• Mar, 2024
  • Mar 22, 2024
  • The plastic industry knowingly pushed recycling myth for decades, new report finds - YouTube
    For them, it was a way to fend off regulation and to keep selling more plastic.

    China might not have a next step of what to do. They might not know what to do. Except to copy US doing economically, technologically, match military, don't bother doing what US does around the world, run this Western model with single party state, and the West will eventually become economically incapable, and maybe emulate the Chinese model. China needs oppression because it doesn't have a goal it can get people to focus on. A lack of vision. Government officials don't really know what their job is. There's no real agenda.

    So much of the money for Belt and Road (like in Pakistan) just went into nothing or beaurocracy, but it's not even clear who you bribed. China trying to offshore. It's not sure what to invest in in China.
    The greatest benefit so foar of B&R has been easier trade with Europe, which is useless in a great power struggle with the US.
    They didn't have a clearly better investment alternative. Maybe in even better automation. Maybe really trying with a select country like Philippines (a different island from US's).
  • Mar, 2024
  • Mar 15, 2024
  • US using bases in Japan (allowing US to use its jets) was key in wargames playing out scenerios for a Chinese invasion attempt upon Taiwan.

    U.S., other countries removing embassy staff from Haiti as violence worsens | Power & Politics - YouTube


  • Mar, 2024
  • Mar 11, 2024
  • Mass Relocation Of UN Staff From New York To Nairobi Raises Eyebrows - YouTube


  • Feb, 2024
  • Feb 22, 2024
  • Critical documents expected to arrive in mail just vanish - YouTube

    Canadian military accepting less than 1% of permanent residents who apply - YouTube
    #Canada #Immigration

    The Javers Files: Apple Vision Pro in Moscow - YouTube
    It's not even available in UK and other countries where it is allowed by Apple. It does sell for like 50% more though in Russia.
    Parallel import. Apple products have been not sold in Russia by Apple for 2 years, a protest against the Ukraine invasion and war. However, they're still available there to buy.
  • Feb, 2024
  • Feb 13, 2024
  • There is some small amount of immigration from Africa to China. China is doing some port businesses in Africa.
    15 or 20m people could sometime migrate to China, maybe as brides.

    Frontline report: US drone strike in Baghdad kills Iran-backed militia leader | BBC News - YouTube
    In the capitol, killing targets. 930pm, 3 explosions. People are out on the street, cafes and restuarants are open. Calls for retaliation. ‘Blood for blood.’ ‘Threat to safety and security in the country.’ ‘Inevitable retaliation.’
    Do US authorities want Iraq to attack Americans in America? and thus provoke Americans to support a serious war against the Middle East?

    War on border Hezbolah/Lebanon is intensifying. Hezbolah is a real army, great intelligence, experience in Syria, not like Hamas.

    ‘That cannot be a license to dehumanize others.’ Blinken trying to get a ceasefire in Gaza, against strong talk by Netanyahu. ‘Gaza is the key to stabilizing the middle east,’ said a journalist.
  • Feb, 2024
  • Feb 05, 2024
  • R and Uk are using drones and artillary. No one needs air supremacy, just don't let the other person have it.

    U.S. airstrikes hit Iraq, Syria in retaliation for fatal drone attack in Jordan - YouTube
    85 targets. Residential buildings damaged, 16 people killed. Violating their sovereignty, say the 2 states.
    ‘The beginning of our response.' ‘Our.’

    Nearly half of U.S. cities are seeing population decline, study shows - YouTube
  • Jan, 2024
  • Jan 31, 2024
  • https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/98823/

    White House blames deadly attack on U.S. troops in Jordan on Iran-backed group - YouTube
    If you took bets from citizens whether it was a by-the-book-how-to-start-a-war tactical autoattack, or a genuine ‘exactly what the headline says’ attack, what odds would they take? Another survey on how many actually care.
    #Integrity
  • Jan, 2024
  • Jan 26, 2024
  • 97 men for every 100 women, in USA, and in China 104 men for every 100 women, according to Google. Shouldn't we start a massive dating program? However, you should note that its because the oldest demog has more women. if you look at age 30 you might see closer to parity.

    Joe Rogan tells Canada to vote for Pierre Poilievre - YouTube
    Never noticed any interest among top USA voices in Canadian politics before.

    American mercenaries hired by UAE to kill in Yemen | BBC News - YouTube


  • Jan, 2024
  • Jan 22, 2024
  • There are Only Four Free Countries Left - YouTube
    Property rights, judicial effectiveness, government integrity, tax burden and fiscal health, these things went down in a lot of Western countries.

