MY THOUGHTS on News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

New York Times: “Treasury chief Janet Yellen, after meetings with Chinese officials, said the two sides would pursue more frequent communication despite deep differences.” Differences are givens. After all, East per China and West per America are worlds apart, not just in political brawn but mostly in cultural psyche. No way to bridge that gap. But there is a middle ground: Trade. As the universe gets more connected in mutual (economic) needs, both worlds can’t afford to fight. 🇺🇸☮️🇨🇳

New York Times: “German Businesses Bet Big on China, and They’re Starting to Worry.” Mainly because Chancellor Olaf Scholz is no Angela Merkel. To date, China stays as Germany’s top trading partner, owing to Merkel’s shrewd shuffling of trade cards with Beijing, “fiscalizer” diplomacy with Moscow, and cordiality with Washington. Germany's economy has grown by 34 percent since the start of Merkel's tenure — 15 percentage points more than its nearest EU rival, France.

     Angela Merkel visited China 12 times during her 16-year tenure, forging a friendship with the Chinese people, thereby fortifying Berlin’s stature in the E.U. as its major power. Germany as well had fine relations with Russia as Moscow’s top fuel buyer before Scholz sat in 2021. Scholz failed to capitalize on what Merkel left him; instead the new Chancellor opted to ride with a Washington-styled hawkish tact, upping instead Berlin’s Defense budget over economic rebound. True, several well-known German businesses were taken over by Chinese investors. Among them was EEW Energy from Waste, the manufacturer of plastic processing machinery Krauss Maffei, and the industrial robotics manufacturer Kuka. In 2016, 68 German companies were bought by Chinese operations. Yet some 5,000 German companies operate in China today. (Visual credit: United World International.) 🇨🇳🏦🇩🇪

New York Times: “Germany Adopts a More Muscular Security Plan.” Her critics say Angela Merkel “underspent” for NATO and thumbs-down her friendship with Vladimir Putin. Yet when there’s no war, I am for it. With Merkel as Chancellor, Germany loomed as Europe’s most powerful over the U.K. and France. She knew how to roll the dice. Under Olaf Scholz: Berlin aims for a €60 billion Defense budget, augmented by military aid to Ukraine vs. Russia. I thumb-down it. 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪

New York Times: “Putin Met With Mercenary Leaders He Had Called Traitors.” The Kremlin’s disclosure of the meeting with Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner’s commanders hinted at the power they wield “...but left many questions unanswered.” First, who funded Wagner’s failed putsch? Then reports said Prigozhin was in Belarus, Russia’s closest ally in the region. Now he’s in Moscow. What’s going on? Who knows. Unless Jack Ryan does his thing. Uh huh. ☮️🇷🇺☮️

Rolling Stone: “How a Rabidly Anti-Gay Preacher Inspired a Pro-Anal Sex TikTok Jam.” And adds: “Since `One Margarita,’ a remix of a Sister Cindy speech, went viral, the campus evangelist is more famous than ever. Students aren’t sure that’s the best thing.” A lot of stuff are going on online, especially with the advent of AI. “Pro-anal sex TikTok jam,” LOL! I don’t what that is but I am not hyped up to know or listen/watch an “anti-gay preacher” either. Waste of time. 😏📲😟

New York Times: “Group Accuses Ukraine of Using Prohibited Land Mines.” And adds: “Human Rights Watch found evidence in May that Ukrainian soldiers had fired 15 rockets at Russian forces, each containing hundreds of small antipersonnel land mines.” Let’s put it this way. Washington is top military aid giver to Kyiv. But the U.S. is not a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty or Mine Ban Convention, adopted in 1997. But Ukraine is a signatory. War is doom. 

     Major powers, which are also past and current manufacturers of landmines, are not parties to the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction,” which prohibits anti-personnel landmines. These include the United States, China, and Russia, plus India and Pakistan. More than 150 countries have joined this treaty. ☮️☮️☮️

New York Times: “No One Can Stop Rupert Murdoch. That’s Increasingly a Problem.” And adds: “Why nobody can rein in the increasingly erratic patriarch of the Fox Corporation.” With average daily viewership of 1.1 million (#1) and $13.974 billion revenue in 2022, it is hard to buy the pitch that Rupert's handling of Fox is "erratic." Or probably it is son Lachlan running the Conservative TV roost now? Fox is a problem because Left/Liberal network can't beat it, that’s the story. 📺🐺📺

New York Times: “Number of Migrants at the Border Plunges as Mexico Helps U.S. to Stem Flow.” The cooperation of Mexico + U.S. legislation on one page are the only remedies to unabated illegal border crossings. That’d mean a crackdown on narcopolitics (drug cartels juice, up front) and a more focused Merida Initiative implementation. This means President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gains stronger economic leverage but it’s all on the negotiating table, of course. 

     Before this, a total of approximately 3,700 encounters at the southern border is reported per day. In April alone, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection had 211,401 encounters, up almost 10 percent from the previous month and up nearly 20 percent from April 2021. These numbers are only the documented/reported apprehensions though. More are unaccounted for, mostly those that are facilitated by the cartel that are “invisible” from law enforcement radar. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

New York Times: “What to Know About Limiting Your Child’s Screen Time.” Free software from Apple and Google helps mom/dad oversee how kids use tech. Won’t be that easy. U.S. teenagers spend 7 hours, 22 minutes per day in front of screens. That’d be 43 percent of waking hours. By comparison, that's 24 minutes more than the global average of 6 hours 58 minutes. Take that cellphone away? Depression heightens. And a parent could be charged for “child abuse.” 📱👶📲

New York Times: “One Last Job? 60-Somethings With Mob Ties Charged in Jewel Heists.” And adds; “Four older men with extensive criminal records, including killings and a jailbreak, were charged in two brazen armed robberies in Manhattan.” Perfect for a Netflix series? Three seasons at least? I bet these AARP dudes are now awaiting Hollywood agents to buy their story, if they haven’t already. I’d like my forever idol Nic Cage to be in this kickass series, if ever. 💎🧰💎