Tag Archives: Eu

The neighbors have coffee

That is the setting, but that is not what this is about. We are given a setting (at https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/trump-has-ordered-naval-blockade-of-sanctioned-oil-tankers-in-venezuela-he-says/gcrwrmllu) where we see ‘‘Act of war’: Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned’ Venezuela oil tankers’ and we see “But Trump on Tuesday pointed to another goal — regaining US access to Venezuelan oil production. The US armada “will only get bigger,” Trump said, until Venezuela returns “to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”” But is that true? At what point did Venezuela steal oil from America? Why assets did they steal? What land was stolen? Can we get a clear explanation of that? And if comes with two other settings. The US is pulling out all its troops out of Europe. And in the second setting we see today that one of the most successful American businesses is filing for Bankruptcy. Del Monte originated from California canners in the late 1800s, becoming a household name through the California Packing Corporation (Calpak). It has filed for bankruptcy due to the tariffs on fruits and aluminum. It drove them under in 6 months. And as I see it, a speculated setting is that President Trump will need to sue the BBC, because America is about to lose everything and not one intelligent being will do business with him beginning in 2026. 

As I said so before, America is done for and the longer everything is suspended in ‘investigations’ the longer it takes for the America people to see what hardship they are due for, not for a week or a month, but for several years and that is if someone takes over the helm of the good ship America and takes it in a 180 degree different course, there is no other way and even then it will take half a decade to clear the tourism setting that it now has and rebuild trust (which will speculatively take 3-5 years). 

So as we were given “But Trump on Tuesday pointed to another goal — regaining US access to Venezuelan oil production.” as well as “Caracas blasted Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, saying he aimed at “stealing the riches that belong to our homeland.” Venezuela has been sidestepping US oil sanctions for years, selling crude at a discounted price on the black market, mainly to China. Venezuela is estimated to have oil reserves of some 303 billion barrels, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) — more than any other nation. “If there are no oil exports, it will affect the foreign exchange market, the country’s imports … There could be an economic crisis,” Elias Ferrer of Orinoco Research, a Venezuelan advisory firm, told AFP recently.” As I personally see it (and I might be wrong) America is broke and it is about to lose whatever it has to pay for the interest on the loans they have. The Administration had a setting they tried and it backfired. Greenland isn’t giving up its land, Canada is turning down America and worse still, Canada is now making headway in impressive economic strides for Canada which is also hurting America. As I see it, the stage that was left was to ‘annex’ the Venezuelan oil fields. This is likely to fail, but more disastrous nearly all lands will gain mistrust of the American way which is now showing to be selfish at the expense of all others. That is as I see it the Legacy that President Trump is leaving behind and the sooner others see it the way (several already do) the more America sees the hurt it imposed on itself. 

And when places like Del Monte is filing for bankruptcy, it will not be alone ad the more these places are hidden due to ‘National Security’ or whatever reason is given and others are seemingly ready to follow. There is American Unagi, American Signature, parent company of furnishings retailers American Signature Furniture and Value City and more are on the list of those reading Chapter 11 of the book of economic hardship. All these facts are settings that give America a stage of disaster and the American administration remains in denial. 

Even if America succeeds with Venezuela, America is done for. No-one will trust America for decades. Not the EU, not the Commonwealth and parts of Asia will also shun America. And for a lot Canada is the more trustworthy option, so Canada will de decently well and as we recently saw Lockheed Martin is getting replaced by Saab AB and that is merely the tip of the iceberg. So whilst America withdraws the troops from Europe, Europe has one card left to play. It can throw America out of NATO and that has massive repercussions. You see America has 70,000 troops in Europe, those who are send back will likely lose their jobs, then they get a massive downturn in their defense industry. Which will upset Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. All that has a massive economic footprint. When the Europeans turn away from American hardware, America’s economy takes a swift dive into an abyss where it cannot afford the gravy trains it supported and that has other impacts as well. I reckon that the media is next, as American media gets shunned in Europe and the Commonwealth their incomes and more important their influence will wane into near nothingness. 

