#Xi Jinping Thought

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2021: PRC Supply-side Structural Reform, Not Supply-side Economics

Basic Issues of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era – Serial (18) What is the difference between supply-side structural reform and the supply-side economics school of thought? 供给侧结构性改革与供给学派的区别是什么 March 01, 2021 Source: People’s Daily Online – Theory Channel Original title: Deepening supply-side structural reform From Basic Issues in Xi Jinping Thought…

[workersolidarity]

Lmao, yeah actually, I trust Xi Jinping over Joe Biden any day.

Here's the facts, while China, much like the US and Europe, is using technology to monitor city streets, public spaces, government offices, and, something the US doesn't have to have this problem, monitoring public apartments.

But here are also some facts, Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China have raised the living standards of the Chinese people exponentially, year on year for decades now, with growth accelerating over the last two decades as the country built MASSIVE infrastructure projects and modernized.

In that time, US and European wages and job growth have stagnated, living expenses and especially housing and energy have skyrocketed, and education is actively deteriorating, not getting better.

The exact opposite is true in China.

So yes, you have to look at the totality of what the Party and Government in China vs the West is doing for its people and around the world. And it just doesn't compare. While China goes around the world building ports and public infrastructure, then forgiving the debt incurred building it, the US goes around the world selling weapons and ideologies, and instigating wars. The US doesn't even have the productive capacity to supply its own ammunition to satisfactory quantities anymore, and the Military Industrial Complex is just about the only part of the economy the Govt funds infrastructure for anymore.

So yes, at this point, I'm writing in Xi Jinping for US President in 2024

[william-r-melich]

Tik Tok Bill/HR 7521 - 03/16/2024

Bill HR 7521 passed 3 days ago in the house of representatives by a vote of 352 - 65. If this bill passes in the Senate, which looks likely, Joe Biden said he will sign it, which will purportedly ban Tik Tok. It wouldn't really ban it, but what it will do is force Byte Dance, the Chinese company that owns Tik Tok, to divest by providing a description of what assets would need to be divested to execute a qualified divesture. In other words, they would have to sell it. They would also have to shut down their internet hosting service. Someone in the U.S. would buy it. I've been on the fence with this one as well with whether or not Biden will remain on the ticket. After reading a portion of the bill I saw a loophole regarding what can be done with a foreign person. Donald Trump, who back in 2020 wanted to ban Tik Tok, he's now against banning it. He said that banning Tik Tok would give the government too much power and would make Facebook more of a monopoly. I sure hope his 180-degree shift wasn't partly made because he has a big campaign donor from Tik Tok. Elon Musk is against it. He thinks it will lead to the government having too much control of wording and censorship on all media platforms. He argues that it doesn't just involve foreign adversaries. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie on X posted this: "The president will be given the power to ban WEB SITES, not just Apps.--"The person breaking the new law is deemed to be the U.S. (or offshore) INTERNET HOSTING SERVICE or App Store, not the 'foreign adversary.' " The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) controls what content is allowed on Tik Toc, and the version that is used in China is very different to what's allowed on it outside of China, like here in the U.S. In China they're teaching their children strict discipline and loyalty to the CCP without other harmful content, brainwashing them into their collectivist ideologies. Outside of China they are allowing and promoting content that encourages self-harm and suicide. The big concern in Congress is that the CCP is using the platform to collect as much personal data as they can to be later used against us for nefarious reasons.

Bytedance is the parent company running Tik Toc, and it's former CEO, Zhang Yiming, in 2018 wrote an open public letter of apology to the CCP's headquarters. He was in trouble for not directing his tech companies to push the party's communist agenda far enough, including for what they termed as Xi Jinping thought. Here's some of that letter translated in English:

"I sincerely apologize to regulators, our users and colleagues. I have been in a state of guilt and remorse since I received the notice from the regulatory authority yesterday afternoon and stayed up all night."

"Toutino will permanently shut down the app and the Wechat account of Neihan Duanzi. The product has gone astray, posting content that goes against socialist core values. It's all on me. I accept all the punishment since it failed to direct public opinion in the right way."

"I blame myself for failing to live up to the guidance and expectations of the authorities. In the past few years, the authorities have given us a lot of guidance and help, but I failed to understand properly and to correct properly in the past that resulted in the repercussions today."

