"GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU. I GIVE THANKS TO GOD ALWAYS FOR ALL OF YOU, AND REMEMBER YOU ALL IN MY PRAYERS, UNCEASINGLY CALLING TO MIND YOUR WORKS OF FAITH AND LABORS OF LOVE, AND YOUR ENDURANCE IN THE HOPE OF OUR LORD, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FATHER KNOWING, BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE LOVE OF GOD, HOW YOU WERE CHOSEN." 1 THES 1:1-4

Trump’s “$250 Billion” of China Trade Deals: As Usual, Hype Greatly Exceeds Reality

From Naked Capitalism:

Trump’s much ballyhooed China trade deal gives way less than meets the eye.

Trump, who said he’d do only “great” trade deals and would designate China a currency manipulator, announced $250 billion of trade deals with China as proof that he has successfully wrestled mano-a-mano with Premier Xi and bringing home lots of goodies for long-suffering American workers.

A more accurate point of view might be that Xi appears not to have gone out of his way to put Trump down, as Trump had done during Xi’s Mar-a-Lago visit, by arriving after Xi had landed and other diplomatic snubs. Worse, while Xi was under US surveillance, the US launched air strikes on a Syrian airbase. I thought if I were Xi, I’d be furious at my inability to talk freely to my aides and military advisers, and most important, diplomats who handle Russia and Syria, while such a potentially destabilizing event was in play.

Instead, Xi engaged in the classic Chinese strategy of overwhelming leaders with ceremony and pampering. Quartz explained that this show is effective:

But Chinese president Xi Jinping added a creamy layer of pomp and circumstance to the mix when the White House delegation reached Beijing. Trump has been feted with everything from an unprecedented private dinner in the Forbidden City to a red carpet welcome in Tiananmen Square, the Beijing landmark where hundreds of students were killed by the Chinese military in 1989…

China’s government is “playing Trump like a fiddle,” said Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s ambassador to China from 2007 to 2013. “You don’t have good chemistry with a Chinese leader who doesn’t speak your language and is geared to not develop chemistry,” he said.

The Communist Party’s top aides are masterful at making diplomats and foreign businessmen feel special…

 https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/11/trumps-250-billion-china-trade-deals-usual-hype-greatly-exceeds-reality.html

A Focus on Tech Literacy: Barnes and Noble Discusses Their 3rd Annual Mini Maker Faire Weekend

From Makezine:

This weekend, Barnes and Noble stores across the United States will once again host their own Barnes and Noble Mini Maker Faires, showcasing local builders of fascinating and impressive projects that range from traditional crafts to high-tech DIY endeavors. I’ve presented at B&N Faires in each of their first two years, and was really impressed with how well the events translated in their environment. They’re a blast.

https://makezine.com/2017/11/10/focus-tech-literacy-barnes-noble-discusses-3rd-annual-mini-maker-faire-weekend/

I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4: 13

"Worse Than Big Tobacco": How Big Pharma Fuels The Opioid Epidemic

From Zero Hedge:

Once again, an out-of-control industry is threatening public health on a mammoth scale..."

The U.S. prescription drug industry has opened a new frontier in public havoc, manipulating markets and deceptively marketing opioid drugs that are known to addict and even kill. It’s a national emergency that claims90 lives per day. Berger lays much of the blame at the feet of companies that have played every dirty trick imaginable to convince doctors to overprescribe medication that can transform fresh-faced teens and mild-mannered adults into zombified junkies.

So how have they gotten away with it?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-12/worse-big-tobacco-how-big-pharma-fuels-opioid-epidemic