Tag Archives: FirstPost

August 29, 2026 · 15:29

Escalation on the menu

That is what I saw and I was alerted first by this by FirstPost (at https://www.firstpost.com/web-show/firstpost-live/war-is-coming-saudi-arabia-ready-to-bomb-houthis-as-attacks-escalate-firstpost-live-4k-vd2102436/) where we learn ‘‘War Is Coming’: Saudi Arabia ‘Ready’ to Bomb Houthis as Attacks Escalate’ apart from the title which I think is incorrect as Saudi Arabia should have been ready to bomb Houthi forces back to the stone age months ago (A Trumpian expression). We see “Saudi Arabia could be preparing for a renewed confrontation with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, according to a report by The New York Times, raising concerns that the Iran war could trigger a new battlefront in West Asia. The report cites analysts who warn that tensions between Riyadh and the Houthis could escalate” But this story seems straight forward and I don’t do straight forward. You see, at the same tie we get Al Jazeera (at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/28/six-months-of-war-between-iran-us-leave-arab-states-facing-tough-questions) who gives us ‘Six months of war between Iran, US leave Arab states facing tough questions’ where we see “Analysts broadly agree the United States and Israel’s war on Iran will not see regime collapse in Tehran or a definite victory for Washington, but rather a dragged-out affair of stagnation and attrition.” It comes with the added “All in all, the region remains in flux where formal alliances with outside powers no longer guarantee safety.” And the second statement is the first pebble that makes sense. There is another setting given to us, it is ““There is no chance of the government in Tehran falling in the next six months,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera. “If everything were to theoretically stay the same … with just increased economic pressure, that could eventually cause a ripple effect that could lead to state collapse in Iran. But we’re talking years, not months, and everything is not likely to stay the same.”” As well as “Exacerbating the Gulf states’ difficulties is that, although the price of oil has risen, so has inflation. In addition to the economic difficulties the war has created, there is also growing pressure for Gulf states to invest more in defence.” This is as I personally see as the second pebble. Then we get Energy Now giving us (at https://energynow.com/2026/07/houthi-leader-threatens-saudi-oil-facilities-if-riyadh-escalates-in-yemen/) with the title ‘Houthi Leader Threatens Saudi Oil Facilities if Riyadh Escalates in Yemen’ as I stated it is time to take of the gloves and decrease the Houthi population by a lot. And I believe that many of the Saudi military are on that same page. They will not state this because the await orders from Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud and optionally the man above him which should be Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and they both take directions from King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and I reckon that they have had it playing nice with the Houthi terrorists. So yes, as I see it, war is coming and it is not the whole enchilada as Mexicans will state. So what are we missing?

You see, if my foresight of the United States being utterly broke is that these escalations are meant for the United States to get back on the horse whilst they are not ready for anything in the next 10 years. They created a mess in the middle east and the oil in question they have too, so they are making a massive gain there. But the $40,000,000,000,000 is not easily swayed, the oil revenue could possibly fund the interest for several years. And the second pebble I gave you was “growing pressure for Gulf states to invest more in defence”, which is the second stone of revenue, but as I see it, they caused the mess, so why give them the revenue? That is the setting that they overlooked. There is now ample reason to tighten the bonds with China and I reckon that China has the same sights in view I have and they might be on top of this already. They have the Chengdu J-20 (aka Mighty Dragon) they also have the Shenyang J-16 and the Chengdu J-10C Vigorous Dragon. This is before we consider that Saudi Arabia might turn to the EU to get samples of the Eurofighter Typhoon to smooth things over, optionally going to that front for at least one squadron. All revenue lost to the United States. I predicted this as much years ago. But I have corroborating evidence. The entire bombing of Iran all whilst refineries stood standing, how does this make sense? I gave IP to Saudi Arabia and the UAE early march to scuttle whatever Iran had to incapacitate their options. Also I showed how a small squadron of drones could impede whatever Iran thought it could produce. These are simple methods to tae down an army and the Pentagon knows this. They read even more than I have and I came to this conclusion and I for one already gave Saudi Arabia the means to also take down the Houthi terrorists. So if the United States would not handle terrorists, I would (I know this is exaggerated ego speaking). But when you see these elements, do you think I am wrong?

