Inflation. Just Throw More Money At It. Nuclear-Fusion. Chinese Theft Attempts Persist and Why Not? Olympic Politics. Truth Always Lags. Yes, Compete.

ON THE 29TH EVERY 4TH YEAR.

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FROM A DEAR FRIEND AND FELLOW MEMO READER: I found a used football in a second-hand store. I picked it up and took it to the counter. "How much is this?" I asked. "That'll be $5," said the owner. "Would you like me to pump it up for you?" "Of course, thanks a lot!" I replied. So, he got a small pump from under the counter and in a few seconds the ball was as good as new. "Ok, all done," he said. "That'll be $10 please.” "$10!!!??!!" I replied. "But you said $5 just now.” He looked up and said "Sorry. Inflation."  +++  JUST THROW MORE MONEY AT IT.  THAT IS THE PRESCRIPTION PROGRESSIVES BELIEVE. SINCE MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL IT ALSO HAS TO BE THE SOLUTION AS WELL. California Homelessness: Billions Are Spent Every Year, And The Problem Just Gets Worse by Lee Ohanian via California on Your Mind California is home to about 12 percent of the country’s population but has about 30 percent of the total homeless population, and about 47 percent of the country’s unsheltered homeless. Homelessness is arguably the state’s most pressing issue and has been for decades, despite state and local government throwing billions at the problem, year after year.  ++++++++++++++  THOSE WHO READ THESE MEMOS KNOW I AM FASCINATED WITH THE PROSPECT OF NUCLEAR FUSION POWER SO I SAW THIS IN TODAY'S WSJ (FEB 10)  AND I SENT IT TO MY FRIEND WHO IS INVOLVED IN A COMPETITIVE COMPANY AND PRESENTED AT OUR HOME SEVERAL MONTHS AGO.  THIS IS HIS REPLY: "It was an expected result. We knew they were trying to do that. Basically the last hurrah for an important, but relatively old scientific experiment. SPARC is JET's successor and will improve significantly on its performance. ~Dan" +++ European Scientists Set Nuclear-Fusion Energy World Record The findings suggest this approach can be scaled-up for use in power plants The Joint European Torus is a device called a tokamak that can heat gases to 150 million degrees Celsius inside a vacuum, re-creating the fusion process on Earth. By Aylin Woodward and Jennifer Hiller The Joint European Torus is a device called a tokamak that can heat gases to 150 million degrees Celsius inside a vacuum, re-creating the fusion process on Earth. PHOTO: UKAEA/EUROFUSION A device based at a U.K. facility in Oxfordshire has produced the highest sustained nuclear- fusion energy ever recorded, European researchers said Wednesday. The results of the December 2021 experiment, which generated 59 megajoules of fusion energy for five seconds, “demonstrates we are on the correct path” with regards to nuclear fusion, said Rafael Juárez Mañas, an engineering professor at the National Distance Education University in Madrid who wasn’t involved in the research. That said, the researchers weren’t able to overcome a major obstacle: generating more energy than they had to put into the experiment. Nuclear fusion, the same process that powers the sun, occurs when hydrogen gases are superheated to form a plasma. The process brings together hydrogen atoms that combine to form helium—and release a tremendous amount of energy at the same time. The Joint European Torus, or JET, in Oxfordshire is a donut-shaped device called a tokamak that can heat gases to 150 million degrees Celsius inside a vacuum, re-creating that fusion process on Earth. The device uses magnetic fields to hold the plasma away from its walls Not all tokamaks can combine the same types of hydrogen atoms. What makes JET unique is that it is the only tokamak that can harness a mix of deuterium and tritium, said Emilia R. Solano, a fusion scientist from the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research in Spain involved in the recent JET experiments. These two types of hydrogen have the potential to help realize the goal of sustained net gain in fusion-energy production. Demonstrating that this particular fuel mix—the same combination engineers plan to use in commercial fusion power plants—produces sustained energy, is a key step to realizing a future powered by nuclear fusion, according to Tony Donné, physicist and program manager of the EUROfusion consortium. The consortium is composed of 4,800 experts from across Europe that carried out the experiment in partnership with the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority. “If we can maintain fusion for five seconds, we can do it for five minutes and then five hours as we scale up our operations in future machines,” Dr. Donné said in a statement. Currently, nuclear power—responsible for about 10% of the world’s electricity—is generated by fission, the process of splitting