USA in the World

The most important announcement to come out of the recent G20 Summit was not still more economic and business voodoo. Thank God. The big message from Osaka was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration that “liberalism is dead.” The proclamation stunned half the world and raised applause from the other half, which is a reminder that there are two sides to every story. Here’s a short take on Mr. Putin’s diagnosis, and a prescription for the liberal world order to swallow.

“Don’t worry about the mule, just load the wagon.” – an old Southern American saying
We had an unusual double header last week with the Federal Reserve and the EU commission making two apparently uncoordinated statements, but that could not have come at a better time. I will start with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.

One of my favourite quotations is from the late former Prime Minister of China under Mao, Chou en Lai. He was interviewed by French television in the 1970s and was asked for his views on the effects of the French Revolution. Chou replied “too soon to tell.”
That baffled his interviewer, but it points to an important difference between the European (of which Australia has been an historical part) and the Asian perspective.

Africa’s demand for water is set to rise by 300% by 2040
Plans to tow a giant iceberg could provide a year’s worth of water to Cape Town
Israel goes for desalination

Americans have endured endless media coverage about election interference as if that were some horrible class of crime. But it really isn’t, and never has been.
The latest examples are Trump’s weighing in to support Bibi Netanyahu for re-election, without which the ex-general Benny Gantz running against him might have won. And then we have Trump’s open support for Boris Johnson as PM for Britain; and all this reported in the mass media with no sneaking around.

Something spoken of only in whispers is talk of a military coup in Washington. Few are aware of the factions in America’s military such as “Dominionists” who run the Air Force or did until former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman JCOS Marty Dempsey “eliminated them.”