As if winding up the forever wars, taking control of our borders, reshaping public life away from DEI on multiple fronts, taking control of the federal government and reshaping major societal and business institutions (education and big business) weren’t enough, Trump will be facing a world in economic and political turmoil that would have happened even without the forever wars.
Who would rebuild it and with whose money? Once rebuilt who would occupy the land? It's difficult to get a true reckoning of aid to Palestine and Gaza as most reports are oriented around aid of recent years even so the money spent goes through the UN and it pales in comparison to the aid and subsidies we have given Israel over the years. Reports i have read suggest aid to Israel has reached $360B which is more than most other countries combined. Aid to help Palestine is always a result of aid for reconstruction of what Israel has destroyed or humanitarian aid as a result of Israel's aggression. does this align with your view?
Hi Jeff, I do like your optimism. It also helps with Mark providing essentially a two sides of the Trump story. His rhetoric seems to contradict some of his actions. It's early and the best we can do is hope for the best and he gets us out of the entanglements that do little for the American people but certainly aids the Anglo-Zionist agenda and provides pathways for corruption..
Deep dive into the DeepSeek tech from a business-strategy standpoint. Don't forget, the chip ban that enabled this burst of Chinese innovation was a Zhou policy. Clear parallels to the Russia sanctions, asset confiscation, and SWIFT block. Self-owns all round!
Biden and Trump are both trying to order the tide not to rise when it comes to China. Good luck with that. But even many so-called intelligent western commentators also refuse to study up about China. Re the picture of the Chinese(?) girl, if western commentators studied about the Chinese language for ten minutes, they would discover that it is the Japanese language that doesn't distinguish between English "l" and "r," not Mandarin (or even Koreaon, for that matter). Why do many "enlightened" people who write about China in the MSM and social media feel they don't need to study about China -- or about Russia -- with the same degree of self-discipline they feel when they write about western Europe?
PP quotes, "If DeepSeek does indeed crash the entire American AI industry — and possibly even the stock market — it will be because bureaucrats in DC tried to control the technology sector in ill-advised ways."
There was no way for the US to offshore all other manufacturing, to de-industrialize in favor of financializing the economy, these past thirty years while holding some high-value manufacturing harmless and in-house.
Manufacturing ecosystems don't work that way; to manufacture big widgets you need many small widgets to hand at the right price and volume and quality.
I think a few too many people, including PP, want to blame our current troubles on recent US export controls, rather than on thirty years of de-industrialization and financialization in all Western economies. And it was bought into by all right-thinking people in white-collar jobs in those economies enjoying a high standard of living while arguing about green energy and gay rights. Supranational moneymen call the shots, and they were satisfied with China becoming the workshop to the world. We all enjoyed it while it lasted. America did not "do this" to Europeans unilaterally just now.
Gladden is correct: “But [US/West] policymaking has to occur at a more strategic level.”
The obvious problem is that the US\West stopped doing real “assessments” in the last decades. Everything occurred in business and politics under larger fantasy notions of the West and everyone else simply following. The last generation that did assessments has been dead for decades. Imagine bringing into a room 100 people and tacking a scenario from all these possibilities and turning over all the results to others to make a decision. We don’t do that. No one in the West, and probably East, does this anymore. The ends are set in place beforehand.
Assessment comes before thinking strategically. We don’t even have people trained in doing this. ONA, under the ONI, with Andrew Marshall running it, and designed to counter the CIA, was an attempt in the early ‘70s to do this. Andrew had had experience in the early days of RAND.
With the current President of Taiwan this won’t happen: “ Ask yourself, if you were Taiwan would you ship all your chip factories to the US or … do a deal with China?”
China is offering huge salaries to recruit Taiwan Engineers and Scientists.
The growth of Taiwan foundries issue to US laws and regulations that incentivize outsourcing. Outsourcing capital costs increases the return on capital for U.S. public companies, giving a higher stock price.
We will see what Trump does to rebuild us industry. Intel has done a great job using dei to commit suicide, reminds me of Boeing.
Trump is taking control of federal spending, mind blowing “White House Orders Pause of Federal Financial-Assistance Programs.”