"I blame myself for failing the support and trust of our users. We one-sidedly focused on growth and scale without paying timely attention to quality and responsibility of guiding users to obtain positive information. We have failed to undertake corporate social responsibility, and lack emphasis and understanding of our roles in carry forward the positive energy, and guide public opinion properly."

"I reflect that the deep-seated problems for the company are: a weak understanding of the 'four consciousness,' a lack of socialist core values, and a biased guidance of public opinion. 'In the past, we have placed too much emphasis on the role of technology, and failed to realize that socialist core values are the prerequisite to technology. We need to spread positive messages in line with the requirements of the times while respecting public order and good practice.' "

The "four consciousness," to which he referred is described in the following CCP directive as translated into English; CCP Central Committee Publishers Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Agencies. March 18, 2021:

"To deepen reform of the Party and state agencies at this new historical turning point, we must comprehensively implement the Spirit of the 19th Party Congress and persist in taking Marxism -- Leninism, Ma Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Important Thinking of the 'Three Represents,' the Scientific Development Concept, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guide. We must firmly establish political consciousness, consciousness of the big picture, consciousness of the core leadership, and consciousness of falling in line with party directives. We must resolutely maintain the authority and centralized unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. We must adapt to the development requirements of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, persist in the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and adhere to the proper direction of reform. We must persist in being people-centered, and persist in comprehensively ruling the country according to law."

It seems clear to me that the CCP wants to dominate the world and control how everyone thinks. We can't let that happen. The harmful content on Tik Tok can be found on some of the other platforms, but apparently on Tik Tok it's been more harmful and addictive to kids. Amnesty International 2 reports: "Driven into the Darkness: How Tik Tok Encourages Self-harm and Suicidal Ideation and the I Feel Exposed: Caught in Tik Tok's Surveillance Web - highlight the abuses experienced by children and young people using Tik Tok Outside of China. Between 3 and 20 minutes into our manual research, more than half of the videos in the 'For You' feed were related to mental health struggles with multiple recommended videos in a single hour romanticizing, normalizing or encouraging suicide."

Here's how a portion of the Tik Tok bill reads - HR 7521:

(iii) a subsidiary of or a successor to an entity identified in clause (i) or (ii) that is controlled by a foreign adversary; or (iv) an entity owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by an entity identified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii); or (B) a covered company that -- (i) is controlled by a foreign adversary; and (ii) that is determined by the President to present a significant threat to the national security of the United States following the issuance of -- (I) a public notice proposing such determination; and (II) a public report to Congress, submitted not less than 30 days before such determination, describing the specific national security concern involved and containing a classified annes and a description of what assets would need to be divested to execute a qualified divesture. (4) FOREIGN ADVERSARY COUNTRY, -- The term "foreign adversary country" means a country specified with respect to a covered company or other entity is -- (A) a foreign person that is domiciled in, is headquartered in, has its principal place of business in, or is organized under the laws of a foreign adversary country. (B) an entity with respect to which a foreign person or combination of foreign persons described in "subparagraph (A) directly or indirectly own at least a 20 percent stake; or (C) a person subject to the direction or control of a foreign person or entity described in subparagraph (A) (B). (2) Covered Company -- (A) IN GENERAL -- The term "covered company" means an entity that operates, directly or indirectly (including through a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate), a website, desktop application, or augmented or immersive technology application.

The loophole I see is that there are people here from China that are legal to work and live here (green card) and who have a residence in China. The President (Joe Biden) could divest any website or app operated by a company with such a person in its employ from China with a green card who happens to own at least 20% of that company. I haven't read through the entire bill, nor am I an expert on Congressional bills or policies, but there might be other loopholes to be found. Given all that I have considered on this, I think divesting Tik Tok is a good idea, but only with no loopholes or wiggle room. I don't trust the government, their too giddy about this and I suspect they may have something up their sleeves. Next to our own ability to destroy ourselves from within, I think China is our biggest threat. This is serious stuff and we're in some very dangerous situations. We've got to get this right and get the right leader in the White House, which, in my humble opinion, is Donald J. Trump.

[xylophonetangerine]

The People's Republic of China has now existed for longer than the Soviet Union did so I guess communism does work after all!

