Thanks so much to all of you that stayed up on all the candidates and stayed up into the night! :O)

Assuming this is also an open thread, I have this long, somewhat dense article by a consultant to the Australian government on China’s growing influence in Australia and other countries, and how they use “soft” influence that leads to harder measures. Of course, he has to be circumspect and it’s not a straightforward thing.

Interesting though. I watched Secret City, with Anna Torv, on Netflix, and it is a spy mini-series about this very thing and about how Australia is following us with draconian “security” laws. Good show and an article on a subject that I haven’t seen but seems to be quite real and upcoming.

Australia’s China Reset: The rest of the world is watching how we counter Beijing’s campaign of influence.

The CCP’s international influence system is a complex, subtle and deeply institutionalised set of inducements and threats designed to shape the way outsiders talk, think and behave. The modus operandi is to offer privileged access, build personal rapport and reward those who deliver. It seeks common interests and cultivates relationships of dependency with chosen partners. The Party uses overt propaganda and diplomacy, quasi-covert fronts and proxies, and covert operations to frame debates, manage perceptions, and tilt the political and strategic landscape to its advantage.

Beyond the foundational assumption of a single, civilisational “China”, the specific demands of United Front work are framed by permutations of three narratives: China is inherently peaceful and beneficent, the growth of Chinese power is inexorable, and China is vengeful and dangerous if provoked.

These narratives are internally contradictory but consistent over time. The first two are delivered openly by leaders, diplomats and state propaganda. The third is usually delivered via back channels with plausibly deniable connections to the state: PLA “hawks”, specialist military hardware websites, academic forums, personal meetings with top leaders, editorials in the Global Times. Together, this messaging orchestra is designed to condition audiences into believing that the rewards are great, resistance is futile, and outright opposition may be suicidal.

The meta-narrative of Beijing’s ever-growing power is the drumbeat that accompanies China’s policies of territorial coercion across its southern and eastern seas. It is the subtext that persuades foreign governments to remain silent as Beijing abandons restraint in the restive borderlands of Tibet and Xinjiang. It is also the incentive for economic beneficiaries to avoid seeing, or to rationalise, or to even actively support the Party’s efforts to degrade the values and institutions of civil society.

I don’t know how reliable this author is, but here’s his bio:

John Garnaut is a consultant to Australian government and private clients. He was previously Fairfax’s China’s correspondent (2007–13) and Asia-Pacific Editor (2014–15), Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (Nov 2015 – Sept 2016), and Principal Advisor (International) at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Oct 2016 – Jun 2017).

Published in The Monthly, from Australia.

Giving ‘Hope to Workers Across the Nation,’ Missouri Votes to Repeal GOP Attack on Unions

It’s the end of a hard-fought campaign for labor organizers and their allies in this conservative state. Activists for the ‘No’ campaign collected twice the required number of signatures to put the legislation to a vote,” Jones noted following labor’s victory. “At its core, the result is a sign that even voters in red states can be persuaded of the importance of organized labor to worker prosperity.”

Overcoming ‘Decades of Corruption and Systemic Racism,’ Reformer Wesley Bell Ousts Prosecutor Who Let Michael Brown’s Killer Off the Hook

In a remarkable upset victory that could have a “transformative” effect on St. Louis’s deeply racist criminal justice system, progressive reformer and Ferguson city council member Wesley Bell on Tuesday handily defeated 27-year Democratic incumbent Bob McCulloch in the race to become St. Louis County’s top prosecutor.

“Wesley Bell and an amazing team of volunteers ousted a 27 year incumbent! With his win tonight St. Louis County Prosecutor-elect Bell is breaking through decades of corruption and systemic racism in the criminal justice system.”
—Democracy for America

McCulloch became “notorious” nationwide after his refusal to prosecute police officer Darren Wilson for killing 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014—an event that sparked weeks of protests and galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement.

Among the Biggest Grifters in American History’: Wilbur Ross Accused of Stealing More Than $120 Million

But a deeply reported investigation published by Forbes on Tuesday—which includes the testimony of more than 20 people who previously worked with Ross in the private sector—alleges that Trump’s commerce secretary could “rank among the biggest grifters in American history.”

The Case for Imposing Sanctions on Donald Trump and His US-Based Business Empire
It’s time for Americans to get a taste of their own medicine. The world should blacklist Trump, his associates, and his businesses.

Well, the world has a chance to start making sense again. And I’m not talking about more retaliatory tariffs, however justified those might be given Trump’s sanction-anything-that-moves policy.

The better way to go is for the international community to treat the Trump administration like a criminal syndicate. Former Canadian diplomat Scott Gilmore gets it right:

I propose that instead of taxing the import of American serviettes, we tax Trump. In the spirit of the Magnitsky Act, Canada and the western allies come together to collectively pressure the only pain point that matters to this President: his family and their assets. This could take the form of special taxation on their current operations, freezing of assets, or even sanctions against senior staff. Canada could add a tax to Trump properties equal to any tariff unilaterally imposed by Washington. The European Union could revoke any travel visas for senior staff in the Trump organization. And the United Kingdom could temporarily close his golf course.

Some countries are experimenting with this approach. Turkey, for instance, is retaliating against a U.S. freeze on the country’s interior and justice ministers by applying the same penalty to their U.S. counterparts. There’s ample room for this kind of retaliation. The Trump administration, after all, put nearly a thousand people and businesses on the U.S. blacklist last year – a 30 percent increase over Barack Obama’s last year in office. It’s just a matter of time before more widespread retaliatory blacklisting begins.

I have to say, I’m not entirely against other countries slapping some fines on us. Many Americans may not even realize what sanctions and tariffs do, until we get a taste of it at home. I’d rather get these retaliatory measures than bombs, that’s for sure. And there’s a whole grey world as to tariffs. If done right, they can protect national communities in every country and we relied on them for a long time. And I especially like the idea of taxing the administration.

And hey, can we even stop Iran from using U.S. dollars in its international transactions? What happens if they do it anyway? I would, I think.

As you can see, I could use a class or two on tariffs and sanctions.

A ‘Complete Fabrication’: FCC Chair Ajit Pai Finally Admits Claim of Attack on Net Neutrality Comment System Was Total BS

FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel—who has forcefully defended net neutrality and was one of two members of the panel to vote in favor of protecting the rules in December—said the new report confirms that the comments system crashed not because of hackers, but because of overwhelming support for the open internet.

“The Inspector General Report tells us what we knew all along: the FCC’s claim that it was the victim of a DDoS attack during the net neutrality proceeding is bogus,” said Rosenworcel. “What happened instead is obvious—millions of Americans overwhelmed our online system because they wanted to tell us how important internet openness is to them and how distressed they were to see the FCC roll back their rights. It’s unfortunate that this agency’s energy and resources needed to be spent debunking this implausible claim.”