According to a new report from NGO Monitor, a narrowly controlled group of NGOs exerts outsize influence on the activities of Western companies in Africa and the resulting dominance of China and Russia in critical mineral markets posing great risk to global supply chains and Western security interests. The NGO Monitor report says that the activism by these NGOs “has led to the capture of regulatory processes by a narrow group of like-minded and similarly funded NGOs; lack of transparency; and NGO dependency on donor funding, which can skew priorities toward external agendas rather than local needs.” The primary funders of these NGOs include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and a few others.
Routine transactions between suppliers and retailers are often the product of carefully negotiated agreements that address shifting margins based on sales, returns, and other factors, including disparate tariffs from one country—or one product—to another. To counter the potential negative impacts, including supply disruptions or tariff-driven changes to the supplier-retailer relationship, many companies are looking to amend their sourcing strategies. And to maintain their ability to meet delivery obligations, suppliers may need to evaluate risk baselines, renegotiate contracts to account for tariff-related cost increases, and engage in collaborative planning to address mutual challenges caused by tariffs.
Four years ago, when Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was Defense Minister under then-President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Indonesia created its first state-run investment fund, the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA). President Jokowi directed the INA to invest in priority sectors – transportation, logistics, healthcare, green energy, and the digital economy. Perhaps that is why President Prabowo decided to launch a true sovereign wealth fund to take charge of key state-owned enterprises. The Danantara Investment Management Agency intends to maximize dividends, increase investment opportunities, and attract global investors while seeking to assuage concerns over potential political interference.
The ongoing political seesaw that has severely impacted the U.S. seafood industry has Samoan and Hawaiian fisheries and Maine lobstermen cheering President Trump and environmental groups again gnashing their teeth. Samoan tuna ends up in cans, while Hawaiians supply fresh tuna and swordfish to much of America. An April 17th proclamation reopened the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to allow U.S.-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of its borders. It directs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to identify within 30 days the most heavily overregulated fisheries and to take action to reduce that burden. President Trump pledged to address other concerns of the Maine lobster industry within days.
California-based Ashanti Abdullah had been a highly successful hip-hop music promoter in the 1990’s – He helped jumpstart the careers of international touring acts like Manifest and Prof, then served as artist manager/publicist and sales and marketing manager for Rhymesayers Entertainment in the music mecca of Minneapolis. He gained insights into the complexities of tour management through his work with that city’s long-running Soundset Festival. Long before the COVID pandemic, Abdullah says he got an idea – one he brought to life a dozen years later. After 20 years managing artists, “I was just pulling out my hair using ‘Master Tour’ and having to create additional systems for every tour – reinventing the wheel, as it were – and one day I realized, ‘Man, there’s no tool for this. This is crazy.’ And the light bulb went off and I decided, ‘I’ve got to create this tool.’” And he did – but not until 2022.
The Iraq Watch Group says that judicial power in Iraq has increasingly been concentrated within the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Federal Supreme Court (FSC), with new laws granting unchecked control to SJC president Faiq Zaidan. Zaidan uses his power to serve personal interests and, often, those of the nation’s political elites — No case shows the depth of the politicization more than the ongoing, now 11-year battle between Kurdish-American businesswoman Sara Hamid Saleem Miran and the Iraqi judiciary — most notably, against Faiq Zidan and his minions. Not only was Saleem defrauded by her business partners – they had her kidnapped (until her miraculous escape) — and they continue to this day to use their political connections to seize her assets and demonize her.
Back on March 1, President Trump fired a double-barrel shotgun at the long-held preservationist U.S. mantra that for nearly a century has dealt heavy blows to American forests, forest animals, and the humans whose homes abut government forest lands. To “fix” our forests, PERC called for active forest management, including prescribed fires and mechanical thinning. Overlapping regulations, litigation, and inadequate funds for proper management have left our forests vulnerable. PERC’s solution is to reduce existing regulatory hurdles and find more creative funding approaches.
African Energy Chamber founder and executive director NJ Ayuk is tired of European and American green energy pontificators demanding that Africa forgo developing its oil, coal, natural gas, and even nuclear resources. Maybe that’s why Ayuk has led a delegation to Moscow to secure energy partnerships. An AEC press release notes that the visit aligns with its goal of attracting diverse energy investments to meet Africa’s energy needs and augments ongoing efforts to increase Russian involvement in the continent’s energy market. Devdiscourse says that Russia has been expanding its influence with African nations with a multifaceted approach that spans oil, gas, and nuclear energy sectors.
Buoyed by a big primary win and the endorsement of President Donald Trump, Florida’s longtime Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Jr., is very likely to win the upcoming special election to fill the Florida District 1 seat vacated by former Rep. Matt Gaetz.Odds are that, once he takes his seat in Congress, the seat notably held by one Barry Goldwater, Patronis will quickly make a significant impact in Washington.
George and Billy Pratt and Sam McCord found gold when they went “north to Alaska” “in the year of ’92.” As Johnny Horton reminded America in 1960, “They crossed the Yukon River and found the Bonanza gold” in the land of the Midnight Sun. Gold mining continues to be a significant source of income in Alaska, especially now that gold is selling at an all-time high – over $3,000 per ounce, up 35% since January 2024, thanks in part to a surge in central bank purchases of gold as a hedge against inflation. The value of gold produced in Alaska has jumped by over 60% in the past 14 months. But there’s another kind of gold in Seward’s Folly – “black gold, Texas tea,” the stuff that made Jed Clampett a Beverly Hillbilly. The first Alaskan oil well with commercial production was completed in 1902 – during the heyday of the gold rush – and that small oilfield led to construction of the first oil refinery in the Alaska Territory.
Voters last November rejected the grandiose plans of the Biden Administration to abandon gasoline- and diesel-powered engines, natural gas hot water heaters and other appliances, and coal- and gas-fired power plants. But who foresaw the total reversal of the anti-business regulatory climate of the past fifty years? So it should have been no surprise that Zeldin last week announced the EPA will undertake 31 “historic” actions to strip the EPA of unlawful and/or counterproductive regulatory power.
As Yunus’s local and international reputation grew (he describes that the first time he made a loan to local villagers, they “looked at me as if I was an angel from heaven”) he became an ideal ally for the Clintons’ foundation's work which sought to address issues like “economic opportunity and growth” for the world’s poor. And their support for Yunus did not end there. To add insult to injury, Yunus gave a public speech where he described Trump’s first win as an “eclipse” which brought on a depression. To Trump though, Yunus is known simply as “the microfinance guy from Dhaka” who “donated to see me lose”.
The REID Foundation is backing the Texas Ibogaine Initiative, which is seeking a $50 million allocation from state funds to establish a public-private partnership to fund Texas-based FDA-approved clinical trials along with a matching $50 million contribution from several family foundations and private industry. With broad support, including from Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), Texas state representative Cody Harris filed House Bill 3717 on March 4. This bill would authorize the sought-after funding for FDA-approved Ibogaine clinical trials in Texas.
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass recently suggested that “Satoshi Nakamoto” and Bitcoin itself might be creations of MSS, the Chinese intelligence service. Bass fears that “Satoshi” may have been created to potentially disrupt the economic dominance of the U.S. and undermine the value of the U.S. dollar globally.The presumption is that this anonymous programmer, skilled in cryptology, finance, and spycraft, solely created a $2 trillion currency and concealed his identity from the entire world – yet he has not touched his own crypto wealth in the past 14 years. Is Satoshi dead? Was he identified and held hostage by a powerful entity? Does it matter?
