Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Biden State Department Taps Beijing Bull To Run China Shop
Tom Donilon has promoted investments in China, opposed tariffs on regime
The Biden administration's pick to advise the State Department on "strategic competition" with Beijing chairs an investment think tank that urged Americans to triple their investments in China.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday selected BlackRock Investment Institute chairman and Obama administration national security adviser Tom Donilon to co-chair the Foreign Affairs Policy Board amid the State Department’s pivot to China.
Donilon’s work at BlackRock could pose a conflict of interest for the board, which provides "advice, feedback, and perspectives" to senior State Department officials on foreign policy matters. Under his leadership, the Investment Institute has urged investors to dramatically increase their stakes in Chinese companies. What’s more, BlackRock views "strategic competition" with China as bad for the company’s bottom line.
"Strategic competition between the U.S. and China and resulting tensions have also contributed to uncertainty in the geopolitical and regulatory landscapes," reads BlackRock’s most recent annual report. The firm listed U.S.-Chinese competition as a factor that could hurt its revenue and profit. BlackRock opened a mutual fund in China in September, making it the first American firm approved to sell financial products there.
BlackRock’s Chinese entanglements have raised concerns that the company is undermining the United States. The company has come under fire for investing in sanctioned Chinese companies, including surveillance giant Hikvision. Even progressive megadonor George Soros called BlackRock’s investments in China a "tragic mistake" that would damage U.S. ...
‘We must be prepared to use nuclear weapons’
Tough announcements by two European armies were made recently. "For credible deterrence, we need both the means and the political will to implement nuclear deterrence if necessary," said German Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz (56) on Friday at the Kiel International Seapowers Symposium.
In plain language: If necessary, NATO countries must be prepared to use nuclear weapons against Russia.
The German government wants to equip its Air Force with the US F-35 stealth jet. Referring to a possible Russian attack, he also said clearly: “Putin, don’t mess with us!” Because: “By 2030, the Europeans will have over 600 modern fighter jets in the Baltic Sea region. Then there are the American planes.”
Ingo Gerhartz goes nuclear against Russia. Ceremony at the Dachau concentration camp, August 2020.Wikipedia
UK top brass ignore Brexit
Appeals from Great Britain to get ready for combat were also heard. The kingdom may have to intervene again on the continent, as it did in the First and Second World Wars. “We are the generation that needs to prepare the army to fight again in Europe,” said Sir Patrick Sanders, 56, Britain’s new supreme army commander, according to The Sun.
Accordingly, Sanders has used his debut in his role as chief of staff to send a message to all his soldiers. And it was tough, because the phrase “to fight in Europe again” is a clear allusion to the Second World War. Sanders did not mention Brexit – that the UK voted to leave the EU. It is not clear why Sanders would want to defend a continent his country no longer wishes to be a part of.
The self-inflicted bloodbath in Ukraine in failing to adhere to the Minsk agreements, is shaking the world order. Is World War III imminent? It is not intended to come to that, but according to Sanders, “there is now an urgent need to forge an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle.”
German military analyst Maximilian Terhalle (46), currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, warned that NATO countries must now show that they are prepared to stand up to Russia militarily: “Once again, the West, led by the USA, to flaunt its superiority in no uncertain terms.”
Terhalle advocated a robust stance in the conflict with Russia. Nuclear weapons play a crucial role in this. Only those who are willing to use nuclear weapons in an emergency can effectively...
Germany’s ‘Green’ Energy Disaster Is A Warning To The United States
In the piece we learn that wind, solar, and nuclear have “powered about 38% of the state’s power in 2021, rivaling natural gas at 42%.” That’s quite the sleight of hand; tantamount to bragging about how Babe Ruth (60), Lou Gehrig (47), and Joe Dugan (2) combined for 109 home runs in 1927. True, but deceptive.
Subsidized solar power generates less than 2 percent of Texas’ energy during the year. Nuclear power generates around 10 percent and wind nearly 20. Coal accounts for nearly 15 percent and natural gas for more than 52 percent of electricity generation. It would be far more accurate to say that coal, nuclear, and gas are bailing out Texas.
No nation has anything approaching a clean energy economy. And those that have promised to build one are all struggling.
More than a decade ago, after a major earthquake caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster, German chancellor Angela Merkel announced her nation would close down all its nuclear power plants, at the same time quadrupling down on the decarbonization of its economy—energiewende. Once there were 17 reactors in Germany. Now there are only three remaining, all of which are scheduled to go offline by the end of the year.
The move to “clean energy”—without nuclear—has accomplished three things:
1. It has prompted Germany, and the rest of the EU, to begin relying more heavily on Russian natural gas as it “transitioned.” Putin, who has begun demanding EU nations pay for their energy in roubles, is now able to undercut the European economy at will.
2. It has created the highest global electricity prices per household in the world. In 2019, German households were paying 34 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 13 cents in the United States. The price of energy has doubled since 2000, when Germany first mandated decarbonization, an effort that forced energy companies to purchase long-term inefficient renewables at high, fabricated prices.
3. It has meant the burning of coal. Even before Russia began cutting off supply, Germany was more reliant on coal than...
The 90 Miles Mystery Video: Nyctophilia Edition #1057
Before You Click On The "Read More" Link,
Please Only Do So If You Are Over 21 Years Old.
If You are Easily Upset, Triggered Or Offended, This Is Not The Place For You.
Please Leave Silently Into The Night......
The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #1757
You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside?
It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific,
from the beautiful to the repugnant,
from the mysterious to the familiar.
If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed,
you could be inspired, you could be appalled.
This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.
You have been warned.
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