1. Georgia : China
"China is a TOP source for imports and our 3rd largest exports market. We welcome thousands of Chinese visitors each year to the Peach State..."
- Governor Brian Kemp

PEOPLE ARE DYING IN #TIGRAY: #HumanitarianReliefNow
A Thread

It’s almost 2 months since #WarOnTigray was waged. Since then, much of #Tigray has been under a complete blockade of all life supporting services, including medicine, food, & access to cash. 1/17

It’s also almost a month into an agreement for ‘unimpeded’ humanitarian access to #Tigray the #AbiyAhmed regime signed with the @UN. Yet, even a needs assessment is not conducted to date. 2/17



In the meantime, people are actually dying of hunger in #Tigray. These past 2 days, I had calls with some people that made it to #Mekelle from Wukro, Edagahamus, Abi-Adi & Hagereselam and environs. The stories are similar and harrowing. Words cannot express the desperation. 3/17

On top of existing poverty in #Tigray, production was particularly hit this season owing to an invasive locust & #COVID-19. Worse yet, the war came at a time when whatever is left could be collected. More than a million are internally displaced. 4/17

Even more tragic is that in many of the towns and villages I heard about, vengeful #Eritrean troops have looted private possessions, including food. Some of the stories I heard shocked me to the core. Innocent people are dying, from bullets, starvation and curable diseases. 5/17

This oil crisis inquiry report once public is going to irk quite a few. Although, this will point towards incompetence of authorities, you can't take the credit away from the PM.

OGRA Ordinance was promulgated in 2002. The rules were not made till 2016. 14 Years of running on SROs, having no legal value. #OilinquiryReport

All oil import decisions are based on data provided by a non-statutory body i.e. OCAC. There is no mechanism in place for the government authorities to verify the authenticity of data provided by a representative body of all OMCs.

90% of the OMCs did not maintain requisite 20 day stocks during Jan-Jun 2020. DG Oil remained mum. In cases of some OMCs the stock suddenly jumped from 0 in may to over 100 days in June. Classic case of hoarding.

The authorities failed to lift sufficient stock from refineries in Feb and Marc, and then ban on imports came, a ta time when oil prices were dwindling. All in the name of Keeping the refineries safe from glut. End result: eventual shortage in Jun and potential saving loss

A product which provides a fixed income which is better than FD & an upside like equity.

Should you invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)?
A Thread 🧵👇

1/ REITs are a vehicle to invest in income-producing real estate properties managed by professionals.

2/ In India, we have REITs primarily focused on commercial real estate properties having 7-9% rental yields.

In listed REITs, Most of the completed properties are pre-leased to big companies.

Why no residential? As yields of 1-3% make them unattractive to investors.

3/ How do you get the benefit of such yield?

REITs have to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to their shareholders.

Both listed REITs trade at 6-7% dividend yield (which is also tax-free)

4/ Moreover, 80% of their total value must come from completed & income-generating properties + it must avoid speculative land acquisitions.

What about debt then? There's a restriction there too.
Not more than 49% of the total equity.

Is it better to split up dominant networks (like social/communication networks) or keep them whole to maximize network effects? I’ve spent 8 years creating a way to use data to answer this for Rwanda’s mobile network, using 5.3b transaction records (1/15) https://t.co/hKC8Vj2PIE

The punchline: allowing an additional competitor in Rwanda’s mobile phone system earlier could have reduced prices and increased incentives to invest in rural towers, increasing welfare by the equivalent of 1% of GDP. (2/15)

Why study mobile phones in developing countries? Mobile operators are emerging as gatekeepers to information, the internet, and, increasingly, financial transactions. (3/15)

And many of the questions faced by tech antitrust have parallels in telecom: whether to force compatibility, make it easier for users to switch, or split dominant firms. (4/15)

But would encouraging competition improve quality--or reduce it? When a network is split between competitors, each internalizes less network effects. But they may still invest to steal customers. In theory it could go either way. (5/15)

My Foresight

Whatever you see in the next 20 years to come in this country blame the bi-partisan mishandling of ASUU strike.
Let me drop some rough statistics to see what I'm thinking right now.

