tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83875123627766995732024-03-22T12:44:21.539-07:00PASCKIE PASCUA: Articles and StuffFacebook posts, mostly. Past articles (reviews, profiles, features etc) appeared or published in The Indie from 2005 to 2007. The Indie was a monthly "open mic" magazine based in Asheville, North Carolina that I edited and co-published.PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-82786563805705749352024-03-22T12:43:00.000-07:002024-03-22T12:43:48.607-07:00The SWEDEN Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NEWS. “How the Far Right Bagged Election Success in Sweden.” / “In Dramatic Shift, Right-Wing Bloc Wins Slim Majority in Sweden.” Sweden’s political life could be a bit confusing if we follow from the vantage view of American Left/Right party politics. New Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s Moderate Party or Moderata samlingspartiet is center-right that hinges on liberal conservatism. Okay, let’s just say Ulf is a right-wing leader.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcD_-l0pBmsWgwsuUF29HUmCUQFogqF7yheYg0a-9G_jK2JMDU5G_k3i1W9Bu4sz0ZKM-21sck3rqrACHaCFvWCLwVlpy6SY4x4YPF_uVhjE13oEv6wgjvS3N2mjvsQrHI84NSbN0GdxTBip4gDdOwzbBB6n68VjwuZFllTmpBXDdi0FN4CiY6cloLSy8W/s976/sweden%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcD_-l0pBmsWgwsuUF29HUmCUQFogqF7yheYg0a-9G_jK2JMDU5G_k3i1W9Bu4sz0ZKM-21sck3rqrACHaCFvWCLwVlpy6SY4x4YPF_uVhjE13oEv6wgjvS3N2mjvsQrHI84NSbN0GdxTBip4gDdOwzbBB6n68VjwuZFllTmpBXDdi0FN4CiY6cloLSy8W/w400-h225/sweden%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Anyhow, among his first pronouncements as chief executive of Stockholm’s parliamentary democracy is to ensure continuity in Sweden's application process to NATO. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in response to Russia's war on Ukraine, but faced opposition from Türkey, which accuses them of supporting terrorist groups.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Anyhow, the winning political party, right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, campaigned via the gut per issues such as immigration, religion, crime and the cost of environmental rules and won. And so liberal media is quick to point at SD’s alleged “neo-Nazi roots.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Despite the victory of Sweden Democrats, however, they are not expected to be formally part of the governing coalition but, of course, they can influence.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> And I am confused now, LOL! 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">BEFORE the general election, Ulf Kristersson suggested that he would form a loose right-wing bloc consisting of the Moderates, Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats and the Liberals but expressed uncertainty at SD's demand that they be allocated cabinet positions should the right-wing bloc win a majority.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Whatever the case, the new PM sounds his plan to form a new conservative government with support from Sweden Democrats although he previously ruled out an alliance with the SD. And so on and so forth.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7_oF9nz7k4Ch8iRKreqKSzAGXfEiQqqS_X92F5rVHKpHYton_EFqaXFWLc7Xx6Hj2zGB9dqsNHXTKj1O-4tauvaYohllQnzGra-6JbUAdrubrZcFDwT3ZyQHWGn4jgQYJjNPvFSbbUedeU-Z3dxEp3QxssWgRRv7_1WAEKPUWRhcbX_Cnx8dZWCnUos0/s660/sweden%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="660" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7_oF9nz7k4Ch8iRKreqKSzAGXfEiQqqS_X92F5rVHKpHYton_EFqaXFWLc7Xx6Hj2zGB9dqsNHXTKj1O-4tauvaYohllQnzGra-6JbUAdrubrZcFDwT3ZyQHWGn4jgQYJjNPvFSbbUedeU-Z3dxEp3QxssWgRRv7_1WAEKPUWRhcbX_Cnx8dZWCnUos0/s320/sweden%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The hyphenated categorization of political groupings in massive multi-party system in Sweden, the 3rd largest country in the European Union and the 5th largest in Europe, can cause a bit of confusion for the outsider looking in. Yet Sweden is still a much-emulated nation.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It ranks very highly in quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, income equality, gender equality, prosperity and human development. Ideals that you’d probably categorize as uhh Leftist. 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">SO who cares about the ism when we go to Sweden? It is still a fine country, anyhow.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Stockholm’s high-tech capitalism/socialism works just fine with its major industries that include motor vehicles, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, industrial machines, precision equipment, chemical goods, home goods and appliances, forestry, iron, and steel. Traditionally, Sweden relied on a modern agricultural economy that employed over half the domestic workforce. Easily, Sweden is one of the world’s richest economies.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> But currently the country, as in majority of Europe, is facing economic crisis borne from the Covid pandemic’s economic dislocation and the Ukraine crisis that hugely affected the region’s energy supply from Russia. Although Sweden has low dependence on Russian oil and it mainly imports gas from neighbor Denmark, still the current downturn brings Stockholm’s inflation rate at 9.8 percent. Sweden’s inflation has always been low, averaging 3.42 percent from 1980 to early this year, until the current high. The highest inflation in Sweden was 15.50 percent in 1980 under Prime Minister Thorbjorn Falldin.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Meanwhile, let’s see if Mr Nice Guy Ulf can steer his country out of the 9.8 inflation though I’d like his coalition government to simply withdraw its NATO application. 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: BBC. Rockford Register Star.</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-17236953581333307572024-03-14T11:07:00.000-07:002024-03-14T11:07:12.932-07:00The EL SALVADOR Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NEWS. “In El Salvador, the President Cracks Down on Civil Liberties, and Is Beloved for It.” And adds: “Much of the country’s population is willing to tolerate an autocratic leader, if it means that someone will finally solve their most pressing problem: gang violence.” Unemployment is almost 7 percent. Economic pace is at 2.9 percent. These are not unusual numbers in post pandemic years and current global impact of the Ukraine crisis. Considering as well that El Salvador is the third largest economy in Central America.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRISgT9G2lF_C2WQvYLb5Kw6lAnmtgzkjarRxAANGgMhNqB7sQR6WbRnu_ULOrRlg0jsDZ5LnFo2Gamers7UQtUAbVafIbW2yA2_9wmz1Baa9brTtS7nQHZlSbhqIF-fRb0RFfkQuXxz1Pco9twG7xgqrIz5UcsaMulschsBV5xCgERj-AzuwjLzKnQgBo/s612/el%20salvador%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRISgT9G2lF_C2WQvYLb5Kw6lAnmtgzkjarRxAANGgMhNqB7sQR6WbRnu_ULOrRlg0jsDZ5LnFo2Gamers7UQtUAbVafIbW2yA2_9wmz1Baa9brTtS7nQHZlSbhqIF-fRb0RFfkQuXxz1Pco9twG7xgqrIz5UcsaMulschsBV5xCgERj-AzuwjLzKnQgBo/w400-h266/el%20salvador%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> So why the tempest? We always see social unrest in economies that aren’t really down, neck-deep, in the pits. It is more complex that what it seems. For starters, maybe because President Nayib Bukele is friendly with China? How relations with China affects the U.S. foreign policy though it’s all political facades.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> San Salvador’s relations with Washington has always been shaky due to America’s controversial moves and operations in the country since its Civil War years from 1979 to 1992, and interference in Salvadoran elections. But El Salvador’s decision to cut ties with Taiwan in 2018 in favor of China sealed the animosity. 🇸🇻🇸🇻🇸🇻</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">SUCH news can be a bit confounding, ain’t it? Part of the larger competitive fire between the United States and China? Expected? Just the way geopolitics per superpower rivalry goes?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meanwhile, Salvadoran and Chinese leaderships have been meeting recently, per trade. President Nayib Bukele, after meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping in June said the forged or pledged investments represented a “gigantic, non-refundable cooperation” for the small Central American nation. For its part, China is all-set to join hands with El Salvador “to promote international fairness and justice, advocate win-win cooperation, implement the Global Development Initiative together, and move forward toward building a community with a shared future for mankind.” Grand words, indeed.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpjsRq8wm3lpiFnL9fcMlnATqFoLGeY4iB0PWKO1XSg_vrc2uG-w8AzqSWNOPIZLh74rlvQLaMiuvyHM8ffEeW3RebilCuXdzHa7de5eq_v5SNesYFKoYmyU4KoWURBmpdjxh-1_gU6xcme9BkuVrqEoDKUh-Qx10DZlXO8NqAEzqCX29L4Sm-pvRgopi/s976/el%20salvador%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpjsRq8wm3lpiFnL9fcMlnATqFoLGeY4iB0PWKO1XSg_vrc2uG-w8AzqSWNOPIZLh74rlvQLaMiuvyHM8ffEeW3RebilCuXdzHa7de5eq_v5SNesYFKoYmyU4KoWURBmpdjxh-1_gU6xcme9BkuVrqEoDKUh-Qx10DZlXO8NqAEzqCX29L4Sm-pvRgopi/s320/el%20salvador%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In 2018, prior to El Salvador’s break from Taiwan, the U.S. was the country’s top trading partner. Info says Washington still dominates San Salvador’s trade. But China in inching in, quietly but surely. In 2019, China inked several major infrastructure projects in El Salvador including a stadium and water treatment plant, which signaled China’s growing role in the region after El Salvador cut ties with Taiwan.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> El Salvador’s chief industries are food processing, beverages, petroleum, and chemicals. 🇸🇻🇸🇻🇸🇻</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">WHAT’s going on here is a paradox of sorts. El Salvador does huge business with the U.S. despite its leadership’s newfound cordiality with China. Despite Washington’s interference in the country, the people love America.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Surveys by the Pew Research Center in recent years say around 80 percent of Salvadorans viewed the United States positively respectively revealing El Salvador as one of the most pro-American nations in the world.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Following decision of the Salvadoran government, under then President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, to cut ties with Taiwan in favor of China in 2018, some Republican senators like Marco Rubio had demanded that economic aid to the country be cut and their expulsion from Alianza Para Prosperidad. The U.S-supported program is aimed to help El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala with education and healthcare to reduce illegal immigration to the U.S.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> But then, these seem like political sideshows. Meantime, gang violence in El Salvador, could be orchestrated or manipulated (refer to the past)—but blood in the streets isn’t showtime at all. 🇸🇻🇸🇻🇸🇻</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-73436544294150064772024-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:002024-02-23T11:06:42.816-08:00The ZAMBIA Story .<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">NEW York Times: “Zambia and Its New President Are Still on Their Honeymoon.” And adds: “Hakainde Hichilema is hailed as a miracle worker for turning around the fortunes of the southern African country. But with his opposition neutralized and a corruption drive focused on his predecessors, some are uneasy.” I guess, there will always be a problem. Meanwhile, Zambia stays as an arena for America vs China tug of whatever. Sadly, that’s how things are in mostly “smaller” nations.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt5Sts_HsvCmvJNrN41PtntlqTalA-PwBdY9EpaWnI2sXPtTDYrdRt1NkIPceTbVjUVjBdHHrBiGhEX-poRZxWVO5mMyPRRa49fSZxe3W40Au_9xgyELgdjzaKcLa31s_WVG4fb1uTv2jpf9LGcQ13BJUmaovkLd8PFvaGDSNnSb0dijyfWEkSKSHVsmt/s469/zambia2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="469" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt5Sts_HsvCmvJNrN41PtntlqTalA-PwBdY9EpaWnI2sXPtTDYrdRt1NkIPceTbVjUVjBdHHrBiGhEX-poRZxWVO5mMyPRRa49fSZxe3W40Au_9xgyELgdjzaKcLa31s_WVG4fb1uTv2jpf9LGcQ13BJUmaovkLd8PFvaGDSNnSb0dijyfWEkSKSHVsmt/w400-h200/zambia2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The fact of the matter is, Zambia’s economy is modest per African standard. Its 3.8 percent GDP growth rate is along the region’s 3.6 percent average, and while unemployment at 12.6 percent is high per global rates, that is a lower than the region’s 20+ percent average. For example, joblessness in Eswatini is 26 percent; Djibouti, 28 percent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Perhaps “good” in Zambia means no war? Primal peace is primal heaven for Zambia’s 19.5 million humanity. Not until some proxy war invites strife again, or Mr Hichilema misbehaves?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As we speak though, China and its state-owned lending institutions are battling it out per loans with the West’s International Monetary Fund. 🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">ZAMBIA’s chief industries include copper mining and processing, construction, emerald mining, beverages, food, textiles, chemicals, fertilizer and horticulture. Top trading partners: Switzerland, China, Congo, Singapore and South Africa for exports; South Africa, China, United Arab Emirates, India and Congo for imports.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> What hugs the country’s economic marquee these days though is the heightened competition between Beijing and IMF. Early in September, Lusaka secured a zero-interest loan of $1.3 billion with a grace period of five-and-a-half years, and a final maturity of 10 years, from the International Monetary Fund.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdrxXZgiQiUPqZTaguN2YVTwsEnzs5zk6IdOkFxwGJGc4_zfA5b-1uf9ogtCNHH3g8jrkv8F2JA9E9omMCrfrjS3kSpGpCGTmIb-ouJt4hLx0W6ZOBt9R_JM4kYIx6QyjpXoq6Tqm_Z-sWXfrcGoi8Avd7DGcUNDni0WKS-1_rNn7CceKQeSuDVTdXnbJP/s976/zambia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdrxXZgiQiUPqZTaguN2YVTwsEnzs5zk6IdOkFxwGJGc4_zfA5b-1uf9ogtCNHH3g8jrkv8F2JA9E9omMCrfrjS3kSpGpCGTmIb-ouJt4hLx0W6ZOBt9R_JM4kYIx6QyjpXoq6Tqm_Z-sWXfrcGoi8Avd7DGcUNDni0WKS-1_rNn7CceKQeSuDVTdXnbJP/s320/zambia1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meanwhile, later in the month, some 300 Chinese and Zambian companies (with 90 participating online) met for a two-day event in Lusaka bombastically billed "China-Zambia Trade and Investment Forum in the New Era: All-weather, All-Dimensional and High Quality Friendship.” The opening ceremony was attended by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, Du Xiaohui.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> No economic amount has been disclosed yet but it is expected that Beijing will waive a comnsiderable chunk of Lusaka’s debt, which is roughly 30 percent of Zambia’s total foreign debt. 🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">WHILE China zooms in on its characteristic FDI mojo in Africa, the United States stays focused on aid: Political/economic matters and humanitarian issues. USAID has committed $44 million to agricultural development programs in Zambia, promising diversification and increased female empowerment in the country’s economic recovery. That amount though is a lot lower than what the top 15 USAID recipient-countries get annually.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> U.S. officials believe diversification will yield benefits in the country’s economic growth and food security. Just three sectors – retail trade, mineral extraction and construction – constituted almost half of Zambian GDP before the pandemic.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> USAID’s focus on agricultural development will be welcomed in a country where population growth outstrips domestic agricultural production. In the short term, it is hoped that an $8.5 million export deal with agricultural companies Zdenakie and NewGrowCo will also help to relieve pressure on East African grain importers suffering the consequences of the war in Ukraine.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> This is the sort of “competition” that I favor when superpowers U.S. and China sink their teeth in poorer countries. Trade, just trade. Economics, no war. Or no war intrigue. 🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-77376135134105661202024-02-14T11:00:00.000-08:002024-02-14T11:00:23.114-08:00The PAKISTAN Story. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">New York Times: “Battered by Floods and Trapped in Debt, Pakistani Farmers Struggle to Survive.” / “A Strong Dollar Is Wreaking Havoc on Emerging Markets. A Debt Crisis Could Be Next.” The West easily blames climate change but for Pakistan’s farming population, 42 percent of the country’s labor force, the recent flooding is a natural disaster that happens all the time and destroys agricultural lands and livelihood. Which means, small farmers in sharecropping arrangements are further buried into debt with their landlords.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AbFCUNKR-4fE3zOxzsK5MFE3WT2tBqpWp5XzNPfgWIqTLbpfsP9CMeIeergi6lo1Fy91VoFRCwrKL7NdejupKndzmkMrnr4TnEorMKsC_q5V-czLv3Zg_l2MySKxSQCoxhB8KJ0h9PdpUUmhlW6VfGuviYS0nU0tkyyPVDfXsxi683Gm3s-gHaS_UZds/s976/pakistan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AbFCUNKR-4fE3zOxzsK5MFE3WT2tBqpWp5XzNPfgWIqTLbpfsP9CMeIeergi6lo1Fy91VoFRCwrKL7NdejupKndzmkMrnr4TnEorMKsC_q5V-czLv3Zg_l2MySKxSQCoxhB8KJ0h9PdpUUmhlW6VfGuviYS0nU0tkyyPVDfXsxi683Gm3s-gHaS_UZds/w400-h225/pakistan1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> And then comes a rampaging U.S. dollar on a mission. On its path, low-income countries (such as Pakistan), already struggling per Covid pandemic, are severely hit. The dollar’s strength is adding to their woes.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Site of several ancient cultures, Pakistan is historically resilient. It is bordered by nations that could offer aid in trade. India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China to the northeast. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a maritime border with Oman.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Pakistan has served as China's main bridge to the Islamic world, and also played an important role in bridging the communication gap between China and the West. The relations between Pakistan and China have been described by Pakistan's ambassador to China as "higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, stronger than steel, dearer than eyesight, sweeter than honey, and so on."</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> However, the United States remains as Pakistan’s chief export trading partner, despite the fact that more than half Pakistan’s 220 million humanity consider the U.S. to be an enemy. China is the top importer. 🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Pakistan's economy is expected to grow by only 2 percent next year from 2022’s 3.5 percent but current indications aren’t hopeful. The country faces a 12 percent unemployment rate and rising. And with a debt crisis surfacing as a result of the stronger dollar, expect bleakness some more.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLiI3BeAAHofRJiyP4nln-XN7xMEu0hWlNaeA0rKhbR7WLdcLLVAOIcSl86Bu0QW_E-Gli99owwZm7wTtM5wsBLULv457xhDC1gsBaMK0JCZnGKchzHWaA0NnIAEXAs_Cw8akQpBg3wTioUo_FYrH-Y5fk3jWVdrlj773bGLETdRCj-UTanGl81AQZUCc/s736/pakistan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="736" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLiI3BeAAHofRJiyP4nln-XN7xMEu0hWlNaeA0rKhbR7WLdcLLVAOIcSl86Bu0QW_E-Gli99owwZm7wTtM5wsBLULv457xhDC1gsBaMK0JCZnGKchzHWaA0NnIAEXAs_Cw8akQpBg3wTioUo_FYrH-Y5fk3jWVdrlj773bGLETdRCj-UTanGl81AQZUCc/s320/pakistan2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Islamabad’s external debt is feared to spike to $138.568 billion as interest rates soar. Manufacturing is Pakistan’s chief industry. With the surging U.S. dollar, domestic manufacturers hoping to sell goods overseas amid red-hot inflation are facing dark days.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As expected, China looms as Pakistan’s possible lifesaver. Compared with America that is viewed negatively, 75 percent of Pakistanis have a positive outlook of China. In turn, an almost equal 73 percent Chinese are cool with Pakistan.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Economic trade between Pakistan and China has been recently increasing, and a free trade agreement has been signed. Military and technological transactions continue to dominate the economic relationship between the two nations, and China has pledged to increase their investment in Pakistan's economy and infrastructure.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As expected, Beijing and Islamabad’s economic agreements are sealed via China’s centerpiece project Belt and Road Initiative, especially with regards the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. 🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">China comes to the rescue via BRI’s China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. CPEC will connect Pakistan with China and the Central Asian countries with highway connecting Kashgar to Khunjerab and Gwadar. Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan will serve as the trade nerve center for China, as most of its trade especially that of oil will be done through the port, which is operated by the China Overseas Port Holding Company, a state-owned company.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Currently, 60 percent of China's oil must be transported by ship from the Persian Gulf to the only commercial port in China, Shanghai, a distance of more than 16,000 kilometers. The journey takes two to three months, during which time the ships are vulnerable to pirates, bad weather, political rivals and other risks. Using Gwadar Port instead would reduce the distance and possibly the cost.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7jrKpsB0ltNvOy0F0U5uVdW1G02Orf6gJJq2daAgoNoU_kknIUSbWRRUi8tiVC5FaieMx6_-PFFLnqnEvK-zsARMr3Npbz5_MVCx3-600O5S2s8DbA_l-50MFVtdrTtp6rUT69eNrfQNEnwCmkfdiYXZyS-2ot_9GGu_b3dju-K5OILdgYBJTO6r-BbU/s1200/pakistan3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7jrKpsB0ltNvOy0F0U5uVdW1G02Orf6gJJq2daAgoNoU_kknIUSbWRRUi8tiVC5FaieMx6_-PFFLnqnEvK-zsARMr3Npbz5_MVCx3-600O5S2s8DbA_l-50MFVtdrTtp6rUT69eNrfQNEnwCmkfdiYXZyS-2ot_9GGu_b3dju-K5OILdgYBJTO6r-BbU/s320/pakistan3.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> While China focuses on economics, the U.S. is consistent on politics—and Pakistan is no exception. Islamabad has been a major non-NATO ally of Washington since 2002. Yet after Pakistan's participation in the Afghan peace process and Taliban (re)takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, a sizeable number of U.S. policy makers are revisiting the United States relations with Pakistan. That could be vague though under President Biden.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I don’t think Biden likes Pakistan, regardless of Islamabad’s positive push for a new geo-economic vision. Biden's hawkish foreign policy approach views Pakistan as a major hub of international terrorism and jihadism. And so it appears redefining U.S.-Pakistan relations isn’t going to be quite easy. Of course, White House obligatorily urged the world to help “underwater Pakistan.” 🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">Visuals: BBC. Medium. Unctad.</span></span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-2469232143227062752024-01-30T11:26:00.000-08:002024-01-30T11:34:32.224-08:00The PUERTO RICO Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NEWS: “In Remote Parts of Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona Made Life Even Harder.” / “Can an Island Feed Itself?” The hurricane was in September and yet the storm’s effects remain, mostly evident in areas that have suffered disproportionately from natural disasters and government neglect. Have we heard/read this before, almost on a yearly basis?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKmwsMtKRwiJcMfOfe3hui7_wY0vIvnG-oCnYnLAzKNpevvqGV_KKbJhc05p8Pcsh6ZmE2YwXKdcgI7JDoRWhb2G1jRIbIWHFAZ7kFa-1inzUYcm6hv-IUGFJ8dR4LRpAntgFI3qaBCZikQHY-dcAIF3k3wnmxmHJjtMiwZsd8jh026piGKBive6NXYZV/s976/puerto%20rico1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKmwsMtKRwiJcMfOfe3hui7_wY0vIvnG-oCnYnLAzKNpevvqGV_KKbJhc05p8Pcsh6ZmE2YwXKdcgI7JDoRWhb2G1jRIbIWHFAZ7kFa-1inzUYcm6hv-IUGFJ8dR4LRpAntgFI3qaBCZikQHY-dcAIF3k3wnmxmHJjtMiwZsd8jh026piGKBive6NXYZV/w400-h225/puerto%20rico1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Yet although agriculture constitutes only about 0.60 percent or over $800 million of Puerto Rico’s gross domestic product (GDP), this industry promises salvation to the island’s 3.2 million population. So new visions of local agriculture are taking root. Currently the sector accounts for 15 percent of the food consumed locally, and still got room for improvement.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Experts from the University of Puerto Rico argued that these crops—primarily rice, sugar cane, coffee, and corn—could cover approximately 30 percent of the local demand, particularly that of smaller vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, etc. and several kinds of tubers that are currently being imported.