The United States has a DEATH WISH.
China: Xi Gets Ready for the Final Countdown
President Xi Jinping’s 1h45min speech at the opening of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing was an absorbing exercise of recent past informing near future. All of Asia and all of the Global South should carefully examine it.
The Great Hall was lavishly adorned with bright red banners. A giant slogan hanging in the back of the hall read, “Long Live our great, glorious and correct party”.
Another one, below, functioned like a summary of the whole report:
“Hold high the great flag of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, carry forward the great founding spirit of the party, and unite and struggle to fully build a modern socialist country and to fully promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
True to tradition, the report outlined the CPC’s achievements over the past 5 years and China’s strategy for the next 5 – and beyond. Xi foresees “fierce storms” ahead, domestic and foreign. The report was equally significant for what was not spelled out, or left subtly implied.
Every member of the CPC’s Central Committee had already been briefed about the report – and approved it. They will spend this week in Beijing studying the fine print and will vote to adopt it on Saturday. Then a new CPC Central Committee will be announced, and a new Politburo Standing Committee – the 7 that really rule – will be formally endorsed.
This new leadership line-up will clarify the new generation faces that will be working very close to Xi, as well as who will succeed Li Keqiang as the new Prime Minister: he has finished his two terms and, according to the constitution, must step down.
There are also 2,296 delegates present at the Great Hall representing the CPC’s over 96 million members. They are not mere spectators: at the plenary session that ended last week, they analyzed in-depth every major issue, and prepared for the National Congress. They do vote on party resolutions – even as those resolutions are decided by the top leadership, and behind closed doors.
The key takeaways
Xi contends that in these past 5 years the CPC strategically advanced China while “correctly” (Party terminology) responding to all foreign challenges. Particularly key achievements include poverty alleviation, the normalization of Hong Kong, and progress in diplomacy and national defense.
It’s quite telling that Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was sitting in the second row, behind the current Standing Committee members, never took his eyes off Xi, while others were reading a copy of the report on their desk.
Compared to the achievements, success of the Xi-ordered Zero-Covid policy remains highly debatable. Xi stressed that it has protected people’s lives. What he could not possibly say is that the premise of his policy is to treat Covid and its variants as a U.S. bioweapon directed against China. That is, a serious matter of national security that trumps any other consideration, even the Chinese economy.
Zero-Covid hit production and the job market extremely hard, and virtually isolated China from the outside world. Just a glaring example: Shanghai’s district governments are still planning for zero-Covid on a timescale of two years. Zero-Covid will not go away anytime soon.
A serious consequence is that the Chinese economy will most certainly grow this year by less than 3% – well below the official target of “around 5,5%”.
Now let’s look at some of the Xi report’s highlights.
Taiwan: Beijing has started “a great struggle against separatism and foreign interference” on Taiwan.
Hong Kong: It is now “administered by patriots, making it a better place.” In Hong Kong there was “a major transition from chaos to order.” Correct: the 2019 color revolution nearly destroyed a major global trade/finance center.
Poverty alleviation: Xi hailed it as one of three “major events” of the past decade along with the CPC’s centenary and socialism with Chinese characteristics entering a “new era”. Poverty alleviation is the core of one of the CPC’s “two centenary goals.”
Opening up: China has become “a major trading partner and a major destination for foreign investment.” That’s Xi refuting the notion that China has grown more autarchic. China will not engage in any kind of “expansionism” while opening up to the outside world. The basic state policy remains: economic globalization. But – he didn’t say it – “with Chinese characteristics”.
“Self-revolution”: Xi introduced a new concept. “Self-revolution” will allow China to escape a historical cycle leading to a downturn. And “this ensures the party will never change.” So it’s the CPC or bust.
Marxism: definitely remains as one of the fundamental guiding principles. Xi stressed, “We owe the success of our party and socialism with Chinese characteristics to Marxism and how China has managed to adapt it.”
Risks: that was the speech’s recurrent theme. Risks will keep interfering with those crucial “two centenary goals”. Number one goal was reached last year, at the CPC’s 100th anniversary, when China reached the status of a “moderately prosperous society” in all respects (xiaokang, in Chinese). Number two goal should be reached at the centenary of the People’s Republic of China in 2049: to “build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious.”
