Tag Archives: Canada

February 24, 2023 · 20:41

That first step

That was the setting I was given when ABC decided to skip water with stones. The article (at https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/pressure-on-spy-boss-to-ease-up-on-foreign-interference/102010914) gives us ‘Pressure on spy boss to “ease up” on foreign interference’, a radio piece no less. It boils down to “In his annual threat assessment, the head of Australia’s security agency also revealed he’d been directly pressured by public servants, academics and businesspeople to “ease up” his focus on foreign influence” and apart from the one typo I saw, I also wonder who these people are. They are as I personally see them and as I have mentioned them the ‘stakeholders’ connected to corporations. I wonder who the Australian business people are, what THEY have to gain. I mentioned a long time ago that the media is filtered by Shareholders, stakeholders and advertisers. As I personally see it, it is the advertisers (with interests in Russia) and stakeholders with Russian connection that are the problem. In the first (and I apologise for the language) “Who the fuck do these academics and businesspeople think they are to oppose the security of Australia?” In the second, who are these public servants and business people? I think we need to put them out in the limelight and see what stakeholders become visible when we shake those trees. It is bbad enough that we are confronted with stakeholders stopping news from getting to the people, but when it comes to foreign influence in Australian governance, it becomes a whole new ball of wax and questions should be asked. The fact that this is now an issue, but we get limited exposure to this is another matter and we need to get this into the limelight. 

Mikey Mike (the spy catcher) has a bad enough setting as it is, lets cooperate with him, we owe him that much. He is trying to keep Australia safe and fair dinkum honest. In addition to that, if WE face it, make no mistake that there are equal issues in the United Kingdom, Canada (where currently unconfirmed rumours have it that Pierre Poilievre is engaging with trolls to get his visibility out there), India and optionally New Zealand, but the last reference is more speculation from me than fact. So Australia is not alone and as I see it Mike Burgess (ASIO),  David Vigneault (CSIS) and Ken McCallum (MI5) should pool resources and see which stakeholders have more than one shoreline they are fishing at, them and the direct connection they have. I think it is time to light up that collected Riffraff. I am still all for electing the actual traitors with a Accuracy International AXMC (the .338 edition) but apparently that is an illegal act (darn). And I admit, traitors make my blood boil and the blood gets a few degrees warmer when it is done for money. A first step is required and personally I think that illuminating these stakeholders will make them rush like the roaches they are for any place offering shades. When we have there visibility we can see who THEY are connected to. That does not mean that the connection are guilty, but it gives us the frame of an image and that image optionally colours the roadmap to something that could be a solution. Yes, there are issues with ‘could’ and ‘optional’ but in the dark we know nothing and we owe Mikey Mike more, or t least a stage where he can operate and three groups with self serving interests are not the way to go, especially when it is about the safety of a nation. It is even more when you consider that this could affect the whole Commonwealth. In this I could be wrong, I really could be, but should we allow this level of interference to go unattended to? I say no and it is time that you realise that in the Commonwealth stakeholders are given too much leeway and that needs to stop (or massively dampened). We need to realise that we have a problem and the first step to solving that problem is admitting we have one.

So have a great Friday and make your Friday a ‘Friyay’.