So when you consider “There is no chance of the government in Tehran falling in the next six months”, all whilst we heard “President Trump has announced Iran’s defeat 106 times, claimed the country was destroyed 95 times, promised an imminent deal 88 times” how can the Pentagon be that wrong? As I see it it was never the goal to ‘defeat’ Iran, merely for the others to be unable to get the upper hand in all this, when the United States proclaim it cannot pay interest bills (which is likely in 2028) they will lose whatever they had and it will take the Gulf States a decade to repair what it had and the is just not on with me. So as we were given that President Trump reported over $2.2 billion in revenue during his first year back in office in 2025 and billions more, I reckon that he is stocking whatever he can and wherever he can, because when the United States goes down he wants his billions in a zero tax state and optionally Switzerland as well. So the pebbles are making wrinkles in the water, but someone is diluting that view with “global war settings” But as I see it, this should not be allowed and there is an apparent lack of illegalities of the actions by President Trump and he made ‘friends’ in the right places and when the USA declares itself insolvent Trump loses all his friends and he needs his savings to be safe, because as I see it the people will come in millions to Mar-a-Lago all armed with pitchforks and torches and at that point it might no longer be the safest place for President Trump. Perhaps he will sell that in the 11th hour for a few more coins, but that is what I see and I had hoped that Saudi Arabia and the UAE would unite to keep the gulf safe and Saudi Arabia set up with Pakistan the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement, which is now superseded by the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement which gives us a defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed into force on 7 August 2026. Which is good, but I personally think that the UAE and Bahrain should be part of this. I am hesitant for Qatar and Iraq to join, but it is a mere feeling. I have no corroborating data of any credible nature. But the setting that Qatar has had with Hamas and Hezbollah there is chance that the influences are ‘poisoned’ by Iran but this is a mere feeling. There is no evidence as I see it and I go by evidence every single time (or personal presumption in some cases).

So whilst we see this, and we need to see that the entire Iran setting was started by the United States and Israel, but then Iran did something stupid, they attacked the gulf states (without clear provocation) and tried to erase the UAE with over 2,200 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) aimed at Emirati territory, as such Iran is now non-welcome in most gulf states. They also fired on the other gulf states, but I reckon I made my case there. And the setting is required for others to see this. You see, the UAE is a direct threat to US technology and I speculate that is why Iran attacked it, perhaps they were promised certain leeways from the United States, but that is pure speculation. So, as I am still questioning what the rationale thought was behind that, the clarity is supposed to see that they could have send these 2200 drones to Israel, that is a country that attacked them. I am not anti-Israel, but when you attack a nation you get treated to drones (and more) but that might be my simplistic mind.

As such, perhaps China has a decent way to dal with the Houthi problem, as a simple weapon test mind you and that could fuel the purchase of weapons from China, now the options lie with the EU to counter that offer, but I reckon that they are hesitant to act, which is understandable.

So in all an almost simple setting, the question becomes what happens next? I have no clue because I am not in the know with Saudi defense plans. So you all have a great day and try to enjoy a cup of coffee (my next move).

The nameless price of tariff

That is the setting as I see it, beside the economic sides that apparently tariff never ever work in your favour, unless you have something the others do not, it is doomed for failure. So when I took notice of CBC’s ‘LeBlanc, U.S. counterpart meeting again after Canada displeased with latest tariff offer’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trade-tariff-talks-canada-us-canada-dominic-leblanc-jamieson-greer-9.7305811) where we see “The two sides have ramped up discussions since Trump threatened to impose 50 per cent duties on hundreds of Canadian goods, on top of sectoral tariffs already in place. Those tariffs are slated to come into effect Aug. 19.” And it makes me wonder if Canada really needs the United States. In my (massively limited) economic knowledge there is another side to all this. Could Canada switch what the United States need by selling that to other Commonwealth Nations, with optional sides sold to the EU and Japan? And add to that to deny the United States access to power and water? Because that is the mess that the United States is calling over themselves. Consider what mess the United States gets when power is denied to New York State, Minnesota and Michigan when it runs out of power before August 31st. What will the United States do then? And it is not the first time we hear that, because Premier of Ontario Doug Ford gave that option in March 2025 and perhaps he has the right notion, so whilst power is either shutdown or tariffed at 50% (I am of the mind that it should get an additional 50% surcharge on the 50% return tariff making it 75%) I reckon that the population of the United States will not be happy with their power prices getting close to doubled and I reckon that winter in the United States will massively suck at that point.

