themcglynn.com

  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Save Our Rivers, Save The Smith
  • This Day in History
  • US Election – Polls
  • US Foreign Policy and Wars
  • About Us
  • Coronavirus Pandemic
  • How to Contact Your Elected Officials
  • Contact Us
  • The Little People, For, Of & By
  • Big Farms Make Big Flu & Coronavirus
  • Brother Ed
  • America, The Torturer
  • Art, Literature & Music
  • Bernie Sanders Campaign
  • Brother Walt
  • Police Brutality
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Face Veterans Against The War
  • History
  • Shirley Mura McGlinn
  • The McGlynn Braile, The Retreat, Happenings, The Gatherings
  • Just Humor – Current
  • Legal
  • Iraq – A Peoples Photo Journal
  • Peace Campaign Sites
  • Help For The Hurt Little People; Information, Resources and News
  • Just Humor – Past
  • Rusty Gates
  • Pages

    • Breaking News
    • Save Our Rivers, Save The Smith
    • This Day in History
    • US Election – Polls
    • US Foreign Policy and Wars
    • About Us
    • Coronavirus Pandemic
    • How to Contact Your Elected Officials
    • Contact Us
    • The Little People, For, Of & By
    • Big Farms Make Big Flu & Coronavirus
    • Brother Ed
    • America, The Torturer
    • Art, Literature & Music
      • Ann McGlinn
      • Boo Radley
      • Diana Darland
      • Mary O’Leary McGlinn
      • Others
      • Pancha
      • Parvati Nair
      • Reserved for Special People
      • Saranagti
      • Shirley Mura McGlinn
      • The McGlynn
      • Art by Maureen
    • Bernie Sanders Campaign
    • Brother Walt
    • Police Brutality
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Face Veterans Against The War
    • History
      • History Classroom
      • The Story of Others
      • America: The Story of Us
    • Shirley Mura McGlinn
      • Humor
      • Poems and Music
      • Shirley’s Passing
      • Shirley’s Purpose Driven Life
    • The McGlynn Braile, The Retreat, Happenings, The Gatherings
      • Current – The McGlynn Braile, The Retreat, Happenings
      • Past -The McGlynn Braile, The Retreat, Happenings
      • The Gatherings, 2010 and Prior
      • The Gathering, 2010
    • Just Humor – Current
    • Legal
    • Iraq – A Peoples Photo Journal
    • Peace Campaign Sites
    • Help For The Hurt Little People; Information, Resources and News
    • Just Humor – Past
    • Rusty Gates
  • Quote

    Thomas Paine's version of "you didn't build that":

    "Separate an individual from society,and give him an island or a continent to possess,and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end,in all cases,that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore,of personal property,beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice,of gratitude,and of civilization,a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came"
    Submitted by Leah

  • Free Palestine!

    slide_760_14230_large.jpg ap_gaza_2_081229_ssh.jpg image20.jpg image18.jpg image14.jpg image62.jpg image48.jpg image68.jpg
  • Blogroll

    • A.J. Muste Memorial Institute
    • Age of Autism
    • Alternet
    • America Blog
    • Amnesty International
    • Anglers of The AuSable
    • Bill Moyers Journal
    • Buzz Flash
    • Center For Constitutional Rights
    • Combatants for Peace
    • CommonDreams.org
    • Congress.Org
    • Daily KOS
    • Democracy Now
    • Democratic Underground
    • Dissent
    • Dissident Voice
    • Downey Family Site
    • Gates AuSable Lodge
    • Independent Media Center
    • Inside Iraq
    • International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
    • Iraqi Bloggers Central
    • J Street
    • Jewish Voice For Peace
    • Just Foreign Policy
    • Lapham’s Quarterly
    • Lead Up To War
    • Margaret and Helen
    • McClatchy News
    • MEPEACE
    • Mother Jones
    • Native American Netroots
    • No More Guantánamos
    • Norm Chomsky
    • Patriotic Millionaires
    • Peaceful Tomorrows
    • Poems Out Loud
    • Port Huron Statement
    • Progressive Democrats of America
    • RootsAction.
    • Source Watch
    • Southern Poverty Law Center
    • Talking Points
    • The Afghan Women’s Mission
    • The Center for Grassroots Oversight
    • The Guantánamo Blog
    • The Huffington Post
    • The Independent
    • The Last Days of America
    • The Nation
    • The Nation Institute
    • The Progressive
    • The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC)
    • The Riverwatch
    • The Uptake
    • Thoughtful House
    • Tom Dispatch
    • Truth Out
    • Videos – Greyfox7
    • Videos – McGlynn7
  • Blogs Against The War

