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I have nothing against Islam. It is the Jihadists that worry me. And those who think what is happening in Israel is something local and isolated, better have another think. It is part of something much bigger.

Israel only appears to be a hotbed because they are more successful against the Jihadists. But open your eyes and look around. You'll find them all over. To name just a few locations, I can start with countries like Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Congo, Kenya, Somalia and, not long ago, as far south as Mozambique. This list is not nearly complete.

Europe and the Americas only think they're safe. It's already sticking its head out in France. Belgium, Denmark and Sweden also had problems with these Jihadists while the USA had their hands full with Al Qaeda. We remember 911 all too well.

On their own they appear as local and unrelated insurgencies but collectively they become a global catastrophe and I think those who don't see what's going on, don't want to see it.

Of course, I may be paranoid. I grew up in a country where we were spooked with all kinds of dangers. There were the black danger, the red danger, the yellow danger and any other conceivable danger but that does not mean that I'm wrong. As Adrian Monk said: "I may be wrong but I don't think so."

Yes, that is what they are. Anybody who leaves his country for another because his own country is in bad hands is a traitor and a deserter. Buggering off to find a better living elsewhere only strengthens the hands of those who are mismanaging the country.

The irony is that migrants do not always find a better life. A large proportion end up as cheap labour or in crime or prostitution. And then too many of them lose their lives en route to their Utopia. Something need to be said about the host countries that allow such exploits.

And then, after a few years, comes the disillusionment when things do not work out as expected. That is when you get the problems that France currently face with their migrants killing teachers and destroying goverment property.

If you cannot make it in your own country it is unlikely that you'll make it elsewhere. Stay where you are and fix the problems. Once you start running you never stop.

If storming the Bastille is the only way forward, then storm the effing Bastille. You don't run away when your country needs you.


PS
I'm quite aware that people migrate for many other reasons. This blog is not about them, it only deals with one aspect of migration.

Risky business this being a climate activist these days.




These days rather think twice before accepting an invite to join a protest.

An environmental activist died after raising hands and being shot from head to toe by police nearly two months ago near Atlanta, the person's family and attorneys said Monday.

The activist known as “Tortuguita,” whose full name is Manuel Esteban Páez Terán, suffered 14 gunshot wounds on Jan. 18, family attorneys said.




Enjoy the weekend.

Can you imagine a world without crime? A dreamworld? Don't be so sure. Let's think about how it will affect our lives and the environment.

For starters, all the police stations will be converted into information centres, each manned by an old lady with a sweet smile, which would put millions of police officers out of a job. Not that it would matter here in my country for they're a useless bunch, corrupt and only fit to assault drunks in the holding cells.

Hmm, and the security companies, prisons and the courts of law and every other crime preventing institution will have to go as well, leaving millions more out of work. If you consider that waging war is also a crime, all defence forces will become redundant as well. And all the criminals will also be without work. Not just those in organised crime, even petty criminals.

Then we did not even discuss the loss of income to insurance companies, manufacturers of security products or military hardware, and the likes, not to mention what the loss of spending power will do to the world economy.

Whether you like to know it or not, we will always have crimes in our society because all the unemployment will lead right back to crime. Crime is probably the largest employer on the planet.

Former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie made a bad showing when he tried for the Republican party nomination in the 2020 presidential election. He learned a lot and is trying again for 2024. I watched his town hall meeting a month ago and saw the group there enjoyed listening to his logic about the complexity of not only running the country, but how we interface with the rest of the world. He apologized for his short comings in previous situations that cast him in a less favorable light.

Christie knows he's got a tough hill to climb and was booed at a conservative conference on Sunday, later saying it was predominantly a Trump crowd.
Going hard after Trump, Christie is calling him a 'three-time loser,' mentioning his losses that included the classified document indictment and the hush money case.

Can he win the support of Republicans without making false campaign promises?

Hmmm... my opinion is it's doubtful because voters are swayed by BS and not honesty.
Step up your game Chris, you're going against a seasoned professional.

Earlier today, something dawned on me!

It's almost 2024!

Well, when I say almost, I mean in exactly two months. Soon, it's Christmas, and one week after that, we're having a New Years celebration.

I, as usual, am not doing anything other than play video games all day long, because I don't really have a desire to attend New Years Eve parties. I would much rather stay home, eat some good food and play some video games or watch movies. Last NYE, I did exactly that, and it was fantastic. I can go to bed whenever I want to - I am not forcing myself to stay awake because someone might find me boring if I go to bed at 1 am.

