The West's Broken Democracy

Western democracy doesn't work in the eyes of its people, a new study revealed Saturday. 

A September survey of Western countries showed that satisfaction with the electoral model was below 50% in most of them. This contrasts with separate studies of Asian nations such as China and Singapore, where citizens are enthusiastic about their model of democracy, with 80 to 93% approval. 

Ipsos, a European survey firm, questioned 9,800 voters in the US, UK, Croatia, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. In all except Poland and Sweden, there were deep concerns about the western electoral model. 

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, told Politico that “there is widespread concern about the way democracy is working, with people feeling unrepresented particularly by their national governments. In most countries, there is a desire for radical change”. 

Only a minority of respondents said they felt satisfied with how democracy was working in their country – 18% in Croatia, 19% in France, 20% in the US, 26% in the UK, 27% in Spain and 29% in Italy. Majorities in all countries except Sweden expected things to be worse in five years. 

A good case in point is the US itself, which has always prided itself a leading and influential democracy. Even so, Donald Trump in his first ten months has purged career civil servants viewed as disloyal, publicly urged his attorney general to prosecute political opponents, deployed troops to US cities, attacked judges who ruled against him, threatened universities because of the pro-Palestinian protests on campuses, and expanded his use of executive power through unilateral decrees and emergency authorities. 

In October, Trump’s justice department indicted Letitia James, the New York attorney general who successfully sued him for fraud, and separately charged the former FBI director James Comey, a longtime political adversary. He has also called for jailing the Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, and the Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, both Democrats who opposed his deployment of federal troops there.

UNGA Vote For Palestine

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. 

 

The 193-member body passed the resolution, drafted by a group of 22 Arab countries, by a margin of 120 to 14, with 45 countries abstaining. 

 

Obviously, the United States and Israel voted no as well as twelve other countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.

 

Speaking before the vote, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that voting against the resolution “means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing”. Israel denounced the vote as “infamy”. Needless to say, the US is firmly in cahoots with the Israelis and so, they too oppose peace.

 

Russian soft drinks brand Dobry overtook Coca-Cola in sales on the domestic market in January-August 2023, news website RBK reported on Thursday, citing a study by NielsenIQ. 

 

The Dobry Cola brand is produced at factories that belonged to Coca-Cola HBC Russia, the bottler of the original drink. 

 

According to the report, Dobry came in second in the ranking of the 50 most popular FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brands. Based on the results of the first eight months, the brand’s share in total sales on the FMCG market is 1.2%, the study showed. 

 

The original Coca-Cola did not even make it into the top 50 brands in Russia, despite finding its way into the sanctioned country through parallel imports.

Ukraine Wants NATO Countries to Pledge 1% of GDP

Ukraine has never been coy about asking, even demanding money and arms from other countries in order to sponsor its war against Russia.

 

Since Russia's Special Military Operation began, the US alone has directed more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine, which includes humanitarian, financial, and military support, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute (Council on Foreign Relations, February 22, 2023). 

 

As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the importance of continued support for Ukraine, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk (left) now wants NATO countries to pledge 1% of their GDP to meet Ukraine’s weapon needs. 

 

A fool’s errand, that is what it is. 

 

Already NATO want their members to spend at least two percent of their GDP on defence – and yet, just seven of NATO’s 30 member states – not counting Finland which only joined NATO on April 04 – met the defense spending target in 2022. The US, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom, all achieved the standard with Croatia and France among those falling just short. Others, e.g. Canada and Germany were further behind. 

 

It is claimed that Ukraine is running out of anti-aircraft missiles, an apparent leak of Pentagon documents dating from February suggests. 

 

The New York Times already reported that Ukraine’s Buk air defence systems, which it relies on along with the S-300 to protest vital sites from Russian air power, and air defences protecting troops on the front line could be “completely reduced” by May 23! 

 

I hope this is true because if it is, we can expect the war to wind down. Enough of deaths and destruction.

A Croatian Wish for Germany

Yesterday's post “Germany Says It Loud and Clear” refers. 

 

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic (right) said on Thursday, the US and Germany might be at war with Russia, but that was news to Croatia – and wished Berlin better luck than in World War 2! 

 

Framing the Ukraine conflict as one between Washington and Moscow, he reminded reporters that he was criticized for merely echoing the words of Kiev’s defense minister, about the current conflict being a “proxy war” between NATO and Russia. 

 

Great news! A real possibility that Russia and Belarus can participate in the Paris Olympics next year after all, despite protests from Ukraine. 

 

Both countries had been unjustly barred from almost all international competitions in Olympic sports following Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. 