atoms like uranium. But fission creates radioactive waste that can last thousands of years. Fusion doesn’t produce such waste, or greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide generated by fossil-fuel burning. Many of the hydrogen atoms involved in the process, too, are nearly limitless in supply. It is an avenue that can be used to address climate change, Ian Chapman, who leads the Culham Center for Fusion Energy, where JET is based, said at a Wednesday press conference Recent upgrades to JET have transformed it into a miniature version of a future international fusion project known as ITER, a tokamak being constructed in France with the goal of generating 500 megawatts of fusion power for up to one hour “It proves that a lot of what ITER is planning to achieve is possible as scientists and researchers claim, and that this is a good step in that direction,” said Brett Rampal, a nuclear engineer and director of nuclear innovation for the U.S.-based Clean Air Task Force. The $22 billion ITER, which is 80% built and is 10 times bigger than JET, will begin experiments in 2025 or 2026, according to Dr. Chapman. It is expected to produce more energy than it takes in, in part because it will use superconducting magnets—rather than the copper ones used by JET—to generate its magnetic fields.  Superconducting magnets use far less power, he added. Concerns about climate change have helped propel a wave of interest in fusion research by private companies that are trying to speed progress toward commercial fusion at a faster pace than academic and government efforts, Mr. Rampal said. Around 35 firms globally are racing to be the first to create net-energy machines and to commercialize them by delivering electricity to the power grid. Fusion companies have raised at least $4.3 billion toward the effort, according to company announcements and data tracked by the Fusion Industry Association and the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority. +++++++++++++ Chinese Company Accused of Trying to Steal US Technology (ConservativeHub.com) – When it comes to protecting trade secrets, companies take every available precaution to safeguard their technology. However, in some cases, bad actors do everything they can — including bribing employees of these businesses and offering extravagant incentives — to get their hands on these well-guarded secrets. A recent indictment against a Chinese company shows industrial espionage is still very much a concern. On Monday, February 7, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed a 21-count indictment against Hytera, a Chinese telecommunications company, for conspiracy to commit theft of technology from Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, Inc. According to the allegation, between 2007 and 2020, Hytera reportedly recruited Motorola employees to access classified information involving digital mobile radios (DMRs) through an internal database. The recruits shared the data via email, and Hytera used this information to speed up the development of its own products. According to the DOJ, Hytera paid the Motorola employees it recruited as spies higher salaries than they received at their jobs. The document was unsealed in the US District Court of Chicago and listed the Chinese company and several individuals, many of whose names the DOJ redacted on the publicly released documents. This indictment isn’t the first time the DOJ has charged a Chinese company with theft or possession of trade secrets. In 2019, the DOJ indicted Huawei Device Co. and Huawei Device Co. USA with 10 counts of theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets, obstruction of justice and wire fraud. If convicted, Hytera would face hefty fines, up to three times the value of the stolen trade secrets and other costs associated with Motorola’s loss. The pattern of systemic industrial espionage is, in part, what prompted FBI Director Christopher Wray to warn China posed “the greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality.” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Why Ideology is the Ancient Enemy of Civilization By Victor Davis Hanson +++  We did so in Savannah and rejected one of the best district attorney's in the entire nation, ie Meg Heap.  