The speeches against the USA, slightly disguised, rained heavily in Davos, and Canada’s was sensible – yes, their geographical location gives them the opportunity to discuss trade instead of war, but that opportunity is not available to Finland, the Baltics, and Ukraine, as they need weapons.
The very strong shaking in Japan is, according to some, China’s doing. Got an interesting link from Börjesson at Bluesky, which he apparently made himself and sold to Bloomberg, and if you google around a bit, China’s strategy is to try to put strong pressure on Japan right now.
It is interesting in this context that the USA/Trump told Japan to sit down when they tried to show their support for Taiwan – does anyone have an explanation for that since the prevailing consensus is that the USA makes all its moves in order to counter China. If a country then assists with that – why do they get a red card from the USA?
Since we know that Buffet has parked his cash in Japanese yen, is there anything indicating that the USA doesn’t mind if China goes hard on Japan so that the capital returns to the USA, as it is even more unstable in Japan than in the USA, after China ensured that it became so?
And that the USA, as a thank you for that, went hard against Japan’s attempt to support Taiwan?
Thoughts on that?
Since I am firmly cemented in my belief that the USA does what is good for them now, I do not see it as an impossibility at all.
One absolute way not to tackle the current world order is for Europe to instead run to China and ask for their help – then our national pride dies a sudden death.
My ten-point list in the previous post assumes, of course, that Europe feels that we can manage without teachers in the classroom, but it’s not very spectacular, just requires us to do exactly what the USA and China have done and put Europe first – which is what we have chosen our political leaders and EU politicians to do.
No one has chosen them to put China, the USA, or Russia first.
Macron used his speech for just that unfortunately – more trade with China he thought was appropriate to discuss in Davos. I have gained a little more respect for Macron as he stood firm against Russia, but running to China benefits no one.
The UK has just allowed China to build a huge embassy in London, and Canada just made a big deal with China and something else that I have lost track of.
China is the enemy who has helped Russia help themselves to produce large quantities of weapons, they have provided a functioning digital battlefield, they give Russia satellite surveillance resources, and they have ensured that North Korea has kept Putin afloat with enormous amounts of weapons.
Yes, China has made sure to get paid well, but if they had not assisted Russia at all, that country would have been in serious trouble now.
Of course, Europe still buys a lot from Russia even if it is starting to tighten up, and then we sell the components Russia needs for its arms industry, which they buy with the EUR we have just paid them for what we have just bought from them.
But China has done much more than that – they are an active part in the war and handle some rear functions.
I maintain that the USA will do what is good for the USA in the future, apparently they feel strong enough not to feel the need to build a coalition against China, which I thought would result from this – and that’s why I suspect that Russia, China, and the USA have a loose agreement where all three want a weak Europe.
Trump’s plan for Greenland is quite simple – exploit the existing agreements and strengthen Greenland militarily without Europe being able to say anything.
If he wants, they will surely start buying up land in Greenland for exploitation and then over time buy their way to the permits without Denmark being able to do much – do not underestimate the power of bribes.
Greenland seems to be on their radar now anyway, and I understand why – “rare earth minerals” which have become the collective term for what is needed in the ground for industry.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the USA soon makes a big move in Africa and snatches it right in front of our eyes – that’s what I would do.
Zelensky has repeatedly asked Europe to wake up – yes, we in Europe have a long and fine tradition of doing nothing, hoping for the best, and then getting run over, Lex 1940.
We were completely unable to handle the Yugoslav crisis ourselves, and the USA had to sort it out for us, BUT these were the symptoms of the disease after the Cold War where the USA and the Soviet Union actively worked to pacify us.
As I said, Italy was wavering, and according to the Italians here at work, both the USA and the Soviet Union divided Italy, which is why they have been the number one banana republic for all these years and countless funny Italian stories beyond the Norwegian ones. Now they are starting to get their act together under Meloni, and I understand that they do quite a bit of business worldwide even though they are incredibly difficult to deal with – my Sicilian boss has a moral compass made of spaghetti.
