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Dropped balls

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Driving the herds

OK, I am over my anger spat from yesterday (still growling though) and in other news I noticed that Grok (Musk’s baby) cannot truly deal with multidimensional viewpoints, which is good to know. But today I tried to focus on Oracle. You know whatever AI bubble will hit us (and it will) Oracle shouldn’t be as affected as some of the Data vendors who claim that they have the golden AI child in their crib (a good term to use a month before Christmas). I get that some people are ‘sensitive’ to doom speakers we see all over the internet and some will dump whatever they have to ‘secure’ what they have, but the setting of those doom speakers is to align THEIR alleged profit needs to others dumping their future. I do not agree. You see Oracle, Snowflake and a few others offer services and they are captured by others. Snowflake has a data setting that can be used whether AI comes or not, whether people need it or not. And they will be hurt when the firms go ‘belly up’ because it will count as lost revenue. But that is all it is, lost revenue. And yes both will be hurting when the AI bubble comes crashing down on all of us. But the stage that we see is that they will skate off the dust (in one case snow) and that is the larger picture. So I took a look at Oracle and behold on Simple Wall Street we get ‘Oracle (ORCL) Is Down 10.8% After Securing $30 Billion Annual Cloud Deal – Has The Bull Case Changed?’ (At https://simplywall.st/stocks/us/software/nyse-orcl/oracle/news/oracle-orcl-is-down-108-after-securing-30-billion-annual-clo) With these sub-line points:

So they triple their ‘business’ and they lose 10.8%? It leads to questions. As I personally see it, Wall Street is trying to insulate themselves from the bubble that other (mostly) software vendors bring to the table. And Simply Wall Street gives us “To believe in Oracle as a shareholder right now is to trust in its transformation into a major provider of cloud and AI infrastructure to sustain growth, despite high debt and reliance on major AI customers. The recent announcement of a US$30 billion annual cloud contract brings welcome long-term visibility, but it does not change the near-term risk: heavy capital spending and dependence on sustained AI demand from a small set of large clients remain the central issues for the stock.” And I can get behind that train of thought, although I think that Oracle and a few others are decently protected from that setting. No matter how the non existent AI goes, DML needs data and data needs secure and reliable storage. So in comes Oracle in plenty of these places and they do their job. If 90% business goes boom, they will already have collected on these service terms for that year at least, 3-5 years if they were clever. So no biggy, Collect on 3-5 years is collected revenue, even if that firm goes bust after 30 days, they might get over it (not really). 

And then we get two parts “Oracle Health’s next-generation EHR earning ONC Health IT certification stands out. This development showcases Oracle’s commitment to embedding AI into essential enterprise applications, which supports a key catalyst: broadening the addressable market and stickiness of its cloud offerings as adoption grows across sectors, particularly healthcare. In contrast, investors should be aware that the scale of Oracle’s capital commitment brings risks that could magnify if…” OK, I am on board with these settings. I kinda disagree, but then I lack economic degrees and a few people I do know will completely see this part. You see, I personally see “Oracle’s commitment to embedding AI into essential enterprise applications” as a plus all across the board. Even if I do believe that AI doesn’t exist, the data will be coming and when it is ironed out, Oracle was ready from the get go (when they translate their solutions to a trinary setting) and I do get (but personally disagree) with “the scale of Oracle’s capital commitment brings risks that could magnify if”. Yes, there is risk but as I see it Oracle brings a solution that is applicable to this frontier, even if it cannot be used to its full potential at present. So there is a risk, but when these vendors pay 5 years upfront, it becomes instant profit at no use of their clouds. You get a cloud with a population of 15 million, but it is inhabited by 1.5 million. As such they have a decade of resources to spare. I know that things are not that simple and there is more, but what I am trying to say is that there is a level of protection that some have and many will not. Oracle is on the good side of that equation (as is Snowflake, Azure, iCloud, Google Gemini and whatever IBM has, oh, and the chips of nVidia are also decently safe until we know how Huawei is doing. 

And the setting we are also given “Oracle’s outlook forecasts $99.5 billion in revenue and $25.3 billion in earnings by 2028. This is based on annual revenue growth of 20.1% and an earnings increase of $12.9 billion from current earnings of $12.4 billion” matters as Oracle is predicting that revenue comes calling in 2028, so anyone trying to dump their stock now is as stupid as they can be. They are telling their shareholders that for now revenue is thimble sized, but after 2028 which is basically 24 months away, the big guns come calling and the revenue pie is being shared with its shareholders. So you do need brass balls to do this and you should not do this with your savings, that is where hedge funds come in, but the view is realistic. The other day I saw Snowflake use DML in the most innovative way (one of their speakers) showed me a new lost and found application and it was groundbreaking. Considering the amounts of lost and found is out there at airports and bus stations, they showed me how a setting of a month was reduced to a 10 minute solution. As I saw it, places like Dubai, London and Abu Dhabi airport could make is beneficial for their 90 million passengers is almost unheard of and I am merely mentioning three of dozens upon dozens of needy customers all over the world. A direct consequence of ‘AI’ particulars (I still think it is DML with LLM) but no matter the label, it is directly applicable to whomever has such a setting and whilst we see the stage of ‘most usage fails in its first instance’ this is not one of them and as such in those places Oracle/Snowflake is a direct win. A simple setting that has groundbreaking impact. So where is the risk there? I know places have risks, but to see this simple application work shows that some are out there showing the good fight on an achievable setting and no IP was trained upon and no class actions are to follow. I call that a clear win.

