Massive Memorial Service for Charlie Kirk!

             (David Smith’s post from The GUARDIAN UK 23September 2025.)

Democrats silent as Republicans galvanised after Charlie Kirk memorial: Democrats trod carefully in responding to event attended by nearly 100,000 that blended politics with religion.

Democrats maintained a wary silence on Monday as Donald Trump’s Republican party appeared galvanised by a memorial service for the late rightwing activist Charlie Kirk that was part religious revival, part political rally.

Nearly 100,000 people filled an American football stadium and overflow arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday to pay tribute to Kirk, according to his his organisation Turning Point USA. The 31-year-old staunch Trump ally was shot dead on 10 September.

KIA Disrupts Myanmar Rare Earth Flow To China

           (Devjyot Ghoshal’s post from the REUTERS NEWS on 17 September 2025.)

BANGKOK, March 28 (Reuters) - When armed rebels seized northern Myanmar's rare-earths mining belt in October, they dealt a blow to the country's embattled military junta - and wrested control of a key global resource.

By capturing sites that produce roughly half of the world's heavy rare earths, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) rebels have been able to throttle the supply of minerals used in wind turbines and electric vehicles, sending prices of one key element skyward.

The KIA is seeking leverage against neighbouring China, which supports the junta and has invested heavily in rare earths mining in Myanmar's Kachin state, according to two people familiar with the matter.

India Working with KIA for Rare Earth Minerals

       (Staff posts from the ECONOMIC TIMES INDIA on 10 September 2025.)

India explores rare-earth deal with Myanmar rebels after Chinese curbs: India is working to obtain rare-earth samples from Myanmar with the assistance of a powerful rebel group, according to four people familiar with the matter, as it seeks alternative supplies of a strategic resource tightly controlled by China.

India's Ministry of Mines asked state-owned and private firms to explore collecting and transporting samples from mines in northeastern Myanmar that are under the control of the Kachin Independence Army, three of the people said.

State-owned miner IREL (India Rare Earth Limited) and private firm Midwest Advanced Materials - which received government funding last year for the commercial manufacturing of rare-earth magnets - were among those involved in the discussions, the sources said.

Last Days of Sean Connery (1930-2020)

                (Nisha’s post from her FACE BOOK on 11 September 2025.)

In 2016, Sean Connery had quietly stepped away from the public eye, living a serene life in the Bahamas. The man once known for his commanding presence and iconic voice now preferred early mornings with the sound of ocean waves instead of red carpets.

He spent much of his time in his Lyford Cay home, walking slowly through the garden with his wife, Micheline Roquebrune, sometimes stopping to sit under the shade of a palm tree where they would sip tea and talk about art, travel, and the quiet beauty of growing old together.

By 2017, Connery had become more reclusive, though still sharp in moments of clarity. Friends who visited recalled how his eyes still held the same intensity that once defined characters like James Bond and Jim Malone. But his memory began to falter. He often forgot names, struggled to follow conversations, and occasionally seemed lost in his own house.

Charlie Kirk Assassinated by a Sniper in Utah!

                 (Editorial post from the NEW YORKER on 11 September2025.)

Charlie Kirk, the conservative media figure and influential supporter of Donald Trump, was shot and killed today while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Graphic videos captured by those in attendance appear to show Kirk being struck in the neck by a bullet. He was thirty-one.

The President announced Kirk’s death on social media, and requested flags across the country be flown at half-staff. Other major political figures from across the ideological spectrum, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, condemned the shooting and political violence.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA, a youth-focussed right-wing nonprofit, in 2012, when he was just eighteen. “It’s impossible to overstate his role in MAGA and Republican politics,” Antonia Hitchens, a New Yorker staff writer who covers politics, told us over e-mail from Washington, D.C.

Mexico’s Molar City Could Transform Your Smile.

              (Burkhard Bilger’s post from THE NEWYORKER on 28 July 2025.)

Mexico’s Molar City Could Transform My Smile. Did I Want It To? More than a thousand dentists have set up shop in Los Algodones. Their patients are mostly Americans who can’t afford the U.S.’s dental care.

Los Algodones was built on leaps of faith. A short walk from the United States, it’s a place for the poor, the afflicted, the huddled masses without dental insurance. On weekday mornings in late winter, they start to arrive before dawn. They drive in from Arizona or California, catch a shuttle from Yuma, or park their car in a lot in the Sonoran Desert and cross the border on foot.

