Are you even aware the horrors Trump has caused Cuba? USA has made a blockade so Cuba can’t get any oil, and people are fucking dying because of it!!

And you say they should just soak it up?
Fuck USA for being inhumane psychopaths, who want to be in control of the entire world, no matter how much harm it causes others. And fuck people like you for blaming the victim.

Cuba never did anything to USA, and USA has undermined the Cuban economy for more than 60 years now!!
USA is committing crimes against humanity, and what they do to Cuba is only one of them.

It’s very obvious that we are very likely headed towards a global recession, driven by the problems Trump has created in the gulf.
Of course financial institutions are preparing for the eventuality, and that alone can cause a financial crash if it accelerates.

It’s extremely difficult to estimate the risk or chance, but the fact that (almost) everybody is aware, makes the risk bigger, because for some weird reason, everybody preparing for a financial crisis doesn’t make it less likely because people are prepared, but instead makes it more likely because nobody does anything when the uncertainty passes a certain threshold. And at that point the economy collapses.

I agree that the sentiment has been a lot like you describe, just putting some personal observations in there. I know the below statements do not reflect your own opinion, but the national trend in USA.

communism is just as bad as fascism

OK that’s maybe overstating it, but both are authoritarian.

liberal capitalism is the reasonable center

It’s better, but Social democracy is the actual center of balance between the two IMO. Today some people include Social democracy as a form of socialism, but originally socialism and communism are near identical. With Social democracy being very different because it work with free market economy and democracy, but with regulation that protect workers and ordinary people much more than for instance American capitalism, that is extreme by European standards.

I also agree that in USA oligarchs are a major danger, the infamous Koch family has done enormous damage to democracy in USA, and Musk definitely helped Trump win a state in the presidential election.

But I think the red scare stigma will be harder for the right to use against the American people, because politicians like Bernie Sanders and AOC are very popular, together with many Social Democratic policies. They will probably try, but for now, their “weapons” are fear of immigrants and to lose religious “freedoms”. Like to discriminate minorities. This is packaged with extreme propaganda about how Liberals will take your money when they increase taxes.

Unfortunately the Trump election has showed us that the American population is incapable of seeing through these lies, so your fear is valid, I just don’t think they will go for the old fashioned “red scare”.

As it is, I don’t think China will take Taiwan, they want Taiwan to reunite with China, but seeing how bad it went for Russia in Ukraine, and now for USA in Iran, I think China will pursue a peaceful joining like they have always claimed for decades is their policy, even if it wasn’t always entirely true.

Being in Europe, I don’t see the red scare as a major problem, and I find it hard to understand what this red scare in USA is really about.
I absolutely understand the fear of the insanity of the McCarthyism, but I don’t see that as a likely problem today, where MAGA embraces Russia as a partner more than an opponent.
I don’t think most Americans even understand what red scare is supposed to mean anymore.
China is beating USA as the better capitalist than USA, and capitalism is a seen as a greater virtue than democracy among the MAGA crowd, that is ready to embrace an authoritarian regime to get rid of annoying liberals and their inconvenient facts.

So I’m not quite sure what kind of red scare it is you are afraid of?

Absolutely, I bet most Americans have no idea what they are throwing away.
It’s extremely sad, I have suspected this shift in power would happen eventually, because China is just too big to not be a global power.
But before Trump was elected the first time, I didn’t expect the alliance between EU and USA to crack so bad, and Trump has moved China’s place on the world stage to arrive a decade earlier.

Unfortunately with Trump being reelected, I saw this breakup coming from a mile away. And on liberation day I knew for sure USA would soon be finished as the premiere global leader. It was happening already before the Iran invasion, the Iran invasion just made it a lot worse in Asia.

Trump is destroying USA turbo charged, and IMO you are 100% right in that he couldn’t make it worse if he was doing it on purpose.

Funny how helium is smaller than hydrogen when it has 2 protons and 2 neutrons? Against hydrogen that is merely a single proton with an electron. Physics is weird sometimes. Although the explanation is simple that the 2 protons draw the 2 electrons closer, making the electron “shell” smaller.

But maybe this “size” isn’t universal, maybe Hydrogen can squeeze more under pressure?

Google gives me this answer to the question “is hydrogen easier to contain than helium”:

No, hydrogen is not easier to contain than helium. Hydrogen is harder to contain because its smaller, lighter molecules escape through materials faster than helium

So apparently hydrogen remains the more permeable gas, and hydrogen is also chemically very active, corroding nearly everything it comes in contact with.

Edit:
I figured it out, hydrogen is more permeable because it can interact chemically, making the electron shell near irrelevant.

China’s 10-year sovereign yield sits at roughly 1.82%, against 4.46% for the US Treasury equivalent. Borrowing in renminbi is approximately 60% cheaper than borrowing in dollars at current rates,

US treasury is regulating interest rates in a balance between controlling inflation and keep the currency stable.
When interest rates are so high and inflation is still above the desired level, it’s a sign of pressure against the USD, and a weak economy. Or at least an economy that doesn’t have much trust. High interest rates attract money but lowers investments as investments become more expensive to finance, and high inflation lowers consumption.

