. . .
K “In the past, the United States played and promoted with some skill the tension and animosity between China and Russia. The United States has behaved so abysmally and monstrously that even the Chinese and the Russians are flirting with each other.”
J “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yet nations do not have enemies or friends, only interests. They have allied to advance their common interests in confronting a common enemy.”
K “When the United States drives the Chinese and Russians to embrace and play well together, the U.S. is in trouble.”
J “The U.S. has proudly and defiantly positioned itself to be the world’s worst enemy.”
. . .
J “The National Security Strategy document signed by President Trumpi on December 18 unwisely exacerbates the U.S. and China-Russia divide and further alienates the U.S. from the world.”
K “China is launching its crude oil futures contract today at the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE). China and Russia have been swiftly designing and perfecting a system described as the China Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to send and receive information about and to reconcile financial transactions. The system will circumvent and ultimately undermine the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) controlled by the U.S.”
J “They are also establishing the Petro-Yuan to replace the Petro-Dollar to facilitate transactions facilitated by the CIPS and to make investments funded by the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). That allows the Chinese and Russians, at the time of their choosing, to dump U.S. Treasuries and equities and buy up and demand the physical delivery of all gold and silver. The Big Jolt will shift the geopolitical tectonic plates in a short time.”
K “The U.S. will respond by dropping every bomb in its arsenal all at once everywhere and assassinating any leaders who challenge its hegemony.”
. . .
K “The Chinese are building the One Belt One Road Initiative and uniting countries and continents, but the U.S. has a hard time tightening its economic belt and fixing one road.”
. . .
K “The U.S. could do a whole lot more to slow or stop the wholesale theft of intellectual property by China.”
J “His company was uneasy about filling the order from China for just a single unit. Three years later, they discovered that an entire plant is producing dozens of them daily.”
K “Now they do not even need to reverse engineer a product. Just hack the computer and download the plans.”
J “When Chinese technology was used to commandeer an American drone, I knew the situation was bleak.”
. . .
J “A few weeks ago, someone on a lunch break called into a radio call-in show and questioned the genius of the U.S. strategy.”
K “At some point, everyone will be calling in and asking why the prices at Walmart are suddenly what they were at Nordstroms the previous month.”
. . .
J “The rest of the world may accept or be forced to accept a gold-backed currency for some time. However, after securing control, the Sino-Russian Alliance will be free to impose a fiat cryptocurrency using something much more sophisticated than the rudimentary blockchain technology and perhaps a refined version of the Hashgraph technology.”
K “But will the U.S. have enough bombs to drop on the rest of the world?”
. . .
K “The Chinese and the Russians were playing chess and the U.S. was playing checkers; now the Sino-Russian Alliance is playing weiqi and Trumpi is playing tiddlywinks.”
J “Trumpi is playing with himself and playing with our futures. And they are playing doubles while the U.S. is playing singles.”
. . .
[See “China plans to break petrodollar stranglehold” in “Asia Times” by Pepe Escobar dated December 21, 2017 and “The World Will Not Mourn The Decline of U.S. Hegemony” in “Truthdig” by Paul Street dated February 20, 2018.]
[See the e-commentary titled “World’s Reserve Currency War I = Cold War 2.0 = WW III (?) (September 8, 2014)”, “AIIB: China: 1; U.S.A. 0? (April 6, 2015)”, “The Mandibles, FRNs, SDRs, IMF, G20, WTD! (September 5, 2016)”, “USA + FRN/PD — > IMF + SDR — > NDB + UMU? The “Universal Monetary Unit” . . . Coming To a Planet Near You (January 2, 2017)” and “One World Currency? (January 8, 2018)”.]
Bumper stickers of the week:
Panda < Eagle > Bruin; Panda + Bruin > Eagle
CIPS > SWIFT; AIIB > World Bank; INE > Brent + WTI; Petro-Yuan > Petro-Dollar: [ergo] -> Panda + Bruin > Eagle. Game, Set, Match. Fin.
Currency Wars -> Trade Wars -> War Wars
America First -> American Last
Some signs at the “March For Our Lives” March on March 24:
Orange lies matter
Owner for reform
The scariest part of school should be a pop quiz
More 4.0 Less 5.56
We call BS
Hold handguns
When I grow up, I want to be alive
If I am killed by a gun, don’t bury me, just dump my body on the Capitol steps
Bullets are not school supplies
Enough / Bastante
My life is worth more than your guns
No more silence End gun violence
Arm me with books not bullets
Need test to drive Why not to shoot?
Protect kids not guns
Moms demand attention
Am I next?
Gun owner for gun control
No Rational Argument
21st century technology, 18th century laws
Too old to create change, step aside and we’ll do it
Never again
Some tweet We march
NRA Modern Day Mafia
Mental health not personal wealth
Respect our existence or expect our resistance
Thoughts Prayers Action
My students are more important than your guns
Enough is Enough
Mothers Against the NRA
#NeverAgain
e-commentary 