Posted by: Old Microbiologist | Jan 29 2026 17:30 utc | 45
Thanks for your post – makes a lot of sense to me. The situation reminds me a little of the famous ‘economic statecraft’ in reverse, but without causative active participation of others states to bring down the dollar.
 
(‘economic statecraft’ is a term by Bessent – for those who do not follow recent events in Davos)

Posted by: fanto | Jan 30 2026 2:55 utc | 204

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 30 2026 1:34 utc | 191
 
######
 
Last year, I trained ChatGPT to create prompts that I could use in MidJourney (image AI) with the appropriate parameters.
 
I would feed my trained AI a prompt like this.
 

A simple coloring page of underwater buildings with Greek-style architecture like a sunken city. Do not use any marine life. Show the ocean floor with some seaweed and coral growing on the buildings.

 
—
And it would give me a prompt to feed MidJourney like this
 

A simple black and white coloring page of underwater buildings with Greek-style architecture like a sunken city. The buildings have columns and ancient ruins, partially covered by seaweed and coral. The ocean floor is visible with a few rocks scattered around. No marine life is included. The illustration is in a minimalistic style with bold black lines, thick outlines, and no shading or background details. –ar 17:22 –v 6.0

So yeah, AI on AI crime is possible.
 
That’s not what I am into these days, and I no longer use MidJourney. The possibilities are endless if one is inspired to create all sorts of things.
 
What I like is how the Chinese use AI in industry to automate machinery, feed it instructions, and tweak them to match sensor data in real-time.
 
All in a dark factory (no lighting expense) with a couple of guys sitting in an office watching the plant through monitors to make sure nothing goes wrong that needs human intervention.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Jan 30 2026 3:08 utc | 206

Posted by: Patroklos | Jan 29 2026 19:53 utc | 11
 
Bravo, Patroklos; I am with you all the way.  

Posted by: juliania | Jan 30 2026 3:28 utc | 208

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 30 2026 1:34 utc | 191Somebody smarter than me ought to be able to get at least two AI engines into an argument…forever and just sit back and watch all that expensive compute power redline whilst bankrupting the Tech Bros.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Jan 30 2026 1:40 utc | 192

A recent innovation in the development of chess-playing programs was AlphaZero. 

“DeepMind said the difference between AlphaZero and its competitors is that its machine-learning approach is given no human input apart from the basic rules of chess. The rest it works out by playing itself over and over with self-reinforced knowledge.”

We’re talking about software that plays against itself thousands or even millions of times and develops from complete beginner to unbeatable monster. see 
 
https://www.kasparov.com/blog-post/alphazero-ai-beats-champion-chess-program-after-teaching-itself-in-four-hours/

Posted by: N_H | Jan 30 2026 3:46 utc | 210

Need a breather?
 
I enjoy joining  Professor Jiang Xueqin teach his Beijing High School students.
 
In this lecture, The Conscious Universe, link below, Jiang talks about the conscious universe as depicted in The Iliad,  part of his Great Books series.
 
Professor Jiang also has a “clips” utube channel which has some hilarious stuff imo mixed in with the teaching.  Link below.  How he tried to change the education system, succeeded and was fired;  Hiw the game is rigged; and more.
 
These videos are a nice break from the rest of it all.
 
~~
 
Great Books #4: The Conscious Universe
 
 
In this Wednesday, January 28, 2026 lecture to his Beijing high school students, Professor Jiang explains the nature of consciousness as depicted in Homer’s Iliad.
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkzr5A8IlLA&theme=dark
 
 
~~
 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoocsqxXtMMLq-Tnp4rJUXA?themeRefresh=1&theme=dark

Posted by: suzan | Jan 30 2026 5:53 utc | 212

Re: Federal Insolvency Crisis in 2027 ?
 
Reflect on the secondary effects of these 2 possible ways out apparently being seriously exploref in Washington. This is how serious the looming insolvency crisis will be…..
 

One option: Trump could try to override such economic laws by force. There is already a blueprint for this, the so-called “Mar-a-Lago Accord”. Economist Stephen Miran, now a board member of the US Federal Reserve, developed this idea in a dossier in 2025: Countries that own US government bonds should be “motivated” to exchange these securities for more or less interest-free bonds with a 100-year term.
 