I honestly don’t know, but that is what I see, the markers are undeniable and they tend to cross nations, they cross interests and they cross political allies. As I see it, America might in the end have one ally left, Russia. So how does that sit with the anti-communist setting of the Republican Party? And next on that list id the waning of the CIA, you see as the Commonwealth stops trusting America, the CIA us also shunned from the meetings it needs to have and as such it is about to require a lot more money to stay afloat and that is the one thing America no longer has (at least until they get the Venezuelan oil) settings upon settings that sets the game that will be played and America is largely out of moves. They are about to falter in intelligence, they are faltering in business, the will soon falter in media and as I see it, the steps the American administration made towards Hollywood is strengthening Canadian, Australian and British film industries and those settings are getting larger and worse for America. So feel free to disagree and that is fine, but I reckon you need to investigate on yourself and see what the media is hiding from a lot of people. And as I see it, America is about to falter and leave the people in America without anything. Because the AI scare fare is about to cost American wealth trillions of dollars (according to some a number between nine and fifteen) who who gets to pay for all that? Microsoft? OpenAI? I reckon that it will come out of retirement funds and if I am wrong, I am wrong. But do come with actual numbers. We can see “US retirement funds are extensively invested in artificial intelligence (AI), primarily through large index funds, mutual funds, and ETFs that hold significant stakes in major tech companies leading the AI revolution, such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet.” As well as “Indirect Investment via Large Cap Tech Holdings: Many common retirement savings options, like S&P 500 index funds or target-date funds, have a large, concentrated exposure to the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks (Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, etc.) that are heavily driving AI innovation. Nvidia’s significant market value, for example, means it has a large weighting in many diversified portfolios, creating inherent AI exposure.” That is the bubble fear you should have and when America stops, you better have a sock with reserve funds, because that is all you can live on when it collapses.

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Law, Media, Politics

Dropped balls

There are several balls that have been dropped by a whole range of entities (cannot call them people) and there is a larger setting. 

First there is Bioware with an at some point appearing Mass Effect and I wrote about the options of a remade and remastered Mass Effect 45 where you get Mass Effect 5 as well as an upgraded and ‘corrected’ Mass Effect 4. I did this in 2018 (might have been 2019) but it was over 6 years ago and I get that AAA games take time, especially if they are done in Unreal engine 5, that sucker takes heaps of precision, especially in the setting that Mass Effect has (and their is need for precision here) and that is merely the first. Then there is need for pointing out several matters. You see, Google with whatever version they are working gives when we ask for “Intelligence UAE” (I was apparently looking for SIA) but I got 

Now consider that the UAE is one of the safest countries in the world, as such, we have an issue. Yet when I ask for “UAE safety 2025” I get: 

Now consider that I ask this in 2025 and then try to question the first setting. As I have always said AI does not exist and the current Near Intelligent Parsing (NIP) that is managed by software engineers (programmers) and the setting we see here in Google is equally questionable by all who cater in the AI field. I also made mention of this in ‘And Grok ploughed on’ on November 27th (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/11/27/and-grok-ploughed-on/) a setting that many aren/t looking at, all whilst the people at large need to recheck everything some NIP solution is and gives, whilst most of these are quite literally riddled with bugs (also called programmer features).

It started as I was curious about Project Raven (I knew nothing of this about 24 hours ago), I am not completely dim to that setting as Wiki gives us “Project Raven was a confidential initiative to help the UAE surveil other governments, militants, and human rights activists. Its team included former U.S. intelligence agents, who applied their training to hack phones and computers belonging to Project Raven’s victims. The operation was based in a converted mansion in a suburb of Abu Dhabi in Khalifa City nicknamed “the Villa.”” I know that Wiki isn’t the most reliable ever, but at present it is more reliable then the press and the media, but what I needed to learn were names, namely Karl Gumtow and Cyberpoint. Basically as I am also looking for a job, and there was word that they were operating in Australia as well (which was proven to be incorrect). 

But there was a setting that places like LinkedIn never considered, the NIP setting of connected business and whilst we can call this a dropped ball, the setting is clear. These companies can never be found by some as the short sighted LinkedIn people are still on the page of “Are you hiring at present?” And they ask it of people who never hired in the first place, as well as flooding the mail system because that is a metric that they can measure (and it is utterly useless). 

But that setting is out there, so perhaps a competitor of LinkedIn could step in? Considering that Saudi Arabia is advertising that they have over 3000+ available positions (source: Arab News) and not just them, ADNOC is also hiring, but people need to know this and that is a filtered setting. There might be a reason that these two firms are merely looking for local staff, but as I see it, companies in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and perhaps France is looking for people they cannot find. As such as I personally see it, LinkedIn dropped the ball there as well. 