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February 18, 2023 · 19:23

A house by any other owner

OK, this is the third time I am raising this. I raised it twice before. The reason is that the BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64547396) gives us the event a mere 7 hours ago by Nadine Yousif, BBC Toronto. So are they very late to the party, or is this a lot larger? I honestly cannot tell. The reason is that in the first the article is largely void of dates. In addition we get “A Canadian couple recently learned that their home was sold by fraudsters without their consent while they were out of town. Experts say theft of this nature is rare, but there has been a notable rise of similar cases in the country’s most populous city” the use of ‘recently’.  Really BBC, you could not be precise? Then we are given “The BC Land Title and Survey Authority (LTSA) said it is aware of two title fraud attempts since 2020, only one of which was successful. The public corporation added it only knows of one prior case in 2019, and two in 2008 and 2009”, really? The news gives a lot more recently, but here I might be in error as there are two forms and title fraud is seemingly less used. That is fair, but there is a much larger stage here now. So what happens when any act on title transfer or mortgage acquisition, the person acquiring it must get a biometrical scan? That gives us non-repudiation. That person and only that person could have done this. It is not the weirdest idea. A house tends to be over $500K and a house is a setting of ones identity. When we add the actuary as a control setting, we get a massive drop in these activities. The biometrics and photograph give a much larger stage for prosecution and optionally deportation of these criminals. I reckon the LTSA would applaud such a move as it secures and provides safety for those who own their property. There is still a risk that someone uses the stage to quickly get in under the radar, but the use of an actuary might dwindle this risk and those who tried this approach would soon find themselves looking for a place to live outside of any commonwealth nation, because this is happening in the United Kingdom and Australia. As such a stage needs to be set where the people can create a safety setting and keep their own little castle safe from exploitation by criminals. This is not a fool proof system. I get that. The old expression is “In confusion there is profit” an expression which started during WW2. But if we can lower the risk and 4 out of 5 people currently afflicted could avoid this nightmare scenario, it would be a win win situation. Are there better solutions? That is hard to say, all kinds of instances have used IT as a easy grab for all kinds of shortcuts and I am not aware which of these shortcuts apply to Canada, but the rise implies that there are weaknesses in this setting and as such the biometric stage might lower the risks for the Commonwealth. It is just an idea, but it took me less than an hour to think it up, consider that against the stage where we were given “by the time they found out that it had been stolen last June. As of February, the couple is still working through having their title on the home restored” a nightmare of at least 8 months, so I reckon my hour was well spend and if they can sway this as well as the demand for any title change two sets of biometrics are required, the stage becomes a non-option for criminals. You see, in the EU, they have biometrics on their passports. A second biometric could be scanned at the point of sale, which might take 24 hours (optionally less), the transgressor will not get a match, which now also suggests that this transgressor could be prosecuted, but that is merely an idea. The treasure is to keep realestate safe for its rightful owner. 

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February 1, 2023 · 14:02

Insecure Masturbation Fraternisers (IMF)

Yup, that is the slogan and to get there we need to take a little trip down memory lane before we get to the article that jogged my memories. You see, it all started on October 10th 2013 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2013/10/10/economic-management-through-newscasts/) where I gave the readers “The same day I get the news on a diplomatic escalation in the Netherlands, sky News UK comes with an entirely different matter. Two elements seemed to be in play. The IMF suddenly lifted the economic growth for the UK by 1.4% for 2013 and for 1.9% for 2014. Those are numbers that are beyond remarkable. Sky News showed Olivier Blanchard the Chief economist of the IMF to make this statement. It was interesting that the IMF calls on Christine Lagarde to give the bad news and Olivier gets to give the good news. There was a shimmer of hope for realism as Ed Conway, economic Editor at Sky News was happy to not reject the notion that the IMF have been lousy forecasters in the past to say the least”, as well as “‘Suddenly’ there was good news, a week before the debt ceiling needs to be raided, whilst the US is still in shutdown mode. Let us not forget that Greece, who also suddenly had ‘good’ news last week is still beyond broke, in addition France and Italy are still not in good shape. The biggest issue is that the UK forecast, which was +0.6%, which was a pretty good achievement to +1.4%. That boils down to a miscalculation of almost $18 Billion! That is a massive miscalculation. There is no indication that such errors were made. Consider that the IMF had high criticism towards the tactics by Chancellor George Osborne, UK’s faithful exchequer.” Are you clued in at present. There is now an indicator that the IMF is nothing more than a political presentation tool to hand out lollies for others to look away as credit limits are increased. It is one of the reasons I went towards Brexit. After the speech by Marky Mark of the British bank (aka Mark Carney, a Canadian no less), I saw the dangers of staying in the EU. Mario Draghi was using a Credit card for trillions after the first trillion was a miss. Now, that happens, solutions are selected hoping it will set the outcome to another stage. There is no fault there, but then he does it again for another 2 trillion. Wasn’t it Albert Einstein that stated that only a lunatic will do the same thing twice hoping for a different outcome? And it wasn’t just me, others had reservations too. There was no outcry when Mario Draghi was shown to be a member of an exclusive bank group. So how much did his friends end up with catering to that debt. Consider that bank bonds have a registration fee and commission. So how much commission did these two dozen people get over three trillion? I can tell you that is would be up to 2%, implying that two dozen people ended up with $600,000,000, not a bad run. So why should the UK pay for that?