Now Zelensky has spoken out clearly and said that Europe has done nothing for 4 years, which is somewhat of a record. He is not entirely wrong because we have reached a point where sitting politicians have awarded huge contracts to the arms industry for outrageously expensive weapon platforms in a situation where drones for a few hundred bucks outperform them every day of the week, but the bribes are too attractive.
We need a tangible deployable defense force of 3 million points – that’s what the man in Ukraine who knows exactly what is needed says.
In the tough questions, the EU is completely incapable of making the tough decisions so far.
The mid-segment needs to organize itself as Carney says – you can quickly see that it will be the EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and a few others who are closest relatives, with another ring of countries willing to approach us – this is a good group but we must offer security.
USA’s big mistake was to go after Denmark, if they had googled SAS and Postnord, they would have understood that it is equivalent to national insolvency to try to negotiate with Denmark, but now they did it and we thank the gods for that mistake.
In 2008, the USA managed to make the PIIGS the scapegoats for that crash without shame.
But today, Europe is united in a different way than in 2008, and in the case of Greenland, we suddenly showed something new – we no longer stab each other in the back and are not the friends who betray, even though the Germans immediately went home on the next flight.
Countries like Iceland and Greenland cannot be expected to defend themselves as they have a population of four but are now strategically important for the USA, China, and Russia – and if the EU/Europe wants to maintain its relevance, we may have to send troops there.
Now, I’m not an economist so the speculation below is probably at a very low level, but if the EU manages to stand up to the USA by setting some boundaries, and if we don’t let Russia deliver its black swan to Europe – isn’t there a possibility that the financial sector sees it as a strength this time?
Europe is apparently the third largest holder of US government debt, for example, and if we want the USA to take the full hit in the upcoming financial crash, we should start dumping it at the right time, right?
Because if the EUR is seen as a safe haven when things get rough and the EU provides security, then capital will flow to us instead of to the USA.
It won’t flow to China, those who have tried to buy Chinese government debt know it’s tricky, and capital has probably already started to leave.
I would prefer to see a united USA+EU against Russia+China, but since 2022 the USA has shown a strong willingness to not let things go too bad for Russia, so security-wise we are on a collision course with them – what’s good for the USA is not good for Europe.
And now it’s clear that the USA is trying to stir up financial turmoil in Europe just in time for the financial crash, as the latest rounds of tariff threats have been directed towards us and not China. Russia has been exempted the whole time, of course.
Europe can also stop buying from China and bring back manufacturing, and we can exclusively buy our raw materials/natural resources from Greenland, Canada, and Africa.
Forgot about Ukraine, which also has rich black soil under its feet with everything we need + an incredibly strong industry and entrepreneurial culture.
How long do you think the BRIICS and China will survive if no one buys their products?
Everything has a limit, but has it been reached yet – and can it be reached, or is the EU infinitely flexible?
China and Russia will fight us tooth and nail, we’ll have to wait and see what the USA does.
Now, onto point two – the Ukraine war has already boosted the arms industry and Europe has risen. What you are seeing now is the embryo of the EU putting on a team jersey and trying to uphold an international rule-based order by arming ourselves so that when we say stop, the despots understand that continuing means JDAMS – can we get there?
Since the EU is a mosaic of countries, it suggests that it could work – no single person can make decisions without them being voted on, provided that the EU doesn’t become completely centralized with a strong leader at the top.
One point worth making – if you have no power, you can’t protect your friends, or yourself.
Or maybe extremist parties in Europe will rise to power and then we’ll decide to colonize Africa again.
Anyway – what an absolutely golden opportunity to bring in Ukraine, Iceland, Canada, and Moldova into the EU and then start building up our own production within the union. These countries have all the natural resources we could possibly need.
We have already turned towards Africa – Angola, for example, and that’s the right decision.
The only really tough decision Europe needs to make is to support Ukraine to the hilt – currently, Zelensky has announced that some kind of peace deal is in the works with the USA, which is highly unfortunate.
But if Ukraine believes it’s the best option on the table, then maybe Europe hasn’t shown its unequivocal support for Ukraine in action?
