Links 10/13/2025

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14 comments

1. The Rev Kev October 13, 2025 at 7:16 am

   “Trump threatens export controls on Boeing parts in response to China”

   What happens if in response China cancels that contract for 222 new Boeing jets? And that because of the arbitrariness of Trump and the risk to China’s current Boeing fleet, that they say bugger it and they will just manufacture the needed parts themselves using their advanced airspace industry. And when Trump sputters about it, says that they are cancelling the recognition the patent of Boeing plane parts in the same way that Russia cancelled the recognition of western patents at the beginning of the war in the Ukraine. More to the point, is Boeing ready to lose the China market because of a Trump whim?

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   1. AG October 13, 2025 at 8:11 am

      I´d guess the China-RU cooperation with RU now providing engines for commercial airflight is a move to exactly what you´re suggesting. Airbus would be in much bigger trouble for the same as they wouldn´t have RU replacement for US-parts. Who knows, US planning to use their leverage to take over or dismantle Airbus if China market is gone?

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   2. Polar Socialist October 13, 2025 at 8:14 am

      Rostec CEO Chemezov has already offered to sell to China all the jet engines they need. Those would be PD-14 for the COMAC 919 and PD-8 for the COMAC 909. Then those project would finally lift off…

      Since Rostec refuses to license the production to China, for Chinese aviation industry this would merely mean switching from one dependency to another, until their own engines are ready someday after 2030. Also, in the current international sanctions slamming trade environment Russian engines would mean C9xx series not being exportable to many countries (due to certification issues).

      But if China intends to build 200 C9xx airlines per year by 2030, they really don’t have any other option. And even if they started now, it’ll take a couple of years to fit the Russian engines in and certify them for China.

      So, in order to keep their airlines operational, China will have to beat Trump into submission. And then find alternatives to USA and EU engines and avionics as soon as possible.

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   3. Louis Fyne October 13, 2025 at 8:35 am

      Boeing is essentially an industrial Fannie Mae…too big to fail with an implicit state backing.

      but in the sense that it’ll never be liquidated; rather “Good Boeing” would be split from “Dumpster Fire Boeing” post-bankruptcy

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2. Steve H. October 13, 2025 at 7:32 am

   > High-resolution ‘fingerprint’ images reveal a weakening Atlantic Ocean circulation (AMOC) RealClimate

   >> And the Nordic Seas have warmed – we have a paper in preparation which shows this is due to increased flow of warm water toward the Nordic Seas and likely a result of AMOC weakening

   There’s an explanation for what I’d been wondering about.

   Climate Reanalyzer for Sea Surface Temperatures is still showing recent points rather than linking them into a line. I had taken a screenshot and it looks like they eliminated some points and shifted the whole thing downward. The subpolar area is well under historical averages, while Saturday’s reading for the Gulf of Maine was an all-time high.

   Here’s the Climate Reanalyzer for the Sub-Polar North Atlantic. On the anomaly map (farther down on the page), you can see the cold blob extending to Britain, as well as warmer waters to the north. This article gives an analysis with some explanatory value.

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3. vao October 13, 2025 at 8:04 am

   Yesterday, I made a comment on the article “Dutch govt accused of freezing operations of Chinese semiconductor giant’s chipmaker Nexperia”.

   I would like to reiterate one point: the practice of evicting the foreign owners from the management of a firm, formally leaving their status as proprietors untouched, while at the same time putting their property under the control of a fiduciary administration seems to become a favourite manoeuvre in EU countries.

   Notably, this was done in Germany against Gazprom regarding Gazprom Germania, and against Rosneft regarding the PCK refinery in Schwedt. Ultimately, the objective is an expropriation, as happened with Gazprom Germania via nationalization in 2022, but which so far has proved intractable for PCK Schwedt. I wonder how China will retaliate in the case of Nexperia.

   With TikTok, the USA did not bother with formalities and with keeping legalistic appearances.

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   1. The Rev Kev October 13, 2025 at 8:17 am

      The lesson seems to be that if you are investing in and running a business in the EU when you are from a foreign country, then your investment and businesses can be seized at any time if the EU decides that they do not like the government of the country that you come from. As with those Russian assets, this is just theft and I bet that a lot of countries are rethinking about investing in the EU. I would.

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4. The Rev Kev October 13, 2025 at 8:22 am

   “Macron’s France now has a new Cabinet. It will face an uphill battle to end the political crisis”

   So with France’s newly reappointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, is it too early to go out and buy an iceberg lettuce?

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss_lettuce

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   1. ChrisFromGA October 13, 2025 at 8:47 am

      I defer to others who are following the situation more closely, but from my seat way in the bleachers, it appears that with one exception, it’s the same cast of clowns as the last cabinet.

      Hard to see the French people tolerating this very long, let alone Marine Le Pen and the left … head of lettuce, you’re wanted on the set!

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5. mass October 13, 2025 at 8:25 am

   North Korea Unveils New Hwasong-20 Solid Fuelled Multi-Warhead ICBM Built to Hit the U.S. Mainland Military Watch

   This baby will give Muricans a nasty case of truck envy.

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6. principle October 13, 2025 at 8:31 am

   
   The World’s Taiwan Strategy Runs Through the Philippines The Diplomat

   The United States is alone in the world in maintaining an unofficial but truly deep relationship with Taiwan.

   The world is the United States.

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7. JohnnyGL October 13, 2025 at 8:43 am

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqADzuu73g

   John kiriakou, CIA whistleblower on the torture program, on joe rogan podcast.

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8. bertl October 13, 2025 at 8:45 am

   I see the dog shooting lady is making great efforts to convince the US public that it will be the Democrats who are to blame when starving government employees are forced to shoot their dogs for sustenance.

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9. The Rev Kev October 13, 2025 at 8:56 am

   “China tightens export controls on battery materials and equipment”

   Kevin Walmsley came out with a post which I can highly recommend to do with the situation of batteries and China (video embedded). Here is one snippet from it

   ‘China’s university system has 50 programs that focus on battery technology and battery metallurgy, at the graduate school level. In the United States, it’s hard to find a single professor that specializes in batteries. As a result, American undergrads who want to study batteries in the don’t have anywhere to go.’

   https://kdwalmsley.substack.com/p/why-chinas-monopolies-on-batteries

   Threatened tariffs aren’t going to fix this situation. You would need many years work of building up teaching courses just to get into the game. I can’t see that happening.

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