But these are not all the marbles as I see them. You see, FirstPost gave us mere hours ago ‘US flags India, EU, Canada among 40+ countries at risk of helping China evade Trump’s tariffs’ where we see “The Trump administration has identified more than 40 economies as potential transshipment risks and plans to use artificial intelligence to detect goods allegedly rerouted through third countries to avoid US tariffs.” (at https://www.firstpost.com/world/us-flags-india-eu-canada-among-40-countries-at-risk-of-helping-china-evade-trumps-tariffs-14038042.html), so as I see it, was my idea to sell to each other whilst shipments to the United States are set to zero? Let them sort its out themselves. No power, no goods and no services, all whilst we are already stomping down on the Cloud Act. Implying that the United States could never survive becoming 100% self sufficient and whilst these MAGA buffoons are show a realistic view on what happens when their big beautiful bankruptcy comes calling. So whilst Argentina and Bangladesh are ramping up trade using the Chinese Yuan, more will follow and the end of the dollar as the one global currency, so as we see nations selecting bilateral trade and foreign reserves to bypass the U.S. dollar we see a pool of nations that are considering this too. So whilst American bankers are dead scared of this and trying all kinds of channels and YouTube influencers making waves through statements like “No, the Chinese yuan is not going to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency anytime soon” and here is the real news. Five nations are already doing this and whilst there is some truth in “China limits the free flow of money across its borders to maintain economic stability. Global central banks cannot hold large reserves of a currency that is not fully and freely convertible” it only takes one Beijing meeting to open that door to one central point like the European Central Bank and that would open up the Yuan to the 27 member nations (they would have to go through the European Central Bank) but that is the next phase to this caper and it is only one meeting away from becoming a reality and that is what Wall Street fears, because the dollar would get devaluated from a near one on one to the Euro, to a setting it faces when it becomes a yen setting where 185 dollars gets you one euro and the American administration did this to its own population. So is this realistic?

Well, that is the question, because I raised this to a degree in my story which I wrote on December 17th 2025 in ‘The neighbors have coffee’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/12/17/the-neighbors-have-coffee/) and you’ll have to read between the lines to see this. So as I see it, the United States is making the most serious enemies out there and Canada will be given options, because we like the economic splendour of Mark Carney (a bank governor turned Prime Minister) a lot more than we do the bully of the White House. And nations are voicing this much more clearly now. So when we consider the FirstPost setting of “Navarro said the White House is working with US Customs and Border Protection on an AI-enabled system designed to identify potentially rerouted shipments. The proposed technology would analyse information including shipping records, cargo routes and historical routing patterns to determine whether goods entering the US may have been transshipped.” And the hidden setting applies here. There is no AI, there is mere Machine Language and it is powerful, but it requires data and when others start evading the United States and merely deal with others, that system becomes useless almost immediately. We have no need to supply shipment papers to someone we’re not shipping to. That is the flaw in their thinking. That is the other side of transshipping, it allows for shipping to another nation all together. So, whilst harbour locations lose revenue and incomes, power is redirected to other locations, that formerly know as a big beautiful country is now becoming hollow, empty and that leaves Wall Street with nothing and a massively devaluated dollar.

That is the setting some fought against, but there came to President of the United States opening his mouth again and the world seemingly has had enough. And I get that this is mere the darkest nightmare in doom speak, but consider how many of these points are out there? What is to happen when some of these people actually start what they considered in the past? What happens when the Commonwealth selects its brother (Canada) over the United States? We always relied on the United States when it was there, but we can no longer do that. It has a debt of 40 trillion now, it has a depleted and warped sense of military power and while we take these two in consideration, the United States with its BS tariff setting in now no longer the preferred ‘friend’ because that is what they are, a not so welcome acquaintance at a dinner party. That guest sitting down in any place is then regarded the loser table. And that is the reality of it all. The United States are no longer the highly regarded party in any given stage, Canada is and several nations see that.

So whilst we see (in the CBC article) “The Americans are also seeking a deal that would see preferential access to Canadian critical minerals and which covers security and energy, the sources said.” They gave away their achilles heel. They need the critical minerals and energy, which is exactly what we can deny them. Their mention of security is merely a dose of Sweet ’n Low, but that is also the dangerous setting because the sweeteners of the United States are set to potential health concerns for Canada. And whilst we consider that Doug Ford is open to put American booze back on the shelf, he knows that this is merely an empty gesture, because Canadians no longer accept this as an option. So it stays on the shelf, never to be sold.

A small but important distinction, so as we tally (a skill some American business lost, for that see yesterday’s article) the results. We need to consider that treating the United States as the pariah (a setting they used on China in 2018) is starting to take shape we also see ABC News giving us ‘100,000 sign petition to declare US ambassador to Canada persona non grata’ which is another step towards isolation. My darkest nightmare doesn’t sound so implausible anymore, does it?

Have a great day today and especially to our brothers and sisters in Canada.

