Tag Archives: USA

The Delphi setting

That is always merely a breath away. At some point the decline of Oracle became a setting and the looting of the place by the Byzantine Constantine the Great contributed to the Demise of this place. But for the most part I have never heard that Oracle became a non issue. It always struck me weird that this never happened. Even today most of us call the givings of the gods ludicrous, or perhaps better as the Catholics might say sacrilege. Yet the power of the Oracle of Delphi has seemingly never waned to zero. 

This is the thought I had today as yesterday the news of Oracle was pushed to the core (mostly at Yahoo Finance) with all kinds of messages. We start with ‘Oracle (ORCL) Initiated at Sell by Rothschild Redburn, $175 Price Target Set’ and it is followed by “According to the firm, the market is materially overestimating the value of Oracle’s contracted cloud revenues. In big, single-tenant, large-scale deployments, the company acts more like a financier than a cloud provider, “with economics far removed from the model investors prize.”” As well as “Oracle’s five-year cloud revenue guidance is equal to $60B in value. This reflects that the market is already pricing in a “risky blue-sky scenario that is unlikely to materialize.”” My first issue is “Why?” You see, even as I do not trust (or believe) AI, its foundations is set on data as it always was set. Data is the holy grail of AI that much is certain and it will proceed to be for decades to come. So, who will you trust with your data? Microsoft with its Azure? As I see it Microsoft can’t see real innovation through the brushes of their own proclaimed innovation and as hackers proclaim that Israel is storing a particular form of its ‘defense’ data in Azure, there might be a security issue as well and that is a total blocker. There are good data solutions in Google, IBM and Amazon, but they all consider Oracle to be the Rolls Royce of data carriers. Then we get the next setting of ‘Nvidia And Oracle Headline 7 Promising Stocks With Mojo: Analysts’ and as they give us “What’s especially impressive is that these stocks are already up 30% or more this year. That blows away the 12.9% gain by the S&P 500 this year. So these are the big winners Wall Street still has high hopes for.” As such we see that in spite of all the stupidities the American political engine performs these two are kind of hot and it makes sense that they are, even if I have some reservations, there was never a doubt that Oracle could grow through it. Making the Statement from Rothschild debatable and me without economic degrees calling Rothschild on this is better then sex (even if Olivia Wilde would call on me in the next hour calling me a fucking tool, this is followed by a rather loud giggle by me). So when we get to ‘Why Oracle’s Cloud Computing Deals With Meta Platforms and OpenAI Make The “Ten Titans” Growth Stock a Top Buy Now’ A setting that the Motley Crew gives us (what do they know of IT?). We are given “the company announced plans to increase Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) revenue by more than 14-fold in five years. But that news proved to be just one splash amid a sea of waves. Reports indicate that Oracle and Meta Platforms are in talks on a $20 billion cloud computing deal. And Oracle and OpenAI are building on their $300 billion partnership with the rollout of five new data centers custom-built for artificial intelligence (AI).” No matter where they are, a setting of a 1400% revenue growth in 5 years is massive, unbelievable massive. Now, no matter how this turns, the one day lightbulb who believe in their AI settings will have to invest the money to make it work and that is the beginning of a setting where Oracle wins, no matter how that turns out. As such the AI wannabe’s are fueling the increase and funding the foundations of these data centers. And we are given “Google Cloud serve a variety of general compute customers. However, Oracle’s data centers are specifically designed for AI.

Oracle is a good example of why lacking a first-mover advantage isn’t a deal-breaker. Oracle’s data centers are newer and faster. And it’s bringing over 70 of them online in just a few years, which is why it expects OCI growth to reach an inflection point in fiscal 2027.” I reckon that it will serve several purposes, but it is more AI set than other centers. Although I have no real idea where Amazon and IBM stand. I reckon that Oracle could cater to the needs of Snowflake and allow its customers to grow their needs and it will do so a lot better than being a little IT guy Azure blue with questions. I saw the need for applications in the lost and found section that could grow adaptation by nearly all airports and when you are in, you are in. I reckon that Interworks should talk to adaptation Snowflake through Oracle, but that is just me.

Then we get an article that matters (at least it seems to). We are given ‘Analyst Says Oracle (ORCL) Deal With OpenAI is ‘Very Risky’ – ‘Not a Customer That Can Pay Their Obligations’’ and I see “One is if you go back to the transcripts from Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) for the last few quarters, you’ll see that it’s not just the last deal from OpenAI that increased their backlog. It’s actually been several quarters where it’s really OpenAI that’s been driving all of this. Having that is the only thing that’s added value to Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) is very risky. That’s not a customer that can pay all their obligations. They’re double, triple booking, maybe quadruple booking capacity. They will not be able to live to those obligations. So if you’re adding $400 billion of market cap to Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) based on that, I think we should revisit the math.” OK, I am in (not knowing the math he talks about), and we see “OpenAI is expected to burn about $115 billion over the next four years and is not projected to be profitable until 2030. Even after Nvidia’s latest $100 billion investment by Nvidia, OpenAI will likely need to raise over $200 billion in total funding to cover its commitments. Some analysts believe Oracle may need to borrow tens of billions to build enough data centers for the deal.” OK, that sounds fair, but some seem to forget that Larry Ellison is worth 344,000 million (sounds much better then 344 billion) as such he can get those numbers without any question. And if he is right he will triple his value overnight as these data centers come online. And that is when the article shoots itself in the foot. They do it by giving us “While we acknowledge the potential of ORCL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.” You see, no matter how great the idea is, it will still need data and Oracle is the best. They can side with fast talking sales people at Azure and see their projects fumble and watch delay after delay happen. As those promising returns fall to ash you can contemplate your choices. That being said, any AI idea is temporary at best, as such the investment in an Oracle engine seems a much better setting and these people have been in data for decades. As such I see the value and the foundation of Oracle, even if some do not or question the setting of Oracle. 

