Defining Power | The (Internet) Battle of Guadalcanal | Genetics & Education

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“Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.” – Neil Postman

“What is the cause of historical events? Power. What is power? Power is the sum total of wills transferred to one person. On what condition are the wills of the masses transferred to one person? On condition that the person express the will of the whole people. That is, power is power. That is, power is a word the meaning of which we do not understand.” – Leo Tolstoy

The Internet Battle of Guadalcanal: The largest of the Solomon Islands is Guadalcanal. It lies east of Papua New Guinea, west of Vanuatu, and northeast of Australia. It is best known as being the site of World War II’s first major offensive in the Pacific theater by (victorious) Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. For years since, Chinese immigrants have built buildings and businesses on the island. But as President Xi Jinping has been spreading his country’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region, Australia and the US have seen the need to step up theirs. The US has provided more than $350 million in aid to Pacific Island countries, but this year Australia has budgeted more than $960 million for Pacific aid. A lot of that will go toward installing an undersea cable connecting Guadalcanal (and Papua New Guinea) to Australia’s global internet hub. Australia quickly formulated its plan for the cable once it learned that the Chinese networking company Huawei planned to lay its own cable to provide the Solomon islands with high speed internet service. Australia considers Huawei a cyber-security threat.

For a sleepy place not changed much since WWII, Guadalcanal has become the stage for a new cold war of strategic competition. But to truly compete with China, Australia, the US and their allies need to do more. Struggling countries like this one need tangible infrastructure. Regional officials argue that past aid money has been too tightly restricted, or earmarked to include foreign consultants and contractors. That led Anthony Veke, Guadalcanal’s ambitious premier, to look to other partners. In the past year Veke has gone to China twice to pursue investment for a tourism development that would include a new airport, and perhaps even a new road to circumnavigate the whole island.

– Residents of Athens and neighboring cities of Greece were forced to the sea as a wildfire spread across the land, engulfing everything in its path, including a reported seventy-four people. Victims have described the flames as “chasing us all the way to the water,” and striking “like a flamethrower.” As rescue efforts continue, websites have been set up attempting to help families find missing members and connecting people with loved ones while authorities attempt to stop the fires. (BBC)

– Fears of military escalation along the Israel-Syria border have risen after a Syrian fighter jet was shot down after it entered Israeli airspace. The jet had gone two kilometers into Israeli airspace, which prompted the launch of two Patriot missiles, which hit the aircraft after it had flown back into Syrian airspace. Syrian news outlets claim that the jet was conducting an operation against “terrorist groups” when it was unexpectedly shot down by Israeli fire. (CNN)

– Hundreds of civilians in Laos were swept away by a massive wall of waves following the collapse of the Laos Dam. Over seven thousand residents were forced to flee and several casualties have been reported. The highly contested dam broke on Tuesday, spilling around a hundred and seventy five billion cubic feet of water across over a dozen villages in the small Asian country, leading to widespread destruction and fears of a high death-toll. (NYT)

– Xi Jinping’s government gave US-based airlines in China until July 25 to change the way they label Taiwan on their websites, or face Internet trouble, snubs from Chinese ticket brokers and state-sanctioned boycotts. Beijing demanded the island be referred to as “China Taiwan,” which carries no legal significance over Taiwan’s official status. But to Chinese leaders, forcing airlines to make the change represents an important symbolic victory as a display of the country’s economic leverage. (WaPo)

– As a preliminary test of the agreement made at the Koreas summit in April, South Korea’s defense ministry told a parliamentary committee Tuesday of a plan to reduce some guard posts and equipment along its border with North Korea. And there are reports that Pyongyang has begun dismantling key facilities at a satellite launching station as Kim Jong-Un attempts to show fulfillment of his pledge made at the Singapore summit. President Trump had called the summit a turning point in relations with the Pyongyang regime, and tweeted Monday that he was “very happy” with the North Korean situation. (NPR)

– A dispute over alleged meddling by Russia in Greek affairs has led to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats and a refusal of entry to two others. The Russians are accused of trying to promote opposition to a recent agreement signed by Greece and a northern neighbor, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, ending a 27-year dispute over the latter’s name. Ratification by both countries would open the way for a renamed Republic of North Macedonia to join NATO and the European Union. (NYT)

– The Trump administration has found a way to assuage the financial grief farmers are feeling as a direct result of the president’s trade wars; the administration announced Tuesday it was making available $12 billion in emergency relief. Critics said Trump has devised an expensive and clunky solution to a crisis of Depression-era proportions, or as one senator put it: “This trade war is cutting the legs out from under farmers and White House’s ‘plan’ is to spend $12 billion on gold crutches.” (NYT)

– “Jeff Sessions repeats Clinton-targeting ‘lock her up’ chant at high school event: Speaking at a Turning Point USA summit on Tuesday, the attorney general repeated a group of students who erupted with the phrase.”

– “The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier, American Hostage: “President Trump hailed him as a catalyst of the summit with Kim Jong-Un. But what happened to Warmbier—the American college student who was sent home brain-damaged from North Korea—is even more shocking than anyone knew.” (GQ)

– “How Cars Divide America: Car dependence not only reduces our quality of life, it’s a crucial factor in America’s economic and political divisions.” This article reminds us of one we shared a few weeks ago: “America’s love for SUVs is killing pedestrians, and federal safety regulators have known for years.” (City Lab and Detroit Free Press)

– “Veterans Speak Out Against The Militarization Of Sports: While researching my book “The Heritage,” I was struck by the enormous effect the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have had on sports — how they look, how they’re packaged and how they’re sold. Before 9/11, giant flags and flyovers were reserved for the Super Bowl. Today, they are commonplace. Even the players wear camouflage jerseys. The military is omnipresent. And it’s by design.” (WBUR)

– “The Allure of Small Towns for Big City Freelancers: It’s harder for creative professionals to make a living in big cities. Many are looking elsewhere.” (Slate)

– “In the United States, the average workweek is 47 hours long. Last year, the average employee who works full time and gets paid vacation took 17 days. However you look at it, that’s too little time off. But here’s a thought experiment: Would you rather work more than 50 hours a week but have five weeks of vacation a year, or would you rather work 30 hours a week and never go on vacation again?” (NYT)

– The largest genetics study ever published in a scientific journal has shown that genetic makeup may explain how long you stay in school. A team of international scientists identified over a thousand variations in human genetics which play a role in an individual’s disposition for school, explaining why some people can breeze through college in the blink of an eye, while other tend to take off on their own paths. Many large-scale studies studying behavior and other habits based on genetic makeup have also been published recently, paving a way toward a future which may be determined (partially at least) before we even take our first steps. Sounds like Gattaca. (NYT)

“As a general rule…people ask for advice only in order not to follow it; or if they do follow it, in order to have someone to blame for giving it.” – Alexandre Dumas

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