Wretchard.com

The Chinese President is not just trying to rein in a few big tech and other companies and show who is boss in China. He is trying to roll back China’s decadeslong evolution toward Western-style capitalism and put the country on a different path entirely, a close examination of Mr. Xi’s writings and his discussions with party officials, and interviews with people involved in policy making, show.

WSJ

Xi Jinping Aims to Rein In Chinese Capitalism, Hew to Mao’s Socialist Vision

Going well beyond curbing tech giants, he wants the Communist party to steer flows of money and set tighter limits on profit making, his speeches show and officials say. More turbulence for foreign businesses is likely.

The planned city of Telosa.

No, it’s not a mirage in the desert haze. Nor is it Elon Musk’s latest plan to colonise Mars. These are the designs for the city of Telosa, the latest project from billionaire investor Marc Lore and celebrated architect Bjarke Ingels’s firm BIG.

Lore and Ingels’s ambitious plan would see an entire city built from scratch in the desert of the western USA. Within 40 years, the duo intend to establish a fully-contained city, which will be extended over 150,000 acres and have a population of five million.

Timeout

A huge new city is being built in the US desert – but is it just greenwashing?

‘The most sustainable city in the world’ is proving divisive.

“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.” On Thursday, Evergrande has an $83.5 million interest payment it is likely to miss, which would cause more market turmoil.

NYT

Evergrande Crisis Shows Cracks in China’s Property Market

Experts are making increasingly grim predictions about the developer’s ability to hold on without a government bailout, and the consequences of a possible collapse.

Let them work at Taco Bell.

Maspeth High School created fake classes, awarded bogus credits, and fixed grades to push students to graduate — “even if the diploma was not worth the paper on which it was printed,” an explosive investigative report charges.

Principal Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir demanded that teachers pass students no matter how little they learned, says the 32-page report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, Anastasia Coleman.

NY Post

Maspeth HS diplomas ‘not worth the paper’ they’re printed on

Maspeth High School created fake classes, awarded bogus credits,and fixed grades to push students to graduate.

In responding to the secretive U.S.-British move to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, a decision that the Australians used to nix the prior French deal, Mr. Macron could choose to escalate. One idea doing the rounds in France is for the country to withdraw from NATO’s integrated military command structure, which it rejoined in 2009 after a 43-year absence.

NYT

Macron Takes on U.S., a Big Gamble Even for a Bold Risk-Taker

For President Emmanuel Macron of France, a debacle over a lost submarine deal with Australia suggests that the NATO alliance is debilitated through lack of trust.

Data collected from 18 states between March and August suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 by 91% in the first four months after receiving the second dose. Beyond 120 days, however, that vaccine efficacy drops to 77%.

Meanwhile, Moderna’s vaccine was 93% effective at reducing the short-term risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and remained 92% effective after 120 days.

LA Times

New at the Belmont Club. How well did my thinking on Australian naval strategy hold up to the test of time?

The Australian Nuclear Sub Decision as I Saw it Eight Years Ago

Back to the Australian nuclear submarine future

Preparations for the assassination began after a series of meetings toward the end of 2019 and in early 2020 between Israeli officials, led by the Mossad director, Yossi Cohen, and high-ranking American officials, including President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel.

NYT

The Scientist and the A.I.-Assisted, Remote-Control Killing Machine

Israeli agents had wanted to kill Iran’s top nuclear scientist for years. Then they came up with a way to do it with no operatives present.

DHS said that in response to the more than 10,000 migrants sheltering under the Del Rio International Bridge that connects the city with Ciudad Acuna in Mexico, it was accelerating flights to Haiti and other destinations within the next 72 hours.

It said it was working with nations where the migrants began their journeys – for many of the Haitians, countries such as Brazil and Chile – to accept returned migrants.

TRT

US ramps up plan to expel Haitian migrants stranded at Texas bridge

Homeland Security said that in response to the more than 10,000 migrants sheltering under the Del Rio International Bridge, it was accelerating flights to Haiti and other destinations within the next 72 hours.