The path for pedestrians follows State Route 186, past a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses offering free Bible courses, along a twisting corridor of razor wire and chain-link fence, through passport control, and into Los Algodones.

Trafficking of Young Men and Boys in Myanmar

               (Based on the Burmese post from the FACE BOOK in August 2025.)

A destitute family of three in the hellhole called war-ravaged Myanmar. Old mother made and sold Burmese snacks under the big kokeko tree next to their tiny hut on the tiny piece of land they owned. The old father formerly was a carpenter but had a severe stroke and paralysed and ended up permanently in bed.

They have one young son who worked as a bricklayer and, being a good boy, he gave his daily wages to his old parents. Even though they were poor they had a reasonable life together. Then one day the tragedy struck.

On his way back home from work that day the boy was forcefully grabbed by the drafters from Mynamar Army and Myanmar Police, the hellish brutes, universally hated by their own people of Myanmar. They put him in jail and then went to his old parents and tried to haggle for his release.

Give us 10,000,000 Myanmar kyats (about US$ 2,500) if they want their son back, demanded they. Othewise he would be sent to a boot camp for two months and then be fighting the ethnic insurgents at the faraway front lines by the Chinese border.

Chongqing Basket Subway Line for Poor Vege Farmers

The Chongqing basket line refers to Chongqing Rail Transit Line 4, a metro line nicknamed the "Basket Line" because it's used daily by farmers to transport fresh produce in baskets from rural areas to city markets.

This unique system of urban-rural integration allows farmers to sell their goods at higher prices, while providing the city with fresh, local food and fostering a mutually beneficial connection between the countryside and the city center.

Chongqing is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. It is the only directly administrated municipality located deep inland.

The municipality covers a large geographical area roughly the size of Austria, which includes several disjunct urban areas in addition to Chongqing proper. Due to its classification, the municipality of Chongqing is the largest city proper in the world by population, though Chongqing is not the most populous urban area.

AI: The End of The English Essay Writing?

             (Hua Hsu’s post from the NEW YORKER MAGAZZINE on 30 June 2025.)

What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing? The demise of the English paper will end a long intellectual tradition, but it’s also an opportunity to reëxamine the purpose of higher education. There are no reliable figures for how many students use A.I., just stories about how everyone is doing it.

On a blustery spring Thursday, just after midterms, I went out for noodles with Alex and Eugene, two undergraduates at New York University, to talk about how they use artificial intelligence in their schoolwork. When I first met Alex, last year, he was interested in a career in the arts, and he devoted a lot of his free time to photo shoots with his friends.

But he had recently decided on a more practical path: he wanted to become a C.P.A. His Thursdays were busy, and he had forty-five minutes until a study session for an accounting class. He stowed his skateboard under a bench in the restaurant and shook his laptop out of his bag, connecting to the internet before we sat down.

Turning Point When Your Body's Aging Accelerates

           (Michelle Starr’s post from the SCIENCE ALERT on 28 July 2025.)

Study Reveals Turning Point When Your Body's Aging Accelerates: The passage of time may be linear, but the course of human aging is not. Rather than a gradual transition, your life staggers and lurches through the rapid growth of childhood, the plateau of early adulthood, to an acceleration in aging as the decades progress.

Now, a new study has identified a turning point at which that acceleration typically takes place: at around age 50. After this time, the trajectory at which your tissues and organs age is steeper than the decades preceding, according to a study of proteins in human bodies across a wide range of adult ages – and your veins are among the fastest to decline.

"Based on aging-associated protein changes, we developed tissue-specific proteomic age clocks and characterized organ-level aging trajectories. Temporal analysis revealed an aging inflection around age 50, with blood vessels being a tissue that ages early and is markedly susceptible to aging," writes a team led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "Together, our findings lay the groundwork for a systems-level understanding of human aging through the lens of proteins."

Trump’s Rare Earth Deal with KIA?

          (Antonio Graceffo’s post from the MIZZIMA-ENGLISH on 30 July 2025.)

Trump Administration Considers Rare Earth Deal That Could Reshape the Burma Conflict: In a groundbreaking shift, the Trump administration is reportedly considering two proposals for securing rare earth minerals from Myanmar, resources critical to advanced weaponry and battery production.

