Tag Archives: News

May 9, 2025 · 04:58

Seek it in the dark

Yup, that is coming to your favourite room in your very own house at some point in time in the nearby future. It isn’t that it was a secret, but today I saw a reminder of what is about to happen on a near global scale and as summer is coming to the northern hemisphere, I reckon that life there might become a bit of a challenge. The news was given to me by CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/small-modular-reactor-nuclear-power-ontario-construction-1.7529338) where we see ‘Ontario set to begin construction of Canada’s 1st mini nuclear power plant’ and I actually didn’t consider Canada in my first assessment as the focal point in 2022 was America and the UAE. It was in my story ‘It was never rocket science’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/06/27/it-was-never-rocket-science/) where I re-iterated stories I gave in 2021 that America would be having an energy crises all by itself. At that point it was the BBC who gave us ‘Japan urges 37 million people to switch off lights’, which was a little bit of a shock in Japan. They never considered that energy has a finite point? I saw this escalation coming to places like Austin (Texas), Paris, London, New York and a few other places. I came up with a general solution for places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but the setting was clear. Action was required and I saw it in 2022. Now we get CBC telling us “It would be the first of four such reactors that OPG aims to build on the site, at a total project cost of $20.9 billion, in an effort to meet what’s forecast to be a steep rise in demand for electricity in the province”, as well as ““As it stands today, we just don’t have the supply to meet that demand,” Lecce said” according to Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of energy and mines that point is coming for Canada. On the upside, Canada only has 40 million people. As such the drain might not be as severe as America has, but Canada is doing something about it, which pretty much means that America better start being nice to Canada (as well as take the 51st State BS out of their vocabulary) As I see it, if the power consumption rises a little too fast, there is little for Ontario to do but switch off the 24% delivery to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. I don’t think New York needs that power, do they? Wasn’t it President Trump who told the world “We don’t do much business with Canada”, well, as I see it, they didn’t need Canadian energy, as such Canada can scrap the deliveries of energy. And as Elon Musk has what the world needs (something I stated before) and it will make e-Musk (little giggle) and that will make Elon one the first trillionaires on this world. He can start making cash (by the boatload). And as places like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and a few other places have larger wallets and a dire need for the solutions America gets to be number three (optionally number two as Saudi Arabia might not need it immediately) in a few places right of the bat.

So, the question for you all becomes. If I saw this in 2021/2022 why didn’t the rest of the world (read: America) see this? I set it out decently detailed, so it wasn’t rocket science to begin with and now that Canada is moving seemingly ahead of schedule, why haven’t other places locked on the problem? Merely to say “it was a complex situation and we are looking into the problem and see where notifications fell short”? If a data-man (like me) can see this evolve years ahead of schedule with an abacus, why can’t those boffins do that with super computers and AI (little teaser, AI doesn’t exist at this time). 

In America KUT News gave its audience “On anniversary of Texas blackouts, ERCOT forecasts potential energy shortages in coming years”, which is fun as I said that years ahead of schedule and Austin successfully luring business to Austin (mainly from California) should have been ready already. So when solutions are implemented way too late it is the new policy to be able to find your desk in the dark, and work with pen and paper as desktops will also require power that isn’t there. And I get to gloat because it is just another instance where I warned people years in advance. I never warned Canada as I never saw it as an immediate hindrance and as I saw this morning Canada was ahead of the flock and ready to implement a solution. 

So, when will the others wake up? In particular Mayor Eric L. Adams of New York as they require a  jug of power from Ontario. As such they should have been looking at this and optionally being really nice to Elon Musk for the simple need of a discount.

What a way to get to Friday Breakfast early, have a great day everyone.

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May 7, 2025 · 19:27

Accused United Arabs

Well, that is the setting, but at this time, I am looking a bit deeper. You see, I have seen several newscasts regarding Sudan and the UAE and for the most I ignored them. There is so much I can store in my brain and at times I have to set priorities (apart from the fact that the media is largely unreliable), but today I decided to weed through the stories. In this case, lets start at the end.

The Guardian
The Guardian gives us ‘Sudan fails in attempt to make UAE accountable for acts of genocide’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/may/05/sudan-fails-in-attempt-to-make-uae-accountable-for-acts-of-genocide) as such, this is on the accuser. They were unable to set the bar of making the UAE accountable for the alleged setting. Whilst the Guardian also gives us “An attempt by Sudan’s government to make the United Arab Emirates legally accountable for acts of genocide in West Darfur has been rejected by the international court of justice after the judges voted by 14 to 2 to declare they had no jurisdiction. By a narrower majority the judges voted 9 to 7 to strike the case entirely from the ICJ list.” And the setting of 14 against 2 is almost ridiculous. There is always a descending judge in these cases and in this case it is two. A such we can bring to the table that Sudan had close to nothing and the majority ruled to strike the case from the ICJ list, as such Sudan loses two to nothing. When we see the allegation “There have been repeated allegations during the two-year civil war in Sudan that the UAE has been flying arms to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in an attempt to oust the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.” And Here we see the lovely setting of transit weaponry. The first part is that there is a lack of evidence where the weapons came from, in the second setting, if we accept that weapons came through the UAE (not unimaginable) where is the evidence that they were from the UAE? Transit weapons happen, they happen all over the world (even through Rotterdam) but when the evidence lacks to where the original shipment came from the Sudan has little or no case. So the term “in an attempt to oust the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan” goes nowhere and that is also on Sudan. So how many transit shipments have they arranged for themselves? I actually do not know, but if the UAE can even get one piece of evidence to that, Sudan loses (yet again). 

