The Proof Is In The Proverb
| IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ |
For Donald Trump, The Proof Is In The Proverb: “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” – John Heywood, 1546. On Tuesday, the President of the United States overthrew his carefully delivered Monday remarks condemning neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and other white supremacists, to triple down on his initial reaction following Saturday’s deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia–that both the “Unite The Right” rally goers, and those protesting against them, were equally to blame for what happened. Asking for questions at a scheduled event on infrastructure Tuesday in Trump Tower, the president quickly launched into an angry back and forth with reporters that stunned almost everyone witnessing the tirade. For all the immediate, bipartisan criticism and condemnation his outburst received, one congratulatory tweet stood out: the one posted by David Duke, former head of the KKK, who praised Trump’s comments as a condemnation of “leftist terrorists.” Whether or not the president was aware of the reaction his unscripted remarks would cause, he clearly seemed unable or unwilling to fathom the consequences of his words. US and Chinese Militaries Sign Agreement to “Reduce the Risk of Miscalculation”: On Tuesday in Beijing, US Marines General Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Chinese counterpart General Fang Fenghui signed a deal to improve communications between the two countries’ militaries. According to a statement from the US Department of Defense, the agreement will allow the two militaries “to communicate to reduce the risk of miscalculation…as the region and world are facing the dangers of a nuclear-armed North Korea.” The two nations (and several others) are also in disagreement over the waters of the South China Sea, which is claimed by Beijing. |
| NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ |
NAFTA Re-Negotiation To Start Today: US, Mexican, and Canadian negotiators will start formal talks on restructuring the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trade between the three nations has quadrupled since NAFTA was signed in 1994, surpassing $1 trillion in 2015. President Trump has blamed NAFTA for shutting down American manufacturing and sending US jobs to low-wage Mexico. The “test” will be whether negotiators can prove that a re-negotiated NAFTA will alter that course. Two days ago, the Liberal government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined its core objectives for the negotiations, and second on the list was to make NAFTA “more progressive.” Canada wants to strengthen existing labor standards and environmental regulations, but will also propose adding whole new chapters on gender and indigenous rights, and addressing climate change. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said these new provisions “are how we guarantee that the modernized NAFTA will not only be an exemplary free-trade deal, it will also be a fair trade deal.” |
| KEEPING OUR EYE ON |
Support Still Strong For Duterte’s Drug Wars: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continued his bloody war on drugs when, on Monday night, 67 police operations in various parts of Bulacan province left 32 suspects dead, and 109 people were arrested. It was the single largest death toll in one night since July 30, when police killed 16 people, including a city mayor. Duterte had promised an unprecedented war on drugs in his 2016 presidential campaign. According to government records, in the period from when Duterte took office to July 26, 2017, a total of 3,451 “drug personalities” have been killed in police operations. In addition, more than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in “unexplained circumstances.” Human rights groups decry the mass killings, but Duterte remains quite popular among the general Philippine public. After 52 Years, The FARC Is Finally Fini: The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) has turned over its last batch of weapons under the watchful eye of the United Nations, bringing to a close the longest-running armed insurgency in the Western Hemisphere. Under the peace accord reached last November, Columbia’s largest ex-guerrilla group surrendered 17 containers of arms and demobilized about 7,000 troops, who will be reintegrated into society. President Juan Manuel Santos said armed forces would be redeployed in areas vacated by the Farc, and the government would provide security, infrastructure, and medical support there. The Farc will be allowed 10 unelected seats in Congress until 2026, and amnesty will be granted to many ex-fighters.
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