China is set to dominate the deep sea and its wealth of rare metals - "The United States has done little to respond to China’s moves in the deep sea. It is only an observer at the ISA, meaning it’s at risk of being sidelined as the rules for this future industry are being made. Unlike China, U.S. companies do not have any exploration contracts with the ISA, and critics say Washington lacks a clear plan on how to compete in this new industry.
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"At the end of 2021, a sister vessel of the Dayang Hao, the Dayang Yihao, was exploring the Clarion-Clipperton Zone as part of a four-month expedition by China Minmetals when it suddenly traveled away from China’s claim area, heading straight north. It crossed into the U.S. exclusive economic zone near Hawaii, where it traveled for five days, tracing a loop just south of Honolulu, before returning to its claim area. ... The detour would have given researchers a chance to understand the seabed topography around Hawaii, or the conditions of naval operations and how submarines move in and out."
The game theory of the Republican speakership crisis: The moderates finally fought back against the Freedom Caucus. But how to solve for the equilibrium isn't so clear. - "This asymmetry gives the Freedom Caucus significant leverage over the party, since they have a credible threat to abandon the party on policy and procedural issues, whereas other groups generally do not. And it reflects their general antipathy toward the party itself. While mainstream House GOP members and particularly moderates rely on the party for campaign resources and live in constant fear of primary challenges, Freedom Caucus members tend to be the members least embedded, and least beholden to, the traditional Republican party apparatus.
"In fact, the core brand of the Freedom Caucus is their opposition to the GOP House leadership. It’s almost impossible for the party leadership to discipline HFC members and induce party loyalty, because they prefer to be at odds with the leadership; defeating their policy proposals, cutting them out of negotiations, or calling them out publicly as disloyal to the party only serves to reinforce their brand among their constituents and allies in conservative media.
"In many cases, the Freedom Caucus actually drives policy to the left, as they leave the leadership no choice but to use Democratic votes to approve must-pass spending bills or keep the government from shutting down. But this is exactly what many Freedom Caucus members desire: by withdrawing their support for leadership, they can position themselves as true and pure conservatives. When the leadership then has no choice but to cut deals with Democrats, the Freedom Caucus can hammer the leaders in public for being weak and unprincipled. In some sense the Freedom Caucus can’t lose, because every loss is just another betrayal by the hated GOP leadership, which is often exactly what they are seeking.
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"Many people wondered afterwards why McCarthy did not offer the Democrats a bargain in order to sustain him. The answer is that the logic of the procedural coalition wouldn’t allow it. As with the Speakership vote in January, McCarthy didn’t need one vote, one time. He needed an ongoing procedural coalition. Unless the Democrats were going to form a permanent alliance with him, saving him on the vacate vote wouldn’t have done any good. In fact, it would have simply turned more Republicans against him, as whatever concessions he gave the Democrats would have certainly moved policy to the left."
