Tag Archives: United Kingdom

August 10, 2025 · 02:10

The emotional grab

That is at times a setting. I got this article two days ago in my sights, but I rejected it for the obvious reasons. But today I had some second thoughts, so I took a hold of it. There are a few settings that I need to explain. When a newspaper needs 7000 words to give you the issues that you could have gotten from 700 words, we usually see that there is something under it all. In this case we see all these ‘emotional’ settings, because there is basically nothing to be seen. This isn’t entirely true, but the gist of it comes to that. The Guardian (at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/07/long-read-british-bribery-britain-arms-deals-saudi-arabia-ian-foxley) gives us ‘Very British bribery: the whistleblower who exposed the UK’s dodgy arms deals with Saudi Arabia’ and the headline gives us ‘dodgy arms deals’ and that takes some explanation. The United Kingdom is a nation, a monarchy no less. As such it can sell weapons to other nations. Saud Arabia is a monarchy too, as such is there something dodgy going on?

And in that story, we see one photo of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, which was taken in Riyadh, May 2009. It is the only time that his royal highness is mentioned. There is no mention of him anywhere in the article, I checked. So why is he there? Because of the mention of Saudi Arabia?

Then we get the wife Emma, she is mentioned four times, and twice by name. What is her involvement? Or is she merely dressing (like a Window) making this story more ‘humane’ The more I read it, the less it makes sense. The first is that it took 7000 words to say nothing, the second that it is lacking a few items. The first is that Declassified (at https://www.declassifieduk.org/britains-secret-saudi-military-support-programme/) gave us a lot more information which was RELEASED in 2019. A simple setting is that the London School of Economics had 24 alumni working there. So at what point did the Guardian interview, or at least try to interview any of them? The 2019 story also gives us “Earlier this year, another US military official, Colonel Kevin Lambert, manager of the US’s own SANG modernisation programme, confirmed that the SANG was “executing combat operations in the Yemen conflict”.” The Guardian article doesn’t even mention Yemen once. In addition, the story is riddled with emotion. Things like “an accountant called Michael Paterson, was “a madman”” this might be true, but what purpose does it serve? If it is about dodgy deals, why is the wife involved? I get that she gets to be mentioned once (at the beginning) optionally twice (at departure), but the other two mentions? As I stated, the more data you see, the less is valued and it is not valued because there is more useless data, at times more data is to hide that you have none. So, then we get the ‘abundance’ of data. In this I refer to “Another time, a colleague casually joked about a Saudi general being willing to sign anything GPT suggested, on account of something called “bought in services”. Foxley didn’t recognise the term and when he began asking about it, he received only vague non-answers about “things we buy in”.” 47 words that could have been set through “GPT used ‘bought in services’ to hide acquisition of Saudi top military signing for services” I simplified it in 15 words, one third and then I would set the situation to evidence, which is massively lacking here. Then we get the word ‘bribery’ used 13 times, but how? Once is to mention the Bribery Act which was passed in 2010. It is important three times. The first is “Foxley could not have known bribery was rife in Saudi Arabia” (i’ll get to this later) and “Not only had the government ratted him out to GPT when he discovered the bribery conspiracy”, so who did rat him out? And is ratting him out the correct phrase here? The third time is “The MoD and the government “had been running the scam, the bribery, since 1978, ever since the project was set up”” So, exactly what scam were they running? A scam implies that criminal acts are being committed by the UK government. What is the scam exactly and who is involved? Then we get the one setting where it is important. It is given with ““Do you know about the Cayman Islands?” Paterson asked. Over the following 90 minutes, the accountant set out a series of discoveries that implicated GPT in years of bribery and corruption. What neither man knew was that the scheme they had stumbled upon had been overseen and authorised for decades, in both Britain and Saudi Arabia, by the highest levels of government.” Here we get the following settings. The Cayman Islands and what evidence is there of bribery and corruption? The setting is given in the article as well. “It doesn’t invalidate the invoices and the payments to Simec” as such, bribery is merely a smudging word and there is no evidence of bribery or corruption.

As I see it, the United Kingdom needs to walk a fine line to make deals with some nations and these high ranking officials are entitled to a commission, or a consultancy fee and as Generals were mentioned they are most likely allowed consultancy fees. I am using ‘most likely’ because I do not know Saudi law in these matters. In case of Simmer, that is up to the Saudi government. This article is a simple act of slinging mud, see what sticks and I fear it is very little as this article is missing all kinds of connections and evidence. So when we see “Eight Saudis received a collective £10m between 2007 and 2012 alone” and weirdly enough, this article doesn’t name these people as we are also given “the British government had authorised the entire scheme – had won out.” As such 7000 words to fulfill the setting that was decided over a year ago. So, what exactly was the meaning of this? Seems a fair question as there are settings that are not given, too much emotion in the entire article and a massive amount of facts that just aren’t there.

So what was exactly the call for this article? To smear the Saudi Government? To smear the British government? As such we also get both Cook and Mason were acquitted. Then a mention that one of them is separately convicted for taking kickbacks, while he was a civil servant at the MoD, before he became part of the GPT. A simple unrelated misconduct offence.

In the end I wonder what this article served. It was not the truth (too much emotion and too little evidence for that), was this another anti-Saudi smear campaign? I am not sure but as we see the lack of evidence and no reference to the declassifieduk site, which could have been used to spice up the article. I reckon that this counterbalanced the article and the article would make even less sense. But that is merely my view on the matter.

Have a great day, 360 minutes until breakfast.

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Tagged as Cayman Islands, GPT, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, London School of Economics, Michael Paterson, Middle East, MoD, politics, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Simec, the Guardian, UK, United Kingdom

August 8, 2025 · 04:49

What the flip?

Roughly 10 hours ago the TTW (Travel and Tour World) released an article (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/saudi-arabia-joins-france-turkey-uk-mexico-and-egypt-as-australia-issues-new-travel-advisory-amid-unstable-security-conditions/) called ‘Saudi Arabia Joins France, Turkey, UK, Mexico, and Egypt as Australia Issues New Travel Advisory Amid Unstable Security Conditions’ and my first thought was “what the hell”. You see, American tourism is mostly at an all time low and now we get that these countries are called ‘dangerous’?

Lets be clear, EVERY country has some risk, this is nearly undeniable. The two exceptions as I see it are the United Arab Emirates and Iceland. For Iceland there are two risks. The first is falling into a volcano (yes, it happens) and being attacked by a Arctic tern because you got too close to its nest. For the UAE it is a little larger and involves cobra’s and scorpions, but unlikely to be in any of their cities.

But back to the article and lets keep a few things clear.

Saudi Arabia
I get that some parts of Saudi Arabia are not the greatest settings to go view and we get “Travelers are advised not to travel within 30 km of the border with Yemen due to ongoing conflict in Yemen and the associated risks of missile and drone strikes.” With the additional “Australians are encouraged to read the general advice on terrorism risks and personal safety during conflicts.”