Today about 2 million Nigerians are working in the US alone. Almost 250 thousand of them are Medical Doctors. The rest are Academicians, Engineers and so forth. Most of these guys were the bests in their schools here in Nigeria.

Because of the poor working condition, unfavorable environment and very low salary, the're forced to emigrate to greener pastures for a better life. Many Nigerian students particularly the ones reading professional courses are thinking of leaving for a better life.

Don't forget this is a country that's in dare need of professional workers. The current doctor-patient ratio will throw you into a depth of despair. From what I observed recently, bad days are coming unless something is done.

Just recently our association hosted a Webinar on opportunities for Doctors in foreign countries. What do you think?
Almost all the people that participated including me are just waiting to graduate in order to apply for job abroad.

1. Michigan : Product of China
Why did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Former Gov. Rick Snyder (R) both endorse Joe Biden?
C H I N A !
special guest: Hunter Biden #9

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Working on #Cancer when... It was a "Western Countries health problem"
@dcp3

I am bored by being patronised by those telling me ‘don’t you know Remain is dead?, closely followed by ‘Move on.’ I can tell you, I have. That’s why I want to Return. To Europe, for sure. But to something much more than that.

I want to also Return to a positive politics. That’s the form rooted in compassion, care and genuine concern. But it’s also one that’s also learned that economics has moved on from what was taught by that subject in the 1980s, as has our understanding of the environment.

I want a politics that is not based in materialism. Or jingoism. Or nationalism. Or populism. Instead, I want a Return to the principles of mutual respect, tolerance, acceptance and co-existence, with each other and the rest of this world, human and otherwise.

I want a Return to a bias to the least well off. That’s because we all know the best off can already look after themselves. It’s those who have trouble doing so, for whatever the reason, that I want to be the priority in politics. I wonder, who wouldn’t, and why?

I want a Return to long term vision based on principles.

We're not doing any of this because a lot of people were going to catch a cold. We're not destroying our economies and societies because a tiny number of people felt tired for a few months after a cough. We aren't allowing babies and children to die because a new strain

of coronavirus is at large. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that this new virus CAUSES a brand new, deadly disease called Covid-19, the like of which we had never seen before. A disease so horrific that doctors were having emotional breakdowns after treating it. That is what

all of this is based on. The reasoning behind a global reaction which may well lead to the permanent destruction of all the things that make life a worthwhile experience.
In nine months of being immersed in this swamp of information, I have still not found an explanation of what

it is about Covid-19 that makes it so different from other respiratory illnesses.
I think the most important question is this:
What scientific or medical reasoning prevented the message to the public being something along these lines:

'There is a new strain of coronavirus spreading around the world. For the vast majority, it's asymptomatic. Most who have symptoms will experience a mild cold. A tiny number will suffer longer-term fatigue (as is the case with many other viruses). However, for the elderly,

Time for a Scorecard📊and thesis📑updates for purchases done in Feb/Mar 2020. Last review done in late April. How far things have come since then.😯

Not taking any drastic actions, other than few sells in fully valued, slower growth Co.'s.

Events since then
✔️Co's reporting two Qtrly reports
✔️Accelerating growth for few sectors
✔️Understandable problems for few others
✔️Crazy run-ups & valuations in the last 9 mo's, supported by biz growth in some cases, but mostly due to Monetary factors & Investor enthusiasm...

I usually buy for two scenarios

1⃣Leading Co's within strong secular trends, that also have strong Management Teams and solid Financials (Rev growth, Profitability or improving Margins/FCF prospects, no balance sheet risk...).

These are bought with the intention of holding for the long-term as long as the thesis is intact or getting better. Strongly intend to add along the way. Ex : $ROKU $PINS $TWLO $DOCU $W $NOW $WDAY $NVCR $MTCH in the above table.

2⃣More mature and stable Co.'s but with some growth left (no Financial risk), mainly bought for their current under-valuation, with the intent to sell when the Market or those stocks recover. Ex : $BIP $BUD $VTR $BR $BA in above table.