 

But the International Olympic Committee indicated Wednesday that they favor officially neutral teams from the two countries at the 2024 Olympics amid fierce objections from Ukrainian President [V]olodymyr [Z]elenskyy to exclude them entirely. 

 

A day later, Russia and Belarus were invited to Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 08, 2023 to compete at the Asian Games, a key Olympic qualifier. 

 

The Olympic Council of Asia issued a statement: "The OCA believe in the unifying power of sport and that all athletes, regardless of their nationality or the passport they hold, should be able to compete in sports competitions". 

 

Thumbs up to OCA because that is what sports should be! Free from toxic politics! 

 

P.S. Malaysia too can learn from this!

The Atlas Lions Finish Fourth Best

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In yesterday’s World Cup match between Morocco and Croatia, the latter bested the former 2-1. 

 

And so, the Atlas Lions emerged fourth best. 

 

Both teams have exceeded expectation and both can leave this tournament very proud of what they achieved. 

 

Uganda yesterday lifted a two-month lockdown on two districts at the epicentre of the country’s Ebola epidemic, amid cautious hope that the outbreak could end soon. 

 

Since authorities declared an Ebola outbreak on September 20, the East African nation has registered 142 confirmed cases and 56 deaths, with the disease spreading to the capital Kampala. The two central districts at the heart of the outbreak, Mubende and Kassanda, were placed under lockdown by President Yoweri Museveni on October 15. 

 

But yesterday, Vice President Jessica Alupo (right) announced that the government was “lifting all movement restrictions and curfew in Mubende and Kassanda districts with immediate effect”. The two hotspots were under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, with markets, bars and churches closed as well as personal travel banned. 

 

“The lifting of the restrictions is based on the fact that currently there is currently no transmission, no contact under follow-up, no patients in the isolation facilities, and we are progressing well”, Alupo said in a televised address delivered on behalf of Museveni. 

 

Ugandan authorities said last month that new cases were falling, and the last confirmed patient with the disease was discharged from hospital on November 30. 

 

Alupa warned however that the government remained on “high alert” for any resurgence in cases.

No Fairytale Ending For Morocco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was to be no fairytale ending for Morocco. Les Bleus nipped them, 2-0, on goals by Théo Hernandez (5) and Randal Kolo Muani (79) in the second semi-final on Wednesday. 

 

France had dismantled one World Cup dream as they moved a step closer to fulfilling their own as the thrill ride that has been Morocco's campaign in Qatar came to a painful conclusion. 

 

Never mind, they’ve done really well in this World Cup campaign – and truly, the gallant Atlas Lions deserve our loudest applause! 

 

The two giants, France and Argentina will now meet on Sunday to conclude this Qatar World Cup. Needless to say, I support Argentina!

 

Note: Morocco’s World Cup isn’t over. The team will go on the field again for the third-place playoff match against Croatia on Saturday.

Argentina In WC Final

Argentina produced an impressive performance to eclipse Croatia 3-0 in their FIFA World Cup semi-final clash in Qatar on Tuesday. And of course, I'm mighty pleased that they won!

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two of Argentina's goals came in the first half as Lionel Messi scored from the penalty spot in the thirty-fourth minute, followed just five minutes later by another goal this time from the boot of Julian Alvarez. 

 

In the second half, Alvarez again, with a solo run, scored in the sixty-ninth minute after some great work from Messi down the wing. 

 

Argentina will now face either reigning champions France, or upstarts Morocco in the final on Sunday.

Argentina In, Brazil Out

I only got one of two predictions correct. In the World Cup quarter-finals yesterday, Argentina and Croatia were victors. 

 

The Argentina-Netherlands match went to penalties after the latter fought back from two goals down to level at 2-2 in the last minute of normal time. And Argentina won the shootout 4-3 to set up a semi-final showdown against Croatia who beat tournament favorites Brazil – also on penalties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed but this really could be Argentina’s World Cup, although they under-estimate Croatia at their peril. 

 

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday, named 27 deputy ministers in his unity government, with two deputy ministers in the finance ministry which he heads. Pakatan Harapan (13) hold most of the positions, followed by BN (6), GPS (6), GRS (1) and Warisan (1). 

 

Of the parties, DAP have the most with 6, followed by UMNO (5), PKR (5), Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (4), Amanah (2), Sabah Bersatu (1), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (1), Sarawak United People’s Party (1), Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (1) and Warisan (1).

US Supports Ukraine To Fight On

The US backs Ukraine’s goal of forcefully reclaiming all territories that have voted to join Russia, and rejects any peace deal at this time, its Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) disclosed on Monday. 