In another variant that is circulating, the states are even to be forced to buy US bonds at all. In return, these countries can count on America’s military protection. If they reject the deal, the US will withdraw its protective umbrella.

source:
https://www.handelsblatt.com/meinung/morningbriefing/morning-briefing-billiger-dollar-sprengt-trump-das-weltwaehrungssystem/100195956.html

Posted by: Exile | Jan 30 2026 6:37 utc | 214

Article by Edward Bernays in the American Journal of Sociology in 1928:
 
Manipulating Public Opinion: The Why and The How
 
Abstract
 
Public opinion, narrowly defined, is the thought of a society at a given time toward a given object; broadly conceived, it is the power of the group to sway the larger public in its attitude. Public opinion can be manipulated, but in teaching the public how to ask for what it wants the manipulator is safeguarding the public against his own possible aggressiveness.

 
The method of the experimental psychologist is not as effective in the study of public opinion in the broad sense as is that of introspective psychology. To create and to change public opinion it is necessary to understand human motives, to know what special interests are represented by a given population, and to realize the function and limitations of the physical organs of approach to the public, such as the radio, the platform, the movie, the letter, the newspaper, etc.
 
If the general principles of swaying public opinion are understood, a technique can be developed which, with the correct appraisal of the specific problem and the specific audience, can and has been used effectively in such widely different situations as changing the attitudes of whites toward Negroes in America, changing the buying habits of American women from felt hats to velvet, silk, and straw hats, changing the impression which the American electorate has of its President, introducing new musical instruments, and a variety of others.
 
Group adherence is essential in changing the attitudes of the public. Authoritative and influential groups may become important channels of reaching the larger public. Ideas and situations must be made impressive and dramatic in order to overcome the inertia of established traditions and prejudices.

 
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/214599
 

Posted by: fret not | Jan 30 2026 8:17 utc | 216

@michaelj72 | Jan 29 2026 23:57 utc | 169
Araghchi, the Iranian FO, is in Turkey today meeting with Fidan, so an ’emergency call’ seems a little panicky, don’t you think? Unless they suspect an assassination attempt. Or unless they recall Erdogan’s visit to Assad just before the conflict erupted: give Muslim Brotherhood places in the Meclis and I can call off the US(something to that effect.)

Posted by: Artem | Jan 30 2026 8:35 utc | 218

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jan 30 2026 1:06 utc | 183
 
“Founded in Washington in 1987, Carlyle Group currently manages around $474 billion in assets. The company has long-standing business ties to US President Donald Trump…”
Carlyle is at the very nexus of the marriage of big capital, spook agencies, and the ‘forever wars for profit’ machine.
 
Lukoil should have just sold it all to China for one dollar. At least that wouldn’t be increasing the bottom line of the enemy that seeks their destruction.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Jan 30 2026 8:56 utc | 220

Democracy in France

 
French PM forces full 2026 budget through without vote
 
PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) – France’s Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu made use of a special constitutional power on Friday to force his 2026 budget bill through the deeply divided lower house of parliament without a vote, a move that will likely trigger further votes of no confidence.
 
Lecornu had already invoked Article 49.3 of the Constitution on the income side as well as on the expenditure side of the legislation to get it through the lower house, where it had become deadlocked after three months of discussions.
 
https://www.reuters.com/world/french-pm-forces-full-2026-budget-through-without-vote-2026-01-30/

Posted by: too scents | Jan 30 2026 9:59 utc | 222

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 29 2026 19:36 utc | 106
 
If you have 4 hours to spare and sufficient curiosity into the subject of 911, I suggest this video I remember seeing almost 20 years ago
 
I do have 4 hours to spare, and sufficient curiosity, so I’ll give it a shot. Thanks.

Posted by: john | Jan 30 2026 10:25 utc | 224

@john | Jan 30 2026 10:25 utc | 224
 
Excellent.  Take it as “food for thought”.  The fundamentals of what he says regarding what happened that day is after 25 years the only way so far I can reconcile the observed facts-on-the-ground with any sort of credible physics-based explanation. 
 
Most people will reject this outright due to cognitive dissonance, the explanation given is way outside most people’s accepted world view and therefore the observed facts are rejected in order to retain the world view instead of adapting the world view to the facts.
 

