This week: the Optimist; continental divide; MLK, Jr. 50 years on; the Donald and Vladimir; Stormy, Donald, et. al.; China's 21st century Long March; pay equity; murder rates;

Optimist, 8 April.    Link here. A caring bus driver and her young friend, D.C.'s cherry blossoms, and more

A new continental divide. When I began teaching I was in CO, so I naturally challenged my students about the nation's two continental divides. The usual first comment: "Come on, Mr. Abell. There's only one, somewhere between here and Vail." or words to that effect. Having grown up in western PA, I leave it to you to divine how I introduced the concept of the other, the "eastern," continental divide, water going to the Mississippi or the Atlantic.
    News stories and photos early last week, introduced the idea of something quite different: a probable, literal, African continental divide opening somewhere along a giant rift that opened up in Kenya. Geologists are quick to point out that it may be 50+M years or so before East Africa separates from the remainder of the continent. No need to make hurried travel plans.

MLK, Jr. Among the many articles and columns published on 4 April is this somber remembrance by authors Stephen Kendrick and Paul Kendrick. They recall Dr. King's despondent mood in the last year of his life when he "...was harassed, dismissed and often saddened." Telling his wife, “I get tired of going and not having any answers.”
     Even as the anti-Vietnam movement grew, King found himself increasingly at odds with LBJ and dogged by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Nevertheless, he persevered  "...trying to confront “the evil triplets,” how 'racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together.' ”

Going "hard" against Russia? We know how President Trump reacts to criticism: he fights back, dismissing his critics as wrong, in any number of ways. Hence, one cannot help but wonder, even after the congratulatory phone call and invitation to the White House, why he now says he is pushing back? Has Trump had access to some as yet unpublished intelligence snippet where Vladimir (not Tillerson) laughingly refers to him as "a moron?" Or fading "fan base?" Or both?

Stormy and Donald. What has happened? Sex scandals are supposed to be the bane of the Italian, French, maybe even, the British governments. But, Washington? Really? 

Russian poisoning. The spate of stories from Russia's state-controlled media about the suspected poisoning in London are reminiscent of the Chernobyl disaster (26 April 1986). Now, as then, the Russian [Soviet] government's response has been (1) delayed, (2) woefully incomplete, (3) in complete denial of any complicity in the event or its eventual consequences. 
     As currently seen on the western news reports, the reaction of the Russian public to their nation's news stories indicates that a whole new generation of younger Russians may have to learn how to "read  between the lines," just as their parents and grandparents learned to do with news in the Soviet era's daily paper, Pravda [Truth].

The Long March, 2018.  Those wile Chinese. They once saw themselves as the center of the Universe, the epitome of enlightenment and, when Europe was mired in its Dark Ages, they were not wrong. Some observers said that President Obama's "pivot the east" was a mistake. Others were not so sure. 

    In any event, it is now in 2018 and President Trump speaks, seemingly, with "forked tongue." Sometimes saying we can have a "beautiful" relationship with China, then with the next breath leveling billions of tariffs on Chinese products and threatening more. Be that as it may, the Chinese are awakening with a foreign policy that is moving west. 

     This article from Foreign Policy begins...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is leading a Maoist Long March to achieve his dream of global power. Instead of retreating from Chiang Kai-shek’s forces, as Mao Zedong did, Xi is instead retreating from the Chinese people’s hopes for democratic reform, freedom of expression, protection of human rights, and economic liberalization. Xi is exporting his brand of colonialism with Chinese characteristics through soft power means, on a road toward achieving his hard power ends...We are resolved to fight the bloody battle against our enemies, with a strong determination to take our place in the world....The list of co-optive behavior could go on. And the list of more coercive concerns gets longer by the day....The list of co-optive behavior could go on. And the list of more coercive concerns gets longer by the day.

Alas, our less than well informed president now presides over a gutted State Department drained of career diplomats who might correctly perceive and enlighten him about President Xi's long term goals. (See the above noted article.)

Equal pay in the UK. In the UK, if you employed more than 250 people, "April 4th was the deadline...to publish details of the difference between the average pay of...male and female employees." Not surprisingly, there was a pay gap, one not always easily explained. For example, consider two, side-by-side assembly line laborers versus two consultants or the Premier League football organizations where you have to consider the salaries of the players versus the women on the turnstiles. 
     Nevertheless, PM Theresa May called it an ongoing, "burning injustice" to be addressed whenever possible. Indeed, firms should not be able to appear "more just," by outsourcing their lower paying jobs. "Rightoh, matey!"

Murder Latin American-style. When he is inveighing about north-bound caravans from Central America, President Trump might want to consider the facts from this Economist article. For example, were he were forced to live in Central America (with just 8% of the world's population), he would find his undoubtedly secure area in the world's most murderous region. "[A]round 140,000 people [were murdered] last year, more than have been lost in wars around the world in almost all of the years this [21st] century...38% of [the world's] criminal killing." Central America's northern nations are the most murderous; the southern Central American countries are safer.
     By way of contrast, NYC (where Trump Tower sits) has a murder rate of a mere 3.4% per 100,000 and Washington, D.C. (White House) is more violent, 18.5% per 100,000. However, West Palm Beach, just across the inter-coastal waterway from Mar-a-lago is only a bit safer than Chicago.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy the week ahead.