Tag Archives: President Trump

April 22, 2026 · 15:04

Whatever the BS indicates

So, I was looking at a few matters and some connect to yesterday’s setting. As such, this morning I was given by CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-losing-losing-losing-carney-trade-9.7171738) ‘Poilievre says Carney has been ‘losing, losing, losing’ on U.S. trade war’ and I personally call out this incorrect setting (calling it a lie is so crass) as I see it, PM Mark Carney has done whatever he can to make Canada less reliable on the United States, giving the country options and not to be set to the whim of a their own version of King George III and lets face it the one in the United States, looks nowhere near as good as Nigel Hawthorne (supporting evidence below).

We are given the additional “Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre launched a pointed attack on the Liberal government’s handling of the Canada-U.S. file Tuesday, saying the results so far have fallen well short of the mark and the prime minister is “losing” the trade war. Speaking to reporters after Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new trade advisory council to help with the U.S. dispute — a body that includes some big-name Conservatives — Poilievre lashed out, saying the Liberals ran on settling the issue at the last election but there has been no discernible progress to this point.” And in a stage where that less than appealing person in Washington, is calling Canada the 51st state, giving it tariffs that got well beyond what is acceptable (whilst giving Russia allegedly no tariffs) and whilst we see “Carney says there’s been a ‘rupture’ in Canada-U.S. relationship, while Poilievre wants to draw closer”, so does any real Canadian want to vote for Pierre Poilievre (also known as Peter Polivicious by some)?

So whilst we see this and whilst we were given yesterday ‘Trump says he does not want to extend ceasefire with Iran’ (source: Reuters), today we get ‘Trump says ceasefire extended as talks with Tehran in limbo’ (source: Al Jazeera) and this is a person Canada wants to get closer to? Then we get that a lot of Canadians are christians, so do you want to get close to a person who attacks the pope on humanitarian issues as well as “President Trump has been lobbing insults at Pope Leo XIV in response to his criticisms of the war in Iran and appeals for peace, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world’s most powerful country and the world’s largest Christian denomination. But Leo criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts both before and after he was elected leader of the Catholic Church. He told reporters in November that the treatment of immigrants is “extremely disrespectful,” echoing the views of his predecessor, Pope Francis.” So do we (Commonwealthians) ever want to get close to this (so called) king? Or are we ready to steer the Commonwealth to safer waters? In that case, why would anyone ever consider the conservative PP or any of his arguments valid? OK, I will admit that the rental issues he raised last year were valid, but as I see it, no force in the Commonwealth gives rise to closer working with President Trump. 

And this is merely my view (also shared with many in the Commonwealth) and I could be wrong, but I do not think so. As such It is time to reflect on a few things that PM Mark Carney achieved over the last year (as I am not Canadian, I reserve the right to miss a few items).

  • Economic & Environmental Policy: Removed the consumer carbon tax, and pushed for deregulation to support industry.
  • Trade & Infrastructure: Passed legislation to reduce interprovincial trade barriers.
  • Housing: Launched the Build Canada Homes agency to accelerate development.
  • International Relations: Formally recognized the State of Palestine, strengthened ties with India and China, and continued strong support for Ukraine.
  • Social Policy: Implemented tax cuts for the middle class.

And these items are merely of the last 15 months. Also he increased trade with China, revenue the country can really use and achieved a higher trade settings with the EU and NATO, optionally also increased trade with Australia and New Zealand. All options whatever the conservatives throw in to the mix would never achieve as they are most likely not equipped with the knowledge of Economy that the present Prime Minister has.

So feel free to agree or disagree, but whatever America throws at Canada (like: Meanwhile, the Americans are demanding Canada change dairy access rules and drop some protections for its cultural sector, among other demands) which is funny, because that is decided by Canada, not the United States. 

So you all have a great day and remember it is still yesterday in Vancouver.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 21, 2026 · 23:55

This is not centerfield

You might think that doesn’t make sense, but for me it does. I have been all over the field, mainly because a few things are hitting me at the same time. First there is the setting that I feel for, the Attacks on the UAE and a few other matters made me want to shout out towards the UAE. I ‘handed’ them the IP to hurt Iran, as well as a few other matters. So as I saw today ‘Disney (DIS) Increases Peak Ticket Prices to Record Highs’ source: Gurufocus news) I realized that the UAE has a larger recovery plan in place, as long as we deal with Iran and their missiles, the Trump setting does not help and a solution needs to be found, but the UN is useless as I see it, as such there is no expected help from that side. Then we get the false information (usually from people wishing they would become influencers) so that is a side that needs attending to (by the proper authorities) and I have little solution there. I can illuminate these losers, but it is like mopping the floor whilst the tap is still running. So whilst that Disney news is out there, there is a clear side for the UAE to increase the settings in that field But there is one side that could be dealt with, gaining traction through free options. My issue with this is that it is nice, but why should the Emirati government have to pay for it all. It then hit me that one thing that WaterWorld Abu Dhabi has is the Al Raha River. It seems like such fun and especially in Summer. It then hit me that this is one entertainment version that could be implemented near hotels. It seems like a low cost setting that beside the initial building, could offer entertainment, without the high cost. So consider places like Capital Park (Abu Dhabi) it has several hotels around the corner, people visit that place, what could be more inviting than something like the Al Raha River (with a different name of course) where people could relax, without paying a large amount (optionally the tubes have to be bought, or people bring their own). And this is merely one location, you could have a few of these in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, preferably in a place where several hotels are found. There is also the ‘need’ for webcams, or publicly accessible form of CCTV in public places, so that people can see that these wannabe influencers are full of idiocy. So that the world sees that the UAE is open for business and that people are there to have fun. It is a small step to increase the tourist settings as Gurufocus gave me is that Disney (at peak times) of $219 per person, this is nuts, because that amounts to 805 Dirham per person. I reckon that will feed a person for a week (an assumption from my side) the first thing that people who price themselves out of a market need to realise that their audience goes somewhere else. 