Then we get numerous places, outside of the gaming industry and the tech industry Some give us jobs like Healthcare (Nurses, Aged Care, Support Workers), Technology (Data Scientists, IT, AI/ML Specialists, Cybersecurity), and Trades/Construction (Electricians, Plumbers, Managers), so where is that knowledge going to? Let’s confront places like Canada, who is short on a lot of them and where is the offer for UK people, apparently they have an unemployment that recently rose to 5.0% (as of September 2025), its highest level in years, with 1.79 million people jobless. As such where will they go? If they do not want to go anywhere, that is fine, but in this stage, where people either accept jobs in other places or drown in rising cost there is a new setting, one that approaches the great depression (1929 to 1939) in that stage people would travel for days. By 1933, the U.S. unemployment rate had risen to 25%, about one-third of farmers had lost their land, and 9,000 of its 25,000 banks had gone out of business. People would travel to other states to get a job and support their families. It was not uncommon for people to hobo to California or Texas to find a job and send dollars home to keep their families safe. As I see it, these days are returning and people will Tavel all over the EU to get the same, or even go to the lands of opportunity like the UAE and see what can be gotten there. We aren’t in that stage yet, but that stage is just around the corner, especially for America as it is (apparently) “The US is experiencing significant job losses in late 2025, with layoffs reaching a five-year high, exceeding 1.17 million by November, driven by high inflation, interest rates, corporate corrections after pandemic hiring, and AI adoption, impacting sectors like tech, retail, and government, leading to a tougher job market with fewer new jobs and lower seasonal hiring.” I might seem low when the population if over 335 million, but that doesn’t matter to those who lost their jobs and these raking in the money handing out jobs (like recruitment company) and they are merely Direct Mailing all over the place to get their revenue. There is a larger need that is clear in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and several other places. 

As I personally see it, they are all in the mindset of “How can I get the same revenue for less work” instead of “How can I achieve more” because the second setting cleanses the Job loss setting and I am not saying that it solves everything, perhaps not even anything, but the lack in the mindset is the new prepared mind, which is currently not preparing at all.

And when you think that the US job losses are high now, consider what happened in 2026 when the impact of snowbirds is truly seen on the balance sheets in Florida and California. I reckon that in 2026 San Diego will face a massive job loss percentage and that is before the B&B that will go bankrupt in California as well as Florida hits US administration records. The Trump administration is losing more and more and as I see it, those waves will hit faster and faster in 2026. In the meantime there is every chance that Canada will be the next El Dorado, right in the middle of the snow as that is where fresh drinking water is found, America lost that setting too, because as I see it, no real investigation had been made for close to 10 years and whatever we see is a mere “Generally safe” and that it is the homeowners duty to check their wells. But no one is looking how the groundwater are impacted by chemicals and there is (as far as I can tell) no real investigation there. 

All balls that are dropped, some merely impact individuals and some impact whole population. All whilst places like Australia, Canada and New Zealand have larger settings to truly check these numbers. Did I show too much balls here? (Sorry, intentional grammar folly) The balls we see are not always the balls we care about, but they need to be shown to show that there is a larger failing and it is a very global failing. A setting we all saw coming, but it wasn’t our responsibility and it was not on our plate. Newsflash! The media isn’t doing its job and as such we need to have a wider look at things that COULD affect us, our families and our loved ones. 

Have a great day, except Vancouver and Toronto where I have to say “have a great yesterday”, my personal ever ready time travel jokes remain. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media, Politics, Science

The increased revenue setting

That is what we look for and I found another setting in something called Airport technology. You see, we see ‘King Salman International Airport, Saudi Arabia’  (at https://www.airport-technology.com/projects/king-salman-international-airport-saudi-arabia/) and the facts are clear. An airport that covers about 57km², positioning it among the largest airports by footprint and is said to “KSIA is expected to handle up to 120 million travelers by 2030, and up to 185 million passengers and 3.5 million tonnes of cargo by 2050” But I saw more. You see, on the 26th of September I wrote ‘That one idea’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/09/26/that-one-idea/) where I saw the presentation of an Near Intelligent Parsing (NIP) thought that could revolutionise lost and found settings in airports, on railway stations and a few other places, the instant winners of this idea would be Dubai International, Abu Dhabi international, London Heathrow and several other places and now also King Salman International Airport (KSIA), I would make some alterations to it all. In stead of entering it all, use PDA’s to records the data as it happens and when it is all entered use what they use in Australian hospitals for wristbands, print that data and attack it to whatever is found. If this is properly done, it will be done in mere minutes and within an hour people can look for the items, they could pick it up on the way back, in some cases it could be delivered to their hotel. This would be customer service of a much higher degree. And as I see it, the five airports (namely King Khalid International Airport, King Abdulaziz International Airport, King Salman International Airport,  Dubai International Airport and Zayed International Airport) could become the frontrunner to make an Near Intelligent Parsing (NIP) solution (not calling a solution based on DML/LLM AI) that could be the next solution for airports al over the world and there is some personal gratification to see America talk about how great their AI solutions are, whilst the little guy in Australia found a solution and hands it over to either Saudi Arabia or the UAE. A solution that was out there in the open and players like Microsoft (Google and Amazon too) merely left it laying on the floor and the elements were clearly there, so I hand it over to these two hungry places with the need to see what it can offer for them and in this it isn’t mine. It was presented by Roger Garcia (from Interworks) and the printing setting is already out there. Merely the joining of two solutions and they are done. So as I see it, another folly for Microsoft (honestly Google and Amazon too). This setting could have been seen by a larger number of players and they all seemingly fell asleep on the job. But if I know what Saudi’s and Emirati’s do when they see something that will work for them. They get really active. And so they should.

