Economic Resiliance
There are a number of elements to building it. One is the lives of the people in the economy. Are they able to pursue personal happiness without interference from the government? If the answer is a big yes, then the economy will be resilient. Sure, there will be bumps in the road, but in the long term, it will work out. China Is Repeating the Soviet Union’s Fatal Mistake. Its economy looks strong on paper: a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus, dominance in EVs, solar, and shipbuilding. But the foundation is cracking. Its share of global GDP peaked at 18.5% in 2021—now down to 16.5% in 2025. Its economy has fallen from ~75% of the U.S. to under two-thirds. Why? Because Beijing shifted from wealth creation to state-driven tech and military expansion. Many of these sectors aren’t profitable. EV and solar industries are locked in brutal price wars. Chips and defense rely on massive subsidies. Meanwhile, real wealth creators are shrinking. This is the Soviet playbook: prioritize power over profit. It looked strong until it collapsed.
Economics is simple: wealth first, strategy second. China reversed it. And now the cracks are showing. And we’ve seen this before. Look at Mao-era China. The country built nuclear weapons. Satellites. World-class military technology. But ordinary people? They struggled just to eat. Look at North Korea today. Nuclear weapons. Missile programs. Satellite launches. And yet at night, the entire country is dark. Because people don’t even have electricity. This demonstrates that such “strong state, poor people” systems are distorted forms of development.
High-tech achievements cannot compensate for widespread hardship. When resources are overly concentrated in technology and military sectors, improvements in people’s livelihoods are neglected. Today, China’s economic difficulties stem from weak domestic demand. The solution is to expand consumption and improve livelihoods— raising incomes, strengthening social welfare, and unlocking consumer potential to create a virtuous economic cycle. In contrast, prioritizing high-tech industries focuses on breakthroughs in areas like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. While these may enhance national power and competitiveness, they are not directly tied to improving everyday living standards.
High-tech achievements often serve national strategy or elite groups rather than benefiting the broader population. And now China is drifting back toward that model. It’s slowly becoming a country that can produce everything… except prosperity.
Money is the ledger data by which people in any nation can trade and, in doing so, signal where resources are most needed. If an individual is hungry, he buys something to eat. When a town needs more rice, the price of rice rises in that town, incentivizing an entrepreneur to supply it. The profits invite other businesses to provide rice, thereby, through competition, eventually lowering the price of rice in that town. In a socialist system, the state seeks to eliminate the role of money and prices, thereby rendering most economic signals inoperative. You either get too few suppliers of a much-needed commodity, or you get too many, and the price goes to zero.
The Long Flight
It used to be only men who did this. Now there are a lot of women in those miserable sling seats. I wonder whether they have found the self-actualization that they might have hoped for.
Behavior – and Faith
I grew up in a faith-based neighborhood where everyone had an underpinned hope in the ‘end of the world.’ I think most human beings on the short end of society hope things will change. It translates into the aspiration of most faiths. Communism harnessed it to create a state-based faith. When you look at Iran/Persia, a historically wealthy place going back as far as we can reliably trace, their behavior in our present era makes very little sense until you plug in the faith element. Iranian Shiites believe that the “twelfth Imam,” which is their version of “the return of the savior” or the arrival of the savior, if you’re Jewish, or Ragnarok… can be forced by the creation of World War Three. (or four, depending on how you look at it.)
God (Allah) promised that he will send a final leader, then come down and lead the hosts himself against the army of nonbelievers in the final war. After which, we’ll have peace on earth under God’s will, everyone gets their seventy-two virgins, and we call it a wrap. (The happiness of the seventy-two virgins is irrelevant, because to the Muslims, especially the ones of this flavor, women are chattel, they’re just possessions and self-propelled sperm receptacles.) They believe they can force their God’s hand and create that final war. Since Allah promised that in the end we win, they lose, well, the worse we’re losing, the more likely it is that Allah will come and finish this.
As for the press, they’re trying everything they can to make those people and their beliefs successful, because anything is preferable to Trump winning, ever, at anything. That’s why people say TDS is a mental illness. The liberal elite would rather give global power to someone who stones women to death for showing their hair than to Trump.
Bullet Points
** (G-Captain) A Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian port of Vyborg has reportedly damaged the Arctic patrol icebreaker Purga, a dual-role military vessel under construction for Russia’s FSB Border Service, with images showing the ship listing at berth. The incident, which took place in Russia’s Leningrad region early on Wednesday, marks one of the few reported attacks targeting a specialized Arctic-capable vessel and highlights the growing reach of Ukrainian drone operations deep into Russian territory. The Purga, a Project 23550 patrol icebreaker being built at Vyborg Shipyard for the Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Guard, sustained damage during the strike, according to Russian and Ukrainian-aligned reports. Photographs circulating on social media showed the partially completed vessel listing to one side in the harbor, suggesting hull or structural damage.
