Three uh-h …. related points on the economy -
U.S. companies from tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft to GE and toymaker Mattel reported big slowdowns in growth or warned things were going to get worse, fanning recession fears and driving down stocks.
Reckitt Benckiser, maker of Dettol cleaning products and Durex condoms, reported a decline in sales volumes in the third quarter and warned of pressure on consumers globally.
BUT
Mercedes-Benz raised its full-year profit forecast as strong demand for luxury cars and cost savings offset the supply chain bottlenecks that have hampered industry output this year.
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Bar-tailed godwit sets world record with 13,560km continuous flight from Alaska to southern Australia
Satellite tag data suggests five-month-old migratory bird did not stop during voyage which took 11 days and one hour to reach Tasmania [The Guardian]
Adults take off from the Arctic sometimes up to six weeks earlier.
Juveniles would spend that time fattening-up for the long migration south.
The birds were able to shrink their internal organs to make more space for fat stores.
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“I didn’t think it would be this tough,” [Condoleeza] Rice concluded on Iraq, echoing [McGeorge] Bundy who came to admit of Vietnam that “this damn war is much tougher” than he had anticipated.
The entire article is very worthwhile & instructive. [RG] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/10/26/political-appointees-endanger-foreign-policy-00063259
Damn. If only there had been people telling you this … before ….
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“Hooked it up for later as I hit the door, wondering if I’ll live another 24.” [It Was a Good Day by Ice Cube]
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The Russian Transport Ministry will begin recommending that foreign-made planes be repaired with non-original spare parts, according to a new draft resolution on the ministry’s website, Interfax reported on Tuesday. [Meduza.io]
While, at the Same Time
According to The New York Times, the Somali government has asked the Biden administration to intensify US drone activity:
The Biden administration is weighing a request by Somalia that the United States loosen restrictions on its military drone strikes targeting Shabab militants in the troubled Horn of Africa nation, according to several U.S. officials.
President Biden also recently redeployed 450 U.S. troops to Somalia, reversing former President Donald J. Trump’s abrupt withdrawal in January 2021.
But the Somali government wants U.S. military operators to be able to attack groups of Shabab militants who might pose a threat to Somali forces — even if they are not firing upon them at the moment, the officials said. Such a move would further escalate American involvement in the long-running counterterrorism war.
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Last week I ordered a t-shirt with a picture, and some words, of Shirley Chisholm, one of my heroes. I never met her, but in 1972 - before resuming law school - I was the sole person working in a liquor store on the outskirts of Tallahassee; and a big Cadillac pulled in, and 3 well-dressed Black women got out of the car and came into the store. They were in there for a few minutes, selected something, and then I took their money and thanked them. As they pulled away in the big Cadillac - and if you are old enough you probably remember how big they were in those days - my brain clicked on and said, “I wonder … Oh my God, that was Shirley Chisholm and 2 of her friends!” They were driving from Mobile, after she gave a speech, to Tallahassee for a speech that night. That year - 1972 - was the year Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman to run for President.
OK. Back to my t-shirt purchase. Today a cardboard tube arrived in the mail along with the usual junk & political pieces, and I thought, “Hmmm, I haven’t ordered anything that might arrive in a tube.” It was difficult to get the item out, but finally I held in my hands a … poster with a picture, and some words, of Shirley Chishom, one of my heroes!
The moral: do not get old and become incapable of reliably doing ordinary tasks!!
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Well, hell, and good morning to you, too!
World close to ‘irreversible’ climate breakdown, warn major studies
Key UN reports published in last two days warn urgent and collective action needed – as oil firms report astronomical profits
The climate crisis has reached a “really bleak moment”, one of the world’s leading climate scientists has said, after a slew of major reports laid bare how close the planet is to catastrophe.
Collective action is needed by the world’s nations more now than at any point since the second world war to avoid climate tipping points, Prof Johan Rockström said, but geopolitical tensions are at a high.
He said the world was coming “very, very close to irreversible changes … time is really running out very, very fast”.
Emissions must fall by about half by 2030 to meet the internationally agreed target of 1.5C of heating but are still rising, the reports showed – at a time when oil giants are making astronomical amounts of money.
On Thursday, Shell and TotalEnergies both doubled their quarterly profits to about $10bn. Oil and gas giants have enjoyed soaring profits as post-Covid demand jumps and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sector is expected to amass $4tn in 2022, strengthening calls for heavy windfall taxes to address the cost of living crisis and fund the clean energy transition.
All three of the key UN agencies have produced damning reports in the last two days. The UN environment agency’s report found there was “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place” and that “woefully inadequate” progress on cutting carbon emissions means the only way to limit the worst impacts of the climate crisis is a “rapid transformation of societies”.
Current pledges for action by 2030, even if delivered in full, would mean a rise in global heating of about 2.5C, a level that would condemn the world to catastrophic climate breakdown, according to the UN’s climate agency. Only a handful of countries have ramped up their plans in the last year, despite having promised to do so at the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow last November.
The UN’s meteorological agency reported that all the main heating gases hit record highs in 2021, with an alarming surge in emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Separately, the IEA’s world energy report offered a glimmer of progress, that CO2 from fossil fuels could peak by 2025 as high energy prices push nations towards clean energy, though it warned that it would not be enough to avoid severe climate impacts.
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In the land of National Security Law (that imprisons those who speak, write or march against anything even slightly negative about the government or city) & frequent, unpredictable shutdowns, I am sure this will cure the ills affecting Hong Kong tourism -
Hong Kong people, do your job! Sure, our city is more exciting than Singapore, but in the battle for post-Covid tourists we need to be more welcoming
The provision of half a million free air tickets to Hong Kong in 2023 shows the city’s desperation to revive tourism, but competition from Singapore is fierce
Many see the Lion City as more friendly, so it’s time for us Hong Kong residents to stop resting on our laurels and make our city a kinder place to visitors
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This is what 30 years will get ya -
October 24, 1648: The Peace of Westphalia (mostly) ends the Thirty Years’ War under the tenet cuius regio, eius religio (“whose state, his religion”)—in other words, the principle that a ruler should be allowed to determine his/her nation’s religion. Many IR scholars trace the origins of a world order based on national sovereignty to Westphalia, with its emphasis on the sanctity of national borders and the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs—hence the term “Westphalian sovereignty.” [Foreign Exchanges]