I watched the American spokesman statement. The purpose of the Blinken trip to China was to “strengthen America’s ability to out-compete China”. Further he stated, that there were three key points that Blinkedin will tell China.
[1] To establish communication channels that are “open and empowered”.
[2] Communicate clearly and candidly on a range of issues regarding American displeasure in how China conducts its domestic matters.
[3] Will investigate potential area of cooperation on trans-national issues, but ONLY when it is in Americas interest.
Finally, he does not expect any “break throughs” on this trip.
And of course, we all know what happened next. China reamed him up and down and all around though out, and when he reported the news to Biden, that son-of-a-bitch complained in a long diatribe in front of his donor class.
Sigh.
Next…
In your opinion, what steps should be taken to support China’s economy and prevent further decline?
Ah yes
Of course
The Debt ceiling was raised recently to a whopping $ 33 Trillion right?
Obviously the West will deflect and bury the serious dire straits of their economies and pending recession to China
That’s what they always do
Whenever they have trouble at home, they deflect and jump to a foreign country that may be much much better off
Is China’s economy declining?
No
China’s economy shows resilience
Don’t ask me
Ask the 77 Countries who now have over 15% of their Trade share in Yuan since 1/1/2022
China’s economy is Sluggish
The reason is simple
Its two biggest earners have taken a hit
Exports have taken a hit due to Sanctions by US and mainly due to weakening global demand due to recession/inflation in EU and US
Many Producers aren’t sure how much to manufacture now because of their worry about exports and being saddled with excess inventory
The alternative domestic consumption to replace potential loss of export share will take time and confidence by the producers and consumers
Maybe 3 years or so
Second is Real Estate
China’s own Government have dynamically and drastically modified real estate lending causing a plunge in real estate markets
So it’s like a Cricket team with two big stars in bad form
The fact that any other country would have buried these facts stands out
China is dealing with them on a day to day basis
Promoting Domestic spending, reducing rates to rise liquidity and slowly ensure the export pain is mitigated by local demand
China is modifying it’s real estate
It’s bringing a real estate sector once controlled by 6% population now to a 60% population using economies of scale
Profiting $ 1 Million per flat through speculation to be replaced by Profiting $ 50,000 a flat for 20 flats by actual sales and market demand
It takes time for this 60% population to realize that the sector is good for them
Like say tomorrow 50% Indians investing in shares from 4.1% today
China has very temporary problems
It’s situation is changing and its adapting and that is causing blips
Now USA and the West on the other hand are in deep trouble
They have in print nearly $ 15.3 Trillion equivalent of currency circulating in Pounds, Euros and Dollars
They have to rise rates repeatedly to push the currency into institutions and prevent them from staying in the global economy and plunging in value and causing more Inflation
It’s a ticking time bomb
And unlike China, the West neither has the populace to absorb the hit nor the resources like Russia
The end result will be 1929 type depression unless the large shock detonates through a series of smaller shocks which will weaken the US significantly but help it survive and bounce back , which is what China is waiting for (Why else is China not retaliating to all the US Coercion? Because it knows time is on its side)
It’s 100 times more serious
Hence why the West is deflecting on to China
RED ALERT! OUR MILITARYS HUGE SECRET ABOUT WORLD WAR 3 (I CANT BELIEVE THIS!)
Can India afford to ban Chinese products?
I was in a Video Conference yesterday. There was this slick controller from Cisco. I picked it up and turned it around to see the sticker that said: “Made in China”.
We have all heard the phrase. So much so that it has become a cultural meme, like this creative advertisement.
Every machine, and I mean it in the broad sense of the word, people use, almost certainly, has components made by the most populous nation of the world.
We are at a stage where manufacturing is synonymous with China. China’s total exports in 2017 were more than the GDP of India, at ~$2.26 trillion.
US is close with $1.5 trillion, but there is the catch.
US exports are primarily expensive stuff like airplanes, gems, assembled cell phones etc. But China makes the “cheaper” things — the components of your phones, the clothes you buy, the filaments in your bulbs, the shoes you are wearing right now.
More than a decade ago, a US family tried to rid themselves of all things “made in China”
. Here are some excerpts from their experience.
When our son, then 4, needed new shoes it took me two weeks of frantic mall trips and phone calls across the country before I located Italian-made sneakers. (They cost almost $70, an obscene amount, and I bought him just that one pair of shoes all year to compensate for my excess.) We boiled water for coffee every morning after our drip machine broke and the only affordable replacements we could find were made in China. Kevin stole —he likes to say borrowed—sunglasses from the lost-and-found at our kids’ preschool when he needed new ones and the only ones that fit our budget were made in China. We were barred from the market for humane mousetraps (I made my own), birthday candles (we used votive candles on our cakes instead) and the monster trucks and light sabers that our son dreamed of all year. As December approached, we made lousy homemade Christmas presents, spent too much on toys from Germany and waited for the year, and our boycott, to fade into history.