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Top FDIs in the island come from the U.S., Germany, Spain and Canada—but they overwhelmingly favor manufacturing, primarily pharmaceuticals, textiles, petrochemicals, and electronics. And the government is into finance, insurance, real estate, and tourism as well. Hence, there is currently a debate as to whether or not agricultural production in Puerto Rico should be increased or reduced. 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">PUERTO Rico’s agricultural economy has been stunted or prevented from growing due to a shift in priorities towards industrialization, bureaucratization, mismanagement of terrains, lack of alternative methods and a deficient workforce. Most venture in nearby New York City. PR’s geographical location within the Caribbean exacerbates these issues, making the scarce existing crops propense to the devastating effects of Atlantic hurricanes.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuK6nXK4OUyNtKJv9lKbX1rLb3NPw_A6IN6frgvqLuPP784umYNgJz93AdltBCym-1DQHfpfLYRPC9yw65q9TWRlPz4BwfPgDOo_UKGSWj97tCRlW1MxF-zN3syLdYXOVkpvERJmn9MH8AtiIZfZUdVaOrxh1yrMjTXhrA8AZ0Bi1VJUUjY_aTJZqw6-u/s746/puerto%20rico2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuK6nXK4OUyNtKJv9lKbX1rLb3NPw_A6IN6frgvqLuPP784umYNgJz93AdltBCym-1DQHfpfLYRPC9yw65q9TWRlPz4BwfPgDOo_UKGSWj97tCRlW1MxF-zN3syLdYXOVkpvERJmn9MH8AtiIZfZUdVaOrxh1yrMjTXhrA8AZ0Bi1VJUUjY_aTJZqw6-u/s320/puerto%20rico2.jpg" width="275" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meanwhile, poverty rate is a staggering 51 percent. The poverty rate in Puerto Rico is much higher than any or all of the 50 other U.S. states, or double the 24.2 percent of the next poorest, Mississippi. Currently, inflation is at 6.10 percent; unemployment 6+ percent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Why the relative non-concern for Puerto Rico? Remember, Puerto Ricans was granted U.S. citizenship via the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917, the year America joined World War I. In other words, Washington needed additional troops to send to war.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> These days, Puerto Rico seems like a mere factory for U.S. and European consumer needs. Yet the island’s agriculture could be developed—to at least feed its people during times of massive calamity. 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">Visuals: BBC. Franciscan Children.</span></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-86488043132408679052024-01-16T12:33:00.000-08:002024-01-16T12:33:56.559-08:00The JAPAN Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">JAPAN, which is around the size of California but with almost 3x larger in population at 125.8 million, is a Land of Superlatives. Aptly, this East Asian power is “The Land of the Rising Sun,” especially when we regard its economic miracle after World War II. From the ashes of its defeat in the Pacific War, GDP growth rate rose at an average of 7.1 percent from 1945 to 1956, catapulting the Shinto nation as the world’s second-largest economy in the world by 1972.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFy1DUFT-0FyEhu6tKKEuozWc9AwsuhIhF67j-s_E_V27jQB1TsflzSkIFsupivKwAeGHvQHhQPB7YvNPf1J-zZokDAR54s0fJPgZKyTCnAwHSdD9w-U8I0vPVDDIjZmBZynry78Xlq3caP8ABX8KyabnY6CQhmk-RVr10d3Ofjm2YDOS0AfMECs5tyoS/s1920/japan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFy1DUFT-0FyEhu6tKKEuozWc9AwsuhIhF67j-s_E_V27jQB1TsflzSkIFsupivKwAeGHvQHhQPB7YvNPf1J-zZokDAR54s0fJPgZKyTCnAwHSdD9w-U8I0vPVDDIjZmBZynry78Xlq3caP8ABX8KyabnY6CQhmk-RVr10d3Ofjm2YDOS0AfMECs5tyoS/w400-h225/japan1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Economy stagnated around the 1990s in what is referred to as the “Lost Decade,” but the country has since recovered. With the advent of China in the 21st century, which in fact aided Japan shake the currency crash crisis in the 1990s, Japan has assumed 3rd rank in global economy without really losing much of its economic poise.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Japan is a great power due to several reasons. Although Tokyo has renounced its right to declare war, the country maintains Self-Defense Forces that rank as one of the world's strongest militaries. A global leader in the automotive, robotics and electronics industries, Japan has made significant contributions to science and technology. The culture is well known around the world, including its art, cuisine, music, and popular culture, which encompasses prominent comic, animation and video game industries.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Among other bright spots, Japan ranks "very high" on the Human Development Index and a high life expectancy of 84 years though its overall population is experiencing a decline. Another startling fact about Japan, which is also known as the land the “hara-kiri” or ritual suicide and the infamous suicide forest Aokigahara in Mount Fuji, is the least depressed country on earth with a depression diagnosed rate of less than 2.5 percent. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">WITH a very colorful culture, Japan is a very old nation that has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic period (30,000 BC), though the first written mention of the archipelago appears in a Chinese chronicle (the Book of Han) finished in the 2nd century AD. After years under military dictators or “shoguns” and feudal lords a.k.a. “daimyo,” which was enforced by the warrior nobility called “samurai,” civil wars punctuated Japan’s history.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeOn_0cKMYW55bZtqGv_spQbtjwdS41V55XwO3IwUENnhnbV2UX_c46KnDZsnv9X0tnFs5KQgLqrSsMxPwD_BpYTUK7ojc-8nyvnFBWNTYJPtkWIa3q_xGz58o0kOWMiUcR-zMmNdy-q6v0AOg9c_4AgcbHBPHPcSUmAd79RFfGi-blmBEfwHH-LFeLIV/s384/japan3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeOn_0cKMYW55bZtqGv_spQbtjwdS41V55XwO3IwUENnhnbV2UX_c46KnDZsnv9X0tnFs5KQgLqrSsMxPwD_BpYTUK7ojc-8nyvnFBWNTYJPtkWIa3q_xGz58o0kOWMiUcR-zMmNdy-q6v0AOg9c_4AgcbHBPHPcSUmAd79RFfGi-blmBEfwHH-LFeLIV/s320/japan3.jpg" width="242" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The country was reunified in 1603 under the Tokugawa shogunate, which enacted an isolationist foreign policy, yet like China—it sustained a formidable internal well-being. The steely resolve not to trade with the West moved the United States to force Japan to open its ports in 1854. That’d then be written in history as Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s infamous “gunboat diplomacy,” which led to the end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I view that transition or the birth of the Meiji period as Japan’s slide to political darkness as it pursued a Western-modeled constitution and program of industrialization and modernization. Amidst a rise in militarism and overseas colonization, Japan invaded China in 1937 and entered World War II as an Axis power in 1941.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> After suffering defeat in the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under a seven-year Allied occupation, during which it adopted a new constitution. And a new life of coolness, calm, openness, and prosperity. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">JAPAN’s major export industries include automobiles, consumer electronics, computers, semiconductors, and iron and steel. Additionally, key industries in Japan's economy are mining, nonferrous metals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, bioindustry, shipbuilding, aerospace, textiles, and processed foods.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Another admirable facet of Japan points at its economic management. It has a comparatively low 3.4 percent GDP growth rate at this point, a lot lower than India’s global high of 6.5 percent to 7 percent, but Japan apparently runs its economy better. Its unemployment rate is at 2+ percent, regardless of Covid-19 pandemic, compared with India’s 7.9 percent jobless rate.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As expected, Japan’s top trading partner is China, surpassing trade with the United States. Tokyo’s economy is increasingly dependent on Beijing, which is now the country's largest export destination. That’d be considering that after China defeated Japan in the WW2, relations have been tense because of the Korean War and the Cold War. Yet trade has expanded greatly in the 21st century.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> True to the Japanese, they healed fast from wounds of war to embrace peaceful demeanor. And the Chinese are lovin’ it as well. Chinese tourists have been the biggest group visiting Japan in recent years. In 2018, some 8.4 million Chinese tourists visited Japan and spent a whopping $13 billion, accounting for nearly 34 percent of all spending by foreign visitors. Today over 2.7 million foreign residents are estimated to be in Japan. Of this, Chinese nationals account for the largest group, with close to 800,000. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">WHAT about Japan’s relations with the United States? Tokyo remains as a top Washington political ally in Asia, irrelevant of China. In fact, Japan hosts the 3rd largest concentration of American troops overseas, after South Korea and Germany. Despite these, Japan hasn’t really bought into or rode with America’s open derision of China.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRFyDdvPLcRgBhqKr-zTwn_NNfTCUh-KqVXuQTXKoD5gGLWE3QqoGNsTupFPWW1W8UVgE8Rq31zRfzEpHrAMSzVHLWnCrNpzFDJCQtpNEY8PBxZonUSDO-5_rBQ6M5FsNmq01GFBBTGBaRrbgOR6PCEKRLGySokSAZKUt9KaQmGqVOw0DeaVAENH_LviE/s1200/japan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRFyDdvPLcRgBhqKr-zTwn_NNfTCUh-KqVXuQTXKoD5gGLWE3QqoGNsTupFPWW1W8UVgE8Rq31zRfzEpHrAMSzVHLWnCrNpzFDJCQtpNEY8PBxZonUSDO-5_rBQ6M5FsNmq01GFBBTGBaRrbgOR6PCEKRLGySokSAZKUt9KaQmGqVOw0DeaVAENH_LviE/s320/japan2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Tokyo refused to join Washington’s trade war with Beijing in Donald Trump’s years. To accentuate the stance, just two weeks after the Nov 2020 U.S. presidential election, Japan joined the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Meantime, Japan has also not followed America’s lead against China’s Belt and Road Initiative. It is said to be seeking to cooperate with the project.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Despite all these, the U.S. stays as Japan’s #2 top trading partner. U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Japan was $131.8 billion in 2019, a 16.4 percent increase from 2018. U.S. direct investment in Japan is led by finance and insurance, manufacturing, and wholesale trade. Japan's FDI in the United States was $619.3 billion in 2019, up 25.4 percent from 2018. That’d be #1 FDI country in America, to date. Chinese FDIs in the U.S. is way below the Top 10.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Meanwhile, the Japanese, 67 percent, favorably view America as their closest ally. A 2021 Gallup poll showed that 84 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Japan as well. In fact, when I stayed in Japan in the 1990s, I was amazed at how the Japanese extremely enjoy American rock `n roll. The country is a top 3 market for U.S. music. 🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: times;">Photo credits: Papaya Global. The Independent. Wikipedia.</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-39876109382204114852023-12-26T11:08:00.000-08:002023-12-26T11:08:11.710-08:00The Mexico Story. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">MEXICO and the United States are not just border neighbors; they are connected by a sturdy umbilical cord that is emotionally cultural, significantly political, and beneficially economic. Forget that the United States gets its steady supply of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and other illicit narcotics from Mexican drug cartels. That is simply the dramatic side-story. This high and low “friendship” is tight.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdHdELzbHAQ_-JrTpAKR7r9TnxtRqa4YBzW39bXyuCbuBksUoSrjo93AoGVS-PEMmIhy3RSZuAcsICLM2JAXE1SjKbBFvwpj-fSApIRnpQ9vMOUtBcHmqCfx2jTw60eN73y7roamBdEBWqlSo2wQ54VPaXfmlaLx2nVHH-BjBACFFmpv7QNQAIqerQhZL/s790/mexico%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="790" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdHdELzbHAQ_-JrTpAKR7r9TnxtRqa4YBzW39bXyuCbuBksUoSrjo93AoGVS-PEMmIhy3RSZuAcsICLM2JAXE1SjKbBFvwpj-fSApIRnpQ9vMOUtBcHmqCfx2jTw60eN73y7roamBdEBWqlSo2wQ54VPaXfmlaLx2nVHH-BjBACFFmpv7QNQAIqerQhZL/w400-h304/mexico%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> History: The relationship evolved quite uneasily from two agreements: [1] When Mexico ceded the modern-day southwestern United States to the U.S. via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of Mexican-American War 1848, and [2] The Gadsden Purchase in 1854 when Washington agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a portion of Mexico, which later became part of Arizona and New Mexico.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> And so since the late 19th century during the regime of President Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911), the two countries have fortified their ties. During Díaz's long presidency, U.S. businessmen acquired agricultural and mining interests in Mexico. Meantime, the U.S. played an important role in the course of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) with direct actions of the U.S. influencing the outcome. And so on and so forth.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> These days, the U.S. is Mexico's largest trading partner, accounting for close to half of all exports and more than half of all imports. For the U.S., Mexico is the 3rd largest trading partner after Canada and China. The two-way trade between both nations amounted to almost $600 billion. Of course, there’s the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed in 1994 with the goal of eliminating barriers to trade and investment.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Mexico is also the United States’ 2nd top gross petroleum importer after Canada, and ahead of Saudi Arabia, Russia (pre-Ukraine war), and Colombia. With China showing signs of slowdown of business with the West and per obvious result of the current Ukraine drama, Washington’s trade relations with Beijing and Moscow are expected to plummet. It wouldn’t be surprising that the U.S./Mexico romance will even grow fonder. 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Mexico is not a poor country as gauged by its economy, which is the 9th largest economy in the world. Although GDP growth rate plummeted to 2.11 percent, it is a decent rise from 2020 pandemic’s -18.70 percent but far from the all-time high of 19.90 percent in the second quarter of 2021. The country’s 3.4 percent unemployment isn’t so bad either.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJnsa4iK7maYJcBMaEq4VO8aNcTvSmiOPVzWnWiZal1zSGb5c990NRkA9yQ4QHQ0ELHepSiAgtRcpHlLoazvlRDz7rvNY3XAsvfLKi3L1gwp4kfSIp4JBR9gADCHNFDOZtK4io45Wn5AtdVp4O3weDfOX0eVnzdvSONRG_HIn1Vs16vQIHTTCfD_psko9/s2000/mexico%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="2000" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJnsa4iK7maYJcBMaEq4VO8aNcTvSmiOPVzWnWiZal1zSGb5c990NRkA9yQ4QHQ0ELHepSiAgtRcpHlLoazvlRDz7rvNY3XAsvfLKi3L1gwp4kfSIp4JBR9gADCHNFDOZtK4io45Wn5AtdVp4O3weDfOX0eVnzdvSONRG_HIn1Vs16vQIHTTCfD_psko9/s320/mexico%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Major problem is Mexico's wealth is unevenly distributed among its 128 million people where 10 percent of nation's wealthiest have 42.2 percent of all income and 10 percent of the nation's poorest have 1.3 of the remaining income. The nonstop trek of migrants off the U.S. southern border though, I believe, isn’t because of poverty per se. It is a combination of several factors although I am not discussing that subject right now.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Anyways.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Mexico’s main industries are food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, and tourism. It is a major exporter of silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton, oil and oil products.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> True, Mexico is loyally American but it doesn’t mean, like it’s BFF the U.S., that it is not vulnerable to anything Chinese. In 2020 amidst the pandemic, Mexico's imports from China exceeded its exports by more than $65 billion. But this trade exchange, although still significantly less massive than with the U.S., is not without roots. 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">China/Mexico links date back to the early days of the Spanish Colonial Empire in the Americas and the Philippines. In the 16th-17th century, people, goods, and news traveling between China and Spain usually did so through the Philippines (where there was a large Chinese settlement) and (via the Manila galleon trade) to Mexico. The first two galleons loaded with Chinese goods arrived from the Philippines to Acapulco in 1573.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAz4F43Ph8_tpTwWRxO4k5MmFKEPtDZtr0M3RDP-sjtQv1EDph_6Ajb6NTQYpX5Av4xIAPn3I-gjnz9MeB9ueYI_3oYUV9CPPINpMSpQfjH3TPmgg4IMizt59WdtLj5yyp1VgmCmD9Gy2o-RjgulJWxjxRlke1jlcTzGq9XxeHdhxovpUyndvNOEWc92G/s1920/mexico%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1894" data-original-width="1920" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAz4F43Ph8_tpTwWRxO4k5MmFKEPtDZtr0M3RDP-sjtQv1EDph_6Ajb6NTQYpX5Av4xIAPn3I-gjnz9MeB9ueYI_3oYUV9CPPINpMSpQfjH3TPmgg4IMizt59WdtLj5yyp1VgmCmD9Gy2o-RjgulJWxjxRlke1jlcTzGq9XxeHdhxovpUyndvNOEWc92G/s320/mexico%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> But Beijing/Mexico City trade relations are continually, basically a working project. American sanctions on China and tariffs on Chinese goods stunted the exchange, as well as rising wages in China and the difficulty of doing business there. The trend has accelerated recently. But the Chinese are not about to give up as exemplified by recent attempts.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Same as it does in Latin America and Africa, China expands its FDIs in Mexico in recent years. China was set to construct a $200 million, 1,400-acre mega-mall, Dragon Mart, near the beach resort of Cancún. But it was shot down by environmentalists. In 2014, the Mexican government cancelled a contract for China to build a bullet train in Mexico.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Yet it doesn’t mean Chinese companies are off-limits in Mexico. Several Chinese multinational companies operate in Mexico such as Hisense, Huawei, JAC Motors, Lenovo and ZTE. At the same time, several Mexican multinational companies operate in China such as Gruma, Grupo Bimbo, Nemak, and Softtek. 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-78941871770074017462023-12-08T10:49:00.000-08:002023-12-08T10:49:48.973-08:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/Nmzt61Xag5G0oFZ-ze6oBQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmWtWXP0TeaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8zMS9vcGluaW9uL2NoaW5hLWVjb25vbXktZ3Jvd3RoLWNvdmlkLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDYwMSZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzkzMSZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzNDM5MCZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRwl1B4ZAFxYYFSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Went to China for the First Time in 3 Years, and I Saw Just How Formidable It Is</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">.” And adds: “The country’s economic prospects are being underestimated.” Initially founded as a socialist state with a centrally planned economy, China’s current system is a mixed economy, with a lot of smart modifications of Western-styled capitalism. Result: An almost 30 boom years with GDP growing in double-digits, raising poverty out of mud.</span> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-_zU41uQeRRsVi9x1WyHRXt2lKCxuInu0RwIW7OH9RK-jk1PyZuU6Mool4t_GPzeyrzxeD-jfsvcTebv7Wk-O28UTMzbO2L-IEjXLr_Qhj_ka1vZu1Qa-eJrm4GSVso0DOk6WPI8x7WfMJvDz8cHeGi_DzWIoi_p0ZFm_k8yen2bZ4fHSyhjDIio6YIA/s800/china2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-_zU41uQeRRsVi9x1WyHRXt2lKCxuInu0RwIW7OH9RK-jk1PyZuU6Mool4t_GPzeyrzxeD-jfsvcTebv7Wk-O28UTMzbO2L-IEjXLr_Qhj_ka1vZu1Qa-eJrm4GSVso0DOk6WPI8x7WfMJvDz8cHeGi_DzWIoi_p0ZFm_k8yen2bZ4fHSyhjDIio6YIA/w400-h225/china2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The CCP calls it: “Socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Yet mostly it isn’t about ideological paradigm. China is moved by its religion and culture. Political fervor is Maoist Communism and Deng Xiaoping’s shrewd trade design via “Four Modernizations” of the 1970s. Yet it is all about the spiritual (Buddhist) discipline and focused work ethic of the intensely united Chinese. 🎎🇨🇳🎎</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/HQrKc0v7PVJhshaSp9t_5Q~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmXCbwP0TpaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8wMS9jbGltYXRlL2FyaXpvbmEtcGhvZW5peC1wZXJtaXRzLWhvdXNpbmctd2F0ZXIuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNjAyJmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTk0MDI3Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTM0NDkwJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZHjwoXlk6watj1IRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arizona Limits Construction Around Phoenix as Its Water Supply Dwindles</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Officials ruled there’s not enough groundwater for projects already approved.” This is a fact and old news. Forty million people rely on water from the Colorado River. Yet when it comes to frivolous consumption, no change or it gets worse each year. Sick and tired of this two-word “climate change” pitch. Most affected states: California, Utah, New Mexico, and Nevada. 🌬💨💦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Smithsonian: “Octopuses May Have Vivid Nightmares, Video Suggests.” And adds: “Costello, a male Brazilian reef octopus, had `bizarre’ defensive outbursts while sleeping in a lab.” We haven’t yet fully explored the intricacies of the human mind and physical body. We get sicker and sicker. Yet we over-focus (sic!) on animal research when they’re better off let alone. Or Big Tech prioritizes inventions of A.I. machines in place of human reflex/response. 🐙🐙🐙</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/2SHx1e9Ey4pk1zST6qBkvA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUZr9P0TnaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yNC9vcGluaW9uL2FudGktZHJhZy1sYXdzLWFudGktdHJhbnMtbGF3LXN1aXRzLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyNSZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzQzMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzg1MiZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRi_RVvZHPEoiRSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Americans Have the Right to Dress Exactly How They Want</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” Trend watchers agree: Fashion is a sense of self-expression, but some particularly strange trends have emerged over the decades. The answer is probably as simple as the fact that people change. And then that change gets highly politicized. Discoursing skin-tight shorts as outdoor wear or "men lingerie" brings us to Left vs Right caterwaul. Clothes are political statements, beyond individual preference. 👚🩳🩱</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Too much ado about PGA/LIV Merger (1). Why the drama? Is it because Riyadh hooked up with Moscow in re global oil pricing, regardless of the war? Or Saudi Arabia shook hands with Iran on China's intercession? Or MBS is a Trump buddy, as does Putin? Yet I do dig the word "friend" over "enemy." Sports bridge animosities. Ain't we in the United States disunited enough? At least the Saudis offer us money in golf and not "arms for oil" that ruled bilateral deals with the Arabs for years.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfX8PwDB-n8_ng7TXSabbiZzLkCDnEJhCthdNnMCZZ37Umyj1dNWC-yRwZSnVV0Tq0Y3c7wvsi-rz7zyVql-rNZ6FzYIsI2hfqKvn5o60SRhL2TNNvdTyqz0ftTLkTpU7miLJEsVquNRmz5jzn8xLnSrevuomhY_LkW0Do62274q_M_fXbUQGMLll-ckV/s2500/golf1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="2500" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfX8PwDB-n8_ng7TXSabbiZzLkCDnEJhCthdNnMCZZ37Umyj1dNWC-yRwZSnVV0Tq0Y3c7wvsi-rz7zyVql-rNZ6FzYIsI2hfqKvn5o60SRhL2TNNvdTyqz0ftTLkTpU7miLJEsVquNRmz5jzn8xLnSrevuomhY_LkW0Do62274q_M_fXbUQGMLll-ckV/s320/golf1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> We curse at the Saudis for merging with our golf, a sport of the rich, that eats up lots of geography. But then, what about the Arabs’ desert that we dug up since the 1940s to feed our insatiable thirst for fuel? We are still buying oil from them, as we speak. They are guilty of human rights dirt? Who isn’t? Washington tossed billions$ in taxpayer money to heighten war than negotiate for peace. What about support of dictatorships? 🏒🇸🇦🏒</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “Apple Strikes Multibillion-Dollar Deal to Use U.S.-Made Chips.” Sure, it can be done. Work things out and revert back to pre-2000 U.S./China trade pact. But it’s going to be a long road. Main material that contributes to the bulk of computer chip design is silicon. China is the world’s runaway #1 producer of this chemical element. Meanwhile, Apple’s longest-running manufacturing partner is Taiwan-owned Foxconn, with 16 factories in China, including the largest in Shenzen. 