Blog Entries
What's going on on with China companies listed in the US?
21 March 2022 — Last year, July 2021, China's answer to Uber, DiDi Global, listed on the New York Stock Exchange . That IPO based 288 million American Depository Shares (ADS) at US$14 apiece gave DiDi a valuation of +/– US $73 billion and effectively put it in the same ballpark as their...
Lessons learned north of the Limpopo
20 March 2022 — I had a rare opportunity to spend three weeks in Harare, Zimbabwe between February and March. Here are some things I learned. Seasonal rainfall is huge concern for most Zimbabweans because almost every person I encountered is into farming. Relatively small patches of land...
God does not play dice ...
19 March 2022 — A high-school friend who is a singer / songwriter shared a new composition with our class group yesterday. It's a very catchy jingle with its core theme in the chorus: Is it one God or some religion That everybody needs Or do we shake those shackles off And use reason...
Now I know why it's called Zoom
18 March 2022 — Ever since the dreaded virus from the country which must not be named as the point of origin, online meetings have become a thing for even obscure corners of the world. For most of us, that means Zoom; because hardly anyone I know uses Microsoft Teams unless their company...
Tracking Russian Satellites
17 March 2022 — Multichoice has come under flack lately from keyboard warriors after Russia Today fell off the company's DSTV offering. “Sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union [EU] have led to the global distributor of the channel ceasing to provide the broadcast feed to all...
10 reasons why Taiwan is doomed
16 March 2022 — Let's talk about Taiwan and why I believe they are destined to go the route of Ukraine. These points are lifted from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission 2021 Annual Report to Congress. Let me quote selectively from 52 pages of Chapter 4. 1. Improvements...
Who pays the price for sanctions?
15 March 2022 — Three rainy seasons in a row have failed in the Horn of Africa and its surroundings. The next seasonal rains are supposed happen this month, and that hasn't pitched up yet. Chances are they will not. We can blame this on La Niña, a frequent complex weather pattern that...
The paradox of progress in the absence of human rights
14 March 2022 — Some years ago, I drove from Johannesburg to Lüderitz on the Namibian coast for a friend’s wedding. As I approached the town, the dysfunctional railway line which once linked Keetmanshoop to Bahnhof Lüderitz (as the Germans who built it in 1906 called it), frequently vanished...
Animals can sense weakness
13 March 2022 — Theodore Roosevelt is said to have said: “If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.” There's an abundance of wildlife video showing hyenas taking down lions. The hyenas attack the lion's testicles first. This causes the lion to sit down and then it'...
Best friends forever...
12 March 2022 — I attended a birthday party today; my mother's best friend turned 90 during the week. They have been friends for 75 years. And so, in honour of the occasion, here’s my mother's speech at her bestie's birthday: ஓம் Celebrating a birthday is a happy and memorable event in...
'I never knew...'
11 March 2022 — Two things of significance for me today: 1. Russia called an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council claiming that the United States was funding research to create biological weapons in Ukraine. 2. YouTube blocked access to the biggest Russian media...