[m-ultraarticles]

Ex-Adviser Burns Trump By Revealing What World Leaders Really Thought Of Him

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to Donald Trumpgave his old boss a blunt reality check on Tuesday. The former president frequently claims he “got along great” with the world’s dictators and autocrats, and that they respected him in turn. “Trump has this impression that foreign leaders, especially adversaries, hold him in high regard,” Bolton said on CNN on Tuesday, noting…

[alanjporterart]

With these past few articles I’ve written about a coming storm of events the world has not seen before. I must add that there is a far better world and life waiting to greet everyone, and more importantly a better future for all our children, if we can adopt this new way of thinking.

            We hear opinions from military people saying. The war in Ukraine is a battle of attrition at the moment, and it could go on for years. Attrition is being used by Russia by using great numbers of men where life is considered worthless, these were the tactics of those crazy First World War generals.

...

More to read on our new writting platform ...

[istandwithrussiaandpalestine30]

Russia definitely looks better than North Korea, China, and Iran. Plus it's the country with the irresistible president.

[revindicatedbyhistory]

You're the only Argentinian communist I know, so I thought I'd ask you: what's up with Messi and China right now?

the communist party of china is being closed down unless xi jinping can throw the biggest footbal match the multipolar world has ever seen and hes hiring messi for help

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2023 NPC Lectures: #1 PRC Constitutional System and Practice

This is a translation of the first lecture in a series of seven lectures given to the 170 members of the PRC National People’s Congress Standing Committee. The Standing Committee is the standing legislative body of China; the full 3000-member NPC meets for two weeks every March. This lecture examines the history, development and defining characteristics of the Constitution of the PRC. Article…

[yourtongzhihazel]

Political education is a paramount part of education in every socialist state former and present. DPRK elementary school history textbooks are dense with historical materialism, with specific focuses on labor and revolution. The PRC's patriotic socialist education law mandates schools teach everything from Marxism-Leninism to Xi Jinping thought. And of course, we can't forget the dense textbook on political-economy from the USSR. The socialist states do not lie about what they teach. Fact of the matter is the education of each state mirrors the ideology and class nature of that state.

However, to liberals, liberalism, and liberal democracies, this openness is seen as obscene brainwashing. And yet, they do the same thing but they don't tell you! The history books are liberal! The economics books are bourgeois! The media and shows and movies are pro-status quo! So, what gives? Astute readers of my quick brief on liberalism will recall that liberalism seeks to market itself as "not an ideology" and as "universal". They firmly believe that liberalism is all there is and it is the height of all history and social progress. How immaterial and ahistorical. The liberal tendency to distance itself from ideology is, in it of itself, ideology! Readers, recognize it!

SN:AZ43

[zvaigzdelasas]

The Communist Party’s main theoretical journal has laid out a new ideological framework for the financial system that emphasizes the primacy of China’s top leader and Marxist principles. [...]

The Communist Party issued a detailed ideological statement on Friday in Qiushi, the party’s main official theoretical journal, that made clear that it expected banks, pension funds, insurers and other financial organizations in China to follow Marxist principles [...]

The Qiushi paper, which was being closely studied by bankers and economists in China, could cut against efforts by Beijing to show that the economy is open to investment even as it places a heavier hand on business.

Barry Naughton, an economist at the University of California at San Diego who has long studied China’s transition to a market economy, said that the document signaled that the finance sector would be subject to ever-tighter oversight and forced to serve government policies more actively.

“The financial sector will not be expected to push for market-oriented reforms or even necessarily maximize profit,” he said. “As a program for the financial sector, it is ambitious, disappointing and somewhat ominous.”[...]

“Politics will for sure further dictate China’s finance, effectively moving China even closer to how it was before the reforms started in 1978,” said Chen Zhiwu, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong.

Some of the policy targets set forth in the essay would not be unusual as regulatory goals in the West. For example, it calls for banks to emphasize financial services for the “real economy,” which the party has long interpreted to include ample financing for the country’s industrial base.

But it also calls for a strong role in finance for [...] Marxist ideology generally. That follows a pattern that emerged for other sectors during the national congress of China’s Communist Party a year ago, but has been less apparent in finance — until now. [...]