    • American Friends Service Committee
    • Combatants for Peace
    • Iraq Veterans Against The War
    • Lead Up To War
    • Michigan Peace Network
    • No More Guantánamos
    • Peaceful Tomorrows
    • PeaceTakesCourage
    • Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network
    • RootsAction.
    • Stop the War Coalition
    • The Afghan Women’s Mission
    • The World Can’t Wait
    • United For Peace and Justice
  • Menu

    • About Us
    • Breaking News
    • This Day in History
    • Bernie Sanders Campaign
    • Coronavirus Pandemic
    • Big Farms Make Big Flu & Coronavirus
    • US Election – Live Poll Data
    • US Foreign Policy and Wars
    • Save Our Rivers, Save The Smith
  • Save the Smith River

    https://vimeo.com/245991910?loop=0
  • Recent Posts

    • Richard B. McGlinn 1932 – 2020
    • A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
    • A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
    • Beirut explosion: footage shows massive blast shaking Lebanon’s capital
    • A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
    • Noam Chomsky: Decades of “the Neoliberal Plague” Left U.S. Unprepared for COVID-19 Outbreak
    • A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
    • Sorry, Mr. Trump. There is going to be an election on November 3rd, 2020 – Bernie Sanders
    • A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
    • A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
  • Recent Comments

    • George Adler on Richard B. McGlinn 1932 – 2020
    • themcgly on About Us
    • George on D.J.T. Is No F.D.R.
    • George Hastings on Harvey Weinstein jailed for 23 years after rape conviction
    • The McGlynn on A Foreign Perspective, News and Analyses
    • George Hastings on Hillary Clinton Candidly Criticizes Bernie Sanders
    • George Hastings on A List of Things Bloomberg Actually Said About Fat People, Rape, George W. Bush etc.
    • George Hastings on Trump works to avoid evangelical defections in 2020
    • George Hastings on Women protect unarmed man Video
    • The McGlynn on Veterans’ Day 2019
  • Archive

  • Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Categories

    • Anti-War Videos
    • Autism
    • China
    • Civil Rights
    • Events
    • Fishing & Environment
      • Ausable
    • General
    • Gun Control
    • History
    • Human Rights
      • Police Brutality
    • Humor
    • Israel
    • Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan
    • Politics
      • Anti-War Movement
      • Presidential Election
      • US Middle-East Policy
    • The Economy
    • U.S. Election November 6th
    • United States Wars
    • US Foreign Policy
    • Videos
    • Writings
  • Administration

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
09 May

News and Analyses, A Foreign Perspective

News and Analyses, A Foreign Perspective

English Online International Newspapers

Nearly all of these are English-edition daily newspapers. These sites have interesting editorials and essays, and many have links to other good news sources. We try to limit this list to those sites which are regularly updated, reliable, with a high percentage of “up” time.

View All>>

American Roulette Trump Tricks Trade Partners into Dangerous Game

Donald Trump has issued a new ultimatum in his tariffs dispute with the European Union. Although his strategy may appear erratic, it has its own logic. Things could get dangerous if the EU decides to play his game.

By Martin Hesse, Peter Müller and Christian Reiermann

Donald Trump: president and gambler

Donald Trump: president and gambler

Hilary Swift /The New York Times / Redux /Laif 

Donald Trump is extremely familiar with gambling. Before becoming the president of the United States, Trump was a real estate magnate with casino properties in gambling cities like Atlantic City, Las Vegas and elsewhere. And he’s never dropped the gaming mentality. Indeed, playing his foes against each other is what got him into the White House in the first place.

In the dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs, Trump proved again this week that he sees politics in much the same way as he does casinos: as a big game in which he wants to write the rules and be the croupier at the same time.

Trump already abandoned the playing field of the World Trade Organization (WTO), with its clear provisions for tariffs and procedures for resolving disputes, back at the end of March. At the time, he threatened the European Union and other trading partners with high tariffs on steel and aluminum if they didn’t voluntarily reduce their exports to the U.S. He issued an ultimatum, which he extended by a month this week.

Trump is also using the carrot-and-stick approach in his relations with China. He ultimately threatened billions in tariffs against the country, but then dispatched a delegation this week to negotiate with Beijing. The president has disparaged the WTO, but his administration has also lodged its own complaints with the WTO’s dispute settlement court as part of his trade tiff with adversaries.

