On a game of elimination in Wordle #285...

This game of elimination is quite fun...

Wordle 285 5/6

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On Wordle #284...

Well well, it's another one of those games where too many choices is not a good thing...

Wordle 284 X/6

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On a fun game of Wordle #283...

A fairly fun, and relatively easy, game...

Wordle 283 5/6

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On the many possibilities of Wordle #282...

What could one do when there are simply too many possibilities? As Wordle #282 would have it, you lose...

Wordle 282 X/6

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On Wordle #281...

It's tough to tease out a word without any vowels, so you see what desperation looks like...

Wordle 281 6/6

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On Wordle #280...

I have to take a bit of risks for #280 today since my second and third guess contains letters that I know are in the wrong positions. It's good that the risks pay off...

Wordle 280 4/6

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On Wordle #279

On another fun game...

Wordle 279 4/6

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On Wordle #278...

My lucky day...

Wordle 278 3/6

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On Wordle #277...

Wordle #277 is fun...

Wordle 277 4/6

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On Wordle #276, and Napoleon Dynamite...

Not a bad game, Wordle #276 is...

Wordle 276 4/6

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Last night I finally came around to watch the comedy, Napoleon Dynamite. I have not expected to like it, but when Napoleon wraps up his skit dance, I couldn't help cheering for him, and for Pedro too. It's such a triumphant moment for someone like Napoleon who has been seemingly written off and ignored by everybody else. But his many redeeming qualities have won him the world over. No wonder it has such a cult following since its 2004 debut. It's awesome.

On Wordle #275, and Day 25 comes the shame of Israel...

With a little luck and a relatively common/easy word, here's what Wordle #275 is like for me...

Wordle 275 3/6

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There's no surprises, on Day 25 of the Russian attack on Ukraine. As expected previously, all those talks of "negotiation," all the advocacy by those so-called mediators, negotiators, are really just pushing for the same thing, which is simply to tell Ukraine to capitulate, surrender, and give Putin what he demands, however unjust. So it is today, that Zelenskyy calls out the Israeli Prime Minister who supposedly has taken up the role of go-between between Russia and Ukraine, but there really has been no negotiation. Putin lays out his demands, and there's that.  Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government are brave enough to call them out, the cowardice that these external parties try to ramp down on the throat of Ukraine.

Don't expect anything between or different from the likes of China though it's hardly surprising for CCP to side with Russia since the two authoritarian regimes have been in bed for over a century now. But Israel? Particularly since Zelenskyy himself being a Jew too. No matter. When it comes to self-interest, all the honors and principles and integrity can go out of the window, even for Israel, which is really most disappointing 

On a fun game of Wordle #274, and Day 24 of Russian attack on Ukraine...

The Wordle #274 game is quite fun...

Wordle 274 5/6

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The Russian attack on Ukraine is still grinding on into Day 24. It's good to see Australia showing some spine in the sanction. UK has been active in the sanction area. Even former Eastern Bloc countries like Poland have been doing their part in advocating for Ukraine, as well as helping on the ground. Apart from seizing a yacht from a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and a few lip-service from Macron, what else has France done? Macron tried to be the diplomat, doing the go-between US and Russia, but after two volley of face-to-face meeting and then phone call, Putin has totally outfoxed Macron, rendering him a useless errand boy. Other go-between like Israel is nothing more than to tell Ukraine to just capitulate and surrender to whatever Russia demands of it, or mouthpiece by China to mouth more of the same-old-same-old propaganda that puts the blame on the West (US, in particular) in "provoking" Russia. What a farce and a fucking joke.

Since the passing of our parents, my siblings and I try to have weekly chat over WhatsApp to catch up. It's tough enough that we live in different continents and timezones, and every week requires some coordination and prior planning. We do try to make an effort, to stay connected. As we get older, we all realize that family is one thing that stays constant, and it's something we should treasure. The passing of our mother in 2020 was hard due to the Covid lockdown. Those of us not in the country were not able to say the final farewell to mom, though we were lucky enough to have two siblings in the country who were allowed to see her, on emergency visits, and who made funeral arrangement that we have to attend over Zoom. The grandkids made music recordings, playing the instruments that mom loved, and it's played on big screen before the service. Only a small handful of family friends made the efforts to attend the funeral in person, though we now know who the true friends are.

The chat this past weekend invariably turned to chats about current affairs and Ukraine. There's heated debate about whether Ukraine should stay and/or fight the Russian unprovoked invasion. Most of us are in agreement...except my brother. He would rather lead a life of a mouse, to run and hide. He asserts that self-preservation should be paramount, and that Zelenskyy is not fit as leader. Why? Because he believes that Zelenskyy knows Ukraine is no match to Russia's military power, so he's sending his people to the frontline to die. He further asserts that Zelenskyy and his people should simply capitulate, without a fight (again, all in the name of self-preservation). He even quoted ancient Chinese historic anecdotes like 李後主 and 南唐 as supporting evidence that capitulation is a "good" thing. He claims that just surviving is a good enough option, if only to bear witness of history (whatever the hell he really means).

The whole discussions made the rest of us siblings so fucking mad that I had to cut the WhatsApp call short, after more than two hours of heated back-and-forth. 

His fixation on Blaming The Victim (Ukraine), with not a single word on the naked aggression from Putin. He continues to evade the question about Right and Wrong. When pushed, he blamed the West for provoking Russia, for acting like 黑社會, for uniting in imposing sanctions against Russia, effectively turning Russia into a fucking victim (!).  He claims 李後主 did the right right, capitulating his fiefdom to the aggressor (in the name of avoiding collateral damage), accepting a ceremonial title and continue his good life, even though he lamented about the loss of his own land in countless poems, to the point that his new overlord decided that he must be plotting some revolution. He ended up being poisoned to death. 

His so-called arguments sound all too familiar because these are all talking points from the propaganda machine from Putin and CCP. That's the same reason CCP keeps talking about "peaceful solution" (which is that Ukraine should let Russia annexes it without a fight), about "humanitarian aids" (though when you think of the world's second largest economy offers aids worth $790,000, that's like Germany initially offering to send 5000 fucking helmets to Ukraine, it's adding insult to injury). There is not a word about how wrong Russia's attack is, there is selective memory lapse to ignore the fact that Ukraine is a sovereign nation. The list goes on and on. 