And consider that these airports will cater to close to half a billion travelers annually, and as such they will need a much better solution than whatever they at present have and there is the setting for Interworks. And when these solutions set the station towards delivering what was lost, the quality scores will go skywards and that is the second setting where the west is bottoming out. One presentation set the option from grind to red carpet walking. A setting overlooked by those captains of industry.

Good work guys!

So whilst I start preparing for the next IP thought I am having there is still some space to counter the US and its flaming EU critique. Let us remind America that the EU was the collection of ideas from America retail who were tired of dealing with all those currencies and in the late 80’s AMERICANS decided to sell the Euro to Europeans, all because they couldn’t sort out their currency software (or currency logistics) and now that it starts working against them they cry like little girls. Go cry me a river. In the meantime I will put ideas worth multiple millions online and let it fly for the revenue hungry salespeople (and consultants). In this case it wasn’t my idea, I merely adjusted an idea from Interworks and slapped some IP (owned by others) to make a more robust solution. I merely hope to positively charge my karma for when it matters.

Have a great day, except Vancouver, they are still somewhere yesterday.

Leave a comment

Filed under IT, Media, Science, Tourism

When politicians become delusional

That is what I saw two days ago when the BBC gave us (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq8dq47j5y8o) ‘South Africa hits back after Trump says US won’t invite it for G20 next year’ the article gives us the setting “South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has described as “regrettable” the announcement by US President Donald Trump that South Africa would not be invited to take part in next year’s G20 summit in Florida. In a social media post, Trump said South Africa had refused to hand over the G20 presidency to a US embassy representative at last week’s summit in Johannesburg.” As well as “Ramaphosa said in a statement that the US had been expected to participate in the G20 meetings, “but unfortunately, it elected not to attend the G20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg out of its own volition”. He however noted that some US businesses and civil society entities were present. He said that since the US delegation was not there, “instruments of the G20 Presidency were duly handed over to a US Embassy official at the Headquarters of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation”.” There is as I personally see as I see it a second reason. Is the reason perhaps that America is in such a disastrous financial situation that he felt compelled to evade the G20? He can approach the entire setting to the press with ‘Quiet piggy’ settings, but the 15 strongest economies can not be answered in that same manners. There he has to answer and his department of War and the house of missing coins can’t shield him from that. This year Canada took home the beef, the champagne and the bacon. Next year? That is something he is unwilling to face at present. He needs to be reinsured that all the trillions that are changing between hands over 7 companies will do him good and at present the setting of Stargate is currently set at a economic windfall of minus 500 billion and that was not what he advertised a year ago and it is merely one of several failures. And at present these 7 big bloated companies are at best bringing in 3% of what is required (an inaccurate presumption) but that setting is what he is looking at and at present there is no upside to the numbers of 2027 and 2028. 

The image above was shown in LinkedIn, I never thought of it this way, where we see “The entire U.S. economy right now is seven companies sending one trillion back and forth to each other” that is how it could be seen (credit of image unknown) but is that GDP revenue? I reckon that some might validly disagree and that is before you consider what OpenAI is costing America and Microsoft (at 3% revenue it isn’t really an asset is it?)

And beyond that tourism is falling flat, and America is representing itself to be nothing more than a third world country, the president of the United States is likely to be marginally better than South Africa or Argentina, making it 17th place at best. The GDP setting in December 2024 (which was 29185) will be seen as a jolly time, by next year America is likely (a clear speculation) to be less than 13913 making it a little more fortunate than India which manages this at 5 times the population. Would you gathers in that crowd after you proclaimed year after year that America was doing so well? The defense industry is losing revenue, tourism is down massively and that Oxford Economics report stating that it is costing America $50 billion, which is 400% worse than the numbers we see thrown in the media. Then jobs are down and as I see it retail is massively down. in addition we see Aluminum smelters are down, only 4 in 24 are operating. They cannot deal with the unsustainable operating cost and that list goes on. So what happens when soda cans become an issue? American dream states are set to operate a soda can, opening it and drinking it (in the Miami sun), so I reckon that 2026 will bring its own entertainment to behold and at present , I reckon that President Trump is merely showing up to do some photo moments, so who will be ‘advocating’ how well America is doing?