Talk about a county full of dumb anti-white racists. +++ If You Freely Elect a Soros DA, Don’t Cry Later to Us When Your Loved One Gets Killed - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics By Dov Fischer They tell of an illegal poker game in late 1920s New York. (Think: Nathan Detroit and Guys and Dolls.) The cops raid the joint in the cellar and they find three people at the card table — yes, a priest, a pastor, and a rabbi. (The bar was closed.) Cash is spread all over the table. The cops ask the priest: “Well?” He responds: “I know what this looks like, officers. But this is money our church gathered tonight at Bingo, and I am asking my colleagues for their ideas on how to disburse it to the needy. There is no poker game going on here.” The cops turn to the pastor: “Well?” He replies: “I brought the cash we collected at services when we passed around the hats on Sunday. Together with Father O’Callaghan, we were talking about maybe starting up a soup kitchen. But there is no poker game going on here.” The cops turn to the rabbi: “We suppose you also are going to deny you are sitting here playing poker?” The rabbi answers: “With who?” That’s what it feels like every time the news reports another murder tragedy in a city that has turned law enforcement over to a Soros-funded district attorney. With Evil George Soros spending tens of millions to elect radical-extreme DAs across America, cities like Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and other metropolitan areas now are experiencing the worst violent crime waves in two decades. And yet, arrests have plummeted. The Soros DAs advocate defunding police, cutting back on hiring, and restricting cops’ freedom to police. They order officers not to charge felons with felonies but with misdemeanors, and then the DAs bargain down the misdemeanors to “disorderly conduct.” They give strict orders not to add “resisting arrest” charges. They refuse to ask for bail, or they ask for such low bail that bail becomes meaningless, as arrested violent animals get released the same day. They will not prosecute property crimes. Really, one does not require a degree in criminology to know what is next. If you won’t charge me with a crime for stealing goods from trains, I will steal goods from trains unless my parents reared me with a conscience to know right from wrong and with the awareness that G-d always is watching and He eventually will punish. Otherwise, I will shoplift, break store windows overnight, and rob with impunity. Until Evil George Soros and the era of The Squad and the Biden-Pelosi presidency, no one ever used the term “smash and grab.” Now it is as ubiquitous as “bacon and eggs” and more so than “Abbott and Costello” or “Laurel and Hardy.” We all know “what to call it” when a Walmarts, Target, or upscale department store is ransacked overnight: Smash and Grab. Or when a Union Pacific rail yard is littered with packages and cartons depleted of their stolen contents: Smash and Grab. Are murder rates out of control in Larry Krasner’s City of Non-Binary Love in Philadelphia? In Kim Foxx’s Chicago, where Jussie Smollett is not safe to walk outdoors at 2 a.m. and shop for a cucumber or banana on a blustery night with a wind-chill factor of -40? In Marilyn Mosby’s Baltimore? In Chesa Boudin’s San Francisco and George Gascón’s Los Angeles? Well … Does a fly fly? Does a bear bear? Does a bee be? This is what happens when people freely elect Soros DAs to set standards of municipal criminal enforcement. Regardless of the Evil George Soros and the tens of millions spent on those DA campaigns, no one puts a gun to voters’ heads as they vote. Rather, the guns come out later — after those DAs get elected. That’s when the murders come. Some 10,000 Black Americans were murdered in 2020. Since Black Lives Matter does not care, and since the woke professors and universities who wear Black Lives Matter on their sleeves don’t care, and since the Democrats and the Evil George Soroses don’t care, and since Caryn Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg) does not seem to care — I guess it falls on me to care. Ten thousand dead Black Americans in a year, lives cut short and murdered in Soros D.A. cities, often killed by bullets randomly flying through their bedroom windows, often fired by other African Americans. Then there are also others, like Kate Steinle, the young lady who was shot at San Francisco’s Pier 14 by an Illegal who was later let off by a Frisco jury. There was also the UCLA student who was working at a Westwood store near the university who got murdered in broad daylight by a crazed homeless man who walked into the shop and stabbed her repeatedly in her chest. We wake up to the news story the next morning or hear about it over coffee and a scone: “Did you hear about that girl, the one from UCLA, who got stabbed to death yesterday across the street?” “Here? It’s so safe here. This is Westwood.” “Yeah. The guy who stabbed her was some homeless guy. They say he had a crazy look in his eyes.” “Ya think?” “Yeah. He just walked in, pulled out a knife, and kept thrusting the knife into her chest again and again until, I guess, the knife broke. Maybe a bone broke it. Dunno.” “Jeez.” (Coffee shop patron turns to waitress or barista: “Honey, can I get a bit more caramel in my macchiato?” She