Fusion has been actively studied, researched, and attempted for eighty years – with countless sums spent on what many call “the Holy Grail” that could bring an end to energy poverty forever – assuming it would also bring an end to human conflict in the era of the hydrogen bomb and perhaps even more destructive technologies (or viruses). Genesis, however, tells of Babel, a very advanced early society that collapsed suddenly. That, too, could be our future, if we advance technology without addressing our common humanity.
In a rapidly changing world, the next generation of leadership is poised to redefine the trajectory of America’s economy. Chase Ergen, a key advocate of the Make America Wealthy Again movement, newly appointed Board-member of De-Fi Technologies and son of Charlie Ergen, Founder of the Dish Network, has an ambitious goal in this respect: to harness the power of young people, particularly those involved in the digital economy, to lead the country towards prosperity. The inspiration behind this movement stems from a belief that America's future lies not only in its traditional industries but also in the booming digital and tech spaces. With a vision rooted in the success of President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign, Ergen's Make America Wealthy Again Super PAC organization seeks to provide a new framework for economic growth driven by youthful innovation, business acumen, and cutting-edge technology.
As promised, President Donald Trump on Day One of his second term issued an executive order. Unleashing American Energy, that declared as U.S. policy an intention “to eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate’ and promote true consumer choice.” But shortly after the Trump EPA sent its waiver cancellation request to Congress for review, the Government Accountability Office announced that Congress has not authority to review the Biden waiver or to revoke it. The GAO has thus created a difficult dilemma for the Trump Administration and for the millions of Americans who find the mandate unconscionable.
When President Donald Trump hosted his much-anticipated press conference last week, he spoke about a variety of topics — from the crypto economy to come in the United States to the long-needed innovation required for economic national security. His words drew attention to the ongoing revolution in the financial world that has been quietly reshaping markets for years. As digital assets visionary Olivier Roussy Newton, the CEO and Chairman of BTQ Technologies, DeFi Technologies, and Co-Founder of Valour, says, President Trump has recognized that the future of finance will be decentralized.
Western attention to the misdeeds of Georgian strongman Bidzina Dze Ivanishvili was raised to a new level at close of last year, when the U.S. State Department formally addressed the founder of the Georgian Dream party for betraying his country’s constitution for personal benefit and the benefit of the Russian Federation. Ivanishvili was deemed complicit in aiding Russia’s occupation of more than a fifth of the nation he controls as the ruling party’s honorary chairman.
The ski resort towns of Aspen and Vail, Colorado, are home to some of America’s wealthiest people. The current average home price in Vail is about $1,750,000, but that pales in comparison with the $3.4 million average home value in Aspen, home to (Red) Mountain, which features properties in the $49 million range. The ski lodges and high-end restaurants that bring in even more of the world’s wealthiest people, however, are also the home of picturesque towns that are plagued with hidden hardships – notably, food insecurity.
n a 2012 interview with Daniela Cambone (then of Kitco News), Canadian investor and Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary explained his philosophy on owning gold as a portfolio stabilizer, an insurance policy that should be no more than 5% of one’s portfolio. Because managers of gold mining companies all too often are unable to control their costs, “If you want exposure in gold - buy the gold, not the miners.” When C3 Bullion co-founder and CEO Christopher Werner started conversations with Luciano Duque, now C3’s chief investment officer, they came up with a radically different plan that connects gold seeking investors with gold mining companies. Now C3 is on the verge of introducing its C3 Fund I, a revolutionary model that combines gold allocation with strong returns and recurring income.
The old saw, “Everything is bigger in Texas,” may soon be coming true once again, as the Nueces River Authority has revealed plans for a deepwater desalination plant off Harbor Island near Corpus Christi that would immediately become the nation’s largest – and with planned expansions by 2070, larger than all but two of the world’s existing desalination plants. John Byrum, Executive Director of the Nueces River Authority, says the NRA intends to use that same route for construction and operation of its planned 100 Mgpd phase 1 desalination plant (twice the size of the Carlsbad plant), which could become operational within the next few years. The system design includes options to increase capacity to 450 Mgpd by 2070, depending on growth and water needs.
Just last month, at the prestigious Harvard Asia Business Conference, Paragon announced that it is expanding into Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the United States, and Europe.In an exclusive interview held on the sidelines of the conference, Sari highlighted Paragon’s longstanding success in Indonesia with its replicable business model that focuses on sustainability, an inclusive approach to beauty, and a commitment to empowering local communities.She also shared details of the multi-phased global expansion plan, which includes establishing regional offices, forming local manufacturing partnerships, and implementing sustainability initiatives to cater to diverse beauty needs.
The U.S. remains the world leader in vacation rental expenditures (and thus income), with 85% of total revenues generated via online sales. The popularity of short-term rentals, however, does not extend to many local governments - Cities worldwide are enacting strict regulations that are reducing the supply of rentals in local markets at a time when demand is on the rise. Vacationers are frequently blamed for exacerbating housing shortages, inflating rents, and threatening hotel and motel jobs. While these restrictions have limited the supply of short-term rentals, they have not slowed the growing demand. With commercial properties the only real avenue for meeting that demand, local investor Ken Burrows, whose company 'Real Estate for America' has been in the vacation rental business for the past decade, is in the process of turning commercial properties into multi-room family vacation destinations.
Life in Iraq has hardly been heavenly for Kurdish engineer, foreign investor, and U.S. citizen Sara (Miran) Saleem, who is still dealing with the repercussions of a fraudulent scheme dating back to 2014 that left her held in captivity for 43 days. Saleem has just filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court against Faiq Zidan, the president of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, and several other senior government officials under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism and Torture Victims Protection Acts. The charges include “brutal acts of extortion, kidnapping, torture, and attempted murder.” Iraqis are preparing for parliamentary elections again this year. Saleem’s saga reveals that corruption, Iranian influence, and judicial arrogance are major obstacles to a freer, safer Iraq. Perhaps a final, appropriate resolution of her 11-year nightmare can be a catalyst to the peace that President Rashid wants dearly to be his nation’s reality.
The differences between the Biden-Modi and Trump-Modi agreements are striking, especially in the energy and technology areas. The October 2022 Biden-Modi bilateral agreement focused on facilitating increased energy investments to ensure sustainable, affordable, reliable, resilient, and cleaner energy systems. The Trump-Modi agreements, by contrast, focused on such matters as expanding trade and investment to make each nation’s citizens more prosperous, their nations stronger, their economies more innovative, and their supply chains more resilient – with a goal of over doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. While the Biden Administration’s outreach to India heavily focused on the European-led mandates for renewable energy and “clean” technology, the Trump outreach stretched across all sectors to focus on India’s immediate needs for affordable, reliable energy, increased trade and security, and turning tomorrow’s technologies into profit centers for both nations.
