Giving the Bird

I confess. I am a 5G skeptic ... see: Mind Boggling. Yes, 5G technology may be required for eeffective and safe driverless cars ... and for live streaming of high-resolution video. But it appears it will come with a cost ... possibly too high a cost. A recent 5G test in the Netherlands has resulted in alarming number of dead birds ... see: Captain Planet Story. It seems that we have not been killing enough birds with our  giant windmills. Now we have to fry them with high-energy RF waves eminating from 5G transmitters that will have to be located everywhere.

It is estimated that, for the US to go completely 5G, there would need to be millions of transmitters. Extrapolating from the tests of this technology at The Hague, this could mean the quick deaths of hundreds of millions of birds. And who knows how this mass kill-off would evolve over time ... or whether other species would be affected ... like man?

Where are you, Rachael Carson, now that we need you?

Chinese Hegemony

China is flexing its expansionist muscles ... making outrageous claims to large swaths of the South China Sea ... and building artificial islands to reinforce its sea lanes, oil exploration and fishing assertions in this region. All of its Asian neighbors (the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia) are pushing back and the Philippines just won a important victory in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague wherein China's claims have been denied ... see: AP Story. Unfortunately this decision in the Netherlands carries no force of real law ... just moral suasion ... and China is not swayed by suasion. This blatant Chinese hegemony presents one of the most serious threats to world peace in quite a few years.

In a related matter, President Obummer, after he returns from his current Black Lives Matter trip, is planning a few rounds of golf and a White House rap concert.

Afterward: See: Chuck Hagel Weighs In On CNBC and Enews: China Rattles Sword.