Clay comments

Proxy!

Why was the regime in Urkaine committing human rights and anti democratic violations, PER OFFICAL EU Statements, against Ethic Russian Ukrainians?

Think that's a BIG more relevant to our humanity's SURVIVAL than distant history!

So you CHOOSE poorly!

For those with doubts, Mrs. Clinton this month FINALLY admitted it's PROXY WAR!

"Hillary Clinton hinted at the plan last week, "Turn Ukraine into a killing field to bleed Russia dry."

On MSNBC last week, Clinton said "Remember, the Russians invaded Afghanistan back in 1980 … it didn't end well for the Russians. The fact is, a very motivated and then funded and armed insurgency basically drove the Russians out of Afghanistan. I think that is the model people are now looking toward."

Banks, especially the central banks are as a group flat broke on any basis that correctly marks to market their true balance sheets, entire global financial system becoming more toxic as inflations continues unabated.

Any wonder those counties with hard assets are so happy about right now?! That would be especially Russia, the catalyst for much of this inflation cancer!

He's got right temperament, just too bad job itself is mission impossible, as global inflation's a cancer, virus or any other terrible analogy effecting everyone in a not so good way with no end in sight!

Global inflation some combination of pandemic, massive monetary and fiscal stimulus, proxy war in Ukraine, supply chain failures, greedy corp. profiteering, high and rapidly rising debt levels, ongoing money printing, poor demographics damaging workforce participation and productivity, collapse in births, etc.

Hardly this man's fault, what a mess!

I wonder if their repeated launchings of missiles, either long-range or short-range, wouldn't deplete the country's resources and coffers.

It's called training and that's great thing about being a proxy warrior, everything's paid for, plus they're earning 'credits' from their overlords, distracting and destabilizing their adversaries etc.

So not exactly your friendly neighborhood collaboration but NK's loving this new elevated proxy status, factories are churing out the munitions, times are good in NK!

NK's PERFECT proxy combatant, battle hardened, no real economy or infrastructure to speak of and nothing to lose but EVERYTHING to gain.

Any such militarized state like NK will GLADLY accept all these fancy high tech weapons from their overloads!

NK's DEAD OPPOSITE of Ukraine, they're losing EVERYTHING and then some, could have easily followed the Finland/Norway neutrality model but US NATO geopolitical rats and exiled oligarchs took over. NK has no such risks, China & Russia VERY clever indeed!

Putin and Xi BUSY prepping their #1 'proxy' warrier NK with all sorts of new toys, most rapid and dangerous weapons proliferation IN HISTORY; including WMDs, hypersonic missiles, EMP bombs, drone submarine nuclear bombs, ICBMs, cruise missiles, etc. all courtesy of exiled oligarchs and their Ukraine proxy war naturally.

Feeling safer TOKYO and Japan?!?!

Going to TAKE lots of BOJ money printing to try and respond to all these new threats to civilization naturally this stuff will always 'get thru' any supposed 'iron dome' defense, so essentially pointless exercise in futility.

Meanwhile NK factories busy churning out munitions for Russia's use in Ukraine, real win:win for the world. Meanwhile the Ukraine war proxies, BUSY fund raising in Tokyo to fuel their real agenda, the Kremlin/Putin Coup d'état, but they somehow never bother to mention the above COSTS and RISKS TO JAPAN, now do they?!

Not to mention the massive weapons and technology proliferation from Russia to China, think ALL of the ABOVE and then a WHOLE LOT MORE, now that's expensive and RISKY Folks, makes NK look like pauper!

Let's also not forget EXPENSIVE INFLATIONARY nature of war, especially proxy wars entail outfitting and equipping and feeding all of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, weapons proliferation Putin's pursuing like gangbusters, requires major homeland military investments. After all just NK's nuclear, EMP, drone, submarine, hypersonic missile, etc. capabilities all require EXPENSIVE upgrades to domestic capabilities.

But mother of all costs is inflation, after all just the incremental spending to sustain the above military spending is no small matter but the inflation acts to destroy the economy itself. Assets are written down, consumers and businesses forced to spend on survival, so productive and needed investment disappears, not to mention consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, growing crushing debt load grows while economy continues to falter, like slow-moving train wreck that's well under way and no amount of money printing will stop this process, as inflation's cancer that when unchecked continues to destroy financial assets, banking system and economic output.

That's certainly what's now happening, ONLY off-ramp is an end to the exiled oligarch's proxy war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, China's relatively 'unscathed', safe harbor loving every minute of this Ukraine proxy war madness!

It's all SAD but true, people need to understand infection creates SERIOUS long-term morbidly and disease risk, this is no joke. Coming from guy who recently told by his Doc. that my health's easily top 1% for my age group.

Health is WEALTH, your #1 investment!

Real problem's open-ended global inflation fire being fueled by the Ukraine Russian proxy war, which will break global financial system at some point, that's the whole Putin 'inflation' playbook folks, asset prices crashing, starvation, energy shortages, weapons proliferation...so buckle and stockpile up!

Earth's only temporarily so all 'property rights' will cease at some point, so let's all agree to build a better future together!

It isn't going to happen if we're blowing each other up!

Sound great. Find a peaceful solution and Yankee stay out.

Again, sounds great but not realistic, best pathway for world is clearly merit based solutions that enhance global shared values.

Thing is talent's what matters, so if you're just brutal dictator and/or pushing mind control brainwashing, you've got no long term 'engines', brain drain baby!