 

Speaking after a wave of Russian missile strikes took out Ukrainian military and infrastructure targets on the same day, Blinken told a Wall Street Journal summit that the US would continue to arm Ukraine and bankroll its economy until it could “take back territory that’s been seized from it...”.

 

Furthermore, he asserted that while the conflict “will end almost certainly with diplomacy”, a ceasefire that freezes the current battle lines would be “a phony peace”. 

 

Ukraine will fight on and the world will bear witness to the country’s wholesale destruction. That's the price they're paying for poking the bear!

 

In the World Cup quarter-finals, I would like to see Argentina, Brazil, France and Morocco prevail over Netherlands, Croatia, England and Portugal respectively. 

 

I'm sure Morocco want more after their giant-killing run. Still, the country can expect to have a tough fight on their hands. 

 

But, don't underestimate them. They’ve come this far. The ball is round and anything is possible! I'm going to root for them!

US Rakes In Massive Profits From LNG Sales To Europe

Europe has been ramping up imports of US LNG.

On the latter's side, liquified natural gas and other natural gas exports rose sharply in August, according to ÚS government data released Thursday, particularly to European nations facing a rapidly approaching winter with an insufficient supply from Russia almost guaranteed. 

And it’s interesting to know that while natural gas exports to France are up 421% through the first eight months of 2022, the value increased 1,094 percent in August alone! 

A similar story can be told for Croatia, where imports are up 281% through August but 1,195% in August; Poland, which is up 505% YTD and 817,000% in August; and the United Kingdom, up 216% YTD and 6,797% in August. 

French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday said that Europe should not become subject to American “domination” as it becomes increasingly dependent on US LNG. 

“We cannot accept that our American partner sells its LNG at four times the price at which it sells it to its own companies”, Le Maire said, while calling for a “more balanced economic relationship on the energy issue between our American allies and the European continent”. 

France shouldn’t complain. Actually, the LNG market is being influenced by soaring prices in Europe. Strong natural gas demand has pulled natural gas inventories to a relatively low level. Fear often causes the oil and gas markets to overshoot. 

Besides, the price of LNG from the US is at least 30-40 percent higher than Russian pipeline gas – and that is an inescapable reality. 

Le Maire (left) should zip his mouth and just pay the price because France and the rest of Europe brought it upon themselves. 

You can expect the US to be happy about it because it is raking in massive profits at the expense of its so-called friends in Europe. 

Like it or not, US LNG will continue to play a crucial role in Europe’s gas supply. But it won’t be enough to avoid a major squeeze over the next three years. 

A recent study by Rystad Energy and funded by the American Petroleum Institute and the International Association for Oil & Gas Producers found that US producers will remain the biggest LNG suppliers to European countries over the long term. But before the market rebalances, there will be a supply gap lasting until somewhere between 2023 and 2025. Meaning, the US cannot fill the gap left by a drop in supply from Russia. 

The gap will be prompted by the assumed cut-off of all Russian gas supplies – something that European countries have stated they will aim for – and growth in US LNG export capacity. Noted that export capacity will be growing in Qatar (a non-OPEC member) too. 

Although there are non-Russian options for more pipeline gas, such as Norway, Azerbaijan, and Algeria, the Rystad study assumes that LNG will reign supreme as the main source of natural gas for Europe, coming to satisfy half of its demand by 2030. 

Already, the European Union’s gas import bill has swelled to ten times the usual for filling up winter storage sites because of the switch to LNG from pipeline gas. It’s worth noting that all that LNG was bought on the spot market, given that Brussels has been a fan of spot markets for years. 

Of course, US producers are happy to sell their liquefied gas on the spot market, where it fetches prices that just a couple of years ago would have been unthinkable. Media have even reported about cases of diverting cargos of LNG meant for Asia to Europe because of the Europeans' willingness to pay a premium to get the gas. 

While this year, such behavior is perfectly understandable as European countries scramble to stock up on gas for the winter, over the longer term, it would not exactly make economic sense. 

European industries are already struggling to remain profitable amid soaring energy bills. Yet many of them are too busy fighting for survival to bother about profitability, which should sound the alarm to governments and motivate a more comprehensive diversification of gas deliveries. 

Based on the Rystad research, Europe is essentially replacing one big supplier – Russia – with another big supplier – the United States – which can hardly pass for diversification. 

Sanctioning Russia is causing Europe to go into economic, political and social convulsions. You asked for it, Europe!

Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Climate change is changing our weather. 

Emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels have been trapping heat in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era. This extra heat isn't evenly distributed across the globe, and bursts out extreme weather events. 

Unless global emissions are cut, this cycle will persist.

Here are four outcomes resulting from climate change: 

1. Hotter, longer heatwaves 

To understand the impact of small changes to average temperatures, think of them as a bell curve with extreme cold and hot at either end, and the bulk of temperatures in the middle. 