BBC
Two days ago, the BBC gave us ‘Top UN court rejects Sudan’s bid to sue UAE for genocide’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze176ryw54o) with the text “The UAE categorically denied the accusations, branding the case “political theatre” and “a cynical publicity stunt”.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the case could not proceed because the UAE had opted out Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, which means that it cannot be sued by other states over genocide allegations.” It doesn’t sound overwhelming. But the BBC gave us useful info. With “Sudan case had claimed that the UAE’s alleged military, financial and logistical backing of the RSF – including weapons shipments and mercenary recruitment – enabled systematic attacks against non-Arab communities, particularly the Masalit, in Darfur.” So as I see it where is the evidence? The media gives us little (read: nothing) especially the financial and logistical backing require evidence. Were they entered into evidence? So, why didn’t the media give us anything? It is after the case, so they could have come with evidence at this point. I have seen nothing. And as the BBC gives us “Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have been accused of committing atrocities, including ethnically targeted killings, obstruction of humanitarian relief and looting.” I merely see a case of the pot calling the kettle massively less white. And the BBC gives us one additional gem “Sudan’s case at the ICJ was unusual because it targeted an alleged sponsor of atrocities, not the direct perpetrators.” As I see it, the Sudanese army wants money from the UAE and they go about it this way and it is alleged, there is as far as I saw it no proof of it. Even if it is transit undertaken by one of the around 116,500 millionaires in the UAE who might have seen the Sudan as a nice additional piggy bank to become even richer, the lack of evidence does not make it go anywhere. For that matter, is weapon transit even illegal in the UAE? 

As such it is time to see one of the ‘many’ images. I have questions. This image gives us two clean soldiers, like it is their first day in uniform, even the buttons look clean. I remember war settings. My uniform never looked this clear and I was never on any front. Very very clean grenade tops with labels and all. Oh, that reminds me, where are those granites from? What was there origin? Any missile tends to have a number (for batch quality assurances), as such this weapons might not be focal point of the case, but weapons are key and they have serial numbers. As such the origin of the weapon might be traced. So was it someone from the UAE, or perhaps a sneaky Russian finding a more profitable market? All questions and no answers. But that is the setting. As I see it, for the most of the materials I have seen and the utter lack of evidence that the media never gave us, the UAE is clearly innocent. And I personally believe that a person (or organization) is innocent until PROVEN guilty.

A simple setting that the law tends to adhere to, even as some UN essay writers tend to ignore that simple fact, going all the way back to 2018. Karma does tend to suck.

Oh, and if the world (read: media) has actual and factual evidence I will look at this again. There is always the chance that I am wrong, but at present with the lack of evidence that is how I see it.

Have a peaceful great day.

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May 1, 2025 · 05:00

Marky Mark (PMMC for short)

Yup, the man, the plan and the action. I got to (kinda) know Mark Carny when I named him Marky Mark of the British Bank. The simplest reason is that England sees the need for certain people to be made into pop stars and Mark Carney fit that bill. When Brexit was going on, I was for a long time on the fence and what I read (hat he evidently said) put me square in the Brexit field. He did nothing wrong, he made no promises, but together with the actions of Mario Draghi I held in mind that Brexit was the only way for England to get things done. Let’s not forget that the desperate political moves of the other nations is why in part things went from bad to worse for England. It showed to me that the EU was petty and vindictive, but in all they never set a foot against Mario Draghi who became Prime Minister straight after that. Mark Carney did a good job (better then most I reckon) as such he has my respect. So now it should become Marky Mark of the Canadian side of the Commonwealth. Yet Canada is not so much on the pop star frame of mind, so Prime Minister Mark Carney it is. 