    U.S., U.K. launch strikes against Houthis in Yemen - YouTube

    Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes into Iran | BBC News - YouTube
    2 days ago, Iran used ‘specifically targeted’ strikes, landing missiles in a village on the border, ‘targeting anti-Iran groups’.
    Pakistan has now done a similar strike, against ‘terrorists’ who base themsleves in ‘ungoverned spaces inside Iran.' Pakistan said they acted now because they had ‘credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities by these so called Sarmachars.’ #terrorism

    More education, combined with more journalism, would produce lots of Mileis

    5 Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed in Israeli strike on Damascus, state media reports - YouTube
    #Syria
  • Jan, 2024
  • Jan 08, 2024
  • China calls for global unity amid Western exodus | DW Business Special - YouTube
    Soft power

    Has Russia actually been winning the war in Ukraine (despite what our media says)? Putin's successful stance against the West in Ukraine, has it made him more influential throughout the global south and BRICS? Man with a plan? - Sacks #Putin

    Will Project Ukriane fall apart this year?

    Is the Global South now more resisting the Collective West? Is the Global South using Russia as a proxy against the West? As a way to dethrone US hegemony all over the world? - Fiona Hill

    Cali went from a $70b surplus to now a $70b deficit.

    Ukraine may only have 20m people in the country now. 10m fled maybe. 500k soldiers have lost their lives.

    Germany econonmy, based on cheap Russian gas, German car economy disrupted by Chinese cars, German costs going up while Chinese costs are going down.


  • Dec, 2023
  • Dec 29, 2023
  • New task force aims to combat Red Sea attacks | WGOW Shipping on Live Now Fox - YouTube

    More people renounced US citizenship in the first 3 quarters of last year than the entire year before. (But qualified by pandemic restrictions.)

    China Halts Exports of Some Rare-Earth Processing Technologies - YouTube

    Uzbekistan is a good place to invest, it's now been said. Tamerlane, tourist sights, natural resources. Colombia for natural resources. Indonesia seems to be opening up to trade.

    Texas flying migrants to Chicago now.

    Analyst discusses impact of geopolitics on food security - YouTube
    Black sea region wheat, India restricting movement. India's sugar restrictios have affected Indonesia, Bangledes and SA. More motivation for deglobalizaiton?
    Key staple commodities (small price disruption can cause food insecurity): rice, sugar. Less so for onions.

    Is China driving its economy towards consumption rather than investment?

    Is BRICS (BRICS plus in 2025) a club for talking? or will they do something together. Countries that are opposed to the West and the dollar.

    Mediation. Turkey in Ukraine war. Qatar in Gaza fighting.
  • Dec, 2023
  • Dec 19, 2023
  • Zelenski encuentra escaso entusiasmo en el Congreso para la ayuda a Ucrania | EL PAÍS - YouTube

    Guyanese president speaks out after Venezuela makes claim on oil-rich region of his country - YouTube

    Business that China might lose: Mid to high level tech, Thailand. Up and coming assembly turning into a tech player, Vietnam. Sheer mass, Indonesia.

    Argenitina is young, has good land.

    ‘When you invent a better way, you make the whole world richer.’ Bezos

    Medio millón de migrantes han cruzado la peligrosa selva de Darién este año - YouTube

    Yemen Escalates Attacks against Commercial Shipping | Missile Strikes and Seizures - YouTube

    Shippers could face price increases following Red Sea attacks, says Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen - YouTube
    By Iranian-backed militants, to show support for Hamas, according to CNBC.

    Yemen Announces a Blockade of Shipping to Israel | How Will Navies Respond & Global Shipping React? - YouTube

    San Francisco now at 35% office vacancy rate, highest ever recorded: data - YouTube


  • Dec, 2023
  • Dec 12, 2023
  • Contenido explícito creado con IA de compañeras de clase - YouTube
  • Nov, 2023
  • Nov 30, 2023

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZkZDdGYcu0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCh043-gLIM

  • Nov, 2023
  • Nov 04, 2023

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2oW21ac-Lk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2thow6lTRI

    Will the country shut down to travel for a day? due to mining protests.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qke7F_7DZE

    Is it because no one believes anything issuing from that source, that they use quotation marks for their statements?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKQ2_YVGAUg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pz0arxLaoo

  • Oct, 2023
  • Oct 17, 2023

  • Someone commented in Texas they can get housing approved in 3 months (building new homes). It's 3 years in Canada.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG_RRKpTS-w

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prmB8mZNefo

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fJjxSC_0Jc

    Sheltering women and children first, so most of those outside are of course men.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6XSFzt4-bQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcQaG4sC9BM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Pn-i6L8v4

    2000 Rockets for cover and Hamas gunmen entered in Israeli territory. Hamas says they have taken hostages into Hamas territory. Forces in the streets. Fighting in maybe 5 regions.