At least, that’s what Zelensky is saying now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cjrzjqg8dlwt
The battle for the world order is ongoing until the year +2100, and Europe has to choose between submitting or rising up.
Four years is too long, and if we manage the feat of Ukraine getting tired and doing what’s best for them when we didn’t listen, we’ll have only ourselves to blame, and according to Zelensky, we’re almost there now.
Is there a world order where Russia, China, and the USA are the major players and Europe continues to do as we have since 2022 – being divided, weak, and afraid?
Yes, if Ukraine agrees to a ceasefire and goes back to the USA, we’ll be there – a ceasefire is the worst thing that can happen to Europe, but if we don’t fight for something else, we’ll end up there sooner or later.
Don't forget to donate, Ukraine's cause is ours! Support Ukraine!
Russian losses in Ukraine:
SLAVA UKRAINI
AFU reports:
Instead of bringing home the production of low technology and pure garbage, we should probably stop buying Chinese and maybe encourage more stable parts of Africa to start manufacturing for us (and the rest of the world that buys Chinese junk). Win win.
Outsourcing in general is the problem. The power of innovation (which Merz touches upon, see my comment below) lies in owning the production. So far, only the “demented orange”* has understood that, and brought the production back to the USA.
*Common nickname for Donald Trump among the doctors in the comments section on the other blog.
It’s a lot more complicated than that if you look at it purely economically.
If domestic production leads to prices being 2-3 times more expensive compared to importing from low-wage countries, it is economically foolish to produce it yourself.
On one hand, you won’t be able to export because you are too expensive, and on the other hand, it leads to increased costs for consumers, which ultimately increases inflation and hinders growth.
A country should ideally produce what they are among the best at and can compete with.
It can be superior technology, best design, low prices, etc.
Of course, geopolitics, values, and security also come into play for different products and industries.
But believing that the best course of action is to bring back all production regardless of what it is is completely wrong and will only lower the economy and impair competitiveness.
Building up industries to start manufacturing simple products with low added value would be a step backward, and there is no point in it other than from a security perspective.
When it comes to China, I am convinced that it would be much better to try to find (and support) other partners who can deliver.
Even more important is probably that we invest more in innovation, technology, design, and even brands, etc., so we own the top of the supply chain where the biggest money is.
Then we need to focus more on becoming better at automation and processes.
It could end up that we can produce certain things cheaper than China.
They are still very dependent on low wages, when they rise, their competitiveness will decrease, and if we are more efficient, we can beat them. But then we must first become better at automation, and the downside is that it doesn’t lead to significantly more job opportunities.
And how can we improve automation of a production that we have no clue about?
I know from my own experience that SAAB houses the development of automation of carbon fiber production, an otherwise very labor-intensive production process. I have visited the facility myself. Outsourcing the carbon fiber production of JAS components to China for the time being? The same question can be asked about Volvo? Or by the way…
And if you haven’t read Johan’s latest days and speeches at WEF. Just like the USA does what is best for the USA, China does what is best for China, Europe should do what is best for Europe. So the question is then, shouldn’t Africa (AU) do what is best for Africa? And do you mean that what is best for Africa is to engage in low value-added production, or as Umlaut puts it “low technology”. There is no such thing as that! Everything can be done better and more advanced. Just look at nanotechnology which is used today to make “low-tech” solar cells more efficient.
I think it’s you who doesn’t see the complexity of the issue.
2012 (English)Included in: Proceedings of the 5th International Swedish Production Symposium / [ed] Mats Björkman, 2012, p. 523-531Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other scientific)
Abstract [en]
The use of carbon composites has continuously increased in the commercial aircraft industry due to more challenging weight targets which is one way to handle the environmental requirements to lower the CO2 emissions. One aircraft structure component made at Saab Aerostructures is long and slender U-sections manufactured in carbon composites. The manufacturing is performed by manual layup of composite material. These U-sections are selected as an illustrative case in order to discuss possibilities for an automated manufacturing process with the aim to reduce cost. A literature review of different existing technologies have been performed and compared with the industrial front at Saab Aerostructures. Automated Tape Laying (ATL) and Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) are the two dominating automation methods, of today, for aircraft prepreg manufacturing. Both methods are heavy investments for small to medium size composite manufacturers. Analysis in the case has shown that the selected component cannot be automated with these two methods due to design constrains. The paper suggests that another automated method with a cutting machine in combination with an industrial robot with a vacuum gripper, is selected for further work. The proposed pick and place process is also assumed to reduce the material waste.
