Transcript

3.10.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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Washington Post for this Monday, March tenth. As you know,
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Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
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are blind to have other disabilities that make it difficult
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to read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton,
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and as you know, on Monday's by listener requests, we
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begin by reading Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexington
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Heralded Leader. This week's article is titled Anger. Even a
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God can be both good and healthy. When I was
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going through hard times a few decades ago, I used
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to see a very good Christian counselor. It's not an
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exaggeration to say that he saved my sanity and he
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may have saved my life. Among my problems was that,
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even as I dealt with multiple simultaneous catastrophes, I also
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labored under the conviction that as a Christian and a
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past for crying out aloud, I ought not to be
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feeling the ugly emotions I was feeling bitterness, despair, self pity.
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I felt guilty for feeling so rotten. I thought I
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ought to be sitting on top rail praising Jesus as
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we used to say in my religious circles. Instead, I
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was lying under the bottom rail, bloodied, trampled in the dust,
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and not praising God or anybody else. Feelings aren't good
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or bad, my counselor used to tell me, feelings just are.
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I recall that recently, after reading a devotion by the
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Roman Catholic contemplative Richard Roar on the related subjects of
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anger and grief, one of the few things my counselor
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and I ever disagreed on was anger, or at least
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a particular kind of anger. He thought I was furious
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at God for the trials I was undergoing. He thought
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I didn't want to admit I was mad at God
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because that was unseemly, or I feared incurring the wrath
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of Heaven. Now, I absolutely was mad at a slew
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of people.
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Speaker 2: But I wasn't mad at.
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Speaker 1: God, I insisted, I wasn't afraid of being mad at him.
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I mean, the Bible itself is chocked full of decent
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people angrily shaking their fists at the heavens and calling
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God everything but a milk cow. What I felt toward
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God wasn't anger but disappointment. I wasn't mad at God.
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Because I'd never assumed he was obligated to bail me
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out of my troubles. He had directly harmed me, and
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my woes weren't his fault. My disappointment stemmed from the
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fact that God could have helped me and apparently chose
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not to. That was his right. No hard feelings. But
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I could have helped God as easily is he could
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have helped me, I would have. I was disappointed he
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hadn't done for me what I would have done for
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him if the circumstances were reversed. Anyway, I digress. My
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counselor and I never did agree about whether or not
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I was met at God, but our ongoing discussions forced
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me to ponder anger as a principle. Anger toward the Lord,
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anger toward difficult circumstances, and anger toward my fellow pilgrims.
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Here's what I think today. Anger, as with all emotions,
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isn't either good or bad.
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Speaker 2: It just is.
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Speaker 1: In fact, if the Bible is to be believed, even
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God gets mad, Jesus got mad, the apostles got mad. Indeed,
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some things should make us angry. The abuse of children,
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exploitation of the old, or the poor, tyranny, selfishness, the
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problem of ron. When we humans prone to distorting almost everything,
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distort our anger, we allow it to become unhealthy or
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even dangerous, and we do this in one of two ways. Usually, First,
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we may deny anger, as my counselor thought I was doing.
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We swallow our rage in the interest of keeping the peace.
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If we do that, our anger festers inside us. We
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poison ourselves. Also, we allow bad actors who've harmed us
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or others to continue unchallenged in their destructive ways. Second,
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we may let anger run amuck. We discover so much
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self righteousness satisfaction inventing our spleens that fury consumes everything
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we do. We identify ourselves as mad as hell and
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not going to take it anymore. We proudly set everybody
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straight off time we lash out verbally or even physically
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at those around us, including the innocent. Basically, we either
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underreact or overreact. ROAR's daily devotion made a point that
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might start us on a healthier path. After a lifetime
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of counseling and retreat work, not to mention my own
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spiritual direction, I have become convinced that most anger comes
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first of all from a place of deep sadness. He said, ooh, true,
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hurt people. Hurt people. I once heard a TV preacher say, So,
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it's beneficial to form the habit of examining our anger.
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We must be ruthlessly truthful with ourselves. We might ask,
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for instance, what is it about this situation that makes
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me so furious? More often than not, we'll find our
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anger as a standard for pain. Rightly or wrongly, we
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feel rejected or unappreciated or inferior. Other times, we are
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angry because we fear. Maybe we're afraid we're much like
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the ugly people who've wounded us, and the resemblance is
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too close for comfort. It's amazing what we find when
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we unflinchingly look. The better we come to know our anger,
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the better we understand ourselves. The better we understand ourselves,
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the less power anger holds over us. Having analyzed it,
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we can bend it toward a healthier end that's either
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deniable or bile. We can ask God's spirit to soften
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and guide us as we go. We can use our
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softened anger to help reshape injurious rules or relationships. It's
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a great motivator toward prophetic reforms. We can use it
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to remind ourselves not to treat others as we were treated,
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to be more compassionate than we previously were.
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Speaker 2: As we do these.
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Speaker 1: Things, we allow anger to be not a vice but
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a virtue. And as you know, Paul Prather as pastor
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of the Professor Church near Mount Sterling, and you can
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email him at prtpd.
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Speaker 2: At yahoo dot com.
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Speaker 1: Now let's turn to the news from the Washington Post,
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and the first story today is Zuckerberg's Meta considered sharing
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user data with China. Whistleblower alleges Meta was willing to
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go to extreme lengths to censor content and shut down
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political assent and a failed attempt to win approval of
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the Chinese Communist Party and bring Facebook to millions of
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Internet users in China, according to a new whistleblower complaint
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from a former Global policy to directorate company. The complaint,
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by Sarah Wynn Williams, who worked on a team handling
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China policy, alleges that the social media giants so desperately
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wanted to enter the lucrative China market that it was
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willing to allow the ruling party to oversee all social
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media content appearing in the country and quash dissenting opinions.