So, before you sell your stock in Oracle like a little girl, consider what you have bought and consider who wants you to sell, and why, because they are not telling you this for your sake, they have their own sake. I am not telling you to sell anything. I am merely telling you to consider what you bought and what actual risks you are running if you sell before 2029. It is that simple.

Have a great day (yes Americans too, I was angry yesterday), These bastards in Vancouver and Toronto are still enjoying their Saturday. 

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Is it one or the other?

That is the question I had today/this morning. You see, I saw a few things happen/unfold and it made me think on several other settings. To get there, let me take you through the settings I already knew. The first cog in this machine is American tourism. The ‘setting’ is that THEY (whoever they are) expect a $12.5 billion loss. The data from a few sources already give a multitude of that, the airports, the BNB industry and several other retail settings. Some give others the losses of 12 airports which goes far beyond the $12.5 billion and as I saw it that part is a mere $30-$45 billion, its hard to be more precise when you do not have access to the raw numbers. But in a chain trend Airfares, visas, BNB/hotels, snacks/diversities, staff incomes I got to $80-$135 billion and I think that I was being kind to the situation as I took merely the most conservative numbers, as such the damage could be decently more. 

This is merely the first cog. Second is the Canadian setting of fighters. They have set their minds on the Saab Gripen s such I thought they came for

Silly me, Gripen means Griffin and a Hogwarts professor was eager to assist me in this matter, it was apparently 

Although I have no idea how it can hide that proud flag in the clouds. What does matter that it comes with “SAAB President and CEO Micael Johansson told CTV News that the offer is on the table and Ottawa might see a boost in economic development with the added positions. The deal could be more than just parts and components; Canada may even get the go-ahead to assemble the entire Gripen on its soil.” (Initial source: CTV news) this brings close to 10,000 jobs (which was given by another source) but what non-Canadian people ‘ignore’ is that this will cost the American defense industry billions and when these puppies (that what they call little Griffins) are built in Canada, more orders will follow costing the American Defense industry a lot more. So whilst some sources say that “American tourism is predicted to start a full recovery in 2029” I think that they are overly confident that the mess this administration is making is solved by then. I think that with Vision 2030 and a few others, recovery is unlikely before 2032. And when you consider The news (at https://www.thetravel.com/fifa-world-cup-2026-usa-tourist-visa-integrity-fee-100-day-wait-time-warning-us-consul-general/) by Travel dot com, giving us ‘FIFA World Cup 2026 Travelers Warned Of $435 Fee And 100-Day Delay By U.S. Consul General’ that there is every chance that FIFA will pull the 2026 setting from America and it is my speculation that Yalla Vamos 2030 might be hosting the 2026 and leave 2030 to whomever comes next, which is Saudi Arabia, the initial thought is that they might not be ready at that time, but that is mere speculation from me and there is a chance (a small one) that Canada could step in and do the hosting in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, but that would be called ‘smirking speculation’ But the setting behind these settings is that Tourism will likely collapse in America and at that point the Banks of Wall Street will cancel the Credit Cards of America for a really long time and that will set in motion a lot of cascading events all at the same time. Now if you would voice that this would never Tom’s Hardware gave us last week ‘Sam Altman backs away from OpenAI’s statements about possible U.S. gov’t AI industry bailouts — company continues to lobby for financial support from the industry’ If his AI is so spectastic  (a combination of Fantastic and Spectacular) why does he need a bailout? And when we consider this. Microsoft once gave the AI builder a value of a billion dollars and they blew that in under a year on over 600 engineers. So why didn’t Microsoft see that? 600 engineers leave a digital footprint and they have licensed software. Microsoft didn’t catch on? And as we see the ‘unification’ of Microsoft and OpenAI have a connection. Microsoft has an investment in the OpenAI Group PBC valued at approximately $135 billion, representing a 27% stake. So there is a need to ask questions and when that bubble goes, America gets to bail that Windows 3.1 vendor out.

As I see it, don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket and at this point America has all the eggs of its ‘kingdom’ in one plastic bag and it reckon that bag is showing rips and soon enough the eggs fall away into an abyss where Microsoft can’t get to it. The resources will flee to Google, IBM, Amazon and a few other places and it is the other places that will reap havoc on the American economy. So when the tally is made, America has a real problem and this administration called the storm over its own head and I am not alone feeling this way. When you consider the validation and verification of data, pretty much the first step in data related systems you can see that things do not add up and it will not take long for others to see that too. And in part the others will want to prove that THEIR data is sweet and the way they do that is to ask questions of the data of others. A tell tale sign that the bubble is about to implode and at present it is given at ‘Global AI spend to total US$1.5 trillion’ (source: ARNnet) but that puppy has been blown up to a lot more as the speculators that they have a great dane, so when that bubble implodes it will cost a whole lot of people a lot of money. I reckon that it will take until 2026/2027 to hit the walls. Even as Forbes gave us less than 24 hours ago ‘OpenAI Just Issued An AI Risk Warning. Your Job Could Be Impacted’ and they talk about ASI (too many now know that AI doesn’t exist) where we see “Superintelligence is also referred to as ASI (artificial superintelligence) which varies slightly from AGI (artificial general intelligence) in that it’s all about machines being able to exceed even the most advanced and highly gifted cognitive abilities, according to IBM.” And we also get “OpenAI acknowledges the potential dangers associated with advancing AI to this level, and they continue by making it clear what can be anticipated and what will be needed for this experiment to be a safe success” so these statements, now consider the simple facts of Data Verification and Data Validation, when these parts are missing any ‘super intelligence’ merely comes across as the village idiot. I can already see the Microsoft Copilot advertisement “We now offer the copilot with everyones favourite son, the village idiot Clippy II” (OK, I am being mean, I loved my clippy in the Office 95 days) but I reckon you are now getting clued in to the disaster that is coming? 