The first option would involve engaging directly with the military junta, which would carry the side effect of granting it de facto recognition. The second, far more transformative option, would be to bypass the junta entirely and negotiate directly with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the ethnic armed organization that controls most of Myanmar’s rare earth mining territory.

If the U.S. chooses the latter, it would mark a historic break from the longstanding convention of democratic governments only engaging with officially recognized state authorities. Such a move would not only grant legitimacy to the KIA but also offer hope to all of Burma’s ethnic armed organizations, many of which have long sought international recognition and support.

The Living Years by Mike & The Mechanics (1988)

         (Lyrics and the music video of “The Living Years by Mike & Mechanics”.)

Every generation, Blames the one before

And all of their frustrations, Come beating on your door

I know that I'm a prisoner, To all my Father held so dear

I know that I'm a hostage, To all his hopes and fears

I just wish I could have told him in the living years.

 

Oh, crumpled bits of paper, Filled with imperfect thought

Stilted conversations, I'm afraid that's all we've got

You say you just don't see it, He says it's perfect sense

You just can't get agreement, In this present tense

We all talk a different language, Talking in defence.

Trump working on Access to Myanmar's Rare Earths

             (Staff post from the REUTERS on 29 July 2025.)

Trump team hears pitches on access to Myanmar's rare earths: The Trump administration has heard competing proposals that would significantly alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Myanmar, with the aim of diverting its vast supplies of rare earth minerals away from strategic rival China, four people with direct knowledge of the discussions said.

Nothing has been decided and experts say there are huge logistical obstacles, but if the ideas are ever acted upon, Washington may need to strike a deal with the ethnic rebels controlling most of Myanmar's rich deposits of heavy rare earths.

Among the proposals are one advocating talks with Myanmar's ruling junta to get a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army rebels and another calling for the U.S. to instead work directly with the KIA without engaging the junta. Washington has avoided direct talks with the country's military leaders following their overthrow of the country's democratically elected government in 2021.

Thailand Vs Cambodia Border War?

          (Facebook post from the PHILLIPINES STAR on 25 July 2025.)

Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the border between their countries in a major escalation that left at least 14 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched airstrikes.

Fighting took place in at least six areas on Thursday, according to Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, a day after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers and led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia’s envoy to Thailand.

On Friday, Cambodia’s chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said clashes resumed early in the morning near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours.

The Importance of Kachin State to Myanmar’s Revolution

                    (Michael Martin’s post from the CSIS on 22 July 2025.)

Four years on, Myanmar’s civil war has spread to all 14 regions and states, as well as the major cities of Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Yangon.

According to the analysis of the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, opposition groups have effective control over 34 percent of the country’s landmass, including all but one of the border townships.

Townships under opposition control form a crescent that arcs from Rakhine State in the west, through Chin State, Sagaing Region, across Kachin State, and into Shan State in the east. Almost all of the cross-border towns with neighboring Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand are under the administration of opposition forces.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its affiliated People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) have reportedly captured more than 300 military installations and 15 towns in Kachin State, Shan State, or Sagaing Region since the 2021 coup. The KIA and its allies have also taken control of all but one of the border crossings into China. In addition, they control most of Kachin’s valuable mining region, including its rare earth mines.

Rumours of Xi’s fall are wishful thinking?

              (B. R. Deepak’s post from the SUNDAY GUARDIAN on 06 July 2025.)

Rumours of the imminent or actual political demise of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMS) by overseas Chinese dissidents, have been simmering in recent times.

At the heart of these rumours is Xi’s unusual disappearance from public view for nearly two weeks in the month of May. Fingers have been pointed to factional rivalry between the so-called “Princeling” and once formidable “Shanghai” clique represented by Jiang Zemin and his loyalists. Some other signals that fed the rumour mill is that the May Politburo meeting, a routine fixture, did not take place.

In the military realm, Xi’s removal of senior generals such as Vice Chairman of the CMC, He Weidong Admiral Miao Hua, the director of the CMC’s political work department, responsible for ideological control and personnel management within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have dominated the headlines.

Xi Jinping is Cornered by a Silent Coup?

        (Edward Wenming’s post from the VISION TIMES NEWS on 09 July 2025.)