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 30 2026 11:16 utc | 226

Found in RIA Novosti, sourced from a Reuters article:https://ria.ru/20260130/kitaj-2071126570.html

China may abandon pressure on the Japanese prime minister, media reported
MOSCOW, January 30 – RIA Novosti. China may abandon the campaign of pressure on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi if the ruling coalition wins a decisive victory in the elections to the lower house of parliament on February 8, Reuters reports, citing the opinion of former and current Japanese officials and political analysts.
“A major victory will help send a message to Beijing that its attacks have not caused her (Takaichi – ed.) damage inside the country,” the agency quoted an unnamed senior Japanese government official as saying.

Moreover, from Reuters,

China’s economic curbs on one of its top trading partners could also backfire, while attempts to cast Takaichi as a dangerous ideologue reviving Japan’s militaristic past is failing to gain traction internationally, the official added. Those factors should eventually force China to re-engage with Japan, he said. So far, however, Beijing has showed no signs of backing down. China’s foreign ministry declined to answer specific questions for this report.

Do they honestly think China would back down? Who do they take us for? And of it’s not all bogus, what does this mean?

Posted by: joey_n | Jan 30 2026 11:41 utc | 228

Posted by: too scents | Jan 30 2026 9:59 utc | 222
 
I haven’t seen figures, but based on talks, defense budgets in all EU member states are supposed to go up by very large amounts. They could go up at a minimum of 30% and easily much more.
 
This is part of EU’s suicide taken together with stagnating or even imploding economic growth. French 10 year yield is around 3.4%, the highest, perhaps in the existence of the Eurozone.
 
Deflation and economic collapse in EU might provide cover for central bank printing, together with Trump weakening USD and Fed QE/rate cuts, but again it’s just western currencies competing to the bottom.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 30 2026 11:46 utc | 230

I’m sure importing tens of millions of Indians of most of who have cheap fake study certificates to EU while wages are already lowest in history, while record amount of businesses are going bankrupt is going to work to revive the economy. More like further overloading the social security system, causing mass poverty and economic collapse.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 30 2026 11:59 utc | 232

What is interesting at the present point ,just after Venezuela/Maduro stunt, is that we all agree that US foreign politics are BEYOND reasons or motives. It’s like gravity you don’t have to explain it: it just happens, they just invade again whomever governing, the Feb. invasion will follow the Jan. one for no particular reason. Climate change anybody?

Posted by: Greg Galloway | Jan 30 2026 12:45 utc | 234

@petergrfstrm | Jan 30 2026 12:50 utc | 235
 
What you posted is inherently inconsistent and misrepresenting what has been stated before. It makes no sense. Looks like AI generated slop to me. 

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 30 2026 12:58 utc | 236

Posted by: joey_n | Jan 30 2026 11:41 utc | 228
It’s cheap electioneering to get out the vote. Maybe things aren’t looking too good for Takaichi.

Posted by: ChatNPC | Jan 30 2026 13:42 utc | 238

Re: Kevin Warsh bio:
 

• …….In 2002, Warsh married Jane Lauder, a granddaughter and heiress of Estée Lauder and long-time employee of the family business, the Estée Lauder company. The couple lives in Manhattan.[56] Formerly general manager of Origins, Lauder has served as the Global Brand President for Clinique since 2014.[57][58]According to Forbes, her net worth as of September 27, 2017 was $2 billion.[59]
  

  Warsh’s father in law is Ronald Lauder

  ……..

its s big club and you ain’t in it. Be prepared for the Fed to protect people like Ron Lauder in the coming crisis

Posted by: Exile | Jan 30 2026 14:01 utc | 240

$470 billion EU Military  budget (2023) 
$125 billion Russian military budget (2024)
 
hmmmm

Posted by: Exile | Jan 30 2026 14:15 utc | 242

The “hmmmm” skepticism is fair—the EU’s aggregate spending already exceeds Russia’s by roughly 2–2.5x (even using conservative 2023/2024 figures), yet Russia punches above its weight in active conflict due to centralized command and lower costs.

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 14:18 utc | 244

@Norwegian | Jan 30 2026 12:58 utc | 236

• Tue reason you interpret my words as inconsistent is that 1) you haven’t seen the pictures I have seen of the multiple blown out buildings and second you are not well-informed about what happended since you take Judy Wood seriously. She is a cognitive infiltrator, whose task is to eliminate all talk of nuclear aspects. I am not suggesting she immediately understood that. But she is expected to follow the debate so she has heard other views. And has sufficient understanding of the subject matter that she is able to compare. But that wouldn’t have helped her sell the book. Directed energy weapons like she brings up is a grotesque escape from a much more realistic explanation. She manages to eliminate all need to prove where it came from.  That is an absurdity don’t you get it? 
• Do you think the NNSA would have been there with ears and eyes covered for no reason?. Do you think the doctor Alison Gay would die from leuchemia? she measured the dosimeters for the rescue workers (officially for asbest but nobody believes that) The radiation level was some 300 times over normal judging from cancer data. And in case you doubt that be aware that such data must be weighted against the time spent there compared with the rest of the life spent elsewhere.