I wonder how Pythia sees my predictions and even as I am called ‘duly’ to serve Apollo (I serve Lord Hades in all things) the foundation of predictions is seemingly driven by personal insights and I have been at the foundations of data going back to 1982 so I do feel I am on the right track.

Have a great day and don’t forget to chew your laurel leaves, whether you are about to enjoy a coffee or not. Oh, get your coffee quick, the US government shuts down in 7.5 hours.

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So you know

I was about to bitch about something (I will after this), other news hit me. The new just gave me “Trump’s Energy Department warns that Americans could face 800 hours of blackout by 2030” I am not sure that it will be this much, but I warned for this as early as the story I published in February 6th 2023 called ‘When is a car battery not one?’ (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/02/06/when-is-a-car-battery-not-one/) And I did so several times. So when I saw this I had to giggle. Some people are catching up and I saw it over 2 years ago. Now there is the use of ‘could’ so it might be less, but the setting came BEFORE all the AI crap we see here, with these data centers taking up massive amounts of energy. The solution was to embrace the solutions Elon Musk already had and to do so before others buy all the batteries in the land. As such I feel kinda vindicated. Feel free to read up on my blog and you will see that I have been saying that these dangers were clear long before 2023. Elon Musk had the solution but no one took me seriously. So now as we see that in 4 years we speculatively see America has one month energy free is a little unsettling and I feel nothing. I warned others and no one took me seriously. Happy me, downer for them.

But now we go to the thing that upset me. The article was given by someone I will not mention here. But there was a Variety article (at https://variety.com/2025/politics/global/marc-maron-human-rights-riyadh-comedy-festival-1236530044/) at ‘Marc Maron and Shane Gillis Slam Riyadh Comedy Festival as Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson Set to Perform in Saudi Arabia: ‘From the Folks That Brought You 9/11’’ where we see “Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Riyadh Comedy Festival is drawing controversy with several U.S. comedians blasting the star-studded event and Human Rights Watch asking participating artists to “request a meeting about Saudi Arabia’s human rights crisis,” the org. said in a statement. “The seventh anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder is no laughing matter, and comedians receiving hefty sums from Saudi authorities shouldn’t be silent on prohibited topics in Saudi like human rights or free speech,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch.” So I would like to make a deal with Joey Shea. Either he presents ACTUAL evidence or he shuts his fucking mouth (read: keyboard), Forever. I have gone over this for over 4 years and I have had it with the stupid Islamophobes, Or perhaps better, we ask Saudi Arabia to stop shipping oil to America and sell it to other parties. I wonder how long America will be able to stay afloat. I am sick or reposting that same lacking evidence from UN Essay writer Eggy Calamari. I think it is great that comedians get to ship their version of speaking to Saudi Arabia. I would like to have seen a share of English, Australian and Canadian comedians, but that is up to whomever is arranging this upcoming Riyadh Comedy Festival. I was always partial to the humor of Jimmy Carr, but that is me. 

So as we are setting these two issue and the second one was countered in ‘That was easy!’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/02/27/that-was-easy/) And I countered a document from the United Nation. So there.

This is the setting we are seeing and there is plenty of polarization on both sides of the isle. I cannot figure out where the hatred is coming from, but it is a massive issue as I personally see it. Lets be clear. I am not saying the man is guilty or innocent. But as I see it, the law is clear. Guilt must be established and that was never done. Moreover, I saw several loose markers in that document and that is how I see it, as such the remark “I mean, the same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a fucking suitcase. But don’t let that stop the yucks, it’s gonna be a good time!” From Marc Maron and for him I have the same message. Hand over the evidence, or shut the fuck up. 

OK, it might be a little eras, but I get too many of these ‘claim’ whilst there is no evidence. In the men time the speculative setting of that he had taken his 19 year old mistress to Bora Bora was never investigated either. So what gives? 

And that is merely the beginning, but the idea that one month a year there is no electricity in America is a kinda joyful setting. The idea that Americans one month a year will need to find another way to spend the time. In the meantime the rest of the world will mostly continue as is. How is that for the most advanced nation in the world? 

Have a great day and I apologise for being a little direct today. 

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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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Wrong premise

That is what I see when I get the news from CBC at present. There are two articles in play. The first one (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-big-step-back-from-us-data-1.7637651) where we see ‘Canadians are taking a big step back from the U.S. — and here’s the data to prove it’ giving us the settings around American travel and goods. What was a little surprise that export to the UK had risen over 60%. With “Canadian exports to the U.S. have dropped off while those to non-U.S. foreign countries have surged — a pattern that could accelerate further as the government races to cut new trade deals and help businesses capitalize on the ones that have already been signed.” And as I see it, this setting will merely increase when Canada starts infringing on American exports to Australia by setting a stronger vibe towards Canadian Tire. And I reckon that Simons could make a decent entry into Sydney and Melbourne as well. 

You see the entire commonwealth is fed up with the White House and its [CENSORED] whatever. He might have thought that he was making pointers by slapping the ABC reporter around asking valid questions in the UK, but the answer was not accepted and we have an issue with bully tactics. 