And Chinese manufacturing has become even more pervasive and ingrained in the last ten years. Good luck with your attempt!
Why is the CCP so hellbent on unifying Taiwan with mainland China? If Taiwan do not want to be ruled by the CCP why does it appear as if China is forcing themselves on Taiwan? Why can’t the two countries not co-exist?
First of all, Taiwan is NOT a country. Neither the United Nations nor the United States recognize Taiwan as an independent state. Moreover, Taiwan’s own constitution stipulates that the mainland and Taiwan are one country.
The entire world adheres to the One China principle.
Second, no country is willing to give up any piece of its territory. Would the USA give up Hawaii or Texas? Would France give up Corsica?
Third, Taiwan is a remnant of China’s century of humiliation when the great powers of the time descended on China like vultures and carved her up like a turkey. It’s a painful reminder and a point of national pride.
Fourth, China and Taiwan can coexist. They’ve coexisted peacefully for decades now. They have massive trade with each other.
China seeks peaceful reunification, and she is very patient. But the United States is determined to stir up shit in Taiwan. Just leave them alone!
Fifth, since Taiwan is China’s domestic matter, it is absolutely none of our f*cking business. Why are we sticking our nose into it?
Do we want to start a war with China over this matter?
Are you f*cking insane?
What will make the US loose its status as the most powerful Nation in the world?
Hubris.
“My cup runneth over with hubris”, rather than “In God We Trust”.
Who in his right mind can praise America for being well led, when the President is 80 and belongs in a nursing home, with the primary competition 76 belonging in jail?
And yet those are the candidates two ailing parties who have swapped musical chairs for 250 years throw up, with NO ALTERNATIVES in sight.
Just like guns and drugs, even abortion.
Live with it, the American will say, because the Constitution is sacred.
I say God bless America.
America has visibly declined or regressed this century. Even life expectancy has dipped below third world China, courtesy of the horrendous response to covid for the country rated No. 1 for pandemic readiness by Johns Hopkins in 2019. The debt pile is growing too fast, struggling under the weight of living beyond means.
Barring a paradigm shift in domestic politics, terminal decline is but a matter of time. I will pay attention to the quality of life of the bottom 50 percent who share 2 percent of the wealth. Too miserable and the have-nots will stoke tensions and accelerate the process.
I have not heard much beyond doubling down on the current playbook.
And that is a road to ruin.
The question is one of when, rather than if.
The American people are getting tired!
Will Hong Kong ever be democratic under Chinese rule?
Under 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong wasn’t democratic. Why would we expect that to change?
Cheesy Tomato Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 (35 ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 1/2 cup round buttery cracker crumbs (about 15 crackers)
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 large egg, well beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Stir together all ingredients.
- Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes or until golden.
That girl don’t live here anymore…
How prepared is the United States of America for war with China?
The United States is as ready as it ever will be.
It has an enormous military budget, and bases everywhere. It’s got top of the line fighters, vessels and state-of-the-art equipment. In fact, if anything, I think that it is “over kill”. But that’s just my personal opinion.
The United States military is world-class in force projection, and they will glad-fully take the war to the shores of China and beyond. With the handful of proxy nations acting as “cannon fodder”, the United States would just sit back and watch the Australians and Japanese die in droves. Let them all be barbecued alive. As long as not one American is harmed.
So the United States force doctrine is one where the disposable peoples of Australia, Korea and Japan (with the Philippines) would be sacrificed first.
There is no question that the United States would choose Sydney, and Perth to become major battlefields. And with the rubbleing of Osaka, Tokyo, and Manila, the American military would wait out the carnage comfortably from afar in safe bunkers, Ukraine style.
Eventually, the Chinese force would peter out to an “approachable” level.
At that moment, the United States would pounce for a double “one two” blow that would destroy Chinese cities, and an invasion force in strength would seize the nation. Oh, the fighting might take a decade, but eventually the United States would win, and China would be partitioned into pre-determined bite-sized chunks for organized looting and seizure.
(Some interesting articles on this particular subject. It’s already been divided up! Though, I would advise “don’t count your chickens until the eggs hatch”.)
Anyways, there one teeny-tiny issue.
The only issue is would China really use it’s mass-casualty weapons. That’s of course, the Dong Feng, and the other novel and unique enhanced radiation and wave technologies. You know those massive enhanced radiation city-busters. Those hyper-velocity AI controlled stealth delivery systems, and the invisibility cloaking technologies.
But I am told it doesn’t matter.
As many in the “West” are very confident that “China would never…”.
So, if you (the reader) are part of this clutch, then by all means rest assured that the United States can destroy China, and it couldn’t do anything. The logic is simple. Simply because China has invested such a HUGE portion of it’s military to weapons of MASS DESTRUCTION. Leaving only a fraction of it’s military for conventional warfare. If China decides never to use the nuclear systems, then China would be handicapped to reliance on old-fashioned conventional systems.
So the United States would rip China a new behind.