Xi Jinping Cornered: Is a Silent Coup Reshaping China’s Power Structure? On June 30, Beijing’s top-ruling body, the Politburo, called a meeting to review the “Regulations on the Work of the Party Central Committee’s Decision-Making and Coordination Bodies.” The meeting was personally chaired by Xi Jinping, Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

As soon as the news broke, it sparked widespread interpretations. Many observers believe that, coming at this sensitive moment on the eve of the Beidaihe meeting, Zhongnanhai’s release of these regulations is effectively creating a new, higher-level Politburo above the existing one. This not only underscores Xi Jinping’s weakening grip on power, but also carries multiple hidden political signals.

So what kind of body is this exactly? Why would Xi agree to place a tightening shackle on himself — to elevate a supervisory “matron” over his own authority? What’s so unusual about the wording of this official communiqué? And what kind of political storm is brewing inside Zhongnanhai? Where is China’s shifting political landscape headed?

The Murchison Rock Meteorite in Victoria, Australia

             (Fiona Pepper’s post from the ABC NEWS Australia on 02 October 2019.)

The Secrets Of The Universe: The Murchison meteorite is one of the most scientifically significant space rocks ever discovered. It fell to Earth on September 28, 1969, near the town of Murchison in Victoria, Australia. A bright fireball was seen streaking across the sky before the meteorite exploded in the atmosphere and scattered fragments across a wide area.

What makes the Murchison meteorite so extraordinary is its composition. It's classified as a carbonaceous chondrite, a rare type of meteorite rich in organic compounds and primitive solar system material. Scientists believe it is over 4.6 billion years old, meaning it formed during the very early days of the solar system.

When researchers analyzed the Murchison fragments, they discovered over 70 amino acids—the building blocks of life. Many of these are not found naturally on Earth, strongly suggesting an extraterrestrial origin. In later studies, scientists even identified sugars and nucleobases, which are crucial for RNA and DNA. This raised a profound possibility: the ingredients for life may have been delivered to Earth from space.

The Party Elders Who May Challenge Xi Jinping

            (Melinda Liu’s post from the FOREIGN POLICY on 13 October 2022.)

Succession has always been the Chinese Communists’ Achilles’s heel: By Melinda Liu, Newsweek’s Beijing bureau chief.

They used to be called the “Eight Immortals”: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elders who wielded political influence behind the scenes. In the spring of 1989, as street protests and internal power struggles bedevilled strongman Deng Xiaoping, he trotted out seven senior retired officials to help him unify a factionalized leadership and calm an emotional public. Together, the elders purged Deng’s heir apparent, Zhao Ziyang, who had sympathized with the demonstrators, and soldiers were ordered to open fire on civilians.

Watching Chinese TV at the time, I was among a group of foreign media and diplomats who could hardly believe it when the aged revolutionaries—most of whom had long faded from public view—were suddenly thrust back into the limelight, standing together on nationwide TV. A Western newspaper reporter beside me muttered, “It’s like I’m watching Night of the Living Dead.”

Return of Hu Jintao: Dangerous Days in Forbidden City

             (Maurice Newman’s post from the SPECTATOR Australia on 21 June 2025.)

In October 2022, when former Chinese president and respected party elder, Hu Jintao, was televised being unceremoniously escorted out of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, the whole world got a glimpse of the ruthlessness of Chinese politics.

Hu’s departure was during the closing ceremony of the Communist party’s 20th National Congress during which Xi Jinping had secured an unprecedented, third, five-year term as party chief. Hu’s humiliation sent an emphatic signal that the Xi faction was in absolute control,

Since then several purges have been conducted, intended to further entrench the ‘Chairman of Everything’, by ensuring only those close to him secured senior positions. But it’s no longer happy days in the Forbidden City.

President Xi Jinping’s Quiet Military Purge

              (Tom Clifford’s post from the COUNTER PUNCH on 01 July 2025.) 

President Xi Jinping has put the Chinese military in the crosshairs as he proves once again that Mao Zedong’s metaphor, power is gained through the barrel of a gun, remains as relevant today as it was when the communists took power in 1949.