New Years Eve brings out the topic of fireworks, and why I think it's troubling.

The whole concept of fireworks in private hands boggles my mind. Who in their right mind went "Ah yes, for one evening a year, regular people are allowed to get blindingly drunk while handling explosives.."? Because that's exactly what is happening: People getting drunk while handling small bombs.

If it was up to me, fireworks should be banned from private hands, unless they have a fireworks license or an explosives certification. Also, every time I see something shoot up into the sky and blow up, all I can think is "There goes 500 kroner. There goes 200 kroner.."..

Here's a thought that I share with a few others: Fireworks is a waste of money. You might as well just set fire to your money. Back in 2021, there was a story about some guy who spent 24 grand on fireworks, about $3388, because he thought it was nice.. Back in 2021, they estimated that the Danes spent 450 million kroner on fireworks. 450 million.. That's the equivalent of $63.4 million. If we divide 450 million with 5.8 million, which was the population back in 2021, on average, each Dane spent 77.5 million kroner on fireworks that year, or about $10 million - each.

Surely that money could be spent better somewhere else..

Due to a sport boycott during the apartheid era, South Africa only participated in eight Rugby World Cup tournaments, which is two less than the other first tier rugby playing nations. Yet, our national rugby team, aka the Springboks, won the Webb Ellis Cup four times, which is more than anybody else - even though they had less opportunity to do so, effectively winning the world cup 50% of the times they participated.

They won every single final they played. They made it to the semi finals five or six times. Regrettably I cannot find the exact number but I'm sure somebody will correct me. And, together with France and New Zealand, they never failed to make it to the quarter finals.

Twice they lost a pool game and still went on to win the Rugby World cup; something else nobody else could do.

But the most remarkable thing is that there are no big names in the Springbok team, nobody that is best in the world in his position; just a very efficient rugby machine running on all cylinders. A team of selfless players playing for their country. A team that never gives up.

In a country like South Africa where there is very little to be proud of, this is huge; a sport that has never failed to unite our rainbow nation.

Few things can annoy me more than people who think their cause is more important than others who are in a similar situation.

BLM comes to mind. It is not that I think that black lives don't matter. To me, when a white (or black) cop kills a black (or white) man in the USA, it is no different than when a black (or white) vagrant kills a white (or black) farmer in South Africa. The fact is that all lives matter.

Sometimes we are too fond of playing the race card when we cannot get our way otherwise. In my experience such a person either secretly resent who he is and really wish he was somebody else or otherwise he uses racism as a ruse to gain sympathy for his cause.

Using racism as a prop just takes the focus away from the real problem.

as most client states begin to default on their loan repayment requirements. A guest speaker this week at the 3rd Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative is the wanted war criminal Vladimir Putin. The B&R customer countries are mostly countries with large amounts of natural resources, rather than poor countries with not much of anything that would have greatly benefited from any improvements.. Most of the investment money is used to develop energy & mineral resources China hoped to someday export (aka pillage) and profit off as a partial repayment of the loan money due to China in return for the improvements on that countries roads and infrastructure. Sadly, like happened inside China's cities, many of the Chinese companies contracted by China to do the work in those places where the B&R was happening took out loans to start the constructions, started the constructions, then (under Chinese banks liberal loan policies) took out more loans to begin other projects, which they began before the first project was even half done, then repeated and repeated until the collapsing Chinese economy forced a halt to the easy loan policies. The projects not completed and their own cash on hand shrinking the countries can not repay, the energy and mineral infrastructures not built China can't export the resources of the host country, and of course the Chinese construction companies can't repay their loans to the Chinese banks or finish the projects they began. China is now faced with the choices of complete all projects and not see any financial benefit for decades, or simply walking away from many B&R projects in many countries

China's financial exposure to date on the B&R is over 600 Billion dollars in loan promises from the host countries. This is in addition to another 600 Billion dollars of B&R investment loans to develop oil resources in Russia. The investment rating risk of the projects is currently at B- which is only a step away from being a total loss. Chinese investments into Russia ceased in 2022, but Russia has not repaid it's debts to China and many projects there are not completed. The largest recent recipient of Chinese investment money is Iraq (10.5 Billion dollars of signed loan contracts) for the development of Iraq's oil resources. The total current debt exposure of China is about 1.3 Trillion dollars of which about 60% is in default.

The current 3rd forum in China is as more about the country leaders meeting with a debt collector and offering their excuses as it is about anything else.

The below YT video provides more detail, history, figures, etc. .