Moody’s, the credit rating agency, announced on Tuesday that it was lowering its credit outlook for the Chinese government to negative. It had previously assigned a stable outlook for the country’s credit rating, which remains at A1, near the top of the ratings scale. [...]

Qiushi is the main journal providing pronouncements on China’s current ideology, which is known as Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The statement on Friday said that Mr. Xi’s speech to the financial conference, “is a valuable ideological crystallization formed by our party’s unremitting exploration of the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics.” [...]

“Politics affects all important areas, and economic or financial issues are themselves political issues,” he said. Indeed, Communist Party control over finance comes up repeatedly in the Qiushi statement. “We must unswervingly adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the party Central Committee over financial work, uphold and strengthen the party’s overall leadership over financial work,” it said.

5 Dec 23

[mengjue]

What's Happening in China? The November 2022 Protests

Hello! I know that there's so much going on in the world right now, so not everyone may be aware of what is happening in China right now. I thought that I would try to write a brief explainer, because the current wave of protests is truly unprecedented in the past 30+ years, and there is a lot of fear over what may happen next. For context, I'm doing this as someone who has a PhD in Asian Studies specialising in contemporary Chinese politics, so I don't know everything but I have researched China for many years.

I'll post some decent links at the end along with some China specialists & journalists I follow on Twitter (yeah I know, but it's still the place for the stuff at the moment). Here are the bullet points for those who just want a brief update:

Xi Jinping's government is still enacting a strict Zero Covid policy enforced by state surveillance and strict lockdowns.

On 24 November a fire in an apartment in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, killed 10. Many blamed strict quarantine policies on preventing evacuation.

Protests followed and have since spread nationwide.

Protesters are taking steps not seen since Tiananmen in 1989, including public chants for Xi and the CCP to step down.

Everyone is currently unsure how the government will respond.

More in-depth discussion and links under the cut:

First a caveat: this is my own analysis/explanation as a Chinese politics specialist. I will include links to read further from other experts and journalists. Also, this will be quite long, so sorry about that!

China's (aka Xi Jinping's) Covid Policy:

The first and most important context: Xi has committed to a strict Zero Covid policy in China, and has refused to change course. Now, other countries have had similar approaches and they undoubtedly saved lives - I was fortunate to live in New Zealand until this year, and Prime Minister Ardern's Zero Covid approach in 2020-2021 helped protect many. The difference is in the style/scope of enforcement, the use of vaccines, and the variant at play. China has stepped up its control on public life over the past 10 years, and has used this to enforce strict quarantine measures without full regard to the impact on people's lives - stories of people not getting food were common. Quarantine has also become a feared situation, as China moves people to facilities often little better than prisons and allegedly without much protection from catching Covid within. A personal friend in Zhengzhou went through national, then provincial, then local quarantines when moving back from NZ, and she has since done her best to avoid going back for her own mental and physical health. Xi has also committed China to its two home-grown vaccines, Sinovac and Sinopharm, both of which have low/dubious efficacy and are considered ineffective against new variants. Finally, with delta and then omicron most of the Zero-Covid countries have modified their approach due to the inability to maintain zero cases. China remains the only country still enacting whole-city eradication lockdowns, and they have become more frequent to the point that several are happening at any given time. The result is a population that is incredibly frustrated and losing hope amidst endless lockdowns and perceived ineffectiveness to address the pandemic.

Other Issues at Play:

Beyond the Covid situation, China is also wrestling with the continued slowdown in its economic growth. While its economic rise and annual GDP growth was nigh meteoric from the 80s to the 00s, it has been slowing over the past ten years, and the government is attempting to manage the transition away from an export-oriented economy to a more fully developed one. However, things are still uncertain, and Covid has taken its toll as it has elsewhere the past couple of years. Youth unemployment in particular is reaching new highs at around 20%, and Xi largely ignored this in his speech at the Party Congress in October (where he entered an unprecedented third term). As a result of the perceived uselessness of China's harsh work culture and its failure to result in a better life, many young Chinese have been promoting 躺平 tǎng píng or "lying flat", aka doing the bare minimum just to get by (similar to the English "quiet quitting"). The combination of economic issues and a botched Covid approach is important, as these directly affect the lives of ordinary middle-class Chinese, and historical it has only been when this occurred that mass movements really took off. The most famous, Tiananmen in 1989, followed China's opening up economic reforms and the dismantling of many economic safety nets allowing for growing inequality. While movements in China often grow to include other topics, having a foundation in something negatively impacting the average Han Chinese person's livelihood is important.

