Monday, October 17
Treasury Investigates DeSantis
The Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis improperly used coronavirus relief funds to transport migrants to Massachusetts following a request from members of the latter state’s congressional delegation.
The news comes weeks after the DeSantis administration sent two planes of about 50 Venezuelan nationals from Texas to the wealthy enclave of Martha’s Vineyard with a stop in Florida along the way, drawing outrage for what some – including President Joe Biden – have called a political stunt.
Biden dismissed the ploy at the time and said Republicans are “playing politics with human beings, using them as props.” READ MORE...
Biden Says Economy is Strong
A day after President Joe Biden drew criticism from conservatives on social media for giving unsolicited dating advice to a young teen girl in California, the president is again in hot water for claiming the "economy is strong as hell."
The comment came during a conversation with a reporter at a Baskin Robbins in Portland, Oregon, who asked the president if he had any worry about the strength of the U.S. dollar amid rising inflation.
With a chocolate chip ice cream cone in his hand, Biden answered: "I’m not concerned about the strength of the dollar. I’m concerned about the rest of the world. Our economy is strong as hell." READ MORE...
Sunday, October 16
China's Xi Jinping
12 October 2022
Xi Jinping Forever?
By Gwynne Dyer
In the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, which begins in Beijing on Sunday, President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed as president-for-life. If that actually happens, China’s ascent to genuine superpower status will be at least delayed. At worst (from the Chinese perspective), it may not happen at all.
The CCP has now been in power for about as long as the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) had been when it finally lost power in 1991. Most of the CCP’s members are keenly aware of that fact, and just staying in power is the Party’s primary goal.
Superpower status, the public’s welfare, any and all other goals are secondary to the Party’s survival. This priority can be defended if you are truly convinced that Marxism-Leninism holds the only key to a happy and prosperous future, but it serves quite well as a rationalisation for holding on to power forever even if you don’t really believe it.
Most of the CCP’s senior cadres realise that the Party is still in power now only because it broke decisively with Mao Zedong’s methods in the mid-1980s, about a decade after his death. They continue to give Mao lip service because he was the iconic leader of the Revolution, but they don’t really believe in his methods.
Mao’s strategy of permanent revolution was why China’s economy stagnated for almost four decades while its East Asian neighbours, Japan and South Korea, enjoyed forty years of high-speed growth and emerged as rich countries. Only when Deng Xiaoping sidelined ideology and put growth first did China get its own 40 years of high-speed growth.
That period of rapid industrialisation has now come to its natural end. The real Chinese growth rate now and for the foreseeable future will be in the annual 1%-3% range that is typical in developed economies.
Or rather, it will continue on that trajectory so long as China continues in the path Deng chose: a capitalist economy dominated by people with moderate socialist views about the distribution of wealth. However, that’s a tricky path to walk.
To stop the Communist true believers from dragging China back into revolutionary fanaticism, Deng and his successors promoted the principle of ‘collective leadership’. No single Party member could accumulate too much power, the most senior leaders would be limited to two five-year terms, and Mao-style ‘personality cults’ were banned.
By Gwynne Dyer
In the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, which begins in Beijing on Sunday, President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed as president-for-life. If that actually happens, China’s ascent to genuine superpower status will be at least delayed. At worst (from the Chinese perspective), it may not happen at all.
The CCP has now been in power for about as long as the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) had been when it finally lost power in 1991. Most of the CCP’s members are keenly aware of that fact, and just staying in power is the Party’s primary goal.
Superpower status, the public’s welfare, any and all other goals are secondary to the Party’s survival. This priority can be defended if you are truly convinced that Marxism-Leninism holds the only key to a happy and prosperous future, but it serves quite well as a rationalisation for holding on to power forever even if you don’t really believe it.
Most of the CCP’s senior cadres realise that the Party is still in power now only because it broke decisively with Mao Zedong’s methods in the mid-1980s, about a decade after his death. They continue to give Mao lip service because he was the iconic leader of the Revolution, but they don’t really believe in his methods.
Mao’s strategy of permanent revolution was why China’s economy stagnated for almost four decades while its East Asian neighbours, Japan and South Korea, enjoyed forty years of high-speed growth and emerged as rich countries. Only when Deng Xiaoping sidelined ideology and put growth first did China get its own 40 years of high-speed growth.
That period of rapid industrialisation has now come to its natural end. The real Chinese growth rate now and for the foreseeable future will be in the annual 1%-3% range that is typical in developed economies.
Or rather, it will continue on that trajectory so long as China continues in the path Deng chose: a capitalist economy dominated by people with moderate socialist views about the distribution of wealth. However, that’s a tricky path to walk.