    Some crossed in paragliders. Tunnels.

    Hamas says the action is in response to actions by Israel in Jerusalem and some compound.

    Israel is bracing. Military planes are striking Gaza.

    How was Hamas able to plan and then coordinate this? considering Israel is one of the biggest tech spy countries. Pegasus came from them, it was reported. They're also friends with the US which people consider to have access to all social media/Android/iPhone. There was maybe 1000 people who knew about the attack, considering there were hundreds of soldiers from Hamas.

    Within a day or two there was a headline of 700 dead in Israel, and 400 Palestinians. US sent a carrier.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Vw0ptT830

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ0IUCMpgEE

    Headlines about Sweden ‘lauded’ for it's ‘freedom loving’ approach to pandemic. During the pandemic, they took a lot of shit. You're letting your people die. You're not doing everything you can for them. It was hardest to be Sweden, but they seemed pretty secure in their frame when I saw them questioned or provoked along these lines.

    Now, the word I hear people most commonly used to describe the Canadian government is ‘tyranny,’ people having in mind the lockdowns, forced vaccines, response to trucker protest, mainly, and then other headlines more or less seem to reinfornce this view. America people just think is ridiculous, with the Congressional budget crises every few months. California, once considered the perhaps most free, the Wild West, now is considered the most socially engineered, socialism, most ignoring of civil rights.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ys4lfLCeCg

  • Sep, 2023
  • Sep 25, 2023
  • TORONTO HAS CHANGED... and not for the better - YouTube 

    Everyone already knows. It's still a good place to move for people from some other countries.

    Temporary legal status offered to nearly half a million Venezuelan migrants - YouTube 

    18 months.

    Does this incentivize illegal crossings? Cartels, mules can use this news, it is said, to sell crossings to Latinos.

    Does this incentivize illegal crossings? Cartels, mules can use this news, it is said, to sell crossings to Latinos.


    White House to send 800 active-duty troops to southern border - YouTube  Chicago plans city-run grocery stores - YouTube 

    How does this affect Walmart?

    ‘Down to Amazon and Uber Eats, until the drivers get robbed enough.’

    Can the migration from the southern border into the US be called an ‘invasion.’? It's not an armed invasion of course, and it's not an army or a hostile attack. Perhaps the entry would have to be opposed by the local population and overcome to be an invasion? Are they 'entering as an enemy? It seems no.

    Can it be considered an invasion simply on grounds of being ‘harmful’? It's not really harmful, I think.

    Mexico to deport Central American migrants waiting to enter U.S. as crossings spike - YouTube 

    Near-record numbers. Hundreds of thousands per year crossing the Darian. Hoping to reach the US.

    Push factors: fleeing economic and political instability, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba. Dire conditions.

    Pull factors: ample supply of jobs in many sectors. News that the backlogged system is overwhelmed and people in it are just being released.

    Government of Venezuela does not accept US deportations.

  • Sep, 2023
  • Sep 18, 2023

  • Coffee City fires police chief and police force - YouTube 

    Commenter: “It's rare for a news station to take this stance and investigate...”

    Carrying firearms in public banned in Albuquerque - YouTube 

    30-day ban by governor. ('public health order'?) Sheriff says he won't enforce it. There was a public gathering protest where lots of people openly carried. Lawsuits came too, saying it was an unconstitutional ban.

    Can the governor do anything again

    st this type of resistence by the sheriff?



    ‘Illegal’: Italian island Lampedusa sees 120 boats land from Tunisia in Africa - YouTube 
  • Sep, 2023
  • Sep 04, 2023



  • 10th bus carrying migrants from Texas arrives in LA - YouTube 
  • Aug, 2023
  • Aug 21, 2023
  • What if China just opened up to visitors and stopped cracking down on privacy rights, so that people at least from more ordered countries like NEurope, Canada, Japan, NZ, could enter freely and not be tracked and see and do things there?






    Here in Nicaragua, locals say that the Hawaii thing was a weapon. Maybe to be able to clear the land to be able to develop it.