Now, first of all, when you are as dim as a soup plate, you need to realise that common sense is expected from EVERY person on the planet. You might be one of the biggest idiots and featured in YouTube videos for doing stupid things, but that doesn’t make it the problem of that nation. You are expected to get an apartment with a balcony and spend your vacation in said balcony. As such when considering the distances from Yemen “approximately 200 km for cities like Jizan and Abha to over 1,000 km for Riyadh.” As such if your vacation is in Medina, Riyadh (most likely), Dammam or Jeddah, you are unlikely to travel within that 30 km. In the second part (it is said) that “personal safety during conflicts” is a bit vague. A conflict could exist during a misunderstanding in a shop or restaurant and that is not a likely case. Muslims are proud of their shops (restaurants too) and they have a set standard of hospitality (something you are less likely to experience in London) in further noticing ‘conflicts’ Saudi Arabia strikes down any military conflict in Saudi Arabia with extreme prejudice. As such you are seemingly less safe on the Sydney Harbour bridge in Sydney during a pro-Palestinian rally then ever in Saudi Arabia.

Turkey
Here we see a more changing setting. I went to Istanbul once and I never ever felt unsafe or unwelcome. But it is the only part of Turkey I have ever see and as there are issues. The one that strikes me as a plausible setting is “Smart Traveller has specifically warned Australians to avoid public demonstrations and large gatherings, as these events are often strictly enforced by the government, with severe penalties for suspected participants. Monitoring local news and following the advice of local authorities is crucial.” And this setting makes sense on a few levels as you need to be fluent in Turkish to avoid certain complications, as such this travel advice makes sense.

United Kingdom
We are given “The national terrorism threat level in the UK remains substantial, indicating that an attack is likely. Smart Traveller has warned travelers that the possibility of terrorist activities, particularly in crowded public places, is elevated.” As well as “Travelers are reminded that petty crime, such as pickpocketing, mobile phone snatching, and theft from cars, is widespread across the UK. Visitors, especially in busy areas like London, should be extra cautious with their belongings.” There is no contest in any of this. But this was already the case for years. Still it requires mention.

France
Has a similar spread of issues, so there is no contest. But people traveling to these places should have been aware from them at least two years. There is no contest on any of this. You tend to get unlucky when you get in this situation. You would be in a similar setting when traveling to Amsterdam or Berlin.

Mexico and Egypt have their own settings and these are fair as I know the published facts to be (I have never been to Mexico).

My issue is why Saudi Arabia was added, was it because Saudi Tourism grew by over 100% and America is losing dozens of billions at present? The Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Germany (Berlin) are not on this list and I reckon a lot less safe than Riyadh, Dammam, Medina or Jeddah are. There is something of being too prepared for bad luck (as I call it) and I am not saying that this was bad advice, but you tell me, how likely are you to go within 30km of Yemen? The fact is that as far as I can tell, every major city in Saudi Arabia is well over 200km away from Yemen. Even the Neom projects are way too far away from that setting. As such you are likely to walk into the desert getting stung by a scorpion or ripped apart by a pack of hyena’s long before you get close to Yemen. So why the mention and why the instillment of fear towards Saudi Arabia? Now, lets be clear. There is some need to be aware of terrorism, but as I personally see it, these tend to be ‘confined’ to Houthi terrorist attacks and so far there has not been any serious incidents in the major cities of Saudi Arabia. So why the addition of Saudi Arabia? These terrorist issues have been in play for over 10 years. So, why the addition now?

Is it to make other places to seem less appealing over America? This is pure speculation from my side, but I reckon someone saw the 102% tourism growth I illuminated yesterday and someone must have seen that number in the source article and thought, lets make Saudi Arabia less appealing. This might be the wrong thought, but it is the speculated one I am having. You see, the warning given were in play for at least half a decade, so why now?

Have a great day and don’t get mauled by a pack of hyena’s today.

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Tagged as America, Amsterdam, Australia, Berlin, Dammam, France, Germany, Israel, Istanbul, Jeddah, London, Medina, Mexico and Egypt, Middle East, Netherlands, politics, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Tourism, travel, travel and tour world, TTW, Turkey, UK, United Kingdom, Youtube

July 5, 2025 · 14:27

Honey and ladders

Yup, it sounds and is a Childs game. It is based on the old original Snakes and ladders, which I haven’t played since the 70’s I reckon. I saw this Childs game in a larger version in a place called Burwood. Where the honey is the decline and the ladders go up. It is a simple game and this game only has 36 squares. A simple game with a roof in the open as such parents gets to have fun with their children, or even children playing together. A small 30 minutes of joy I reckon.

Still a game with a few natural settings. There is joy and less joy and it takes you on the rollercoaster of high and low. A setting that the American Administration has never apparently seen as the Independent (at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-tourism-decline-trump-policies-b2782820.html) gives us ‘US is the only country facing tourism decline as Trump policies to cost $29 billion in visitor revenue: study’, although I don’t completely agree with the setting as America is the only country facing a tsunami of abandonment and as such I reckon the the word ‘decline’ is not incorrect, it is merely highly misleading when we look at the ‘decline’. I wrote about it earlier, but the numbers have drastically increased and a country that has so little going for it needs all the marbles they can muster. As such we might stop at “Amid the president’s immigration crackdown, travel bans and sweeping global tariffs, the U.S. is expected to be the only one out of 184 countries to see foreign visitor spending fall in 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.” With the addition of “The study suggests that the U.S. economy is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international spending this year alone – but the actual shortfall might be much greater.” This implies that the amount of small businesses that go down is vastly understated and America will be on route of the largest unemployment wave they have seen in decades. It does not help that Microsoft is laying of another 9000 people, IBM laid of 8000, just to rehire them (I reckon that they have new contract stipulations), Meta gets rid to up to 20% for teams over 150 men, so the total isn’t visible to me, but when you add the numbers. TechCrunch gives us that 2025 will be at the expense of over 22,000 jobs. So, I reckon that Aramco might be shopping for willing people as it is massively expanding. So in this new settling atmosphere the decline of 29 billion is more than bad news and in the meantime the wannabe influencers on YouTube are exploding that bad news through the same story edited in new ways with different examples making the impact seem wore than it is. Don’t get me wrong, 29 billion is plenty bad, but you don’t need to exploit it twice over. I reckon this is done to get more followers. Not a game I am willing to play mind you.

Still the bad news is apparently taken in strides with the America Administration at this point. As such whilst the Guardian gives us “US adds 147,000 jobs in June, surpassing expectations amid Trump trade war”, so was this including the 8,000 jobs that IBM added whilst firing them in the first place? A setting that the byline hands us with “Economists anticipated drop, but 8,000 new positions were added in June compared with May, with unemployment rate down to 4.1%” what a coincidence, did IBM just rehire these people? Is it therefor a new job or a rehired job? I actually don’t know and that is the ‘enigma’ of black bookkeeping based on ‘active’ souls. I will have to ask Mephisto when I see him again.

In other news, there is a growing concern for the economy, the news comes from Fox, so take this in stride as they have shown a few times to butter the bacon. The news ‘Americans trapped in side hustle economy as 9-to-5 jobs no longer pay the bills’ and I personally feel that the setting that players like Uber Eats bring. I reckon that this is the kind of side hustle that comes with hidden traps (they say they don’t but I reckon that people assume a few matters, while these players leave them in the dark for a reason. As such, things like Fuel, insurance and a few other settings are not (as I personally see them) clearly defined. There is the setting of “account hacking and unauthorized orders.” As such I get that one such an issue and your day income is pretty much gone. As such (and Uber Eats is not the only player in town) there are a few settings where the danger to side-hustles is the larger danger to the income over all. This will come to blows soon enough. I reckon that before the end of summer a few situations will get out of hand and this will mean that there is another down wind hitting the industries. Because these restaurants will depend on deliveries. And without deliveries, you are a food place in the middle of nowhere with no place to go.

