Monthly Archives: January 2015

RUSSIA AND PUTIN After the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 carrying 298 people was shot down over Ukraine, the scene was horrible – hundreds of bodies lay rotting in the hot July sun as pro-Russian militiamen used their weapons to keep … Continue reading →

CHINA AND FOREIGN RELATIONS Beijing has fostered trade ties but lacks reliable allies. As China continues its rise, it will need strong allies. That’s a problem, because it doesn’t have any. China has become the lead trade partner for more … Continue reading →

Three new studies reveal just how sick the oceans are – and how big a role humans are playing. Start with climate change: according to a report from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2014 was the hottest … Continue reading →

WALL STREET RISES AGAIN Be afraid. Be very afraid. By William D. Cohandec Jan-Feb 2015 Atlantic You may not have noticed amidst the continued, public grumbling of its leaders, but Wall Street, indisputably, is back. The flow of complaints from … Continue reading →

Sulawesi has no volcanoes, only limestone mountains – so is not round, but many-limbed  and a long coastline lined with sandy beaches, fringing coral reefs and great diving. The interior is shaded in with impenetrable mountains and jungles thick with … Continue reading →

Timor Leste sees few tourists and I have come primarily to obtain a new 30-day tourist visa for Indonesia. This may be the most expensive way to do it but it is the easiest. Renewing the visa in Indonesia is … Continue reading →

By Steven Brill – Time Magazine Jan 19 2015. Author of America’s Bitter Pill The MRI has become a symbol of profligate American health care – a high-tech profit machine that had become a bonanza for manufacturers such as General … Continue reading →

GUN TROUBLE The rifle that today’s infantry uses is little changed since the 1960s—and it is badly flawed. Military lives depend on these cheap composites of metal and plastic. So why can’t the richest country in the world give its … Continue reading →

The American public and its political leadership will do anything for the military except take it seriously. The result is a chickenhawk nation in which careless spending and strategic folly combine to lure America into endless wars it can’t win. … Continue reading →

PICKPOCKETS, THIEVES, CREDIT CARDS, ATMs, the INTERNET and COMPUTERS This is a huge problem everywhere in the world. Identity theft, hacking accounts, stealing credit card and debit card numbers, theft, and pickpockets are everywhere. And they want your money. As … Continue reading →