THE MIDWEEK MULL
The minimum read for the maximum knowledge.
1. Trump's Steel & Aluminium Tariffs
In order to fulfil an election promise, President Trump has signed into effect a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminium. The economic and security threats of this are incredibly wide-reaching, with many economists warning about a global trade war resulting in another great depression, and potentially a world war.
To understand the background and the potential global effects - listen to The Daily from Thursday March 8th (or on Spotify)
To know what this means for Australia - and why this might hurt even though we called in Greg Norman to negotiate an exemption - read this SMH article from 10th March.
2. East Timor Decision
Australia and East Timor have just signed a new treaty after 45 years for an updated maritime boundary in the Timor Sea.
(Editorialising...) For too long, this has been in Australia's favour, due to the large, mostly untapped, oil and gas resources in the area.
Pretty much everything you need to know can be found in this Conversation piece.
3. The Parkland Shooting
On Valentine's Day, 17 kids were murdered at Stoneman Douglas High School by a 19-year-old expelled former student. Due to, amongst many other things, the bravery and intelligence of these kids, several of them have spoken out and are slowly forcing change to gun laws in the US. Slowly. Very slowly.
If you have not seen Emma Gonzales' speech after the event, you must.
Also, here is a fascinating long-form read from the New Yorker on the power one NRA lobbyist has in Florida.
4. The Poisoning of (another) Former Russian Spy in England
Theresa May has said that Russia is to blame for the poisoning of a former Soviet spy and his daughter in southern England last week. Approximately 500 people that visited the pub and park where Sergei Skripal is thought to have been attacked have been given instructions to wash their clothing and possessions to avoid any effects of the Novichok nerve agent. The policeman who was first on the scene to the father and daughter is still in hospital, also suffering from Novichok poisoning, in a serious but stable condition.
(Unsurprisingly - again, me editorialising...) the US has condemned the attack, but not mentioned Russia. News in this morning - Rex Tillerson, FORMER Security of State - was fired by Trump overnight, one day after he came out and said that Russia was responsible for the attack. He is being replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Tillerson, arguably the worst Secretary of State in modern history, called Trump a 'fucking moron' last year and was not fired. Curioser and curioser.
For the gruesome details - here's more about the nerve agent Novichok
For more details on Rex Tillerson leaving the White House, and what that means - here is an analysis from FiveThirtyEight
Amusing Things
You did not think that it was just going to be doom and gloom, no?
Now is the fun part!
A podcast episode that will give you All The Emotional Feels Change Agent: Boy Problems (or on Spotify)
Ailene is 80. She's been widowed for 7 years And then she meets Larry, who makes her feel "on fire from the neck down." Things seem to be going great before he ghosts her, throwing Ailene into an existential crisis. And the answers to that might lie in the store of a Home Shopping Network maverick, who figured out how to sell over 1000,000 jeans a day. (28 mins)
As of March 10th 2018, 13 women in Australia have been killed due to domestic violence.That is one death every five and a half days.