Xi Jinping

Back on March 17, I speculated that the COVID-19 pandemic could have been Xi Jinping’s payback to Donald Trump for the Orangeman’s throwing sand into the gears of China’s economic juggernaut ... see: Conspiracy? Have I changed my mind?

Far from it. I am now even more convinced that there were many conspiratorial elements to this pandemic:

- The fact that this virus outbreak’s timing was much too convenient to benefit China ... right after the Phase 1 trade deal had been signed. And this pandemic gives Xi an easy excuse for not living up to its terms.

- The fact that China, early on, stopped travel in and out of Wuhan to other parts of China ... but did not stop flights to the rest of the world. As a result, millions fled Wuhan to many of the countries now crippled with medical crises and economic devistation.

- The fact that this Level-4 Virus Lab near Wuhan had been investigating coronaviruses and had been previously indicated by US inspectors as not living up to accepted Level 4 standards ... meaning the virus outbreak could be easily explained, purposeful or not.

- The fact that China swore in January that COVID-19 could not be passed from person-to-person ... and got its lickspittle, the W.H.O. director, to backup this bogus claim.

- The fact that China hoarded critical medical supplies and drugs early on in this pandemic ... not only for themselves, but to then sell to the stricken nations at inflated prices.

- The fact that virus samples at that critical lab have been destroyed, the lab documents scrubbed, knowledgeable scientists “disappeared” ... and China has waged a misinformation campaign and refused to allow US investigators to visit that lab to investigate.

Am I right?

Afterthought': If I were a real cynic, I would point out how many liberals and lefty media types have leapt to China’s  defense ... always a bad sign.

The Hammer

No, this blog post is not written to refer to Elizabeth Warren’s continual reference to “poor Americans being hammered.” It is meant to reinforce a point I have previously made about the economic competition between the United States and China. President Trump is making slow progress in his attempt to level the playing field in this economic arm-wrestling match between Xi Jinping and himself.

It appears the Phase 1 trade deal is done and now comes Phase 2, the harder one,. Trump has one tool for this phase besides tariffs, a huge hammer, he has yet to use in this competition ... and that is to force Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) and to undergo annual audits by a reputable accounting firms.

Why our SEC has allowed Chinese companies to slide on these restrictions is beyond me? This has permitted its companies access to American capital that they shouldn’t have had ... and given them an unfair advantage against those American companies who have had to comply. And this capital has also indirectly funded much of China’s worldwide mischief.

At the very least, Trump should make such compliance a requirement for Xi to get a Phase 2 trade deal ... a hammer that finally would make the Chinese economic competition a far fairer match.

Whoppers

Woke up this morning to see that the Shanghai stock index is up 3,1%. Wow!, this must mean that China agreed to the previously negotiated tirade terms ... and Trump held back on the new 25% tariffs. A little further investigation revealed that exactly the opposite happened and the Dow Jones futures indicated a down US market today. So why is the Chinese market up ... and up so much ... and ours might be down?

Dear reader, may I speculate here? I can visualize Xi Jinping turning to a subordinate after hearing that China’s power play didn’t work and Trump upped the tariffs ... and saying (in Mandarin Chinese), “Make the stock market go up.” And so it happened. This bit of psychological warfare is a side benefit of autocratic government control.

Often this type of single-point decision making is seen as an advantage of the Sino-form of capitalism ... whereas such market outcomes in the US are the net result of millions of back-and-forth decisions rolled up into an overall free-market result ... much, much less efficient ... but, far more democratic.

Which is really better? Well, the Chinese form is obviously more efficient ... but when they make a mistake (like the Great Leap Forward), it is usually a whopper ... and I don’t mean a hamburger.

Afterthought: And the million Muslims concentration camps might be at least a Big Mac ...

Headlines

All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Kelly trades West Wing neophytes for Washington insiders

Hillary openly wonders about divorce from Bill in next memoir

[Irma,] Strongest Atlantic hurricane ever ...

Trump says China wants to 'de-nuke' N.Korea after call to Xi Jinping

Trump's flirtation with Democrats makes Republicans nervous about 2018

Exclusive: Did indicted IT aide want Capitol police to find Wasserman Schultz's laptop

College activists march on cafeteria for hydroponic cilantro ...