As erratic as all that may seem, it would be inaccurate to view Trump’s activities as irrational. Economists often use game theory to explain why countries sign trade deals and establish rules — and why they then break them. It can also be used to explain Trump’s behavior. “Trump’s economic premises may be wrong, but going by his own logic, he is playing the game skillfully,” says Christian Rieck, a game theory expert at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

The president’s declared goal is that of reducing the U.S. current account deficit from its 2017 level of more than $466 billion. In particular, the U.S. imports more goods from places like China, Japan, Germany and the EU than it exports in return.

Sowing Discord

The sources of the trade deficit are varied and complex, but Trump is intent on addressing the problem primarily via trade policy. He wants to force his partners to lower import tariffs for products from the U.S. or to limit their exports to America through quotas. To achieve that, Trump is sowing discord among trading partners and he is attempting to negotiate bilaterally, thus undermining the WTO.

From his perspective, Trump has already scored some preliminary victories. South Korea and Argentina have announced they will limit their steel exports to the U.S. while Australia and Brazil could soon follow suit. For its part, the EU is divided over how it should proceed with Trump — with Germany and France, in particular, proving difficult. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron represent different interests, something that even German members of the European Parliament find irksome.

“We need less Merkel and Macron when it comes to trade issues and more Malmström,” says Daniel Caspary, a trade expert with the conservative Christian Democrats in the European Parliament. Cecilia Malmström is the European commissioner for trade and she is prone to remain tough in her position toward Trump. She is also eager to remain within the framework of the WTO, whose authority the U.S. president has directly questioned.

Read Full Article>>

Iran deal: Trump breaks with European allies over ‘horrible, one-sided’ nuclear agreement

President says he will impose ‘highest level of economic sanctions’ on Iran as Tehran vows: ‘We won’t allow Trump to win’

Julian Borger in Washington, Saeed Kamali Dehghan in London and Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem

.

 Donald Trump breaks with allies over Iran nuclear agreement – video

Donald Trump has announced he will impose “the highest level of economic sanctions” on Iran, violating an international nuclear agreement and a UN resolution, breaking decisively with US allies in Europe, and potentially triggering a new crisis in the Gulf.

In a statement at the White House, Trump said this decision meant that the US would “exit the Iran deal” agreed with other major powers in 2015, and warned that “any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could be strongly sanctioned”.

He then signed an executive order reimposing sanctions on any foreign company that continues to do business with Iran. The order gives companies 90-day or 180-day grace periods to extract themselves from existing Iranian contacts or face punitive US measures.

The leaders of the UK, France and Germany, who are also parties to the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, issued a statement soon after Trump’s declaration expressing their “regret and concern” and emphasising their “continuing commitment” to the deal.

“We urge the US to ensure that the structures of the JCPOA can remain intact, and to avoid taking action which obstructs its full implementation by all other parties to the deal,” the statement said.

In a separate tweet, the French president Emmanuel Macron warned: “The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake.”

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said he believed the agreement could still survive if other negotiating partners defied Trump.

But Rouhani warned that he has instructed the country’s atomic energy agency to prepare to restart enrichment of uranium at an industrial level in a few weeks’ time should the deal collapse completely.

“This is a psychological war, we won’t allow Trump to win. I’m happy that the pesky being has left the [agreement],” the Iranian president said.

Iranian lawmakers set a paper US flag on fire at parliament on Wednesday morning, shouting, “Death to America!”. Iran’s parliament speaker said on Wednesday that “Trump only understands the language of force”.

“Trump’s abandoning of the nuclear deal was a diplomatic show,” Ali Larijani said.

In his White House remarks, Trump called the Iran agreement “a horrible one-sided deal that should never, ever have been made”. He said: “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”

Even before Trump made his announcement at the White House, tensions were visibly rising. The Israeli military warned of “irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria” and ordered bomb shelters to be readied in the Golan Heights. Moments after the president’s declaration, explosions were heard near Damascus and Syrian official media claimed government positions had come under Israeli air strikes.

In reintroducing sanctions, Trump referred to claims by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel had documents detailing past Iranian work on nuclear weapons development.

Netanyahu, who has been a vocal critic of the deal and called for Trump to “fix it or nix it”, said on Tuesday: “Israel fully supports President Trump’s bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran.”

