, is over 33 million people. This is a 2.63% increase from the previous year. So at what point does the setting of ‘full’ apply? Consider that New Delhi has 30% more people than the entirety of Australia (or 90% of Canada for that matter). We at least have a decent amount of land to spread that population around, as does Canada, India seemingly has not. 

So whilst we get “On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.” And the levels in New Delhi are 50% higher than dangerous. So when will we see the Guardian or the BBC offer ‘solutions’.

Have a healthy day, optionally with a decent amount of fresh air.

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