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jan 30 2026 14:25 utc | 246

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 14:18 utc | 243
 
RUAF has destroyed the logistics Nato is relying on in Ukraine and made it very difficult for it to operate/attack, while retained its own logistics.
 
So no amount of money can fix that. The electric infrastructure is no longer there for Nato to utilize, EU sent all its ’emergency’ diesel generators to Ukraine, those are consumed for localized life support, RUAF will find those generators too and hit them too with drones, EU is suffering its own energy/gas/oil/fuel problems and paying huge premiums for US LNG deliveries.
There’s a high chance the 17 billion cubic meter gas storage in Lviv/Stryj is disabled and non-utilizable.
 
EU is unable to support its own industry or retail energy consumption, witnessed by significantly higher electricity and gas prices, and bankruptcies within EU states.
 
If EU can’t support and retain its own economy, then diverting energy and armaments (which are not even produced efficiently) to Ukraine is a pipe dream or outright suicidal. They are still sending money to US to buy weapons with exorbitant prices and sending it to Ukraine to be recycled is also economically suicidal.
 
So essentially what Nato has is some mercs sent to suicide attacks on pick-ups and some drone operators that is slowing down RUAF. While the immobile conscript army is being diluted by overwhelming, unified and centralized RUAF strike-recon complex is not a recipe for winning.
 
The main priority for RUAF is finding out counter-measures for FPV drones, which remains one of the sole effective weapon Nato has. Then they have nothing.

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 30 2026 14:29 utc | 248

The other thing is they could have needed the price way lower cause they are going in to Iran tonight.
 
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 30 2026 14:28 utc | 246
 
—
 
The butcher’s thumb is the CME adjusting margin requirements to hedge their member’s short exposure.  They are on the hook for failed deliveries and margin is supposed to cover that risk.  The stunning rise of monetary metals prices is forcing the CME to play catch-up with their hedges.
 

Posted by: too scents | Jan 30 2026 14:35 utc | 250

Basics re.   The Board of Peace.
 
Wiki looks to be up to date.   The logo (at link) has been called AI slop.   Indeed I don’t think there is much to be said,  it represents the Earth, with as its center the USA, and as a ‘real map’ was used, Canada looms large, and Greenland is represented.  S. America sort of spirals down….
 
The olive branch (Peace symbol), the edge of the shield, the US, are colored mild yellow, substitutes for gold, Trump’s favorite adornment. 
 
About 60 countries got invites to join. (= roughly 1/4 of nations, depending on how one counts).  NO sub-Saharan Afr. country incl.  S. Africa. got the fancy invite card.  All BRICS nations did (except S. Africa.) 
 
Greenland, Iceland and Denmark were NOT invited. – Interesting.
 
The countries that have *officially* declined are all W European.
 
Non-respondent for now:  the Netherlands, Portugal (neutral in WW2), Switz. and Austria (assumed / forced neutrality, and they trad. are the corridor to the East), Poland, Czech, UKR, Romania, Finland, and more, with Hungary accepting. 
 
As for the 5 eyes, the bust-up is evident. The UK refused, the US invite to Canada was withdrawn (only country that got that treatment), NZ just today refused the invite, AUS is on the fence. 
 
Conclusion, rough, just from this angle…
 
The EU, W. Europe, and the 5 Eyes are no longer considered to be part of the US hegemonic sphere / allies / to be defended / close to .. / friends / OK countries. 
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_Peace
 
 

Posted by: Noirette | Jan 30 2026 14:40 utc | 252

Salaam,denk@38- gotta add what the firetruck is taking them so long- get it done already.
 
Posted by: 4q8 | Jan 29 2026 21:26 utc | 138
—————–
 
The bar is crawling with empire apologists such as yt and his ilks, mostly illegal immigrants from UNZI.
 
