At War? (Part Two)

If you missed it ... see: At War?(Part One).

Now, to the rest of the story ... the more up-to-date events.

Is China now rolling over for the Orangeman? Of course not. They have turned up the heat on all those insidious activities I listed in Part One ... and more. And the “more” gets a little scary.

The further I muse about it, the further I am convinced that China unleashed the COVID-19 virus on itself and the world as a threat and a smokescreen for its other nefarious activities ... see: Xi Jinping.

China had a devastating African Swine Fever epidemic last year ... wiping out a huge portion of its major source of protein. Clearly the United States would not unleash such a scourge on the world ... but does China suspect otherwise ... and could COVID-19 be in retaliation?

And I am close to certain that China will not live up to Phase One of the trade agreement it signed in the White House this past January (knowing that it’s invisible enemy was on the way here.) So, how will President Trump respond to China’s reneging? My bet is on further and larger tariffs on Chinese exports ... maybe even unto iPhones ... and put more restrictions on what can be exported to China.

They say that there are no coincidences in world politics. So was Kim Jong Un’s apparent turning into kimchi coincidental? I suspect not. I don’t think that the US had anything to do with this transformation ... but did China? Perhaps the Rocketman was not being an annoying-enough gadfly to Trump for Xi to allow him any more Swedish call girls?

It seems clear that Trump and COVIS-19 have turned the tide of world public opinion against Xi and China. This makes them much more dangerous! Will they unleash another pandemic on the world? Will they annex more territory (Outer Mongolia, Taiwan)? Will they sell their holdings of US debt (the price is right)? Will they devalue their currency further? Will they crush Hong Kong? Will they cut off the supply of rare-earth minerals? Even, gasp, a kinetic war?

Watch out pilgrims .. we are living in dangerous times!

Plagues

Swarms of locusts devastating East Africa ... and now entering China, the coronavirus approaching a pandemic ... and the African Swine Fever killing hundreds of million pigs in China. These are three of at least eight plagues threatening our world order (I don’t consider earthquakes and volcanoes as plagues) ... see: 10 Plagues for deeper explanations.

So far we haven’t seen a plague of frogs (in a biblical sense) ... but China seems to be suffering the brunt of these catastrophes. For the latest on the coronavirus see: Latest Numbers.

I wish I could predict how all this all was going to turn out ... but in the meantime I am keeping my head down.

African Swine Fever

African Swine Fever result ... one would think that China might want to import more American pork?

Headlines

Donald Trump’s Nixon-to-China moment on guns

The yield curve everyone is worried about is flashing a recession signal

FBI seeks to scan social media for violent threats ...

ICE releases 300 of 680 illegal aliens arrested in MIS food plants

Biden defiantly defends remarks about Trump and white racism

China’s food prices jump 9.1% in July as the country battles African swine fever

Iran jamming ship GPS to get them to wander into waters?

Bill de Blasio: Abortion is a ‘sacred choice for women’

Trump swats at Macron for Iran diplomacy

Jeffery Epstein ‘misappropriated vast sums of money from me,’ Les Wexner says

Bio-warfare experts question why Canada sent lethal viruses to China

Fitton: Judicial Watch uncovers more Comey corruption

Headlines

Trump campaigned on defeating the opioid crisis. It’s hard to tell if he’s winning

Uncertainty looms as Hong Kong protests drag into new week

FoxNews poll shock: Bernie leads Trump by 9!

Top exes of 180 companies: Abortion necessary to be successful

Germany joins EU-wide 2050 net zero emissions goal

African swine fever could drive up inflation in emerging markets as pork prices soar

Internal polls shake White House ... Pollster fired ...

Genius Pete: ‘Almost certain’ America has had a gay president

Israel moves to name Golan [Heights] settlement after Trump

The Fed is likely to drop ‘patient’ word next week, clearing way for July rate cut, economists say

South American blackout leaves 40 millions without power ...

AOC:  Frustration with Pelosi ‘quite real’

Hog Wild

Trump’s trade war is causing pain among American farmers ... particularly soybean growers. China uses soybean meal to feed its hogs ... which are a major source of protein for its people. In response to Trump’s 25% tariffs, China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US soybeans, among many other things, which would transfer much of this soybean trade to Brazil and Argentina.

But there is a rub ... as indicated recently by Secretary of Agriculture Purdue, China is in the midst of a devastating African swine fever epidemic which has killed as many as 200 million hogs ... or 1 to 2 times America’s entire pork output ... see: Washington Post Article. This suggests that China really needs far fewer soybeans than in times past ... but, if our trade war settles down, could import enormous numbers of slaughtered hogs.

So, if China were interested in feeding its people, American pig farmers could raise many more hogs for export and use our glut of soybeans to feed them. That is, if China were rational ... which it doesn’t appear to be.