    Very few people chat with Chinese, and Chinese chat with very few people. A separate internet (all separate apps).
  • Aug, 2023
  • Aug 05, 2023
  • 'Mystery company' buys $800M of land near California's Travis AFB - YouTube 

    ...



    Not enough water to go around: Colorado River Basin, ravaged by drought, plans for a drier future - YouTube 
  • Jul, 2023
  • Jul 03, 2023
  • La NASA inicia la misión por la que 4 personas pasarán un año en una simulación de Marte - YouTube 
  • Jun, 2023
  • Jun 04, 2023
  • Greenland moving towards becomming independent of Denmark.
  • May, 2023
  • May 17, 2023
  • Musk thinks China invading Taiwan has a certain inevitability to it. It is China's intent.

    People talking companies reducing risk (business) in China.

    Buffet sold 86% of Berkshire's TSMC stake.

    Could China really physically invade, given the massive costs that would mean? How many years would it take to blow over?
  • May, 2023
  • May 03, 2023

  • Apr, 2023
  • Apr 25, 2023
  • "Will Europe ban cars?"
  • Mar, 2023
  • Mar 31, 2023

  • Mar, 2023
  • Mar 23, 2023
  • Gravitas: Will there be a civil war in Israel? - YouTube 

  • Arrest warrant issued for Russia’s President Putin for alleged war crimes - BBC News - YouTube 
  • Mar, 2023
  • Mar 20, 2023

  • Mar, 2023
  • Mar 15, 2023
  • Pharmaceutical giant slashes insulin prices after pressure from government and consumers - YouTube 
  • 'Unsustainable': Mass Exodus of Police Officers Leaving Communities in Danger - YouTube 
  • Mar, 2023
  • Mar 11, 2023

  • Mar, 2023
  • Mar 03, 2023

  • Awarding .5% of government-held land.
     
    Baby bonuses.
  • Feb, 2023
  • Feb 28, 2023
  • Canadá y EE. UU. limitan uso de TikTok a empleados de Gobierno - YouTube 
  • Feb, 2023
  • Feb 26, 2023

  • 95% of smartphone sales now Chinese (was 45% a year ago). Apple and Samsung had a combined 53%, and their share is now 3%.

  • Feb, 2023
  • Feb 21, 2023
  • Some analysts saying Russia doesn't have manpower to continue towards war goals

    Casualties in Ukraine high.
     
    From Americans viewpoint, it weakens the Russian army a lot.
  • Feb, 2023
  • Feb 20, 2023
  • China, relation of State and Big Business, versus relation with small companies

    Crackdown on Tech Sector seen as an anti-private sector movement. Trying to weaken the private sector.


    Pushback against the Private Sector when it gets too big, when it no longer serves the State's interest, but at the same time, when it comes to small private sector firms, the government keeps talking about just how important they are to its vision of longterm prosperity.

    Not particularly in favor of large private firms because State loses control, the companies do things that we don't think are in the national interest, they exploit the effective monopoly that they have over the industries they've built up, but small private firms on the other hand, they are innovative, they are the ones that are responsible for driving employment in urban areas, they generate economic growth and specifically household wealth. Common prosperity. We need to give small firms the economic opportunity to succeed and to generate their own wealth.

    Big companies have become large land owners one way or another, and when the State says you have to give a rent holiday, they haven't been doing it enough. Vested interests.

    How wealth is allocated throughout the System.


     


  • Lots of headlines about military drills, etc. NK, Japan, SKorea.
  • Jan, 2023
  • Jan 25, 2023
  • It seems like many things are shifting back, approaching perhaps their median point. Wokeness, a certain type of feminism, immigration, globalism, government, medical integrity. Will it swing hard the other way now, causing moderates to have to switch to voicing Leftist concerns?

    China, Ukraine (sending weapons there including US and German tanks, it seems), NATO (Sweden, Finland, Turkey's issues), Afghanistan (last year),

    ?The 'perpetual state of emergency, AI tools (Dalle, SD, chatGPT), fakenews perhaps, hacking, crypto/blockchain, Big Tech antitrust, energy transition, MSM/bloggers,
     
  • Justin Trudeau leaving restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario & running the gauntlet of protesters - YouTube 
  • Jan, 2023
  • Jan 23, 2023

  • They had like 25% weekly inflation last week or something.
  • Jan, 2023
  • Jan 04, 2023
  • Ukraine recently has been asking West for more arms supplies. Also saying Russia is now going to exhaust Ukraine with prolonged attacks.
  • Dec, 2022
  • Dec 26, 2022

  • Sadness mixed with bitterness?