So, what is going on here?
Yesterday we saw the BBC give us two parts towards the setting that Canada is facing and after giving my issues with America these last few days, but is time to set the view to the Northern Border, the homestead of the Maple Leafs and the place where Ice Hockey largely shines. In the first article we see ‘Carney wants to lead a G7 fightback on Trump tariffs’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx27d89z0qdo) which is much better then Prime Minister Anthony Albanese giving us that he wants to ‘talk’ about exemptions on trade barriers (good luck getting reelected in two days). Here we see “The global significance of Mark Carney’s election as Canadian Prime Minister is he now sits at the centre of an alternative pole of global economic thinking. Everything but Trump. There was a half expectation here that Carney would immediately sue for peace with President Trump when the polls closed on the election. It has emphatically not happened.” That is the making of a real consigliere (in stead of a counselee) and he is the consigliere of Canada, the one nation who has been bringing the fight to America (being called the 51st state helped), the bulk of the people think that polite is a form of appeasing to bullies and perhaps it partially is, but America crossed the line and Canada had enough of that and the rest of the Commonwealth (mainly me here) agree. As we see a larger Commonwealth uniting we now see the larger impact (and my personal favorite thought is that FiveEyes, will soon be Commonwealth Eyes, the intelligence alliance consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, now without the United States). My second thought is that this will push the corrupt all over the world to the top as America will scramble to not be blind to the situation, which means they have to overspend a lot. Still, PMMC (Prime Minister Mark Carney is too long) gives us “PMMC is also very adept at understanding the nexus between markets and headlines. He made a number of announcements as PM about rethinking the purchase of US fighter jets, slightly changing the purchases of US government debt, all of which would have quickly focused some minds in the US” which might not be bad, but I reckon that the Commonwealth needs to come across uniting behind Canada, to offer whatever America did and take America out of the equation for the whole of the Commonwealth. We need to realise that India is a powerbroker of retail power and we aren’t using that enough. In addition Canada can fuel our oil needs replacing America even more. The plus for the others is that all the consumer needs for Alcohol will be fueled by its Commonwealth neighbors, I wonder it we have the automotive parts that Canada needs, so that they can continue work without skipping a beat. The UK has shipping (to a degree) and here the connection with Europe becomes important, which allows Canada to remove more of American influence. The simplest setting is that you cannot tariff what isn’t there and even as we get the quote “Underpinning this approach is absolute conviction that the US is making a mistake that will primarily and visibly backfire on itself, its companies, and its consumers. The fact the White House is attacking Amazon for “hostile acts” in publishing tariffs is a cast-iron example of this. President Trump’s gun is pointed primarily at his own feet, the thinking goes.” Whilst Canadians own PMMC gives us ““We’ll have a partnership on our terms. There’s a win-win possibility there, but on our terms, not on their terms,” he said. A key part of that is forging new strategic alliances elsewhere, with Europe, and the UK. “One would assume” that Canada and the UK could do a free trade agreement that has been stalled, he told me. Co-operation on defence and Canada’s abundant critical minerals is also on the table. He also dismissed President Trump’s territorial ambitions not just for his country, but Greenland and Panama too.” I would like to offer that a setting that a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand should be pursued (if it does’t exit) as these two brothers of Canada is only separated by the Pacific River. A nice thought is that this could fuel the passion of the Hawaiians to become truly independent and here Australia and Canada might be of assistance (for me the giggle point is that it allows America to become 49 states) and that is hilarious as it directly backfires on Trump, a new setting he never saw before (he has missed a lot in the last two weeks). But the BBC saved the best for last ““America’s leadership of the global economy is over” and that was a “tragedy”. Implicitly, he is saying, with the help of the rest of the G7, he will step up. And by an incredible quirk of fate, it is he who will host the G7 summit in Alberta in June, just days before the expiry of President Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs pause. Will Trump attend on the land he both tariffs and covets?” As such it is nice that PMMC is on my page, I mentioned that America as a global economy leader was over close to two years ago when the debt crossed the point of no return and with revenues faltering the good ship lollipop (oops America) is drifting straight for the abyss, no anchor on the planet will stop that move. As I see it as we (Australia and New Zealand) increase options for Vancouver and its harbors will increase, which will fuel work and better options. So with the G7 and Canada, All roads lead to Kananaskis in the middle of June and as such it is time for the Hockey ignorant population to meet the Calgary Flames.

And this is merely the start, as such I present to you the second BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14xydjzn5eo) giving us ‘Canada will deal with Trump ‘on our terms’, Carney tells BBC’ (my mind still goes ‘yay Marky Mark’) and here we see “Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said his country deserves respect from the US and will only enter trade and security talks with President Donald Trump “on our terms”. Speaking exclusively to the BBC as the polls were closing, Carney said he would only visit Washington when there was a “serious discussion to be had” that respected Canada’s sovereignty.” Which is probably better then my thought to take Hawaii away from America, but I am willing to kill the bear to save the salmon and I never had any use or respect for bullies. And with ““The leaders agreed on the importance of Canada and the US working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for their mutual betterment,” the statement reads.” Which is why he is PM of Canada and not me (I am also not Canadian, so that helps) as I was willing to throw America out of Five Eyes to make his reconsider the huge mistake he was making and as the bulk of the Commonwealth is furious about the tariffs I thought I could get this stage ‘my’ way. So as the one we love to [censored text] gives us ““The election does not affect President Trump’s plan to make Canada America’s cherished 51st state,” White House deputy spokesperson Anna Kelly said.” A setting that was dung, stupid and shortsighted all at once. And now with Mark Carney, this might go pear shaped in a short time. You see, it is true that “Canada accounts for a much smaller 17% of US exports.” But what are the numbers with the United Commonwealth nations of the world? Add the UK, Australia and New Zealand to that, how large is that number becoming? Logistical retrenching tends to be expensive and the Commonwealth is willing to go there as we are fed up with the bully (optionally bullies) on Pennsylvania Avenue and in our case, the business case needs to be done. The UK has a massive debt and when America falls the EU, UK and Japan are next, fortunately Japan is on that very same pacific river, so we have options that work for use come to think of it, so is Hawaii and wouldn’t it be nice to have them unite in this partnership? (My giggling way to loud).

So as we read the end of the article with “Canada is also America’s largest foreign supplier of crude oil. America’s trade deficit with Canada – expected to be $45bn in 2024 – was mostly driven by US energy demands.” Wouldn’t it be great if its brethren get to work on that deficit with local products in exchange for Canadian oil? It’s up to the PMMC to see if that fits the bill (I lack accountancy skills), but the idea has merit (a quote from an iconic Arabian person). 

Have a great day. Today I am treating myself to a slice of Tiramisu.

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April 29, 2025 · 02:53

What is humor?

That is the question that we might get. CBC gives us (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/donald-trump-election-canada-truth-social-1.7520212) the headline ‘Trump implies Canadians vote for him on election day, Poilievre tells president to butt out’ so as we see that even the honorable PP has had enough of President Trump. And the quote reads ““President Trump, stay out of our election. The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box,” Poilievre posted on social media.” I would state that if it was humor that President Trump was after, we would have gotten the Guardian to give us ‘Conclave to elect new pope to start on 7 May, Vatican says’ with an added “The 135 Roman Catholic cardinals eligible to vote will meet at Sistine Chapel to decide church’s next leader, Donald Trump is now electable as pope” It would have been a gasser for 23% of the American population, optionally all the other christians too. But THAT didn’t happen. He chose his imaginary 51st state friends to seek hour with and that was not in the cards. So is my view on it all that America is about to default? With Canada as part of this, he might postpone the setting for about 2 more years and after that he will blame the loss of income by these stealing Chinese and Europeans. That might be the premise if he didn’t just blew up the Canadians and the Commonwealth at large with them. Because the Commonwealth as the larger national interest is not happy. Looking at President Trump, at present, we see someone like a nagging little toddler angry at the world because he cannot have his toy, which he never had and his mommy won’t buy him one because it belongs to the neighbour. That is what I see and I am pretty intelligent. The world is catching up with the setting I am seeing and now it takes actual journalists (more clever than me) to see into the dark abyss that is the actual American economy. Will they? The media is such an incestual lot, depending on the voices of shareholders, stake holders and their pool of advertisers and their incessant need for digital dollars. Whatever is left is for the readers. So how much unfiltered and unreplaced news will get to the readers? I ask you, because there is a chance that I can no longer tell.

