Tag Archives: Canada

Declining time

Not sure where this is coming from. I have been having a weird dream, not the dream where I come up for more ideas, perhaps that might be the case, but I cannot see it yet. The theme is Salems Lot, by Stephen King. I have been re dreaming parts of it, the part where the kid and the writer go after the people in Salems Lot. But not what happened in the movies. The settings are disjointed, it is like the setting has been changed, the led characters are on the run and time is running out. It seemingly is about declining times. But there were a few upsides, but those elude me now. 

There was something else, it came to me and it will come to me again. My memory blows at time. The setting that I do see, is that there is a remake upon remake on a movie that already is good enough and that cannot be the setting, after that we get that the book is not my favourite one that Stephen King has given us ad he has given us a lot. The version that played in my mind was the one with David Soul and Lance Kerwin, but the scenes were never filmed, or not in a way I saw it. They were wearing silver glasses and the glasses were projecting crosses in front of them. That never happened in either the book or the movies (both of them). Like glasses with led, projecting light in front of them, the crosses are mere icons to light the way. But then I got to think, as we have a more set version of horror, the Arabic lands do not. So where are there versions of horror? Where are their portrayal of the Jinn? We never saw them in the west, but that doesn’t mean none were made. What happens when we unite modern knowledge with folk tale? What happens when western scientists happen to stumble upon early writings and wake up this chapter of evil? That might be the declining timeline I am seeing. The fact that this hasn’t happened yet and someone has to become the first. The islamic population is globally around 2 billion. What happens when someone is the first? What happens when we create a new type of horror? Set on the foundations of writers who have distinguished themselves? Consider the impact that a series like American Horror Story had, now take that approach into a new area, the scientific one and cross it with Arabic legends from the past? 

That might be the line of inquisition. You see, we see the forward notion that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have, but that increase will need entertainment and as I see it players like Abu Dhabi Media Network and others could use an upgrade. They are getting more and more viewers. I think that they could up their game in the horror setting. I reckon there s only so much drama and fake reality TV any audience will accept and horror is as good a place as any. Science fiction and other settings will evolve in their own time and partly it is fueled what America and Canada bring, but the setting of Horror is out in the open. Horror is based on what we fear or what brings us anxiety and I reckon that most Arabs will how with laughter on what the stories of the Nun brings them, but take that into a new realm and give them a setting of what western excavation brings (together with Arabian scientists) and they unearth a book on the life of Al-Malik al-Aswad as they unearth a never before seen version of Kitāb al-Bulhān and from there the pages unfold a reality brought forth by a jinn and it affects the world. I reckon that will get the Arabic population lose a few nights of sleep. And would you know it, 2 billion viewers could be talking day (and night) about what could happen next. Not a bad audience to cater to.

Mission accomplished. Have a great day, it is 04:00 on Sunday, I still have hours to go until my breakfast.

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Under budget

That is at time the setting, but I kinda forget about that. It’s not that I am forgetting the setting, but it is that when I am pushed into a hotel, I usually have a high setting on security. There is nothing as annoying as getting to a hotel, quickly change into something easy so you can enjoy a quick bite to eat, to return to your room and learn that your room has been ransacked and your devices are gone. But in the UAE this is different. Everything is top notch there. The safety of you and yours is almost a given anywhere in the UAE. So I looked at the list of the hotels under 250 Dirham (which amounts to €58, or C$94, £50) and they all look good, but that amounts to a lot less than anything London, Toronto, Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris is likely to offer ever. Oh and there are more, but they are near Dubai, it is a short ride (half an hour by train, but that negates the exercise). 

So we get the list of Holiday Inn Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport, Tryp By Wyndham, Southern Sun, and the City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel. 4 hotels that offer a wealth of luxuries and amenities in one of the most attractive places in the world. As such Your trip doesn’t need to be expensive and these 4 will give you a reason to make the trip more than once a year, one must get their Apple extensions tax free, doesn’t one? I tend to focus on the free daily pass that the Warner Bros Hotel offers (more do that in Abu Dhabi), but it is right across from the Warner Bros Theme park and Water World is a less than 5 minute stroll as well. The others are either a happy stroll, or a free bus ride away (like the Yass Mall where your Ferrari fun starts). I just learned that charging your car on a Tesla station there is possible for less than 1.5 Dirham per kWh, making it one of the cheapest places to charge anywhere. I believe that some places offer it for free, well basically for guests, making it a place where you can fill up your tummy whilst your car charges. Seems like a steal at twice the price.

The more I learn of Abu Dhabi, the more I think it is the perfect place to retire your weary old bones (mine are old and weary, as such I think all retirees have that condition). And for the price? There are some newly built places available for a mere AED 760,000 (€177K, C$287K, or £153K), making also the cheapest in any of the aforementioned spaces. I am pretty sure it merely gets you a studio, but try getting that in London, Sydney or Paris, I dare you. 

I reckon there was a reason why thousands of millionaires are pooling in this place, I just didn’t think it was for this reason. And I merely looked at the Yas Island properties, there are dozens more all over Abu Dhabi. But the call of 5 theme parks, a mall and a Formula one track are pretty sensational to say the least. And when you get to retirement, you need to flex every dollar you have and there is no place better as I see it. As such (as prices go) that you can get a pass for access to these parks all year round starting at 1800 Dirham (€420, C$680, or £365) which gets you 20% discount in Yas mall, in plenty of places and taking into account that a single day ticket I usually 300 Dirham, these passes pay for themself in under a dozen visits. So what would you like to do the other 340 days? 

The more I see what Abu Dhabi has to offer, the more it appeals and you are a mere 35 minutes away from Dubai and what they have to offer. I am officially over the retirement plans that America, Europe and other places offer. 

And the more I see what Yas Mall offers, the more I like it. We all have issues we overlook, but as It stands with crime at an all time high in Europe and America and safety at an all time low. The UAE has the goods that any family would want. Because as I see it, it will get nasty out there and the appeal that the UAE gives might want you to go merely to feel complete again. 

Oh, and did you know that there are places like Indeed that are trying to find 7000 people for jobs there too? It is overwhelmingly appealing at present, especially as the current ‘safety’ places are shedding jobs by the thousands. 

As I see it, it pays to stay under budget for the obvious reasons of course, but when you are in Abu Dhabi you will be introduced to the not so obvious reasons as well. I think that this level of politeness was only seen in Canada, the UAE is something else and that shows in the manner of the people, the efficiency and the drive for excellence. Now where is my 401K?

Have a great day, its Saturday 05:30 now. Almost time for breakfast.