glares at him: “First of all, I’m not your ‘honey,’ pal. Second of all, I’m no longer female. I now am Two-Spirit Pansexual. OK?”) (The conversation at the table resumes.) “So what were we just talking about?” “I don’t remember. I think it was about taking up a collection to pay reparations to LeBron James.” When I watch or hear the news of such a murder, I find myself increasingly wondering whether the bitterly tearful, weeping family members now mourning their murdered loved one voted for the Soros DA. Or whether the schoolmates at UCLA — all of them so cheerfully woke — voted for Gascón. The neighbors, the professors, the customers who knew her at the store. All of them now weeping. Did any of them vote for Gascón? I know I didn’t. Or the family of Kate Steinle — her family, her friends, her schoolmates, her neighbors, her UPS delivery person, her pastor or priest, her boss, her coworkers — all now deeply immersed in bitter tears, weeping for her because she is no more. Did any of them vote for a Gascón sort back then, or for a Boudin sort more recently, after Gascón moved down to Los Angeles? Like the fictional clergy at that 1920s New York poker game, suddenly no one voted for the Soros DA whose policies murdered that young lady or that 1-year-old Chicagoan who was hit by a bullet while in a car with his mom or that aspiring young scientist killed in his bed by a stray bullet. Did any of the people now in mourning vote for the Evil George Soros DA? I know I didn’t. I know that not a single person I know did. It seems on the day after another such murder that no one voted for the Evil George Soros DA. Those district attorneys just somehow get elected with zero votes alongside their progressive Democrat mayor. Fine. No one playing poker here. Because if you freely have voted for an Evil George Soros-sponsored district attorney, don’t come crying later to the rest of us when your loved one gets murdered. Rather, your palms had a hand in the shedding of that blood. Amid your bitter tears, you actually owe the rest of us an apology. And many of us are disgusted that some are so foolish that, in the name of wokeness, they keep electing the same blue Democrats to run their cities perpetually, the same one-party rule of one hundred years, and then weep for sympathy when their loved ones get murdered among the crime wave their votes have stoked. Please. May I have some more caramel in my fair-trade macchiato? ++++++++++++++++++++  We have politicized everything in life, even ice cream. No wonder we have become so litigious. +++ What the hell is going on with the Genocide Olympics? NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom on the Beijing games and money over morals  By Pletka and Theissen Over the last few years, sports leagues and stars have gotten into the business of politics with gusto. MLB pulled the All-Star Game out of Georgia, displeased with the state’s GOP voting reforms. The NBA embraced courts with the “Black Lives Matter” slogan. The NFL leapt in with a commitment to play the “Black National Anthem” at all of its games. But, it turns out that professional sports isn’t interested in the causes it claims to embrace so much as it’s interested in propitiating American leftist political elites. Enter Enes Kanter, Celtics center, now known as Enes Kanter Freedom, newly born American citizen and scourge of the Chinese Communist Party. Freedom changed his name when he became a citizen last year and has used the platform of his sports fame to shine a light on dictatorships and human rights violators, focusing especially on his native Turkey and the crimes of the Xi Jinping government. He has slammed the Olympics — athletes and the International Olympic Committee — for tacitly condoning the Chinese Uyghur genocide, the take over of Hong Kong and predations against Taiwan. He has spoken out for Tibet. He has called loudly for the release of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai. What a great guy? Yes and no. Yes, according to human rights campaigners and members of Congress that just forced through (over the Biden administration’s objections), the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. And no, according to the NBA, which doesn’t much go for the whole “Chinese lives matter” idea. It’s also a no from LeBron James, who doesn’t like being criticized as a shill for Beijing. Ditto the Celtics management, which can no longer broadcast its games in the PRC. And the companies that are underwriting the Genocide Olympics. Turns out that standing for freedom has cost Freedom dearly. But as he tells Marc and me, “this is bigger than the NBA and basketball.” Yes it is, Freedom. Yes it is. Listen to our interview with him on this week’s pod. It’s unmissable. And as always, please like, subscribe, review and