I have to admit, I'm so disappointed in my brother. He's an educated man, yet he chooses to be willfully blinded by propaganda, He claims to read both sides of the stories, yet he prefers to fixate on cowards like 李後主 whose historical background was nothing comparable to the current event. What he could have just as easily done, is to use Churchill/Britain v. Hitler/Germany to compare with Zelenskyy/Ukraine v. Putin/Russia. But of course he would not want that comparison because Churchill chose to fight, even at great costs/loss at Dunkirk. The desperation of Churchill and the dire situation in Britain, is not unlike what Ukraine is facing now, and yet the Brits (Thank God for Their Perseverance) chose to fight which is exactly what Ukraine and Zelenskyy are doing now. 

I've told my brother flat-out, that he would make a poor witness of history (even if he relishes living a life of a mouse). Thank goodness he doesn't have children (I'm sorry to say) or that he's not teacher. What kind of the children would grow up to be, unless the kind of "education" from such indoctrination? It's a good thing that our younger generations are all grown-ups now, and they are upstanding individuals. I advise him to not even trying to peddle his so-called self-preservation theory to the nephews and nieces because they would give a rebuttal far more in-your-face than what I or my other siblings had given him so far.

I have no doubt in my mind, that China is prepping its way to invade Taiwan, and the CCP propaganda machinery is simply honing its messaging and gauges how the world reacts. CCP succeeded in brainwashing one sibling in my family, and thank goodness, the rest of us are principled enough to beat him back.

Politics is seeping into social circles and families. In this increasingly polarizing world, it's getting harder to bring through to the other side. It's mentally exhausting, and I really hate it. But, there are things in life worth making a stand for. In the comfort of our own homes, thousands of miles away from the frontline in Ukraine, if we would refuse to even a stand, what good are we for? What does it say about our humanity?

On another failed game of Wordle #273...

Damn, it's another one of those games...

Wordle 273 X/6

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On Wordle #272...

This one is relatively easy...

Wordle 272 3/6

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On Wordle #271...

Wordle #271 is a good game...

Wordle 271 4/6

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I'm mentally exhausted, having pushed through the closing of my refi and wrapped up the remaining task, just in time before the Fed starts rate hike today. After more than two decades of near-zero interest rate, that party looks to be finally over. 

Now I need to sleep...Zzzzz...

On a frustrating game of Wordle #270...

What a frustrating game...

Wordle 270 X/6

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Another game of luck (or no luck). Now I'm beat.

On Wordle #269, and a desensitized world...

In an increasingly crazy and chaotic world, playing Wordle can be quite calming, even if #269 is one of those too-many-options games...

Wordle 269 6/6

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I have to tear my eyes away from all the horrid news on the continuing attack in Ukraine by Russia, now in the 19th day. The Ukrainians are hanging on, but no economic sanctions, however severe they might be, would stop Putin from marching in to complete the annexation of Ukraine. I'm getting so sick and tired of the world appeasing an authoritarian madman like Putin, stands by and does nothing. 

News of Putin asking China for help would not sound so good, no doubt. Russia would naturally deny it, for it'll make them look weak. China would surely deny it, in case sanctions from the West would come to its doorsteps too. But let's face it, everyone knows how the situation is. Everyone knows, even if no one wants to admit to it. The Emperor Has No Clothes On.

How long would the world attention last? In fact, so much of other news have become so commonplace that the "news" doesn't feel like news anymore. I'm talking about the death tolls from opioid overdose, and death tolls from Covid.

Narcan has been hailed as a miracle in saving lives from drug overdose. Sure, it prevents death...but are the lives really "saved"?  The jaded side of me keeps thinking, is there a point reviving an addict every other day so that he (or she) can keep using?  I know it sounds totally politically incorrect, but in a world where resources are not unlimited, would I rather see taxpayers' dollars going to kids' education than to reviving addicts with Narcan everyday, and then open needles exchange so that they can keep using "in a safe environment"? Don't get me wrong, I perfectly understand the practicality of these programs, yet I still can't help thinking, it's just colossal waste of money and resources, to "help" someone who really don't want to be helped. If someone wants to keep using, knowing perfectly well that overdose and death is only one needle away, then nay, I don't see the point of keep filling a hole that has no bottom, a hole that can never be a foundation to build anything on.

In a way, it's the same with all the Covid death. While there are death from breakthrough cases for the vaccinated population, most of the death tolls these days are unvaccinated. Much like the aforementioned addicts, they know full well the consequences, and they still behave the way they do anyways, then I really can't see any point feeling pity for them.

The older I get, the more hardened my heart seems to feel about subjects like these. I don't think these are partisan issues. At least for me, I can be relatively liberal-minded, but my sympathy has limits. Personal choice(s) have consequence, and everyone who makes their choices has to face that music. 

Perhaps that's also a result from a much desensitized world.  I can't recall where this phrase originates, but it's said that, "When Everything Is Important, Then Nothing Is." This is how I feel about the bleeding-heart approach of the far-left progressives, with ambitions to tackle everything all at once. Heck, they are all important, so let's do them all. Go Big Or Go Home. In a nutshell, that's the Democrats' progressives, right there. In essence, that's BBB (Biden's Build Back Better Bill, that's now quite dead).  Apparently these progressives have no clues what it means by choose your battle.

On Wordle #268, and Day 18 of the Ukraine Attack by Russia...

*Phew* this was close...

Wordle 268 6/6

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Russia is keeping at it, and Ukraine is still hanging on, going into Day 18. 

There is this excellent analysis by the Russian scholar Stephen Kotlin in The New Yorker unpacking the Russia attack, not just solely on the current event, but on the culmination of Russia's attack from its history, culture and its system that explains the psyche succinctly. More importantly, it perfectly explains the past, present, and likely future behavior of Russia (not just of Putin and potentially for its future leaders). 