     
  • Dec, 2022
  • Dec 11, 2022
  • Japan launches first commercial moon lander; NASA's lunar flashlight onboard as well | WION - YouTube 
  • Dec, 2022
  • Dec 08, 2022

  • "In England and Wales, 1 in 4 people is not English or Welsh."

    One of the reasons this happens, not just in the UK, is that the government doesn't publish (or used and then stopped) demographics data for these things it doesn't want to talk about, giving people no information to deal with, or they obfuscate the information by mixing classes of people to make the information not usable in such a discussion.

     
  • Dec, 2022
  • Dec 05, 2022
  • Is Xi the strongest cult of personality in history, as Zeihan says?
     
    "It's impossible for people to bring him information now, because they don't know what he'll do."

    "So he's just drinking Cool-Aid."


  • Dec, 2022
  • Dec 04, 2022

  • Dec, 2022
  • Dec 02, 2022
  • Has there been a rising tide of intolerance in the Middle East over the past 50 years?

    Used to be a more tolerant place?

    Homosexuality. People who feel highly threatened by tolerance.
     
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 28, 2022
  • This is probably the worst day for Xi Jinping since he took over in 2012, says expert - YouTube 
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 27, 2022

  • Calling publicly for the downfall of the ruling party hasn't happened in China since basically 1989. Tiananmen square being referred to by talkers.

  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 24, 2022
  • Ukrainian Consequences: The New American War Model - YouTube (at least while US perception of US interventions recovers [Zeihan thinks 18 years])

    Proxy country supplied, satellites/missile coordination, kill chain reduced from hours to minutes, US gear limits Ukrainians from moving into Russia (can't do what they do now without US gear/tech), specialOps (teams of less than 100) doing disruptions and acting as a counselor for local forces.
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 22, 2022

  • 2.5% growth in subSaharan Africa (3x the global average).

    The effect of growth depends on the country. If the country has decent government and the citizens are taken care of, more population may cause less problems. Nigeria, says one man, is the opposite.

    Nigeria expected to be 3rd largest country by 2050.

     
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 21, 2022
  • Beijing in effective shutdown, a week after announcing 'easing'

    Situation is more confused now, as local officials want to look like they're matching the government's easing policy, but also want to keep deaths at zero.


  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 20, 2022
  • South Korea 2022

    K-pop very important to the Korean economy and now (BTS visit to the UN) Korean politics.

    Is it sustainable long-term? "It doesn't matter. That's sort of what the whole ecosystem was built for. The reputation of the cars feeds into the reputation of the phones, and the reputation of the makeup and the movies and the films. If one falters, the others can pick up the pace. ... Korea's very innovative. They're always ready ... to start new things. They're very long-term thinking ... If you're just doing 4-year terms it doesn't work." - Euny Hong

    Next, AI, holograms, entertainment.

    ABBA was once second-earner to Volvo, maybe, for Sweden.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HkkHyUDTqw&list=WL&index=10

    There's a Korean version of just about everything. Browser, food, fashion.

    Most K-pop groups have foreign members now. It's not the exception, closer to the rule. ... Squid Game cast wasn't all Korean. Diversity. What's Korean (culture-wide) is now being redefined and maybe expanded. The population is aging and maybe shrinking, thinking about immigrants, embracing them as Korean. They have to reach out and collab more, it's not just out of charity but out of necesity, good business. ... This will make it not just sustainable but thrive. Things made not just for Koreans but for export as well. Exporting both culture (entertainment) but also technology.

    How to translate that into things Korea really cares about? like the immediate neighborhood and preserving security. Korea is the smallest country there amongs larger major powers. “Having the power of attraction is like having a great playmaker on your team but you still need a close-er” - Scott Snyder.

    What does Korea stand for? It's a very successful country, but one of the most stressed OECD society. As they grow quickly they experience stresses.

    Their soft power is causing backlash in China. To be sure, though, N Koreans are watching their drama.

    Korean language courses at colleges are full, and half of the students are non-heritage, and all of it has to do with Korean pop culture. How to turn that into lifelong supporters and friends of Korea, much like Japan has done with the past generation.

    'Korea is having difficulties deciding between the US and China, but on values Korea shouldn't have difficulty making a choice. It's very hard for Korea to talk about values anywhere that China has interest, for example Hong Kong. That's problematic if we're talking about soft power. You can't be a values producer and values projector on a conditional basis.'