It isn’t merely the AI bubble, or the American economy, or any of these related settings. It is that they are happening almost at the same time, so a nasdaq screen where all the firms are shown in deep red showing a $10 trillion write-off is not out of the blue. That setting better be clear to anyone out there. This is merely my point of view and I might be wrong to read the data as it is, but I am not alone and more people are seeing the fringe of the speculative gold stream showing it Pyrite origins. Have a great day it is another 2 hours before Vancouver joins us on this Monday. Time for me to consider a nice cup of coffee (my personal drug of choice).

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The view over a distance

That is what I see, at a distance my old country (the Netherlands) is setting a new premise of pressure. In the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn40y9yxkgvo) we are given ‘Netherlands’ renewables drive putting pressure on its power grid’ and that is fine. For me (my intake) is that the setting is that when there is no renewable energy, they will have to resort to the old setting (like gas or oil) and there is ample reason for this. Yet we are given “In a Dutch government TV campaign called “Flip the Switch” an actress warns viewers about their electricity usage. “When we all use electricity at the same time, our power grid gets overloaded,” she says. “This can cause malfunctions. So, use as little electricity as possible between four and nine.”” A setting we comprehend, the other option is that we are ‘handed’ the setting of “Renewable energy prices in the Netherlands are not a separate category but are included in the overall electricity price, which currently averages around €0.33 per kWh” so we could end the setting that renewable energy above a certain usage is delivered at €0.99 per kWh, the rest can either adhere to the additional prices or accept that oil is the other party in the mix (at €0.33 per kWh), a simple solution for the Dutch to increase what they have going in renewable settings. And there is no blame on the Dutch admittedly we are given “it leads the way in Europe for the number of solar panels per person. In fact, more than one third of Dutch homes have solar panels fitted.

The country is also aiming for offshore wind farms to be its biggest source of energy by 2030.” And that is a time pressured setting and the Dutch political systems know this. There is no averting your eyes from the needs and the Dutch know this too well. The other nations face a similar setting, the Dutch were however a lot more hands on into finding these options and they have 18 million people in that nation, it is almost as much as the Australian population (27 million) but the area differences is that the Netherlands is only 0.54% of Australia, setting the premise that the Netherlands has the population pressure of Sydney on a national foundation, they needed a renewable energy policy in place. No one denies that. But the needs are not matching the availability. As such my solution at a premium (which might achieve the same setting) or accept that oil isn’t a thing of the past yet and perhaps in 2030 when there are the actual additional kWh available it will be possible and at that point the Dutch are still the first by a mile over all other European nations to be the first to get to a positive carbon setting, even above zero carbon (meaning that no carbon emissions are being produced from a product or service) and that is quite the achievement to have. Oh, and I reckon that these kids squandering energy as they mine for bitcoins will foot that bill as they are eager to get wealthy and those who do not, get to explain to their mummies and daddies why they need a RTX 5090 32gb AMD Ryzen 9 9900x3d to play Frogger (or Minecraft). I wonder how many excuses they will employ and in the meantime it will reduce the pressures as well, I just wonder how much as there is no real number on the number of bitcoin miners, but they do have a top100 in the Netherlands, so anything is possible.

The other part of the explanation is given to us by Kees-Jan Rameau, chief executive of Dutch energy producer and supplier Eneco. ““Nowadays we’re switching to renewables, and that means there’s a lot of power being injected into the grid in the outskirts of the network where there are only relatively small power lines.” And these small power lines are struggling to cope with all the electricity coming in from wind turbines and solar panels scattered around the country.” OK, that is a fair assessment, but those cases could be renewed or reviewed and separate cables could be set to whatever the renewable setting is to a clear hub (my lack of technical knowledge is optionally at fault here) and that could have been seen in advance to the renewable farms being designed (as I personally see it). 

We get all the excuses and not the simple setting that even as the Netherlands is already at 70% renewable, there was no way that they would be ready before 2035 and that is likely a decade ahead of several other EU nations, the only exception might be Sweden as it constructed Vattenfall some time ago, so they get to have a head start, and they only have 11 hungry mouths to supply and that is as it is 1 times larger, but the bulk of that nation is in the southern third of that country. So they are in a comfortable league to stay even with Dutch ingenuity as I personally see it. 

So whilst the BBC is correct in its article, I fail to see the applaud that the Dutch are due as they are one of the few EU nations that achieved what was needed to achieve (with Sweden in second place) I am missing that part in the article, no matter the laurels that are due Kees-Jan Rameau of Eneco. It is a side we should have been given in this all. So where do Germany, France and the United Kingdom stand in this, how far are they? Just simple questions that come to mind. 