** 6.5 CBJ Pistol round is discussed and demonstrated. APDS has some advantages.
** Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi tweeted, “I instructed today the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to summon the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Lebanon to inform him of the decision to withdraw the agreement for the designated Iranian Ambassador, Mohammad Reza Shibani, declare him persona non grata, and request that he leave Lebanese territory no later than 29 March 2026.” Good call.
** VDH discusses wars of reckoning…without cultural imperialism.
** Our frenemies in NATO understand that, between the USA, Venezuela, and Iran, President Trump soon will control one-third of the proven oil reserves in the world. Suddenly, the European Union is willing to ratify an agreement to buy oil from the USA. The Financial Times reported, “The EU must implement its trade deal with the US without amendments or risk losing favorable access to liquefied natural gas shipments from American exporters, Donald Trump’s ambassador to the bloc has warned.
** Will Israel blow up the al-Aqsa Mosque, blame Iran, and rebuild Solomon’s Temple? Ryan delves.
** What happened at WAPO? Have they given up on the Communists in Cuba? No more love? The Washington Post said in an editorial, “Leftists from around the world descended on Cuba over the weekend for a humanitarian trip aimed at protesting the United States’ oil blockade, and they played the role of useful idiots perfectly. Nothing says solidarity like going to an impoverished country and staying at a five-star hotel.” The editorial also said, “President Donald Trump has mused about taking over the island, and his administration is openly pining for regime change. The White House doesn’t care about spreading democracy so much as having a friendlier government. Yet the island’s visitors weren’t exactly pushing for democratic change.” Trump has the pragmatism of a bartender who says, “It’s closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu views Iran as a long-term threat, but analysts say Israeli officials would probably view a failed Iranian state that is too caught up in internal turmoil to menace Israel as a win, while Saudi Arabia views a failed state in Iran as a grave and direct security threat.
** Bobby Ghosh, a geopolitical analyst for CNN, told Anderson Cooper, “They [mullahs and Iranian generals] are fighting for their existence. They know that if they lose this war, their biggest problem will not be American bombs from the air. Their biggest problem will be their own citizens; [Iranian leaders] will hang them from lampposts in Tehran. You know, they’ve done so much damage to their own country and their own people for so long that there’s a lot of resentment built up there they can’t afford to show any weakness.”
Identify the Boat
1
End
Romanian submarine Marsuinul in Soviet service ?
– Kle.
It’s a U-boat
Resiliency – any place where the government protects companies from the consequences of the own bad management makes it hard for potential replacement companies to take over the lead spot. Call it protected mediocracy.
Money to the average joe – companies seem to love keeping wages at the industry average, while at the same time demanding above average work performance. And, every once in a while, companies complain about not being able to find and keep good workers…wonder why. While working in IT, it looked like the only way to get promotions/salary increases was to keep job hopping. Lots of resumes with employment history showing one to three years at any one place.
Industries differ, as do situations. The older I get, the more that’s confirmed. I had a great career, Frank, varied and interesting. However, I wouldn’t – couldn’t do it again today the way that I did then.
Son followed me into the IT world. His son went into the trades.
Different career paths favor different people.
Grandson is smart and motivated. Smart enough to see that IT was becoming a non-starter. He took training for electrician and blacksmith.
“While working in IT, it looked like the only way to get promotions/salary increases was to keep job hopping. ”
I’ve told guys working for me that if they want a raise, give notice.
Then I could work to keep them.
I’ve been fired and hired into a better job with more pay. Twice.
Random thought: some of Trump’s actions appear to be as much a war against the NWO as one against Iran & China. Western Europe losing oil may give some people time and incentive to see the folly bound up in the package that’s been sold to them…at least the ones still capable of reengaging their brain.
Pres. Trump is playing 3D Chess. Much of the rest of the world is still on checkers – or pong.
An old saying: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. But what happens when the blind swarm the king and punch out his one functional eye? That is what Europe has done to itself, and what the Donks and their running dogs in the “news” media are trying to do to PDJT.
They won’t succeed…God willing.
Who comes after President Trump? It will take decades to undo the damage.
After? You mean no third (actually 4th) term, right? Heh. Thinking Vance, but with 2 years to gain some traction someone to take the mantle may emerge.
I texted a friend:
I wonder how much of this is Three D chess and how much is dumb luck.
Take out Maduro, hurt China, Cuba.