Places like Al Baik can feed two people for a meal for AED 55, so that amounts to 15 meals, so my assumption of feeding someone for a week can be achieved, you need even less if you go to a place like Carrefour. But it is not about food, it is about the UAE getting new and more visitors to their location. So whilst the UAE is hit with all kinds of nonsense not unlike “As of April 2026, Smartraveller advises Australians “Do Not Travel” to the UAE due to volatile security, high regional tensions, and risk of military conflict”, we can all agree that there is a risk of military conflict, but what exactly is “volatile security”? The UAE has been one of the safest places on the planet for years. We can agree that there are regional tensions, but this is what Iran threw at them, not in any form what the locals (read: Emirati’s) do. As I see it, it is still one of the most safe places, even with the military tension that exists to some degree. 

As I see it, there is always a need for free entertainment, the USA has it on TV and it is called C-SPAN (or was that C-SPAM)? There is a lot more in focus and places like Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) should get global views, you see when that happens the bulk of the streaming solutions we are given (at a price), gets competition from Dubai TV, which is generally free-to-air, and now consider that the new Dubai+ streaming app offers free, ad-supported access to 30,000+ hours of content. This was the setting I was considering whilst I was working on ‘Just a Game’ for its part two. It is still a short film, but I tend to be a man of my word and I promised the Director of the NSA (now Army Lieutenant General Joshua Rudd) and the Director of GCHQ (still Anne Keast-Butler) a heart attack, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the institutions or the directors in charge, I just needed a hobby and this was the best I could come up with my lacking resources. 

Sometimes I walk through the park (to think things through) and I am watching what is in the park and I wonder, do they have this in the UAE? Totally irrelevant to my setting, but a nation, innocent of anything other then the welfare of its citizens is currently under attack from Iran, it made me consider what else I could do. Even as we are given (13 minutes ago) ‘Trump tells CNBC he expects U.S. to make ‘great deal’ with Iran’, it seems folly as the Islam Times gives us 40 minutes ago ‘Trump Turning Negotiating Table into “Table of Surrender”’ and in all this, the UAE is caught in the middle. So what to do?

I ‘handed’ them my military IP (free of charge) and I have one optional adjustment for the road solution, but that is a little matter. The real deal is what will help the UAE (or Saudi Arabia for that matter). I currently have absolutely no faith in any solution the United States administration brings. 

And there is no need for my actions, but when you see the world burning I want to do something and I tend to go in creative mode, it is just the person I am. It is clear that that this solution is not coming in a day, but there is the need to adjust what there is to improve the pull of tourism and also the joy of the Emirati’s, who serve to let of steam in the meantime. And I believe that tourism will improve if people know what is possible and what is expected and the idea that DMI goes global might be a first step towards getting there and this could be done before the dust settles and as these solutions come forward it would also improve the offer of scripts and talent towards the UAE, but it requires the global audiences to realise that the UAE is more than the Dubai Mall and zero taxation. As more options are shown, more solutions will become available to the UAE and optionally even solutions I never realized, I don’t know everything, so that makes sense. Then there is the setting that places like ADNOC requires staff, only yesterday places were advertising for 929 Marine ADNOC job opportunities, in this world where people don’t have a job because AWS, Microsoft, Oracle and IBM (optionally others too) have shedded over 55,000 employees, they might consider the UAE as a worthy place for their skillset, one can only hope. 

So as you can see, my brain is all over the place and not always in the best of state, but that is me, always skating in his little square like a goalie watching for the puck to come his way, so that he can slam it in the other direction.

So, I am not a centerfielder, I am a goalie (a wannabe goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs at best) and I am doing the best I can as such I am relying on my creativity (at almost 64 I have to) and I am doing the best I seemingly know. So answer for yourself. Who thought of visibility of the UAE by giving the Dubai Media Incorporated a global stage? Who thought of seeing what parks have and considering the concrete table tennis in Burwood (near Sydney) how many of these tables do the parks in the UAE (Dubai, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi) have? All thought of consideration and there are more sports that could be promoted in this way. The first step in doing something is to have the thought and instilling this in others. Only then will any action make sense. But that is merely me having a thought and optionally a useless one, but that is merely on me.

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, movies, Tourism

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 21, 2026 · 05:45

For a few Yuan more

So, yesterday I saw a MarketWatch article (at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-real-meaning-of-uae-reportedly-requesting-a-dollar-swap-line-6a40d630) where we see ‘The real meaning of UAE reportedly requesting a dollar swap line’, now don’t start running like a half baked cryotoboy to it’s mommy stating the world is ending (like we saw to weeks ago when some of them ran off to the airport), the byline gives us a clear “Economists believe the UAE is signaling it wants closer ties with allies, not a bailout” and I can agree with that. I have not seen seen any Emirati panic, or make bailout mentions. We are given “A report the United Arab Emirates requested a dollar swap line with the U.S. may be more a threat the Gulf nation could shift an alliance rather than a sign it’s about to run short of the American currency, observers said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE central bank governor, Mohamed Balama,  requested a currency-swap line with the U.S. from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent while in Washington D.C. last week. The UAE is facing pressure from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, though experts say its economy so far is strong enough to maintain a dollar peg.” It comes with the additional “Tim Ash, senior strategist at RBC Bluebay Asset Management, pointed out in a posting on X, that sovereigns do not request swap lines lightly. Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign relations agreed, also highlighting on X that he doesn’t believe UAE is in any emergency need of financial assistance, given it entered this conflict with huge holdings of U.S. Treasurys and significant forex reserves in excess of $250 billion. It’s important to note that the Emiratis have asked for a swap line and not a credit line.” And that is supported with graphics on ‘UAE forex reserves versus holdings of U.S. Treasurys, in billions of dollars.CFR’ and those numbers look good, even a non economist (like me) can see that the numbers of the UAE are good. Yet what we are also given is “Gave suggests, the UAE may be “sending a not-so-subtle message to the U.S., namely “leave the region and you will quickly be replaced by China.””

