Welcome to Saturday's Potluck - 4-30-2022

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

Reading biographies is one of my methods for getting a feel of a culture or time period. It helps create a deeper understanding of historical events and common cultural assumptions. In 2002 in the Beijing hotel gift shop bought The Life of Mencius by Qu Chunli written in a historical novel format. The book changed the way I perceived China. Followed up later by reading the author's book The Life of Confucius.

The American idea of China's need to "save face" to avoid conflict and maintain honor had always been presented as a weakness. The two books presented the idea, by treating an opponent with honor and respect future cooperation is possible and conflicts might be resolved peacefully. Saving face was a diplomatic tool to avoid hardening a position leading to a violent conflict. It appears China may no longer be concerning itself with the honor of United States elite.

Wang Wenbin - spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2:18 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1mFZc6zBsU]

Transcript

China firmly rejects the US and the EU’s groundless interference in China’s internal affairs and unwarranted denigration and smearing against China. We have lodged solemn representation with the two sides and made clear our stern position. 

The US purports to maintain the centrality of the UN Charter, but it is clear to anyone that the US doing is quite the opposite. When the UN Security Council refused to authorize the US’ use of force in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria and other places, the US and NATO brushed the UN aside and waged wars on sovereign states in wanton interference. 

The US claims to respect human rights, but the war of aggression launched by the US and its allies in countries including Afghanistan and Iraq killed over 300,000 civilians and made over 26 million people refugees. Yet, no one is held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The US even announced sanctions on the International Criminal Court who would investigate the war crimes of the US military. 

The US asserts opposition to economic coercion, but it is also the US that invented “coercive diplomacy” and excels at coercing countries whether they are big or small, faraway or nearby, friend or foe. The embargo and sanctions imposed on Cuba have lasted half a century and the sanctions slapped on Iran have been there for 40 years. When it comes to stabbing its allies such as the EU and Japan in the back, the US has never hesitated, as we have seen repeatedly. 

Facts have proven that the US is the biggest spreader of disinformation, culprit of coercive diplomacy and saboteur of world peace and stability. From the US-EU dialogue to the US-UK-Australia trilateral security partnership, the Quad and the Five Eyes Alliance, the US is using democracy, human rights, rules and order as a pretext to cover up its shady activities of creating division, stoking confrontation and reaping benefits at the expense of others. As a result, not only small and weak countries are hurt, US allies including Europe are also paying a heavy price for the US’ selfish acts. It is hoped that the EU can see the truth and stop holding the candle to the devil. 

His presentation was a response to a question by a reporter about statement released after the US-EU Dialog on China.

The April 21 and 22 meeting between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino, for the third high-level meeting of the US-EU Dialogue on China, for instance, came as another blow to Beijing's confidence in its benign interaction with the EU. In the statement released after the meeting, the two sides warned China about the "consequences" of any form of support for Russia, accusing Beijing of the "amplification of Russia's disinformation". It also presented a litany of the allegations with which Washington habitually smears China: "economic coercion" against other countries, human rights concerns in Xinjiang, and "rules-based order" in the Indo-Pacific, as well as threatening the "status quo" in the Taiwan Straits.

"(China) has benefited enormously from the rules-based international order over the last several decades. But now they are increasingly seeking to undermine that very system…" Sherman said.

________

Solomon Islands Fires Back at Australia for Criticising Security Deal With China Sputnick News April 28, 2022

Last week, China and the Solomon Islands signed a framework agreement on security cooperation. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the construction of a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands will be a "red line" for Canberra and Washington.
...
Sogavare said he had learned about Australia's security pact with the United Kingdom and the United States from media.

"Oh, but Mr Speaker, I realise that Australia is a sovereign country which can enter into any treaty it wants to, transparently or not. Which is exactly what they did with AUKUS," Sogavare said in an apparent mocking of Morrison's tone.

He also criticised the "gaps" in a bilateral 2017 Honiara-Canberra security treaty. He said that when Australia sent troops to the Solomon Islands at its request to appease riots last year, they refused to protect Chinese infrastructure and investments. Sogavare said the Australian government's refusal to admit this was "disappointing".

A series of official delegations have visited Solomon Islands since the Security Pact has been signed, including an American Delegation and Vice-Foreign Minister Kentaro Uesugi.