Take out Iran, hurt Britain’s grip on the financial world and again hurt China and Russia. Etc.
Is anybody that forward thinking? :)
.
He replied:
I think much is dumb luck. But I’ll take it.
I partly disagree, maybe 70/30, 4D Chess/Luck. Trump spent that past four years rejiggering his team and knowledge base from the backstabbers who lied to him as 45 and what he already knew as a lifelong international businessman (old clips of him where he says the same things he says now about…say…Iran). His attitude on things is not new, maybe more refined. Ultimately, one does not become a billionaire without ‘making one’s own luck’, even if in some proportion to intentional strategy.
Yep.
A businessman of Trump’s level has more concept of real politics and international bureaucracy than any 10 high-level people at the State Department. And Trump has had access to the very best of people who are great at international relations and planning and analysis. People (mostly Dems and leftists) have no idea that Trump (now that he has his cabinet and not the one chosen for him in his first term) knows so much about the real world.
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It’s like the Rodney Dangerfield movie “Back to School,” where Rodney’s character is a guy who went from travelling circuses (high dive act) to owning his own very successful business. And he enrolls in the same school and classes as his son. Said Rodney goes to a class on business economics and ends up telling the teacher that he’s wrong and brings up all the real world issues, from dockworkers to unions to The Mob to dealing with contractors and state and federal regulations. Not to mention dealing with outright bribes.
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That’s the difference between Trump and all the Skull and Bones crowd.
HEB. Well said.
I think that the NWO is at about the same level as Iran & China in the threat to personal freedom.
Or the NWO is worse. They’re the rats gnawing at the roots of the tree and of society. They are shaming womanhood and are glorifying in the slaughter of the unborn. They are outsourcing anything so that we build nothing.
NWO is MUCH worse.
Not only are they rapacious, malignant, narcissistic and vampiric, they are also filled with self-pity and incapable of self reflection.
I purely despise hypocrites, and our “elite” are the very worst of hypocrites. Iran and China may be de facto enemies, but they don’t tell me that they are doing unto me for my own good. They don’t get all butthurt and lash out in petulant tantrums when I reject their plans for me. An honest enemy that says, “I am going to take what you have, and enslave or kill you, because I am stronger, meaner, and tougher than you,” is at least straightforward and truthful. But the “elites” of the NWO simultaneously want our gratitude and adoration, and ALSO want to humiliate and torture us.
Iran and West Taiwan are just versions of religious dictatorships (yes, ChiCom communism is the state religion, prove me wrong.) They can be dealt with.
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The NWO are actual feudalists. They envision a world where the peon-class is tied to land and businesses and the NWO controls the lands and businesses like medieval fiefs. They actively push for ‘rent, not own, and you will suffer’ just like any good old medieval lord over his peasants and serfs. That stupid movie “Elysium” is a good example of what They want for themselves and us peons.
We could send them into orbit now (on Russian rockets) now… to work on Elisium.
Identify the Boat:
1. Looks like a German Type IIA but the 10 on the conning tower and bow would be a Type IIB which looks different.
Type IIB – U-10 was one of the first batch of submarines to be assigned to an operational unit of the Kriegsmarine, serving with the 1st U-boat Flotilla, at the time known as the Weddigen Flotilla.
Also only good for coastal waters so they were mostly used for training at the schools. U10 did sink a couple of merchants though.
RE: Bobby Ghosh’s observations ~ unfortunately, our current political chimpanzees (AKA: our “betters”) have no fear of Americans eyeing lampposts.
If Kamala had become president, it would have been necessary to bring about change. I’m very happy that it didn’t come to that.
Todays interesting headline: Woman Stops Massive Moose Chasing Tiny Dog in Its Tracks With Her ‘Mom Voice’
Caption photo; the pilot or co-pilot possibly, looks plenty buff, emerging from the crash with no apparent injuries, not even a scratch. I’m ignorant to the significance of the circle of rocks and sticks. Any relation to her leaving the crash site and marking her direction or location ?
Star Wars. To me, it looks like she wrecked some time ago and has been surviving since. The helmet probably still has communication capabilities, so she keeps it close. The symbol is that of the Empire, marking her as one of theirs.
And it looks like a TIE Fighter, too.
“Economics is simple: wealth first, strategy second.”: Not just China…far too many operating within Blue cities, that end up overshadowing their entire state like some parasitic fog, also fail to understand this simple economic dynamic. Likely it’s due to those running things [into the ground] were playing Frisbee in the Quad while the serious people were in class. As things progress here in America it becomes even more apparent these people have no clue how this works but think because they are in a particular government position that they are God’s gift to humanity, happily driving the bus off the proverbial cliff with eyes shut to reality. California is a prime example, so is NYC, both trying to regain lost businesses who have had it with the galactic stupidity of those who have no clue how economics works yet believe they are geniuses at everything they touch…as it turns to rust.
