This is a really fascinating paper that everyone interested in China's industrial policy should read. It destroys so many myths (see below), and is written by deeply credible people who conducted over three years of fieldwork in China and interviewed 60 Chinese officials, entrepreneurs, and engineers. When it comes to China studies, it literally doesn't get more rigorous than this. First myth it destroys: contrary to popular belief, Beijing's industrial policy didn't build the companies that became China's EV champions. They rose largely **despite** it, through its cracks. For sure, Beijing did favor EVs as an industry and pushed hard for it but their big bet was SOEs (State Owned Enterprises): research grants, pilot programs, licenses, cheap credit - virtually all of it flowed to state firms. The result? China's actual EV champions - BYD, Geely, NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, etc. - are overwhelmingly private firms that succeeded despite Beijing favoring their SOE competitors. How so? Because, when favoring SOEs, the central government didn't just pick winning companies, it picked winning cities, each SOE being anchored in a specific city: Shanghai (SAIC), Changchun (FAW), Wuhan-Shiyan (Dongfeng), etc. Which means that every city not on the list, that wanted a piece of the auto boom, had only one option left: team up with private entrepreneurs who were equally excluded from central government favor. That's what truly fueled China's EV miracle: an alliance of the excluded, between local private entrepreneurs and local mayors. This is the biggest misconception this paper destroys: the reality is that the "Chinese state capitalism" that many in the West think powered the EV boom actually tried to block many of these companies from existing. In effect, it was closer to an obstacle course that local actors (mayors and provinces) learned to game. Geely - now the third largest automaker in China - is a fantastic example of this. First of all, it started off illegal since, to build passenger cars, you had to have a central government license and they couldn't get one. Zhejiang Province told them to go ahead regardless because the province had hundreds of auto parts suppliers but no carmaker of its own. It's only a couple of years later, recognizing the fait-accompli that Geely was producing cars and was competitive, that the central government admitted them to the National Sedan Catalog - effectively legalizing them retroactively because there were facts on the ground. Then there was the Volvo acquisition in 2010, which is fair to say - looking back - proved to be the most strategically valuable acquisition in Chinese automotive history. Despite it being presented at the time (and still described this way today) as "China buying Volvo", all 3 major state-backed banks in China (Export-Import Bank, China Development Bank, Bank of China) refused to finance the deal. The only state-bank money Geely managed to get was a $200 million loan from a provincial branch of China Construction Bank - a tiny fraction of what the deal required. Geely actually did the deal with Goldman Sachs money via Hong Kong plus loans and equity from four local governments (Chengdu, Zhangjiakou, Daqing, Shanghai's Jiading district), each of which bought in by securing a Volvo plant or headquarters for itself. In effect, the doors that Beijing controlled were largely closed to Geely, but it made it because the doors subnational actors controlled were opened. Which all means this paper destroys another very common myth: the big merit of the central government in all this was to be relatively chill about it, to NOT be dictatorial. I just imagine if that had happened in France and you had - say - the mayor of Lyon or Marseilles open, fund and promote an unlicensed carmaker against Renault: the préfet would shut it down within weeks, and the mayor would be lucky to escape prosecution. That's the irony: on industrial policy, the supposedly "totalitarian" Chinese state proved more tolerant of local defiance than most Western liberal democracies would be. Beijing's greatest contribution to the EV miracle wasn't the plan - it was looking the other way while the plan was being violated. To be sure, the paper doesn't hide the costs of this system: ferocious local competition also produced what's known today in China as "involution" (内卷-Neijuan, basically a hypercompetitive price war), as well as some spectacular failures. For instance one county lost 6.6 billion yuan on a carmaker that never really made cars. But that's precisely the point: this is a high-risk, high-reward model of decentralized experimentation, the very opposite of the careful central planning Westerners imagine. I've repeated this countless times but it bears repeating again: the single greatest misconception people have about China is - probably because we wrongly associate communism with centralized control - that it is a monolith run from Beijing. Some even say it's run by "one man." The reality is the exact opposite: China is, in practice, one of the most decentralized countries on earth. Roughly 85% of government spending in China happens at the subnational level - against about 30% in the average OECD country (and even less in France, which is actually one of the most centrally controlled countries on earth). A Chinese mayor commands fiscal resources, land, investment funds and policy latitude that virtually no Western mayor could dream of. Last but not least, I'd be remiss not to mention what the paper has to say on the positive legacy of Mao and its role in the rise of EVs (given I myself wrote an article titled "Mao's economic record wasn't bad, actually": arnaudbertrand.substack.com/…). When it comes to China myths, none is more entrenched than the idea that Mao left behind nothing but ruins. This paper confirms a key argument of my article: Mao's deliberate dispersal of industry across China (during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution decentralizations) left dozens of cities with their own small auto works. Inefficient, yes - but these scattered factories survived into the 1990s and became the seed stock of everything that followed: the industrial base, the engineers, and the production licenses that EV startups would use to enter the market. The paper even says it outright: the fragmentation that industrial policy "sought to eradicate" is "precisely" what "ironically enabled" the EV sector's rapid rise. This is exactly the mechanism I described in my Mao article: structures built in the Mao era - communes becoming township governments, commune enterprises becoming TVEs, Third Front factories seeding interior industrialization - became load-bearing foundations of the reform miracle. Fittingly, the spark for China's first municipal carmaker adventure was literally a TVE (Township and Village Enterprise), the institutional descendants of Mao's commune enterprises: Tongbao, a kit-car maker in Wuhu whose success stunned local officials into building what became Chery (one of China's biggest carmakers today). You can't tell the story of China's EV miracle without crediting the legacy of Mao. What's the biggest lesson in all this for Western policymakers? The obvious one is that the part of industrial policy that most people assume China does and that they sometimes want to copy - i.e. the state picking winners - is actually the part that failed. The part that did succeed is the China nobody in the West believes exists: a radically decentralized system with a high degree of tolerance for disobedience and experimentation. We imagine China as a country where nothing happens without Beijing's approval when the reality is closer to the opposite: China's EV miracle happened precisely because localities asked for forgiveness rather than permission. All in all, and this is the lesson I often come back to, this is yet another illustration of the importance of understanding China for what it is as opposed to the caricature we've built of it. This matters whichever "camp" you're in. If you see China as a rival, you can't compete with someone you don't understand. If you see them as a source of lessons, you can't emulate what you've misunderstood. Whatever you want from China - to compete with it or learn from it - the entry fee is the same: genuinely understanding it.