“Chaos. Confusion. Epoch-making. What Trump has done was, until yesterday, unimaginable. When the Wall Street Journal called “the memo” “unexpected,” it was a masterpiece of understatement, kind of like describing the Hindenberg as an unscheduled travel delay.” Read on!
Thanks so much for the link! Whenever I encounter things that raise great emotions within me this tends to translate in my mind into lines from appropriate songs. Is that weird? The first song I thought of was a very long ago line from "Itchykoo Park," by Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, and the Small Faces: "It's all too beautiful... It's all too beautiful." And then when reading about the duplicitous solicitors of the DOJ (a new reality TV series perhaps?): "It's Time to Say Sayonara."
How great a strategy this is: 1) Eliminates unnecessary and/or pernicious and/or corrupt programs; 2) Introduces long overdue oversight and transparency to govt funding, including of NGOs and foreign governments; 3) Saves money and increases efficiency according to the DOGE goals; 4) Eliminates those averse to Constitutional principles and what is best for the nation as quickly as possible (in many cases by them resigning. It is genius. I am so gratified to actually see this happening! Thank you PDJT!
NGO's and the burgeoning, and dishonest, non-profit sector are the bane of our society. So many young graduates gush with excitement that they are going to work for a non-profit. These are the lame brained fully indoctrinated in college that they are working for the greater good of society not realizing they are likely working for a psychopathic zealot who is hiding his money from the tax man while polishing his halo. How in the world can George Soros carry the mantle of philanthropic humanitarian?.
Ha! What a great oldie to remember!! It is “beautiful” to imagine Samantha Powers’ auburn locks on fire! As Childers puts it, “USAID is the deep state’s ATM!”
The fact that the cutoff of USAID is framed by critics as a national security issue that "emboldens enemies" tends to give the lie to the official narrative of what USAID is actually about. The outcry tends to confirm that it actually is a CIA front.
Re the Childers article, it's a must read and ... highly amusing in places for those who have ever worked in the Belly of the Beast. I especially enjoyed the parts about lawyers who had abused the system finding themselves under investigation and shifted to highly undesirable positions for their careers.
However, one caution. Childers presents this order as a wrecking ball aimed at the total bureaucracy. That's not exactly true. The targets are programs that are affected by the substantive EOs that preceded this one. Services and programs that affect normal people--not DEI fanatics and not regime change artists of the CIA/State--won't be affected.
I suspect that, in major part, this order is targeted at the Deep State as much as it is at spending more generally. It continues the clawback targeting of DEI, where I believe much of the money was directed during Zhou's final months.
Why surprised? A liberal turncoat joining a literally Hitlerite regime to free children from the pseudo-medical imperatives of the nanny state? Of course the opposition is intense.
Calling California bureaucracy incompetent is missing the elephant in the room: the intentional destruction of US socio-economy using calculated internal maneuvering. Incompetence vs Intent spells a vast difference that cannot be rectified by mere finger slaps and painting the walls.
Think of what China is doing as “Opening II.” Recall the 80s when Opening I happened. China is opening its door, less because they care about US and other companies as such doing business there, but because they recognize that Digital/AI/Robots are the thing going forward and it’s going to change the entire world, and the West and East need to figure it out before it happens. Think of the beginnings of a synergy, NOT harmony.
“Manufacturing ecosystems don't work that way.”
Brilliant comment.
Trolling:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403045?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Actually, Witkoff's latest idea was to take the Palestinians to Indonesia--while Gaza is being rebuilt.
Who would rebuild it and with whose money? Once rebuilt who would occupy the land? It's difficult to get a true reckoning of aid to Palestine and Gaza as most reports are oriented around aid of recent years even so the money spent goes through the UN and it pales in comparison to the aid and subsidies we have given Israel over the years. Reports i have read suggest aid to Israel has reached $360B which is more than most other countries combined. Aid to help Palestine is always a result of aid for reconstruction of what Israel has destroyed or humanitarian aid as a result of Israel's aggression. does this align with your view?
I thought you wwould talk about how Trump may prefer the multi-polar world to the EU and Anglo-Zionist one. I think he is supporting the move.