Reason Elon Musk can meet with Xi anytime anywhere? Read above, Governments are impotent without talent, just look who's leading the space race, AI, etc.

impossible to say anything other than the case counts went up, especially in Tokyo over 20% from prior Sunday, countrywide less than 10% but who knows about the raw testing numbers...probably less but just a guess.

We do know about half country has now been naturally infected, was some 43% in early Feb, so all these recent infections, approx. 90% of total in last year, should provide some level of protection/immunity/etc.

What we also know is per latest/this year published Lancet Excess death and disease studies for those infected, the chance of death for 3 years increases for all categories of infection approx. 5x. So still a low number if your young but NOT low if elderly!

For this reason, likely high double digit increase in death in Japan this year vs. 2022 with SMALLER population.

But hey, it's only "Flu-like", so party like it's 1999!!!!

Taiwan's smart, semiconductor crown jewel being 're-shored' to US, that's their PLAY, China makes a move and it's GONZO, Uncle Sam's in the Fab "HOUSE"!

Let's extrapolite, enough of this China stuff already, lets all look out over the horizon!

Uncle Sam's backyard? So Honduras is not a sovereign country who could decide their own policy but must report to their master, the US, everytime they want to do something?

Let's not confuse idealism with reality....

Besides, does anyone remember Cuba circa 1962? Wasn't around but the history is fairly clear about this small matter of missiles and sure Uncle Sam was pissed Yuri won the space race too!

My point is China has a "NATO" military alliance strategy in the works, Canada would be their version of "Ukraine"!

Lost in translation ZZR, as everyone knows China's a REAL country, we don't need useless UN to tell us so!

China's clearly intent on playing geopolitics in Uncle Sam's backyard.

Question's when do the go next level, you know some sort of recruitment into their 'regional' pacific military alliance?

Timing's everything, this is early days, pilot program stuff. Real targets Canada, Mexico, just takes enough cash and the right politicians...

Guess Uncle Sam won't have any problem with such a China led military alliance expansion later this century, will they?

Surely, it'll be ok, as it's democracy after all, the will of the people, so crazy war like Russia and not liking NATO expansion to their doorstep!?

China's clearly intent on playing geopolitics in Uncle Sam's backyard.

Question's when do the go next level, you know some sort of recruitment into their 'regional' pacific military alliance?

Timing's everything, this is early days, pilot program stuff. Real targets Canada, Mexico, just takes enough cash and the right politicians...

Guess Uncle Sam won't have any problem with such a China led military alliance expansion later this century, will they?

Surely, it'll be ok, as it's democracy after all, the will of the people, so crazy war like Russia and not liking NATO expansion to their doorstep!?

bits and bytes, 0's and 1's, who would have imagined such processing would end up as maybe primary basis for globalization, standardization and really civilization!

Well done sir and it's worth noting he was an amazing philanthropist as well, a life WELL lived!

In a word? Galapagos!

It's also SUCH an important point that the Nikkei 225 in the last 30 years has increased approx. 50%. US S&P 500, approx. 900%.

Put another way, 1$ invested passively in the Nikkei would now be $1.50, S&P 500 would be $10

Really expect durable wage-based productivity inflation given the above OBJECTIVE UNDER performance?

Real CORE reason for ALL OF JAPAN'S PROBLEMS

Why this UNDERPERFORMANCE?

Mind you, US Central Bank wasn't busy buying ANY EQUITY ETFs either, likely if you strip out BOJ money printing game, Nikkei's DOWN/NEGATIVE REAL RETURN

Let's all agree that best way to PREVENT war is promote:

1) Safety in numbers/strategic alliances

2) Serious military deterrence, especially TECH based

3) Stable leadership, values and vision

4) Communications with adversaries

5) Compromise for the greater good!

6) Open markets and capital flows

7) Not pursuing dangerous transactional behavior

8) Building durable goodwill based on PERFORMANCE

9) Social stability

10) Finding areas of MUTUAL cooperation e.g. climate

Those are my off the cuff while eating lunch ideas!

Have an old guy in my building, who just died, but he enjoyed his electric 'cart' for several years, had an incredible happiness at keeping his mobility/freedom, could stand but the knees were shot, rugby warrior back in the day, old school samurai wananbe type but really just a good old happy guy, probably lousy at rugby but who cares!

We'll can they at least make it an EV?!?!?

They sure blew with their equity stake in Tesla they sold off some 13 years ago...then spent countless billions$ trying to convince the world in hydrogen fuel cell tech.

Seems nobody's interested in such expensive dangerous proprietary tech. and the world rather likes the 'open' nature of battery innovation, the ability to utilize existing energy infrastructure etc.

Likely WORST strategic decision making by any Corp. this century and the MOST expensive!

Let's hope they find their way, this is going to be a HUGE market, actuaries peg MEDIAN age of Japan at 75 by the end of century, or roughly 50% greater than now, that's graying fast but Corona isn't helping matters, deaths expected to increase approx. 25% THIS YEAR vs. 2022!

In some sense this tragedy will hopefully PREVENT other such senseless ones, that's wisdom if we can only learn!

No such thing as risk free anywhere, anytime, anything, always a question of probabilities and risk mgmt.

It does help to be smart, have good values and common sense but again sometimes fate can be so very cruel.

I'm sure they've got VIP seats in heaven, unlike most of us, as they never lost their innocence!

Anyone seriously believe the UN? Cheap survey!

UN's just PC cover, nobody in their right supports war 'on the record' or hopefully even off the record!