Now that we are all caught up (to some extent) it is time to look at the article (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64452995) giving us ‘UK expected to be only major economy to shrink in 2023 – IMF’. Now I am not stating that this is not the case, it could be. Yet when we look to 2013 and later, the IMF has played the wrong spades in this game. So when I see words like ‘expected’ and ‘only major economy’ after it took the IMF and Creepy LaStrange (I think that was her name) a year to admit that they made an error of well over $18,000,000,000 I have issues with anything they claim. And when I see “The IMF said the economy will contract by 0.6% in 2023, rather than grow slightly as previously predicted” without clarity I have issues. The numbers could be true, but with the Russian clambake in the Ukraine, the Covid issues (especially in China), the labour shortages and a few other elements that influences the issues, we merely see  “Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK outperformed many forecasts last year. But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the figures showed the UK “lagging behind our peers”” and charts and numbers how bad the UK is doing, but the problem is that the IMF (or Insecure Masturbation Fraternisers) have been too much like a political tool. They proclaim that Russia is getting a positive boost this year but we do not see that it might be mainly woodworkers to create the  126,650 coffins for lost troops, so their economy is up, but who pays that bill? And in the stage of presentation my issue is that these people are all about ‘forcing’ the UK back into the EU so that their GDP can be added to their credit limit. The EU is running out of credit card space, it has been for a year and the UK revenue is essential to turn that about and people need to wake up to the unaccountable overspending the EU is doing. At present the EU debt is well over €12 trillion  with several nations having too much debt. We all know about Greece with over 193% of GDP, Italy surpassed 150% of GDP and Portugal surpassed 125%, Spain is almost at 120%, and France is at almost 115%. The credit limits have been reached and it does not bode well, so all hands on deck forcing the UK back into the EU, but the truth is that once the hardship is passed (which will take some time), the UK will become the power player and the EU will be reduced to a third world nation. So basically at present (a personal view) the German debt of 80% of GDP is the only economy keeping the EU standing. That is not enough and I spoke about that in the past (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2017/03/17/the-finality-of-french-freedom/) in ‘The finality of French freedom’ on the 7th of March 2017 where I wrote “Which is why France is a big deal, that whilst they represent one of four anchors keeping the Euro in place. With the British anchor removed, the stress on the three is intense, the Euro cannot continue with the remaining two anchors that is the desperate game Draghi is facing now. Weakness and non-decisions from 2012 onwards have caused this mess, and of course he is not done yet. As we see in Reuters, last Monday he stated “If non-high-tech companies adopt more innovative technology, that would provide a boost for European productivity“, speaking as the European Central Bank President last Monday, it that so? With what funds? Innovations requires money, such steps have a cost” here I compared the economy with a floating platform kept in place by 4 anchors. It used to be the UK, France, Germany and Italy. Now that the UK is gone, the platform is now in trouble as only the German anchor has any strength left. The economic sea is in turmoil and I already saw this in 2017. Then we got Covid and that stupid bear named Russia and now the economy is a problem, especially for the EU and when that breaks up, the US (Japan also) have no way to go but down and that is what they all fear, they can prolong this if they can bully the UK, but we have seen enough bullies. We all have had enough and that is why I chose Brexit. I could not predict Covid or Russia, but a next economic disaster is alway just past the horizon, there is always a next fire to put out and now the IMF wants to make matters look worse. As I see it, they need a whole range of better and more descriptive numbers. As it stands, at present I do not trust the IMF. Yes the UK could face another recession, but it will be nowhere as bad as the one the EU faces. In the end the UK is part of a Commonwealth and we all (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom) need to united to face the headwinds of the coming storm, we owe it to each other with the acts of irresponsibility we do not owe the EU and we do not owe the US. The US has had over a quarter of a century to overhaul their tax laws. I made mention on this as early as in the age of President George H. W. Bush (1998) now 25 years ago. I say enough is enough and the IMF better give us a lot more and a lot clearer numbers than what we see in the BBC article. That is my personal point of view on the matter.