Admiral Miao Hua was responsible for ideology and loyalty within the armed forces. His own loyalty was questioned and he was removed after allegations of corruption. Miao was originally suspended from the CMC in 2024 as he was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline”. Those words, in China, mean guilty of corruption and are as damming as any court verdict.

Miao is the eighth member of the Central Military Commission (it only has six members) to be ousted since Xi took power in 2012. The expulsion of CMC members was previously unheard of since the era of Mao.

The Mysterious Death of Ex-Premier Li Keqiang

           (Janet Huang’s post from the VISION TIME NEWS on 18 June 2025.) 

The Mysterious Death of Li Keqiang and the Fractures Splitting China’s Leadership: The sudden death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in October 2023 sent shockwaves across China — but for many, the official account was met with deep skepticism. Authorities claimed Li died of a sudden heart attack while swimming, but rumors of foul play have persisted.

Now, a dramatic allegation has surfaced, adding fuel to those suspicions. A figure claiming inside knowledge — using the pseudonym “Nothing to Say” — has come forward with what he describes as a detailed account of a state-sanctioned assassination.

According to this whistleblower, Li’s death was no tragic accident but rather a cold, calculated execution code-named Operation 23107, ordered from within the Chinese state apparatus itself.

Shockwave of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Death

         (Jennifer Zeng’s post from the JAPAN FORWARD on 07 November 2023.) 

Shockwave of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Death: End of Old Era, or Beginning of New One? Li Keqiang's death shocked many and has raised some uncomfortable questions about the consolidation of power and future of China, reports author Jennifer Zeng.

Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's death has sent shockwaves through Chinese society. He passed away suddenly after only seven months out of office, drawing massive attention both domestically and abroad.

With the cremation of his body, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities are forcibly seeking to quell this shockwave. Some lament that Li's passing marks the end of an era. But does it also herald the beginning of another?

Why Li Keqiang's death is dangerous for Xi Jinping

             (Stephen McDonell’s post from the BBC NEWS UK on 27 Oct 2023.)

The death of a leader in China can usher in big changes, it did after Mao Zedong, or can lead to political upheaval, like it did when grieving for Hu Yaobang morphed into the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

For this reason, the passing of former premier Li Keqiang has already triggered various measures to ensure that stability is maintained. A crackdown on VPN use is under way to reduce the access of Chinese citizens to the parts of the internet not controlled by the Communist Party.

The Party doesn't want mourning for a popular, liberal, former number two leader to generate wider criticism of the current administration, led by Xi Jinping. It is not just that Li died so suddenly, suffering a heart attack just months after stepping down, but because of what he represented: a way of potentially governing China with different priorities to those of the General Secretary Xi.

Li Keqiang: Ex-Premier sidelined by Xi Jinping dies at 68

             (Yvette Tan’s post from the BBC NEWS UK on 27 Oct 2023.)

Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang has died of a heart attack aged 68. State media said he died at 10 minutes past midnight on Friday (October 27, 2023) despite "all-out" efforts to revive him. Li was once tipped to be the country's future leader but was overtaken by President Xi Jinping.

A trained economist, he held the second highest-ranked position in China, though in recent years, he was widely isolated amongst China's top leadership. He was the only incumbent top official who didn't belong to Mr Xi's loyalists group.

"Li's death means the loss of a prominent moderating voice within the senior levels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with no one apparently being able to take over the mantle," Ian Chong, non resident scholar at the Carnegie China think tank told the BBC. "This probably means even less restraint on Mr Xi's exercise of power and authority."

Billion Bahts Police Corruption in Thailand’s Maesot

             (Based on the post from the PEOPLE’s SPRING on 05 July 2025.)

There are about 250,000 Burmese living in the frontier Thai-Myanmar Border Town of Maesot, either legally or illegally. They all must pay, unofficially of course, the Thai Police in Maesot to live in peace there and also earn a living among only 100,000 Thai locals.

As non-citizens, no Burmese has Thai Identity Card, and they are all forced to carry a basic identity card called The Police Card at the monthly cost of 600 bahts (roughly US$ 15). The Police Card allowed the Burmese to be out and about in Maesot Town from 6 am to 8 pm. Outside of that time they would be arrested if they are outside and required to pay the arresting police a bribe of from 10,000 (US$ 250) to 50,000 (US$ 1,250) bahts.