To stop the Communist true believers from dragging China back into revolutionary fanaticism, Deng and his successors promoted the principle of ‘collective leadership’. No single Party member could accumulate too much power, the most senior leaders would be limited to two five-year terms, and Mao-style ‘personality cults’ were banned.
That system has grown and matured over thirty years, during which the main challenge has come from the right, from people in both industry and the Party with a keen interest in getting and staying rich: ‘corruption’, as it is generally called in China. But Xi Jinping poses a different kind of challenge to the status quo.
His rise through the ranks of the Party was accomplished mainly by exploiting family ties: his father had impeccable revolutionary credentials and was widely respected in the Party. But once Xi achieved high office ten years ago, he set about dismantling all the rules and customs that prevented a return to one-man rule.
Whether he genuinely believes in Marxism-Leninism is unknowable, but also irrelevant. He is dedicated to attaining absolute power, and he will invoke the old faith if it provides a useful justification for that pursuit. By now, he is pretty close to his goal.
Unfortunately for China, Xi is nearing absolute power at a time when a reversion to the old ways is the last thing it needs. The country faces a demographic crisis and an economic crisis at the same time, and re-centralising power in the hands of a single man is definitely not the best way to solve those problems.
The recurring Covid lock-downs that are paralysing Chinese cities, crippling the economy and stoking popular anger, are just one example of how his private obsessions are starting to threaten the Party’s grip on power. Xi’s answer, as always, is just more severe repression.
This month’s National Congress is the last hurdle on his route to absolute power, because the 2,226 delegates will be asked to cast aside the two-term limit. Technically, they would only be granting Xi a third term as president, but everybody thinks that it will mean he stays in office for life.
Or maybe just until he is overthrown, because he is almost uniquely unsuited to deal with problems like a shrinking work-force (due to the collapsing birth-rate), rising unemployment and a huge debt crisis.
There are plenty of people in the Party who understand that Xi’s reversion to the bad old ways might ultimately bring about the end of Communist rule in China, but they seem too few and too cowed to challenge him directly. China may be in for a wild ride – and the rest of us with it.
His rise through the ranks of the Party was accomplished mainly by exploiting family ties: his father had impeccable revolutionary credentials and was widely respected in the Party. But once Xi achieved high office ten years ago, he set about dismantling all the rules and customs that prevented a return to one-man rule.
Whether he genuinely believes in Marxism-Leninism is unknowable, but also irrelevant. He is dedicated to attaining absolute power, and he will invoke the old faith if it provides a useful justification for that pursuit. By now, he is pretty close to his goal.
Unfortunately for China, Xi is nearing absolute power at a time when a reversion to the old ways is the last thing it needs. The country faces a demographic crisis and an economic crisis at the same time, and re-centralising power in the hands of a single man is definitely not the best way to solve those problems.
The recurring Covid lock-downs that are paralysing Chinese cities, crippling the economy and stoking popular anger, are just one example of how his private obsessions are starting to threaten the Party’s grip on power. Xi’s answer, as always, is just more severe repression.
This month’s National Congress is the last hurdle on his route to absolute power, because the 2,226 delegates will be asked to cast aside the two-term limit. Technically, they would only be granting Xi a third term as president, but everybody thinks that it will mean he stays in office for life.
Or maybe just until he is overthrown, because he is almost uniquely unsuited to deal with problems like a shrinking work-force (due to the collapsing birth-rate), rising unemployment and a huge debt crisis.
There are plenty of people in the Party who understand that Xi’s reversion to the bad old ways might ultimately bring about the end of Communist rule in China, but they seem too few and too cowed to challenge him directly. China may be in for a wild ride – and the rest of us with it.
Brittney Griner's Fears
The WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in Russian prison after customs agents found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage in February.
Griner's team has appealed the decision, but if she's not included in a prisoner swap between the US and Russia, the WNBA All-Star will likely serve her sentence at a penal colony.
As her detention has dragged on, Griner has grown increasingly fearful of the "miserable or inhumane conditions" she could face if and when her appeal is denied, her lawyer told The New York Times.
Here's what we know about Russian penal colonies and what Griner's experience could look like.
Russian penal colonies are prison-labor camps that are essentially the remnants of the Soviet Union's infamous Gulag system. READ MORE...
Russian penal colonies are prison-labor camps that are essentially the remnants of the Soviet Union's infamous Gulag system. READ MORE...
China and Taiwan
China has held its biggest-ever show of military force in the air and seas around Taiwan, including the firing of ballistic missiles.
The military exercises followed a visit to the island by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing's control.
President Xi Jinping has said "reunification" with Taiwan "must be fulfilled" - and has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this.
But Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Where is Taiwan?