________

QUAD - Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a group of four countries: the United States, Australia, India, and Japan

South Korea emerges as Quad alternative to India Asia Tmes April 26, 2022

As a vibrant democracy with a burgeoning industrial-military complex, South Korea is a key player in the broad US-led effort at preserving a rules-based order in the region. In the coming years, South Korea will likely seek a more prominent role in emerging “Quad Plus” and “G7 Plus” strategic groupings.

Incoming South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared his willingness to “positively review joining” an expanded Quad, just as Korea becomes a regular guest in expanded G7 gatherings.

UK calls for a 'global NATO' Russia Times April 28, 2022

The world order created after the Second World War and the Cold War isn’t working anymore, so the West needs “a global NATO” to pursue geopolitics anew, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss argued, in a major foreign policy speech on Wednesday. Truss also urged the US-led bloc to send more “heavy weapons, tanks” and airplanes to Ukraine, and said China would face the same treatment as Russia if it doesn’t “play by the rules.”
...
Pointing to London’s unprecedented effort to embargo Russia, Truss insisted that “economic access is no longer a given. It has to be earned,” and that countries who wish to earn it “must play by the rules. And that includes China.”

________

Discussions of US sanctions and economic fallout related to Russia-Ukraine conflict.

From the Left Micheal Hudson (19:20)
He does not think the American military was consulted by the Neocons and the State Department in developing the plan. Unfortunately he thinks the current global conflict will take 30 years to fully resolve.

[video:https://youtu.be/OdlGDSnCqz0?t=1462]

In the newspapers you would think the war is about Ukrainians and NATO fighting Russians. And it's really a war by the United States to use the NATO-Russia is a means of locking in control over its allies and the whole western world. And Janet Yellen's words re-establishing American unipolar power.
...
Bankers and Wall Street are the central planners of the West. Their central plannning is in favor of the finance, insurance and real estate sectors. And Bankers in charge of China through the Treasury which is run by party officials that are not seeking to make capital gains for wealthy families. But are using finance to build up their industry and infrastructure and make themselves independant of the West so America can never do to China what it did to Russia.

From the Right Byron King, author of Whiskey & Gunpowder (29:47 min)
He believes the sanctions will backfire onto the US economy.
(thanks to Blue Republic for originally sharing this video)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mtNMls1sHc]

The first major target of US Sanctions by Trump in the China Trade war.
Huawei defeats US chip ban to post record profits Asia Times April 28, 2022.

However, Huawei’s net profits surged from 64.6 billion yuan in 2020 to a record of 113.7 billion yuan ($17.22 billion) in 2021, a remarkable 75.9% jump. The company attributed the gains in profitability to investments in innovation, improvements to operating efficiency and rebalancing of its product lines to focus on more profitable business segments that are not affected by the sanctions.
...
When Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was taken into custody in Canada at the request of US officials in December 2018, at the same time that the US was endeavoring to persuade Canada to ban Huawei 5G equipment, the Financial Times observed that her arrest risked being interpreted as “the use of American power to pursue political and economic ends rather than straightforward law enforcement.”

The release of Meng last September, with little more than a slap on the wrist, has only reinforced these concerns.

If the chip ban was intended to cripple Huawei’s ability to compete in the 5G infrastructure market, then it can only be viewed only as a failure to date, as the company still takes the top spot in the global rankings according to Dell’Oro Group, with a 28.7% global market share in 2021, nearly equaling the combined market share of Ericsson and Nokia, its closest two competitors.

________

What is on your mind today?

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Comments

dystopian's picture

Hi SoE! Hope all is well!

What rules based order? No international rules are followed by the United States. We'll invade any country for any reason whilst imploring there is a 'rules based order'. We propagandize ourselves insisting it is rules based order. The word 'rules' needs to be replaced with "U.S. neolibcon oligarchy' based order. What the U.S. is telling others is 'rules based' is printing money up enlessly or starting a war for Wall St. every time they need a few more trillion, to lose again. We are the most full of it, and ourselves, country to ever exist.

Being happy, having fun and enjoying ourselves as we can is the only option.

Hope the garden and pastures are doing well! Here in so.cent. TX the (wild) lawn is still brown as are all pastures, D2 edging 3 is drought level, no spring wildflowers, it is bad here. Some got rain last week in the area, but we missed it.

