MY THOUGHTS on News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

New York Times: “Yellen to Visit China in Bid to Steady Economic Ties.” Janet Yellen’s China trip (July 6 - 9) will be her first as Treasury secretary and is intended to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Seen as a “dove” on monetary policy (concerned with unemployment over inflation) but a “hawk” on issues of deficit per fiscal policy, I trust Ms Yellen to bring home good news. Not easy. Powerful forces seem hell-bent on frustrating recent U.S./China talks. 

       Recent stories: State Secretary Antony Blinken’s mid-June trip was marred by President Biden’s recent off-center anti Xi remark. Now Janet Yellen’s Beijing visit (Jan 6) is hobbled by a U.S. travel advisory that says Americans who plan to visit China “may be detained.” Wild. (Photo credit: OMFIF.) 🇺🇸💰🇨🇳

Time: “Putin to Meet Xi, Modi in First Major Summit Since Armed Rebellion Rattled Russia.” They need to talk. After all, BRICS are seen to collectively dominate the global economy by 2050. Bilateral trade between Russia and China totaled more than $93.8 billion from January to May in 2023, a 40.7 percent increase from last year. India and China: $125 billion last year. India and Russia: $44.4 billion but their actual trade is mostly oil. As ever, political unrest is bad for business. 🇨🇳🇮🇳🇷🇺

New York Times: “A Year After July 4 Parade Shooting, Some Americans Rethink Big Gatherings.” And adds: “Concerns about gun violence at large public events leave some contemplating safety measures or even staying home.” May count: 263 mass shootings in the U.S. Last two days: More in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Texas. What is this? Hate sports? Not being paranoid why I don’t organize events or go to a public event anymore. I am old. I don’t wanna end that way. ☮️☮️☮️

Associated Press: “Media: Fox ushers out Geraldo Rivera as he says he was fired from ‘The Five’.” Indeed, the Murdoch Kingdom’s deck of cards is shuffling hard. Top moneymaker Tucker Carlson was taken out, and more. Who’s running the empire now? Lachlan? Once called the “Prince of Sydney” for his extravagant lifestyle, the 51-year-old oldest son is viewed as far more personally conservative than dad Rupert. Realigning chess pieces for Nov 2024? 📺🐺📺

New York Times: “A ‘Cage Match’ Between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg May Be No Joke.” Although I am not hyped up to waste 5 minutes to watch this wealth-glam spectacle, this is still a much better distraction from the dark and dank of current sociopolitics. Still “eat the rich” confectionary nonsense but, I hope, not similar to “hate the dead rich” low ushered by the fatal submarine mishap. Hey, just enjoy it. I am betting on Elon, 15 Maruchan ramens! 🤼🥋🤼‍♂️

Time: “China Cracks Down on Displays of Wealth and Poverty.” The verb “cracks down” is politically contrived. How’d that be? Excluding Hong Kong and Macau, China has 495 billionaires, 2nd in number to the U.S. Plus 780,000 millionaires. Meanwhile, on its 100th year in July 2021, the CCP reminds its 1.4 billion people of “Common Prosperity” of social equality and economic equity. Example: Tech giant Alibaba donated $15.5 billion in Oct of that year to the program. 

       Then leader Deng Xiaoping redefined Mao Zedong’s “common prosperity” in the 1970s by unleashing Beijing’s defining economic open-door policy as the central government (via its four state-owned banks) distributed subsidies to SMEs in the provinces to build the giant nation’s vaunted manufacturing power. Note as well that the CCP has been buying huge tracts of land in 4 corners of the earth since those years. So when Jiang Zemin signed a trade pact with Bill Clinton in 2000, paving the way for China to enter the WTO in 2001 as MFN (most favored nation), the Chinese were set to go. Trade expansionism. Under Xi Jinping, the “common prosperity” gained large-scale prominence, with Xi defining the term as more equal distribution of income, but also saying that it is not uniform egalitarianism. (Photo credit: CNBC.) 🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳

New York Times: “Human rights groups and Ukrainian officials want the United States to stop buying Russian crude oil that has been refined into other products in third countries like India.” Complexities of geopolitics vis a vis economics. The U.S. is a top buyer of India’s refined petroleum products, from Russia’s oil. India's rising imports of Russian oil hit a record high of about 1.95 million barrels per day (bpd) in May. India’s GDP growth rate in 2022: 7+ percent. 

       Russia accounts for 42 percent of all the crude oil India imports. Meanwhile, China's imports of Russian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas in 2022 soared 2.6 times and 2.4 times to $3.98bn and $6.75bn, respectively. China also buys a huge amount of Russian coal. India, Russia, and China (along with Brazil and South Africa) are BRICS partners. BRICS is the counterweight/power to G7. 🇷🇺⛽️🇮🇳

New York Times: “Supreme Court Sides With Postal Carrier Who Refused to Work on Sabbath.” I came from a country where almost 90 percent are Catholics. Sunday is rest day or family time, after morning mass. No problemo. We can argue about a (multiparty) election or who is your GOAT basketball player. But not why people pray The Rosary. Respect. America is 63 percent Christian; 8 percent Agnostic and 4 percent Atheist. The 12 percent though seem louder. 

