On Thursday, Donald Trump will walk into the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, shake Xi Jinping's hand, and declare it a great meeting. There will be announcements. There will be numbers — billions of dollars in Chinese purchase commitments, a new bilateral mechanism with an important-sounding name, possibly a joint statement on Iran. Trump will post on Truth Social. Markets will rally briefly. Pundits will argue about who won. None of that will tell you what actually happened. What is actually happening in Beijing this week is something more consequential and more uncomfortable than the summit theatre will reveal: two leaders of two deeply mutually dependent superpowers, both of whom need this meeting to succeed for entirely different reasons, sitting across a table in a world that has already moved past the assumptions that defined their last nine months of negotiations. The Iran war changed the equations. The rare earth gambit changed the power balance. Taiwan is sitting in...
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo has filed a bill called the "Anti-Planking Act of 2011," in the Philippines. As soon as the news broke, supporters of Planking took to Twitter to voice their views. It seems although planking might be dangerous, supporters don't think their needs to be a law against it. The reason why planking is being frowned upon is although it is so harmless. It has led to a death and lots of people loosing their jobs. Planking" The art of lying face down with your arms beside you and your legs stretched out. Is a fun activity that people do and has led to many offshoots. Like Owling Batting, Horsemaning, Batmaning, Razorbombing and stocking to name a few. Here is his bill: AN ACT PRESCRIBING A UNIVERSAL CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT WHEREBY PLANKING BY A STUDENT OR GROUP OF STUDENTS DURING STREET RALLIES OR SIMILAR PROTEST ACTIONS AS A FORM OF REDRESS OF GRIEVANCE BE STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND APPLYING APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS THEREOF. Here are some comment...