Did the Apostle Thomas Travel All the Way to India?

 From The Collector:

The New Testament’s depiction of Jesus’s disciple Thomas has given him the nickname “Doubting Thomas.” Yet, ironically, according to church tradition Thomas’s faith in the risen Christ drove him to evangelize a greater distance from Palestine than even the Apostle Paul reached in his storied missionary journeys in Anatolia and Europe. Thomas may have gone as far as South India with the Christian gospel, establishing multiple churches along the way and eventually dying as a martyr on Indian soil.

When reconstructing the histories of ancient Christian figures like Thomas, historians often must rely on sources that contain legendary material. This is partly why it is customary to qualify historical claims with phrases like “according to tradition.” 

A key source for the life of Thomas is an early third-century work entitled The Acts of Thomas. This work is counted among the many pseudepigraphical narratives about the infancy years of Christianity, which tend to contain accounts deemed unreliable by modern historiographical standards. While The Acts of Thomas’s historical value is compromised as a result, the fact that a document about Thomas’s activities in India was being read in the third century suggests that both Thomas’s ministry and the backstory of the church in India were of interest to Christians in the early church. Ancient Christian writers from diverse areas also wrote of Thomas’s ministry in India. (Read more.)

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The Art of the Tariff

 From Tierney's Real News:

Trump is not going to Beijing empty-handed. He is bringing a delegation that includes leaders like Tim Cook from Apple, Elon Musk from Tesla, Larry Fink of BlackRock, and executives from Blackstone, Boeing, Cargill, Citigroup, Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, Illumina, Mastercard, Meta, Micron Technology, Qualcomm and Visa. That is deliberate. Scott Bessent will be by his side. That is strategic.

The stick consists of using legally durable Section 301 tariffs targeting China’s core industrial strategy.

The carrot offers an immediate economic upside through purchase agreements, market access, and regulatory stability.

For China, the message is simple. If they cooperate, they stabilize their export machine. If they resist, they face tariffs that are far harder to challenge or delay. (Read more.)

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What Americans Can Learn From China’s Dating Hellscape

 From Chronicles:

In a Substack post titled, “You Are Not the One—Chinese Dating Dystopia,” a writer using the pseudonym Terminally_Drifting describes a dating crisis so deep and extensive that even the word “dystopia” seems like an understatement. The essay centers on a young single man, Wang Wei, an unremarkable worker at an iPhone factory who cannot find a girlfriend and spends his nights (and disposable income) watching an e-girl play on her phone, answering questions from fans, and giving shoutouts to men who send her money.

Apparently, Wei is just one among millions of excess men (sex-selective abortions have resulted in men now greatly outnumbering women in China) who will never have a wife and kids.

Even so, love and marriage should at least be possible for a man like Wei, right? Maybe he just needs to introduce himself to a girl he likes, court her, and persuade her to build a life with him? As Terminally_Drifting  explains, however, romance as such does not exist in China today. Finding a spouse has everything to do with material assets and nothing to do with real affection. This means that Wei will never find a wife “because the price of being considered eligible in his home province requires a car (minimum 80,000 RMB), an apartment (minimum 200,000 RMB down payment), and a caili, a bride price, that in rural Henan currently averages around 188,000 RMB,” and his “annual salary is approximately 42,000 RMB.”

Worse still, Wei’s mother tries to help her son by visiting the People’s Park in Shanghai and posting his personal information on an umbrella, where other concerned parents might look for a match. Sadly, this strategy rarely bears fruit and is undertaken mostly to make mothers feel like they are doing something to help.

For its part, the Chinese government appears aware of this issue and has sought to mitigate it through increased censorship, regulation, and propaganda. Evidently, a nationwide public meltdown threatened to overturn the country when a girl on a popular dating show rejected a guy because he was too poor. The government flew into action, condemned the girl, and set new parameters so that poorer men had a better chance on the show. Additionally, it has imposed restrictions on online gifts to e-girls and the time spent watching them. It even tried shaming women into marriage by warning them about the supposed growing number of old spinsters who regret their decision not to marry—all of which is pure fabrication in China. (Read more.)