The Spark - 24 Nov 2022 Urumqi Apartment Fire:

The current protests were sparked by a recent fire that broke out in a flat in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang province. (This is the same Xinjiang that is home to the Uighur people, against whom China has enacted a campaign of genocide and cultural destruction.) The fire occurred in the evening and resulted in 10 deaths, which many online blamed on the strict lockdown measures imposed by officials, who prevented people from leaving their homes. It even resulted in a rare public apology by city officials. However, with anger being so high nationwide, in addition to many smaller protests that have occurred over the past two years, this incident has ignited a nationwide movement.

The Protests and Their Significance:

The protests that have broken out over the past couple of days representing the largest and most significant challenge to the leadership since the 1989 Tiananmen movement. Similar to that movement, these protests have occurred at universities and cities across the country, with many students taking part openly. This scale is almost unseen in China, particularly for an anti-government protest. Other than Tiananmen in 1989, the most widespread movements that have occurred have been incidents such as the protest of the 1999 Belgrade bombings or the 2005 and then 2012 anti-Japanese protests, all of which were about anger toward a foreign country.

Beyond the scale the protests are hugely significant in their message as well. Protesters are publicly shouting the phrases "习近平下台 Xí Jìnpíng xiàtái!" and "共产党 下台 Gòngchǎndǎng xiàtái!", which mean "Xi Jinping, step down/resign!" and "CCP, step down/resign!" respectively. To shout a direct slogan for the government to resign is unheard of in China, particularly as Xi has tightened control of civil society. And people are doing this across the country in the thousands, openly and in front of police. This is a major challenge for a leader and party who have prioritised regime stability as a core interest for the majority of their history.

Looking Ahead:

Right now, as of 15:00 Australian Eastern time on Monday, 28 November 2022, the protests are only in their first couple of days and we are unsure as to how the government will respond. Police have already been seen beating protesters and journalists and dragging them away in vehicles. However, in many cases the protests have largely been monitored by police but still permitted to occur. There seems to be uncertainty as to how they want to respond just yet, and as such no unified approach.

Many potential outcomes exist, and I would warn everyone to be careful in overplaying what can be achieved. Most experts I have read are not really expecting this to result in Xi's resignation or regime change - these things are possible, surely, but it is a major task to achieve and the unity & scale of the protest movement remains to be fully seen. The government may retaliate with a hard crackdown as it has done with Tiananmen and other protests throughout the years. It may also quietly revamp some policies without publicly admitting a change in order to both pacify protesters and save face. The CCP often uses mixed tactics, both coopting and suppressing protest movements over the years depending on the situation. Changing from Zero Covid may prove more challenging though, given how much Xi has staked his political reputation on enforcing it.

What is important for everyone online, especially those of us abroad, is to watch out for the misinformation campaign the government will launch to counter these protests. Already twitter is reportedly seeing hundreds of Chinese bot accounts mass post escort advertisements using various city names in order to drown out protest results in the site's search engine. Chinese officials will also likely invoke the standard narrative of Western influence and CIA tactics as the reason behind the protests, as they did during the Hong Kong protests.

Finally, there will be a new surge of misinformation and bad takes from tankies, or leftists who uncritically support authoritarian regimes so long as they are anti-US. An infamous one, the Qiao Collective, has already worked to shift the narrative away from the protests and onto debating the merits of Zero Covid. This is largely similar to pro-Putin leftists attempting the justify his invasion of Ukraine. Always remember that the same values that you use to criticise Western countries should be used to criticise authoritarian regimes as well - opposing US militarism and racism, for example, is not incompatible with opposing China's acts of genocide and state suppression. If you want further info (and some good sardonic humour) on the absurd takes and misinfo from pro-China tankies, I would recommend checking out Brian Hioe in the links below.