When New York Governor Kathy Hochul, whose state has banned natural gas pipelines because “climate change,” goes all in for nuclear energy, you know the revolution is under way. After decades of propaganda claiming that wind and solar (and, yes, geothermal) could provide sufficient, reliable, uninterrupted electricity for a nation of 330 million, the burgeoning demand for energy for data mining, artificial intelligence, and other power-hungry emerging technologies has brought a change of heart among many former opponents, even if their fears of radiation poisoning remain. While Tema EFT CIO Yuri Khodjamirian says that Trump Administration backing could spur a nuclear “renaissance,” developing the emerging nuclear technologies, he admits, is “going to take time.” And time gives nuclear’s enemies – and competitors -- opportunity. As Casey Crownhart wrote recently in Technology Review, “The next few years are crucial for next-generation nuclear technology.”
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp last week announced that his university has surpassed even the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now has the nation’s largest nuclear engineering research department. And just in time, because Sharp also announced that Texas A&M is offering land near its RELLIS Innovation and Technology campus, located on 2,400 acres in Bryan, Texas, to several nuclear reactor companies to build small modular reactors (SMRs). “Plain and simple,” said Sharp, a former State Comptroller and former member of the Texas Railroad Commission, “the United States needs more power. And nowhere in the country, other than Texas, is anyone willing to step up and build the power plants we need.”
On February 4, Sacks and key members of Congress at a press conference outlined a timetable for creating a new regulatory framework for U.S. digital assets and their issuers. The first step, said Trump crypto czar David Sacks, was to create a bicameral working group to advance crypto legislation within the next 100 days. Sacks was joined at the press conference by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson. In laying out a broad crypto-friendly agenda, Sacks pledged to work diligently to create "a golden age in digital assets."
Whether or not one believes that an all-electric society, aided by wind and solar (and electric shock treatment at the cash register) were environmental positives, the Biden Administration’s environmental record is incomplete without an accounting of a few other actions (and inactions). Joe Biden literally invited President Putin to undertake a “minor incursion” into Ukraine, a country that had provided millions for his family, though Putin may claim NATO aggression as his casus belli. Biden’s financial support for Iran and its surrogates likely emboldened Hamas. Many have said both conflicts could have been prevented through better diplomacy. No one sat any belligerents down to discuss the damage to the planet (and to the dreams of “net zero”) from an ongoing military conflict – damage that impacts people far away from the battlefields. Similarly, neither California nor federal officials placed sufficient concern about the environmental damage (and liability) for the recent massive fires.
he announcement of the inaugural African Mining Week (AMW 2025), to be celebrated in Cape Town alongside Africa Energy Week (AEW 2025) in early October, is a clear signal that Africans are exercising new muscle toward regaining control of the continent’s vast mineral resources.The event, sponsored by the Africa-focused global investment platform Energy Capital & Power, will highlight initiatives aimed at enhancing Africa’s mineral value chains and promoting local processing to drive economic growth. Formerly called the Critical Minerals Africa conference, the rebranding reflects the integrated opportunities across the continent’s energy and mining sectors and aims to drive a culture of collaboration among those strategic sectors.
In late November of last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York indicted Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, founder of one of India’s biggest companies, on securities and wire fraud charges concerning the sale of certain bonds. The alleged “fraud” was related to the failure to disclose an alleged scheme to bribe regional government officials in India—a scheme that has virtually nothing to do with the United States. There are no victims of the alleged fraud. All investors have been fully paid on their investments to date.In addition to potential damage to Adani and the Adani Group, the 11th-hour indictment harms relations between the U.S. and India at a time when the U.S. needs India as a counterbalance to China. It sends exactly the wrong signal to the international companies that invest billions of dollars in the U.S. and employ tens of thousands of Americans. It also has the potential to cripple the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s global reserve currency. The indictment has the hallmarks of “lawfare” – a case that is brought against an individual or entity that is meant to intimidate or hinder.
Donald Trump first signaled he would be a pro-crypto President with his rousing speech before the annual Bitcoin Conference in Nashville last July, at which he likened the crypto-verse to "the steel industry of 100 years ago." On January 22, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at securing "America's position as the world's leader in the digital asset economy." The order prohibits agencies from establishing, issuing, or promoting central bank digital currencies and directs other federal agencies and departments to provide recommendations about digital asset regulations that should be rescinded or modified.
As of 2023, nearly one-quarter of the world’s nuclear reactors generating electricity were in the United States, which also boasts over a quarter of worldwide generation capacity and over 30% of actual nuclear electricity generation. But the average age of the 92 U.S. operational nuclear reactors, the world’s third oldest fleet, was 41.6 years. The Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia are the only new U.S. reactors in the past 40 years. Meanwhile, China has been increasing its nuclear reactor fleet from 55 to 80, with more in the planning stages. India, too, is adding 11 new reactors to its existing fleet of 23. France, Russia, and South Korea are building more new reactors than the U.S., as are several smaller nations. But U.S. nuclear energy development is hamstrung by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s archaic rules that slow permitting and drive up development costs.
A recent assassination attempt in Uzbekistan has vaulted the small Central Asian nation into the headlines, putting in motion a widening series of events that may set back the former Soviet republic’s hard-won democratic reforms, threaten regional stability, and bring the matter to the attention of President-elect Donald Trump. Why? Because while some other governments in Central Asia have remained totalitarian, and even some European countries are moving away from liberal democracy, Uzbekistan remains committed to creating a free and transparent government.
To Biden-Harris, “securing a sustainable domestic supply of critical minerals” meant “environmentally and socially responsible mining and processing projects and other sustainable sources recycling and recovery from unconventional sources,” with the highest priority (after special interest objections) being recycling and reuse – not actual mining. But the kicker was the final recommendation. Biden-Harris focused not on aiding miners, but rather on “building civil service expertise” to increase bureaucratic control over the industry.
Chase Ergen grew up watching his father, Charlie, build EchoStar and Dish Network into household names, and along the way, he learned much about how communications have changed with developments in technology.The still-young entrepreneur has vowed to put his experience and resources to good use as both a pioneer and a champion of other pioneers in web3, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), all of which are enabling decentralized finance.A visionary in his own right, Ergen says that decentralized finance is the future, and he has worked long and hard to position himself at the forefront of what has become a revolutionary movement in entrepreneurship in the 21st Century.
There are a plethora of new automobile engines their creators hope will capture the commercial marketplace in the near future. The engines are designed to run on methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, nitrogen, and (surprise?) lithium. Another company has a motor shaped like a donut that operates inside the wheels. This sampling barely scratches the surface of emerging automotive technology worldwide – but all of these reports were issued within a two-week period at the end of 2024. Innovation and free markets, not government mandates, continue to drive the future of transportation.
As Donald Trump prepares to resume his role as U.S. President in January, perhaps the most important work under his auspices will be that of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Americans are waiting with bated breath for audits of the Department of Defense, which just failed its seventh straight audit, and other federal agencies. One example of wasteful federal spending under the IRA was a $3 billion supplemental appropriation to Oshkosh Defense to finalize the design and assemble 50,000 of the U.S. Post Office’s Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs).
Despite President-elect Trump’s promise to make the United States the “world capital of crypto,” Gary Gensler, the notoriously anti-crypto, and thankfully outgoing, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is seemingly doubling down on his anti-crypto crusade. With Gensler indeed leaving in January, the future of the SEC’s case against Unicoin, and its larger fight against cryptocurrencies, is, at worst, uncertain, given that many of Gensler’s true believers will still be working at the Commission. But there is hope that Atkins will oversee the writing of a new regulatory framework for crypto that encourages innovation.
