Every society requires a reboot. This is especially true if its fundamentals have been eroded beyond recognition. The United States in 2025 was primed for such energy. Contemporary Europe was still debating whether it had any life to reboot at all.
There are givers and takers in geopolitics and no taker has grasped the opportunity so well as did the Chinese with its much favoured nation status. The US was completely outmaneuvered.
Intelligent people can be closed minded as intelligence is no guarantor of wisdom.
The United States would be better served if it stopped viewing politics as a team sport that requires consistent and unnecessary nourishment and over stimulation.
The tragedy of the liberation movement in South Africa is that it sacrificed its long term future for gains in the present by promoting liberation before education.
DeepSeek shatters AI market. The US needs to wake up. AI is turning into a battleground. My prediction is that they will however until then one can expect more short term jitter (and itchy bums) for investors. Great boost though for high tech STEM jobs in the West. Also gives another significant direction indication of the importance of the H1-B visa argument. I am with Elon Musk over Steve Bannon on this one.India is a natural ally of the West and their technical expertise cannot hurt.
War in the Congo DR- Access to Mineral resources (including many used in the computing industry) is the big factor here. Rwanda is a key ally of the West and the small nation is backing the M-23 rebels in the East (who have likely taken the city of Goma). However there is strong poterntial that the conflict will spill over into the rest of the country and indeed the continent. Expect the war here to dominate news cycle for the next few months. Once again the United Nations looks ineffective. US and China (possibly) will have to act before this becomes another proxy front in a war between these powers.
Land Expropriation in South Africa without compensation - I saw this happening as early as 1994. It wasn't difficult. This is straight out of the Marxist playbook. A concerted effort by the West is needed to force South Africa to reverse such a policy. It still astounds me as to how the ANC has managed to outplay the free market DA in South Africa. If the latter represents the voice of reason in the country then the nation is in a worse state than I could have imagined.
Good News for Trump - The cabinet nominees are falling into place. Trump has promised a lot and looks to be delivering in the immediate. Most important is that his administration stays the course with respect to the deportation of illegal aliens.
There is no more profound characteristic of the Russian people than to internalize its own misery. It is so prevalent that one can think of it as a survival technique.
No institution can remain in workable equilibrium forever as the urge to make bad decisions is so great.
My answers on Quora
How did Nazi Germany react to Japan's attack on Southeast Asia instead of the USSR?
It was not what Nazi Germany wanted. However from Japan’s perspective it made complete sense as the country is resource poor. South East Asian was too great a target. The Germans did declare war on the US very soon after Pearl Harbor with the hope (it is believed) of encouraging Japan to assist them in the USSR. However after Japanese setbacks in the fight against the Soviets at Khalkhin Gol (1939) and further struggles against China on the mainland such an approach was unlikely to come to fruition.
Why do wealthy individuals fund far left revolutionary causes?
I suspect that many of said individuals are either motivated by guilt and/or more importantly see themselves as buying dominance in the new ruling vanguard that will hold power should the revolution succeed.
Should Trump go after those lying sycophants in the press who oppose him?
No. They are doing well destroying their credibility on their own. Trump should focus rather on the issues that matter - border control, the economy and fixing the broken state apparatus that is urgent need of repair.
Written in 2015.
Every year Dina , the kids and myself embark on our long weekend camping venture. This past weekend represented this year’s instalment. Not being the greatest outdoorsman camping challenges me on many different levels. It is not so much the pure vacation aspect but the feat of moving outside my zone of comfort that I most appreciate. Watching the kids have fun (and they always do) is even more of a reward. Our site this year was the Bon Echo Park (located off Highway Seven going east from Toronto toward Kingston). Like most provincial parks in Southern Ontario it is well delineated, clean and densely populated with humid continental deciduous forest-like vegetation.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon (a bit later than expected courtesy of the traffic exiting the city) and set up shop as soon as possible. Our friends had reached the destination beforehand and assisted us with the tent assembly and site preparation.
Despite the user-friendly nature of the modern tent there are still one or two rods that are remarkably similar and have the tendency to torpedo a well thought out assembly strategy. Ever the theorist the lesson in practicality drawn from this experience is most humbling.
That night we barbecued the required Hamburgers (which I like) and Hot Dogs (which I don’t) as the kids took off with their respective friends – riding bikes, playing on the grounds and taking full advantage of what can only be described as leisure heaven (for them anyway).
Sunday was the day at the beach and boy did we enjoy ourselves. Seven hours or so in the water – canoeing, paddle boating, building sand castles and swimming. Armed with water pistols, the kids sprayed one another (and their father) during a frenzy period of activity uninterrupted by time’s stingy hand. I loved it and so did they. It reminded me of my fortunate childhood vacationing in Durban, Umhlanga Rocks, Cape Town, Muisenberg and George with not a care in the world. We celebrated the air, the water and the blissful feeling of freedom - a life with no worries. This is what I wanted for my own kids and right here on an isolated beach somewhere on Turtle Island they were enjoying the same experience.
The evening events took a bit of a turn for the worse as the storm that was threatening unleashed its torrent of rain that continued throughout the night. Out came the rain ponchos as we huddled under tarps hoping for an end to the onslaught that only came in the wee hours of the morning. However its moments like this that build strength (at least this is what I kept telling myself) and our team of campers held firm against an onslaught of lightning and thunder that at times seemed relentless. The tent leaked a bit but we managed to contain it and although our sleep was not restful we emerged the next morning bedraggled, unkempt and tired but with our spirits still up.
Onward to Monday and of course the clean-up. The kids enjoyed their last moments at the site and I pattered myself on the back knowing that I had once again overcome my own personal OCD demons around dirt and chaos. Despite the weather we had a great time and would do it again in a second for at the end we were together as a family. This is what matters. Dina and I couldn’t have asked for more.
