Tag Archives: Florida

August 2, 2025 · 21:20

As Hogwarts expands

That is the setting. We are given ‘Miral extends deadline for tender to build Abu Dhabi’s ‘Harry Potter’ land’ (at https://blooloop.com/theme-park/news/miral-construction-tender-harry-potter-land-abu-dhabi/) the quote is that “Miral has extended a bid submission deadline for a tender to build the new Harry Potter-themed land at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi on Yas Island. Per a report from Middle East media publishing company MEED, the deadline has been extended from 28 July to 4 August.” Implying that next week the Start of a  $545 million – $816m expansion is due to begin. And in addition we are given “Three new rides in Harry Potter land Miral announced the Middle East’s first Harry Potter-themed land in 2022. It will feature iconic locations from the Wizarding World, as well as three new rides, retail outlets, and F&B facilities. The 40,000 M2 addition to Warner Bros. World will join six existing zones in the park – Warner Bros. Plaza, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch, Cartoon Junction, Gotham City and Metropolis.” As such The staff of Hogwarts will have to endure a rush of people howling “Yabadabadoo” whilst assaulting the death eaters. These death eaters are in a pincer setting as the other side will be shouting “Yibbity-Yabbity-Doo!”, those poor death eaters won’t know what hit them (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk)

And as I see it, the quote “Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Miral, said: “This is yet another testament to our commitment to continue to position Yas Island as a top global destination for entertainment and leisure, and a great addition to Abu Dhabi’s tourism offerings, contributing to the growth and economic diversification of the emirate.”” Is not entirely accurate. It is that international tourism will see Abu Dhabi as a much more appealing destination and with the ‘idiocy’ (as I personally see it) settings that America is setting with immigration, the costly ‘visa integrity fee’ and several other settings. So as I see it, Universal just dished out $7.7 billion USD (Hogwarts is merely a part of it) and the other park in Orlando will have a rather large problem. With the Hogwarts expansion, 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. When millions of tourists will select Abu Dhabi over Florida, the rest will become a mere escalation of something you could have seen coming miles away. But not to worry, I had the setting in view even as the media seems to be coming up short. In addition Abu Dhabi has the Formula 1® Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 4-7 December 2025. I have no idea yet when the 2026 race is on, but for a lot of people combining the two would be preferable. Also there is a lot more around Yas Island. And the UAE has a much better visa setting where it is offered at a mere fraction of what America offers it. The setting was debatable (at best) when America was the only option, but that hasn’t been the case for almost 4 years. So now as America is bleeding money in almost every direction, the people in Europe, Canada, UK, India, Australia, New Zealand and China will consider Abu Dhabi and Yas Island as their destination in 2026, 2027 and 2028. So how many million of people will seek their preferred choice in EuroDisney (Paris), Efteling (Netherlands) and parks in Belgium, Sweden and several others. A setting that was there from the start. 

A setting that will also propel the UAE as a global tourist destination. They already were that, but the millions of Harry Potter fans had Florida, London and Tokyo in their sight, with Abu Dhabi added to the HP arsenal, I reckon that Florida (at present) is allegedly decently  much done for.

Have a great day and when in Abu Dhabi try the Emirati Chabab, it is a famous dish and decently yummy. 

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July 9, 2025 · 08:18

Age of BS (Bill Sightseer)

That is the setting I was confronted with last night. We have all seen the US downturn in tourism and there is a certain justice in souring your own milk. This is what we saw in the last two weeks and last night the Independent gives us (at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-tourism-decline-trump-policies-b2782820.html) the repeating ‘US is the only country facing tourism decline as Trump policies to cost $29 billion in visitor revenue: study’ and for the most I was all about “seen this before” so I was about to leave it next to me, but then something happened. Travel and Tour World gave me (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/united-states-tourism-soars-to-new-heights-with-20-million-canadian-tourists-contributing-a-staggering-20-5-billion-and-fueling-job-growth-across-140000-american-positions/) ‘United States Tourism Soars To New Heights With 20 Million Canadian Tourists, Contributing A Staggering $20.5 Billion And Fueling Job Growth Across 140,000 American Positions’ are the flipping kidding me? As we have been given from a multitude of places “Amid the president’s immigration crackdown, travel bans and sweeping global tariffs, the U.S. is expected to be the only one out of 184 countries to see foreign visitor spending fall in 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. The study suggests that the U.S. economy is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international spending this year alone – but the actual shortfall might be much greater.” (Independent, July 4th) and it matches what others have given me. But no, here comes the Travel and Tour World article giving us “A remarkable 20 million Canadian tourists visited the United States, contributing a massive $20.5 billion to the U.S.economy, while also sustaining around 140,000 jobs across the United States, as reported by the U.S.Travel Association. These figures highlight the essential role Canada plays in U.S. tourism, making it the largest source of international visitors for the country. With Canada’s population of about 40 million, this represents a significant proportion—half of all Canadians visited the U.S. last year. In fact, Canada accounted for 26% of all international tourists to the U.S., which saw a total of 77 million visitors in 2024.” And CBC on July 3rd gave us “The data shows there were 88,686 fewer recorded crossings at the Peach Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden and Sumas points of entry throughout the month.” As such (apart from the confirming feeling), it seems that (as I personally see it) the U.S.Travel Association are beefing up numbers by the millions and no one reacts? How is this setting acceptable to anyone? As I see it, America might be in deeper waters than anyone thinks they are. It seems that Wall Street needs to be mismanaged so that they will give America the credits they desperately need. Apart from The deal that Canada now has with Aluminum provider Australia in stead of America, the setting is far worse then anyone is considering. The TTW article has a few other capers that makes for a weird setting “While Canada did not actively seek to “steal” American tourists, certain Canadian destinations are benefiting from a surge in European visitors. In fact, a recent study from Context Research Group highlights that Canada is experiencing an unexpected tourism boom, driven largely by European high-spenders who were previously considering U.S. destinations for their vacations. As the U.S. tourism sector struggles with internal challenges, Canada seems to be emerging as a viable and attractive alternative.” It is the word ‘steal’, you see, after the Florida setting where people seems to feel insecure and unsafe and there is the US customs setting where people are seemingly evicted by a owning a mere meme and then there are the numerous events that customs is scanning your social media, the land of the free now seemingly takes away free speech. I don’t care about the meme’s some other people send. I find it a waste of my time and as such any second hand meme might actually debunk the only vacation you can afford. That is a principle setting why people go somewhere else. And the internet is bustling with numbers of places that have a massive downturn, as such the TTW article isn’t even funny or actual in several settings. And as we have seen the amount of the 51st state mentions, the Canadians seemingly like Americans, their blood in particular. See what I did, I made an actual funny (TTW please take notice) The article has other things missing, the first quote didn’t give a timeline, whist other mentions do give a timeline, but these moments can be misread. So who is behind this? The TTW article doesn’t carry a name, neither does it state opinion piece, which might not be a setting that has weight as the TTW is not journalism, but in the B2B world the writer is often indicative of how serious you need to take an article. The Independent piece was written by James Liddell, a US News reporter and giving us (a little late) the facts we already had. The CBC article gives us the charts that show that as per February 2025 the numbers going to America started going down with 40K less visitors, in March the drop was over 80K and going on and on until June where it was a little over 80K as well, and this is merely the BC/Washington crossing. So where did they find these 20 million Canadian tourists? Did the TTW not vet the files they publish? Because as I see it, it is their name that comes up. 