Have a great Sunday (I am having mine with chocolate sprinkles) and enjoy the pre Monday bash you will enjoy, except Canada, they started the weekend a day early due to the Toronto Blue Jays giving the Dodgers (LA) a thrashing with their 11-4 victory. Lucky bastards, a long weekend where none was given.

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That’s one way to see it

I saw a setting in the CBC yesterday, the setting was given (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/us-h1b-visa-canada-benefits-1.7640068) with the capture ‘The new, steep price for this U.S. visa could be a blessing for Canadian tech’. Well that’s one way to look at it I reckon. As such plenty of Amazon employees might wanna consider switching to Vancouver for that. The second reason is that they are a mere 90 minutes from the greatest ski slopes on the world. And the text “As the Trump administration moves to limit some skilled workers from entering the U.S. on a specialized visa, the Canadian tech sector is champing at the bit — hoping the new restriction will send talent up north.” I the directly seen setting for that. So with the added text ““Canada has built an entire industry by capturing this talent. And with this $100,000 fee, that trend is about to grow much stronger,” she said. “This is almost a gift because every time the U.S. closes the door on global talent, Canada gains.”” And as I see it, a direct blessing for Vancouver in disguise, other cities might benefit too from that. And it will benefit places like Amazon to set up locations in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa for AWS pools. I reckon that Google Portland, Google Seattle, Google Ann Harbor, Google Detroit might see the same setting as they are relatively close to Canada, which could save them a clean billion from the get go. I reckon that others like Microsoft would follow that example. It stands to reason that the new set places like AI verification places would be created in Canada as the whole range of NIP locations would require hundreds of Verification stations. Canada might do well to ensure these locations as President Trump is now making them too expensive to create them in the USA. Perhaps he forgot that Stargate without verification becomes useless near the moment those settings are switched on?

So as we are given ““There’s going to be a net benefit effect for Canada across the board,” said Andres Pelenur, an immigration lawyer and founding partner at Borders Law Firm in Toronto.” I guess he is seeing the upbeat Ka-Ching of the cash registers in his location and he might consider branching out to both Vancouver and Ottawa in the near future.

So as we are given “The visa isn’t exclusive to the tech sector, but 60 per cent of H-1B holders approved since 2012 have held computer-related jobs, according to Pew Research — and the visa is used heavily by giants like Apple, Amazon and Google.” Gives us the other setting that we until now ignored. What is Apple going to do? Set up a much larger distribution shop in Canada? Doesn’t that imply that President Trump is shooting himself in the foot yet again?

So as we see the response by Pew Research (which hilariously relies on foot shooting) with “The fate of the H-1B program – which offers U.S. employers a way to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations – has divided influential Republicans. Tech leaders like Elon Musk strongly support the program, while other Republicans question its impact on American workers. President Donald Trump imposed restrictions on the program in his first term, but his current policy agenda on H-1Bs remains under discussion. Meanwhile, bipartisan calls for H-1B reforms advocate for more oversight to protect American workers while addressing skill shortages.” But as I see it, the setting set into law with the use of a handpscribble makes that a little too late unless President Trump undoes the damage he has done, which is seemingly unlikely. Some will remember his smudging up the error that the coffee typo gave the press. And you can mesmerize on that whilst having a Trump Sandwich in Lambo’s Deli (176 Bellwoods Ave, Toronto). It being a sandwich with Baloney with a small pickle. The other one is on 1372 Queen St E, Toronto. Others might have it that option on their menus too.

Yes, Canadians like their comedy that is easy to swallow as good as Australians do. As such we are also relieved that around 400,000 H-1B applications for high-skilled foreign workers were approved in 2024. That’s more than twice the number of applications approved in fiscal 2000. Approvals peaked in 2022, when 442,425 applications were approved. (source: Pew Research Centre) Since 2013, the majority of approvals each year have been applications to renew employment. In 2024, 65% of approved applications, or 258,196, were renewals. The other 35%, or 141,207, were new applications for initial employment. And all that gathered workforce could now be heading toward Canada as well, and optionally reduce the pool of work seekers in Canada as well as adding fresh blood to Ottawa, a setting that place needs like yesterday. I reckon that the pools in Vancouver and Toronto are already well set. 

Beyond what is great for Canada, there is a larger industrial move already on its way and the VISA costs merely enhanced that setting and added a few requirements to the needs of Canada. Making it fast into the new work-hub to be for the Commonwealth. 

Good going Trump, you American president you. 🙂

So you all have a great day and start dreaming of a job in Canada whilst snacking on a Pizza at Eataly, they are opening in the Eaton centre in the near future, your place to be for fashion and interior needs in Toronto. 

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Under budget

That is at time the setting, but I kinda forget about that. It’s not that I am forgetting the setting, but it is that when I am pushed into a hotel, I usually have a high setting on security. There is nothing as annoying as getting to a hotel, quickly change into something easy so you can enjoy a quick bite to eat, to return to your room and learn that your room has been ransacked and your devices are gone. But in the UAE this is different. Everything is top notch there. The safety of you and yours is almost a given anywhere in the UAE. So I looked at the list of the hotels under 250 Dirham (which amounts to €58, or C$94, £50) and they all look good, but that amounts to a lot less than anything London, Toronto, Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris is likely to offer ever. Oh and there are more, but they are near Dubai, it is a short ride (half an hour by train, but that negates the exercise). 