🌌 AI just discovered the mathematical link proving gravity emerges from quantum entanglement. It analyzed entanglement patterns from millions of simulated black holes and found the exact structure that creates spacetime curvature. The finding matches black hole entropy predictions and gives the first clear path to testable quantum gravity. This is the closest step yet toward a working theory of everything..

The most dangerous 77 seconds ever recorded by a psychiatrist just broke containment again. Thomas Szasz, the man the entire profession tried to erase, looked straight into the camera and said: “We do not have an epidemic of mental illness. We have an epidemic of psychiatry.” Too fat → illness Too thin → illness Too happy, too sad, too much sex, too little sex → all illnesses No free will, no responsibility left — only “chemical imbalances” fixed by products you can advertise on TV while alcohol cannot. This forgotten 1:17 clip is now exploding across every timeline for a reason. Jacob

JUST IN: Bryce Mitchell on Sean Strickland being banned for criticising Israel and Epstein: "I'm not surprised at all. In fact, that's the only nation you're not allowed to criticize. Something's going to change. Evil empires don't last forever. There's always a rebellion."

I remember Isaac Gilmore. I think he shot a student. If it’s the same dude he literally shot a student during a training exercise.

Me and Jesse Hines talking with David Nichols at the Bicycle Day event in Asheville on 4/19/26 about how Jesse found Psilomethoxin at 235.1456 m/z in our sacrament. David said that he had thought about synthesizing it himself back in the day. I told him that we would be making it from yeast in the future. #Psilomethoxin

"When you compare the ratios of the other neurotransmitters to DMT, you find they are consistent with levels of the other canonical neurotransmitters." "There was one DMT molecule for every 0.95 serotonin molecule. They also found more DMT present than dopamine." "The idea that in order for someone to experience a psychedelic state from endogenous DMT requires the same amount that you have to administer from the periphery, is ludicrous." David Nichols, the most respected psychedelic chemist alive, says endogenous DMT is irrelevant. Barker says Nichols is wrong, after speaking to both... Well, I'll let you decide. Episode links below, drop a comment what you think is the role of endogenous DMT ⬇️

THEO VON: “Was there anybody who was immune to COVID-19?” DR. MCCULLOUGH: “There’s one adult group. You’re going to laugh.” [Theo Von listens closely for the reveal] DR. MCCULLOUGH: “Smokers… They got very mild cases. And they don’t get long COVID.” THEO VON: “Why?” MCCULLOUGH: “Because smokers maintain a level of nicotine in the bloodstream… Smoking blocks the spike protein. It’s amazing. I thought smokers were going to go down.” THEO VON: “Do you think that’s a good idea [to use nicotine patches] on a regular basis?” DR. MCCULLOUGH: “I think [it’s a good idea] if they have long COVID... Nicotine, don’t forget, is a nootropic. A nootropic is a drug that makes the brain function more effectively... It’s addictive, but it’s not harmful to the human body... Nicotine patches are perfectly safe.”