News for the Indian tourist

That was the setting less than an hour ago. In this, I saw two posts that give a clear sign that the UAE is tinkering with the tourist setting (in a good way). So first there was FirstPost, give gives us that ‘Abu Dhabi is offering free UAE visas to Indians: Check eligibility, dates, and rules’ (at https://www.firstpost.com/lifestyle/abu-dhabi-is-offering-free-visas-to-indians-check-eligibility-dates-and-rules-14037280.html) where we see “Abu Dhabi is offering complimentary UAE entry visas to eligible Indian tourists. Check the dates, three-night stay rule, flight requirement and eligibility” the setting was not that steep (this is not the United States of America after all) which gives in addition “The emirate has launched a limited-period travel initiative under which eligible Indian passport holders can receive their UAE entry visa free of charge when they book a qualifying holiday in Abu Dhabi through participating travel partners. The offer, introduced by the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), runs from August 1 to October 31, 2026 and is designed to encourage Indian visitors to stay longer and explore the UAE capital. The initial programme is expected to support up to 20,000 visas.” The setting is pretty simple, to get this complementary visa, you need to adhere to the following three rules:

A minimum stay of three consecutive nights in an Abu Dhabi hotel
A return flight from India
Booking through a participating travel partner or online travel agency

Sounds simple, doesn’t it. And for those staying merely a week, it might be viewed as a luxury, because even if it isn’t expensive, the price given is “AED 252 – AED 400 ($68 – $110 USD)” for 30 days, is not that expensive, but considering that this is per person, it is good to have that discount in your pocket. And the time is from August 1, 2026 until October 31, 2026.

As said, it is a simple, but effective package to drown one of the costs of a vacation away and right along with this, we get CN Traveller giving us ’The Abu Dhabi islands worth visiting for beaches, wildlife and luxury stays’ (at https://www.cntravellerme.com/story/the-abu-dhabi-islands-worth-visiting-for-beaches-wildlife-and-luxury-stays) where we see “Made up of more than 200 islands, Abu Dhabi is an archipelago that’s abundant in diversity. The emirate’s islands are both natural and man-made, featuring natural wonders and areas purpose-built to increase the city’s footprint. Whether you want to unwind to the rhythmic sounds of the Gulf lapping sandy shores, explore the capital’s cultural landmarks, or get out into nature and explore rugged greenery and powdery desert dunes.” Awe then get a run down of the 10 islands prominently mentioned, with the 10th Yas Island (one that graces my first position on my bucket list) with “As the host of the star-studded Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Island is all about the glamour and adrenaline. Yas Mall is the biggest shopping centre in Abu Dhabi and the second largest in the UAE, while the elegant bars and restaurants of Yas Bay are some of the liveliest in the emirate. [2] Stay at slick W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island (the only hotel in the world built directly over a Formula 1 racetrack) and take on the same fairways as the world’s top golfers at Yas Links, the golf club that stages the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship every winter.” Where I did miss the setting which I would have placed at [2]:

[2] “Enjoy by yourself or with the entire family a visit to one of the 4 amazing pleasure point. SeaWorld giving you a view on the oceans through engaging media and a view on the mazing animals all over the world. A show of breathtaking aquaria and surroundings that need to be seen to be believed. WaterWorld is the place to get wet with slides, pools, a lazy river and even a rollercoaster totaling up to 45 rides, a day magnificently spend there. Then for the speed lovers, the Yas Mall gives direct access to Ferrari world. With the fastest coaster in the world and 9 hectares of Ferrari history and several views on the subject. Then we get the Warner Bros. World which is globally the largest indoor world with present participation by Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Batman (joker too), Green Lantern, the Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. The adults can loudly claim a “Yabadabba do” and the kids will go nuts on all the rides and an introduction to Scooby Doo himself. It will be a view unlike others and next on that list will be the Harry Potter world which is currently being built, as such you should see this a first gander on your next vacation, because Yas Island can keep you busy for at least a week and you never have to see the same event twice.” There is an upside to this, several hotels give you a complementary day ticket to one for these four parks even day, so you can relax with the benefits that this daily ticket give you and you get one for every day you are there. So feel free to check whether your hotel has this perk and there are no costs for the Yas Mall, so you get a shopping moment like no other and in all this, it is showing that the UAE and Abu Dhabi are now setting the larger focus on what India could enjoy and this is a start to increase the record 26.6 million visitors over the course of 2025, supported by strong performance in hotel revenues and international arrivals and it is only getting better for Abu Dhabi.

So when I saw these two articles, I knew that Abu Dhabi wasn’t tinkering on the side of the road letting the Iranian terrorist actions get a handle on them, they are actively getting the upper hand in their settings, as they are (remember: approximately 99% of all Iranian missiles hit nothing at all)

So it is good to see the UAE making a better setting and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 20,000 free visas get passed onto tourists before the ink of the offer is even cold. Have a great day today.

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Escalation on the menu

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