#In her truthout.com posting of January 27, 2021, retired U.S. Army Colonel and seasoned diplomat Ann Wright agrees with several hundred civil societies' call for the suspension of the forthcoming U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises. Wright says that the combined exercises have long been a trigger point for heightened military and political tensions on the Korean Peninsula. She says it is likely to sabotage any prospect of diplomacy with North Korea in the near future, heighten geopolitical tensions, and risk reigniting a war. She also points out that these exercises raise fears in North Korea are rehearsals for the overthrow of its government.
Wright has called for the emphasis to be placed on negotiating a treaty to end the state of war; also Wright is opposed to making denuclearization the focus of U.S. policy toward North Korea. I believe that Wright has it about right, as denuclearization is a will-o'-the-wisp kind of policy emphasis. Intelligence agencies were finding that North Korea was ramping up its nuclear weapons program while President Trump was linking credible evidence of denuclearization to U.S. concessions, and carrying out a bromance with Kim Jong Un.
The Stephanie Miller Show has long used the tagline: "You're going the wrong way!" Peace Action should use the same tagline to counter what Peace Action's executive director, Jon Rainwater, describes as $500 billion for new nukes over the next decade. (The Biden administration and Congress are deciding whether or not to spend over $500 billion on new nukes, including replacing the entire International Ballistic Missile force).
#Clara Nugent, "The new neighbors," TIME, February 15/February 22, 2021. - "Today, China is South America's top trading partner. In 2019, Chinese companies invested $12.8 billion in Latin America, up 16.5% from 2018, [focusing] on regional infrastructure, such as ports, roads, dams, and railways." "In Brazil, the region's largest economy, bilateral trade with China rose from $2 billion in 2000 to $100 billion last year."
#Kimberly Dozier and W.J. Hennigan, "Why isn't the U.S. sanctioning Mohammed bin Salman?" TIME, March 15/March 22, 2021. - "On February 26, his [Biden's] Administration announced new sanctions and travel restrictions for dozens of MSB's alleged henchmen, but punishment for the 35-year-old de facto ruler is limited to bruising his ego." "The slap on the wrist sparked immediate criticism in Washington from lawmakers and human-rights activists, who want to see MBS charged --or even somehow ousted from power --for the killing" [of The Washington 'Post' journalist.]
"Biden officials hope the diplomatic snubs are just enough to distinguish Biden from Donald Trump's coddling of the kingdom -- and to keep MBS from lashing out at other journalists and dissidents."
#Jeffrey Keuger, "COVID-19 may lead to a heart-disease surge," TIME, February 15/February 22, 2021. - "One study published over the summer in 'JAMA Cardiology,' for example, found that from a sample group of 100 people who had recovered from COVID-19, 78 had some inflammation of myocardial tissue or other damage, such as scarring." "In another 'JAMA Cardiology' study, researchers reported finding SARS-COV-2 in the heart tissue of 61.5% of 39 patients who had died due to COVID-19."
"Consider a September 2020 study in JAMA that showed that alcohol consumption had increased 14% in a sample group of 1,540 adults during the pandemic. Or the study from the same month in 'Psychiatry' of 3,052 adults showing a decrease in physical activity in 32.3% of adults who were previously physically active."
#Madeline Carlisle, "Texas blackouts raise climate warning," TIME, March 1/March 8, 2021. - "A freak snowstorm may not seem like a harbinger of global warming, but a growing body of research links climate change with the occurrence of the so-called polar vortex. Scientists say warming in the Artic, where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else in the planet, may be weakening the jet stream that typically keeps cold air deep in the northern hemisphere."
"In 2020, while eyes around the world were trained on COVID-19, the U.S. experienced 22 weather and climate events that each cost more than $1 billion, eclipsing the previous record of 16 in one year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."
ADDENDUMS:
*Andrew R. Chow, "Can the Grammys survive a new music era? TIME, March 15/March 22, 2021. - "The Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, and CMA Awards all hit all-time ratings lows. The Grammys themselves hit a 12-year low last January."
*Marie Newman and Evie Newman, "All Americans deserve equality," TIME, March 15/March 22, 2021. - "This is a nation where 33% of young people experiencing homelessness are members of the LGBTQ community." "Evie was going to grow up in a nation where, in more than 25 states, she could be discriminated against merely because of who she is."
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