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from Asia Times Online
The US decision to impose tariffs on Chinese goods points to two important yet recurrent themes in international politics. The first is an increasing tendency for the US to bypass multilateral systems – the World Trade Organization’s dispute-settlement mechanism in this case – and China’s use of covert means to strengthen the balance of trade in its favor by, for example, producing counterfeit goods and violating intellectual property rights (IPRs).
Coal will not be gone in a decade, but the era will end sooner than many expect. In India, which until recently had the world’s second-largest coal pipeline, two seismic events have signalled the contrary to be true. According to Australia’s pro-coal “Monash Forum” parliamentarians, of which Abbott is a founding member, India is ensuring a rosy future for coal exporters such as Australia due to its plans to construct 116 new power stations, or around 88GW. Ironically, on the same day the Forum’s “fact sheets” were released, NTPC, the largest owner and developer of domestic coal plants in India, shelved its 4GW Pudimadaka Ultra-Mega Power Plant, due to be built in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The late futurist Lawrence (Larry) Taub predicted that global economic and cultural center of gravity would move from the West to East Asia. He also predicted that East Asia’s place in the sun would not last very long. By 2050, the global center of gravity will gradually move to the region from India to Western Asia. Resistance is futile. Taub showed in his book The Spiritual Imperative that there are fundamental macro-historical forces at work that are beyond human control. That is not to say that the United States is helpless in its struggle with China. At a minimum, it can take measures to make the changing of the guard with China less painful. Step 1 would be a rigorous exercise in self-reflection and asking some painful questions. Why did the US allow China into the World Trade Organization while Beijing insisted that foreign companies transfer their technology to China? Who were the people advising US president Bill Clinton when he made this decision? Were they union leaders or bankers? Why didn’t the agreement include a sunset clause? Why did it take President Donald Trump to make the Chinese reverse course?
Talk of stronger economic ties emerge after Premier Li’s meeting with French PM and EU Commission Vice-President, but key issues remain unresolved. They make strange bedfellows in these turbulent economic times. But as trade tensions with the United States increase, China is busily cozying up to the European Union, despite an on-going World Trade Organization dispute launched by the bloc of 28-member states just weeks ago.
Erdogan has lost his parliamentary majority and must now establish a coalition with the far-right Nationalist Action Party; given the latter is anti-Western, the road ahead points in only one direction: Eurasian integration.
Report says thousands of wealthy citizens are leaving Asia and the Middle East, mostly heading for new lives in Australasia, North America and Europe.
The nationwide protests of June 10, which a Vietnamese journalist described as “one of the most historic days in [Vietnam’s] postwar history,” came about because of property rights.
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from CNN
LEFT BIAS
Steel tariffs could force the nation's largest nail manufacturer to close or move to Mexico. The Mid-Continent Nail plant in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, laid off 60 of its 500 workers last week because of increased steel costs. The company blames the 25% tariff on imported steel. Orders for nails plunged 50% after the company raised its prices to deal with higher steel costs. The company is in danger of shutting production by Labor Day unless the Commerce Department grants it an exclusion from paying the tariffs, company spokesman James Glassman told CNN's Poppy Harlow.
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from LifeZette (& PoliZette)
Media/News Company in Washington, D. C.Supreme Court Rules for Trump on ‘Travel Ban’
A 5-4 Supreme Court majority delivered a major victory to President Donald Trump with a ruling, announced Tuesday, that he is authorized by the Constitution and legislation as the nation’s chief executive to prohibit travelers temporarily from seven countries he deemed security risks.
University Is Forced to Pay $120,000 After Court Sides with College Republicans
All too often, 'security' appears to be a clever tool for suppressing the rights of conservatives on campus.
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from Miami Herald
Once upon a time, if the press secretary sat down at your restaurant for a meal, you fed her. Now, maybe you don’t. Once upon a time, if someone asked you for a photo, you obliged. Now, maybe not. Is that just a sign of eroding public decorum? Or is it not, rather, a sign of a great national unraveling, of a country pulling itself apart, of the social covenant — the unspoken agreements between us that allow a society to function — dissolving before our eyes?
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from POLITICO
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
U.S. cruises toward record-breaking debt on Trump's watch
The nation’s fiscal outlook looks ever bleaker, thanks in part to deficit spending during President Donald Trump’s first term, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeeper projected Tuesday. Within 16 years, the federal debt is expected to be the largest in history, outpacing even the fiscal shortfalls that followed World War II, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. Debt is projected to reach 78 percent of GDP by the end of this year — the highest level since about 1950.