A small shift in the centre means more of the curve touches the extremes – and so heatwaves become more frequent and extreme. 

And heatwaves are not just hotter – they're also lasting longer. Warm spells have more than doubled in length in the past 50 years. 

That’s not the end of it – heatwaves can be made longer and more intense by another weather phenomenon – a heat dome. 

In an area of high pressure, hot air is pushed down and trapped in place, causing temperatures to soar over an entire continent even. 

When a storm distorts the jet stream, which is made of currents of fast-flowing air, it is a bit like yanking a skipping rope at one end and seeing the ripples move along it.

These waves cause everything to slow drastically and weather systems can become stuck over the same areas for days on end – as was seen in India earlier this year.

India and Pakistan have already faced five successive heatwaves this year, with Jacobabad, in Pakistan, registering 49C at one point in May. 

In the Southern Hemisphere, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil all saw an historic heatwave in January – many areas reported their hottest day on record. 

In the same month, Onslow in Western Australia hit 50.7C, the joint-highest temperature ever reliably recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Last year, North America was also hit by long heatwaves. The western Canadian town of Lytton burnt down when temperatures hit 49.6C, breaking the previous record by almost 5C. 

Such an intense heatwave would have been virtually impossible without climate change, says the World Weather Attribution network, a collaboration between international climate scientists. 

One theory suggests higher temperatures in the Arctic are causing the jet stream to slow, increasing the likelihood of heat domes. 

2. More persistent droughts 

As heatwaves become more intense and longer, droughts are expected to worsen. 

Less rain falls between heatwaves, so ground moisture and water supplies run dry more quickly. This means the ground takes less time to heat up, warming the air above and leading to more intense heat. 

3. More fuel for wildfires 

Wildfires can be sparked by direct human involvement – but natural factors can also play a huge part. 

The cycle of extreme and long-lasting heat caused by climate change draws more and more moisture out of the ground and vegetation. 

These tinder-dry conditions provide fuel for fires, which can spread at an incredible speed. 

Most recently severe wildfires have been reported in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia and Albania – with thousands of residents evacuated and hundreds reported to have died. 

In Canada last summer, heatwaves led to fires which developed so rapidly and explosively that they created their own weather system, forming pyrocumulonimbus clouds. These colossal clouds then produced lightning, igniting more fires. 

4. More extreme rainfall events 

In the usual weather cycle, hot weather creates moisture and water vapour in the air, which turns into droplets to create rain. 

The warmer it becomes, however, the more vapour there is in the atmosphere. This results in more droplets and heavier rainfall, sometimes in a shorter space of time and over a smaller area. 

Already this year, floods have drowned parts of eastern Australia. In a period of just six days Brisbane saw almost 80% of its annual rainfall, while Sydney recorded more than its average annual rainfall in little over three months.

These rainfall events are connected to the effects of climate change elsewhere, according to Peter Gleick (left), a water specialist from the US National Academy of Sciences. 

"When areas of drought grow, like in Siberia [Russia] and western US, that water falls elsewhere, in a smaller area, worsening flooding", he claims. 

The weather across the globe will always be highly variable – but climate c hange is making those variations more extreme. 

And the challenge now is not only limiting the further impact people have on the atmosphere but also adapting to and tackling the extremes we are already facing.    

Shovels and Mercenaries

Ukraine provoked Russia. And when the latter lost its patience and launched a special military operation to halt the former’s aggression, Ukraine realized too late it is no match for Russia. 

Still, with ringing encouragement and belligerent instigation from the US and NATO, it carried on fighting, in spite of heavy losses. Obviously, it wants to continue fighting until the last Ukrainian. 

And to keep on fighting, it grovels and begs the collective West for weapons, financial support and sanctions on Russia. 

In fact, as recent as Thursday, its ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova had asked for more weapons, more financial support and more sanctions on Russia. 

And on Monday, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister speaking on a German news broadcaster ARD talk show, even declared that Ukrainians “will fight with shovels if they had to”! 

But there’s no shortage of mercenaries going to the country and fight alongside Ukrainians. From a Scott Ritter News posting on Monday: 

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Poland has the most number of mercenaries in Ukraine. And of course, mercs from that country suffered the most serious losses, i.e. the most killed and the most wounded. 

It’s okay to die for your country – but for these hired guns, it’s wasted lives and needless deaths.

Kiwis Have the Sexiest Accent

On Monday, the New Zealand accent has been named the sexiest in the world! 

This according to international travel website Big 7 Travel which polled 8,500 people from 60 countries across the globe – where they were asked to vote for their favorite accents, therefore, revealing the Top 50 winners. 