💾🍎📀</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/30t1mhA-fZJ_JJYCatFx3Q~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmWYQmP0TQaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8zMC91cy90YXJhLXJlYWRlLXJ1c3NpYS5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MzEmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTM4NjMmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzQzMTAmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0Qgpkbyb_dmTUG5ufUhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tara Reade, Who Accused Biden of Assault, Says She Has Moved to Russia</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” During the 2020 campaign, Tara Reade, then a Congressional aide, alleged that </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe Biden</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sexually assaulted her in 1993 in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Capitol Hill</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Same with Donald Trump's accuser, I ask why only now when the accused is a political spotlight? The “scandal” is trajectoried as campaign weapon. Next, comes $settlement to buy silence. So are we fixing the ills this way? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiRY0WnvAiDevomV7EOHmhgAq0DoiFI1u52a60_0xyQsRY614X9AAhV5hLHW8ngVAjhZqU8ESQzY6t8rqSNRdrZVY2P8kLVrBf_wtcqFTlhNxE3o0XMHj-lC7ohXhuDcWkxIlU9SM_wjk-Rk5rQHMxrNy0Lx3icXDg1ncuol6twh2aYeXdZ5WmhqcINVZ/s945/political%20life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="945" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiRY0WnvAiDevomV7EOHmhgAq0DoiFI1u52a60_0xyQsRY614X9AAhV5hLHW8ngVAjhZqU8ESQzY6t8rqSNRdrZVY2P8kLVrBf_wtcqFTlhNxE3o0XMHj-lC7ohXhuDcWkxIlU9SM_wjk-Rk5rQHMxrNy0Lx3icXDg1ncuol6twh2aYeXdZ5WmhqcINVZ/s320/political%20life.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Tara Reade worked for Biden as a Congressional aide in 1992 and 1993, and later attended </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioch_University" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Antioch University</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_University_School_of_Law" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seattle University School of Law</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. She later worked as a domestic violence advocate. 😏😒🤨</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Smithsonian: “New York City Is Sinking Under the Weight of Its Skyscrapers, Study Finds.” Coming from a far less wealthy archipelago, I get paranoid. The Philippines is a calamity bait and we'd probably drown in massive floods? Meanwhile, the Big Apple is sinking? Hurricane Sandy in 2012 wasted 43 lives in New York City; economic losses were roughly $19 billion. Worse could happen next. But this is America. How did that happen? NYC is the richest city in the world. Fix it. 🗽🏖🏢</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/tyF8Ir0F8Z6Y1W_t35Q-Sg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmWtWXP0T5aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8zMS9idXNpbmVzcy9lbmVyZ3ktZW52aXJvbm1lbnQvZXVyb3BlLWJhdHRlcnktZmFjdG9yeS1zdWJpc2lkaWVzLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDYwMSZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzkzMSZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzNDM5MCZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRwl1B4ZAFxYYFSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As U.S. Races Ahead, Europe Frets About Battery Factory Subsidies</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “The European Union is trying to assemble the building blocks to produce electric cars, but subsidies are luring companies to the United States.” But the U.S. needs a steady supply of five critical minerals whose domestic supply is potentially at risk: lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite. And those are found mostly in China and Russia, and their economic allies. 🚕⛏🚗</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/NRXWOPr1G73thDOAbHlfhg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUEkeP0TcaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yMy9vcGluaW9uL2FpLWNoYXRib3QtcmVsYXRpb25zaGlwcy5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MjQmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTMzMzcmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzM3NTMmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYh7EbWRxFjD3UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My A.I. Lover</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Three women reflect on the complexities of their relationships with their A.I. companions.” Damn. Complex? Relationship with robots? LOL! Did the A.I.s rant a lot of politics? Crack silly culturally insensitive jokes? Grilled salmon wrapped on aluminum foil? Watched lots of TV? Etc etcetera. Truth is, I know of friends whose reflex and logic were very AI. They were very right. No way to argue with them. They may conk out. 🤖💓🤖</span></span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-52165922436862234572023-12-05T11:28:00.000-08:002023-12-05T11:28:13.109-08:00The Brazil Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HOWEVER way (or angle) we view, observe, or judge Brazil—it is still huge. Brazil has the world’s #5 largest population at 212.6 million and the 5th largest country by land area. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 4,655 miles. It borders all other countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3 percent of the continent's land area.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMF86gm1pKBuULSxTz3XC9mmba8OkaduYAxWV5u5yzjh_Y-BVnWmmG136LDgGsmdhNGbHtmFo0QhCbSJEaJPSUPXc45EZj-4ev3KWoHJq4QauQeh5QzSNTixDds4-ufsbPn0gAy3FeF7dapqvRQ0q3JztJyGdXevkrsbgvTIRSJCgcc4FU2TFdob2Ebu-/s976/brazil%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMF86gm1pKBuULSxTz3XC9mmba8OkaduYAxWV5u5yzjh_Y-BVnWmmG136LDgGsmdhNGbHtmFo0QhCbSJEaJPSUPXc45EZj-4ev3KWoHJq4QauQeh5QzSNTixDds4-ufsbPn0gAy3FeF7dapqvRQ0q3JztJyGdXevkrsbgvTIRSJCgcc4FU2TFdob2Ebu-/w400-h225/brazil%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Brazil boasts of its massive Amazon basin, which includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats. This unique environmental heritage makes the giant geography one of 17 megadiverse countries, and is the subject of significant global interest per environmental facts, issues, and impacts.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Moreover, Brazil is also the 10th largest consumer market. Brasília is only the world’s #26-ranked exporter and #29th in imports but the country has the largest share of global wealth in South America and it is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Brazil also has the largest GDP in Latin America. In terms of regional and global decision-making, Brasilia is integral. It is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. When a global shudder happens, Brazil’s position is perennially asked. 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">BRAZIL’s chief industries are all global imperatives: Iron and steel production, automobile assembly, petroleum processing, chemicals production, and cement making; technologically based industries have been the most dynamic in recent years, but have not outpaced traditional industries—which make Brazil a trading powerhouse, globally.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoHnH-c4JtgaON9N0Y-vnd0X5aDyh3mwYyTy-DDroEOuxDNq9AdQzMmVncoPEb9Mjt8VeyItkZdeIKUmq3i_XC7zWzMs-_1wGDGcr_Ei2JTYT2hwDA7ho5CFrk-wXHQpftlF0Xg9Do5jXomjTp8QfU4fGA04YI75vDs4fsqqxEalGdjcJE1uT0mr9_CNC-/s1000/brazil%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoHnH-c4JtgaON9N0Y-vnd0X5aDyh3mwYyTy-DDroEOuxDNq9AdQzMmVncoPEb9Mjt8VeyItkZdeIKUmq3i_XC7zWzMs-_1wGDGcr_Ei2JTYT2hwDA7ho5CFrk-wXHQpftlF0Xg9Do5jXomjTp8QfU4fGA04YI75vDs4fsqqxEalGdjcJE1uT0mr9_CNC-/s320/brazil%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Brazil’s export crops are also among the world’s tops: Soybeans, sugarcane, coffee, beef, and orange juice. Brazil exported 86 million metric tons of soybeans in 2020, accounting for roughly 50 percent of the world's exports.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As expected, Brazil’s top trading partner is China, which enjoys 28.11 percent of Brasilia’s export/import business. The U.S. is a distant second, 13.25 percent. Next: Netherlands and neighbor Argentina. Of the 15 most exported Brazilian commodities, China is the main importer of 11, while the U.S. is the main importer of only two.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In fact, Brazil is the main destination for Chinese investments in South America, receiving $66.1 billion, equivalent to 47 percent of the total amount invested, in the decade up to 2020. Brazilian/Beijing business flourished, regardless of Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021 China bought over 30 percent of Brazil's physical exports, up from less than 20 percent five years earlier.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As expected, Chinese companies are also involved in the oil exploration in Brazil. The consortium which won the right to explore Brazil's largest pre-salt oil camp, Libra, has two Chinese companies -- CNOOC and CNPC, along with Total, Shell and Brazil's own state-controlled oil giant Petrobras. Some 23 Chinese companies are all over Brazil.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Does Brazil rely on China? I think this is no brainer. Brazil and China are members of an economic organization called BRICS, also consisting of Russia, India, and South Africa. 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">MAJOR reasons for the United States’ less aggressive business investing in Brazil: High-profile amounts of corruption, crime and social inequality. Add cumbersome and complex taxation, bureaucratic delays, and rigid labor legislation. Even so American FDIs are still funneled through manufacturing, finance and insurance, and mining.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLV3_LhEY0S-2pKa79zBBaLKvTmA1YBaIfeUfy8baJNyXZiivqzdeKFUcLpXFgi12tZ-9urcrj3_NlNIFiUyGmuyQSTk6E6pYzLOAZW1DotmTO-NwvGXTu2o2BZ6_S1J1WUpj8T65pryHlqMJjpLY7L7XiL91RyGL_wINphTBc70g04UuCEI7JiZe002Q9/s710/brazil%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLV3_LhEY0S-2pKa79zBBaLKvTmA1YBaIfeUfy8baJNyXZiivqzdeKFUcLpXFgi12tZ-9urcrj3_NlNIFiUyGmuyQSTk6E6pYzLOAZW1DotmTO-NwvGXTu2o2BZ6_S1J1WUpj8T65pryHlqMJjpLY7L7XiL91RyGL_wINphTBc70g04UuCEI7JiZe002Q9/s320/brazil%203.jpg" width="315" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> However, the complexity of Washington’s relationship with Brasilia always points to politics—because the U.S. is more concerned with its geopolitical persona from the latter part of the 20th century towards 21st century, as China and Russia moved to put ideological fire in the backburner over economic diversification and trade expansionism.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Today’s political classes in South/Latin America are still scarred by the history of U.S. interventions, often involving the overthrow of democratically elected governments such as Salvador Allende in Chile and João Goulart in Brazil during the Cold War.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Even among supposedly cordial partners in democracy, Washington’s record as a dependable, trustworthy power has been cast in the dark because of its history of betraying and abandoning its former allies in favor of policing based on what the U.S. believes as just, reasonable, and humane.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Latin America’s largely snub of President Biden’s call for sanction against Russia on account of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine—is an example of the weakening of America’s clout in the region. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro declined to condemn Putin and said Brazil would remain neutral.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Mr Bolsonaro added that he was against any sanctions that could bring negative repercussions for Brazil, citing Russian fertilizers which are crucial for the country's giant agribusiness sector. And, of course, Latin America—including Brazil—is a huge buyer of Russian military equipment. But that’d be another subject to discuss. 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Photo credits: Chimu Adventures. I Heart Brazil. </span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-39519014754873549342023-11-24T10:39:00.000-08:002023-11-24T10:39:05.970-08:00The NIGERIA Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">NIGERIA is a regional power in Africa, a middle power in international affairs, and is an emerging global power. Well, should be. First off, Nigeria is a global power in terms of oil and natural gas, #14 and #7 in production, respectively. Abuja is also world’s #7th oil exporter and 10th natural gas exporter.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyraAcakOMYlPoXzlPcX3OrPL2hdpeKfQvtKpVZig7qN8LKPzyoVlMnnkWD_h-6sbNSo9TckmrMvRl_nkfHeaRN8gK76w7y75H9DniKCV7d0DRBpkXhWyKWNulKjgVJPGdcxfc3Yda_hWqqVwanrBuXDeoOfERPyyDDG80c_GhMThigbck07ppRe_faC5/s500/nigeria%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="500" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyraAcakOMYlPoXzlPcX3OrPL2hdpeKfQvtKpVZig7qN8LKPzyoVlMnnkWD_h-6sbNSo9TckmrMvRl_nkfHeaRN8gK76w7y75H9DniKCV7d0DRBpkXhWyKWNulKjgVJPGdcxfc3Yda_hWqqVwanrBuXDeoOfERPyyDDG80c_GhMThigbck07ppRe_faC5/w400-h264/nigeria%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Add major agricultural/fishery wealth of sesame seeds, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, ginger, frozen shrimp and cotton, and mining resources that include coal, lignite and coke, gold, iron ore, and uranium. However, Nigeria is the poorest nation on earth—40 percent or 87 million of the 206 million population live below the international poverty line of $1.90 per person per day. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Its GDP per capita of $2,175.67 is low compared with other developing countries. The country’s GDP growth rate is a measly 2.9 percent, from last year’s 1.5 percent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Why is that?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Nigeria remains one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Since its independence from the British in 1960, it hasn’t really prospered. The civil war of 1967 to 1970 made things worse. Democratically elected civilian governments were punctuated by military dictatorships. Massive tribal animosities also stunt concerted efforts for development. More than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages, all identifying with a wide variety of cultures, make up Nigeria. 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">ECONOMIC inequality among the population is mostly gleaned on disparity between GDP growth and people’s life. No matter how high the economic progress, if (economic) wealth isn’t equally shared with the people, we still see a poor nation. India is another case in point. High GDP (currently 8+ percent) but low human development index, although not the lowest in the world.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In the case of Nigeria, its major wealth of crude oil and natural gas don’t translate to quantifiable national economic gain since these companies that drill/profit from these resources are foreign corporations, and of course, in partnership with the country’s few rich or what we call 1 Percent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Shell Petroleum is the largest oil and gas company in Nigeria. The other majors are also universal titans: Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total, Agip, Texaco. Yet despite petroleum industry as its top moneymaker (supposedly) since the sector collars 98 percent of export trade, unemployment is perennial high, currently 33 percent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq20BTZ2dkzPwZCCbjL_5FIDbyKRTJeGLGlKzDPQXRg8nIaB5mhkzMmg-_8upLyfaRrCg9sUU8577y0_BGw2fTYGWNAtvXMVke80KjGdVa9My56ghuiWmFT6lEFc_lai8MG_hWpYQx0zhRidecW-jU__hfMlYwi4nVvgvZB7bzQjtwjCc771UUvqcvacvk/s1600/nigeria%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1327" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq20BTZ2dkzPwZCCbjL_5FIDbyKRTJeGLGlKzDPQXRg8nIaB5mhkzMmg-_8upLyfaRrCg9sUU8577y0_BGw2fTYGWNAtvXMVke80KjGdVa9My56ghuiWmFT6lEFc_lai8MG_hWpYQx0zhRidecW-jU__hfMlYwi4nVvgvZB7bzQjtwjCc771UUvqcvacvk/s320/nigeria%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Nigeria’s top trading partners are Brazil, China, India, Japan, the U.S. and the European Union—with China, expectedly, the most aggressive in recent years.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Apparently, Nigeria has got to play smart on the geopolitical game board to be able to gain trade traction. After a $40 billion pledge in Chinese investments last year, the government adjusted its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and ordered Taipei’s trade mission out of Abuja. 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">NIGERIA isn’t the only African nation that thumbs up China (over Taiwan) as strategic political smarts vis a vis economic gain. In the U.N., 25 African countries backed Beijing during a recent vote about the Hong Kong national security law. Of course, China and Taiwan aren’t really fighting. In fact, Taipei’s top trading partner is Beijing. But you know geopolitics works, I guess.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> With the “Out you go!” call on Taiwan, Nigeria has since become an important source of oil and petroleum for China's rapidly growing economy. According to a 2019 report issued by the Chinese embassy, Nigeria hosts 70 construction, 40 investments and 30 trading Chinese companies.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meanwhile, U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria was $5.5 billion in 2019, a 21.5 percent increase from 2018. Seemed like a token economic gesture? Yet Washington is the single largest donor for the humanitarian response in Nigeria, having provided nearly $505 million in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021. But most of the aid go to funding the military pursuit of Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, and northern Cameroon.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The United States is committed to supporting efforts by Nigeria and its neighbors to combat the threat of Boko Haram more effectively. From FY 2016-FY 2020, $1.8 million was obligated for Nigeria in Foreign Military Financing.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Of course, Beijing doesn’t sink its foot on issues of this kind. The U.S. willingly takes care of terrorism and other political shudders; China hands over FDIs. 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Photo credits: Britannica. Medium. </span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-36230571800551833722023-11-19T11:50:00.000-08:002023-11-19T11:50:00.932-08:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/i1JaiZdS6Dk4ChpeAY1baw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmXXixP0TiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8wMi93b3JsZC9hc2lhL2luZGlhLXRyYWluLWFjY2lkZW50LW9kaXNoYS5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA2MDMmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTQxMzkmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzQ1ODQmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkeLHzemS-SGCiUhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More Than 230 Dead and 900 Injured in Train Crash in India</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. 🚂🇮🇳🚂</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndb-IsOLIxuhh0RdBnNmNZ4snB_jUS0F9aoU8Mvxf1btmsh4rCFzgKMJNgbPFHn-slY0n4-W5ySpHtD0U28jakR0Ey8-lHZdS3tsVObU9YNuDpsTnitDXJswSfZUTu5wxGtlxsgO2OkrTD3wjwsZd9_XSE0CELVMXMpCdF4WKSTcUn4p78EY6Fnu3LH9C/s1200/india1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1200" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndb-IsOLIxuhh0RdBnNmNZ4snB_jUS0F9aoU8Mvxf1btmsh4rCFzgKMJNgbPFHn-slY0n4-W5ySpHtD0U28jakR0Ey8-lHZdS3tsVObU9YNuDpsTnitDXJswSfZUTu5wxGtlxsgO2OkrTD3wjwsZd9_XSE0CELVMXMpCdF4WKSTcUn4p78EY6Fnu3LH9C/w400-h223/india1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/uUbi3dCoQMQvnO2oQFPZWg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUEkeP0TsaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yMy9zdHlsZS9hZnJpY2FuLWFtZXJpY2FuLWVuZ2xpc2gtb3hmb3JkLWRpY3Rpb25hcnkuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTI0Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkzMzM3Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMzNzUzJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZGIexG1kcRYw91IRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The First 10 Words of the African American English Dictionary Are In</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. 📜🗣📜</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/6Zf9RJxtgi3ttPV6oIdTgg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmXXixP0TjaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8wMi91cy9kZXYtc2hhaC1zY3JpcHBzLXNwZWxsaW5nLWJlZS13aW5uZXIuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNjAzJmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTk0MTM5Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTM0NTg0JnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZHix83pkvkhgolIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spelling Bee: </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. 📝👶📝</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in Japan, the high earthquake risk in South Korea, and the nuclear scandals, ex-President </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Jae-in" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moon Jae-in</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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. 🇰🇷☮️🇨🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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. 🏦💸🏦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCHq_YO3cl6TK2fOPabBCOlzgV3OlXW8bM8RHqvSIm_kwY7OzhNACKULu4VZHwr35VmCL6DKvC5-zeHWMuXOl_8CXUeRerVBzx6x-lMX3DPXMfg0lPUsw9Hb51u9xpEBMmpAhzoXdI1zrobXuS8IIkNQyVievl4Fh-kNMv7JSZ-7cmAt40hzo9EcbDWbY/s1000/US%20economy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1000" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCHq_YO3cl6TK2fOPabBCOlzgV3OlXW8bM8RHqvSIm_kwY7OzhNACKULu4VZHwr35VmCL6DKvC5-zeHWMuXOl_8CXUeRerVBzx6x-lMX3DPXMfg0lPUsw9Hb51u9xpEBMmpAhzoXdI1zrobXuS8IIkNQyVievl4Fh-kNMv7JSZ-7cmAt40hzo9EcbDWbY/s320/US%20economy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/aKEogxK5MLwQNLQ8ji0Vqw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmWYQmP0ToaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8zMC91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9zdHVkZW50LWxvYW4tcGF5bWVudHMtYmlkZW4tZGVidC5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MzEmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTM4NjMmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzQzMTAmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0Qgpkbyb_dmTUG5ufUhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the Debt Ceiling Deal Means for Student Loan Payments</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. 💵🖇💵</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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. 🦟💉🦟</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/-fGSBcP1h4WkTBVd8m0brQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUEkeP0TtaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yMy9oZWFsdGgvc3VyZ2Vvbi1nZW5lcmFsLXNvY2lhbC1tZWRpYS1tZW50YWwtaGVhbHRoLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyNCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzMzNyZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzc1MyZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRiHsRtZHEWMPdSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> 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. 👶📱📲</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> 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. 🇺🇸☮️🇨🇳</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-43899443746181653542023-11-11T11:02:00.001-08:002023-11-11T11:02:43.649-08:00Thailand’s Economic Story.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Posted on Facebook years ago.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">HISTORICALLY known as Siam, Thailand, located in Southeast Asia, is an old country that has never been colonized despite European conquests of most of the region in the past. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, which became a regional power by the end of the 15th century. Ayutthaya reached its peak during cosmopolitan Narai's reign, gradually declining thereafter until being ultimately destroyed in the Burmese–Siamese War.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWF6Zv813On3waCRKYQDEXEzL8U_hS-wVL5yoqEceukBH6DpWoPTt-Q-_AZrm_a1279lFBCKcR01STHU2mvsCcOfQ0ygqpg6CCzfDRQVtR_QVXztpiSI_WaVVtaNOKq4uF96IXwCZYzpM5zsQGlDuKBDaq5T6ofmkQUe3ncSvT6bmBEkbiuMClbHYXPzs/s976/thailand1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWF6Zv813On3waCRKYQDEXEzL8U_hS-wVL5yoqEceukBH6DpWoPTt-Q-_AZrm_a1279lFBCKcR01STHU2mvsCcOfQ0ygqpg6CCzfDRQVtR_QVXztpiSI_WaVVtaNOKq4uF96IXwCZYzpM5zsQGlDuKBDaq5T6ofmkQUe3ncSvT6bmBEkbiuMClbHYXPzs/w400-h225/thailand1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Yet Siam/Thailand, then and now, remains as one of a few countries that was never conquered by a foreign power. Not unless it is all about economics.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The 1997–98 Asian financial crisis began in Thailand and then quickly spread to neighboring economies. It began as a currency crisis when Bangkok unpegged the Thai baht from the U.S. dollar, setting off a series of currency devaluations and massive flights of capital. Thai bhat, that time, reached almost 53.