Finally, keep in mind that this is a grass-roots protest made by people in China, who are putting their own lives at risk to demonstrate openly like this. There have already been so many acts of bravery by those who just want a better future for themselves and their country, and it is belittling and disingenuous to wave away everything they are doing as being just a "Western front" or a few "fringe extremists".

Links:

BBC live coverage page with links to analysis and articles

ABC (Australia) analysis

South China Morning Post analysis

Experts & Journalists to Check Out:

Brian Hioe - Journalist & China writer, New Bloom Magazine

Bonnie Glaser - China scholar, German Marshall Fund

Vicky Xu - Journalist & researcher, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Stephen McDonnell - Journalist, BBC

M Taylor Fravel - China scholar, MIT

New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre - NZ's hub of China scholarship (I was fortunate to attend their conferences during my PhD there, they do great work!)

If you've reached the end I hope this helps with understanding what's going on right now! A lot of us who know friends and whanau in China are worried for their safety, so please spread the word and let's hope that there is something of a positive outcome ahead.

[bopinion]

2022 / 42

Aperçu of the Week:

"We can always find something better than death."

(Town Musicians of Bremen / Brothers Grimm)

Bad News of the Week:

Sometimes we Europeans wonder about the USA. Especially about ethical standards in politics. Representatives who defend their 2nd Amendment rights with rapid-fire rifles and at the same time are strictly pro-life - i.e. against abortions even in the case of rape. Ex-presidents who still doubt the legitimacy of their successor, even though they have been told in several dozen cases and unanimously by courts that the election was not "stolen" from them - but that they simply lost. Celebrities like former pro football players or weird TV doctors who have real prospects of winning a Senate seat without any qualifications - as if it were a lottery. And and and...

Whatever happens in the United States of America has global repercussions. Even if China doesn't like to hear it: still this North American confederation of states is the primate on this planet in almost every respect - economically, financially, culturally, militarily, scientifically, you name it. In other words, a kind of benchmark for the rest of the world. Probably that's why we "on the old continent" look at what's happening there with a mixture of fascination and horror. In the positive, as in the negative.

Now, the investigative committee on the storming of the Capitol last year officially subpoenaed Donald Trump to clarify his role in this assault on democracy. With any African despot who would be cited before the U.N. Criminal Court in The Hague, one would have a comforting feeling that justice would now be served. But in this case? One reads two things in the media. First, that he will probably not comply with this summons, which is relatively momentous. And second, that it won't hurt his support among his voter base - on the contrary: the will cheer that he's opposing "the system".

According to polls, two-thirds of traditionally Republican supporters doubt the legitimacy of Joe Biden's election as president. That's more than one-third of the eligible U.S. population. Although there is no - zero, niente, nada, rien - evidence, let alone proof, of this. That's why most political observers expect Republicans to win at the midterms. So Trump goons will have the command in both chambers of the congress. Well then, good night!

And what's going on with the second superpower on the planet? At the National Congress of the Communist Party, which takes place (only) every five years, Xi Jinping succeeded in securing for himself a wealth of power comparable only to Mao Zedong. And as with Mao, one may doubt that this is good for his nation - and for the world. The control on media, the system of "social points," the threatened annexation of Taiwan à la Hong Kong, the blackmail of economic "partners," the suppression of minorities such as the Uighurs, etcetera. In the end, it is the hubris of one's own drunkenness with power that makes it possible, even in today's oh-so-enlightened times, for despots in meagerly democratic disguise to declare their ego the measure of all things.

Good News of the Week:

For the first time, a German chancellor has made use of his vested "guideline competence": Olaf Scholz has put his foot down and ordered the stretch operation of the last three active nuclear reactors, which were supposed to be finally shut down at the end of this year, until mid-April 2023. For months, there was a dispute about Germany's energy security in the coming winter between the coalition parties of the Greens - who wanted to allow a maximum of stretch operation depending on necessity of two nuclear power plants - and the Liberals - who demanded a real lifetime extension (i.e. including new atomic fuel rods) and even the reactivation of shut-down reactors until 2024.

Since I am one of those who used to protest against nuclear power, but at the same time understand (to some extent) how this technology works physically, I have no problem at all with the stretched operation. This is because, in contrast to the lifetime extension, no new fuel rods are needed for this, so not a single gram of additional radioactive waste is produced. It merely continues to siphon off energy - which is produced anyway, since you can't simply switch off the radioactivity at the push of a button. On the contrary, one would have to continue to supply energy (as everyone has probably noticed by now in the context of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhya) in order to ensure the necessary cooling, without which a meltdown would occur.

