BruceVC

No the biggest issue is always the reality and not the sensationalism and exaggeration around " French colonialism " in West Africa The French military were invited in 2013 to fight the insurgency and stayed till 2022 where they were booted out by the Junta leaders The region was never under French domination, it was just a French military operation. Thats like saying the region is under Russian domination now because Russia has deployed its military And the bigger issue is the justification for the military coups, the Juntas all claimed that you needed a military government to end the insurrections. They also invited the Russians in because the French had " failed " Now the insurrections have become worse in every country. The Juntas and Russian military operations have failed to deliver on there most important objective and they have abandoned Democracy in the process

Yes its a legitimate point you making. Its similar to the argument " we see so much crime from community x or y because of inequality\poverty " ( or something similar ) Its not convincing because the majority of people living in poverty don't commit crime But as far as these insurgencies are concerned there are 2 main groups involved. Separatists aren't considered radicalized, they just want their own region The AQ\ISIS linked groups are more radicalized and they only exist in certain African countries and there Islamic extremist ideology only resonates with some people The vast majority of people in these indigent regions dont join them but they suffer the worst consequence of there ideology and they largely Muslim themselves Whats also making recruitment much easier is the brutality and military response from the Juntas and Russians in trying to crush these insurrections. Not a surprise of course to see the Russians fight war like this This has been going on for years in these 3 countries https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmx7x3yjyko "A shopkeeper has told the BBC how Russian mercenaries fighting jihadists in Mali carried out the cold-blooded murder of two men in front of him and then threatened to chop off his fingers and kill him too. This is one of several similar testimonies collected by the BBC showing the tactics used by the Russian fighters as they waged a brutal counter-insurgency operation against Islamist militants in the West African nation - methods widely condemned by human rights groups." https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/28/mali-army-wagner-group-atrocities-against-civilians "Nairobi) – Malian armed forces and Wagner Group foreign fighters have unlawfully killed and summarily executed several dozen civilians during counterinsurgency operations in Mali’s central and northern regions since December 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. Military drone strikes on a wedding celebration on February 16, 2024, and during a burial on February 17, 2024, killed at least 14 civilians, including 4 children."

They so far off from being able to implement something like UBI but that would make a huge positive difference if somehow they could

Absolutely, in these examples in these countries the insurgencies are sustained by several factors poverty in the regions failed government policies to address the reasons for poverty and indigence refusal of the Juntas to negotiate on any terms There is no military solution. But the problem with all the 3 Juntas is they will never accept compromise because took power with the message " only our type of leadership can defeat these groups, Democratic governments are too weak to do what must be done " Historically you can see success in subduing this type of insurgency through military success, look at Chechnya and ISIS in the ME But that still requires an economic model and offering people a better and stable future. This doesn't exist in Africa, that's why Al-Shabaab is still active in Somalia for 30 years All these Juntas and the Russians are doing is thinking brute force will win the day and achieve peace

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-insurgent-assault-forces-russian-withdrawal-in-northern-mali/ I have often mentioned how the military coups in countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have become abject failures because they have all failed to address the main reason for overthrowing Democratically elected governments These military generals all promised to end the insurgencies in their respective countries from Islamic extremist and separatist groups. What made it worse is French and UN forces left or were booted out and the Russians came in to fight the insurgents And since then its got progressively worse,much worse. The Russians have failed spectacularly to achieve any military success Latest example, a coordinated attack across the country and the capture of a major town "Hundreds of Russian troops have abandoned a key military base in Mali after insurgents launched an unprecedented wave of co-ordinated attacks across the country, killing the Defence Minister and capturing a northern town. Islamist radicals joined forces with northern separatists to orchestrate the biggest rebel offensive in the West African country in 14 years, with attacks on towns, cities, military bases, airports and homes of senior politicians. Defence Minister Sadio Camara, a close ally of Moscow, was among the dead. Videos from Mali showed his home reduced to rubble after it was targeted by a truck bomb on Saturday as the attacks began. His death was officially confirmed on Sunday night. Two senior army and intelligence commanders were also reported to be severely injured. The assault was a humiliating setback for Mali’s military junta and its Russian allies, which were unable to prevent an insurgent operation that ranged from northern towns to the centre of the country and even into the junta’s strongholds around the capital, Bamako."