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> That crisis could be happening again. Economists predict that Thailand is expectedly to be one of the first to be impacted if the U.S. falls into a recession. Already, as we speak, as the U.S. struggles to get off decades-high inflation, Thai bhat is now at 38—down 22 percent compared with three years ago, before the pandemic. The record low was 22 in 1978. 🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">THAILAND relies heavily on tourism for its economic growth. Tourist spending accounted for approximately 11 percent of Thailand’s GDP in 2019, or before the pandemic. The country welcomed almost 40 million visitors that year and generated more than $60 billion in revenue, according to World Bank data. Most of tourism’s drivers are Chinese visitors but with Covid travel restrictions in place in Beijing these days, Bangkok only sees darkness.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Economists who watched the 1997 currency crash say Thailand’s current downturn predictably follows, after Singapore. Thailand’s inflation rate is at a 14-year high of 7.86 percent. After Singapore and Thailand, next to go down in the region are the economies of Indonesia and the Philippines, due to their “domestic oriented economies.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKG58-QohLa9tFaNK2jeWrtrOJ4CCtBqYROrdO2rXZCcd5GEl8wm0Vy9mS_o9KsbVzBj-FjokuOuFi1sI7cIqQkqkp6p7if7Hj3__Nw6Kt0PZgl8hqpzHLrVftGEzKAyV3QiYFH5oUyJGYff4w6X-VGpST7inW0A9ky0antAPySJoDKw-DSY02kx5zW50Q/s900/thailand2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKG58-QohLa9tFaNK2jeWrtrOJ4CCtBqYROrdO2rXZCcd5GEl8wm0Vy9mS_o9KsbVzBj-FjokuOuFi1sI7cIqQkqkp6p7if7Hj3__Nw6Kt0PZgl8hqpzHLrVftGEzKAyV3QiYFH5oUyJGYff4w6X-VGpST7inW0A9ky0antAPySJoDKw-DSY02kx5zW50Q/s320/thailand2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Economics is complex and I don’t claim I know much. I just read. The rising strength of the U.S. dollar, which has been appreciating against other currencies since last year but began rising particularly rapidly this summer, is the result of multiple causes. Foremost of which is the decision by U.S. central bankers at the Federal Reserve to begin aggressively raising interest rates to fight inflation.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The Federal Reserve’s determination to crush inflation at home by raising interest rates is inflicting pain in other countries — pushing up prices, ballooning the size of debt payments and increasing the risk of a deep recession.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Interest rate increases are pumping up the value of the dollar — the go-to currency for much of the world’s trade and transactions — and causing economic turmoil in both rich and poor nations. In Britain and across much of the European continent, the dollar’s acceleration is helping feed stinging inflation. 🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">THAILAND’s chief industries are machinery, electronics, foods and wood, chemicals and plastics, automobiles and automotive parts, stone and glass, textiles and furniture. Investments by foreign businesses soared by nearly 75 percent during the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year as companies.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Investment is one of the three key pillars of the Thai economy, along with exports and consumption. The sharp rise in the value of foreign investments is a sign that global businesses still see Thailand as a competitive location for their operations. Until the U.S suffers its own economic problem/s.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Top three trading partners: United States, China, Japan. As Bangkok’s top trade buddy, Washington has showered the former with attention in recent years. In June this year, Thailand joined 12 other countries in signing up to the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a diverse trade platform that will now be negotiated among partners over the next 18 months.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The dependency with U.S. investments, however, is majorly blamed for the current currency crash. For one, imports from the U.S. have grown costly etc etcetera. 🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">ANYHOW, the power struggle between the United States and China is a loud reality in Thailand as both superpowers escalate presence in the country. Although the U.S. is ahead in FDIs, China remains as an important ally to Thailand, partly because of its influence and prominence in the region.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_lJDD6JTu9j525wpdlyZVevQQ8eepd7g8Nli0yvm7U2Vz2xZyLVlZK5OSVTb9vfDY2s132TUDt7dkbf9WyIC-nS0bNlcsM0hetAwOwABLN8V1kye3xBor0imoIeO8xQEBn0VMGwmQdv60SsEvFsavBxOa33oq7Y_PDed2wbz8LF-MfZBoQtaUUTciBDD/s1000/thailand3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_lJDD6JTu9j525wpdlyZVevQQ8eepd7g8Nli0yvm7U2Vz2xZyLVlZK5OSVTb9vfDY2s132TUDt7dkbf9WyIC-nS0bNlcsM0hetAwOwABLN8V1kye3xBor0imoIeO8xQEBn0VMGwmQdv60SsEvFsavBxOa33oq7Y_PDed2wbz8LF-MfZBoQtaUUTciBDD/s320/thailand3.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Trade between Beijing and Bangkok has rose fast in the last few decades. Bilateral trade in 1999 was worth $4.22 billion. Fast forward: China exports to Thailand last year was a whopping $69.36 billion against a mere $5.2 billion in Thai imports.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> China also has military relations with Thailand. Among other deals, in 2017, the Royal Thai Navy signed a contract with the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation for a S26T diesel-electric submarine, which is derived from the Type 039A submarine. The submarine is expected to be delivered in 2023.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I can discuss this more and connect it with the 1997 currency crash (with accent on George Soros’ dubious “speculative investing”) but suffice to say that, in these days, foreign military subjugation doesn’t define invasion. It’s all economics.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> For the meantime, the bigger news in Thailand is this horror: “After Day Care Massacre, Thailand Is Roiled With Grief.” News adds: “Anguished families were coming to terms with the loss of their young children as the nation pondered issues like gun violence and the widespread availability of deadly weapons.” 🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;">Photo credits: BBC. Nemo Guides. Savored Journeys.</span></span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-43903047954764469772023-11-01T11:51:00.001-07:002023-11-01T11:51:34.522-07:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/7UA57Ep3caac6vvl6JEXDw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUZr9P0TtaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yNC9ueXJlZ2lvbi9lcmljLWFkYW1zLWhvbWVsZXNzLWplc3NpY2Eta2F0ei1yZXNpZ25zLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyNSZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzQzMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzg1MiZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRi_RVvZHPEoiRSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="font-family: georgia; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Another Housing Setback for New York: Its Housing Chief Is Resigning</span></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.” That’d be the day after Mayor Eric Adams said he would oppose an effort to reduce homelessness. Weird. Facts: As of the end of 2022, there were 68,884 homeless people in NYC. Also, the city has fed/housed more than 61,000 migrants over the past year. Note: The Big Apple has the most billionaires in the world, and the second largest national budget, after California. 🗽🏘🗽</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTTNukwMMXsNMZSz-YHW-s1_ZIAgobh-sLoox01GoQnBGT95WZDZUDAiwM1FdJDkLQCzRfla6kDewGD5bn3MpDDNwNhq4gOJwrdevabQMMwRrCCCkiMaNugzCLh8-oaYJNH_Mew5VRxUFIwebccROYe4E61hRC5ZCwWX0vG19OAlZ4tIkp5Pw4cNGaF4g/s600/New%20York%20City.Depositphotos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTTNukwMMXsNMZSz-YHW-s1_ZIAgobh-sLoox01GoQnBGT95WZDZUDAiwM1FdJDkLQCzRfla6kDewGD5bn3MpDDNwNhq4gOJwrdevabQMMwRrCCCkiMaNugzCLh8-oaYJNH_Mew5VRxUFIwebccROYe4E61hRC5ZCwWX0vG19OAlZ4tIkp5Pw4cNGaF4g/w400-h265/New%20York%20City.Depositphotos.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/o4bwFOtV62tNrohjyI_o6A~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUZr9P0TqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yNC91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9jaGluYS1ndWFtLW1hbHdhcmUtY3liZXItbWljcm9zb2Z0Lmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyNSZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzQzMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzg1MiZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRi_RVvZHPEoiRSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chinese Malware Hits Systems on Guam. Is Taiwan the Real Target?</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” And adds: “The code, which Microsoft said was installed by a Chinese government hacking group, set off alarms because Guam would be a centerpiece of any U.S. military response to a move against Taiwan.” Do we need more rationales to upgrade military firepower in Asia? In addition to the potentially nine U.S. bases in the Philippines, the U.S. already has 313 military base sites in East Asia alone. ☮️☮️☮️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Smithsonian: “Pets Will Soon Be Welcome at More Than 120 Archaeological Sites in Greece.” And adds: “The new policies won’t apply at certain high-traffic destinations like the Acropolis.” Why not allow dogs in all “destinations,” uh huh? Bring poop bags. Some 23 U.S. states allow dogs in outdoor patios of restaurants by state law or via administrative regulation. In most cases, dogs behave better than hoomans. Dogs don’t smear classic art. They appreciate them. 🐕🏛🐕</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/nu5betQDWoORd-0EUfgGtg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUZr9P0TkaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yNC91cy9wb2xpdGljcy91a3JhaW5lLWtyZW1saW4tZHJvbmUtYXR0YWNrLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyNSZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzQzMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzg1MiZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRi_RVvZHPEoiRSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ukrainians Were Likely Behind Kremlin Drone Attack, U.S. Officials Say</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “American spy agencies do not know exactly who carried out the attack this month, but suggest it was part of a series of covert operations orchestrated by Ukraine’s security services.” Not difficult to believe this. Nord Stream 2 bombing, “grains deal” sabotage, what more? Volodymyr Zelensky and his corrupt cohorts are using this war to pile up more aid$. And personal wealth. ☮️🇺🇦☮️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/lzR1TNN-Aw_AP9M-C_cMpQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmVZG_P0TeaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yOC91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9mZWluc3RlaW4tc2VuYXRlLXN0YWZmLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyOCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzY3NSZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzNDExNSZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRwvwxzZAFxfDVSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feinstein, Back in the Senate, Relies Heavily on Staff to Function</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “The California Democrat is surrounded by a large retinue of aides at all times, who tell her how and when to vote, explain what is going on when she is confused, and shield her from the press.” At age 89, Ms Feinstein is not the first, and won’t be the last, U.S. senator to be caught up in speculation that a cognitive or physical decline has </span><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstein-senate-17079487.php" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rendered her unable to do her job</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Ponder. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZ4PEj1sPWQDtpuA8kJpkBWElOSkJKxXIGAxeNWYwB6QBO3j9RDabFyHntqcV_hehk7KStMra6EY3dtQ-LsshVswPanVQftjFex_wR2x7X-JFLou88ByRKbKYoivFzzgE29SU-acaogKyhhRbdwDskb0pspnC5rpr3Si35IaGAs786lT9kj9H9N-sgRJd/s1280/US%20Supreme%20Court.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZ4PEj1sPWQDtpuA8kJpkBWElOSkJKxXIGAxeNWYwB6QBO3j9RDabFyHntqcV_hehk7KStMra6EY3dtQ-LsshVswPanVQftjFex_wR2x7X-JFLou88ByRKbKYoivFzzgE29SU-acaogKyhhRbdwDskb0pspnC5rpr3Si35IaGAs786lT9kj9H9N-sgRJd/s320/US%20Supreme%20Court.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Fact is, although the Constitution’s 25th Amendment can remove a president deemed unfit to serve, there’s no similar mechanism that exists for dislodging members of Congress. Meanwhile, Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest serving senator ever, stepped down as majority leader in 1989 at age 71 but remained in the Senate for two more decades, chairing the Appropriations Committee for part of that time. He finally surrendered his gavel in November 2008, at the start of the economic crash that would become known as the Great Recession. So yes Mr Byrd sat there but that doesn’t mean he was “working.” 🏦🗽🏦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/ggYXXJqTCfylK0kOc95oCg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TtaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS9hcnRzL2Rlc2lnbi93YXJob2wtcHJpbmNlLXN1cHJlbWUtY291cnQtY29weXJpZ2h0Lmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyMCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzA1MCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzQ0NiZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRiNn5oZEe8FjVSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ruling Against Warhol Shouldn’t Hurt Artists. But It Might.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” And adds: “The Supreme Court decision over Andy Warhol’s use of Lynn Goldsmith’s Prince photograph was decided on the narrow grounds of a licensing issue. But it could still have a chilling effect.” Before AI or long before the internet, I never viewed Mr Warhol’s work as art, anyways. He was an exemplary organization dude but his “art” is cribbed from others’ work. 🎨👎🎨</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/dVDx8a4o_8eTdhTAPbe5TQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TZaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS9vcGluaW9uL2Vsb24tbXVzay1yZW1vdGUtd29yay5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MjAmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTMwNTAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzM0NDYmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYjZ-aGRHvBY1UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Office Workers Don’t Hate the Office. They Hate the Commute.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” Research by the Univ of Chicago avers that employees thought they were just as productive working from home compared to working in the office. Yup, till they get depressed. Same survey also says that commuting time was reduced by 62.4 million hours per day when people work at home. Though they still commute or drive to the bar or meet friends after work to avoid getting depressed. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Most if not all of these studies (funded by tech giants, sure!) say people prefer working at home than beyond or in the office, with other employees. And 30 percent of respondents told researchers they were more productive and </span><a href="https://visme.co/blog/engaging-remote-employees/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">engaged working</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from home. Repeat: Funded by tech corporations. 📎🏎📎</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/99fqQDG7oy1UWQ6xfCVvyw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TaaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS9zY2llbmNlL2JlaGF2aW9yLW11c2ljLXNhZG5lc3MuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTIwJmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkzMDUwJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMzNDQ2JnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZGI2fmhkR7wWNVIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Reason People Listen to Sad Songs</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “It’s not because they make us sad but because they help us feel connected, a new study suggests.” When I am sad I don’t really listen to sad songs because these sappy weepies (LOL!) only worsen my sadness. Instead, I crank up the volume: Blues rock, reggae, or rhythm & blues classics. Disco! “Stayin’ Alive!” But I do listen to sad songs, mostly when I am tired. Or happy but bored. Not when I am sad. 😢🎼😭</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">New York Times: “Addressing an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, Volodymyr Zelensky urged Arab nations to stand with him against Russia.” Zelensky courts Russia’s BRICS buddies Brazil and India, and now the Arabs. While Syria is the only Arab nation to have openly declared support for Russia, other Arab nations have indicated the same. If Z really cares for his people, explore peace talks to end this war and quit creating fissures to divide the world. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UXQgqgtMW_TfIsoe9lMbiZi1_ofmpIVyWq8IU5u4iyVtFOz-cGXvMz6KtFSGS3miul2JJa6CNwccW1G_70xfFncvlNsF_gfvD9ONtsuoVVr5K16NC35T11WAi65iVIdr948TsJmleiuDbMtNxvRh7L0Tt-gKfglivRMNgLIohKr-eVizRY2iCpY5JKuI/s1024/ukraine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1024" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UXQgqgtMW_TfIsoe9lMbiZi1_ofmpIVyWq8IU5u4iyVtFOz-cGXvMz6KtFSGS3miul2JJa6CNwccW1G_70xfFncvlNsF_gfvD9ONtsuoVVr5K16NC35T11WAi65iVIdr948TsJmleiuDbMtNxvRh7L0Tt-gKfglivRMNgLIohKr-eVizRY2iCpY5JKuI/s320/ukraine2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> The Arab stance (quiet or implied) to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is considered a departure from trends that used to govern Arab politics, which have generally been supportive of the United States. Example: The UAE’s decision to abstain from a US-led resolution to condemn Russia’s operation in Ukraine at the U.N. Security Council last year was considered tacit thumbs up for Russia. Then came Riyadh’s oil “partnership” with Moscow despite President Biden’s visit last summer. Russia and Saudi Arabia are #1 and #2 in oil and gas exports. And what about China brokering the Saudi Arabia/Iran handshake in March? ☮️☮️☮️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/AQIynLC4-Tmk1tI_ipaBJw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRb1kP0TfaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNS9vcGluaW9uL3RpdGxlLTQyLWJvcmRlci1pbW1pZ3JhdGlvbi5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MTYmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTI2NzAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzMwNTUmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYmQ4Y2RzxGr6UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Immigrants Keep Loving America, Even When America Doesn’t Love Them Back</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “I was undocumented for 25 years, and I am a child of immigrants who remain undocumented.” The writer’s parents could be “visa overstay” illegals. Possibly they’ve been here for decades, their status ignored over the more politically palatable “migrants” off the southern border. Millions of them, active in the economic system but unable to gain legal benefits. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> The Department of Homeland Security estimates some 702,000 overstayers in 2017. That could be a small fraction, or just 1.33 percent, of the more than 50 million people who arrive in the U.S. each year on valid visas. But do the math. Calculate from 2000 to 2020, at least. The federal government spends billions$ to house/feed new migrants/refugees, thereby bankrupting fiscal management each year, yet those that are already here, law-abiding sans expired visa, seem never a priority. 🧕🗽👲</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-41610199956094487652023-10-26T09:59:00.000-07:002023-10-26T09:59:06.167-07:00The POLAND Story<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">TWO things that come to my mind when Poland is the subject of talk. Start of World War II when Adolf Hitler’s troops invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. And “kielbasa,” the catch-all term for any Polish sausage. History and food. Meanwhile, Poland remains as a chief background take-off of political intrigues in Central Europe, especially between the United States, European Union, and Russia.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xMWmbT_d6Kp9rJoEEfAMEzR3He_yq_WSePUxtHECi6bssA1jV1wF-__ZudYenIODVDpwBnVftc2yp5GdxIjOyEMqR-i9uqwHF9epl7J329DKruzlrdvbPmGqGrmnANqwZNba-XfvTIJZDSpwIE6OVCIOtBIy2ZDcq_mxQjE7Q0OpMvR5toXV8PKDR3rI/s540/Poland3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="540" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xMWmbT_d6Kp9rJoEEfAMEzR3He_yq_WSePUxtHECi6bssA1jV1wF-__ZudYenIODVDpwBnVftc2yp5GdxIjOyEMqR-i9uqwHF9epl7J329DKruzlrdvbPmGqGrmnANqwZNba-XfvTIJZDSpwIE6OVCIOtBIy2ZDcq_mxQjE7Q0OpMvR5toXV8PKDR3rI/w400-h266/Poland3.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Although Washington maintains its 32nd Air Base and 600 to 800 troops in Poland, the U.S. is not a chief economic partner. Major partners for exports are Germany, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, France and Italy and for imports: Germany, China, Russian Federation, Italy and Netherlands. Which means, Berlin is Warsaw’s top trade buddy, regardless of what went down in World War II.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Chief industries: Agriculture, manufacturing and mining. Even though agriculture and manufacturing still play a significant role in the country's future, they are slowly losing their positions to the newly emerging industries. Which brings us to China.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Chinese-Polish economic relations revolve around areas such as finance, agricultural technology, copper industry and coal mining. This also includes new areas like high technology, clean energy, labor, service and infrastructure. 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">CONTACTS between Polish and Chinese people date back several centuries, especially in the mid-17th century when mutual trade was very active from 1950s to 1990s. Relations though soured a bit in 2019 when Huawei employee Wang Weijing was arrested in Poland on charges of spying for China. Business, however, carries on.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq1GYq5jTgsslCmb_b3Vdblj9Ef03jiWoBFYY_ewuT4THQAUQnPGze7tYVnS2cdX9TFoE0G07I_PxHev4yvxjggH6IjmrM5hTffhHfvNcvYdduoU06MmrDhRawWh55Ow6qh3AtXYeC6qAfNlhnJNDxI3iiRzpZR_ziB_p-G3bfzZmZ8Wl1MPSEh2q1dQ8-/s800/Poland1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq1GYq5jTgsslCmb_b3Vdblj9Ef03jiWoBFYY_ewuT4THQAUQnPGze7tYVnS2cdX9TFoE0G07I_PxHev4yvxjggH6IjmrM5hTffhHfvNcvYdduoU06MmrDhRawWh55Ow6qh3AtXYeC6qAfNlhnJNDxI3iiRzpZR_ziB_p-G3bfzZmZ8Wl1MPSEh2q1dQ8-/s320/Poland1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> China continues to import more Polish agricultural and food products and other high-quality goods. Xi Jinping continually encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Poland, adding that he believes Poland will provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In February this year, China also reiterated its mutual work with Poland to establish a China-Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) wholesale market for agricultural products in Poland and make it a flagship project of China-CEEC cooperation.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Meanwhile, the United States and Poland have enjoyed warm bilateral relations since 1989. Every post-1989 Polish government has been a strong supporter of continued American military and economic presence in Europe, and Poland is one of the most stable allies of Washington. 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-7226026780668649862023-10-23T09:52:00.000-07:002023-10-23T09:52:11.283-07:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">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? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQSsbdV6qkCsNI7k5TFkKDgjkhtEbWi8BsLM69dC7WLfBTAA867ZlMZ3sEKzMoU9c2HSLh56lIxGLxpWag6CPAOM9jmvOcOrsGlb47yx0-IYbpfQoeiL-UuObrA3ZgH3CpnLgNBsmyda06pHvDfRm71eESe_cPBzVsUituf_IkwD13LyK2BpStQwt35bm/s1200/wagner%20group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQSsbdV6qkCsNI7k5TFkKDgjkhtEbWi8BsLM69dC7WLfBTAA867ZlMZ3sEKzMoU9c2HSLh56lIxGLxpWag6CPAOM9jmvOcOrsGlb47yx0-IYbpfQoeiL-UuObrA3ZgH3CpnLgNBsmyda06pHvDfRm71eESe_cPBzVsUituf_IkwD13LyK2BpStQwt35bm/w400-h266/wagner%20group.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> 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. 