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Why Did The Biden Administration Cover Up Intelligence On Chinese Interference With Our Elections?

 From AND Magazine:

Solomon’s report is based on a 7 April 2020 National Intelligence Council Assessment. That report reads in part:

“We assess that China and Russia are increasing their ability to analyze and manipulate large quantities of personal information in ways that will allow them to more effectively target and influence, or coerce, individuals and groups in the United States and allied countries. Their cyber espionage efforts have helped them acquire bulk data.”

“Adversaries almost certainly are already applying data-analysis techniques to hone their efforts against US targets.’

“Chinese intelligence officials analyzed multiple US states (redacted) election voter registration data…”

This is particularly troubling because the date of this report dovetails with the cover-up of the actions of the Chinese-affiliated election service company Konnech. In 2022, the election security firm True the Vote broke the story that a company called Konnech in Michigan was storing data on American election workers on servers in China. True the Vote leaders Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips were, of course, ridiculed by the so-called mainstream press. Then, Los Angeles arrested the head of Konnech and charged him with violations of U.S. laws on the handling of personally identifiable information by storing it on servers in China.

The ridicule stopped. Even the New York Times had to issue a retraction.

Then more information came in, and the picture got a lot worse.

Konnech wasn’t just storing data in China. Konnech was using contractors inside China to do work in the United States on American election systems. This is the exact language in the criminal complaint filed by Los Angeles.

“On or about October 10, 2019, through October 4, 2022, Eugene Yu and other employees at Konnech, Inc. were providing these services to Los Angeles County using third-party contractors based in China.

“…Konnech employees known and unknown sent personal identifying information of Los Angeles County election workers to third-party software developers who assisted with creating and fixing Konnech’s internal ‘PollChief’ software.”

(Read more.)

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America’s Top Retired Generals In Beijing Conference

 From Natalie Winters:

The most consequential name on the participant list was Admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and once the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military.

From a United Front perspective, Mullen is the ideal validator. He no longer sets policy, but his stature remains intact. His participation in a CUSEF-supported forum allows Beijing to project an image of strategic parity — suggesting that even America’s former top military commander views engagement on CCP-curated terms as legitimate.

This is not about what Mullen said in the room. It’s about what his presence communicates. United Front work operates on symbolism and access. A retired four-star admiral in Beijing signals credibility to Chinese audiences, international partners, and wavering elites abroad. (Read more.)

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Badass

 From James Howard Kunstler:

The capture of Nicolás Maduro is driving the Lefty-left batshit crazy for a very good reason: it portends the extinction of their financial life-support, since Señor Maduro used his country as a money laundry for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and, in turn, cartel drug money, to funnel gazillions through Cuba to America’s Democratic Party and its political satellites. Not even George and Alex Soros can fill that hole.

For a nearly failed state, Cuba has been able to exert undue influence on US political life through the decades. Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles was trained-up in Marxist revolution there in the 1970s and traveled to Cuba many times during her stint in Congress. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal dropped into Havana during the last election year. NGOs such as the Center for Democracy in the Americas act as distribution nodes for money that comes through Cuba and supports Lefty-left activists around the USA. Don’t be surprised if a lot of this laundered money ended up in the bank accounts of US congresspersons and senators, too. Remember this when you watch them howl on your screens. (Read more.)

 

From Tierney's Real News:

Dear America,

Here’s a question for everyone who hates Donald Trump, and I ask it with genuine curiosity and just a touch of smug clarity:

So tell me, what would you do? Because so far, all I hear is outrage with no operating instructions.

You inherit a country with $30+ trillion in debt, a border that was effectively unenforced for decades, trade deals that hollowed out manufacturing towns, endless foreign wars with no victory conditions, NATO allies who openly admitted they weren’t paying their share, a federal bureaucracy that outlives presidents, and a media class that abandoned neutrality a long time ago.

Those are facts. Not vibes. Not opinions.

Now answer the question.

Do you renegotiate trade deals and bring jobs back knowing Wall Street will scream? Or do you keep the status quo and call it “global cooperation”?