…
But…
But…
But…
But, were China to be attacked, I am of the belief that China would use every weapon at it’s disposal. I mean, after all, why devote such a large proportion of your defensive equipment to nuclear and novel systems if you have no plans to ever use them? I figure that even if you have a Bentley in your garage, you do go and take it out for a spin from time to time. Even if that is the last thing that you do before you die.
Thus, the first cities to experience nuclear destruction would be American. I recon complete destruction of the top 35 cities.
This would really throw a monkey-wrench into the plans listed above.
The American “leadership” would be pissed and they (well the ones still alive and not wearing diapers) would order a MAD response. And the nukes would start a flying.
Correct me, if you disagree, but when the dust settles, I don’t think the world would be the same. You might think differently, but I think that nothing will ruin your day faster than global thermonuclear war.
…
Sigh.
So who ever asked this question, please stop asking about the end of the world. It’s not a pretty image. Go play with your army men elsewhere. War is not a game. It’s real, and very horrible. I strongly advise that it be avoided at all costs.
No one is going to win a US-China war.
How smart are the Japanese?
For over 700 years, the Japanese have been using a special method called Daisugi to grow trees without cutting them down.
It started in the 14th century and involves planting trees for the future and then pruning them like large bonsai trees. By doing this to cedar trees, they can get high-quality wood that’s straight, smooth, and perfect for building.
With Daisugi, instead of chopping down the trees, they carefully prune them so they can keep growing and producing wood. This way, they can sustainably use the wood while also making sure the trees stay healthy and continue to live for a long time. Daisugi shows how people and nature can work together, using resources wisely while protecting the environment.
Discovery That Shocked NASA As China’s Discover 270 Billion Tons Of Water On The Moon
https://youtu.be/1_gNERd_Lt4
Was the US involvement in the Korean War a result of arrogance? Was the US too proud after WW2?
Not exactly arrogance, if arrogance, it was a well deserved arrogance, as US was supreme in economy, diplomacy and military as a superpower liberator. US actually saved the world with great sacrifices.
It’d have succeeded except the miscalculation on China entrance into the war, that changed the result. That was arrogance to underestimated the Chinese determination and ragtag poorly equipped military, which was a total surprise to everybody.
It is human nature that it is very difficult for warriors to stop fighting, Alexander the Great just couldn’t stop, Napoleon couldn’t stop, Hitler and Japanese couldn’t stop and US couldn’t-can’t stop.
Normal little people like us always wondered what if these superpowers just stopped at some points, enough is enough, I have enough, let me stop and build on my successes and conquered empires, let me treat my subjects well but none could. But warriors can’t stop, they must keep on going until the empires were destroyed by over expansions.
What China is going to do to Blinkin in his visit…
Oh, and it isn’t going to be reported.
https://youtu.be/S4cuIeNB114
What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you while you were camping?
When I was a kid our family spent a lot of time camping with a tent trailer in northern Canada. One weekend we were at a campground which was circled by a ring road. There was one group of campers that were partying hard with a giant bonfire and despite the campground rules for being quiet after 11 p.m. they carried on.
They threatened anyone who asked them to tone down the noise. Then they thought it would be funny to use the ring road as their own race course so they were doing loops on the road speeding and revving their engines and terrifying the other campers.
This was before the days of cell phones so a couple campers left the campground to drive to the nearest Ranger’s station to complain.
Soon after they got back, and with the partiers still going hard, we heard a helicopter approaching in the night. We could hear it getting closer until it was directly overhead. Then we heard a giant swoosh as the Rangers dumped a bucket of water directly on the partiers. And by bucket I mean the 300+ gallon bucket suspended on a cable carried by the helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting.
Needless to say, the party ended instantly and they were all gone by the time we got up the next morning.
Watch NOW before they silence me.
https://youtu.be/nRW5PlphZ4M
FT reported that the US, Japan and Taiwan region will share real-time data from naval reconnaissance drones. What are your thoughts on that?
For over seven decades, Japan has been subject to ongoing occupation by the United States, maintaining a presence through a network of over 90 military bases and an extensive arsenal of more than 65,000 military assets. Similarly, Taiwan is under the control of local collaborators aligned with the United States, who wield authority over both the island’s military and political processes, contrary to the One-China policy. In both regions, the United States not only dictates the sale and deployment of weaponry but also determines the conditions for their use, the required troop numbers, and the deployment locations, while providing comprehensive training.
Given the high level of military integration and influence, publicly disclosing real-time shared military information would only intensify local concerns regarding the potential loss of lives and livelihoods after being dragged into a war initiated by the United States, especially in light of recent devastating events in Ukraine as reported by the media.
Gravitas: Japan says no to NATO membership
How do you think China will respond to the Quad’s efforts to contain its rise?
QUAD is US, G7 is US, AUKUS is US, NATO is US. Whatever alphabets they added or changed, it is just US.
UK, Australia, Japan, India, France, Italy or whatever don’t matter at all to China, there are like the group of thugs accompanying the main bad guy in kungfu movies, they take turn to be punched and kicked by the kungfu master, and the first to run away or fake death. Faking death in the safest way to survive. They rarely charge forward all at the same time.