Be well all!

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12 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

studentofearth's picture

@dystopian irrigation water will be available next week when the daytime temperature becomes a little hotter. There have been a few nights below 26 so have not started setting plants out into the garden. The spring bulb bloom has been wonderful. I have started to keep a few forced bulb pots in the sunroom and now have spring blooms to enjoy January through May. The plum blooms are just opening. Yesterday, watched a bee flitting between flowers.

Birds have been busy calling for mates, fighting over territories, scouting and building nests. A pair of geese have been hanging around. Trying to figure out if they are setting up a nest and where. Do not want to wander too close during set time and meet a defensive gander.

Take care.

up
11 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

dystopian's picture

@studentofearth In Mexico geese were commonly used as the yard watchdogs... they can be nasty, and the barnyard types are like that year-round about their territory.

up
2 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

earthling1's picture

@dystopian
Every time I see "rules based order" all my mind sees is "Full Spectrum Dominance".
I really think the US should just bow out of the UN as it doesn't abide by anything the UN stands for.
This should be the first response all of the non- western world should put forth whenever engaging the Empire of Lies: If you don't want to follow the United Nations Laws, then you should secede entirely from the organization.
I know, fat chance.

up
7 users have voted.

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

dystopian's picture

@earthling1 agree 100% ... it's like 'we're going to Mars to save humanity'. They have watched too much science fiction, and are unable to separate the fiction part out. They believe in full spectrum dominance, rules based order, and the almighty dollar. Look how the U.S. threatens the ICC if they want to investigate the U.S. but threatens with them too. Our country is schizo. Wink

best,

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3 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Lookout's picture

It has been a good year for the lyre leafed sage, and now the ragwort (senecio) is coming on amongst the sage in the fields.
better sage pic.jpg
ragwort.jpg

China has been calling it straight...

Facts have proven that the US is the biggest spreader of disinformation, culprit of coercive diplomacy and saboteur of world peace and stability. From the US-EU dialogue to the US-UK-Australia trilateral security partnership, the Quad and the Five Eyes Alliance, the US is using democracy, human rights, rules and order as a pretext to cover up its shady activities of creating division, stoking confrontation and reaping benefits at the expense of others. As a result, not only small and weak countries are hurt, US allies including Europe are also paying a heavy price for the US’ selfish acts. It is hoped that the EU can see the truth and stop holding the candle to the devil. 

Heard one of their officials say the US is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian. Our hypocrisy is blatant and I don't understand how so many people are drinking the Azov Koolaid. Oh well it is what it is.

Thanks for the OT and updates!

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14 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

studentofearth's picture

@Lookout is much more interesting to watch over the seasons than a monocrop. Natures offerings of food, medicinals and beauty for the soul right under our feet.

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11 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

represent a way of thinking that China has been destroying for about 100 years. The decline of its culture and heritage has been of its own doing, and has left this country without any sense of its own history, especially regarding philosophy. My daughter visited about 8 years ago with an urban planning group and met with urban planners in China. She said that they were destroying all the old historical buildings and had none of the concerns about that as planners in the US do. Overall, she was quite sad about it.

https://supchina.com/2019/10/28/no-one-has-destroyed-chinese-culture-qui...

I get all the commentary about the US being the biggest world deceiver, and I agree with that. However, would you like to live in today's China?

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

CB's picture

@Fishtroller 02

Why is SupChina Passing Itself Off as China Briefing?

May 27, 2021 Update: We note that SupChina have, subsequent to legal action, now withdrawn their use of ‘China Weekly Briefing’. We also note that the SupChina website has been blocked by the Chinese authorities due to inappropriate content violations and that SupChina do not employ legitimate reporting staff or journalists in the country.
...
SupChina has been publishing material about China since 2015, China Briefing since 1999. There, similarities end. SupChina has taken a low-end, often negative, and critical position on China as a country, with this week alone carrying an opinion piece “American overall opinions about China hit record low”, together with articles referring to Chinese sexual misconduct, fraud allegations, racial insensitivities, and so on.

There is a place for such journalism if it brings people to account. But SupChina does not. Instead, they sensationalize China negative themes without doing anything about them. It is a constant stream of China bad stories, that in a way mirror those themes also occurring in the United States. In doing so, it comes across as a back-handed commentary as just how much Chinese society is becoming Americanized, although I doubt any real China expert would suggest that is the case.