Do you pressure NATO allies to finally pay their bills, something they later admitted they did because of Trump, or do you keep sending American money so no one calls you rude?

Do you enforce existing immigration law, which Congress already passed, and accept the media hysteria? Or do you selectively ignore the law and pretend that’s compassion?

Do you pull troops out of endless wars and get accused of abandoning allies, or keep Americans dying indefinitely because withdrawal looks messy?

Do you confront a bureaucracy that slow-walks orders and leaks to the press, or do you pretend that unelected agencies undermining elected authority is just “how government works”?

And now let’s add the newest example everyone’s suddenly hyperventilating over: What do you do with Maduro?

A narco-trafficking dictator with a U.S. arrest warrant. A man who ran his country into the ground, starved his people, crushed dissent, and turned Venezuela into a cartel-run failed state.

Do you: Look the other way because “international norms”? Issue strongly worded statements while people suffer? Or do you take him into custody, put him on a plane, and let a federal court handle it, like we do with criminals?

Because that’s what leadership looks like.

This isn’t “running Venezuela for oil.” This isn’t imperialism. This isn’t some Marvel-villain fantasy. It’s law enforcement at the international level, something we used to understand before performative outrage replaced common sense.

And notice the irony: Venezuelans are dancing in the streets, while the left are losing their minds from their couches screaming about legality. (Read more.)

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Codifying America's Defense

 From Tierney's Real News:

The Senate passed a $900 BILLION defense policy bill by a 77–20 vote, codifying much of President Trump’s security agenda and implementing the largest military acquisition overhaul in decades. The bill funds new submarines, fighter jets, munitions and drones and codifies 15 Trump EOs on military reform, border security, and DEI elimination.

It provides a 3.8% pay raise for military personnel—the largest in years—along with quality-of-life improvements such as better housing and expanded family support, directly benefiting active-duty troops and their families.

President Trump also announced a one-time $1,776 "warrior dividend" payment to eligible U.S. military personnel (E-1 to O-6 and certain reserves) as a holiday bonus which was already funded. The payment honors 1776 and targets about 1.45 million service members on active duty as of November 30, 2025, and will be disbursed by late December.

The defense bill streamlines weapons procurement to deliver submarines, fighter jets, drones, and munitions faster and more cost-effectively, enhancing readiness against threats like China while saving taxpayer dollars by cutting “red tape.”

“The bill sets us on a path to modernize our defense capabilities and expand our drone manufacturing, shipbuilding efforts, and the development of innovative low-cost weapons,” to compete with Russia and Communist China. (Read more.)

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How Did the Han and Tang Dynasties Help Establish the Silk Road?

 From The Collector:

The Silk Road was a web of trade routes that spanned from about 138 BCE to around 1453 CE that enabled the flow of trade items and cultures between North Africa, parts of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. First established by China’s Han dynasty and later revived by the Tang dynasty, it is widely referred to as the first artery of global exchange because of the influence it had on Eastern and Western cultural, economic, and governance systems.

 The Han Dynasty led by Emperor Wu initially established the Silk Road as it sought to trade with regions in the West. Unfortunately, it faced constant threats from nomadic tribes. To overcome the problem, Wu sought to engage in diplomacy and extensive military campaigns. And so he dispatched an envoy, Zhang Qian, to forge alliances against the formidable Xiongnu confederation of nomadic groups that hindered the expansion of the trade routes. In 138 BCE, the Han envoy Zhang Qian undertook a mission to the Western Regions that provided invaluable intelligence. His first mission is considered to be the initial foundation of the Silk Road. 

On his second mission in 119 BCE, he established the first diplomatic ties with kingdoms such as Wusun through the exchange of items such as gold and silk. Soon, the Han Dynasty’s military was able to advance into the Hexi Corridor and Tarim Basin, creating the security needed for trade to flourish. This was achieved through major military attacks that defeated the Xiongnu and pushed them from the Hexi Corridor. The corridor harbored a key route that connected China to the Western Regions. Military bases were set up along the route to secure it. (Read more.)