  • Serious protests in China against lockdowns

    ... for Covid and various things involved with that which the people are not happy with, one of the main ones being that officials come to just take people away (a certain number of those present, it seems, rather than anything purposeful, which people in the videos say they ‘don’t understand this Covid policy') because there is ‘a case in the building.'

    Some sang ‘Sea and Sky’, some sang ‘The Lonely and the Brave,’ some sang ‘Unity is Strength’ from highrise buildings that had ‘concerts’.

    Lots of footage being published, with hundreds of people passing barricades, protests, yelling things at officials. On social media, Chinese have been using other (Chinese) languages to bypass to some degree censorship of language.

    ‘The resistence is a result of people’s bottom line being repeatedly challenged.'

    More technical news starts at around 20:00

  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 16, 2022
  • "I don't think invading Taiwan is a good idea, even for China, and I think the Chinese know this. But because they know how much the balance of power matters, they believe they need to have the capacity to invade it." - Samo Burja

  • Hundreds of people.

    China said they were migrant workers, reportedly.

    Rising numbers of cases of Covid in China recently.

     
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 15, 2022
  • Headlines about Russian missile landing in (NATO member) Poland and killing 2 people

    On the Ukraine border.

    G19 day, G20 tomorrow. Sentiment seems to be 'pissed off'. Prognostication seems to be 'increased support for Ukraine', which means more money being sent there in the form of weapons.

    Some things Poland might respond with, according to a redditor: "Additional arms and funding (remember those requests for jets?), decreased restrictions on the use of arms, incentives for foreign legion involvement, providing facilities to hold POWs, missile defense coverage for at least part of Ukraine, asset seizure, war criminal abduction, covert operations that go unacknowledged..."

    Yesterday Zeihan posted about the start of the 'fall of Crimea'. Russia did a withdrawal from a location, because no way to supply its forces without the rails (alternative was more roundabout routes overland or over the Black Sea).

     
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 14, 2022
  • Anywhere but China (ABC) when looking for a factory nowadays. But 'Who lost America?' for China? They had the biggest lobby in America, the US business community. Advocating stronger, deeper ties with China.

    US and China are still intertwined though, and have 40 years of ties (sending kids to study in the other country, buying factories in the other country).

    It is thought that although they are competitors and peers, they do not share values. How true is this? Tom Friedman says this difference in values didn't matter while China was selling the US low tech goods, but when China started selling really important tech, that value difference became important.


     
  • Nov, 2022
  • Nov 02, 2022
  • Americans 77% have a favorable impression of South Koreans now (versus 31% in 2003). BTS and Squid Game.

    Traditional ally UK, 57%. Americans have a higher impression of South Korea than of Australia and France, also.

    China consistently has soured relationships when a country speaks out (often about Taiwan), and for China this is a no-go and China penalizes (economic action) them some way or other).

    NBA tweet led to a ban.

    The way China is run curbs any action to gain soft power, commented Aini. Everything that China has to show (which would be good for its image) has to go through a censorship and propaganda filter, filtering anything that could be seen as detrimental to the State. What comes out doesn't strike a chord. "China itself is actually stifling a lot of the soft power that it could have." Despite headlines saying China has a $10b soft power budget.

    Some things that China is exporting are a makeup thing, Douyin, and a game, Genshin Impact.

    If China drops it's filter, though, it will become more influenced (and communicate more?) with the West, which could lead to more instability.

    People note that nowadays, anytime anyone even talks about or mentions something that is 'Chinese culture' in a positive sense, other people 'backlash' and start making comments that are negative about something China does that aren't really relevant to the original topic.

    Another thing is that a lot of Douyin makeup is just reposted as 'Korean makeup' despite its Chinese creators, which is a label that might get more interest or views.

    Chinese can't access the world to show their culture because they're blocked, unlike Japan and Korea.


     
  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 30, 2022
  • New footage from China congress fuels questions about why Hu Jintao was hauled out - YouTube 

  • Military spending to go up.

  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 24, 2022

  • He expects China to retaliate (perhaps against US tech companies in China) for Biden's banning exports of tech stuff to China.
  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 20, 2022
  • 45 days as PM of Britain (shortest ever), Truss resigned

    Elected by 'less than 1/10 of 1%. She appointed to leadership only friends and like-mindeds.'

    About 7 days for them to find out who the next PM will be. Not a General Election. Sunak is favorite in betting. Boris is among the potentials.