🇷🇺🇧🇾🇷🇺</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time: “What to Know About India's Ties With Russia Ahead of Modi's U.S. Visit.” / New York Times: “How India </span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/ZoQXPLvh2t824R0xVzQsCQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmdodsP0ThaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vaW50ZXJhY3RpdmUvMjAyMy8wNi8yMi9idXNpbmVzcy9pbmRpYS1ydXNzaWEtb2lsLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDYyMiZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05NTcxNCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzNjM1MCZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmSRbAKUZOE8XBtSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Profits From Its Neutrality in the Ukraine War</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Fact: GDP Growth of India for the 2022-23 fiscal year is 7.2 percent, highest among large economies. In other NY Times news: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/qQWKR1PP1P-wr5n-Kr_fhg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmd9ZMP0TeaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8yMi91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9iaWRlbi1tb2RpLXN0YXRlLXZpc2l0Lmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDYyMyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05NTgxMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzNzMwOSZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmSRTFGVZNIZs6lSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Biden Seeks to Bolster Ties With Modi While Soft-Pedaling Differences</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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.” 🇮🇳🇷🇺🇺🇸</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/Ur63INpWwVap2dp8RwTBzg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmXCbwP0TraHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8wMS91cHNob3QvbWlsbGVubmlhbHMtcG9sbGluZy1wb2xpdGljcy1yZXB1YmxpY2Fucy5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA2MDImaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTQwMjcmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzQ0OTAmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkePCheWTrBq2PUhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Millennials Are Not an Exception. They’ve Moved to the Right.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” 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. 👩🦰🧑🦰👉</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23tosmsHvbLr9RKcogA2uBHkRHEwEa-4SyXpObAQ47ucgfphy15OuAbVQdKNDhxNnmm1WBdNCq6G4D3yzCQNnRee0yK2TaDhkM652ZXFvMnrOuLoDiQHM3NXmo122dqVutB2uELAAaeDBf5vtM1GugubERlyWZ0S_OYaDLmCiksAi9HkAg-MwadZjUXEr/s620/crowd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="620" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23tosmsHvbLr9RKcogA2uBHkRHEwEa-4SyXpObAQ47ucgfphy15OuAbVQdKNDhxNnmm1WBdNCq6G4D3yzCQNnRee0yK2TaDhkM652ZXFvMnrOuLoDiQHM3NXmo122dqVutB2uELAAaeDBf5vtM1GugubERlyWZ0S_OYaDLmCiksAi9HkAg-MwadZjUXEr/w200-h133/crowd.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> 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. 👮♀️🗽👮</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/a48ByO_OSEF7L1XPCZsSlA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmXtyZP0TpaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8zMS9yZWFsZXN0YXRlL2dhcmRlbnMtYW5pbWFsLWNvbW11bmljYXRpb24tc291bmQuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNjA0Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTk0MTgzJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTM0NjM5JnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZHiZV3xkxj2Xd1IRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quiet, Please: You Are Not Alone in Your Garden</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. ☘️🪴🍃</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/21q5ytTZQOUB-yjXqYBnDA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmcpA8P0TcaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8xOC91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9iaWRlbi10cnVtcC1jb250cmFzdC5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA2MTgmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTU0NzUmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzYwODAmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkeDwLkGS79Q1xUhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Trump Battles Charges, Biden Focuses on the Business of Governing</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> 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.” 🏦🗽🏦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/DXrAnonkRdJABV7NdRuduQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmcpA8P0TsaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8xOS93b3JsZC9ldXJvcGUvdWtyYWluZS13ZWFwb25zLWhvd2l0emVycy1jb250cmFjdHMuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNjE4Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTk1NDc1Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTM2MDgwJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZHg8C5Bku_UNcVIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Rush to Arm Ukraine, Weapons Are Bought but Not Delivered, or Too Broken to Use</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKzFt8RmrYYrDjbVM9YG6uT1joHK1hglsaH-oZk7psf6CBxHkAlGqNN6_3lAat06hX3Dpka7thouufKBbR95mPRe6A9T7A1iJ7Y3DL-VsQga_f-A3GHkOwSbqaSOVQo4IGpwJh5V53TwtxzEZrL-vM5QppaH_33azLSTzcyJWRRzlLeWBHMOUuVnMN_ny/s1024/ukraine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1024" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKzFt8RmrYYrDjbVM9YG6uT1joHK1hglsaH-oZk7psf6CBxHkAlGqNN6_3lAat06hX3Dpka7thouufKBbR95mPRe6A9T7A1iJ7Y3DL-VsQga_f-A3GHkOwSbqaSOVQo4IGpwJh5V53TwtxzEZrL-vM5QppaH_33azLSTzcyJWRRzlLeWBHMOUuVnMN_ny/w200-h134/ukraine2.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> 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.” 🇺🇦☮️🇺🇦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/tTMske6WPDbBYGQYsfdgmw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmZWE_P0TgaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8wOC9ueXJlZ2lvbi9ob3VzaW5nLWdvb2QtY2F1c2UtZXZpY3Rpb24uaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNjA5Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTk0NTkyJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTM1MDg1JnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZHc_3IJkyTXTNFIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">N.Y. Democrats, at Odds Over Tenant Protections, Fail to Reach Housing Deal</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” 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. 🗽😭🗽</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/TKh1M2AGnfh50Pq4fpSu0w~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmXXixP0TqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNi8wMi9ueXJlZ2lvbi9zdHV5dmVzYW50LWhpZ2gtc2Nob29sLWJsYWNrLXN0dWRlbnRzLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDYwMyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05NDEzOSZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzNDU4NCZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmR4sfN6ZL5IYKJSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stuyvesant High School Admitted 762 New Students. Only 7 Are Black.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” 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, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/nyregion/stuyvesant-high-school-black-students.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stuyvesant admitted 489 Asian students and only 158 white students. Racism? T</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">otal minority enrollment is 82 percent; 48 percent are economically disadvantaged. ✏️📝✏️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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. 🌬🥄☀️</span></span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-14375197602606345342023-10-16T10:50:00.001-07:002023-10-16T10:50:48.342-07:00Democratic Republic of Congo.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Past Facebook Post.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">“Anti-U.N. Protests in Congo Leave 15 Dead, Including 3 Peacekeepers.” And adds: “Demonstrators have accused international forces of failing to deter armed groups responsible for a wave of deadly attacks.” Mayhem seems to shroud Africa the most these days. Congo is no different. Too bad for its 90 million, who are hungry, poor, and beleaguered by nonstop violence and ailment.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5I1ox3agJg7SVCKuSAtxSjHRH9NAq1av3Y7HQKJC35OIofLN47gAQRfHt0s6QQlmh0RRG8ZAuRZqk01ptM9_CsyLDccO5ncEicCCl1JByBox0NKRnEGM2qlToiIF3eZbRqMdVH00A8RVtCTugsiV8VtTgJH_6Q7532xR7JQYhOd5fC3qrZBiJkLa__ll-/s1408/Congo%20DRC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1408" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5I1ox3agJg7SVCKuSAtxSjHRH9NAq1av3Y7HQKJC35OIofLN47gAQRfHt0s6QQlmh0RRG8ZAuRZqk01ptM9_CsyLDccO5ncEicCCl1JByBox0NKRnEGM2qlToiIF3eZbRqMdVH00A8RVtCTugsiV8VtTgJH_6Q7532xR7JQYhOd5fC3qrZBiJkLa__ll-/w400-h225/Congo%20DRC.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Yet the fact/s: DRC could be the world’s richest country when it comes to natural resources, with massive untapped deposits of minerals including cobalt, copper, diamonds and gold amounting to approximately $24 trillion. Add ample coltan, zinc, tin, and tungsten. Congo also possesses extensive rainforest reserves and boasts one of the highest hydroelectric power capacities in Africa and globally.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Other chief industries are consumer products (including textiles, plastics, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods, beverages), metal products, lumber, cement, and commercial ship repair. Sadly, most people in DRC have not benefited from this wealth.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The DRC's main trading partners are the European Union, chiefly Belgium and France, followed by China, South Africa and the United States. 🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">GDP growth rate rebounded from 1.7 percent last year to this year’s 6.2 percent this year, which is well above the 4.5 percent rate in sub-Saharan Africa. To cash in on this trend, Congo’s leadership has to stop the violence, which exacerbates the not so good 5.4 percent unemployment rate.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> What confounds me is—why despite DRC’s rich promise of economic goodness, the country doesn’t attract U.S. investments. After a peak in 2014, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa from the United States dropped to $44.81 billion in 2020, yet it slightly picked up in 2021. Africa receives lower FDI inflows than any other region, although China seems interested to put some money.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7QoY6PNTc6joySjZfHRw9Brbbl47UZKHxPNGJPzq4SdKlY7ziy0BfdKw4UCw3s16aeowNMGPgY29y1HRiuldeUfh5_us6KOKbox81tIypZYDmyjULuzwprFKw3eIrEVtzlrlYITAM1hBEQiBOsuP0KS4RoXv-tW4KX2WNMVonyG-y52VplD0x9l4KgLQ/s500/Congo%20culture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="500" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7QoY6PNTc6joySjZfHRw9Brbbl47UZKHxPNGJPzq4SdKlY7ziy0BfdKw4UCw3s16aeowNMGPgY29y1HRiuldeUfh5_us6KOKbox81tIypZYDmyjULuzwprFKw3eIrEVtzlrlYITAM1hBEQiBOsuP0KS4RoXv-tW4KX2WNMVonyG-y52VplD0x9l4KgLQ/s320/Congo%20culture.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As ever, Washington’s interest in Africa is political than economic. Yet relations with Congo have always been shaky since the country’s most radical Congolese-Marxist period, 1965–77. The U.S. Embassy reopened in 1977 with the restoration of relations, which remained distant until the end of the socialist era.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The most that the U.S. could do is a recent additional aid of $13 million, in addition to its current election support of $10.65 million, to support transparent, credible, and inclusive political processes in the country. That amount is simply spare change to what other allies get, which are in the billion$ range. 🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">THE United States doesn’t care much though. But China is. (Remember, Beijing’s only overseas military base is in Africa, in Djibouti).</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> During the souring of U.S./Congo relations due primarily to the latter’s socialist leanings then, China quietly entered. Diplomatic and economic relations started in 1971, although ties go back to 1887, Congo Free State established contacts with the Qing dynasty then ruling China.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The DRC upholds the One-China policy, as it recognizes the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China rather than the ROC/Taiwan.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In the 21st century, Chinese investment in the DRC and Congolese exports to China have grown rapidly. The DRC joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2021. That year, the two countries sat down to talk about a $6 billion deal that’d allow a consortium of Chinese companies to invest in mining in mining and infrastructure projects in DRC.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In 2000, a Sino-Congolese telecommunications company (China-Congo Telecom) was set up. Trade between China and the DRC greatly increased between 2002 and 2008. This is largely due to massive growth in the DRC's exports of raw materials to China, especially cobalt, copper ore and hard woods.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> What concerns the U.S., of course, is China’s commitment in providing assistance for Congo’s military. That’d be another story. 🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-17476621447258148962023-10-13T11:16:00.000-07:002023-10-13T11:16:06.206-07:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff. Previously posted on my Facebook Page.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">Time: “Why Brittney Griner Will Stand for the National Anthem.” She has to. Her transgression, “tiny” infraction yet carelessly clueless while a political firestorm brews between Russia and the U.S., pressured Washington to trade a feared arms dealer for her freedom. Meanwhile, her cause-oriented pursuit stays. A hallmark of American democracy. But this time, she has to stand for the anthem. The flag is America’s spirit but not necessarily its current government. 🇺🇸👩🦰🇺🇸</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhEuc1qyCEwaXqEbMfPPSZCnC_ZFp4yXdqXarWiHj7mTi-aE1HtqZR_IGyI6c6FeU5smqdZKvbEndGcOYW5oHfQA6p-ru8TEfXcXS8l24OJvKEJjipjUCfdRqwW_ExnqjVBCZJnLx3TYx-ynUGPNsHVoFILT8zd4ZQv4HxMoc0aYcwdzKs-Vmp5LWcFor/s320/2write789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="320" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhEuc1qyCEwaXqEbMfPPSZCnC_ZFp4yXdqXarWiHj7mTi-aE1HtqZR_IGyI6c6FeU5smqdZKvbEndGcOYW5oHfQA6p-ru8TEfXcXS8l24OJvKEJjipjUCfdRqwW_ExnqjVBCZJnLx3TYx-ynUGPNsHVoFILT8zd4ZQv4HxMoc0aYcwdzKs-Vmp5LWcFor/s1600/2write789.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/LVwOqWrgOGTF-JK7Dm6QUA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TVaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS9hcnRzL25ha2VkLXN0YW5kdXAtY29tZWR5Lmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUyMCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MzA1MCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzQ0NiZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRiNn5oZEe8FjVSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naked Stand-Up Comedy: Everything You Imagine, but Oh So Much More</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Do you wear shoes onstage? What’s it like to bomb while nude? And, ahem, where do you keep your notes? But the shows often sell out.” There’s also a Naked Poetry Reading. Naked Bike Ride. Naked Gardening. Naked and Afraid. Whatever those nekkidness seem to profess, symbolize, or subliminally suggest? It’s all bare bodies to me. And that’s all I see and (perhaps) enjoy. 😏😞😟</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Smithsonian: “Glasgow Subway Ad Censored for Featuring Michelangelo’s ‘David’.” And adds: “Citing modesty concerns, an ad firm rejected a poster depicting the Renaissance sculpture.” Stuff. Stuff that many anchor their angst. The beholder doesn't always agree with Art. Art pleases but art also offends. Example, erotica films by Catherine Breillat. Songs with “explicit lyrics” advisory. Movies are rated R, Triple X, Unrated etc. So we can’t say “No, not PG for this classic art?” 🙂🙃😉</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/q-K_0iBwmV-NyDulYZEAoQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TraHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS9ueXJlZ2lvbi9ob3VnaHRvbi11bml2ZXJzaXR5LWVtcGxveWVlcy1wcm9ub3Vucy5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MjAmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTMwNTAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzM0NDYmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYjZ-aGRHvBY1UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A University Fired 2 Employees for Including Their Pronouns in Emails</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “The firings set off a debate at Houghton University, a small Christian institution in western New York, which said its decision was not based only on the pronoun listings.” Might as well invent a new language. And those who prefer English as is, use them. Done. Almost certain that a few years from now the battle for legality in U.S. states would be: Pronouns. 😏😒😞</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">New York Times: “White House and G.O.P. Strike Debt Limit Deal to Avert Default.” / Time: “Biden and GOP Reach Debt-Ceiling Deal. Now Congress Must Approve It.” The bipartisan deal would raise the debt limit for two years while cutting and capping some government spending. Not yet there though. The President and Speaker Kevin McCarthy will still have to sell it to lawmakers. By then, billion$ worth of F-16s have already been shipped to Kyiv. Or am I just being clueless? 💰💸💰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4Q3oxdpjB7gyXsSGO1pgk5W-NNnBtmcO9h0rWD212NI1gFyX3Qe1tLVwQOzBOu-Rn4UOZj7z5-L-EJNwKtl4Cbis2KinTYYxP26AJZLCUkpuKPjB9ZyfnpDn5E3chwRKQ9nqamLXR2sBbsMMBTOvm1b2zLJRy-gRR9luiMhH5mRWYPuw87qY6EZnI2m4/s1000/US%20economy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1000" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4Q3oxdpjB7gyXsSGO1pgk5W-NNnBtmcO9h0rWD212NI1gFyX3Qe1tLVwQOzBOu-Rn4UOZj7z5-L-EJNwKtl4Cbis2KinTYYxP26AJZLCUkpuKPjB9ZyfnpDn5E3chwRKQ9nqamLXR2sBbsMMBTOvm1b2zLJRy-gRR9luiMhH5mRWYPuw87qY6EZnI2m4/w400-h241/US%20economy.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/2gqdWOnErtHg3U6S7A9jTQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TjaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS91cy9wb2xpdGljcy91a3JhaW5lLXJlcHVibGljYW4tc2tlcHRpY3MuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTIwJmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkzMDUwJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMzNDQ2JnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZGI2fmhkR7wWNVIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Loud G.O.P. Minority Pledges to Make Trouble on Ukraine Military Aid</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” I concur with these “loud” GOPs. Yet confounding. Despite lessons of past “proxy wars,” there’s still widespread support among Americans, 65 percent says Gallup, for aiding and arming Ukraine. Pew reveals the same: Some 51 percent believe the U.S. is giving the right amount or "not enough" support to Ukraine. $113 billion Congress approved and $70 billion already given? Not enough? ☮️☮️☮️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Smithsonian: “See the House Engineers Built From Dirty Diapers.” And adds: “Using concrete and mortar made with shredded diapers could address issues like plastic waste and sand shortages, per a new study.” Recycling was cool until it evolved into a huge money industry. The global waste and recycling services market had a total size of $60.41 billion last year; profit is exponentially rising. We even pay to recycle. Remedy: Less manufacturing stuff. Or reuse as is. 👶🧰👶</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “How Extreme Heat Impacts Your Mental Health.” Of course, heat does rile people. I was born into and grew up amidst scorching summer heat. Average heat this year in the Philippines is 36.2 36.2 degrees Celsius (or 97.16 degrees fahrenheit). Other cities went 40+ temp. In 2006, and it was October even, the record temperature was 41.5 °C (or 106.7 here in the U.S.) Filipinos get used to it though. Fun amidst typhoon floods, fun amidst heatwaves. 🩻☀️🩻</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">New York Times: “For These Veterans, ‘Free’ Health Care Is a 5-Hour Flight Away.” And adds: “Citizens of three Pacific Island nations, eligible to serve in the U.S. military, find it hard to make use of the health benefits they have earned.” At home in America, it’s no different. While only 1.7 percent of veterans were excluded from VA health care in the World War II era, today 6.5 percent are denied care. Washington Post: “They turned their mental and physical well-being over to their country, and the federal government turned its back on them.” </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_73H4NYO0hQHCBJMFZ4xEmCYEQTQ0Z3MZWh9U-jHCidfGjp_VL4iUWlyrQ0nAkPa2VX8Jts44ub8AVyOg3zPJDaOaX7ubJ4D_tkKbe44tXCvK0Sw4Sufl5vy3LWVytKtpVv2UXrKruAc43DXP9vG3VnY-4e3QU8E7e4ummkl2HPb_8iglPyBuCF00uiM/s4032/peace%20in%20US.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_73H4NYO0hQHCBJMFZ4xEmCYEQTQ0Z3MZWh9U-jHCidfGjp_VL4iUWlyrQ0nAkPa2VX8Jts44ub8AVyOg3zPJDaOaX7ubJ4D_tkKbe44tXCvK0Sw4Sufl5vy3LWVytKtpVv2UXrKruAc43DXP9vG3VnY-4e3QU8E7e4ummkl2HPb_8iglPyBuCF00uiM/s320/peace%20in%20US.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> A Lockheed Martin F-16 Block fighter plane is worth $64 million to $124 million. Other F-16s cost $12 million to $35 million. A bestfriend’s boyfriend, who served two military tours of duty in Afghanistan, died two days ago. Unable to obtain proper health care from the government. Yet F-16s are bound to Ukraine meant to destroy more, kill more–and prolong a war that should be dealt with via diplomatic means towards negotiated peace. Broken soldiers who survive a war should be compensated not just with a salute of respect on memorial days but free health care, across the board. ☮️☮️☮️</span></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/IVhkMbfPCCDmBbLQD1QO4A~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRw6pP0TjaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNi90ZWNobm9sb2d5L21pY3Jvc29mdC1haS1odW1hbi1yZWFzb25pbmcuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTE3Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkyNzU5Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMzMTQzJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZGKpiWRkjRlgo1IRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Microsoft Says New A.I. Shows Signs of Human Reasoning</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Microsoft claims A.I. shows the ability to understand the way people do. Critics say those scientists are kidding themselves.” Years ago, I read </span><a href="https://www.thehaughtyculturist.com/books-in-brief/dont-look-now-by-daphne-du-maurier/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daphne du Maurier</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s “The Breakthrough” (written 1966), which touches on humanity’s tangled relationship with technology, in which we want to both create and be part of “the machine.” Now a “reality” or Big Tech has gone insane? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Also:In his 1909 short story “The Machine Stops,” E. M. Forster </span><a href="https://www.thehaughtyculturist.com/literature/forster-machine-stops-internet/" style="font-family: georgia; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">predicts the internet</span></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and its dominance over us. Alvin Toffler’s “Future Shock” (1970) is an understatement. 👥🤖👥</span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-52911766617367012502023-10-09T10:34:00.001-07:002023-10-09T10:34:32.396-07:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/BjXOV8s93LHCi8U_EtAO-w~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRw6pP0TYaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNy9oZWFsdGgvZHJ1Zy1zaG9ydGFnZXMtY2FuY2VyLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUxNyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05Mjc1OSZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMzE0MyZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRiqYlkZI0ZYKNSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drug Shortages Near an All-Time High, Leading to Rationing</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “A worrisome scarcity of cancer drugs has heightened concerns about the troubled generic drug industry. Congress and the White House are seeking ways to address widespread supply problems.” Before the finished product drug, there is Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient or API. Top API exporter is China, then India. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbmkRaOMRwKJr-GUxNKwPfzuuhQhioxPKUF6sX53W94RB465NK3FPjwRKqjyh_cjwIXg5KkiVTBC8s8_Q_FLDDFOTR86_vErmHCvxxZ585Vx-awaZbnm4G0TMCo1FKCgbGYo1VuXnm61vGovW08RZS6dOTAP6FEaim9qWWPWzc97Qe-FVpgN2L9Xjaog47/s624/drug%20industry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="624" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbmkRaOMRwKJr-GUxNKwPfzuuhQhioxPKUF6sX53W94RB465NK3FPjwRKqjyh_cjwIXg5KkiVTBC8s8_Q_FLDDFOTR86_vErmHCvxxZ585Vx-awaZbnm4G0TMCo1FKCgbGYo1VuXnm61vGovW08RZS6dOTAP6FEaim9qWWPWzc97Qe-FVpgN2L9Xjaog47/w400-h225/drug%20industry.