As Donald Trump returns to the White House, his nomination of Christopher Wright to serve as Secretary of Energy points to a major effort to revive domestic uranium mining. That’s especially good news, given the Biden Administration’s recent decision to discontinue importing uranium from Russia.
In a recent article in The Engineer, Jim Pickles, Tokamak Energy’s chief of material, predicted that artificial intelligence will soon enable the creation of a new materials database that will save millions of dollars and cut years off the global quest for clean, secure, and affordable fusion energy – the Holy Grail of energy production that could mean an endless supply of free energy to power the planet.That, says Pickles, was the message at the 29th Council of the Parties (COP29) in Azerbaijan. The world, we are told, is so much closer to replicating the energy of the Sun itself – and in the process meet rapidly growing demand for affordable energy and also mitigate climate change. For over a century, scientists have predicted that “Fusion is 30 years away from reality.” OpenStar now claims fusion is just six years away, “and we’re racing against the clock.” But Popular Mechanics writer Caroline Delbert is not that confident. Delbert says that the “strange dynamic” within proprietary and venture-funded fusion research, with its predictions of free energy tomorrow, is belied by one simple truth: “After 100 years of thought and 70 years of hands-on design work, how to heat the plasma enough is still a ‘core hurdle’.”
As Project Healing Waters enters its twentieth year, current CEO John Langford is confident, based on two decades of anecdotal evidence, that fly fishing has been a powerful tool in helping disabled veterans heal from PTSD. But now, thanks to a partnership with the digital therapeutics company MindStreet, Project Healing Waters may soon be able to provide scientific evidence of just how the organization benefits veterans. MindStreet and Project Healing Waters teams are confident that data-driven evidence will support what they've always known, and what our Veterans are telling us. “Embracing the majesty of America's outdoors and reestablishing community and camaraderie in the process, through the sport and art of fly fishing, produces impactful, lasting results - a model replicable the country over.”
Whatever happened to the old bit of business wisdom: The customer is always right? U.S. and European automakers abandoned this mantra to please unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, New York, and Doha and the sycophants who rose to political power by championing their prophecies of doom. They may now be regretting that “gung-ho” accession to the marching orders of the climate commandos. Today, the sign of doom in the auto industry is lots full of unsold battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) that customers have said for years they do not trust with their lives and fortunes. Admittedly, the post-COVID inflationary spiral that has led to soaring interest rates has not helped the auto industry, but far too many of their woes are self-inflicted. Meanwhile, the Chinese are smiling, knowing they hold four aces in their hands.
One of Donald Trump’s main campaign themes was ending the federal electric vehicle mandate, which he calls a China-first policy that taxes the electric grid, subsidizes force labor, and destroys American jobs. This means rescinding Biden Administration subsidies and mandates – but what else will he be able to do? Four principles will likely guide the Trump Administration’s actions on the auto industry in the next several months: (a) tariffs to protect domestic auto industry jobs, (b) fighting against mandates that tilt the playing field toward an EV technology that is both widely unpopular especially for load-carrying vehicles, (c) lowering the overall cost of owning reliable transportation for American consumers, and (d) consumer choice, not government mandates, must drive the auto and truck marketplace.
ndonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has begun his first world travel since taking office on October 20. After an initial visit to China to meet with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials, the 73-year-old Prabowo has scheduled a meeting in Washington with President Biden. An aide to President Subianto has confirmed that a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump is also on the table. Such a meeting between the leaders of two of the world’s largest democracies has the potential for both elderly statesmen to improve their international profiles.
In selecting Dr. Donna Hodge as Fitchburg State University’s twelfth and first female president, the 130-year-old Massachusetts institution has concurrently set out on a course to become a federally certified Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and take bold new steps in community engagement. During Hispanic Heritage Month, Hodge has taken the opportunity to label Fitchburg State an emerging HSI.Hodge is deeply committed to creating opportunities and solutions for underrepresented communities. Her exceptional record when previously serving at Colorado State University Pueblo was notably recognized by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), which honored her with the 2021 Excellence and Innovation Award.
According to a recent Stanford University study, the plant-based psychoactive drug Ibogaine, when combined with magnesium to protect the heart, safely and effectively reduces post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression by over 80% and improves functioning and well-being in veterans with traumatic brain injuries -- Ibogaine is also effective in combating opioid addiction. Ibogaine's one-off treatment with its short period of therapy is the drug's greatest advantage in treating PTSD, opioid (and alcohol) addiction, and even brain injuries; its treatment modality is in contrast to the pharmaceutical industry's "business model," which is to develop maintenance therapies that are needed for an entire lifetime. Despite its high success rate, getting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift the Schedule 1 prohibitions will not be easy .
The G7 virtue signaling came in the wake of the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit in December 2023 and a UN warning that “excuses” for failing to take bold action on climate change were “not acceptable.” What ought to be “not acceptable” is the fact that, except for a few Caribbean islands, European nations already have the world’s highest electricity costs. The UN counts as members both China and India, which together consume nearly 70% of the world’s coal production. Neither is a member of the G7. Nor does the “bold” G7 commitment explain how their self-imposed coal ban – which they want to impose on poor African nations – even matters.
Systems often fail because of a lack of maintenance, and maintenance budgets are frequently robbed to finance pet projects. The electric grid is no longer being ignored, but another major segment of America’s infrastructure needs a closer look. According to a 2023 article in Nature, much of the U.S. water infrastructure was first installed in the late Victorian period when the influx of workers to cities fostered an enormous housing boom. These systems are now well over 100 years old, and some piping is closer to 150 years old. Even much of the infrastructure installed in the 20th century is also well past its design life.
The beautiful city of Cape Town in South Africa just hosted Africa Oil Week, which the British-based Hyve Group called “a step towards addressing the immediate energy needs of the continent while embracing the acceleration of the clean energy transition.” The 30-year-old event largely presents the European perspective on the growth of Africa’s energy sector.But during the first week in November, as Americans are voting for a new President, Cape Town will be hosting the fourth annual Africa Energy Week, sponsored by the African Energy Chamber. Its very different mission, as stated by AEC founder and executive chairman NY Ayuk, is to make African energy poverty history by 2030.
A July survey by the Fusion Industry Association reported that among 45 private fusion companies worldwide, 25 were headquartered in the United States. Perhaps the biggest news on the U.S. fusion front is emerging from three of these firms that were spun out of the University of Wisconsin at Madison – Realta Fusion, Type One Energy, and SHINE Technologies. Realta’s Furlong says, “What Detroit was for the global automobile industry in the 1950s, what Houston is today in the global oil and gas sector … I can see Wisconsin being the global hub for the fusion industry in the 21st Century.”
Heretofore little-known Abilene Christian University (ACU), located in west Texas, made history on September 16 when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued its Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory (NEXT Lab) a construction permit for the deployment of the Natura Resources MSR-1 system’s liquid-fueled advanced nuclear research reactor. ACU president Phil Schubert said that issuance of the construction permit moves the university “one step closer to making that a reality. The performance-driven approach of Natura Resources to advanced reactor deployment has quickly moved them from a relative unknown to a leader in the upstart advanced reactor industry.” Should ACU and Natura obtain an operating license, it would be Texas’ first new nuclear reactor since the Comanche Peak power plant’s second unit was licensed to operate in 1993. The NEXT Lab reactor is being designed to generate enough energy to power the equivalent of only about 250 homes. Its goal is to create a testing ground for scaling up molten salt reactors to larger, utility-scale units.