So when we get “Trump went on in his post to repeat his argument that Canada joining the U.S. would be advantageous to the country, along with the false claim that the United States subsidizes Canada with “hundreds of billions of dollars a year.”” So as such, why would Canada even want this? He could just cut these so called hundreds of billions a year and pay his interest bill. So, is he just a deranged toddler crying over what he can’t have? I ask you, as the setting is shown to us, or does he want to give the voice to Pierre Poilievre so that he looks like more of a real Canadian? Because as it stands in this day and age there is only one choice for Canadians and it is Mark Carney and now HIS Liberal party of Canada. The is what President Trump fears, he being out of options, having to declare the Bankrupt States of America absolutely broke. It is, as I see it the news that President Putin and President Xi are waiting on. These two nations have the economists and the math skills to see that America is a sinking ship at present. A ship so rotten to the core that if beached it might make a decent island of opportunity and as I personally see it, the moment is no longer far away. It is about to happen and the settings we see now are an indication of this.

America did this to themselves. They proclaim to be the place of opportunity, but this opportunity is largely fake and only meant for those with the cash on hand, because a defaulted America doesn’t have retirement plans, it has no logistics in place to help the weak or sick. All that has been squandered by the Wall Street moguls and they pushed forward the economic wealth for the next best thing (at present it is AI) and when this too fail the ones who walked out in wealth took their money to the Bahama’s, Lichtenstein, Monaco or the UAE, that is where they will remain until 2070 when the dust settles with little or no survivors. The 150,000,000 outraged Americans will make sure of that and the little who had something and couldn’t escape will be the unwilling target of outrage. Those who knew got out fast. So at that point will President Trump and family be paraded to the audience in Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, or Beijing State Security Bureau Detention Center? You can guess, I do not know. I reckon that the zero tax nations might not want Trump in their midst as he would be seen as a cancer on their way of life and with a possible default, China or Russia might become his only option. He might try to buy a golden UAE visa, but I do not know if he has the billions required, he might make that claim but the nation giving him and his family these visas might want a deposit on hand and that is the claim he might not be able to do. America is about to get that dangerous a place. And even Pierre Poilievre might see that setting at present. 

So how right or wrong am I?

It is a fair question. My view comes from watching certain matters with the eyes of a hawk. It might be wrong, but the media gave the snippets of reality through the filtered information and in this I see the papers of half a dozen nations and they all respond to different stake holders and as such some information reached me and I filtered that information to seemingly data. Seemingly because the filtering was personal (and optionally wrong), but what choice did I have? Accept the journalist data that was filtered? That person would have been drinking brand X (the other gatorade). So I came to this conclusion and it is what you make of it, reset it, accept it or question it. It is all fair, but I didn’t post that we should vote for Trump, I didn’t start the tariff war that is costing America billions and I can go on from that, but you get the idea. 

Perhaps President Trump could keep his fingers still (off the keyboard) and his mouth shut? The is the premise that is starting this all. Make of this what you want. I am stating up front (actually now) that this is largely speculative. If there is a reliable journalist and a reliable economist you might get a better picture. So Canadians enjoy your Bundaberg Rum (Australia), Broken Shed Vodka (New Zealand), Bombay Sapphire Gin (United Kingdom) or Crown Royal Black Whiskey (Canada) and enjoy the outcome of the election with a new Prime Minister (hopefully Mark Carney), you’ve earned it.

Have a great day all, it is time for me to get some sleep (it’s 02:40) now.

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April 21, 2025 · 18:53

Time testing

We all do that at times, especially when we are about to make a financial commitment. And today I got my test (partially). The setting comes from 1996 when I got my Nintendo 64 and Mario Kart 64. I was not the first on that track, but that track never stopped amazing me and I got plenty of value from a game that costs me $79 at that time. 

In time I bought more of these titles. The GameCube edition, the Wii edition and that was it. I stopped from getting it on the initial Switch, but that was merely as my funds dried up (low bank balance), we all know what that feels like. Yet this time around the kart fever sets in strong.

See what you are about to face (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq4uCJDwO9U)

The sites you see are phenomenal, and I get that some will say “I’ve seen this before in brand X” and that might be true, but to see it all interactive, see it all in a family setting and set to Nintendo IP is a whole new experience. 

Screenshot

Some of these other games (not naming names as there is nothing wrong with them) have one, two or three of these parts. Nintendo’s version has them all. Courses and knockout in the ring, or on ‘real world’ driving between tracks and the larger setting is that you can have 4 teams with up to 24 players, a definite first and it goes on and on and on. Consider that the kids can have game-chat and chase each other on this game, or merely play together with family members. This game has it all. 