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January 23, 2023 · 22:04

Drip, drip, drip, bucket

This all started a little over a week ago with ‘Delete their asses’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/01/14/delete-their-asses/), I quoted the BBC who gave us “Despite our efforts, every year we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions”. Now CBC gives us (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/organized-crime-groups-behind-gta-home-sales-mortgages-without-owners-knowledge-1.6719978) With the headline ‘How organised crime has mortgaged or sold at least 30 GTA homes without owners’ knowledge’ This does not invalidate the quote “we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions”, yet I believe that they were already aware and at least 30 is not a very small number, as I personally see it, it is the use of the word ‘very’. You see, the issue is a lot larger than they make it out to be. Organised crime is not that intelligent (unless they have Filofaxes, making them very organised crime), what does happen is that some innovative scoundrel with a law degree, or perhaps even an intelligent law student who passed his Real Property is equivalent and a few other parts and then he or she realises that there is a gap, a loophole and whatever happens in Canada, in the UK will also optionally happen in Australia and New Zealand. I stated on the 14th of January that something had to be done yesterday, Now CBC shows us that something is essential to be done and it should have been done last year. 

A larger review of housing and the need to create legal barricades, so that people can go on vacation knowing that they can go on vacation and when they get home their house will still be theirs. I still believe that a step towards mandatory actuary services could become a first step. Banks might add actuaries and add safety services and there could be a chance that when you go to the bank for a mortgage, they will insist on THEIR actuary services reducing the chance that they see their money gone on a false mortgage. I am not stating that this will be the case, but it could be the case. You see, the quote “CBC Toronto has learned that a handful of organised crime groups are behind these real-estate frauds — in which at least 30 homes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have either been sold or mortgaged without the real owners’ knowledge” shows these 30 events around Toronto, implying that Canada has a decent amount more of these cases. So how many happened in the UK, how many will Australia have? The people behind it would spread the setting as much as possible getting a much greater amount of profit. What is clear that 30 in Toronto is merely the tip of the iceberg and something needs to be done. 

Because in the end, it will never rain when it pours, the question is will you in the end have a roof to shield you from that?

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January 16, 2023 · 10:01

Creating a nightmare

Yes, we do that at times. I use different ways, but the nightmare that formed in my mind is one that I wasn’t ready for and it shaped in one dream. You see, in intelligence there is a saying. If you want to sell a lie, cover it in truth. This is true for them and it is also true for story writers. Getting the audience invested in the story requires a stage where they can relate to and whatever truths they are given, the ones they an verify will work a lot quicker for the story.

So it started with the second thing I heard, but to each its place. The first thing I saw, source not recalled, mainly because I did not give it any value was “The US and UK are supporting Ukraine to stay in the war, but not enough to win” I cannot say who or why and I do not think it is true, but it stayed in the back of my mind. It was the second part that gave it a swing. The statement comes from a Dutchman named Rob de Wijk. He is the founder of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS). He stated “Hopefully unfounded wishful thinking about Ukraine’s chances will give way to more realism. This is necessary because the West faces a tremendous dilemma: the worse Ukraine gets, the greater the chance that NATO countries will become increasingly involved in the war. The risk of a direct confrontation with NATO is also increasing. The heavy weapons that the NATO countries will then need limit the possibilities of supplying them to Ukraine now. It is now forcing Western leaders to consider how to end this war quickly.” That started the rollercoaster. You see Russia and its Kremlin people have a new stage. With the oligarchs mostly gone and loads of their fortunes now confiscated, the sugar daddies of the Kremlin are falling away. It leaves these people with whatever they have and that is not much, or it is massively below what they are used to. Their defence is still falling short, their military aren’t hacking it and local problems are increasing. 

