THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Reuters: “Trump, Greenland and Denmark to sign deal in bid to end Arctic standoff.” The trilateral security agreement signed today between the U.S. President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen granted the United States significantly expanded military access and permanent control over the security of Greenland.

       So would this diffuse an intense diplomatic crisis within NATO triggered earlier in the year when Mr Trump repeatedly “threatened to acquire or seize the mineral-rich, semi-autonomous territory by economic or military force,” which was mostly a media rabble-rouse? Don’t today’s self-righteous journalists re-check history? Same with the U.S. acquisition (via purchase) of several territories elsewhere, this new Greenland pact is the same as other arrangements inked many years ago before there was a Trump in White House.

       A complex deal that I remember was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Destroyers-for-Bases Agreement” with Great Britain in 1940. Prior to entering WWII, the U.S. sought to fortify its eastern maritime border. FDR rejected purchasing Caribbean territories outright to avoid anti-colonial backlash. Instead of transferring sovereignty, the U.S. traded 50 mothballed destroyers to the British in exchange for 99-year rent-free leases to establish naval and air bases in GB or UK territories (including Newfoundland, Bermuda, and the Bahamas). You may also google details of the U.S. lease of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1903. And so on and so forth. 🏝️🇺🇸🏝️

Reuters: “After Trump reportedly calls off airstrikes, Houthis push for control of Yemen highlands.” As I noted in previous posts, the (historical) conflicts in the Middle East are a complex beast, that attempts from global leaderships find it so hard to contain them. You see, the Zaydi Shia Houthis (like Iran) are not the majority in Yemen; the country’s population is 65 percent Sunni. The Shias are more adversarial with the West/U.S. but major anti-U.S. groups, such as al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas, are essentially Sunni hardliners. Complicated, ain't it?

      While the Zaydis are a minority nationwide, they have historically been the majority in the mountainous northern and western regions of Yemen. Pretty much like the Taliban (which is Sunni) in Afghanistan. They control the countryside. The Taliban draw their membership and leadership primarily from ethnic Pashtuns, who make up the largest ethnic group or a plurality in Afghanistan.

      President Trump and Xi Jinping will be meeting on Thursday in Washington, D.C. on an obviously high-stakes bilateral summit. The Middle East crisis is a no-brainer top agenda. These facts: China and/or the BRICS bloc are the top trading partners of the countries concerned: Iran and Yemen. Yemen's main trading partners are the UAE, China, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt: All BRICS. (Afghanistan’s top business buddies: India, Iran, China. BRICS.) ☮️☮️☮️

The Hill: “Jeanne Shaheen holds up $2.8 billion Israel arms sale that includes 40,000 bombs.” Since its birth in 1948, the U.S. has been handing huge military aid to Israel, and I don’t think this will ever end. Israel ranks #1 among U.S. arms aid recipients. So I don’t get why lawmakers are whining now. Because we are talking of Donald Trump? Hey, before he left White House in 2016, Barack Obama signed a historic 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) providing Israel with $38 billion in military assistance. (That’d be $3.8 billion a year. An obvious upgrade)

      Aid and sale? The core difference is that a military sale is the commercial or government-brokered transaction of transferring weapons, while military aid is the financial assistance provided by the U.S. government to pay for those or related defense items. In practice regarding Israel, these two concepts heavily overlap because U.S. military aid frequently funds U.S. arms sales. Weird, isn't it? Washington hands out American taxpayer money (as aid) then the receiving country spends it to buy U.S. weapons. (American-owned corporations dominate the Top 10 largest arms manufacturers in the world.) 🏛🗽🏛

Politico: “News outlets that Trump banned from the White House announce lawsuit.” If this happened in pre-Trump years, I’d join the protest, being a journalist myself. I mean, we weren’t even banned from covering press conferences by the dictatorship then. Why? It’s no brainer. Journalists are no different from ordinary people with the primal reflex for common decency and professional respect. But the media’s demeanor has gone down in these years. 

       Quantitative content analyses and public polling show that media coverage of Donald Trump has been significantly more negative and adversarial than that of his recent presidential predecessors. Content studies by organizations like the Media Research Center report that major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) featured overwhelmingly negative coverage—exceeding 90 percent during distinct periods like his first 100 days in office. 📰💻📰

Yahoo: “Cindy Crawford's son Presley Gerber dies at 27.” Presley died from a drug overdose, while staying at a rehabilitation facility in California. The young man, who worked primarily as a fashion model and runway star, had been in a decade-long battle with substance abuse, depression, and mental health struggles. I am very personal about (illegal) drugs. I say to those who get hit in the crossfire, mostly street pushers/couriers, don’t mess with it–just don’t. 

       Hence, I am all-go regarding the government’s pursuit of drug cartels. The U.S. is the single largest market for international narcos monsters. Millions of regular and heavy drug users spend tens of billions of dollars each year on illicit substances. Major groups like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) supply massive quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin. These crime organizations generate an estimated $19 billion to $29 billion annually from drug sales in the United States alone. ✝️☮️✝️

THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Yahoo Sports: “A $184 U.S. Open lunch shows just how expensive sports fandom has become.” Not really so surprising to me. Pro sports is business. And as athletes get more (globally) popular, enhanced by their commercial endorsements and internet presence, you’d see them “influencing” stuff outside the playing court. Then fans come to see them compete.