So we get the list of Holiday Inn Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport, Tryp By Wyndham, Southern Sun, and the City Seasons Al Hamra Hotel. 4 hotels that offer a wealth of luxuries and amenities in one of the most attractive places in the world. As such Your trip doesn’t need to be expensive and these 4 will give you a reason to make the trip more than once a year, one must get their Apple extensions tax free, doesn’t one? I tend to focus on the free daily pass that the Warner Bros Hotel offers (more do that in Abu Dhabi), but it is right across from the Warner Bros Theme park and Water World is a less than 5 minute stroll as well. The others are either a happy stroll, or a free bus ride away (like the Yass Mall where your Ferrari fun starts). I just learned that charging your car on a Tesla station there is possible for less than 1.5 Dirham per kWh, making it one of the cheapest places to charge anywhere. I believe that some places offer it for free, well basically for guests, making it a place where you can fill up your tummy whilst your car charges. Seems like a steal at twice the price.

The more I learn of Abu Dhabi, the more I think it is the perfect place to retire your weary old bones (mine are old and weary, as such I think all retirees have that condition). And for the price? There are some newly built places available for a mere AED 760,000 (€177K, C$287K, or £153K), making also the cheapest in any of the aforementioned spaces. I am pretty sure it merely gets you a studio, but try getting that in London, Sydney or Paris, I dare you. 

I reckon there was a reason why thousands of millionaires are pooling in this place, I just didn’t think it was for this reason. And I merely looked at the Yas Island properties, there are dozens more all over Abu Dhabi. But the call of 5 theme parks, a mall and a Formula one track are pretty sensational to say the least. And when you get to retirement, you need to flex every dollar you have and there is no place better as I see it. As such (as prices go) that you can get a pass for access to these parks all year round starting at 1800 Dirham (€420, C$680, or £365) which gets you 20% discount in Yas mall, in plenty of places and taking into account that a single day ticket I usually 300 Dirham, these passes pay for themself in under a dozen visits. So what would you like to do the other 340 days? 

The more I see what Abu Dhabi has to offer, the more it appeals and you are a mere 35 minutes away from Dubai and what they have to offer. I am officially over the retirement plans that America, Europe and other places offer. 

And the more I see what Yas Mall offers, the more I like it. We all have issues we overlook, but as It stands with crime at an all time high in Europe and America and safety at an all time low. The UAE has the goods that any family would want. Because as I see it, it will get nasty out there and the appeal that the UAE gives might want you to go merely to feel complete again. 

Oh, and did you know that there are places like Indeed that are trying to find 7000 people for jobs there too? It is overwhelmingly appealing at present, especially as the current ‘safety’ places are shedding jobs by the thousands. 

As I see it, it pays to stay under budget for the obvious reasons of course, but when you are in Abu Dhabi you will be introduced to the not so obvious reasons as well. I think that this level of politeness was only seen in Canada, the UAE is something else and that shows in the manner of the people, the efficiency and the drive for excellence. Now where is my 401K?

Have a great day, its Saturday 05:30 now. Almost time for breakfast.

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On the other side of the table

I have been weary of the other side of the table. In many cases it pays to see both sides of the table. As such, Today I saw the news by the Khaleej Times (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/residents-stranded-air-canada-flight-attendant-strike-high-prices) giving us ‘UAE residents stranded amid Air Canada strike stressed by vague responses, high flight prices’ and there we are given “A sudden strike by more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants has grounded hundreds of flights, leaving some UAE residents stranded in Canada as the disruption stretches into a third day. The walkout, which began on Saturday, has shut down operations for the carrier that usually transports 130,000 passengers a day. Despite a back-to-work order from Canada’s labour board, the union has refused to comply, demanding the airline return to the bargaining table.” At present I am not taking sides. I do not know the plight of the Air Canada flight staff and crews. Strikes happen and they aren’t nice. As a tourist I would vie for an extension (if possible), there isn’t much use walking on a airport for a few days. There is only so much you can do, and even if there is enough food, there is a larger concern here. 

The setting I do want to comment on was the small setting in the header namely “high flight prices” and the quote “UAE resident Emma Dylan, currently in Toronto, said the lack of communication from the airline has been frustrating. “They cancelled our direct flight without prior notice and moved us to an option with multiple layovers,” she said. “When I asked about compensation or alternatives, the response was vague. At one point, a staff member even suggested the Dubai route was cancelled because of the situation in the Middle East.” This left her confused and uncertain about next steps.” In the first Dubai is one of the safest places on the planet, as such that staff member should be fired (at the very least) and as far as we get ““Everything now is, of course, triple the price since it’s a last-minute booking,” she said, noting that she usually books her flights to/from Canada months in advance.” It is partially fair, Although, I am not sure how cheap here initial flight was, On the other hand, I would think that setting up a charter by Emirates, to pick up stranded Emirates might not be the worst idea and that could have been arranged as was on Saturday. One flight optionally taking care of the bulk from Saturday/Sunday night have been a solution, optionally costing the passengers something, but 

I reckon not as much as the ‘three times’ that quoted price. Optionally a setting that airlines can bring is a flight to London and subsequent flights from London to Europe and direct flights to Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That merely my brain contemplating the issue in less than 30 seconds. Was that hard? Was it even possible? As crews shut down in Toronto, planes might not get sustenance (read: fuel) I reckon that the Canadian air-force could fuel the planes and fill the plane up with pizzas. Just a thought to have. I am not turning against the strike, but everyone will realise that stranded passengers is a rather large call to make. 