It might make sense and considering the damage that the United States Congress, a document produced on April 9th 2026, by Paul Kerr gives us “Iran’s nuclear program has for decades generated widespread concern that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons. According to past U.S. intelligence assessments, Tehran has the capacity to produce nuclear weapons at some point but has halted its nuclear weapons program and has not mastered all of the necessary technologies for building such weapons. The extent to which June 2025 and February 2026 Israeli and U.S. airstrikes affected Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons is unclear.” with the added “According to official U.S. assessments, Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in late 2003. This program’s goal, according to U.S. officials and the IAEA, was to develop an implosion-style nuclear weapon for Iran’s Shahab-3 ballistic missile. A 2025 public U.S. intelligence assessment stated that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon” and that the now-former Supreme Leader had “not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated on March 4, 2026, that the agency “never had information indicating that there was a structured systematic [Iranian] program to build or to construct a nuclear weapon.””

So, there was no real nuclear danger? And the Strait of Hormuz was open before this clambake started? It seems to me that the UAE (optionally with support of all other oil producing gulf nations) should give warning to not mess with their background, especially as it is roughly 7,000 miles away from Washington DC, as such no international waterways (connected) to the United States are in danger.

But in addition to the MarketWatch article, we see the Canadian DeepDive giving us (at https://thedeepdive.ca/uae-threatens-yuan-oil-trade-if-us-denies-dollar-lifeline-as-iran-war-drains-reserves/) ‘UAE Threatens Yuan Oil Trade if US Denies Dollar Lifeline as Iran War Drains Reserves’. The first part of opposition (by me) is that MarketWatch shows that the reserves are good. Basically DeepDive is not lying, reserves are seemingly being drained and that does not imply that the UAE reserves are in danger. But here we see “Central Bank Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama brought the proposal to Federal Reserve officials and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington last week, the Journal reported. Abu Dhabi’s position, relayed through multiple officials: the war has strained its finances, dollar reserves could come under pressure, and if Washington does not provide a liquidity facility, the UAE may have little choice but to settle oil and gas trades in yuan or other non-dollar currencies. Emirati officials also told their US counterparts that Trump’s decision to attack Iran was what drew the country into the conflict to begin with. No formal application for a swap line has been submitted.” It is like the message Louis Gave, chief executive officer at Gavekal Research gave us, we merely get more information here. So like MarketWatch we see here “a bilateral currency swap with the Federal Reserve — would allow the UAE Central Bank to draw down dollars against dirhams at the prevailing exchange rate, effectively insuring against a hard-currency crunch without requiring emergency asset sales. 

The Fed currently holds standing arrangements of this kind with five central banks: the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank. Extending one to the UAE would mark a meaningful expansion of the Fed’s wartime financial commitments.” I am not enough of an economist to see the larger implications, but as I see it, President Trump started shitting in its economic backyard and now the people affected are saying (my of voicing it) “Stop this or we walk away from the US dollar in trade”, now you might think that I am overstating the ‘danger’ but consider that the US dollar is already under stress from a 39 trillion dollar debt (aka $39,000,000,000,000) and now when the Dollar trade offset is impacting trade other means of revenue would seemingly fall away, because it is never a simple setting (is it), and this would be the Home Run that China would love to see evolve. Do you really think this would be merely about oil? When oil starts, others will seek shelter and that is before others dump their $5 trillion (aka $5,000,000,000,000) in US treasury bonds. There have been noises that smaller amounts were ‘dismissed’ but the larger amounts are a worry for Wall Street, they are highly unlikely able to survive this pressure, as such the United States Administration better come up with a solution and quite fast. 

All this whilst Al Jazeera gives us ‘Iran war live: Uncertainty over talks, Trump insists deal to come ‘quickly’’ with the added “Iran says it has no plans to send negotiators to Pakistan for a new round of talks after the United States seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Still, President Donald Trump says US team, led by Vice President JD Vance, is on its way to Islamabad” So, one has no plans to send someone, whist the other states someone is on the way? How is that communicating? How is that any solution? That is the premise (given to us 14 minutes ago) that someone like China needs to dethrone the US dollar, so when China gives a solution in the next 24 hours, whilst President Trump starts commenting on his big beautiful solution for the world, the premise of the United States Dollar being removed from the oil trade becomes real. Do you really think that this is just about oil? Because this setting would require the better part of a decade to unwind. It is too early for me to say that the US dollar is out of this, but the other elements might make the pressures of the Dollar in the oil trade unmanageable. 

It is merely my point of view, no biggie. Have a great day, still 120 minutes until breakfast for me. I, hungry, all whilst it is lunchtime in Vancouver, what a bastards.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 18, 2026 · 12:36

The danger of assumption

I saw the CBC news, then I saw a YouTube video and as there is some relation, I thought it important to illustrate this as I am a Commonwealthian, as such I stand with Canada. The news (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lockheed-martin-officials-canada-tout-maintenance-plan-f35s-9.7168398) where we see ‘Lockheed Martin officials coming to Canada to tout maintenance plan for F-35s’ I the first degree I was clearly on the Canadian side (I still am, in case you worry). We were given “Canada ordered 88 F-35s in 2023, but began reassessing its options after Trump took office” with an additional “Canada has a firm order for 16 F-35 aircraft, to begin delivery later this year, to replace Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18s. As CBC recently revealed, Canada has discreetly begun to incur expenses toward acquiring another 14 F-35 aircraft. Several politicians have been invited to Tuesday’s event in Mirabel, but National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly do not plan to attend. Senior American executives from Lockheed Martin and L3Harris are expected at the event.” It comes with the added “In its media advisory, Lockheed Martin said its agreement with L3Harris “will provide Canada with greater control over aircraft maintenance, reduce reliance on overseas logistics and enhance operational readiness.” L3Harris is still trying to convince the governments of Canada and Quebec to offer funding to help modernize its facilities in Mirabel. The company has said thousands of jobs in the region are at stake. L3Harris is hoping to transform its Mirabel facilities, which are currently used to service CF-18s, into a maintenance depot for Canadian and American F-35s.” As I see it, it is an act of desperation. The much larger setting of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen a Swedish solution, is cheaper, is more reliable in cold environments and it comes with added of economic settings for Canada. Lockheed Martin has no real answer and President Trump made the sale of 88 F-35 a liability and Canada is looking for a better solution, one that takes the pressures away from the United States giving Canada. The Swedish solution makes perfect sense for Canada and as such Canada is seemingly (I use seemingly as I have never seen the original sales documents) chasing Sweden and its Saab solution. The simple bottom line is that Canada can get 2 Saabs for every F35, as such it is quite the cost saving. As such Lockheed Martin is scared, its own president endangered the sale for billions and that is a problem, as such the options given to Canada is fluidic, more options and there is the fear factor, a fear factor for the United States, because Canada when it pulls out the American pillars of economy and taxation are almost certain to collapse. And Lockheed Martin is the first corporation to fae billion dollar losses because of the silliness of one particular person in Washington.