Michael Moore: Take DACA protests 'to the streets'

Border security may be key to saving Dreamers

NBC News falsely publishes piece stating Senator on trial for corruption is a Republican

Update: Southern Poverty [Law Center] has $69M parked overseas ...

Tucker: Amnesty fans 'want worldwide rule by unaccountable technocrats'

Schmoozing

That old saying, "if you snooze, you loose" has now been updated for President Obama. It is now, "if you schmooze, you loose." And apparently, while The Barry has been refining his golf game and hosting Hollywood galas at the White House, the Chinese military has been plotting the demise of the United States Navy.

The old saw that generals always fight wars with the last war's weapons does not now seem to apply to China ... the Dragon of the East has just taken the wraps off of its new "killer missile" in the recent Beijing parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. This hypersonic (10 times the speed of sound) missile is supposedly capable of wiping out an American aircraft carried in a trice ... with no American counter-measures currently available  ... see: U.S. Naval Institute Article. Now aren't we tingly glad that the Obama administration has effectively defunded our anti-missile research?

There is a solution however. Perhaps if Obama were to bow one more time to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping?

A Good Walk Spoiled

A Japanese Golf Course

I better be careful here for my son is a golf aficionado and I myself have played a few rounds in my salad days. But Mark Twain was on to something when he called this links game "a good walk spoiled." I guess I didn't mind President Eisenhower playing so much golf as he seemed to get his other work done. But for some strange reason President Obama's obsession with golf gets under my skin. And President Clinton's constant use of Mulligans while on the golf course bothered my sense of fair play ... as did the man himself.

Now the Chinese leadership seems to feel the same way about golf as they do about prostitution, gambling, bribery, drugs and gluttony. Dozens of golf courses have been shut down for excessive use of natural resources ... and government officials in one province have had restrictions placed on their playing times. Golf is increasingly viewed as a "capitalist pastime" (shh ... don't tell Obama) ... see: CNBC Story.

The General Secretary of the Communist Party, Xi Jinping, seems to be behind much of this crackdown ... as he is against the other mentioned excesses in China ... even having some government officials executed for corruption. I don't know but I  have a sense that golf handicaps can be much better trusted in Beijing.

An Expensive Equalizer

Something I already suspected (see: Michelle Ma Belle) was just confirmed in a UK Telegraph article … Michelle Obama’s lavish trip to China this week was a convenient ... if somewhat self-serving way to make amends for her snubbing the Chinese First Lady, Mrs. Ping, last year in California … see: UK Telegraph Article.

To quote from this article:

[This trip] was a slightly stiff apology for the snub last year when Mrs. Obama failed to show up for a meeting at Sunnylands, California, between [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, Mrs. Peng and her husband.

Although, our First Lady thankfully seems to be winning Chinese friends on this junket, her host country is still a little aghast at the extravagance expended therein by we Americans … the Obama family is staying in a $8,400 per night suite in a luxury Chinese hotel … see: Yahoo Story.

Apparently the price of penance runs high.

Afterward: see also: Daily Mail Story.

Michelle, Ma Belle

Michelle Obama

Is there trouble in Paradise?  Four recent developments seem to indicate that there may be problems abrewing for President Obama and the First Lady:

1)      Michelle Obama, it appears, will be spending considerable time away from the White House this summer … “vacationing” with her daughters at Martha’s Vineyard … see: White House Dossier.

2)      In his recent summit meeting in California with President Obama, Chinese President, Xi Jinping, was not accompanied by his wife.  The reason – Michelle Obama decided not to attend this tete-a-tete, a bit of a diplomatic insult since the Chinese leader’s wife is quite a celebrity in China and was preparing to make a splash at this meeting … see: Telegraph Story

3)      Michelle Obama has exhibited unusual testiness of late … witness her ungraceful handling of a heckler at a recent New York fundraising … see: Christian Science Monitor Story

4)      In America, hairstyles seem to take on unusual significance, so Michelle Obama’s recent buzz cut (see above photo) and her wearing of black “helmet” wings in public tells this commentator that she has decided to alter her former lifestyle … to what end, it is unclear.

What does this all indicate?  To most Americans, not a bagatelle.  But the confluence of these events tells me that there is a change … maybe a sea change in our First Lady … and that there might be more interesting revelations waiting in the (White House) wings.