On top of that Police Card the Burmese there have to pay for additional cards such as Motorbike Cards at the monthly cost of 1,500 bahts (US$ 40) to own and ride a motorbike and Sam-lor Cards at the monthly cost of 5,000 bahts (US$ 150) to operate a Three-Wheeler Bike carrier business.

Coup in Communist China: Xi Jinping Removed?

          (Nivedita Dash’s post from the INDIA.COM on 04 July 2025.)

Either dead or in prison?

Xi Jinping’s oldest enemy ready to end Xi’s rule in China, silent coup on against super powerful Chinese president: Chinese President Xi Jinping has been missing for the past two weeks as he has not been seen anywhere between late May and early June.

Various questions are arising due to the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the last two weeks. Is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s power coming to an end? Is there a plot for a coup in China?. There is no news of him even in the Chinese government’s mouthpiece People’s Daily, although he used to be a part of its news every day.

Meanwhile, news of other Communist Party leaders hosting visiting dignitaries in Beijing’s grand hall made headlines. China has a history of senior leaders being quietly removed from power. In such a situation, it is not meaningless to ask whether similar preparations are going on against Xi Jinping as well.

Paetongtarn’s Thai Government on the Brink of Collapse

             (Patrick Martin’s post from the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on 19 June 2025.)

Thailand's government on brink of collapse after key coalition party withdraws support following leaked call: The phone call between Hun Sen and Paetongtarn Shinawatra has had massive political repercussions in Thailand. 

Political leaks are usually damaging but rarely bring a government to the brink of collapse. A leaked phone call has done just that in Thailand. The chat between Thailand's prime minister and a former Cambodian leader comes as the relationship sours over a border dispute that has stemmed from the death of a soldier. Here's how that death and a leaked phone call have brought a government to its knees.

What happened at the 'Emerald Triangle? Late last month, a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish in a contested zone known as the "Emerald Triangle", where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet. Both the Thai and Cambodian armies said they acted in self-defence.

Paki-Muslim-Mayor Mamdani Will Freeze NYC Rents!

       (From “Rent Control Is Bad Economics But Good Politics” on 10 April 2017.)

I used to live nearly five years in a rent-control apartment in the swanky Upper East Side of New York City from 2011 to 2015. I paid US$2,500 a month for a one-bed-room rundown 5th floor walk-up on E64 Street between First Avenue and York Avenue. In 2012 the comparable non-rent control flats in the area were asking for at least 3,000 a month and my unit seemed to be an extremely good bargain.

Only later I realised that the sub-letter (my unofficial landlord named Michael) was paying less than 750 a month as legally-controlled-rent for that flat to the real owner a large corporation which owned the whole block of nearly 500 rent control apartments. He was making more than 1,750 a month for that rent control flat and he had managed (illegally of course) altogether five rent control flats in the very popular Upper East Side area.

The full story of my flat eventually came out from Michael one night as he told me in half-drunk. The flat was and still in the name of his old mother who is fully retired and now living in sunny Florida like many other retired New Yorkers do. Instead of returning the flat to the owners she, blatantly against the city laws, is still hanging on to her rent control flat, then letting her own son manage the flat, and sharing the profits from sub-letting her flat at just below market-rent but well above controlled-rent.

Toyota Hybrids Vs Battery Electric Vehicles

            (Staff post from the CAR EXPERT and the FACE BOOK on 14 June2025.)

Toyota says its hybrids have saved nine million EVs worth of CO2: Toyota's boss claims its 27 million hybrids produced to date have saved carbon emissions equivalent to nine million EVs.

Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda has reinforced his company’s commitment to prioritising hybrid vehicles (HEVs) over battery-electric vehicles (EVs or BEVs), outlining that hybrids are its ideal way forward in terms of reducing total CO2 emissions.

Speaking through an interpreter in a recent interview with Automotive News, Toyoda-san said Toyota is as committed to reducing the environmental impact of cars as any other brand, but has adopted a cost- and time-effective way to go about reducing its carbon emissions.

Bamaw City Undersiege: KIA Traps Myanmar Army

        (Anthony Davis’s post from the ASIA TIMES on 23 June 2025.)

Captured army's howitzer at Bamaw City.

Siege warfare keeping Myanmar military in the fight: Improved coordination between infantry, artillery and drones changing war’s complexion after heavy regime losses in 2023 and 2024.

