Wretchard.com

One of the worst progressive tropes is the narrative that European colonialism destroyed paradise. The mischief in the idea lies not in the idea that it was destructive to local cultures — which it was — but in the assertion of its special nature; that in the long history of conquest that dates back to millennia BC, this was the unique innocence-destroying event.

Gas prices in Europe are breaking record after record. The UK is facing supply shortages reminiscent of the late 1970s winter of discontent. Chinese factories are shutting down because of power shortages, and the outlook is grim. In fact, it may be the first crisis of many.

When gas prices in Europe started rising faster and faster last month as the continent prepared for winter and found out it was not the only one, gas suddenly became important.

Oil Price

A Very Predictable Global Energy Crisis | OilPrice.com

Europe and Asia are suffering from high energy prices and slowly but surely, policymakers are waking up to the fact that gas is crucial to the energy transition

She barely spoke to any of her clients; some never bothered to learn her name. Still, she got to know them intimately

Telegraph

‘I was a housekeeper for a wealthy family… I was shocked by what I learnt about the super-elite’ / Twitter

Biden appeared to be referring to Washington’s long-standing “one-China policy” under which it officially recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei, and the Taiwan Relations Act, which makes clear that the U.S. decision to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing instead of Taiwan rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means.

Reuters

Biden says he and China’s Xi agree to abide by Taiwan agreement

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about Taiwan and they agreed to abide by the Taiwan agreement, as tensions have ratcheted up between Taipei and Beijing.

Where did Covid-19 come from? The answer can be found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself…If the virus had been cooked up in a lab, of course, there would be no host animal to find.

WSJ

Opinion | Science Closes In on Covid’s Origins

Four studies—including two from WHO—provide powerful evidence favoring the lab-leak theory.

If China wants to take over the Pacific its obvious goal will be to knock Japan out of the Quad. From a purely strategic point of view Japan, not Taiwan, is the crown jewel.

How best to neutralize Japan? Control Luzon or Taiwan. Luzon was in many ways the historic geostrategic equivalent of Taiwan (once known as Formosa) as a stepping stone to Japan. In 1944 the allied planners considered this exact problem in relation to the goal of neutering Japan.

New at the Belmont Club. Is Beijing running out of time? What other clocks are running?

Will China Invade Taiwan?

Will Biden defend Taiwan?

House Budget Chairman Yarmuth To Manchin: “The Federal Government Can Afford Anything”

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday evening that Sen. Joe Manchin’s position on limiting the $3.5 Trillion “Build Back Better” Act to $1.5 Trillion is flat out dumb. Manchin “has no understanding of how the federal government monetary system works,” Yar…

REP. JOHN YARMUTH: The number itself is meaningless. I mean, I read Joe Manchin’s statement, I’ve listened to him, he has no understanding of how the federal government monetary system works when he compared it yesterday to his household income, that has no relevance to what we can do.

It’s not a question of what we can afford. The federal government can afford anything that it feels it needs to do and right now that’s what we ought to be focused on. So that’s kind of the position I took in the budget committee, that’s the position I will take going forward

Transcript

Jordan Peterson argued that “you can’t twist the fabric of reality without it snapping back. You never get away with anything.” Maybe the only reason Peterson believes this is because he hasn’t noticed those who successfully cheated.

The idea that we can create value merely by assertion seems like a textbook case of twisting reality. However NOT to believe it when all the bigwigs insist it’s true marks you, not them, as crazy.

The Cabinet’s planning agency warned in August that 20 regions had exceeded energy use and pollution targets after manufacturing rebounded from the pandemic. The government has ambitious plans to make the economy cleaner and more energy-efficient, so failing to meet those targets can be a career-ending blunder.

AP

Chinese switch to flashlights, generators amid power cuts

SHENYANG, China (AP) — People in northeastern China ate breakfast by the light of smartphones and shopkeepers turned on generators as much of the country enforced power cuts Wednesday to meet official conservation targets and ease shortages in some areas.

A whole life sentence means there is no minimum term set by the judge, and the person is never considered for release. It’s reserved for particularly serious offences.

NBC

Sarah Everard’s killer given whole life sentence in case that sparked U.K. outcry

Revelations from the London police officer’s two-day sentencing hearing have driven renewed uproar around women’s safety and their ability to trust law enforcement.

Several industry groups have warned world leaders of a worldwide supply-chain “system collapse” due to pandemic restrictions, coming as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that the current period of higher inflation will last until 2022.

The International Chamber of Shipping, a coalition of truck drivers, seafarers, and airline workers, has warned in a letter to heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly that governments need to restore freedom of movement to transportation workers amid persistent COVID-19 restrictions and quarantines.