He said Israel opposed the deal as it “paves Iran’s path to an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs”.

The “removal of sanctions under the deal has already produced disastrous results,” Netanyahu said. “Israel thanks President Trump for his courageous leadership,” he added.

Both Trump and Netanyahu are under significant domestic pressure. Trump is under scrutiny for possible collusion with Russia during the presidential election campaign, and for paying hush money to a porn actor who claims to have had sex with him. The Israeli prime minister is the subject of several police corruption inquiries.

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, said the sanctions would apply immediately to new deals, but that companies would have three or six-month grace periods to get out of existing contracts.

The US Treasury issued a factsheet providing a timetable of restoration of sweeping sanctions against global companies trading or investing with Iran.

Bolton said that the US would also cease to abide by the UN security council resolution that endorsed the July 2015 deal. He said: “We are not using the provisions of UNSC 2231 because we are out the of the deal.”

The announcement marks a decisive break from the nuclear deal that the US agreed in July 2015 with its main European partners along with Russia, China and Iran, in which Tehran agreed to significant curbs on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. The deal was endorsed by a UN security council resolution soon afterwards.

Barack Obama, whose administration negotiated the deal, described Trump’s violation of the agreement as “a serious mistake”.

“Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East,” he said in statement.

Trump’s unilateral and dramatic withdrawal is likely to raise tensions rapidly in the Middle East, already inflamed by conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iranian lawmakers set paper US flag on fire – video

He said Israel opposed the deal as it “paves Iran’s path to an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs”.

The “removal of sanctions under the deal has already produced disastrous results,” Netanyahu said. “Israel thanks President Trump for his courageous leadership,” he added.

Both Trump and Netanyahu are under significant domestic pressure. Trump is under scrutiny for possible collusion with Russia during the presidential election campaign, and for paying hush money to a porn actor who claims to have had sex with him. The Israeli prime minister is the subject of several police corruption inquiries.

Read Full Article>>

World Politics

United States

Mueller investigating payments to Michael Cohen, Swiss drug giant says

Novartis confirms it paid Cohen’s company nearly $400,000 and was questioned by officials from special counsel’s office last year

Jon Swaine in New York

Novartis said it had paid Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen in Delaware. The arrangement related to ‘US healthcare policy matters’.

Novartis said it had paid Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Michael Cohen in Delaware. The arrangement related to ‘US healthcare policy matters’. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Robert Mueller, the special counsel, has been investigating payments made by corporations to Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen, one of Cohen’s clients said on Wednesday.

The Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis said it had been contacted by officials from Mueller’s office in November last year.

“Novartis cooperated fully with the special counsel’s office and provided all the information requested,” the company said in a statement.

The company confirmed that for a year, starting in February 2017, it had paid Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen in Delaware. The arrangement related to “US healthcare policy matters”, the company said.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller’s office, declined to comment. Mueller is primarily investigating possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russians who interfered in the election.

Cohen is the subject of a separate criminal investigation by federal authorities in New York. His home and offices were searched in surprise raids by FBI agents last month. Prosecutors have said the inquiry relates to Cohen’s personal finances.

Novartis was one of several companies revealed to have paid Cohen in a document published on Tuesday by an attorney for Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic actor known as Stormy Daniels, who is engaged in a legal dispute with Cohen and Trump.

A subsidiary of the Swiss company made four payments to Cohen’s company totalling almost $400,000, according to the document. Confirming the arrangement, the company said: “The terms were consistent with the market,” in its statement on Wednesday.

Cohen and his attorney, Stephen Ryan, did not respond to requests for comment on the disclosures.

Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, sought to connect the payments from Novartis to the company’s incoming chief executive, Vas Narasimhan, being invited to a group dinner with Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 25 January 2018.

But Novartis stressed on Wednesday that the company’s contract with Cohen predated Narasimhan, and said he had “no involvement whatsoever” in the arrangement.

Cohen was also paid by Columbus Nova, the US affiliate of a corporate empire belonging to Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch closely linked to Vladimir Putin. Avenatti’s document said the payments totalled about half a million dollars.

