The Forth..

 

Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies' separation from Great Britain. 

The Constitution provides the legal and governmental framework for the United States.

According to a 2022 Gallup poll, only 38% of Americans consider themselves extremely proud to be American. Still, according to the National Retail Federation, some 87% of Americans are planning to celebrate Independence Day this year.  have a happy celeberation.

Ask..

 

Hike..

 

Hammer....

 

In 1868, a London periodical, Once a Week, contained this observation: "Give a boy a hammer and chisel; show him how to use them; at once he begins to hack the doorposts, to take off the corners of shutter and window frames, until you teach him a better use for them, and how to keep his activity within bounds."

In his 2003 book, Of Paradise and Power, historian Robert Kagan suggested a corollary to the law: "When you don't have a hammer, you don't want anything to look like a nail."

According to Kagan, the corollary explains the difference in views on the use of military force the United States and Europe have held since the end of World War II.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs. 

Dodgy..

 "He made the most famous public argument in favor of the war in a memorable briefing at the U.N. Security Council," said Peter Feaver, an expert on civil-military relations at Duke University, who said the argument "was subsequently found to rely on dodgy intelligence."

Secretary of State Colin Powell holds up a vial he said could contain anthrax as he presents evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons programs to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003. That evidence proved "flawed," as Powell said later. 

For years, Powell was repeatedly asked about his U.N. address, at one point saying it was a "blot" on his record and at other times appearing defensive, saying many were responsible.

Inflation..

 

There are multiple factors contributed to the skyrocketing inflation around the world. But there should also be no doubt that soaring prices of energy and a slew of bulk commodities driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the reckless US-led Western economic sanctions against Russia also exacerbated global inflation.  

Against this backdrop, the US' recent eagerness to play up the impact of the zero-COVID policy on China's and the global supply chain is actually a failed attempt to pass the buck and a sinister plot to hide their failure and surrender to the virus and the massive costs of their economic sanctions against Russia. 

At a time when global supply chains haven't fully recovered from the pandemic, the situation in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia have exacerbated disruptions to supply chains. With shortages seen in energy, raw materials and food supplies, countries around the world are bearing the brunt of Washington's geopolitical gambits. 

[Global Times  Published: Apr 14, 2022]

Bias .

 

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. 

The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.   

"So we all believed the intelligence." 

 "The United Kingdom and other nations believed in the intelligence.   the principal presenter of the case may carry a great burden, when it turned out that so much of it was flawed. It was a single-sourced and a very unreliable that we should have been aware."

Classified document didn't help proper understanding of the war to come, the loss of life, and destruction of families.    (Elise Amendola/AP.)

EDCA..

 

Every few days we seem to have a different policy from the White House. The documents are all classified so the public would be in the dark of what is really happening. 

Blinken visited China and met with the Chinese top officials. Was it successful? 

Few days later the president discovered that Xi is a dictator. So we got few words shared and mostly classified. 

The United States stands steadfastly in support of the Philippines as we announced plans today to expand the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Arrangement (EDCA) to include four new sites: Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan. That's in addition to the five existing sites.

Compliments..

 

Worked..