So as the US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra thinks (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/us-ambassador-to-canada-disappointed-anti-american-campaign-1.7637534) that the setting of “The U.S. ambassador to Canada is expressing frustration over the anti-American sentiment he sees in this country, including from politicians, after U.S. President Donald Trump hit most of the world with tariffs.” Which might have caused concern with Mexico (not his bother), United Kingdom (not his bother), Australia (not his bother) and the EU (not his bother either). The thing that is in his plate are the 51st state mentions. That got the Canadians in an uproar and for the most other Commonwealth nations as well. There is no mention of that from him, is there. I get it. He is the American Ambassador to Canada and he doesn’t want to acknowledge the failings of his own government. He is all about calling waves, but the fact that he is unsuccessful, is due to the larger failing of his own government. So as we get “Hoekstra said Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remark in the House of Commons on Monday that Canada currently has “the best deal with the U.S. worldwide right now” has helped “take the tone and tenor of the debate down.”” Is merely the beginning of a new chapter. The old chapter is now done for and Canada will seek other venues for their goods, as such Mexico and the Commonwealth are larger allies Canada can count on. There is also the setting of the EU and optionally Saudi Arabia and the UAE. You see, it is time for Canada to seek out the revenue spending nations (Saudi Arabia and the UAE). There might be a larger audience for the CG634 currently in use in Canada and the Ukraine (the last one die to donations by Canada) as such there is ample evidence that these helmets hold up in battle. And there is more Canadian hardware that could be sold to both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And as Canada is developing technology to counter hypersonic missiles. There is every chance that Saudi Arabia might be up for a new trade partner, if only not to be dependent on China, replacing China with America gives them a similar dependency and there Canada (Aussies too) might be a willing trade partner. And again America is seeing the short end of that trade deal and it pays for Canada to seek visibility of Canadian Tire to whatever either Saudi Arabia and the UAE have. All options that are out in the open. 

The wrong premise is not that we are sick and tired of America (optionally that too), but when. America collapses, which is not that far away at present we all need alternatives and seeking them out now is merely good business. And in light of the disaster that Disney unfolded, there is a definite chance that there are options in tourism too in Yas Island and in Jeddah too. A 3.2 million population in the Mecca province is likely to need all kinds of entertainment and as the banning of Jimmy Kimmel is said to have cost Disney a simple $3,800,000,000 there is every chance that Disney needs to tighten the belt as of this year. All settings that the American Administration called on the world and the world is answering by looking for goods elsewhere. 

So as I see it the premise we see is incorrect, everyone has had enough of the tantrums of an American Administration that can’t get his head in the game and as everyone in the Business Intelligence can tell you, loyalty was a 1960 term that cannot hold up, not after 50 years.

Have a great day today this Monday, but not to fret, Friday is merely 4 days away now.

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Beyond the laughter

Yup, we get that, we scream deriving howl of laughter as the expression goes. For weeks I have been saying the setting was one that was merely expanding and people called me crazy (now, there is a case to be made that I am as crazy as any loon gets), but in this case the setting is different. You see (at https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article138012.html) we see ‘Abu Dhabi Hotel Industry Achieves Record August Occupancy’ and that is less then 24 hours ago. I stand that Abu Dhabi was on a track to break all tourism records and now I am proven correctly. You see, we are given “Abu Dhabi’s hotel industry recorded its highest occupancy rate for August, reaching 79.3%, according to preliminary data from CoStar. The average daily rate (ADR) increased by 10.6% to AED482.32, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose by 15.4% to AED382.25. These figures represent the highest August ADR and RevPAR since 2008.” This shows that Abu Dhabi is on the right track and the numbers will impress others even more and within a year, this is merely seen as average. You see, not only is Abu Dhabi building around Yas Island, Abu Dhabi is gaining global population and even as America should have been countering this with their own options. ABC (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-09/australians-with-us-e3-working-visas-hit-with-new-rules/105752706) is now giving us ‘Thousands of Australians living in US face new restrictions on visa renewals’ and the underlying text becomes “The directive, which took immediate effect after it was issued on the weekend, warns visa-holders against the common practice of traveling to countries closer to the US to renew their visas. Some Australians who had made visa appointments in other countries before the change was announced have already had their applications denied at those appointments.” As I said it, it will evoke howls of deriving laughter. It invokes a brain drain and America wants the ‘Americans first’ rule, but when these Americans don’t have the brain power to set this to a workable solution, These people will seek employment elsewhere and that also impacts tourism, because these people will not go back to America for any vacation any day soon. It opens up stages of profit for plenty of places (including the UAE) who is now showing to be a yummy destination for thousands more. You see, the E-3 Visa is limited to 65,000 per fiscal year plus an additional 20,000 for those who have earned a US masters degree or higher. This implies roughly 80,000 people who are now looking for other options anywhere else and they will seek other than American vacation options. 

A rolling stone that starts an avalanche of economic hardship. I wonder how many of them would consider ADNOC, Etihad Airways or the First Abu Dhabi Bank as a worthy employer? Business Intelligence, IT, teaching people all of them are seeking other options I reckon that this will break up a few marriages and then there is the chance that these marriages will all seek a family setting outside of the USA. It would be my idea for the UAE to start poaching these people on an E-3 Visa. They get to pick the cream of the crop and it might be an idea to do this before corporations in the EU figure out the deal they could be having. There is of course the other place (Dubai) and the people at Emirates NBD, DP World and The Emirates Group could see the impact that they could have poaching E-3 visa people. For them they are looking at a pool of people who have been vetted in many ways already and that could be easy picking for them. Of course this is where the evil sneaky person in me is setting the premise to a Google advertisement on browsers and in LinkedIn applications to get people with an E-3 Visa to offer them a way out. I reckon that they might scoop a little over 25,000 worthy employees in under a month. Not a bad deal for the UAE.

It is with great joy that I bring the people the old expression of the grass is always greener on the other fellows grave, or there are a number of expressions that celebrate the additional blunders that the American administration is making. So as I was shown last week that the tourism drain is set to the $60 Billion (I expected this to go to somewhere in the 80-135 billion range, we now see that aside from that, America is now invoking a brain drain of over 60,000 people.

So, not to kick a dog when it is down, this is all the doing of ints own administration and as the tourism articles are saying that Canada is still happy to avoid America, we see that overall nations in the EU, Asia and Commonwealth are basically all avoiding America. I saw last week that for the first time in history China has a more positive appeal than America has. So there is that too.

As I see it, These people could explore their options at https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visiting-and-exploring-the-uae

Have a great day and try not to be negative over the dumbness of the America administrations. When one door closes another one opens. 