Adding these elements together and you do not have great news. More like a tragedy of unbridled proportions. And whilst this morning the Financial Review gives us ‘Trump plans to start notifying countries of US tariffs of up to 70pc’, I reckon the bloc of nations that will set new borders towards normalizing the stage they have with nations that were previously seen as ‘hostile as per American notice’, there is even a larger concern that some of these nations might enter the bloc with China, lets face it, they have nothing more to lose and as such America loses a lot more than they bargained for a educational step that honey and ladders bring. The steps you need to take to get to the next ladder to cross. And this game is rigged by governments themself. A setting we rarely see, but now with the EU, in disarray, the chance is more likely then not that China gets to call EU ministers and offer ‘a helping hand’, this implies the losses of a lot more billions and actually bring hardship to the American tech as these people will now consider change. Consider Huawei, TikTok, Tencent and Alibaba. How much damage can they do to the American economy? And when the EU and the United Kingdom are convinced. How much effort does China need to make to get Australia and New Zealand on board? At that point the only ‘ally’ America has is the one they pissed of the most (yes, it is Canada). Is this scenario beyond realism? I don’t think so and the setting that America with Tariffs and Tourism gave us was a mere start of more and the setting that we were ‘sullied’ into a complacent setting of what democracy is.

As such the EU and others are now seeing America as the big evil, not the liberator, but the bully that stops democracy. In this, this morning I was given an image as to what America is. It is a strong view of what the ‘anti-Americans’ see America developing in. I am not on their level. I am merely anti-stupid and I am seeing way too much of that too.

So have a great day and consider what you stand with and what you remain silent about. For me it is easy, as a Commonwealthian I am massively pro-Canada. It is really that simple. So any move America makes against Canada, I see it personal as all those in the Commonwealth need to see this (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and of course Canada self). So when your intelligence apparatus pisses off 4 of the 5 parties in your intelligence system. How much of a system do you really have left? That is the setting China was hoping for and when you consider the acts that America did in its pro-Russia views, the line is cast and China realizes that it can continue without Russia, as it now has a clear stage where it might get the Commonwealth and the EU align with them. A setting that gets too many benefits and ends the dollar as a currency. Did you think I forgot about that? The EU is set to 450 million people, the full Commonwealth is set to 2.5 Billion. As such that becomes 36% of the global population, the Arabic nations is already switching away from America (to a degree), so when American tech is holding onto their version of AI, the setting seems to be one of desperation, when this comes to blows, they need to be out of the realm of victimisation and that is where we are. A comedy that turned to tragedy yesterday and the people are hoping for a nice twist so they can laugh again and I am not sure if that is a possibility. You think I was trying to sell my IP to the Arabian countries on a whim? I reckon that the setting soon will be that this is the only place that might be able to buy it. As I see it American companies will soon deal in swap trades and IOU invoices. When that happens you better believe that the last stage is on route to your point of view. That is merely how I see it and I have been trying to make strides in that direction. I might be a millionaire, but when 9800 millionaires move to the UAE, you better believe that the gig is about to be up.

Have a great day this Saturday, Vancouver will catch up with us in under 170 minutes.

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Tagged as AI, Alibaba, America, Aramco, Australia, Burwood, Canada, China, christopher-mcquarrie, Commonwealth, emigration, Eu, Fox News, Huawei, IBM, Immigration, IP, Microsoft, New Zealand, President Trump, Saudi Arabia, Tencent, TikTok, UAE, United Kingdom, World Travel and Tourism Council

June 28, 2025 · 06:42

The bird is the word

Yup, at times we get to be not so nice. A mere 30 minutes ago the BBC ‘alerted’ me to the news that ‘Trump says he is cutting off trade talks with Canada’ (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg629n7wzvo), now I do not know what actually started this wave of intense silliness, but there you have it. And the text behind this is “US President Donald Trump has said he is cutting off trade talks with Canada “immediately” as the country looks to start enforcing a tax policy targeting big tech companies.” I reckon that after his bash into Iran and the ‘big win’ (not sure if that is the right title for it, but the media runs with it) he thought that revisiting Canada was the way to go (that is his decision). Yet after the insults and the threats there is a real cause for Canada to enforce the setting of following through on ‘threats’ and Canada has had enough. There is the underlying thought of not waking up sleeping dogs, but there you have it. And for the record Prime Minister Mark Carney has a lot more economic insight than I do. Considering that my abacus actions saw the American economy collapse even before President Trump acted in the not so intelligent way he did, but as Tourism collapse in America will be down an estimated $12 – $21 billion this year and even as they are ‘focussing’ on America 250 (OK, that is a landslide number) the fact is that as tourism, which includes business travel, bed and breakfast, hotels, theme parks (even Disney states: ‘Epic Universe is Dead’) the impact of that much losses will drive small businesses out of commerce, as such America has nothing to be proud of. And as we see YouTubers giving a similar message there is a lot of concern. Even in America. As such I am predicting that the damage is larger than we see. So as the media is happy to split hairs (all for the benefit of digital dollars) we get to see ‘prompts’ that America cannot go bankrupt. In theory they are right, but when America has to forfeit on its loans, the effect nowhere near as dramatic as is given by the media. You see, This is where the vulture funds come in. Milking a nation for everything it has. American Wall Street did it to Argentina in 2005 (it might have been 2010), now Wall Street will do it to America because business is business and at that point Canada will get waves of Americans trying to get away from it all. I reckon that Canada can keep the shortages they have (doctors, nurses and such) but the rest is stuck in America. So how does that feel when immigration turns on the Americans?

Elon Musk was seemingly on that page months ago, but now as the gloves come off, America will feel the pinch of all that interest that comes with the USCCD (US Credit Card Debt) of it states $36,210,000,000,000, which should be over 4.06% an expected interest now. As the US bonds are said to be about 6% consider who will take the risk of investing any amount where the return on investment to be well over 16 years. As I personally see it, this becomes an increasingly risky investment as some see the end of America in less than 5 years. So as Saudi Arabia is celebrating its 2030 point, America is decently heading for doom in less than a week, because the people will talk on this America 250 party. A quarter of a millennia and it mined itself out of existence and into the abyss they dug for themselves. Is this doom speak?

