A World Without Leaders | The Mark of the Biometric | Don’t Pollute Like America

“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.” – Robert E. Lee

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker

The United Nations & A World Without Leaders: President Trump chaired the UN Security Council meeting Wednesday. He opened the meeting by accusing China of trying to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections because of the hard line he has taken on trade. “They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade, and we are winning on trade,” Trump said. “We are winning at every level.” It was unclear to what exactly the president was referring, and he offered no proof of his assertions. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denied any election interference, saying “We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China.”

The president made no mention of Russia when discussing election meddling. In his speech on Tuesday the president had also accused China of trying to undermine his administration. Then he abruptly pivoted to praising its leader, President Xi Jinping, saying it “has been a pleasure and an honor” to work with Xi, along with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in attempts to broker peace on the Korean Peninsula.

On Wednesday afternoon the White House gave a background briefing to discuss “Chinese interference.” A senior administration official said on the conference call that China had targeted farmers and workers in districts that make up part of Trump’s base by imposing tariffs which have hit hard certain areas represented by Republicans.

India’s Biometrics Get Two Thumb Prints Up: In a 567-page decision handed down Wednesday by the five-judge panel constituting India’s Supreme Court, justices upheld the legality of the government’s Aadhaar system, the world’s largest biometric database containing the personal information of more than a billion Indians. Proponents of the system claimed it would radically streamline social welfare payments, about 40 percent of which are lost to corruption, leakage, or middlemen according to a 2015 study. (Guardian)

Zoinks, It Was Old Man Chepiga: The real identity of one of the Russians suspected of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter last March in Salisbury, England has been revealed by an investigative journalism website. The Bellingcat group claims the man who went by Ruslan Boshirov is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a Russian intelligence officer. It is believed Chepiga travelled to the UK on a false passport along with another Russian national who used the pseudonym Alexander Petrov. (BBC)

Wöödstöck: Germany’s National Democratic Party, a political party of avowed neo-Nazis and other anti-immigrant, pro-white sympathizers, held its eight annual Eichsfeld Day in Leinefelde, a small community of 9,000 souls in the middle of the country. The festival had a family atmosphere, complete with children’s games and folk-singers; it also had booths with far-right literature, paraphernalia and T-shirts emblazoned with phrases like “Stop the Asylum Flood,” “Asylum Traitors Not Welcome,” and “White Power.” The Post World War II era is officially over and how fast humanity forgets history. (NYT)

– “She Was Called a Hero for Helping Fellow Refugees. Doing So Got Her Arrested.: Sarah Mardini and at least four other members of a migrant aid group are in Greek jails, facing charges including espionage, violation of state secrecy laws and criminal enterprise — offenses that could keep them locked up for decades.” (NYT)

– “Duterte critic arrested as ‘darkness and evil’ prevail in Philippines” (Guardian)

– “A nationalist abroad: Stephen Bannon evangelizes Trump-style politics across Europe” (WaPo)

China’s Secret Coal Plants: Satellite images taken this year reveal that China is still building a plethora of coal-fired power plants despite what was previously believed were Beijing’s restrictions against such operations. A new report said the total capacity of planned power stations is larger than the American coal fleet and “wildly out of line” with the Paris climate accord. Experts say the projects are part of an “approaching tsunami” of coal plants, and warn that “the planet can’t tolerate another US-sized block” of such plants. (Guardian)

– “Trump to China: ‘I Own You.’ Guess Again.: The Chinese are catching up to the U.S. in many ways, and the president grasps only part of the reason.” (NYT)

– “China Rejects U.S. Warship’s Visit to Hong Kong as Tensions Rise: The cancellation of a planned visit by the Wasp, an amphibious assault ship carrying a contingent of Marines, followed China’s decision to recall a senior admiral who was in the United States for a naval conference this week.” (NYT)

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Take a Hike, and a Hike, and a Hike: The Federal Reserve raised interest rates another quarter percentage point Wednesday, from 2 percent to 2.25 percent. It’s the third hike this year. Its announcement said: “The labor market has continued to strengthen and…economic activity has been rising at a strong rate. Job gains have been strong, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has stayed low.” For workers, however, sluggish wage growth lingers and economists caution that higher rates could hurt already tight household budgets. (NPR)

Hellicopter Bill: If your life depends on an air ambulance ride, you take it. But if the service isn’t part of your insurance network, the operator can charge you for the portion of the bill the insurance won’t cover, leaving you on the hook for whatever undiscounted rate the air carrier decides to charge. It’s a regulatory blind spot, because the federal government treats air ambulance companies the same as air carriers like Southwest or Delta. States are forbidden from setting their own rules; air ambulance companies aren’t required to participate in insurance networks and their prices aren’t capped. (NPR)

The Dem House’s Glass Ceiling: An NPR analysis of campaign finance records shows that Democratic women candidates face a big fundraising gap compared to Democratic men in the party’s toughest House races. In the 67 most competitive districts, women running for Congress have raised on average $500,000 less than the men. (NPR)

– “America’s Jews are watching Israel in horror: ‘The current government in Israel has, like Esau, sold its birthright,’” (WaPo)

– “‘A national emergency’: suicide rate spikes among young US veterans:The rate for those young veterans increased to 45 suicide deaths per 100,000 population in 2016, up from 40.4 in 2015…” (Guardian)

– “We asked 12 mass killers: ‘What would have stopped you?’: We asked 12 mass killers: ‘What would have stopped you?’” (GQ)

– “Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong: For decades, the medical community has ignored mountains of evidence to wage a cruel and futile war on fat people, poisoning public perception and ruining millions of lives.” (HuffPo)

– “Inside the Brilliant Career and Tragic Death of Javier Valdez: Valdez reported on the cartels, risking his life amid the sicarios in what has become the deadliest assignment in the world outside of a war zone. In the end, it caught up with him.” (Esquire)

– “Your gut is directly connected to your brain, by a newly discovered neuron circuit: Sensory neurons inside the gut inform the vagus nerve and brain how our stomachs and intestines are doing.” Which explains how it controls your impulses and better judgement. (Science Mag)

– “Welcome to College. Your Parents Are in the Tents Next Door.: ‘I feel safer when she’s here,’ said Mr. Yang, 18, from a central Chinese town more than 700 miles away. ‘I’ve never been away from home before.’” The helicopter has got to land eventually. (NYT)

– “The Perils of Publishing in a #MeToo Moment: Ian Buruma’s exit from The New York Review of Books threatens to inhibit our intellectual culture.” (NYT)

– “Solving America’s painkiller paradox: Here’s how to fix America’s painkiller problem — without leaving pain patients behind.” (Vox)

“Many people have made money selling magic potions and Ponzi schemes, but few have gotten rich selling the advice, “Don’t buy that stuff.” – Richard H. Thaler

“The combination of loss aversion with mindless choosing implies that if an option is designated as the “default,” it will attract a large market share. Default options thus act as powerful nudges.” – Ibid.

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