So there we have greed driven Kremlinski’s and their need for more money, so how long until some of them strike a much larger deal with the Russian Mafia? The Russian mafia gets all kinds of support, in exchange for money and creation of Chaos all over the America’s and Europe. I reckon we can wait for that ghost to hit the brains of too many people. Now that is not enough, you see we need a plan to strike back and there I remembered a book by John Gardner called Golgotha, it was also released as the last trump around 1980. I believe that is where the scriptwriters from the New Avengers (Steed, Gambit and Purdey) with the second episode being House of Cards. That and Golgotha gives a new approach to sleepers. Added are within the team a seminole, the comm members are seminole. They are mostly outside of the team and their Mikasuki members are un-hackable. Not unlike the Navajo’s in WW2. But the larger setting is that these are 6 teams. One in the US, one in Canada, one in the UK and the other three all over Europe. They are facing Russians who are blackmailing all kinds of industry giants and governmental officials. Housing scams, grifting the rich and connected and blackmailing them in the process. 

A setting where we have a counter, a Cheyenne approach to hit and run, something the Russian mafia has never faced and their orders are simple. Kill all Russians and destroy everything they have. A new lever of John Wick, but a little more realistic and within their actions we see Russian death and mayhem. I reckon that the first studio picking up this idea will have a nice sweet advantage. Anyway there is a little more but not much. I got all these elements in mere hours (whilst I was snoring like a sawmill). 

Consider that nightmare whilst you leave your house untended for the day.

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January 14, 2023 · 22:16

Delete their asses

There are two stories that need writing. One I cannot do until late Monday, because civil servants do not work on the weekend (weird). The other one is about fraud. The CBC alerted me to ‘It’s happened again. 2nd Toronto home listed for sale without homeowner’s knowledge’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/fraudulent-home-sale-1.6710868) and the problem is actually a lot worse than they think it is. You see, I remembered and found ‘Arrest after Luton clergyman reports his home stolen’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-59167750) in November 2021. This has been going on for well over a year and when I see “We work with professional conveyancers, such as solicitors, and rely on them and the checks that they make to spot fraudulent attempts to impersonate property owners. Despite our efforts, every year we do register a very small number of fraudulent transactions.” And when I see this my blood curdles towards psychotic. When we see “rely on them”, I understand, but in the same breath I say that if at that point the conveyancer CANNOT show proper documentations and proper diligence he gets to lose his license for life. I am so sick of this casual approach to responsibilities (you will learn on Monday or Tuesday). It is time to change this level of stupidity. If these players no matter who cannot show due diligence, they lose their licence for life. These players all want ease, they want the internet and as such people lose their houses and their stuff, we need to change that game and we need to change it by a lot. The CBC gives us “the case bears a striking resemblance to an investigation the Toronto Police Service (TPS) asked for the public’s help with last week, in which another family wasn’t so lucky”. First of all, I am not blaming the Toronto Police Service. But the stage of ease of sale and ease of buying property needs to stop. In the old days there ere actuaries and perhaps we need to revisit that stage, they were truly diligent. The world is so much about reduction of sales cycle and now we see that people are getting hurt and some excuse that it is a mere few cases does not hold water. The victims lose to much, even if the damage is undone, the damage is close to permanent and something needs to be done. Perhaps it needs to be more draconian, but I feel strong about someone losing THEIR castle. So when I see “CBC News has reported on numerous allegations of fake identifications and other documents being used to rent homes and take out fraudulent mortgages, but these attempted home thefts appear to take real estate fraud to an alarming new level” I see that the system is failing and it is failing in the UK and in Canada. So we need a new stage, we need new systems of control and the stage of “this is easier” is no longer acceptable. Easy got the grifters and the scammers in, that needs to stop and the conveyancers are a first step, but merely a first. A lot more needs to be done and it needed to be started well over a year ago. 

Perhaps I am overreacting, but the idea of my place to be sold from under me when I go on vacation is a nightmare I never want to face and if that means deleting some overly non-diligent people, then so be it.

Enjoy Sunday.

