Comments by "Louis Giokas" (@louisgiokas2206) on "The Telegraph" channel.

The Chinese economy is not "expanding rapidly". Their growth rate has been well below what they need or project. In addition, it is not possible to trust the figures coming out of China. Most of the "growth" has been associated with infrastructure projects, most of which are not economically viable. There have even been studies, using indirect evidence, that claim the Chinese economy might be much smaller than what everyone thinks. As for the pipeline, it will have to be totally funded by the Chinese. Russia does not have the resources to do it. It will also take many years to build. Odds are, the Russian Federation may not exist in a year or two. It is not unlikely that China will just take over the Russian Far East in that timeframe. They have claims on it based on their rejection of treaties signed between the Russian Empire and the Qing Dynasty. Don't forget that they have fought many border skirmishes over the years.
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Whatever happened to global warming?
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This video makes very good points. I have seen this progression over the decades. The example of Afghanistan is a great one. I don't know if people recall, but in the 2000 presidential election George W Bush made a point of abandoning the idea of regime change wars. I distinctly remember discussing just this point with my then wife. It was one of the reasons we voted for him. By the way, we both had many years experience in the aerospace and defense industry and a very good grasp of foreign affairs. Going back a little further, look at the Gulf War in the early1990s. In the US a great deal was made of having a clear goal, or "end state", leaving the military commanders free to prosecute the war as they saw fit, as long as they were clearly pursuing the end state. This was in response to the debacle of the Vietnam War. That was even more muddled than the Afghanistan situation in this century. The Gulf War approach worked brilliantly. It was forgotten in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts that came later.
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To say that San Francisco is at the heart of America's tech boom is a mistake. The city was never the heart. It was suburbs like Cupertino, San Jose and many others where the actual tech companies are located. The city itself was never the epicenter.
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@genekelly8467 Great comment. The Theranos situation instructive. Look at all the wealthy "smart" people who were fooled. Look at the Bernie Madoff situation. His "investors" were all successful and wealthy people. They were all conned. Venture capital is an interesting thing. The expectation is that only 10 or 20 percent of the companies will be successful. Having dealt with venture firms, I can confidentially say that they are mostly guessing. That is their right. It is their money.
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