This is long overdue. Germany should have a much stronger and resourced military This will boost overall EU military strength The days of the anxiety of " German NAZI want to take over the world, Germany CANNOT have a strong army" has been over for decades The EU greatest military threat is Russian warmongering and it needs to be able to counter this without the levels of dependance on the US

This is by far the biggest problem and irritation with the abuse of AI Someone, who is not even a citizen of a particular country, uses AI to create a " real person " who aligns with a set of particular ideological or political views and raises money from people who believe it People can laugh at MAGA\Conservatives being duped but many people would fall for this if this type of AI aligned with there views We already have people who peddle and post fake news on a daily basis as " real and credible " For example it would be so easy to create an anti-American, pro-Russia\Putin hot US women who just repeats well known anti-Western\US tropes and generalizations and I can guarantee you the majority of Vatniks would be clapping like seals and saying " wow, she is so clever and based " Of course they wont donate money to her because of the financial reality but they would still believe its true and support it. Confirmation bias should never be a prudent objective to focus on with AI when it comes to fund raising Its not funny to see AI being abused like this, its very worrying because it could happen to anyone if you not careful Here is the detailed story about " Emily Hart". I have posted the main part below https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/emily-hart-top-maga-influencer-turned-out-to-be-ai-was-created-by-indian-student-11391474 "A popular MAGA influencer, who built a strong following among conservative users in the US for posting pro-Trump content, has turned out to be an AI-generated persona. A 22-year-old man in India created the account to make money off unsuspecting men online, according to a report in WIRED. Sam, who requested a pseudonym to avoid jeopardising his medical career, used generative AI tools to design everything - from the woman's face and body to her captions. The influencer, widely known online as "Emily Hart", looked like a typical blonde woman who supported US President Donald Trump and often posted about Christianity. Sam, an aspiring orthopedic surgeon, showed Hart supporting the US, posing in bikinis, doing activities like ice fishing, drinking beer, and even handling guns. The fake profile claimed she was a nurse and looked like Hollywood actress Jennifer Lawrence"

Always very entertaining and funny even if selective You see they added some positive spin at the end with the Hungarian election which is significant because thats how Democracy works. Its a pity they didn't separate the difference between a Democratically elected " bad " leader like Trump or Netanyahu to Russia, Iran or China There is an obvious difference when citizens have no way to change leadership through voting. But its just a 3 minute video and they making a different point

The entire Yellowstone series is one of my favorite series of all times I watched 3 episodes of Marshalls and stopped, its not the same writers or creatives and its bland and boring But you must watch 1883 and 1923 if you haven't watched them. They prequels to Yellowstone and they excellent, on par with Yellowstone

I use AI chatbots for my studies and to confirm things I already more or less know but I have forgotten the specific details. And I use Copilot primarily So for example, what was the final score in the 1995 rugby world cup It tends to be mostly accurate But I dont use it for important things I know nothing about, I will use credible websites for that And I never use it for political, ideological or societal feedback. Thats when the understandable issues and bias with it become the most obvious

I assume we talking about the political pressure due to citizen anger and the right to protest and then how this impacts voting outcomes in elections Any autocracy like Iran doesn't have to worry about that so if the economy continues to collapse all the state has to do is survive. They can just kill or arrest any protesters to silence them and they dont have free and fair elections anyway Thats not the same pressure that exists on the state in any Democracy like the US So if the economy and factors like inflation get worse any US president cant just ignore this because of the daily pressure on them This is the main "advantage " any autocracy has. Unhappiness by citizens doesn't translate to anything like leadership change unless the citizens have the support and resources of a military force that can overthrow the state like in Syria. But in most dictatorships and autocracies that doesn't exist and the state is firmly in control of its security forces

1 more day until From s4 e1, I can't wait 🎉 Also the creator has announced there will only be one more season after 4 and then the series is over. 5 seasons is a good enough run. I would have preferred 7 seasons but it is what it is. At least we will get all the answers https://www.boredpanda.com/from-creator-explains-why-series-is-ending-as-season-4-release-date-nears/ "During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, creator John Griffin explained the decision to conclude the series. He revealed the story was always intended to last five seasons. However, Griffin and the creative team briefly considered a sixth chapter, hoping the story would tell them when it was time to end. He said, “There was a fair amount of soul-searching. But we all came to the realization that if we made that sixth season, it would be for us, because it’s just too hard to say goodbye.”