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January 5, 2023 · 22:16

Growth

Growth, we all seek it, in mind, in business, and in setting and there is a stage that is evolving at present. The Guardian reported early this morning ‘Record warm winter in parts of Europe forces closure of ski slopes’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/04/warmest-january-ever-forces-ski-slopes-across-europe-to-close). Now there is the expression that one swallow is no identification of Summer. Yet there is no guarantee that next year will be better. Consider the stages France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. That is a stage that gives them a pool over well over 2 million people who do want snow, who want to taste the slopes. They will soon need to seek or at least consider other venues. In the Northern Hemisphere that gives them Norway, Canada and China. Finland has a lack of mountains, as does Sweden. Norway can grow as can Canada. I reckon that there are too many anti-China sentiments at present. Norway and Canada have good vibes on the slopes and I reckon it is time for them to consider new settings. Some places in Norway can grow, but they will need at least one more place for now, as does Canada. Yes Whistler is a great destination, but it is overcrowded. The 2022/2023 movies are mostly ab out the horrendous waiting times, the amount of people trying to get up. Whistler is full and Canada either creates an additional place where the people now going to Whistler can g, or bleed tourists to other nations. I reckon that they will see that another Canadian field (most likely in British Columbia) makes sense. There have been abandoned places (near Calgary) that offer a good setting, yet that stage need work as well as anything new. Every field will grow, but only if all the amenities are there. The same for Norway, who is seen as an excellent place to visit, but the call of Whistler is strong. So, as I see it They both have good chances, but the one with a better option and a cheaper one (Whistler is really expensive) will get that cluster of people. So there is risk. If a strong winter gets back in the next year, their issues are saved (France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy), if not the early bird will get the collection of worms and it will be a lot more than mere thousands. Thi will affect plane travel as well as accomodations. There is of course a lot more and even as I cannot give you all the answers, there is clear place to grow, not merely to get the overrun to Whistler, the failing of places we never expected to fail will call for more answers, some we might never get. But the overwhelming stage is that snow is lacking in places where it should not and the places that could benefit might never have seen this coming.

That is not on them, but next year will be and there they need to find ways to either take the risk that they miss out, or see what they could get because a group of millions of tourists in this day and age is a strong call. Personally I have no interest, but there is a second stage, one that is not a given. We can get that Paris and Milan–Cortina d’Ampezzo are places currently set for the Olympics. I hope it goes well, but if this bad winter stage continues, someone has to step in. Who? That is anybodies guess. But there is room to grow for several reasons and several places will have the option to grow, will they take it? I cannot tell, but even if there is added revenue, it comes with a decent amount of risk. No one denies that, but no one saw the really bad snow weather of this season come, especially when places like Canada is drowning in the stuff. 

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January 4, 2023 · 23:19

Follow by example

Early this morning I was alerted to news from the BBC (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64082923). There we see ‘Foreigners now banned from buying homes in Canada’ and when home pressures are as high as in Canada, that makes sense. But there is more. You see Canada states “As of 1 January, the ban prohibits people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents from buying residential properties” so we can state that the term ‘foreigner’ is applied loosely. Then there is the list of people with critique and issues. But consider, why would you want to buy a residence when you are not a citizen or a permanent resident? Consider that and then consider how the London Real estate atmosphere is spiced and spiked due to hedge funds and wealthy investors? Canada had to do something and they chose this. And it is not a new thing. New Zealand did something similar in 2018. We also get “federal housing minister Ahmed Hussen said the ban is meant to discourage buyers from looking at homes as commodities instead of a place to live and grow a family” and here I personally believe that Ahmed Hussen is correct. What is interesting that the BBC did not give us any results from the 2018 act by New Zealand. Did it reduce pressures? Any answer would have been nice and also illustrative, but they did not, why not? 

I personally believe that Canada made the right step, whilst too many governments are catering to investors and speculators, there is a larger need to stop all this. And Canada made its move. Also the Canadian governments made a mention in December “the Canadian government announced some exemptions to the regulation, including for international students who have been in the country for at least five years, refugee claimants and people with temporary work permits”, as such we see that the heart of the Canadian government is in the right place. Will this be enough to reduce pressures? I cannot tel, I do not know enough about the housing market and specifically the Canadian housing market. Yet, overall when we consider the mess London and several other places are in, the move makes sense. If there is one loser, then that would be the players who invested in building ‘The One’ on Bloor street West in Toronto. That building screams investors and they cannot get a place as far as I can tell, but I reckon that the government will find a loophole for that as that place has nothing below a million and it caters to a different group.