Whereas name-brand drugs can be so expensive that people can’t afford them, generics are often so cheap that companies stop making them or cut corners to turn a profit. Competition for market share at rock-bottom price points has led to chronic shortages, unpredictable price-spikes, allegations of illegal price-fixing, and substandard and even dangerous practices. Production of generics has shifted overseas, where it’s harder for the Food and Drug Administration to inspect factories.

NYT

Opinion | How Much Can You Trust That Generic Drug You’re Taking?

Competition for market share at rock-bottom prices has led to shortages, price-spikes, allegations of price-fixing, and substandard and even dangerous practices.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A survivor of an errant U.S. drone strike that killed 10 members of his family demanded Saturday that those responsible be punished and said Washington’s apology was not enough.

The family also seeks financial compensation and relocation to the United States or another country deemed safe, said Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was among those killed in the Aug. 29 strike.

AP

Afghan survivors of errant US drone strike seek probe

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A survivor of an errant U.S. drone strike that killed 10 members of his family demanded Saturday that those responsible be punished and said Washington’s apology was not enough.

There are 2 alliances against China. The Quad, consisting of Japan, India, Australia and the US. This is an immensely regional powerful coalition with multiples of China’s population, land area and GNP. Two coalition members, India and Japan, are in current territorial conflict with China.

AUKUS consists of a coalition not directly in conflict with China, but in strategic rivalry. The US, UK, Australia. They are competing for global leadership of planet earth.

An investigation by U.S. Central Command has determined that an Aug. 29 drone strike in Kabul killed an innocent aid worker and nine members of his family, not a member of the ISIS-K terrorist group, a top general announced Friday.

Politico

‘Tragic mistake’: U.S. determines Kabul drone strike killed innocent aid worker, nine family members

The revelation comes one week after a New York Times investigation determined the target actually worked for an American aid organization.

WASHINGTON—France has recalled its ambassadors to Washington and Canberra in response to a new deal among the U.S., U.K. and Australia to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarine technology, the French foreign minister said, in an unprecedented diplomatic rift among close allies.

WSJ

France Recalls Ambassadors to U.S., Australia Over Submarine Deal

France has recalled its ambassadors to Washington and Canberra in response to a new deal among the U.S., U.K. and Australia to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarine technology.

The trilateral security cooperation aims to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, US President Joe Biden said in a press conference, and its first initiative is to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. This new arrangement has resulted in Australia scrapping a $90 billion contract signed with France in 2016. On Thursday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the decision a “stab in the back,” while a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the AUKUS deal “seriously damages regional peace and stability” and “intensifies the arms race.”

AP

The new military alliance between the US, UK and Australia generates backlash from France and China / Twitter

The new military alliance between the US, UK and Australia generates backlash from France and China

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence technology that poses a serious risk to human rights, voicing concerns that it “enables discrimination, invades our privacy and undermines our rights.”

UN calls for moratorium on use of AI technology / Twitter

Don’t miss what’s happening

The media mostly reports stories about the new anglo military alliance against China, the forthcoming Quad summit in Washington, the coming new cold war with Beijing without pointing out the single most important thing: it represents the total collapse of the 21st century dream of a ‘rule based global world order’ and a reversion to the old competitive rivalry between civilizations and nations.

The indictment, returned by a Washington, D.C., grand jury on Thursday, charges attorney Michael Sussmann, of Perkins Coie, a law firm tied to the Democratic party, with making a false statement during a meeting with officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shortly before the 2016 election.

WSJ

Lawyer Michael Sussmann Indicted on Charges of Lying to FBI

A grand jury indicted lawyer Michael Sussmann in connection with John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Russia probe on charges that he lied to the FBI during the 2016 presidential campaign.

New at the Belmont Club. Australia, the UK and the US form the AUKUS alliance to contain China as the Aussies acquire nuclear subs for the first time. Inside the Quad is an anglophone alliance.

The Grand Alliance to Contain China

The line in the ocean

New at the Belmont Club. China just voted to recall Obama’s Third Term.

Joe’s Mandates vs Xi’s Mandate of Heaven

The Global World meets the Chinese Communist Party