Liar Liar, Great To Hire

June 27, 2019

“There are three types of lies — lies, damn lies, and statistics.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt.” – Otto von Bismarck

Can I Ban You Now? Good. Can I Ban You Now?

Shenzhen-based telecom giant Huawei is blacklisted for US companies, but globally Huawei’s equipment is behind two-thirds of the commercially launched 5G networks outside China. The world’s largest maker of telecom gear has scarfed up 50 commercial 5G contracts from many countries, including South Korea, Switzerland, the UK, and Finland.

The Trump administration put Huawei on a trade blacklist last May over concerns about its spying capabilities, and it still lobbies allies against using the firm’s equipment. So far Huawei’s share in the US telecom market has been negligible, but many rural carriers have long depended on the company’s high-performing, cost-saving hardware. That could soon end as the administration continues pressuring small-town network operators to quit buying from Huawei.

Network carriers can work with more than one provider to deploy different parts of their 5G base stations. By early June, Huawei competitors Nokia and Ericsson had won 42 and 19 5G contracts, respectively.

Besides its carrier business, Huawei has a fast-growing smartphone unit. The US ban could definitely impact that if the firm is cut off from Alphabet (aka Google), whose Android operating system is used in Huawei phones. The company has been trying to appease potential clients by going around the world offering no-backdoor pacts to local governments of the UK, and most recently, India. CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei admitted Huawei’s revenue will suffer in the short term, but he assures sales will bounce back once the company completes development of its own OS, chips and other core technologies.

Street Smart Thai Cuisine

Travelers to Thailand who want an authentic experience head to Old Town Bangkok. Savvy pilgrims already know about the 74-year-old Queen of Bangkok street food Chef Jay Fai, whose cuisine is so good it’s earned a Michelin star for the second year in a row.
Getting into her tiny seven-table eatery Raan Jay Fai isn’t easy. Reservations must be made weeks in advance. Anyone wanting to just sign up for the walk-in list better get there early. One hearty soul from Austin, Texas was determined to have the experience after viewing the chef on the recent Netflix special Street Food. He arrived at 7:30 am even though Fai’s place doesn’t open for lunch until 2 pm. (NPR)

Ah, Look At All The Older People

The population in the UK is growing, but only because immigrants keep coming. The head of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) explained: “For the fifth year in a row, net international migration was a bigger driver of population change than births and deaths.”
The net number of immigrants (those who came into the UK vs. those who left) was 275,000 — 6,000 higher than the average for the past five years and 45,000 higher than last year. Meanwhile, births are down and deaths are up, meaning the population is increasingly aging. Said differently, the number of people age 65 and over is growing faster than people under 65. (Guardian)

Abnormal Heatwaves Are The New Cool Trend

Temperatures are soaring across Europe this week, caused by a mass of warm air traveling north from Africa. Meteorologists said temperatures could rise above 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Authorities from Paris to Warsaw are issuing heat alerts, canceling events and bracing for what could be record heat across the region.
It is undeniable that climate change, primarily from greenhouse gas emissions, is causing heat waves around the world to be hotter, occur more often and earlier in the season, and last longer. Heat waves are the new normal for Europe, and nothing to take lightly. In 2003 a deadly heat wave killed 15,000 people in France. (NYT)

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Everybody Wants to be President

Ten Democratic hopefuls shared a stage Wednesday night for the first NBC primary debate of the 2020 presidential election season; all made forceful cases for progressive policies.

Two things can be said for sure about the debate: Everyone had a moment, and no one seriously took on President Trump or front runner Joe Biden, who will appear Thursday night with nine others for the second debate.
Warren stayed on her populist messaging, emphasizing her middle class roots and willingness to fight hard for ordinary people against huge corporations.
O’Rourke was first to break into Spanish for part of his time, as did Castro, the other Texan and only Hispanic in the race.
Booker gave passionate responses and also showed his bi-lingual chops, demonstrating the candidates’ awareness of the critical Spanish-speaking voting contingent.
De Blasio was first to interrupt another candidate — he came off as the tough guy, but it got him more air time to talk about getting the Democratic Party back to its working class roots and traditional middle class agenda.
Gabbard made excellent use of her military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan to rail against the war hawks and neo-cons pushing us toward another war.
Inslee emphasized the climate crisis we face, Ryan wanted to win back those rust-belters who were promised jobs that didn’t materialize, and Klobuchar’s down-to-earth-we-can-do-this style was impressive. (NYT)

The Modern Day Portland, Maine Melting Pot

In the last eight months, nearly 800 migrants from countries in central Africa have been apprehended on one stretch of the Texas border and released by authorities.
This month alone hundreds of Africans arrived and were taken to San Antonio, where Catholic Charities provided bus tickets to cities the migrants named as their destinations. One such city is Portland, Maine, which has long wrestled with an aging workforce. The city of 67,000 residents, located in one of the oldest and whitest states in the nation, welcomed the influx of migrants, fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries and seeking asylum in America. (NYT)
Migrant Children Moved From Border Patrol Center After Outcry (NPR)
Trump’s war on refugees is tearing down US’s life-changing resettlement program: Donald Trump has for two consecutive years overseen the lowest refugee admission rates since the modern resettlement system was created in 1980 (Guardian)
‘The river is treacherous’: the migrant tragedy one photo can’t capture: The father and his toddler daughter pictured face down in the river were two of dozens who drowned this year while crossing the border to seek asylum (Guardian)

Additional USA News

Liar Liar, Great To Hire

Lying is natural, to some extent. “Nature is awash with deceit”, wrote one philosopher. Viruses trick the immune systems of their hosts, while chameleons use camouflage to deceive predators. Humans are no exception. For example, hiring managers say nearly all job applicants exaggerate their qualifications.
Deception is mandatory in certain jobs, like undercover detective work, or being a double agent. Generally speaking, deception in the workplace is viewed negatively — if someone has to resort to lying, they’re probably not very good at their job.
Deceit can be toxic to a culture of trust and teamwork, but recent research suggests there’s an exception for jobs that are perceived as being high in selling orientation rather than customer orientation. And one reason lying persists in certain professions is the belief that people with flexible attitudes toward the truth are actually better at these jobs. (BBC)

LAST MORSELS

“Many people have made money selling magic potions and Ponzi schemes, but few have gotten rich selling the advice, “Don’t buy that stuff.” – Richard H. Thaler

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