Development: the focus will be on “high-quality development”, including resilience of supply chains and the “dual circulation” economic strategy: expansion of domestic demand in parallel to foreign investment (mostly centered on BRI projects). That will be China’s top priority. So in theory any reforms will privilege a combination of “socialist market economy” and high-level opening, mixing the creation of more domestic demand with supply-side structural reform. Translation: “Dual-circulation” on steroids.
“Whole-process democracy”: that was the other new concept introduced by Xi. Translates as “democracy that works”, as in rejuvenating the Chinese nation under – what else – the CPC’s absolute leadership: “We need to ensure that people can exercise their powers through the People’s Congress system.”
Socialist culture: Xi said it’s absolutely essential “to influence young people”. The CPC must exercise ideological control and make sure the media fosters a generation of young people “who are influenced by traditional culture, patriotism and socialism”, thus benefitting “social stability”. The “China story” must go everywhere, presenting a China that is “credible and respectable”. That certainly applies to Chinese diplomacy, even the “Wolf Warriors”.
“Sinicise religion”: Beijing will continue its drive to “Sinicise religion”, as in “proactively” adapting “religion and the socialist society”. This campaign was introduced in 2015, meaning for instance that Islam and Christianity must be under CPC control and in line with Chinese culture.
The Taiwan pledge
Now we reach the themes that completely obsess the decaying Hegemon: the connection between China’s national interests and how they affect the civilization-state’s role in international relations.
National security: “National security is the foundation of national rejuvenation, and social stability is a prerequisite of national strength.”
The military: the PLA’s equipment, technology and strategic capability will be strengthened. It goes without saying that means total CPC control over the military.
“One country, two systems”: It has proven to be “the best institutional mechanism for Hong Kong and Macau and must be adhered to in the long term”. Both “enjoy high autonomy” and are “administered by patriots.” Xi promised to better integrate both into national strategies.
Taiwan reunification: Xi made a pledge to complete the reunification of China. Translation: return Taiwan to the motherland. That was met with a torrent of applause, leading to the key message, addressed simultaneously to the Chinese nation and “foreign interference” forces: “We will not renounce the use of force and will take all necessary measures to stop all separatist movements.” The bottom line: “The resolution of the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves, to be decided by the Chinese people.”
It’s also quite telling that Xi did not even mention Xinjiang by name: only by implication, when he stressed that China must strengthen the unity of all ethnic groups. Xinjiang for Xi and the leadership mean industrialization of the Far West and a crucial node in BRI: not the object of an imperial demonization campaign. They know that the CIA destabilization tactics used in Tibet for decades did not work in Xinjiang.
Shelter from the storm
Now let’s unpack some of the variables affecting the very tough years ahead for the CPC.
When Xi mentioned “fierce storms ahead”, that’s what he thinks about 24/7: Xi is convinced the USSR collapsed because the Hegemon did everything to undermine it. He won’t allow a similar process to derail China.
In the short term, the “storm” may refer to the latest round of the no holds barred American war on Chinese technology – not to mention free trade: cutting China off from buying or manufacturing chips and components for supercomputers.
It’s fair to consider Beijing keeps the focus long-term, betting that most of the world, especially the Global South, will move away from the U.S. high tech supply chain and prefer the Chinese market. As the Chinese increasingly become self sufficient, U.S. tech firms will end up losing world markets, economies of scale, and competitiveness.
Xi also did not mention the U.S. by name. Everyone in the leadership – especially the new Politburo – is aware of how Washington wants to “decouple” from China in every possible way and will continue to provocatively deploy every possible strand of hybrid war.
Xi did not enter into details during his speech, but it’s clear the driving force going forward will be technological innovation linked to a global vision. That’s where BRI comes in, again – as the privileged field of application for these tech breakthroughs.
Only this way we can understand how Zhu Guangyao, a former vice minister of finance, may be sure that per capita GDP in China in 2035 would at least double the numbers in 2019 and reach $20,000.
The challenge for Xi and the new Politburo right away is to fix China’s structural economic imbalance. And pumping up debt-financed “investment” all over again won’t work.