       News adds: “The unanimous decision interpreted a federal civil rights law to require employers to make substantial efforts to accommodate their workers’ religious practices.” Two countries that peacefully  co-exist with Christians and other religions? Japan’s majority religion is Shintoism (only 1.5 percent Christianity). Qatar is Sunni Muslim, mostly. A huge 88 percent of Qatar’s population are expatriates, primarily non-Muslims. Real definition of “unity in diversity.” 🏦✝️🏦

Rolling Stone: “The Supreme Court Sold Its Soul to the Christian Right.” That’d mean the Supreme Court of America is now the instrument of evil. Or The Devil. Would the Christian Left, if there’s such a thing, not be offended? Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the United States. According to Gallup, about 3 in 4 Americans identify with a specific religious faith. I guess the 12 percent non-believers (agnostics, atheists) are the immaculate, pure, and unerring? 🗽✝️🇺🇸

Rolling Stone. “Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan Searches for Peace on Gospel-Influenced 'Lighthouse'.” Some rock stars are hushed or not very vocal about their Christian leaning due to the obvious. Do you know that Alice Cooper is a Christian convert? Bob Dylan devoted 3 albums to his faith. Born Catholic Bono’s religious beliefs are reflected in U2’s songs. Other Christian rockers: Dave Mustaine, Brian “Head” Welch of Korn, Rick Wakeman of Yes, Lou Gramm of Foreigner. 🎸✝️🎸

Noam Chomsky. And Stuff.

From Friend Page:

“That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital.” –Noam Chomsky

NOAM Chomsky's treatise or theories make sense in most cases but many are plain ideological overreach. The quixotic idealism (sic) nature of those romantic thoughts makes Noam popular among the New Left or younger activists weaned on the internet. 

       Moreover, I believe, "selective privatization" of certain industries works while others stay state-owned but based on sociocultural variables. For example, Norway is mixed-economy with state ownership (of choice industries) only in strategic areas like energy companies Statoil and Equinor. 

       China owns most of its huge industries, including its 5 globally leading banks, but not Big Tech. China also owns its oil but the CCP is not selling or exporting (saved 'em for rainy days). 

       Anyhow, we need to study cultural facts in both Norway and China. Yet per the quote above, Mr Chomsky is mainly referring to America where private corporations rule. Energy, military, pharma, food, banks etc. Barack Obama tried to nationalize Citigroup and partly nationalized General Motors but it didn't work. 

      Reason why the discrepancy of poor vis a vis rich here is huge but the people are handed sturdy safety nets so they don't really protest their economic plight over issues like abortion, gender, correctness and Trump's mouth. Americans are relatively okay. Not okay means upgrade in prozac or weed. Drama. Even depression is baffling to me. 

       Well, it is really hard to take down America as the world's top superpower. Why would China and Russia bother? World War 3 is bad for business. Beijing and Moscow are obviously fine with BRICS and few loyal allies, which now includes powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

       Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is the global legal tender (think Bretton Woods) and Washington controls the high seas, especially the most valuable Atlantic Sea. Hence 750 military bases overseas and $800+ billion "Defense" budget. Etc etcetera. America is like what Henry Miller calls "air-conditioned nightmare." All is good, if only America chills, and quit the hawkish brinkmanship a bit. ☮️☮️☮️

FAMOUS. EVENTS. STUFF.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

FAMOUS CLUBS. CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar. The letters CBGB were for “Country, Bluegrass, and Blues,” Kristal's original vision, yet CBGB soon became a famed venue of punk rock and new wave bands like the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, and Talking Heads. From the early 1980s onward, CBGB was known for hardcore punk. (Photo: Billboard.) 🎼🎸🎼

EVENTS in HISTORY. Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, precipitated by the death of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party general secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989 amid the backdrop of rapid economic development and social change in post-Mao China, reflecting anxieties among the people and political elite about the country's future. The event also signaled the demise of the Gang of Four, the last remnant of Mao Zedong’s leadership. 🇨🇳✊🇨🇳

The 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement gave birth to the Bretton Woods system of monetary management, which established the rules for commercial relations among the United States, Western European nations, and 44 other countries. Held in Bretton Woods in New Hampshire on July 1-22, 1944, the summit rebuilt the international economic system while World War II was still being fought. From this, emerged the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. 🏢💰🏢

FAMOUS EVENTS. October 4, 1957: The Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. Sputnik 1 was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the USSR as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries ran out. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. 🛰🚀🛰

Running the bulls. The most famous bull-run is the encierro held in Pamplona in Spain during the nine-day festival of Sanfermines in honor of Saint Fermin. The event has its origins in the old practice of transporting bulls from the fields outside the city, where they were bred. During this "run,” local youths would jump among them in a display of bravado. It has become a major global tourism event, today very different from the traditional, local festival. (Photo: Global News.) 🦬🦬🏃‍♂️

FAMOUS STRUCTURES. The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue is a figure of Libertas, the Roman Goddess of Liberty. 🇫🇷🗽🇺🇸