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In other bad news

That is how it reads, is this the reality of things? That remains to be seen, but as I see it, there is a rolling effect. A news source gave me this morning that IndiGo is starting two new routes. One between Abu Dhabi and Visakhapatnam, the other one is between Abu Dhabi and Bhubaneswar. They represent populations up to 3.2 million people, and that is the direct surroundings of these places. It is important to see that, as that implies that the setting that I predicted that America will lose more and more tourists is starting in this kind of situation. You might give credence to the ‘mumblings’ that this will soon pass over, and perhaps it will. But the direct setting is that those that rely on their one vacation a year, they are choosing Abu Dhabi (and Dubai) over American destinations. So when you decide to trust ‘The US tourism slump that never happened’ (source: Financial Times), or perhaps ‘Desperate U.S. Hotels And Tourism Operators Continue ‘Come Back’ Deals For Canadians’ (source: The travel) you are looking in the wrong direction. Yes, in a few years travel to the USA will bounce back, it is the next three years that matter and in the meantime the UAE is gaining traction in many ways. And over the next three years it will develop into a main destination for the better part of the globe. In the meantime America will be bleeding losses on all sides. And when the bounce back ‘fails’ or more precisely is delayed. The losses for America will merely add up to a lot more. 

That is beside the larger setting. You see, Visakhapatnam was in 2020 a finalist in the Living and Inclusion category of the World Smart City Awards. As such travel is interesting both ways, it also has its own share of beaches and it is the 5th busiest port in India, as such commerce is likely to blossom between the two nations. As for Bhubaneswar, is a hub of sports and IT in the country. As such there is a larger interaction possible between the two places. All options that are now a moot setting for the EU and America. And the fact that IndiGo is a low cost airline, the tourists cluster that will have the UAE on their international dreamless will increase rather sharply. We might look at all the ‘wealth’ that travels. But for every wealthy traveller the UAE sees, there will be 50 non-wealthy tourists and this amounts to a lot of visitors. I reckon that IndiGo is merely the first to see that influx of tickets sold. I reckon that by late November everything Indian who dreamt of seeing a Formula 1 race with his or her own eyes will flock to the UAE and that is just for starters. As I see it tickets for Yas Island will be the hottest ticket of the year. With all the extras you get to enjoy, the need for hotels and especially low cost hotels will explode in no time flat. 

Just two settings that America is currently missing out on and for the next three years. Have you considered the impact that VISA’s and ‘integrity fee’ options that America thought to help to guide them through. And more bad news in this category (as stated by some for 2026) are discouraging more and more tourists to America and now they have a stellar place to go from March 2024 onwards. And now the setting becomes that more and more are discouraged to visit America as it is seen. The larger setting becomes that Saudi Arabia will from 2027 onwards the next competitors for all these tourists who need a place to go. I reckon that some will chose China as a destination, but the numbers on that remain speculative and is not supported by factual data at present.

Have a great holiday to come in 2025

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Lies of the present

That is what I saw hours ago, lies of the present. We all know that tourism in America is down. The strongest influencer in this is Canada and the impact is larger. There is Flight center with the $100M income wallet bash. But no, here is the Financial Times giving us this ‘presented truth’ 

So, when we see another source give us “The tourism industry in the United States is witnessing a notable downturn, with a 17% reduction in European visitors in March 2025 compared to the previous year. This decline is alarming, given the tourism sector’s contribution of approximately 2.5% to the U.S. GDP. The decrease isn’t limited to European visitors; the overall number of foreign tourists fell by 12%, marking a significant drop since the post-pandemic recovery period of 2021.” As such, we only see the little text the FT gives us with the headline ‘The US tourism slump that never happened’ and that is it. I didn’t read the article because I never paid and this is how the FT leaves us hanging. And in light of this ‘debatable’ presentation towards income, the Financial Times can be accused of nearly anything. The downside of throwing teasers to the public to gain fees. With the text “Leading travel industry players are expressing concern over declining interest in U.S. destinations among European travelers. Accor, a French hotel group with a significant presence in the United States, reported a 25% decrease in summer bookings from Europe. Similarly, Voyageurs du Monde noted a 20% drop in bookings since the onset of the current U.S. administration, reflecting a growing disinterest among European tourists.” As such, what slump never happened? So whilst we read “this shift signifies a broader sentiment of dissatisfaction with U.S. policies and highlights the need for a reassessment of strategies to attract European tourists. Industry leaders emphasize the importance of addressing international perceptions to rebuild confidence in the U.S. as a welcoming and diverse destination”, whilst other places (like Abu Dhabi) is showing themselves like a more willing host to tourists all over the world. What possessed the FT to give us this (unread by me) article? As I see it, you cannot play ‘upside’ boy using presented advertising without getting hurt. The Financial Times Is according to some “a renowned British daily newspaper and digital publication that provides in-depth coverage of business, economic, and financial news on a global scale” So what does that bring us “Despite fears of a sharp downturn amid foreign visitor boycotts, the sector has had a decent summer”? In a setting where we see places like NPR gives us ‘Far fewer Canadians are visiting the U.S. this year, new numbers show’ with the added text ““It’s tough, because we’ve developed this relationship with the cross-border economy,” Dame said. “And now here we are, the rug getting pulled out from underneath us.” New data confirms that far fewer Canadians are making trips south. Canadian residents made just 1.7 million return trips by motor vehicle back into their country from the U.S. in July, a nearly 37% drop from the same month in 2024, according to a report published this month by Statistics Canada.” So how exactly is this ‘the slump that never happened’? Then when we see ““It’s a decline that’s not stopping things from happening, but it is affecting the revenue that people are collecting,” she said. The U.S. saw 20.4 million visits from Canadians last year, making Canada the top source of international tourists to the United States, the U.S. Travel Association reported. The group said in February that those visits generated $20.5 billion in spending and supported 140,000 U.S. jobs.” I see that as a slump and it is happening all over the place (Florida is a ‘great’ example), my issue is that America can be delusional all it wants to be, but when the media is catering to certain aspects like catering to big corporations and big tech, they are hindering the truth from reaching us. A nice example is the Chinese mega corporation Evergrande, who crossed all three red lines, resulting in a liquidity crisis and its later insolvency. In summer of 2021, payments due on its debt, estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, resulted in the Evergrande liquidity crisis. So how many people were hit by that setting? How many people are investing now on bed and breakfast investments in America will be seeking a Chapter 11? (Apparently only the first 10 chapters are worth reading) We the people are depending on correct news and when we are given dubious articles by the people who used to inform us, what hopes do we have to evade any financial fallback? 

