Will the Post Office and Fed Ex be hounded by investigators for abortion pills?

 Perhaps, one can imagine that, unable to get medicines in this country, women in their effort to prevent their own pregnancy will try to get abortion pills from abroad.

Will then our US post office and box carriers be hounded by sponsors of legislation to prevent American medical agencies from dealing with requests for abortion pills now shift to the detecting of any abortion pills coming into their states from abroad?   For, the issue of getting abortion medicines from abroad may arise.   

Significantly--unfortunately, turning neighbor against neighbor will probably be the ultimate result of strictly enforcing anti-abortion state legislation.  

Otherwise, there'll be a resultant rigorous customer demand for development of a male preventive pregnancy pill!

The Cost to US for its goodwill awaits its positive results: Clean up Asian waterways! Asians will live longer.

 The United States could be doing so much through its Army Corps of Engineers to assist Asians to finally have control of its water, so that Asians could live long.  What's the point to trade with the East, if not to show a willingness to extend our hand in fellowship to them.  That includes, the Pacific Islands.  

Let China struggle with its government.  Let the goodwill of the United States go globally to help those living their daily life dipping their mouths into the polluted rivers that could be adversely affecting their life.  

But let's not develop a China Syndrome!

My opinion.

Society never needs to worry about not enough kids to add to the population!

It's true that many cultures are producing insufficiently a younger population to supplant the elderly.  A lot are bearing statistics of producing 1.4 to 1.8 kids per family on the average.

China's had the situation, encouraged by the government at times.

Glad to say, all that governments need to do, and its primarily resolved through government action, I believe, is to offer payments to parents who take on more children.  You can think of occupations where a father or mother is so busy furthering a career that their spouse would be glad to raise more kids, e.g., doctors, lawyers and busy CEOs without much time.  Personally, I've been busy in my later years, that had I been married, I would have encouraged my spouse to take on the raising of a kid while I keep working away more than most do at my job!  

Just to leave the reader with the thought, I think it would be easy to find situations where some parent, either divorced and living alone, or just having a busy spouse at his or her job, would welcome a new member of the family for the added company--and joy!

And, it's not right for corporations to prey upon child labor.  There's plenty of love and care available in families of the society, where a child can do much good helping and encouraging one another in a family group; where they can belong. 

My opinion.  

What do we have globally: Part III We have President Biden leading a call for recently turned autocracies to re-embrace democracy; we have Nigerians standing for democracy in Africa; we have many countries with serious indebtedness.

It seems apparent that democracy has been in retreat in the Third World Nations.  President Biden is defending the cause of democracy, namely, that nations that have gone back to autocracy, should consider that their citizens might lose the rule of law proviso of democracy.  They may abandoned the people's right of peaceful protest against policies invoked by the government, too.

It is too soon to know the effects of President Biden's appeal to governments that formerly were democratic.  Nevertheless, we are mindful of the existence of the Commonwealth of Nations whose member states were former colonies of England but now are independent nations that boldly announce their democratic suppositions in governing.

That so many poor countries, having experienced the grave effects of the recent pandemic and the climatic effects of the effects upon our planet of increased carbon emissions into the atmosphere, find themselves confronting a huge debt to bear without many places to turn to for even a temporary relief.

Nevertheless, there are signs of change that spell good times ahead.  1.  As countries turn away from fossil fuels to supply energy, they are inventing new ways to harness the sun's indefinite supply through solar panels and wind turbines, store it, and use it through electrical grids.  

2.  Business and commerce will be far more dependent on AI technology to drive factory production and create innovative change that makes reliance on human productivity our only source for rational choice.  AI, that can make use of robots on the assembly lines; that can plan efficient supply chains, picking up value added items as the chain is traversed.   

We should anticipate seeing great advantages mount as AI is more heavily depended on to replace what humans had to plan and think through by themselves, without making use of data available only through AI tools!

In short, a world of capitalism, democracy and capable of drawing upon a wealth of global data not heretofore available to mankind but through AI has become bedrock, awaits mankind in the future.       

What do we have globally: Part II: We have Russia invading Ukrainian territory; we have China on the move in Africa, in the Pacific Islands, in balloons over US and over Canadian territory.

President Putin is desirous of pursuing another Russian Empire, evidently, claiming to absorb Ukraine within its borders, while China has become an international power preparing to compete with the United States in trade and commerce.  Meanwhile, the Pentagon is aligning with Taiwan to block any Chinese  threat to that island's independence from off its shores, while NATO nations are supplying Ukrainian freedom-fighters with weaponry and planes to withstand Russia's waves of troops onto their land.