      A recent example is the so-called “Alex Eala Effect,” fueled by the Filipino diaspora wherever the 21-year old star plays. Resale ticket prices for Ms Eala's US Open prime-time match at Louis Armstrong Stadium surged by 132 percent to 134 percent within 12 to 24 hours of the schedule announcement. The lowest available secondary market "get-in" price shot up from under $200 (starting around $146–$180) to nearly $400 (peaking around $464) almost immediately after her first-round matchup against Mary Stoiana was confirmed. The interesting fact is, Filipino fans pay hard-earned cash just to see Alex, never mind that many don't really know tennis as a sport.

      Meanwhile, who wants to see Naomi Osaka’s next pre-game costume? Serena and Venus may still play, not for wins (nothing to prove anymore) but the Williams sisters generate fan turnout. I just hope the WNBA focuses on the game over partisan politics or culture war, which only turns off followers of women basketball. (Cartoons: Reddit.) 🏀💲🏈

Basketball talk. Apparently, the derogatory line “white men can’t jump” doesn’t apply. Whites have been “out-dunking” blacks in recent years. In last month’s inaugural “Dunkman World Championship,” founded by Shaquille O’Neal, a white 21-year old high-leaper from Texas, Cam Hazzard, won the event.

      Cam won over not against a black dunker, but an old Chinese, Dengxing Chen from Hangzhou, China. The 40-year old journeyman beat the popular Mac McClung, who has won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest three times. Mac is the only player in NBA history to win the competition three consecutive times (a three-peat), taking home the title in 2023, 2024, and 2025. He is white. Jordan Southerland, a black kid, won 3rd in Dunkman. ⛹️🏀⛹️

GMA: “Military turns to immigrant recruits as ICE detains some troops’ relatives.” Left-wing media is indeed hot and high on angling their “news reports” as an “influencing” brainwash as though readership per se is gullible, stupid, or clueless. Historically, immigrants have always been recruited to the U.S military. You may ask my (Filipino) kin who are U.S. soldiers, past and present. They may have different reasons but not the “...ICE details some troops’ relatives” rationale or media narrative. 

       Let’s take the case of Puerto Rico, which became an “unincorporated U.S. territory” (from Spain) under the Treaty of Paris in 1898. Hence, Puerto Ricans were automatically U.S. nationals, but not full citizens. They only became American citizens through an act of Congress just weeks before the U.S. entered World War I. Or after President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act (1917). The U.S. entered the war on April 6, 1917, and soon passed the Selective Service Act, which made thousands of newly minted Puerto Rican citizens eligible for the military draft.

       I can discuss more, as an immigrant relative of ex-U.S. Marine Filipinos. But none of the reasons fall under whatever immigration program ICE imposes on undocumented migrants. That is an entirely different issue from military recruitment. But as I said, this requires a longer discussion. (Photo: Reserve & National Guard.) 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

BBC: “Saudi Arabia shuts key oil pipeline after drone attack launched from Iraq.” / Reuters: “Houthi advance in Yemen puts U.S. in a new bind.” How’d a POTUS forward a peace-focused policy in the Middle East, the most conflicted region on Planet Earth? Or how would a President of the U.S. be able to evade a war or continue it? 

       Jimmy Carter is frequently cited by public opinion polls and historians as one of America's most dovish modern presidents. Yet he has the blood of 1979’s Operation Cyclone in his hands. That program prolonged Afghanistan as America’s longest war. Barack Obama is frequently written as the most dovish modern U.S. president alongside Mr Carter. I don’t think so. During his two terms in office, Mr Obama was the first two-term POTUS to have the nation at war under his command for his entire eight years in tenure. 

       Obviously the anti-NATO Donald Trump, who favors trade over military in his foreign affairs playbook, isn’t seen that way. That’d be regardless of his peace overtures in Ukraine and relatively cordial relations with traditional rivals China and Russia. And I insist that his hand was forced on Iran, and with bogeyman Israel in Middle East tempests, it is historically near-impossible to impose a generally dovish tact in ME. ☮️☮️☮️

USA Today: “Some police departments reconsidering Flock after report uncovers alleged misuse.” Flock cameras are automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems that capture and log vehicle details for public safety. To me, that is improved law enforcement SOP; Flock helps solve crimes, period. Critics got issues, of course. Expectedly, the ACLU raised concerns about mass tracking without warrants. Incidents involving police or personnel “misusing” the data have triggered national pushback and vandalism against the hardware.

      My take: Police surveillance is a fact of life. Haven’t you dealt with that, already? “Persons of interest,” especially those with “records,” invite more prying eyes from cops and detectives. Is that new at all? I don’t think so. More so, cellphone cams (by everybody) are hugely "misused" and abused.

      Whatever that is “clicked/saved” is posted online or on Social Media, for whatever reason. Not necessarily to document a “crime,” but mostly for a juvenile shenanigan or other individually-conjugated mischief that seeks Social Media presence or “hits.” So again, I ask, what’s the big deal with Flock? 📷👀📸