It is fair to see it that way, but consider that America bombed Iran out of the nuclear age and USA Today gives us ‘Key parts of Iran’s nuclear program still intact, says Pentagon report disputed by Trump’ As such I do not know where I stand, but if the media has ‘valid’ views by the Pentagon (not some intern who works there) President Trump might be merely relying on the court win of ‘Trump handed ‘giant win’ as Supreme Court curbs judges’ power to block his orders’, as such it is my personal view that President Trump needs all the friends he can get, but as it stands, he is burning the bridges behind him and now as Canada is showing some teeth, the game gets nasty and PM Mark Carney also has European friends now (beside the Commonwealth, who he already had) and as this ‘fight’ intensifies, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will side with their bigger brother as no one wants to side with a potential loser. That is what America has become ‘a loser’. Do you remember the old saying that America gave us all? It was “money talks, bullshit walks”. A setting that America will soon be embracing against their will as they will claim that they armor than ample to ‘turn it around’ and that is where it gets less outspoken for America as it stands as we are given that “The UAE maintains its position as the world’s biggest wealth magnet, with a record net influx of 9,800 millionaires predicted this year”, oh wait, didn’t I say that before? Yes, I did. I made mention of it with “You see if America cannot pay its debts, America becomes the third world country no one wants to visit and that makes it a nasty place within months. America has around 22 million millionaires. I recon that at least 15 million will get out in time, the rest is not ‘rich’ enough and those with a jet (around 15,000 of them) will go to any country that will take them and they will move fast.” I stated this in ‘All dressed up’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/05/31/all-dressed-up/). I did this on the last day in may 2025. So merely a month ago, I made mention earlier, but not is such a strong way because I thought that this day was way off, but the American administration has created a negative economic wave of such magnitude that it makes a tsunami a mere pebble splash.

That is, what you think is (utter) BS, but we now see “The UAE maintains its position as the world’s biggest wealth magnet, with a record net influx of 9,800 millionaires predicted this year.” As such this year 9,800 millionaires are vacating to the UAE. Wanna guess how many are Americans? So whilst America is still believing that America is doing great. As I see the old expression of rats leaving a sinking ship (no negativity towards these millionaires who sought better places to be). We need to see the reality of the setting and here they also pissed off Canada. As such President Trump might seek to ‘a second chance’ the question becomes, why does Canada want to do that? In that same air, so will the other Commonwealth nations reconsider why America is a good deal.

And those who are insisting it is, it is fine, but some media spokespeople have a lot to lose and they need to cash in before it is too late for them. As such the media is really not the trustworthy player you want to bet on.

So as we take notice of “the US president said he was ending talks due to what he called an “egregious tax” on tech companies and added he would announce new tariffs on goods crossing the border within the next week.” Everyone needs to remember that this tax setting is the one president Trump orchestrated (together with the 51st stated mentions) as such he might be feeling a rather large pinch from Wall Street soon enough. So whilst some might focus on “Canada’s 3% digital services tax has been a sticking point in its relationship with the US since the law was enacted last year. The first payments are due on Monday.” A setting I understand is badly received a year ago and that is fine, but they had a year and now as payment is due, those who are unwilling to pay will lose ‘advertisement population’ and that is the crux in a lot of digital settings. As I see it, they all want to make advertisement money and it is why I created an alternative two years ago. Not absent of advertising, but the cut of advertising on every page. That kind of advertising was done as I saw it. It is like a union of a crack whore with Direct Marketing, which much to vile to my taste and the people around me are starting to see this setting and that is the second phase of my ultimate win (I am still a little delusional on this). As I see it Amazon could gain a new niche income there, although I feel better about it if they had made the jump earlier. Now it becomes a race (of sorts) between Amazon and Tencent. The hungry one wins was my initial setting, but it also requires insight and that tends to be lacking in Americans (a personal view).

You might think that I am anti-American, but I am not. Merely a person grabbing for the supposed facts and I am pro-Canadian, I am a Commonwealthian after all. So feel free to disagree, but get the facts out. As far as I know, I have been doing that.

Have a great day and for the Americans here, lets be fair. A small sign to show you what I think of the American administration at present.

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Tagged as Amazon, Australia, BBC, Canada, China, Disney, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Eu, Mark Carney, New Zealand, News, pentagon, politics, President Trump, Tencent, Trump, UAE, UK, United Kingdom, USA today, Wall Street, Youtube

June 22, 2025 · 05:44

The dress is wrong

It seems correct to use this expression when this is a follow up to ‘All Dressed up’ which you can find (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/05/31/all-dressed-up/) in my blog and written a little over 3 weeks ago. I saw the impending fallout and now there is too much to ignore. You see, we now see (less than an hour ago) a story from Travel and Tour world giving us (at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/trumps-impact-on-u-s-tourism-a-crisis-thats-becoming-hard-to-ignore/) ‘Trump’s Impact on U.S. Tourism: A Crisis That’s Becoming Hard to Ignore’ and it has off springs in this matter. You see as we are given “For years, the United States has been a top destination for international travelers, drawing millions from across the globe, particularly from countries like Germany, the U.K., and Canada. However, since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, a noticeable decline in international tourists has emerged, signaling the onset of what could be a long-term tourism crisis. As the U.S. struggles to regain its footing as a global tourism hub, several regions across the country are starting to feel the economic impact.” This statement is putting it mildly. One source even gives us “The United States, once the undisputed leader in global tourism, is witnessing a seismic shift in traveler preferences. Over the past eight years, a cocktail of restrictive visa policies, trade wars, and polarizing rhetoric has driven a 9% annual decline in international arrivals since 2017. This exodus of tourists—projected to cost the U.S. economy $22 billion in 2025—has created a rare opportunity for investors to capitalize on emerging tourism hotspots in competitor nations.” With the limelight caught with “a rare opportunity for investors to capitalize on emerging tourism hotspots in competitor nations” and the UAE and Saudi Arabia will be profiting from this setting. As will Japan, China and Europe. In an age where America is bleeding interest over a debt of 36 trillion, a loss of 22 billion will be felt through and through. Oh, and that 500 billion investment that is called Stargate (an odd thing to do, name an IT project off an Sci-fi tV series that is founded on fantasy) is currently in the running to hit a few snags and that will have a longer lasting effect than anyone can gather. As such 2026/2027 will likely be the last year that the world speak of the United States of America. As soon as it is possible California will try to be the bear republic (something to do with the flag) and the Washington State will likely move mountains to become part of Canada. In that setting as America’s social settings will collapse the American people will feel and see themselves and all their neighbors decline in a way America hasn’t seen since the great depression and this time it will be worse.

And we get more “Stricter visa screenings, prolonged wait times, and high-profile detentions (e.g., a British tourist held for 12 days in 2024) have fueled fear among travelers. Canadian land crossings, once bustling, now see 44% fewer vehicles due to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. Meanwhile, 36% of Canadians who planned U.S. trips in 2025 canceled them, citing safety concerns.” This is not a simple setting. It is fueling fear that America is no longer the space to be and last week Australians were given ‘Australian tourist’s warning after being deported from US in ‘traumatic’ ordeal’ and it isn’t a nice setting (source: news.com.au) “Mr Kitchen said he had done a “superficial clean” to remove any potential red flags a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer may “uncover with three minutes of glancing”. But he did not prepare for CBP to have already looked at his online presence before he even made it to the long customs queue at LAX.” I would personally view this as a setting would only see in books, or FSB documentation. American policy is pushing tourism away. Which is fine by me, but I reckon that Universal will gain that back from tourists (what tourists?) They just invested 8 billion in their new Epic Theme park and it looks amazing. There is just one catch it needs people and YouTube showed you all yesterday a theme park absent of visitors. The most beautiful theme part America has ever seen, pretty much perfect in every way is seeing no people and queues for many rides that are seemingly less than 15 minutes. You think the economy of that setting can recover? The people will be much happier visiting Yas island in Abu Dhabi with 5 parks right there (and a mall that is amazing to behold) with a train connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 35 minutes, I reckon that 2026 and 2027 the UAE will become the place to be which amounts to not only Europeans and Asians seeking a new holiday spot, but many Americans will join that queue in a heartbeat.

