BruceVC

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has overall changed things within Russia for the worst, its not just the carnage and protracted outcome of the war or the economic reality because that takes years and isnt the same for everyone Its the enforcement of authoritarianism to ensure Putin remains a leader for life, this is the worst long-term outcome for Russian citizens This is realized in different ways and what is a real concern now is how Russia is going to be trying to control and restrict Internet access and create its own "Internet " where all access can be monitored and controlled . I dont think most of us realize how depressing this type of future must be Hopefully the Russian state fails in its endeavors to achieve this https://jamestown.org/russia-continues-creation-of-sovereign-national-internet/ The Russian State is seeking to massively expand its ability to surveil and filter internet traffic by upgrading systems to deal with increasing traffic volumes and increasing fines for providers who do not fully comply. Russia is also pursuing further restrictions on virtual private networks (VPNs) by pressuring platforms to block those using them and requiring mobile operators to charge higher fees for those using more than 15 gigabytes of traffic from abroad. The Kremlin is aiming to restrict civilian use of digital encryption and create full-spectrum internet surveillance, which will likely expand further in the coming years. " The Russian state is continuing its rapid creation of a sovereign national internet space. It has established new funding and initiatives to block civilian use of virtual private networks (VPNs), expand internet surveillance, and consolidate control over telecommunications providers. The Russian Ministry of Digital Technologies announced plans at the end of March to dramatically increase the computing power of the Technical Measures for Countering Threats (TSPU) system through 2030 by 250 percent, reaching 954 Terabit per second (Tb/s), with estimated costs of 15 billion rubles ($200 million ) (Kommersant, March 25). The new set of technologies is intended to fill gaps in the current monitoring system, which now covers nearly 100 percent of all traffic, from broadband providers to mobile providers to nodes connecting the Russian segment to the broader global internet (see EDM, November 25, 2024). This is an improvement over 2023, when only 80 percent of traffic was subject to the system’s filtering (Habr, October 27, 2025).

I'm now playing Hero-U : Rogue to Redemption, its an adventure RP game where you are a rogue learning to become a hero in a school for adventurers Its from the same developers that created the iconic Quest for Glory so it has very similar narrative humor and mechanics Initially I thought I would get bored but its really fun especially how you increase your skills, explore and solve puzzles and quests Im only 8 hours into it so its early days but so far so good 🐉

I have completed the main quest of AC Valhalla and it took me about 190 hours I finished the main quest where you end up in the machine with Siguard but I was still having fun so I decided to complete the last few quests like killing all the Order and the Asgard quests The Order assassinations were all easy to find, I had most of the clues and it was just about finding the last few. And the Asgard quest was different and entertaining with all the ties to Norse Mythology like fighting Fenrir and the Jotun magic And then the game ends after you find the last memory shards I found some interesting stats on Steam around overall completion of this game 6.6 % of players killed the entire Order 5% of players got the settlement to level 6 6.4 % of players finished the Jotun quests So the majority of people never finished this game. I was a little surprised by these low overall numbers? But great AC game overall, its gets a solid 68/100 on the globally respected "BruceVC game rating system " Its your quintessential AC type design and mechanics but you cant play these types of games all the time but they definitely fun every now and then Really good value for money

But what about the current Cuban blockade, thats been ongoing for longer than 60 days There is Congressional concern about that but is that an act of war?

I hear you around the blockade but I dont think that is considered part of a military campaign requiring Congressional approval This is more about being actively engaged in fighting Iran through daily bombing campaigns like the US was doing So Hegseth and Trump are saying "there is a ceasefire, we not fighting anymore " But I think its legally confusing and unclear

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/04/30/new-unemployment-applications-plunge-to-lowest-level-since-1969/ Some positive economic data for the US I doubt its going to change the general negative sentiment towards Trump but its still good news for the US on these economic metrics Unemployment benefit applications totaled 189,000 in the week ending April 25, the Labor Department reported, falling well below consensus analyst estimates of 214,000, according to FactSet. That’s the fewest jobless claims filed in a single week since 1969. Continuing jobless claims, or the number of Americans already receiving benefits, dropped to 1.79 million, the fewest since April 2024 and below economist projections of 1.83 million.

But this is because any conflict longer than 60 days needs Congressional Approval and its unlikely he would have got that from Congress and then if he had got approval it makes this already unpopular war with US citizens more visible and trenchant So its not about " winning ", its the legal justification to continue. It makes sense considering how confusing, unachievable and nebulous the military objectives were But the US blockade will continue and so will the Iran blockade. And the US blockade is the main strategy now to get Iran to agree to terms "Under the War Powers Resolution, the law that sought to constrain a president’s military powers, President Donald Trump had until Friday to seek congressional authorization or cease fighting. The law also allows an administration to extend that deadline by 30 days. Democrats have pushed the administration for formal approval of the Iran war, and the 60-day mark would likely have been a turning point for a swath of Republican lawmakers who backed temporary action against Tehran but insisted on congressional input for something longer. “That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted Thursday in favor of a measure that would end military action in Iran since Congress hadn’t given its approval. She added that “further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close.” AP NewsTrump administration says its war in Iran has been 'termi...The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April.

Daily MaverickHate on parade: Xenophobic marches gather pace as UN warn...Across major cities, political entrepreneurs like Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma and Zandile Dabula are staging increasingly bold anti-migrant marches, with little pushback from authorities. As António GuterresI have mentioned many times how South Africa has failed to deal with illegal migration or maintain control of our borders. Only now, over last 3-4 years, has the ANC accepted and realized what a crisis this has become that impacts primarily black people in townships and living in poverty because that's where the illegal migrants live and use the limited resources we have. We have millions of illegal migrants in South Africa Until then the ANC response to illegal migration was this outdated and irrelevant rhetoric like " the borders are Colonial borders, they dont matter" or " we have a responsibility to help our fellow African brothers and sisters because they helped us end Apartheid " All of this made no difference to our reality, limited resources and many South Africans living in poverty. You have to control migration in any country but in South Africa its even more important because we not a first world country and levels of poverty are much worse There is now another movement called March and March that has become very popular, its basically another anti-illegal migrant movement The mainstream media in South Africa is liberal so the headline I posted is " Hate on parade: Xenophobic marches gather pace as UN warns South Africa" which is a mischaracterization of the problem and the protests If this type of movement was happening in the US or EU it would be labelled as Nazi, racist or right-wing but you cant use that type framing in South Africa because its black people involved so its defined as Xenophobic And there are now examples of Xenophobia from some of the protestors but thats only because government has failed to do anything about ilegal migration for the last 20 years. Before illegal migration became the crisis it is we never had any anti-migrant protests The point of this post is this is the inevitable outcome of what happens when any government fails to control its borders. And its much worse for us in South Africa because we already have historical and current levels of poverty exacerbated by governments overall inefficiency

Excellent speech yesterday from King Charles to US Congress It was articulate, sincere, humorous and it resonated with Congress in ways I haven't seen for years. He had 6-7 standing ovations and he had to keep stopping He touched on several important issues but he diplomatically avoided certain topics or being specific. Trump was also very magnanimous when Charles arrived and its clear Trump has deep respect for the UK Monarchy because of his own ties to the UK Some of the points King Charles touched on aligned with the historical significance of the UK and its important contribution to institutions that are the foundation of many Western countries and Constitutional Democracies like the Magna Carta It was really nice to see someone from the UK proud of what the UK is and its history, great speech for the positive contribution Anglos have made to the world we live in. Other points he mentioned were the importance of the historical ties between the US and UK the current significance of the Atlantic friendship between the US and UK, it is "unbreakable and irreplaceable " executive power must always be managed by checks and balances ( Congress loved that ) Christianity is very relevant and is the foundation of both the US and UK NATO matters and our shared defense is important 9/11 must never be forgotten I have included the full speech below, its only 30 minutes and I encourage everyone to watch it. Charles really hit the ball out the park with this one

Despite this being reported on from the Economist I find it almost impossible to believe It is hilarious though, can you imagine Putin actually coming up with this and selling out Russia nationalism to American Capitalism But whats more ridiculous is the suggestion that Russia would sell out China and BRICS ideology The war in Ukraine cant be going THAT badly for Russia, surly not ???

I have no issue with any government owning its own resources, this works well in many places like the ME or Norway But thats when the state funded and created its own state controlled investment Whats happening in places like Africa or Venezuela is foreign companies created the investment and controlled it for decades and now because of a badly run state they want to take control of that investment because they want the revenue stream. And they dont give the company a choice because they are the current government, thats what I define as forced nationalisation. Its theft and it undermines the agreement of why the investor created the FDI in the first place But agreed on nationalization is fine, so the company agrees to sell its assets to the state or sell part ownership. This works like in Botswana and its mining agreement with De Beers. Another workable option is mining licenses aren't permanent and they need to be renewed after 15-20 years, so the state can decide to not renew a license and take ownership at the end of the 15-20 years but this way the investor knows and agrees to this deal. Its not theft even if this carries certain risk and investor anxiety But going back to your main and most relevant question, "How would a resource rich country make best use of its resources" You have 2 main choices, the state creates and owns the investment from beginning . Then the tax revenue is used to benefit all citizens. The Norwegian sovereign fund is just one example of this around how taxes and profits go directly into the fund The other choice is you encourage FDI and you either grant them full ownership or you create a partnership but this must be done from the beginning and its contractually agreed to. And obviously these companies must abide by laws and regulations around things like conservation and sustainability where reasonable possible In both these examples its the responsibility of the government to ensure the Inuit population benefit from the mining going on. And that could take different forms. We also have mining companies that commit to building things for the local community but its not well done. I firmly believe its the government who should be uplifting communities and not the investor In South Africa the tax revenue from all our mining investments often is enough to boost GDP per quarter and SARS will sometimes report on overall tax windfalls just on high commodity prices. And all our mines are privately owned. But then the state either squanders or misallocates this increased revenue so the perception gets created that " mining doesn't help because the state doesn't own the mines " Which is a false analysis, mining generates lots of tax revenue for our state But what should never be acceptable is a badly run, corrupt or inefficient government suddenly looks around at successful FDI that has been in the country for decades and decides " we are going to take control of that asset because we want there revenue stream " That's what forced nationalization is

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv8l99r3yyo I know this is few days old but the EU has approved the €90 billion loan for Ukraine. The moment Orban was removed it was agreed on So well done to the EU !!! Whats also interesting is Ukraine has been able to reopen its oil pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary So good news all around "Ukraine says it has resumed pumping Russian oil through a pipeline into Hungary and Slovakia, bringing to an end months of deadlock over a €90bn (£78bn) loan seen as vital European Union support for Kyiv. Soon afterwards, EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels gave preliminary approval to the loan, as well as a 20th package of sanctions on Russia, officials said."

The French military leaving an African country has got nothing to do with there investments. They not related like all types of FDI (foreign direct investment ). You don't need a military footprint to invest in any country There are still hundreds of French companies operating throughout West Africa. But in countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso you are seeing forced nationalization of some foreign companies mostly around mining and that includes Canadian, Australian and French mining companies And forced nationalization is never a good long-term strategy because it destroys trust in any government

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."