The setting that spending on nearly any kind in the United States are seen as the more risky spending is now seen as other spending settings is considered and there is a win for Sweden as well as the EU on other fields. There was a second setting, but it seems that there is a level of inaccurate settings by Today Canada stating that yesterday at 03:45 Trump stated “51st state soon”, it would be anger instilling, but I found no evidence that this actually happened and if it was on Trump social media, everyone would be shouting it. 

So that is not a factor, but the underlying setting is (which the media is ignoring too) the underlying setting is that the United States is (as I personally see it) almost completely out of cash. They are shifting all kinds of posts that they can pay later for what they need to pay now. I have given these views in the past (not interested in hashing out the same) but the setting adds up. As such I believe that CBC is reporting on the desperation of gaining the favour of Canada and they are willing to bend over backwards. And as a definite winner is not announced (not in the media) Lockheed Martin believes it has options for now. And whatever the actual sentimentality is towards Canada, there is a firm believe that President Trump has actually united the world. As far as I know the United States is now (for the most) the most hatred nation in the western world. So president Trump united all the nations. The fact that it is against the united States might be a mere blip on his radar. The problem is that the media is no help as they lost too much credibility and as such the influencers and doom speakers are now calling for out attention (players like Today Canada) and should they be right, then they should present the evidence, not just the images of old, with suiting dialogue. And as I usually check all the sources handed to me, Today Canada fell through the basket a fake news bringers.

But the setting is still of importance not directly what President Trump did or did not do, but the need to vetting the information we get must be vetted. Some (like CBC) get a pass through the credibility they earned over time, which means that there is credibility. 

So as we see the desperation of Lockheed Martin and the setting of the Saab Gripen, it would help if the world (and Canadians in particular) get a nice setting of what the story with Saab and Lockheed Martin is, what has been agreed upon and what is clearly set and what is still in tentative settings. We all get that there are tentative settings, but as I see it, with the United States any other option seems more reliable (as I personally see it). 

And whilst we can assume most things, we can at times presume a few things and those with reliability are more credible and with personal exposure to facts presumption gains more weight and those who blindly assume will lose whatever reliability they had.

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 15, 2026 · 09:48

Playing the 5 tones

That is what is happening g, but how did I get there? Well, I was considering a few things, all at the same time when the idea hit me. We all want to give the ‘complete’ solution. But how to disperse that idea is another matter. So here I was contemplating a few options when I thought that games are the novel and most useful setting and it doesn’t need to be merely one game. What happens when a nation (like the UAE) sets a new station, a station of games and these games might be old, but they are entertaining and considering this also take in heed that these games merely scratch the surface of a mobile processor. So what to do in the meantime? And at that point I remembered the SETI screensaver and that project uses millions of computers to get the data parsed. So what happens when we get a game which in the background checks that computer for viruses and invasions? The UAE Cyber sections might like the idea that their work will be partially done by simple games. The bulk of that 11.6 million people that travel by bus, sit in coffeeshops or do whatever they do when their body are at rest. And in that time when they play a game, the background is used to scan their devices for incursions of a viral nature. It seems like a slam dunk setting for safety, I wonder why no one else had that in mind to keep their citizens safe. Leaving it all to commercial solutions? That is not a bad idea, but there needs to be a reason to do this and perhaps a detector might be enough of a reason to do just that. So whilst Trump is attacking the pope stating “In a lengthy social media post Donald Trump said the pontiff was “terrible for foreign policy” and was damaging the Catholic Church.” I don’t know the pope and even as I was baptized a Catholic, I know less then little about Pope Leonardo da Vici or anything involving the Vatican and still I reckon I likely know more of catholics than President Trump does, especially as he states that the pope was “terrible for foreign policy”, I wonder where he got that idea? I personally think that the last one validly got accused of that transgression was Pope Pius XII for all the right reasons. So whilst we see this, I casually created an optional solution for the UAE (and other nations) to detect that there is a problem. You see, there are those who claim that there is a problem and there are people getting the problem being unaware. This solution will detect that there is a problem and at that point you might want to do something about that (sooner would have been better), but considering that “The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently facing a significant surge in cyberattacks, with daily breach attempts tripling to approximately 600,000 as of early 2026” there might be a need to see where they are and what is being hacked. As I see it, this solution might get actual numbers of transgressions in play and then something could be done about it and these games could be distributed on mobiles, tablets, PC, Mac an other devices, but this part can see how deep it goes and it is only about detecting. When something is found the border of the game could turn red, giving the user the idea that he (or she) has a problem.

That took less time than President Trump taking his insults to the Vatican. What next? Well, the idea is here and I reckon it is up to the rest to act on this. It could be something simple like a Puzzle game showing images of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, games using the same images and other games what are easily created, optionally based on a CBM64 classic, requiring no computing power or memory and as they are free the entire audience would love to play them. A simple setting that is easily replicated and gives the notion if there is a problem. Seems like a dine deal the moment my words hit the mind of the reader.