U.S. cruises toward record-breaking debt on Trump's watch
The nation’s fiscal outlook looks ever bleaker, thanks in part to deficit spending during President Donald Trump’s first term, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeeper projected Tuesday. Within 16 years, the federal debt is expected to be the largest in history, outpacing even the fiscal shortfalls that followed World War II, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. Debt is projected to reach 78 percent of GDP by the end of this year — the highest level since about 1950.
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from The Seattle Times
LEFT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, Newspaper in Seattle, WA
Are single-gender schools still relevant?
There are increasingly more options when it comes to high school education. STEM, STEAM, IB, private, parochial…as well as a model that’s been around for centuries: the all-girls or all-boys school. It may be one of the most relevant options today. Sometimes dismissed as old-fashioned, single-gender institutions, according to several studies, create an environment that fosters social and academic skills needed in today’s world.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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Why Russia, OPEC May Have Just Drowned US Shale Oil Ambitions
Russia and the fifteen members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have agreed to increase global oil production by one million barrels a day, with Russia's share to amount to about one-fifth of the total. Energy market experts speaking to Sputnik outlined what the move will mean for Russia, the US, and the global economy.
Doomsday Prophecy Believers Brace for Longest Lunar Eclipse of the Century
Stargazers in various corners of the world will be in for quite a treat later this summer as a total lunar eclipse is going to take place on July 27. The astronomical event is expected to last for approximately one hour and 43 minutes, making it the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century. It also appears that the upcoming eclipse has roused those who believe in apocalyptic prophecies, including Irving Baxter, head of an American Pentecostal Christian organization called Endtime Ministries.
FBI Using Online Pro-Palestinian Campaigner 'Blacklists' to Identify Suspects
The Intercept has revealed the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is relying on information provided by online ‘blacklisting’ websites, which document anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian public statements and social media posts of individuals, teachers and organizations, to identify potential troublemakers. The alternative news site documents a "string" of FBI inquiries into pro-Palestine activists motivated by blacklists created by "far-right, pro-Israel groups," which focus on alleged and unproven connections between individuals and militant groups in the Middle East. At least two such interviews have taken place in 2018 alone.
US Warships in Philippines as Part of 'Continued Presence' in S China Sea – Navy
The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier and two other warships to the Philippines for a scheduled patrol that demonstrates the continued US presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the US Navy said in a press release on Tuesday. "This continued presence in the Indo-Pacific, at sea, and in visits to ports like this, promotes security and stability that has driven the peace and prosperity that benefits all regional countries," Rear Admiral Marc Dalton, commander, Task Force 70, said in the release. US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan along with two guided missile-cruisers, USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville, arrived in Manila on Tuesday for a regularly scheduled port visit, according to the release.
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from Sputnik
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, Broadcasting & Media Production Company out of Moscow, Russia
Russia and the fifteen members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have agreed to increase global oil production by one million barrels a day, with Russia's share to amount to about one-fifth of the total. Energy market experts speaking to Sputnik outlined what the move will mean for Russia, the US, and the global economy.
Stargazers in various corners of the world will be in for quite a treat later this summer as a total lunar eclipse is going to take place on July 27. The astronomical event is expected to last for approximately one hour and 43 minutes, making it the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century. It also appears that the upcoming eclipse has roused those who believe in apocalyptic prophecies, including Irving Baxter, head of an American Pentecostal Christian organization called Endtime Ministries.
The Intercept has revealed the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is relying on information provided by online ‘blacklisting’ websites, which document anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian public statements and social media posts of individuals, teachers and organizations, to identify potential troublemakers. The alternative news site documents a "string" of FBI inquiries into pro-Palestine activists motivated by blacklists created by "far-right, pro-Israel groups," which focus on alleged and unproven connections between individuals and militant groups in the Middle East. At least two such interviews have taken place in 2018 alone.
The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier and two other warships to the Philippines for a scheduled patrol that demonstrates the continued US presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the US Navy said in a press release on Tuesday. "This continued presence in the Indo-Pacific, at sea, and in visits to ports like this, promotes security and stability that has driven the peace and prosperity that benefits all regional countries," Rear Admiral Marc Dalton, commander, Task Force 70, said in the release. US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan along with two guided missile-cruisers, USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville, arrived in Manila on Tuesday for a regularly scheduled port visit, according to the release.
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