So bets can be made that Xi’s third term – to be confirmed later this week – will have to concentrate on rigorous planning and monitoring of implementation, much more than during his previous bold, ambitious, abrasive but sometimes disconnected years. The Politburo will have to pay way more attention to technical considerations. Xi will have to delegate more serious policymaking autonomy to a bunch of competent technocrats.
Otherwise, we will be back to that startling observation by then Premier Wen Jiabao in 2007: China’s economy is “unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable”. That’s exactly where the Hegemon wants it to be.
As it stands, things are far from gloomy. The National Development and Reform Commission states that compared to the rest of the world, China’s consumer inflation is only “marginal”; the job market is steady; and international payments are stable.
Xi’s work report and pledges may also be seen as turning the usual Anglo-American geopolitical suspects – Mackinder, Mahan, Spykman, Brzezinski – upside down.
The China-Russia strategic partnership has no time to lose with global hegemonic games; what drives them is that sooner rather than later they will be ruling the Heartland – the world island – and beyond, with allies from the Rimland, and from Africa to Latin America, all participating in a new form of globalization. Certainly with Chinese characteristics; but most of all, pan-Eurasian characteristics. The final countdown is already on.
IT’S ON! Biden just moved us closer to war with China
Perspective
Below are just a few commonly learned phrases in Chinese language lesson in school: 谋定而思动 ： planned before thinking of taking action 三思而后行： think 3 times before action 不打没有把握的战 do not enter into a war without confident 谨言慎行: discipline in words careful in action So, We can observed from the Chinese leadership all the above quality. Whereas: the crusaders teach their children "show and tell" in school, confidently say anything including bullshitting at will. So, their politicians are good at bullshitting without sense of responsibility, discipline, and sense of shame. Therefore, I believe that well spoken and habitual liars 🤥 in Western political and media establishment have got nothing to do with IQ but culture. And the less well spoken but wiser Chinese leadership is also linked to culture and not IQ.
Russia: “No Point” to continued Diplomatic Presence in the West
In a shocking statement today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “Russia sees no point in maintaining diplomatic presence in the West.”
He continued by saying “It makes no sense, and we have no desire to maintain the same presence in Western countries. Our people work in conditions that can hardly be called human. They face constant problems, threats of physical attacks.”
Lavrov went on to reveal “the Russian foreign ministry is currently carrying out a “geographical reorientation” of its activities both abroad and in the central office” suggesting a potential downgrade of Russia’s diplomatic presence in the West.
Hal Turner Remarks
Will this be a pretext for quiet embassy evac before the nukes launch?
When Diplomacy is shut off, we all know what comes next.
You know, if the United States or its NATO allies had one shred of self-respect, or one grain of honor, this whole Ukraine thing would never have taken place. But the people running the United States Government seem to me to have no honor – at all. They gave assurances to Russia that NATO “would not move one inch eastward” then later did the exact thing they assured Russia would NOT be done. That set in motion DECADES of betrayal of Russia, which have no lead us to the brink of actual nuclear war.
Our assurance was given, and recorded in official US State Department Records, on February 9, 1990. A portion of those records appear below.
The long and short of it is this: At a meeting in Moscow between then US Secretary of State James Baker, then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, and then Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, Baker spoke about the then-pending re-unification of East and West Germany. Baker expressly stated (Page 5):
“I want you to know one thing for certain: The president and I have made clear that we seek no unilateral advantage in this process.”
On the very next page (Page 6), Baker explicitly stated:
“We understand the need for assurances to the countries in the east. If we maintain a presence in a Germany that is part of NATO, there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east.”
For all those ignorant morons cheering Ukraine, let me educate you with facts and evidence proving we in the west – and the government of Ukraine – are in the wrong. Here are the official US State Department records proving the United States assured the Soviet Union upon the re-unification of East and West Germany, “there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east:”
OK, so there you have it. Official records from the US State Department. At this point, I would like to ask YOU, when you read that, how did you interpret NATO not moving “one inch to the east?”
For me, I took this to mean exactly what it said. No more eastward expansion. How about you?
Well, guess how the US government under the NEXT President, Bill Clinton, chose to interpret it.
The US Government chose to interpret it as applying ONLY INSIDE RE-UNIFIED GERMANY.
