Previously posted on my Facebook Page.
New York Times: “From ‘Pariah’ to Partner, Saudi Leader Defies Threats to Isolate Him.” MBS reforms: Restricts powers of religious police, improves women's rights, weakens male-guardianship system, and cultural developments such as public concerts by a female singer, increased presence of women in the workforce etcetera. His Saudi Vision 2030 program aims to diversify the country's economy through investment in non-oil sectors. Add peace talks with Houthis.
News adds: “Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly leveraged Saudi Arabia’s wealth and influence to overcome international condemnation of the kingdom’s human rights violations.” Human rights violations? Tell me about a superpower that didn’t have blood on its hand. Problem is, people prefer to view an Arab, sheikh or bedouin, as clueless, dumb, and misinformed of Western capitalism. You see, the world has changed and evolved. Deal with it. 🇸🇦🇸🇦🇸🇦
Time: “A Stunning Golf Merger Shows How Saudi Cash Could Change Sports.” Pro golf is pro sports. Money. The issue: LIV Golf is financed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. Yet I don’t think “Saudi cash could change sports.” Exaggeration. Corruption? So why did we have an Olympics in Brazil? How many heads of state in Brasilia have been jailed? Human rights abuses? Here we go again. Yet the bigger issue: Trump invested in LIV and he is a friend of MBS sans a fist-bump. 🏒💰🏒
Time: “The Tree of Life Trial and the Necessity to Forget Mass Violence.” This article refers to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting by an antisemitic terrorist in Oct 2018; 11 fatalities. A necessity to forget mass violence? How can we forget? The United States has had more mass shootings than any other country, including those in perennial social disorder. Forget the horror in our midst? While the government spends billions$ of taxpayer money to an ongoing war?
Mass shooting is defined as an act of public firearm violence—excluding gang killings, domestic violence, or terrorist acts sponsored by an organization—in which a shooter kills at least four victims. The numbers: New York Times: Nearly one-third of the world's public mass shootings between 1966 and 2012 (90 of 292 incidents) occurred in the United States. Washington Post: 163 mass shootings in the U.S. between 1967 and June 2019. Mother Jones: 140 mass shootings between 1982 and February 2023. Associated Press: 59 mass shootings between 2006 and August 2022. The Violence Project of the National Institute of Justice: 185 mass shootings from 1966 to December 2022. The FBI: 61 events as active shooter incidents in 2021. ☮️☮️☮️
New York Times: “The World Needs Neutrals.” And adds: “Picking sides isn’t an option for humanitarian aid workers.” How’d that be possible in America? When sports, beer, and pronouns are triggers for intense political caterwaul? Many social trends divide people elsewhere as well but the U.S. stands out for its degree of divisiveness, says a Pew study. Americans are split along partisan, racial and ethnic lines. Or religion. America simply can’t agree on basic facts.
Take this: According to the same Pew Research survey, the countries that feel the least divided are Saudi Arabia and China. 👈🖐👉
New York Times: “Trump Pleads Not Guilty in Documents Case.” The former President pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he risked disclosure of defense secrets etcetera. Given. The weird thing? How easy documents of those secret kinds can easily be leaked or hacked. In April, 21-year old airman Jack Teixeira leaked intelligence documents to a larger group. Just like that. The U.S. should protect its classified info from hackers, instead. Just saying. 😏😒🤨
New York Times: “NATO Members Use a Major Air Exercise to Send a Message to Russia.” And adds: “More than 200 planes from 25 countries gathered in Germany for the largest-scale war games in decades.” How leadership settles economic rivalry. Military machismo. Facts: World’s #1 natural gas exporter is Russia, #1 oil exporter is Saudi Arabia, and #1 oil importer is China. These three are buddies. NATO tries to shake that triumvirate. All about oil and natural gas.
While Russia #1 natural gas exporter, the United States is #1 producer and second in export. The U.S. is also #1 importer of natural gas. This war isn’t all about Ukraine per se; this is all about who rules the global energy market. ☮️⛽️☮️
New York Times: “As Ukraine Launches Counteroffensive, Definitions of ‘Success’ Vary.” Propaganda war. Primary objective of propaganda is to break down the enemy’s will to fight, reinforced by public perception of who’s winning and who’s losing. In these times of market economics, war narrative leans towards propaganda mojo, which influences Congress decisions such as continuous $aid to Volodymyr Zelensky’s Kyiv leadership. He’s got to justify the arms aid, somehow.
The U.S. alone has tossed almost $50 billion, or 61 percent of total aid, to Ukraine since the beginning of war in Feb 2022. News adds: ““Privately, U.S. and European officials concede that pushing all of Russia’s forces out of occupied Ukrainian land is highly unlikely.” Just end the war, please! 🇺🇦☮️🇷🇺
Time: “Why the Advice to Follow Your Dreams Is Selling Graduates Short.” College has historically yielded greater career opportunities and higher earning potential. The average cost of attendance for a student living on campus at a public 4-year in-state institution is $25,707 per year or $102,828 over 4 years. This: Cut Defense budget and allot $ to Education. But, for now, those who owed money? Pay. No money to pay despite a college degree? I don’t know about that. 👩🎓💰🧑🎓
New York Times: “Your Most Ambivalent Relationships Are the Most Toxic.” And adds: “Science shows that seesaw relationships can be more damaging than those that are purely negative.” Uh huh. Meanwhile, divorce rates in the United States have been steadily declining over the past few decades, but unfortunately, the divorce rate is still higher than it was in the early 1970s. But divorce isn’t linear or one-dimensional as in “I don’t want to be with you anymore.” Toxicity is relative. 💓💔💖
New York Times: “Second Plane Carrying Migrants Arrives in Sacramento.” As California officials accused Florida of shipping migrants to its capital city last week, about 20 more arrived last Monday on the same chartered plane. Childish? Republican governors have been sending migrants released at the U.S. border to Democratic strongholds. Short of telling the Dem, you want them, here they are! Then why let them cross in droves of thousands each day, anyway. 🏃♀️🗽🏃
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