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'Dreaming Against the World'

 From Mark Judge at Hot Air:

As I have been outlining on Hot Air, we’re planning an Anti-Communist Film Festival in 2026. One of the communist disasters we will be discussing is China’s Cultural Revolution. We would like to show the short documentary Dreaming Against the World. It depicts the life of Mu Xin (1927-2011), a brilliant yet largely forgotten artist of the 20th century. Xin was imprisoned during China’s Cultural Revolution, Mu Xin risked his life to write and paint. Dreaming Against the World tells his story. The documentary portrait filmed on location in China and New York by filmmakers Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello has been nominated for Academy Awards. 

Taking place from 1966-1976, the Cultural Revolution was the doing of China’s “Great Helmsman,” Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. After the failure of Mao’s economic Great Leap Forward, a program of agricultural collectivization that resulted in tens of millions of deaths, Mao saw the Cultural Revolution as a way to finally set things right. As Whittaker Chambers knew, communists always need a “totalizing solution” to the pain of life. “Our objective is to struggle against and crush those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road ... so as to facilitate the consolidation and development of the socialist system,” Mao said in his “Sixteen Points” declaration of 1966.

    In his book The People’s Revolution: A Cultural History (2016), China expert Frank Dikötter observes that Mao hoped his movement would make China the pinnacle of the socialist universe and make him “the man who leads planet Earth into communism.” When Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin in 1956, Mao took that as a sign of weakness on the part of Khrushchev, a weakness to be exploited by Mao, who saw a clear path to surpassing Stalin himself in greatness. Toward this end, he launched the Cultural Revolution. A flyer from the time outlines the plan:

The whole party must follow Comrade Mao Zedong’s instructions, hold high the great banner of the proletarian Cultural Revolution, thoroughly expose the reactionary bourgeois stand of those so called ‘academic authorities’ who oppose the party and socialism, thoroughly criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois ideas in the sphere of academic work, education, journalism, literature, art and publishing, and seize the leadership in these cultural spheres.

(Read more.)

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The FBI Agent and the Biden CCP Connections

 From AND Magazine:

In light of the current news focus on this story, we thought we would republish our piece from two years ago, in which we laid out all the facts. FBI spyhunter Charlie McGonigal was investigating CEFC China Energy, a Chinese intelligence front company. He determined it was buying African officials on U.S. soil. At the same time, this investigation revealed that CEFC was engaging in the same behavior with the Bidens. McGonigal met with a CEFC employee. He took money. The Africans were prosecuted. The Biden connection was buried. And, a real-life Manchurian Candidate sat down in the Oval Office while the FBI stood by and did nothing. CIA’s China Ops apparently found none of this worth investigating either. (Read more.)

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The Mysorean Ruler Who Battled Britain

 From New Straits Times:

CELEBRITY status doesn't usually last long for world leaders. As long ago as the eighteenth18th century, those few names that were known across the planet endured a little longer. Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan have sunk into obscurity, as has their kingdom.

Mysore only exists as a part of southern-Indian history these days. Karnataka is the modern incarnation and this includes locations which have become more celebrated in recent years for reasons that might have pleased Tipu Sultan.

Everyone in Malaysia with an interest in tech will be familiar with Bangalore (or Bengaluru as it is known in India). This is Asia's Silicon Valley and is apparently growing faster than the sluggish old mothership in California.

Malaysia's connections with southern India have been strong for more than 2,000 years. Now they are even stronger, thanks to the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia's (IAMM) latest exhibition. More than a Day as a Tiger: Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore (1761-99) opened recently and should spark some interest in a kingdom that didn't last long, but almost beat the British as they advanced unstoppably across India 250 years ago. (Read more.)

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Dictator Judge Sanctioned and Other News

 

 

From Tierney's Real News: 

Hamas thinks it can starve and torture Jewish hostages — like Evyatar David — for nearly two years…and record him digging his own grave and the suckers will reward Hamas terrorists with their own state. The problem isn't only Hamas - it’s other Islamo-Communist terrorist groups - and the Deep State, cartels and countries who fund them. It's also the brainwashed world allowing and empowering them. This is what intentional starvation (by Hamas) in Gaza looks like. (Read more.)