I reckon this is the first reason in a while to get a console because of a game and that is not nothing. It shows Nintendo is still the unquestioned gaming champion out there. As such in June 5th the console comes out and there is the option to have the console with the game for $80 dollars more, which means that either the console or the game gets a nice discount. As I see it, this is a game changer for Nintendo. Apart from all the stuff they released with the switch, they are adding levels of innovation that hasn’t been seen since Sony released the PS3. Don’t get me wrong, the PS4 and PS5 were excellent products, but the gaming increase that we saw from PS2 to PS3 was pretty much amazing and the move from Switch to Switch 2 is showing a lot more that that. I actually didn’t think that my gaming universe could be rocked to this degree, but Nintendo pulled it off. So get ready because the moment of rocking your world is a mere 6 weeks away. 

As I see it, get ready for Nintendo to move markers to awesome and it will be a hard pill to swallow for Sony (Microsoft is no longer relevant), because Nintendo is flexing its gaming muscles and they have become awesome. At present the total lifetime sales for Sony’s PS5 has now reached 76 million units, I reckon that it will take for the Nintendo less than 13 months to equal that number, a setting we saw, we also partially expected this, but to see it due to one game is a new experience, but there you have it and that is a first day release product. I wonder what more they have in store for us. Time for me to find some dineros.

Have a great day and take some time to play a video game, any video game. Smell the roses through your controller and see what’s out there.

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April 16, 2025 · 05:43

Mislabelled fear

That is what I saw when I took notice of the news in the Guardian called ‘US’s $2.36tn tourism business fears ‘Trump slump’ over tariff turmoil’ (at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/15/trump-tariffs-tourism-business) we might look at “Warnings emerge even as effect of economic and political turbulence on the foreign visitors to the US is hard to define” I disagree, you see, slices from UK (69 million), Australia (26 million), New Zealand (5 million) are now avoiding America mainly because of the Canada (51st state) issue. We took offense and even as I yearn to see the Epic Universe, I have decided that if I do get to pick a vacation, I will choose Warner Brothers Abu Dhabi over Orlando. I know that Warner Brothers will still see my money, but in this case 70% will go to Miral, a United Arab Emirates operator. In that same trend many will seek out Euro Disney, Parks in Tokyo and a few other places. And this is not for a mere year, this is for the duration of the Trump administration. Some insults are just a little too much to bear. Oh, and the Canadians with their 40 million people are also avoiding America. I didn’t think that it amounted to 5%-10% of $2.36tn but that could be because America insulted a little more than just the Commonwealth setting. Perhaps others see the weak American setting, perhaps the stage of the Ukraine is equally as upsetting as the Commonwealth setting. America has been kicking the wrong legs, just as interest payments of a 36 trillion dollar debt is due, America loses a lot more income. As such there is nothing that is hard to define, it is the cost of doing business and that part is becoming increasingly hard. 

So this fear is mislabeled, the proper labelling is seen as the price of insulting people, the price of neglecting people and as we see Europe taking additional steps like the fear of espionage on their people by Americans, we need to see that this will take years to undo, especially as Orlando just launched the biggest park in human history, 110 acres (45 ha) in the park itself and the overall size is 750 acres (300 ha), which comes at a cost of $7.7 billion to build, which is stated to be one of the largest and most expensive theme parks in history. Now consider what it takes to get this going, the hotels, the retail stores staff and such costing a bundle in its own right. So as we see the $2.36tn and the 10% lessened revenue and a slice is on that part. Epic Universe will do ok, because it will have millions of Americans wanting to see this place, and the use of influencers was well played, they all showed a place that nearly everyone wants to see. As such the lessened revenue will be felt all over America. Because those wanting to see Epic Universe will take their share from the other places. And that is merely one place. A mere fortnight ago we were told “Several nations issued travel warnings about potential safety risks in America, including Japan, Australia and Canada” others will take notice and that is the larger setting for America for now. So what will Comcast Corp. do? Put it all in a bad bank mortgage and loan and write it off? That would be the economic player will do, as such America will lose a hell of a lot of taxation these several years. Another part of the equation shown in a simple setting. What will happen? That is not for me to tell. But that is the setting that the Guardian is seemingly overlooking. 

So as we are given “Warnings that international tourism to the US could be hit by Donald Trump’s effort to re-engineer economic and political relations with the rest of the world are slowly emerging.” With an added “The Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority said last week it was projecting a 5% decline in room tax revenue for its upcoming budget – a decline that may reflect Trump’s trade disputes with Canada and Mexico. Those countries account for 2.6 million visitors to sin city, or half of international travel trade.” As such these two countries account for half the international trade? It seems that America created its own downfall, as I personally see it. And as we see the trend evolve, we need to understand that next year that trend will continue and as Europe, the Commonwealth and others will seek other paths to joy like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Paris (EuroDisney), London,  Beijing, Tokyo and other places, the losses for America will add and add. 

They wanted to overwhelm the tourist industry and due to political pressures, they merely shown the other places that they might be more desirable. As such, the problem wasn’t hard to define, the Americans merely needed to look into themselves and the problem will exasperate. Consider these places and how they rely on international students to get cheap labour, as the BBC reported last week “Marco Rubio says US revoked at least 300 foreign students’ visas”, and that will have a trickle effect on those still seeking international student visas, they are more likely to seek education from other, non-US places. And the top 50 of universities has plenty of offers on the table for its pending international students. This might seem little, but plenty of business rely on the next batch of international students. So as you are sitting in a theme park hoping for a quick coffee, think again, they might be down a number of staff members because this is a short term impact, the term of summer and that is about to hit all the places that rely on the new batch of international students and with them gone their hiring approach needs to change fast. 

