Chinese leader Xi Jinping is a wily old fox: he knows that, with an economy 800 per cent larger than Russia's, and with ten times its population, he holds all the cards. Increasingly isolated on the international stage by its actions in Ukraine, Russia is fast becoming a vassal state of China.

After last month's summit between the two countries in Beijing, President Xi bid farewell to Vladimir Putin with a warm hug: a gesture widely construed as a vivid illustration of their burgeoning bromance.  But the pow-wow in the Chinese capital was no meeting of equals.

For example: Apart from supplying it with a wide range of industrial and consumer goods, Beijing has also propped up its war machine by providing critical components, such as machine tools and microelectronics.

In effect, Russia sells its sanctioned oil to China on the cheap and then sends back the cash these sales generate to China to pay for replacements for goods that have been sanctioned. There can hardly be a better definition of a 'client state'.

[TTP:  This article was posted in late May but the false narrative continues to be pushed, so we’re providing this bit of information for you. My question is, How many nations have ever supplied their ungrateful enemies while fighting them? I don’t think even the US has ever done that.]

The International Criminal Court has accused Israel of causing “deliberate starvation” in Gaza, but the prosecutor might want to read this report.

Yesterday [May 21, 2024] we reported on one of the many problems with International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister. Namely, the fact that there is scant evidence of the “deliberate starvation” that forms the heart of the ICC’s case, and that Khan ignores abundant evidence that Hamas is hoarding food and medical supplies.

Now, a new study published by the Hebrew University’s Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science, and Nutrition brings clarity to the contested question of food security in the Gaza strip.

The working paper analyzed the adequacy of the food supply Israel has facilitated into Gaza since January. And the results are devastating to Khan’s case.

Every once in a while, there is a seminal article written that elucidates political calculations not obvious on their surface.

In particular, foreign policy matters tend to be complicated to the point that most Americans focus little attention on understanding the motivations of presidents’ foreign policy decisions despite their broad national security implications.

One of the most important columns that comes to mind is Michael Doran’s brilliant essay from 2015 entitled Obama’s Secret Iran Strategy in which Doran explains Barack Obama’s motivation for empowering Iran as a regional hegemon at the expense of U.S. national security and regional alliances.

That column was followed in 2021 by another must-read essay co-written by Doran and Tony Badran entitled The Realignment in which the authors conclude that in the Middle East, “Biden is finishing what Obama started. And his top advisers are on board.”

The authors discuss the influence of returning Obama advisors on a policy intended to realign the Middle Eastern order into “one that relies more on partnership with Iran.”

[TTP: Skye asked the question, “Is this a case of DEI = DIE?” when he shared this article about our Woke Army’s relief efforts. Mike Ryan responded to his question and TTP thought his insight should be shared. His response is at the end of this article.]

Four of the U.S. Army vessels supporting the “floating pier” in Gaza broke from their moorings Saturday and ran aground, with two of the four beaching themselves on the Israeli coast.

The Navy Times reported:

Four U.S. Army vessels supporting the maritime humanitarian aid mission in Gaza broke free from their moorings due to heavy sea states Saturday, U.S. Central Command said.

Bad ideas are sometimes the hardest to dethrone.

It’s probably accurate to say most people think of money as the paper currency printed by governments. And it is money in the sense that it functions as a medium of exchange, but is it sound? Is it vulnerable to inflation?

Its very existence is evidence that it is, so why are so many people reluctant to switch to a money that isn’t?

There any many myths surrounding hard money currencies, and one of them is that money, both its nature and supply, is best left to the alleged guardian of our rights, the state.

The fact that money came into existence on the market, and that its ultimate form and supply were determined by economic law, is disregarded.

Money matters belong to the state because the state, unlike the rest of us, is in a position to remove itself from market discipline. Since the state is necessary to our survival, the story goes, it cannot do its job unless it can control the growth of money.

Money, therefore, must be of such a nature that its supply can grow in accordance with the orders of a state-appointed committee.

Even the classical gold standard was under control of the state.

When that control proved too limited for those eager for war, it was abandoned.

The gold standard did not fail. States failed to keep the gold standard.

[Editor:  This falls into the “stating the obvious” category – but sometimes the obvious needs stating.]

“How big is the sun?

We just heard right this minute

A million of our earths

could all fit right in it.”

Those words can be found in Dr. Seuss children’s book There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System.

About what you’re about to read, it won’t be a statistical or scientific argument supporting or disdaining the theory that is global warming. No such skills exist to make either, but even if they did exist, the view here is that statistical arguments about anything involving personal freedom are loser arguments.

Think back to the spring of 2020 and the coronavirus to see why.