So as we are given “As the U.S. tourism industry suffers from a reduction in international visitors, the impact on local economies is becoming increasingly evident. For cities and regions that rely heavily on tourism dollars, the decline in foreign visitors means fewer hotel bookings, reduced spending in restaurants and shops, and a general downturn in the hospitality and entertainment sectors.” As such America created a place for themselves where no one wants to be. Not even Americans. And when that shift is completed, how will America pay for the annual interest of $1,620,000,000,000 because that is what 4.05% interest looks like and when the essential services collapse, the fallout will be EPIC (not like the empty theme park) and that is something the media was eager to hide as they have advertisement quota to fill. The problem is that this is short sighted as American businesses are about to no longer afford those. So where to next? China? Isn’t that what this American Administration was eager to prevent?

And I only mentioned Universal. So how about Disney? Their largest success is about to become Disney Abu Dhabi (earliest in 2027). A side I didn’t consider in my initial calculations was given to me by Invest. They give us “Anti-immigrant policies and LGBTQ+ restrictions (e.g., biological sex mandates on visas) have alienated key markets. Western Europe’s unfavorable view of the U.S. hit record highs in 2025, with 50% of Britons and Germans now avoiding U.S. vacations.” I get that this would have an impact, but 50% britons and Germans was a little more then expected. I heard a saying in 1999. “First you get along then you go along” I personally see saw it as a BS expression. Something the greed driven say to get what they want. I never expected to see it in this light, I never did. But the signs are unmistakable. California is supposed to be the richest state, its economic offset is in the top 10 globally, now we get “A major factor is the projected 9.2% drop in international visitors” that is massive. Hotels and restaurants will see the hurt. Established places will likely survive, the rest becomes a debate for speculation. And if revenue goes down a mere 5% for the 10% loss of visitors, as I personally (speculatively) see it, we will see a 4%-5% of people losing their jobs. In a state the size of California that is big. A source stated “Los Angeles is experiencing a significant drop in tourism, particularly from Canada and Mexico, with some areas reporting a 25-30% decline in international visitors” and California is just starting to repair the fire damage it has had. As such the movie industry is likely to find places in Canada (like Vancouver) to see their productions get through and that is not all. A massive rewiring of streaming services might be required all these elements come with costs and in America that might be tax deductible, yet that puts the America administration is a massive bind. When revenue falls and taxable revenue falls too, the setting becomes a bit of a problem, especially when 1.6 trillion is due at end of every fiscal year. I wonder if the orchestrators of this revenue venue had seen this through.

So whilst the theme part lovers are pushing for Tokyo and Abu Dhabi as their next destination, where does that leave America? They could ask Canada to help out, but that bridge was already burned. The penguins on McDonald Island don’t care and they will heartily repeat the message dolphins gave us, as such “So long and thanks for all the fish”

A lovely Douglas Adams setting, so as America is dragging its feet against Iran and the people of this world. They might be losing tourists now, but in a short time they are also losing allies and even people ready to listen to them. One leads to the other and as America has less and less money to spare, the people who were ready to listen to them will turn their ears to China and the Arabic nations. In less then three decades they lost what took more than a century to build. And Wall Street? Well, they will just move to London, Dubai, Tokyo and Paris. Although, when the dollar goes, the sight of Tokyo might become mighty grim soon enough.

Have a great day.

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May 9, 2025 · 11:54

The end of defense

That is the setting that SBS (at https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australias-big-question-in-donald-trumps-movie-tariff-threat/apjiwwsr0) invites us to consider. You see, in the eyes of the ‘true blue’ democrats, the message becomes You cannot set the stage to an orange overtly bully baboon and perhaps they actually had the right notion. At some point it is pointless to merely play the defensive stage. In Pencak Silat I learned decades ago that defense without offense if pointless and offense without defense is useless. So it is time to up the game. No matter how stupid the actions of President Trump are seen, the game needs a boost and he gave us the perfect reason. And as ‘their’ presentations give us, California is at present the richest area. As such the link gives us ‘Australia’s $767 million question in Donald Trump’s movie tariff threat’ there is an upside and a downside. You see, the Commonwealth might see this as an opportunity, consider the Australian acting community (Hugh Jackman, Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and many more), the Canadian (Ryan Reynolds, Nathan Fillion, Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley) and many more and last but not least the United Kingdom (Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton, Kate Winslet, Emma Thomson) and many many more, Agree that they will no longer work in American productions. They will seed the field for each others areas. So how long until the investors back away from America and Hollywood? How long until DC, Marvel and other franchises build their own studios (likely in Canada) outside of the US?

It isn’t fair on these people, my view is that they made with one film more than most people will ever make in their life. (I should know as I hoped that Matt Damon would pay me $3,000,000 post taxation for one of my scripts and I have always prided myself of being a fair return on investment). Still it is not really fair on them, but it is an offensive move and it is one I just came up with. I reckon that Canada and Australia have the ability to mirror the English setting and create two distinct area of expertise. If America gets desperate they could always fund the Nigerian movie industry who is almost dying to expand.

At this time (if enough people agree) America will get the White House under control with their desperate tariff settings. Consider that this President has shown to be a dictionary of two words (golf and tariff), as such I believe the time has come to start becoming proactive, this defensive actions to knee jerk reactions from Washington is upsetting the balance of established settings. The world is in too much trouble. At times this seems to be set to a old premise that a comedian gave us (I forgot his name). “Lets put all the extremists in one room, the extreme right and the extreme left and let them expire each other”, it is slightly radical but in this day and age it might just work.

So consider “This week, Trump announced he would be pursuing a 100 per cent tariff on all movies “produced in foreign lands”” next, consider that the bulk of the American movies get over 50%, sometimes as much as 70% from foreign lands. So should that be lessened by these tariffs? It is easy to think that it is all America, but that isn’t true. When all these non-American movie theaters pull their American settings, California becomes less in income than most other states and they still have the producing costs coming their way. In that time Canada and Australia grow their business and grow with aid from the UK. Then consider all the movies based on non-American scripts and novels. The setting enhances against America. A setting I saw within 600 seconds, so why aren’t the game play makers in politics?

Is my plan flawless? Never a lessened truth was that obvious, there are flaws which starts with the national movie industry, but it might be a first step in getting President Trump of all our backs and that is never a bad thing.

So as we seemingly embrace ““The movie industry in America is dying a very fast death. Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform over the weekend.” Is that our fault, or is that the fault of free driven wannabe’s in Movieland? I seemingly might be one of them with my script (and 3 more on the road to completion, which is a story for another day). Consider that at present is set to “The number of movie scripts registered annually varies, but a rough estimate is around 50,000 screenplays registered with the Writer’s Guild of America each year.” All whilst a mere 350 make it to the screen. So is this a numbers game, or is it a quality game? 50,000 scripts implies 136 scripts a day are pushed to some producer pool and they are tired, going for amounts, not for quality. All hoping for a next dime, but there is always a snag hitting up and they wonder why America’s movie industry is dying? I reckon that Netflix, Disney plus, and others aided in that impeding death.