So as we see “For now, passengers remain in limbo, refreshing their phones for updates, weighing costly alternatives, and hoping for a swift resolution between the airline and its workers.” We get that there are issues, but the setting how to resolve them is also up I the air (as expressions go), but a larger setting is, what can be done without setting off the unions and presenting the opposite side with an unmanageable evolving issue. 

I don’t have anything decent answers at present. I merely went into trouble shooting mode (without shooting people). And it was nice to see both sides of the equation. If you want to know more about the other side you can catch that in the publications of the CBC, so good luck with that. I just wonder what happens when you are with a business or First Class ticket at the Toronto lounges. I reckon I would gain a few pounds chomping down food and drowning in bubbly, but that is me, Always seeing to light in the darkness, even if Toronto was my destination, there is nothing wrong with a bottle of Champagne to wash down the Nova Scotia lobster rolls, Montreal style smoked beef, Bambi burgers, Poutine (mandatory), Nanaimo bars with Maple Taffy and in the end ash that down with some British Columbian ice wine. A nice way to get not a food coma to wait out the strike and at the end, simply ask them where the taxis are and you will have saved at least a day on your food budget. 

Have a great day, and it is now breakfast time in Amsterdam. So poffertjes, or Pancakes. I’m hungry again already. 

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Changing tracks

CBC informed me a few hours ago that(at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ttc-alstom-train-deal-1.7609756) that ‘Toronto pursuing sole-sourced deal for new TTC trains in wake of U.S. tariffs’, so this is another fine mess that Trump left America. It might be seen as the cost of doing business, but consider the amount of business that America lost and is still losing against what they made. And you need to see this in additional light of what the department of labor statistics I also giving the American people. I don’t mind. I reckon that Canada could easily get this stuff from Australia or the United Kingdom, as such no biggie for Canada. As such there might be a need to get both involved as it concerns “Officials say deal is for 70 trains to run on Line 2 and for Yonge North, Scarborough extensions”, a setting where both leading to all three profiting on this deal alone. In light of “In a news release issued Friday morning, officials said both the federal and provincial governments, alongside the city, gave the TTC the go-ahead to pursue a single-source contract “in the face of U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty” in order to support Ontario workers.” So, Canada needs to pick one of them, either will do, yet we also need to see that France is a viable option for Canada. Their subways have been running (not walking, but operating) for more than a century. In 2024 it transported over 1.5 billion passengers. As such Canada seemingly has three options. Of course I am biased as a Commonwealthian and I would prefer to see this deal go to either Australia or the United Kingdom, but it is what Canada needs is what counts and they are telling us that America is no longer a viable option. 

Ands as we are given “Officials say the base procurement is for 70 six-car train sets in total — 55 to replace aging trains on Line 2, and 15 trains for the Yonge North and Scarborough extensions.” I reckon that both Australia and the UK are chomping at the bits to get into this deal. In addition we are given “The Ford government had expressed its desire to see the train cars built in the province amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S. All three levels of government have committed money to buy the new rolling stock, which is expected to cost some $2.3 billion.” As such there is an additional need to get them built in Ontario, but there is the setting. These parts might be ‘built’ in another place and completed (see assembly, adjusted, and painted in Canada) as such there is a larger setting to give the Commonwealth the larger setting. And this approach will give the Commonwealth a setting for other regions. So this does not hurt the approach that is given through ““Our government is proud to protect Ontario from U.S tariffs by ensuring the TTC’s Line 2 subway trains will be made in Ontario, by Ontario workers,” said Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria in a statement. The current, almost 30-year-old trains, as regular commuters will tell you, are nearing the end of their lifespan and are vastly different from the Toronto Rocket trains that service Line 1. ” It doesn’t matter how this plays out, the important setting (for me) is that America is stumped out of a race yet again. And that needs the proper illumination. So how many American jobs would be endangered to this setting? 

It is a virtual little circle in here. We deprive America from getting the jobs and America remains in denial and tells the world that it is doing well. How much longer do they think they can maintain this delusional illusion? 

So whilst Canada is changing tracks we are starting to see the cracks in the delusions that America is trying to show us through film flam artists. So whilst the ‘world’ is wondering whether ABC giving us “The war in Ukraine will continue and Vladimir Putin has outmaneuvered yet another US president.” Whilst news.com.au gives us “Vladimir Putin was treated to a show of US military might when he arrived in Alaska for his high-stakes talks with Donald Trump, with a row of aircraft proudly lined up on display in view of the leaders’ motorcade.” As such, which version do you want to hang onto? So is this a PR masterclass, or should someone ask President Volodymyr Zelensky what is happening to the Ukraine? Did America do right by him, or is Europe seeing another example of what needs to be done? It matters, as the Trump Administration is seemingly abandoning Ukraine, it will be in hands of Europe to make progress and as such The Canadian trains cannot fall in the hands of America. This needs to be in hands of the Commonwealth and the hands of Europe. With the hardship they are about to face, we need to make sure that their wallets gets filled with all kinds of jobs. The trains might be an indicator, but the larger story tends to be “Broke superpowers aren’t anything” and that needs to be said. And when you realize that America is playing a juggling game with Energy requirements, nonexistent AI, manufacturing jobs lost and rare earth requirements and they are juggling so that you can’t see the full picture. That is the job of the film flam operator and as we realise that each of these jobs are time sliced we get to see that we merely get to see that any job gets a mere 25% of the time slice. Are you catching on?