All these elements can be foreseen, but are these places taking notice? America is going through huge changes at present and that place is not ready to face the serious impact of the political pressures they tried to set to other nations. These nations are now retaliating in other ways and Canada seeking other location, other drinks and other choices was a mere first step. With Europe joining their homegrown defense spending, America will lose more and more. All this I put in my blog over the last 3-5 years. Even without President Trump the signs were clear, now they are merely escalating revenue losses and that is impacting America in a few ways. Tourism is merely the latter step, but this is the more visible one. It trickles down to nearly every level of the population, still, that might prove fruitful for people who had been unable to find a job. Still the report of a loss of $118B – $236B is not nothing, add to that lessened defense spending and the people not coming now, will hit tourism the clearest, but this loss will go into nearly very level of the American industry and that impacts small businesses a lot more than foreseen. 

This is merely my view on the matter, but I have been writing on these dangers for some time. Have a great day.

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April 15, 2025 · 10:24

The clever get the advantage

That was always the setting to be envied, when the bullies come calling, the last breath is given to the clever people. In this the NY Times gives us (at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/harvard-trump-reject-demands.html) ‘Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration’s Demands’ and I was skeptical at first, but as we see “Harvard University said on Monday that it had rejected policy changes requested by the Trump administration, becoming the first university to directly refuse to comply with its demands and setting up a showdown between the federal government and the nation’s wealthiest university.” My skepticism comes from the setting we saw last year when the Guardian gave us “Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, appeared beleaguered and uncertain as one Congress member after another assailed her over her institution’s supposed inaction to stop it becoming what one called “a hotbed of antisemitism and hatred”.” For universities to let anti semitism unanswered and the setting of “who became Columbia’s president last July, into changing her testimony after she earlier told the Democratic representative Ilhan Omar that she was not aware of any anti-Jewish demonstrations at the university.” Which is a massive problem at the first setting as I see it. Now that Harvard sets a new line, they could massively profit by that standard. So as we see “Harvard’s response, which called the Trump administration’s demands illegal, marked a major shift in tone for the nation’s most influential school, which has been criticized in recent weeks for capitulating to Trump administration pressure.” We see two advantages for Harvard, the first first being that the wokiest woke people (whatever that means) will take their money out of their previous donation university and basically had it to Harvard (the people who openly hate President Trump might do the same), the second advantage is the academics who were unsettled by the federal ‘guide lines’ are likely to make a move from place previous to new place Harvard. This will name Harvard more renown than ever before and I reckon (a mere speculation) that these academics might increase the distance between Harvard and whomever has places 2 through 8 and in the academic world that matters (a lot). 

Is it right? Well, I think that the federal setting should not have gotten involved (but that is a personal view), I do believe that if a university is guilty of crimes than that is a different matter, and as most law student have been cast in the reading of the Nuremberg trials and the acceptance of illegal orders the setting for Harvard was (blatantly) simple. Don’t think it is a simple setting, because Harvard has the most money at present (read: the richest), other universities are a lot more dependent on Federal funding and that makes it a hard sell for a lot of them, but perhaps the setting that Harvard now has given the rest of America, others will follow. 

We can only hope.

In other news I just saw that Canada had to bid farewell to Gerry McNamara at the age of 90. As a wannabe goalie I give a heartfelt goodbye salute to this actual former goalie and former General Manager for seven seasons of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I give my condolences to his family, friends and former team mates. And below we see Gerry McNamara at a slightly younger age

Have a great day and enjoy the end of the pre week today, midweek tomorrow.

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April 11, 2025 · 06:42

Nuance in Black and White

That is what we get, nuance, is it black or white? That is the definition of nuance for some and in this particular case Newsweek. Don’t bother with the 16 or 256 gray scales there are, because that is where their digital money is. But I took offense and that comes with a price. I am talking about the article we see (at https://www.newsweek.com/hajj-visas-saudi-arabia-travel-2056781) with the headline ‘Saudi Arabia Bans Travel Visas for 14 Countries’. It is here we see “Saudi Arabia has banned certain types of visas for travelers from 14 countries, weeks before the annual Muslim pilgrimage known as Hajj”, so far, so good is my view on this. The added “The country is clamping down on visa numbers by temporarily halting travel documents for visitors from a string of countries, with the suspension due to remain in place until after Hajj has concluded in mid-June. Officials made the move to address overcrowding and safety concerns, according to reports.” As such I see it a something that happens and I am OK with this. The issue is seen a little further down where we see “While last summer, Hajj coincided with a vicious heatwave, and more than 1,000 pilgrims died as a result of searing temperatures of up to 125 degrees F.” The issue is that the bulk of all these departed souls came from tour operators who sold them visas on ILLEGAL reasoning. As such they had no Hajj permit and as such there were no provisions, no busses and no shelters for these people. That is the nuance that I see as ‘intentionally skipped’ by Newsweek. I wonder how it feels to be the one intentionally misinforming the people. The nations who are temporary banned from visas are Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen. I presumably gather that when we look at the thousand or so victims of tour operators bungling the jobs are showing the numbers that make up these victims. Oh, and I have not ever seen any of the news outlets looking into the tour operators who ‘mis sold’ the travel arrangements for the people who went on their one way trip to Makkah. We do get that in another way “The Times of India reported that people are known to enter Saudi Arabia on visitor or Umrah visas and then overstay in order to perform Hajj without registering officially. This allows them to bypass a quota system, which allocates a set number of Hajj places to each country to help control pilgrim numbers. It is hoped that a crackdown on all types of visas until after Hajj will prevent the problem.” And Newsweek sets the second problem of misinforming their audience What I stated on issues like no provisions, no busses and no shelters for these people is skipped. The Saudi Arabian settings has settings for their pilgrims. There are shelters to temporary hide from the blazing sun, busses to take them to places (which set to be 20 miles apart) and there are water provisions all for those with the Hajj pass. These were all skipped by some and as this is set up for the 2 million pilgrims. As I personally see it, these tour operators became murderers for even entertaining that setting and those who by self interest avoided the Hajj settings did this to themselves, but I fail to see that these were all self serving. The only self serving option I saw was a tour operator making a quick additional buck or two. And Newsweek did nothing to point that out either. There were no investigations by the western media and that is offensive, especially as over a thousand people lost their lives. 