Have a great morning, it’s almost 10:00 here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 14, 2026 · 10:05

Secondary reasoning

That was the first thing that hit me when I was introduced to the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn08ep6d5ndo) named ‘US home buyers ‘frozen’ as sales slump over Iran war fears’ a few hours ago. You see, what it says here is not a lie, it is incomplete. We are given “The US housing market is struggling as the impact of higher mortgage rates, fuelled by the US-Israeli war in Iran, begins to bite. Figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed the number of homes sold in March hit their lowest level for nine months, falling by 3.6% from a month earlier.” You see, the population of the United States is starting to figure out that this president will throw them under any truck heading for them, hoping it will slow that truck down. So whilst we see “impact of higher mortgage rates”, which might be true, but there is a whole lot of other factors playing. We see labor statistics giving the media that 178,000 is good and much better then we thought. But in that meantime Oracle sacked 30,000 people and they are not the only one and whilst we partially accept that this is the fuel the AI pressures. Some will realise that AI doesn’t yet exist and that the fallout will be soon. And as Europe is abandoning Microsoft (for plenty of reasons) the setting of data centers when they are not getting filled with data is another setting in that cog. Then there is the Iranian clambake which is not about the clambake, it is about the price of oil, so whilst like the house as presented. Some will see that the heating bill will grow sand in the cogs and whilst the mortgage goes up by factions at a time, the heating bill will take gulps out of your budget and it will drive fuel prices up. So your house in a nice place, it is also miles form the place of work and that is the real driver. So whilst some are in the dark on how many people, drowned on the Titanic (1997, James Cameron) the world will agree that it was a boatload and the specifics are basically made redundant. 

So when we are given “following drops in January and February, rates have shot up since the US-Israeli war began. They are increasing on expectations the US central bank could continue to hold interest rates in order to keep inflation under control, dashing hopes of further cuts by the Federal Reserve.” There is no mention that President Trump bashed the hopes of home builders by pissing of Canadian lumber, driving those prices up even further, this gives additional money requirement to houses and which now requires a slightly steeper interest setting. So whilst you want to say that you are happy with the $200K home, the additional $780 on additional mortgage and the additional price of lumber (set to a rough $5125) is not in the budget and it drives the prices up. Now we get oil that was $69 per barrel in 2025, we now see that same barrel going for $98 dollar, almost 50% more expensive, so consider that some claim that by June that price is a plausible $150. So, who can afford to heat their houses at 50% higher energy bills, with the optional 50% raise in a few months. And it is all due to their kind and loving president (I believe his name is Donald Trump). 

So whilst the BBC article gives the people in the United States plenty to worry about, the US finance industry has a much tougher time ahead. Because at this rate close to (a speculated) 17% of the housing market will collapse and the people who are in dire need to get rid of their homes will not find any buyers. But I recon that the Finance industry will hold hands and become the new landlords to a massively tough market.

As such, houses are more expensive, fueling houses (electricity and heating) will make them unaffordable and the borrowing ability of the United States goes straight from ground level to basement level 5. So whilst we might give some validity to “Indicators point to “weakening housing demand following a recent jump in mortgage rates and a collapse in consumer confidence”, said Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics. Both are “knock-on effects” of the Iran conflict, he added.” The words given doesn’t make Thomas Ryan clever, perhaps the fact that he is avoiding that all this was due to the American Administration is and the several factors that are ‘ignored’ have nothing to do with Iran, it has everything to do with some narcissistic individual that he was the next Jesus in a nasty line of nobodies. And make no mistake, when the other factors come to play, there is no avoiding the setting of the US administration, because when (not if) the European stability, which requires and absence of Microsoft come knocking. The data centers that have no input will be pushed in to a bad mortgage bank which will then be pushed into receivership. So my next question becomes: 

‘Who wants to own a data centre? They are going cheap.’

And I reckon that the silence that follows will be deafening. Only a fool takes on a war at two fronts (Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821) and only the king of fools sets a tariff and bully demand on 15 fronts (Donald Trump, 1946 – who cares). It is a setting that will haunt the United States until at least 2076, but some say that the United States will not survive until then, giving the history of the United States with less then 300 years, a setting of greed and exploitation in plenty of books to reminiscence over.

But then, I could be wrong. Do you think I am wrong, or are the factors you see starting to make sense and when that happens where will you place the media in all this. A mere reporting entity or a bleeding effect of greed and digital dollars?

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 8, 2026 · 12:57

What he said

That is the setting we are no longer dreading. The bully tactics are starting to fall on deaf ears and whilst we are to some degree used to the setting that President Trump is handing us:

Screenshot

Of course the timeline ended and ABC gives us ‘Iran war live updates: Donald Trump suspends bombing for two weeks, Iran pledges safe passage through Strait of Hormuz’ which happened 10 hours ago. But the setting is now a bigger thing. We see several media giving us that the Republicans are ‘siding’ behind the Democrats who want him impeached. That setting is not enough for the world. You see, the words “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” This would be considered an illegal order by the commander in chief of the USA armed forces and there is a rule about illegal orders (I might have forgotten that rule), seemingly one does never obey illegal orders. And now the world gets to see how useless the United States has become. It comes across like a rabbit dog with a leash that goes until the end of its garden, but seemingly no further. And that comes with a peppered invoice. As I see it (I could always be wrong) that Iran will now cry at the international courts of the Hague for being attacked without a clear war statement and the media has repeated those words often enough and as such there is every chance on Iran will claiming over 600 billion dollar in damages to land and the Iranian people. This will also invite the gulf nations to make claims of hundreds of billions of dollars for damages to their national revenue and damages to their land settings and they can get this in the first from Iran and in the second setting from the United States of America and Israel. Because no matter how Israel has a reason to do this, it was involved in an illegal war (as I see it) but that last part remains to be seen. 

