What have you been reading?

This weeks quotation:

“If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future”

Winston Churchill

 

VACCINE DIPLOMACY BOOSTS RUSSIA’S AND CHINA’S GLOBAL STANDING

It is a way to reward old friends and win new ones 

The America Alone policies of the last US administration created vacuums. If China and Russia now have more global influence and power, it is courtesy of ignorant foreign policy. This article provides another example of how China and Russia are taking advantage of the missing US presence to gain a foothold where Western influence is declining.  Extract:

Many have turned to China and Russia for help. A report published on April 28th by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, shows how the two countries are filling a “vaccine vacuum” by helping poor economies secure doses. They have shipped millions of jabs to developing countries stuck at the back of the global queue.

The Economist – April 29, 2021

My most enduring memory was during a golden sunset in Jerusalem. A group of Palestinians had gathered to have a barbecue. When they saw our group, they called up to us to join them.
Jerusalem

ONLY NEGOTIATIONS CAN BRING LASTING PEACE TO ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

Managing the Conflict is No Solution 

The Trump / Netanyahu showtime peace agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco exposed for what they are. Shameless attempts to add to their respective election platforms. Did anyone seriously believe that those agreements were anything more than for election credentials. There is no Middle East peace without resolving the Palestinian question. Extract: 

Yet Israeli politicians ignore the conflict. The Palestinian issue did not feature in any of the four elections Israel has recently held. Most Israelis are comfortable with the “anti-solutionism” of Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, who shows little interest in pursuing a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. His domestic rivals are edging closer to a deal that would push him out of power. But, before the recent violence, they said little about how they would handle the conflict.

Palestinian leaders have made it easy for Israel to give up on peace. Hamas is more interested in firing rockets than improving the lives of Gazans. Its rival, Fatah, has not done much better in the West Bank. The party’s leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is in the 17th year of a four-year term as Palestine’s president. He seems concerned mainly with preserving his own power. On April 29th, blaming Israel for restricting voting in East Jerusalem, he indefinitely postponed elections that Fatah was likely to lose.

The New York Times newsletter of Tuesday, May 18 lays out the arguments that both sides are making in a succinct fashion. Follow its hyperlinks for more background. I like the applicability of the Churchill quotation above to this enduring conflict.

The Economist – May 12, 2021 

Norwegian Sunset

AND HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING:

Atlantic Crossing on PBS 

This series tells the story of Crown Princess Martha’s lobbying efforts to obtain US assistance for Norway during World War II. The series spends a lot of time on the personal relationship between her and Franklin Roosevelt and infers that the relationship was intimate. Also, the program seems to credit Roosevelt with thinking up the Lend-Lease concept . It was, in fact, a Winston Churchill proposal from December 1940. 

I usually enjoy Masterpiece Theatre presentations. I keep waiting for Atlantic Crossing to improve but it doesn’t. It portrays FDR as a lazy, lascivious  man and Martha as, well, just blah! If anyone comes across well, it is Eleanor Roosevelt. 

Odds and Ends 1

August 22, 2024

A headline from the New York Times ! Off the Grid, Extremely Online – August 14, 2024  Am I the only person that thinks this is an oxymoron? How can someone claim to be off the grid and still have a million YouTube followers?  A sense of humour may be necessary  if you read these […]

Optimism is for the Brave

August 1, 2024

I have only written the occasional article over the past twenty-four months – twenty-four months working with Anastasia Mourogova-Millin on innovative concepts designed to attract financing-at-scale to invest in  urban nature and bio-diversity. Recently we have re-defined our working relationship. I continue to believe in the ideas she is pioneering.  However, we are at different stages […]

Cities are in Crisis

March 7, 2024

Anastasia Mourogova Millin, March 5, 2024 Earth’s urban population will grow by 2.5 billion people over the next 30 years. Over the same time period, urban land expansion put at risk the survival of 855 different species and will threaten the homes of over 30,000 animal and plant species. Add in the impact of climate […]

The Co-working Concept, Issue 80

January 22, 2024

Co-working space came to mean the notorious We Work model. When I had been asked to opine on co-working I tried to steer the conversation away from the Adam Neumann / Softbank  flimflam growth model. Instead, I suggested that property owners look at usage and users. While I doubted We Work’s ability to survive I […]

The Affordable Housing Conundrum

October 3, 2023

Before I fall completely into the trap of opposition politics, I have decided to take a break from never-ending criticism and to start suggesting solutions to the affordable housing conundrum. Do I have a plan? No, more a collection of ideas To start with, I think there are three key issues: Home ownership is not […]

We Should Know Better

August 26, 2023

I know! I am going to sound like a grumpy old man. Maybe that is because I am. I have been scratching my head in wonderment at the Taylor Swift phenomena. Is she an Incredible song writer, composer, and performer? I really don’t know! A discussion for another time? But probably not. At my age […]