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> Technically, India is the #1 API exporter but most of what it ships abroad are imports from China, almost 70 percent of global share annually. India exports most of its pharma API to Bangladesh, Turkey and Brazil. Take note: Petroleum products that India sells overseas came from Russian oil, especially since the start of Ukraine War. India, China, Russia, and Brazil (with South Africa) are BRICS partners, the counterweight to G7. 🩺💊🩻</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time: “The U.S. Tech Industry Needs China.” Let’s zoom in on Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world's largest technology manufacturer. The company has 12 factories in China, more than in any other country, the largest factory is located in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhua_Subdistrict,_Shenzhen" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shenzhen</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Foxconn's biggest customers are U.S. big tech, #1 is Apple. Talk about semi conductors? Top mineral ingredient is silicon. China is the world's largest silicon producer. The second largest producer: Russia.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Other top American technology companies that deals business with Foxconn: A</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mazon, </span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Systems" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cisco</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Dell, Google, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Inc" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fisker, </span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hewlett-Packard</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InFocus" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">InFocus</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ntel</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Microsoft</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Mobility" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Motorola, </span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizio" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vizio</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> etcetera. 🇺🇸💾🇨🇳</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smithsonian: “Climate Activists Turn Water in Rome’s Trevi Fountain Black.” And adds: “The action was a protest against public subsidies for fossil fuels and called attention to the deadly floods occurring in northern Italy.” Juvenile tantrum, child’s fit. Smearing classic art, vandalizing statues, tagging cars etcetera. Theatrics. Won’t achieve public support. BTW, the Trevi Fountain is an 18th-century </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fountain</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that served as the terminal point that supplied water to ancient Rome. 😒👎😾</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/gERUqx1CuSYl6esmSiB82g~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmUEkeP0TZaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yMy93b3JsZC9hc2lhL2NoaW5hLWc3LXJ1c3NpYS11cy5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MjQmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTMzMzcmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzM3NTMmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYh7EbWRxFjD3UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">China and Russia, Targets at G7 Summit, Draw Closer to Fend Off West</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Beijing and Moscow are holding visits as alarm grows in China that Western countries backing Ukraine are turning their attention to Asia.” G7 or the West’s stance on Ukraine, adding fire over pursuing peace, is so frustrating. I don’t get it that Japan is a member. G7 in Hiroshima? What irony! Japan’s Constitution renounces war since 1947. And this? ☮️☮️☮️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/5WB2Ur3NhTK0d4NR6bUEWA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRb1kP0TuaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNS9idXNpbmVzcy9lY29ub215L3J1c3NpYS1haXJsaW5lcy1zYW5jdGlvbnMtdWtyYWluZS5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MTYmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTI2NzAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzMwNTUmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYmQ4Y2RzxGr6UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S.-Made Technology Is Flowing to Russian Airlines, Despite Sanctions</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Russian customs data shows that millions of dollars of aircraft parts made by Boeing, Airbus and others were sent to Russia last year.” Fact is, despite extensive sanctions on Moscow, plenty of Russian goods continue to enter the U.S. legally, worth more than $1 billion a month. Tops: Wood imports + groats, weightlifting shoes, crypto-mining gear, even pillows etcetera. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhOI4Jjm9OYHCBpjTxnkhyjk1ZmaR37YlXu__Zjyql_2JfowAo_gzVEVC-T4dMYFoyq82sM0CIRON_DIe9Yr1Lw7WQsFlrkSUEDoFF1WcfoAwfnWmNJMIiaX1_Dmse_nq3663yARmB7S0BbntT153E13YTxkMT7Gl5kbz6OnHj51YzbdQfnnm8IC8Xl-xh/s1200/AI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1200" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhOI4Jjm9OYHCBpjTxnkhyjk1ZmaR37YlXu__Zjyql_2JfowAo_gzVEVC-T4dMYFoyq82sM0CIRON_DIe9Yr1Lw7WQsFlrkSUEDoFF1WcfoAwfnWmNJMIiaX1_Dmse_nq3663yARmB7S0BbntT153E13YTxkMT7Gl5kbz6OnHj51YzbdQfnnm8IC8Xl-xh/s320/AI.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A year ago, President Biden imposed </span><a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-03-08/biden-to-block-russian-oil-imports-in-latest-round-of-sanctions-on-kremlin" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trade restrictions on Russian commodities</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> such as vodka, diamonds and gasoline in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. However, hundreds of other types of unsanctioned goods, including those found on the ship bound for Baltimore from St. Petersburg, Russia continue to flow into U.S. ports. Meanwhile, petroleum products made out of Russian oil are continually manufactured or processed in India, which then enter the U.S. India exported petroleum products worth $86.21 billion during the first 11 months of the current financial year ending March 2023, which accounts for more than 21 per cent of India's total commodity exports. And, of course, EU is still buying fuel from Russia. 🇺🇸🚢🇷🇺</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/FG09nwN3-kRXswdtAXnmsw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRb1kP0TfaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNS93ZWxsL2VhdC9zd2VldGVuZXJzLXdlaWdodC1sb3NzLXdoby5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MTYmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTI2NzAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzMwNTUmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYmQ4Y2RzxGr6UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">World Health Organization Warns Against Using Artificial Sweeteners</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Continued consumption doesn’t reduce weight and could increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.” Don’t we know this already? Trans fats, sodium nitrite, MSG, food coloring, aspartame etc etcetera. I do swallow some. Mark Twain: “Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Nearly 4,000 food additives showed that 64 percent of these foods/drinks had had no research showing they were safe for people to eat or drink. Yet these are in stores in town, not banned. We’d rather spend energy on “banned books” debate over “banned foods” advocacy. 🥯🩺🥯</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/BVquRW_PmCNiQfoWO_1ugw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSwM2P0TlaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xOS91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9zZW1pY29uZHVjdG9yLXdvcmtlci1zaG9ydGFnZS5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MjAmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTMwNTAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzM0NDYmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYjZ-aGRHvBY1UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">America’s Semiconductor Boom Faces a Challenge: Not Enough Workers</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Strengthened by billions of federal dollars, semiconductor companies plan to create thousands of jobs. But officials say there might not be enough people to fill them.” Reason why fortifying the wall and improving border patrols are a political cum economic issue? Some 10,000 migrants cross the southern border on a daily basis. Like, they simply stride in? Need for cheap labor? 💾🖱💾</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/Nj8UcEPU9Wqu-q5YnfPbxg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRb1kP0TfaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNS9vcGluaW9uL3lvdXRoLWFjaGlldmVtZW50LWhhcHBpbmVzcy5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MTYmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTI2NzAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzMwNTUmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYmQ4Y2RzxGr6UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What We Lose When We Push Our Kids to ‘Achieve’</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “The sense of happiness that comes from absorption in a thing we are truly drawn to can be discovered but not taught.” Problem: The words “push” and “achieve” have taken a new slant or significance in these times of correctness overreach or ideological purity. Parents employ tactics and strategies to motivate kids to pursue a road to success. Then, that’s it. These days, it is a discourse complexity. 👧👶🧒</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/ew0lYtMTKpwbRuLC5-vCCw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRb1kP0TraHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNS93b3JsZC9hbWVyaWNhcy9wYXJhZ3VheS1lbGVjdGlvbi1jb2xvcmFkby1wYXJ0eS5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MTYmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTI2NzAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzMwNTUmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYmQ4Y2RzxGr6UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One Secret to a Latin American Party’s Dominance: Buying Votes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” News claims, “...On Election Day, the Colorado Party rounds up Indigenous people and pays them for their votes.” New president Santiago Peña is an economist and nationalist conservative. When a Rightist wins, that person is demonized. I believe, majority of people vote via the gut, not by way of how academia frames ideological extremes. Fact: Paraguay’s unemployment rate is 7.11 percent. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Z0-O-w-8IxQ4bQBbH1LfN__pkBGh7MJv295xct6RC9yxlBorhDyEnX6pFYU0T1M_y_DX5rR-e1Pj74gk7VoFBpohdsMMBQnBGfPbgZZ1J409dFF1GXl7JGO_rR860X3EGM8QFy2g0Mz2s4pzW1lPXvxcs2jRp1PbdniRs_5kH2kvpUMfGy8nn_Bxjxsc/s2560/Paraguay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Z0-O-w-8IxQ4bQBbH1LfN__pkBGh7MJv295xct6RC9yxlBorhDyEnX6pFYU0T1M_y_DX5rR-e1Pj74gk7VoFBpohdsMMBQnBGfPbgZZ1J409dFF1GXl7JGO_rR860X3EGM8QFy2g0Mz2s4pzW1lPXvxcs2jRp1PbdniRs_5kH2kvpUMfGy8nn_Bxjxsc/s320/Paraguay.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> No brainer? Santiago Peña opposes the legalization of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">abortion</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">same-sex marriage</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. In the campaign, he promised to create 500,000 jobs and ruled out raising taxes. Bottomline, the issue is economics. Meanwhile, inflation is continuing to recede while the Central Bank of Paraguay maintains a moderately tight monetary policy stance. The medium-term economic outlook remains favorable, but there are risks from a worsening global outlook and extreme weather events.The real Paraguayan issue: Almost 90 percent of the land belongs to just 5 percent of landowners. The rural-urban economic gap is the result of large-scale agriculture steadily monopolizing the market in Paraguay. By the way, the outgoing president of the country, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Abdo_Ben%C3%ADtez" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mario Abdo Benítez</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is also a Conservative or member of the Colorado Party. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;">👈🇵🇾👉</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">New York Times: “Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has taken a tough line on migrants as he turns around the country’s economy.” Via Schengen Area, the E.U. abolished all types of border control in 1995. Until the migrant crisis ensued in 2015 as Europe wrestled with 2008 recession. Then came 2020-2021 Covid years, and the current fuel/energy backlash of the Ukraine War. Economy is shot. Yet a strict immigration policy is still stereotyped as Right-wing. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Greece currently hosts approximately 50,000 refugees, most of whom will remain in the country. Economic activity is expected to grow by a mere 2.4 percent in 2023. Unemployment: 10.90 percent. New refugees pose gargantuan economic problems yet looking back, E.U. was lenient with border entries. Until hardships ensued. 👈🇬🇷👉</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-73420386434574265662023-10-01T11:36:00.000-07:002023-10-01T11:36:28.497-07:00MY THOUGHTS About News and Stuff.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Previously posted on my Facebook Page.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-7da4b4a5-7fff-fcc1-574c-8502c15e7583" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/bTAxwdLGLFX0Ij-UYWD2BQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmTFUKP0TZaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8yMC91cy9wb2xpdGljcy96ZWxlbnNreS1nNy1qYXBhbi5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MjEmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTMxMTMmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzM1MTYmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkYgrQaWRzxIZ8UhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a Show-Stopping Entrance at the G7, Zelensky Pleads for More Aid</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “He urged his supporters to stay the course and tried to convince fence sitters like India and Brazil that there is no middle ground.” Mr Zelensky tried to convince India and Brazil? These giant economies are buddies of Russia and China (and South Africa) in BRICS. And India, with a 6+ percent GDP growth, refines most of Moscow’s oil since the war started. Volo is so clueless. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKq3bqAOKesmX-zAV9uyUNmHcpZLWBSwI2zisXcHFuBon1FYKLA3bMTsO4YW1XbO_9WHRD0_oKqm2Gpz5a9OkRxIfXJ_hNO_6GFosAcN_RcIMJM8mlm-kk9s-mjLZSaOP91VltKxwhp3hNv19M2PM1c14iVxclInyVlRk01Vh6r2mj7A5T43UwJSJLn5e/s500/ukrainian%20peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKq3bqAOKesmX-zAV9uyUNmHcpZLWBSwI2zisXcHFuBon1FYKLA3bMTsO4YW1XbO_9WHRD0_oKqm2Gpz5a9OkRxIfXJ_hNO_6GFosAcN_RcIMJM8mlm-kk9s-mjLZSaOP91VltKxwhp3hNv19M2PM1c14iVxclInyVlRk01Vh6r2mj7A5T43UwJSJLn5e/w400-h225/ukrainian%20peace.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/cGj4gDrolF6on0PdCxhK3g~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRGueP0TgaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNC9vcGluaW9uL2RpZ2l0YWwtc2NyZWVuLXRpbWUtY2hpbGRyZW4uaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTE1Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkyNTczJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMyOTYzJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZFGe5mFkVi4eMVIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Managing Screen Time Is a Family Matter</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Parents must help their children live healthier digital lives.” Average daily screen time among tweens (ages 8 to 12): 5 hours and 33 minutes; teens (ages 13 to 18): 8 hours and 39 minutes. Adults? Six hours and 58 minutes. Let’s do the math: 24 hrs - 8 for sleep = 16. Minus 8 for work = 8. Minus 6 for internet = 2. What can you do in 2 hours? Gardening and plays with dog. Or stare at the ceiling. ⏰👨👩👦👦⏰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “Why Body Neutrality Works Better Than Body Positivity.” Body neutrality: A shift in perspective, from body hatred, disgust, and dislike, to body appreciation and respect. Body positivity: A social movement that advocates for the acceptance of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender or physical abilities. All these “mind calisthenics” comes with market economics. Yet it’s all common sense. Just do it. All I know is, if my thin/fat body feels sick, then I am sick. 😏😒😟</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/dGkOLfrBUyol_mYi36LRmA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRw6pP0TdaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNi9vcGluaW9uL2JpZGVuLXRydW1wLWJvcmRlci1wb2xpY3kuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTE3Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkyNzU5Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMzMTQzJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZGKpiWRkjRlgo1IRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s Time for Biden to Out-Trump Trump on Immigration</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “The only way to have a rational discussion about immigration is to do everything possible to secure the southern border.” Trump’s wall: $12 billion, tops. The Trump administration built 52 miles of wall where no barrier previously existed, costing taxpayers $46 million per mile or less than $3 billion. The U.S. has sent $46 billion of military aid to Ukraine in one year, in a war that can never be won. 🏃♀️🏃🏃♂️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDURj65doMeFXDHCLmdjXttpvuQEDpzbg7cFgMQsHXF5ddU-xK9c1Bp5ReZpplDVLSzvGJeXTo-ZMmUarM3qNxj6t05r_NKctJUW1G__uteNbXcmz5CRdm3papCTl7flZIYxO7bjISjAVHHWvpuU3E3qml2da7amvIWXrnzOZdYgu7EK8fL8MENZK5iWW/s512/immigration%20and%20america.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="512" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDURj65doMeFXDHCLmdjXttpvuQEDpzbg7cFgMQsHXF5ddU-xK9c1Bp5ReZpplDVLSzvGJeXTo-ZMmUarM3qNxj6t05r_NKctJUW1G__uteNbXcmz5CRdm3papCTl7flZIYxO7bjISjAVHHWvpuU3E3qml2da7amvIWXrnzOZdYgu7EK8fL8MENZK5iWW/s320/immigration%20and%20america.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Washington approved $133 billion in aid (or taxpayer money) for Ukraine, so far. Some $75 billion, excluding upcoming F-16 warplanes, have already been handed to Kyiv. Yet the southern border wall’s projected $12 billion budget was a huge issue. Confounding. 🏃♀️🏃🏃♂️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">New York Times: “To Counter China, G7 Countries Borrow Its Economic Playbook.” And adds: “Wealthy democracies rev up an effort to spend trillions on a new climate-friendly energy economy, while stealing away some of China’s manufacturing power.” The West’s best bet is India. The world’s second largest labor force (476,670,000, 2021 data) behind China (China: 791,383,000). Provided G7 could work around Narendra Modi and his BRICS buddies, which of course, includes China.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The world’s 3rd largest work humanity is in the U.S. but labor laws and high (yes!) wages + benefits bring us back to “cheaper” manufacturing spots elsewhere. There’s #4 Indonesia but Jakarta’s top trading partner is already China. Other massive concentrations of workers are located beyond the West: Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, Bangladesh, Japan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand. Germany and the U.K. are #15 and #17. Japan is G7, and regardless of hosting America’s largest number of troops overseas, Beijing is also Tokyo’s top business BFF. 🏢🇨🇳🏢</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #444444;">New York Times: “Trinidad and Tobago is the #2 exporter of liquefied natural gas in the Americas. Its output has been falling, but it remains committed to fossil fuels.” Of course. Poor countries like South Sudan, Congo, and Gabon, despite being small producers, rely on oil/gas production to survive. Blame the impoverished? What about rich countries? They vow to end oil and gas production by 2034. Really. Yet they refuse to end the war in Ukraine. Why? Oil and natural gas. 🚗🚕🚙</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “Are Teens Really Having Less Sex—Or Do They Just Define It Differently?” Data needs deeper analysis. CDC study: Among teen females aged 15-19, 42 percent said they had sex, and among teen males, 44 percent. These percentages have gradually declined since 1988, 51 percent of female had sex; male, 60 percent. Now, were they asked to define what sex is? Oral sex, sexting, mutual genital stimulation, some “kids” even say sex with condom is not sex Sex. 🤨😒😏</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTEos_qaI8BYRNqtZrW5nQrun7WFFvCaZ-XzF4cblSAXAIUbTj8I7nD-i3tHtiyvdJUtD0jPVez-jvhTzIWGMz_8cnF3DzyvSzLJOWzyxe0Y5-bNGK2THGW5sajuPMEJ-tmijlsG1ccoNzbAW6Fmn-qcoQhzXJmdUxovm8mFgpfnXJgG7p21bp5NUPtt2/s597/abuse%20of%20free%20speech.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="597" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTEos_qaI8BYRNqtZrW5nQrun7WFFvCaZ-XzF4cblSAXAIUbTj8I7nD-i3tHtiyvdJUtD0jPVez-jvhTzIWGMz_8cnF3DzyvSzLJOWzyxe0Y5-bNGK2THGW5sajuPMEJ-tmijlsG1ccoNzbAW6Fmn-qcoQhzXJmdUxovm8mFgpfnXJgG7p21bp5NUPtt2/s320/abuse%20of%20free%20speech.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rolling Stone: “Anti-Fascist. Armed to the Teeth.” And adds: “The far right brings guns to drag shows. Now, the left is showing up with weapons, too.” Based on my experience elsewhere–Martial Law, coup d’etats, countryside wars, narcos hits–I haven’t experienced such blatant showtime of civilian military aggro as what's going these days in the U.S. Props of dominance? Showtime? Why the eerie frequency of mass shootings stays largely unchecked? Because these are all video games? 👎👎👎</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “More Than 70 percent of Americans Feel Failed by the Health Care System.” Government press release says the number of people with health insurance in the U.S. was over 300 million in 2021, about 92 percent of the population. But another media data says an estimated 112 million or 44 percent of American adults are struggling to pay for healthcare, and more than double that number or 93 percent feel that what they do pay is not worth the cost. 🩺💊🩺</span></span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-76545293342428197852023-09-20T10:00:00.002-07:002023-09-20T10:07:08.167-07:00Past Facebook posts: Malaysia.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">THE MALAYSIA STORY. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">MALAYSIA and China’s relations are an example why neighbors in the region, despite intermittent disputes, are not going to evolve into warring forces. Both countries are claimants in the South China Sea territorial quarrel and in recent times has resulted in some friction. In fact, a 2014 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed 66 percent of Malaysians were concerned that territorial disputes between China and neighboring countries (which also include Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam) could lead to a military conflict.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxKCBtvLYejY6yG1PCzbNZewFIpiqZh1lR3iMmR3ofBdRpoLjDKPeshjyx8mkY2-jlg5zNUugANDZ9GtncpDSF1HmDXltKMiNsFoOGJfhntD0N2wKXDGRtxbHmgbALH2O-F69Crc1Wstp0BrUVDy07b5M858SNLlkga28squ5Peh8W3FRRfj7-k_77J5-/s3072/malaysia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1903" data-original-width="3072" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxKCBtvLYejY6yG1PCzbNZewFIpiqZh1lR3iMmR3ofBdRpoLjDKPeshjyx8mkY2-jlg5zNUugANDZ9GtncpDSF1HmDXltKMiNsFoOGJfhntD0N2wKXDGRtxbHmgbALH2O-F69Crc1Wstp0BrUVDy07b5M858SNLlkga28squ5Peh8W3FRRfj7-k_77J5-/w400-h248/malaysia1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Nope. Didn’t happen and will never happen.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> On the economic side, a 2017 survey conducted by Merdeka Center revealed 70 percent of Malaysians supported China's presence and investment in the country. In another survey in 2019 done by Ipsos, around 74 percent of respondents in Malaysia perceived that China would be a positive influence on world affairs over the next decade.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> That view hasn’t really changed. In 2016, during the administration of Najib Razak, 14 trade, energy and defense agreements worth $34.7 million, were signed between the two countries. 🇲🇾🇲🇾🇲🇾</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">FROM 2016 to 2022, Malaysian and Chinese relations haven’t really changed much, regardless of episodic riff in re South China Sea territorial issues. Bilateral trade between the two countries surpassed $190 billion this year based on current trends, expected to move towards $200 billion.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Kuala Lumpur’s trade with China in the first seven months had expanded by 16.9 percent, compared to the same period of 2021. Exports grew by 13.2 percent, boosted by higher exports of electrical and electronic products (E&E), liquefied natural gas (LNG), and scrap metal. Imports from China climbed by 19.8 percent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Malaysia’s chief industries are electronics, semiconductors, microchips, integrated circuits, rubber, oleochemicals, automotive, optical devices, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, smelting, timber, wood pulp, Islamic finance, petroleum, liquified natural gas, petrochemicals, and telecommunication product. Easily, China is the country’s top trading partner. 