Do You Even Tech?

“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” – Anne Herbert

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.” – Will Rogers

China’s Path to Power from Money to Technology to Military Force: Both Australian and Vanuatu officials said Tuesday’s reports by Fairfax Media – that China was in talks to establish a military base on Vanuatu – were untrue. The tiny island nation of 282,000 people sits in the South Pacific, close to Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

Vanuatu has received aid from Australia for a long time. Recently, however, the Chinese government has given hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and grants to the nation (first the money). Most of the money went to infrastructure development, including an International Wharf on Espiritu Santo Island that can accommodate two mid-sized freighters, or a single large cruise ship at any one time. The wharf was built by the Shanghai Construction Group and described by China’s ambassador to Vanuatu as “a new milestone of China-Vanuatu cooperation in the field of infrastructure development.”

Australia’s foreign minister tried downplaying any rumors of increased Chinese military presence in the region, stating: “I remain confident that Australia is Vanuatu’s strategic partner of choice.” But an Australian newscaster quoted a senior defense official as saying the Chinese government had “certainly expressed its interest” in a greater military presence in Vanuatu.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials had discovered communications jamming equipment in the South China Sea that had been installed by Beijing (then the technology). China continues to make extensive territorial claims in the region, and installing military jamming equipment at its Spratly Island outposts is concerning. A 2016 US Department of Defense report  said China’s People’s Liberation Army (then the military) views such electronic warfare as a “force multiplier” and “would likely employ it in support of all combat arms and services during a conflict.”

– Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho had a little kaffee klatsch in Moscow Tuesday and agreed that talks between Washington and Pyongyang were a swell idea. (Reuters)

– Yulia Skripal, the 33-year-old daughter of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, has been released from the UK’s Salisbury District Hospital. Both were admitted five weeks ago after being poisoned with a Russian-developed nerve agent. Yulia was taken to a secure location and will continue outpatient treatment. Her father remains hospitalized but is slowly recovering.  (BBC)

– Critics of the recent bipartisan legislation passed by Congress, which is intended to combat online sex trafficking, say it’s actually endangering the lives of those for whom consensual sex work is their only livelihood. (The Guardian)

– Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert has resigned his position, just the latest of almost 30 White House officials who’ve either left or been fired from President Trump’s administration. Bossert’s exit comes one day after John Bolton showed up for work as Trump’s new national security adviser. (BBC)

Russia Sees if it Can Erase a Big Red Line: The crisis in Syria, like all serious cancers, is one that has metastasized over several years. In 2012, President Obama said the use of chemical weapons would constitute a red line, but then did nothing when the Syrian government used chemical weapons that year. And now the Russia-Syria-Iran cabal is seeing if any red lines actually do exist. On Monday, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she wished Obama had enforced the red line.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley spoke at the emergency UN Security Council meeting on Monday, saying Russia has the “blood of Syrian children” on its hands. The meeting had been called in the wake of another chemical attack, this time on civilians in Douma, outside Damascus. Dozens of people were believed killed, while some 500 were treated with symptoms consistent with exposure to a nerve agent. “History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria,” Haley said. “Either way, the United States will respond.”

Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the chemical attack was staged and warned that any US military response in Syria would have “grave repercussions.” Numerous Russian officials and analysts also warned that a dangerous military clash could erupt. A former Soviet military officer and head of the Carnegie Moscow Centre said “The US and Russia are now closer to a direct collision between their military forces than at any time since the cold war.” On Tuesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would propose the UN Security Council resolve to investigate the chemical attack in Douma.

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– While watching the Senate quiz Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, we were slack-jawed and muttered to ourselves many times that “the US government isn’t just tech-illiterate. It’s tech-incompetent.” We were all able to witness “how the Senate’s tech illiteracy saved Mark Zuckerberg.” (Wired & CNN)

– Bananas are the bomb. My kids eat them like they are little monkeys. And I don’t mind if they stuff their faces with them. A recent study found that “a banana, with its all-natural package, provides comparable or greater anti-inflammatory and other benefits for athletes than sports drinks.” Meanwhile, apparently some women avoid eating bananas in public because of immature men. To our women readers: Eat bananas wherever and whenever you like and then get your swole on. (NYT & Hairpin)

– We’ve lost count of the innumerable challenges we face as a society: #metoo, race relations, gerrymandering, Super PACS, opioids, global warming, foreign intervention in elections, privacy issues with tech companies, etc. Well, apparently another major issue is “toxic masculinity.” Having served in the military, we have had firsthand experience with this reality and know it exists. We should all be chastised when using stereotypes, but this statement should surprise no one: “Most people who commit acts of terrorist violence are young men.” For those who live with young men, the greatest worry is likely not that they’ll commit a terrorist act but that they’ll be self-destructive. (Conversation & Guardian)

– Have you ever wondered, “What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?” Well, they used a “toilet brush for your butt” that was shared with others. Indeed. Check out the article to find out just how creative they were with their urine. (Sapiens)

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” – Epictetus

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