     
  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 14, 2022


  •  
  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 05, 2022
  • Putin signed into law the annexation of about 18% of Ukraine
  • OPEC cut [really around 900k] barrels

    SA ok, but UAE and Kuwait seemed to be on board. Becky on CNBC asked why they didn't raise their hands if they're supposed to be US allies.

  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 03, 2022
  • China has a lot of energy

    Runaway energy usage on crypto-miners. Some think China made a mistake, and there should be more freedom to do crypto-mining in China. But what is the production? Once mines are set up, they only need a few people to run them.

    Why out of China? Capital controls, it can be challenging to tax, can leave borders.

  • Oct, 2022
  • Oct 02, 2022
  • "India will not be the next China ... It will be bigger"

    ... title of a vlog I saw.

    What were the preexisting weaknesses of China that it inevitably had to face? versus those of India?

  • Sep, 2022
  • Sep 30, 2022
  • Opening the Venezuela/Colombia border

    A ton of Venezuelans want to cross the Darian Gap and go north into the USA (we could posit that if they were closer they would all already be there). Groups go regularly across the dangerous passage. It takes 2 weeks to arrive in the States. ... Between them and the Darian Jungle is Colombia, which has been a great friend politically to America for years. Colombia elected Petro, a ‘socialist’ president (their first Leftist president) who took office in August. He opened the border with Venezuela a few days ago.

    For previous years, Venezuealans already crossed easily into Colombia, and millions are new immigrants who crossed not though the border. How much difference does legal crossing make?

    Venezuelans prisons are overfull. Prisoners crossing is being discussed on Colombian analysis news. (Interesting to remember how Britain exported its prisoners to places like Australia over 100 years ago. To contrast, everyone talks about how currently America makes a profit for selected groups though the monetization of incarceration.) However, how many of these Venezuealans are in for polical crimes (black market petrol sales) or economic crimes (people who would not sell so many illegal products if there was a healthy economy to work in)? Or for drug crimes (drugs which are increasily being made legal in many countries)?

    Yesterday in Colombian cities there were large marches in protest of the new president. Signs carried were about taxes, breaking Antioquia into three pieces, and the Darian Gap, among other themes. Most of the marchers were older, unlike many protest marches.

    Side note. Colombians say Venezuealans are tall. How true is this?
  • Sep, 2022
  • Sep 16, 2022
  • Things no one is heard guessing:

    - What a conclusion in Ukraine might look like
    - If Putin remains in power if Russia loses
    - Under what circumstances might sanctions against Russia be lifted
  • Tehran has all of a sudden lost its primary weapons sponsor and its primary Security Council sponsor - Zeihan

    They'll start to think and act differently. (Zeihan still). They may negotiate differently.
     
    He thinks Israel and Syria will have some firework competitions (because he thinks Biden has recently changed his stance from a former strong opposition to potential war there) and Syria will sue for peace.

    He thinks the Poles, Latvians, Fins, etc will try to peel off Belarus out of R. orbit. He sees Lukashenko sued for war crimes for providing access to Russia into Ukraine.

    Saudis (how much energy can be brought to market) will decide the government of Caracas through it's influence on the decisions of the US.
  • Sep, 2022
  • Sep 14, 2022
  • In 5 years the US will be in a better position than it is now, with a better supply chain - Zeihan
     
    East Asia primary source on income is manufacturing.
  • Sep, 2022
  • Sep 13, 2022
  • A couple destroyers in the Indian Ocean basin would be enough to end China's energy imports.

    (Because China's warships can only do 400 miles under combat situations.)

  • "China is probably the biggest loser in the Ukraine war after Ukraine itself." - Zeihan

    "Because they're the last country in the kick line, everyone else gets their stuff first." (Energy, Food from the Russian space)

  • Sep, 2022
  • Sep 08, 2022

  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 30, 2022

  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 29, 2022

  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 25, 2022
  • Mystery deepens over Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri's death | International News | WION - YouTube 
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 19, 2022
  • Gravitas: China's Sichuan shuts all factories to save electricity - YouTube 
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 18, 2022

  • 60 years. Only certain types of business.
     
  • Agriculture is the sector facing the most threat over the next 10 to 20 years and it will result in multi-continental famines (between the Ukraine war and the breakdown of fertilizer supply chains) -Zeihan

    When we globalized, everyone learned to specialize. It was all about the extra value added. And we didn't really worry about having to grow sufficient food for our own plates, so we got into better things. We moved into manufacturing and services. We moved into the city. Agriculture moved from the center of everyone's lives to the edge. It became reliable the more secure and safe globalization became. That's working in reverse now. Countries have to grow their own food (now dependent on and on land only useful with fertilizers), and that means the volume produced is going to go down.

