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. 🎸✝️🎸