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Meta then called Facebook, developed a censorship system for China
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in twenty fifteen and planned to install a chief editor
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who would decide what content to remove and could shut
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down the entire site during times of social unrest. According
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to a copy of the seventy eight page complaint exclusively
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seen by The Washington Post, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg
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also agreed to crack down on the account of a
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high profile Chinese dissident living in the United States following
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pressure from a high ranking Chinese official the company hoped
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would help them enter China. According to the complaint, which
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was filed in April to the Securities.
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Speaker 2: And Exchange Commission.
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Speaker 1: When asked about its efforts to enter China, Meta executives
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repeatedly stonewalled and provided non responsive or misleading information to
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investors and American regulators, according to the complaint. When Williams
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bolstered her sec complaint with internal Meta documents about the
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company's plans, which were reviewed by The Post. When Williams,
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who was fired from her job in twenty seventeen, is
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also scheduled to release a memoir this week documenting her
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time at the company. Titled Careless People a cautionary tale
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of power, greed, and lost idealism. According to a memo
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in the complaint, Metal leaders faced aggressive pressure by Chinese
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government officials to host Chinese users data to local data centers,
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which win Williams alleges would have made it easier for
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the Chinese Communist Party to covertly obtain the personal information
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of its citizens. In countries with authoritarian leanings like China,
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stringent government controls over data flows are twisted into tools
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of censorship, surveillance, and repression. Katite Rodriguez, the Electronics Frontier
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Foundation's policy director for Global Privacy, set in a statement,
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once data is stored locally, companies are pressured to comply
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with Beijing's demand or risk losing access to Chinese customers.
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For years, Meta has cast China as a foe to
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its free global Internet. In a twenty nineteen Georgetown University talk,
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Zuckerberg warned that China was sporting their vision of the
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Internet to other countries. The next year, then vice president
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of Global Affairs Nick Klegg bemoaned in a post op
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ed that governments were following China's lead to wall off
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the Internet from the rest of the world. Meta has
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also funded a nonprofit called American Edge that has run
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campaigns criticizing China and TikTok, the Chinese owned social media app.
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The company's anti China commentary has intensified since Deep Seeks
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AI Assistant catapulted to the top of app stores in January,
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with the China based company boasting that its AI technology
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was developed at a fraction of the cost of competitors
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from Meta and Open Ai. In a threads post, Meta
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chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan wrote that the company
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would work with the administration to keep the US at
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the cutting edge of AI and make sure the global
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AI standard is based on our shared values, not China's.
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That Zuckerberg noted in a January that the company would
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partner with President Trump to push back on governments around
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the world that are going after American companies and pushing
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to censor more, adding that China has censored our apps
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from even working in the country. One of the top
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priorities for President Trump in the West winning this Christian
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critical AI race. And yet for many years Meta has
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been working hand in hand with the Chinese Communist Party,
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briefing them on the latest technological developments and lying about.
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Speaker 2: It, said Wynn Williams was.
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Speaker 1: Now a technology policy consultant. People deserve to know the truth.
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Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement that it
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was no secret the company was interested in operating in China.
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This was widely reported beginning a decade ago. He said,
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we ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas
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we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in twenty nineteen, a
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decade ago. Metasaw China as an unconquered and highly lucrative
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opportunity with millions of untapped Internet users, more than existed
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in the American market. By some estimates, Chinese sellers were
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already buying scores of ads on Facebook through resellers to
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target customers outside the country, according to Wynn Williams, Zuckerberg
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told top executives, including COO Sheryl Sandberg and then Communications
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in Public Policy head Elliott straj that bringing Facebook to
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China would fulfill the company's mission of connecting the world.
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If we want to have more of our services available
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in China in three years, I think we need to
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start intensively working on this now, he wrote in a
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twenty fourteen email contained in the complaint, Zuckerberg had publicly
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demonstrated his interest in the country. The CE wrote a
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blurb for CCP Secretary Xi Jinping's book The Governance of China,
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and displayed a copy on his desk when China's then
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deputy head of the Propaganda department of the ruling party, Louis,
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visited him. Zuckerberg also gave a twenty minute speech in
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Mandarin to university students and asked Zi, by then the leader,
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to give his unborn baby daughter an honorary Chinese name.
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According to a New York Times report, the complaint alleges
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that behind the scenes, Zuckerberg assembled a China team in
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twenty fourteen to develop a version of its services that
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could be legally offered in China, a project code named
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Project Aldrin, after the astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who first in
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did the first man space craft on the Moon. META
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was eager to demonstrate its willingness to cater to the
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demands of the Chinese Communist Party. In July twenty fourteen,
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META employees prepared a draft letter for Zuckerberg to Sindelu,
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saying the company had already worked with the Chinese consulate
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in San Francisco to take down terrorist sites that are
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potentially dangerous for China, and offering to work more closely
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with all of your embassies or consulates around the world.
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According to an email contained in the complaint, a spokesperson
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for the consulate said in a statement that it was
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not aware of the situation. To strengthen their negotiating power,
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Metal leaders also considered bending their long standing privacy rules
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for the benefit of the Chinese government. In August of
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twenty fourteen, members of Metta's privacy team discussed whether to
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confirm to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner that Hong Kong
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users would still be afforded the same privacy protections as
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users in the United States and the European Union. According
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to the documents, days after the meeting with Meta's China
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negotiating team, the privacy team was willing to weaken Hong
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Kong's users' rights, according to an email exchange containing the complaint,
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In exchange for the ability to establish operations in China, FB,
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Facebook will agree to grant the Chinese government access to
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Chinese users data, including Hong Kong Hong kong Ese users data.