Was it just the one?
So we can fret over this, but there was another reason to mention this. You see, I mentioned the Aluminum setting and as it was given to me yesterday, Canada is now in conversation with Rio Tinto as a new supplier of Aluminum, which might delight Coca Cola and a few others who are ‘diverting’ to Canada to avoid tariffs and other bad news towards their shareholders. The larger news was given to me by MSN (at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-extends-visa-free-entry-to-more-than-70-countries-to-draw-tourists/ar-AA1I9PTl) there we see ‘China extends visa-free entry to more than 70 countries to draw tourists’, I have no idea what the impact will be, but there will be thoughts on many being interested in seeing Beijing and a few other places. The fact that China has its own theme parks, Disney has two in China, one in Shanghai and one in Hong Kong. As I see it, this might be massively bad news for America as well. I have no idea what the impact will be, but 70 countries imply a loss of thousands of tourists in a time America cannot have any more bad news. And the one thing we tend to forget, most people (as assumed 90%+) can only spend their money once and thousands going to China means that they cannot spend that money in America, more importantly, many Europeans are trying to find a place far away from America (optionally Canada too) and now China makes this move. A tactical move that could hurt America a few points more. And as I see it (through the graphics) the move will hit many in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. And I think it matters, it is the Commonwealth nations, the Arabian countries and Europe that will wield the largest punch for China. So what the TTW article to dissuade people from going to China? I think that might have been a bad move as it only shows America to be more desperate than even before. And with the Rio Tinto move Canada is showing itself more than apt to counter whatever America throws at them, I reckon that yesterday’s threat on 10% addition for BRIC’s minded governments and as a bonus President Trump soured the well in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, what a 24 hour score to make.

As I see it, I wouldn’t take the entire TTW article too seriously, but as a part in a larger setting it gives us (optionally wrong) that there is a larger setting in America, the cracks are seemingly showing and that presents a larger setting for multiple players, all stating the same thing. Doing business in America is starting to become a folly for anyone entertaining that thought. A setting that is merely the consequence of the last 12 months. For America a bad thing, for the business entrepreneurs a new horizon they haven’t see for a long time and what is new tends to be sexy and explorable for the eager greed driven minds.

Have a great day today.

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May 8, 2025 · 10:11

In memoriam

I saw the stage unfold and I am still seeing the downfall of Florida, but the UAE just added the cherry flavored candy coating to that obituary. This was always going to happen, but two elements added to this evolutionary accelerated game. First there was Governor DeSantis who (seemingly) anti-Woke decided to give Disney a run for its money in all kinds of anti settings. I do not know all the details, but they are there. As such there was a diminished setting for tourism setting the destination to Florida. No matter how great the Epic Universe looks (and it looks beyond amazing for what I can see on YouTube), the stage was set. Then we get this whatever he calls himself in the White House playing the tariff game and impeding tourism in America (as I personally see it) and the busk of all Canadian are looking for another destination (plenty of Europeans too), so that is stage 1. The diminished interest in Florida, and even if you think that is not enough (and it isn’t), the UAE and Disney create a bond which will get Disney World to Abu Dhabi on (you guessed it) Yas Island. It will be sitting next to Warner Brothers World, Ferrari World, Water World and Sea World. When Disney opens its doors the setting of Stage 2 is achieved. 

Universal and Disney which was able to keep tourism in Florida will be setting a larger exodus of Tourism towards the UAE. It makes sense that Disney wanted to get in on the Emirati business, it they had not gotten there, others would have. So the business setting was clear and I saw this evolve over a year ago (minus the Disney part). 

I even set that stage in the article (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/01/25/those-happy-dreams/) where I wrote ‘Those happy dreams’ at that point I saw that tourism would be a larger setting and the service call to that pool of people had to be serviced differently. An overhaul of tourist serviceability through a customer care setting, in stead of a sales setting (which had been the focal point of many). With Saudi Arabia and its NEOM settings and now an even larger setting in Abu Dhabi warrants that change. I reckon that this might be a call upon Miral Experiences LLC to evolve their systems and make an Arabic solution which could also be deployed all over Saudi Arabia, an (optionally) c connected system that gives the tourist 110% of what others give them without impeding their own costs, optionally dwindling down some costs and making a system more efficient towards the tourist industry. When that is achieved other locations would follow. 