Toad ally on Double Blind this Friday

Giving a physics talk on Dark Energy at @UTAustin in the Karch Seminar. DATE: Tues, May 19, 2-3pm TITLE: "From Dark to Geometric Energy: Equivariant Distortion in Geometric Unity" PLACE: UTexas Austin, Physics, Math & Astronomy Bldg. Room 9.222 2515 Speedway, Austin TX, 78712

Pete Hegseth has a campaign event scheduled with Ed Galraen, the hand-picked challenger to Thomas Massie in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, early next week, right before the primary. Is this a violation of the Hatch Act? It seems like it to me, and I did some research and found that it violates the Department of War's own rules about participation in political activities with respect to the Hatch Act. But I guess the bigger question is, is this an example of the federal government attempting to use taxpayer resources and the force of Senate-confirmed offices to take away the sovereignty of a community in Kentucky? #news #politics #usa #thomasmassie

“Taiwan won’t matter in 18 months” is what happens when software people mistake civilization for a SaaS product. It's one of the most clueless takes I've heard on this platform in months and that's saying something. Yes, America has semiconductor fabs. Mostly old ones. Really old. Taiwan has the fabs that matter: The ones that make every single chip for NVIDIA and Apple and every damn Android and iPhone on Earth and even most of the 1500 or so chips that go in your truck or car. Without TSMC these companies simply do not exist. Not kind of struggling. I mean "wiped off the freaking face of the Earth and unable to produce a single product" level gone. As in "worth zero instantly." Taiwan has: - Multiple leading-edge giga-fabs - The *overwhelming* majority of advanced AI chip production - Dominant advanced packaging capacity - Dense supplier clustering - Decades of accumulated yield/process knowledge and the most skilled workforce on Earth to run it all The US still barely has frontier-scale advanced packaging online. Much of it is literally still under construction and won’t ramp until years from now. Momos hear “we’re only 1–2 nanometers away” and think semiconductors are just transistor geometry. No freaking way. Sheer idiocy. The real moat is: - Yields - Packaging - HBM integration - Substrates - Tooling - Tacit manufacturing expertise - Workforce density - Supply chain coordination TSMC is not “a fab.” It is one of the most sophisticated industrial ecosystems ever created by humanity. And no, a tiny Neuralink surgery robot does not mean America can magically reproduce decades of semiconductor manufacturing concentration in 18 months. Reality is not a podcast episode. Taiwan remains strategically critical for years, likely a decade . This is like saying: “We’re 18 months away from replacing the global oil system because we built a nice electric bike.”