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One privacy policy staffer wrote. By twenty fifteen, Meta and
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Chinese officials started negotiating a more detailed plan for the
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company to operate in China later that year. According to
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the complaint, under one iteration of the proposed agreement, Hony Capital,
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a Chinese private equity firm, would be responsible for reviewing
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and deciding whether content posted by Chinese based users, including
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foreigners traveling to the country, was consistent with applicable law.
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According to a copy of the proposal sent to Lou
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to aid the effort, Meta built a censorship system specifically
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designed for China to review, including the ability to automatically
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detect restricted terms and popular content on Facebook. According to
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the complaint, the company agreed to hire at least three
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hundred content moderators to support the system. The document's show
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following a review of the system with the Cyberspace Administration
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of China, government officials expressed concerns that the US government
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would be able to access Chinese users data stored outside
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the country, the document show. In twenty fifteen, Liu was
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removed from his post and was subsequently sentenced to fourteen
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years in prison over bribery charges. Despite losing one of
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its chief regulatory promoters in the country, Meta continued to
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pursue the Chinese market. In twenty seventeen, Metta covered covertly
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launched a handful of social apps under the name of
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a Chinese based company created by one of its employers,
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according to the complaint, and that same year, Meta restricted
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the account of Jul Wingi, a wealthy Chinese businessman and
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critic of the Chinese government, after Xiao Xi Lang, a
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top internet regulator in the country, suggested taking action could
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demonstrate the company's willingness to address mutual interests. According to
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the complaint, if there is nothing we can do about
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Guahu's account, there will be an impact on our cooperation,
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Meta officials concluded, according to internal notes about the meeting
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contained in the complaint. Later that year, Meta took down
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a page we ated a Gowl, and restricted his account,
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citing violations of its content rules. By twenty nineteen, Meta
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had abandoned its China ambitions, just as the Trump administration
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was waging a fierce battle against China over trade. Now
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Meta aims to benefit from Washington's aggressive stance on China.
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Zuckerberg told employees during a company wide meeting this year
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that its business would be helped if China based TikTok
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ends up being banned in the United States. They are
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one of our main competitors, said Zuckerberg, according to a
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recording of the meeting heard by The Post. And that's
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a card we get to turn to and our next article.
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Trump declines to rule out recession amid tariffs effects on
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the markets. President Trump declined to rule out a recession
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this year as the economy stutters from his efforts to
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impose tariffs and rebuild the US manufacturing sector, acknowledging in
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an interview broadcast Sunday that it takes a little time
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before Americans will see a payoff from his policies. Trump's
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recognition of the turbulence in the US economy was a
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reversal from previous cheering that his policies would deliver quick
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victories to voters and businesses as it stood, in contrast
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to reassurances from his own advisors Sunday that no recession
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was in sight. Trump also downplayed the dropping stock market,
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despite years in which he claimed credit for a rise,
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saying in the Fox News interview, which was taped Thursday,
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that you have to do what's right, even if markets
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don't like it. The recognition of the economic disruption was notable,
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given that Trump swept into office in part because of
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voter discontent about years of inflation under President Biden. But
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thatation slowed and Biden's finally you're in office, and most
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economists say that Trump inherited a fairly strong and stable economy.
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Trump pushed Biden on the stock market, inflation, and the
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overall economy, all issues on which he is now tilling
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voters to look the other way. Asked by Fox News
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anchor Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures whether he was
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expecting a recession this year, Trump said, I hate to
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predict things like that. There is a period of transition
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because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth
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back to America and that's a big thing. There are
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always periods of uh, it takes a little time. It
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takes a little time. But I think what's going to
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be great for us. On his way back to Washington
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from mar A Lago on Sunday, Trump defended his hesitation
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about a recession. I tell you what, of course you hesitated.
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You know who knows. He expressed more optimism about the
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nation's longer term economic prospects.
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Speaker 2: You just watch.
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Speaker 1: He said, We're going to have jobs, and we're gonna
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have open factories, and it's going to be great. Trump
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said his economic policies shouldn't be swayed by the broad
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based market sell off in recent weeks, as he's moved
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to impose tariffs on countries around the world, most notably
22:23
hiking levies on China. Mexico and Canada are also facing
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new large tariffs, though Trump has repeatedly postponed them. The
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S and P five hundred index is down three point
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eight percent since Trump was inaugurated on January twentieth, and
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down six percent from its all time high. On February nineteenth.
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Consumer sentiment set a fifteen month low as worries compound
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about layoffs and rising prices. If you look at China,
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they have one hundred year perspective. We have a quarter.
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We go back quarters, and you can't go by that.