It is about the accountability of the media, ‘filtering’ information to give us the information that makes us jump as to what the ‘big dogs’ wants us to do. On June 19th 2012, I wrote ‘The accountability act – 2015’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2012/06/). It never came, and now 10 years later we need to start asking questions, where is the responsibility of the press? Where is the accountability of the media? And this is not just the Financial Times, it is the bulk of the media that is the question. Can we allow the media to play courtesan to big tech and big corporations for the need of digital dollars? Have we become that dim?

Questions that are not answered by anyone as the political players hide behind the ‘game that is played, as business as usual’ whilst they are all arranging the chessboard like a game of blindman chess, with only big business getting to see both chessboards and depriving us of the real deal. So how is that valid? Because when the setting is that we need to pay to see it all, and they deprive us of a fair view, is that not some form of discrimination? What happens when an audience of billions see that big corporations made themselves the royalty they were never supposed to be, that they replaced real royalty in places they could and as they lived through the settings of ‘live like presented’ and than change the presentation so that only ‘they’ could remain is not a way to live, not for the others. And this has been going on for decades, all presenting ‘partners’ having each others back. Often hiding behind ‘the people have a right to know’ but in the underline it is given in the way of ‘the people have a right to know what we want them to know’ and as such the filtering goes on and now that the economies of this world are in turmoil, the cracks start showing. You see World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers represented over 18,000 publications in 2011, and Wikipedia notes that in 2005 there were approximately 6,580 daily newspaper titles globally, with 1,450 in the U.S. alone. There is no real up to date number. But consider that there are 340 million people in America, there are 1450 newspapers, which means that there are 234.5K readers per newspaper (through pig latin analyses) but that is never true, as such they ALL want to get their advertisement money, that is the rule of newspapers, not the news, the advertisements. And as the media exploded in size, it stood to reason (their reason) that this income increased, it did not. So as more and more were deciding that chasing the digital dollar was the way to go, the intent and the credibility of the media decreased. As advertisement evolved and digital advertising was the next new thing, the media exploded into the field of exploiting digital advertising. And here the setting changed. As the media is now ‘depending’ on that setting, the news takes a turn for the bad of the land and can now be influenced by big business and as such we get the setting we see now all over the place. People like Murdoch live of this venture and it is their right, but the larger media, the media that is ‘depending’ on credibility, what about them? I am not saying that all media need to adhere to ‘old’ standards, but we now have an issue. When we are given ‘the slump that never happened’ all whilst we see others give us ‘US Tourism in Peril as Decline in Foreign Visitors, Soaring Visa Fees, and Stricter Travel Policies Drive Away International Travelers’, so did the slump never happen?

I’ll let you decide. Have a great day.

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The small stuff

That is where we need to look, the small stuff. In the first there is the BBC, who gives us a story that seems nice in one setting, but in the other setting we need to ask ourselves serious questions. Now as a warning I need to give you a fair warning. I am a person of ‘decent’ taste. Yet in tis universe you have people that are ‘allowed’ to give fashion knowledge and I couldn’t be further away from that cluster anywhere else in this universe. So, when you seek fashion advice. I am not part of that cluster, so be aware. As I said the BBC has the first setting (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8zwdy98k8o) where we see ‘Claire’s falls into administration with 2,150 jobs at risk’ and the hidden gem is already there. You see when we see “Fashion accessories chain Claire’s has collapsed into administration in the UK and Ireland, putting 2,150 jobs at risk. The company has 278 shops in the UK and 28 in Ireland but has been struggling with falling sales and fierce competition.” Now consider a simple truth. 278 shops. Now it is seen as a little speciality, yet how many fashion accessory shops are there? Now consider that there was a setting that the quality of life would be dwindling down as it has been for around 20 years. So in what universe does it make sense to have a cluster of 278 shops? In a world where there are “Over 10,000 businesses in the broader Clothing Retailing sector. This includes everything from large chains to smaller boutiques and specialized stores.” So, this has been going on for the better part of a decade and Claire’s could have been dwindling down for half a decade, but they didn’t and now they collapsed into Administration and put 2150 jobs at risk. So, as we are now given “Caitlin, 21 (left) and Amy, 16 (right) from Oxfordshire were shopping at Claire’s in central London on Wednesday and said the news was “quite sad because people have been going there since they were little. It’s a part of my childhood personally, said Caitlin, said she used to go a lot when she was around 11 years old.”” So, how was that realistic? I get it, we all want our knick knacks and that cluster can be found on both side of the specter of genders, But as we see it this group largely caters to one gender. This is not an issue, but with the dwindling down of the quality of life you cannot hide behind “But it is only £5-£7” in an age where many people have to turn over every penny to make it through the month. Don’t think I am ‘heartless’ (I kinda am) and people should be able to afford that once a month, but that is a far stretch from ‘once a week’, as such the setting was already a decrease of 75%, as such steps had to be taken years ago, but the ego of the people behind Claire’s had to intervene years ago. So what gives people the idea to make a ‘terrible’ setting from this?

The (sort of) hilarious stage from “The move in the UK comes after it filed for bankruptcy in the US earlier this month, where the firm said it was suffering from people moving away from bricks-and-mortar shops. The firm has $690m (£508m) of debt.” What were these ego trippers hoping for Unicorns? The setting from a $690 million gives a straight setting to my point of view. So whilst it is nice to give two people a voice, the setting is that every woman from 15-21 should be handed £5 to spend at Claire’s and when you see that isn’t possible you can clearly see that the people behind Claire’s should have acted years ago and not hide behind the wish for unicorns. Not when you are a mere 2.78% of a group and you are $690 million in debt. Seems a little short sighted doesn’t it? So, when we get “Claire’s and Icing, and is owned by a group of firms, including investment giant Elliott Management.” We might consider the setting that investment giant Elliott Management had made a silly investment in an economic downturn of the people. Some win, some lose and they lost. It is as simple as that.

In that same setting the ending of the article is sort of hilarious when we consider ““A lot of that category is sourced from Asia, and any increase in import costs hits hard when your price points are low and margins are tight,” retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth” It isn’t merely that, the setting is that there are less pennies for the cluster they were aiming for, for over a decade. I am willing to go one step further. This step could have been predicted since 2008. I am willing to lay a bet that people at Elliott Management would have ‘stated’ “This will turn around, the economy is expanding. Wait and you’ll see” That is my speculated view, and I am seemingly right, to wait until there was a debt of $690 million could be construed as evidence. 

So this is the first story, the second one is given to us by CBC. I have written about this side for over two weeks and here I have a few issues. The story reads correctly and I have no issues with the story itself, but it also hits on a few sides that has ‘shortfalls’ (as I personally see it). The story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/las-vegas-tourism-canadian-slump-1.7607707) gives us ‘Las Vegas is hurting as tourism drops. Are Canadians behind the Sin City slump?’ There is a larger setting and we love to take credit at times as it is the right of Canadians. So when we see “Las Vegas is in the midst of a slump, with the number of tourists down sharply as Canadians in particular avoid Sin City amid bilateral bad blood over trade. The total number of visitors is off more than 11 per cent year-over-year, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, one of the most dramatic declines in recent memory outside of the pandemic.” After which we are given the numbers of “Drop in Canadian air travelers to Las Vegas” and these numbers are swallowed whole. My issue is that there we see less than 100K visitors, that’s fair and it matter, but the other side of the equation is that we see a top of 11%, so at what point do we get to the point that these 11% are in no way to be seen as the ‘hardship’ given to us, unless the 11% is a lot bigger than anticipated I reckon that we might see an 11% loss as Canadians avoiding Las Vegas and they are merely a small group of a much larger issue. If we now see a $15,000 bond for tourists, which might give us that 80% of all foreign tourists are avoiding America. You see, 89% of tourist should support the larger setting of Las Vegas, unless someone was living under the assumption that Las Vegas could continue to support itself with 92% filled. Now we get the betting place long out on a mere 3% shortfall, not the best betting setting for ‘the’ house, is it?

So when we are given the stage by MGM Resorts president and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the number of Canadian visitors started to fall earlier this year and they hold some of the city’s top properties, such as Aria, Bellagio and the Cosmopolitan and part of the NHL rink, T-Mobile Arena. A dire setting for a company relying on 92% filling and coming up short 3% of that number. I reckon that more than one person are on the betting stage of numbers and when you come up short over the whole range by 3%, you will toll the bells of panic. 

Yet then we get the ‘goods’. You see, the numbers do not add up. We are given “As the director of the university’s business and economic research centre, he crunched the numbers and found Canadians contributed $3.6 billion US to the local economy last year. Canadian spending supported some 43,000 jobs in the region, more than those employed in the manufacturing sector, Miller said. That $3.6-billion figure comes close to the economic output of the local Nellis Air Force base — and that’s saying something, given it’s one of the largest and most important military installations in the U.S., with some 15,000 personnel.” In the first setting, some might find the ‘observation’ of “he crunched the numbers and found Canadians contributed $3.6 billion US to the local economy last year” I reckon they had to have these numbers clearly ahead of schedule as it sets the advertisement budgets (nearly everywhere) and if the loss of these numbers are set to 11%, the news is much worse than we get and the setting of Las Vegas is likely more dire than we are meant to believe. It implies that Asian and European visitors are connected to this and the losses are worse than given at present. And my view is warranted by other views. A source gives us that “Passenger volume at Harry Reid International Airport also declined 6.3%, from 5 million to 4.7 million” that number implies that the numbers are down from one source by over 300K visitors. I reckon that the bulk of tourists would come by plane. Another source gives us “Visitors to Las Vegas mainly come from Mexico (989,000 arrivals), Canada (886,000 arrivals), the United Kingdom (482,000 arrivals), Australia (152,000 arrivals), and Germany (125,000 arrivals).” That sounds nice, but the (as the expression goes) whales from Asia is the larger setting and when they stay away Las Vegas hurts a lot more. These 12 people represents millions of dollars and a decadent lifestyle. When that falls away the pressure isn’t merely 11%, it is a lot larger. The setting is a lot larger as we don’t have anything passed November 2024 yet and that is the larger setting as we get the larger stage of Visitor volume and convention attendance. I reckon that in Q4 2025 we are likely to get to see the larger downturn and when we get to losses of whales the larger truth of what Las Vegas is losing in income. As I see it, there is a larger truth behind the second part of the headline ‘Are Canadians behind the Sin City slump?’ I think they are part of it, but there is a larger truth hidden, America (basically its president) gave us all a headache and the fact that there are larger settings in play make it clear to me that it isn’t just Canada, there are more settings in play for Las Vegas and the news is a lot worse than anyone is willing to admit. The simpler setting (a highly speculative stage) that the loss of 100 Asian Moby Dicks represent almost the entire 11% loss that Las Vegas sees as represented, so the losses are a lot worse than given at present. When you consider that the ‘panic’ we see is more represented by 22% loss, a stage no one in Las Vegas wants to admit to is driving people like Bill Hornbuckle to near desperation, especially as his bonus is likely linked to ‘continuance’ of revenue.

