Energetic folk, the British.

Or there’s the view of a Korean former colleague of mine: The British? Pirates!

In any event, the LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD.

Until, of course, it couldn’t.

Everything follows a trajectory.

We Got Here Because of Cowardice. We Get Out With Courage

Terrific Bari Weiss piece on deconstructing and defeating the “woke movement.”

Some key points as per what’s wrong with what’s WOKE, and I’m quoting:

• Ideas are replaced with identity. Forgiveness is replaced with punishment. Debate is replaced with de-platforming. Diversity is replaced with homogeneity of thought. Inclusion, with exclusion.
• Speech is violence.
•  If you do not tweet the right tweet or share the right slogan, your whole life can be ruined.
• The past cannot be understood on its own terms, but must be judged through the morals and mores of the present.
• Intentions don’t matter.
• Equality of opportunity is replaced with equality of outcome.
• You are guilty of the sins of your fathers.
• In this system, we are all placed neatly on a spectrum of “privileged” to “oppressed.”
• What we call “cancel culture” is really the justice system of this revolution.
• “The problem is not that the sacrificial victim is selected. The problem is that the people who destroy his reputation are permitted to do so by the complicity, silence and slinking away of everybody else.”

DON’T SLINK AWAY. READ THE ENTIRE PEACE.  SHE NAILS IT.

This woman believes in both FREE SPEECH and RATIONALITY.

Scroll down after hitting the link below to watch her explain madness to Brian Stelter.

She’s a TRUTH TELLER.

Bari Weiss Confronts Brian Stelter

More Bari Weiss’s, please!

Would the US do it?  And risk WWIII?

I don’t see it.

Plus, only 41% of the US population favors it.

Problem is, you can’t remain the world’s “SOLE SUPERPOWER” if you won’t assert your position.  It’s like boxing.  If you don’t defend your title, they throw it up for grabs.

This piece by Brandon Weichert explores the issue, explains all of the reasons why it would be difficult to support Taiwan, then concludes that Biden would be a chicken-shit IF HE DIDN’T DO IT.

Yet, Weichert doesn’t explain how in defending Taiwan we could avoid WWIII.

I call this CONSERVATIVE GEOPOLITICAL REASONING.  Think Cheney and Rumsfeld regarding Iraq.  This doesn’t make sense, but, hell, let’s do it.  We’re America!

But back to Taiwan, the piece itself and its concluding three paragraphs which I quote.

Will Biden Abandon Taiwan?

“No matter what President Biden says, it is unlikely that he will commit US forces to defend Taiwan. According to a 2021 survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, only 41 percent of Americans support US military power being used to defend Taiwan. Therefore, it’s not politically expedient for Biden to risk another world war—at least according to the polls—anymore than it was for Biden to keep US forces in Afghanistan.

“Beijing is quickly approaching the time when it is prepared to call Washington’s bluff over Taiwan. Should Biden refuse to act militarily to prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Beijing would probably offer Biden the useless consolation prize of a hollow climate deal and a new trade deal that empowers China in the long run. The diminution of American power will continue under Biden until there’s nothing left of the American-led world order. 

“With America’s only options being world war or capitulation, without an actual leader to rally the American people to stand for what’s right and to chart a new course, what else other than the collapse of American power in the Indo-Pacific can one expect?” 

I “love” this kind of journalism.  Make the case for not doing something then demonize a leader IF HE CHOOSES NOT TO DO IT FOR ANY AND ALL OF THE GOOD REASONS PRESENTED.

Strictly in the eye of the beholder and, of course, totally dependent on arbitrary criteria not all would agree with.

That said, here they are:

As for my own connections . . .

I get my hair cut in prim and heavily gay Chelsea. The residents there — the community board — have done the best job of any New York neighborhood (that I’m aware of) in keeping it livable, clean and historically intact.

Plus, I’ve been in Leith, Norrebro, Jongno 3-ga, Sai-Kung and Richmond. And I MAY have been in Andersonville. And, yes, they’re all interesting. More please!

But here are my own top 10 in no particular order:

• Brooklyn Heights (Brooklyn/New York)
• Georgetown (Washington, DC)
• Nolita (Manhattan)
• South Kensington (London)
• Montmartre (Paris)
• Old Town (Prague)
• Venice (Los Angeles)* 
• Trastevere (Rome)
• The Rocks (Sydney)
• Gamla stan (Stockholm)

*Prior to the homelessness epidemic

Demand for coal has been rising.

Get used to it.  There’s no smooth freeway to GREEN SALVATION.

Don’t kid yourself. WHATEVER keeps the lights on, we’ll use.

Economic factors determine our energy mix, not morality

High rise construction is slowing.

A commercial banker told me this week that there’s nothing new planned for Manhattan.

That’s unusual.

. . . on Scandinavian TV.

What a hoot!

And, yes, he had a father AT HOME.  So did Denzel Washington.

. . . NOR IS HE BREATHING HARD.

Apologies to Gene O’Neill and the ICEMAN, but I simply couldn’t resist.

And do you remember PICTURE in PICTURE?  When did it launch — in the 80’s?  Here’s a current version of it.

So, what I am riddling here? THIS: China isn’t playing ball on carbon emissions and has little interest in COP26, the big climate change confab John Kerry’s been pushing.

From Zero Hedge:

“Chinese officials have informed G-20 envoys that Xi does not currently plan to attend a summit in Italy later this month in person, and diplomats have said that means he’s unlikely to go to COP26 either.“

Here’s why:

And here’s Jordan Peterson — ARMED AND DANGEROUS — at Oxford in 2019 explaining why WE WON’T FIX GLOBAL WARMING.

Greta, don’t worry. Just tweak your CV and move on.

Graphs from Charles Hugh Smith.

Yes, it’s what it looks like: AN UNPRECEDENTED BUBBLE.  Is it ETERNAL GOOD NEWS or REVERSION TO A MEAN?  Has there ever been ETERNAL GOOD NEWS?

The Ten X Sales Club

How many companies can trade at a rate of 10 x sales?

Home Price Index since 1990

Way above trend.

Money Supply

Up, up and away. Crushing inflation ahead?

Margin Accounts

Moon-bound.

S&P Index Regression to Trend

No more downside? Ever? If so, it’s NO LONGER A MARKET. It’s RIGGED.

Total Liabilities

The trigger for the MOTHER OF ALL COLLAPSES?

Wealth Inequality

Welcome, Wall Street! Get lost, Main Street!

Thank you, Supply Side Economics, Trickle Down Economics, Globalization, The New World Order, The Wealth Effect, The End of the Business Cycle, The Dotcom Bubble, The Housing Bubble and the EVERYTHING BUBBLE — FOR NOTHING.

Oh, and here’s to BUILD BACK BETTER!

What a LARF!