It is time to up the ante and nationalizing our acting guilds, movie producing guild and studio guild might be the way to go go about this (might is the operative word) but the tariff game is over, apart from the small fact that America might be already too broke to consider another matter. Oh, and I never took the Korean or Japanese market in consideration, so the problem is worse for America. As I see it, the offensive game might become the way to go, even if it is the only way to consider that whomever gets into the White House has a much larger vocabulary and ‘tariff’ is not one of them words.

So feel free to disagree, but consider the setting the UK market has had for decades, Canada and Australia has shown to grow it in the last few decades and consider the stars you revere, are they all American?

Have a nice day, a great one if possible and reconsider the setting you are confronted with, what is the actual solution? I am not sure what is.

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May 1, 2025 · 05:00

Marky Mark (PMMC for short)

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

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

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

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

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

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April 20, 2025 · 23:27

Rollback

That is the word of the day, I have always had that word in my vocabulary. The setting that any solution o programmed in Clipper had the setting for a rollback. This is how I grew up (growing up in the Clipper age was a little weird). You see, I had two settings. The first was the data didn’t change and as I was a ‘little’ verbose with my data creation there was the option of registering a data version, so that was the setting. We needed a rollback in several situations and that is where the setting ends. You see, today I got to see a few news lines.

First there was Reuters (at https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-jet-returns-us-china-victim-trumps-tariff-war-2025-04-20/) giving us ‘Boeing jet returns to US from China, a victim of Trump’s tariff war’, now that is a scrumptious hotdog to say the least. At almost $100 million, according to one source, that is a delicious snack to say the least and as we are told. China send it back. The tariff could cripple Xiamen Airlines as the tariff is 125%, and even as Reuters give us that the plane is a mere $55 million, we can say that the price difference is a little too much to be acceptable, the larger setting is that several players are trying to dam in the losses that are projected to become American losses.

Most of us will have seen the trade agreements that China made with Mexico, so there is that. Then there is the setting we see at where Business Insider gives us the setting that ‘Some Canadian Stores Are Labeling US Imports With a T for ‘Tariffs’’ (business insider put it behind a paywall, so that’s all you get. And only three days ago I saw the headline ‘China’s Strategic Pivot from US to Canadian Oil Imports’ (at https://discoveryalert.com.au/news/chinas-pivot-canadian-oil-imports-2025/) I cannot vouch for this source, yet in that setting we are given “Data reveals Chinese refiners have slashed US crude purchases by approximately 90% between 2023 and 2025, redirecting roughly 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) toward alternative suppliers, with Canada capturing a substantial portion of this market share.” So the first step to a change has been given and I foresaw these changes even as I never knew about the oil. So as I see it, these changes show billions upon billions in losses for America whilst we see damage to their export, their revenue making defense industry, their tourism and we can go on a little longer. Wouldn’t it have been great if America had a rollback setting for their elections?

So as Goldman Sachs gives us “The decline in the world’s reserve asset during an episode of elevated volatility comes as investors are increasingly focused on the US’s growing debt burden and other countries are also increasing their borrowing. “Markets are dealing with a lot of competing factors right now — fairly significant drivers where it’s hard to trade all of them at once,” says William Marshall, head of US rates strategy in Goldman Sachs Research.” Really? Only now do we see “investors are increasingly focused on the US’s growing debt burden”, that’s about 4 years too late, but whatever. I saw (and reported on this danger for a few years at least). If the EU, Japan and China dump their bonds (that will be an expensive exercise) the value of the Dollar doesn’t just drop, it ends up having getting a CCC− grade (to give a mere view on the matter). At that point the imminent suicide risk will spike all over Wall Street (a clear but reliable speculation).

I reckon that the one dropping them first gets the best value for it, but after that it will be a quick fall to the luxury value of zero. But it is not just America, the bonds of the EU and Japan will face a similar risk, America is merely the highest as someone thought it was a great idea to introduce the tariff game to their economy. Global News told their Canadians ‘Avoid U.S. travel if possible, Canadian academics are being urged’ with others following in similar settings. The Detroit News gives us ‘Avoid U.S. or take burner phones, Canada executives tell staff’ and there are more sources that give us that, with the added “Arrivals of noncitizens to the United States by plane declined by nearly 900,000 people, almost 10%, in March from a year earlier, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Administration. Travelers are reacting to President Donald Trump’s trade war and to stories of harsh detentions at U.S. airports. Border figures show 4,970,360 came to the U.S. from Canada in March 2024. That number dropped to 4,105,516 travelers a year later. More visitors reportedly traveled from Canada to the U.S. in March 2022 under pandemic-related travel restrictions than they did last month.” I think that Canada is the most likely of number drops, but I reckon that it is not the only one. So as I see it, the danger is not only to Tourism, but business travel too and in that case, hotels in all the major cities in the United States will report on losses of 10% or more, so what does that mean for the value of Marriott International, who operates 9,361 hotels worldwide as of 2024. In addition there is Hilton who operates over 8,400 hotels worldwide. I have no idea how many they operate in the USA, but these are merely the two larger players, especially in the business travel setting. So how many businesses are under the hammer because of this situation? And now as Canada is growing closer to the Commonwealth and they will protect their bigger brother (Canada is 9.985 million km² and the UK a mere 243,610 km²) OK, Australia is 7.688 million km², away highly smaller brother than the United Kingdom. But that setting now gives us that these business meetings are likely to be held in the United Kingdom or Australia. Hilton and the Marriott will still get their coins, but the underlying issues will hurt America to a much larger degree. And as this escalates over the next month or so, the damage to America will increase. Additional damage as China and India rolls in as expecting ‘saviors’ to Saudi Arabia and the UAE will change global politics and global economics to a much larger degree. India will get new options to get additional Pharmaceutical products sold to Saudi Arabia and that is another slice of a billion dollars. Then we get the UK, Australia and Japan hammering on improving their slice of Optical, photo, technical, medical apparatus, as such the American slice of $1.39B will decrees a lot more. All this started with tariffs and basically this setting was staged by President Trump. I merely wonder what got into him to drive America to the edge of insanity (and bankruptcy). What a miss that politics don’t have rollbacks and I reckon that the lawmakers in America will push for a larger change of settings, because I am certain that the Republicans are desperate to see this damage undone and it is me personal believe that they will accept any other politician, even a democrat to undo the damage they are seeing right now.

A mere 21 hours ago we got (at https://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-seeks-stronger-trade-ties-with-eu-australia-to-offset-potential-us-export-losses) that Indonesia Globe gives us ‘Indonesia Seeks Stronger Trade Ties with EU, Australia to Offset Potential US Export Losses’, which is fine by me as I love the Indonesian version of Bami Goreng with Saté Ajam with peanut sauce. The best dish I ever had, even now after a decade, the scent penetrates my nose, even as I haven’t had it in over a decade. So I am looking forward to stronger ties with Indonesia and I kinda miss the spices we had in Batavia (my weird sense of humor). But the stage is drawn as more countries seek replacement for America, their tariff becomes their setting for isolation and Australia will be happy to have ties with a country that has 281.2 million potential consumers. I already gave the premise to Saudi Arabia as they have access to something Indonesia desires. As such there are more players to take over the places that America is about to lose and lose more of them. Next in line are the international students who will seek safer places to be. In this Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia have good chances as they all have great places Oxford, and Cambridge might be the first you think of, but not everyone can afford these places. There is till the University College London, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, University of Toronto, University of Manchester, University of Technology Sydney, University of Southampton. These are merely a Commonwealth grasp of those who are in the top 100 and I reckon that the losses for America start to add up now. And that was merely the Ivy League, America has more good universities and now that the international students will seek education elsewhere, the economic picture of America will deteriorate more and more.