It is just US, that’s a handful all by itself.
Do you think that money gives you absolute happiness?
Whatever your opinion may be about this man, Dan Bilzerian, he said something very true in an interview, and I would like many people to reflect on it.
In the Joe Rogan Podcast (the most famous and most listened-to podcast in the world), Rogan asked him the same question:
Joe: Hey Dan, for the people who are listening to us, and most of them won’t even make a quarter of the money you’ve made, do you think money brings happiness?
Dan Bilzerian: Money, Joe, brings satisfaction. Money can undoubtedly give you a lot of satisfaction, but never complete happiness.
When I go to a fancy restaurant, when I drive a brand new car, when I party at the best clubs, for me, that’s already normal.
But the day I can’t afford to eat at a restaurant of the same quality, or drive the latest car, or go partying, how do you think I’ll feel?
In my case, I raised the ‘satisfaction bar’ so high that I have to maintain this lifestyle forever because if I don’t, I get depressed.
Happiness, even if it sounds cliché, cheesy, or however you want to call it, comes from within, from your person. It doesn’t come from material things. Material things give you ‘satisfaction,’ but they will never give you happiness.
There’s always someone who says something like:
‘Money doesn’t bring happiness, but I’d rather cry in a Lamborghini.’
Now, let me ask:
Wouldn’t you rather smile from ear to ear in a Kia?
First Impressions of China in 2023 🇨🇳 CAN’T Believe What I Saw
Will Biden’s best salesman charm India into the arms of the US?
Washington has sent Jake Sullivan to New Delhi with an array of tempting offers to bring the country in line with the west
By Joydeep Sen Gupta, Asia Editor
US President Joe Biden’s administration is working overtime to give top billing to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the US from June 21 to 24 in a key election campaign year. The visit will be Modi’s sixth to the US since he assumed office in 2014.
Biden wants to present Modi’s upcoming trip as being bigger than the Indian premier’s Manhattan moment
in 2014 when he was hosted by Barack Obama, and Howdy, Modi!
in 2019 during the Trump administration.
To that end Biden sent his trusted aide, US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan, to New Delhi on a two-day trip on Tuesday, to lay the groundwork for the high-profile event, and build upon last week’s visit
to India by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Prominent Indian geopolitical commentator, C Raja Mohan, has suggested
that Sullivan’s visit may pave the way for Modi’s Deng Xiaoping moment in leveraging India’s unique situation into significant gains for the country. However, the current global churn is many times removed from the visionary Chinese leader’s time in office last century, and the US is more transparent in its efforts to create a unipolar world order.
Sullivan’s agenda
Economic cooperation is at the heart of the Sullivan’s India trip. The top US security official held talks with Modi, his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval
, and minister for external affairs, Dr Subramanyam Jaishankar
, on a range of issues that go beyond the optics of bilateral diplomacy. Doval and Sullivan also attended the second Track 1.5 dialogue on the Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) initiative, which was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
They unveiled an ambitious roadmap for Indo-US collaboration in seven specific hi-technology areas, including semiconductors, next-generation telecommunications, artificial intelligence and defense.
Sullivan said the iCET is about people-to-people relationships, building skills, trust and confidence between the societies and governments of the two countries. He said it is also a way to deepen defense cooperation that will help both the countries strategically and economically.
Meanwhile, Modi’s upcoming US visit has been heralded as a new era of “future ties” amid a “robust outcome document” that is in the works. However, the underlying motive is the desperate US desire to gain access to one of the biggest markets in the world following its deteriorating
trade and diplomatic ties with the world’s second biggest economy – China.
Sullivan is playing the role of a traveling salesman, hawking US interests in key global capitals much like before his elevation
to the NSA.
On this trip, he pulled out all stops to impress upon the Modi government the ease of doing business with the Biden administration, which is all but a lame duck, ahead of a key election to be held later this year.
Sullivan’s talks centered on opening a $2.7 billion semiconductor chip-making facility in India by Micron Technology, which is headquartered in Boise, Idaho and sharing technical know-how regarding quantum computing technology. India imports about 80% of its semiconductors.
New Delhi is believed to be wooing Intel Corporation to set up shop in the country following fears of a disruption in supply chains in light of escalating tensions between China and Taiwan.
Significantly, the pièce de resistance is Sullivan’s last-ditch bid to jointly manufacture US aircraft engines for Indian defense forces by General Electric (GE) in partnership with state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Will the transfer of technology (ToT) be a fillip to Modi’s ambitious “Make in India”
initiative? ToT is a key aspect in Indo-US bilateral relationship, where past misadventures such as the 2008 civil nuclear agreement between the two nations stick out like a sore thumb. The US is dragging its feet over ToT unlike Russia, which has been
an all-weather ally to India.