So now only will Florida not survive the outcome of all this, but it will evolve the settings for the UAE immensely. As such we could even see additional growth. And with the bullet train going from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, this high-speed train will enable individuals to travel in just 30 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 350 km/h. My sneaky brain even came up with a second train that leaves at 07:00 from Dubai, getting them ready to party in Abu Dhabi. The NM95 (painted in the Hogwarts Express colors) with NM meaning Non-Muggle and 95 being the square of 9 3/4 (ok, I did a little rounding, but 95.0625 might be a little weird on a train). So when these people depart from Dubai, in a Harry Potter (or fantastic beasts) themed train, the vacation merely goes with them on a journey. A setting where people take one week in Abu Dhabi and the second week in Dubai, with the non-tax setting of the UAE, a family buying iPhones for mum, dad and junior, the savings there pretty much enables that trip. I reckon that the UAE will be cleaning house in American tourism for years. And the stage that the BBC gives us (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrgr2zzv00o) ‘Disney to open theme park in the Middle East’ a mere 8 hours ago will have hidden treasures for the UAE as a whole. Disney might still be grabbing their 30%, but the larger cake with be for Miral Experiences LLC and the UAE. And with the quote “It added that 120 million passengers travel through Abu Dhabi and Dubai every year, making the Emirates the biggest global airline hub in the world.” I reckon that it will grow much closer to 150,000,000 soon thereafter. 

You see, with the Harry Potter world added to Warner Brothers (somewhere in 2026) and Disney coming after that, I reckon that anyone who faced fears over the Tumpisms of tariffs and other shenanigans will see Yas Islands with its amazing mall, and theme parks and on 4-7 Dec 2025 the Formula one as well, Abu Dhabi will be the place to be starting this year. So if they evolve tourism services in the UAE, Florida is pretty much done for, as such I see a speculated ‘In Memoriam’ appear in global newspaper in the near future. And I (yet again) got here a year early. I’ll be honest, I never knew that Disney was on route, but it made sense that they would come this way. And I reckon that there is another setting. You see, the amount of power required for Yas Island might in the nearest of futures require its own small nuclear powered reactor soon enough. Abu Dhabi (as I personally see it) already required it, but a Disney resort might make that a essential thing. It would probably fuel Abu Dhabi and Dubai, so something half way makes sense.

I reckon that the spaciousness of Abu Dhabi and Yas Island would fuel the need for growing the mall as well as place 1-2 hotels in that mall as well. 

A simple setting that President Trump overlooked when he started to play the tariff war. Now that the world has had enough of it, they are seeking another destination, the world sees a large neon sign stating “نحن هنا” (I’ll let you figure that one out). A setting comes an essential solution to a lot of tourists and the UAE is almost ready to provide. With the tax breaks that the UAE offers (Apple now has a new destination for its superiorly build iPhones), tourism in Dubai will fuel Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi will fuel the need to see Dubai. Both profiting and people get a new stage that they haven’t seen before. As I see it all winners. OK, America will sulk like a little girl but they basically put this on themselves.

Have a great day muggles, try the liquorices wands if you can, if not, there is always coffee.

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March 2, 2025 · 06:25

What does it take?

That is the question, what does it take to get a conviction. In this case I am not even fussed about the guilty or innocent part. Any conviction is a deal closer, that is the setting of the law. What does it take? A case is started when there are settings that give rise to the guilt of a criminal. At that point, the police and investigators go to work to collect evidence to prove their point. The people get called into court and the trial starts. This is pretty much the law in action on a global status. So at what point does ANY prosecutor get years to make its case? 

So here we have the setting for Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate. They were accused of Human trafficking in 2022. That was almost three years ago. And they had been unable to leave Romania where they were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in 2022. So in the logical mind, there was an accusation. And evidence was collected. Well, human trafficking takes evidence at that point the prosecutor produces the people who were trafficked and that set of a court case. So what took three years? 

On January 10th 2023 I wrote ‘Andrew Tate, the man, the exploited’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/01/10/andrew-tate-the-man-the-exploited/) at that point after reviewing some parts I wrote “The man was already a multi millionaire and he did this in numerous ways. So why would he exploit 6 women? What would be in it for him? I am not saying that this did not happen, I am asking if this might not have happened.” I raised the question as the prosecutors had been unable for months to get any traction on their prosecution. In addition we got (on YouTube of all places) some mogul giving us the ‘light’ that his daughter was a target.

At this point which I got in under a day that this was a witch hunt from some wannabe captains of industry who were after the jackpot that the Tate’s created and they wanted it. And at this point the setting becomes “Was the Romanian prosecution corrupt?” And then there was the misogynistic state. By the way ‘misogenistic’ means “strongly prejudiced against women”, and to be honest. The video’s I saw did not give the stage that he is AGAINST women. Well, they have strong convictions, but about all manner of things, not against women in particular. Look at the evidence, the Tate’s are kickboxers and their nature is to be in your face, up close and personal. Not my preferred way of dealing with people, but that is THEIR nature, basically the nature of all kickboxers. And many (basically all non-kickboxers) are not on that setting. In Andrew Tate and Piers Morgan we see all video’s that are in the open. The interview (at https://youtu.be/VGWGcESPltM?si=2XrGCQ9oBtE8MP5Q) should be watched to get a better view on him. And there I saw confirmations. So what gives? That is at the centre of all the issues. In the prosecution the Tate’s are under the magnifying glass and in 2 years Romanian law could not make a case. And when you look at the interview where Andrew is up to Piers and basically in his face. He was the straight talker, strong in convictions and the Romanians could not make a case? Was there ever a case? 