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You have to do what's right. Trump said about the
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stock market. What we're doing is we're building a tremendous
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foundation for the future. He said that businesses always say
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they want clarity about tariffs, but that's almost a SoundBite
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he headed the tariffs may go up, I don't think
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we'll go down. The president has repeatedly postponed tariffs against
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Canada and Mexico, but said in the interview that April
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seventh or April second was the final deadline. Separate twenty
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five percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. Reports are set
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to go into effect this Wednesday. Inflation has hit Americans
23:41
in other ways that Trump has sought to downplay, as
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Avian influenza has driven up egg prices, which started to
23:49
rise under Biden, even higher under Trump. The president has
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also started to tell Americans not to focus on them,
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Trump said Saturday and reposted an article by the conservative
24:01
activist Charlie Kirk, whose headlines was shut up about the
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egg prices. Trump is saving consumers millions. Trump at his
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top aides have started to try to shift the discussion
24:13
around the inflation. After hammering Biden and Vice President Kamala
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Harris about it for years, Trump and his team say
24:22
their America First economic policies are focused more on building
24:26
jobs and opportunities inside US borders than prioritizing low prices
24:31
for consumers. Access to cheap goods is not the essence
24:36
of the American dream. The American dream is rooted in
24:40
the concept that any citizen can achieve prosperity, upward, mobility,
24:45
and economic security. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett told the New
24:50
York Economic Club on Thursday four too long, the designers
24:55
of multilateral trade deals have lost sight of this. International
25:00
economic relations that do not work for the American people
25:03
must be examined and re examined. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik
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told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that there were
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no plans to change the steel and aluminum tariffs, and
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unlike his boss, he has misconcerns about a recession. The
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Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is now forecasting that US
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economic output will decline two point eight percent in the
25:29
first quarter of twenty twenty five, after nearly three years
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of growth. Economists define a recession as two successive quarters
25:37
of decline. Economists repeatedly warned about a looming recession during
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Biden's four years in office, but it never materialized. Americans
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should absolutely not brace for a recession, Lutnik said on
25:52
the program. Trump is going to win for the American people.
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That's just the way it's going to be. There's going
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to be no recession in America. He said, what there's
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going to be is global tariffs are coming to come
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down because President Trump has said, you want us to
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charge one hundred percent, We're going to charge you one
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hundred percent. Lutt Neck added, I would never bet on
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a recession, no chance. Trump and his advisers have argued
26:22
that the end result of his policies will be that
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prices for US made goods are lower while foreign made
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ones were be higher, and that the health of the
26:32
overall economy will be better once their policies are allowed
26:35
time to take effect. With the lower deficit and lower
26:39
interest rates. They point to decisions by Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing Company,
26:45
which announced plans for a one hundred billion dollar investment
26:50
in Arizona, and similar announcements from other major companies as
26:55
evidence that their efforts are already Workingonomous disagree with their assessment,
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saying that tariffs will significantly increase prices, posing a challenge
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to efforts to lower interest rates. Rebuilding the US manufacturing
27:11
sector will be far more complex than reimposing trade barriers,
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some of them say, noting that US manufacturing jobs have
27:20
been declining for generations. Because of a complex cocktail of automation,
27:26
trade policies, the rise of China, and shifts in corporate behavior,
27:32
and Trump's vow not to touch the politically popular programs that
27:35
are major elements of federal spending, social Security and Medicare,
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We'll make cutting the deficit nearly impossible, economists say, especially
27:44
as the President.
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Speaker 2: Proposes new tax cuts.
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Speaker 1: It's important for people to realize we run two trillion
27:53
dollar deficits and Donald Trump is going to try to
27:56
balance the budget of the.
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Speaker 2: United States of America. I think said we're.
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Speaker 1: Going to bring manufacturing back. That's where we're going. Will
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there be distortions, of course, foreign goods may get a
28:11
little more expensive, but American goods are going to get cheaper.
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Speaker 2: And here's an interesting article.
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Speaker 1: It's not just the Gulf of Mexico, but why is
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so much of American named after foreign countries? Every place
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in the US that shares the name of a foreign
28:30
country or country adjective, or select foreign territories or cities
28:36
is really odd because it's so common. And it has
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come to our attention that much of the United States
28:42
of America is shockingly named for countries that are not
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the United States of America. It's not just the Gulf
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of Mexico or New Mexico, or the Old Mexico Mine
28:53
in Colorado, or the Mexico Public Library and Maine. Our
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an analysts says revealed thousands of places and even more
29:02
people named after well over one hundred foreign countries. In
29:07
many places, such as Clear Creek County and Colorado Rockies,
29:11
you can circumnavigate the globe without straying beyond county limits,
29:16
just by hopping from the Belgian hair mine to the
29:19
Brazil Shaft Mine via the Lebanon Tunnel or the Mexican Gulch.
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How did this happen and why did this happen? We've
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began our search for clues in the National Geographic Names
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Information System, a mother load of almost two point three
29:36
million officially designated streams, summits, seas, and cemeteries. We used
29:41
a lengthier list from twenty twenty two, which has since
29:44
been pared down, and after an exhaustive, exhausting sirch, we're
29:51
somewhat astonished to report that the foreign country that has
29:54
most thoroughly infiltrated America is Turkey. We included alternative spellings
30:04
and translations, of course, but we're sure the four hundred
30:08
and ninety Turkey Creeks, the twelve Turkey Creek cemeteries, and
30:13
even one of a kind such as Turkey Knob Windmill
30:16
all pay homage to Asia minors major power player. We're
30:21
not joking, you might think, wait hold on here. Most
30:24
of these places were undoubtedly named after the America's most
30:28
famous stuffing receptacle, but that bird's name hails from that
30:33
most old world of countries. The origins are muddied, but
30:39
probably involved Turkish merchants delivering the birds or Africa's guinea fowl,
30:44
to Europeans, who dutifully named it after the Middle Eastern Middlemen.
30:50
Associating the Turks with anything exotic was in vogue at
30:54
the time. The same fate befell other American originals, such
30:57
as maize and pumpkin, according to Mary and Webster, but
31:02
for some reason, Turkish wheat and Turkish.
31:05
Speaker 2: Cucumbers didn't stick.
31:07
Speaker 1: Maybe it's not too late to bring them back. We
31:11
didn't have to stray far from Turkey to find the
31:14
next most popular country based name places in America. Americans
31:18
love the levant. We've found thousands of places named after Jordan, Lebanon,
31:25
and Israel. That's partly because our data set includes places
31:29
of worship and cemeteries, but even without them, biblical names
31:34
reign supreme. For the top six foreign city names are
31:39
from the Holy Land, Jerusalem, Antioch, Bethlehem, and Hebron.