I wonder if the results will be made public enough at the end of 2023 to see the impact. It might be a report that places like New York, London, Amsterdam and Paris are waiting for. In a time when the cost of living is going nuts, reducing housing stress makes perfect sense to me.

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December 22, 2022 · 20:03

Blame Canada

Yup, it happens, it is decently rare though. The rumour has it when the EU wants to upgrade Human Law issues, they look at the law books from New Zealand and Canada and copy what they need (allegedly). So when the CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/yvr-vancouver-international-airport-flights-cancelled-dec-20-2022-1.6693067)

gave me ‘‘I may never fly again’: Horror stories from the Vancouver airport’ I definitely took notice. And I have to admit, there is an issue, a different one than reported, but there is one. It made me think back 25 years when I had the quirkiest sense of humour.  I was at Iraklion airport and the plane was delayed. 6 hours delayed. This happens, but Iraklion had no bar, no cafe a broken down coffee machine and a tax free shop. I was not going to spend 6 hours drinking alcohol, so I had to suck it up. There was no food either, so by the time the plane FINALLY arrived, I was as quirky as I had ever been. As I walked to the plane I saw a highly rusted 2” bolt, I picked it up and walked into the plane. I asked for the chief engineer (who came quickly but seemed puzzled). I handed the rusty bolt to him stating it had fallen out of his engine, he might want to hold onto it. The first 10 rows of passengers turned completely white and the demon on my right shoulder slapped my neck with the comment ‘Nicely done!’ The captain off course sought me out 2-3 minutes later telling me that one more joke like that and he would have me evicted from the plane. Ah well, the life of a comedian is never without obstacles.

So back to the article, you see, we get the part of “During those 11 hours, whenever Hudson became restless, she gave her baby some formula to calm him down. She’d brought two days’ worth — by the end, she had just one sachet left”, we get it the emotional baby stories hits a mark with every parent. As well as “When she mentioned this to a customer service agent, she was told she’d have to leave the airport to buy more formula. “I don’t know where I’m going to go and get formula,” Caley said.” In the first, weather is unpredictable and the storms they had lately are one of a kind. But there is a side that has value. Every airport the size of Vancouver needs to have a basic shop, a 7-11 like place with pharmacy where basic stuff like foods, baby foods, medication and firs aid events can be acquired. Perhaps a need for Canada to place a Shoppers Drug Mart in every airport in the checked in side, with a few optional extras like baby food and formula. About 4 hours ago CBC also gives us ‘Vancouver airport restricting international flights for 2 days to clear backlog after snowstorm’, a stage we cal all see and Canadians more clearly then most others and when we see this, there is a larger call for amenities in stores. I wonder how many are on that train with food for thought? The additional stage where these airlines hand out Tim Horton vouchers so that the people can get some coffee, some food and even as these passengers get one voucher, the option to buy more would be well appreciated. So in 327 seconds I saw options where the press (in this case CBC) reports a ‘horror story’. Don’t get me wrong a mother our of her mind because she cannot appease the baby is a real horror (and more dangerous than the Russian infantry at present), but that sets us in solution seeking mode, not in reporting the horror mode, at least not me. 

And when I see “WestJet sent Caley an email saying it wouldn’t be able to rebook until after Christmas and offered no accommodation because the delay was due to weather. They have no idea when they’ll be able to get to Toronto”, but there are trains from Toronto to Vancouver, it could solve the issue for a lot of people and that is a larger stage, now I get that places like WestJet (with a lack of margins) might not have that option, but the setting releases pressure from the airport. Just a thought, was that so hard? I know it is not feasible by bus or car, and they will have options outside in Vancouver, but that also raises the issue, what options did WestJet have? I am not blaming them, we see the news and we know that some storms could never be predicted, yet what was known? What could have been cared for? This is not a unique situation in Canada or Alaska for that matter. These are questions I do not have answers to, but the Canadians do and WestJet should have some answers (perhaps they do), but we do not see them here and that matters. The question at this point becomes was this about the bottom dollar for WestJet? I am not accusing, I am asking and that is also on the CBC, there is no article that shows how Canadian airports dal with a situation like this and for me “We sincerely apologise to all of those impacted” does not hold water. Not when people are stuck for well over a week in one location and this might be a one off, but that too was not reported on, was it? 

