Deutschland Uber all the Rest?

 The End of Germany as a Modern Economy || Peter Zeihan

Peter uses his "Merry Prophet of Doom" persona for this short video. He's hiking in the Rockies and increased endorphins may account for his detachment from the existential struggles facing the inhabitants of central Europe. In the past, these folks became quite proactive when facing a perceived threat -- just ask the ancient Romans. Need we mention the "Lebensraum" phase that required so much of the world's attention in the 1930s and 1940s? No. Simply alluding to those events will do.

He mentions Germany's 2 trillion dollar expenditure on "Green Energy," and the statistical and rhetorical tap-dancing required to make it appear more than a waste of resources. Then there is the bet on Russia as the primary source of the raw materials that feed German Industry -- putting Putin in the position to cut that lifeline. Fortunately, coal's discount cousin, lignite (with its bonus CO2), has come to the rescue.

He expected Putin's cutting the gas supply would make German support for Ukraine collapse, but I wasn't so sure: Donald Trump predicted that scenario, and we can't have him look good. So, which is the more likely explanation: the Social Democrats' unexpected acquisition of fortitude or their sudden need to avoid embarrassment?

In the end, Peter suggests that an aging population may cause Germany to "pass into this good night -- quietly" instead of -- as Dylan Thomas said -- raging against the dying of the light. Who wants to see Germany in a rage?

I'm not so sure about the dying of Germany's industrial might or light -- though not about the "quietly" part, since Quiet Patience can be an excellent policy. Through no fault of its own, Germany finds Ukraine fighting a war that America is largely financing that will, in the end, likely benefit Germany. Assuming Ukraine maintains its independence -- with or without territorial loss -- it will be dependent on a benevolent Germany and it will be in Germany's interest to be benevolent. Ukraine can supply food from industrial farms and young people to an industrial Germany (Ukraine also has an aging population but its young people can send money home to mom and dad). A chastened Russia will once again become a reliable raw material supplier while needing a German-dominated NATO as a guarantor against an expansionist China and secessionist movements.

Did I say "a German-dominated Nato?" Yep. With a Russian defeat in Ukraine, the US participation in NATO will no longer be needed. Remember, the reason for keeping America in is to keep Germany down, and why would the Germans want that? As NATO's focus moves into Central Asia, Americans will feel increasingly uncomfortable with their membership in the organization, and rightly so: very few Americans want to get involved in a country whose name ends in stan. Perhaps the Germans will show the US the door while the French become desperate for the Americans to stay. Might they offer the US a base in Alsace-Lorraine?

Think of it as "Wet-landia"

Commentary: ‘The Swamp’ is everywhere — even in Republican Tennessee

I call the conglomeration of special interests that controls this country The Crony Class. The Crony Class has its Crony Class Consciousness and Crony Class interests. Its chief interest is a continually growing government, used to dispense favors and money to members of the Crony Class and the retainers who support their demands.

Naturally, they cannot be upfront about any of this. I would rather discuss the 2,200 billion dollars of borrowed money (just this year!) they are using to keep themselves in power, as well as the tens of thousands of additional pages of regulations they are using to solidify their class interests and pick winners (themselves) and losers (everyone else). They would prefer I focus my attention on the tribulations and trials (literally) of Donald Trump -- not that I blame them.

After all, they want to control the 7,200 billion dollars flowing through Washington DC every year (and grow it to 10,000 billion) and take control of everything in the nation through the regulatory and retaliatory bureaucracy. These are high stakes, and it would take a collection of saints to avoid temptation (and there are far more sociopaths in this class than saints). So they put some people in jail who shouldn't be there and release others who should be incarcerated, even when that seems detrimental to their political interest.

However, convicting the innocent while freeing the guilty displays their power and prepares their retainers for the harshers measures that will be inevitably called for. You see, their appetite grows with the eating, and they'll soon be short of food. Unfortunately, the rest of us will be starving (on account of the bad weather caused by Henry Ford providing cars to the workers, who should be kept in their place). I call this future end-state Feudalism with the Right People in Charge.

The Gang of Qin Gang

 

Chinese Economy: ‘Shocking’ New Reports | Qin Gang Update | Huawei & iPhone

This morning I educated myself on the latest goings-on in China -- which apparently involves a gang. I was eating my cereal and wiping a bit of milk from my chin when I heard about Chin, apparently the leader of the gang, and also something about a gong.