So am I wrong? You see all these attacks by Iran were in the pst proxy wars through Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi forces, as such it will be about evidence. But as I see it, there will be enough evidence around to see that Iran will not get away Scott free. So as the world will see the damages and the evidence to be brought to court. The second tier in all this is the claims that some made that Iran will demand $2M per vessel per passing through the Strait of Hormuz, too many repeated those claims to be ignored, and there is an upside to this. 

You see, not all of it belongs to Iran, and at least several miles will be in the capture of Oman, so if these ships pay Oman $100K-$1M we already have a minimum 50% discount and none of it ends up In Iranian hands. I might be oversimplifying this, but when did anyone make a clear case for the Omanian side? And at that point if these ships are still attacked, NATO, Australia and India will have a clear case to come in to the rescue and Iran will not have a foot to stand on. Perhaps Oman will not resort to ‘blackmail’ and they will take goodwill from several nations for that in return, but that would be up to Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said who is the ruler of Oman (as I see it), as such, what options did anyone explore in the sultanate of Oman? I haven’t seen the media look into that direction in any way as far as I looked into it and these settings were clear for weeks. And yesterday (at https://quincyinst.org/2026/04/07/the-war-will-end-with-a-hormuz-toll-booth/) the The Quincy Institute stands for responsible statecraft gave the world ‘The War Will End With a Hormuz Toll Booth’ we see “The legal terrain is complicated but not insurmountable. Under international law, the entire width of the strait at its narrowest point consists of the overlapping territorial seas of Iran and Oman, with no high seas’ corridor between them. Iran cannot unilaterally charge a toll on ships hugging the Omani coastline. However, a bilateral Iran-Oman transit authority would eliminate the legal ambiguity. Oman gets a revenue stream and more strategic relevance.” I am still in favour of screwing over Iran because of the attacks they made on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but that is me, a little vindictive gremlin in most times. The fact that there is a clear part that is Oman is seemingly ignored, but maritime law is clearly pronounced on what is national waters, they tend to get a little murky on these bottlenecks, but still there is part of this that is Omanian and the media is clearly not looking at this part. Why not?

It might be a case for another day and it is important that the setting of Oman is clearly set here, because if whatever proceeds happens, it needs to have the proper legal stage to proceed. So whilst we might take a giggle to illegal orders and to bully tactics. The clear setting is that the illegal war (as I personally see it) was done on Iran, Iran closed the strait, none of this would have happened if Israel and the USA had not attacked Iran. It seems to be a simple assessment. 

If we are to proceed can wee please do so in a legal way (without posturing and ending civilizations)? It might make for good media, but the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague are all about prosecuting transgressors for genocide and war crimes. As it stands President Trump might be guilty of one and an alleged other crime. As such it might get flaky and weird in the Netherlands soon enough. By the way, if you are there to report on the setting, one of the best places to eat Herring near the ICC is here:

It is a Dutch delicacy (especially with unions) so go wild, I say.

Have a great day and consider the Omanian setting. Who reported on that in the past month?

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 7, 2026 · 18:48

Skins

That was the thought that was invading my mind and for the biggest part it came from an app known as WinAmp. The current generation might not know what I am referring to, but their mommies and daddies know exactly what I mean.

You see, the world has forgotten the medium of long term marketing. And it saddens the brain. Creativity starts by shedding this to all the brains it can entice. And we seemingly have forgotten that. Consider that the TV goes on and the same settings are given to everyone. But there Is nothing stopping you from adding that to your TV or digital medium player. Have library that could be added to your TV or even PS5, a skin where we see the addition to your Netflix, Disney+ or Hulu app that gives it a little spice. A setting where the creative person turns the Netflix logo into a Cauldron and we see the books appear, where the books are movies and soundtracks. The Disney+ logo where the image of the Mandalorian comes alive and we see items that are movies, but refer to items seen in that series (never saw the Mandalorian) and the idea is not even merely  being scratched. You name it and it is likely to have a fanbase of millions. 

We can go into any venture from that and the brands themselves might shed ways into that setting. Whether it is Sony, Coca Cola, Steam Deck, Disney, Harry Potter or any other brand that speaks to the mind of others. 

Now consider that you are a brand bitch (like me) and you see your Sony environment, but when you also have your PS5, you might wonder why everything is so clearly cut and whilst the PS5 invites creativity, so does the Nintendo and I see a flaw here. They might have their own boundaries, but there is nothing stopping from a Switch (or PlayStation) to invade the borders of the TV and make over what people do there. As I see it, I would my Switch to take over the TV and set its boundaries there, so whilst we see Pikmins all over the screen of my TV, others might realise that some PikMins have familiar titles and as such, we might see games on that screen, games that we currently and almost forever have been playing. It might be the icon of a game box, the con of a hero (like Luigi) or the dreaded Bowser on his kart. All images we and others relate to the game we love to play. And on top we see the icons that relate to our needed setting like a D+ logo that gives us the Disney look and from there the iconic series that they have invade the screen. The better part is that the kids will relate to this instantly and it gives them an edge in creativity. The same could be said for the PS4/PS5, Netflix, or Hulu groups. Something got lost over the last 15 years and it saddens me, because for amount I thought it made sense and that I the sad part. We are so drawn to making achievements in games that we are forgetting the image to play. Someone once said that the more complex the end becomes the more enticing the image of play gets to be. And they were seemingly right. 

