Megacities are immensely fragile because complexity is only prevented from descending into chaos by the order provided by massive quantities of energy. The power outage in Manhattan is a reminder that civilization cannot function for more than a few hours without electricity. What will happen in a 5G, Internet of Things world if the whole …
Author Archives: Richard Fernandez
The Empty Earth
Green energy like any other form of power generation will require large installations to produce. The land devoted to windfarms, solar energy arrays and biofuel cultivation, not to mention tidal generators will grow as the population increases. Since “Green” Satanic Mills must ultimately replace the old Satanic Mills with facilities of comparable or even more …
The travails of a virtuous elite
When you can’t trust the self-advertised only adults in the room. New at the Belmont Club
They Were Expendable Part 2
What would happen to the Philippines if a naval conflict broke out with China? A blockade of China would be conducted from the Indian ocean and the final line would be at the Malay barrier bounded by the Lombok, Sunda and Malacca Straits. That would be outside the range of Chinese area denial systems. The …
To end fatphobia, we need to dismantle Western civilization
“sizeism is affected by racism, misogyny, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism, and she counsels people against intentional weight loss.” Philadelphia Inquirer
What was the secret Russian sub doing?
A tragic fire aboard a secret Russian nuclear ‘mini-sub’ in the Barents Sea that killed 14 senior sailors has refocused media attention on a little noticed flash point of the world: the Arctic. That an important Russian system was being tested or demonstrated was suggested by reports “that among the 14 dead were 7 senior …
The perils of virtue
To say that conservative-liberal dialogue was heated was an understatement. There was in the drumbeat a buildup suggestive of teams psyching themselves to do something bold, building up a mood of defiance and despair so incandescent that Andy Ngo, a conservative journalist preparing to cover an event in Oregon, feared for his safety. He tweeted …
Reading List
Now reading A Long Night in Paris And do remember No Way In. Tondo will never be Paris, but it’s all we had.
CCP’s new threat: Jesus
After it became the unofficial anthem of Hong Kong’s anti-extradition movement, netizens have discovered that the hymn “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” has been banned by several Chinese music streaming platforms. If you had asked someone in 1968 whether this could happen they would think you were crazy.
The end of victory
New at the Belmont Club. Chronic warfare in a global world.
The first war of automatons
The US cyberstrikes Iran’s missile systems after Tehran shoots down a US drone. This is not the end of war but a change of its forms. Just as the Coral Sea was the first naval engagement beyond visual range of the opposing fleets this is the first battle in which only automata die. So far …
Who needs the Middle East?
China New at the Belmont Club
What will the crisis with Iran, China and Russia look like?
With the administration taking a tough economic line vs Iran, China and Russia tensions are bound to rise. What will that look like?
The armies of shadow
Chronic conflict in the global world. New at the Belmont Club
Sea hunt
In 1970 to 1980 trained dolphins killed 2 Russian frogmen who were putting limpet mines on a US cargo ship in Cam Ranh bay in Vietnam.[19] Subsequently, Russian PDSS frogmen were trained to fight back against trained dolphins. In an incident on the coast of Nicaragua PDSS frogmen killed trained anti-frogman dolphins. Arrival of underwater …
Tech Billionaire To Joe Rogan: ‘The Left Has Won The Culture Wars. Now They’re Just Driving Around Shooting Survivors’
And just think. All this time the population was worried about neo-Nazis holding conventions in some low rent venue. “[They need to] realize that these social media platforms are picking the next president, the next congressmen — they’re literally picking — and they have the power to pick, so they will be controlled by the …
Incident in the Gulf
There was a scripted outcome that fell apart. The IRGC tried to ad lib but flubbed its lines. The open source evidence points to an attempt to goad the Trump admin into escalation in the belief that would damage the US politically. The fish weren’t biting that day but they’ll try again. It seems that …
Coming through the wire
China’s attempt to virtually dominate the world. New at the Belmont Club
The delusion of diversity
What happened to free speech at universities?
Stay tuned
The China hustle. But is it tragedy or is it comedy? The problem at the heart of this is information asymmetry. It’s like being on a used car lot with the odometers taped over.