If you listen to Netanyahu, Israeli settlers and militants, and U.S. Republican politicians, sympathizing with Palestinians makes you “pro-Hamas.” That’s bullshit. Like most people, I think the Oct. 7 attacks were a reprehensible act of terrorism. I’m no fan of anti-Israel pr[...]
Archive for the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Category
July 29th, 2024 - 11:33 pm § in Foreign Affairs
Will a teenager lead North Korea?
Kim Jung Un is only 40, but he’s already “preparing his teenage daughter to lead the nuclear-armed state after his death,” according to South Korea’s spy agency (read story here). He’s obese (reports say over 300 lbs.) — as dictator, he gets to eat, while his peop[...]
July 6th, 2024 - 11:27 pm § in America, Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans, Saudi Arabia
What would a second Trump presidency be like?
Academic futurist Daniel Drezner (photo, left; profile here), writing for Politico (here), has some predictions. First, brace for much higher inflation. “In a second Trump term, his combined policies of ‘priming the pump,’ looser money, higher tariffs and fewer workers is a surefir[...]
June 25th, 2024 - 6:53 pm § in America, Biden, China, Donald Trump, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Israel/Palestine, Politics, Republicans, Russia, Saudi Arabia
Is Biden senile?
Let’s figure this out. My raw material is Time magazine’s June 24, 2024, cover story (here). It’s mostly about foreign policy; I can only quote short excerpts, for space and fair use reasons, and encourage you to read the entire article linked above. It begins, “During his 40[...]
Panicky Buffett dumps shares in Taiwan chipmaker
Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s holding company, has sold all its recently-acquired shares in Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC), which makes nearly all the world’s most advanced computer chips. He was explicit about why: He’s worried about the location of TSMC’s factories in T[...]
March 15th, 2023 - 5:11 pm § in America, Biden, Donald Trump, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans, Russia, Schools & Colleges
Foreign policy …
… is the most important task a president does. It’s literally about war and peace. But this poses a conundrum, because presidential campaigns are waged and won or lost on domestic issues; politics is very much a “what will you do for me” affair. (The softer and more polite wa[...]
March 5th, 2023 - 5:51 pm § in America, Biden, China, Democrats, Donald Trump, Economics, Europe, Foreign Affairs, Hypocrisy, News Media, Politics, Republicans, Russia
Fact-checking Trump’s CPAC lies
Journalist, pesky creatures they are, like to fact-check political speeches. CNN says Trump delivered a “doozy” at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C. on Saturday, March 4, 2023 (see story here). By now, his M.O. is familiar: Portray America as a post-a[...]
The $2 billion bribe
Saudi Arabia can afford it. After all, it’s an investment. The Washington Post reported, “The day after leaving the White House, Kushner created a company that he transformed months later into a private equity firm with $2 billion from a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Saudi Crown Prin[...]
February 26th, 2023 - 5:03 am § in Biden, China, Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Republicans, Russia
Is Nikki Haley a serious presidential candidate?
Nikki Haley wants to be president for no better reason than she wants to be president. That’s more or less the media narrative, which has focused on her struggles to differentiate herself from other aspirants (see story here), beyond being a Republican who isn’t Trump (although she certa[...]
Will China down a U.S. “spy plane” over its “sovereign territory”?
Earlier this month the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon after it crossed all of North America, lingering over military sites. It came down in U.S. territorial waters inside the 12-mile limit. On the other side of the world, the U.S. routinely conducts military flights over the South China Sea. S[...]