Biden has unpacked the top brass in his administration ahead of Modi’s visit. China – the elephant in India’s room – also figured prominently during Sullivan’s trip because he is being accompanied by US Indo-Pacific Coordinator at the National Security Council Kurt Campbell.
Washington has been raising the China alarm with New Delhi and accuses Beijing of flexing its military muscle over Taiwan and the South China Sea while underscoring India’s primacy in the elite grouping of the Quad
.
Truth be told, since its revival
in 2017, the grouping largely remains a non-starter as questions abound whether it is hitting the right notes to keep a belligerent China at bay.
The US is seemingly ratcheting up further bilateral tensions between the two most populous nations and nuclear-powered neighbors
as a means to insert itself as part of India’s solutions to security.
How does the US hypocrisy stand exposed?
Public memory, as the cliché goes, is short indeed. In 2005, PM Modi was denied
a US visa because of his alleged role
in the Gujarat pogrom against minority Muslims in the western Indian state in 2002, when he was the Chief Minister.
The US changed its tune in 2014 after Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoyed a landslide win against the incumbent Congress-led opposition alliance.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki had said Modi would receive a visa to the country once he took office and formed a government. And an AI visa, which is the eligibility norm for all heads of state, was made available to him. Washington then started making overtures towards him in a true bipartisan manner with Obama, Trump, and now Biden have been rolling out the red carpet for him as they seek to tap India’s growing middle class, whose strength is more than the total US population at last count.
But such foreign policy misadventures
have been the hallmark of the US in the name of championing democracy in all corners of the globe for which the UK fell
for hook, line and sinker.
With such checkered records and doublespeak, should the Modi government be enamored by Sullivan’s charm offensive?
The US seldom delivers what it promises, if its deeply flawed foreign policy is a marker of Washington’s overreach
.
Is the Biden administration on the same page?
There is a lack of clarity regarding whether the Biden administration’s various arms share Sullivan’s enthusiasm about Modi and India. Historically, the US State Department has been hostile towards New Delhi about ramping up bilateral engagement in the field of defense and hi-tech.
However, the jury is still out whether Sullivan, aided and abetted by the Pentagon, can ensure joint manufacturing of GE’s F-414 engine in India, which if Washington manages to pull off, will go down in the annals of history. At the same time, it will open a new front in the Arab world in the Middle East, where the US has been arming
them to the teeth in the name of twin threats from Iran and Israel. President Biden’s largesse may help India’s state-run Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to indigenously develop the Tejas Mark II fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force. US defense majors are also looking for an opening to manufacture other hi-tech weapons including loiter bombs, air-to-air missiles and long-range guided bombs amid stalled arms supplies from Russia owing to fear
of disruption in payment mechanisms over US-led Western sanctions on the ongoing special military operations in Ukraine. Sullivan aims to reboot several existing mechanisms such as upping the ante in sectors such as telecommunications, rare earth metals mining and space. Both NSAs discussed this during a meeting on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in Washington on January 31.
The mechanism received a boost during the first India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue meeting
in Washington on June 4 and 5.
US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to New Delhi in March was a precursor to this high-level engagement that set the stage for Sullivan’s trip to iron out the rough edges in the bilateral ties.
Is Sullivan the ace of spades for Biden?
The New York Times stated
in 2021 that Sullivan, who has been equated with Henry Kissinger, has long been a “figure of fascination, somewhere between sympathy and schadenfreude.” He has been Biden’s go-to man for all reasons and seasons. He held
crucial talks with key Chinese officials and has a similar historic opportunity to make Modi seem to be a global leader, whose life has come full circle since Washington dubbed him a pariah. And time is of the essence as Biden’s fate is likely to be decided in a few months, even though Modi’s hold on power appears to be as firm as ever.
Sullivan had an inkling about Russia’s special military operations in Ukraine a couple of months before the conflict started in February of 2022. He tried to shape global opinion against Russia, including pushing through the sanctions. Has he managed to strengthen NATO, including Finland’s membership, is an open-ended question?
His speech
at the Brookings Institution in April laid bare the growing US challenges amid a new pivot known as the ‘new Washington Consensus’, a euphemism for geo-economics. How much has he achieved will be judged by posterity.
Sullivan has been single-mindedly pushing for a technological alliance with “trusted partners” such as India to stymie China’s dominance.
The Indo-Pacific maritime is his other pet project that has grabbed the headlines, even though he is not a foreign policy hawk. He seeks to be on an even keel with China, especially his recent engagement with Foreign Minister, Wang Yi.
India, according to Sullivan, connects all these dots, despite New Delhi’s deep historic ties with Moscow. But can the US play a “long game” since the presidential election may change the foreign policy outreach in the next few months.
Biden’s last hurrah?