Fourteen years after starting Oncoclínicas&Co, Dr. Bruno Ferrari has built one of the largest and most respected medical groups in Latin America, one that specializes in oncology, hematology, radiotherapy, and genomics.Now, Oncoclínicas&Co is expanding its operations into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) through a joint venture with the Advanced Drug Company for Pharmaceuticals, a part of the Al Faisaliah Group, one of the KSA’s largest conglomerates.HRH Prince Mohammed K.A. Al Faisal, President of Al Faisaliah Group and future chairman of the joint venture, was ebullient about the new relationship. “We are joining forces to improve cancer care. Our aim is to become the top private cancer treatment center for a region of over 300 million people. We will offer advanced treatments and expert care to save lives and raise the bar in cancer treatment,” he stated.
With world energy needs expected to double in the next decades, and with many banana-producing nations woefully short in electricity availability, these developments in bananas to energy may soon become a rapidly growing industry. At the virtual outset of bananas to energy research (the 2010 Malaysian study), scientists admitted there were “issues” involved in recovering the feedstock, storage problems, and financial and technical challenges to be solved before banana crop residue could provide a major source of energy for energy-starved nations. The latest research suggests that many of these hurdles are being overcome, but until banana waste to energy can be proven to be a cost-effective alternative to other renewables or even to abundant fossil fuels, most of that waste will continue to pile up.
When Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo is sworn in as Indonesia’s eighth president, the southeast Asian archipelago nation, with the world’s fourth largest population, stands ready to expand its role on the world stage. This leadership strategy is part of a plan to accomplish his primary goals: food security, a modern economy, and a strong military.
Former California state senate majority leader Gloria Romero has abandoned the Democratic Party over its neo-Puritanical crackdown on gas appliances, gas stoves in particular. The last straw for this Latina was one we Texans fully understand.“I for example think we are going to solve nothing by banning gas stoves,” Romero told NBC News 4 San Antonio. “As a Latina, I will not give up my gas stove because you cannot toast a tortilla on an electric range.” Could it be that the voting public is awakening to the counsel of American Gas Association president and CEO Karen Harbert – “Any push to ban natural gas would raise costs to consumers, jeopardize environmental progress, and deny affordable energy to underserved populations.” The 70% majority who believe natural gas is just fine may finally have had enough.
On September 3, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the city of Oak Ridge, birthplace of the U.S. nuclear energy industry, announced new details about “Project IKE,” a new nuclear energy development boosted by the new Tennessee Nuclear Energy Fund. Paris-based Orano USA has agreed to build a uranium enrichment centrifuge facility on the Roane County side of Oak Ridge. The project, said Lee, is the single largest investment in Tennessee history. In the words of Oak Ridge city council member Sean Gleason, “East Tennessee is becoming once again, after 80-plus years, the place the nation is looking for to lead the next nuclear race. Let Oak Ridge win another race,” he added. “We’ve done it before.”
As America’s “greenest” President (Joe Biden) fades into the sunset, one is reminded of the 1990 Tom Hanks blockbuster Joe Versus the Volcano. Our salvation may be near.In the movie, Joe Banks (Hanks) is told by a doctor he is dying. He is then duped by an unscrupulous billionaire into throwing himself into a volcano. The billionaire (and crony of the lying doctor) needs a sucker to appease the gods of the native Pacific islanders who control access to a mineral essential for manufacturing superconductors.Greta Thunberg, literally the poster child for self-sacrifice “for the sake of the planet,” has likewise been duped by unscrupulous billionaires into throwing her life away, convinced (as is the case with countless other youth) that she really has nothing else left to live for. Greta lovers worldwide have sworn off adulthood, including bearing children, because “who would want to bring children into a dying world?”
Prabowo Subianto’s career in service to Indonesia and its people spans decades. He has served his country as one of Indonesia’s most distinguished military officers across senior political positions. From his years as a member of Indonesia’s Kopassus special forces, through his ascent through the ranks of the armed forces, Prabowo earned a reputation as a maverick with a talent for novel approaches to problem-solving. But what made Prabowo stand out in the latest presidential election, is that throughout his career he has always been a man of the people.
Two months into his Presidency, Joe Biden announced a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that included $174 billion in grants, subsidies, and other payouts to encourage Americans to switch to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). Since that initial “investment,” billions and billions more have been poured into what is increasingly a failing effort to convince or cajole auto buyers to switch. These huge expenditures, together with COVID and war monies, have ballooned the national debt to the point that 76% of income taxes are needed just to pay interest on that debt. Many fear that profligate spending has the nation’s economy on the verge of collapse. The fault lies with the very concept that Government Knows Best
Perhaps inspired by harsh realities that the 125-year-old electric vehicle technology (while much updated since its early days) even today has been unable to resolve nagging problems, automotive engineers on four continents are designing, and companies are manufacturing, vehicles that may soon turn the battery-electric vehicle into a 21st Century Edsel.Many of these new engine designs will generate zero carbon dioxide emissions, but others will not. None of these vehicles meet the EU’s definition, and all of them appear to fall outside the Biden Administration’s plans, which are wholly keyed to battery-electric vehicles.
Former CoinDesk senior research analyst George Kaloudis noted that “crypto is standing in as a feather in the cap for the individual freedom talking point GOP voters love, to the point where Trump has completely backtracked on his anti-crypto rhetoric of just a few years ago". One reason, he suggested, is that “there are enough single-issue crypto voters out there to make a difference.” The choice facing the Democratic Party as its own nominating convention draws near is even more important for the party’s public face on an issue that may for now directly impact only a small fraction of the electorate but whose advocates represent a sizable block of single-issue voters.
During a high-profile conversation with moderator Peter Bryant at the recent RealClearEnergy Future Forum, Gill Pratt, chief scientist at Toyota, said that his company’s philosophy focuses first on quality of life. From that perspective, he added, the automotive future must be a multi-pathway that respects human diversity and the diversity of uses for motorized vehicles (check the video above to see the Pratt section).Toyota, he said, recognizes the difference between decarbonization – which is the goal – and electrification, which is one means of reaching that goal. Toyota therefore is building hybrids, electric vehicles (EVs), and internal combustion engines that use hydrogen rather than gasoline or diesel as a fuel. In the developing world where electricity is in short supply, he added, the best choice may be low-carbon liquid fuels.
Many forward-thinking investors today seek to incorporate real or philosophical elements of the crypto thesis into the securities issuance and trading environment - such as the instantaneous settlement of trades, relative independence of middlemen, lower transaction costs, transparency, automation, and portability of asset ownership, including the ability to hold assets in a personal wallet, and have interactivity/utility of instruments - to ultimately be independent of institutions. Setting aside that, with increasing AML and other regulations, much of this is not really available in the crypto markets today, anyway; the securities ecosystem requires a particular focus on marrying legacy concepts and processes, with the promise of technology.
