Walk the Walk.
Ian McInnes
The McLeod River Post
I wonder how enthusiastic President Trump is for the new job now? His first bill, intended to reform health care, which a lot of folks seem to like as is, turned into an embarrassing withdrawal after it became clear that it lacked the votes, notably from Trump’s own party, to carry it. An election pledge is in tatters as Trump has been seen to fail to, “Walk the Walk.” Meanwhile the travel ban has been blocked again and the Russia story still has traction. I was also interested to see that the Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia visited Trump yet the Saudi Arabian King went to China to sign a deal. Make of that what you will. Leaders under pressure often seek distraction to take the spotlight off them. Military options have served this strategy well. I wonder?
The UK’s parliament has suffered a horrible terrorist attack and the innocent bore the brunt. A man armed with a car and knives, as easy as that. As so called ISIS loses in the Middle East I’m sorry to say that I’m expecting more of the same.
The famine and wars go on in East Africa and Nigeria, yet, as usual, other news will block the horror out until it is much worse. It’s a sad and familiar scenario.
The European Union (EU) breathed a sigh of relief when the Netherlands election failed to produce a win for populist Geert Wilders. He did finish second though. All eyes are on France now. All the polls point to a win for whomever opposes Marine Le Pen of the National Front. Le Pen seems to be a fan of Russia and met President Putin recently. I’m not sure if that’s a plus for her or not.
Brexit will be notified via Article 50 on March 29 and negotiations to leave will start. I’m expecting and hoping that the process will be quicker and nicer than previously thought. The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) in Scotland are demanding another independence referendum, which has also wound up the Quebec issue again. I expect Scotland to get another vote but not yet. I think the SNP have reached the height of their power and I expect it to start to slide down the opposite slope of popularity form hereon in.
The fundamentals are clear, to me anyway, there is too much oil in the market. OPEC are going to have do more than talk a good game and, until the price hits the US$35, which I don’t rule out right now, I don’t expect the North American shale producers to stop capturing market share.
I’ve been saying this for years it seems. Social media needs moderating. Of course, this screws up the business model. But now advertisers in Europe and now North America are kicking up about their ads being associated with unsuitable and downright nasty content and withdrawing their business. Thus, social media must act. As an editor, I have always had an eye for what goes on a page with a certain ad. Social media has do the same or see its business wither.
The last I read North Korea was said to set to conduct its sixth underground nuclear test. This issue is not going to go away. I am also concerned about the stance China is taking with South Korea likely because of allowing a U.S. missile defence system to be deployed on its territory. China has imposed travel restrictions and shut down South Korean retail outlets in China. I am also more than a little worried about China’s new DongFeng-41 nuclear missile, which is said to be able to carry ten warheads and hit a target up to nearly 7,500 miles away in 30 minutes or less. And here was I thinking the 1960s were dangerous times.