According to a report
in The Washington Post, the US seeks to expand the developing world’s influence (read India) at the United Nations (UN). This hurriedly-thought through bid appears to empower the UN Security Council (UNSC) because of the latter’s ineffectiveness as a global body to stop conflicts such as the ongoing military standoff in Ukraine. This mechanism, which has long been in the works, is also Washington’s bid to push through a unipolar world narrative and keep Russia and China out of the frame. Wooing India helps because it is part of the strongest anti-US bloc in BRICS, where Brazil and South Africa bring up the rear
, to create an alternative world order.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Biden’s envoy to the UN, is reportedly consulting with diplomats from the organization’s 193 member states to gather feedback about a potential expansion of the UNSC ahead of world leaders’ annual gathering in New York in September.
But Washington is unlikely to create a consensus in a fractured world, where the US is seen
as a perennial big bully. Besides, it’s unclear which countries in the Global South and from Africa and South America are likely to make the cut.
For instance, any nation such as Venezuela, Cuba, Egypt and Morocco will not be welcome to join the exclusive club because of their close ties with Russia and by extension are considered as rogue states by the US.
The US is unlikely to have its way because India’s seat at the global high table will be opposed tooth and nail by Pakistan.
A tricky road for Modi
Modi, who is known to have an elephant’s memory, may do well not to bite the US bullet ahead of his re-election next year, where he appears to be in the driver’s seat, despite a few recent domestic setbacks.
As for Biden, it could be a classic case of too little, too late to woo American voters with last-minute optics. The maxim “It’s the economy stupid
” could seal his fate for a second-term in the White House. His historically low approval ratings are an indictment for lording over an economy that’s teetering on the brink, despite his lofty pronouncements of a rosy outlook.
China war party vs. Russia war party
A must watch. -MM
What is the biggest opportunity you, or someone you know, has wasted?
It was 1974 and I was about to graduate from college. My adviser called me into his office. He informed me that I had the top cumulative average in the Business school of Marketing and Advertising at the university. I was shocked as I never expected that (I was sure he would be telling me I needed more credits to graduate.). He then told me that the graduate program had some openings for the upcoming fall semester. He stated that if I applied, I would not only be accepted, but that his department would pay for it. In essense, I could get a masters degree for the cost of books alone.
I was the first person in my family to go to college, much less graduate. Nobody I knew had a masters degree at that time nor did anybody impress upon me the importance of obtaining one. I politely thanked him and stupidly declined, stating I had a job offer to work at the family business. I was tired of studying and simply wanted to get out into the working world.
It was the biggest mistake I ever made. The family ruled with an iron fist and I was prevented from making any meaningful changes there. The products they sold changed with the times and eventually disappeared but the business never changed with it. I could see that it was dying and would not survive much longer. Unfortunately, too many years had lapsed and I was no longer marketable. Masters Degrees were becoming the norm to get a higher level business job and I foolishly had turned down an opportunity to get one.
I ended up returning to college, disillusioned with the business world and secured a teaching degree and, eventually, a master’s degree at my own expense. I found I really liked that job and I am still teaching nearly thirty years later. Had I taken that original offer though, back in 1974, I could have been working for a large corporation, at a much higher salary, with a good retirement plan and a lot more perks. I would have been able to retire with a 401K and turn to teaching as a second career, with a lot more money saved and with a second retirement plan ahead of me.
Fast forward to 2005. My son graduated MIT, first in his class in the school of Mechanical Engineering. He won the Presidential Award and received a similar offer from them to obtain his masters degree. I recounted my story and urged him to take it, which he did. When he was nearly finished, his adviser presented him with a free ride to get his PhD. He was hesitant but I pushed him to accept. He graduated at age 26 and started his first job at six figures.
Never turn down an opportunity for free education. It is time consuming and a lot of work, but the rewards pay back in the form of higher salaries and a better lifestyle.
Simpsons predictions…
What do Taiwanese people think about the Nanking Massacre? Do Taiwanese people hate Japanese like Mainland Chinese people?
When I young in Taiwan, all students must watch a one hour long documentary, Roar of China 中國的怒吼, documentary of all the atrocities of Japanese killing and bombing. Once a year, every year for many years. Attendance was mandatory for all, we had to write essay on the Japanese atrocities. That built a deep hatred towards Japan and Japanese. All Japanese movies and books were banned.
Occasional reports of Taiwan people love Japan and Japanese are wrong. As decades passed, that hatred gradually faded away to lesser degree, but among older Taiwan people, hatred of Japan is constant and in daily conversations.
I no longer hate Japan or Japanese, but I did not forget.
Gonna be more and more common in the USA…
Why didn’t the US give serious support to the Republic of China government in Taiwan to recover mainland China from the Communists in the 1960s and 1970s?
The Korean war.
In the early 1950’s, the United States (fresh from fighting World War II), along with its allies invaded Korea. The stated reasons were “democracy”, “freedom” and “fighting Communism”. Of course. The real reason was to attack and seize China while it was still weak. Then, from that captured territory, place military bases on the Russian Southern flank for an eventual World War 3.
Well, the Korean war was a fiasco. The United States lost bigly.
In fact, the losses were so very horrific, that the retreat became a rout. And the piles of equipment and stockpiles in warehouses had to be bombed remotely, by the sea and the air, to prevent capture. (This is by definition a rout. Remote demolitions of abandoned material is a characteristic of a rout.)