“Bad Boys” Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling, both formerly of the Minnesota-based Center for the American Experiment, just posted an article contending that, in the long run, nuclear energy is cheaper (and better) than wind or solar (though not as cheap as coal or natural gas) despite high up-front capital costs.One obvious reason is that wind turbines and solar arrays have much shorter lifespans than nuclear facilities, which are initially commissioned for 40 years and can apply for 20-year extensions thereafter; many today anticipate an 80-year lifespan. They also require one-thirtieth of the land needed for solar; wind farms would require 200 times more land. The U.S. has done it for the Navy – nuclear carriers and submarines are very expensive upfront but pay for themselves over time. Nuclear is the only “clean” pathway (and far easier on living beings than wind or solar) to a clean energy future that can power an AI-friendly society. And it leaves Joshua trees, eagles, whales, bats, and ordinary farm, forest, and prairie animals and plants alone – people, too.
The average American household without an in-home EV charging station consumes about 30 kWh per day, or about 10,720 kWh over a year’s time. With just one electric vehicle being charged at home, that total increases to about 15,220 kWh. For two-EV households, that total runs up to nearly 20,000 kWh per year (assuming both drivers commute to work). That’s nearly double current electricity usage for such families.Without an EV in the garage, air conditioning uses nearly a fifth of household electricity, followed by space heating and water heating (a combined 25%). But adding just one home-charged EV changes that calculus dramatically. The EV takes up about 30% ot the much higher total electricity use, dropping the share for all other uses significantly. Two home-charged EVs would eat up nearly half the household’s total electricity usage – and require thousands of dollars to upgrade the house’s electric panel. Today’s 50-kva transformers, which cost about $8,000 each, can power about 60 homes; that number drops closer to 40 if each of those homes houses one electric vehicle, closer to 30 with two EVs using home chargers.For a city with 120,000 homes, which today may re
Six years ago, the World Economic Forum reported that insects are “good grub,” citing a Meticulous Research study predicting that the global market for edible insects could grow to $1.18 billion by 2023 – triple the 2018 level. Eating insects is ever better for the environment than eating plants, said the WEF, because plants require land and machinery use, water use, manufacturing, processing, and transportation – among other activities during which carbon is emitted. Are we ready as a society to conclude that eating insects is a grotesque form of cannibalism? Should we now condemn Bill Gates, the FAO, the WEF, and other insect-as-food promoters are monsters assaulting yet another group of “sentient beings”?
Investigative journalist, or rather, anti-highway activist Megan Kimble’s City Limits, is a very passionate tome built on the thesis that the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 is the primary reason that communities of color today face insurmountable challenges. She has a point, as there is plenty of evidence that freeway planners tended to choose routes that disrupted cities’ poorest neighborhoods. Her preferred solution is to tear down every urban Interstate highway in the U.S. Kimble has a lot to say about what constitutes the “good life” in urban areas. Walking to parks, stores, restaurants, and neighbors’ homes builds a community culture lacking across much of America today – as much in suburbia as in broken-down inner cities.But guilt-tripping suburban commuters as beneficiaries of past racist decisions does not build the coalitions needed to transform the American landscape away from the government-created isolation that the pandemic only made more evident.
Former stockbroker, merchant banker, and gold exploration company CEO Christopher Werner spent two decades in the gold mining industry. He learned along the way that predominantly, far too many smaller mining companies run out of money before they can bring their gold to market.Werner, now chairman and CEO of C3 Bullion, decided to create a precious metals hedge fund to provide short-term funding for mining companies entering the production stage that needed a new influx of capital to begin to cash in on their already long-term investment.
Spearheaded by E. Calvin Beisner, who in 1999 composed The Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship and six years later founded the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, Climate and Energy: The Case for Realism provides a blueprint for changing the hearts and minds of an emerging generation that has been heavily indoctrinated in the belief that planet Earth is “dying” because humanity has sinned by using fossil fuels to escape the drudgery of worldwide poverty. Beisner and his co-editor, renowned climatologist David Legates, contribute their own chapters and solicited chapters from nine climate scientists, two environmental and energy economists, and two energy scientists/engineers. All the chapters have copious references, and Legates also provides a list of 44 climate change papers dating back to Arrhenius’ 1896 paper that first described the so-called “greenhouse effect.”
Since Barry DiRaimondo launched SteelWave, the company has acquired, designed, developed, entitled, or managed over 61 million square feet of industrial product and over 51 million square feet of office product.It has also has eight million square feet of life science research and development facilities — at a combined cost nearing $18 billion. To address the changing nature of the real estate investment market in 2024, Barry entered into brainstorming sessions with his son, cryptocurrency pioneer Mitch DiRaimondo.The younger DiRaimondo had recognized that commercial real estate could be used to back digital investments and bridge tangible assets with real cash flow into the digital 3.0 ecosystem.This epiphany led SteelWave to start up SteelWave Digital, through which global investors have the option to convert their traditional ownership positions in America high-end real estate into digital securities that can be traded on an exchange.
El Paso, the gateway to America, has long served as a critical juncture between the U.S. and Mexico, evolving from the "six-shooter capital" of lore into a pivotal hub for international trade and economic development. Today, the El Paso-Juarez metroplex boasts a bustling economy with a strong binational character yet finds itself hindered by national border policies and the overwhelming media attention they attract. This September, the Chamber will host the State of the Borderland event, spotlighting the economic dynamism of the Borderplex region. It's a call to the national media and policymakers to observe firsthand not just the challenges we face but more importantly, the opportunities and progress defining our community
Guterres in the same year went all the way to Beijing to “urge” China to stop funding coal projects, because (OMG!) the Paris climate agreement goals will slip out of reach without China’s cooperation. There, too, he begged the “economic superpower” to genuflect, whispering that “the way in which China restores growth will have a major impact on whether we can keep 1.5C within reach” in the post-pandemic world (spoken at the height of the pandemic!).Was President Xi so flattered by the former Prime Minister of Portugal that he immediately stopped all future plans for new coal-fired power plants in China?
The U.S. under President Biden has committed so heavily to a low-carbon economy that the administration has halted export applications for liquefied natural gas, canceled oil and gas leases, added new EPA regulations to hasten the demise of the U.S. coal industry, and much more.While there has been a lot of lip service to reviving the declining U.S. nuclear industry, and many nuclear companies are champing at the bit to get started, the regulatory bottleneck and the attendant high costs and long lead times still stand in the way of progress.
When President Joe Biden and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis met at the White House last week, the praise for Romania's commitment to NATO and the protection of Europe reaffirmed the country's role as a cornerstone of Western defense against the threats posed by Russian aggression in Ukraine. The need to advance the legitimate interests of the critical U.S. ally may now be more important than ever. The importance of giving Romania the freedom of travel it has earned and clearly deserves goes far beyond its own borders. Ukraine's future may depend on its continued ability to send its grain freely throughout Europe and to destinations beyond the continent's borders.
Back in February, CBS News reported that food prices had continued to rise faster than the rise in the overall Consumer Price Index. Restaurant prices were increasing at an annual rate of 5.1 percent, while grocery prices were up 1.2 percent. But the real story is that supermarket prices are 25 percent higher now than in January 2020, while inflation had increased by 19 percent. So what’s the solution for the planet? Fewer people mean fewer crops, fewer livestock, and of course fewer “gas guzzling” motor vehicles, fewer buildings, fewer everything.