Jeremy Goldkorn, one of SupChina’s editors, has previous behavior in this – managing to have his Danwei website banned by the Chinese government because of a constant barrage of China offensive content. Some see that as a badge of honor, while others regard it as the inevitable response to an annoying foreigner with nothing good to say about the country. This is why, for example, Jeremy Goldkorn now resides and blogs about China from Nashville, and why as at today, SupChina produces articles about Chinese racism but leaves out news that China has sent millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Africa. (We will see if they act on that after they read this piece). In general, SupChina only shows one side of China: the negative one. And that means the site is not impartial, it has a politicized agenda. As one email I received today on the SupChina subject stated: “They simply parrot every US State Department talking point and present themselves as experts.”
...
Unfortunately, we have faced previous problems from some of SupChina’s editorial personnel. Their Managing Editor, Anthony Tao, has run articles aimed directly at our staff, on his own blog for example implying the entire 25-year China career of our Founder and Primary Investor was “bullshit”, including insults such as “fuckup”, “liar”, “bullying”, “narcissist”, and referring to this China Briefing website as “a junkyard of broken links”. That is in addition to numerous other inaccurate and defamatory statements about China Briefing and Dezan Shira & Associates. These are deliberate hatchet jobs, not to mention distasteful, nasty, and libelous while at the same time – designed to attract plenty of views.
...
We will be happy to welcome you as a China Briefing subscriber with open arms – and it won’t cost you anything. You’ll receive a weekly email news update, access to all our complimentary business magazines (the current issue is a detailed study of South China’s Greater Bay Area) in addition to invitations to our popular business webinars, podcasts, and other corporate events. A selection can be seen here.

SupChina have deliberately missed requested deadlines, the most recent being yesterday, to correct their poor behavior. They have not acted in good faith. Hence, our need to publicize the dispute to avoid confusion. You, the reader can decide whether you have been misled or not and decide what type of China journalism you want to read. SupChina’s, or the original China Briefing.

China leads in world's cultural construction activity, finds latest Cultural Infrastructure report
Josh Niland Jul 28, '21

China is emerging as a global leader in cultural construction amidst a hectic year that saw a marked decline in new museum building according to AEA Consulting’s just released 2020 Cultural Infrastructure Index.
...
The report indicated China as a key driver of trends within the industry, doubling its planned projects from last year to 24 and outspending the United States for the first time by about $1.7 billion. Shenzhen in particular was a magnet for infrastructure spending in the cultural sector, placing seven projects on the list of the top thirteen most expensive globally to the tune of $2.5 billion. Recently announced projects in the city include a new science and technology museum designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, a cloud-inspired maritime museum from SANAA, and a new opera house by Jean Nouvel. Asia led the index with 34 projects completed.
...

China’s Traditional Cultural Values and National Identity

Traditional Chinese values directly influence China’s foreign policy and create a novel approach to resolving conflicts and conducting international affairs.

China’s Traditional Cultural Values

The cultural values of a country influence its national psychology and identity. Citizens’ values and public opinions are conveyed to state leaders through the media and other information channels, both directly and indirectly influencing decisions on foreign policy. The traditional cultural values that influence the psyche of the Chinese people are harmony, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety.
...
Harmony in China’s Foreign Relations

The Chinese traditional cultural values of harmony, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety are embodied in China’s diplomacy through the concept of harmony, the most important Chinese traditional value.
...

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studentofearth's picture

@Fishtroller 02 trying to make. US governing bodies have always been a deceiver in dealing with native populations, foreign governments and its own citizens. Any serious student of history would have figured out the pattern. It simply was not mentioned publicly in polite society and diplomatic circles. Maybe whispered in private conversations between friends. To make too much of a public fuss simply put a target on ones back.

Public statements of United States of past deception by government spokesman of a peer equal nation and small island nations is a sign of waning influence. Headwinds incoming.

Ignoring the influence of Confucius teachings as an underlying thought process for China would be similar to ignoring Christian philosophy as an underpinning of United States society because atheism has been growing for 100 years.