Drive the rich away, ask them to return the tax base.
Exactly… and the ever creativity of thieves, tax people for leaving…only a scumbag cheat would come up with that kind of garbage as some sort of governmental temper tantrum to get even. Proves the childishness and immorality of certain people who think their ‘offal’ doesn’t stink when it’s actually the worst offender.
California tried to pass a law (after I fled). They failed. NY would like to do the same thing, but there is a precedent. Their biggest stumbling block is the labor unions that have a grip on everything.
Some things are beyond their worth, ‘unions’ is in my top ten (others are mostly government).
Both California
and New York State and New York City have tried to levy taxes against escapees, even for years after.
a number of those who were playing Frisbee in the Quad are now the ABT politicos “leading our nation” from the Blue states
Exactly. Similar to those in the 70’s who decried ‘the man’ and said ‘never trust anyone over 30’…are now in places of influence yet have no clue how to govern morally under our Constitution, most of whom are in their 80’s and won’t go away.
That header picture? That was an African beach 100,000 years ago ….
Or it happened long ago in a faraway galaxy.
The Long Flight: Times have changed as no one has a blanket and is sleeping on the cargo. No one playing hearts or other card games.
Truth. Different demographic.
Looked to me like the inside of a can of whoopass!
X10
x2
The Long Flight
My son told me on one of those flights his legs kept cramping and he couldn’t get up and move around; just sit there and endure.
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High-tech achievements cannot compensate for widespread hardship.
Off on a tangent here. Rural electrification. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 became an economic driver. Rural farms and ranches increased profits. Rural communities raised their living standards and health. As a descendent of those who were able to bring electricity to their homes and farms, I remember old folks talking about what it meant to them. As a small child, I lived in houses without electricity.
The Sterling, CO museum has a wing devoted to rural electrification. Just across from the rest stop on I-76, it is worth an hour of your time.
In 1936, electrification was high-tech.
And after the REA showed there was money to be made there, regular electric companies wanted in on the pie…but only after the infrastructure was in place.
> the lives of the people in the economy. Are they able to pursue personal happiness without interference from the government?
Good thing nothing like that horrible interference happens here in the United States of Freedom. Plus we have freedom of speech and conscience!
Freedom of Speech: Sure, unless some … person … from the Florida 6th district doesn’t like your speech. Tyr’s left arse cheek, but that fat f*ck Randy Fine is like a caricature of modern-day evil: Harvard undergrad, Harvard MBA, McKinsey alumnus, multi-tour casino industry executive. The only things missing from his resume are selling alcohol/opioids and distributing pornography. (I say distributing, because I can’t imagine that person participating in making porn, although I do have to admit that since the purpose of porn is NOT titillation, but rather to humiliate and spiritually degrade the viewer, it might make sense. Watching ol’ Randy huffing and straining would certainly humiliate and psychologically scar me.)
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> High-tech achievements cannot compensate for widespread hardship.
> High-tech achievements often serve national strategy or elite groups rather than benefiting the broader population.
Yes, very true. And unfortunately it’s not looking good for regular people in the US either, regardless of whether the Dow is above 50k, or how well Nvidia stocks are doing. Where does the US stand on quality of life for a normal person?
What proportion of 30-year olds in the US are married and able to purchase their own home?
What proportion of white women under 30 are on Only Fans? (The Ukrainian former owner, Leonid Radvinsky, very recently died of cancer at age 43. Good. But before that he made billions off of young women becoming online prostitutes.)
Do we make our own steel? Control the manufacturing chain of our own medications? What about semiconductors? Are our physicians US trained, native-English speakers who understand and appreciate the culture of their patients? (Not even asking for Heritage Americans at this point, just someone who grew up in the US without actively hating it.) How many of our judges and lawmakers see themselves as eternal outsiders always one hour away from being made to pick cotton, or genocided for no reason at all? What about our “leading” institutions of higher learning (de facto gateways to powerful positions in fedgov among other things)? Who are the presidents of the Ivy League and Ivy-level schools such as MIT and Stanford? What do these hallowed institutions teach their students about this nation, about white people, about Christianity? Who do they tell us to adulate and worship? (Not that the establishment Right is any more clear headed about who they adulate, and about who are destroying us as a nation and as a people.)
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TL;DR so China ain’t doing great. But unfortunately, neither are we.
I cannot tell you how much I HATE those sling seats… sigh…
As we get older, they hurt more, Old NFO.