Have a great day today.

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The price of stupidity

That is at the foundation of the severe conditioned setting of what can now laughingly called American stupidity. CBC reported yesterday ‘Conferences relocating to Canada over harsh new U.S. border measures’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6758054) with the underlying text “As Canadian travel to the U.S. continues to drop, CBC News has found several professional conferences relocated to Canada to avoid harsh new U.S. border security measures. One sociologist describes being grilled by U.S. customs officers who searched his phone and wallet.” As such not only is there grilling (and no grilled sandwich), but searching the phone and wallet? I wonder what deeds custom officers have to copy this all to third and fourth party intelligence gathering settings. I get that a passport needs to be checked (read: validated), but a phone? I might agree that a wallet could be seen as reasonable. But consider this. Tourism already is down and now conferences are the new goal? Consider that the CES has over 100,000 attendees and the SEMA show over 150,000 attendees. Then there are the defence shows and IT shows. How many events will it take for these show runners to go to Vancouver, Toronto, or Ottawa? Is this the price of stupidity? How many millions will America lose in 2026? How long until the larger players will offer their shows in Abu Dhabi where the tourism spike is going on. How long until only gamblers will visit Las Vegas? Nevada have poured serious cash into Las Vegas and now that it is regarded as hostile terrain, what will they lose? There is little interest to move to London or Paris (too touristy saturated), but Dubai and Abu Dhabi have options. Soon so will Monte Carlo and now there is already space in Toronto among the 14 locations are Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. Ottawa has the Ottawa Convention Centre and a few others. Basically should you consider the Mississauga location (Oracle) for a place to show the CES, America will have close to two dozen locations for people no longer interested in America violating their privacy and as the Canadian places (optionally the UAE too) show bang for their bucks. Plenty of organizers will relocate their shows. 

And there is data. CBC reported in late April that ‘Nearly 900,000 fewer people went to the U.S. in March as cross-border travel plummets’ so what damage will Florida with their Universal and Disney parks endure? Especially as their is a great alternative in Abu Dhabi. As such there is a larger case we see when we consider the Oracle CloudWorld. It was in Las Vegas, September 9–12, 2024. As such Oracle now has a larger case to present their 2025 show in Mississauga or even in Dubai (if the clientele is enticing enough). Dubai has a whole highway of entertainment structures. There is the option of renting a boat for their guests and make a presentation on the Alexandra Dhow Cruise in Dubai Marina. A setting that reeks of elegance and fine foods. America is no longer the place to be, their U.S. customs protocols made sure of that. And I only mention two locations. And after the Guardian reported last week that ‘Stockholm rejects ‘bizarre’ US letter urging city to scrap diversity initiatives’, I reckon that Stockholm would be willing to cater to American shows that now seek entertainment elsewhere. Don’t let the location fool you. Stockholm is magical and it has an amazing cuisine all over town. I reckon that soon enough the high chefs in America will seek their fortune elsewhere. So how much longer will America cater to the stupid minded? I reckon this might be the last year and anyone thinking they will be safe is likely to unknowingly handing their IP to U.S. customs (they might be in denial, as these costume officers will claim that it is protocol). So how long until that damage becomes completely non-reversible?

I will let you decide. And as I see it, Iceland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France might have similar issues down the line. So how many tourists and conference dwellers will miss America out of from now on until December 2026? Oh and before I forget Saudi Arabia is about to set new settings in at least 3 locations, so there are these locations to consider too. 

So, good luck with the excuse of protocol and watch what the price of stupidity is about to cost America, as one source gives me “The index now sits just above the historical low of 50 in June 2022. Current Economic Conditions registered at 56.5, compared to 63.8 in March. The Index of Consumer Expectations was at 47.2, compared to 52.6 in March.” So economic expectations is at least 5 points down in about 2 months. So what more losses can we see? Canada looks forward to having a great year in catering to conferences and tourists. As is the UAE. But America is doing great (apparently), as Reuters gives us “Approval of Trump’s economic stewardship rose to 39% from 36%. Trump began his term with a 47% approval rating, and saw his popularity tick” as such how many more shocks to the system can America survive? As I personally see it: retail, tourism, and business have been hit and will be hit a few times more this year, so by the time high summer hits places like Venice beach and other tourist location will suffer the lack of tourist. But not to fret, you can find them in Canada and a few other places.

And as the larger places expand Mississauga and add a European location or one in the UAE, we will see a larger exodus to these safer places and that is a trend that is set to continue until deep into 2027, because conference are usually planned up to two years in advance. Oracle might be the most visible one but I reckon they are not alone. All these players (like Snowflake and Palantir) have customers very worried about their IP and they will press for change a lot louder than I am.