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The alternative way

I was contemplating the issues of Data privacy and particular the issues around US customs and their intrusion on your data issues. I had a few issues with that and as America is now the least reliable side of the matter I decided on a few techniques that might allow evasion of this. This morning I decided to look a few things up and I paused at Wired (at https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-digital-privacy-intact/) and I got to ‘How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact’ where my suspicions were greeted with the ideas that had not been thought of. You see I am a great fan of ‘non-repudiation’ and that gave me the idea. What if you had the greatest of data insights? What if part of this locking and unlocking the data is for example your library card? This gave me two settings. The first is the magnetic strip, you see, you never think of this and it is what YOU make of it. The first setting is that a bank card has three tracks on a magnetic strip and they are for the most employed by banks when they need it (like ATM), but that setting could be altered for YOUR needs. The second part is what the card looks like. We can use these two elements to take a new page out of a book. 

So this leaves us the corporate way and the personal way. 

As a first, we get to copy the details you need (like a contact list, app list and personal lists). The second part becomes copying hat you need to a corporate server, encrypted data that is merely there, like a backup. So how is that dat secure? Well we get to the next stage, we take one or two cards you have on you. One with a magnetic strip, one as a card (could be business card, could be staff access card, or even your library card). You will keep it on you at all time. And third a personal access number (up to 12 digits) This gives you the setting of non-repudiation.

Now we travel to a ‘no one cares where’ place in America and you pass through customs, without phones or laptops. Just a regular joey. And in the American office you go to the security office and download the essentials. Now this merely makes sense for the people who needs this. So it is not for everyone in the first stage.

You pass the credits to a scanner and there is your data, your essential data that is. Kept safe from peeking eyes, and there is a growing concern that this is becoming more and more essential. We seemingly are ‘held’ to the dangers of YOUR data, but I reckon that America is now gaining an essential need of Digital IP that they can ‘embrace’ for their broke settings soon enough. Only for you to lose the fact that your IP was hijacked and no one knows who or where. But that is the setting that I am seeing now. They need IP to survive the next year and why should they be allowed your data? At present we see nearly everyone giving us “Chinese theft of American IP currently costs between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.” But I am not so sure. We get the ‘victims’ that Nokia and other brands, all whilst Huawei is far beyond what players like Nokia and others can produce. Is there IP theft? Yes, I know there is but from fashion brands like Gucci (it might be IP brands) but the markets are making a killing on $15000 Gucci bags, now for sale in the markets at $179 dollars. As I see it, the new settings allows for America to steal what they need to avoid having to not pay their interest bills. Now this is allegedly, I have no evidence. But the setting as I see it is quite real, as such I devised a way to avoid becoming a victim. The best option is to avoid America all together. Possible for me, but not for everyone and should I get that decently paying technical support job, then I will end up working for a US firm (hopefully avoiding the US altogether) but I am not holding my breath on that. 

As such I came up with this, a first in this task. There are two settings. The first is the data and the second is the hardware. The data I describes and I am a firm believer in non-repudiation. The hardware is different. You se, the movies have this nice clean crisp solution, but we are barely there. There was Ultraviolet (2006) where we see a foam phone printed and folded. We are already at that stage where we can do that. The printed foam cover is possible, there is still the setting of the battery, but that could be overcome. We merely set the LCD print board to include the display, you won’t have a camera setting, but that wouldn’t be needed. We get the setting that the devices go back to their original platform. So you have (if needed) a camera, a battery, and whatever more you need. The printed phone will interact with it all if needed. And wouldn’t it be nice if Huawei gives you all that? American stupidity forces China to give us the next need to innovate. That is irony the size of the Titanic (in action). 

You get one republican idiot forcing the world to turn to its life long enemy (President Nixon doesn’t agree with this statement), but that is for tomorrow. There is of course the real setting. Do we still need America? They are so in denial about what is real that the current tourism news is given to you by YouTube (optionally TikTok too). 

As such my mind went wandering into the data safety setting and as the article is giving you, others have preceded me. But for now, corporations will need to adapt that same policy before they lose the data they have and personal data is currency, one that America shouldn’t possess. As such I wonder at what point these firms will avoid America altogether, setting offices up in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. And now that it seems that India is turning to Russia and China for their oil, they are likely the first to change venue towards their BRICS partners. The EU and the Commonwealth are next. As such Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom will result into making these jumps, to what extent is impossible to predict. I reckon that it depends on how they are depending of America as such. It will be a fluctuating field. But what is true is that more and more people are seeing the hardships that American corporations faces. GM has shed nearly 20,000 staff from 2018 onwards. ‘Tesla to cut 14,000 jobs as Elon Musk aims to make carmaker ‘lean and hungry’’ and that is merely in the last year. In the last 2 months we were told that Microsoft is shedding 9000 jobs. That’s over 40,000 people in merely three corporations and when we seek harder answers. Only Yesterday did Fortune give us ‘Ray Dalio says ‘most people are silent’ because they’re afraid to talk about what’s really happening with the U.S. economy’, I saw this setting months ago and the media is avoiding the issues as they are allegedly being held hostage by advertisement revenues. We aren’t given the real deals and I am not sure where the real deal stands. According to the media the setting is ‘US economy has likely stalled, with 50% risk of recession in 2 years, says Barclays’ in the meantime we are also given ‘US Economy: Jobless Claims Rise, Trade Gap Widens’ and ‘Stagflation & Recession Risks Loom Large Over US Economy’ with sources like UBS (allegedly relying on hard data), UBS gives us a 93% recession risk. If this is true, how does the Barclay setting make sense? I get it, talking about issues in two years time doesn’t mean that the risk is low in the next few months (it could be 100% by November). UBS gave three red flags, so there are all indicators. And the setting of Stagflation becomes the ‘norm’ Which gives us that growth is slowing, but the prices are rising. I am merely voicing what others are saying as I am not an economist. I reckon this is the second bullet that Canada is seemingly dodging as they elected Mark Carney (formerly Marky Mark of the British Bank). I’ll take his word over President Trump’s claims any day of the week. Moody’s speaker Mark Zandi gives us “we aren’t in a recession, but on the precipice of this recession”, OK, I am willing to go along with that, but merely as it seems sincere and I have no economic degree (Mark Zandi apparently has a stack of them). The problem is that these two sources highlight a rather large issue and the media is skating around them, they are avoiding the issue to get their alleged hands on advertisement revenue. It becomes an issue to see the real data and that is where you want to pass your IP through the borders? Not in my lifetime. I am likely to get a nice bonus if I just hand my IP to China, which sounds a lot more promising than trusting that America will do right by me. According to Zandi a third of America is already in recession or close to it and when we add the Tourism numbers I am seeing a grim picture, one that makes me plan my next vacation (whenever I can afford that one) on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE and not in America (ever). The Bank of America is blaming this on Tariffs (what a surprise). As such you might wander what one thing has to do with the other. The principle we are currently seeing at the America borders is the identification of HVT’s (High Value Targets), the second setting is IP. America needs trillions and one way to get these is by hijacking IP (making America the sole distributor of YOUR IP) Is that rally the way to go? Why don’t we ask the EU, Commonwealth and China on that issue? I think this is the one case where these three sides will speak (agree) in unison and I saw the setting coming over a decade ago and it is all over my blog. So why wasn’t the media this informative? I will let you decide.

