MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

New York Times: “More Than 230 Dead and 900 Injured in Train Crash in India.”  About 22 million people ride 14,000 trains across India every day. Take note: India has the second largest labor force in the world. Working class. Workers. Only in India where I saw passengers on the roof of trains. Inside, "packed like sardines" is an understatement. Meanwhile, India’s 7.2 percent economic growth in FY 2023 is the highest among large economies. 🚂🇮🇳🚂

New York Times: “The First 10 Words of the African American English Dictionary Are In.” And adds: “An exclusive look at a dictionary consisting entirely of words created or reinvented by Black people.” That's cool. I'd like to learn some. When I was living in New York City, I used to hang with friends in Harlem and I created buddies who play/ed pickup basketball on West 4th downtown. I understood probably 45 percent of the language. Same English but different definitions. 📜🗣📜

New York Times: “Spelling Bee: After three years of studying, it took Dev Shah about 45 seconds to reach the apotheosis of his craft and become the national champion this year.” Cute. Your 9 year old can spell staphylococci. I was obsessed with weird words and correct spellings as well when I was a kid. But my dad preferred that I learned how to use the tire jack, cook rice, or perform first aid. Makes sense. Knowing all words by spelling wouldn't make me eudaemonic, anyway. 📝👶📝

New York Times: “North Korean Rocket Triggers ‘False Alarm’ Evacuation Alert in South Korea.” The real security shudder in Asia is not China, but North Korea. But Pyongyang will not make a harsh move without thumbs-up from the CCP. But Beijing won’t do war, nope–apart from tit for tat “dare” with the U.S. hawkish slings in the region. And NK doesn’t need to launch a missile West bound to create damage. Think: 19 nuclear reactors in South Korea. Hit one, the entire East crumbles. 

       Topmost pawns are the people in the region. And if South China Sea halts due to a (knock on wood!) Kim Jong-un mischief? The damage is unimaginable. Add info on South Korean nuclear reactors: Responding to widespread public concerns after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, the high earthquake risk in South Korea, and the nuclear scandals, ex-President Moon Jae-in upon assumption of office in 2017, decided to gradually phase out nuclear power. The three reactors currently under construction will be completed, but the government decided these will be the last built, and as the existing plants close at a 40 years end-of-life they will be replaced with other modes of generation. 🇰🇷☮️🇨🇷

New York Times: “Companies Push Prices Higher, Protecting Profits but Adding to Inflation.” And adds: “Corporate profits have been bolstered by higher prices even as some of the costs of doing business have fallen in recent months.” Inflation is complex. People may have jobs, higher pay, and enough money to spend but prices of goods are higher and/or “hoarded.” Etcetera. Ideal U.S. inflation rate is 2 percent. On average, U.S. inflation is 3.3 percent. Today, it is 5 percent. 🏦💸🏦

New York Times: “What the Debt Ceiling Deal Means for Student Loan Payments.” And adds: “The legislation would prevent President Biden from issuing another last-minute extension on the payments beyond the end of the summer.” Last month, some $42 billion in Public Service Loan Forgiveness was approved, or so it seems. Last week, Senate voted to repeal the President's student loan debt relief. Similar to the huge U.S. debt: Cut spending, pay! Default is no good. 💵🖇💵

Time: “Maine Confirms a Fatal Case of Powassan Virus. What to Know About the Rare Disease.” Powassan virus, a tickborne flavivirus, is old. Related to mosquito borne viruses such as West Nile virus, Powassan was discovered in an Ontario town with the same name in 1958. More viruses coming? For each viral infection or disease, there’ll be multiple vaccines per competing individual drug companies. Covid effectively captured the consumer's fear quotient. And market. 🦟💉🦟

New York Times: “Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents.” Dr. Vivek Murthy cited a “profound risk of harm” to adolescent mental health and “urged families to set limits and governments to set tougher standards for use.” A Univ of Utah study showed that young adults who use social media are three times as likely to suffer from depression, putting a large portion at risk for suicidal behaviors. Unarguable. Facts as well with adults. 

       Most kids are spending more than five to 8 hours a day on social media or playing video games, those violent video games. We are not even talking about AI’s misleading feeds. Social media, by the way, don't necessarily mean Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. There are so many that are specifically geared at the youth market. 👶📱📲

Time: “China's Aggressive Maneuver Against U.S. Spy Plane Highlights Escalating Tensions.” Let’s just say due to economic greed and geopolitical narcissism, Cold War is back so spy planes are back. The U.S. Lockheed U-2 spy plane is specifically designed for high-altitude reconnaissance flight. Russia’s Tupolev Tu-123 Yastreb was a recon drone developed in the 1960s. For sure, they got new ones. China? For sure, their airborne spy thingies are not weather balloons.

       Fact is, most modern air forces have them and many developing nations fly the planes. In East Asia, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, possibly Russia, and Australia, as well as Chinese and U.S. forces, are believed to have them. "There's a lot of people doing it around the world," says Andrew Brookes of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in London. 🇺🇸☮️🇨🇳