I reckon it sucks to be the the man in charge at the Federal Reserve. And only 8 hours we were given “Federal Reserve has managed to push up bank reserves for 4 weeks now, but they’re running out of tools in the toolbox and will soon have to resume asset purchases, euphemistically called “QE” for quantitative easing, i.e., money printing:” (source: E.J. Antoni, Ph.D.) so as we accept that Jerome Powell is (for now) the Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States. I cannot recall that America has given any voice to the effects (or benefits) of Quantitive Easing. So is it real? What is Jerome Powell up to? It is a fair question as President Trump doesn’t really understand economics, optionally even less than me. As I see it, he filed for bankruptcy 6 times, the last time was due to the 2008 mess, so if people argue 5 times I would accept that. As I see it, he needed to make Jerome Powell his best friend and seek his assistance in avoiding the setting America is facing these days. And my smirking sense of humor (an evil one) is wondering if America can even afford hosting the 2026 G20 summit. As I see it (and I might definitely be wrong) is that America is using South Africa to get the 2026 setting taken away from them. As I see it, Canada or the EU is a much better place in 2026. There might be a reason to hope for Canada, as he will see it as a reason to make the speculative statement that he is leaving the G20 to his 51st state (making Canadians angry to say the least). 

But as I see it, I actually don’t know. And I reckon that most DML systems cannot either as this setting has never taken place before, the American economy is in an mess and not a good one.

This is what you call the perfect setting to be hosting the G20 in 2026, apparently in Miami, so order your sodas in advance. 

Is there more bad news, is countered by me with ‘Does there need to be?’ A setting that is voiced by many. As I see it, the GDP in 2023 The gross domestic product (GDP) for the Los Angeles metro area was approximately $1.30 trillion in 2023, now we know that Los Angeles had dreadful fires, but the current situation isn’t helping and what will California report in revenue for 2024 and 2025? We will know some of these numbers in December, giving a lot more visibility to the hardship America is facing and there is no hiding from those numbers (playing them will be worse). America is stopping to be a great place to be and as I see it, there aren’t too many countries lining up to be their friend at present. Trump squashed that route of healing too.

Have a great day, I am almost late for breakfast.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics

When consumed by anger

This happens to all of us, you, me, everybody with a soul and a decent setting towards ethical boundaries. So when I heard yesterday about the Ukrainian setting, I kinda lost it, but I refrained from acting until I had most of the evidence.

First there is ABC (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-22/volodymyr-zelesnkyy-says-us-peace-plan-difficult-choice-ukraine/106039966) giving us ‘Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine faces choice of losing dignity or US backing, Trump gives a week for decision’, so Russians bombing civilians he gives 10 days (a few times) and this setting gets a mere week. Summarized (by ABC) we see:

And we get in addition “after the US presented Kyiv with a peace plan that endorses key Russian demands. Speaking in the street outside his office, a location he uses only rarely for major addresses, the Ukrainian president said his country was trying to preserve its freedom while retaining the support of its most important ally.

This is where I kinda lost it. This president Joker (his new nick name), this 6 times loser hands a helping hand to Russia?

I am now calling on the Swedish Nobel committee to deny him any awards (especially the peace price) for the rest of his life. A person of this setting should not be awarded anything (except a dunce cap) Furthermore I call on any Commonwealth nation and any EU nation to give support to the Ukraine as best as you possibly can. I released several IP parts that could end Russian nuclear reactors as well as sink their naval capacity. I also have an option to take away their airfare in a new and innovative way, but that is still in the works. Russia has over 1,000 airports and I figured on a drone setting that could end that nice setting to the bulk of them, what a lovely surprise it would be if these ‘supersets’ cannot take of, a slim setting, but there you have it. DARPA was so set on finding military solutions that they seemingly forgot about the other weaknesses the airforce tend to have.

More important is the message that I and many like me support President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, on a lighter note, who would not support this Paddington bear (2014, 2017) when it comes to it. 

And the setting that Washington gave the Ukraine, that they agreed with Russia without Ukraine is a “Washington has presented Kyiv with a 28-point plan, which calls for Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits to its military and renounce ambitions to join NATO”, so how about limit Russian forces by making 1,000 airfields unusable? How about making naval options (including merchant navy) options obsolete and redundant? And how about NATO gets to Ukraine in the next 7 days? I reckon this is only possible with British, Dutch and German forces coming together on this. France will become the buffer army for European territory. 