The efforts to destroy historical Chinese culture under the Mao years pushed it underground in China and exported it around the world. Take a look at general writings and commentary prior to 1950 in Western cultures. There is no mention of yin-yang concepts, martial arts, Confucianism, Taoism, Book of Changes or wide variety of regional Chinese foods. Awareness of information was limited to small pockets of specialists or Chinese communities.

Thanks for the article link. The page had this audio interview and transcript.
Who is the real Wang Huning? supchina.com November 4, 2021

Wang Huning is the most important political theorist in Xi Jinping's China. But what kind of ideology does this man, who ascended to the Politburo Standing Committee after decades of advising different CCP leaders, actually believe in?

Author of America Against America 1991 (free download).

Now, regarding the question - However, would you like to live in today's China?. I do not see how it is relevant to the conversation. Too similar to the taunt - If you don't like it here move. China is nearly the size of the United States with a population of over 1.4 billion people any spot would be a unique living experience. Currently I live about 20 miles from where I was raised, attended 1-12 grade, bought my first house and started my first business. The community is very different day to day experience within only those few miles.

It would be interesting to know if your daughter feels any sadness with the changes occurring in the United States during the past 8 years since her visit to China?

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9 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth

"However, would you like to live in today's China?. I do not see how it is relevant to the conversation. Too similar to the taunt - If you don't like it here move."

You apparently do not understand my points, so you are defaulting to accusing me of something I did not say.

You wrote a rather lengthy essay on China and other topics. You discussed Chinese philosophy, which came out of an age before Mao. You asked the readers to share what was on their minds. So that's what I did. I shared a family member's experiences in China regarding the destruction of their history and culture, which may includes its old philosophies. I think you just are so used to jumping on me since the Covid stuff that you didn't really notice that I did exactly what you asked of me as a reader.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

studentofearth's picture

@Fishtroller 02 is questions about my personal life choices.

I have shared multiple times my trips to China and insights gained as helpful in reflections of life in the United States. Seemed a bit pretentious to repeat and leave the impression because I have visited China (twice around the time of 2 significant world events) I am an expert in all matters of a country similar in size of the United States and with nearly 5 times the population.

In fairness, the question was answered indirectly by showing how moving only a short distance in the United States can be a very different experience. One does not need to leave the country. Actually in a high rise living having access to the upper levels can be a dramatically different experience than only being able to enter the first few floors.

The sensitivity to confrontational tone came long before discussion of any disease. Ironically came across one of your comments in a diary while looking for some information posted on Hay Bale gardens.

The group was Submitted by Fishtroller 02 on Mon, 07/08/2019 - 12:12pm
founded by...
@wendy davis

The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) is an American non-profit parapsychological[1] research institute. It was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell,[2][3][4] along with Wernher von Braun,[1] investor Paul N. Temple,[5] and others interested in purported paranormal phenomena,[1] in order to encourage and conduct research on noetic theory and human potentials.[6][7]
...
Here is a good essay on the Dean Radin "global consciousness" theory and how his "science" isn't science.

Believe what you want, but at least know what is behind your beliefs and who is hawking those ideas.
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4049


"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

The point of the old philosophies was we might not fully understand the meaning and might be making some dangerous assumptions. If you would like to continue a conversation without questions on personal life choices happy to accommodate.

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4 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

enhydra lutris's picture

Bread making and farmers' market today. Bread has finished overnight rise and some manipulations and it and I have a 15 minute rest before it gets formed andd put into the proofing baskets. Farmers' market is in half an hour and by the time we get back it will be ready to preheat over and start bake. Then out to Kaiser to pick out frames and order new specs at one and, finally, leftovers for dinner, so an easy end of my week cooking.

Beyond that what else? The juggernaut is staggering, but still moving and trying to assert global dominance, and as part of the project, has finally gone quasi-full authoritarian at home with the institution of the new, official, formal Minitruth. Takes me back to '64 thru '68 when we fought that battle at Cal. Censors, censorship, propaganda and propagandists will now openly try to control the narrative 100% and we need to figure out how to not only circumvent but to positively undermine and block their criminal efforts in this regard. Don't, however, feel like thinking about that right now.

be well and have a good one

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11 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

studentofearth's picture

@enhydra lutris Encouraged by the number of young journalists and commentators taking the time to listen to older, experienced individuals. Learning the landscape and tactics so to speak. Have appreciated your occasional writings on censorship, privacy and surveillance state. The words keep moving the knowledge forward.

up
8 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

up
5 users have voted.
karl pearson's picture

@gjohnsit NFTs look like a scam to me. I won't be buying.