Under Clinton, the position of the United States became . . . the wider context of these assurances was not to expand NATO eastwards at all and that NATO should have stopped at eastern Germany. Sure, that was the context when the assurances were discussed. Yet no such assurances or promises were ever given, nor could they be given without consent of parliaments of NATO states. In western statesmanship you can’t bind a future government without an act of parliament (Congress, Senate or what have you) or a precedent by the supreme (Constitutional or what have you) court. Even if some sort of assurance was given to the Soviet Union or Russia, that assurance was only as good as the term of the executive that made it.
And that . . . that right there . . . is what set in motion the massive eastward expansion of NATO, right up to the border of Russia.
When Baker, Gorbachev, and Shevardnadze met, the nearest NATO base to Russia was 1200 miles away. As you sit wherever you are right now reading this, the nearest NATO base to St. Petersburg, Russia, is only 100 miles away. THAT’s how close NATO has gotten to Russia.
It went like this:
Re-unified Germany became a NATO member in 1990, as discussed between the men named above.
In December of the next year, the Soviet Union dissolved itself on Christmas Day.
Since the big, bad, Soviet Union no longer existed, there was -factually – no longer a reason for NATO to exist. The reason NATO was created was to protect western Europe from Soviet Communism. That all ended on Christmas Day 1991, and NATO should have ended with it. It didn’t.
Nine years later, under President Bill Clinton, our “assurances” against NATO expansion, went right out the window.
In 1999, NATO admitted former Soviet States Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.
Then in 2004, under President George W. Bush, he undermined his own father’s Presidential assurances, and NATO admitted former Soviet states Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. (How’s that for “honorable?”)
With the admission of Estonia, NATO troops got onto bases only 100 miles from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Here’s a map/timeline of NATO’s expansion:
The Russians balked. Loudly. And that’s when they were told, show us the Treaty or your claims have no merit. Right then and there, Russia found out that the word of a US President, was worthless.
And at the time, there wasn’t much Russia could do about it. They were still repairing the damage of 70+ years of filthy Communist rule, and, by the way, still paying off the DEBTS of the former Soviet Union.
Bet you didn’t know that about Russia, did you? RUSSIA HONORED ALL THE OLD SOVIET DEBTS.
Yet all that somehow wasn’t good enough for the West. In 2009, NATO expanded again. In 2014, the West overthrew the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, by financing and facilitating violent riots in the streets of Ukraine. When Yanukovich was overthrown, the US and EU financed the election of pro-western puppets in Ukraine, to bring Ukraine into NATO, so as to be able to put US missile defenses inside Ukraine.
Russia flatly refused to allow this to happen. Russia pointed out that US missiles in Ukraine would have about a five minute flight time to Moscow, and about a 7 to 10 minute flight time to Russia’s nuclear missile silos. Russia made clear all the way back then, that Ukraine joining NATO was a “red line” for them that Russia would not tolerate.
NATO (The US and EU) ignored Russia. NATO expanded again in 2017, and formally began considering Ukraine and Georgia (to the south of Russia) in 2019.
Russia balked over and over, and was ignored.
In late December, 2021, Russia put forth a Treaty proposal to obtain iron clad, legally enforceable security guarantees. NATO laughed at the proposal and threw it in the trash.
Four days later, Russia delivered the same Treaty Proposal via Diplomatic Courier, to the White House, to #10 Downing Street in London, and to the Presidents/Prime Ministers of all NATO countries, making the exact same proposal but this time saying “If Russia cannot obtain iron clad, legally enforceable security guarantees via Diplomatic means, it will obtain them by military or military-technical means.”
The US and NATO took about three weeks to respond, and when they did, the Treaty was again rejected out of hand, to the sounds of laughter.
About a month later, on February 24, 2022, Russia did exactly what they said they would do and began a Special Military Operation to De-militarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.
The West, stunned that Russia did exactly what they said they would do, erupted in a hissy fit, and started helping Ukraine. And the meddling of the West has now gotten us to the point, where we are literally ONE MISTAKE AWAY from actual nuclear war.
All this because we in the West did not honor our assurances, then commenced an aggressive campaign to literally surround Russia with NATO troops, bases, and missiles.