Essentially Russia has always been an aspiring great power with great ambitions, though its capability is less than able in matching its ambitions. This is certainly true, to the extent that Russia actually has been less of a threat to the world at large than, say, China since the world has become so dependent on China as a market and as a production hub. Russia, on the other hand, only has energy exports that the world really wants. As significant as its energy export might be to EU (which accounts for some 40% of the gas in Germany, for example), and as painful as the short term prospect would be, should EU pivot away from Russia's energy exports, it is by no means irreplaceable. 

Foolishly, EU, and to a lesser extent, Joe Biden, have given Putin an upper hand, by drawing the line for self-preservation. By proclaiming outright that EU would not ban Russia's energy supply, and by explicitly saying that NATO and US would want to see any escalation of war (or be drawn into a full-scale war), Russia would use exactly those two points as the bargaining chips. Is there any wonder, even in a weaker position (when compared to a united front of the West) why Putin would be so bold as to threaten the West not to help Ukraine, or else, Russia would cut its energy export to EU and/or use its nuclear weapons on Ukraine?  Heck, if I were Putin, I would have done the same as he did, knowing that the enemies are so feeble and timid.

Many a times, Joe Biden has said outright that US doesn't want to escalate the war. But, he's looking at the wrong lens. Putin never needs any "provocation" from the West. Did the West do anything when Russia annexed Crimea and Georgia? No. Did the West do anything to stop Russia then? No. All that Russia has said so far, are just excuses excuses. Ukraine is a sovereign state, Russia has no right to launch attack, just to "prevent" NATO from admitting Ukraine into its club. What kind of a bullshit excuse is that? Yet, US and EU let Putin get away with it, as if this excuse is valid? WTF.

Negotiation with Russia is futile. All those talks with Macron (France) and Bennett (Israel), is simply Russia's roundabout way to tell the world to exert pressure on Ukraine to stand down, all for the "greater good" (financial market disruption, oil supply disruption, refugee crisis). Putin is telling the world that, Look, Tell the Ukrainians to stand down, and we can "avoid the war"...ie. Ukraine can just rollover and die. Heck, if I were Zelenskyy (Ukrainian president) and the Ukrainian people, I would have flatly rejected that so-called negotiations as well. This is utterly ridiculous.

At this point, no one should be trusting any words from Russia or Putin. Same goes with those empty words from China. The two authoritarian regimes would talk the Western talk (as if they abide by international rules, yet they flout any rules as they please), and people like Biden and Macron and EU seem to just eat them all up as if it's golden. UK seems to be the only one who is calling Russia as it is. Actions speak louder than words. Russia has to withdraw its military from Ukraine and retreat. Period. 

It's true that Joe Biden is an infinitely better choice than Donald Trump in the White House to answer that 3 a.m. call.  Biden's strategy to methodically recruit allies in the past year has paid off in containing China (somewhat), with the Quad, and the Five Eyes. Biden has also worked hard to mend the fences with the world at large since Trump blew up the political connections in his four years in White House. That said, Biden is not a wartime president. His strength and strong belief in diplomacy is also his weakness.  Biden thinks he can talk Putin to submission, but that would never work. He also thinks Putin would yield to economic sanctions but I would highly doubt it. The Russians, much like the Chinese, pride themselves of their ability to withstand hardship and pain. The two of them would just hobble together, if the West decides to cut them off.

When you are faced with an authoritarian strongman who only recognizes military strength, no other words would suffix. I don't relish the prospect of a world war, but sometimes that choice is made for you. Don't believe me? Just think of how WWII could have turned out, had it not been for Churchill and Stalin deciding to stand the ground and fight the Nazis. Most every nations in Continental Europe simply rolled over and submitted to Hitler, all to "avoid the war."  The way it's going, that's what Biden and EU and Macron and Bennett are advocating. That's just so wrong.

In a way, I can understand Biden's apprehension.  Inflation is also at its highest level in 40 years, thanks to Covid and supply chain bottleneck.  It's the number one concern of voters, and Democrats are nervous about the Midterm election prospect in Nov 2022. A real war will add to that inflation by reducing oil supply (from Russia) and ground troops deployment will ensnare US into another war, just as Biden has so desperately wrapped up the one at Afghanistan. US voters are notoriously finicky, and while they (and the Congress across the aisle) supply the ban on everything Russia and to provide more support to Ukraine, they likely don't realize the full-scale impact (and the pain as a result) from a deeper US involvement in the Ukraine war. And unlike the Russians and Chinese, US voters are also infamously adverse to pain (economic, or anything physical). The US voters willingness to stick their neck out for Ukraine (and by proxy, EU) will definitely have limits...Biden knows it, and Putin knows it too. 

I don't envy Biden's position. Then again, this is what voters elect him to be: A True Leader. Can Biden truly rise up to the occasion, or will be just be a good caretaker, but no vision on what he could aspire the country to be? If Biden can't even stand his ground against the Democrats' infighting with the progressives, what hope is there to see him withstand external threat?

Time and again, I keep playing the what-if in my head.  If Pete Buttigieg had been in White House now, he would have reacted far more decidedly. Progressives are just a bunch of noisy woke imbeciles, synonymous to those noisy libertarian imbeciles in GOP who would shrink from the world. 

On Wordle #267...

Another exhausting day today, with energy only enough for Wordle #267...

Wordle 267 5/6

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On Wordle #266, and more Biden sanctions on Russia...

First thing first, Wordle #266 which is a good game...

Wordle 266 4/6

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Joe Biden seems to have found his stride, and realize that American voters and Congress want tougher stance against Russia's military attack on Ukraine. It must be like a chinese water torture to Putin, with the drip-drip-drip of new sanctions announced everyday to tighten the screw on Russia's economy. Today, not only does Biden announce revoking the Most Favored Nation status of Russia, but there'll also be a ban on Russia's diamond, vodka, and seafood into US. Although the latter ban only amounts to $1B in import to US, and these are hardly essential goods to US, no doubt every billion of export revenue counts for Russia since half of its currency reserve (some $625B) is now frozen by the West.  