As set, almost three years ago, when I see the ‘other’ YouTube interview. I am still wholeheartedly convinced that the Tate’s were innocent. And now? I think that that the setting is that other Romanians take over a multi million dollar enterprise. So when will the BBC (et al) investigate that part of the setting? So when did anyone investigate Cosmin Gusa and Daria Gusa? What came of that part?

Still, now they are in America and the first setting we see is that Governor DeSantis gives us (yesterday) that they are not welcome. So why did he do that? We are given that “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan they are “not welcome” in the Sunshine State after they arrived there when Romania lifted travel restrictions for the pending criminal case against them.” So what illegalities did either Tate brother do? Perhaps the governor is shining the limelight on himself to appease women? 

I tend to seat myself on the side of Piers Morgan. I think that the in your face setting that Andrew Tate has is not my way and it is not the way pretty much any non-kickboxer has, but that does not make Andrew Tate guilty. Guilt is established by evidence and the Romanian law had nothing, not after two years and change. Perhaps it is time to set the stage to “The wrongly accused Andrew and Tristan Tate” and as I see it, the stage was created by the Tate’s and it seemingly went the wrong way. A setting of their own partial making. Leave it to the rest to take statements out of context. The media has buckets of examples that the media creates to set the flames to the creation of digital dollars.

That’s merely my point of view and I am happy to see that apparently I was right all along (going back to January 10th 2022. Not a bad result.

Have a great Sunday and Vancouver gets to Sunday in 45 minutes.

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February 3, 2025 · 22:05

The edge of imagination 

That where we are at times. We all are and some use it to fuel the idea they have. We can speculate all we want, but there are words that the Star Trek Communicator fueled the concept of the mobile phone (don’t know if it is). Then later on the Star Trek Pad (TNG) was the base for the Kindle and also the iPad. We can deny, we can be offended. But the truth of the matter is that any innovation required a group of people thinking in the same way, that is how innovation starts. When the thoughts of this are set to a base, the base grows and the concept becomes a real thing. I have always believed that to be true. So whilst we think that all inventions are in the trend of Oppenheimer that person is not completely wrong, because the imaginations comes from whomever employs it, but usually it take a nudge. The iPad and mobile phone being clear examples of that. There were some bad examples (losers trying to fraud their way through) but they get found out soon enough and now we see medical devices on the same Trent as the losers were, but these people imagined the solution though. They went the additional step.

This is the foundation, now consider that DisneyWorld has the ride Rise of the resistance and galaxy’s edge. We know Star Wars and that is fine, but these two places in the eyes of a child will boost that child’s imagination and that is where the setting changes. That child could be there seeing the life sized version of a Tie fighter and that thought will remain with the child and in 15 years the concept of something he did not realize becomes reality, true innovation. What it is? I don’t know, not my thoughts. I merely thought of Newt Scamander in the series fantastic beasts and I came up with giggle water. A drink in the movie magic based, but the drink could be real. I set that out in a blog around when that movie came out. You see we have all kinds of fuzzy drinks. So what happens when you add Nitrogen (laughing gas) to the syrup that will contain the nitrous oxide and with the added liquid (most likely water, or fruit juice) we now have giggle water. Of course as it is ‘regulated’ all over the place someone in that field would have to tinker with my idea. But can you ignore a fan fleet of millions when it comes to any new drink? Only Coca Cola started with nothing. There is a whole fleet of people now in range and in the Harry Potter field everyone is going nuts about butter beer. Can you imagine having the one good no one else has? 

Did anyone else consider this? Possibly, but they might not have heard of laughing gas, it was discontinued when better alternatives were found, but that doesn’t make the idea useless, it can be applied to other fields. Innovation is the combination of thoughts and imagination and the one solving it has a future ahead. I think I had my fair share of innovations and more are coming. To get into a field I am not even qualified is folly. To be true, I was not qualified in the field of nuclear ‘solutions’ either. But someone had to deal with Iran (and now Russia as well). As such I started a thought that could be interesting. As such I figured that as Russia has 38 reactors, when half a dozen melt down they will end up having a massive energy problem. Simple problem, simple solution and when you consider that a snow globe drove this idea, you can see that innovation can be found anywhere. 

This led me to the setting that America gave us all. The trade wars. Now America has plenty but not all in America. You see Disney is also in Europe, Universal is also win the UAE. So if all people of the commonwealth denounce their visit to America and chose these two other locations America will soon have a new problem. So what if we all disregard America as a destination for the next two years? Disney reported an annual revenue of $88.898B, they beat expectations by a mere 7%, so what if all in the commonwealth and Europe select other places and now Disney falls short for 50%? and Universal is doing equally good, that is until President Trump pulled the rug from under them. You see I like Theme parks, but if I can enjoy another one I would like it to be outside of America. I am a member of the Commonwealth and be decided to blame Canada and Mexico for their own irresponsible spending. As such The Dutch has the Efteling, Harry Potter can be found in London, Japan and soon the UAE (Warner Brothers Theme park) and several other parks are there all over the world. Saudi Arabia will soon have the alternative to Aspen and Utah, Canada has Whistler and Blue Mountains in Ontario and a such there is every chance that they could all get more Mexicans. President Trump did not really consider that, did he? In that same setting Universal (before covid) had 5.5 million tourists, so what happens when that slows down to less then 3 million, how long until Orlando has a massive budget problem? How long until businesses collapse due to a stupid idea that seemingly only President Trump likes. How long until the America economy goes below sustainable (I believe it is on the line now) measures that collapses the larger companies is slicing whatever they have?