 

Trump delivered but the Dems want to cancel his accomplishments. From Amuse on X:

The decision by the US Court of International Trade to strike down President Trump’s use of tariffs as a tool of negotiation is not only deeply flawed in its legal reasoning, it is a case study in judicial myopia. That is a strong charge, and I do not level it lightly. But when a court disregards explicit statutory delegation, ignores Congress’s own votes to preserve executive flexibility, and, in doing so, threatens the gains of successful international negotiations, one is left wondering what, exactly, the judiciary imagines its role to be.

We begin with what is uncontested: the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate foreign commerce. Yet it is equally well established that Congress may delegate aspects of that power to the executive, especially in domains that involve foreign policy, national security, and economic diplomacy. Tariffs, in the Trump administration’s hands, were not a protectionist reflex, but a tool of negotiation, calibrated to pressure allies and rivals into fairer trade arrangements.

The Court claimed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was an insufficient basis for the President’s actions, despite the statute’s sweeping language. Congress gave the executive authority to deal with “unusual and extraordinary threats” to the US economy, and did so with the knowledge that the modern global economy is interconnected, adversarial, and subject to persistent manipulation by state and non-state actors alike. Trump’s identification of the trade deficit and industrial hollowing as national security threats is not merely plausible, it is prescient.

What makes the Court’s ruling especially troubling is its disregard for the practical outcomes of the policy it nullified. In the wake of Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs, the United States successfully concluded trade negotiations with Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and the European Union. These were not symbolic overtures, they were quantifiable wins. China committed to $200 billion in purchases of US goods. The EU pledged $750 billion in energy contracts and $600 billion in industrial investments. The USMCA replaced NAFTA with a more balanced, labor-protective framework. If this is not the proper fruit of diplomatic leverage, what is? (Read more.)

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The Art of the Deal: Japan Pays Upfront, America Builds Now

 From Amuse on X:

Let us begin with the fundamentals. Trade deficits have long haunted American politics, most often serving as cudgels wielded by opposing factions. Economists debate their significance. Politicians weaponize them. Meanwhile, the public rightly senses that an imbalance exists when goods flow in and factories shut down. Traditional trade deals attempt to remedy this by offering future concessions, increased market access, or vague commitments to "level the playing field." But these promises are paper tigers, easily ignored, impossible to enforce. Trump’s Japan deal breaks that pattern by inverting it. Instead of asking for concessions in the future, he demanded compensation upfront: a $550 billion infusion of Japanese capital to finance American infrastructure and industry.

This is a paradigmatic shift. Imagine, if you will, a wealthy guest who has long overstayed their welcome, consuming more than they contribute, finally agreeing to help renovate the house. That is what Japan has agreed to do. Rather than merely apologizing for the trade imbalance, they have provided a signing bonus that allows the US to reinvest in itself, without begging Congress for a dime.

Critics may ask: why would Japan agree to such terms? The answer is simple, and it is twofold. First, Trump’s judicious application of a 15% tariff on Japanese imports, a strategic retreat from higher threatened rates, signaled credible resolve. Second, Japan understands the geopolitical stakes. A strong, self-sufficient United States is the linchpin of Pacific stability. Financing American energy, manufacturing, and AI facilities is not charity. It is insurance against Chinese hegemony. (Read more.)

 

When NASA went woke. Also from Amuse on X:

 In 1969, Neil Armstrong took a single step that echoed across centuries. Today, NASA's Artemis program trudges forward with the bureaucratic gait of a midlevel HR department pushing a PowerPoint on pronouns. How did we get here? The answer, in brief: identity politics. Artemis, the ambitious initiative to return Americans to the Moon, has become less a scientific endeavor and more a case study in the consequences of subordinating competence to quotas.

To be clear, Artemis was not always thus. There was a moment, fleeting, but real, when hope reentered NASA's orbit. That moment bore the name Jared Isaacman. But that moment was reportedly snuffed out by Sergio Gor, the Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, whose personal vendetta against Elon Musk doomed Isaacman's confirmation. Gor's obstruction did more than kill a nomination, it delayed America's lunar ambitions by at least a year, perhaps more. What might have been a renaissance at NASA became another casualty of palace intrigue.

