I like to remind myself in any discussion about China that they're attempting to move from a feudal economy to a market economy in less than a century. Tienamen Square may have killed 10,000 people but they've got a billion and a half citizens.

And they're building up a middle class as fast as they can. Which means energy. Which means oil. Which is why they have a most-favored-nation status with Kazakhstan. Which is why they're heavily invested in Nigeria. Which is why they have a trillion dollars in One Belt One Road.

I've heard it argued a few times that Putin is attempting to jump into the vacuum left by the US abandonment of the Middle East. China's already there.

here's what I know: China bears me no ill will. But a Pakistan with close ties to China has a lot less interest in my well-being than they do in the well-being of China. And there's a lot of ill will in Pakistan. Always has been, always will be.

We're all so overwhelmed with daily dumbshit from the White House that the slow and steady severance of ties with our once and former empire barely gets a mention. This is in the back pages of CNBC, only linked because Seeking Alpha sends me a news summary every day.

The more places trade on your reserve currency, the fewer places likely to go to war with you. As an American, the more places trading in dollars the better for me.