Russia's fake news propaganda can no longer contain or dilute the narrative to fool the world. As idiotic and clueless as he might be, even Trump is backing off his "genius" rhetorical support for Putin. Social media is also catching on, more readily banning or taking down fake news tweets and posts, and even encouraging the counter-narrative against Russia, so much so that Russia has labeled Facebook a terrorist organization.  

Meanwhile, the siege goes on.  Let's hope the belt-tightening in Russia will turn the public opposition against Putin within its borders, to the point of weakening this horrid person.

On Wordle #265, and Ukraine siege continues...

I don't like a game that's predicated more on luck...

Wordle 265 6/6

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But I guess sometimes that's what happens, that some combinations of letters can make up more words that one can conjure.

The outrage in the Russian attack on Ukraine continues. The world continues to talk, though there are some traction for actions. The House has passed a bill that includes aids to Ukraine. That is as it should be. What I find unacceptable, are people like Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush, two of the far-left Squad members, voting against the Russian oil embargo by US, with weak argument to support their contrarian stance, which is really more about peacocking around to show that they are "brave" enough to vote against what their Democrats' leadership and colleagues are going for. In one word, they have no moral standing or courage to do what's right, since they are only concerned about being woke.  Pathetic.

Another news story that stood out today, was the foolish Polish proposal to try to aggrandize their standing by making the bold claim to donate all their MiG-19 fighter jets to Ukraine...but there's a catch. Instead of delivering the fighter jets to Ukraine, as Ukraine has so desperately needed, the Poles instead proposed to send those planes to the US military base in Germany first, and then have the Americans and NATO be responsible for the actual delivery. More remarkably, the Poles made this announcement without even alerting the Americans or the Germans first. What the hell were they thinking?

In a way, I can understand the rationale behind the Polish proposal. They want to do the right thing by the Ukrainians, win some goodwill from the world, at the same time, they also want to take advantage of the potential of upgrading their own fleet since the Americans have shown certain inclination of backfilling the Polish fleet with F-16 (much more advanced than old Soviet MiG planes). It's, like, hitting two birds with one stone. 

Problem is, Poland doesn't want to bring the Russian wrath on its doorstep. So, the Poles want to offload the old MiG planes to NATO/US, and draw them deeper into the conflict, thereby deflecting Russia's attention on Poland (at least for the time being). But, how could the Poles have conceived such a month, committing NATO and US military base, with even consulting with them first? This is most impolitic, to put it mildly. If I were the Biden administration, I would be pissed at the naiveté of those amateurish and cowardly Poles, though one should not be too critical to Poland since they have done their part by taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine readily which, on its own right, is a commendable deed.

More foreign companies are quitting Russia. The question now is, how long will China be able to prop up Russia in a sinking ship? I can't wait to see Xi and CCP eat their own words and drop Russia like a hot potato.

On Wordle #264, Ukraine, Covid, et al...

Gosh, I almost forgot to play my daily Wordle game, but here it is...

Wordle 264 4/6

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Ukraine Crisis

Finally, Joe Biden is plucking up the nerve to do embargo of the Russian oil into US, and his administration is even preempting the Chinese with a warning shot of not bypassing the economic sanctions from the West. Though everyone knows full well that that'd be exactly what the CCP will do, taking full advantage of the currently energy market chaos to import Russian oil at steep discount (given the insatiable energy needs of the Chinese), thereby holding Russia captive to supply oil/gas to China. And Xi and his CCP propaganda machine will continue to make grandiose statement, touting how "impartial" and "neutral" the Chinese might be (when in reality, it's anything but). It's a win-win for Xi and China, though there's no doubt that Xi will have second thoughts on attacking Taiwan militarily, knowing that the West can act in unison, in concerted efforts to sanction aggressor(s).

More foreign companies are pulling out of Russia, though the world should be warry of how a mad dog would do the craziest thing when it's backed into a corner. If Russian army is not afraid of even opening fire on a fucking nuclear plant, what's next? It's not likely Putin will use nuclear weapons (since the impacts are far far far more uncontrollable), but it's fathomable for Russia to use chemical weapons on Ukrainian resistance and civilians. (Just look at how readily the Syrian government - a long-time patron of Russia - had used chemical weapons on its citizens.)

Covid

Western countries are all beginning to loosen up. Various cities are removing the face mask mandate, including London, Boston and New York City. After some two years, economy and life are pretty much back to normal, for the most part. 

Yes, omicron is still circulating, but it's no longer that scary for those who are fully vaccinated, with the hospitalization and death rate remains low. I'm still vigilant, I still keep my social distance, use face masks when I go indoor (to supermarkets, for example), and I still wash hands every time I get home. Out of curiosity, I tested myself yesterday with the home covid self-test kit. I'm negative. I'll probably request for an antibody test (with blood draw) in my next annual checkup to see if I was ever infected in the past two years. I have also been monitoring myself with oximeter, and other vital signs (eg. resting heart rate) using my fitbit. I still have hand sanitizer in my bag at all times. 

I don't see any of these precautions could have caused hardship or tramped on one's freedom. Anyone who's arguing against is doing so at their own peril. Thus, I've totally ignored all the white noise of truckers protesting in Canada, and US. Sure, they can have their freedom, but employers, government and society at large have their freedom too. If these individuals don't want face masks or vaccine, their employers are free to get them fired too. Same goes with government. Society is free to cancel these whiners. Freedom, you see, goes both ways.

At this point, I've tuned out all the infection numbers. As long as the hospitalization rate and death toll of the vaccinated population remains low, I'm happy. Most of the ER hospitalization and death toll were for the unvaccinated population, and after two years and numerous vaccines to choose from (not just the mRNA sort), if they still refuse it, yes that's their choice...to get sick and die. I know I would sound harsh, but I'm mentally tired of coddling these petulant crowds. They know the risks, they want to take the risks, and they get sick and/or die. So, let them. No one should be standing in their fucking way. And government should not subsidize the coddling by paying them to stay home, while others hard at work to pay taxes too. The "I Am Afraid" is no longer an acceptable excuse for not working.