Innovation comes in all sizes and directions. So when will we see a webpage with a connected database mapping all theme parks on the world so that people from the Commonwealth and Europe can seek alternative travel arrangements? Consider that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have done nearly all to become the better solution for tourism. Their airports are top node and their theme parks are too. Warner Brothers will still syphon some funds to America, but it is meager pickings for the yanks as their theme parks are on the edge of shutting down. 

That is the other side of innovation, making sure that America dwindles down to nothing. You see, there is a down side to Trade Wars. This is merely one side of this, there are a few others but I reckon the Canadians are already on that part.

As I see it, the stupid side of this world can be found between Canada and Mexico. And they are finding out that there is a cost to electing the wrong president (not sure if the other party had a real contender)

So have a nice day and consider the chance that you yourself have an idea that could be innovative, there is 100% certainty that I am not the only one and innovations can be found in any field, it merely needs fuel and imagination is the best fuel.

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September 7, 2024 · 03:34

Is the media now too corrupt?

That is the question that I saw coming my way (via my brain). I stumbled on an article accusing something bad, in many ways. The issue becomes that there was only ONE source. No one touched the article. Does it make it fake news? Or is the media now so corrupt that Microsoft gets a pass on everything? It is a serious question. You see the story starts with ‘Bombshell allegations that Microsoft is using Chinese employees inside China to oversee DoD, Federal government cloud infrastructure’ after all the anti-China rumbles, they are OK with this? 

The article (at https://lawenforcementtoday.com/bombshell-allegations-that-microsoft-using-chinese-employees-inside-china-to-oversee-dod-federal-government-cloud-infrastructure) gives plenty to worry about. If not Microsoft then at least the media. The setting tarts with “In September 2023, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a conference that China has a “bigger hacking program” than the competition. He warned that Beijing has a “cyber espionage program so vast that it is bigger than all of its major competitors combined.”” And it gets a lot worse after that. We get “Tom Schiller, a senior software developer with a stellar resume, is the CEO of Next Defense, a consultancy agency specialising in Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence for defense training. Schiller is a subject matter expert. He reached out to Law Enforcement Today, and what he told us was chilling. He told us of a program hatched between Microsoft and the Obama administration that is directly tied to China and puts our national security in peril.” This is the first setting that the media should have referred to this article. They have no issues copying text on faceless accusations against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, but this is not touched? And I waited a fair amount of hours (in case all the media was suddenly asleep). And before you think that this is nothing we get “After the raid, a China-based Microsoft spokesperson emailed, “We’re serious about complying with China’s laws and committed to SAIC’s questions and concerns.” That statement contradicts the Microsoft president’s statement before the House Homeland Security Committee in June 2014, when he said that the Chinese government had previously ordered the company to comply with their laws and probes. He said the Chinese were told that he “was not allowed that and will not.” Schiller also noted that Microsoft has shared source code with China and let them insert their own source code into Microsoft’s proprietary source code. That is a direct contradiction to the Microsoft president’s statement to Congress.” So we get the setting that a key member of Microsoft made a statement to Congress that seemingly is found to be contradictive. Take time to read the article, there is way too much in there and copying the text seems a little overactive, so I am putting a pdf version of that page at the end of the article. So the end does give a hot stick of dynamite. 

We are given “Schiller advised Gimenez that he had alerted the DoD CIO and DISA IG about a possible breach in the US cloud infrastructure. 

“In my expert opinion, the breach has significantly compromised all U.S. Government and DoD cloud services, posing a grave ongoing and present danger to our nation’s security and the safety of the American people. He continued to explain to Gimenez Microsoft’s use of “un-cleared Chinese nationals based in China to conduct and control over 90% of the work and support for the Microsoft U.S. Government and DoD cloud environments,” explaining that the “authorisation agreement…was inadequately written, leaving things open-ended and unclarified.” He told Gimenez that “Microsoft has taken full advantage of this and has in turn used to essentially hand over control of the U.S. Sovereign Cloud to China,” adding that this had “actively been going on since around 2016.” Schiller told Gimenez he has “three additional senior-level whistleblowers from the Microsoft U.S. Government and DoD contract who are prepared to testify.” Schiller asked Gimenez to contact him so a complete briefing of facts could take place.” So lets recap the lessons of history. America goes anti China in a heartbeat. It sanctions Huawei (A Chinese company) and tells Europe to stop handing business deals to Huawei and now we see that China is managing the clouds of the Department of Defence and the US Governments? Where is the logic in this? 

And the way the media is silencing this makes even less sense. They weren’t the source and they could have stuck with their usual BS (like inserting words like ‘alleged’ and ‘anonymous sources let us know’) we see non of that and only ONE article comes up in Google Search? This does not make sense. I will not blame Microsoft without ‘evidence’ but this article is a clear setting of time going back to 2022 and no one saw this? 

I wonder if the media suddenly wakes up, their is something amiss in all of this. It is either one side, or the other side. In this scenario there is no non-side. Oh and the source of this piece was Law Enforcement Today, so I would side with the fact that this is a serious stage for the United States, or do we call them the Peoples Republic of America from this forward?

So have a nice day and remember in China they prefer Long Jing tea, you should have some in stock if you are in America.

Bombshell allegations that Microsoft is using Chinese employees inside China to oversee DoD, FederalDownload

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July 4, 2024 · 20:03

In the beginning

Two issues came to light, the first one is about an American cop. The BBC gives us (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72ver6172do) where we see ‘A Bugatti car, a first lady and the fake stories aimed at Americans’. We are given “A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the US election, a BBC investigation can reveal.

