There was a bit of kickback on the Aljazeera article that was harsh in its opinion of Hillary. The mariner is not espousing any candidate over another; none induce the mariner’s advocacy. He may reference something that, although unpopular, is intellectually unique in some way. The joining of Hillary to Donald was unusual and written by an Iranian-American professor at Columbia University. It seems more logical to compare Donald to Bernie. Certainly another perspective for the liberal arts mind. Readers must admit that the media offers little intellectual fodder.
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A new analysis published in Nature – Climate Change magazine warns that 4 million people may be displaced in the US by rising seas during the next 100 years – half of them in Florida. The increase will be between 3 feet and 6 feet. The study says that sea levels are rising at the fastest rate in the last 28 centuries. Data already shows increasing sea levels have caused greater damage each year by flooding and heavy storms. It was estimated that a 6 foot increase would cost $14 trillion in relocation costs. See:
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GPS, the television show hosted by Fareed Zacharia, had Larry Summers as a guest. Larry was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury. Mariner was confused more than informed. Fareed’s opening remarks touted the success of the US economy compared to all other countries with major economic profiles. His positive tone seemed to ignore the dissatisfaction of the followers of Donald and Bernie.
Donald espouses, more or less, a nationalist dissatisfaction and Bernie espouses dissatisfaction with an oligarchic economy. Needless to say, there are millions of followers between the two who feel put upon by government and do not feel that progress has been made in the economy. Fareed defended NAFTA, saying it had created a stable neighbor in Mexico whose government is rapidly becoming more democratic. Meanwhile, millions contend the US government is becoming less democratic.
While Mexico’s politics may be true in principle, the image of large corporations still moving out of the US on a regular basis is not one the working class appreciates. Mariner sees a disconnection between economic perspective and voter perspective. Further, to confuse the mariner more, Larry comes on and says US citizens have to spend more – even go into debt now at really inexpensive interest rates and not save so much. This is hard advice to millions of voters who are still hurting from the 2008 recession, student debt, and decreasing income as manufacturing continues to shrink in terms of good paying jobs.
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Don’t tell Donald (or his followers) about the following story from Chicago reported in the American Journal of Transportation:
“Chicago’s transport authorities handed a $1.3 billion rail cars contract for the city’s “L” urban rail system to a unit of China’s CRRC Corp., the company’s second deal in the U.S. in 18 months.
The order is for 846 7000-series rail cars from CSR Sifang America JV, which submitted the lowest bid, Chicago Transport Authority said in a statement on its website Thursday. Prototypes for an initial order for 400 train cars are due in 2019 and expected to go into a service a year later after tests. As part of its winning bid, CSR Sifang will also invest $40 million to build a rail assembly facility in Chicago.
The deal is China’s second in the U.S., following the one China CNR Corp. won in October 2014 worth $567 million to supply trains for Boston’s subway system.
CNR and CSR Corp. subsequently merged last year to form CRRC Corp. in a bid to achieve greater economies of scale and compete more effectively in the global market. China Premier Li Keqiang is leading an overseas push by Chinese train equipment makers as part of a broader strategy to turn China into an advanced industrialized nation.”
It is certainly true that chaos reigns when there is a major culture shift in progress.
Ancient Mariner