Isaacman, a self-made billionaire, ace pilot, and commander of private orbital missions, represented precisely the kind of energetic, capable, and forward-thinking leadership the Artemis program required. As the founder of Shift4 Payments and architect of the all-civilian Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions, Isaacman had already accomplished feats NASA once deemed impossible. He cut through the red tape. He got Americans into space, efficiently, affordably, safely. He inspired the public. And unlike the ceremonial caretakers of the federal space bureaucracy, he had actually gone to space himself.

His nomination to lead NASA promised a return to merit, innovation, and clarity of purpose. During his confirmation hearings, Isaacman argued that Artemis should be completed "as fast as possible," advocating for near-term pragmatism (using SLS and Orion) but long-term sustainability through commercial partnerships and reusable launch systems. This was no utopian dream, it was the proven SpaceX model adapted to the public sector. Had Isaacman been confirmed, Artemis might have evolved from an aimless spectacle into a galvanizing national achievement. Instead, the Biden holdovers and bureaucratic inertia won. And what we are left with now is the Artemis experiment, not in lunar science, but in DEI. (Read more.)

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New Farm Security Plan

 From Gregg Jarrett:

The Trump Administration has introduced a significant new initiative aimed at strengthening the role of American agriculture in national security. The National Farm Security Action Plan is the latest measure in the “Make Agriculture Great Again” campaign. Announced by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the plan positions agriculture as a vital component in protecting the nation from foreign threats and ensuring the resilience of the U.S. food system.

Secretary Rollins emphasized that the United States not only feeds the world but also leads it, and she affirmed the administration’s resolve never to allow foreign adversaries to control American land, research, or livelihoods. The plan is designed to prioritize American farmers, families, and the nation’s future, reinforcing a strong and secure agricultural sector.

The urgency of this initiative was highlighted by recent incidents, such as the Department of Justice’s prosecution of foreign nationals—including a member of the Chinese Communist Party—who were accused of smuggling a dangerous fungus into the country. This case, which involved a domestic research lab, brought attention to ongoing threats like agroterrorism, foreign acquisition of farmland, theft of agricultural technology, and cyberattacks against food systems. These challenges reveal vulnerabilities in America’s agricultural supply chain and underscore the need for robust protective measures. (Read more.)

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Who is Funding the LA Riots?

 From the Gateway Pundit:

What began as a so-called “spontaneous protest” against ICE enforcement operations in Los Angeles has now been exposed as something far more insidious: a well-funded, coordinated riot, with ties to radical left-wing organizations, government-backed NGOs, and even a billionaire known for pushing Chinese Communist propaganda.

According to a damning exposé by investigative account @DataRepublican, several nonprofit organizations and shadowy political fronts played a pivotal role in igniting the chaos that saw federal officers attacked, flags burned, and city streets blocked.

But what’s more alarming: tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money may have indirectly fueled the unrest. At the center of the funding web is CHIRLA—the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights. Documents reveal the group saw a shocking jump from $12 million to $34 million in government grants in just one year. (Read more.)

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The Farnese Blue

The Farnese Blue

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Princess of Bourbon-Parma and the Farnese Blue

 

Marie-Thérèse de France

 From The Antiques Trade Gazette:

The 6.16 carat pear-shaped fancy dark grey-blue diamond, known as The Farnese Blue has passed down through the Dukes of Parma. Kept secretly in a casket, as its owners negotiated the War of the Spanish succession and the fall of the Habsburg empire, few knew of its existence. It will be offered in Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels in Geneva on May 15 with an estimate of SFr3.5-5m.

Originating in the Golconda diamond mines of India, the stone was originally given to Elisabeth Farnese, the queen of Spain, following her wedding to King Philip V of Spain in Parma in 1714. It then passed through four European royal dynasties - its full history of ownership detailed in an inventory of the family jewels compiled by Maria Anna von Habsburg (1882-1940), Archduchess of Austria. For much of its life it was mounted on a diamond diadem which had belonged Marie-Thérèse de France (1778-1851), the first child of Louis XVI (1754-1793) and Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793) and the only one of their children to survive the French Revolution. (Read more.)

