I think this tariff on rice and the additional visa restrictions are just part of petty revenge against the recent Modi-Putin meeting.

Notwithstanding the horrible thing she has done in the past, her courageous stand was key to congress voting to release the Epstein files. She also apologised for her toxic behaviour once.
In my opinion, she is better than the congressmen who still support the Trump regime.

Have seen a lot of his videos, he is very practical, thoughtful and a visionary.

This quote makes sense too, even though it is a bit crude, in describing the population.

Singapore was lucky to have him. He is perhaps the only good dictator the world has seen !

Looking at the map as a layman, with no military knowledge, it seems to me that this is more wishful thinking than a practical reality.. especially when China has more warships than the US (in numbers, not in tonnage)

They can get away with saying anything to their audience, without presenting any evidence !!

What is required is a flow, not a trickle !

I wonder who is behaving like a barbarian !

Migrants to Switzerland seem to be predominantly from the EU.

It becomes a flash point when the immigrants are culturally very different.

It then becomes easy for demagogues to blame all the ills on the immigrants. To protect from such backlash, immigration must be kept at reasonable levels..

While some states contribute more to GDP, they also benefit from the large market, and the resources from other regions..

Also, having the union means each state doesn't have to spend on the military..

On another note, I just found out that the EU has 24 official languages !

The Cholas had occupied parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand and also had their dominion over Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

True, it was managed as part of an empire and not a resource colony..

They could not sustain it though and crumbled in the 13th century.

I guess we will never know how things would have turned out.. Indians might have colonised other countries if we had invented guns first :-)

3. Earlier we used many products for 20 years. Now phones and laptops and other products are replaced within 3 years. So, this mindless consumption and fast replacement has to be reduced.

We also need better recycling and be willing to pay for it..

2. With increasing prosperity, the consumption of material goods has sky rocketed, requiring more mining land for minerals and more wood for construction and orher uses.

(continued..)

I consider the following reasons for environmental degradation.

1. More people
2.More per capita consumption
3. Faster replacement of products.

1. The world population in 1825 was about 1 billion. In just 200 years it has zoomed to 8 billion ! So, we need more land for food.

(continued..)

I prefer the current state.

To become like the EU, it would require tremendous tragedy and destruction like WW2 to realise it is better to form a union than to keep fighting.

If we are many nations, we may still be quarrelling over rivers and borders.!