And so, I find the tightening of Hong Kong at this juncture most peculiar, with heavy dose of irony. 

Hong Kong has touted its success for beating back covid for the past two years while the rest of the world endured successive waves of covid. It pushes the world to work harder, to research for vaccines, to collect data, while at the same time, general population geared up for the vaccination. I'm sure at this point, probably everyone in Britain has been infected at least once in the past, they survive, and now they have antibody, making the latest variant in omicron much milder. This is as it should be. When the virus mutates, human bodies have to adapt. 

Hong Kong, on the other hand, bucks the trend. Everyone is still using face masks and social distancing, but it's no longer enough for the far more infectious omicron. At this point, no one can even tell how omicron passes the infection. (Is it on hard surface? Is it in the food? Is it air-borne or air droplets without certain social distance? Is it something else? No one seems to care anymore since it's impossible to do contact tracing anymore, given how exponential the infection rate goes.) 

In a city of 7.5m population that is amongst the most densely populated in the world, it's practically impossible for people to keep the distance at home, no matter how careful they might be when they are outside. It paralyses the Hong Kong government, and its impotence shows glaringly. Instead of being the leader in its fight of SARS, government officials no longer know how to act because - alas! - everything has to be vetted and approved by Beijing. And so, when Beijing insists on Zero-Covid, Zero-Covid it is (even if it doesn't make sense). Carrie Lam doesn't even pretend to understand what the Dynamic Zero is because it's a moving goalpost. This insistence on Zero-Covid is failing miserably in Hong Kong.

In the West, vaccination push starts with the senior community. In Hong Kong, it's the reverse, with seniors vaccination rate in the low 20%. No wonder that hundreds of seniors (like those in their 80s and 90s) are dying of covid like flies. But instead of vaccination push, Hong Kong government instead pushes for neighborhood lockdown as a kneejerk to every single case of reported omicron. Everyone who's tested positive (no matter if it's asymptomatic or not) is ordered to either go to the ER or be sent to quarantine camps. But how could the hospitals and quarantine hotels (then camps) handle sudden spike like this?

To top all these off, Hong Kong government announced mass testing of everyone in the city.  First off, what's the point of testing everyone? What would the government do if, let's say, half of the population is tested positive (but no symptoms)? And then there's the timing of testing. You could be tested negative in the morning, and then get infected (by god-knows-what) in the afternoon. Is the government going to mass-test everyone everyday?  If not, what does that mass testing which might give you "some" result at only one snapshot in time, but it doesn't serve you any purpose if you can't do anything more for those tested positive. 

There's much jokes about how incompetent and ridiculous the Hong Kong government has become. It has forced everyone to use some phone app whenever people want to enter any indoor facility. Though with the very low trust of the government's real intention since the 2019 crackdown of the democratic protests, all that people see is the government trying to track the movement of everyone. There is also no longer any anonymous prepaid SIM cards since they all have to be tied to real person (registration, please, hence more tracking). All of these are not really for covid, but for the bogus "National Security" banner, in pursuit of stamping out all dissenting voices in the city. 

Hong Kong used to be one of the most free-wheeling places in the world, but no more.

As to Covid, there have been reported deaths of some 6m:

Albeit having mutated a number of times, the trend is clearly going down:

Most are seniors folks, most have other preconditions. Maybe it's Mother Nature's way to curb our population growth.  If there's a silver lining to be had, this could be it.

On Wordle #263...

I'm kind of tired today, so only a Wordle game, and nothing else...

Wordle 263 4/6

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Keep praying for Ukraine resistance...

On Wordle #262, Ukraine seige by Russia, and being Woke...

As Poirot would have it, it's good to get our Little Grey Cells working daily...

Wordle 262 4/6

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Much as I have ignored all Trump news (since he's irrelevant and his outrageous words/acts are not worth my time), I don't even bother much with those so-called negotiations with or grandiose statements from Putin, threatening the wider world to let him be, so that he can finish off with the Ukraine attack militarily. Likewise, it's a total waste of time to even bother with any statements from China's CCP propaganda machine (which in effect, twist every single facts to point fingers at others). In effect, anything that Putin and Xi accuse others of, they are describing themselves EXACTLY.  

Putin calls this a "peacekeeping mission." What a big fat fucking lie.

On a different note, I was reading this very verbose opinion piece on Bloomberg News about this biracical woman who was brought up and has benefited under the International Schools system, and then 26 years later, she now professes to "discover" the truth, and advocates more diversity on International Schools faculty. I'm in turn bemused, empathic, but ultimately can't help shaking my head while reading this young woman's account and lament. One can't get more Woke than this, waking up one day to suddenly realize that discrimination is - alas! - alive and well.

So, after being so dimmed for 26 years, she claims to have discovered how White the faculty generally is. She lauds the excellent education she's had, how diverse the student body is (even if faculty is far more homogeneous), and that most International Schools these days cater for local populations, with local parents demanding a faculty who are native-English speakers (and blond hair, blue-eyed preferably). She goes on to lambast the compensation disparity between "expats" and "local hire." 

In a way, we all knew this. She argues that International Schools administration needs to open up faculty to more diverse staff, yet she has not realized that she contradicts herself indicating that it's the students' parents (who are the ultimate "paying customers" of these very expensive schools) who are demanding a homogeneous faculty. What she fails to understand is that, when customers want it, schools deliver it. In that sense, she's barking up the wrong tree. Instead of accusing school administration for not being progressive enough, she should have accused and shamed the students' parents for being regressive. 

As a parent, what would be the motivation in upsetting the apple cart?  If the education is excellent (as the writer has admitted), if the school credentials give their children a leg-up in climbing the social ladder, why would a parent want to upset the system? 

But of course we knew that answer already. It's really those outsiders who are looking from the outside in, those who don't benefit from the system, those who can't get a lucrative job offer, they are those who lament about discrimination, or systemic racism. 