🇲🇾🇲🇾🇲🇾</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">THE United States is Malaysia’s 3rd top trading partner behind Singapore. American FDIs are concentrated on manufacturing, although Washington seeks to expand relations to include security, environmental cooperation, and educational and cultural relations. Malaysia is a diverse democracy and is an important partner in U.S. engagement with Southeast Asia.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The countries cooperate closely on security matters, including counterterrorism, maritime domain awareness, and regional stability, and participate frequently in bilateral and multilateral training, exercises, and visits.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22Jo7TtQk5LNVi9QqCUy9KSB56e9VgTjdXVYHIoG3Lsx9yvjYIsmiwSwBiVZ1waHUc7SoIv7KRPAdqCRL6PSFo3QZulH3jnOSsTnQqZzud0YO5VYRXwdyXwnIhqgwKQZ05Fc73EgMr6vYQsSOt9Xj7T_qNPQrPfblmea4eG7SGf7OyRrwCd2CRRnLioTC/s700/malaysia2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="700" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22Jo7TtQk5LNVi9QqCUy9KSB56e9VgTjdXVYHIoG3Lsx9yvjYIsmiwSwBiVZ1waHUc7SoIv7KRPAdqCRL6PSFo3QZulH3jnOSsTnQqZzud0YO5VYRXwdyXwnIhqgwKQZ05Fc73EgMr6vYQsSOt9Xj7T_qNPQrPfblmea4eG7SGf7OyRrwCd2CRRnLioTC/s320/malaysia2.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> However, I must say as I always insist, that America should double-up on economic relations over security/military matters in Asia because a ruffling of waters—as in recent attempt in Taiwan—won’t work. China and its neighbors, including Malaysia, will always have some issues to disagree on but I don’t think these will evolve into destructive arms clash.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As accent to the regional cordiality, in Nov 2020, China gathered 15 nations in the region to forge the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which account for about 30 percent of the world's population and 30 percent of global GDP, making it the largest trade bloc in history. These countries are Australia, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and of course, China. China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea are among the largest economies in Asia. 🇲🇾🇲🇾🇲🇾</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-3930980231650541702023-09-18T10:35:00.004-07:002023-09-18T10:35:49.533-07:00FROM my Facebook Page. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;">My Thoughts on The News.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">New York Times: “Rules for Pentagon Use of Proxy Forces Shed Light on a Shadowy War Power.” Managing irregular warfare surrogate fighters is anomalous as it is costly. From Chinese Civil War 1940s to Central American crisis 1960s to 1990s etcetera to the current Ukraine War, Washington has supported a chosen party via proxy forces. Digging up numbers on expenditures and aid for U.S. proxy wars is tricky. The $50+ billion arms aid sent to Kyiv so far should give us ideas. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mB8QfZRbY6JQm9BozgEYPHiCJBdN8QJBJk2n4MDEvpT5ESeiiM_5Up6s0SRbJi48-3wF57VGHo3Vgs5g7DmoL-T8zyN7dZx1igULJjW74o_1OTUrlXk_Ch49sE-TShPjzQnQmNB0TpO7y1X_wvYwLore2MQp98AwsIPFG7PVVB8gR6eKuJaTcr2_j_bC/s1024/ukraine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1024" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mB8QfZRbY6JQm9BozgEYPHiCJBdN8QJBJk2n4MDEvpT5ESeiiM_5Up6s0SRbJi48-3wF57VGHo3Vgs5g7DmoL-T8zyN7dZx1igULJjW74o_1OTUrlXk_Ch49sE-TShPjzQnQmNB0TpO7y1X_wvYwLore2MQp98AwsIPFG7PVVB8gR6eKuJaTcr2_j_bC/w400-h268/ukraine2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Proxy war occurs when a major power instigates or plays a major role in supporting and directing a party to a conflict but does only a small portion of the actual fighting itself. Yet wars per is senselessly a huge waste of taxpayer money. For example, U.S. Defense spending in Afghanistan’s 20-year war was $2.3 trillion. That easily outclassed the $757.8 billion spent in Iraq. But the World War II involvement also cost the U.S. $4.69 trillion. ☮️☮️☮️</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/2ht-98RjGeFuIKfWcjHvUQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmRGueP0TpaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNC9zcG9ydHMvc29jY2VyL3NoYWtodGFyLWRvbmV0c2stdWtyYWluZS1zb2NjZXIuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTE1Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkyNTczJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMyOTYzJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZFGe5mFkVi4eMVIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Your Champions League Dream Runs Through a War Zone</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “Shakhtar Donetsk’s foreign stars fled Ukraine when Russia invaded. Now some are returning or signing up, proof that the lure of opportunity can trump fear.” Not all of the country is battered by war as media tends to suggest. Kolomyya and Kosiv in the Carpathian region, as well the Western towns of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Chernivtsi are safe destinations. (Ukraine is slightly smaller than Texas, or twice the size of Italy or the U.K. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “The Case for Protecting AI-Generated Speech With the First Amendment.” Not the speech per se but the mindset, the reset of the psyche to fit a paradigm of political correctness that bothers me. And AI is bound to push a New Morality that is ideologically detached. Meanwhile, Microsoft spends a lot on AI, but Google is set to bankroll about $300 billion for its AI tech “improvement” through 2028. The federal government upped the IT/R&D budget to $9.6 billion for FY23. 💻🤖🖥</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time: “Zelensky Was the Star of the G7. But the Summit's Focus Remained on China.” Theatrical absurdity. Media turns Volodymyr a “star” but as object of grand folly. Ukraine has got to stop begging for weapons and instead talk economics with China. After all, the world is very high on Beijing business, regardless of sinophobia. Top regions that trade with China, as of 2022, is Southeast Asia ($975.3B), European Union ($847.3B) and the United States (yes! $759.4B). </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> China is easing up the manufacturing mojo over FDIs and loan-giving. So India (and Indonesia) are the logical fallback/s per labor force. But China has plenty of pertinent raw materials and essential minerals that global industries need. That is why Beijing isn’t hot on war. War is bad for business. 🇺🇦☎️🇨🇳</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/hCaJQdvrJIRUogj8zFLG0g~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmQxprP0TYaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xMC90LW1hZ2F6aW5lL2phcGFuLWNhdHMtdHJhdmVsLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUxNCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MjUzMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMjg5OSZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRRa5VgZD5WTAJSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Do Cats Hold Such Mythic Power in Japan?</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” And adds: “A journey through a country where felines are revered, adored and sometimes seen as actual demons.” No one in their right mind messes with cats! Especially in Japan, where hoomans pay respect to shinobi felines in Aoshima Island. Also known as “Cat Island,” Aoshima has only 15-20 hooman residents but hundreds of cats! Some are invisible. “Watashiniha kachi ga arimasen!” 🐱🇯🇵🐱</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKIbcOcKlKrkvEeT1dK4ySmT8s9F9jeRDmD1lYl1zmksRM35X0hW6PvBEdHTUb5To1kVe2saPpN69RHEJ_FbIAwvnN31pRUcH2x6ZfT_qfqNXUTPK4aT3jEMRFdJDM0ucKL-Zjs1BZqFS_c5V8uE-Rj7MunH8epv_Nxw2IYhMM-78wwR4Jg0dBJnlWtEO/s1000/japan%20peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1000" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKIbcOcKlKrkvEeT1dK4ySmT8s9F9jeRDmD1lYl1zmksRM35X0hW6PvBEdHTUb5To1kVe2saPpN69RHEJ_FbIAwvnN31pRUcH2x6ZfT_qfqNXUTPK4aT3jEMRFdJDM0ucKL-Zjs1BZqFS_c5V8uE-Rj7MunH8epv_Nxw2IYhMM-78wwR4Jg0dBJnlWtEO/s320/japan%20peace.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/gchEzOIaBie-fHMGGbTB3w~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmQxprP0TpaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xMy93b3JsZC9ldXJvcGUvdWtyYWluZS1nZXJtYW55LXplbGVuc2t5LXdlYXBvbnMuaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTE0Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkyNTMwJm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMyODk5JnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZFFrlWBkPlZMAlIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Germany Announces Its Biggest Military Aid Package Yet for Ukraine</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” The nearly $3 billion package is part of an effort by both sides to reset rocky relations, which have become “...increasingly important to maintaining European unity in backing the war.” Unity? How’d the region recover from Russian energy dependency–78 percent oil, 45 percent natural–by relying on Kyiv’s corrupt fuel economics? The U.S. could, in years. OPEC? That’d be complex. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> U.S. can supply Europe oil/gas but that isn’t that easy. The region is a massive market. And energy exports to E.U. would shudder America’s homebased needs, which is already #1 in the world. Meanwhile, the post-Merkel Berlin, led by the spineless Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party, is under dictation from some 1 Percent power? Europe has got to fix its energy issue so it could focus on other pressing problems. Angela Merkel was Germany’s Chancellor and de facto leader of the E.U. for 16 years. There were problems along the way, but indecision wasn’t her badge. Isolating Russia isn’t as linear as cutting Vladimir Putin out. The West has lost considerable global clout as 21st century strode in. Scholz’s recent move isn’t helping Europe. China calls for peace, and why not? 🇧🇪👎🇺🇦</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times asks: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/5JP3p7TPvSZ06ICVD1Kr2g~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmQxprP0ThaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xMi9tYWdhemluZS9ib3lmcmllbmQtZG9nLWJyZWFrdXAtZXRoaWNzLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9MiZlbWM9ZWRpdF90aF8yMDIzMDUxNCZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD05MjUzMCZubD10b2RheXNoZWFkbGluZXMmcmVnaV9pZD02NTY3OTU4NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTEzMjg5OSZ1c2VyX2lkPTNjNzM2MWQ1NjdlODAyNzk0YzEyNzQ3MmUxYzNjNTU1VwNueXRCCmRRa5VgZD5WTAJSEXBhc2NraWVAeWFob28uY29tWAQAAAAA" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can My New Boyfriend Stop My Ex From Visiting Our Dog?</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on whether a former partner has the right to see a previously shared pet. Tough, isn’t it? With years of my life (from 2009) spent more with dogs and cats, I simply don’t know how to deal with parting with them (beyond them passing away or dying). Different. But really tough. But no I am not going to replace them with A.I. Are you kidding me, LOL! 💔😥🐕</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/Qp9WBl2-gBwx80_mXhqrnQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmQxprP0TTaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8wOS9tYWdhemluZS9sdXJraW5nLW9ubGluZS5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTImZW1jPWVkaXRfdGhfMjAyMzA1MTQmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9OTI1MzAmbmw9dG9kYXlzaGVhZGxpbmVzJnJlZ2lfaWQ9NjU2Nzk1ODcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD0xMzI4OTkmdXNlcl9pZD0zYzczNjFkNTY3ZTgwMjc5NGMxMjc0NzJlMWMzYzU1NVcDbnl0QgpkUWuVYGQ-VkwCUhFwYXNja2llQHlhaG9vLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Discreet Thrill of Lurking Online</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “There’s a world of wholesome drama out there in strangers’ social media content, if you know where to look.” Why do people post TMI in here? Experts say to bring valuable and entertaining content to others. Inform, amuse, and help people in our lives. That’s why 94 percent of people share drama on Facebook. Me? My dinner royale and day’s kitty shenanigans. But no I ain’t going to talk about my ex’es. 📱🧐📲</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">New York Times: “GOP faction decries $113B for Ukraine.” Sure, you can thumb-down me as Republican, which I am not. But I concur, especially with Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) who fumes that Kyiv’s leadership “...thought it was an obligation for every American to pay $10 a month to fund their war.” Anyhow, after the meeting in Poland, Volodymyr Zelensky’s guys thanked the bipartisan U.S. delegation for the additional aid a.k.a. F-16 fighter jets to help in the war against Russia. 🇺🇦☮️🇷🇺</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyCJQa4JWHWzWLyBPYZCGaIIk09BVTDrizptBfjg8pE2xTOJyx5ht7y85vo0iEBeuWBieydRgaR_RJSYDx9sC2n-fjfFzH6jurR9jGU1U1swXPGvOoamSGomx7JXbWs5oXohWLmyGsrBXmHIHTb7ZvpFght-Hks8nfdIpMDpfYmG0iS7UIqg2yd2sOfD4/s2560/peace%20city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1718" data-original-width="2560" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyCJQa4JWHWzWLyBPYZCGaIIk09BVTDrizptBfjg8pE2xTOJyx5ht7y85vo0iEBeuWBieydRgaR_RJSYDx9sC2n-fjfFzH6jurR9jGU1U1swXPGvOoamSGomx7JXbWs5oXohWLmyGsrBXmHIHTb7ZvpFght-Hks8nfdIpMDpfYmG0iS7UIqg2yd2sOfD4/s320/peace%20city.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times: “</span><a href="https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/zfMor6JWtzJQE4o4toqptw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRmSGL2P0TvaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wNS8xNy93b3JsZC9ldXJvcGUvdWtyYWluZS1mLTE2LWJpZGVuLW5ldGhlcmxhbmRzLWJyaXRhaW4uaHRtbD9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD0yJmVtYz1lZGl0X3RoXzIwMjMwNTE4Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTkyODQ1Jm5sPXRvZGF5c2hlYWRsaW5lcyZyZWdpX2lkPTY1Njc5NTg3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9MTMzMjMwJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2M3MzYxZDU2N2U4MDI3OTRjMTI3NDcyZTFjM2M1NTVXA255dEIKZGL23WVkg-ThRVIRcGFzY2tpZUB5YWhvby5jb21YBAAAAAA~" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Latest Rift Among Ukraine’s Allies Is Whether to Send F-16s</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” And adds: “The United States is resisting a European push for the powerful fighters. But will it relent, as it did before with tanks, rocket launchers and air defense missiles?” Latest news after recent U.S. lawmakers meeting with Kyiv reps in Poland is likely a green light. Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Block costs $64 million. Others depend on kind and make: From $12 million to $35 million, to as high as $108 million.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Remember: Last year, U.S. Congress signed a $113 billion aid to Ukraine. And in February 2022, the State Department approved the sale of 12 F-16 fighter jets with an estimated cost of $4.21 billion — a deal that also included radios, targeting pods and associated munitions components like guided missile tail kits. F-16s et al to Kyiv is not a “sale” though. Those are handouts. Paid for by taxpayers. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-35887127667593795912023-09-03T10:18:00.003-07:002023-09-03T10:18:50.597-07:00My take on News. Past Facebook posts. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">SRI LANKA.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NEWS: “Sri Lanka Economy Has ‘Hit Rock Bottom,’ Putting Pressure on President.” The South Asian nation of 21.9 population was supposedly enjoying a fine GDP growth until problems ensue. Now the country’s Rajapaksa dynasty is facing its toughest challenge yet as protesters demand that the president step down amid a devastating economic crisis. Food and fuel are suddenly either unavailable or exorbitantly priced. New York Times: “Protests are rising against a president with a reputation for brutality.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LG_aaquSBxmeTdpgCHgPtsaPItUT5BiKqx4iwV2L88rGr3q2dtrJ1Xo6cyenf8_I3HI50mMhUIOPUVa9IHzEX1CL-8jCgu8yybnsH06TSWZ4F5aPJH0Ep9q1OGDU-7OgbB3VDbYWXhLh4JGcjQQEwdV6MFm_u_bvK_I8r7R8O9pl7swij5W_ihe0k0eA/s976/sri%20lanka1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_LG_aaquSBxmeTdpgCHgPtsaPItUT5BiKqx4iwV2L88rGr3q2dtrJ1Xo6cyenf8_I3HI50mMhUIOPUVa9IHzEX1CL-8jCgu8yybnsH06TSWZ4F5aPJH0Ep9q1OGDU-7OgbB3VDbYWXhLh4JGcjQQEwdV6MFm_u_bvK_I8r7R8O9pl7swij5W_ihe0k0eA/w400-h225/sri%20lanka1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Before the tempest, Sri Lanka's GDP in terms of purchasing power parity is the second highest in the South Asian region in terms of per capita income, according to the I.M.F. The country’s economy has always been strong. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Sri Lanka became a plantation economy famous for its production and export of cinnamon, rubber, and Ceylon tea, which remains a trademark national export.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka was a strategic port importance for the British when it was under its rule between 1815 and 1948. After independence, socialism strongly influenced the government's economic policies till 1977. Colonial plantations were dismantled, industries were nationalized, and a welfare state established. In 1977, free market economy was introduced to the country, incorporating privatization, deregulation, and the promotion of private enterprise. I don’t see anything wrong with such a transition.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> But tough times followed. Sri Lanka's more recent history was marred by a 26-year civil war, which began in 1983 and ended decisively in 2009, when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. 🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">TOUGH times. Seems like the world is falling into a spiral of strife. Despite this challenge, Sri Lanka has a decent economic pace of 5.5 percent, coming from last year’s 3.7 percent, and 2020’s not surprising and expected -3.6 percent, which is a global downward GDP trend. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Sri Lanka has a globally competitive set of industries, topped by its world-class tea, apparel, textile, rice production, and other agricultural products. Tourism is also a huge income-generating business. In addition to these economic sectors, overseas employment contributes highly to foreign exchange reserves. A huge 90 percent of expatriate Sri Lankans reside in the Middle East, mostly workers in oil fields.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWx9dZ3yLxd9OoAiNGGySP4fwmVLxdsyQwtjfleSiY1KZ64h1CWs8BqvuhxPvEMafeCMsnmU-wBG8xR_wm1UMSUOBYhd5q0yTRG6rlWBUQ4pHV_91viNl4EZdSvKjTT8lnVIQvhs98r5ZJV7kKtkfHokqsG0-_TU8l2cKjgOu1-EY8jGhbTzNoQ6shRXb/s380/sri%20lanka2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="380" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWx9dZ3yLxd9OoAiNGGySP4fwmVLxdsyQwtjfleSiY1KZ64h1CWs8BqvuhxPvEMafeCMsnmU-wBG8xR_wm1UMSUOBYhd5q0yTRG6rlWBUQ4pHV_91viNl4EZdSvKjTT8lnVIQvhs98r5ZJV7kKtkfHokqsG0-_TU8l2cKjgOu1-EY8jGhbTzNoQ6shRXb/s320/sri%20lanka2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As expected, Chinese investments are a fact of economic life in the region or in the country. China controls a key international harbor built on the southern coast and has a terminal in Colombo Port. In 2021, the government also awarded the construction and operation of an elevated highway on the outskirts of Colombo in exchange for a $1 billion investment.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meanwhile, a subsidiary of state-owned China Communications Construction Company has led several infrastructure projects in the country, including Hambantota Port and Mattala International Airport. Construction of the $1.4 billion Colombo Port City started in 2021. 🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">THESE are the events, political shudders, that serve as magnet for Washington to fortify its relations with Sri Lanka. Pretty much expected. China slows down its FDI aggressiveness when social strife sets in.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Yet despite the obvious imposing trade presence of China in the region, the United States remains as Sri Lanka’s top trading partner. Next: United Kingdom, India, and Germany.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> But the more significant Washington interest in Colombo is military alliance although security relations were ruffled by the United States’ opposition to how the country’s army handled the long Civil War that ended in 2009 (from 1983). The thumbs-down didn’t amount to larger sanction, however.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meantime, during a 2020 visit by then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Sri Lanka—which also included India, the Maldives, Indonesia and Vietnam—Washington via President Trump’s rep denounced the Chinese Communist Party as a "predator" in front of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. With the current hawkish Biden administration, such words would mean a lot. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The U.S. Armed Forces maintain a limited military-to-military relationship with the Sri Lanka defense establishment. Yet these days, Washington and Colombo have enhanced defense relations beyond the sale of military equipment and military training facilities. 🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Photo credits: BBC / Botschaft von Sri Lanka.</span></span></p>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-9069431345692314382023-08-23T12:21:00.000-07:002023-08-23T12:21:33.074-07:00MY take on News. Past Facebook posts. RUSSIA and SOUTH AMERICA.<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">NEWS. “A World Away From Ukraine, Russia Is Courting Latin America.” And adds: “The Ukraine crisis has revived a struggle over Latin America between the U.S. and Russia, as Vladimir V. Putin seeks greater influence in the region.” Pretty much like Asia, Latin America’s stand on the Ukraine crisis is ambivalent, if not diverse or vague. Yet no Latin/Asian country has shipped or vowed military aid to Kiev, unlike most European nations.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmZPEQZV1RemNUnkKR1wvofOj6Ia0l3AzWacxiNm2Iw3xJB5mrmJpc2h1p2SRPIJE3dds2SQ-2bHKW5raP6b9FYOMT3sI9KYt3oJmXZGaLX-HKE3JdC06qYZoqjjRQvVBQsAttsoH1IOCgqUh12L9roLTS9QWB9T-F4gpUydmzQFLsJk6Eg0-TZtYShHt/s1024/geopolitics%20chess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1024" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmZPEQZV1RemNUnkKR1wvofOj6Ia0l3AzWacxiNm2Iw3xJB5mrmJpc2h1p2SRPIJE3dds2SQ-2bHKW5raP6b9FYOMT3sI9KYt3oJmXZGaLX-HKE3JdC06qYZoqjjRQvVBQsAttsoH1IOCgqUh12L9roLTS9QWB9T-F4gpUydmzQFLsJk6Eg0-TZtYShHt/w400-h239/geopolitics%20chess.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Meantime, before all these blew up, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made an indirect threat that Russia could not rule out deploying military forces to its allies Venezuela and Cuba, as he highlighted Moscow’s clout in the Western Hemisphere. Yet even as violence carries on, most of Latin/South America stay generally neutral.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reiterates that his country is maintaining neutrality in the conflict. “We are not going to take sides. We are going to continue to be neutral and help however possible to find a solution,” he said. Brazil has deep economic ties with Moscow, mostly by way of oil and fertilizer.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Mr Ryabkov’s dare wasn’t the first time that Kremlin issued a warning. In 2008, during the conflict over Russia-backed separatists in Georgia, Russia first deployed Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela, later followed by four warships. Russia sent its Tu-160 bombers back to the region again in 2013 as the United States and European Union pressured the country over its support of separatist forces in Ukraine.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> And as President Biden pounds on President Putin some more with a U.S. ban on Russian oil imports on Tuesday (3/8/2022), expect more equally damning response from Kremlin. Peace seems to be losing its mojo. 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇦🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">DURING Trump’s tenure at White House, Washington was able to regain lost ground in Venezuela without a bloody “regime change” following massive anti-Nicolas Maduro protests in Caracas. But that doesn’t mean the country with a massive oil reserve is all-America. Ideologically, Venezuela is still a Russian advocate. Hugo Chávez and his successor Maduro are Russia’s most reliable allies for projecting force into the region.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Take note: Russia’s position in Venezuela is arguably among the largest and most strategically significant of its positions in the region. The two key axes of the Moscow/Caracas relationship have been arms sales and oil.