But believe me that your IP and your personal DATA require protection and in a non-repudiating way. As such my mind went tinkering to what is possible and securing and keeping your data online was a first stop. I call it alternative way and that has a way of becoming the only or main way soon enough. 

Have a great day, I’m now a mere 90 minutes from breakfast.

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The enemy of my enemy is my ally

That is the setting America is coming to know as the great downfall. The BBC gives us (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mlen3grx7o) ‘Reeling from Trump’s tariffs, India and China seek a business reboot’ We can say it is a storm in a cup of water or take this seriously. I made mention of it yesterday, but I gave it a mere passover. It is not the most exciting of settings, that is if you merely adjust it for triviality. This namely has two settings, the first (the one America hungers for) is “The US was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3bn.” The other was gives us that India exported (until near future) “India Exports to United States was US$79.44 Billion during 2024, according to the United Nations” As such China now sits in the seat where China could replace America for up to $60B (they won’t get 100% in the first three years) and China gets access to up to $50B on route from India to China. There is a lot to be made and that will give Walmart pause to consider where to get the cheap stuff they love to flog to their customers, and as I see it Walmart has no real replacements there, when China starts to throttle the revenue of Walmart, America can kiss goodbye to 90% of their employment population, merely 90% of 2.1 million employees. A setting on top of the defense losses, tourism losses and the other losses that America now faces. A rare event of handing a larger win to China. And that opens other doors too. Huawei will be given access to Indias markets and as Indias data centers will adjust to Huawei, America markets will have dried up to close to 15% of the global population and there the other losses come to bear. 

So as we are given “Experts say the levies threaten to leave lasting bruises on India’s vibrant export sector, and its ambitious growth targets. China’s President Xi Jinping, too, is trying to revive a sluggish economy at a time when sky-high US tariffs threaten to derail his plans. Against this backdrop, the leaders of the world’s two most populous countries may both be looking for a reset in their relationship, which has previously been marked by mistrust, in large part due to border disputes.” Even as India has ‘mistrusts’ as the BBC phrases it, The setting is a much larger stage than anyone realizes it, so you better believe that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) will be playing exceedingly nice. Not just because of what they will gain, but because of what America will lose in addition to this. As I see it, the Indian intelligence settings will get an immediate infusion of Chinese hardware, as such the CIA will be close to blind in the next month or so, they are kept in place whilst they will scramble for additional resources and people to thwart what India and China are starting. Their (CIA) blame game will come to new operations and we get to watch from the safety of distance as America is shooting arrow after arrow, optionally missing whatever target they are aiming for.

So whilst we were given “India was never going to be the bulwark against China that the West (and the United States in particular) thought it was… Modi’s China visit marks a potential turning point.” They are forgetting two elements in that setting. It was never a bulwark, it is a population of revenue, options for the Chinese markets to enhance and the import of Indian goods will also bless the Chinese population. On the other hand, Chinese hardware will grace the Data Centers they now have and will get over the next two years, that is a significant drain to American revenue. In addition to this, India will get to consider Chinese defense contracts and that will bolster their revenue too. In addition there is a larger setting now for Saudi Arabia to get into the field with the Defense hardware they can sell and that is another blow for America. 

And as The CIA gets replaced by the Ministry of State Security, they will get a much larger stage and when the Chinese counterparts shows that there is a lot more information they can get access to, the CIA options will dwindle down to next to nothing. As such this game was misplayed by America to a larger extent. You might think I am holding on to a 7-2 hand and I grant you it is the worst hand to have, but when the game comes to Canasta, it is out in the open what a bad hand is, because if I get either a 7 or a 2 and the pile graces one of the other cards, I could get a massive influx and China can sweeten the pot there. It is all just a video game (a reference to yesterday) and it only required people to think what was going on in a dome setting, because the other two domes could have represented the EU and the Commonwealth. Now India as a Commonwealth partner could get a more impressive seat and that was the ballgame. The Commonwealth needed an alternative as President Trump was no alternative at all, not with its 51st state bickering. Now America is dealing with additional fears, because Canada with its 8,891 km wall bordering America, oh wait, it isn’t there yet, it is on the other side and now with the dangers of a Chinese base just north of it, the Trump Administration will be playing duck and cover (ask Bethesda). And that is after they learned a hard lesson with Cuba, they get to swirl and pay for the protection they need, oh wait, they have no money left. Sucks to be America at this point. 

So whilst America is figuring out what dreadful hand they gave themselves. The larger setting is that with China the Commonwealth now has options, it is not nearly as dark as the America play presented it to be. I merely need to go back to the Huawei setting. We (most of us) thought they were the bad guys, we need to realise that the ones giving us the data was America and the greed driven population who were depending on American hardware nodded yes. Still I have never seen publicly voiced evidence of what Huawei was guilty of. Mere ‘could become’ and ‘we think’ not evidence of a credible nature and now China will get a first setting of handing America its walking papers to the larger stage that we are privy to.

Have a great day.

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The wave of brains

This is a setting that might be, in gaming. You see I promised you something new and I found it. A game unlike any game we have seen and in part one we get to see life on mars, life as Elon Musk envisions it. The story starts (with a wink towards Bethesda) with you as an astronaut, you are in a prison, or a detainment centre to be more precise. You found your way here and it is the start of another RPG. Yes, but one with a difference (that’s what we all say). In this setting we have a completely self reliant system and that is what saved you. You don’t know to much about this as you have a serious blunt on your head, as such you remember nothing. The systems are self reliant, the systems provide nourishment, oxygen and water. But nothing more. So the first thing you need to do is to get out of here. As you become more reliant on the systems you see where things go and how they work. As such the first two hours you are learning the systems and looking more and more apt in getting things to work. Then you get to the first setting, the droid reactivating system. That gives you a few options and one works the janitor droids and one maintenance droid (a wink to the game Paradroid). As this continues you will see that one path needs to be cleared of junk (the janitor droids). As they progress you can review other systems and get them to up and running. But you will learn that there isn’t enough power to do this. And as the monitor systems has thousands of records, you get to see the settings when things were working. And as you get around, you find bodies with identity tags and as you have a universal tag, you get to become all of these people. This will give you access to their mail and conferences. As you become more agile you get to access other places and when the maintenance droid gets to the first tower, we get power to this dome and as it gets power, oxygen, sustenance and water becomes available. As well as a much larger place to explore. Now that we have access to the first dome we get to explore and we see the first settings of the damage caused. The place is deserted, thousands of corpses and no explanation. Then we get to a security station and we see the larger setting. A space ship crashed into one of the domes, that made the air escape and cause the brownout of the fusion reactor. As such we need to create a larger energy dump and the solar panels will take its time to do so. 