The irony is plain to see. While iterating the number of luminaries graduated from the International Schools system, including government presidents, scientists, company executives, from all over the world - and yes, with different skin colors - this is hardly a "racism" or discrimination in the traditional sense of the word.

What she should have been lamenting, is classism, inequitable social classes from around the world, rather than discrimination or racism based on simplistic skin colors. But, being as simpleton as she is, having being suddenly Woke, she hasn't even realized what she should actually be lashing against. All she could surmise, is skin colors. How quaint.

She is of course not the only one who wants to be Woke, not knowing what she actually be Woke for. 

It reminds me of how various industries want to jump onto the Woke bandwagon, one-upping each other to be more Woke than the next guy.  Just last month, Victoria Secret's has announced hiring a model with Down Syndrome. It is indeed historic. In a way, I'm happy to see more opportunities for more people, I truly am. Yet, I'm not really hopeful that this would change anything at all.

Why does a fashion company hire a model (or a movie studio hiring a movie star)? It isn't just about having a body to sling the clothing on, or some actor/actress telling a story. Nay, clothing has always been about selling an image, something that women can aspire to and men can fantasize with (in their wet dreams). In Victoria Secret's case, it's even more pronounced since they are lingerie, something that's inherently about selling a sexual fantasy (though it might be too politically incorrect to even utter these words these days). 

You would ask, what does that have to do with whether the lingerie model is Down or not? Well, it depends on whether that model can get other women (non-Down) to aspire to, and more men to salivate for. No one would say it out loud, and this 24yo young woman doesn't look Down at all, but my bet is, no one will aspire to a Down model. Civility would have us all to banish crass words and crude manners from existence, but it's all simply pushing everything underground. THAT, in essence, has become the cause of backlash of the PC culture (aka. politically correct), aka. Woke.

And I'll guarantee you, if you see far far far more success stories of Blacks making into the news, the kind of success that doesn't simply about being outrageous or outlandish (as, say, Kanye West and Kim K. do), something that people can aspire to, it'll be far more effective than pushing for having a black fashion model here or there, but ultimately it's just a token gesture that won't last. 

The same goes with movie studios. Movie studios ultimately wants a bankable movie (be it director, or actors/actresses), they don't care about being Woke, only to the extent that whatever Woke actions will bring in paying audience. 

A lot of empathic younger generations joining the Woke movement want to do the right thing, that's a totally good thing. But if they want to scorch earth, tear down the system to reestablish a new one, they would be hitting their heads on the wall. Case in point: The abject failure of BBB (Biden's Build Back Better bill). Far-left progressives want to put all the blame on Joe Manchin, but they fail to realize or acknowledge that Manchin has a lot of support from Independents and moderates, and they are in far far far larger numbers than the vocal but small numbers of far-left progressives. Just because you yell and scream the loudest doesn't necessarily mean you'll get your way. It would just make you look like that very cranky old man, Bernie Sanders.

On Wordle #261, and Day 11 of Russian Attack on Ukraine...

This was fun...

Wordle 261 3/6

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As the Russian siege of Ukraine continues, dragging on for 11 days now, one has to wonder how long Putin can keep up the façade. The exodus of foreign businesses accelerates. Following Visa and Mastercard, Amex now suspends operations in Russia too. Weaponry is flowing into Ukraine resistance. I find it almost amusing to see that Putin whines about the West canceling Russia with all the exodus. Well, what does he expect? What a dickhead.

And finally, the public and world at large might be succeeding in shaming Joe Biden to finally consider embargo of Russian oil, just to make a stance. But read this:

    Biden has been “very clear about one thing all along as well, which is we’re not going to put the United States in direct conflict with Russia," he said, noting that "if you declare a space 'no fly,' and a Russian plane flies through it, it means we have to shoot it down."

    "For everything we’re doing for Ukraine, the president also has a responsibility to not get us into a direct conflict, a direct war with Russia, a nuclear power, and risk a war that expands even beyond Ukraine to Europe,” he continued. “That’s clearly not our interest. What we’re trying to do is end this war in Ukraine, not start a larger one.”

To be honest, if I were Putin, knowing that Biden has already blinked, it's a tacit way to tell Russia that they can do whatever they want in Ukraine, carte blanche. Statements like this, is as stupid as it comes. I simply can't believe it when I read it.

One thing Biden did right, is to cultivate an alliance of allies. Has he not laid the groundwork, I don't think the financial sanctions (particularly with the sledgehammer of banning Russian banks from SWIFT) would have come so swiftly, pun intended. 

Although Joe Biden isn't really cut out to be a wartime leader, it's a world of difference to have him in White House now when the Ukraine attack happens. I cannot begin to fathom, had it been Trump still in the White House. Instead of sanctioning Russia's aggression, Trump would have made a pilgrim trip to Moscow to congratulate Putin for a job well-done. At least finally Mike Pence has had enough, tsk-tsk'ing "Putin apologists" in front of GOP donors. This is finally a bridge too far for Pence, for what Trump did. 

On the funding side...

I must say, this generation can be quite creative to weaponize the web. People have been making bookings in Ukraine on Airbnb, though with no intention of using the reservations, but simply as a roundabout way to donate to Ukrainians who are staying to fight the good fight. Certainly it's a way for people to feel good about themselves for being able to do something about this military attack and to help people in needs. One has to wonder if it actually has the intended effects. While it might not have the intended effects as donating to traditional charities like The Red Cross whose efforts are directed helping those who are in needs, rather than those who have a bank account. 

Ukraine government has also been crowdsourcing funding which has reached $200m so far which is pretty impressive.

On Wordle #260, and Day 10 of Russian Attack on Ukraine...

It's another day in the Wordle land...

Wordle 260 5/6

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The siege of Ukraine continues. This CNN coverage captures the gist of it. More fighting, more heroic acts of the Ukrainian people, in the face of Russian soldiers and weaponry. More companies are joining the exodus. 

