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HardeeHo's avatar

Rare earths are not exactly rare. Separation of the elements into components from ore is a very dirty process and, so far, we have not found a "clean" way to process them. China has no qualms about the poisons involved thereby does he dirty work. What will be needed is a bunch of capital to develop a modern, closed processing facility. But that capital can't be found --- until the need is much greater. China has flexed it's power in the past causing a lot of anxiety. If the governments decided to get serious and require buy American, for real, processing plants could be built. At the moment the greens won't allow such a thing, like mining itself but we are entering a supply constrained world for these materials. We shall see.

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GregB's avatar

"US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, made a clear statement — “We do not support Taiwan independence”. What!!

Only last Sept, the man Joe was quoted thus: "President Biden says the U.S. will defend Taiwan if China stages an “unprecedented attack” on the island, his latest in a string of remarks over the past year that have been unusually explicit about America’s intentions in the face of growing pressure from Beijing. In an interview with the CBS news show 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday, Biden was asked if U.S. forces would defend Taiwan — a self-ruled democracy that sits roughly 100 miles off the Chinese coast and is claimed by Beijing as part of China. “Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack,” Biden replied. Asked again if, unlike in Ukraine, U.S. forces would get involved in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied: “Yes.”

Hmm. Blinken seems to have given the green light to the invasion despite that other man's red light. Who is really in charge?

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