The high wall is the system which forces us to do the things we would not ordinarily see fit to do as individuals
“If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg. Why? Because each of us is an egg, a unique soul enclosed in a fragile egg. Each of us is confronting a high wall. The high wall is the system which forces us to do the things we would not ordinarily see fit to do as individuals . . . We are all human beings, individuals, fragile eggs. We have no hope against the wall: it's too high, too dark, too cold. To fight the wall, we must join our souls together for warmth, strength. We must not let the system control us -- create who we are. It is we who created the system. (Jerusalem Prize acceptance speech, JERUSALEM POST, Feb. 15, 2009)”
― Haruki Murakami
― Haruki Murakami
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| BORDER WALL |
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| READ |
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| TRUMP VS OBAMA |
"Obama's foreign policy was
characterized as leading from behind. Trump's doctrine may come to be
understood as retreating from the front." [The New Yorker, Making
China Great Again, January 8, 2018]
Sinclair decision: Expect the FCC to
make a decision soon on the Sinclair-Tribune Media merger, as the agency hits
its self-imposed deadline for reviewing the $3.9 billion transaction this
month. The deal would see Sinclair, already the country's largest broadcaster,
pick up 42 stations in cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. That's on
top of the more than 170 stations it already owns [POLITICO's Morning
Tech, January 2, 2018]
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| MARIJUANA |
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| INTERNATIONAL -- MIDDLE EAST & CHINA |
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| ISRAEL |
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| IRAN |
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| CHINA |
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| News items that have resurfaced in the Jungle |
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WILBUR ROSS
Secretary of Commerce
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ROSS: COMPANIES WILL GET USED TO NEW RULES: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Wednesday brushed off the increasingly loud grumbling over administration proposals that would, among other things, reportedly make dispute settlement non-binding and allow the pact to terminate after five years, unless parties decide to renew it. Another possible proposal would require a car made in Canada or Mexico to have at least 50 percent U.S. content to qualify for duty reductions under NAFTA, which would be an unprecedented requirement in a U.S. trade agreement. The administration also reportedly wants to raise the regional content requirement to 85 percent, from 62.5 percent currently, and to make other changes to tighten the rules. Despite opposition from the auto sector and Canada and Mexico to the idea, Ross expressed confidence the administration would get a fair share of what it wants in that aspect of the negotiations. "I think you will find we will get increased percentages in the rules of origin and I think you'll find the car companies will adapt themselves to it," he said at a NAFTA event hosted by the Denton’s law firm. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, October 12, 2017]
A lesson in reciprocity: Ross was pressed on whether he thought the U.S. proposal on government procurement access was fair, given that it might result in less market access for Canada and Mexico than is granted to other countries through the WTO. The U.S. proposal would cap Mexican and Canadian access to U.S. government projects at the combined total access those two countries provide to U.S. firms. "It's very good faith, our market is 10 times the size of either of those markets, so if you gave equal percentage market share we'd be giving them 10 for one, how is that good arithmetic?" Ross said. "It is actually to the benefit of the parties because it is the cumulative total of two economies rather than the individual one." Ross said the proposal helps address "one of the fundamental flaws, the president feels and I agree, that exists in NAFTA to begin with." "The fact is we think it was absurd in general to give away 10 times as much market access as you are getting back," he said. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, October 12, 2017]
FARMERS FOR FREE TRADE GETS FARM BUREAU BACKING: A new grass-roots campaign will attempt to connect free trade with economic success for farmers and rural communities as NAFTA remains under threat and uncertainty clouds U.S. trade policy in Asia. The Farmers for Free Trade group, which is headed by former Sens. Max Baucus and Dick Lugar and received the support Tuesday of the American Farm Bureau Federation, will seek to mobilize farmers nationwide as a force for supporting existing and future trade deals. "We're going to drive home the threats to export markets like Mexico, Canada, South Korea are threats to states like Kansas, Kentucky and Washington," said Sara Lilygren, president of the group's board of directors, during a press call on Tuesday afternoon. The bipartisan effort will seize on the agriculture industry's general frustration with the Trump administration's trade policy, which many in the export-oriented sector argue started off with a misstep when the newly elected president abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership and then put at risk major benefits to agriculture by initiating a renegotiation of NAFTA. The group also intends to speak out on the hits ag has taken as a result of enforcement actions and the need to pursue new trade deals, she said. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, October 11, 2017]
TRUDEAU PREACHES THE GOSPEL OF NAFTA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to Mexico today to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto after meetings on Wednesday with Trump and members of the House Ways and Means Committee. What the two amigos will have to say about their missing U.S. partner is anybody's guess, but Trudeau's back-to-back meetings once again highlighted the absence of a North American Leaders Summit this year. Both on Capitol Hill and during a solo press conference at the Canadian Embassy on Wednesday, Trudeau stressed the benefits of keeping NAFTA in force while striving to modernize the pact - however hard that may be to do with the Trump administration. "I think it's been clear that circumstances are often challenging and we have to be ready for anything, and we are," Trudeau told reporters. "We're taking this very seriously. We're taking the importance of standing up for Canadian jobs and Canadian economic growth extremely seriously and that goes through every engagement we have." [POLITICO's Morning Trade, October 12, 2017]
LEADERS MULL OVER BOMBARDIER SPAT: Trudeau said he and Trump addressed the ongoing U.S. trade remedy case brought by Boeing against Montreal-based aerospace company Bombardier, which has already been hit with combined preliminary anti-dumping and countervailing duties of nearly 300 percent. "I highlighted to the president how we disagree vehemently with Commerce's decision to bring countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Bombardier, that we feel that this is not something that is warranted and quite frankly something we look at very negatively upon," he said at the press conference. Trudeau reiterated that the case would prevent the Canadian government from looking to Boeing as a source for any military procurements. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, October 12, 2017]
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post. Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse. They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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