Wouldn’t it have been great to have some kind of political rollback in place?
Have a great day and consider where you need to set your focus to next.

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April 6, 2025 · 20:39

The color of grass

The CBC just alerted me to something that kind of slipped my mind. There is no reason why it didn’t was on my mind, mainly because I do not harvest for headhunters. But when I saw the story, I thought that it would make a lot of sense. The story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/us-scientists-canada-1.7502527) gives us ‘Top American scientists just lost their jobs. Canada is rolling out the welcome mat’ the byline of this story is “Manitoba, B.C., Ontario looking to recruit top scientists from the U.S.” You see, as we read and know from the last few months “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is aiming to cut 20,000 jobs at agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).” So here we have Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Germany seeking specialists of all kinds of people and as they were shown the exit by America, others will look happily to bolster their own sides with people that they couldn’t get before. As such Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be getting several Christmas hampers, optionally a dozen this year. Even if he is under orders, there is nothing like governmental gratitude from these nations. Of the sidelines. I can advise these governments that the Hampers at Fortnum and Mason (at https://www.fortnumandmason.com/international-delivery-category) are the best.

As such we see an inverted version of the grass is always greener on the other fellows grave. We now (mostly the Commonwealth nations) are the greener grass. So as we see “One example: Dr. Madhukar Pai, the director of the McGill global health programs, told CBC News he’s expecting a record number of applicants for a new tenure-track job in his department, opening in the coming weeks. It’s a field hit especially hard amid sweeping cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development that are slashing life-saving programs across the world tackling diseases like HIV and malaria.” As well as “Scientists overseeing cancer research, vaccine and drug approvals, public health and tobacco regulations are also among 10,000 already laid off. Public health experts say the mass firings could have catastrophic impacts for the U.S. and the world.” Here I say that it s more the US then the rest of the world. This is the first instance of an American brain drain. The second setting was the market crashing over the last two days, making these people accept other locations a little sooner than accepted. As we see that ‘Trump tariffs wipe $5 trillion off Wall Street’, we also need to realise that some of these people are hurt in their finances and they seek a way out of the uncertainty. So these people are roaring to be the first with a decent contract under their belt. So as we see “Kevin Griffis, a former CDC communications director, resigned in protest two weeks ago after three years at the agency. He said the mass firings were widely felt and could have unanticipated consequences. If the agency needed to hold a press conference today about a major public health threat, “there’s no one who even knows how to run the sound anymore. Because they fired the studio team,” he said.” That case alone will speed China to remove whatever options the other players have. With that setting consider Dr. Fauci joining a Swiss medical enterprise, and according to Kevin Griffis when Americans do not know what to do when a health crises arrives. So when the next ‘covid’ arrive, the people can rely on the treatments through President Trumps ‘advised’ Hydroxychloroquine, but when that fails? What then. Canada can get a setting to be the next best thing to the CDC, then there is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and they are a little tired of the American tariff game and could slap a nice 25% tariff on that. The settings for America go from grim to deep black soon enough. Even now we get headlines like ‘Elon Musk backs ‘free trade zone’ between US and Europe’ (source: Al Jazeera) and that is merely for openers.

So whilst the Commonwealth replenishes their shorts on medical experts, America need to wonder what else they could lose. I am still of the mind that America is near to implosion moment of their debts and shutdowns are likely to happen, when that does, these first ‘evaders’ are is a much better position than any other American, even now as the 5 trillion write off hits the entirety of the tech corporation, some will make it, some others will make massive losses taking their home selling efforts almost essential and the billionaires who relied on their Bitcoin, need to realise that this currency is still a few percentage points. So Sergei Brin (all-father of Google) had $142.2 billion, now at 7% less, he seemingly lost 9.95 billion, not that much overall, still more than the 5 billion annual I had reserved for his firm as additional revenue (he dumped the Google Stadia, so that was that) and as Jeff Bezos seemingly lost 13.51 billion, my IP could set him topside in around a speculative 2 years. It is all relative as I see it. Still, this is not about me. As America is losing the handles on the world thought essential services, others will step in to make a move for themself (and I am no different). You see, as the issues evolve, we see scientists that were in unshakable positions, were suddenly shown the door and now as we see “Canadian provinces are already trying to attract American health experts suddenly out of a job. Manitoba is “rolling out the welcome mat” for U.S. trained doctors, nurses and researchers affected by the cuts, said Minister of Health Uzoma Asagwara in a statement to CBC.” And this is only the beginning. As some other fields are shown the cutdowns, we see other ventures all over Europe and even in the Middle East, they are smiling and wringing their hands as fields of opportunity are given to them. The Hollywood fires gave rise to the Dubai Media Group now getting their hands on several lucrative projects. No this is in no way the fault of President Trump, but these small kicks can become a lot bigger. They are not related, but these separate items can become related. As health scientists have possible connections to pharmaceutical corporations, the impact to the larger stage will be visible in less than two years, so consider that in two years the revenue now (which is expected to be $605-$635 billion on medicine in 2025) gets down by 20% (speculative number) in 2027. So what happens when $121 billion goes to other places (like Europe)? So we have Defense (2022-2026) went to China and Europe (close to 90 billion) now presumption on pharmaceuticals $121 billion less, and the Middle East are now aiming for $10 billion handing that to others and taking that out of America. So how many hits can the American economy endure the loss of of revenue in added fields of revenue again and again. At present (as I personally see it) America needs to pay interest on 36 trillions, which is a little over 2 trillion, all whilst the tax revenue is around $4.92 trillion (2024), so 50% is out on paying the interest of outstanding debts. Do you realise the issues America faces? And now Canada has a first jab at the fired experts in healthcare on several levels and in several disciplines. So how was the tariff game a bright idea?