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Trump's AI Diplomacy Is America First

 From Amuse on X:

The criticisms are familiar, almost rehearsed. Congressman Ro Khanna, one of the Democratic Party's reliable progressives, recently asked why President Trump would approve the construction of major AI data centers and research hubs in the United Arab Emirates, rather than planting those high-paying jobs on American soil. "What about Ohio? What about Pennsylvania?" he asked, implying that Trump had traded Rust Belt prosperity for Gulf petro-dollars. At first glance, the critique appeals to patriotic instinct. But its logic is superficial, and its conclusions are wrong.

Trump's AI strategy, particularly his deal with the UAE, is not a betrayal of "America First," but a shrewd fulfillment of it. If we seek American technological dominance, global standards set by US companies, and the marginalization of China's growing AI imperialism, this is the only play.

Let us begin where the critics do: the location of the data centers. While the Abu Dhabi complex has captured headlines, it is not a substitute for domestic investment, but a complement to it. Indeed, Amazon Web Services is investing $1 billion into new AI infrastructure in Ohio. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is actively scouting Pennsylvania, Texas, Oregon, and Wisconsin for sites. Plans are even underway to revive Pennsylvania's shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant, which could soon power data centers throughout the Mid-Atlantic. In other words, these are not either-or decisions. They are both-and. Trump is doing what any good strategist would do: establishing beachheads at home and abroad. (Read more.)

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Markets Soar as Trump Clinches Major Tariff Reduction Agreement with China

 From The Vigilant Fox:

Story #1 - Markets are SOARING after Trump clinched a major tariff reduction agreement with China.

President Trump stood before reporters and announced what he called a “total reset” in U.S.-China relations, marking a seismic shift in global trade.

The deal: both countries will reduce tariffs imposed after April 2 to just 10% for a 90-day cooling-off period while negotiations continue on deeper structural issues.

Trump made it clear: this isn’t about decoupling from China. It’s about leverage, fairness, and smart diplomacy.

The result? A dramatic rally on Wall Street.

The Dow surged over 1,050 points. The S&P 500 jumped 3%. Tech stocks exploded—Meta, Amazon, and Starbucks soared more than 7%, and Tesla climbed over 6%. Even Best Buy, which had warned of tariff-induced price hikes, popped 5%.

Once again, Trump proved he’s the master of negotiation. His bold, high-stakes tactics may look chaotic at first, but in the end, he keeps delivering undeniable results.

Watch as Maria Zeee breaks down the full story. (Read more.)

 

From Tierney's Real News:

Each network, and talking head, is spinning this their own way - and I admit I haven’t spent much time on it - but it sounds to me like China caved and came to the table and Trump gave them a way to save face.

GORDON CHANG: “Trump has given China an historic opportunity to step back from a collision with much of the world. Will a hostile Xi Jinping take advantage of what could be his last off-ramp? President Trump traded relief from our tariffs for China’s promise to open up its economy. The only way Xi Jinping can honor the promise is to give up most elements of communism because predatory trade practices are inherent in that system.”

Let’s see how this plays out.

HOWEVER, what NOBODY is reporting is what I just learned today about an old default in China that Trump is likely using behind the scenes as leverage.

I need to study it more but here's what I just learned about the huge debt that Communist China DEFAULTED on years ago and still owes the American people. I didn't know any of this - did you?

I’m guessing the Trump administration is leveraging this old default to renegotiate our trade agreement with China when no previous US administration has even tried.

Communist China currently owes American investors over one TRILLION dollars. The Chinese government doesn't like to talk about it and the US government apparently doesn't want to raise it, until now. But decades ago, Beijing defaulted on debt owed to Americans, as well as investors and governments around the world.

The story begins nearly 100 years ago, in 1913, when the old government of China began issuing bonds to foreign investors and governments for infrastructure work to modernize the country. As the country fell into civil war in 1927, paying these debts became increasingly difficult and the Chinese government eventually fell into default.