Am I angry enough? Well, I still have the option to making the nuclear reactors meltdown on itself and that if functional could give the Russian people a new consideration of cold, February should be frisky in Russia, so there we have it, I might not be some kind of Sylvester Stallone, but I used to be a decent marksman and there is nothing wrong with my innovative creativity, so let’s have fun on this and after that all barrels will be pointed on America for siding with Russia. I am calling for a complete segregation of economic assistance of America. Good and services. Canada is doing its part, lets see what the rest can do. When no one hands them oil, their own oil will support them and that is costing them dearly. There is no need to export their oil and get cheap oil abroad. They can all fuel themselves in America. 

I am actually this angry. If you are not an American, have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under IT, Media, Politics, Science

Trumping it along

That is the setting as President Trump proclaimed publicly “We don’t need Canadian lumber” and then Canadian wood product (lumber and utensils too) got a tariff hike. So as American lumber is needed in construction it would not be starting at a 25% depletion of that market (12 billion board feet) is now going somewhere else, Canada has had enough of this bully tactic and that is going to cost America a lot more than ever considered. It is about to cost America well over an additional $23 billion (source: Capital Briefs) and that was merely the start of this. Now the Financial Times gives us ‘Canada to reroute lumber exports as Trump’s tariffs bite’ (at https://www.ft.com/content/e56e8bb0-6dc0-4447-a907-e95164cec8e5) where we see “Canadian producers are seeking to divert around 10 per cent of the lumber normally sent south of the border to new buyers in the UK, EU and Middle East after the US president in September added a 10 per cent tariff on lumber, on top of an existing 35 per cent duty. The aim to send some 1bn board feet to alternative markets — enough to build at least 75,000 average size American homes — underscores how Trump’s tariffs are starting to reshape some global supply chains, although tensions between the US and Canada over wood exports have simmered for more than half a century.” With the added ““The US simply needs to fact-check better before they end up with a large shortage of lumber that may cause further housing shortages,” said Rick Doman, chair of the Forestry Innovation Investment board of British Columbia, which produces over half of Canada’s lumber. Washington’s escalating trade measures towards Ottawa have led to shutdowns and job losses in Canada’s C$87bn ($63bn) forestry industry, one of the country’s largest employers.” We see that Canadians have had enough of the voice from Washington DC, with Canada shifting towards Europe and Asian Markets, as well as stocking up on renewable products the setting becomes a global setting where America can now no longer fuel its own softwood needs driving housing prices through the roof (except for Florida where the Canadian snowbirds are putting their  houses up for sale, leaving in excess of 175,000 houses empty and deserted). That is the setting America no faces and whilst America accuses Canada itself as a dumping ground, they better come up with the evidence and as we see “Zoltan van Heyningen, executive director of the US Lumber Coalition, a lobby group, said the American timber industry could replace 1bn board feet of Canadian imports “without batting an eyelid”” that person better prove to be true to his word, because as it stands Canada is withdrawing over 3 billion board feet of wood. And the NAHB gives us that  “With American sawmills operating at just 64 per cent of capacity it “will take years” for US domestic lumber production to expand to meet industry demands” and in that meantime it will be shredding nearly every environmental document it has, because as I see it, the nearest place it can go to is Washington State and I reckon it will cost a few more pennies to get all these trucks up and going. In the meantime we see that “the US relies on a further 12bn board feet of softwood lumber from Canada for use mostly in housebuilding. Even allowing for spare US sawmill capacity and average recent American exports of 1.3bn board feet a year, the US is currently 3.2bn board feet short of meeting current demand, according to analysis by Fastmarkets, a price reporting agency.” And the ‘graphs’ all show that America depends on almost 30% Canadian wood, when that all falls away its own wood export collapses to zero. And that gives America a new mess to deal with, because Canada is eager to make long term agreements with Europe and Asia, which means that the next administration inherits this mess in 2028 and there is no going back. And as I see it, the bill will be passed on to Weyerhaeuser, West Fraser and Sierra Pacific Industries who will have to increase their produce by almost 50%, to make up for the shortages it faces, so in what reality did you ever see that happen? 

It might sound like an amazing option for these three, but in the American setting it does mean that nearly every environmental agreement will have to be torn up to even make this work. In the meantime Canada is expertly drilling into a $280 billion market and is seemingly doubling that within the next decade, as Canada is now moving from a resource player to more highly valued products, its margins will increase nearly exponentially and is becoming the new innovator on the block and that will ease the pressures that America thought they would hand them, their plan for Canada becoming the 51st state is blowing up in the faces of Politicians in Washington DC and that is the short and sweet of it for Canada. The hardship handed by president Trump is becoming the opportunity for PM Mark Carney. And Canada is loving the outcome of this setting, because as such high value products are to be made in Canada, giving them the setting from $255.20 towards a more then doubled market that is to come and as China replaces America as the number one export country, there will be additional settings there too. An opportunity that Canada will handle with care while in the same time increasing its export to Europe. As I see it, America merely shot itself in the foot (yet again) and that setting is to be crowned as the number one achievement for the Administration carrying that royal crown. It tried to diminish the economic footprint of its northern partner, instead it opened a new revenue handle and increased its export standing with both the EU and China. And as I see it, at no significant initial loss to Canada and over the next few years it will show a significant surplus to boot. 