A former Florida police officer who relocated to Moscow is one of the key figures behind it.” We knew this, it is nothing new. The Dutch company Trollrensics is actively hunting down trolls and illustrating all the fake news we see (well most of it anyways). This article brought a small art to light that requires actions by both Amazon, Google and Microsoft. You see the BBC gives us “But before the truth could even get its shoes on, the lie had gone viral. Influencers had already picked up the false story and spread it widely”. This is a dangerous setting. Influencers are all about the traffic, they mostly lack integrity and have no clue on the desire to gain followers and their desire to get their golden YouTube sign. 

It is time that the United States and the European Union start to pressure these tech firms to chastise these influencers. If they cannot give ample validation of how they got the evidence how they verified the authenticity they get the full brunt of the consequences. If they are found spreading fake news, their Google rating is diminished, their video’s are all downgraded. And their video’s are skipped in searches unless a person asks for this (former) influencer by name (at which point several people can find the seekers). It is a little crude but the Russians are becoming too much of a nuisance. Oh, and by the way if they follow through on the threat to bomb the Netherlands, I will put my nuclear deterrent (a solution to make a nuclear reactor meltdown) on every BBS in Chechnya. See how they like that condition. Russia made enough enemies, if they have to protect every nuclear reactor in Russia they will lose 15% of their deployable troops protecting buildings they never had to before. Actions are needed and no one is doing them, they are all concerned with the bottom line. You see spreading fake news and false information is not a freedom. In this day and age it is a duty of everyone to not spread fake news and misinformation. Now I understand that not everyone is able to distinguish fake news from real news. I usually seek two official sources (the Guardian, BBC, Al Jazeera, Arab News, Washington Post, Boston Globe, LA Times) there are more but you get the gist. The complication is John Mark Dougan, an American ex-cop. Just questioning. Why would anyone in Florida relocate to Moscow? No matter how valid his reason is. As we are given “an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the US election” we are given the notion that this is all about Trump (my speculation) and it goes from bad to worse. As such I need to do something. I am not a man of action (when you pass the 60 mark that happens) but I have a decent imagination to look outside of the box. Russia has 38 active nuclear reactors. They collectively have 200,000 people working there. Consider that the Russians would need to check them all, secure them all. That implies thousands of troops. Then they need to inspect all new arrivals. It will be a nightmare I reckon. In the mean time they face Chechnya and Pro Ukrainian Russian troops. Plenty to worry about and with the solution out in the open, the Russians get a new danger and optionally their other enemies come out of the woodwork. 

But that is another matter. For now we need to take care of the influencers. They are the first hurdle to stop traction of fake news. In this Amazon, Google and Microsoft could change the rating of anyone spreading fake news, Google especially. Put their ratings to minus 150 and the influencers seize to be a relenting problem. Remove these accounts and their flocks disperse. Now I am not sure if Google can do that. You know that any account holder of a Google/Youtube account has rights. Just changing this on the fly does not go over well. But Google can stop the fake news from spreading, they can also look at the followers of that influencer. But I get ahead of the issues. Something needs to be done and not enough (as far as I can tell) is being done. 

Enjoy the day.

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January 3, 2024 · 21:40

A strange evolving setting

I saw the article last night (really really early this morning) and it gave me something to think about. The article (at https://www.deccanherald.com/business/economy/with-russian-oil-imports-falling-india-turns-to-saudi-arabia-2832708) comes from Deccan Herald. I do not know them, but it is an Indian paper. The west doesn’t seem to have this. So lets look at what is weird. 

It starts with “at least five cargoes of the sweet Sokol variant heading to other locations, data from vessel tracking agencies showed.” Then there is “China appears to be the final solution for some cargoes” so whilst we see that imports of Saudi oil, rose by about 4 per cent, Russian oil declined by 22%, the numbers do not add up. I personally believe that Russia is in more trouble then they are letting on. I personally believe that a chunk of that oil is going to Iran to pay for drones. Iran might have oil, but it is embargoed, Russian oil is not and they can make transfer sales and fill their coffers up that way. Now, all this needs to be taken lightly, because there is only one source and I am speculating of that. Consider the deal Russian suppliers had with India. Also consider that by late July 2023, Iran had sent at least 400 Shahed and Mohajer series drones to Russia. That is close to $20 million, per $60 a barrel that is a whole lot of oil and the fact that India is getting less implies (implies is not a fact) that Russia has more than one issue at present. The Shahed drones are running out, more are needed and Russia (through several sources) are lacking in capabilities to get their own drones to the front. This all adds up that Russia has increasing issues to maintain their battlefronts, to maintain their Russian oil supplies and to maintain their manufacturing facilities. Napoleon lost with a lot less problems.

So whilst Saudi Arabia is seeing more revenue from their oil stocks, the question is how long that happens. It is not on Saudi Arabia, but once it is shown that Russia is lacking in a few ways the larger station comes that Russia will be fighting internal and external wars. 

So how right am I?
That remains the larger question. If any of the presented facts through sources is wrong, the entire domino wall comes tumbling down. None of this could be verified and the fact that only the Deccan Herald had this is also a point for debate. There are differences between the data of Kpler and Vortexa and that is fine. But the stage where Russia is delivering 22% less whilst there are implied reasons and none of this backed up by facts, together with the one mention of China with “China appears to be the final solution for some cargoes” makes me think that there is more going on and somehow someone paid for all those drones, Iran doesn’t give these toys away. 

So there is a stage where merely some of it could be right, but which part? 

In addition to Yesterday
Yesterday I talked about tourism. What I failed to mention is that there was data on the UAE. Reuters gave it 4 days ago (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uaes-abu-dhabi-sees-non-oil-gdp-growth-77-q3-2023-statement-2023-12-29/), I missed it.  There we see ‘UAE’s Abu Dhabi sees non-oil GDP growth of 7.7% in Q3 2023 -statement’. This is huge and it is non-oil growth. Now, this is not merely tourism, this is on more sides, but tourism will be taking a chunk of this. Poland with 1.4% growth is the biggest in the EU last year. This implies that the United Arab Emirates outperformed all EU nations by well over 500%. That is massive. Now, comparing GDP’s is unbalanced and incorrect, I get that. However, these settings imply that tourism in the US and EU are taking a serious dive in 2024. We can debate that this is merely a hiccup, or that it is nothing, a mere blip on the radar. But in light of their faltering GDP and places like Greece, Spain, Italy, London, Paris, New York and Florida need tourism these blips could have severe impacts in these places. If continued there is every chance that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will get access to $25-$30 billion and other places do not. Do you still think it is a little hiccup? Even when we see “Florida visitors contributed $101.9 billion to Florida’s economy and supported over 1.7 million Florida jobs (2021)” now consider that to be 5% less. How many jobs will go south? The European nations cannot even consider losing that much, it would be like the impact of Greek tourism (2002-2008) but now over three nations. That impact will be seen. 

So how accurate is this?
It is not. The reported numbers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are, but how it affects others is not directly seen and can only be speculated on. What is clear that money spend there will not be spend anywhere else and that implies well over 25 billion lost to other places. How much each is impacted remains a guess. 

So enjoy the day and consider that special deals this summer will be all over Europe and America, so you might get a decently prized vacation this year.

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January 2, 2024 · 23:28

Change starts now

Yup, that is the setting. We can ignore it. We can deny it and we can oppose it. All choices that any of us can make. Are they correct moves? You tell me. I am not saying what you need to believe, I cannot say what you have to trust. But change has started. It basically started lat year, but now the changes start adding up. To see this we need to see the article in the Saudi Gazette (at https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/639241). There we are given ‘Spending of visitors to Saudi Arabia soars 72% to SR100 billion in first 9 months of 2023’. Now we can wonder how much it is, but it amounts to $26,000,000,000 dollars more spend in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some will say ‘so what?’ And I get that, I have nothing to gain there either. But the fact is that the bulk of all tourists can only spend their money once. This implies that the 26 billion spend there is not getting spend anywhere else and that will matter to a whole range of people. Now, for the most I reckon these are Muslim tourists and they decided not to spend it in Amsterdam, London, Paris or some place in America. The part of the 72% more also matters. It means that as a tourist destination Saudi Arabia is starting to appeal to a whole lot of people. It means that plenty of other economies will not be getting them. As such, when a place like Australia gets only 1 billion less, it will be felt on most corners of any street. Not much mind you. However, there will be an impact. So, what do you think the impact is in London, or even America. America has had bad news after bad news and now there is one indicator that tourism has been impacted in America. It is only one indicator. I reckon that if places like Dubai also sees a larger growth. Places like Tokyo will most likely lose out. 

The fact that Saudi Arabia has been trying to appeal to a larger audience for tourism goes way beyond Islamic tourists. The moment their winter resort and their other places start opening up in the next 4 years, European and American tourist destinations will need to cater in a whole new way and they are for the most broke. They catered to self for so long that there are too little reserves left. The fact that more and more people are considering the UAE as a theme park destination over Disney-world is only now beginning to sink in. Ron DeSantis really messed that up. We get news messages like “Yes, fewer people are visiting Disney World, but the company has shown that it can raise profits by doing a better job serving fewer guests.” It is my speculations that either revenue goes down, or they will cater to a ‘wealthier’ audience, which implies it is a slippery scale to bad times for them too. Then Florida lose a 1 billion investment option by Disney (thanks to their own governor) and at that point an image starts to shape. Be careful what you see, because one swallow does not mean summer has started. Yet the larger stage that Saudi Arabia is creating will imply that their $26 billion windfall is merely the start of more. It does not guarantee success, it merely means that failure is almost no longer a consideration for Saudi Arabia. These things are not the same. But the thing that matters to me is that if that amount was spend there, it was not spend anywhere else and that is the stick that western tourism needs to deal with. There is every chance that it is already to late. There are a few indicators that the Muslim population (which is closing in on 2 billion people) are selecting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as their destination. That is the takeaway that I am seeing from a few articles, not just the one I am referring to now. 

There were more indicators and I wrote about them last year, but to see the result of 72% more in the last year is a definite number that has a much larger impact on global tourism. We will hear all versions of wisdom on how ‘experts’ say that there are solutions. I wonder where they are. You see the west and America specifically haunted the Islamic population and that population is looking for other places to visit. Now this will not imply all Muslims, but consider that 400 million go on vacation in 2024. The chances that they select Saudi Arabia and/or United Arab Emirates over all other destinations is not a large call to make. These players have been catering and perfecting their offers for a few years now and the hostilities they all faced everywhere else has them reeling for a solution and these two players have offers in spades. So as we see 2024, we need to keep an eye on what revenue goes where because the impact is close to global. 

Change is starting to become visible now, but it started last year and as these two deliver more, more and more muslims will consider another place to visit. Preferably in a place where they get a decent treatment as Muslims. It was never a hard sell, it was pretty obvious to begin with.

Enjoy today.

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November 20, 2023 · 13:43

Ratatouille

Yes, that was the thought entering my mind. It is not about the cartoon, it is about the dish. I first had it in 1981 in Lourdes. It was also the year I met members from the Legion Etrangere and their kepi blanc. A lot happened that year but it is not set the a singular event. You see, there is a larger stage that my mind is working out and it is one of a few. 