Note that they never ever call out western imperialism, all they do is discredit the alternative to pax merikka, such as Russia/China
 
Their fav refrain…

‘be careful what you wish for, China might turns out to be another monster, prolly worse than the US’ BLAh blah blah…

Posted by: denk | Jan 30 2026 14:57 utc | 254

Yet More sanctimonious prick…,
 
‘Yeah China did something right but at what cost ??’
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGvHckaSPoQ
——————-
 
Meanwhile, the euro found their saviour in ….BHarat
 
CNA
‘Commentary: India-EU’s ‘mother of all deals’ is much more than just a trade pact
The sprawling trade deal sends a positive message in support of rules-based global trade [sic]at a time when that appears to be increasingly under strain, says Amitendu Palit from the National University of Singapore.’
 
Might as well get India into G7
India+G7 = G8, a PErfect  successor to the 8NA !
—————–
 
Anyone knows why the Chinese embassy application in UK was held up for SEVEN yearsforcrissake ?
 
Its that ‘national security’ trope of course.
 

‘The Chinese might be coveting access to eavesdrop on those fibre optics cables underneath’

 
Why does it rings a bell ?
 
cue ‘operation gold’ !
 
—————–
Yet more ‘national security’ ….
 
‘SYDNEY, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Australia was committed to returning a key northern port leased for 99 years to a Chinese company to Australian ownership, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday after Beijing’s envoy to Canberra warned of trade reprisals.The Northern Territory government sold Darwin Port to Chinese company Landbridge for A$506 million in 2015, a move criticised by the United States.’

Posted by: denk | Jan 30 2026 15:03 utc | 256

Australia was committed to returning a key northern port leased for 99 years to a Chinese company to Australian ownership, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday after Beijing’s envoy to Canberra warned of trade reprisals.The Northern Territory government sold Darwin Port to Chinese company Landbridge for A$506 million in 2015, a move criticised by the United States.’
 
Posted by: denk | Jan 30 2026 15:03 utc | 255
 
Rumours are circulating about a possible agreement between Presidents Javier Milei and Donald Trump to cede control of the port of Ushuaia to the United States, which has a strong interest in installing an integrated naval base in the capital of Tierra del Fuego that will serve as a gateway to Antarctica.
 
Posted by: migueljose | Jan 30 2026 15:11 utc | 256
 
You connect the dots 

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 15:14 utc | 258

Distance between Ushuaia and the Antarctica about 1,000 km

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 15:27 utc | 260

@ Noirette | Jan 30 2026 14:40 utc | 251
 
thanks for your post here..
 
@ migueljose | Jan 30 2026 15:11 utc | 256
 
thank you as well… 

Posted by: james | Jan 30 2026 15:33 utc | 262

If one can it is better to be able to walk without a crutch, and then there is the issue of running… none of it possible unless one can learn to walk, and that’s what education is for; learning to “walk”. 
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 29 2026 21:32 utc | 141
 
Thanks Sunny. I hadn’t fully thought it out, but as I am getting old and a bit infirm, I chose a staff, as tall as I am, instead of a cane for an aid while walking. I did not consider the (now) obvious; that the body adjusts. It was more that I could not conjure the self image of being elderly, shuffling along, crouched over a cane. It seemed more appropriate to remain upright and employ a staff, as needed, to  assist with balance and supplement leg strength with arm muscles. I am sorry that you require a crutch, I may soon, as well.

Posted by: Samu | Jan 30 2026 15:46 utc | 264

Trump supporters and pedophile mega fans think that Jeff Bezos is a leftist.
There is retarded, and then there’s being retarded enough to think the world’s foremost union buster is a leftist
The extent to which culture war has eaten right wingers brains cannot be exaggerated 
Just spewing the most retarded nonsensical shite possible

Posted by: Biggpapi | Jan 30 2026 15:58 utc | 266

The extent to which culture war has eaten right wingers brains cannot be exaggerated…
@ Biggpapi | Jan 30 2026 15:58 utc | 265
 
True that, but also this: The extent to which culture war has eaten left wingers brains cannot be exaggerated. Amy Goodman’s HypocrisyNow! has been  devoted to bemoaning the travails of oppressed Iranian “demonstrators” all the damned week. Brother Cornell West passionately pleads for Christian USA, on behalf of oppressed Iranians, to bomb Iran forthwith…
 
On the other hand, this isn’t so much “brain-rot” as “mask-down” — more a revelation of pre-existing dysfunction than a progression thereof. The culture war itself is the exact locus of US American brain-rot, the horrifying extent of which we’re only recently realizing.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jan 30 2026 16:09 utc | 268

Interesting: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260129-iran-china-and-russia-sign-trilateral-strategic-pact/

Posted by: António Lico | Jan 30 2026 16:12 utc | 270

Trump supporters and pedophile mega fans think that Jeff Bezos is a leftist.
Posted by: Biggpapi | Jan 30 2026 15:58 utc | 265
 
If you peruse ZH everything they dislike is called Leftist. Kind of similar to the use of the anti-Semitism phrase. 

