Third Culture Queen vol. 2
Semi-daily rants on drugs, empire and philosophy
Happy Friday! It’s been quite a week…
To start you off with a bit of good news, Puerto Rico demonstrated to the rest of America how to topple corruption, and the Senate finally passed the bill ensuring the 9/11 victims fund will never run out of money (through 2092)! It’s ridiculous that we’re 18 years removed from the Twin Towers falling and first responders are still having to dredge to Washington to beg for decency, but we’ll take the win.
Good bit of links below, so we’ll jump right in.
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Drugs
Things to Know:
Green New Deal is as popular as legalizing cannabis (Grist) | Luckily, it seems the majority of Americans are able to see the Green New Deal as more than AOC’s pet project and are hopeful (if not, energized) by such a visionary proposal. Any time the reaction from the US establishment is to balk or degrade – it’s always worth looking at what they don’t want you to see. (The chart below is from Marijuana Moment, subscribe for the best daily cannabis news!)
Further Reading:
An Explainer for WHY CA Still Doesn't Have High Speed Rail (NBC Bay Area)
Can We Save the Planet Without Having to Do Without? (Spiegel)
House Democrats Offer an Alternative to the Green New Deal (NYT)
If SF isn’t name a “National Park City,” I’ll be bitter. (National Geographic)
Call for domestic 'Marshall Plan’ to fight climate change (Smart Cities Dive)
Empires
Things to Know:
Afghanistan war over in 10 days? Trump thinks he could. (CBS News) | “…the dream of winning a military victory in Afghanistan was taken to the grave by previous empires [the Mongols, the British, the Soviets]. Their Empires were wiped off the face of this earth but the Afghan nation proudly endured and will continue to endure, live and remain proud, Allah willing.” – The Taliban
17-year war finally coming to a close? (New York Times)
Afghans seek clarity on Trump's “wiping country out” (Washington Times)
Donald Trump offers to mediate Kashmir conflict (DW)
Mark Esper confirmed Defense Secretary after longest ever vacancy (TIME)
Under Trump, America's Global Standing at Record Low (Common Dreams)
Bretton Woods Agreement 75 years on (World Socialist Web Site) | “Huawei is now deemed an existential threat to a country that pioneered vast advances in technology going back to the latter years of the 19th century, because there is no comparable US firm. The reason for this absence is that profit-making in the US has become increasingly dependent on short-term gains and financial manipulations at the expense investment and the development of the productive forces.
Three quarters of a century after the Bretton Woods Agreement, all the contradictions of the world capitalist system it sought to suppress have come bursting to the surface once again.”
Further Reading:
DOJ Starts Review Of Whether Tech MegaCorps Are Too Powerful (NPR)
NZ's Winston Peters calls for US trade agreements in the Pacific (Devex)
POTUS thinks '“Western-style liberalism” is referring to CA… (Rolling Stone)
US AID’s Private Sector Strategy (Devex)
US foreign aid should be used to persuade, not punish. (Charged Affairs)
Central America needs investment to end migrant crisis (USA Today) | “Secretary of State George Marshall, when proposing the European recovery plan, said U.S policy should be ‘against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.’ That is a sound foreign policy for America to follow always.
Marshall said the goal of such a plan should be ‘the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.’”
Further Reading:
A Fair and Welcoming Immigration System (Elizabeth Warren for President)
How to address the causes of the migration crisis, according to experts (Vox)
People First Immigration (Julian Castro for President)
The US Needs a Marshall Plan for Central America (Common Dreams)
China, according to US Indo-Pacific Command (Yahoo News) | “I disagree with the use of the phrase ‘New Cold War’ when discussing the Chinese challenge, because our approach and desire is not to try and ‘contain’ China like we contained the Soviet Union. We welcome China’s participation in a rules-based international order, and remind Beijing frequently of the prosperity that order has created, liberating hundreds of millions of people and literally lifting billions of people out of poverty. Having said that, the international order is now under assault by China and various other international actors, and we can’t ignore that. Because the United States and China have a fundamental divergence of values in terms of how we approach the current international order.”
– Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Further reading:
Cambodia denies Chinese naval base rumors (NPR)
China's National Defense in the New Era (China Military)
China prods Malaysia and Vietnam (Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative)
Duterte invokes military pact with US amid South China Sea dispute (CNN)
EU comes to a Mediterranean migration agreement (BBC) | The EU’s new leaders aren’t wasting any time in cementing a united front. Under Franco-German leadership, 8 countries – Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Portugal – will begin implementing the agreement immediately, with financial help from Brussels.
Further Reading:
Can Europe Become a Global Player? (Project Syndicate)
Iran tanker seizure: UK’s Hunt seeks European help on Gulf shipping (BBC)
New German defense minister backs higher military spending (AP)
Turkey deports Syrian refugees to Idlib province (Middle East Eye)
Russia violated South Korean airspace, ‘warning shots fired’ (The Guardian) |
Further Reading:
Putin and Xi test a budding military alliance in the Pacific (CNN)
Russian LGBT activist Yelena Grigoryeva murdered in St Petersburg (BBC)
Putin’s Not Ready to Call It Quits (Foreign Policy)
Russia and the United States to discuss nuclear weapons (Reuters)
Russia and China agree 5000-mile road to connect Eurasia (Forbes)
Philosophy
Things to Know:
Dollar dependency can only take us so far. (Counter Punch) | The United States is unable to produce more at any price right now, because its has spent the past half-century dismantling its infrastructure, closing down its part suppliers and outsourcing its industrial technology.
Further Reading:
Air Force suspends payments to military landlord that falsified maintenance logs to boost profits (Task & Purpose)
Effort to Repeal Military 'Widow's Tax' Fails in Senate (Military.com)
Housing Mold Derails Military Moves (Military.com)
Rewards for getting this far…
Fun links!
The petty, wonderful, and delightful rise of Horns Down (ESPN) #RollTide
Why Maverick is still a captain 30 years after 'Top Gun’ (Task & Purpose)
Harriet Tubman was not only a conductor of the Underground Railroad, but also a spy for the Union. 1.usa.gov/1OAwgiT #HarrietTubmanDay #WomensHistoryMonth