Yes, its a waiting game of who can last longer Now the Straits are closed again because the US wouldn't life there blockade And that's expected because why would Iran lift there blockade if the US doesn't do the same? The Iranian blockade impacts global prices and inflation but it won't "crash "any economy The US blockade impacts the main economic lifeline for Iran, it has much more severe consequences But can Iran just wait longer and hope the political pressure on Trump because of high gas prices changes things? We will have to see

He cant help himself, his hubris and mercurial personality always has to come out and manifest itself in these types of cringe SM comments

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-is-strait-hormuz-why-is-it-so-important-oil-2026-04-17/ So Iran has changed course after 5 days of the US blockade and opened the Straits to commercial shipping " Iran's foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz was open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the U.S.-brokered 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, prompting a sharp fall in the price of oil. A senior Iranian official said all vessels, except for naval ships, would be able to sail through the strait but their plans needed to be coordinated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and ships transiting would be restricted to lanes Iran deemed safe. " They are expecting the US to now end its blockade on Iranian ports This is both understandable and expected because Iran relies on 80% of its total revenue for oil and gas sales on its ships using the Straits. So the US blockage will literally bring the entire Iranian economy to its knees. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. That's another sign how fragile the Iranian economy really is What is more interesting is analysts spent weeks discussing how the US could get Iran to reopen the Straits which has become its most successful and impactful strategy. Island invasions and "boots on the ground " were considered but no one thought of the obvious and easy approach. Just block the Straits, do what Iran is doing and block Iranian ships Like I mentioned in previous posts. Irans greatest weapon has also become its greatest weakness

This is an interesting development but it doesn't address the main issue with AI generated content and how that undermines real human creativity and then the financial reparations Its "wrong " to use AI to create something like art that replaces humans, thats the real issue for me and your link mentions this "It definitely forecloses the most dystopian outcome of machines entirely replacing humans [in the world of art and entertainment]," says Stacey Dogan, a professor who studies intellectual property, competition and technology at the Boston University School of Law. Some predict a future where you just plop down in front of an AI system instead of watching the work of human beings. But without copyright protection for AI-generated work, the business case for building that world takes a major hit. For big entertainment companies like Disney, there's still a huge financial incentive to let humans run the creative process." This monkey photo is a real photo, it just wasnt taken by a human so this whole legal debate is really about copyrights and AI generated content And I dont want AI content to be allowed to get copyrights

This potential risk is having a direct impact to my family My stepmom was planning on flying to London and France next month because she has to manage repairs on property we own Now she is worried she wont be able to fly back if there is no fuel because the 6 weeks deadline is when she wants to return Its hard to believe the EU and UK wont make an alternative plan considering something as important as air-travel?

I am now about 110 hours into AC Valhalla and Im still having fun with the repeated activities and general side quests Im at the part where I have found Sigurd's arm and I now have about 7 regions who have pledged to me The game really does a good job at keeping me interested outside of the main quests. So for example I am now at power level 210 and I am actively hunting Order members, Ragnar's Drengrs and Legendary Animals because they provide an exciting combat challenge Then I have committed to completing some of the Hunting and Fish objectives because they provide Tungsten so I can upgrade my items to Mythical The economy is well balanced, you need to keep exploring to find loot if you want to buy resource upgrades Thats the best way to encourage and motivate exploration in any game , economic exigencies that create real rewards make exploration seem worthwhile and fun 👌

While Trumps offensive Jesus image is still remembered I had to post this

That Russian ship was allowed through the Cuban blockade, it didnt slip through That same argument could apply to Iran, " what if the US sends naval assets to protect their ships ". And yet the Iranians still blocked the Straits China gets 15% of its oil from Iran, it will end up buying oil from other markets and the oil price will increase. Its not going to go to war over this but Iran sells 80-90% of its oil to China so if you block Iran from shipping then you will devastate the Iranian economy because state revenue is anything from 60-70% reliant on oil and gas sales. Thats why the US is doing it because they believe this will force Iran to agree to terms But its not a good strategy because it will definitely increase the global oil price and we will all suffer because Trump failed to achieve his nebulous military objectives. The US should never have attacked Iran without clear and achievable objectives But its a very effective strategy if you want to hurt Iran, ironically the Straits which are Iran's strongest deterrent to war are also its greatest weakness Because now the US is doing what Iran is doing. Using the closure of the Straits to achieve its goals

@Gorth you will find this interesting, unprecedented numbers of people taking to the streets in Budapest to celebrate Magyars victory It was also a massive voter turnout, 80% and the youth vote made a huge difference I wonder if these crowds were bigger than when the USSR collapsed?

I agree, both candidates are still Conservative and that wont change There are several Hungarians on Codex and most of them voted for Magyar because of the established corruption and inefficiency you often find with a leader in power for too long Having better ties with the EU matters and not being in the Russian sphere of influence is relevant but not as much as the domestic issues but I do think better alignment within the EU is inextricably connected to better governance Magyar is more favourable to Ukraine, I believe he will hold a referendum about Ukraine joining the EU to get a sense of what Hungarians really think and I doubt he will block the €90 billion EU aid like Orban did Whats interesting is during the election Orban tried loads of fake news around Ukraine and Magyars views, for example he said Magyar would implement conscription and send 90k Hungarian soldiers to fight in the war Here is a link about this and its nothing unusual for how Russian propaganda and interference in EU elections works How Russia spread disinformation on the eve of Hungarian...Traces of Moscow’s influence were visible across Hungarian social media.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/13/hungary-election-results-eu-europe-leaders-react-peter-magyar-viktor-orban An incredible victory for Magyar, he didnt just win the Hungarian election. He annihilated Orban with a 2/3 win in parliament This was first and foremost a win for the people of Hungary because its an example of how Democracy allows leadership change through the ballot box. As I have mentioned many times we often take this for granted because we assume our elections will be free and fair and we tend to complain about the policy outcomes and decisions We sometimes forget that there are countries where elections are pre-determined and voting has no influence on leadership change. This Hungarian election is a reminder of how citizen participation and activism can and does lead to new leadership But the link I attached summarizes other points of the significance of this Hungarian election "EU leaders heaped praise on Péter Magyar after his decisive election victory in Hungary against the long-serving prime minister Viktor Orbán, who many saw as a direct threat to Europe’s peace and prosperity. The outpouring reflected a deep frustration with Orbán across the EU’s 27 member states and its institutions. “Today Europe wins and European values win,” said the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, in a post on X on Sunday night. The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, wrote on social media: “Hungary Poland Europe Back together! Glorious victory, dear friends! Ruszkik haza!”. Ruszkik haza translates into English as “Russians, go home”. Orbán’s 16-year grip on power has tested the EU system of governance meant to ensure peace through economic and political integration after the devastation of the first and second world wars. Claiming he sought to advance the national interests of Hungarians over strategy forged in Brussels, Orbán time and again vetoed collective action such as support for Ukraine after Russia’s all-out invasion. Recently, the far-right leader’s government outraged EU leaders and officials when it admitted to providing a backchannel to Russia during summits. In a recent interview, Magyar told the Associated Press that if elected, he would repair Hungary’s relationship with the EU. However, he has carefully avoided taking firm positions on a number of divisive issues during the election campaign – including Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies and whether Hungary should extend more support to Ukraine.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump?post-id=cmnva53pj00043b6roxlb2gq7 Yes, Iran refusing to abandon its nuclear program and reponing the straits seems to be the sticking points No agreement: US Vice President JD Vance says no agreement was reached with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan. Iran would not commit to forgoing a nuclear weapon, Vance said. Iran’s foreign ministry told state media that disagreement over “two, or three” key issues prevented a deal. Both of these are understandable demands but the latter has now become Iran's main strategy and this wouldn't have been an issue if the US and Israel hadn't attacked Iran. And Iran knows this is putting political pressure on Trump Trumps now in an invidious position, he started this and now he has to ensure the Straits are open

My take on this article is slightly different Israel presented there initial objectives but the US had its own analysis and decision making And you can see how several US advisors rejected parts of the Israeli analysis as farcical and Trump was presented with this information But he decided to focus on 2 points as primary objectives which were killing the Supreme Leader and degrading Irans ability to attack Israel and the broader region And he ignored the risk around the Straits being closed and Iran's ability to create economic chaos, so both him and Israel underestimated this risk But end of the day I would say Trump wanted a " win " and the glory of being able to say " Im the first US president who achieved regime change in Iran" He made the final decision to attack Iran despite several of his advisors expressing the real concerns of the problems that the US experienced around winning the war because Trumps presidency is not about his advisors seriously disagreeing with him They end up supporting him even if they disagree with his decisions. Thats how you keep your job in Trumps cabinet