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December 10, 2022 · 11:33

Ruler of law goes metric

Yes, we all have settings that are part of us, for the most the rule of law is accepted by nearly all. But when do we realise that it is not that simple? There is the notion that this rule of law has an Imperial and a metric setting and that is the core of what we face today. I got my view from the Canadian CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-khashoggi-lawsuit-dismissed-1.6676798). There we get ‘U.S. judge dismisses lawsuit against Saudi prince over Khashoggi killing’, s0 at what point does the US set the stage for events that took place in an alleged Saudi environment in Turkey no less? Lets look at the simple facts, Jamal Khashoggi is as far as I can tell a Saudi dissident, not an American citizen and I do not care what was planned. It never got to be. This person has gotten more ‘alleged’ assistance in a month than most American citizens have seen in a decade. Then we are given “U.S. District Judge John Bates suggested he was reluctant to throw out the lawsuit but had no choice given the Biden administration’s decision.” And I will get back to this in a moment. We are also given “Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in October 2018 by Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul” which is the supporting lie. You see, his body was never found, there is absolutely no evidence that he was dismembered, or killed. For all we know he is spending the rest of his days with his new mistress of 19 years old in a luxurious hotel on Bora Bora. It is equally speculative, is it therefor more wrong?

And we do take notice of “Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice said in a November court filing that the Biden administration had determined that Prince Mohammed, “as the sitting head of a foreign government, enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts as a result of that office.”” It is the stage that was always going to happen, there was no evidence of any kind, mere speculation and Daily Mail categorised forms of speculated innuendo that never goes anywhere. Lets be clear, I cannot prove the innocence of certain people, but I cannot prove their guilt either and a person is innocent until proven guilty. That is the law and there is no metrical version of that, it is imperial, it is black letter law and that is what the law is. The media wants you to forget this so that they can cater to the digital dollar a little longer. And you are the tool they are using for that. In the mean time Jeff Bezos (via Andy Jassy) denied himself an annual 6 billion and change going up to close to $30 billion in full deployment mode. This is the damage Amazon did to themselves and it is fine by my book, although a little less nice as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided not to buy it either. My loss and I get that. But below all this is a stage where the US is in a lot more problem. You see, they desperately need the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia assist them with cheap oil and I have stated this before. Why would they do that? The US has proven themselves to be a fleeting and unreliable ally to say the least. Do not take my word for that, look at the victims in Yemen and Syria and ask yourself, what did the US achieve? Close to nothing and now that they are at the abyss, the hangman’s rope has a very uncomfortable feeling. And as I see it, should the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia want it and limit the shipments of Crude Oil by an additional mere 1 million barrels a day, the US will explode in a stage of anarchy, just before Christmas and that realisation is at stake. The US overplayed its hand for at least two years and now we see that anarchy could become the turnstile of events. So do not think this is something that President Biden started. This is the stage 4 previous administrations colluded under (sort of) and yes, former president Trump might be the only one trying to turn it around but it would have been too little and optionally too late too. The previous congresses made sure of that. They were all too ego driven to see that impact grow and grow. And before you consider the immense state of “Khashoggi had criticised the crown prince’s policies in Washington Post columns. He had travelled to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain papers he needed to marry Cengiz, a Turkish citizen.” You see the US had the option to make him a citizen from 2017 onwards but they chose not to do that (optionally it was in the hands of Khashoggi). So for over a year there was a stage where he had the option to make a change, optionally the US intelligence office could have prevented it if there was a voice, but there wasn’t one. This implies (to me) that there was no real warning, no real danger which now sheds a light on a lot of issues and it does not look good for the US. Hiding behind some metric version of the law was never going to work well and I have highlighted close to half a dozen issues from the beginning and the fictional book of Blood and Oil merely worked for my case. When you see all these articles, all these media evidence and it comes with words like ‘alleged’ and ‘could have’, how wrong do you think I am? 

It is sad watching governments trying to cater to ego and to the clear need of a commodity that their non-allies have, it is a pathetic view and it is not getting better any day soon.

I will let you investigate that, just be sure you rely on the sources you can rely on.

 

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