If you were the Russians, how would you feel? What would YOU do?
Diplomacy failed.
Russia has no choice but to act militarily now, and it is all because we in the West lied, broke our word, and surrounded Russia with missiles.
Now, it may be only weeks until nuclear war destroys us all.
All for lack of honor. By us.
We are in the wrong here.
Jurassic Park (1993) – Nedry Gets Eaten Scene | Movieclips
Ready to “pull a Russia” on China…
After suffering from the economic consequences of BREXIT, looting Russian sovereign fund and private property boomerang energy crisis, inflation, mass poverty, and internal disintegration, the world most nasty crusaders still think they have the power to take on China as enemy... Now I understand how barbarian empire like the Roman empire can disintegrate into nothing more than a memory in school text book without being bullied. Cross-party group of lawmakers ask UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to pursue action as a ‘pathway to introducing targeted sanctions’ Unlike the US, Britain did not issue sanctions against individual Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials over controversial national security law.
Trisha Yearwood’s Crock Pot Pork Loin
The meat was so tender it just fell apart when I tried to cut it…But what set this recipe above the others was the gravy!!! I love anything smothered in gravy!
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/2 to 3 lb pork loin, trimmed of all visible fat
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 3 tsp soy sauce
- 3 tbs cornstarch
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Season the pork loin lightly with salt. In a small bowl combine the garlic powder, ginger, dried thyme, and black pepper. Rub the seasoning over the surface of the pork loin.
- In a skillet heat the oil and brown the pork loin on all sides. Transfer the pork to the crock pot. Combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, and soy sauce; pour over the pork loin.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 5.
- After cooking, transfer the roast to a platter and keep warm.
- To make the gravy, pour the liquid from the crock pot into a measuring cup. Skim off the fat. Measure two cups of the liquid, adding water if needed. Transfer to a sauce pan reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid.
- Stir the cornstarch into the reserved liquid, then stir into the liquid in the sauce pan. Heat, stirring frequently, until the gravy is thick. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the roast with the gravy.
Push for Liz Truss to resign. Economic crisis in France deepens
Russia Destroys Satellite Uplink Station outside Odessa, Ukraine – all NATO Gear inside
Russia has destroyed the Satellite Uplink Earth-station of the communications center of Ukraine.
To destroy it, a special operation was organized by the Russian Army. After first pinpointing its location, it was hit using high-precision weapons.
The destruction of this earth station – at least for the time being – has totally shut down Ukraine’s secure government communications network, and has stopped the flow of NATO intelligence to Ukraine’s government distribution network. Military planners are no longer able to get real-time intelligence via space satellite communications with NATO!
This creates extremely serious problems for the Ukrainian government to organize operations and secure communications.
“In the area of Palievka settlement, Odesa region, the communications space station of the Government Communications Center of Ukraine was destroyed, ” the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said during a routine briefing.
According to the Russians, “ the consequences of the impact will be seen after the last pass by the Sentinel-2 and WorldView spacecraft.
Intelligence community information is that the earth station was fully outfitted with NATO secure communications gear, and all NATO targeting data passed to the Kiev regime through this center. Its destruction is a massive blow to the Ukrainians.
Biden’s Empty Threats To Saudi Arabia Are Laughable
RUSSIA DECLARES MARTIAL LAW IN FOUR NEW REGIONS; PUTS ALL OF RUSSIA ON WAR-READINESS ALERT
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Martial law has been introduced in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions because all four regions are being attacked by Ukraine’s Nazi Army for voting to leave Ukraine and become part of Russia.
Martial Law takes effect at Midnight, local time, tonight.
Far more worrisome is a separate Decree issued by President Vladimir Putin this afternoon in Moscow. That second Decree says:
A) In all regions of the Russian Federation, except for the center and south of Russia, a regime of “basic war readiness” is being introduced.
B) In Russia’s border regions a “medium level of war readiness” is introduced, AND;
C) In regions of the Central Federal District and the Southern Federal District a “high level of war readiness” is introduced.
This is precisely the type of alerting situation one might expect if the Russian nation goes to actual war. The fact that the ENTIRE nation is put on “Basic” war readiness, is the giveaway.
