MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Associated Press: “Wagner Group's leader will move to Belarus after his rebellious march challenged Putin, Russia says.” But Moscow, it seems, won’t punish Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. Although known as “loyal” to Kremlin, Wagner Group is a private security contractor just like Erik Prince’s Academi/Blackwater or China’s DeWe Security or Huaxin Zhong An. Whoever offers good money, contract is signed. Wagner got a deal from somewhere and then backed out? 

       Kremlin announced that Prigozhin's troops who joined him in the uprising will not face prosecution and those who did not will be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry. The deal is obviously meant to defuse rebellion tensions. Would have been a big win, propaganda or otherwise, to Kyiv and its Western benefactors. But it didn’t happen. 🇷🇺🇧🇾🇷🇺

Time: “What to Know About India's Ties With Russia Ahead of Modi's U.S. Visit.” / New York Times: “How India Profits From Its Neutrality in the Ukraine War.” India could be a U.S. “critical security partner” but India is also Russia’s BRICS partner so no brainer. And business is business. Since the outbreak of the war, India has been importing Russian crude oil on a massive scale at low cost, refining it, and then selling it globally, including to E.U. Sanctions? 

       Fact: GDP Growth of India for the 2022-23 fiscal year is 7.2 percent, highest among large economies. In other NY Times news: “Biden Seeks to Bolster Ties With Modi While Soft-Pedaling Differences.” And adds: “At the White House, the president emphasized common ground with India’s prime minister and announced joint initiatives without making progress in enlisting help against Russian aggression.” 🇮🇳🇷🇺🇺🇸

New York Times: “Millennials Are Not an Exception. They’ve Moved to the Right.” Over the last decade, almost every cohort of voters under 50 has shifted rightward, says The Times. As for me, I find it difficult to figure out today’s young. Baby boomer to Generation X was easy. But Gen X to millennials? Ideological paradigms got blurry. Millennials to Generation Z? I don’t know. But the young decide the future of America (and the world) in elections next year, and next. Fact. 👩‍🦰🧑‍🦰👉

New York Times: “What Happened When a Brooklyn Neighborhood Policed Itself for Five Days.” On a two-block stretch of Brownsville in April, the police stepped aside and let residents respond to 911 calls. A bold experiment that “...some believe could redefine law-enforcement in New York City.” I thought of the Philippines’ “barangay tanod” or a village brigade of civilian volunteers, created to assist law enforcement. But no guns. "Tanod" won't work in America due to the obvious.

       What barangay tanods had as “weapons” are wooden sticks or “arnis.” Some of these dudes and dudettes are trained in martial arts as well. In the U.S., 120 guns per 100 + the huge political divide etcetera. We gotta fix that first before "citizen neighborhood police" could work. 👮‍♀️🗽👮

New York Times: “Quiet, Please: You Are Not Alone in Your Garden.” And adds: “There’s a multicultural world outdoors — and even the gentlest gardeners often disrupt it. Here’s how to avoid that.” Here’s how to avoid those? We should not disturb the “multicultural world outdoors,” uh huh? Plants and critters. The writer of this yarn is on shrooms? Me, I am wary of pissing off yellowjackets and I wish they groundhogs leave my greenery alone. Gardening, you know. ☘️🪴🍃

New York Times: “As Trump Battles Charges, Biden Focuses on the Business of Governing.” Washington must end the Trump drama, whichever way. Just end it. Meanwhile, I concur with State Secretary Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing as a door to a possible Biden/Xi meeting. Then the reopening of talks with Iran per nuclear deal. China is integral as a peace path to Moscow and Tehran, and other critical areas that Washington now finds difficult to navigate. 

       News adds: “The past week appears to provide a blueprint for the way the White House wants to handle the politically touchy subject of former President Donald J. Trump’s legal troubles.” 🏦🗽🏦

New York Times: “In Rush to Arm Ukraine, Weapons Are Bought but Not Delivered, or Too Broken to Use.” This war is fast gaining notoriety for magnificent question marks. The United States and European Union should stop handing Kyiv more weapons. Sit and negotiate peace. Focus on reconstruction from war ruins. Resume people’s lives. Then push Volodymyr Zelensky to submit an accounting of how aid was spent. That’d be $150 billion, by end of 2022. 

       News adds: “Some of the weapons sent to Ukraine by other countries have been unusable, and hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts paid up front have yet to be fulfilled.” 🇺🇦☮️🇺🇦

New York Times: “N.Y. Democrats, at Odds Over Tenant Protections, Fail to Reach Housing Deal.” State lawmakers leave Albany, N.Y. “...without passing any housing policies, sparking a new round of finger-pointing among Democrats.” A topsy-turvy leadership. Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul, and where is AOC’s megaphone? Messy handling of the homeless and messier handling of overflowing migrants. Etcetera. To think that NY has the 2nd largest budget. 🗽😭🗽

New York Times: “Stuyvesant High School Admitted 762 New Students. Only 7 Are Black.” And adds: “New York City’s specialized high schools represent perhaps the highest-profile symbol of segregation in the nation’s largest school system.” The pitch is, of course, racism. And it gets annoying. Numbers: For 2023, Stuyvesant admitted 489 Asian students and only 158 white students. Racism? Total minority enrollment is 82 percent; 48 percent are economically disadvantaged. ✏️📝✏️

Time: “Climate Change Is Threatening Ketchup. AI Could Help Save It.” AI again. The Savior? By 2050, heat-related manufacturing losses could equal more than $47 billion. In extremes, high temperatures won't just impact productivity — they'll also put workers at risk. That is why China pumps up its FDIs over manufacturing. Same with Saudi Arabia, whose income greatly relies on petroleum, now diversifies heavily. With or without AI. 🌬🥄☀️