So have a great day and if you want to have fun, pass US customs with a box of 5.25” floppies and see the question marks on their eyes as they are uncertain how to proceed. 

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No Uber to the rescue

That is the setting that CBC gave me today and it angers me. For the most any situation that sets danger to children angers me. I reckon that is within all of us. Our first care is to a child, any child and that takes precedence over almost anything else.

The CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/uber-drives-off-with-child-1.7513379) is giving us ‘An Uber drove away with her kid. Then Uber wouldn’t connect her or police with the driver’ with the subtext “Uber representatives refused to help them or Toronto police contact the driver” a blatant setting that optionally will endanger a child. Lets be clear, there could be a setting that a person is not to be connected to a driver, but the police? The Toronto metropolitan police force towards the protection of a child? As I personally see it, all Uber activities will stop immediately until this setting is resolved. No matter what the impact is, to optionally endanger a child is something you don’t get back from.

So when we get “An officer called Uber to get contact information for the driver but Julia says a representative for the ride-sharing company refused to provide it — stating the police needed to fill out a form” your blood should be boiling, as did mine. So, I do get part of this, still the operator could have contacted the driver and take it from there. The driver could then have called, the operator could have logged the event and within 1-2 minutes there would have been clarity. Now, the child was left in danger, as such I have no value for the statement “Toronto police found her child about an hour and a half later, without the company’s help” or the ‘official’ excuse “An Uber spokesperson said in a statement the safety of everyone who uses the platform is the company’s top priority”, well that setting is a downright lie, because the setting of the operator calling was seemingly overlooked. And the setting that a child was without her mothers care for 90 minutes should wake up every mother in Canada ignoring Uber as a solution for them for some time (or ever again), the latter setting is not to be ignored. Especially against “We immediately began reviewing the details of this incident internally to identify opportunities to improve our processes and support systems.” In under a minute I found a solution that ANY call centre operator could have considered in seconds. But it was to no avail, Uber fell short everywhere (Überall in German) and it goes from bad to worse from there. You see the setting of “The company says its support team followed Uber’s standard protocols, which are designed to protect the privacy and safety of all users” is a debatable one, I reckon that Uber set that setting to protect themselves and optionally illegals that might get some cash by becoming an Uber driver. You see, in villages like New York they have the setting “Under New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law, ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft are regulated as “transportation network companies” (“TNC”). To become a TNC driver, a worker must be at least nineteen years old and hold a valid New York State driver’s license issued by the DMV.” I reckon that this rule applies in many American cities, as such, as Uber needs drivers, they need to get space to keep their illegals ‘somewhat’ safe. And this setting with the child, a freak, one in a million events got in the way from what I personally see, the ‘protection’ of illegals. Now it is fair to say that I am wrong, but consider the simplicity of a call centre operator contacting the driver, optionally handing the data to a police officer against the escalation that the CBC is handing us implies that my version is likely correct. Just the setting that Uber refuses to aid the police department to resolve this situation gives it a much nastier turn and as such there is a larger setting that actions against Uber becomes essential, if only to guarantee that children get a much better safety net under this unsafe premise. And for those who state that I am wrong. Consider the following scenario. The child fell asleep, the mother was moving the three children and when she returns the cab is gone. So far, so good. Now the taxi driver rides off, hits a bump or pit in the road, as mother is no longer there, the child is thrown in the cab optionally causing damage to neck or other body part. This could have been not noticed (because mother is gone) and she falls out of sight and the taxi driver might be unaware. This is a possible setting and calling the driver could have stopped this from happening within minutes, and the child was ‘found’’ 90 minutes later, so for over an hour she remained in optional danger. 

As we get the last insult with “Julia’s boyfriend later received a $10 credit from Uber, which she considers “a massive slap in the face.””, as I see it, make Uber not an option for 10 months in Canada, a dollar a day so to say.

Yes, I am going for the larger danger, but as I see it, there is a clear need for this. In this I also oppose the setting that Carmi Levy, a technology analyst give with “traditional elements of customer service have been lost in today’s gig economy”, I oppose it, because as I see it the proper setting that seems to apply is “traditional elements of customer service have been lost in today’s gig economy for the larger need of profit, margins of profit and the pleasing of shares and stake holders” Yes, you forgot that, didn’t you? Uber works for profit slashing as many of the margins that they can to remain profitable and the funny part is that the phone call of the operator to the driver would not have impacted it. 

I will let you decide what the proper form of action is, consider that Uber gives us “Whether you’re in the back seat or behind the wheel, your safety is essential. We are committed to doing our part, and technology is at the heart of our approach. We partner with safety advocates and develop new technologies and systems to help improve safety and help make it easier for everyone to get around”, yet the website give us no information on where they are. So where do Canadians send their complaint letter to? For that matter, the line “technology is at the heart of our approach”, really? So is a phone call to the driver not technology? As such technology is not in any heart of approach and as I see it, a clear reason to block Uber from operating In Canada (optionally for 10 months), how does that go over with the share and stake holders?

Just a small merry thought, so you all have a lovely day and if you are Canadian consider City Taxi Toronto, 130 Westmore Drive, Suite 219, Toronto (reachable at (416) 740-2222)and keep yourself and your children safe, a random taxi service in Toronto was chosen. I personally do not know how good they are, but as I see it, optionally better than Uber.

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