General Douglas MacArthur was so upset and defeated that he demanded that President Truman start using nuclear weapons on China, but Truman refused.
Instead President Truman initiated a multi-decade long campaign of carpet bombing China with bio-weapons. (Which didn’t do much to China, except make it very VERY resilient to bio-weapon attacks.)
This kind of stealth; passive-aggressive, attacking continued for decades. Well into the 1970s.
So when the 1960s rolled around, the United States was busy fighting on China’s Southern borders; Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. All trying to obtain a “toe hold” there. But Chinese-backed Vietnamese forces were putting up a good fight.
You must realize that at that time, with a hostile and unstable SE Asia, and a very VERY pissed off China, the United States was in no way ready to take on China. Because over the decades of covert hostilities, the Chinese grew stronger, and angrier with each passing month.
So in the 1960s and into the 1970s, the United States did not attack China overtly. It’s not that the United States did not want to attack China. It is just that it simply could not. China was a very formidable fighting force, and the anticipated American (and allied) losses would have been enormous.
Tony has some words…
https://youtu.be/uHK30wl_0oo
What does it mean when the Chinese government turned down the request of the US Defense Department for the US and China defense chiefs to meet in Singapore to have discussions in June 2023?
It means that the Chinese are not fools. The United States sanctioned the Chinese defense chief, and if they would meet, that would be in violation of the sanctions.
Who knows what other “dirty tricks” the Biden administration has “up its sleeve”?
But also, and most importantly, nothing productive would come out of the meeting. The United States has proven itself to be two-faced, fork-tongued, lying, scheming, manipulating bastards that have only one goal which is to belittle, and ultimately destroy China.
Why would an American want to move to China?
Different people have different reasons.
I came to China because the Chinese government agreed to support my research and give me opportunity to build a team to pursue solutions for health problems with genomics. I tried again and again through the grant process and VC channels in the US. For grants, if you weren’t part of the group that gets most of the grant money or one of their proteges (“the club”), you weren’t getting a grant. And, if you weren’t 20 something with no experience but full of wild ideas VC funds weren’t interested, they are all looking for the next Zuckerberg or Gates. They didn’t care about sound business plans.
So, I came to China where I was first able to almost immediately raise money from VCs and then after a year the Chinese government agreed to support me, my team and my projects.
China is the land of opportunity for talented scientists. They are putting a lot of money into developing a broad group of technologies of which biotech is one. A key focus of the education system is STEM graduates. So, for me, China was the obvious choice.
Note: I could’ve gotten a job in the US and been paid a very good wage, although I am doing well, especially by Chinese standards, I would’ve made more in the US. But, here I am supported to pursue my passion. And, it is a very good opportunity to experience the culture and the people.
The largest group of American expats here in China are teachers though. In China, teaching is a very well respected profession and the teachers are well compensated with lots of perks. They came here, some for the experience, most for the increased wages and respect that they found they lacked in the US.
Fried Okra with Tomatoes and Onions
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon
- 1 pound sliced okra
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Fry bacon crisp. Remove from skillet and drain.
- Fry okra in bacon drippings.
- Add onion. Cook until tender.
- Add tomatoes; stir well.
- Add bacon and salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
What is the creepiest unexplained event you know of?
In 1989 two hikers who got lost while climbing Mount Asahidake in Daisetsuzan National Park were found when a helicopter saw the distress sign written on the side of the mountain and rescued them.
Great for the two hikers and lucky because this is where the story gets strange. The police in the area were sure the hikers had made the SOS sign that was made by stacking large birch trees on top of each other, the sign was quiet large. When the police questioned the two hikers about their ordeal they swore they knew nothing about the sign. It was just pure luck on their part.
This got the investigators worried because if they didn’t make the signal, who did? This led the police back to the area with a search team to find another potential missing person. After a few hours of searching the area the police discovered human bones with bite marks and fractures from before they died. This is where the story goes from strange to bizarre.
As they continued their search they came across a hole big enough to fit a human. In the hole they found a human skull, four cassette tapes, a tape recorder, some amulets, a backpack, tripod, some men’s shoes, two cameras, a notebook and a drivers licence belonging to Kenji Iwamura, a 25-year-old male office worker.
Photo of Kenji Iwamura
On one of the tapes was the voice of a man screaming for two and a half minutes. A translation of the man shouting on the recording is as follows:
SOS, help me, I can’t move on the cliff, SOS, help me.
The place is where I first met the helicopter. The sasa [a type of bamboo plant] is deep and you can’t go up. Lift me up from here. The police were sure the bones belonged to the guy on the drivers licence but went sent for testing they came back as belonging to a female between the ages 20–30.
The rest of the tapes included music from the anime TV shows, Macross and Magical Princess Minky Momo In addition, a cut out of artwork of “Magical Princess Minky Momo” was used as a case for the cassette tape. This strange disappearance had the police perplexed.