While fighting is occurring in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, Russia has joined with China in roaming throughout Africa--seeing how each of them can make themselves useful to independent governments there in difficulty over improving the local infrastructures, including bridges, railroads and constructed buildings.

Their presence in Africa, i.e., China and Russia, is in addition to bands of Muslim Jihadists who are embedded, it would seem, in Somalia, and in northern Nigeria, pockets scattered about other African countries, too, while the African Union, together with a contingent from the US military, seek to rout at least some of them.

Additional to the Chinese in Africa, China is recently in contact with Pacific islander governments, e.g., Solomon Islands, to establish trade and presumably assistance deals.

Be it also known that China has set up a military base in the Horn of Africa, and may be considering other base sites, given that the Chinese not only offer African governments assistance in local infrastructure projects but establish Chinese colonies in these African countries.

As to the balloons over the United States, President Biden has ordered they be destroyed by the US military. 

The United States has had contacts throughout Africa for many years, as well as the former colony-settler countries France and England; and offer assistance through investment into projects carried forth on African soil, per usual.

    

 

         

What do we have globally: Part I: We have earthquakes--Turkey and Syria; overwhelming floods--Pakistan; and very heavy snow--West Coast of US.

Probably, some of the radical disruptions from what are normal patterns this time of year can be traced to climate change; and just some unusual weather events chalked up to the fact of its being winter in the northern hemisphere of the planet--a time for blizzards and pounding snow on rooftops.  

But a 7.8 earthquake in Turkey is very strong, not one as devastating in the area since 2010.  And, Pakistan is in a bad way due to extensive flooding, I understand.  That government is looking to the IMF for loan relief.

And California, which has for a few years experienced drought, is now covered with many feet of snow, keeping everybody close to home.

Some of these winter storms trekking across the midwestern states are moving at very fast speeds, enough energy stirring up the plains that roofs come off and houses are wrest from their foundations into adjacent  rivers and streams.  Nature playing havoc with electrical grids, causing intermittent blackouts.

   

Brookings: "USMCA: Building More Integrated Resilient and Secure North American Supply Chains" Panel Discussions

 On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 1 PM, Brookings Institution presented a 2-panel discussion on the successor of NAFTA, USMCA.  A short introduction preceded with opening remarks by Brahima S. Coulibaly, Director of the Global Economy and Development at Brookings.  

Panel 1 consisted of Joshua Meltzer, Global Economy; Patrick Ottensmeyer, CEO, Kansas City Southern Railroad; Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister, Science and Economic Development, Canada; Claudia R. Massieu, USMCA Implementation, Mexican Senate; and Jayme White, Deputy US Trade Representative.  On Panel 2 were Joshua P. Meltzer, Global Economy; Professor Kevin Kolben, Rutgers Business School; Kenneth Smith, Partner-AGON and Mexico Chief Negotiator of USMCA; Cathy Feingold, Director of International Dept., AFL-CIO; and Sylvia Ortega Salazar, Adviser, National College Professional Technical Education (CONGLEP).

Free Trade Associations have a long history in the region, the Caribbean dating from 1965 founded by Barbados.  So, it is expected that the current one for Canada, US and Mexico would be somewhat more advanced yet contain the values of free trade, cooperation, add-on value by offering complimentary items that make the final product worth more; and a way of handling disputes raised by one nation or another's member; training curricula for today's placement in contemporary industries; and even talk of future expansion of the member nations.  I found the usual values extolled for free trade, the typical jargon.

What was missing from this very serious discussion of a momentous leap forward into the future for free trade in the hemisphere is recognition of a current new modus operandi of doing manufacturing, viz., the introduction, possibly leading to extensive implementation of AI technology involving the use of robots and the decision-making business conduct of factory production of new items, some involving new ways of doing business.  AI technology is just beginning in the manufacturing workplaces; and I was expecting to hear plans for their being part of a training curriculum of today's and tomorrow's workers: whether or not in the factory but certainly encompassing the large and mid-size businesses activities.

I was somewhat involved in the planning of NAFTA; and I could see even before it was implemented that it would not be specifically aimed at attracting worker support.  I was hopeful that USMCA would overcome some of its inadequacies.  Also, I was looking to have a plan for expansion of the treaty to include Central American countries, sorely lacking integration into regional trade policies spearheaded by Canada and the US.  Nor did I find sufficient reference to how the Universities, community colleges and high schools would be upgrading their teaching to include AI concepts, since AI appears to be headed for huge impact into industrialization of the future.  In sum, I wondered how this treaty would attract investment capital: nothing seemed new and exciting to its concepts.  Specifically, within the panel presentations, AI technology wasn't even mentioned, I don't think.