The Chin Gang made me think of the Gang of Four, who were a big deal when Mao left for his appointment in hell. How do I know they were a big deal? I heard of them. If I remember correctly, it involved Mao's widow -- a former cabaret singer -- plus some other guys grabbing for power. Now, a dying dictator's floozie wife wanting to take over is not unknown (think Evita! or Doctor Jill!). Unfortunately for the conspirators, minions who can watch millions starve under incompetent leadership are stirred to action when their own lunch is threatened. So the Gang of Four became the Grateful Dead (them not being the Grateful ones) instead of the Grand and Glorious Leaders.

Which brings us to that nefarious group, the Chin Gang. After dealing with my chin milk I listen.  It was about Qin Gang (pronounced tch-in g-uh-ng by the Mandarin-speaking, New Zealander show-off reporter).  So it was the g-uh-ng of Qin G-uh-ng? No, it's just a simple sex scandal -- only sex scandals are never simple (otherwise it wouldn't be a scandal). It happened in Washington DC!  Qin was China's ambassador to the USA whose mistress was a Chinese journalist! All our floozies are now journalists! Strippers should sue!

Qin gets such favorable coverage from under the covers that he returns to China and is promoted. Only sex scandal! FBI bugs are in the expensive sheets! His journalist babe had his baby -- an American baby (it's a club anyone can join). Qin disappears to spend more time with his family -- maybe in a prison camp, maybe in the cemetery: ask not for whom the g-uh-ng tolls, it tolls for Gang.

As for the Chinese Economy tanking, who cares?  Sex Scandal!

Dead Secrets, Living Lessons

This first appeared fifteen years ago.

I often watch "Secrets of the Dead" on PBS. I like the program for what it reveals about Western Intellectuals. One episode speculated that the Christians burned down ancient Rome (Christians who were at the same time Jews), thus, in this rendition, clearing Emperor Nero of arson -- though he may have fiddled during the flames, no way to tell.

I first saw the episode that will reprise on Wednesday (Aztec Massacre) in April. It deals with the encounter of the Aztec Empire with "Cortes and the Conquistadors." It centers on captured Spaniards (including women) who were sacrificed along with some unruly subjects of the Aztecs.

The ritual involved skillfully ripping the heart out of a living human; lifting said heart up to the sky while it is still beating; tossing the heartless (and maybe headless, I forgot to take notes) body down a steep flight of steps; butchering said heartless/headless/discarded body.

Well, I thought we could all come together on this behavior and say "That is just wrong." Liberal and Conservative could finally agree -- Marxist Intellectual and capitalist Robber Baron as well.

OK, maybe we all know that one special "exception" to the rule where ripping out the heart might be understandable (though never condoned). But to do this by the thousands? At what point have you gone from a Civilization that has "a problem" to "A Problem" that has a civilization? I mean, talk about the church militant.

Gee, I lack nuance. First, the slaughter was done to keep the sun in the sky and the sun is still up there so they must have done a pretty good job. Plus, the Aztecs lacked beasts of burden and their subject people kinda filled that role. And what do you do with an ornery beast of burden? You turn him into a much-needed protein supplement -- and do it in a way to encourage "the others." So: Sun's in the sky. Maize is in the fields. Pyramid's gettin' built. Capital's kept clean. And all the Spaceships are solar-powered (sorry, that was Atlantis). Why, times were almost good.

Then Cortes shows up -- a combination entrepreneur and labor-organizing thug who's gonna steal your retirement. If only he weren't an entrepreneur but, alas!

At this point, the Aztec Priestly caste became the "resistance." What's the evidence they turned into minutemen? There were Spanish heads included in those skull racks -- along with the heads of their new-fangled horses (Listen, burden-carrying oppressed peoples, those ponies want your jobs).

Well, I concluded that one priestly caste (tenured academia) identifies strongly with another priestly caste. The Priests no doubt bathed more frequently than the on-the-make Spaniards. They were respectful of (their) learning and knew the value of a good protein supplement. They knew how to get additional sacrifices from their unwilling populations to keep their institutions up and running. They did not beg for grants, they just took that pound of flesh, only by the ton!

I, on the other hand, saw those Aztec intellectuals as bitter men clinging to their religion and razor-sharp obsidian ceremonial blades, all the while fearing change and blaming migrants for bringing "new ideas and new beliefs."

Meanwhile, with the help of a vicious pandemic, the Spaniards slipped into the role of the Aztecs. 

