Yin and Yang

Our trip to Bali and Singapore allowed us to revel in opposites.  Singapore is the ultimate 1st world urban nation.  Agriculture accounts for less than .5% of its gross national product.  Tourism, although welcome and appreciated, makes up slightly less than 10% of GDP.  Trade and financial services are the prosperity engines.  The wows are modern architecture.

Here we are enjoying, what else, a Singapore Sling, at Smoke and Mirrors, a rooftop bar.

The Marina Sands Hotel which was featured in Crazy Rich Asians as seen from Smoke and Mirrors

Clarke Quay, a major dining and entertainment center, has its share of structural eye candy.

The Singapore River has more delights including a Tulip shaped museum and a ferris wheel.

Even Gardens By the Bay, a breath taking floral wonderland, is every bit as much about the architecture as the fauna.  The displays are encapsulated in giant domes with overhead walkways and even illuminated super trees.

Another 1st world box checked off is well curated museums, including the National Gallery, housed in the former Supreme Court Building.  The art is the most diverse collection of Asian paintings I have seen.  Asian sensibilities are well represented, as is the influence of European art movements which filtered in through art academies.

Bali, although enjoying a similar climate, is the polar opposite of Singapore.  Until recently Bali's GDP was dominated by agriculture, with rice being the main crop.  Other crops include coffee, vanilla and tropical fruits.

 Because of the lovely terracing, this is the most photographed rice field in Bali.

My wife, Roslyn, using the traditional, but largely abandoned, method of roasting coffee.

In recent years, tourism has edged out agriculture as the largest contributor to GDP.  Already a prominent tourist destination, Bali blossomed when featured in the wildly popular book, and irreparably tedious movie, Eat, Pray Love.   I did not read the book, and did not get past Eat, when watching the movie.  Ubud in central Bali was love.  Tourism has made Bali one of the wealthiest parts of Indonesia, with average wages higher than in Jakarta.  Perhaps least poor would be more accurate, with median wages less than ten dollars a day.

Given massive tourism be prepared for main thoroughfares, near tourist centers, to combine the charm of 1st world traffic, with the joys of 3rd world 2 lane roads.  You will eat scooter fumes, pray for deliverance, and love the moment you finally arrive.

Ubud is a great hub, based on its central location and ample amenities.  But where you stay is crucial.     In my guidebooks, I counsel against tourist ghettos.  This warning must be amplified for Ubud.  Avoid accommodations on Monkey Forest Road and Jalah Raya, unless your Bali high couples  excessive drinking with random coupling.  If your Spring Break has long since broken, find an oasis outside of, but within walking distance, of the center.

We chose Kano Sari.  If I could give it 6 stars I would.  Hell this is my blog, so I can.  It is a 6 star accommodation.

More to come including Kano Sari pictures.

TIPP a Canoe and Trump Too

Polls tend to fly in formation, tightly grouped, within a margin of error.  A poll's institutional bias will add to the spread, e.g. Rasmussen having a GOP tilt.  But in the fog of statistics, every so often, one poll peals off from the rest.

Will others follow, or is that poll lost in a morass of sampling error?   On Friday the ABC/Washington Post poll left the pack with Trump disapproved by 60% and approved by 38%.  But today it is no longer alone. IBD/TIPP has Trump dropping to a 36% approval with a 58% disapproval.

If other polls join, the midterms could have long term consequences for the GOP.

A Question of Competence

Many, and hopefully most, would agree that even in the case of illegal crossing of our border, children should not be torn from their parents' arms.

But even those in favor of this new zero tolerance policy, must agree that the children are blameless.  So at a minimum the children should be treated humanely with adequate food and housing.  The children should be carefully tracked.  The children should be able to contact their parents.  Finally, and most importantly, parents should be reunited with their children either in the United States, if allowed to remain, or upon deportation.