share the pod, and our little substack… THANK YOU. HIGHLIGHTS Dany:  One of the things that I really wondered about was whether the NBA was leaning on you really hard. Because, of course, the NBA has its own very substantial financial interests in China. What kind of pushback have you been feeling? Freedom:  I talk about Turkey and the problems are happening in Turkey for 10 years. I did not get one phone call. I talk about China one day, my phone was ringing once every hour. I was, I mean, obviously, the first game I wore my Free Tibet shoes. I'm sure you guys know the shoes and designs that we come up with. In half time, my manager messaged me and said, "Every Celtics games are banned in China." It took them 24 minutes, because one half is 24 minutes, to ban every Celtics game in television over there in China. Freedom: …obviously, it's been a very lonely road. That's what I will say. Because many of the athletes, not just from the NBA, but all around every league, or coaches or people who has anything to do with sports, are scared to support me out loud. Whenever I have a conversation privately, they're like, "Listen, man. You know, we love you. We support you. We're going to pray for you. But we just cannot do it out loud." *** Marc: You've written that your teammates have been very supportive of you. Why is it, do you think, that so few athletes are speaking out? Not just in the NBA…we haven't seen very many athletes using the platform of the Beijing Olympics to speak out about China's human rights abuses. Why do you think everyone's so reticent? Freedom: Fear. I think they care too much about their jersey sales, their shoe sales, endorsement deals, their next contract with whatever organization or institution they're playing with. The business that they're going to lose. I grew up as knowing that there are bigger things than money in business. That's what my family always taught me. But I wish that more athletes would join me. It will be even a bigger movement. But it's just, when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening… We have 500 players in the league. I was the third player in the whole league went out there and protested because I do believe there are problems. Problems are happening in this country and we need to call them out. We need to hold people accountable. But obviously, unfortunately, when it comes to a country that they are doing business with, as soon as the situation that is going to affect their pocket, they remain in silence. Freedom: [There’s only] one only association I want to give a credit to talking about what's going on and they were so brave enough was WTA, Women Tennis Association. Freedom: So I remember, I was in D.C., we were actually rallying about this bill called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. It was just so crazy because there was two companies, I believe one of them was Apple and another one was Nike or Coca-Cola… they were lobbying against this bill… To me, it's just so crazy because now you see, like Nike, I'm just giving you an example of Nike because of NBA's biggest sponsor. It's pretty much like a modern day slavery. Instead of Communist Party, they are the one that doing their propaganda. It's just sad to see this. I mean, you look at the Olympics right now. We got Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Intel, Panasonic, PNG, Samsung, Toyota, and Visa. It's just shame on them for not putting morals over money. But they are the ones just pretty much helping Chinese government to spread their propaganda. *** Marc : How did you become interested in China? Freedom: Yeah, it's a crazy story because I was in a basketball camp… I was taking a picture with the kids. And one of these parents called me in front of everybody. He was literally yelling, too. He was like, "How can you call yourself a human right activist when your brothers and sisters are getting tortured and raped in concentration camps in China every day?"  Freedom: The more I read, I was just very heartbroken. And I was just very angry with myself. But I was like, "There is all kind of news out there." You don't know if it's true or not. And I did not want to talk about this and not give any facts. So I called my manager. I was like, "Find me a concentration camp survivor." He was very shocked; he thought that I was just joking. "No, I really want to talk with one." Freedom: And once I sat down and had a Zoom meeting with this concentration camp survivor, and she was telling me about the gang rape, the torture, and the sterilization, forced abortion, and how Chinese government trying to tell the whole world that it's a re-education camp. But I mean, it's pretty much a genocide. So the Chinese government are lying. Freedom: It broke my heart. I don't think any human being in the world