31:46
Speaker 2: And if you count Salem, which.
31:48
Speaker 1: Is closely linked with Jerusalem, then that's the top foreign
31:53
city name in America as far as.
31:54
Speaker 2: We can tell.
31:57
Speaker 1: As we dug through thousands of entries, we noticed something odd.
32:02
The results are littered with French Charlie canyons the English pits,
32:06
but you almost never see the names of Near Eastern
32:10
countries used in the same ejectival way. We see more
32:13
than a thousand Jordans, but zero Jordanians. When we ran
32:19
the numbers on those adjectives, we could feel the map
32:22
shift beneath our feet. While the top plain Vanilla country
32:27
names on the American landscape seemed driven by accidents, abstract
32:33
details and esthetics, the top adjectival names felt deeply personal.
32:39
You can't get much more visceral than dead Dutchman hollow.
32:46
This approach drew a different crew of countries to the top.
32:50
Many were European powers, such as France, the Netherlands, Germany,
32:54
and England, all of which sent floods of immigrants to
32:58
the United States back when the new nation still.
33:01
Speaker 2: Had a lot of naming to do.
33:04
Speaker 1: America's closest neighbors do relatively well by both measures, especially Mexico,
33:09
which has done perhaps more than any country but England,
33:13
towaring its starring role in our national nomenclature. All are
33:17
part of ten states home to one and four Americans,
33:22
set on land that used to be Mexico. Oddly enough,
33:26
many of the names honoring Mexico set far from the
33:29
Mexican session Across New England, not far from our northern neighbor,
33:35
you'll find plenty of places honoring the southern one Mexico.
33:39
Maine population twenty seven hundred and fifty six got its
33:43
name in eighteen eighteen out of sympathy for Mexicans who
33:47
were fighting for freedom from Spain. Maryland has two communities
33:51
named Mexico, and for good measure, a New Mexico as well.
33:57
The Canadians enjoy a slightly more large distribution. The borderlands
34:02
are littered with spots such as Little Canada, Minnesota, and
34:07
Canada Corners Michigan. This only goes one way, though, as
34:11
you'll find zero towns in Canada named Little United States. Granted,
34:17
that's a mouthful, but in all of the three hundred
34:20
and sixty thousand, six hundred and fifty one entries in
34:22
the Canadian Geographical Name Database, we only saw forty four
34:28
mostly obscure entities with America or American in their names,
34:34
including two rocks and American gulch in the Yukon and
34:39
multiple bodies of water in Newfoundland and Labrador called American Tickle.
34:46
The distribution of some name seems obvious. For example, we
34:49
see the name place Israel more often in states where
34:53
Judaism is popular. It's often applied to temples and cemeteries. Similarly,
34:59
places named after Greece are more common in areas with
35:02
higher Greek and Macedonian populations and in areas with more
35:07
Orthodox Christians. In general, same for places named after Russia.
35:12
Places with Spanish in their name follow Hispanic populations. Norway
35:18
correlates with Norwegians, and German.
35:20
Speaker 2: Correlates with German.
35:22
Speaker 1: This led us to suspect that many country inspired names
35:26
do not in fact hark back to distant lands. Instead,
35:30
they hark back to local people because foreign country names
35:35
haven't just beenfiltrated in America's geography, They've been filtrated its populous.
35:41
Our investigation of data from more than two hundred million
35:44
registered voters in our voter file from the data firm
35:47
L two turned up names that rep everywhere from the
35:51
Seychelles and Uzbekistan to more popular picks such as France, Georgia, England.
35:57
Speaker 2: Israel, and Kenya.
36:01
Speaker 1: One name topped every list first and last, male and female.
36:06
America is slam packed full of Jordan's. This we suspect
36:12
helps explain Jordan's ubiquity in American place names. Some of
36:16
them must be.
36:17
Speaker 2: Named after, say, local prospector.
36:20
Speaker 1: Enis Jordan or innkeeper Archibald Jordan, rather than the country itself.
36:26
It also help explains why Jordans are more evenly smeared
36:29
across the landscape than biblical peers such as Israel and Lebanon.
36:36
Jordans appear to have been carried into the hinterlands of
36:39
the backs of folks, who then lent the names to
36:41
Jordan's Delight Island in Maine or Jordan's Store, Texas. The
36:47
last name Jordan has long been popular in America, judging
36:51
by the ages of registered voters who still bear it
36:55
as a first name. Jordan is a relatively modern invention.
37:00
It found a cult audience in the sixties and seventies,
37:03
and really took flight around nineteen eighty two, when North
37:07
Carolina freshman Michael Jeffrey Jordan sank the game winning shot
37:12
against Georgetown in the NCAA Championship game. It only faded
37:17
when the bull Chicago Bulls dynasty did as well. Among
37:22
both genders, the popularity of the name Jordan follows roughly
37:25
the same championship chasing pattern. However, male Jordan's outnumber female
37:31
Jordans by about three to one in our database. How
37:34
did the presumably genderless nation of Jordan become a boy's name.
