Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Well played Dewey Decimal system

- If the shoe fits.

- I would so watch this movie.

-  Funny but it could happen.

Coup in China

Hardly an expert in China or Chinese politics but I did want to put down what I've seen about the reported coup attempt in China in a single place to see if the information somehow makes more sense. How does what happened in China effect the rest of the world?

Was it a coup or a purge? What information to trust? You decide,

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Michael Shellenberger on the Epstein client list story. He's right this is nothing short of renewed censorship.

- Is Xi on his way out in China? Interesting. (HT Borepatch)

- States with school choice test better that states without the competition.

- If you look at just the results - Donald Trump does deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

China's Sketchy Economy

Lots of stories coming out about China's sketchy economy.

- China has lost 41 million workers - almost the size of Germany's entire workforce - in 3 years.  Keep in mind that the government has to provide benefits for all those retired workers.

- Xi Jinping set to overhaul China's financial policy team

- Looks like China stole chip fabrication plans from ASML. They don't seem able to come up with their own technology.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Xi Jinping is pivoting and now trying to make friends with the West again because the reality of China's economy not being the roaring tiger he thought it was hits him in the face.

- Never knew this. If they did choose Raquel there never would have been a Ginger vs Maryanne argument. It would have been as one sided as Georgia vs TCU.

- The Pats do need to make some changes to their coaching staff.

- Seriously want one of these kites.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The 100 biggest public companies in the world. The US has 9 of the top 10. USA! USA! USA!

-  Xi Jinping starts his third term in China with a very bad year.

- Stanford University walks back plan to eliminate certain triggering words like "American." (Although not sure the word "walks" should be used here as it could be considered "ableist")

- VDH: What will the FBI not do? The corruption is almost fathomless. Like the idea of moving FBI headquarters out of DC and to somewhere like Salt Lake City

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Twitter Files - The FBI Connection. "Twitter's contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if they were a subsidiary."

- Fathers and sons.

- Don't think Biden would ever push back on Xi like this

- Facebook is also shadow banning.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Liquid nitrogen in a hot tub!

- Mass death certificates show excess mortality could be linked to COVID vaccines. Of course they are!

- SpaceX Starlink speeds dip again. This past quarter the median download speed was 53 Mbps.

- Anti-Xi protests should end American left's China envy. This goes for Canadian lefties too.

China’s Wealthy Activate Escape Plans as Xi Jinping Extends Rule

"Rich citizens fearing high taxes and personal safety move capital out of country and arrange residences overseas."  Never a sign of an economically or politically healthy country.

The US really needs to strengthen our political and military ties to both India and Japan. If China's economy implodes Xi may try a desperate move like trying to invade Taiwan. 

Xi’s Power Grab Spurs Historic Market Rout

 "In the first day of trading since Xi Jinping effectively secured ultimate power for life at the CCP 20th National Congress, Chinese stocks have crashed." Stocks had their worst day in Hong Kong since the 2008 financial meltdown and the Chinese yuan is now at a 14-year low. 

"The Chinese stocks bloodbath came despite the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics releasing new data showing China's GDP grew 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2022 (year-on-year)." So basically foreign investment is fleeing the country at the same time the "official" GDP numbers from the CCP say things are fine. 

To paraphrase a popular Hong Kong saying, "Don't trust China's GDP numbers, Xi Jinping is asshole!"

Jack Ma could not be reached for comment.

Xi's China has Made 3 Foreign Policy Mistakes

Interesting interview with a former top Singapore diplomat who says Xi Jinping's three large missteps are:

1.  "Prematurely abandoning Deng Xiaoping's approach of 'hiding your capabilities and biding your time." Under Xi it seems the mantra is the time is now which has resulted in China today being held in the lowest regard worldwide in my lifetime. The low profile approach was more successful.
2.  The second mistake was beginning to believe their own propaganda that America is in decline. This is similar to the mistake Japan made twice; militarily in the 1940's and economically in the 1990's. 
3. The third misstep was their "no limits" partnership with Russia. No arguing that point. Big misstep.

Retired Singapore Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan doesn't see the tensions between the US and China lessening for decades to come. I would agree with that.

Is China About to Turn on Russia?

Interesting analysis on whether Xi Jinping and China will turn on Vladimir Putin and Russia.  Realpolitik would suggest this is the most likely scenario. Both nations are weakened by the War in Ukraine and world events plus historically they have been luke-warm allies at best.

Most forget but in 1969 Russia and China were very close to an all-out war. According to Henry Kissinger, it was this fact that spurred much of the US's policies towards both countries with Nixon supporting China because he "decided that it was against American national interest to have China defeated."