who's carrying a heart that can listen to her and not say anything. Then after that, I was like, "I promise myself from now on, I'm going to do everything I can to expose this dictatorship." Enes Freedom: When I was a little kid, I remember whenever I watched an NBA game, the first thing I looked on an NBA player: it was the shoes. What kind of shoes they're wearing, what color they are, what brand they are, if they're comfortable or not, how they feel on your feet. So I wanted to do something so big that can affect our young generation. That was my goal. Because if we can educate our young generation, we are never going to have the same problems that we are having right now. So I said, "You know what? I'm going to do something so unique and different that everyone in the world can see it actually." So I decided to create these shoes about the problems are happening in China. Freedom: I looked at the NBA rules. There is not one rule against NBA that says that I cannot put any kind of human rights phrases on my shoes. So I designed this shoe called Free Tibet. *** Dany: China. What should we be doing? What do you think? You are telling us, "Notice what they're doing. Acknowledge their crimes against humanity." Okay. [But] what do you think the right steps are for a country that stands for freedom, like the United States? Freedom: First of all, when you pick up something and you see it made in China, put it down. It's that simple. That's the easiest thing you can do. Freedom:  And I think the people, especially people like us who [have a] platform, I feel like we need to hold people, organizations, associations and companies and sponsors accountable, because they are the part of the problem. And they're pretty much working for China to spread the Chinese propaganda. *** Marc: What do you say to the athletes who are there in Beijing competing? It's a real conundrum for many of them. Freedom: I feel like I understand the athlete's perspective, right? They're working so hard in their whole life and they maybe were going to get one shot in Olympics. They're working so hard for four years to get to that level. Freedom:But every time I talk to an athlete, I have said this. "Think about this. If your mother, if your father, if your sister, if your daughter, if your wife was on those concentration camps right now in China, getting tortured and raped every day, would you still remain silent? Would you still go to that country and compete and be part of the propaganda?" Freedom: I have not seen one person, or I have not seen one athlete, that answer me that question. They are staying silent. They are not saying yes or no. They just remain silent because they know it's a shame. But all the gold medals in the world that you champion is not more important than your morals, your principle and your values. It's not worth it. It's not worth selling your morals to a country like China. *** Marc: When is your contract up? Are you worried that you're going to pay a personal price now for your outspokenness when it comes time to renew your time in the NBA? Freedom: Well, I have 25 games left in my contract, and it's up after this season. I have never thought about that because if I did, then I just didn't want my contract situation to affect my activism. But recently, obviously, I've been in communicat[ion] with so many people around the league, and especially my ex-teammates and my existing coaches. They're like, "Listen, man, we love you. So we have to tell you the truth. This is your farewell tour. Enjoy it. Full transcript here! SHOWNOTES “The Boston Celtics, my political activism, and a call for greater freedom,” by Enes Kanter Freedom (The Boston Globe, 12/29/21) “Why I Stand Up for Freedom in America—And Around the World,” by Enes Kanter Freedom (Time, 12/22/21) “Why I Became an American,” by Enes Kanter Freedom (The Atlantic, 12/9/21) “Enes Kanter: Why I don’t shut up and play basketball,” by Enes Kanter (The Boston Globe, updated 9/7/20) “NBA’s Enes Kanter Freedom slams China ‘puppet’ Yao Ming: ‘Big body, small heart and tiny brain’,” (Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 2/4/22) “Why NBA player and political activist Enes Kanter added Freedom to his legal name,” (NPR, 1/13/22) “Meet the NBA player who is taking on China and LeBron James in the name of human rights,” by Thuan Le Elston (USA Today, 12/15/21) “Enes Kanter Freedom’s Political Awakening,” by Isaac Chotiner (The New Yorker, 12/9/21) “Why Enes Kanter Freedom is proud to be American – and speak out on China,” by Michael Kaplan (NY Post, 12/7/21) "’Tucker Carlson Tonight,’ November 29, 2021,” (Fox News, 11/29/21) Enes Freedom Twitter: ·       “The world needs to understand! I do NOT care about politics. The only thing I care about is Human rights, Freedom and being the voice for the voiceless. The question people should ask themselves is; Despite our differences, what can we do to make this world better, TOGETHER?” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 2/7/22) ·       “16M viewers tuned in to watch the #Beijing2022 opening ceremony, an ALL-TIME LOW for @Olympics ceremonies on linear television. 43% down from 28.3M viewers for the South Korea Winter Olympics in 2018. This is what you get for turning athletics into propaganda for an EVIL EMPIRE,” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 2/6/22) ·       “When Dictatorship is a fact, Revolution becomes a right.” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 2/2/22) ·       “These are all @NBA players who are sponsored by Chinese companies that produce their products with slave labor. Unfortunately many sports media outlets & journalists are controlled by #NBA Have some courage & ask these athletes about their ignorance,” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 1/28/22) ·       “These two lunatics, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are a threat to this world that is almost as dangerous as global warming. #Russia & #China wants to destroy democracy and export communism to the rest of the world. It is therefore important that #Ukraine and #Taiwan are supported,” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 1/24/22) ·       “This is actually funny and pathetic #China is now the second Dictatorship after Turkey that is trying to censor my name in the whole country. Why? Someone is finally standing up against them and exposing #CCP in front of the whole world Funny thing is I am just getting started,” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 1/21/22) ·       “When @NBA says we stand for justice, don’t forget there are those who sell their soul for money & business like @chamath the owner of @warriors, who says ‘Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs’- When genocides happen, it is people like this that let it happen Shame!” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 1/17/22) ·       “The International @Olympics Committee is in bed with the Chinese Government. They are complicit and echo the Cultish Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda. #NoBeijing2022,” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 1/12/22) ·       “WE did it! Good but NOT enough. 1)     I hope this encourages other countries to do a diplomatic boycott also 2)     With all the human rights abuses from China,we only countered with a diplomatic boycott? How many people need to be tortured & raped for U.S to do something more serious?” (Twitter, Enes Freedom, 12/6/21) News: “NBA player confirmed as CPAC speaker,” (The Hill, 2/7/22) “Democratic Senator told NBA’s Enes Kanter Freedom that Biden is ‘scared’ to meet him,” (NY Post, 2/4/22) “Enes Kanter Freedom is prepared to visit China, but only if he can see 'the real China',” (CNN, 1/19/22) “Celtics' Enes Kanter Freedom blasts Warriors' co-owner's 'disgusting' dig at Uyghur crisis,” (Fox News, 1/17/22) “Beijing 2022: Enes Kanter Freedom urges athletes to boycott Winter Olympics,” (BBC, 1/14/22) “Enes Kanter Freedom reveals inspiration for name change,” (NBC Sports, 11/30/21) “LeBron James responds to Enes Kanter's shoes: 'He's trying to use my name to create an opportunity for himself',” (USA Today, 11/20/21) “Enes Kanter felt encouraged to speak out against China after NBA supported players fighting other injustices,” (CNN, 11/10/21) “NBA star Enes Kanter shares his challenges with fasting during Ramadan,” (NBC Today, 5/7/21) “In the NBA, Freedom stands tall against China,” by Josh Rogin (WaPo, 12/9/21) “Enes Kanter Freedom Is Letting Himself Be Used,” by Jemele Hill (The Atlantic, 12/3/21) ++++++++++++++++++++++  Truth always lags. At least it allows for idiots to be exposed. This tag has now been extended to Corporate America and into The House leadership. +++ https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/02/blm_is_imploding.html +++++++++++++  I am in total agreement.  America is at its best when Capitalism competes with state run national economies.  