Hi Jeff, I do like your optimism. It also helps with Mark providing essentially a two sides of the Trump story. His rhetoric seems to contradict some of his actions. It's early and the best we can do is hope for the best and he gets us out of the entanglements that do little for the American people but certainly aids the Anglo-Zionist agenda and provides pathways for corruption..
Deep dive into the DeepSeek tech from a business-strategy standpoint. Don't forget, the chip ban that enabled this burst of Chinese innovation was a Zhou policy. Clear parallels to the Russia sanctions, asset confiscation, and SWIFT block. Self-owns all round!
https://stratechery.com/2025/deepseek-faq/
Biden and Trump are both trying to order the tide not to rise when it comes to China. Good luck with that. But even many so-called intelligent western commentators also refuse to study up about China. Re the picture of the Chinese(?) girl, if western commentators studied about the Chinese language for ten minutes, they would discover that it is the Japanese language that doesn't distinguish between English "l" and "r," not Mandarin (or even Koreaon, for that matter). Why do many "enlightened" people who write about China in the MSM and social media feel they don't need to study about China -- or about Russia -- with the same degree of self-discipline they feel when they write about western Europe?
PP quotes, "If DeepSeek does indeed crash the entire American AI industry — and possibly even the stock market — it will be because bureaucrats in DC tried to control the technology sector in ill-advised ways."
There was no way for the US to offshore all other manufacturing, to de-industrialize in favor of financializing the economy, these past thirty years while holding some high-value manufacturing harmless and in-house.
Manufacturing ecosystems don't work that way; to manufacture big widgets you need many small widgets to hand at the right price and volume and quality.
I think a few too many people, including PP, want to blame our current troubles on recent US export controls, rather than on thirty years of de-industrialization and financialization in all Western economies. And it was bought into by all right-thinking people in white-collar jobs in those economies enjoying a high standard of living while arguing about green energy and gay rights. Supranational moneymen call the shots, and they were satisfied with China becoming the workshop to the world. We all enjoyed it while it lasted. America did not "do this" to Europeans unilaterally just now.
Gladden is correct: “But [US/West] policymaking has to occur at a more strategic level.”
The obvious problem is that the US\West stopped doing real “assessments” in the last decades. Everything occurred in business and politics under larger fantasy notions of the West and everyone else simply following. The last generation that did assessments has been dead for decades. Imagine bringing into a room 100 people and tacking a scenario from all these possibilities and turning over all the results to others to make a decision. We don’t do that. No one in the West, and probably East, does this anymore. The ends are set in place beforehand.
Assessment comes before thinking strategically. We don’t even have people trained in doing this. ONA, under the ONI, with Andrew Marshall running it, and designed to counter the CIA, was an attempt in the early ‘70s to do this. Andrew had had experience in the early days of RAND.
So we created Exogenous, Inc.
With the current President of Taiwan this won’t happen: “ Ask yourself, if you were Taiwan would you ship all your chip factories to the US or … do a deal with China?”
China is offering huge salaries to recruit Taiwan Engineers and Scientists.
The growth of Taiwan foundries issue to US laws and regulations that incentivize outsourcing. Outsourcing capital costs increases the return on capital for U.S. public companies, giving a higher stock price.
We will see what Trump does to rebuild us industry. Intel has done a great job using dei to commit suicide, reminds me of Boeing.
Trump is taking control of federal spending, mind blowing “White House Orders Pause of Federal Financial-Assistance Programs.”
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/baptism-of-fire-tuesday-january-28?
“Chaos. Confusion. Epoch-making. What Trump has done was, until yesterday, unimaginable. When the Wall Street Journal called “the memo” “unexpected,” it was a masterpiece of understatement, kind of like describing the Hindenberg as an unscheduled travel delay.” Read on!
Thanks so much for the link! Whenever I encounter things that raise great emotions within me this tends to translate in my mind into lines from appropriate songs. Is that weird? The first song I thought of was a very long ago line from "Itchykoo Park," by Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, and the Small Faces: "It's all too beautiful... It's all too beautiful." And then when reading about the duplicitous solicitors of the DOJ (a new reality TV series perhaps?): "It's Time to Say Sayonara."