One would expect the border regions to be on some level of alert and one would also expect the regions nearest Ukraine to be on a higher level of alert. But to put the ENTIRE country on Basic war readiness alert is the undeniable signal that the situation with Ukraine is headed directly to an actual MASSIVE (think “world”) war.
. . . soon.
Legislature: Secret Sessions
Yesterday, the lower House of the Russian legislature, called the “Duma” for the first time, went into “secret” session. Live TV coverage, similar to C-SPAN in the USA, was ordered to shut off cameras and leave the Chamber.
Today, the upper house of Russia’s legislature, called the “Federation Council” (similar to the US Senate) met openlyu in the morning, where President Putin issued the Decrees mentioned above. Then, Putin turned the session over to Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, Dmitry Medvedev, and the chamber went into Secret Session, cutting off all cameras, and ordering media and spectators OUT of the chamber.
IMMORTAL (Official) – “ALL SHALL FALL” music video HD
UK in turmoil
COVERT INTEL – URGENT
My former colleagues from my years working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force have told me why UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace flew urgently to Washington, DC yesterday. This is an unmitigated disaster in the making .
Dorothy – Black Sheep
Ukraine Fires 6 HIMARS at Power Station/Dam trying to Flood Kherson – all Intercepted!
The Ukrainian Nazi Army fired six (6) American-supplied HIMARS Multiple Launch Rockets at the Kakhovskyaya Hydroelectric Power Plant, shown above, in an effort to cause massive flooding of the Kherson region, for leaving Ukraine and becoming part of Russia. All 6 HIMARS shells were intercepted and destroyed.
The location of this power station is shown on the small map below:
Had the Dam been hit and collapsed, all the water to the north of the Dam would have gone into uncontrolled release. The flooding would have been forty feet deep in parts of Kherson located south of the Dam.
Yesterday, acting on covert intelligence, the Russians began evacuation of the civilian population in areas of Kherson likely to have been affected if the Dam was destroyed and flooding came in. Upwards of sixty thousand (60,000) civilians evacuated, some of whom are shown in the news video below:
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces launched another offensive against Kherson, in the exact same locations as their prior failed attempts:
The Ukraine Nazi Army went on the offensive in the south, trying to break through to Berislav in the Kherson region. Ukraine has even brought a reserve into battle. It appears it is not possible to for Ukraine to break through now. The battlefield map below tells the story:
Russian Su-25 attack aircraft and Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopters are working on the Nazis and stopping them for now.
The fighting is described as “fierce.”
Aliens- Combat Drop Alternate Version
Godsmack – I Stand Alone (Official Music Video)
Poor Mans Prime Rib
This Poor Mans Prime Rib Recipe is seriously the best way to cook a roast. It makes an inexpensive piece of meat taste like prime rib! Tender and delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 pound beef eye of round roast
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Season the roast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder; and place in a roasting pan or baking dish. Do not cover or add water.
- Place the roast in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Roast for 21 minutes (seven minutes per pound) then turn off the oven and let the roast sit in the hot oven for 2 1/2 hours. Do not open the door at all during this time!
- Remove the roast from the oven, the internal temperature should have reached at least 145 degrees F (65 degrees C). Carve into thin slices to serve.
Alice In Chains – Rooster (Official HD Video)
Average Americans in New York City: So Ignorant, there’s almost no hope . . .
Biden’s Tech-War Goes Nuclear
The Biden administration intensified its war on China last week when it detonated a thermonuclear bomb at the heart of Beijing’s booming technology industry. In an effort to block China’s access to crucial semiconductor technology, Team Biden announced onerous new export rules aimed at a “comprehensive supply cut-off” of essential semiconductor technology which– according to one analyst– led to an “immediate operations paralysis.” The terror unleashed by the announcement was aptly summarized in a thread posted at Jordan Schneider’s Twitter account from a translated thread at @lidangzzz (See above quote)
Naturally, the Chinese government was blindsided by the draconian new rules which include “all Chinese advanced computing chip design companies” and will undoubtedly “ensure the elimination of all American products and technologies from the entire ecosystem.” The new sanctions regime will likely inflict significant damage on China’s thriving technology industry while causing considerable harm to US partners who were not consulted on the matter. But while the announcement was a complete surprise, it does fit with the much more extensive list of hostile US actions towards China in the last few months. Some of these include:
- Multiple US delegations (Nancy Pelosi and other sitting Congressmen) traveled to Taiwan to challenge the One-China policy that has been the cornerstone for normal relations between the two countries for the last 40 years.