We are given in the end “Muslims with the appropriate visas will be preparing for their trip, while others may have to delay their plans until next year. Meanwhile, the kingdom’s officials will be gearing up for the annual influx of Hajj visitors.” And I like this, but the simple setting of ‘appropriate visas’ is massive and needs to be shown in these places. I reckon that Saudi Arabia needs to make a small movie, optionally on YouTube and TikTok showing the dangers of the wrong visa and optionally letting these people know that these tour operators need to be reported. I wouldn’t hurt to put the fires to the ankles of these tour operators, who I personally see as the number one culprit. 

Have a great and safe day. 

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April 3, 2025 · 07:27

Seeking the moon

I was surprised by awn article in the New Arab last night stating ‘Did Saudi Arabia announce the start of Eid al-Fitr a day too early?’ (at https://www.newarab.com/news/did-saudi-arabia-get-eid-al-fitrs-date-wrong). Now there is one little setting that needs vocalizing. I am not a Muslim, so I can hide behind ignorance regarding Muslim matters, but to accuse one of the more conservative nations like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of this seems a little wild. So I had to look up a few matters before regarding the outcome. So let’s get my non Muslim readers a little up to date. We know that Islam is set to five pillars. One of them is Ramadan, the time of fasting. It lasts for a month and that implies no food or drinks between sunrise and sunset. I think there are rules for some, so that they can have water during the day, mainly the old and the sick. The end of fasting is set at a specific date. 

“According to a certain hadith, these festivals were initiated in Medina after the migration of Muhammad from Mecca. Anas ibn Malik, a companion of Muhammad, narrated that when Muhammad arrived in Medina, he found people celebrating two specific days in which they entertained themselves with recreation. Muhammad then remarked that God had fixed two mandatory days of festivity: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.”

Eid al-Fitr begins at sunset on the night of the first sighting of the crescent moon. The night on which the moon is sighted. If the moon is not observed immediately after the 29th day of the previous lunar month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the holiday is celebrated the following day. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated for one to three days, depending on the country. It is forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid, and a specific prayer is nominated for this day. As an obligatory act of charity, money is paid to the poor and the needy (zakat al-Fitr) before performing the ‘Eid prayer’.

That is as far as I got, so the festivities around the end of Ramadan is important and that is the debate, did Saudi Arabia call that mandate too early? And the byline from the New Arab is ‘showing’ “Reports and rumours online said Saudi Arabia got the timing of Eid al-Fitr wrong, but there has been no official statement from the kingdom saying this.” I cannot say that this is the case, but the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia got this wrong is close to stunning. The Kingdom and its inhabitants live for Islam and such an accusation cannot be ignored, for me personally it seems not a biggie, but for an Islamic? It comes with the added “While some Arab countries announced Eid al-Fitr falls on Sunday, others said it was Monday. Egypt, Jordan, Syria and several other Sunni-majority countries broke with the Saudi announcement and celebrated on Monday. Shia-majority Iran also declared the festivities to begin on Monday, as well as Oman’s Ibadi religious authorities.” It comes with the added “Many astronomers and experts had rejected the idea that Eid al-Fitr could take place on Sunday, saying it was impossible to sight the moon on the preceding Saturday. The Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomical Centre said a Saturday sighting would be have been impossible from the eastern hemisphere using any type of method.

Saudi astronomer Bader al-Omaira also told Gulf News that the sighting of a crescent would have been impossible, largely due to a solar eclipse which took place on Saturday, after which sightings of the moon are not possible for several hours.” And the added setting gives it weight, according to some that the sighting of the moon was not possible for several hours makes it the debate. I for one seem to shrug at the accusation. But in the setting of not being a Muslim, I do not care that much and I am ‘heavily’ opposed to fasting, but then I need to turn every dollar around and sometime like a real accountant, I squeeze a dollar bill until it releases three 50cent coins. Life is hard at times. So I don’t celebrate too much. Yet I do understand the Muslims that have an issue with the setting of stopping their pillar of fasting a day early. Off course I do see the ‘accusation’ of “In 2011, there were reports that Saudi authorities who observe the skies to record the sighting of the moon mistook Saturn for the moon. This reportedly happened again in 2019.” That is the idea that I can see Saturn and mistake it for the pancake that hangs over our heads. I kinda find the idea to funny to ignore. There is the little setting that at the closest setting (we move in eclipses) Saturn is 746,000,000 km away, the moon I mere 360,000 km, as such I want to wonder who looks for the moon?  And that is before I’m ‘entertaining’ a few other parts. 

And here is the surprise I got, there is a difference between Sunni and Shia in Islam.

“As ritual dictates, Sunnis praise God in a loud voice while going to the Eid prayer:
Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illà l-Lāh. Allāhu Akbar, Allahu akbar, wa-li-l-Lāh al-ḥamd.
Recitation ceases when they get to the place of Eid or once the Imam commences activities.”