37:40
The answer to that question lies beyond our powers of analysis,
37:44
But one of the findings that delighted us most in
37:46
this entire exercise is the revelation that parents clearly believe
37:51
some countries are boys while others are girls, and we
37:56
couldn't always guess which way things would go. To be sure,
38:00
the gender of some country related names feels obvious. Almost
38:04
every boy is Chad, while names with Latin esque feminine
38:09
endings such as Georgia, India, Malaysia, and Tanzania overwhelmingly belong
38:17
to girls. But did you know the names Denmark, Scotland,
38:21
and Nepal, while rare, are at least three quarters male,
38:27
or that parents have collectedly decided that Italy, Malta, Egypt,
38:32
and Belize best described girls. We found a handful of
38:38
general neutral countries, including Japan, Panama, Soudan, and Germany, but
38:44
none of those are claimed by more than a couple
38:46
hundred Americans. Speaking of Americans, we found more than seven
38:52
thousand Americas in the United States. Most all of them
38:56
are women, and most all of them are Hispanic but
39:00
we reckon that may be another column entirely. And now
39:05
the next story Greenland to elect new government is Trump
39:08
coaxes and threatens. Greenlanders are going to the polls on
39:13
Tuesday to elect a new government. In the past, few
39:17
outsiders would care much about the semi autonomous king territory
39:21
of the Kingdom of Denmark voted. But these times are different.
39:25
Now there is an intense global focus on the Arctic region,
39:29
with China, Russia, and the United States all seeking more
39:33
control of this new melting world. President Trump told Congress
39:40
last week that one way or the other United States
39:43
needed to get Greenland a new treaty, the fifty second
39:47
state after the United States snags Canada. Trump has not elaborated,
39:53
and he's made similar claims for the Panaball Canal and Gaza.
39:58
Speaker 2: Do they want to re.
40:00
Speaker 1: Main part of Denmark? Greenland was ruled as a colony
40:03
of Denmark until nineteen fifty three. Do they want independence?
40:08
And if they gain independence, might they be tempted by
40:12
a new relationship with a partner and protectors such as
40:15
Trump's America. The election Tuesday won't answer those questions. Independence
40:21
isn't on the ballot, but the parties and the voters
40:25
choose could offer some clues. Since Trump revived his play
40:30
to secure Greenland, the government has banned campaign donations from foreigners.
40:36
The word from Denmark and the European Union is to
40:39
let Greenland decide.
40:41
Speaker 2: The snap election was.
40:42
Speaker 1: Called in February by Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Igede, leader
40:48
of the Democratic Socialist Inuit Aliquigit party. He stressed that
40:53
Greenland is not for sale in aliquoquit Is. The coalition partner,
40:58
the Social Democratic SIMUT party, are expected to win.
41:02
Speaker 2: Enough votes to remain in leadership.
41:05
Speaker 1: Nelliak, Greenland's largest opposition party, has expressed openness to seek
41:10
and closer ties with the United States. All three parties
41:14
support independence, but then someday, eventually, soon later.
41:20
Speaker 2: This is the big question.
41:23
Speaker 1: Greenland has been a territory or possession of the Kingdom
41:26
of Denmark for more than two hundred years. It's the
41:29
world's largest island, more than ten times the size of
41:34
Great Britain, but the population is tiny, only about fifty
41:39
six thousand people.
41:41
Speaker 2: Most are intoit.
41:43
Speaker 1: Nearly half of them live in Nuk, the capital. The
41:46
rest reside in small towns and villages scattered along the
41:49
coasts and fiords. There are no roads to connect the settlements.
41:55
Greenlanders get from place to place by boat or plane.
42:00
Leaving Denmark could be hard. Greenlanders are citizens of Denmark,
42:05
meeting citizens of.
42:07
Speaker 2: The European Union.
42:08
Speaker 1: They get Danish passports and Greenlandic ones too. Greenland is
42:13
a Nordic style welfare state. Denmark provides half of the
42:18
territory's revenue in a huge block grant. Greenlanders enjoy free
42:24
health care, free education, and generous housing and welfare subsidies.
42:30
The territory's largest export is fish. But most of the
42:34
population works for the government. Many way want independence, but
42:39
can they survive in their current conditions without Denmark's patronage.
42:45
It is time we take a step to shape our
42:48
future in terms of who we should work closely with
42:51
and who should be our trading partners. At get a
42:53
sid in his New Year's Address, our collaboration with other
42:58
countries and our trade relations. Can I continue to take
43:01
place through Denmark alone? That sounded like many too many.
43:07
I call for more trade, more autonomy, but not leaving.
43:10
Speaker 2: Denmark all together.
43:12
Speaker 1: In a speech to Congress, Trump addressed to the Greenlandic
43:16
people directly. We will keep you safe, we will make
43:20
you rich, and together we will take Greenland to heights
43:25
like you've never thought possible before. Team Trump has highlighted
43:30
the oil and gas reserves and rare earth.
43:33
Speaker 2: Minerals to be exploited.
43:35
Speaker 1: With freezing, dark cold, skeletal infrastructure and few developed harbors,
43:42
the island has only one operating mind today. You get
43:46
a responded immediately to Trump. We don't want to be
43:50
Americans Ordanes. We are kalelite Greenlanders, he posted on social media.
43:58
The Americans and their aders must understand that we are
44:02
not for sale, and we cannot simply be taken. Our
44:06
future will be decided by us in Greenland. Greenlanders and
44:11
Danes have noted that the United States already has a
44:14
strategic presence in Greenland pitt Fock Space Base, formerly the
44:20
Cold War era Tool Air Force Base, along with the
44:24
authority to defend the outpost and to Bill Moore, if
44:28
American mining companies want to explore the territory for rare
44:32
earth minerals, Greenland's open for business, make them an offer.
44:37
Speaker 2: Speaking to The Washington Post.
44:40
Speaker 1: Huluric prom God, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute
44:44
for International Studies in Copenhagen, call Greenland the most dynamic
44:49
piece in the new Arctic jigsaw puzzle now trying to
44:54
find its best way forward. I mean a great power struggle.
44:58
In a blog post, wrote, any deal between Donald Trump
45:02
and Greenland would either result in Greenlanders receiving less than
45:06
they get from Denmark or the United States paying more
45:10
for what it already has. Election results are expected Wednesday morning.