- Two US warships sail through strait, BBC
- US-India maneuvers on the India-China border
- The Biden Administration’s persistent determination to provide South Korea with a lethal missile defence system that can be used for offensive purposes and which threatens Chinese security
- The relentless strengthening of an “anti-China” coalition
- Two U.S. carrier groups conduct exercises in South China Sea
- And, now–according to the Financial Times– The EU is being urged to rethink its China policy
While in no way exhaustive, the list should give the reader some sense of the uptick in belligerence that is presently aimed at Beijing. Hectoring China has become a full-time job which is not entirely unexpected as US-China “containment” policy dates back as far as the Cold War. What’s different now –as Biden’s 2022 National Security Strategy indicates– is that the US sees itself in the midst of a “great power struggle” in which the primary enemy is China who is regarded as “the only competitor with both the intent and, increasingly, the capability to reshape the international order.” (NSS) In other words, the Biden administration is admitting that we are at war with China and that we must use any means necessary to prevail in that conflict. As foreign policy analyst Andre Damon recently noted, the NSS is not a strategy for the defense of the Republic but a “blueprint for World War 3”.
Indeed, so containment alone will no longer suffice. What is required is increasingly provocative actions that will help to isolate, vilify and, ultimately, weaken China so that it becomes a “responsible stakeholder” in the “rules-based system”. In other words, Biden seeks a compliant vassal who will click his heels and do as he is told.
Sound familiar?
Biden’s onerous new export rules fit perfectly within this broader strategy of persistent confrontation and hostility. It also jibes with the oft-repeated neoconservative view that there is “no hope of coexistence with China as long as the Communist Party governs the country.” So, once again, we can see that the administration’s attacks on China are not merely designed to “contain” Chinese development but are also aimed at regime change. We believe that the recent ratcheting up of Biden’s Tech War has nothing to do with national security concerns (like “still-emerging fields of artificial intelligence and quantum computing”) but is actually another desperate attempt to preserve Washington’s loosening grip on global power. Here’s how author Jon Bateman summed it up in an article at Foreign Policy Magazine:
“The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced new… limits on the export to China of advanced semiconductors, chip-making equipment, and supercomputer components. The controls… reveal a single-minded focus on thwarting Chinese capabilities at a broad and fundamental level.... the primary damage to China will be economic, on a scale well out of proportion to Washington’s cited military and intelligence concerns….This shift portends even harsher U.S. measures to come, not only in advanced computing but also in other sectors (like biotech, manufacturing, and finance) deemed strategic. The pace and details are uncertain, but the strategic objective and political commitment are now clearer than ever. China’s technological rise will be slowed at any price.” (“Biden is Now All-In on Taking Out China”, Jon Bateman, Foreign Policy Magazine)
There it is in black and white. The US is going to do whatever it takes to preserve its top spot in the global order “come hell or high water.” And Bateman is right, there will undoubtedly be “even harsher U.S. measures to come, not only in advanced computing but also in other sectors (like biotech, manufacturing, and finance)” And that, of course, means more sanctions and tariffs, more disruption to vital supply-lines, and higher costs for everything. If you thought the war with Russia impacted energy prices, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Winding back 40 years of globalization is going to be an excruciating experience tantamount to major dental surgery absent the Novocain. This is from Reuters:
“The U.S. is scrambling to tackle unintended consequences of its new export curbs on China’s chip industry that could inadvertently harm the semiconductor supply chain, people familiar with the matter said….as of midnight Tuesday, vendors also could not support, service and send non-U.S. supplies to the China-based factories without licenses if U.S. companies or people are involved. As a result, even basic items like light bulbs, springs, and bolts that keep tools running may not have been able to be shipped until vendors are granted licenses. And without the minute-by-minute support the foundries need, they could begin shutting down, one source said...