As we create the energy to do so, we need to inspect the oxygen and water supply points. As such we get a larger setting, because there is a few days of water left, this also hinders the sustenance creation. But it we get the water back online, it will all be ok. It is an idea that I am having and this will relate to the larger setting of the space ship, which apparently came from earth. As such there is more to this story and for now it is about creating the challenge of getting this into the Science part of sci-fi (we tend to forget about that) and as this is set it becomes about the sanity of 3 domes supporting up to 10,000 people. As I was shown the first dome, we need to set the next stage and in this where did I get to?

Anyway this game goes into a larger setting when the spaceship (which comes from earth) has a much larger issue and that is the lore that needs to be created. A setting that comes with bad news (isn’t there always) but this will be about after the bad news and that is part of the storyline. The ship is an ark of sorts (they are all dead) and that becomes the next stage if this all and what happens when the droids are the hazard? So security and battle droids are next but that is on the next installment. Anyway so for my mind created three domes with a optional population of 5,000. And the requires a little more consideration. We might be in the detainment centre, but that is linked to the retail and civilian dome. As such we have a start. I reckon that I can build from that. It is much more entertaining whilst America is losing India as an ally and trade partner. I reckon that President Modi has had enough of their 50% tariff. So when Wall mart loses all these Chinese and Indian articles that they can flog of cheap they are bound to American articles that no one can afford and China? They gain over a billion customers to Chinese goods. Yes, this was a good idea, wasn’t it? So whilst we fight over who is whose customer China gains a billion of them and now (as I see it) America need Bangladesh to avoid Walmart with its 2.1 million employees from going flat (that will one hell of a unemployment bash coming) So whilst the US government will rely on the Microsoft cloud accounts to spike up their IP engines. The larger issue will be the it will also end Microsoft and their 280,000 employees soon enough. Thank god I kept my cloud setting encrypted and out of the hands of Microsoft. So whilst America will be facing more and more hardship, we will see the larger setting that America sunk their own fleet (which makes for an awesome video game). And that was before BRICS became a world power. Now we get a new stage, as I personally see it America is beyond broke. And I know that a nation cannot be broke, but what do you call it when a nation cannot fulfill its debts? And the interest on $37.31 trillion is nothing to be sneered at, that implies that America will need to hand over 1.67 trillion in interest every year. I warned for that years ago, this was going to happen and now that the moment is there. Others go “It is more complex than that” Really? Interest is due, so where will you get the money from? Why do you think that some funds are setting their momentum now in Bitcoin? They know this is about to happen. As such we see President Trump making complements that Canada would be great as a 51st state. All he wants are the resources and Prime Minister Carney sees through him in an instant. And that is keeping Canada safe for now. Who when we look at this in a gaming setting, we see that earth is heading for a massive war between America and the nation who are not broke. As such there will be a fight over Canada and Greenland. But America misjudged their opponents and Canada has the Commonwealth and Greenland has the EU (as Denmark is in the EU). So this will be far from over and whilst people might be looking at the trivial news. I see this as good a place as any to inform the people, through a video game. 10,000 corpses holding onto information that is todays news. And as we adjust the focal point to what the news is telling the people we get a new iteration of what is real and what is lullaby news. 

I actually never considered this before but gaming could inform millions of people on what actually is. Did anyone else figure this out?

Have a great day. For me the next step is catering the news and setting it up as a lore creator. Whilst everyone is focusing on AI (which does not exist) I use the NIP (near Intelligent Parsing) systems to flake over the news, the public available news (no one wants the news according to Rupert Murdoch). And that is the second tier in this story. All brought to you by that old geezer no one cares about (mainly me). 

Have a great day.

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Lies of the present

That is what I saw hours ago, lies of the present. We all know that tourism in America is down. The strongest influencer in this is Canada and the impact is larger. There is Flight center with the $100M income wallet bash. But no, here is the Financial Times giving us this ‘presented truth’ 

So, when we see another source give us “The tourism industry in the United States is witnessing a notable downturn, with a 17% reduction in European visitors in March 2025 compared to the previous year. This decline is alarming, given the tourism sector’s contribution of approximately 2.5% to the U.S. GDP. The decrease isn’t limited to European visitors; the overall number of foreign tourists fell by 12%, marking a significant drop since the post-pandemic recovery period of 2021.” As such, we only see the little text the FT gives us with the headline ‘The US tourism slump that never happened’ and that is it. I didn’t read the article because I never paid and this is how the FT leaves us hanging. And in light of this ‘debatable’ presentation towards income, the Financial Times can be accused of nearly anything. The downside of throwing teasers to the public to gain fees. With the text “Leading travel industry players are expressing concern over declining interest in U.S. destinations among European travelers. Accor, a French hotel group with a significant presence in the United States, reported a 25% decrease in summer bookings from Europe. Similarly, Voyageurs du Monde noted a 20% drop in bookings since the onset of the current U.S. administration, reflecting a growing disinterest among European tourists.” As such, what slump never happened? So whilst we read “this shift signifies a broader sentiment of dissatisfaction with U.S. policies and highlights the need for a reassessment of strategies to attract European tourists. Industry leaders emphasize the importance of addressing international perceptions to rebuild confidence in the U.S. as a welcoming and diverse destination”, whilst other places (like Abu Dhabi) is showing themselves like a more willing host to tourists all over the world. What possessed the FT to give us this (unread by me) article? As I see it, you cannot play ‘upside’ boy using presented advertising without getting hurt. The Financial Times Is according to some “a renowned British daily newspaper and digital publication that provides in-depth coverage of business, economic, and financial news on a global scale” So what does that bring us “Despite fears of a sharp downturn amid foreign visitor boycotts, the sector has had a decent summer”? In a setting where we see places like NPR gives us ‘Far fewer Canadians are visiting the U.S. this year, new numbers show’ with the added text ““It’s tough, because we’ve developed this relationship with the cross-border economy,” Dame said. “And now here we are, the rug getting pulled out from underneath us.” New data confirms that far fewer Canadians are making trips south. Canadian residents made just 1.7 million return trips by motor vehicle back into their country from the U.S. in July, a nearly 37% drop from the same month in 2024, according to a report published this month by Statistics Canada.” So how exactly is this ‘the slump that never happened’? Then when we see ““It’s a decline that’s not stopping things from happening, but it is affecting the revenue that people are collecting,” she said. The U.S. saw 20.4 million visits from Canadians last year, making Canada the top source of international tourists to the United States, the U.S. Travel Association reported. The group said in February that those visits generated $20.5 billion in spending and supported 140,000 U.S. jobs.” I see that as a slump and it is happening all over the place (Florida is a ‘great’ example), my issue is that America can be delusional all it wants to be, but when the media is catering to certain aspects like catering to big corporations and big tech, they are hindering the truth from reaching us. A nice example is the Chinese mega corporation Evergrande, who crossed all three red lines, resulting in a liquidity crisis and its later insolvency. In summer of 2021, payments due on its debt, estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, resulted in the Evergrande liquidity crisis. So how many people were hit by that setting? How many people are investing now on bed and breakfast investments in America will be seeking a Chapter 11? (Apparently only the first 10 chapters are worth reading) We the people are depending on correct news and when we are given dubious articles by the people who used to inform us, what hopes do we have to evade any financial fallback? 

