Personal: Honest update on the Philippines and Indonesia

I’ve been trying to work on my RAND and SeaLight document, but I can’t seem to get into it. I’m still not feeling well, either. For some reason, I can’t format my document on my iPhone the way that I would like, and I still can’t use my iPad for it. This morning, my iPad fell out of its mount and landed on my face. No worries, my ego was hurt more than my nose. To be honest, I’ve about lost all interest in it. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I feel like that tree. The tree makes a sound, but no one is around to hear it fall. Who has time to worry about details, anyway? I barely do anymore, and I’m unemployed. I’m going to stop now before I have to get the violin out.

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President AMLO’s Sixth & Final Informe

Friends:

Today I present to you and to the people and the nation my last government report and I do so more convinced than ever that the best of Mexico is its people, heirs of civilizations that flourished long before the arrival of the European invaders. Thanks to the roots of those pre-Hispanic cultures of that deep Mexico, the Mexicans of today are, in their vast majority, hard-working, supportive and honest. The legacy of good principles that were transmitted from generation to generation and that have not disappeared – despite oppression, classism and racism – is what distinguishes us and places us as a country of virtues and greatness.

President AMLO’s Sixth & Final Informe

Unexpected: Studies Suggest That Rather Than Killing Jobs, AI Could Revive The Middle Class + More

We’ve certainly been talking a lot about the “AI Doomers” who insist that AI is all too likely to destroy humanity. However, even people who aren’t fully on board with the existential threat of AI do often say that, at the very least, it’s going to destroy jobs for most people, potentially creating huge problems. For years now, people have been arguing for universal basic income, in large part, because they think that automation and AI will take away everyone’s jobs. I mean, it was a core plank of Andrew Yang’s silly run for President.

Studies Suggest That Rather Than Killing Jobs, AI Could Revive The Middle Class

Related:

[2017] “Another kick in the teeth”: a top economist on how trade with China helped elect Trump

David Autor believes both these things to be true: one, that Donald Trump’s diagnosis of trade with China as the source of woe for countless American workers was both accurate and a crucial part of his appeal on his march to the White House. And two, that Trump’s plan to help those workers by cracking down on trade is likely to backfire.

How much did Trump-era tariffs on China cost Americans? New US findings confirm ‘self-inflicted harm’

Poland: Civil Unrest As Fuel Prices Soar High After Russia Bans Key Polish Pipelines

Poland: Civil Unrest As Fuel Prices Soar High After Russia Bans Key Polish Pipelines

Poland urged EU to impose ‘punitive sanctions’ on Russian oil

Related:

Polish motorists block petrol station in protest of high fuel prices

These [fuel] prices have already caused some unrest. In the town of Bielsko-Biała on Sunday, several drivers who pretended their cars had broken down blocked a petrol station of the partially state-owned PKN Orlen fuel company, local media reported.

Massive “failure” in Orlen. The cars blocked the entrance to the petrol station

The price of the euro is falling. The dollar is falling. The zloty is getting stronger and the fuel is going up. I don’t think it is sticky. Economically, no one can explain why – says Szymon Twardak , one of the participants of the action at the Orlen station.

The drivers have blocked the petrol station again. This time, not one

Poland Suggests Expanding EU’s Seventh Tranche Of Sanctions Against Russia

Arauz “Happy With Visit To US,” Met With Ecuadorean Residents

Arauz “Happy With Visit To US,” Met With Ecuadorean Residents

“We cannot accept an agreement with conditions that affect Ecuadorian families. We cannot accept a Value Added Tax (VAT) increase. We cannot accept a brutal cut in public spending. Nor can we accept that dollars leave our economy,” said the UNES candidate.

Related:

Ecuador’s Presidential Candidate Arauz Meets IMF in Washington