The U.S. planned to review licenses for non-Chinese factories in China hit by the new restrictions on a case-by-case basis, but even if approved that could create delays in shipments. Licenses for Chinese chip factories were likely to be denied.” (“U.S. scrambles to prevent export curbs on China chips from disrupting supply chain“, Reuters)
See what I mean? More supply-line disruption means higher prices, more battered household budgets, and fewer American families able to scrape by on their shrinking wages. Does anyone in Washington think about these things before they set the wheels in motion? The Biden administration is so obsessed with containing China, it is willing to send US standards-of-living off a cliff while bringing the world even closer to nuclear annihilation. Here’s more background from an article at the Asia Times:
The US measures won’t affect China’s sensors, satellite surveillance, military guidance and other strategic systems because the vast majority of military applications use older chips that China can produce at home…..The new US restrictions won’t stop China’s 2,000 surface-to-ship and surface-to-surface missiles from targeting US aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific, or US air bases in Guam and Okinawa, and they won’t prevent China’s more than 1,000 interceptors from aiming long-range air-to-air missiles at US planes…
It will also elicit an all-out Chinese effort to replace American chip-making and design technology. CapEx and R&D will shrink drastically in the US semiconductor industry while China allocates a massive budget to the sector.On a five- or ten-year horizon, America’s technological edge in semiconductor design and fabrication is likely to vanish. As capital budgets collapse in the Western semiconductor industry, the damage to the US and other Western economies is likely to be greater than the harm inflicted on China...an all-out US ban on chip sales to China would eliminate 37% of the revenue of US semiconductor companies, lead to … the loss of 15,000 to 40,000 highly skilled direct jobs in the US semiconductor industry.”..
At worst, the damage to China’s economy is likely to be temporary… But the impact of the incipient depression in the Western semiconductor industry may well do permanent harm. (“China chip ban a US exercise in extreme self-harm”, Asia Times)
So, it could all backfire like the poorly thought-out sanctions on Russia that have thrust all Europe into an unprecedented energy crisis?
Yep, that’s what he’s saying. The new rules will cause China some short-term pain but—in the long run—they will only hurt American industry. It’s another classic example of ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’, which appears to be Biden’s MO on a great number of issues.
It’s worth noting, that the Biden plan is another giant leap towards “de-globalization. (which is the reimposing of cross-border trade barriers in order to prevent further economic integration and lower costs.) For decades, business and political leaders have been touting the virtues of offshoring businesses and outsourcing jobs as if that was the true expression of God’s divine plan. But now that China’s growth threatens US global hegemony, foreign policy elites have done a quick 180. Now the globalization genie must be drawn-and-quartered and shoved back into his bottle so the West can preserve its primacy by effectively divorcing itself from the Chinese powerhouse.
By the way, “decoupling” is the new buzzword among foreign policy wonks. What the word implies is that the US must implement “some degree of technological separation from China, but shouldn’t go so far as to harm U.S. interests in the process.” In other words, Washington is on track to selectively terminate many areas of commerce with China while trying not to shoot itself in its own foot.
Good luck with that.
So, where is all of this heading, you ask?
To more conflict, more confrontation, higher prices, lower standards of living and, eventually, a disintegration of the prevailing order. That much is certain. The problem, of course, is that the China hawks now control the levers of power in Washington which means that the attacks on China will intensify, decoupling will accelerate, and a massively-destabilizing international crisis will soon follow.
The Biden administration is squandering American power on unilateral actions it cannot enforce and that will no have meaningful impact on China’s development. They’d be better off looking for ways to ease the transition to a new world, then pathetically trying to turn back the clock to the bygone “unipolar moment”.
Oh MM,
I M M O R T A L in here – just made my day!
If you are in to that kind of music, you should tune into TE RUKI –
(black metal from polynesia – a solid proof that the spirit of the music is agnostic)
And Rooster by AIC – the only song which I can remember them for…
And the news?! Much too much doom and gloom,
and rufus stories are fewer and fewer ;|
But well, whatever, keep it up and thank you
your work is highly appreciated over here, as always.
Best regards, MT
The videos displayed here on MM are rarely just random picks. They accentuate each article with every post. I think that’s pretty special…or should I say, genius?
Such kind words! Big thanks for your perception.