@guyyeomans @tazwake @DanielGDresner @ciaranmartinoxf @Tob1Leron @TheEPS1 1/ x Cc @DuncanChapple Long intake of breath as I realise I have recently started the wrong MSc....
@aj66inuk and I have been discussing that whilst the world has changed, some things have not. #Sabotage is an outdated concept unless you think that Cyber is an extension..

@tazwake @DanielGDresner @ciaranmartinoxf @Tob1Leron @TheEPS1 @DuncanChapple @aj66inuk 2/x an extension of what our former Cold War adversaries were trying to do to us. In 1982 Duncan Campbell spelled out where adversaries would try to attack us. But with Glasnost this became unfashionable and apparently unaffordable.

@tazwake @DanielGDresner @ciaranmartinoxf @Tob1Leron @TheEPS1 @DuncanChapple @aj66inuk 3/X Defector information in the public domain gave us some insights was to what the Warsaw Pact threat to our CNI might look like. Discussions with former adversaries, now Polish, (East) German and Czech allies wld be informative here.

@tazwake @DanielGDresner @ciaranmartinoxf @Tob1Leron @TheEPS1 @DuncanChapple @aj66inuk 4/X Believing there is a credible threat has always been our challenge here in UK. Understanding how a nation state adversary would come at us would be the next step.
It will be persistent, an adversary like the GRU will have been analysing our CNI for over 70 years

@tazwake @DanielGDresner @ciaranmartinoxf @Tob1Leron @TheEPS1 @DuncanChapple @aj66inuk 5/x They will have formed physical and logical plans to attack us. It some cases they may know our assets and our vulnerabilities better than we do. CARVER Shock is an old-school tool that gives an idea how they will come after us. You can apply

"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" has gone from being an irritating statement trotted out on a training course to a description of the UK government's modus operandi. And as well as on covid restrictions we're seeing it in EU negotiations - deal or no-deal. And here's why... 1/

The UK's goal in EU negotiations is to declare victory / sovereignty. Sounds good. But the problem is that there will always be winners and losers in a big trade deal, because it covers everything and involves compromising with the other side. An immediate problem. 2/

Take fish, on which apparently talks are stuck. No deal means we regain full control of our waters. Victory! And sell the fish where? EU tariffs and checks. Not victory. So share waters? But then, defeat! Point being, if you don't explain, the result will disappoint. 3/

We don't want the EU setting our rules and regulations. So minimal sovereignty provisions. No-deal and victory! But then what about the car manufacturers no longer viable? Ok, compromise. But then no win on sovereignty, or perhaps call it "freedom clauses"... 4/

Northern Ireland, customs checks, rules of origin, security cooperation and so on... all inevitably to require compromise. But if your game was all about victory and sovereignty, then what? Not make a decision perhaps? 5/

Thread on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact:

1. In August, 1939, Stalin called on the UK and France to form an anti-fascist alliance. It was only after they rejected this proposal that the USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to buy time in order to prepare for the war.

2. Getting sick and tired of gentrified "leftists" claiming that Stalin and Hitler "divided up Poland." What it meant was that either side crossing the line of the rivers Narev, Vistula and San would be seen as an invasion of the other country.

3. By the time the USSR entered Poland, the Polish government was already in exile and thus there was no Polish state. The Red Army's entry into Poland was therefore not an invasion.

4. Furthermore, the Polish government-in-exile declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland, but did not declare war on the Soviet Union when the Red Army entered. Additionally, the Polish Army was ordered to not fight the Soviets.

5. France had a mutual defense treaty with Poland, but it did not declare war on the Soviet Union. Another funny thing that people seem to forget is that prior to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a bunch of countries signed similar agreements with the Germany: UK, France, POLAND, etc

The Global elite including bankers, politicians, scientists, royalty, presenters, CEOs, Billionaires and millionaires are pushing an agenda , let’s call it a story so complex it degrades over time and leaves many rabbit holes and loop holes in between the ‘whole story’.