The economic sanctions have inflicted pain on Russian economy. Remarkably, Putin continues to call the bluff. As a former KGB, he sees human weakness when he sees one, and he exploits it. The NATO Secretary-General flatly rejects the idea of enforcing the no-fly zone, and Joe Biden says similar statement that enforcing no-fly zone would draw NATO and US into all-out war with Russia, and they are still trying to appease Putin to avoid that prospect. Sensing that wobble, Putin sends out an ultimatum of sort, saying that any enforcement of no-fly zone is a "declaration of war," and anyone doing so is a "participant" to this conflict.

I'm flabbergasted. Did NATO and US not see, that this is ALREADY an all-out war? Do they seriously think that Putin will stop at Ukraine only?!? How many more countries does Putin have to invade before NATO and US think, ok it's time to act?

And to see a weak man (in such a weakened position) as Putin huffing and puffing like this - threatening, no less - demanding that NATO and US to stand down so that Russia can finish the job with Ukraine, I'm, like, WTF!!??!??!!  Are Biden and NATO really this imbecile? Is Putin really this idiotic? 

Ukraine's President Zelensky is exactly right in lambasting NATO and US, pleading them to enforce the no-fly zone in order to cut off the air coverage advantage of the Russian force. How many more people have to die before NATO will act? 

Not often do we see people standing their ground and fight for their own country, particularly when they are repressed by their own leaders. Just look at what has happened in Syria. But even in other countries like Afghanistan, even with billions of assistance, weaponry, training, those Afghan government soldiers flee even before Taliban came marching back in again. Its government leaders flee even faster than anyone else. It's so shameful. And then we have Ukraine whose leaders stay and fight with their own people, to defend their land. THAT is why Ukraine deserves the respect and assistance from the rest of the world.

Like it or not, this very hot and new Cold War is upon us. And it's not just one villain (Russia), but two (with China too). 

On Wordle #259, and Day 9 of Russian Attack on Ukraine...

Don't you just hate it when there are too many word options?

Wordle 259 5/6

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It's Day 9, and Ukraine is holding on to its resistance, but Russia is relentless. More condemnations are piling on against Putin, including Google suspending adverting in Russia. London Stock Exchange halting all Russian listings from trading since their value all drop to effectively zero. insurers stopping to write policy due to escalating risks. Those individual supporters of Russian attack are also getting banished, including opera singer.  Even imposing currency outflow and hiking interest rate to 20% could not stop foreign companies from fleeing the country.

Putin must be starting to feel the pain from all economic sanctions as he's coming out with more outright lies, saying that his unprovoked attack on another sovereign country bears "no ill intention."  Does he honestly think that his falsehood and empty words could fool anyone anymore? Though of course there are idiots who would tool his line, even blaming the West for starting this goddamn attack. Un-fucking-believable. But as long as China stands ready to be his backup option for a market and source of financial help, Putin probably thinks he can withstand losing the West and still does ok. The question is, how far would China stick its neck out for Russia? Those Chinese are not fools and certainly won't be foolish enough to lose their shirts for the sake of their bff in Russia.

Meantime, the West is huffing and puffing, bloviating more hot air. By jove, UN Security Council agrees to meet (as if we should be feeling so much better now....not!), though what good would that do since Russia can simply vote down any resolution in the UN Security Council, and it'll surely be joined by China. 

The former national security official Alexander Vindman has it exactly right. US really needs to impose embargo on the Russia oil, if only to make a moral stance on the matter. While it's understandable that Joe Biden wouldn't want to put boots on the ground, there is nothing to stop US from supplying air coverage with drones. Though of course if the drones take out any Russian weapons or kill any Russian soldiers, it would have escalated it into a war that drags US in. Arguably US could (and should) supply those weapons to Ukraine, and let them unleash it on the Russians. Let's see how long that sitting duck of a 40-mile military convoy can last.

On Wordle #258, and Day 8 of Russian Attack on Ukraine...

I'm on a row...

Wordle 258 3/6

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I somehow feel almost guilty. While having fun playing Wordle rather mindlessly in the safety and comfort of my home, people are fighting for their lives, their country, trying to repel enemies who have biggest guns and weapons. 

As Day 8 rolls on, more sanction took place, Russian and the Belarussian athletes are banned from Winter Paralympitc Games. Even Russian cats are not welcomed to international competition. Russia is taking the scored earth approach, shelling the Ukrainian nuclear plant, talking about the nuclear option of mutual destruction, you can't get better than this. Other former Eastern Bloc countries are quaking in their pants, knowing that they'll be next in Russia's crosshair, Moldova and Georgia hurry to submit their EU application.

While Biden is putting his team together to do something about Russia, he firmly shoots down the idea of embargo of Russia oil, this is all while the Congress has bipartisan support of much tougher actions against Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine. I find it rather hypocritical for Biden to push Germany to halt Nord Stream 2 (that together with the existing pipeline through Ukraine) would have had relied on the Russian energy supply for some 40% of Germany's needs. So here we are, telling allies in EU to suck it up and suffer higher energy price, while Biden uses the same reasoning to refuse the oil embargo (because that would have likely pushed up gas prices in US). 

With so many techies in Ukraine, they are getting creative, raising funds for war resources not just by traditional means like war bonds, but they're accepting cryptocoins as donation. On the other hand, Russia's credit rating has descended to junk bond territory. Serve them right.

More stinks come out of the Russian-Chinese collaboration, with news that China has requested Russia to hold off on the Ukraine offensive until after the Winter Olympics in Beijing wraps up so as not to steal China's thunder. This really stinks to high heaven. Putin and Xi deserve to go to hell, together, forever.  Though I highly doubt that their buddy-buddy relationship can last for very long, given that China will not stick its neck out for Russia, should China risk its own skin.

Serious business aside, I find this picture from Reuters figuratively, metaphorically, and more importantly, literally illustrious of Macron's efforts in trying to be the elder statesman, but failed miserably. Who could possibly communicate across such a vey very long table?!?

Reuters

On Wordle #257, and Day 7 of Russian Attack on Ukraine...

Here's a bit more luck looks like in Wordle #257...