For centuries, the small northern Myanmar city of Bhamo has owed its prosperity to its importance as a ferry terminus and commercial hub on a wide bend on the upper Ayeyarwady River close to the border with neighboring China.

In recent months, that strategic location in Kachin state has required its slow destruction in a test of will and resources that bodes ill for the future of Myanmar – but which may push resistance forces opposed to the State Administration Council (SAC) military regime to a radical rethink of their approach to the war.

Bunker Busting B2s Destroyed Iran’s Fordow Nuclear Site

         (Based on staff post rom the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on 22 June 2025.)

Dropped from a B-2 stealth bomber flying at about 12 km altitude, the bomb accelerates purely from gravity—no engine required. Guided by satellite and steered using movable tail fins, its immense weight creates intense kinetic energy on impact, driving the hardened casing up to 60 meters underground. A delayed fuse then detonates 2,400 kg of explosives deep below the surface.   

Donal Trump ordered the deployment of six B-2 bombers that attacked Iran’s deep-lying nuclear enrichment site at Fordow with 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bunker-buster bombs, designed to penetrate 60 metres of rock.

The United States has bombed three nuclear sites inside Iran, with Donald Trump warning any future attacks will be "far greater and a lot easier. I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," he said during a late-night White House address tonight. "Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." 

The Dirty Secrets behind Myanmar's Rare-earths Boom

           (Mathis Richtmann’s post from the DW GERMANY on 24 May 2025.)

Myanmar is caught in a scramble for minerals. Their exploitation is causing deaths and environmental harm in the country's Kachin State, activists tell DW. Rare-earth mining has exploded in Myanmar's Kachin region, making it the world's largest source of supply.

Lahtaw Kai draws an imaginary mountain into the air with her hands and uses her fingers to dot it with holes. "At the top of the mountains, they drill holes and then pour chemicals like ammonium nitrate into the ground to extract the rare earth minerals at the bottom," the Myanmar environment activist told DW.

Lahtaw Kai — whose name we've changed for security reasons — was illustrating the so-called in-situ leaching technique, which has been applied for decades in mining rare earths in Myanmar's northern Kachin state.

WW3: Pakis’ll Nuke Israel if Jews Nuke Islamist Iran?

           (Based on the current news of the rapidly escalating Iran-Israel war.)

As our world is dangerously overpopulated, another world war is imminent as the world wars are the nature’s way of controlling human population. Humans have no predators and only way to cut the population is to kill each other large scale.

And right now, human population is well beyond eight billion and about thirty percent of that are Muslims the suicidal maniacs, and they have been growing at the rate of twenty percent between 2010 and 2020, growing at twice the rate of the overall world population. And they have nukes to destroy the rest and themselves.

Pakistan has a massive stockpile of nukes and Islamist Iran has been trying to have some to kill the nuke-armed Israelis. That is the main reason Israel now is attacking Iran with an undeclared war. Now the conventional war between Iran and Israel is reaching new heights. Israel has threatened Iran with her nukes and Pakistan reportedly backed Iran with a threat that they will nuke Israel if Jews nuke Muslim Iran.

UWSA: China’s Proxy Army in Myanmar’s Shan State

     (Pracha Burapavithi’s post from THE NATION THAILAND on 27 May 2025.)

"Red Wa": China’s shadow army controlling Shan State power: The Wa ethnic group rose to control northern and southern Shan State as the dominant northern ethnic army, safeguarding China’s interests in Myanmar.

Thai civil society groups are demanding action against the Red Wa—for involvement in drug trafficking and mining operations. They trace the root causes to China, a major patron, but so far, there has been no official response from the Thai government.

Following the flash floods in Mae Sai, NGOs have raised alarms over toxic contamination in the Sai and Kok rivers, urging the government to intensify negotiations to pressure Myanmar authorities and the Red Wa forces to shut down mining activities.

Bromance Is Over: Fued between Trump and Musk

          (Batya Ungar-Sargon’s post from the FREE PRESS on 06 June 2025.)