So my speculation might be wrong but it seems to make sense. But I need to emphasize that my view is speculative.

Have a great day and don’t put it all on number 10 (it is crowded by labor). 

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The setting stage

There is a setting stage is sight, but is it truly a sewing stage? It is a valid question because these things matter. This who only see doom tend to be conspiracy sayers, not conspiracy slayers. We all have the rational of insight, but to what degree?

As I said in ‘The Implied stage’ five days ago (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/08/06/the-implied-stage/) that the expected damage to American Tourism would be a lot worse than $29 billion. I speculatively expect it to be at least 80 billion. Now we get in the first instance mere hours ago (at https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/las-vegas-tourism-figures-plummet-as-potential-us-downturn-looms/news-story/1a3f72933d35041549684453c0756cc2) “The figures coincide with a downturn in international tourism to the United States and come amid President Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war, which has frustrated travelers. Las Vegas saw around 400,000 fewer visitors in June 2025 compared with the same month in 2024.” This is only at the halfway point so the damage is still intensifying. We are seeing this in several articles all over the internet. Then we get, AS (aka Diario AS S.L.,  at https://en.as.com/latest_news/these-states-are-feeling-the-pain-the-number-of-canadians-travelling-to-the-us-has-dropped-by-more-than-30-n/) giving us “Data from Statistics Canada shows the number of people driving back to the Great White North from the U.S. in June was down 33.1% compared with the same month last year. It was the sixth consecutive month in which a year-over-year decline was recorded. As for air travelers, the same figure dropped by 22.1%.” Lets make this clear, this is just Canadian data, I reckon that globally there is a clear slump and the whole of America is feeling that slap and even as it is not everywhere as bad as it is, the impact on tourism related settings is massive and they all have to pay monthly bills. This is the the largest unexplored setting. So as News also gives us “The city’s fortunes, buoyed by its large gambling market and appeal to travelers with disposable income, are often seen as a bellwether for the broader US economy.” The one fact that is not seen here is that these hotels made investments and in that setting payments are due. So as we ignore the fact that these hotels might be going short for at least a year, we get a edited setting. A setting  where Las Vegas (and other places) will drain whatever they bring to the banks to overcome these shortfalls. In addition we are given ““This is a wake-up call for the US government,” said Julia Simpson, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council. “While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.” The Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment. While some industries have benefited from the tariffs, others have struggled and may be forced to pass costs on to customers. Some travelers have also pledged to avoid visiting the United States as a form of protest against the administration’s policies.” It is the last sentence “Some travelers have also pledged to avoid visiting the United States as a form of protest” I would be in this group as I take offense of our Canadian sisters (and brothers) being seen as part of the 51st state, as do most Canadians. Then there are the LGTBBQ groups that took offense to Florida taking a hostile stance on their lifestyle. Yes, I was making a funny, I don’t understand these groups, but I am not hostile to them. I don’t become violent to them, I tend to deflect with humor (or what I consider to be humor). 

That is the larger setting we all should have. There are too many hate groups all over the map. Anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, racial groups, the list goes on and as America showed that they were not ‘welcome’ they and their friends took offense and decided to go somewhere else. Now this might not amount to much, perhaps a 2% impact, but these are merely 3 groups and now we get to 6% and as they have larger groups of friends the impact merely increases. And friends are a weird group, they tend to feel that they do not want to be seen as ‘offensive’ to their friends and as such they have no problems with realigning their destination. As such Canadians go somewhere else and so do the Europeans. When you consider these elements there is no way that this damage is limited to $29 billion. And as they leave America, so will bed and breakfast places look at 30% less guests. They will suddenly have to fire staff all over the place making this tumble-block events all over the place. So, whilst we tend to focus on Orlando and Las Vegas as the impact is sene the clearest there, but take the larger tourist traps like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Miami they will all feel the pinch and the escalating of a downturned economy. 

Yet it isn’t all negative. Gambling News (at https://www.gamblingnews.com/news/las-vegas-casino-boss-challenges-claims-of-tourism-downturn/) gives us ‘Las Vegas Casino Boss Challenges Claims of Tourism Downturn’ I don’t believe he is right to the larger degree, but he makes a fair point. He gives us “Circa Resort & Casino CEO Derek Stevens argued that claims of declining interest in visiting Las Vegas do not apply across the board, describing the broader “Vegas is dying” narrative as overstated”, as well as “The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports that 3.1 million people visited the city in June, which is 11.3% less than the same month last year. This has led some to think that fewer people want to visit. Yet Stevens said this is not true for all parts of the industry, calling the wider “Vegas is dying” story an exaggeration, reported Fox News.” He gives a fair point and I do not support the thoughts that FoxNews gives us all with “Vegas is dying”. As I see it, Vegas will get wounded, it will lose air, but it will not go down. When it all comes to blows Las Vegas will survive. Still Derek Stevens has a valid point that it will not hit across the board. Some will get hit harder, some less so. I reckon those who diversified their income settings have a much bigger chance to make it through. The one statement I disagree with is “He thought that by next year, both tourism and the broader Las Vegas economy would be on more solid ground.” I disagree because President Trump will at present remain in office until 2029 and if he doesn’t do an about face, America will suffer until at least 2028. By next year some other tourist places will gain momentum in part at present by all the people who took it as ‘an alternative’ will now see that their alternative was excellent and that will drive more people to alternative destinations. So many places will not be dead, but they will suffer the hardship of over-tourism getting replaced by a massive streak of under-tourism and there is a chance that it will set a new record explosion of crimes in America, so they will see what London has been experiencing for 5-10 years. We are given “In London, the most recent crime data (April 2024 – March 2025) indicates a rise in overall crime, with approximately 132.6 crimes per 1,000 people, according to Plumplot.” This implies that a tourist to London has a one in eight chance of getting robbed, or some other setting towards losing what they have. At that point people are reassessing their chances and when that comes to America, the tourist settings will merely dwindle down to a much larger degree. It is a new setting of cause and effect now to a string of domino’s. One domino pushed over the next and the next, but now we get a domino chain effect. The first domino pushes over the next which is up to 50% larger than the previous one, the second pushed over the third domino up to 50% larger than the second domino and so on. This stage is overlooked as people focus on one field but this setting is larger, it affects a lot more and that becomes an increasing scope. This is what I predicted 5 days ago and now we see the domino’s topple. I might have been ‘cautious’ with my $80 billion damage, I know that but as far as I can see it, I got there ahead of media (yet again) and when the people wake up because the media tried to keep them asleep there will be a larger impact. How is anyones guess and I have no clue because this is the kind of impact no one can really predict as there is no data aiding us. So how is AI helping you now? Will it have a meltdown calling itself a failure or will it show that capital punishment is the only solution? The fact that there is no data on this, is why I never considered it a solution, not yet anyway. 