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6 users have voted.
earthling1's picture

@karl pearson @karl pearson
Ok, so I watched some of the video and the guy spoke so fast I could not decipher exactly what he called it. Non Fungible something or other.
Any way, I will pass on it also, just because I don't like fast talkers.

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6 users have voted.

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

karl pearson's picture

@earthling1 I had to look up the term. It stands for non-fungible token. People sell digital art as an NFT. A digital photo that goes viral can sell for thousands of dollars. Whoever buys it has a digital certificate of ownership which can be bought and sold. Sounds crazy to me.

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8 users have voted.

@karl pearson

An NFT is a non-fungible token

fungible = capable of mutual substitution (as in value for value ie: wheat / corn)
therefore non-fungible = incapable of mutual substitution (as in wheat / fish bubbles)
I try to understand the smoke and mirrors ploy of high finance, such as biting coins
and the like, but this does not pass the sniff test. Perhaps these brilliant idiots that
get all coked up late in the evening can see some derivatives worth trading in this
new stretch of financial genius, but I don't see it. It is like short-selling derivatives
just before another scam explodes. More speculation than actual value methinks?
How many NFT's can you get for a bitcoin derivative before you are either broke or
crazy? When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose ..

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8 users have voted.

@earthling1 @earthling1
"NFT's are 'Internet Dibs'".

By 'dibs' I mean in the same way as 6-year kids call 'dibs' on the front seat of a car.
If that sounds stupid and and a not serious definition, that's because that's what NFT's are.

That's what's great about this video. A real lawyer describes how you can't apply contract law to NFT's.

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7 users have voted.
earthling1's picture

It's clear the unipolar moment is over.
How deep and damaging the coming collapse will be is anybody's guess. What we do about it is the real question.
How did Emanuel put it: "Don't let a good catastrophe go to waste"? When it does happen, TPTB will be on their back feet, and we need to be prepared to take our country back before they can recover their control.
We cannot let the same puppets back into the halls of power or control.
I don't know about your state, but here in Wa. state they have passed a "Continuity of Government" law that gives the governor dictatorial powers over everyone and everything in the state in the event of catastrophe, civil unrest, or war.
This is the first thing we need to reverse. Now.

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10 users have voted.

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

enhydra lutris's picture

@earthling1

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every sstate in the Union a Republican Form of Government, ...

Autocracies are not republican forms of government

Of course, there is the small matter of the law enforcement and national guard personnel much would hang on their willingness to enforce the dicatates of such autocrat.

be well and have a good one

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6 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

regarding the question - However, would you like to live in today's China?. I do not see how it is relevant to the conversation.

It seems relevant enough when you consider that all to many 'features' of current Chinese society are steadily being promoted or implemented in America, Canada, Europe. Social credit systems, ever more pervasive surveillance, control of media, war on cash... Perhaps a better way of framing the question is 'Do want want a Chinese-style system implemented here?'

Well, personally, looking not only at China but at trends in Canada, Germany and elsewhere where movement toward implementation of such systems is more advanced and upon sober reflection, I would have to respond, 'No f*cking way!".

As with Soviet propaganda/coverage of the US in, say, the Sixties, there was much truth the negatives, which were what was always emphasized. But there were a lot of positives, some lost on Americans who took things for granted that were unthinkable in much of the rest of the world.

For instance, when I went to Russia in the early 90's I was more than a little surprised to be told by some of my hosts that what impressed them most about America was that you could just move wherever you wished without government permission. Which is freedom that would have to qualify as 'fundamental' yet I had taken it as just part of the landscape, never considering how it is something not enjoyed by a whole of people historically and - or even now.

Talk about entitled - believe me, I've never taken it for granted since.

Anyway, even if you accept all the quoted Chinese criticisms of USG hypocrisy, aggression & etc. (I do accept most of them) it still does not necessarily follow that a CCP China-dominant world would be any better way to go. If we're to import something of Chinese society maybe we should channel Taiwan - then at least we'd be making stuff again, conducting sound elections and not invading anybody.