Sweden was the world’s second largest shipbuilding nation (after Japan) and Gothenburg the world’s largest shipbuilding city in the 1950s-1970s. Today, there is a newbuilding yard left in Karlskrona because AB Statsföretag took over to save the marine part. Some repair yards remain, including in Landskrona and Falkenberg. Cheaper to build in China and South Korea. Even Japan has had to close down many shipyards.
And the most low-tech of all, processing in the early stages of the supply chain, is located in China today. Dangerously close, inaccessible for our own production. Keep shooting ourselves in the foot!
Merz 🇩🇪 read the ten-point list, 10.
“German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers what may be the most crucial message for Europe’s future during the World Economic Forum in Davos:
“Both Germany and Europe have squandered enormous growth potential by stifling entrepreneurial freedom and personal responsibility. We will change that now. Security and predictability must take precedence over overregulation. The internal market was created to be the world’s most competitive economic area, but instead we have become world champions in bureaucracy. That must come to an end.”
This is the awakening that our continent so desperately needs. Merz’s uncompromising identification of overregulation as Europe’s biggest growth brake is incredibly positive. Now Europe is finally forced to rediscover its competitiveness, and it is crucial that we continue on this path. It is high time that we let growth and innovation take precedence over administrative control.
We who love Europe wholeheartedly support this.”
10. Release the boards and stop micromanaging states in small matters but expand cooperation in major issues and let countries take the lead. For example, the northern flank where Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, and the Baltic states together with Ukraine through JEF (and the Netherlands + UK) will take over the guard duty against Russia in the future, and the EU will pay.
https://johanno1.se/sv/sista-analysen-av-trump-et-al-21-januari-2026/
🎥 Merz’s speech at WEF https://x.com/hwlinvest/status/2014397965016666285?s=46
I wonder if anyone has explained to Trump what could happen if the world starts dumping American government bonds?
Japan, Europe + UK + Norway together hold around 3,600 – 3,900 billion USD.
In relation to the total national debt, this is about 10%, which amounts to ~38,000 billion USD.
Foreign investors account for approximately 25-30% of the total. Therefore, Americans themselves account for the majority.
If many start selling, they will be forced to raise bond interest rates to attract new buyers, which in turn increases the costs of their massive national debt.
If foreign investors withdraw, it means that Americans themselves will have to buy more.
This means that the costs of the national debt will increase (higher interest rates) and even more capital in the USA will be tied up in bonds instead of being invested in companies (and jobs).
If bond interest rates rise, the interest rates for regular loans will also have to follow suit, even if the base rate remains the same (or decreases).
So, interest costs will negatively impact growth and at the same time drive up inflation (in addition to the costs of the national debt). Higher inflation is likely to lead to an increased base rate in the long run, further exacerbating the situation.
Completely independent of how the US economy is doing otherwise, the world can really cause a lot of trouble if everyone decides to act against the USA.
—
“Trump threatens retaliation if Europe dumps government bonds
A strong response awaits from the USA if Europe dumps American government bonds, says Donald Trump to Fox News.
In recent days, reports have emerged that several European institutions have started selling off their holdings in American government bonds. For example, Sweden’s largest pension fund Alecta has sold holdings worth almost 80 billion Swedish kronor in the past year.
– If it happens, there will be strong reprisals from our side, and we hold all the cards, says Trump to Fox Business News during the World Economic Forum.”
https://omni.se/trump-vi-ska-hamnas-om-europa-fortsatter-salja-amerikanska-innehav/a/V6qWL4
—
The Norwegian Oil Fund has a fairly large holding and is considering utilizing it.