     
  • "Beijing has been quite stunned at the extent of the cooperation between Europe and America on sanctions against America. The calculation ... before the invasion was that Europe and America would be divided, and America would slap a few sanctions on but it wouldn't really be game-changing ..." - John Lee (Hudson Inst)

    "The Chinese now realize that if there's any kind of war, for example over Taiwan, the high likelihood is that the Americans would get global cooperation to start imposing extremely harsh particularly financial sanctions on the Chinese, and that would devastate the Chinese economy"

    Only the Americans tend to do war well over more than one of the 4 domains (land sea air cyber). China and Russia have high impressive numbers in military costs and equipment but haven't really invested that much in logistics and organization and coordination across domains. So its great for them to have all these weapons but if they can't actually use them in a coordinated way ...

    Unlike Russia, China still seeks to be known as a legitimate or respected leader. You can't do that just by material power alone. It would have to get other country's to accept its ownership over Taiwan for that, it couldn't just start bombing Taiwan. So the Chinese are now thinking How do we do that?

    The Covid19 pandemic began a process of diversification away from China. And factoring in the real political risk of being so reliant on China.
     
    Russia is a massive surplus producer and exporter of food stuffs and energy. China is the world's largest importer of all of that, especially for the imports necessary to grow food. The sanctions placed on Russia if placed on China would lead to a de-industrialization of the entire Chinese system in under a year, according to Ziehan.

    Boycotts. Shareholders, consumers can take a stand to change corporate policy. That's a surprise to China, according to Zeihan.


  • 3 choke points: Straight of Hormuz, Straight of Malacca, Singapore Straight.
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 13, 2022
  • Sri Lanka allows Chinese vessel to dock, Washington and Delhi raise a concern | World English News - YouTube 
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 11, 2022

  • "Someone who could bring together various factions of the Taliban and make sure they were following the same line."

    "The Taliban have been saying that their biggest achievement so far in the country is they've been able to provide security to the people of Afghanistan, and attacks like this ... are meant to taint that."

    No one has claimed it. Similar attacks in the past have been claimed by Isil.

     
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 09, 2022
  • China has been carrying out military drills near Taiwan. Taiwan carried some out today.

  • Another example of how things go along (although philosophically opposed by many) until there's an actual contention, and then true colors are displayed.

     
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 06, 2022

  • Kissinger, Nixon, anyone?

     
  • Aug, 2022
  • Aug 02, 2022

  • In Kabul


     
  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 31, 2022

  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 28, 2022
  • Zelinsky poses for Vogue


     
  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 27, 2022
  • Russia might leave the ISS, it's being reported

  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 25, 2022
  • 1983 - 2015 - Peter Zeihan

    35 years with plenty of finance, no security risks, and where anyone who wanted to play a part in the international trading system could (even countries that could have never been successful on their own in a pre-American-led-and-secured globalized system), and it was backed up by massive waves of workers and consumers. Low security costs allowed low-cost production.

    China had its best 35 years. Remove American globalism from the equation and it doesn't work. Play China forward and you see they don't have a work force.

    Currently, half the world population is dependent directly on food imports. 3/4 on fertilizer imports to grow their own food. Trade links.

    Some places weren't able to expand their populations until they could import food (like the Middle East). Some places couldn't get into manufacturing until the security thing happened (like East Asia). Some places used to go to war for energy until recently (like Europe).

     
  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 11, 2022
  • Putin to temporarily shut down Nord Stream, reportedly
  • Sri Lanka protests. Destroyed the leaders house. He resigned. India did not send military aid.
  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 08, 2022
  • Chinese belt and road region


    #China #IR
  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 07, 2022


  • This time there was no little vial presented to Congress, so who knows what to make of this claim.

    Analysts say this time Iran wants to get an ironclad deal that the US can't back out of, and uranium stockpiles are leverage.

    Israel's new PM went to France to try to get Macron's help, but Macron wants dialogue, he stated publicly, and a new deal with Iran.

     
  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 04, 2022

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  • Jul, 2022
  • Jul 01, 2022
  • Turkey 'got what it wanted from Finland and Sweden' in talks, its government says

    ... and it approved the bids by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Many view this as picking sides against Russia. Erdogan also said yesterday 'We will work with Biden for the purchase of the F-16s.'