45:16
The top parties will form a government.
45:19
Speaker 2: Later, they will.
45:20
Speaker 1: Decide whether the stage and independence referendum and how to
45:25
approach talks about the future with Denmark and maybe the
45:30
United States and our next story. Chinese tariffs on US
45:34
farm products take effect.
45:37
Speaker 2: As trade tensions mount.
45:40
Speaker 1: Chinese tariffs on a wide range of US agricultural products
45:44
took effect Monday, as Beijing remains defied of the face
45:48
of US pressure while urging Washington to come to the
45:51
negotiation table. China's decision to impose tariffs of up to
45:56
fifteen percent on products including corn, means, and beef starting
46:01
Monday targets some of the United States' most important exports
46:05
to the world's second largest economy. The retaliation against President
46:10
Trump's move to raise tariffs on all Chinese goods to
46:13
at least twenty percent marks another escalation in a mounting
46:17
trade battle that has no end in sight. Behind the
46:21
rapid fire actions and public bravado, however, Beijing is eager
46:26
to strike a deal and has been scrambling to find
46:29
out what Trump wants, whom to speak to, and whether
46:32
it converts serious damage to its slowing economy. There is
46:38
just overall confusion about the Trump administration's real intentions, whether
46:42
it's genuinely seeking a deal or simply going to escalate tension,
46:47
said Patricia Kim, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who
46:50
has met with visiting Chinese academics looking to understand the
46:54
new administration. They want to know what kind of deal
46:58
Trump is looking for and what his endgame is. The
47:02
problem for Beijing is that under its highly centralized political system,
47:07
only Chinese leader Zi Jinping should secure a deal to
47:11
end the tensions. But unlike the leaders of Canada and Mexico,
47:17
Xi has not had a conversation with Trump in his
47:19
second term, and that might be because x is unlikely
47:23
to risk direct negotiations until he is certain of results,
47:27
Chinese expert said, and Trump's unpredictability makes that difficult. China
47:35
will be looking for a sense of certainty in the
47:37
negotiation protocols and concrete projects and deals before engaging at
47:41
the top level, said Xa Xiaodong, a professor of international
47:45
political economy at Beijing University in Beijing. Neither side has
47:51
really ascertained a go to person for working level conversations,
47:55
Za said, Wang went to the Chinese commercial man said
48:01
last week that he hoped his team could begin communication
48:04
as soon as possible with their US counterparts. Top Trump
48:08
administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bissant and Secretary of
48:14
State Marco Rubio have had initial calls with their Chinese counterparts,
48:20
but Beijing doesn't appear to have found a direct line
48:22
to the president despite searching for what Chinese experts like
48:26
to call it a new Kissinger. This is as stark
48:30
contrast to the trade war of Trump's first term, when
48:34
China tried to reach a deal in part using a
48:36
back channel to.
48:36
Speaker 2: Trump via his son in law, Jared Kushner.
48:40
Speaker 1: In the meantime, Beijing has sent unofficial delegations of academics
48:43
and experts to Washington to parse Trump's true priorities when
48:48
it comes to China. That's a sign that reaching a
48:51
deal is important to Beijing, said Bonnie Glazer, and analyst
48:55
with the German Marshall Fund in Washington. Beijingly wants to
49:00
avoid more instability and unpredictability in the US China relationship
49:05
that could have unforeseen consequences for Chinese interests, she said.
49:11
In public, Beijing has struck a defiant tone, showing its
49:16
readiness to match the United States blow for blow. Monday's
49:20
tariffs target the United States agricultural sector. China is the
49:25
largest market for American farm products, importing almost twenty billion
49:30
dollars in chicken, pork, cotton, and the other goods that
49:35
will be subject to the new tariffs last year, according
49:38
to data from the US Department of Agriculture. Beijing also
49:42
placed export controls and trade restrictions on more than twenty
49:47
US companies. It moved to restrict imports of gene sequencing
49:51
technology from American biotech company Illumina, and an investigation into
49:56
whether an American fiber optics company was skirting BA Jing's
50:00
earlier anti dumping measures. But despite these measures, China has
50:06
relatively few cards to play, given that it runs an
50:10
enormous trades or plus approaching three hundred billion dollars last year.
50:16
With the United States complicating matters further, China's economy is
50:22
also struggling. In addition to week spending and high unemployment,
50:27
China is experiencing stubborn inflation. Data on Sunday showed consumer
50:34
prices dropped further in February, falling seven tenths of one
50:38
percent from a year earlier. That worries many on the
50:42
front lines of the trade war. Numerous Chinese exporters and
50:47
manufacturers have been heavily on selling to the United States,
50:52
building their businesses around the particular needs of American consumers.
50:57
Nearly fifteen percent of china These exports went to the
51:01
United States last year, according to official customs data. While
51:05
that was down for just over a fifth and twenty eighteen,
51:09
the United States is still the largest single destination for
51:13
Chinese products. Analysts estimate that a major slump in US
51:17
sales could ripple through the Chinese economy and knock a
51:21
few percentage points off growth, which has been struggling to
51:25
meet Beijing's annual target of about five percent. The impact
51:30
of the trade wars already being felt on the ground.
51:34
Tian Yong, the founder and chief executive of Footy Pet,
51:38
a Jinan based maker of premium dog and cat treats,
51:43
is bracing for a loss of American consumers, who account
51:47
for about a third of his sales. Chan is determined
51:51
not to cut prices. Instead, he plans to weather terrace
51:55
by moving faster to release dozens of products every year.