It is about the accountability of the media, ‘filtering’ information to give us the information that makes us jump as to what the ‘big dogs’ wants us to do. On June 19th 2012, I wrote ‘The accountability act – 2015’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2012/06/). It never came, and now 10 years later we need to start asking questions, where is the responsibility of the press? Where is the accountability of the media? And this is not just the Financial Times, it is the bulk of the media that is the question. Can we allow the media to play courtesan to big tech and big corporations for the need of digital dollars? Have we become that dim?

Questions that are not answered by anyone as the political players hide behind the ‘game that is played, as business as usual’ whilst they are all arranging the chessboard like a game of blindman chess, with only big business getting to see both chessboards and depriving us of the real deal. So how is that valid? Because when the setting is that we need to pay to see it all, and they deprive us of a fair view, is that not some form of discrimination? What happens when an audience of billions see that big corporations made themselves the royalty they were never supposed to be, that they replaced real royalty in places they could and as they lived through the settings of ‘live like presented’ and than change the presentation so that only ‘they’ could remain is not a way to live, not for the others. And this has been going on for decades, all presenting ‘partners’ having each others back. Often hiding behind ‘the people have a right to know’ but in the underline it is given in the way of ‘the people have a right to know what we want them to know’ and as such the filtering goes on and now that the economies of this world are in turmoil, the cracks start showing. You see World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers represented over 18,000 publications in 2011, and Wikipedia notes that in 2005 there were approximately 6,580 daily newspaper titles globally, with 1,450 in the U.S. alone. There is no real up to date number. But consider that there are 340 million people in America, there are 1450 newspapers, which means that there are 234.5K readers per newspaper (through pig latin analyses) but that is never true, as such they ALL want to get their advertisement money, that is the rule of newspapers, not the news, the advertisements. And as the media exploded in size, it stood to reason (their reason) that this income increased, it did not. So as more and more were deciding that chasing the digital dollar was the way to go, the intent and the credibility of the media decreased. As advertisement evolved and digital advertising was the next new thing, the media exploded into the field of exploiting digital advertising. And here the setting changed. As the media is now ‘depending’ on that setting, the news takes a turn for the bad of the land and can now be influenced by big business and as such we get the setting we see now all over the place. People like Murdoch live of this venture and it is their right, but the larger media, the media that is ‘depending’ on credibility, what about them? I am not saying that all media need to adhere to ‘old’ standards, but we now have an issue. When we are given ‘the slump that never happened’ all whilst we see others give us ‘US Tourism in Peril as Decline in Foreign Visitors, Soaring Visa Fees, and Stricter Travel Policies Drive Away International Travelers’, so did the slump never happen?

I’ll let you decide. Have a great day.

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Reasoning as is

That is at times the setting. We always THINK we know the reason, but do we really? I had my given settings on Abu Dhabi as early as 2025, August 2nd. I spelled it out in ‘As Hogwarts expands’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/08/02/as-hogwarts-expands/) and I stated “Yas Island becomes the most appealing choice for a whole flock of tourists, now definitely deciding that there will be a viable alternative for Orlando, and when Disney arrives in 2027/2028 also on Yas Island, Florida will see the largest downfall in economy they have ever had.” That was the setting I expected to see. Now we see Forbes (at https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinereid/2025/08/17/the-real-reason-for-building-disneyland-in-abu-dhabi/) giving us two weeks later “It is no secret that Abu Dhabi is building theme parks to diversify its economy. Its fortune was built on fossil fuels but as its reserves are beginning to run out it has brought global theme park giants to its shores to drive tourism revenue. That’s far from the only magic touch they have. Although Abu Dhabi and neighboring Dubai are seen as being playgrounds exclusively for the world’s wealthiest people, the vast majority of their residents are far from billionaires. There is good reason for this.

I tried too get a job there once, I am not in oil (not even olive oil) but I do have a knack for IT and in alway am fluent in Dutch, a skill that I hoped would get me a job with ADNOC. Yet as America was setting the larger premise of a failed government in play, Abu Dhabi was giving me additional settings and if you pay close attention to Yas Island, it could be the lifeline of a larger setting that could given you a heralding ovation when you live there. As the UAE is massively crime free, more reasons to go there. In addition (to what I saw) its that Forbes also gives us “It explains why a staggering 88.5% of the 11.4 million residents of the UAE are expats according to Global Media Insight. The number of expats from the United States is reflected in the vast array of its stores and restaurants which have made their way to the UAE. They include everything from chains like Applebee’s, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and IHOP to fine dining outlets such as California’s Urth Caffé and Sarabeth’s which began life as a small bakery-kitchen on New York City’s Amsterdam Avenue in 1981.” It is nice to see this, but I have to wonder why they never saw it when I saw the clear signs. And there is not the simple settings of “Although Abu Dhabi and neighboring Dubai are seen as being playgrounds exclusively for the world’s wealthiest people, the vast majority of their residents are far from billionaires.” I agree that is a clear setting, however lines like ‘Abu Dhabi’s real estate market records broad-based growth in first quarter’, ‘Abu Dhabi real estate is on fire in 2025 with deals soaring past Dhs51 billion in just six months’ and ‘Abu Dhabi and Dubai Ranked Top Emerging Global Data Center Markets in 2025 Report’ as well as the setting that 10,000 millionaires are replacing their ‘home’ towns with a proper setting in the UAE.

The is also happening in the last month alone. In support of it all we get ‘How Yas island is shaping Abu Dhabi’s real estate landscape’, as such, Forbes is telling the truth, but it letting certain parts take a backdrop to the larger picture. Abu Dhabi is the new place to be and America needs to realign the stupidity they are handling now. As I see it, their future is depending on it. 

But that is not the only parts. At this point Forbes gives us a side I never really looked at. They give us “It explains why data from the California-based Economic Research Institute shows that the average annual salary in the UAE comes to $48,993 (AED179,949) compared to $66,991 in the U.S., proving that you don’t have to be a billionaire to live there. The UAE has a wide catchment area to draw on as one-third of the world’s population is located within a four-hour flight of the country. It is also part of the largest global airline hub in the world, with 120 million passengers traveling through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year. In order to welcome them as workers and tourists, the UAE has some of the friendliest visa regulations of any country.” Which is great for two reasons. Everyone likes a good show and an affordable show and the UAE is providing that. In addition, it shows how stupid the American VISA setting is now. As such, try to imagine millions of tourists giving up on America for the next 3 years and pointing their caps at the UAE. Millions of people who think that the hollow setting of America can be let go for at least three years. You wanna bet that this is scaring the theme parks in Orlando (and other cities) to death? 