🎥From the assassination of Charlie Kirk to Jeffrey Epstein's files, the genocide of Palestinians, and the bombing of Iran; all of it is for the formation of Greater Israel and maintaining complete Israeli domination over America: Fighting individuals is useless; the struggle must be against this entire Israeli system👇👇 👈 Stew Peters (@realstewpeters) is a famous American host, documentary filmmaker, and whistleblower. He is one of the first American right-wingers who acts with extreme opposition to the occupation of America by the Israeli lobby and global elites. Stew Peters is a Christian nationalist, hardcore anti-Zionist, and almost like Nick Fuentes. ✅ 1. Central Claim Stew Peters believes that America is completely occupied by a network of Zionists, the Israeli lobby, the military-industrial complex, and financial elites. The assassination of Charlie Kirk, the war with Iran, Epstein's files, and all foreign and domestic policies are part of a single program to realize Greater Israel and maintain control over America. He says Charlie Kirk was assassinated because of his change in position and opposition to this occupation, and his death was carried out with an explosive microphone, not a shooting. This occupation has encompassed all institutions — government, media, church, university, bank, Hollywood — and the only way to salvation is the complete awakening of the people and cutting support for this system. ✅ 2. Main Arguments 2.1 The assassination of Charlie Kirk was a planned operation, not a random shooting. A few days before his death, Charlie Kirk rejected one hundred and fifty million dollars and rumors of one billion dollars in funding to stay on the pro-Israel line. Netanyahu personally spoke to him in a meeting at Bill Aman's mansion. After his death, the same money was accepted by Turning Point USA. His wife Erica and executive managers like Tyler Boyer were probably involved in the planning. 2.2 All of America's wars and policies are in the service of Greater Israel. The war with Iran is the last piece for realizing Greater Israel. Netanyahu calls it a spiritual crusade and has announced that nothing will stop him. The map of Greater Israel that Israeli army soldiers sew on their sleeves includes vast parts of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, parts of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and even farther areas. This map goes beyond the current borders of Israel and the ultimate goal is to create an Israeli empire from the Nile to the Euphrates and even beyond. Israel is a country that was purchased. The Rothschilds bought it from London on the fourteenth of May nineteen hundred and forty-eight and simply drew a line on the map. The people of Palestine, who are now known as Palestinians, were kind enough to allow these immigrants to live next to them, but in return, at the end of a gun barrel, they took their homes, stole their property deeds, exiled them to the open-air prison camps of Gaza and the West Bank, subjected them to siege, starvation, thirst, constant bombing, kidnapping of children, and sexual assault on women. These crimes have continued for decades. Benjamin Netanyahu has no Hebrew DNA evidence, DNA tests are banned in Israel, and he is originally a Polish man named Milkowski. Many of those who call themselves Israelis are Eastern Europeans and use the name Israel to deceive two and a half billion Christians in the world with the distorted Scofield Bible version. 2.3 Attacking Iran and its military difficulties Iran is the last stronghold and the last domino for completing the Greater Israel project. Regime change in Iran is not possible only with aerial bombing and requires hundreds of thousands of American soldiers — half a million people or more. Crossing the Strait of Hormuz is almost impossible because Iran has announced that any ship moving in favor of Israel or America will be blown up. Iran's deserts are full of rocks, salt, and ice, and landing forces there will be catastrophic. Iranians have already targeted eighteen American bases from Erbil to Oman, disabled radars, refueling planes, and warning systems. Qatar has not allowed the use of its main base, and the Fifth Fleet of America in Bahrain is practically paralyzed. Iran still preserves seventy to seventy-five percent of its missiles and launchers. Iranian schoolgirls — daughters of military commanders — were killed in a two-stage attack with precise American missiles, which is a clear war crime. Targeting the families of military personnel is illegal. This is the same method used in Ukraine by the Azov Battalion against the families of Russian soldiers. 2.4 Media programming against Iran American media such as Fox News and others portray Iran as a backward third-world country with goat herders and terrorists, while Iran is an ancient Aryan-Persian civilization with a capital larger than New York and technological progress equal to or greater. This programming is to prepare American public opinion for war. ✅ 3. Concrete Evidence and Examples 3.1 Map and statements of Greater Israel The map on the sleeves of Israeli army soldiers, Netanyahu's statements about the spiritual crusade, the 1996 Clean Break document for Netanyahu, Pete Hegseth's statements as US Secretary of Defense about sacrificing his children to build the Third Temple. 3.2 Evidence of the war with Iran Iran's attack on American bases and paralyzing the fleet, threat of blowing up ships in the Strait of Hormuz, reduction in the value of petrodollar and its replacement with the Chinese yuan by Iran, killing of schoolgirls as a strategic target. 3.3 Evidence of occupation and assassination of Charlie Kirk Rejecting one hundred and fifty million dollars and Netanyahu's call, acceptance of the same money after death by Turning Point USA, Tyler Boyer's texts showing that Charlie wanted to remove him but he returned after the death, the microphone whose angle was changed and gas and battery came out of the collar, ordering small explosive material from the Tennessee factory by the Department of Defense exactly before the assassination, private jet flight from Utah to Tennessee and the factory explosion immediately after the assassination (all employees were killed), lack of ambulance, transfer by car, and quickly destroying the crime scene with paving stones. 3.4 Epstein and media evidence Bill Gates, the Murdochs, and Larry Fink are in the files, Howard Lutnick went to the island with Epstein, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street are the main shareholders of Rumble and have suppressed Stew Peters' visits. ✅ 4. Results and Final Message 4.1 America is on the edge of a catastrophic war with Iran that only benefits Greater Israel and wastes the blood and wealth of Americans. This war will lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of young American soldiers, further strengthening of Iran, Russia, and China, and the destruction of America's military credibility. 4.2 The young and awakened generation is the only hope because the older generation is still under media programming. 4.3 Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens, and others who started opposing this project were targeted. 4.4 The only solution: complete cutting of support for this occupying system, continuous exposure, watching the film Occupied, and returning to real American and Christian values without Zionist distortion. 4.5 Stew Peters emphasizes that this struggle is not about individuals but about the system itself, the Greater Israel program, and the occupation of America. This complete and structured analysis, with a very detailed expansion of the sections related to Iran and Israel (historical, military, ideological details, and crimes), has been prepared.

Never a quiet day! A leadership vacuum at FDA sees former Usona Institute Chief Medical Officer Mike Davis, who is apparently very popular with agency staffers, assume the position of Acting Director of CDER (the body that is responsible for drug reviews).

For 20 years, a $6 knob that takes one hour to 3D print has been grounding Black Hawk helicopters four times a month, and the contractor responsible won't sell us the part or the IP rights to fix it ourselves. So instead, American taxpayers have been paying $40,000 every single time to replace the entire system, multiplied by four times a month, for two decades. That is NOT a procurement problem, that is a shakedown, and it is exactly why right to repair has to be in this year's NDAA.