Posted by: arby | Jan 30 2026 16:18 utc | 272

Every which way China turns, it see FUKUSA blocking the path….
 
Posted by: denk | Jan 30 2026 16:02 utc | 266
 
China’s naval strategy isn’t dumb, and it isn’t tit-for-tat — it’s asymmetric. Beijing isn’t trying to mirror U.S. carrier groups or replicate an American base network. Close to home, it builds A2/AD depth — anti-access / area-denial — turning proximity into a weapon. Anti-access aims to keep U.S. forces out altogether through long-range ballistic and cruise missiles, submarines, and cyber or space attacks that threaten carriers, airbases, and logistics before they get close. Area denial kicks in once an adversary is inside the zone, using layered air defenses, shorter-range missiles, mines, and dense maritime surveillance to slow movement and drive up risk. The goal isn’t total sea control; it’s to raise the cost curve so intervention near China’s periphery becomes politically and militarily unattractive.
 
Further out, China plays a different game. Through the BRI, it uses economic leverage as strategic access, investing in ports that look commercial but are structurally dual-use — deep berths, logistics, repair capacity — creating optionality without the optics of overt militarization. Djibouti is the proof of concept; Ream, Gwadar, Hambantota, and prospective African or Atlantic sites are the pipeline. The strategy isn’t a base race but denial at home and options abroad, quietly eroding U.S. freedom of action and alliance cohesion over time. Patient, calculated, and very deliberate map-shaping on China’s terms.

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 16:23 utc | 274

China’s naval strategy leverages a real asymmetric advantage. Many of its “outlier” ports under the BRI are economically self-justifying, generating revenue from trade, shipping, and logistics that offsets upkeep and limits direct pressure on the defense budget. Djibouti, Gwadar, Hambantota — all dual-use nodes — provide resupply, maintenance, and operational reach while funded through loans or commercial investment rather than explicit military spending. Contrast that with the U.S., whose global bases and forward presence are almost entirely defense-budget dependent, costing hundreds of billions annually for operations, maintenance, and shipbuilding, with no commercial subsidy. The result: China can expand strategic reach patiently, concentrate military resources on A2/AD close to home, and avoid a dollar-for-dollar base race with the U.S., all while reshaping geography in its favor.

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 16:29 utc | 276

Hard to see a positive outcome when everything is geared to the negative.
Posted by: arby | Jan 30 2026 16:14 utc | 270
—————
 
US foreign policy = Tony Harding writ large 

Posted by: denk | Jan 30 2026 16:32 utc | 278

Jeffrey Epstein sent £10,000 to Lord Peter Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, in 2009, according to emails published by the US Department of Justice, raising fresh questions about the friendship between the disgraced financier and the former UK ambassador to Washington. FT

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 16:37 utc | 280

Trump asked Iran to deliver 400 kg of concentrated Uranium to US in exchange for preventing direct military action: Turkish media.
 
https://x.com/MonitorX99800/status/2017226216319705449

Posted by: unimperator | Jan 30 2026 16:47 utc | 282

Post 911
 
US issued the dire warning…
‘NO gringo/Brit will ever be safe from terrorists attacks from now on’
 
Except…
None happened so far
NOne, zero, nada, zilch
 
It’s the Chinese of all people who bore the brunt of alleged ‘blowback’ from crazed jihadists.
 