That is the setting we see evoke the Forbes Article (in case you were willing to denounce what I gave you all). Yet Forbes gives you more. We are also given “The impact of this was laid bare in a separate report by the Khaleej Times in May which revealed that 23.7% of applications for visas to Europe’s Schengen area filed by UAE residents were rejected last year. That’s not because of the UAE, but the diversity of its residents as visa applications are based on nationality. The 11.5% of the population that holds UAE nationality benefits from having the world’s best passport, according to the Arnot Capital Global Passport Power rankings, with visa-free travel to 133 countries. The dark clouds aren’t just hanging over Europe. Recent data from the National Travel and Tourism Office revealed that the number of overseas visitors to the U.S. in July fell 4.9% on the previous year, only reaching around 86.6% of the pre-pandemic level despite it being one of the busiest seasons of the year. It is the latest development in a months-long trend which also saw international arrivals fall 6.6% in June.” As it can be seen, there is every chance that the operator on Yas Island will get a hell of a lot tourists more than it might have considered. All it needs it a great campaign and at present Warner Brothers could be chockablock full from this October until April 2026. Because people in Europe want to escape winter and as I see it, there is only Abu Dhabi as America is dealing with its political administration. As such the Canadians escaping Florida this Winter, these Snowbirds have just been advised of a much larger appealing destination this winter (and the next three years).

As this all comes to pass, America will merely see an incursion of debts, come and harassment, things the tourist does not need. 

As such I say YAY Yas Island, and ADNOC management seeking Dutch translators, please consider me as well.

The reasoning as is, is set to the joy of a vacation, As such the UAE is opening its borders to Abu Dhabi ad Dubai is a mere 30 minute train ride away. Have a terrific day today.

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Changing tracks

CBC informed me a few hours ago that(at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ttc-alstom-train-deal-1.7609756) that ‘Toronto pursuing sole-sourced deal for new TTC trains in wake of U.S. tariffs’, so this is another fine mess that Trump left America. It might be seen as the cost of doing business, but consider the amount of business that America lost and is still losing against what they made. And you need to see this in additional light of what the department of labor statistics I also giving the American people. I don’t mind. I reckon that Canada could easily get this stuff from Australia or the United Kingdom, as such no biggie for Canada. As such there might be a need to get both involved as it concerns “Officials say deal is for 70 trains to run on Line 2 and for Yonge North, Scarborough extensions”, a setting where both leading to all three profiting on this deal alone. In light of “In a news release issued Friday morning, officials said both the federal and provincial governments, alongside the city, gave the TTC the go-ahead to pursue a single-source contract “in the face of U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty” in order to support Ontario workers.” So, Canada needs to pick one of them, either will do, yet we also need to see that France is a viable option for Canada. Their subways have been running (not walking, but operating) for more than a century. In 2024 it transported over 1.5 billion passengers. As such Canada seemingly has three options. Of course I am biased as a Commonwealthian and I would prefer to see this deal go to either Australia or the United Kingdom, but it is what Canada needs is what counts and they are telling us that America is no longer a viable option. 

Ands as we are given “Officials say the base procurement is for 70 six-car train sets in total — 55 to replace aging trains on Line 2, and 15 trains for the Yonge North and Scarborough extensions.” I reckon that both Australia and the UK are chomping at the bits to get into this deal. In addition we are given “The Ford government had expressed its desire to see the train cars built in the province amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S. All three levels of government have committed money to buy the new rolling stock, which is expected to cost some $2.3 billion.” As such there is an additional need to get them built in Ontario, but there is the setting. These parts might be ‘built’ in another place and completed (see assembly, adjusted, and painted in Canada) as such there is a larger setting to give the Commonwealth the larger setting. And this approach will give the Commonwealth a setting for other regions. So this does not hurt the approach that is given through ““Our government is proud to protect Ontario from U.S tariffs by ensuring the TTC’s Line 2 subway trains will be made in Ontario, by Ontario workers,” said Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria in a statement. The current, almost 30-year-old trains, as regular commuters will tell you, are nearing the end of their lifespan and are vastly different from the Toronto Rocket trains that service Line 1. ” It doesn’t matter how this plays out, the important setting (for me) is that America is stumped out of a race yet again. And that needs the proper illumination. So how many American jobs would be endangered to this setting? 

It is a virtual little circle in here. We deprive America from getting the jobs and America remains in denial and tells the world that it is doing well. How much longer do they think they can maintain this delusional illusion? 

So whilst Canada is changing tracks we are starting to see the cracks in the delusions that America is trying to show us through film flam artists. So whilst the ‘world’ is wondering whether ABC giving us “The war in Ukraine will continue and Vladimir Putin has outmaneuvered yet another US president.” Whilst news.com.au gives us “Vladimir Putin was treated to a show of US military might when he arrived in Alaska for his high-stakes talks with Donald Trump, with a row of aircraft proudly lined up on display in view of the leaders’ motorcade.” As such, which version do you want to hang onto? So is this a PR masterclass, or should someone ask President Volodymyr Zelensky what is happening to the Ukraine? Did America do right by him, or is Europe seeing another example of what needs to be done? It matters, as the Trump Administration is seemingly abandoning Ukraine, it will be in hands of Europe to make progress and as such The Canadian trains cannot fall in the hands of America. This needs to be in hands of the Commonwealth and the hands of Europe. With the hardship they are about to face, we need to make sure that their wallets gets filled with all kinds of jobs. The trains might be an indicator, but the larger story tends to be “Broke superpowers aren’t anything” and that needs to be said. And when you realize that America is playing a juggling game with Energy requirements, nonexistent AI, manufacturing jobs lost and rare earth requirements and they are juggling so that you can’t see the full picture. That is the job of the film flam operator and as we realise that each of these jobs are time sliced we get to see that we merely get to see that any job gets a mere 25% of the time slice. Are you catching on?

Have a great day today.