Three decades ago, a little-known automotive engineer named Stanley Meyer obtained patents for what he called an electric water fuel cell that allegedly divided water (including tap water and salt water) into hydrogen and oxygen using a process he said was far simpler than electrolysis. Ecoticias reported last September that the Austrian automotive engineering company AVL had developed an “innovative [400-horsepower] hydrogen combustion engine” that runs on hydrogen fuel while providing performance comparable to traditional ICE vehicles. Hyundai, Kia, and the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) also introduced a new engine design that combusts hydrogen directly – also without the need for fuel cells. Whether or not hydrogen fuel cells, direct hydrogen injection, or even this “water-based” engine) can ever compete with either EVs or ICE vehicles remains to be seen.
Prabowo is urging a ceasefire in Gaza today, for the same reasons he has urged a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for nearly a year. These wars must stop, "because innocent civilians are paying with their lives; because lives and livelihoods are being destroyed; because wars of this magnitude impact not just the countries and people involved but can spread and engulf entire regions and continents."But Prabowo went further, and in this there can be hope."As a Muslim, as an Indonesian," he said, "I believe in peace and coexistence, in moderation and harmony."These values are in the DNA of our nation and our people. And to us, they are just as relevant when those suffering are Europeans as they are when the victims are Asians or Africans, when they are Christian, Muslim, or Jewish."
Much has been written about the downsides of offshore and onshore wind turbines, from noise pollution to the major problem of disposing of used turbine blades. But nothing has shaken the determination of the Biden Administration – and the wind industry – to continue to subsidize and fast-track their permitting despite rising opposition. One might ask why. Odd, is it not, that the same administration that has blocked multiple onshore mining permits, revoked oil and gas leases, and demanded protection for not-so-endangered species is so bent on wind energy projects that it is willing for the right whale to join the passenger pigeon in extinction?With neither profit nor environmental protection as legitimate rationales, one has to wonder about the true motives for pushing offshore wind.
n the world of high-stakes investment, the debacle involving Tomales Bay Capital (TBC), under the helm of Iqbaljit Kahlon, and its ill-fated SpaceX investment deal with Shanghai-based Leo Group, represents more than just a missed opportunity -- it's a clarion call for a reevaluation of ethical investing and the need for transparency within the venture capital sphere. As the legal confrontation with Leo Group unfolds, revealing potential stonewalling tactics and a lack of transparency from TBC, the spotlight on the Tomales Bay Capital Global Growth Fund I amplifies critical questions about ethical investment management practices.This situation not only underscores the importance of adhering to established fiduciary standards but also serves as a pivotal moment for introspection and reform within the venture capital industry -- to prioritize investor protection and foster trust in an increasingly complex and globalized investment landscape.
Today, thanks to the Netflix release of a 2022 movie based on Stephen Camelio’s screenplay, “Mending the Line,” America is learning that fly fishing can play an important role in the physical and emotional healing of disabled veterans – true social change.Upon its streaming release last month, “Mending the Line” was Netflix’ most watched movie. It has also become a major recruiting tool for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc. (PHW), which helps disabled veterans cope with physical and emotional damage and builds camaraderie many had lost when they left the military.Retired Navy Captain Ed Nicholson had no idea that the idea he birthed while recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2005 would grow to serve 65,000 veterans just since 2012, including women vets who have just formed a PHW offshoot called Women on the Fly.
While nuclear energy has accounted for about 20% of the electricity generated in the U.S., and in 2023 supplied nearly half the nation’s carbon-free electricity, a new report from the Government Accountability Office says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must more fully consider possible impacts of climate change on the nation’s mostly aging nuclear power plants. Dichotomous messages from the DOE and NRC are highlighted in a recent article by ThorCon International co-founder Robert Hargraves, who bluntly stated that the U.S. is not building commercial nuclear power plants – while 16 other nations are – “because NRC and EPA regulators are so misinformed about radiation.”
The energy-poor nation of Ethiopia has just become the first in the world to ban the import of all non-electric automobiles. This despite the fact that barely half of Ethiopian citizens have any access to electricity. Other sources say that number may be as low as 30 percent. And wouldn’t you know it? Clean Technica reports that the primary beneficiaries of these changes are Chinese automakers! Made-in-China new and low-mileage used vehicles are “selling quite well” in Addis Ababa, though there are also Toyotas and other models. Who, though, is buying and driving these low-cost (but not by Ethiopian standards) Chinese EVs? Not very many Ethiopians, for whom even a $25,000 EV costs 20 times the GDP per capita. The much more likely suspects are the 30,000 Chinese who run much of the nation. Curiously, there are almost no public charging stations, suggesting that EV owners charge their vehicles in private, secure garages.
Remember the American love for the open road? That paean to American freedom built on the automobile, but made possible by highways that also enabled trucks to deliver goods to just about any location quickly and safely? And then came the Progressives to spoil all the fun.First, they hopped on the “climate emergency” bandwagon to justify massive subsidies for “clean” vehicles to “save the planet,” emphasizing no tailpipe emissions while ignoring the darker realities of cobalt and lithium mining, Chinese labor camps, or the cost of an entirely new infrastructure the private sector was not about to underwrite. ansportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, announcing the new rules, boasted that, “We estimate that today’s rule will prevent 5.5 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide from going into our atmosphere between now and 2050.” Citing the tougher mileage standards, Papa Pete also claimed that the new rules will "save a typical American household hundreds of dollars.”
In the Foreword to Magatte Wade’s book, The Heart of a Cheetah, the late Ghanaian economist George Ayittey wrote that the hope for a prosperous African future requires that young Africans take the “Cheetah pledge” – to seek their wealth in the private sector, shunning government service.After decades of frustration despite creating successful African-based businesses, Wade has learned that African Cheetahs must overcome the world’s most laborious and most corrupt regulatory bureaucracies. In far too many African nations, those in power benefit from the status quo, as it gives them near-total authority to decide who can make a profit, usually for a price.
When long-time friends Kelvin “PJKev” Mensah and Aaron Wilson decided to turn their love for private jet travel into a new business, they had already established what was once described as a "stellar track record as entrepreneurs working with premiere startup organizations and influencers". Wilson and Mensah, who in early 2020 co-authored the widely praised 'How To Get Funding for Your Startup', around the same time launched Approved Jets, which began as a private aviation brokerage but has since morphed into a one-stop luxury travel booking destination. The dynamic duo generated first-year revenues in the millions of dollars – and both today believe they have just gotten started.
Here’s an unspoken truth. While it is true that governments have subsidized the rich who buy electric vehicles, heat pumps, solar panels, wind turbines, and other products, their motives are far from the altruistic myth they spread across even kindergarten classrooms. They are rubbing our faces in the mud, saying, “Gimme your lunch money, or you will be sorry!” And they are not ashamed, even when their pet policies create great harm to their “subjects.” The massive wealth transfers to largely unregulated tech giants, the Big Three hedge funds (Black Rock, State Street, and Vanguard), and well-protected Big Pharma reveal just how much influence government has today over who wins and loses — and how the rich skew the game to their own advantage. At the same time, leaders have brought the entire world to the brink of nuclear war. A reckoning is coming.
As is the case for the United States and many other nations, 2024 is a presidential election year in Ghana, a nation whose 1992 constitution is in large part based on the British and U.S. constitution models, notably in guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms.But Ghanaians, many of whom are eager for new leadership for a nation that ought to be an African prosperity and human rights leader, are bewildered by the actions by Ghanaian officials to suppress an emerging political bloc intent on changing Ghana’s future for the better.