What would be in America's best interest today? We can start with staying out of nuclear war. Other than that - the path forward is hardly clear.

Jack Ma is Alive!

But the entrepreneurial spirit in China is dead. Jack Ma gives up his power and most likely will recede into the shadows. There's only room for one larger-than-life personality in China (hint - he looks like Winnie the Pooh).   

Why would any outside capital firm invest in Chinese startups now? If innovation is the engine that drives an economy - then I think we've just seen the end of most innovation from China. They can still steal technology but gone are the days of the launch of an Alibaba.

China’s ‘Very Dangerous Trajectory’

The Chinese Communist regime has always been brutal, but it was at least predictable and, in its own way, practical. No longer.

Why international companies have not decoupled with China yet is a mystery to me. The warning signs are all over the place. Don't trust Xi Jinping - Xi Jinping is asshole!

Democracy's Superpower?

Interesting essay suggesting that Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine "has restored democracy's image and its mojo." 

Russia's debacle in Ukraine underscored the fact that democracy's guarantee that leaders are regularly replaced is actually the system's most important advantage. It turns out that our power to throw the bums out could end up saving not just the West, but the world.

That could be hyperbole but the point that an autocrat like Putin in power for so long - doesn't have anyone around him that could tell him "No" - is not beneficial. The plans to invade Ukraine were handled by only a handful of trusted military planners to help keep it secret. How do you become a "trusted" military planner? You support the boss at all turns. Likewise the military and intelligence services are led by people who got their positions not through competence but through loyalty. And we are seeing the fruits of that in the quagmire Ukraine has become for Russia. 

The essay also points out that China's President Xi Jinping is following a similar trajectory as Putin. Though Xi has been in office only half as long as Putin he has consistently concentrated his own power (just like Putin) but at the cost of all the things that were making China's economy a powerhouse. Business leaders in the West would be wise to decouple from China now because the longer Xi remains in power the more disengaged from reality he'll become. Just like Putin.

Please note that I disagree 100% with the author's assessment of Biden and Trump but that does not invalidate his many good points made in the essay.

Will China Doulbe Cross Russia?

The invasion by Russia of a neighboring country on their western borders once nearly led to all-out war on their eastern borders with China. Could history repeat itself?

Have this new post up on Substack. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Hollywood's Relationship with China Has Cooled

"You have to lower your ideals of freedom if you want to suck on the warm teat of China." - South Park

Well I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem. 

As the article states, "Hollywood has lost any semblance of a moral high ground," which assumes Hollywood ever held the moral high ground in the first place (they did not). To be clear in this "relationship" Hollywood was the whore and Xi Jinping the John who no longer desires her company.

Is China's Economy in Trouble?

Noah Smith looks at China's economy and how its "catch-up growth" may be over.

...Covid is distorting the numbers and because China's government will probably smooth out a few bad years of data as it has in the past. But there are signs that a perfect storm is brewing that could lead to permanent deceleration. And depending on the size of that slowdown, it could mean that China's economic miracle has basically run its course.

Smith details four "simultaneous economic problems" but I would suggest he add a fifth - decoupling. Many of the developed nations pre-pandemic and pre Xi crackdown who were doing business with China are moving their businesses elsewhere. The political climate, the PR hit at home, and the fact that labor is cheaper in places like Vietnam, Mexico, and South America make China no longer worth the hassle. The people of the world don't trust China because China has been an "asshole."

Also economic growth requires innovation and innovation requires freedom. Xi Jinping has very publicly crushed freedom of all sorts in China and has probably strangled the economy in the process. 

Good on Enes Kanter

"The NBA's Chinese broadcast partner abruptly erased Boston Celtics highlights and live streams from its website and app on Thursday, not long after Celtics center Enes Kanter called China's leader, Xi Jinping, a 'brutal dictator.'"

How do you insult a pig by calling it a pig? Don't trust China - China is asshole! Free Tibet! Free Hong Kong!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Adumbrations of Aducanumab. The FDA is a broken bureaucracy, "people are going to come away from this with some conclusion like 'wow, the FDA seemed really unprepared to handle COVID.' No. It's not that specific. Every single thing the FDA does is like this." (BTW "adumbrations" means reports or represents in outline. I had to look it up.)

- Xi Jinping's Tech Crackdown Ignores Bigger Problems Facing China.

- Something Money Can't Buy. "Your truth and the truth are not always the same thing. The truth is a fact. Your truth is just an opinion. Nobody values somebody who is honest about their opinions if their opinion always suck."

- Heh Heh