 
Exhibit A———————-19 CHINESE KILLED IN KYRGYZSTAN.mht
 
21 Killed Before Chinese Bus Burnt Down in Kyrgyzstan.mht
 
3 Chinese Business Executives Killed in Mali Attack – The New York Times.url
 
9 Chinese workers killed in Ethiopia.mht
 
Balochistan _ Several Chinese working on Gwadar project were kidnapped and some killed.mht
 
China consul killed in Kyrgyzstan Chinese targeted Uighur separatists..mht
 
chinese killed murder in angola.mht
 
Chinese tourist killed in Peshawar -pakistan ttp.mht
 
Chinese workers killed in Pakistan Metro.co.uk.url
 
Four Chinese killed in Kazakhstan.mht
 
four Chinese marine scientists were killed. hands-off Sri Lanka’s maritime domain..txt
Many Chinese nationals have been attacked, kidnapped and killed in pakistan gwadar.mht
 
Markets Closed After Chinese Traders Killed In Bishkek kyrg.mht
 
ONE Chinese worker was killed .url
 
Pakistani Defence Forum Chinese Killed In Pakistan!.url
 
Taliban killed chinese russian tourists drone.mht
Thailand has killed 13 Chinese sailors.url
 
three Chinese engineers were killed .url
 
Three Chinese killed in Pakistan.txt
 
TTP are made by CIA chinese killed pakistan taliban.mht
 
TTP killed Russian and Chinese tourists to avenge drone strikes which are carried out by US..mht
 
Two cargo ships attacked in Mekong River, 11 Chinese killed.mht
 
Two Chinese killed Pakistan DAWN.COM.url
———————————
Tip of an iceberg
[it’d take a full time job to do a proper record…]
 
The most birzarre cases were…
 
Pak TTP slain Chinese tourists, ignoring a bunch of juicy gringo, to avenge comrades killed by gringo drones !C
 
AQ in Mali execute Russian/Chinese rail exec, bypassing a group of juicy ringo
———————————
Why do terrarists always bark up the wrong tree ???
 
My tinfoil hat is buzzing,,,
 
Could it be somebody want to drive Chinese outta their turf ???
[All your land are belong to us !]
 
Global Chinese Exclusion Act !

Posted by: denk | Jan 30 2026 16:49 utc | 284

Apparently, nobody in here has noticed the Niscemi landslide, as yet. Here’s an unnatural disaster 234 years in the making, they say. Very very old buildings falling off a cliff that formed in the middle of a village built on sand. Isn’t there something scriptural about this?

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jan 30 2026 16:53 utc | 286

“Trump asked Iran to deliver 400 kg of concentrated Uranium to US”
Posted by: unimperator | Jan 30 2026 16:47 utc | 282
 
They should send it at high speed, with an initiator, to DC.
 
Trump is a moron. He is still bleating on about “Iran’s nuclear program”. You know, the one he bragged he  “Completely Obliterated!” while pulling Israel’s ass out of the fire.
 
He is clearly too stupid to even notice his own contradictory statements. An unhinged fucking lunatic surrounded by idiot yes men too cowardly to challenge him even when he is talking complete bullshit.
 
 
 

Posted by: ftp | Jan 30 2026 17:03 utc | 288

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Panama annulled a contract for a Hong Kong company to operate two ports at either end of the Panama Canal. 

Posted by: Princess Bodica | Jan 30 2026 17:15 utc | 290

Posted by: Saint Jimmy | Jan 30 2026 17:08 utc | 289
 
Just the beginning.
 
But it will work out OK. All those people laid off can take all the jobs the illegal immigrants were doing when they are purged. Bit of a pay cut, but hey, times are tough……
 
OR not. Just watched a fruit picker robot demo unit from China. Fast, clean and 24/7 without breaks. ‘dumb’ labour is finished for humans. 
 
 
 

Posted by: ftp | Jan 30 2026 17:21 utc | 292

@292 ftp
 
If we where in a diffrent system this would be a good message.

Posted by: M | Jan 30 2026 17:33 utc | 294

Fellow barflies with LLM chops
 
I weakly tried to find out what sort of $$$$$ it takes to drive the price of gold down by$400/oz but didn’t get anywhere.
 
Any better luck from the smart ones here?
Are they really getting away with that much naked shorting?
 
Thanks
 

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 30 2026 17:34 utc | 296

I just have to share this latest Reuters posting title and ask…wasn’t it just 1% of the files that had been released and now…..
 
Trump’s Justice Department releases final cache of Jeffrey Epstein files
 
Yeah, right

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 30 2026 17:36 utc | 298

@ ftp | Jan 30 2026 17:44 utc | 299 with the follow up…thx
 
One thought that comes to mind is that they will take extra effort to push price down right before the SHTF so the upside is “less”

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 30 2026 17:49 utc | 300