Great Wall of China or Wanli Changcheng, literally "ten thousand long wall.” A series of fortifications that were built across the northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as early as the 7th century BC. Served as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. Apart from defense, other purposes included border controls, which allows imposition of duties (and regulation) on goods transported along the Silk Road. 🇨🇳🥢🇨🇳

AGREEMENTS to REMEMBER. The Mérida Initiative is a security cooperation agreement among the United States, the government of Mexico and Central America, with the aim of combating threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering. The assistance includes training, equipment and intelligence. The U.S. Congress authorized $1.6 billion for the three-year initiative (2007–2010). Whatever happened to the “agreement” is a matter of political insight. 🇺🇸💉🇲🇽

The DAY of the DEAD or “Día de los Muertos” is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, and widely observed in Mexico. Although related to the simultaneous Christian remembrances for Hallowtide, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. (Photo: TAFER.) 🧟‍♀️🧛‍♂️🧟

TERMS to KNOW. Low-intensity conflict (or LIC) is a military conflict, usually localized, between two or more state or non-state groups which is below the intensity of conventional war. It involves the state's use of military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with its policies or objectives. Low-intensity conflict is usually sponsored by a superpower foreign government. LIC was prevalent in the Philippines during dictatorship years, 1970s to late-1980s. ☮️🇵🇭☮️

MIXTAPE and Memories at Flat Rock Playhouse.

MIXTAPE is a cover band that was the featured act at Flat Rock Playhouse this weekend. My BFF Cindyrella joked how it felt to be around humanity again, out of my self-imposed shell. LOL! Well, I must admit I was feeling awkward around strangers again. Yet it was nostalgic even before the show commenced. I look around me and everybody’s damn old! Am I that old, really?!? Weird thing was, the only people that I saw that seemed younger were the band! Ha!

       Flat Rock Playhouse is a professional, non-profit theater located in the village of Flat Rock in North Carolina, known for quality productions of popular musicals, comedies, and dramas. 

       In 1937, under the direction of Robroy Farquhar, a group of actors organized themselves as the Vagabond Players. Around 1940, the Vagabond players settled in the Blue Ridge region of Western North Carolina. In 1952, the group purchased an 8-acre area of land in the Village of Flat Rock, where the theater is currently located. In 1961, the theaer was named the State Theatre of North Carolina by the North Carolina General Assembly.

       It was only my second time at Flat Rock Playhouse. The first was many years ago, a play. I forgot the title though, sorry. 

“Mixtape,” the rock tribute concert, isn’t easy to forget though. The music was my era: The best of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The show’s come-on says, “Come shake off the winter blues with this red-hot rockin' playlist.” featuring top hits by Toto, Bob Seger, Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, America, Guns N’ Roses, Allman Brothers Band, Jefferson Starship, Heart etcetera. I could sing-along with all the songs because I know them by heart: Africa, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Barracuda, It’s Alright, Stairway to Heaven, Sister Golden Hair, Pretty Woman, Shower the People. 

       Feels good to know I am this old and enjoying it. And yup I won’t trade my mixtapes with your millennial and Gen Z downloads and spotifys, LOL! 🎸🎼🎸

Famous Photography and Stuff.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page. 

The Beatles crossing Abbey Road. Apple Records creative director John Kosh designed the album cover. Taken on 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. At 11:35 that morning, photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo while he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up traffic behind the camera. It is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front cover. 🚶🎼🚶‍♂️

People Power Revolution. A series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. A sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The essentially nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship. Weeks prior, we journalists somehow knew what’d go down. Still, it was a “peaceful” mass uprising. (Photo credit: NationStates.) ☮️🇵🇭☮️

First Man on the Moon. Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969). Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Mr Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Photo: Neil Armstrong  working at the Apollo 11 lunar module "Eagle." Mr Aldrin was tasked with taking a series of panoramic photos, including this. 📷📸📸

Six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima (Japan) in the final stages of the Pacific War. The photograph was taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945. The photograph has come to be regarded as one of the most recognizable images of World War II. The flag raising occurred in the early afternoon, after the mountaintop was captured and a smaller flag was raised on top that morning. 

       Three of the six Marines in the photograph—Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block, and Private First Class Franklin Sousley—would be killed in action during the battle; Block was identified as Sergeant Hank Hansen until January 1947 and Sousley was identified as PhM2c. John Bradley, USN, until June 2016. The other three Marines in the photograph were Corporals (then Privates First Class) Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz, and Harold Keller; Schultz was identified as Sousley until June 2016 and Keller was identified as Rene Gagnon until October 2019. All of the men served in the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima. 📷📸📸

Loch Ness. In the 65 years since the birth of the modern legend, many have come forward with photographs of the monster. All frauds. But the photo, published in the London Daily Mail, and taken in 1934 by physician R. Kenneth Wilson stood out. Mr Wilson said he had taken the picture when he noticed a commotion in the water as he was driving up from London to Inverness. Sixty years later in 1994, several reports claimed the “surgeon’s photo” was a fake. 📷📸📸