A setting the Commonwealth prices and a big round of applause is handed in the direction of Prime Minister Mark Carney who is now seen as the big winner (perhaps he will accept a Nobel peace price in 2026?)

Well, you all have a great day and special mention for Capitol Brief and the Financial Times for their support in this. It is 02:00 now. Time for me to introduce myself to the procedure of snoring.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

What happens when someone expands

That is the setting and Arab News gives us ‘How Greece and Saudi Arabia are redrawing the map of power’ (at https://arab.news/ytgve). This is not news for me, I saw this happens at least twice before and Greece is as good a place as any for the STC to expand as an second step beyond the few others and as they grow the European market becomes a reality. We are given “The relationship between Greece and Saudi Arabia, long anchored in commerce and maritime exchange, is rapidly evolving into a strategic alliance that spans energy, investment, technology and defense”, as well as “Digital infrastructure is emerging as the new trade route. The East to Med Data Corridor — a joint venture between Greece’s telecom operators and Saudi Arabia’s STC — will connect Gulf data hubs to European markets through undersea cables. Due for completion in 2026, it complements Saudi investments in cloud infrastructure and Greece’s ambition to serve as the EU’s digital bridge. When operational, it will transform geography into bandwidth, reviving the ancient logic of the Aegean and the Red Sea as conduits of exchange.” I initially (around 2020) thought that this would be done through Egypt and then Spain, and that it is now seemingly through Greece makes perfect sense and it won’t hurt the Greek economy one bit and mike make them renowned business partners all over Europe. And whilst we are given “Security cooperation has deepened alongside it. Since 2021, Greek air defense units have been stationed in Saudi Arabia to help protect critical energy facilities from aerial threats — an unprecedented deployment that underscores mutual trust. Athens now views Gulf stability as part of Europe’s own security; Riyadh sees Greece as a dependable partner with NATO experience and Mediterranean reach.” We need to see that the finance industry also benefits with “Greek finance is reinforcing this momentum. Eurobank, the National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank have expanded trade finance and advisory services for Greek and Saudi firms in energy, transport and technology. Their involvement adds institutional depth, translating political goodwill into bankable projects.” I have to admit that I am in the dark as to how that Greek finance horse is mounting up to be, but I reckon that if it fits the Saudi setting it must be decently good.

As we are handed the setting of “For Riyadh, partnership with an EU and NATO member provides credibility and access to Europe’s energy and technology debates. For Athens, alignment with Saudi Arabia amplifies its influence in a region where Europe’s energy and digital future are being decided. The Strategic Cooperation Council formalizes what business leaders had already recognized: the Greek-Saudi axis is not transactional but structural — a long-term bet on shared diversification and stability. The logic is clear. Greek forces helping defend Saudi energy infrastructure serve European as well as Saudi interests. The cables and inter-connectors binding the two nations reinforce both sovereignties. In an age of fractured supply chains, energy transition and digital rivalry, Athens and Riyadh are betting on connectivity as power.” And I do set this piece of writing to the views of Dr. John Sfakianakis, who is Chief Economist and Head of Economic Research at the Gulf Research Center as it was (as I see it) well written and for me that is shown with how easily and clearly it was written. Most economic pieces become a jumble of incomprehensible words after the first line starting with “Good morning”, this is clearly my problem as I lack an economic degree, but the expansion of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) was bound to grow as per 2018, it made perfect sense and it makes even more sense now, especially with the administration that America is showing to have. Europe will be happy to find a non-American partner to start with and Greece is accepted as an EU partner and a NATO partner, so I expect a lot more to happen, especially as Saudi Telecom under 5G is over 700% faster than what America has to offer, as such the benefit for EU telecom corporations is easily seen, the picture below shows that benefit (an image from 2020). And this will foster a lot of benefits in the Telecom and media settings under 5G as plenty of corporations will see, the fact that the Saudi setting is over 300% faster then what the UK or German speeds have is just icing on the cake for the European companies in the equation.