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The BBC woke up

That is the setting I was given this morning. After I have been saying for a few weeks now that the pieces aren’t fitting in regards to a few things. The BBC now gives us (12 hours ago) ‘The US economy is a puzzle but the pieces aren’t fitting together’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwypgx90243o) where we are being told “They say his tariffs and crackdown on immigrants risk a return of 1970s-esque “stagflation”, when a sudden oil shock prompted stagnant growth and spiraling prices, except this time the crisis would be self-inflicted. The White House has just as steadfastly dismissed those concerns, attacking the experts – and, in the case of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, firing her”, as well as “A few days later, Moody’s Analytics economist Mark Zandi declared on social media that the economy was “on the precipice of a recession”

We then read “On Friday, the US government reported that spending at retailers and restaurants rose 0.5% from June to July – and that spending in June had been stronger than previously estimated. “Consumers are down but not out,” wrote Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, which is predicting a modest recovery in spending in the months ahead, as tax cuts and a stock market recovery boost confidence.” And as I see it, there is someone adhering to specialized requests, on the go at the setting of someone. The article then states the setting that is ‘perceived’ as “forecasters expect price increases to widen in the months ahead, as firms sell down pre-tariff stock and raise prices, now that they have more confidence about what the tariff policies might be. That’s why there was so much focus on the producer price index, which measures wholesale prices commanded by US producers before they hit consumers, offering a clue to what’s coming. It accelerated at the fastest pace in more than three years in July.” I saw this in a few ways. Consider the tourism industry. We see clear fall down issues. And would luck have it, the other are responding in a very similar way. Forbes gives us ‘New $250 Visa Integrity Fee Will Cost US $11 Billion, Say Tourism Officials’ the story goes repeated by MSN, and others. At the same time we see TTW (Travel and Tour world) release over a dozen articles in the last day on other places doing other things, like giving us ‘Vermont Unifies New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Wisconsin in Boosting Tourism Industry Attracting US and Canada Tourists During This Fall’ All whilst the larger picture is that “Canadian tourism to the US has declined due to tariffs and anti-Canadian rhetoric, with a 38% drop in road trips and 24% drop in air travel in May.” And the same numbers seems to apply for June, July and likely august too. So the picture is distorted and someone with larger fingers is juicing the numbers in different stages and states. All whilst TTW used to give us a limited number of views, someone is thrashing the typewriters there giving us a large amounts of ‘debatable’ data sources. Someone does not want us to see the setting that things are a lot worse for America than the media is willing to make us realize and that it merely part of it all. 

All whilst NPR radio gives us ‘Trump is tightening the screws on corporate America — and CEOs are staying mum’ which comes (at https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5501591/trump-corporate-america-capitalism) with “Corporate America doesn’t want to fight with President Trump in public. But as a result, it’s ceding him an unprecedented amount of control over the shape — and future — of U.S. business. In the past week, the president has turned up the heat on big companies and their CEOs to an extent that is unprecedented even by Trump’s norms-shattering standards. He has publicly attacked companies and their executives throughout his political career — but now he’s demanding firings of executives who aren’t even household names, such as a corporate economist at Goldman Sachs.” Bad news is not allowed in America, not even a little. As I see it, the puzzle pieces don’t fit because the willing minority doesn’t want to give yo the goods, they want to get the jobs they aren’t qualified for or they don’t want to lose their jobs and that is because there are three more years of Trump and Elon Musk is likely the only one to be able to survive this setting, and because he is likely to be sitting on another trillion dollars of value. So why haven’t we heard from Jerome Powell? And CNN gave us (three days ago) ‘Trump is considering suing Jerome Powell, White House says’ (at https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/12/economy/trump-lawsuit-fed-chair-powell) with the setting of ““Fortunately, the economy is so good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board. I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings,” Trump wrote on his social media platform”, as well as “Firing Powell would be a legally complicated endeavor, given that Senate-confirmed members of the Fed’s board can only be fired “for cause.” However, Trump seems keen on homing in on the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovation as a possible reason that would merit a “for cause” firing. The president claimed the renovation should have been a “$50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”” A setting that could erupt in a messy situation. I ‘personally’ don’t like the guy, but as far as I can see, he’s done a really good job with the pawns and issues he could have played. He has been enormously good for America and that needs to be said. Whoever would replace him would not likely be able to do better and that would be another iron in the fire giving President Trump a heartache all over the financial setting. As I see it, Canada is lucky to get the Former British Bank governor as Prime minister of Canada. That man can slice and dice whatever America throws the way of Canada. At present Canada created new channels of income with Mexico and Europe whilst depriving America of these settings. There never will be be a 51st state for America. 

Oh, and how is America’s economy good? China has been able to stranglehold (America’s way of putting it) on rare earths minerals. So how much of these rare earths come from China? The Pentagon gave us “The Department of Defense has made a substantial commitment to domestic rare earth production by acquiring $400 million in MP Materials preferred stock. This investment converts to common shares, giving the Pentagon a 15% ownership stake and positioning it as the company’s largest shareholder, surpassing previous major stakeholders including BlackRock Fund Advisors.” So where are these materials precisely coming from? 

Small questions that have a larger impact on business. At Present China has opened new Channels to the UAE and (speculatively) Egypt as well. Egypt is looking forward to getting its fingers on the Chinese J-35A Stealth Fighter. I’ve been told that it is a cheaper version of the J20 mighty dragon that is at present not seen outside of China.

But these parts are all a setting of a larger debate, a debate that gives us that America is losing defense contracts all over the globe, and China is ready to give it a go. How accurate these ‘facts’ and numbers are are currently not on the minds of western media. Still defense is merely one angle that is sowing the trend of recession. As others are ‘silenced’ on the settings and it merely on the front of AI, we see debatable settings. Which in light of energy flaws is a super hilarious setting. These systems need electricity (and a lot of it), so how that plays out is anyones guess. 

So it is nice of the BBC to wake up, but a lot more is required to give us the goods. So Auf Wiener Schnitzel everyone and have a great day, its 16:39 and as such I have mucho food on the brain at present. It is still Friday in Vancouver, so they have some time to wait until they can have this German delicacy themselves.

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The small stuff

That is where we need to look, the small stuff. In the first there is the BBC, who gives us a story that seems nice in one setting, but in the other setting we need to ask ourselves serious questions. Now as a warning I need to give you a fair warning. I am a person of ‘decent’ taste. Yet in tis universe you have people that are ‘allowed’ to give fashion knowledge and I couldn’t be further away from that cluster anywhere else in this universe. So, when you seek fashion advice. I am not part of that cluster, so be aware. As I said the BBC has the first setting (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8zwdy98k8o) where we see ‘Claire’s falls into administration with 2,150 jobs at risk’ and the hidden gem is already there. You see when we see “Fashion accessories chain Claire’s has collapsed into administration in the UK and Ireland, putting 2,150 jobs at risk. The company has 278 shops in the UK and 28 in Ireland but has been struggling with falling sales and fierce competition.” Now consider a simple truth. 278 shops. Now it is seen as a little speciality, yet how many fashion accessory shops are there? Now consider that there was a setting that the quality of life would be dwindling down as it has been for around 20 years. So in what universe does it make sense to have a cluster of 278 shops? In a world where there are “Over 10,000 businesses in the broader Clothing Retailing sector. This includes everything from large chains to smaller boutiques and specialized stores.” So, this has been going on for the better part of a decade and Claire’s could have been dwindling down for half a decade, but they didn’t and now they collapsed into Administration and put 2150 jobs at risk. So, as we are now given “Caitlin, 21 (left) and Amy, 16 (right) from Oxfordshire were shopping at Claire’s in central London on Wednesday and said the news was “quite sad because people have been going there since they were little. It’s a part of my childhood personally, said Caitlin, said she used to go a lot when she was around 11 years old.”” So, how was that realistic? I get it, we all want our knick knacks and that cluster can be found on both side of the specter of genders, But as we see it this group largely caters to one gender. This is not an issue, but with the dwindling down of the quality of life you cannot hide behind “But it is only £5-£7” in an age where many people have to turn over every penny to make it through the month. Don’t think I am ‘heartless’ (I kinda am) and people should be able to afford that once a month, but that is a far stretch from ‘once a week’, as such the setting was already a decrease of 75%, as such steps had to be taken years ago, but the ego of the people behind Claire’s had to intervene years ago. So what gives people the idea to make a ‘terrible’ setting from this?