A setting is getting lost in the wiring and it should sadden us all. And the Australian Financial Review is giving us ‘Jamie Dimon is counting the straws that will break the market’s back’ which comes with “JPMorgan’s chief executive can see a long string of growing risks, from geopolitics to private credit. Will that be enough to burst the market’s optimism?” And he came to me last night in a dream handing me 4 billion for my IP (it was a lovely dream) but here he is right on his turf but it is also the setting of a larger play. He sees a “a long string of growing risks”, yet I see a string of losing strings of creativity that will hold us down, because those who turn away from creativity are lost forever to a sea of demands and the turmoil of loss and that deeply saddens me. Simply because if we become pawns of the populist voices, we are actually doomed to make mistake after mistake and we need to see now that there are more ways. This all adds up to President Trump saying (according to the Guardian) “Donald Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants”, but in this setting he defies his real fears, the first time is the use of ‘possible’ and the second setting was that he said it at all. He is really scared that he will be put in the Hague in the accusers box facing the consequence of his illegal war. I reckon he is counting on the world being to broke when America folds its finances and he would be wrong. There are dozens of people who are actually innocent and used the Black letter law to the extent they could and President Trump is the one who stopped the game from continuing. I reckon that the one place where President Trump might be save is as a new inmate of Lefortovo Prison or Lubyanka Prison. Anywhere else he is likely to be toast. So there is no easy escape to the Bahama’s or Monaco for him. Too many people there will blame him for their easy escape and they will hold him to account. And there isn’t enough ammunition to keep him safe in the United States. 

So that is where I am and the people who needs distractions are being withheld a simple setting where their creativity is fed, not their frustrations and rage. And my mind is grabbing back to the simple setting of Winamp controls or the theme settings that Microsoft opened in 1995. Who did not have a whole range of themes to brighten up their Windows experience? That is seemingly lost now in a sea of patches and Knowledge Base (KB) numbers. So who gave the world the outlets of creativity? Adobe?

So have a great day and consider where we might be when our need for creativity is fed in all sorts of ways. Time for dinner now.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 6, 2026 · 22:10

Where we go next

That is an important question, because the next stage is any setting can be set in two switches. The one that affects you directly and the the one that does not affect you. We then get the affected switch that has a direct consequence and merely a derived one. So when we get Al Jazeera who gives us ‘Tehran rejects Trump’s Hormuz deadline’ mere hours ago, these switches go into overdrive. Because now we get BBC telling us 5 hours ago ‘Trump issues expletive-laden threat to Iran over Hormuz Strait blockage’ where we learn “US President Donald Trump has published an expletive-laden post on social media in which he threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if it failed to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping. He repeated an earlier threat to unleash “hell” but told US media there was a “good chance” of a deal being reached with Tehran. Iran mocked his ultimatum, dismissing it as “helpless, nervous and stupid”.” And we then get ABC giving us 13 hours ago ‘Iran briefing with Matthew Doran: Threats tell us more about Trump’s frustration than anything else’ where we see “Donald Trump has issued a new deadline of Tuesday for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic, without restriction. In an expletive-laden post on social media, he said bridges and power plants would be destroyed if the regime in Tehran didn’t comply”, in this we have “issued a new deadline”, which is what people do who cannot follow through on threats are a separate issue. I cannot say what issue, because I am still on that horse named bankrupt and the only setting that makes sense would have been bombing near immediately. The fact that we get timeline stretching is another setting that influences it all. But 3 minutes ago Al Jazeera gives us ‘Pakistan says it is engaged in diplomacy amidst ‘egos’ and ‘distrust’’, I personally believe that Pakistan needs to get involved to safe face with both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but they are right in one part. Whatever the United States gives us is flawed if not, an outright ‘miscommunication’. ‘So whilst we all see the ‘tirades’ President Trump gives us all we deny, looking in the corner where nobody wants us too look. Add to that all the generals who got fired (apparently 8 in total) a setting that shifts a few lines and the derived consequence to the switches I mentioned at the start by them.

Whatever is taken from a convoluted timeline that we see now seems to be the flimflam orchestration which only reaffirms my thoughts that the United States is on its last energy and when that runs out, the hostilities begin. Do you really believe that President Trump will admit to being out of funds? I reckon that we better reenforce the defence of Canada, because as I see it, the United States is likely to get 65,000 troops as reenforcement. So suddenly I sound a little less crazy don’t I? And it comes at a time when CUSMA is under review, the Hill gives us “Canada and Mexico have suffered the ire of Trump, ranging from blanket tariffs to threats of annexation and invasion. As a result, economic policy uncertainty is at historical highs in Canada, while in Mexico, the devaluation of the peso and a 10-25 per cent U.S. tariff on many Mexican goods has hit the economy hard. Beneath the headlines are more muted negotiations over policy choices on matters of tariff exemption and content requirements for a range of sectors. While automobile manufacturing and steel steal the headlines, the critical minerals and energy sector is now at centre stage in the CUSMA review.” The setting is ‘pre-arranged’ as it is the United States that is in a crunch, not Canada or Mexico and it is the United States that requires critical minerals. And in that setting both Mexico and Canada are the strong players, even whilst we are given “economic policy uncertainty is at historical highs in Canada” all whilst Canada is making new headways in the world with the Middle East, Europe and Asia the new stages of economic strength. Not policy uncertainty. As I see it, there are more settings in play. 

There is a setting under the surface that screams misalignment. I personally think that the United States is playing bluff poker with a “dead man’s hand” all whilst his opponents Iran, Europe and Canada knows what he is holding. I think this is the best analogy I can come up with. So when the shouting and bully tactics end, the United States is holding the cards they have and they are not good. So they either bluff their way into everyone not playing, or they will win. Even at this setting Canada needs a mere three two’s to win the hand and that might be the weakest setting it needs. No one has a clue what Mexico has, but its catering to the shortages of Cuba gives them a few short term advantages. So whatever the United States is proposing in this setting will have a few set backs. The first what the Venezuelan failure brought and the second is the 6 week failure that Iran is bringing to the table. I reckon that they might have a claim of a few hundred billion to the table of the International courts of The Hague. No matter how you slice this, it will be seen as an illegal war. No matter whatever the US administration calls it (they called it not a war) and in that setting it is the courts that will have a field day (and those lawyers making the good cash) and all of this comes out of the near empty coffers of the United States. So whilst we see all this, a mere two days ago we are given “Fox News’ Bill Hemmer cut off President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser when he tried to blame former President Joe Biden for high gas prices amid the Iran war. Oil prices have surged as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway in the Middle East that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil. The national average cost of gas has exceeded $4 a gallon in the U.S. as Americans bear the brunt of Trump’s war against Iran.” So is this the path of this US administration? Blame the previous administration? 

