Alternative Energy Blues

https://youtu.be/_5X_42WasvM The Keiser Report on RT has a good or in depth view of lots of Finance.  They have a gonzo style of reporting that can grow on you. In this episode they're doing a lot of reading and have a very good historic and political study background.  They're pulling up a lot of good sources. I disagree with a lot of what they say.   But they seem careful and deeply engaged in the study of their subjects.  We can't get this on mainstream commercial media.  Their libertarian biases in favor of gold and cryptocurrencies seem personal rather than driven by financial self interest or careerism. https://youtu.be/_5X_42WasvM

From SerpentZA on YouTube 1400 Miles by Train in One Day Published May 10, 2018 Come and find out how it's possible to travel 2300 kms/1400 miles in a single day by train, all the way from the South of China near Hong Kong to the capital, Beijing. https://youtu.be/3uZtRPlUbkA I like this.  The host of the video doesn't varnish the truth.  It's crowded!  But it reminds me of my most recent trip on a plane on a low cost airline in the US.  Chinese travelers seemed to be dressed as well or better than Americans at an airport.  The video host was uncomfortable, but I think I'd be okay. And just a brief glimpse of Beijing.  It actually looks nicer than places near home, immediately around the airports in Houston.  That little area shown of Beijing, (and South China's rail station) definitely looks better than anything you'd see around a bus station in Houston and most cities in Texas or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I'm favorably impressed...

I've noticed many critics of China's Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the New Silk Road.  I'm one of them.    So far, I've seen three different themes critical of China's plans to link the entirety of the Eurasian continent from Beijing to Moscow, from Siberia to Egypt, then throughout Africa by railroads,  highways, and seaports. The standard opposition showing up in mainstream commercial media is one of jealousy of a rising, non-Western, power that's not completely dominated by the United States or a European power. They point out legitimate concerns about bad underlying finance and corruption.  And they write, maybe a little, very little, about bad construction. (Perhaps there's some financial self  interest lurking in that muted criticism?) These mainstream media writers point out the massive, long term, economic and political power grab by the Chinese Communist Party's Sun King, Xi Jinping.  He's spreading the soft power of Chin...