In April 1938, the Republic of China (ROC) issued a large volume of long-term sovereign gold-denominated bonds, secured by Chinese tax revenues, to private investors and governments to finance the war against Japan. These "gold bonds" specified repayment in gold or its equivalent value, which was a common practice to assure investors of value stability during times of currency instability.

There were also U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by the ROC, but these were more prominent in the early 1940s, notably the "American Dollar Bonds" of 1942, which were intended to absorb excess Chinese currency and were to be repaid in U.S. dollars after victory over Japan.

The China we know today would not have been possible without these bond offerings - which are now in default. (Read more.)

 

From Newsmax:

Investor and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary applauded the work of the Trump administration on its negotiations with China on a trade deal, saying the finished product will "become the hallmark" for every other country's negotiations with the U.S.

O'Leary made the comments during a panel discussion on CNN on Monday night. His remarks came amid trade talks between the Trump administration and Chinese officials in Geneva.

President Donald Trump dropped tariffs on China from 145% to 30% while China dropped its reciprocal tariffs from 125% to 10%. The countries gave themselves another 90 days to get a trade deal done. (Read more.)

Also from Tierney's Real News:

Inflation has fallen to the lowest level in more than four years as April’s Consumer Price Index smashed expectations for the third straight month. Instead of raising prices, Trump’s tariffs have already LOWERED prices - as he predicted.

Overall, consumer prices increased 2.3% year-over-year, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index. That’s the lowest annual increase in over 4 years.

You can see that during the third term of the Obama-Biden-Kamala presidency - hyperinflation kicked in (on purpose) - to destroy our country and enslave us with massive debt and interest payments. Trump has to lower prices and inflation again, while spurring growth and prosperity, to Save America! (Read more.)

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Taking the Waters: How Natural Springs Can Have Healing Benefits

 From Discover:

For the stressed and overworked, there might be nothing more relaxing than a spa. Beyond the cucumber slices and hot towels, these leisurely destinations carry a fascinating legacy that extends back to ancient times. Bathing in mineral springs — a feature of many historic spas — has been considered a medical and therapeutic treatment throughout the ages, spawning the proverbial phrase “taking the waters”. Today, this practice is known as balneotherapy. 

Some cities have made the most of mineral springs, building reputations as illustrious centers for spas. Though spas are often viewed as recreational spots and nothing more, their various incarnations around the world have developed significant cultural roles, thriving as staples of history and health tourism.

In antiquity, the link between bathing and health usually carried a religious undercurrent. Egyptians submerged themselves in the Nile River, Israelites in the Jordan River, and Hindus in the Ganges River; all of these waters have a sacred history as places of spiritual healing.

Baths continued to have religious and therapeutic meaning in ancient Greece, where the concept of health was first tied to the deity Apollo because he represented the Sun, which was believed to have healing power. Apollo’s divine progeny inherited this bond with health. His son, Asclepius, became known as a god of medicine, and among Asclepius’ offspring was Hygeia, a goddess of health who gave rise to the word “hygiene”. 

Archaeologists found the fragments of six sculptures representing Asclepius and his family at the Great Baths of Dion, part of a complex that was home to thermal baths in the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E. before an earthquake destroyed them. (Read more.)

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Economic Warfare 2.0

 From Tierney's Real News:

President Trump is now doing to Communist China what Reagan did to the Bolshevik Communists behind the Soviet Union: defeating them economically. President Trump is now rewarding the countries who came to the table to negotiate a new tariff deal - with a 90 day pause - while doubling down on Communist China - who retaliated. This is called carrot & stick. This is how you break Communist China, ECONOMICALLY, the same way Reagan broke the Soviet Union.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

BESSENT: “What I am certain of is that what China is doing will affect their economy much more than it will ours."

Scott Bessent, President Trump’s Treasury Secretary, has been making the rounds giving interviews. So far, I’ve seen him on Tucker, All-in, NBC, CBS, CNN, CNBC, Kudlow, Axios and more. You name it, he’s talking to them and explaining Trump’s economic plan to revive America. (Read more.)

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