The (sort of) hilarious stage from “The move in the UK comes after it filed for bankruptcy in the US earlier this month, where the firm said it was suffering from people moving away from bricks-and-mortar shops. The firm has $690m (£508m) of debt.” What were these ego trippers hoping for Unicorns? The setting from a $690 million gives a straight setting to my point of view. So whilst it is nice to give two people a voice, the setting is that every woman from 15-21 should be handed £5 to spend at Claire’s and when you see that isn’t possible you can clearly see that the people behind Claire’s should have acted years ago and not hide behind the wish for unicorns. Not when you are a mere 2.78% of a group and you are $690 million in debt. Seems a little short sighted doesn’t it? So, when we get “Claire’s and Icing, and is owned by a group of firms, including investment giant Elliott Management.” We might consider the setting that investment giant Elliott Management had made a silly investment in an economic downturn of the people. Some win, some lose and they lost. It is as simple as that.

In that same setting the ending of the article is sort of hilarious when we consider ““A lot of that category is sourced from Asia, and any increase in import costs hits hard when your price points are low and margins are tight,” retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth” It isn’t merely that, the setting is that there are less pennies for the cluster they were aiming for, for over a decade. I am willing to go one step further. This step could have been predicted since 2008. I am willing to lay a bet that people at Elliott Management would have ‘stated’ “This will turn around, the economy is expanding. Wait and you’ll see” That is my speculated view, and I am seemingly right, to wait until there was a debt of $690 million could be construed as evidence. 

So this is the first story, the second one is given to us by CBC. I have written about this side for over two weeks and here I have a few issues. The story reads correctly and I have no issues with the story itself, but it also hits on a few sides that has ‘shortfalls’ (as I personally see it). The story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/las-vegas-tourism-canadian-slump-1.7607707) gives us ‘Las Vegas is hurting as tourism drops. Are Canadians behind the Sin City slump?’ There is a larger setting and we love to take credit at times as it is the right of Canadians. So when we see “Las Vegas is in the midst of a slump, with the number of tourists down sharply as Canadians in particular avoid Sin City amid bilateral bad blood over trade. The total number of visitors is off more than 11 per cent year-over-year, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, one of the most dramatic declines in recent memory outside of the pandemic.” After which we are given the numbers of “Drop in Canadian air travelers to Las Vegas” and these numbers are swallowed whole. My issue is that there we see less than 100K visitors, that’s fair and it matter, but the other side of the equation is that we see a top of 11%, so at what point do we get to the point that these 11% are in no way to be seen as the ‘hardship’ given to us, unless the 11% is a lot bigger than anticipated I reckon that we might see an 11% loss as Canadians avoiding Las Vegas and they are merely a small group of a much larger issue. If we now see a $15,000 bond for tourists, which might give us that 80% of all foreign tourists are avoiding America. You see, 89% of tourist should support the larger setting of Las Vegas, unless someone was living under the assumption that Las Vegas could continue to support itself with 92% filled. Now we get the betting place long out on a mere 3% shortfall, not the best betting setting for ‘the’ house, is it?

So when we are given the stage by MGM Resorts president and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the number of Canadian visitors started to fall earlier this year and they hold some of the city’s top properties, such as Aria, Bellagio and the Cosmopolitan and part of the NHL rink, T-Mobile Arena. A dire setting for a company relying on 92% filling and coming up short 3% of that number. I reckon that more than one person are on the betting stage of numbers and when you come up short over the whole range by 3%, you will toll the bells of panic. 

Yet then we get the ‘goods’. You see, the numbers do not add up. We are given “As the director of the university’s business and economic research centre, he crunched the numbers and found Canadians contributed $3.6 billion US to the local economy last year. Canadian spending supported some 43,000 jobs in the region, more than those employed in the manufacturing sector, Miller said. That $3.6-billion figure comes close to the economic output of the local Nellis Air Force base — and that’s saying something, given it’s one of the largest and most important military installations in the U.S., with some 15,000 personnel.” In the first setting, some might find the ‘observation’ of “he crunched the numbers and found Canadians contributed $3.6 billion US to the local economy last year” I reckon they had to have these numbers clearly ahead of schedule as it sets the advertisement budgets (nearly everywhere) and if the loss of these numbers are set to 11%, the news is much worse than we get and the setting of Las Vegas is likely more dire than we are meant to believe. It implies that Asian and European visitors are connected to this and the losses are worse than given at present. And my view is warranted by other views. A source gives us that “Passenger volume at Harry Reid International Airport also declined 6.3%, from 5 million to 4.7 million” that number implies that the numbers are down from one source by over 300K visitors. I reckon that the bulk of tourists would come by plane. Another source gives us “Visitors to Las Vegas mainly come from Mexico (989,000 arrivals), Canada (886,000 arrivals), the United Kingdom (482,000 arrivals), Australia (152,000 arrivals), and Germany (125,000 arrivals).” That sounds nice, but the (as the expression goes) whales from Asia is the larger setting and when they stay away Las Vegas hurts a lot more. These 12 people represents millions of dollars and a decadent lifestyle. When that falls away the pressure isn’t merely 11%, it is a lot larger. The setting is a lot larger as we don’t have anything passed November 2024 yet and that is the larger setting as we get the larger stage of Visitor volume and convention attendance. I reckon that in Q4 2025 we are likely to get to see the larger downturn and when we get to losses of whales the larger truth of what Las Vegas is losing in income. As I see it, there is a larger truth behind the second part of the headline ‘Are Canadians behind the Sin City slump?’ I think they are part of it, but there is a larger truth hidden, America (basically its president) gave us all a headache and the fact that there are larger settings in play make it clear to me that it isn’t just Canada, there are more settings in play for Las Vegas and the news is a lot worse than anyone is willing to admit. The simpler setting (a highly speculative stage) that the loss of 100 Asian Moby Dicks represent almost the entire 11% loss that Las Vegas sees as represented, so the losses are a lot worse than given at present. When you consider that the ‘panic’ we see is more represented by 22% loss, a stage no one in Las Vegas wants to admit to is driving people like Bill Hornbuckle to near desperation, especially as his bonus is likely linked to ‘continuance’ of revenue.

So my speculation might be wrong but it seems to make sense. But I need to emphasize that my view is speculative.

Have a great day and don’t put it all on number 10 (it is crowded by labor). 

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