Freedom is our winning ingredient and America must maintain our free status because it is what provides America with the advantage. There is something about a moral path that provides the ingrediencies that tip the scales in favor of democracies. +++ The U.S. Should Want a Cold War With China Competition, not cooperation, is the best way to avoid direct military confrontation. By Gabriel Scheinmann Simmering crises in Ukraine and Taiwan have reminded leaders that geopolitics never die. Yet President Biden declared at the United Nations in September that the U.S. is “not seeking a new Cold War” with either China or Russia. Mr. Biden has sought to downsize the scope of the competition with China while seeking cooperation on areas of mutual interest. This is the wrong approach. A Cold War-style competition with China is precisely what the U.S. should want. At the U.N., Mr. Biden warned that cooperation is the only responsible way “to address the urgent threats like Covid-19 and climate change or enduring threats like nuclear proliferation.” A cold-war mentality, he said, could easily “tip from responsible competition to conflict,” leading to a serious military catastrophe. This was clearly on the president’s mind in August when he justified the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by comparing it favorably to Vietnam. In fact, a cold war with China would mean averting a direct military confrontation. Even better, a cold war is a winnable war. Some have speculated that rapid technological change in autonomous weaponry through artificial intelligence and robotics would make avoiding war more difficult. But the Cold War lasted more than four decades without tipping into World War III, even amid a technological revolution that made mutually assured destruction possible at the flick of a switch. American military strength deterred a Soviet attack, while major investments by Washington in the political and economic stability of important states such as Japan, France, West Germany and Italy countered Soviet subversion and coercion. The framework proved that arms races don’t necessarily lead to armed conflict. At the beginning of the Cold War, the U.S. was in a far better economic and military position than the Soviet Union. The American economy accounted for half of global gross domestic product, and Washington was able to establish strong postwar alliances quickly. The Soviet Union, by contrast, had suffered enormously during World War II, losing a large percentage of its population and productive capacity. It could strike alliances only through fear, coercion or invasion. Today, the American geopolitical position is strong even if Chinese gains have eroded the overall U.S. military advantage. The U.S. and its allies represent 50% of global GDP. Washington is allied with or has increasingly friendly relations with nearly every country in Asia. The strength of American soft power underscores the appeal of the U.S. democratic system and the American way of life. The Chinese government, on the other hand, fears its own people. Beijing’s internal security budget has grown faster than its national defense budget. Despite last week’s public display of affection between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Beijing, China has no major allies and its behavior is driving increasingly unfriendly relations with nearly every nation. Deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan is important, but it isn’t the only measure of who has the stronger geopolitical position. A cold war means a full-spectrum competition, allowing the U.S. to compete in domains where it has comparative advantages, such as finance, higher education and advanced engineering. Hard power will be necessary but not sufficient for “winning the 21st century.” In the late 20th century, strength bought time, but it was ultimately the moral corruption and ideological hypocrisy of the Soviet Union that caused its collapse. It could control and rule its citizens only through fear. When the fear began to crack, its rule was no more. The U.S. should highlight the totalitarian nature of the Chinese Communist Party and demonstrate that there is a better way for Chinese citizens to live. The U.S. remains an attractive place for ordinary Chinese people. More than half of China’s top-tier researchers end up moving to the U.S., which has the highest-ranked universities and the highest-grossing technology companies. China may be able to keep up with the U.S. militarily, but it can’t compete in a broad and sustained competition for hearts and minds. In 1938, Winston Churchill saw that fascism and liberal democracy were on a collision course. Rather than shy away from the threat, he recognized that “the antagonism is here now.” Instead of viewing this ideological competition as a liability, Churchill saw that the “conflict of spiritual and moral ideas” is what “gives the free countries a great part of their strength.” If the competition with China is truly about the future of the 21st century—whether democracy as a creed and the American experiment as a civilization can survive in the face of its greatest challenge yet—the U.S. should be ecstatic at the prospects of a cold war. If fruitful cooperation is a fantasy and a hot war is a nightmare, a cold war with China is the lucid dream that Mr. Biden and his successors should embrace. Mr. Scheinmann is executive director of the Alexander Hamilton Society. +++++++++++++