The wooden letters of the SOS sign were made by stacking large fallen birch trees, and it was estimated that it took about two days and considerable effort to create such a giant sign. It was speculated that the sign was made by the missing person that the skeleton belonged to, but in the autopsy of the skeleton that was found, who investigators believed was Iwamura, the body was described as thin and weak and that it would have been impossible for him to make the sign on his own.
No axe that would have been used to cut the trees down to make the sign has been found. There is also no record or report of a missing woman that could be connected to Iwamura.
Lx24 – Мокрые губы – 抖音BGM 2023
What was the most “Canadian” thing you’ve ever done or seen someone do?
I saw this video on the internet.
A wild lynx had broken into a farmer’s chicken coop and ate some chicken. (British Columbia, February 2021.)
So what does the farmer do? He corners the lynx, picks it up by the scruff of the neck, and takes it into the coop to show it the damage it has done – all the while scolding the lynx casually in the way that a person would scold a naughty cat who has scratched up a cushion.
I think it has become a pet now.
Broke into a farmer’s coop, annihilated two chickens, gets a polite scolding and some selfies with the farmer. Only in Canada.
What is the best life advice you would give?
I’m in my 40s, if you’re still in your 20s and 30s read this:
1. Your 3 most important life choices are:
I) Your spouse
II) Your career
III) Where you’ll live
Therefore, do not rush these decisions. Take your time and think.
2. To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.
To attract the right people, be the right person.
The world isn’t crazy enough to reward a bunch of undeserving people (Charlie Munger).
3. Stop listening to what people say and watch what they do.
Words lie, and actions reveal the truth.
It is, therefore, important to listen and keep your eyes wide open.
4. The cowards never started and the weak died along the way.
There’s wisdom in age.
Study things and people who have been around for a long time in:
• Art
• Nature
• Architecture
• Classic books
• Classic movies
5. Take care of your health.
Have a healthy body:
• Take 10k steps a day
• Be intentional and regular about exercising
• Adopt a high-protein diet
• Take only nutrient-dense food
• Drink 2-3 liters of water daily
• Avoid processed sugar and alcohol
In the long run, it is inevitable that you will have;
• Clear Skin
• A Clear mind
• High energy
Your mind is your greatest asset.
So walk, write, think, stretch, be in solitude, meditate, and spend time in nature.
Avoid;
• News
• Politics
• Toxic relationships
Stop reacting to everything and instead, be proactive.
6. Attitude and mindset are extremely important.
Poor mentality traits:
• Waiting for motivation to start
• Quitting when the motivation fades
• Doing only what you think is your best
Rich mentality traits:
• Getting motivation after starting
• Showing up every day (no matter what)
• Doing what it takes
So, which one would you choose?
7. It’s not the strongest or smartest who survive, it’s the ones who are most adaptable to the changing environment.
Consistency beats intensity and the compound effect is one of the secrets to success.
8. Don’t let people push you around, and stand up for the weak.
Fight back against anyone who pushes your boundaries.
Most people will not bother you if they know you’ll retaliate.
9. Be a mad Scientist.
Life is one big experiment.
So whenever you feel stuck, adapt and try something new.
There are no failures, only experiments that go too long.
And never learn without taking action.
10. Never play the victim.
Life will test you. It’ll test everyone. So you’re not special.
Learned helplessness is a trap.
Face your problems head-on to build character and resilience.
Instead of thinking about why the problem is happening to you, flip the script and acknowledge that it has already been done and it’s too late to undo it. From there you’ll be aware of the fact that the best thing you can do is move forward.
11. Practice Problem-Solving.
The bigger your problems, the bigger your opportunity.
Be thankful for your problems. God only gives you what you can handle.
12. Take responsibility for everything.
Blaming people or circumstances gives them power over you. Only blame yourself.
13. Find mentors.
Find mentors that are years ahead of you.
Absorb everything they teach you.
Learn from their failures so you don’t have to learn the hard way.
If you can’t find a mentor, read books.
14. You will be happiest when building:
• Your mind
• Your body
• Your business
• Your family
Learn these skills and never worry about money:
• Selling
• Marketing
• Negotiation
• Copy Trading
• Copywriting
• Critical Thinking
• Creative Creation
• Emotional Intelligence
• Communication
15. Do what is difficult when it is easy.
You’re young, therefore:
• It’s easy to stay fit
• It’s easy to experiment and fail
• It’s easy to be open-minded and learn
16. Financial freedom unlocks your extreme potential.
You get to experience and express your true self when you know your livelihood isn’t 100% reliant on other outside forces that might be uncontrollable by you. So when you achieve financial independence earlier on in your life, you are going to invest in yourself and believe in yourself regardless, you are going to work out and exercise because you will not be limited by time.
If you’re still employed, don’t be discouraged, just look for ways to make an extra buck and save it gradually till you have what you’d consider enough to get started. In one of my sources of passive income, I got started with just $500 and within a month, I saw immense results.