[JustTheNews] Following 1,400 sting operations by 300 investigators across all 50 states, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found many lacked qualified instructors, had fake addresses, and did not properly train prospective drivers for things such as transporting hazardous materials.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said some teachers were licensed or permitted for school buses, not the trucks requiring CDLs they taught students to drive. Some driving instruction was in vehicles not matching the prospective CDL licensure.
No doubt they were training citizens as well as illegal aliens, doubling the crimes they committed as well as abetted.
[RadioFreeAsia] References to Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, the thought of Deng Xiaoping and the ideologies of former presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao have all been deleted from the new edition of the document titled "Working Procedures for the State Council" that was published on official websites on March 18.
Previous references to "administration according to law, seeking truth from facts, democracy, openness, pragmatism and integrity" have gone, as have the requirement for the State Council "to correct illegal or inappropriate administrative actions," or to "guide and supervise" the bureaucracy This is a return to the old imperial system which served China well for thousands of years. Surely it will fall like they all did but China is clearly in the "rise" phase and will continue for another few decades at least.
Dictator isn't really a useful description. The emperor can and has been overthrown by his own counselors before. Most recently by Empress Cixi who imprisoned the emperor and did all those disastrous treaties with western invaders. That's why Shanghai has a French Concession with all that beautiful architecture.
If you ever watched the movie "The Last Emperor" it starts with a scene of a courtier putting a marble in her mouth and when she does not spit it out he declares her deceased and Henry Puyi, the last emperor, takes the throne. Then he becomes a Japanese collaborator and ends up sweeping the street in front of his old residence, the Forbidden City.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous film. I wouldn’t expect that the old mandarin system and training would return — the manners were much too elaborate and the education lacking in everything needed to compete in the modern world. But I wasn’t aware that they’d formally given up all that communism stuff, though informally they’d gone all in on a rapaciously mercantilist capitalist economy with totalitarian politics, ie straight up fascism. I shall have to modify my vocabulary to fit.
#1
"Beijing is using its massive export engine to offset deflationary pressures in its domestic economy—a result of state-induced capital misallocation"
This is what's called state capitalism. Fascism is different. Read Giovanni Gentile.
#2
China is evolving from socialism, where the state owned all the means of production. Now there is private ownership, which is permitted so long as the owners are obedient to the demands of the state —> fascism. The state supports those companies selling to the export market, underwriting predatory pricing below the manufacturer's cost of production to drive foreign competitors out of business. Then once the Chinese suppliers approach monopoly status, they raise their prices to whatever they can get away with. Or pick and choose which of their customers they will or won’t sell to, controlling the fates of their customers.
So yes, offsetting deflationary pressures is part of the government’s objective, but the other part is controlling who will survive and who thrive, both at home and abroad.
#5
Not news exactly (from 2023), but interesting background for what's happening.
Posted by: James the lesser ||
03/02/2026 11:26 Comments ||
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#6
So when Xi becomes an emperor it won't matter whether his ideology matches Mao, Marx, Lenin or even Hitler. He can just dictate whatever he wants. Does he have a son who will inherit the imperial throne?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/02/2026 13:29 Comments ||
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#7
Cool, so we won't call them the CCP anymore?
China is not communist. Now, maybe, it's kinda sorta formalized.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2026 19:26 Comments ||
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#10
Giovanni "Il Akshuallisto"
Sat down with his pal for a feast.
"Oh, 'tis true Chinese food
Fit for two right wing dudes!"
Peking: "Duck, you Canuck communista, er, -o!"
[NBCnews] U.S. crude oil soared 12%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, surged 14% after trading began at 6 p.m. ET. Sunday.
Even before the weekend's escalation, oil prices had risen 17% this year off President Donald Trump's ramped-up rhetoric against the Iranian regime. The Trump administration has also ratcheted up sanctions on Iran in recent months.
While Iran's oil production is estimated to be less than 5% of global output; most of which goes to China because of U.S. sanctions; it has major influence over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway for more than 20% of the world's daily oil demand.
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Probably will take a few weeks to come down again.
Gold, the dollar and Treasury instruments will be up this week.
It's all an evil Musk scheme to sell more EV's. More from NBC coming soon.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/02/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1801 views]
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#1
Stocks started out -1-2% but have come back
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/02/2026 13:46 Comments ||
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#2
Gas was going up anyway. It’s time for summer blends.