52:00
Our pet culture is not so deep, but when it
52:02
comes to innovation, the United States is not as good
52:05
as us, he said while in the Capitol this month
52:08
to sell grassland rabbit spare ribs and chicken and orange
52:12
flavored shoes to middle class beijingers. There are more pet
52:17
lovers in China today than Wuen Tian started out three
52:20
decades ago, but the United States remains his top target.
52:25
Alex Zu, who sells soft toys to major American brands,
52:30
said the twenty percent duties have all but wiped out
52:32
profits for his confirmed orders, putting three thousand employees at risk.
52:37
While Zou's main concern now is remaining profitable while keeping
52:43
costs low for American consumers, he fears major buyers will
52:47
soon decide the political risk of manufacturing in China are
52:50
too great. If the only consideration was cost, we probably
52:55
would be fine, he said, adding it would be dangerous
52:59
for his business if US companies give up on Chinese suppliers.
53:04
This pressure on exporters and the wider economy will make
53:08
it ever more necessary for Beijing to reach a deal
53:11
with Trump administration.
53:13
Speaker 2: Analyst said it.
53:15
Speaker 1: Has already offered some olive branches. On the same day
53:19
as hitting back against tariffs, Chinese authorities released a white
53:23
paper claiming that law enforcement agencies were cracking down on
53:27
the production and shipment of fentanyl related substances. The main
53:33
reason Trump says he imposed the tariffs and that underscores
53:38
Beijing's carrots and sticks approach. Channelist said, of course, we
53:43
want to make a deal, you know.
53:44
Speaker 2: I mean, we don't like tariffs.
53:46
Speaker 1: We don't like trade wars, said wu Zinbu, an international
53:50
relations scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai. However, if the
53:56
US wants to impose it on China, then we have
54:00
to respond. And next the spirit to avoid a shutdown
54:05
is on good morning, early birds. Is that spring we
54:09
see in the DC forecast this week and across the country.
54:12
Let's hope. So Republicans now get another unity test to
54:17
push to avoid a shutdown. Funding for the federal government
54:22
runs out at the end of Friday, and the race
54:24
is on for Congress to avoid a shutdown. The way
54:28
you've heard this story before, there was nearly a shutdown
54:32
in December after President elect Trump blew up a bipartisan
54:37
funding agreement at the last minute, demanding that it also
54:40
addressed the debt ceiling. And he didn't get his way,
54:44
but it offered an ominous preview of how hard Trump
54:47
could make life for House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican
54:50
of Louisiana in his second term. This time around, though,
54:55
Trump and GOP leaders are more aligned out of the gate.
54:59
They're pushing a stop gap funding measure known as a
55:02
Continuing Resolution to keep the government open through September. They've
55:07
sought to reassure fiscal hawks, who typically loathe the CRS,
55:12
by pointing to the steep spending cuts that the US
55:15
Doze Service is pursuing. I am asking you all to
55:19
give us a few months to get through the September
55:22
so we can continue to put the country's financial house
55:25
in order, Trump wrote Saturday on his Truth social platform,
55:29
pleading with Republicans to stay united, to fight for another
55:34
day when the timing is right. The problem is Democratic
55:38
leaders have come out hard against the Continuing Resolution, with
55:42
one calling it a blank check to Elon Musk.
55:46
Speaker 2: The situation raises.
55:47
Speaker 1: A familiar question. Without the help of Democrats, can Johnson
55:52
hold together his thin majority on another crucial vote, and
55:56
if he's successful, sins can Senate majority leader John Thune,
56:00
Republicans of South Dakota, finds several Democrats to help the
56:04
GOP pass the measure in his chamber. For House Republicans,
56:09
it's a big test of unity. After a couple of
56:12
false starts, there was the December showdown, and then a
56:15
more recent drama over the budget resolution, which passed but
56:19
only after days of suspense and a nail bier vote
56:23
for which Trump had to personally lobby holdouts. Trump wasn't
56:28
quite brimming with confidence last night when I asked about
56:31
the possibility of a shutdown. I think the c R
56:35
is going to be passed, he told reporters Board Air
56:37
Force One. We'll see, but a shutdown could happen. For
56:43
Democrats this week gives them an opportunity to show their
56:45
increasing restlessness, based that they're know in no mood to
56:50
help Republicans keep the government open while Doge upends their communities.
56:56
But their opposition is not just about Doge. The test
57:00
of the resolution was released Saturday, showing a proposed thirteen
57:04
billion dollars in cuts to non defense spending in the
57:06
twenty twenty four fiscal year. House Democratic leaders released a
57:10
statement saying it recklessly cuts health care and does nothing
57:15
to protect entitlement programs. Johnson can afford to lose one
57:21
GOP vote if everyone is present and Democrats all oppose
57:25
the measure. GOP reps Thomas Massey of Kentucky and Tony
57:30
Gonzales of Texas both expressed opposition to the idea of
57:35
a CR before the text was released this weekend. Massey
57:40
announced opposition on the proposal late Saturday night, questioning why
57:43
he would vote to continue the waste, fraud and abuse
57:46
doze is found. Gonzales meanwhile, suggested earlier yesterday he's more
57:52
open minded now. I think crs are terrible, but I
57:57
also think you need to give the president the benefit
57:59
of the doubt, especially when his policies are working. So
58:02
it's a game time now decision for me. Gonzales set
58:06
on CNN's State of the Union. And this concludes the
58:11
reading of the Washington Post for today, Monday, March tenth.
58:14
Your reader for today has been Rod Brotherton. If you
58:17
have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning the program, please
58:21
feel free to call us at eight five nine four
58:24
two two sixty three ninety. Thank you for listening, and
58:28
now please stay tuned for continued programming right here on
58:33
Radio I