And as America loses more and more it is (as I personally see it) nicely on its way to become a third world country, the first in the western world. And I am not surprised as I predicted this as early as June 8th 2014 in the story called ’17 or 70 trillion?’ (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2014/06/08/17-or-70-trillion/) when I wrote “My issue is not just with the US debt levels, it is also about the ‘blasé’ approach economists are throwing at the people stating that things are not that bad and that it will all work out. That part is a figment of THEIR imagination, because for things to resolve, actions must be taken and none are getting taken at present (or in the near future for that matter). My biggest issue with the Article of Chad Stone is seen at the end. His quote “Lowering the debt ratio comes at a cost, not only risking the recovery if it’s done too fast but also in burdening businesses and households with larger spending cuts, higher taxes or both to stabilize the debt ratio“” I foresaw the dangers 11 years ago, not to this degree, but the setting was clear and as the people are now vacating the sinking ship, the seas become heavy for America and they basically almost capsized the boat themselves. A larger setting is connected and even if we are ‘in denial’ that there is a problem, the people are seemingly rising up all over the United States and Europe with their ‘Hands off’ calls. ABC Australia is giving us ‘Thousands protest against Trump and Musk in ‘Hands Off!’ rallies across US and Europe’ (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-06/thousands-rally-trump-musk-hands-off-protests-across-us/105143038) the American setting has usually been ‘The best defense is a good offense’, I do not disagree, yet I am more on the stage of Julius Caesar (Italian army, 65 BC) he states “the first stage is to protect yourself from enemy retaliation” a better setting and as I see it America has left itself open like never seen before. The (slightly less rich) friends from the American administration are now seeking their own save spot, the enemies are enticing former American friends and I warned of that in the years before 2025. Now we see another nail cast into a coffin named ‘defaulted’ And this is not the end, there is every chance that the defense industry will see its own setting of people seeking early retirement and the market crashes will make them seek other shores, their money is in danger of losing the bulk of its value. Will the markets get back? I feel certain they will, but will they recover enough and soon enough? That becomes the question. To write off over 5 trillion is not easily fixed, that much is clear. The next setting are the tariffs, America needs to cancel them for Europe and the Commonwealth to say the least, that might stem the flow of brainpower, but that is a presumption by me. The opponents of America are battering America’s walls and they did mostly this to themself.

As such I am on the side of Canada, our Commonwealth brother. And if Manitoba, B.C., and Ontario gets their hands on excellent health experts, then I say “Hurray for Canada” and I raise my cup of coffee to them (no beer in my fridge).

So you all have a great day and if you are on the board of scientists at the CDC, consider the lakes, excellent trout and pike fishing. The air is clean and the people are mostly friendly (not too much to Maple Leaf friends), they revere the Winnipeg Jets. So that’s all for now and see you all on the flip side.

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Tagged as ABC Australia, America, BC, British Colombia, Canada, CBC, CDC, Chad Stone, China, Commonwealth, Dubai Media Group, economy, Europe, France, Germany, health, health experts, Julius Caesar, Kevin Griffis, Manitoba, Maple Leafs, Ontario, Pharmaceutical, politics, President Trump, tariffs, the Netherlands, Trump, UK, United Kingdom, Winnipeg Jets

March 3, 2025 · 12:18

A change to pacing

That is what I learned about an hour ago. We all have pacing and we tend to adhere to the pacing within us. In the last few days we see that most are setting the pacing to whatever President Trump says it is. Ukraine is suddenly the dictator and the war is wrong. President Putin is the poor poor puppy who is caught in the middle. This is not a truth. Russia attacked, Russia advertised that it was a small war of mere hours, days at the most. This is not a truth. The Russian-Ukrainian war is well over 1080 days old and it will continue at present. Even as America is too broke to intervene, they set the tempo and now Europe takes over, seeing how broke America actually is they have committed over a billion pounds to reinvigorate the Ukrainian missile defenses. I am assuming here that it is for defense purposes. It seems that UK PM Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron of France are setting the tempo of averting Russian invasion tactics. In this the settings of stages are altering. Soon (I hope) the media will see the upcoming bankruptcy of America in the limelight. The simplest setting we see it that the world will realize that no matter how much spin America shows, how much they are bullying other to think that the rose garden of America is no longer in existence. You see, I saw at least 5 years ago that the current $36,220,000,000,000 in federal debt requires at least $724,400,000,000 in interest payments (based on the 2% rule) and the IRS reported that in the fiscal year 2024, the US federal government collected $4.9 trillion in revenue. That leaves America with only 85%, 15% goes to paying the interest of the debt they have now. And all this whilst the 2025 budget proposes $11.4 billion in discretionary funding and $4 billion in mandatory funding. Can you see the setting? They merely have 85% of 4.9 trillion available whilst they set out a budget that is 271% of what they have. Whenever did that go smoothly? There is no “We have big options coming” or “AI will save America” it is too late for that (apart from AI being an actual reality for well over a decade). The non America nations are catching on and as such I was not surprised that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took steps like the Saudi Gazette showed me an hour ago. The story (at https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/649806) is showing me through ‘Saudi Arabia invites misguided individuals abroad to return home under amnesty offer: State Security chief’.

Here we see “Saudi Arabia has invited misguided individuals abroad, who were exploited by external entities to attack the Kingdom, to return home without facing consequences, as long as they were not involved in grave crimes, according to President of State Security Abdulaziz Al-Howairini.” It makes sense. America has shown itself to be a lot less that an actual ally and when things get hard, nearly everyone will use these dissidents to harm the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I personally don’t see America pulling punches. If they can get the President of America (President Trump) to do an Oliver Twist asking for up to a trillion, I reckon that many others will try to do the same and Saudi Arabia is still to some degree vulnerable to these dissidents trying attacks to the image of Saudi Arabia. Especially when the media is unwilling to report the actual news, merely partially limelight whatever gives them digital dollars.

We have seen American options towards Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri (through the CIA) and there are additional setting towards this man, al whilst Al Jabri isn’t even in America, but in Canada. So I believe that this setting is close to essential and whilst we see “President of State Security Abdulaziz Al-Howairini emphasized that the state focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment and assured that their return would not be publicized” we can see the damage reduction Saudi Arabia will have by these returning dissidents all whilst evading damage through involved extremist parties. So whilst we accept that we are given “The program’s latest episode focused on Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism efforts, featuring top security officials who shared insights into the country’s progress in combating extremism in recent years.” I personally would like to add that it might not be enough. America has shown its tactics in the Ukrainian folly in the White House last week and I think at will be essential for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to seek actual allies, not wannabe when the going is good allies. I would personally like that the Commonwealth would be the ally of choice (I am a Commonwealthian) but I think that an alliance between China and Saudi Arabia is much more likely. When America goes under, it will be essential to have a strong deviance and Russia is not to be trusted, as such Europe and China are much safer choices. As America could drag Europe under to a much larger setting I believe the choice that remains is China and I don’t like a choice of one, As such I am voicing the need for the Commonwealth to step up. In light of the tariffs it seems that it would hand Canada an option of a new delivery address for the aluminum and steel they have. The UK could use that same setting and Saudi Arabia gets choice to get their goods from both the Commonwealth and China. This is merely a speculation on my side, but the merit for Saudi Arabia is decently clear.

So what will happen?
That remains to be seen, but the damage to Saudi Arabia will be reduced if this dissident plan goes into action. They might not get all the dissidents, but as the numbers of returning Saudi’s increase, the risk of damage its reduced and with that President of State Security Abdulaziz Al-Howairini made a stellar move. To that part of the equation I have little doubt. And I applaud creative thinking towards any solution, so this approach makes me happy. Families are reunited, risks are negated and impacts are lessened.

Have a creatively great day today.

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Tagged as Abdulaziz Al-Howairini, America, Canada, China, CIA, Commonwealth, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, France, Israel, Keir Starmer, Oliver Twist, politics, President of State Security, President Putin, President Trump, Russia, Saad bin Khalid Al Jabri, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Gazette, UK, Ukraine, United Kingdom

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