It s the first time that I am made aware that there is a difference between the two versions of Islam. The other part is the detection of the moon, “While some countries use astronomical calculations and technology like telescopes, others insist that it must be seen with the naked eye.” I understand that in the past like pre 1650, we had to rely on the naked eye, and to some degree I am on board that it should be done with the naked eye, but is it a sin to let technology aid us, in these matters? I am merely voicing the question and perhaps there is an Imam giving us a resounding yes to that question, as I said I am not Muslim.

The fact that Saudi Arabia was accused of something so profoundly Muslim startled me to some degree and I am not on anyones side. I merely found the occasion strange and as such I devoted a blog page to the effect.

Have a lovely day and at present I don’t see a moon, the sun got in the way of that at 07:23

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March 30, 2025 · 06:45

The need for a credit card

That is what we all think at times. There are two stages that stop us for getting one, or to get the credit limit upgraded. The first is work. It is hard to tap into that ‘virtual’ resource when you are out of work. The second stage is that if you have a job and it pays, the future of the company you work for makes upgrading limits a genuine problem. Even if the bank approves it, you yourself at times wonder if you should make that jump. Rightfully so as you soon realise that you are merely working to pay the interest bills.

So where is this going?
Well America is in that situation right now. It failed to ‘bolster’ its size by claiming Canada and it is now in a bullying stage then there is Greenland, which is funny because no one wanted Greenland for the longest of times and now it get ‘courted’ by America. Of course the courtship (like any courtship) is usually based on lies and on presentations in a different direction. Like most men, the first notion of a courtship is to push his dick onto her vagina no matter the cost to her. This reminds me of a joke Jack Whitehall stated: “We all look at the village idiot in some way, here in the UK we put him on the street, In America you love village idiots. They end up in the White House” and that is basically the setting they face. His bully tactics are coming up short and for the most part the skeptics are watching what is coming next. I considered the options and as I have been keeping an eye on the American economy, I see the play they essentially need to play. You see, America has run out of Credit Card Space and they need to upgrade their credit card. So first they talk trash on Canada and try to make it their 51st State. But now that it is failing they need alternatives. 

But the cause is worse than the need, they now face massive changes as Canada, part of the Commonwealth is seeking alternatives with Commonwealth nations. Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom seem to be on board to support each other and that is what America never counted on. Then there is the EU and some of these nations (two at present) are dumping their F35 aspirations and they are looking elsewhere for their planes. It might not be large customers, but it is a beginning and that gives rise to alternatives.

Getting back on point.
We see news by several channels, ABC for one gives us “Mr Trump iterated that the island was important for US national security. The US president has not clarified how or when he aims to annex it, but he has not ruled out using military or economic power.” As I personally see it, the real reason is “Greenland has rich untapped mineral resources and oil and gas, but development has been slow” that same setting exists for Canada and the US desperately needs to upgrade its Credit Card and that is one way to set it to a reality. As I see it, as a Courtesan truly worthy of the name village idiot he sets the trash talk to stellar to make these two ladies drop their briefs and that isn’t happening. Moreover (I for one) and plenty of others feel very protective of Canada. Greenland less so, but that is a Danish/EU setting. The method employed is just too icky. And now as American debts are surpassing thirty six trillion dollars with no handle on spending, the credit card needs to be upgraded before America has to default on things. As such Canada needs protection from the Commonwealth nations or it gets dragged into that hole named America. And that debt is shown as $36,000,000,000,000 and two elements will hammer America. The first is that the debt is now higher that its GDP, this might not seem like it is a big thing, but these are trillions and there is no stop spending in effect. Also the larger issue is interest. You see, then we look at that we see that Australia has a 3.28% debt setting. I cannot say exactly what America’s is but it should be over 2%, this means that 720 billion dollars interest will be due every year (a little over simplified) and seeing that the American tax office collected $4.9 trillion in FY 2024, we see that 14.693% of the taxation is lost on interest payments and it is getting worse. So a nation that is spending in all the wrong places gets to live of 85% of its budget and last year (2024) it was dealing with a deficit of $1.8 trillion (or 1800 billion dollars). So what happens when you have to do this on 85% of your budget?

This is why America needs to upgrade its credit card and it is falling short. Especially as nations rally against the baboonic trash-talking bully tactics of the president of the United States. As well as national interest, particularly Canada and Denmark.

There is but one larger solution in play. When America defaults before it resorts to military options, the game is over for America. It would become a third world nation over night. If not than we have a non-preferred option and that is to run into the arms of People’s Republic of China. There is the chance that the world will react to a larger degree all American items, which is bad news for Apple and Microsoft, but that is the stage that is evolving.

I have the stage (personally fueled) that America collapsing is not the worst thing, but all those enjoying retirement plans that they saved up for their whole life, they can rejoin the workforce until they die. I reckon the ultra rich will lose a chunk of their value and they will evade to Bermuda, Monaco or the UAE to life out their lives. The rest will learn that the vote of 2024 was the worst day in their life but that is what we face. The rest of the nations have no reason to celebrate. When the dollar goes, so do the Yen and the Euro. As I see it, President Xi was ready for this by playing the waiting game. He will gain the economic options of 27 EU nations and up to 56 Commonwealth states. On the upside, Canada might get an infusion of cash as they build several airbases on their southern border (a presumption of me). The irony is funny, to pretend to serve national interests, president Trump caused the creation of Chinese airbases on their northern borders.

As Wall Street fixes on what is likely to happen, they need to set the shores of financial options and as I personally see it, those shores remain under attack for the better part of a decade and the is bad news for Wall Street as the economy doesn’t have that much time anymore. Im actually not sure how America survives 2026 at present. 

Well, have a nice day and consider where you are and where you are likely to be soon enough.

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