And I apologise in advance of jumping over these hurdles (articles) like a horse on steroids. But it gives us a larger setting that is over all the images. The media are pretty good of merely looking at one part, hoping the people doesn’t see the larger image. It reminds me of the person showing is the image of a worm and we think ‘Oh, goody’ but the image becomes a little weird when we zoom out, only to realise that we were looking at the tail of a rat and the ones manipulating the images are all about misdirecting our interest whilst we should be focusing on rat extermination. 

So whilst I might be wrong to focus on a broke United States of America, it is where the exposed data leads me. And whilst the United States tells the world it is doing great, we need to realise that things are bad. Consider that last week we were given “According to March 2026 data, the US labor market showed remarkable strength with 178,000 jobs added” and whilst we see a few days later “Oracle has laid off approximately 30,000 employees, representing about 19% of its global workforce”  all whilst we are also given “Since the start of 2026, Meta, Autodesk, Salesforce, Workday, Google, Pinterest, Block and other firms have announced layoffs” so how great is the employment setting of the United States? In all this it is merely another element towards the broke setting of the United States, all whilst the media is no help in giving us what we would need to give ourselves a neutral view on the matter. A setting that this US Administration is using (read: abusing) to get the populist vote, but things really are not that rosy at present for the current administration. I reckon that the expected filtering on the speculated ‘deleting of bad news’ in California will aid the economic downturn that the United States is currently facing. 

The ice is slippery and not enough to bare anyones weight (especially mine) but as the media is not doing its jobs, I have no choice but to speculate with the (incomplete) data I have and this is the conclusion I come to. The United States is broke, I have said so before, but the evidence is now becoming malleable, which it should not, I agree with people opposing that thought. Yet the images of President Trump going all out like the proverbial mad dog with his threats

All whilst people focus on the threat and not on the stage surrounding that threat and it goes way beyond Iran. 

So have a great day and consider the thoughts I am leaving you with.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics, Tourism

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 5, 2026 · 06:46

The thought was there

I have been giving you all the works over the last month as the United States is setting new levels of non-conformist thinking (aka stupidity), but one thought was creeping in the back of my mind, because it partially didn’t make sense. I kept it under the hood and brooded on this. You see, the Guardian brought it to the top once again (yesterday) with the headline ‘US defense spending would rise $445bn under Trump budget plan, with steep cuts elsewhere’ We get that the United States is overly proud of its military, but that much overspending does not make sense. That is, if current quarters hold. But that is not the case is it? His NATO rhetoric, his biased plans to include, there is something amiss in all this. It reeks of Germany at 1938. Germany had jobs for all people, it would be a beautiful, beautiful new world where everyone worked. He was not lying (for the most) but we merely never thought that this would go in a certain direction, did we? Now we see his boasting of setting NATO on its feathers, which means that there is every chance that 65000 troops are coming back from Germany and Italy (and a few more places). This gives me the willies. I reckon that the United States is so deeply in debt that he merely sees the annexation of Canada and Greenland to thwart his broken wallet from collapsing on itself. As I see it, Iran is now a bust, so he goes back to Canada and Greenland and annex it. I reckon that he will need the 65K troops to cluster in eastern Canada, and a lot in Western Canada (to push towards Greenland) that setting would fit the bill of a maniacal narcissist. And it is only a fear I have, because I remember WW2, I was born just after it and I saw Rotterdam after the bombing. It took well over a decade to fix what was done to my city and I few we will see a similar setting happening now. It is only this scenario that calls for the actions the US government is seemingly making now and when the bill is due, no one will like President Trump for hat he does, but 100 million people will inwardly smile, because the bill that comes due to all is delayed a few more years. So that hidden fear I spoke last night makes it now essential to select China as a new partner. Or the alignment with BRICS, Because when the United States is in this predicament, China is the only player that will instill fear on the United States and the Commonwealth will not be able to deal with the United States. We never thought it would come to this, but the elements are lining up exactly to this scenario.

The important question becomes ‘Could I be wrong?’ 

Yes, that is definitely true, but the elements that we are given like ‘bombing back to the stone age’ and replacing its generals, optionally for fresh new generals who would do whatever the United States needs. That is the setting we are given and the White House will use Iran as an example of what is to come with anyone siding against America, as such we are now coming into a field where we are watching ourselves getting scared stiff, or go to war. It is not a scenario I ever envisioned, but I still remember what was left of Rotterdam and the noises we hear now are eerily similar. 

So whilst we are given in the Guardian “Under the proposal for the 2027 fiscal year beginning on 1 October, defense spending would rise by 42% to $1.5tn, $445bn higher than its level in 2026. The funds would go towards programs intended to ensure “the United States maintains the world’s most powerful and capable military”” the question becomes how much time do we have left? Because there is no way that Canada is ready for well over 65,000 troops at the border, they will push into Greenland with not too much opposition. All the lollies President Trump wants and after that he will make a narcissistic excuse why it is better for the world, why the United States is so much better than whatever comes in its place. As I see it, the cure was a lot harsher than the disease called greed. What we see now is a nation that will take from anyone else as long as it serves their purpose. 

But still I wonder, could I be wrong? Am I seeing figments of my paranoid delusion playing itself out? And I merely have to look towards Venezuela and Iran to see that I am not. And whatever Washington and Wall Street think the have, they will then be known as the enemy of the world, greed unchecked and unbalanced is the setting that comes and scorches everything else. In that same setting we can wonder what these data centers were meant to hold? The data of everything non-American? It is a wonder but when you see that the push for data centers is set to the maintenance of greed in all its records. So consider where you are and what you are optionally overlooking. My mind is shivering for what is coming to all our shores. 

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,