Wordle 257 3/6

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Putin seems undeterred in his onward march into Ukraine. It's Day 7 since the unprovoked attack began, and there's no sign of stopping. There's more worldwide condemnation, with an overwhelming majority in UN General Assembly voting to condemn the Russian aggression. Being the toothless tiger as it is, the UN resolution has no bite to it, it's non-binding and there's no enforcement as a result. Though it's a great morale support, with 141 member nations voting for the condemnation, 5 (Russia included, of course) voted against it, and 35 countries abstained (including China which is no surprise, but India too? WTF), at least these 141 countries made a stand.

With the military campaign escalating, the first Ukrainian city of Kherson has fallen. Alarm bells rang off, and finally EU agreed to directly provide weapons and military supply to Ukraine (rather than the previous vague stance of allowing individual EU member states to take whatever actions/support they see fit). US slaps more economic sanctions against Russia. There are protests around the world, including within Russia's borders in St Petersburg. 

There will be economic pains. Russian Rubles fell by 20% in value against USD. Its central bank can't mobilize its assets frozen by US to defend its currency or economy. Putin installs currency control to ban any outflow of more than US$10,000. Moscow Stock Exchange closes. Russia would likely accelerate asset sale, but scarcely anyone would buy or deal with toxic Russian companies except the Chinese. Granted that Russia and China have been in bed for decades, it's not likely that Putin would want its strategic industries all being owned by the Chinese. I'd love to see the Russians dueling it out with the Chinese, these two deserve each other with a fight to the death.

Stateside, US Fed is still on course to hike the interest rate since inflation has no sign of abating. For more than 30 years, a few generations of folks have never seen inflation rate higher than 2%, nor interest rate that much above zero. Some blame it on the supply chain bottleneck, but I'd say, it's really about the tightening labor market where people are finally comfortable enough to quit their jobs to find greener pasture...or quit their jobs and not working at all. For a lot of folks, the low wages/salary is simply not good enough to suffer through bad bosses, poor management, and boring jobs. Let's see how far this inflation will go.

On Wordle #256, and Day 6 of Russian Attack on Ukraine

With a bit of luck, Wordle game #256 looks easy...

Wordle 256 4/6

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It's Day 6 of the Russian Attack on Ukraine. More sanctions and actions came, but it's largely cosmetic. Apple stops selling in Russia. The satellites donated by Elon Musk arrives Ukraine. As expected, various crypto exchanges refuses to ban Russia from bypassing financial sanctions from the West, those money-wrapping spineless wankers. Ukraine's courageous president signs the application to officially request EU membership. It's largely cosmetic because Putin keeps pushing on, with military convoy stretching 40 miles long, shelling and attacking Kharkiv, the second-largest city of Ukraine. 

Could the help - any help - from West come soon enough to rescue Kyiv, its capital from being overtaken by Russia? The courage of Ukrainians, both average citizens and its leaders, is on full display, standing their ground to fight in whatever ways they can. 

It's shameful that the world does not do more to beat back naked aggression like this. It harks back to the First Gulf War when Bush Sr. launched the shock-and-awe lightning campaign to beat back Saddam Hussein's military incursion into Kuwait, pushing Iraq back to its own borders. Somehow I doubt that Joe Biden has the tenacity to launch any military campaign. Heck, if Biden has his ways, had Obama not made the executive decision in that war room, SEAL Team 6 would not even have taken out Osama bin Laden. Given how desperate Biden had withdrawn from Afghanistan (in the chaotic retreat last year), it's almost certain that Biden would not want to start another war for US. This is of course music to Putin's ears, betting that Biden would just use words and more words, talking people to death, but doing nothing else. And so, now is as good a time as ever to do annexation, Biden be damned.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise at all that the approval rating of Joe Biden is so low, even if he's barely one year into office, the official honeymoon period.  

I always thought, if I were born in war time, I would rather go to the frontline to fight than to hide in a hole, just to survive.

I pray for Ukraine. 

On Wordle #255, and the world learning from WWII mistakes...

As I'm playing Wordle game #255...

Wordle 255 5/6

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the world is grappling with the horrendous military aggression of Putin.  He's been testing the water to see how the world would react when he pushes the envelope, most notably, the annexation of Georgia in 2008, and then the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The world effectively stood by and did nothing. Afterall it's easier to look the other way and does nothing when the terrible event was happening thousands of miles away. Without any ramification, Putin now goes for a much bigger prize, attacking Ukraine which is far more valuable strategically.

I'm thus glad to see that the world is piling on harsh sanctions against Russia, meant to cripple its economy and its ability to fund the war effort on Ukraine. Not only will Russian banks be kicked off from SWIFT, but oil companies are pulling out of Russia, Russian planes are disallowed from the air space from EU and other countries, even FIFA (traditionally weak in its response, much like IOC) is kicking Russia off of the World Cup roster. Even Germany has finally come around to halt Nord Stream 2 (which would have increased Germany's reliance on Russia), and pledges to provide more military support to Ukraine government. (Germany's initial response of donating 5000 helmets has become a butt-joke.) Russia's aggression has even pushed those more neutral countries like Sweden and Finland to consider joining EU formally, and Switzerland has made the surprising stance to drop its neutrality to freeze Russian assets. US has also frozen Russia's currency reserve to prevent Russia's central bank from moving the assets to shore up the value of Rubles which is falling fast.

I have to admit, Zelenskyy (the Ukrainian president) has shown much courage, smarts and perseverance through its resistance against Russia's onslaught, and in insisting to stay in Kyiv to fight with his own people. Through it all, he's earned the support and respect of the world over. Who would have thought that a TV personality, a comedian no less, turns out to be a profile in courage. He'll go down in history as someone to remember.

We knew from history that appeasement policy would not work in preventing aggression from authoritarian regimes. (Case in point: Chamberlain and Hitler.)  At long last, the world has closed ranks in its united stance against Russia.  Most notably missing in the condemnation, is China and Latin American countries. No doubt Xi from China is watching very closely to see how effectively (or not) the world's resistance might be in beating back aggression, and what price one might have to pay in being the aggressor. Some day, Xi will do the same against Taiwan.  I'm counting on it that when that time comes, the world will stand tall again.