#7
an example of plummeting prices for gasoline was in 2020 as Covid hit
In Jan that year the average USA price was about $2.60 By May it was 2.30 and by April 1.95.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/02/2026 20:12 Comments ||
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#8
Re #5: NN21, that's one thing I've never understood. Why, whe something happens in the Mideast that causes oil prices to shoot up, prices at the pump immediately shoot up here. Yet, when things calm down and prices in the Mideast stabilize, it takes weeks for prices here to drop. The explanation seems to be that it takes that long for oil to get here.
#9
I imagine that the price shoots up immediately so the gas station owners can afford the expected upcharge on the next shipment, Rambler, while the price drop indeed waits for reality to have happened.
[ZeroHedge] Tensions in international trade policy are escalating on multiple fronts. After the U.S. Supreme Court initially declared the tariff regime implemented by President Donald Trump since April of last year unlawful, it appears the administration has explored new ways to stabilize its tariff policy going forward.
The signs on the international trade front continue to point toward turmoil. Not least, it is the ramped-up Chinese export machine that is increasingly in the crosshairs of U.S. protectionism and European defensive measures.
Beijing is using its massive export engine to offset deflationary pressures in its domestic economy—a result of state-induced capital misallocation and a shrinking population. Through export subsidies and other support measures, the government seeks to stabilize employment while boosting industrial production.
However, this comes at the expense of trade margins and production capacities in other countries, which increasingly fall behind in competition with China.
It was predictable that the still high-purchasing-power internal market of the European Union would attract attention, given the U.S.'s hardline approach. Europe risks becoming a de facto unloading hub for Chinese goods. The consequences are evident in the trade balance, which recorded a deficit of €305 billion for the EU economy last year.
Weakened by its own energy policy and the regulatory framework of the green transition, European manufacturers in nearly all industrial and consumer sectors face the global competitive arena with their backs to the wall. The ongoing deindustrialization has significantly contributed to many European business models losing ground in international competition.
Germany, in particular, appears as a sort of laboratory experiment: in trade with China, the country has now become a net importer of capital. The former know-how advantage of German engineering is no longer unassailable—it seems to be history.
European policymakers now appear determined to pursue a path of protectionism themselves.
On February 7, 2026, the European Commission adopted Regulation 2026/274, responding to the Chinese export surge with anti-dumping tariffs. The first targeted product group: ceramic and porcelain imports. Around 60% of the assortments in European e-commerce and physical retail come from Chinese production. Tariffs within this group were raised from 18–36% to a consolidated 79%.
The affected products include, among others, tableware and kitchen items made of ceramic, porcelain, and stoneware originating from China. This also includes items such as spice grinders, coffee mills, and pizza stones. The new tariff regime is set to last initially for five years.
The Commission acted without involving national parliaments—mirroring the approach frequently criticized when applied to U.S. President Donald Trump, particularly in trade matters. In precisely those instances where Brussels regularly demands transparency, multilateralism, and rule-based procedures, it now itself takes unilateral executive action. Viewed in this light, criticism of Trump’s unilateralism appears profoundly hypocritical.
The Commission’s executive action reflects a rather elastic interpretation of its mandate. Should it identify dumping practices by trade partners—as in this case—it may impose corresponding tariffs. Neither the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, nor national governments are involved in this process—a clear indication of growing concentration of power in Brussels.
The consequences of this tariff move—which is likely to expand to additional product groups—impact not only Chinese exporters but also European traders. They report liquidity shortfalls, rising insolvency risks, and significant challenges in compensating pre-financed transactions. The interests of European consumers evidently play no role in Brussels’ decisions.
Should further categories such as e-bikes, auto parts, or tires be added, as is currently rumored, this could have tangible effects on consumer prices across the EU. Moreover, the tariffs apply retroactively to ongoing shipments, further exacerbating the financial strain on European traders.
Brussels’ drastic response indicates that parts of European industry are under severe pressure from Chinese imports—and that the escalation in trade policy has now reached a new level.
So far, the Chinese leadership has not reacted to Brussels’ tariff measures. Chancellor Friedrich Merz may place trade issues at the forefront during his visit to China from February 24–26, where he is also expected to meet President Xi Jinping.
[JustTheNews] The Clinton campaign lawyer who helped fund British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier pushing baseless claims of Trump-Russia collusion in 2016 joined other Democrats in denying confirmed Iranian election influence efforts in 2020 and 2024 aimed at denigrating President Donald Trump, calling it a “Big Lie.”
Marc Elias and other Democrats pushed baseless Trump-Russia collusion claims in 2016. Now they are denying that Iran sought to meddle in the 2020 and 2024 elections to hurt Trump.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