On all these counts, the Trump administration is failing.  As is all too often the case, the policy was adopted with no thought of implementation.  Competence matters.  Detention camps and lost children make a questionable policy, unmistakably evil.

America Unrepresented at the North Korea Summit

President Donald Trump got a glossy photo op that may help him in the midterm elections.  North Korea got so much more.  America got nothing.

For over 30 years the North Korea Kims have sought a meeting with an American president.  Other presidents have refused to lift the brutal, backward nation up to coequal status with the United States, absent major concessions.  Trump had no such reservations.

But North Korea got so much more.  The United States committed to security for the repressive regime.  Face to face Trump blinked.  He sweetened the pot beyond the pre-agreed communique by ending joint military exercises with South Korea.

Even the denuclearization pledge favored North Korea.  It is the same pledge made and ignored before.   The vague language is the wording demanded by Kim.  For North Korea it can mean withdrawal of, not only all US troops, but also,  of the nuclear umbrella protecting South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.  Most importantly, the word "verification" is not in the document.  So verification is not even a jointly agreed goal.

Americans voted for the author of, "Art of the Deal."  Instead we got the game show barker from "Let's Make a Deal."  Is American security behind door number 2?

Refocus

Trump's tweets are empty calories.  The national health depends on us not spoiling our appetite.  You can eat just one.   After you spit out the narcissism there is nothing left, not even a hint of truth.

The meaty stories are in the cabinet.  You have the head of the EPA, who between bouts of graft, is dismantling environmental protections.  Multiple cabinet members including, fired HHS secretary Tom Price, have used military planes as a private shuttle service, costing tax payers millions.  HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, cares more about beautifying his office than housing the poor.

Hard to Vos over the ignorance of the Secretary of Education, whose only policy agenda is to put more profit in, often fraudulent, for profit schools.  The fired National Security Advisor was an agent of a foreign government.  The current office holder was an architect of the structurally unsound Iraq War.  

The Attorney General is recreating the halcyon injustices of the 1950s.  Standing beside the cabinet is Stephen Miller, preaching xenophobia.  Standing above the cabinet are the Trump and Kushner families, adjusting policies for anyone who will feed the voracious capital appetites of their businesses.

The robin may go tweet, tweet, tweet.  Ignore him.  Focus on the termites destroying the institutional foundations of our republic.

Trump's Sugar High Economy

Even as you enjoy the serotonin high from your third dessert, you know you will face the scales of justice in the morning.  Today the stock market is near record highs, as unemployment is near record lows, but tomorrow always comes.

Keynesian economics takes discipline.  The easy part, notwithstanding GOP crocodile tears over federal debt, was the Obama cure for the Great Recession--deficit spending to juice the economy.  The hard part, is to reduce, or at least, stabilize the deficit. During this economic expansion, that is precisely what our European allies are doing.

Trump is doing the opposite.  Tax cuts are greasing an already well oiled economy, with a slight short term gain, but a greater long term cost.  Similarly, deregulation is upping corporate profits, but at a social cost that will eventually come due.

President Trump seeks immediate gratification, knowing nothing of the past, and caring little for the nation's future.

Why I Am Voting for Villaraigosa

One could argue, as the LA Times does, that governing the politically, socially and ethnically diverse metropolis that is Los Angeles, better qualifies Antonio to be Governor.  Further, Newsom's self proclaimed acts of political courage, were merely feeding blue quinoa to his base.

But my rationale is quite different.  The 2018 midterms are the most consequential in my lifetime, and I am not young.  The administration is a chaotic cesspool of corruption without a hint of competence.  A Democratic House will exercise oversight with the power of the purse and of the subpoena.

In California the top two, do the due in November.  Deservedly, Gavin Newsom is a lock.  The battle for number two is between fellow Democrat Villaraigosa and Republican Cox.  A Democratic intra party contest will be of little interest to Republicans.  Any drop in GOP turnout increases the Democratic chances of flipping 5 to 7 competitive California seats, and retaking the House.