“The Oil Fund owns American stocks and government bonds worth around 10,000 billion Norwegian kroner. The country should consider using the assets as leverage in negotiations with Donald Trump, says Sparebank’s chief economist Kyrre Knudsen to the Norwegian DN.
– If we start selling them, that’s what would hurt Trump the most. Then he will have trouble financing the gigantic American deficit.”
https://omni.se/ekonom-vill-vanda-oljefonden-mot-usa-skulle-smarta-mest/a/16B11W
Clarification.
It’s probably not so much about selling off holdings, it’s probably more about stopping buying new ones when the old ones expire.
If the global market starts doubting the USA as a stable investment, that’s what will happen.
If you sell off, you risk losing yourself because if interest is low to buy, you risk getting underpaid. It’s the new bonds that the USA is forced to raise interest rates on to attract buyers.
So I don’t believe in any massive sell-offs (even though it can be threatened), but rather a halt to new investments.
This is what the USA will defend with all available means – gloves off
N Slobozhansky-Kursk 3
S Slobozhansky 12💥↗️
Kupyansk 10💥
Lyman 5
Slovyansk 1
Kramatorsk 7↗️
Kostjantynivka 20💥↗️
Pokrovsk 92💥💥💥💥↗️↗️
Oleksandrivskij 12💥↗️
Huliaipole 37💥💥
Orikhivsk 1
Prydniprovskij/Dnipro 1
Sum sectors 201↗️↗️
Unlocalized 21↘️
Total 222↗️↗️
👍
Should one interpret this as the Russians having now started their much talked about anniversary offensive against Pokrovsk after having gathered strength for a while?
It started in earnest the other day in Pokrovsk, Huliaipol, now in full swing.
In this case, I thought it was good that he drove a TACO, on the other hand, he can change his mind again next week.
“When Donald Trump backed down from his latest tariff threat against European countries after Tuesday’s stock market fall in the USA, it strengthens the image of the pattern that investors call Taco (Trump always chickens out). That’s what experts interviewed by FT believe.
– The Taco thinking is now deeply rooted in the markets, says Ninety One’s portfolio manager Jason Bobora-Sheen to the newspaper.
The fact that investors increasingly overlook the president’s most drastic statements increases the risk that the markets one day underestimate a real threat and react too late, he emphasizes.”
https://omni.se/taco-teorin-starks-efter-trumps-senaste-u-svang/a/OkQLwk
Sooner or later he will strike
“A trilateral peace talk between the USA, Russia, and Ukraine is set to take place in Abu Dhabi on Friday, as reported by several media outlets.
This is confirmed after the USA’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin overnight in a meeting that lasted for several hours.
What the parties have agreed on has not been disclosed, as reported by The Guardian.”
Hmmm 😐
Off-Topic, Trump
😂
“Donald Trump believes that the opinion polls conducted by the New York Times in collaboration with Siena University are always “enormously negative” towards him and therefore is suing the newspaper, he announces on Truth Social.
The lawsuit is added to the president’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against the newspaper. He also claims without evidence that the polls are rigged in favor of the Democrats, especially ahead of last year’s election.
“They will be held fully accountable for all of their radical left lies and abuse of power,” he writes.
Just like many other opinion polls, the NYT/Siena polls ahead of the 2024 presidential election showed close numbers between Trump and Harris, which also reflected the final election result.”
https://omni.se/trump-stammer-nyt-s-oppionsundersokningar/a/j0B639
good source of income
💥🔥👍✊
“Ukrainian drones hit the Penzanefteprodukt oil depot in Penza overnight, local residents report.”
https://bsky.app/profile/wartranslated.bsky.social/post/3md3bwlqrxk2l
“❗️🇺🇦Ukrainian troops from the 67th Mechanized Brigade are destroying camouflaged 🇷🇺Russian artillery using heavy drones.”
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3md3bhap4322w
“🇺🇦 Ukrainian Air Defence shot down or suppressed 76/101 drones!”