On the other hand, the process shows the government's ability to act. Which just does not turn in circles due to different positions of its different parties and does not find solutions. Especially since the two antipodes, the Greens and the Liberals, have made very different inroads in the last state elections - which always have an impact on cooperation at the federal level: Gains for the Greens, losses for the Liberals. Which, of course, brings with it the temptation for the latter to champion their positions and goals more stridently. A strong chancellor for the third party in the coalition (Social Democrats) can only do good.

P.S.: In the meantime, the coalition of Conservatives and Greens in Germany's largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, has agreed to bring forward the final phase-out of coal power - once the backbone of its economic strength - from 2038 to 2030. This is a fundamental improvement that should not be lost in the current discussions surrounding energy. Because it is simply fundamental.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Last week, the winter semester started at the universities. This year with my daughter. After graduating from high school, my big little girl did a voluntary social year in a kindergarten and is now starting at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich - with political science as her major and history as her minor. And her dad is proud. And a little melancholic. After all, at the time I had decided against studying and instead saw my path in self-employment - a decision I have regretted more than once. I'm all the happier now that she's going this way - her way. You go, girl!

I couldn't care less...

...that Missouri's pension fund pull $500 million in investment capital from Blackrock. As Louisiana did before. The reason: The asset managers act too environmentally friendly for them. Which could be at the expense of returns. Wait: I care indeed!

As I write this...

...the protests against the Iranian regime continue. Also in this country: yesterday in Berlin, according to estimates, more than 80,000 people took to the streets to express their solidarity for Persian women and their basic rights. Bravo! And: Courage!

Post Scriptum:

The lettuce head has won: British Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned. This means she was in office for about as long as it took the Conservative Party to pick her as their party leader (and thus automatically head of government) after Boris Johnson. And her tenure? Half was making a sad face around the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the other half a program completely divorced from reality to "economically unleash" the UK in defiance of global trends. Will she be missed? No. Just as an aside, she was the Foreign Secretary who engineered the fabulous deal to deport legitimate asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Now what? The Tories pull the same crap they did last time: avoid new elections at all costs, in which they would be hopelessly outgunned by Labour, and elect a new party leader, including Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak? Jeremy Hunt? Or, in the end, the political zombie Boris Johnson? Actually, though, it doesn't matter at all. If the party again internally selects a head of government who has zero democratic legitimacy - because he was simply not elected by the people - he may have the support of the majority of Conservative parliamentarians. But certainly not the support of the people.

Excellent prospects for the future. Especially because now, at the latest, the next British prime minister will finally have to face the truth. Or simply admit it. Because there is a very simple explanation for why Great Britain is having such a difficult time in the face of pent-up old problems (health care) and emerging new ones (financial market): Brexit. But that's just what the British wanted. Therefore, my sympathy is limited.

[teratocrat]

wikipedia tabs i have open on new year's day

Railgun

Gunboat

Loess

Kamchatka Peninsula

Ansible

Hainish Cycle

Key deer

Mount Rainier

Socialism with Chinese characteristics

Xi Jinping Thought

Historical nihilism

Three Represents

Scientific Outlook on Development

Blue crab

Callinectes sapidus

Crab cake

Diamondback terrapin

Turtle soup

Yellow-bellied slider

Red-eyed slider

Littoraria irrorata

Halite

Appanage

Princess

Penicillin

Raffinate

Kaali crater

Hittite mythology and religion

Augury

Dovecote

Fasenjān

Confucianism

Messier 87

Elliptical galaxy

Whirpool Galaxy

Spiral galaxy

Pinwheel Galaxy

Milky Way

Sagittarius A*

Messier 87

History of Christian universalism

Kardashev scale

Grand duke

PSR B1257+12

PSR B1257+12 B

55 Cancri e

Carbon planet

Chthonian planet

Tholin

Luna (goddess)

European rabbit

Heroin

Abscess

Acedia

Weltschmerz

Razor

Synthetic fiber

Marshal of Yugoslavia