Taiwan is an island, roughly 100 miles from the coast of south east China. READ MORE...
Saturday, October 15
ALL SOLAR for Five Hours
Greece ran entirely on renewable energy for five hours last Friday for the first time ever - using solar, wind and hydroelectric power.
It reached a record high of 3,106MWh (megawatt hours) of electricity at 9am local time (7am UK time), according to IPTO, the country's independent power transmission operator.
IPTO said: "For the first time in the history of the Greek electricity system, the demand was covered 100% from renewable energy sources."
Greece aims to more than double its green energy capacity as it hopes renewables will account for at least 70% of its energy mix by 2030. READ MORE...
AI Changes Art
Art is subjective. It encompasses many points of view and can withstand just as many or more definitions. As a term, it's ever-evolving, and the boundaries for what can be deemed art continue to get pushed.
Artificial intelligence is not generally associated with art, and yet, AI has made its mark on the art industry. The question is, would that endure, or is AI art a fluke? Will AI carve itself a space in art, or will it be quickly forgotten as a failed experiment?
Art is such a broad term that you get stumped trying to define it clearly. What is art? It's visual, performative, and so much more. It can be music and dance, sculptures and literary works. Photography is a form of art, and so is architecture. There's also cinematic art. Art is more than an old painting in a museum.
Modern art is excellent at pushing the boundaries of what is considered art. Anything can be art as long as people perceive it as such. A banana duct-taped to a wall is considered modern art. The performative act of eating that banana, thus destroying the artwork, is also considered modern art. READ MORE...
Causes of Inflation
WASHINGTON (AP) — What keeps driving inflation so high? The answer, it seems, is nearly everything.
Supply chain snarls and parts shortages inflated the cost of factory goods when the economy rocketed out of the pandemic recession two years ago. Then it was a surge in consumer spending fueled by federal stimulus checks. Then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted gas and food supplies and sent those prices skyward.
Since March, the Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising interest rates to try to cool the price spikes. So far, there’s little sign of progress. Thursday’s report on consumer prices in September came in hotter than expected even as some previously big drivers of inflation — gas prices, used cars — fell for a third straight month.
Consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, skyrocketed 6.6% from a year ago — the fastest such pace in four decades. Overall inflation did decline a touch, mostly because of cheaper gas. But costlier food, medical care and housing pointed to a widening of price pressures across the economy. READ MORE...
Friday, October 14
The Democratic Party's Privilege Problem
If you ever get the feeling that Democratic campaign staffers are a lot whiter and better-credentialed than the party’s voters, you’re right. And Swarthmore College sociologist Daniel Laurison now has data to back it up.
According to Laurison’s database of more than 4,500 Republican and Democratic staffers who worked on presidential primary and general election campaigns from 2004 to 2020, 68% of Democratic staffers are white, compared to 60% of Democratic voters.
The differences become even more stark when we turn to education. Over 90% of Democratic staffers have college degrees, compared to two-thirds of U.S. adults who have graduated college. And 40% of Democratic staffers went to elite schools, such as those in the Ivy League, compared to just 4% of the overall population. READ MORE...
Space Dust Rings
A new image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reveals a remarkable cosmic sight: at least 17 concentric dust rings emanating from a pair of stars. Just 5,300 light-years from Earth, the star duo are collectively known as Wolf-Rayet 140.
Each ring was created when the two stars came close together and their stellar winds (streams of gas they blow into space) collided so forcefully that some of the gas was compressed into dust. The stars' orbits bring them together about once every eight years, and forms a half-shell of dust that looks like a ring from our perspective.
Like a cosmic fingerprint, the 17 rings reveal more than a century of stellar interactions—and the "fingerprint" belonging to Wolf-Rayet 140 may be equally unique. Other Wolf-Rayet stars produce dust, but no other pair are known to produce rings quite like Wolf-Rayet 140. READ MORE...
OPEC+ Turned Down Biden's Request
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration admitted Thursday it had asked Saudi Arabia to delay the OPEC+ vote to cut oil production until the cartel’s next meeting – after the midterm elections.
“We presented Saudi Arabia with analysis to show that there was no market basis to cut production targets, and that they could easily wait for the next OPEC meeting to see how things developed,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
The Riyadh-led group of oil producers’ next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 4, according to the OPEC website.
Kirby also alleged that other OPEC member nations “communicated to us privately that they also disagreed with the Saudi decision, but felt coerced to support Saudi’s direction.”
The White House was responding to a Wednesday night statement from the Saudi foreign ministry hitting back at Washington’s accusation that it had taken sides with Russia in Moscow’s war against Ukraine. READ MORE...
Thursday, October 13
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