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> With respect to arms, from 2006 through the death of Chávez in 2013, Russia sold over $11 billion in arms to Venezuela, including T-72 tanks, BMP-3 and BTR-80 armored vehicles, Su-30 fighters, Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters, and other military end items, making Venezuela by far Russia’s largest military partner in the region. The two countries also agreed to establish a rifle factory in Venezuela, although the project has suffered significant delays due to corruption and other problems.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> As the political and fiscal crisis of the Venezuelan regime deepened and its ability to pay its bills diminished, Russia’s military engagement shifted from the purchase of new end items to maintenance, upgrades, training, and other types of support.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Enter petroleum. Chávez practically let Russia’s oil giants with open arms: Gazprom, TNK, Lukoil, and Surgutneftegas, and later Rosneft. But as the Venezuelan economy collapsed under Maduro, most of Russia’s energy biggies left or lessened investments. 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇦🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NICARAGUA has long been one of Russia’s key partners in the region, with the relationship centered on the bond with leader Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista movement (FSLN), which the Soviet Union armed and helped bring to power in 1979.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlVvdADuGluy1Pg2PBv4xbXbqlDJ4fjxgN_7egUgLcxqVoRJ9K0Uw7Ngl52_IkB8cfZyGk7e5CwMT40meZW-OMZ3QVStKJZASKBom9sT_p5CiZCxcHgXrfg4aknC4dcztRGWWrtlVROWWa_u3RSmbPD7r19ou1hRZbw8jVqivSATjRM94cRsv705rNOROE/s1017/geopolitics3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1017" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlVvdADuGluy1Pg2PBv4xbXbqlDJ4fjxgN_7egUgLcxqVoRJ9K0Uw7Ngl52_IkB8cfZyGk7e5CwMT40meZW-OMZ3QVStKJZASKBom9sT_p5CiZCxcHgXrfg4aknC4dcztRGWWrtlVROWWa_u3RSmbPD7r19ou1hRZbw8jVqivSATjRM94cRsv705rNOROE/s320/geopolitics3.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Ortega rekindled the relationship when he returned to office in 2007, and his government was the first in the region to diplomatically recognize the Russian-backed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia when they broke away from the Republic of Georgia in 2008.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Over the next 14 years, Russian support for the Ortega regime grew from donations of buses and foodstuffs to Mi-17 helicopters, Yak-130 fighter trainers, An-26 medium transport aircraft, TIGR armored cars, T-72 tanks, ZU-23 antiaircraft guns, and an array of older Russian armored vehicles, as well as Mizrah patrol craft and Molina missile boats.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Russian cooperation also included setting up a downlink facility for the Russian GLONASS satellite system, inaugurated in 2017, and a Russian regional training facility in Managua for the Russian counterdrug organization FSKN. The FSKN facility in Nicaragua offers Russian operatives the opportunity to interact with police officials from across Central America who would not normally send officers to Russia for training. 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇦🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">CUBA. Russian military engagement with and arms sales to Cuba have been limited since the abrupt cutoff of Russian aid in 1993 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, Russian firms were still involved in the Cuban petroleum sector, in nickel mining, and in the transportation sector. Russia has sent 1000 minibuses and 50 trains to Cuba, and it sells Lada cars and Kamaz trucks to the island, among other goods.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Peru. Russia has had a special relationship with the Peruvian military, and particularly its army, since the presidency of Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968-1975), a left-wing general who seized power in a coup d’état. Alvarado followed through with shipment of Soviet arms initially intended for the Chilean government of Salvador Allende. Older generation Peruvian arms included Mi-8, Mi-24, and later Mi-17 helicopters, and T-55 tanks. Peru also purchased Su-22 fighter bombers and Su-25 fixed-wing aircraft from the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which the country later used against Ecuador during the Cenepa War of 1995.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Argentina. Russia’s role as a purchaser of Argentine grain and beef has opened a door in the relationship between the two countries, even under right-of-center and military governments. The left wing of the Peronist movement in Argentina, including former President and current Vice President Christina Fernández de Kirchner, has entertained military relations with Russia. Argentina has contemplated buying Russian fighter aircraft in both 2015 and again in 2021, including Mig-29s and Su-30s. Nonetheless, it has yet to consummate a major arms deal. 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇦🇷</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">OTHERS. Beyond those mentioned, other potential Russian partners in the region are Xiomara Castro in Honduras, Gabriel Boric in Chile, Luis Arce in Bolivia, and if former guerrilla Gustavo Petro wins in Colombia in the nation’s May 2022 elections.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lvXQbPE6BJaUiTc2RHSDuSPOeDuz_emZ140R8ZDkBbeB96q8PPeg_LFZnaqsPioT9z43MJ0K0tOnQzCZDX-mQrzG8oEblb79S_R88Cb40-AV0PiIt1K4bxGUqk91uegeZaHtEQVQGPLbZTfGHBzOmriggHcht9qrkYVJNIZJxzogt1AlXa-3S1ky0pPy/s1000/peace.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lvXQbPE6BJaUiTc2RHSDuSPOeDuz_emZ140R8ZDkBbeB96q8PPeg_LFZnaqsPioT9z43MJ0K0tOnQzCZDX-mQrzG8oEblb79S_R88Cb40-AV0PiIt1K4bxGUqk91uegeZaHtEQVQGPLbZTfGHBzOmriggHcht9qrkYVJNIZJxzogt1AlXa-3S1ky0pPy/s320/peace.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Chinese money remains as enabling factor in all these, as expected. Russia’s economy, with a gross domestic product of $1.48 trillion, is only a tenth of the size of China’s $14.7 trillion GDP. Moreover, Russia’s economy is far less diversified and more dependent on earnings from oil exports, which are subject to significant fluctuations. Correspondingly, Russia’s ability to provide significant quantities of military hardware or fund other projects on credit to partners in the region for an extended period is limited.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> And so Beijing comes in. Given Vladimir Putin’s resolve, as this point, to prolong his military operations in Ukraine, Xi Jinping stays conveniently here nor there, but that is a classic CCP stance. And we know where Beijing’s allegiance is—although I see China favoring an end to hostilities, Prolonged war means prolonged delay of work.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Which goes to say, the most credible power that could convince Russia to end its aggression in Ukraine is China. We don’t want this mess to rub off in South America or elsewhere. Bad for business. 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇦🇷</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-77239555672883334862023-08-18T10:45:00.002-07:002023-08-18T10:45:36.704-07:00MY take on News. Past Facebook posts. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;">BURKINA FASO.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">NEWS: “After Coup in Burkina Faso, Protesters Turn to Russia for Help.” / “Military Takes Power in West African Nation of Burkina Faso.” Mutinous officers claim that the public was fed up with President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré because of his inability to stop attacks by Islamist militants. And the military organization is fed up as well with France, former colonizer and now supposedly a benefactor, to stop the violence so now they call for Russia’s help.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5DgTb6a5HPS44NwKHUPrTkmAHPgcyGd-rTehf8_MNimgtXPqiPUasH0Gb1ptxzWFKeaYexiEXrDGmusVPpd3z3WYHhmlH0hy-bruViD-uEKtZiJxQGYYoH9zYgQ_p354dy4uDY_4XEn4dRm5gUyrFdYImWZE1PN3k8RIrVO9IfcX1FdO1nsJCNdj0oPC/s640/Burkina%20Faso%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5DgTb6a5HPS44NwKHUPrTkmAHPgcyGd-rTehf8_MNimgtXPqiPUasH0Gb1ptxzWFKeaYexiEXrDGmusVPpd3z3WYHhmlH0hy-bruViD-uEKtZiJxQGYYoH9zYgQ_p354dy4uDY_4XEn4dRm5gUyrFdYImWZE1PN3k8RIrVO9IfcX1FdO1nsJCNdj0oPC/w400-h225/Burkina%20Faso%20.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Burkina Faso has been severely affected by the rise of Islamist terror in the Sahel since the mid-2010s. Terrorist activity primarily involves religious terrorism conducted by foreign-based organizations, mostly concentrated in the Hauts-Bassins, Boucle du Mouhoun, Nord, Sahel, and Est regions, along the border with Mali and Niger.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> A series of attacks in Ouagadougou in 2016, 2017, and 2018 by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates was particularly deadly, garnering international attention. And, of course, Washington’s (re)focus of military focus from Afghanistan and Syria to this region, also in pursuit of Boko Haram northeastern Nigeria, and Al-Shabaab in Somalia.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> While majority of the violence are blamed on terrorism, communal frustration among the 21 million population over the lack of economic development is also a tremendous contributory factor in the strife.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In its early years, Burkina Faso was subject to instability, droughts, famines and corruption. Various coups have also taken place: 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, an attempt in 1989, 2015, and this year.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> But why seek Russian intervention? Turned out, the two countries have history of cordial relations. However, Vladimir Putin is obviously very busy with Ukraine to pay attention beyond, for now. 🇧🇫☮️🇧🇫</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">NOT entirely unexpected that Ouagadougou calls out for Moscow’s help in these times of trouble. Diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and the Soviet Union were established in 1967. And then after the breakup of the USSR, Burkina Faso recognized Russia as the Soviets’ successor.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> However, despite token economic exchange as well as cultural interface by way of Russia’s offer of educational opportunities in Moscow for Burkina Faso students, Ouagadougou’s top trading partners are not the Kremlin. Burkina Faso’s main business ally is its neighbor Cote d'Ivoire, followed by China (surprise!) Ghana, France, and India.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In recent years, Burkina Faso's mining industry has been expanding and is now the most important sector of the economy. Main exports are gold, which comprise 70 percent of total exports, plus cotton, zinc, phosphate rock, and livestock. Although China has already sunk investment in the country, it hasn’t really followed through due to pressing issues, utmost is the continuing internal strife.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Ouagadougou is the only African state to have twice recognized the Republic of China or Taiwan: in 1964 and in 1994. As a result, Taiwan helped finance some of Burkina Faso leaderships’ political programs to the detriment of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. Yet in 2018, Burkina Faso cut ties with Taiwan and then re-established diplomatic relations with the Mainland.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Beijing, meantime, is very wary of the active terrorism in the region—but expressed willingness to provide assistance if Ouagadougou fights terror groups and safeguard national security. Wait and see. China doesn’t normally gamble FDIs in countries beset by conflict. And as the usual case, it is the U.S. that takes care of that troublesome political gig. This time though, Burkina Faso is calling on Russia, which is of course a BFF of China, to fix its mess. 🇧🇫☮️🇧🇫</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">APPARENTLY, Russia or President Vladimir Putin is busy with the Ukraine situation to give attention to Burkina Faso. Meantime, the United States’ presence in BF is more via Peace Corps programs and Washington’s aid to the constantly beleaguered nation is still extremely limited although investment possibilities exist, especially in the mining and communications sectors. But when?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Which brings us to China. In 2018 or prior to Covid-19 pandemic, Beijing unveiled a whopping $60 billion African aid package, all related to the Belt and Road Africa infrastructure development fund. The budget has long surged as BRI pushes through.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Before all these, the IMF has declared Africa the world’s second-fastest growing region, and many are predicting that it is well on its way to becoming a $5 trillion economy, as household consumption is expected to increase at a 3.8 percent yearly clip to $2.1 trillion by 2025. The attention of the world is now drifting towards Africa. Regardless of the political instability, China coming-in is no longer a radical projection. Beijing is very interested.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Besides, despite internal troubles, Burkina Faso still registers a fine GDP growth rate of 6.67 percent, a huge jump from 2020’s and 1.93 percent and 2019’s 5.7 percent. Also, the country, which is around the geographic size of Nevada, is relatively easier to handle, per infrastructure upgrade.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> However, it would seem Burkina Faso has no choice. It seeks Russia’s help but Moscow is into Ukraine at this moment. As ever, smaller/poorer nations will have to wait till the larger geopolitical catfight subsides or ends before their “benefactors” could put attention on them. But knowing China, it quietly courses its moves with certainty on the sideline—as we view the Ukraine Drama. 🇧🇫☮️🇧🇫</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387512362776699573.post-57016612087356460492010-10-04T23:14:00.000-07:002010-10-31T19:50:28.045-07:00ROSETTA STAR RZANY<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoRWAMZ1FMktJmegfN8Wat-ELksT7ILYADeEgE-KlCCi59FhYAp94Oo1WHlDXqhAM6bDzTH2SbFC0DT8LtTyy4LS9AHi0fxB-IsQy_lrh3179sMNKLL3pX3ARLKz4_CC9dcowLysi3Ha3/s1600/rosetta.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 302px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524445935280528754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoRWAMZ1FMktJmegfN8Wat-ELksT7ILYADeEgE-KlCCi59FhYAp94Oo1WHlDXqhAM6bDzTH2SbFC0DT8LtTyy4LS9AHi0fxB-IsQy_lrh3179sMNKLL3pX3ARLKz4_CC9dcowLysi3Ha3/s320/rosetta.bmp" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;">Traversing the rough-and-romantic road that leads to the kitchen door… and into the soul </span></strong><br /><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">LOCAL RESTAURATEUR</span></strong> <strong><span style="color:#009900;">Rosetta Star Rzany</span></strong> was once quoted by Asheville’s Mountain Xpress, “Rosetta’s Kitchen is an extension of my childhood home in which the door was always open and it led directly into the kitchen.” The mere mention of the word, “door,” never fails to fascinate, or mystify me… it always conjures a poignant sense of beautiful selflessness and nonchalant generosity. What Ms Rzany was trying to communicate, I felt, was that that “extension of my childhood home” was actually a community center, where “many hands came together to create a casual, friendly place to relax, visit friends and satisfy a healthy vegan or vegetarian, appetite.”</span> </div><div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Doors, food, fun, community, spirit…</span><br /></span></strong>In a deteriorating synthetic, consumerist society where the physical body is voraciously fed by microwaved, chemical-enhanced so-called fastfood, Rosetta’s “opening doors” become a welcome passage to spiritual redemption. I might be dabbing too much profundity to a seemingly simple, ordinary health-conscious trade alternative—such as Rosetta’s Kitchen—but “food” has always been a trancendental ritual to me. I was born and raised and grew up in a culture where “food” and “mealtime” are considered sacred rituals parallel to Angelus, rosary beads, mantra, and homage to Gods and Goddesses via raindance. Food is linked to “casual, friendly” convergence not by virtue of societal circumstance but because it’s part of human existence… people interact with people and food is always the starting point, middle ground, and end gesture. A very effective familial pitch in Manila goes, “The family that eats together, stays together…” In whichever culture one comes from, that human dictum rings true.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ffcc00;">A Rosetta Star Journal<br /></span></strong>It couldn’t be truer than a peek at Rosetta’s life journal.“… I am from Old Fort, a little town, 40 minutes east of Asheville. My parents, I would call them pretty darn extreme people, as loving and good as can be. We had milk goats, big gardens, apple trees, and lots of time. Mom always stayed home with my sister and I… Dad did construction job just enough to buy the very basics... We were very poor, we never even had a car, we hitch-hiked, the whole family, including our dogs. I went to public schools all the way through...”<br />Rosetta’s memories—sentimental and mawkish, like creasy polaroid photographs neatly collected on a graying scrapbook… people and places stay like peeling latex paints at the backdoor porch. But there’s always a story behind, in between the pages.<br />Rosetta Star’s “kitchen door”—which commenced in “a 12-foot square room house that Dad built out of a building that someone else was going to tear down,” and slithered to Hardee’s and Taco Bell in Marion and Warren Wilson College – extended to a wild-and-romantic intercontinental wanderlust life that’d surely rival Bridget Jones’ diary. “I could write a book about this time in my life…” she beams. “Crazy!”<br />Let’s turn the pages of Rosetta’s scrapbook/journal…“<br />While at Warren Wilson, when I was 19, I met a German guy, real cute and with a cool accent… I got married as a joke in a mall in Tennessee to a man I didn’t even know. We had been seeing each other a month, he was 25. We spent a few months working and gardening and playing house and then we flew away…“<br />A few nights in London and then to Sri Lanka… Extremely jetlagged, and hung over—into New Delhi. My senses were all blown—everything in India was sensory overload. The smells, sights, my thoughts… We spent 6 months in India and Nepal, two months just partying in Goa… It was just too much intensity to a Southern girl. I was so home sick as could be when we left so I parted from my lover in an airport in France and, came home. A week of grounding in the mountains and I was again dying to get back to him. I flew to Hamburg, Germany, planning to move there…“<br />I spent a month living in the red light district of St Pauli and was fed up with my life there... too much coffee, cake and beer. I needed some meaning in my life, I was dreaming of big gardens and tea with my best friend in the apple orchards, I needed to come home. So back we came, we lived in a school bus behind my parents house and hung about. That fall, I found out I was pregnant. I had just turned 21. I took a pregnancy test in a bar bathroom in Little Italy, NY… We were driving some friends to the airport in Boston, and I knew I was very late and we were going to be out drinking that night. I didn’t tell anyone that night. When we got back to home we had been planning to go to Mexico for the winter but we were kind of scared to go so far so we went to Key West, instead.“<br />We squatted in an empty teepee and I worked at a café. We lived in our van with a cat and two dogs for a couple of months and then when I started to be swollen up pregnant I was ready to come home again. We moved back in with my parents. Luka Star was born Aug 18 in 1998 at home, he was a big loud baby but my ex-hubby didn’t take it so well, his new job as father. We did still have some fun and we partially built a cool straw/clay slip house on my parents’ land but finally we moved to town as a last resort to save our marriage. It didn’t work… we split in a nasty way and I redefined myself…<br />So that’s how Rosetta traversed life, rediscovered some wisdom along the way, and then headed back home. “Home” later became Rosetta’s Kitchen in downtown Asheville—which was inaugurated on a September three years ago, before her 26th birthday.“<br />Luka was 2 ½ and I loved downtown. I was amazed at how everyone ate out all the time and I reached back to a plan we had had before to open a place just like the kitchen in Hamburg or Berlin and instead I asked my family for help and they came through with shining colors.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#660000;"><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Rosetta’s Kitchen’s Concept</span><br /></span></strong>Rosetta’s Kitchen’s concept was “reborn” in the early spring of 2002… “a place to be, a community kitchen. It was basically to take the idea of my home kitchen which had always been a colorful and fun place to be full of good food and open it to the public.”<br />As expected, Rosetta’s restless star gravitated to downtown Asheville’s gruffly-romantic and sweetly-flawed humanity… “I love the beauty of the fact that no one really knows what is the `right way’ to live anyway but are each trying in their own way… I see a whole community of people really open to knowledge and change and tolerance of others trying to do the same thing in their own way. I think this community is learning about the power of interdependence, and that the more we all keep this dialogue of conscious community open, the more it will spread.”<br />She continues, “I love the community. I love having a huge group of people who feel like family, all the connections and networks of all the little different groups; professional, social, activists, diverse cultures, there are so many great people here. There are great people everywhere, but in Asheville I find people that are more excited about life and living it to it’s fullest, people who see solutions to civilization’s problems, people who are consciously creating themselves and the world around them, rather than just being apathetic and following the status quo.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ffcc00;">Nasty Workings of the American System<br /></span></strong>That excitement about life trudged a scary episode when she, along with other protesters, had a dose of what she calls, “nasty lessons in the workings of the American system...” during the first day of mass protests against the outbreak of war in Iraq.“<br />I was arrested by choice while trying to get everyone present to follow my example... when the police started making violent arrests, I thought that from what I learned from history of civil disobedience in this country that we didn’t want to let them only take a few scapegoats and chase every one away...”<br />Rosetta, at this point, could easily, effortlessly ramble from childhood memories of her parents’ Old Fort kitchen to an Oktoberfest soiree in Hamburg to a kirtan afternoon in New Delhi to why her second child Petra Star (with partner Gary Buan) was also born at home on Oct 23, 2003 to her sweet anticipation of her third child... back to that violent street demonstration in downtown Asheville where she was pinned down to the ground… to her exuberant pronouncements of having “a beautiful family of my own… family is the most important thing there is and to have a stable one is such a blessing”…<br />I haven’t even talked about her Kitchen’s Korean BBQ tempeh, pad thai, and broth of life of miso, ginger, arame and garlic. While this article wasn’t intended to be a restaurant profile or food review, I can’t help but touch the spirit behind the counter... or beyond the kitchen door. That’s all that I could do--considering the fact that my subject has opted to talk about a screenplay-worth of beautiful, intriguing trials, triumphs, and tribulations--than offer me an obtuse recitation of entrepreneurial flair and/or overwhelm me with heavy-handed socioeconomic rant. You see, I just want to write something nakedly human about the soul behind one of the beautiful spirits of downtown Asheville.<br />However, I must admit that before I got to liking Rosetta’s flailing, gypsy/neohippie fashion sense… I first got enamored to the kale and peanut butter tofu in her little Lexington Av eatery. But, as I previously mentioned, “food” and “mealtimes” are sacred rituals—you don’t really talk about them, you just let them live within yourself, enjoy them… These days, we don’t really visit a diner or eatery to partake of its culinary pleasure--we, more often than not, try to feel and savor a communal vibe and, simply, feel good. We want to observe humanity, eavesdrop once and a while, or engage someone in a freewheeling, rambling conversation...<br />Such is Rosetta’s Kitchen from dusk till dawn... such is the experience of a lazy August afternoon with Rosetta Star Rzany. She has more magic and secrets to share other than skillet corbread and granny’s gravy. Obviously, she wants to talk more about gifts and blessings beyond the kitchen door, such as… “I still have lost of pets and a colorful house…”<br /><br /></span></div></div>PASCKIE PASCUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05312716892828923035noreply@blogger.com0