Monday, October 8, 2018

Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): Out & About in Our World







A new week is before us.    We decided to launch a new week with this depiction that is self-explanatory.

We have been assessing the aftermath of the tragedy in Indonesia.   As We went to press , rwe received reports of up to 5,000 dead  and the aftermath of the challenges as a result of the Earthquake and Tsunami as people continue to buried under the mud, rubbish is not being collected , an estimated 60,000 are homeless as epitomized by this courtesy of the team at Al Jazeera:

A girl carries valuables from the ruins of her house after the earthquake hit the Balaroa sub-district in Palu. [Beawiharta/Reuters]


As we went to press, Jair Bolsonaro, is now in the lead as the votes continued to be counted in Brazil as some 147 Million Voters cast votes to choose the country's 38th president, all of  27 Brazil state governors, most of the seats in Congress - including two-thirds of the 81-member upper-house Senate and all 513 places in the lower-house Chamber of Deputies - and 1,059 positions within state legislatures.     Mr. Bolosnaro will face a run-off.   Brazil, though,  is in a state of near chaos as Seven of the World most violent cities are now in Brazil in the midst of a worsening campaign--in addition to the continued profound challenge with corruption in the aftermath of the car wash scandal that has seen over 150 politicians including former President Da Silva jailed.  Some have Mr. Bolsonaro compared him to Donald Trump as it is increasingly clear that Mr. Bolsonaro is favored to win it in the second round of the elections: 

Brazil elections 2018: What you need to know



This is as halfway around the World, the Violence in Afghanistan continues with no end in sight as the 18th year of the beginning of the US Invasion of Afghanistan began.  It must be noted that some 15,000 US Soldiers currently serve in Afghanistan in the midst of a Worsening situation as reported by the Guardian of London as this image below from 2009 headlined by the Guardian continues to be very much a daily occurence:  




We have also been assessing the situation of Bosnia as a Nationalist Leader has won a seat in the National Presidency--another apparent collapse of another international agreement--the Dayton Peace Accords.    This is as we have been assessing the disapperance of the Saudi Journalist and dissident Jamal Khasoggi that reports say has been killed by Saudi Arabia inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul after he went in to pick up divorce papers and never left.   Saudis claim he is not there--and the Turkish President has vowed to get to the bottom of it.  This is also as we saw reports of the President of Interpol disappearing while on a visit to China, China Claiming he was under surveillance and the Interpol President subsequently resigning.   We also continue to assess on-going challenges in Iran with the Truckers' strike, continued economic collapse as additional sanctions loom and opposition figures continue to be under threat of jail or prosecution by the authorities.    This is also as the aftermath of the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court continue to present challenges for the future as noted the Economist Magazine's KAL:


Profound challenging times as a new week looms--our live broadcast pod will be available and our team will update our Twitter Channel daily on key developments from our media circle including the Guardian, NDTV of India, China Daily (for a Chinese perspective) in addition to periodic updates from US Media.   










Friday, October 5, 2018

Notations From the Grid (Special Friday Editon): Out & About in Our World

As we went to press, our view is that the Confirmation Vote for President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court appears imminent.   The President was implicated by the New York Times about avoiding Taxes--vehemently denied by the White House.    This is also as Iran won in the International Criminal Court based on a 1955 Treaty of Friendship which then Prompted the Secretary of State to cancel the Treaty.   Our team felt the lawsuit to be frivolous.   We continue to assess on-going matters in Iran including  The most important matter-   the on-going strike by the Truckers in Iran that has led to some 170 arrests so far.   

Our team complied a snapshot of the World This week including The Economist and the Real News Network along with Vox and Esquire:  



Trump Officials Headline Pro-Regime Change Summit on Iran
John Bolton and Mike Pompeo headlined the annual United Against Nuclear Iran summit, where speakers celebrated the strangling of the Iranian economy under U.S. sanctions and cheered on regime change. We report from inside the summit

Disaster Profiteers vs. the People of Puerto Rico
One year after Hurricane Maria, counting the dead is one of many challenges that Puerto Rico faces under massive debt, crippling austerity, and disaster profiteers. Aaron Maté speaks to writer and educator Rima Brusi and Carla Minet of the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico

German Far-Right Uses 'Judeo-Christian' Values to Polish its Racism
Shir Hever discusses the new Jewish section in the “Alternative to Germany” far-right party in Germany, and the way that pro-Israeli politics are used to mask Islamophobia, racism against Jews and the xenophobia

Sanders Calls for Kavanaugh Perjury Investigation - Where are the Democrats? A Q&A with Paul Jay
Dharna Noor and Paul Jay discuss the announcement by Mitch McConnell that a Senate vote will be held before the end of this week and a letter from Sen. Bernie Sanders calling for an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh’s possible perjury

LA Teachers May Be Forced to Strike for More School Funding
Los Angeles teachers are now in mediation over wages, evaluation, smaller class size and school funding. The teachers have authorized their union to call a strike if negotiations fail

Department of Justice Sues California to Stop its Net Neutrality Law
In a highly contradictory move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is telling California that only the federal government has the authority to regulate internet service, while at the same time maintaining that it cannot (will not?) regulate it either. We speak to Ernesto Falcon, legal counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Could Obama's Endorsement Help Ben Jealous Defeat Larry Hogan?
Marc Steiner weighs in on the Maryland Governor’s race, where a popular Republican incumbent has a double digit lead over the Sanders-inspired Democrat
  including the late
cover-image
This week our cover focuses on China’s investment in Europe, which has soared in recent years. Many investments are private, profit-seeking and harmless, but China is also buying political influence. The Czech president, Milos Zeman, wants his country to be China’s “unsinkable aircraft-carrier”. Last year Greece stopped the EU from criticising China’s human-rights record at a UN forum. Hungary and Greece prevented the EU from backing a court ruling against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. Europe’s experience matters to the rest of the world, which also takes Chinese money, and even more to America, which is Europe’s chief ally. What can Europe do to enjoy the benefits of Chinese investment but minimise the threats?
 Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief
Editor’s picks
Here are the highlights from the current edition
General Electric
Blame game

John Flannery could not reverse the mistakes of former GE chiefs rapidly enough. Will Larry Culp do better?
Business
Italy’s new budget
Luigi Di Maio tries to take charge

More spending for his supporters is a way of countering the rise of Matteo Salvini. But Brussels does not like it
Europe
Lexington
From #MeToo to #ScrewYou

Inspired by Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump elects to take on American women
United States
The changing labour market
Serfs up

Worries about the rise of the gig economy are mostly overblown
Finance and economics
Crime in South Africa
Gun town

How Cape Town has become one of the world’s most violent cities
Middle East and Africa
School bullying
The unhappiest days of their lives

Surveys in Britain and America consistently show that the biggest worry parents have for their school-age children is that they will be bullied
International
Europe’s potato shortage
The chips are down

A long, hot summer has left tattie crops in tatters
Europe
Film
Data with destiny 
More than 90% of the world’s data appeared in the past two years. From privacy to politics, Facebook to facial recognition, discover the true impact of this data revolution



Is the president a crook? New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called for a state investigation to potentially recoup millions of dollars in taxes from President Trump that were not paid because of various family tax schemes, reported in an EPIC NEW YORK TIMES INVESTIGATIONBLOOMBERGRelated: The passage of time and weakly enforced tax laws make it unlikely the president will be prosecuted on criminal charges, but that doesn’t diminish the accusations. NEW YORK MAGAZINEMore: The Times thoroughly traced Trump’s past, but those tax returns he won’t release could indicate if he’s still up to similar tricks. VOX


 
This Vicious Buffoon Is a Vessel for All the Worst Elements of the American Condition
 
This video of Donald Trump, American President, mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford should be the only news from now until Election Day, and probably beyond that, all the way to the next Election Day in 2020 as well. This video captures perfectly where we are as a nation at this moment in history. It shows with startling clarity the end result of civic disengagement and democratic apathy. It shows without question that we have allowed our republic to fall into the hands of a sociopath whose feeling for his fellow human beings can be measured against a poker chip. We have had good presidents and bad—a Buchanan is followed by a Lincoln who is followed by an Andrew Johnson, and so forth. But we never have had such a cheap counterfeit of a president* as currently occupies the office. Read More