Epoch Times

Workers Who Maintain Supply Chains Warn of Worldwide ‘System Collapse’

Several industry groups have warned world leaders of a worldwide supply-chain “system collapse” due to pandemic restrictions, coming …

The rush to renewables causes severe energy price spikes and shortages. Biden’s policies would do the same in the U.S

WSJ

Opinion | Climate Policy Meets Cold Reality in Europe

The rush to renewables causes severe energy price spikes and shortages. Biden’s policies would do the same in the U.S.

New at the Belmont Club. Who will understand, then lead the new world as it has actually become?

The Collapse of Biden’s World

The Zoom session of Ozymandias

When Evergrande’s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, signed off on the company’s 2020 financial statements, it didn’t include a so-called going concern warning. These red flags from an auditor show that it has doubts about the company’s ability to stay afloat for at least 12 months.

WSJ

China Evergrande Auditor Gave Clean Bill of Health Despite Debt

Last year the property developer offered deep discounts to keep sales growing and the Chinese government effectively said it had borrowed too much, yet its auditor gave it a clean bill of health.

President Biden earned the ire of Border Patrol agents on Friday after endorsing the false claim that they were recorded “whipping” migrants who were attempting to cross the Rio Grande into Del Rio, Texas, earlier this week.

At a press briefing Friday, Biden said the agents would “pay” for allegedly lashing the Haitian migrants — a narrative popularized by journalists on social media even though the video evidence shows no such thing.

Yahoo

Border Patrol Outraged by Biden’s Scapegoating: ‘He Just Started a War’

President Biden earned the ire of Border Patrol agents after endorsing the false claim that they were recorded “whipping” migrants who were attempting to cross the Rio Grande.

Ron DeSantis has been doing a lot as governor of Florida. But there’s one job that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves: In many ways, DeSantis is serving as America’s shadow president.

In the Westminster parliamentary system of government, used in Britain and elsewhere, the opposition forms a shadow cabinet: A group of senior opposition-party members takes responsibility for issues facing various government departments. So there might be a shadow defense minister, who focuses on military issues, and the group might put together a “shadow budget.”

Glenn Reynolds

Ron DeSantis has emerged as America’s awesome ‘shadow president’

Being governor of Florida isn’t the same as being president of the US, but Ron DeSantis has been able to show the spirit, and sometimes the substance, of actions that a Republican president might t…

For years, Chinese officials have issued calls for leaders in Afghanistan to crack down on and deport Uyghur militants they claimed were sheltering in Afghanistan. The officials said the fighters belonged to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a separatist organization that Beijing has held responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in China since the late 1990s.

NYT

Afghan Uyghurs Fear Deportation as Taliban Cozy Up to China

Members of the ethnic group, seen by China as potential extremists, are afraid they will be sent there as part of a deal for economic aid.

Of Hui’s current estimated $11.5 billion fortune, Forbes calculated that $8 billion is from cash dividends paid to Hui since Evergrande’s 2009 IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The real estate developer’s total liabilities have increased every year since it went public, according to its annual reports, but it has paid out a dividend every year except 2016 … “The onus is more on the lenders. If the lenders are aware of the fact that the use of the proceeds is to fund a dividend, they have to be more careful,” says corporate finance consultant Robert Willens.

Forbes

Evergrande Chairman Hui Ka Yan Has Been Paid $8 Billion In Cash While Property Developer Piled On Debt

Even if China’s debt-laden Evergrande Group goes broke, its founder has accumulated a hefty fortune outside the company’s stock.

“We do not expect the government to provide any direct support to Evergrande,” said the S&P credit analysts in a Monday report. “We believe Beijing would only be compelled to step in if there is a far-reaching contagion causing multiple major developers to fail and posing systemic risks to the economy.”

NBC

China Likely Won’t Bail Out Evergrande Directly Unless There’s ‘Far-Reaching Contagion,’ S&P Says

Fears over a potential contagion from embattled developer China Evergrande Group dragged down the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong by more than 3% on Monday.

Congress should require a new investigation by the State Department’s arms compliance office into the possible role of China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by two former State Department officials says.

The Biden administration earlier this year canceled a probe begun under President Trump into the virus’s origins by State’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, known as AVC, that also investigated Chinese violations of a treaty banning biological arms, said former State Department arms control leaders Thomas DiNanno and Paula A. DeSutter.

Washington Examiner

Congress urged to revive State probe of COVID-19 origin, Chinese bio-weapons push

Congress should require a new investigation by the State Department’s arms compliance office into the possible role of China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by two former State Department officials says.