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3md3bennh5k2h
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6y3honhec2jch2ryrbuyx5a5/bafkreigivul3zn6noxg5ban7p3mziwurddbd6pr5cu6yk35v53pg5c5q5y@jpeg“
😥🤬
“Combined Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih lasted about 25 hours. Russia was attacking infrastructure, using over 70 drones and a ballistic missile. Thousands of people are without electricity. Water supply is working on generators. Three children and four adults injured.”
https://bsky.app/profile/antongerashchenko.bsky.social/post/3md3aveifos2j
🇮🇷 🇺🇸 🇨🇳
⚠️ 🐦 Posting this for those who don’t want to wait for someone to find it on BSKY or other media. 🐦 ⚠️ *
It is estimated over 80 plus US and British airforce aircraft are now in the Middle East with more arriving every day.
https://x.com/warmonitor3/status/2014504077908980169?s=46
BREAKING 🇮🇷🇨🇳
In just 56 hours, 16 Chinese military transport aircraft have landed in Iran marking the largest Chinese airlift to the country in such a short timeframe.
China is openly backing Iran.
What are they preparing for? The world can only speculate. 👀✈️
https://x.com/warsurveillance/status/2014257296256401621?s=46
* The warning could of course have been about China’s entry into the situation, but we have to prioritize.. *
Interesting, we’ll see if it’s true and what it leads to.
I saw it with the Chinese – interesting.
The British typhoon is in Qatar so the altitude seems to have been sent
is now more in Mena than during the gold wars 🧐
And where is the EU’s fleet, air force? The rest of Europe? 🙈 🙉 🙊
“Ukraine’s 77th Airmobile Brigade released footage showing the destruction of a Russian artillery gun in the Kupyansk sector.”
Off-Topic, Trump’s peace advice
Hadn’t he invited Putin as well?
“These are the 19 countries which have accepted membership of Trump’s pretend United Nations. I’m genuinely asking – if you happened to be detained in any of these countries, in which ones would you expect a fair trial?”
https://bsky.app/profile/twmcltd.bsky.social/post/3mcztmnlpwc2w
BRIICS minus China and Russia 🧐
Do you think China is laughing?
Hmmm – MXT, you usually discuss that a low CO2 footprint is important.
But in today’s comments, you want to outsource production to low-wage countries.
The EU has the lowest CO2 footprint – is it important or not?
Then you answer yourself with robotization and geopolitics.
Aren’t we also paying black wages to undocumented workers throughout Europe that are low?
Doesn’t seem to be possible to get rid of.
But yes, production in Africa is good
The baptism of fire for the EU will be the financial crisis.
🔥 Financial crisis 2008, 🔥 Refugee crisis 2015, 🔥 Pandemic 2020, 🔥 Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 2022.
We live through crises, moving forward! 👍💪
🪱 🪱 🪱
Sanctioned oil tankers this minute. 🔗
The magazine Fokus has an article about what happened around Thyberg’s resignation as national security adviser. For those who may have forgotten him, he was the one who briefly replaced Kristersson’s buddy Landerholm, who had been more than appropriately careless with his actions. I remember that there was some discussion about it here.
Thyberg had to resign after inappropriate images (in some sort of homoerotic context) appeared via email. “The timespan between appointment and email was 33 minutes.”
A “top diplomat” at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was arrested after a raid in his home by the National Task Force. The diplomat who was arrested had created the account that sent the pictures of Thyberg under a false name, not only to Swedish recipients but also to Russian recipients. In the latter case, apparently to addresses belonging to the Duma.
It has been claimed that the arrest of the top diplomat was somehow linked to the work to free journalist Medin from Turkish detention. Fokus’ sources deny this.
The diplomat took his own life a day after being released from custody. Relatives say he claimed he was innocent. I’m not quite sure what that means. It is not specified. Does it mean that he did not create the account?
For me, the story is still about as murky as before. The article seems to be behind a paywall. I tried to open it in an incognito window. Interestingly, the entire article seems to be accessible for a very short time before the paywall kicks in. Someone more knowledgeable about such things might be able to explain.