The Elon-Trump Bromance Crashes and Burns: A series of conflicts of interest cut to the core of the delicate tech bro-MAGA alliance. Elon Musk is First Buddy no longer. The epic bromance between Musk and President Donald Trump, between the richest man on the planet and the most powerful one, has come to an end, not with a bang but with a tweet: 

Just days after Trump granted Musk a golden key in an Oval Office send-off from his role as head of DOGE and adviser to the White House, Musk unleashed on the president’s Big Beautiful Bill: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he wrote on his social media platform, X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

On Thursday, Musk amplified his attacks, directing them at the President, saying Trump would have lost the election without him. “Such ingratitude,” Musk said. President Trump retorted that he was "very disappointed with Elon."

Dictator and His Pet Buddhist Monk (Wa-zi-pait)

Many wise men all over the world have stated that Buddhism is not a real religion like other mainstream religions such as Christian, Judaism, and Islam. They even added that pure Buddhism is more like a well-known philosophy of Lord Buddha.

I was a born-Communist since my late parents were hard-core Commies, and while I was growing up in Burma with my mothers’ devout Buddhist family, while my late parents were fighting in the jungles, I sort of became a Buddhist. Then later I learned that Burmese Buddhism is not really a pure-Buddhism at all, for historically Burmese were a seriously backward Pagan-Tribe thousands of years ago.

Burmese became Buddhists reluctantly in AD 1060 when our famous king Anaw-ra-htar forcefully converted the whole populace to Buddhism for some unexplained reasons. The conversion wasn’t too successful, and Burmese populace ended up with too many leftover practices from their old paganism.

China Calls the Shots in Myanmar’s Civil War

      (Staff post from the ECONOMIST MAGAZINE on 30 May 2025.)

IN LATE FEBRUARY a plane carrying 25 Chinese mercenaries landed on Ramree Island, off the coast of Myanmar. Their arrival, at an airfield in the midst of a chaotic battle, is a sign of China’s growing influence throughout the country.

Since a coup d’état four years ago brought a military junta to power in Myanmar, China has become the most important actor in its southern neighbour’s affairs. Western countries have mostly looked away as Myanmar’s struggle for democracy has turned chaotic and violent.

China has filled the resulting vacuum, working with both the junta and a vast array of armed rebel groups to advance its own agenda. China’s interests in Myanmar are varied. They include stability along the 2,100km (1,300-mile) border and the suppression of Western influence.

Battle Raging at Crucial Town Kyaukphyu in Arakan

      (Staff posts from THE KHIT THIT MEDIA and REUTERS on 31 May 2025.)

The amazingly victorious Arakan Army (AA) declared yesterday that they have captured a group of Myanmar Army soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Kyaw Lin Kyaing the Divisional Tactical Commander, near Kyaukphyu.

Because of many rapidly losing battles on multiple war fronts, Myanmar Army is losing so many field commanders they are being forced to send out senior division and brigade commanders to lead the war columns to face the rebelling ethnic armies. And one rebel army like AA has been quickly capturing those senior commanders of Myanmar Army, one after another.

Especially in the besieged town of Kyaukphyu, the demoralized army troops are surrendering and running away from the battle fields. Even in the Chinese projects the Chinese employees are being evacuated speedily to relatively safer Rangoon by private airplanes as their safety at Kyaukphyu is not guaranteed by Myanmar Army or AA.

US-China Proxy Drone War in Kyaukphyu of Myanmar?

             (Based partly on staff post from the NARINJARA NEWS on 27 May 2025.)

China is protecting her trillion dollars interest (China’s Indian Ocean Gateway) by fighting together with Myanmar Army defending (but rapidly losing) the Kyaukphyu Town.

Kyaukphyu is the most crucial town for China’s security and economic interest in Myanmar as being the terminus for Trans-Myanmar Crudeoil and Gas Pipelines and also the terminus for future Kunming-Kyaukphyu Railway. Kyaukphyu also has the China-controlled deep seaport allowing enormous crude-oil-tankers to unload and then piped to Kunming.

As AA occupied 14 townships out of all 17 townships in Arakan, China has started sending PLA armed units disguised as mercenaries or private security personnel since February this year after the AA (Arakan Army) started their operation against Kyaukphyu in January this year.

On February-27 a small PLA armed unit of about fifty (mainly snipers) from PLA Southern Division based in Yunan Province was airlifted to Kyaukphyu as AA intensified the offensive on Kyaukphyu. A PLA drone unit of about twenty also arrived at Kyaukphyu.