In contrast to the last 2 posts, some very current news: President Donald Trump today has started the process of constructing a wall at the US-Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants out of America, fulfilling one of the more famous (or infamous) campaign promises while he was running for President. As misguided and metaphorical as this literal wall would be (and far away in the future, it'd probably take years and probably would be completed long after Trump is President, it's the cost of a wall that is concerning: at least 12 billion dollars, much more if the "wall" is actually a complete wall the likes of the Great Wall in China. If it's partly wall, partly fence, it's projected to be 14 billion dollars (BILLION with a B) and if a complete wall it'd be upwards of 30 to 40 billion dollars. Where does that money come from? Not from Mexico despite President Trump's consistent stance on that issue; it'll be from the taxpayers, and of all things in the world that a government can spend money on, "The Wall" should not be it.
"Alternative facts" is a big thing now, taken from Trump's campaign adviser's mouth trying to explain about the administration's interpretation of events that differ from the media's portrayal. I think Keith Olbermann put it correctly: imagine if people used "alternative facts" in their everyday life, like driving on whichever side of the road they pleased, or spent money they didn't have, or just flat out lied to people. In November after Trump's election I was on the side of "let's slow down and respect the election results and give Trump a chance," but man oh man 4 days in it's hard to see that as the right course. There's just something wrong with a country that's run by a man who gets opposed by at least half the country every time he does anything, and worries about his own self image and own ego before the country (he ran for president, most suspect, to boost his own ego, not because he could do a better job for the country). Still hope we're all wrong about Trump and he has some sort of change of behavior/change of attitude/change of heart, but not likely, and the chances of him
The stock market did break the proverbial "wall" of 20,000 today, despite (and not because of, I think) what Trump is doing, although there's certainly an argument that the wealthiest people in the country are investors who are getting expected tax breaks and investing it into the market.
"The Great Wall" is a movie coming out February 17 in the United States starring Matt Damon about some sort of fictional world in which the wall is there to defend against some sort of dragon-like archaic beasts.....we're taught not to judge a book by its cover or a movie from its plotline/trailer, but it doesn't look great and takes away from the rich culture of the wall, IMO. There's a lesson on human vanity and a tyrannical ruler, the Qin emperor of the Qin dynasty who built the wall based on the hard labors of his people, and they didn't have forklifts and heavy machinery and advanced technology back then. That could be a lesson in today's world about not caving to the whims of a ruler who has too much power in his hands using it to further his own agenda or further his exploits of building big structures (like the Trump building) to put his own brand on it. Not surprised if the "Wall" if ever completed would have TRUMP labeled all over it.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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