So have a great day and I reckon that you need to look at where your next vacation should be, there is every chance that it will be the last vacation a lot of us will be able to afford for some time to come.

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Wondering about it

There is a stage that I (personally) applaud. I love sarcasm, because when it boomerangs (bites back) it becomes irony and the world at times needs a little sarcasm with loads of irony. And the world helped my out yesterday in the for of an article (at https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/18/microsoft-china-digital-escorts-pentagon.html). I had heard some of this before, but I didn’t know the source. As such I kept it at an arms length, because I don’t want my disdain for Microsoft colours my blogs into something else, something optionally ‘mismatching colored as hatred’ blogs. The world has enough of those. The news given here is ‘Microsoft stops relying on Chinese engineers for Pentagon cloud support’, so this is how I like my irony, a government with heavy anti-China tainting, sets its cloud support to the people of that very nation. And as I see it, this must have been happening for close to a year, if not longer. So when we think about it, the people who enacted the federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 are the ones requiring the Chinese to do the cloud support of their pentagon (that 5 sided building in Washington DC, erected 1941). A setting where we see the irony dripping of the icing. So what was that anti Huawei feeling that has been going on since 2018?

Oh, the delicious taste of sarcasm in that is almost better than a delicious Tiramisu. Ask such the two key points that are given to us are “Microsoft has changed its practices to keep engineers in China from getting involved in support for U.S. defense clients using the company’s Azure cloud services” and “The announcement came days after ProPublica published an extensive report describing the Defense Department’s dependence on Microsoft software engineers in China” the one settings I find hilarious are ‘Microsoft has changed its practices to keep engineers’ and ‘after ProPublica published an extensive report’. As I see it, if ProPublica had not informed the people, this might still be going on. I wonder if Microsoft informed the Pentagon and the fact that China was actively involved with the cloud support of the Pentagon. And as I see it, buckets of sarcasm and irony are available right here. 

So when we get to “The company implemented the changes in an effort to reduce national security and cybersecurity risks stemming from its cloud work with a major customer. The announcement came days after ProPublica published an extensive report describing the Defense Department’s dependence on Microsoft software engineers in China” where we need to recognise the setting that someone wanted to set ‘The company’ instead of ‘Microsoft’, I reckon just in case that quotes were being used. The setting of ‘a major customer’ against ‘Pentagon’ or ‘Department of Defence’ I reckon a setting none of the players are happy about. So whilst the Pentagon was please to get a cheaper deal, I reckon that handing their settings to China was not in the books. I find this hilarious as Oracle was always going to be the better choice (best choice as I personally see it). 

So we are also given “In 2019, Microsoft won a $10 billion cloud-related defense contract, but the Pentagon wound up canceling it in 2021 after a legal battle. In 2022, the department gave cloud contracts worth up to $9 billion in total to Amazon, Google, Oracle and Microsoft.” So we are given this, but as I see it, the ‘better’ phrase would be “In 2022, the department gave cloud contracts worth up to $9 billion in total to Amazon, Google, Oracle, Chinese Ministry of State Security and Microsoft” (Is that a little over the top?) 

I was never in favor of the entire hatred of Huawei setting, especially as correct evidence was never supplied. So when we see this, I just have to wonder about the entire ‘shortage of resources in. Case setting’ for the corporations Micro and Soft. So is one going soft or is the other becoming tiny? In case you were wondering yes, I am writing this with a bucket of sarcasm on the right and a bucket of irony on the left. 

And how did I get there? Well the next quote gives me that handle “ProPublica reported that the work of Microsoft’s Chinese Azure engineers is overseen by “digital escorts” in the U.S., who typically have less technical prowess than the employees they manage overseas. The report detailed how the “digital escort” arrangement might leave the U.S. vulnerable to a cyberattack from China.” This reminded me of an old joke (80’s) where the long serving man was promoted as head of IT because his son had a Commodore 64. I never get tired of reading that joke.

It is the last quote that gave me the giggle. It was ““We remain committed to providing the most secure services possible to the US government, including working with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols as needed,” Shaw wrote.” It is worth giggling to as we might accept the quote by Frank Shaw, the Microsoft’s chief communications officer. Yet the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, was before 1900. Cloud computing as we know it now came into ‘fashion’ in the early 2000s. As stated “The concept of the Pentagon’s major cloud computing initiatives began with the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract, with the final request for proposals issued in July 2018 and a subsequent award to Microsoft in October 2019. However, the Pentagon later scrapped the JEDI contract in July 2021 and initiated a new multi-vendor approach, the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), in December 2022, dividing cloud work among Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle.” As I see it, Microsoft has been supplying information to China as early as 2018. So why is Shaw throwing around terms like ‘Remain Committed’ are thrown around, all whilst this might be seen as a clear case for the Pentagon (and the White House) to throw Microsoft out of both buildings. Unless the anti-China sentiment of the United States is just a farce.

Have a great day and try to see the fun in matters.

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