I just heard a few days ago that the use of the USD as a global reserve currency has dropped significantly since Trumps “liberation day” maybe as much as 30%! Which is insane if true.

With this high interest rate, it will be very expensive for the federal government to finance the federal debt. And with the USD slipping as the global reserve currency, USA can no longer just print the money to pay it off, without creating more inflation and weakening the US dollar.

It seems USA is about to wake up to the reality of not being the global leader, and now having to pay their bills like everybody else.
The tariffs and sanctions USA made towards the world and especially China, is hurting USA way more than it is hurting the rest of the world.

Seems the average wage in Shenzhen is now $2000+ for a public worker, and yes I guess he makes more, as I suppose English teacher is considered skilled work.

But the problem was the claim about the rent alone was more than the average wage, which it for sure is not.
He was made out to probably be rich, which he definitely is not, he is working a pretty normal job, and although he is probably above average wage, he is most likely still just middle class for where he lives.

That’s probably true.
But this story is about Shenzhen, so it’s irrelevant that the average wage is lower elsewhere, because the rent is probably lower too.
Which was what I pointed out.

Oh have you now?

https://teamedupchina.com/average-salary-in-shenzhen-china/

Public jobs:
Average monthly income: ¥14,321 RMB ($2,010 USD)

And this is 2 years ago.

And yes Shenzhen is all China. WTF do you mean it isn’t??

This is Shenzhen one of the richest cities in China, so average salary in China does not apply here.

From a Google search:

Shenzhen monthly average is often reported around 12,400–13,000 RMB ($1,700–$1,800 USD

So more than twice what you claim for the area this is in.
As a teacher he is probably living on a pretty normal wage.

The article clearly states that he is working in China as an English teacher.

Helium is actually worse in many ways, it is expensive, and it is twice as heavy, so it requires more volume to carry the same weight.
Meaning it is more expensive, slower and more vulnerable to the winds.

Atmospheric air is 1.29 g/L. Helium is 0.18 g/L and Hydrogen 0.09 g/L.
So hydrogen can lift 0.09 g more per liter or 7% more than helium.

Not as bad as I thought, but still Helium is less efficient.

Obviously the number is meant to be taken 99.99…% literally, which is the same as 100% by the way. And is not just another way of writing much much harder. That would be lame!

But to be fair, I rounded the 100 up from 99.7, which I found by adding 99 and 0.7.
So as you can see the math is solid.

But the problem with Hydrogen is not just that it is a gas, which is already inherently more difficult than liquids.
The real problem is that it is a gas basically consisting of only a proton with an electron. So the smallest possible atom, so small it can permeate any material that exist. The only difference is in how fast. When you then also at the same time want to make the container light weight, because if it’s to heavy it completely defeats the purpose, then you have a recipe for problems.

There’s a reason that despite the advantages, there has never been found a practical use for airships. It’s not that we can’t make them, they are just not any good for practical purposes.

I am not American, but I am doing what I can to stop your government too.

Goddammit fuck Israel and all Israelis that are OK with their government!!

Hydrogen is a 100 times harder to contain than jet fuel.

Top Gear” cast, crew attacked in Argentina:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMiUUkmV5cA

From Google search:

In 2014, the Top Gear crew, including Jeremy Clarkson, was chased out of Argentina by angry locals throwing rocks, following outrage over a Porsche license plate (H982 FKL) deemed to mock the 1982 Falklands War

I wouldn’t be surprised, Clarkson is the kind of asshole that would do exactly such a thing.

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The number of “economic experts” I’ve heard claim the Russian economy is fine and isn’t collapsing anytime soon is insane, and it is always based on those fake numbers, without regard for reports about what is really going on.
There’s a reason Russia is selling out of their gold reserves again, and it’s not that the Russian economy is in good shape.
The Russian economy has been in steep recession for more than a year, but they have faked the numbers to look like they are not.

Unfortunately many governments have trusted the “experts”, and that has influenced policies towards Russia, and probably prevented actions that could have helped push Russia over the edge sooner. Like the lame ineffective efforts against the Russian shadow fleet.
It probably also prevented pressure from Europe on USA (Biden) to allow Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries, something Ukraine wanted to do, but only began doing after USA stopped helping with military equipment. And quite frankly Ukraine is doing better now without help from USA, than they were doing with USA help but with conditions attached like Ukraine wasn’t allowed to attack into Russia AT ALL! Preventing Ukraine from attacking Russian supply lines, and artillery that was on Russian ground. Biden was a huge millstone around the neck of Ukraine even more than Trump! Despite the early help from Biden was crucial in the beginning of the war. Biden was apparently afraid of Putin, and what he will do when he loses.