Saudi Arabia is expanding and Europe is about to see the benefits from this setting. It might not be an entirely accurate setting, but it is what I see and I reckon that this will benefit China to some degree as well as the future of expanded media is hindering the America spin systems. For China it implies a two for one deal as this expands the BRICS needs in several directions. I personally see Saudi Arabia as sitting on the fence as a stage that benefit Saudi Arabia more than anything, it stops American blunt media streaks from going after them and it allows Saudi Arabia to get a foot in the door with Europe. I might be wrong here, but that is how I saw that news last May. With Saudi Arabia sitting on the fence the American media channels are seemingly in a holding pattern, which is beneficial to this setting.

So have a great day and it is about time I fly towards the city this morning (it is achieved by taking the train and drinking a red bull for breakfast) I wonder if my wings are as impressive as the ones Tom Ellis had in Lucifer. Does that make me a fashion bitch? Still yesterday breakfast in Vancouver, so I am a day ahead from them for now.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics, Science

Beyond the laughter

Yup, we get that, we scream deriving howl of laughter as the expression goes. For weeks I have been saying the setting was one that was merely expanding and people called me crazy (now, there is a case to be made that I am as crazy as any loon gets), but in this case the setting is different. You see (at https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article138012.html) we see ‘Abu Dhabi Hotel Industry Achieves Record August Occupancy’ and that is less then 24 hours ago. I stand that Abu Dhabi was on a track to break all tourism records and now I am proven correctly. You see, we are given “Abu Dhabi’s hotel industry recorded its highest occupancy rate for August, reaching 79.3%, according to preliminary data from CoStar. The average daily rate (ADR) increased by 10.6% to AED482.32, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose by 15.4% to AED382.25. These figures represent the highest August ADR and RevPAR since 2008.” This shows that Abu Dhabi is on the right track and the numbers will impress others even more and within a year, this is merely seen as average. You see, not only is Abu Dhabi building around Yas Island, Abu Dhabi is gaining global population and even as America should have been countering this with their own options. ABC (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-09/australians-with-us-e3-working-visas-hit-with-new-rules/105752706) is now giving us ‘Thousands of Australians living in US face new restrictions on visa renewals’ and the underlying text becomes “The directive, which took immediate effect after it was issued on the weekend, warns visa-holders against the common practice of traveling to countries closer to the US to renew their visas. Some Australians who had made visa appointments in other countries before the change was announced have already had their applications denied at those appointments.” As I said it, it will evoke howls of deriving laughter. It invokes a brain drain and America wants the ‘Americans first’ rule, but when these Americans don’t have the brain power to set this to a workable solution, These people will seek employment elsewhere and that also impacts tourism, because these people will not go back to America for any vacation any day soon. It opens up stages of profit for plenty of places (including the UAE) who is now showing to be a yummy destination for thousands more. You see, the E-3 Visa is limited to 65,000 per fiscal year plus an additional 20,000 for those who have earned a US masters degree or higher. This implies roughly 80,000 people who are now looking for other options anywhere else and they will seek other than American vacation options. 

A rolling stone that starts an avalanche of economic hardship. I wonder how many of them would consider ADNOC, Etihad Airways or the First Abu Dhabi Bank as a worthy employer? Business Intelligence, IT, teaching people all of them are seeking other options I reckon that this will break up a few marriages and then there is the chance that these marriages will all seek a family setting outside of the USA. It would be my idea for the UAE to start poaching these people on an E-3 Visa. They get to pick the cream of the crop and it might be an idea to do this before corporations in the EU figure out the deal they could be having. There is of course the other place (Dubai) and the people at Emirates NBD, DP World and The Emirates Group could see the impact that they could have poaching E-3 visa people. For them they are looking at a pool of people who have been vetted in many ways already and that could be easy picking for them. Of course this is where the evil sneaky person in me is setting the premise to a Google advertisement on browsers and in LinkedIn applications to get people with an E-3 Visa to offer them a way out. I reckon that they might scoop a little over 25,000 worthy employees in under a month. Not a bad deal for the UAE.

It is with great joy that I bring the people the old expression of the grass is always greener on the other fellows grave, or there are a number of expressions that celebrate the additional blunders that the American administration is making. So as I was shown last week that the tourism drain is set to the $60 Billion (I expected this to go to somewhere in the 80-135 billion range, we now see that aside from that, America is now invoking a brain drain of over 60,000 people.

So, not to kick a dog when it is down, this is all the doing of ints own administration and as the tourism articles are saying that Canada is still happy to avoid America, we see that overall nations in the EU, Asia and Commonwealth are basically all avoiding America. I saw last week that for the first time in history China has a more positive appeal than America has. So there is that too.

As I see it, These people could explore their options at https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visiting-and-exploring-the-uae

Have a great day and try not to be negative over the dumbness of the America administrations. When one door closes another one opens. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics, Tourism

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.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, movies, Politics, Science, Tourism

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.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, Media, Military, Politics, Tourism