Douse the Mouse
The second stage towards all this is Ronald McDonald DeSantis where we (in no particular order) are given (at https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2023/11/17/florida-starts-turning-on-desantis-00127753) with ‘DeSantis’ popularity drops in Florida’ where we are given “But DeSantis’ support from Independent voters in Florida has taken a nosedive, the poll shows, with almost 60 percent saying they disapprove of the job he is doing as governor — a nearly 14-point increase from July” so in 3 months his approval rate is down by 14% and I believe it is more than that. The person who wanted to ‘Douse the Mouse’ (source: @Brittlestar) is now trying to avoid whatever he can. So we get to the second link (at https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/disney-says-it-has-40-billion-economic-impact-in-florida-as-it-battles-desantis-in-court/) with ‘Disney says it has $40 billion economic impact in Florida as it battles DeSantis in court’ where we are given “Disney officials in the past year have said the company plans to invest an additional $17 billion over the next decade in central Florida, including potentially adding another 13,000 jobs. However, the company has shown a willingness to pull back investing in the Sunshine State. Earlier this year, Disney scrapped plans to relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development, an investment estimated at $1 billion”, so not only does Disney account for 40 billion, it was about to increase the economic footprint of Florida by 2.5% money that the state desperately needs. Now we see that DeSantis is trying to spin several settings and the people have had enough. The deep painted republicans are running away (alas in the direction of Donald Trump), the rest has had enough of the republicans. Now we get to the story (at https://www.npr.org/2023/11/16/1213355557/desantis-florida-president-candidate-voters-trump) where we see ‘Once Florida’s favourite son, Floridians turn on DeSantis in his bid for president’ a stage that gives us “Trump currently has more than a 30 point lead over DeSantis in his own state. That lead hasn’t changed significantly since the governor jumped into the race for president”, as well as “Republican state Rep. Randy Fine has been one of DeSantis’ most vocal supporters in the Florida Legislature. But recently he announced he’s backing Trump in the GOP primary”. This is a setting I expected to some degree, but not to this degree. You see when you screw with the economy of your own state for simple shallow egotistical reasons. This is the event you can see coming a mile away. 

This all matters to another stage with all kind of jagged edges. You see, All this was going through my mind when I was contemplating two issues. 

The first one Was Abu Dhabi. I saw the Warner Brothers hotel (and theme park) and I wondered why the UAE isn’t more outspoken in adding a decent amount. The first one is a sidestep from the  normal theme park, I am not sure how Islam regards Harry Potter and I don’t think it is a good idea to have a third one, but some kind of fairy tale forest, based on Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights in the style of the Dutch Efteling, could work. Too stand out matters and this could be a setting. As the stage increases (see below).

The idea is not an expansion based on rides, but on walks and watching the stories of 1001 Arabian nights and other myths. You see, when I was confronted with the Jinn, the idea erupted to create the script for ‘How to Assassinate a politician’, the idea still works for a number of stages. And adding these stories to any theme park would be a win for the theme park. You see, as we get closer and closer to 2030, the tourism groups will alter. The UAE should expand and create a haven for tourists, non-Arabic tourists. Tourism from Bangladesh and Indonesia will grow to a decent degree, and in all this the Europeans who can afford to go there, they will go there. America is rapidly losing appeal and the European tourist as well as the asian one wants to see new borders. With Saudi Arabia growing Neom and the Line they will get more and more tourists. So offering these people an additional choice (like the train Riyadh-Dubai-Abu Dhabi) will get its own appeal on all this and there is time for the UAE to add to their arsenal and after the storms they need more in more places. You see, I will not give word here, but there is a chance that Dubai (if what I saw was real) will have more issues coming. 

So as the expansions 1,2 and 3 are added the larger addition is a magic carpet ride (like the Efteling ‘de droomvlucht’) but over the three expansions showing the people a new ride and the biggest one ever created showing them the expansions as well as additional layers (read: floors) showing them another collection of stories, Abu Dhabi will become an increasing source for tourists, both local and international. 

All this is also linked to a setting of Residuam Vitam (a story in development), I had some idea of how to set the spin towards the conclusion, but now I addd a few sides and that is where the jagged edge came into play. That is all linked to the stories and the past. You see there was one part that Socrates gave me and the other part I know the story, but not the writer and that combination resulted in something more. That part is still evolving but the interactions are defining me. Parts I did not consider before are now getting in motion. It was linked to ‘How to Assassinate a politician’ because it was an idea I had for Arab TV. Yet the setting is not about Arabs, Islam or the middle east, it was about seeing new frontiers and optionally making groundbreaking efforts. Whilst players like Amazon Prime, Disney and Netflix are focussing on Europe and America. The reality is that in 3-4 years that is the most likely to implode, all whilst the areas I am looking at are growth areas and they will have needs too, as such the evolving ideas others are avoiding. You can say it is its own kind of Ratatouille. And whilst players like Ron DeSantis are so egotistical that they will destroy their own state’s economy by Dousing the Mouse. Other players are more realistic in their approach and that is where both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can capture a decent slice of that tourism gap. You see, we are seeing (for months) the stage of “Travel to all areas of Florida should be done with extreme caution” there will be an impact for both Disney and Warner Brothers and the people going somewhere else, need someplace to go. That is simple abacus logic, but it holds up. You see, most will try to go to EuroDisney or Japan, but like any theme park there is a limit and these two places haven’t been expanding enough. In addition to that there are a decent amount of complaints to the catering of Warner Brothers Japan (all third party complaints, nothing I can vouch for) but these elements add up and now the middle east has one additional track for extended revenue, all because some people considered and placed ego before common sense. I wonder what happens when these players start the blame game, like ‘Republicans blame skewed advertising for Ohio abortion rights victory’, it is merely one small part in a larger stage of failures and that list keeps on growing. So much could have been avoided, but that is on them.

Enjoy the day, Monday is 56% through for me.

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