Columbus Nova said Vekselberg had no involvement in the arrangement with Cohen. Vekselberg, too, was reportedly interviewed by investigators for Mueller’s team. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Read Full Article>>

Obama condemns ‘misguided’ violation of Iran deal as Republicans cheer move>>

Firm tied to Russian oligarch gave Michael Cohen $500,000, says Stormy Daniels’ lawyer>>

Live CIA pick Gina Haspel on torture: ‘We’re not getting back in that business’>>

Gina Haspel Nominee pledges she won’t repeat CIA torture program>>

West Virginia primary Relief for Republicans as convicted coal baron loses>>

Melania Trump in new plagiarism row over online safety pamphlet>>

Global warming is melting Antarctic ice from below

Warming oceans melting Antarctic ice shelves could accelerate sea level rise

John Abraham

A view of the leading edge of the remaining part of the Larsen B ice shelf that extends into the northwest part of the Weddell Sea is seen in this handout photo taken on March 4, 2008.

A view of the leading edge of the remaining part of the Larsen B ice shelf that extends into the northwest part of the Weddell Sea is seen in this handout photo taken on March 4, 2008. Photograph: HO/REUTERS

We all know intuitively that in a warmer world there will be less ice. And, since the North and South Pole regions contain lots of ice, anyone who wants to see evidence of climate change can look there.

But beyond this simplistic view, things can get pretty complex. First, it’s important to recognize that the Arctic and the Antarctic are very different places. In the Arctic, almost all the ice is floating on water – there is very little land. So, we talk about ‘sea ice’ in the north, formed from frozen sea water. On the other hand, Antarctica is a massive land mass that is covered by ice formed from snowfall (called an ‘ice sheet’). There is some floating ice around the perimeter of the land, but the vast majority of Antarctic ice is on land.

This difference not only affects how these regions response to climate change, but it also impacts their importance. We know that when floating ice melts, the ocean levels will not rise, because the ice was already floating in the water. But, when land ice melts, the liquid water flows into the ocean and causes the water levels to rise. So, at least from a sea-level perspective, land ice is more important than floating ice.

There are other differences between the north and south. One feature of the south is that there is a strong current that travels around Antarctica and partially shields it from waters elsewhere in the ocean. The Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides a good summary of some of the differences between the poles.

With global warming, both of the poles are warming quite quickly, and this warming is causing ice to melt in both regions. When we think of ice melting, we may think of it melting from above, as the ice is heated from the air, from sunlight, or from infrared energy from the atmosphere. But in truth, a lot of the melting comes from below. For instance, in the Antarctic, the ice shelves extend from the land out over the water. The bottom of the ice shelf is exposed to the ocean. If the ocean warms up, it can melt the underside of the shelf and cause it to thin or break off into the ocean.

A new study, recently published in Science Advances, looked at these issues. One of the goals of this study was to better understand whether and how the waters underneath the shelf are changing. They had to deal with the buoyancy of the waters. We know that the saltier and colder water is, the denser it is.

Around Antarctica, water at the ocean surface cools down and becomes saltier. These combined effects make the surface waters sink down to the sea floor. But as ice melt increases, fresh water flows into the ocean and interrupts this buoyancy effect. This “freshening” of the water can slow down or shut down the vertical mixing of the ocean. When this happens, the cold waters at the surface cannot sink. The deeper waters retain their heat and melt the ice from below.

The study incorporated measurements of both temperature and salinity (saltiness) at three locations near the Dalton Iceberg Tongue on the Sabrina Coast in East Antarctica. The measurements covered approximately an entire year and gave direct evidence of seasonal variations to the buoyancy of the waters. The researchers showed that a really important component to water-flow patterns were ‘polynyas.’ These are regions of open water that are surrounded by ice, typically by land ice on one side and sea ice on the other side.

A satellite photograph of a polynya is shown below. When waters from the polynya are cold and salty, the waters sink downwards and form a cold curtain around the ice shelf. However, when the waters are not salty (because fresh water is flowing into the polynya), this protective curtain is disrupted and warm waters can intrude from outside, leading to more ice melt.

A polynya off the coast of Antarctica, near Ross Island and McMurdo Station on November 16, 2011.

A polynya off the coast of Antarctica, near Ross Island and McMurdo Station on November 16, 2011. Photograph: Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

Based on this study, we may see increased ice loss in the future – sort of a feedback loop. That concerns us because it will mean more sea level rise (which is already accelerating), and more damage to coastal communities. I asked the lead author, Alesandro Silvano about this work:

Read Full Article>>

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2018 at 12:20 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

« United States Wars, News and Casualties
The Strength of Our Mothers-Wan Woe Povi and P’o ââ Povi »

Comments are closed.

© 2023 themcglynn.com | Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)

Global Positioning System Gazettewordpress logo
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: