BruceVC

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."

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