How Green Was The Valley ?

(How Green Was The Valley ?)

John Ford was a prolific Hollywood director, was made a Commander in the U.S. Navy, took a round in his arm during the Japanese attack on Midway. Ford worked with John Wayne many times. John Ford was an Oscar recipient on several occasions, one film that had received the honor was Ford's classic, How Green was My Valley starring Walter Pidgeon among others. The movie was about a Welsh mining family that was witness to the spoiling of the land that coal extraction invariably causes.


American companies have been eager to do business in China. At almost a billion and a half consumers, that would be the bottom line for any U.S. corporate concern, For Premier Xi Jinping, however, those billion and a half need to be fed and be provided with power.  China has just announced the construction of several more coal-fired power plants. If there was needed confirmation that the Peoples' Republic has no interest in the climate policies of the West, that would be sufficient announcement.


China had its own death toll from covid. It had its own economic closures and only recently relaxed its strict lockdowns, Naturally, Beijing is rejecting the lab spill at Wuhan. It is still involved in technology transfer and the theft of intellectual property. It has been sending balloons on reconnaissance flights. But China's strength is only seen in light of American weakness.


So, comparatively speaking, the Peoples' Republic is ascendent. But it could also possibly about to experience a "population" bomb and that is the real concern of the Chinese Communist Party and if there is anything that is driving policy at the moment, where the 1.4 billion population could crash.


One can remember how China ruthlessly enforced its "One Child" policy. Now, all those "one children" are matured and are not re-producing to keep the population viable. In other words, in its several thousand-year history, invasions, plague, and numerous civil wars as dynasties were transitioned, the Peoples' Republic is running out of people.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Siege Of The Alamo

(Siege Of The Alamo) Any visitor to Downtown San Antonio will recognize the City's most famous landmark, the Alamo. An old Spanish mission that means "Cottonwood" in English was the site where the likes of Jim Bowie, William Barrett Travis and Davy Crockett and about another 185 Texians defended the Mission and its compound for thirteen days against the Army of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana and his 5,000 troops. The garrison was finally reduced on March 6, 1836. However, the Texian defeat at the Alamo and another one at Goliad, bought time for General Sam Houston time to fall back and then face Santa Ana at San Jacinto. There, Houston's army surprised the Mexicans and yelling "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad !" all but wiped out the Mexican force. Santa Ana was captured and was forced to recognize the Republic of Texas. Which is now the State of Texas and, like 1836 Texas War of Independence, there is a new invasion from Mexico. Not the armed body o
Read more

TEQUILA !

(TEQUILA !) Happy Cinco de Mayo or May 5th. One can hope that a lot of you out there are awash in inebriation, seeking to mainline tequila shots or enjoying a nice margarita on the patio. Or, in other words, relax. Take a breath. De-compress. May 5th as it happens is the anniversary of Mexico's victory over French "occupation" of Mexico by Emperor Maximillian, brother to Austrian monarch Maria Theresa in what has been called the Battle of Puebla. The reason France was in Mexico in the first place was that Mexico, after the Mexican-American War and a more civil conflict called the Reform War, had bankrupted Mexico City. Mexican President at the time was Benito Juarez, who repudiated all foreign debt, of which France, Spain, and the United Kingdom were all major holders. A naval expedition was dispatched to Veracruz and France's Napoleon III thought it would be a good idea to establish a French "empire" in Mexico. But, on May 5th, 1862, in the aforementioned B
Read more

Intended Consequences

(Intended Consequences) For those Readers who live in the Tri-State area, who had the earthquake this morning, just be still.  There is a postulate called the Law of Un-Intended Consequences. Basically, it says that even with the best intentions, negative results sometimes happen. However, there are also instances when a negative result is precisely the desired outcome. Like with the Israel- Hamas war where the Biden Administration continues to press for an all but unilateral ceasefire on the part of Israel. In California, the new $20/HR minimum wage is wreaking havoc on the fast food industry. And finally, after depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, oil has now become too expensive. How many times must the Biden Administration think it can influence Israeli affairs ? How many times must Israel ignore it. Threats from the President have become redundant at this point but is Biden really prepared to cut Israel loose ? In the middle of the greatest crisis Israel is facing since the
Read more