Those who rule in the present can have a certain regard for the problems the Aztec rulers faced. I mean, keeping the sun up in the sky is thirsty work. And as the sun gets closer, the globe gets hotter. That means more sacrifices to push it back up and keep things cool. And how do you get folks to willingly sacrifice (or unwillingly, when it comes down to it) to keep that grand project well-resourced?

Am I being unfair here? Let me think. Nah.

Fear not the Weeper

No matter the Calamities and Complaints that beset our world, I am not depressed, nor do I feel despair. What is my secret? I just whistle. Whistle? Yes, whistle. Like the seven unemployed dwarfs in a Disney remake of Snow White, I whistle.

Just whistle while you walk,
Do-dee do, do, do, do, do!
Just whistle while you walk,
Pass the graveyard.
(Pass the graveyard)

If you're feeling blue,

With no work to do,
'Cause the man laid you off,
Just whistle as you walk...
Pass the graveyard.

Should you find you're in despair,
Because you're totally aware.
Go ahead, just deny.
Live life on the fly --
Pass the graveyard.

If you were a Nigerian,
You’d be happy just to own a hen.
And when the militias came,
Not to be the ball in a game --
At the graveyard.
(In the graveyard)

If there’s a planetary war,
And you’re terrified to the core,
Just put on your boots and do skiddoo
And whistle! Yes, whistle.
Pass the graveyard!

They say VX is a gas
That will really kill you fast.

As you cough up all your cares...
Don’t argue life ain't fair...
Lay your cards on the table
And whistle (if you're able)...

Uh...

Say you're dead and just don't know!
Then continue with the flow,
And Go...
Past, the Graveyard!
(Get Past, the Graveyard)

(Done with Rockette style kicks)

Turn your Depression upside down.
Wear a smile, hardly ever frown!
Do as we do and whoop-we-doo
And whistle! Yes, whistle.
Past the graveyard.

Do-dee Doo-doo do!

This could be a duet between a Basso profundo and an Alto, tremble-a-lot-oh. It should be sung to the tune of, well, ah, Stairway to Heaven.

Safety Quest

  Oh, hell. I don't feel like explaining this.

 Quest Carefully

Often when on a Quest
You'll create an unholy mess
And cause great distress to others:
Such as horses, goats and your mother.
So it is best,
Outside the nest,
To Quest -- carefully.

When you see a dragon at the break of day,
Run away.
Run away.
Do not believe what the soothsayers say.
Require proof
From the sooth.
If an old man on a bridge offers his advice,
Treat him nice.
Treat him nice.

Quest Carefully.

Use care as you stare
At Buxom, bawdy, barmaids.
Do not imbibe the potions you get
From cute redheads, and brunettes.
Blonds, too,
If it's true,
They've had more fun --
Meaning more flings flung.
And when climbing a ladder
To rescue her from "what's the matter?"
Don't stand on the top rung.

Quest Carefully.

As you pursue your Quest
Never rest, never rest --
Recklessly.
Do not be reckless in your rest!

Sleep with care.

Beware! The woods have bears
And the forest is where
The wolves have their lairs.
And never eat meat
unless it's been cooked to an internal temperature
Of 160 degrees Fahrenheit and you should immediately refrigerate --
Yes, refrigerate!
The unused portions.
This is also the case
When you reheat -- and eat --
the meat you think safe.
Why not be a Vegan?

Quest Carefully. Quest Carefully.
And as you quest, never rest -- recklessly.

I left some hair colors out (space considerations).

A Stroke and a Quibble

 Revolutionary 1 Stroke engine Analyzed

The notion of a one-stroke engine intrigued me. I imagined a one-time, one "power-stroke" engine (think bomb).

Well, it's a two-stroke engine with two opposing pistons. You could argue that 2 pistons in one cylinder sharing two strokes equals one stroke (you can, but I won't). The video explains how it all works -- even as clickbait.

The engine involves revolutions, but it's not actually revolutionary. In my youth, one of my many strokes of genius was about "two pistons sharing one cylinder." I graciously provided the basic (quite basic) design to a motor-head friend, who told me, "It's been done!"  I was pleased to discover there were other geniuses at work in the world.

The design has weaknesses (low torque at take-off), so you won't find it under your hood. After 30 seconds of consideration, I came up with a possible application. When used in an electric hybrid automobile, the engine could run at its most efficient rpm to turn the generator that charges a battery pack while an electric motor turns the wheels. Meanwhile, the engine's lightweight and compact design would provide an advantage.