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@Blue Republic

She really enjoyed the people she met. However, as an urban planner she saw that in the US one must deal with regulations regarding the preservation of historical homes, buildings, etc. In China, there is no protection for such places and this is why you see massive tall housing structures and none of the historic architecture of the type we think of when we romanticize China. At least this was true in the big cities. I asked the question about living in China in relation to the issue of total modernization of every structure in the country with no thought to the relevance of past culture. However, you bring up good points about the political reasons why living with such personal restrictions would certainly give one pause.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

studentofearth's picture

@Blue Republic is a myth. If one looks it surrounds us. It may be as mundane as having to sign in and out of a residence, such as many elder care living situations require, to an online purchase page offering a selection of active credit card accounts.

There is a long history in the United States of the listed activities. It simply depended on personal economic and social status if actively impacted ones life.

Social credit systems, ever more pervasive surveillance, control of media, war on cash...

American companies and military have used other nations to implement and test surveillance (dual purpose) technology which runs into domestic privacy laws. The technology once perfected can be implemented home by corporations or as public/private partnerships.

Here are a couple of historical examples with IBM.

IBM's Role in the Holocaust -- What the New Documents Reveal Huffpost Feb 27, 2012

From the first moments of the Hitler regime in 1933, IBM used its exclusive punch card technology and its global monopoly on information technology to organize, systematize, and accelerate Hitler's anti-Jewish program, step by step facilitating the tightening noose. The punch cards, machinery, training, servicing, and special project work, such as population census and identification, was managed directly by IBM headquarters in New York, and later through its subsidiaries in Germany, known as Deutsche Hollerith-Maschinen Gesellschaft (DEHOMAG), Poland, Holland, France, Switzerland, and other European countries.

IBM to test using lidar to monitor elderly people in their homes sutoblog.com May 27, 2019

BM and British startup Cera Care plan a six-month pilot to test whether lidar laser sensors, used to help self-driving cars "see", can enable elderly people to stay in their homes for longer - without compromising privacy.

Lidar systems that work by using laser light pulses to render fine-grained images of surroundings, have typically been used to make high-resolution maps, catch speeding motorists and more recently help automated cars navigate through the streets.

Foreign countries were a little clumsier initially with implementation in the past, no legal protections for "Right to Privacy" to avoid. For many of us trips to communist countries was the first time we noticed the border between personal and government control. Invisible fencing can be effective when implemented by experts.

New technology can be disruptive to methods currently in use. The reason US has pushed so hard to exclude Huawei products around the world. Many of our fellow citizens do not recognize the dual purpose government control features of Social Media and mobile phones technology actively pushed into International populations by the US.

Anyway, even if you accept all the quoted Chinese criticisms of USG hypocrisy, aggression & etc. (I do accept most of them) it still does not necessarily follow that a CCP China-dominant world would be any better way to go. If we're to import something of Chinese society maybe we should channel Taiwan - then at least we'd be making stuff again, conducting sound elections and not invading anybody.

The significance of the criticisms is not accuracy, but who is now stating them in public forums. Since Obama's pivot to Asia China has been requesting the aggressive speech be toned down as not to incite conflict. China is now participating in exchanging verbal punches.

Taiwan's military dictatorship evolved into a USA influenced democracy. It's importance is not as a political model for the US. This article sums it up pretty well.

Cyber preparedness could save America’s ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ The Hill 8-10-2021

Coined an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the island is a key U.S. trading partner and perhaps Washington’s greatest source of strategic leverage over China. Crucially, for at least the next half-decade, Taiwan will be the sole supplier of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips for the U.S. and its allies. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) currently produces more than 50 percent of the world’s semiconductors. Although TSMC and other chip producers have longer-term plans for moving some manufacturing to the United States, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan raises the alarming possibility of fewer chips for our nation’s most important technologies.

Taiwan's participation in Vietnam War is well documented. The current Taiwanese administration has been accused of meddling in the recent Solomon Islands protests.

Taiwan Condemns Solomon Islands PM's Accusation Republic World Dec 7, 2021

Taiwan on Tuesday rejected allegations that it's been orchestrating the recent unrest in the Solomon Islands.

The claim was made by the Solomon Islands' pro-Beijing prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare.

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