How great a strategy this is: 1) Eliminates unnecessary and/or pernicious and/or corrupt programs; 2) Introduces long overdue oversight and transparency to govt funding, including of NGOs and foreign governments; 3) Saves money and increases efficiency according to the DOGE goals; 4) Eliminates those averse to Constitutional principles and what is best for the nation as quickly as possible (in many cases by them resigning. It is genius. I am so gratified to actually see this happening! Thank you PDJT!
NGO's and the burgeoning, and dishonest, non-profit sector are the bane of our society. So many young graduates gush with excitement that they are going to work for a non-profit. These are the lame brained fully indoctrinated in college that they are working for the greater good of society not realizing they are likely working for a psychopathic zealot who is hiding his money from the tax man while polishing his halo. How in the world can George Soros carry the mantle of philanthropic humanitarian?.
Ha! What a great oldie to remember!! It is “beautiful” to imagine Samantha Powers’ auburn locks on fire! As Childers puts it, “USAID is the deep state’s ATM!”
The fact that the cutoff of USAID is framed by critics as a national security issue that "emboldens enemies" tends to give the lie to the official narrative of what USAID is actually about. The outcry tends to confirm that it actually is a CIA front.
Oh, Mark you so often get right to the nub of things. Spot on!
Yes indeed.
Put her on Immigration enforcement.
LOL!
I hear there’s a dream job at Columbia!
Yes to Intel and how about Boeing, too, sinking. So many companies are failing, isn't there any common sense out there anymore?
LoL on the Intel comment. so sad. great comment!
Tx for link. Childers is a bit lengthy, but never fails to get to the essential point, and often with humour! And with coffee he’s even better!
I've been writing and having lunch and now have to run, but my wife was telling me about this story.
Re the Childers article, it's a must read and ... highly amusing in places for those who have ever worked in the Belly of the Beast. I especially enjoyed the parts about lawyers who had abused the system finding themselves under investigation and shifted to highly undesirable positions for their careers.
However, one caution. Childers presents this order as a wrecking ball aimed at the total bureaucracy. That's not exactly true. The targets are programs that are affected by the substantive EOs that preceded this one. Services and programs that affect normal people--not DEI fanatics and not regime change artists of the CIA/State--won't be affected.
I suspect that, in major part, this order is targeted at the Deep State as much as it is at spending more generally. It continues the clawback targeting of DEI, where I believe much of the money was directed during Zhou's final months.
And apparently Kash is charged with sifting through the remains of the J6 Committee…Targeted and well justified.
I’m surprised at the intensity of the anti RFK opposition.
New York post hit piece:
https://nypost.com/2025/01/29/us-news/rfk-jr-s-anti-vaccine-stance-blasted-as-cynical-ploy-sources/
Caroline Kennedy - RFK is a predator:
https://nypost.com/2025/01/28/us-news/caroline-kennedy-warns-senators-in-letter-about-rfk-jr-ahead-of-confirmation-hearing/
And of course Mike pence:
https://www.illusionconsensus.com/p/urgent-video-debunking-mike-pences?utm_source=post-banner&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
And the second top big pharma recipient was Senator Warren, first was Bernie Sanders. Probably explains their anti RFK stance.
Great analysis of the campaign against RFK jr.
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/whos-trying-to-stop-america-from?utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
Why surprised? A liberal turncoat joining a literally Hitlerite regime to free children from the pseudo-medical imperatives of the nanny state? Of course the opposition is intense.
It's so obvious, isn't it?
Calling California bureaucracy incompetent is missing the elephant in the room: the intentional destruction of US socio-economy using calculated internal maneuvering. Incompetence vs Intent spells a vast difference that cannot be rectified by mere finger slaps and painting the walls.
Think of what China is doing as “Opening II.” Recall the 80s when Opening I happened. China is opening its door, less because they care about US and other companies as such doing business there, but because they recognize that Digital/AI/Robots are the thing going forward and it’s going to change the entire world, and the West and East need to figure it out before it happens. Think of the beginnings of a synergy, NOT harmony.