To a novice ear, the No. 1 accent – as spoken by Kiwi singer-songwriter Lorde* (right) – might sound just like the Australian accent – but participants disagree. They described the ‘Newzild’ dialect as outrageously charming. 

[* Kindly scroll down this post if you wish to listen to Lorde's singing].

The Kiwis were followed closely by South Africa (“Afrikaans is a hugely popular accent with many people across the globe, thanks to their unique tones and Saffa slang”), Ireland (“whether it’s a Jamie Dornan-esque Northern Irish accent or a lilting Cork jibe, people the world over love the Irish accent”), Italy (“any word in Italian sounds sexy”) and Australia (“pronouncing words long and slow – and often skipping the ends of them completely – is a real turn on apparently”) respectively.

Scotland hit the top spot for Britain – coming in at sixth place for its “rich sounds and harsh vowels”. 

In seventh place was French (“the language of love is a consistent winner when it comes to sex appeal”) and in 8th-10th places were Spanish, Southern US, and Brazilian Portuguese. 

Queen’s English, the standard English spoken in the UK, made it to No. 12, thanks to it sounding “clear, clipped and completely posh”. 

Liverpool's Scouse accent was placed 32nd on the list, while Newcastle’s Geordie accent despite being “notoriously difficult to understand”, was ranked No. 41. 

A New Yorker accent, described as “fast and hyper-nasal”, proved to be even less charming, coming in at 44th and just narrowly beating the Welsh accent, which was ranked 45th on the list. 

Among ASEAN countries, those that made the list were Filipino at No. 21, Vietnamese at No. 25, Malaysian at No. 39 and Thai at No. 48. 

Croatian, which came in last place, was the "least-popular" Slavic accent on the list, but was still found to be more alluring than many of the more than 7,000 accents worldwide. 

Survey participants were asked to rate their top 10 accents from a shortlist of 100 accents, with the 50-highest scoring accents making up the final published results.

The above two songs are from Lorde’s 2017 album Melodrama. 

Melodrama is about a "grapple with loneliness" in the aftermath of a break-up, according to The New York Times. Interviewed by the publication, Lorde says Melodrama is not simply a "breakup album" but is rather a "record about being alone"; it features both the favorable and unfavorable aspects associated with "heartbreak and solitude".

France: 2018's World Cup Winners

Twenty years ago, France won the World Cup for the first and only time in their history at home in Paris with a 3-0 win over Brazil. 

That team was captained by Didier Deschamps, who in 2018, aimed to emulate Brazilian Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer by winning the competition as both a player and manager. 

Yes, his wish was granted – France did it again on Sunday – winning the World Cup by thwarting Croatia 4-2. 

Félicitations France!

In an interview with CBS Evening News on Saturday, US President Donald Trump (right) identified the European Union, Russia and China as “foes”! 

Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe, Trump had insisted. What they do to us in trade, he said by way of explanation. 

Russia is a foe in certain respects, he stated – but stopped short of clarifying what he meant. 

And then, he highlighted China, asserting that it is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. 

He muddied the waters further by adding “But that doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they are competitive”. 

Methinks, Trump needs to work on his English as well as on his communication. 

Sometimes, when I think of Trump, I really do feel sorry for the Americans. 

For better or for worse, he is the President of the United States of America. They elected him – and so they will have to live with it.

Lighting Giants

 

An industrial shipyard in Croatia has been transformed into a work of art by architectural lighting designer Dean Skira. For his installation Lighting Giants, Skira arranged spotlights to create a light performance synchronised to music that turns eight cranes into colourful folded origami.

 

He came up with the idea in 2000 when he heard the town of Pula was considering relocating the shipyard, but it has taken since then to collect enough funding and gain the support of authorities

 

Two epic events are unfolding in this month of June!

 

First, the World Cup. It’s just around the corner. I see the signs everywhere – more so in the mornings, when I have my daily Coke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 20th edition of the FIFA World Cup heads to Brazil between June 12 and July 13. Sixty-four matches played by 32 national teams and the whole world will go crazy.

 

Second, the Transformers movie. Official Malaysian release date: June 26. The fourth installment titled “Transformers: Age of Extinction”.

 

The Transformers began life as a succession of animated television shows, depicting a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects. The entire series was based upon the Diaclone and Microman toy lines originally created by Japanese toy manufacturer Takara, which then developed into the Transformers toy line by American company Hasbro. Today, the Transformers have become even bigger and more successful because of the movie franchise.

 

The Megamall @ MidValley showcased these herculean robots – check out these photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For sure, June is going to be an extraordinary month!