Leave it to Joe Biden. When the 80-year-old plutocrat John Forbes Kerry steps down as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC), he chose 75-year-old John David Podesta, Jr., to finish out the year. The two climate czars could not have come from more different beginnings. For his self-important mission to “save the planet,” Kerry has been called a “climate clown” on social media and “the Forrest Gump of Climate” by Bloomberg Media. Ever the aloof Eurocentric diplomat, Kerry never lets anyone forget how important he is. Podesta, from much more humble roots, prefers to work behind the scenes, often in a supporting role. It was clearly past time for Kerry to go. The day before he “retired,” Kerry spoke at a press conference and raised eyebrows and temperatures when he blurted out that people might “feel better” about the Russian government if Russia would just commit to fighting climate change as hard as he has done.
Twenty years ago the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis posed the question whether the social benefits of light rail outweigh its costs. The essay assumed that transit must be publicly owned and regulated – yet the very history of the trolley shows that as soon as government took control, once-profitable vehicles became a huge liability.The most shocking revelations in the Fed’s essay were that fare revenue covered so little of the operating cost (let alone maintenance, expansion finance, or other things real businesses must find answers for): St. Louis 28.2 percent; Buffalo, 21.4 percent; Baltimore (19.4 percent). The Fed’s conclusion? No privately owned system could ever be built or operated with such a dismal balance sheet.The Fed made two errors. First, not calculating whether the public investment would stimulate the local economy enough to justify the cost. Second, not comparing the cost of allowing private entities to bid for individual routes.Throwing public dollars at public transportation has long been popular among city mayors and increasingly with the federal government. It’s other people’s money, but you get the photo ops.
Even more than SMRs, microreactors are fast becoming the rage among those seeking to decarbonize energy generation. Microreactor designs allow them to operate as part of the electric grid, independently of the grid, or as part of a microgrid to generate up to 20 megawatts thermal energy for both electricity generation and heat for industrial applications. In sum, as development of microreactors continues, the primary hurdle may not be on the manufacturing end. Adapting the nuclear regulatory framework to accommodate microreactors, perhaps with a general permit structure, could be the key to revolutionizing electricity generation for industry, remote communities, and other applications without straining the electric grid or building massive new transmission infrastructure.
Much as with the space program, the federal government has spent huge sums subsidizing the construction and purchase of electric vehicles, including 18-wheelers, airplanes, and tanks. All of this has been driven, ostensibly, by the perceived threat posed by the plant food carbon dioxide. Much as with the Edsel, the electric vehicles that European, American, and other Western governments have been subsidizing are “the wrong car for the wrong market at the wrong time.” As Mark Knopfler’s Romeo said to Juliet, “the timing was all wrong,” perhaps the only real flaw with the current EV mandates is that the supply chain – especially in the West – is just not ready for prime time.
Fear has led to the neglect and downplaying of important, even urgent, human concerns and allowed the elites to begin restructuring world society to accommodate their belief (or tool for control) that carbon dioxide is an evil that must be eradicated. The carbon conundrum has even confabulated the field of geopolitics and turned allies into enemies and vice versa. Europeans are now questioning UN, EU, and WEF mandates that would force them into buying expensive heat pumps, electric vehicles, and other inconveniences while adapting to routine blackouts and brownouts resulting from the shuttering of reliable sources of energy. They also see how their leaders’ policies are benefiting the Chinese, whose own cheaper electric vehicles (made with slave labor) are flooding markets. Isn’t it time for people everywhere to demand answers to the serious questions about the real-world costs of imposing the “renewables” agenda be laid out in full?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Dubai has placed its bid to be the crypto capital of the world. The cosmopolitan city, which is hosting four separate crypto events in April alone this year, created the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to oversee the development of its virtual asset business environment in terms of regulation, licensing, and governance.But it appears the UAE and Dubai are facing strong competition from The Bahamas and Nassau, which in 2020 created its own Digital Asset Registered Exchanges (DARE) legislation, then bolstered that legislation in 2023 in the wake of the FTX scandal.Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis, while opening up the 2022 Crypto Bahamas conference in Nassau stated that, "We have the vision to transform the Bahamas into the leading digital asset hub in the Caribbean."
When auto (even EV driving) enthusiast Rowan Atkinson – Mr. Bean to his fans – last June wrote in The Guardian that there are “sound environmental reasons” why “keeping your old petrol car may be better than buying an EV,” he was vilified as a eco-traitor.Atkinson had added, “We’re realizing that a wider range of options need to be explored if we’re going to properly address the very serious environmental problems that our use of the motor car has created.” These include, he said, hydrogen fuel cells and synthetic fuels that would extend the lives of older vehicles long after governments are demanding they be scrapped.
Although the West is preoccupied with the European Parliament elections in June and the U.S. presidential elections in November, another significant election will be occurring later this month, when Indonesians go to the polls on February 14. In the political arena, Prabowo Subianto emerges as a figure of seasoned statesmanship, having adeptly softened his domestic image while simultaneously asserting a commanding presence on the global stage. As the incumbent Defense Minister, his tenure has been marked by the forging of pivotal agreements, showcasing his diplomatic acumen. In contrast, Ganjar Pranowo offers a fresh, media-savvy persona, appealing to the populace with his approachable style and populist rhetoric. However, his track record reveals a shortfall in executing significant initiatives and in articulating a vision that resonates with the aspirations of the world’s fourth-largest populace. Anies Baswedan, on the other hand, stands as a polarizing contender, championing an anti-establishment message that finds resonance among conservative Muslim factions, yet his policy proposals have faced scrutiny for their lack of depth and tangible outcomes.Among these contenders, Prabowo is positioned as the frontrunner, embodying Indonesia’s most promising pathway to realizing its aspirations on both a domestic and international stage.
Elections for the European Parliament will be held in June, and big changes appear on the horizon. The Green parties, who won big in 2019 and pushed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to present an ambitious climate agenda, are in decline. Led by disgruntled (and targeted) farmers, voters in at least 18 of the EU’s 27 member nations are expected to express disapproval of EU policies at the ballot box. What if, said Professor Simon Hix, an author of the ECFR report, this “backdrop” of stirring populism is fueled by the return of Donald Trump as U.S. president in November? “Parties of the political mainstream need to wake up and take clear stock of voter demands,” he said. Hix added, “They should make clear, on key issues relating to democracy and the rule of law, that it is they, and not those on the political fringes, who are best placed to protect fundamental European rights.” That’s a funny way of describing opposition to climate alarmist legislation and to policies the people by their vote have determined are not in their interest.
The Biden Administration’s proposed fiscal 2024 budget included a new proposal for the Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) excise tax with a goal of taking 30 percent of the cost of electricity used in cryptocurrency mining for the federal treasury. While the proposal failed to win support last year, it remains a goal of the Biden Administration.But a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute urges the White House to “Don’t Depower Crypto.” The report concludes that the DAME tax would do more harm than good, stifling innovation and consumer well-being. And, given the rapid pace of change in the fledgling industry, the tax would make almost no real-world sense.
Although much of the 2024 electoral focus in the West will be on the U.S. presidential elections in November, another significant election will be occurring in February --- when Indonesians go to the polls on Valentine’s Day. The Presidential contest has come down to a three-horse race between former General and current Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, and academic and former governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan.One of the latest polls conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at the end of December put Prabowo in a commanding lead. One of the latest polls on the race, in January, reported Prabowo's lead standing at 56%.
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