Notations On Our World (Special Month-End Edition): As We Bid Farewell to January 2020....

It has been quite a month!!!   

Today is the day The United Kingdom officially Leaves the European Union--The headlines were telling:

The Financial Times captured the predicament that awaits Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister as the UK will be forced to look more to the United States--and the prospects  of not being a World Power anymore: 

This is as the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency that continues to spread throughout the World.    We note the advisory from the World Health Organization below for reference:

WHO declares the new coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern Following the advice of the Emergency Committee today, WHO Director-General has declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. In China, more than 7700 cases have been confirmed, and 170 people have died. There are 82 additional cases confirmed in 18 countries.  Read the statement What you need to know about the new coronavirus

What is a novel coronavirus? A novel coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.   How can I protect myself? WHO recommends frequent hand washing, covering mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when coughing or sneezing, and avoiding close contact with anyone who shows symptoms.   Myth-busters Can pets at home spread the new coronavirus? Does the new coronavirus affect older people, or are younger people also susceptible? Are antibiotics effective in preventing and treating the new coronavirus? Find out answers to these and other questions on our new myth-busters page.

   The Economist of London captured the predicament with the covers  it launched on Brexit (as the United Kingdom sails into the Unknown) and whether the virus can indeed be contained: 

THe Our team was on the prowl as the long-awaited Peace Plan was unveiled by President Trump and we released the full text earlier in the week.    Israel's Prime Minister had wanted to bring the Jordan Valley annexation to the Israeli Cabinet--but it appears that annexation was torpedoed by Jared Kushner--although the plan itself has been fully rejected by the Palestinians.   The view from Peace Now is hereby noted for reference: The Trump Plan – A Plan for Annexation, Not for Peace Read the Full Paper Here   When the president of the United States, Donald Trump, festively presented his “Deal of the Century,” he repeated the following words several times: “peace plan” and “Palestinian state.” Despite the seemingly appropriate words and the celebratory atmosphere, an examination of the details of the plan clearly reveal the degree to which it lacks both peace and a Palestinian state. A deeper assessment indicates that the plan not only neglects to advance peace, but also has the potential to severely harm prospects for a genuine peace plan for both parties. Summary: Why Is the Plan So Bad? Unilateralism and lack of reciprocity – According to the US plan, Israel may already (unilaterally) annex settlements in its initial stage of implementation, prior to negotiations. A Palestinian state will be established, conditionally, per terms that will be determined unilaterally. The proposed Palestinian “state” isn’t really a state: It lacks territorial contiguity or potential for economic development – The proposed Palestinian state is akin to Swiss cheese, whose land is interconected via roads and tunnels that prevent any sustainable development. It lacks independent boundaries – The proposed Palestinian state will be surrounded by the state of Israel on all sides. Even the crossing between Gaza and Egypt will have an Israeli presence. It lacks self-sufficient security – According to the US plan, Israel will retain sweeping security control over the Palestinian state. Indefensible borders – Annexation of settlements that will become enclaves of sorts in a Palestinian state, will constitute an overwhelming security burden for the Israeli military. The plan lacks a solution for Jerusalem – Trump’s plan does not resolve one of the focal points of the conflict, leaving all of East Jerusalem and hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents under Israeli sovereignty. Land swaps and population transfers – The US plan includes the possibility for Israel to strip hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens of their Israeli citizenship, “transferring” them in a virtual manner by redrawing the Green Line so that they will live under Palestinian rule. This racist proposal will not really add much to Israel’s Jewish supermajority, and will severely harm the delicate fabric of life between Jewish and Arab citizens. Read the Full Paper Here Courtesy of Dan Rothem As we also went to press, we saw this cross our newswires courtesy of the Financial Times of London that underscored crosswinds awaiting the Global Economy especially in light of the Virus that continues to spread  and its' impact worldwide in addition to the looming budget deficit in the United States:  myFT Instant Alert Global Economy US yield curve inversion raises growth concerns Coronavirus sparks bond market rally and triggers recession signal JANUARY 30, 2020 by Colby Smith in New York Th  World US budget deficit forecast to blow out by mid-century CBO predicts $13tn shortfall this decade and deteriorating picture beyond JANUARY 28, 2020 by Brendan Greeley in Washington This is as the Presidential Campaign season formally gets under way--Here in our Home State of California, a recent polling was done by the Los Angeles Times and the UC Berkeley Institute For Governmental Studies as the Democrats continue their fight to pick who will challenge President Trump: LAT/IGS 01/15-01/21 PPIC 01/03-01/12 CA120/Capitol Weekly 01/03-01/09 Bernie Sanders 26% 27% 24% Elizabeth Warren 20% 23% 21% Joe Biden 15% 24% 20% Pete Buttigieg 7% 6% 11% Michael Bloomberg 6% 1% (VOL.) 6% Amy Klobuchar 4% 5% Andrew Yang 3% (VOL.) 7% Tulsi Gabbard 2% Tom Steyer 2% Others (total) 6% 5% Undecided 12% 7% One of the other very critical focus points for us has been and will continue to be India as it deals with the aftermath of the Citizenship Amendment Act and a looming recession.  The Financial Times gave a preview of the challenges as the Indian Government prepares to present its' latest budget--and as The Indian Prime Minister has suffered a number of electoral setbacks including having lost India's largest State, Maharashtra: Global Economy What will India do to revive its stuttering growth? Saturday’s budget will seek to address one of most severe slowdowns in decades JANUARY 31, 2020 by Amy Kazmin in New Delhi We will be going dark throughout our Platforms as we gear up to assess all the on-going challenges as we  close out January with uplifting #RandomThoughts as we look forward to the opportunity to serve:

Notations From the Grid (Special Edition): On the #TrumpPeacePlan

The ramifications of the Trump Peace Plan continues to reverberate.     Haaretz released a Podcast on it which our team released to our Twitter Platform earlier today:

 ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ Unreal Deal: No Peace, No Plan, No Palestinians, No Point https://t.co/lRT2hMSR3o

— The Daily Outsider (@ordinaryfaces) January 30, 2020

Notations From the Grid (Mid-Week Edition): Out & About in our World

We hereby present the following #RandomThoughts on the week as the World gathered at Auschwitz;  the US Senate Majority Leader noted that he did not have the votes to prevent witnesses to be called as the Impeachment Trial continued;  as the aftermath of the Trump Peace Plan continued and the Factional Power Struggle continued in Iran in the aftermath of the Ukraine Plane Crash as Security Officials in Iran continued to threaten the Families: 

We Close out with this interesting take on the upcoming Parliamentary Elections in Iran  courtesy the State Department Spokesperson:

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): As the Trump Peace Plan Was Published...

Mahmoud Abbas, The President of the Palestine, rejected what he deemed, "the Conspiracy deal".    Key Trump Administration Officials including Jared Kushner were on the networks touting the peace plan and blasting Palestinian Leaders:

 The Israeli Prime Minister that he would  go ahead with formal annexation of all Settlements.  The Peace Plan has now officially been published and is available below: 

Peace to Prosperity by Joshua Davidovich on Scribd

Notations From the Grid (Special Edition): On the Trump Peace Plan & #RandomThoughts On Climate Crisis

As we went to press, Donald Trump announced the long-awaited the US Peace Plan as he has committed to a two-state solution.  This is as the Israeli Prime Minister is by his side--while being indicted in Israel on corruption charges.    Our team will have further updates within the next few days.   Mahmoud Abbas is due to make a statement later on today.

We close out this brief Notation with this takeaway on the Climate Crisis:

| 5 TAKES ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS In his plenary speech, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to climate scientists as "perennial prophets of doom" and claimed a record of environmental leadership — signing on to WEF's initiative to restore, conserve, and plant 1 trillion trees as proof. That didn't stop some attendees in the packed hall from rolling their eyes. Here's what a few others had to say on climate:

Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): On Our World.....

This weekend was the advent of the Chinese Lunar Year and TET.  Here in Southern California, The cities of Garden Grove and Westminster held parades and Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley Celebrated TET--Happy New Lunar Year to all!!

It is going to be another busy week throughout our Platforms.   In line with our continued commitment to bring the World to our Platforms, this weekly compilation courtesy the team at the Visual Capitalist underscores the state of our World and a number of focus areas for us as well:

Sunday Digest: Last Week's Infographics

Here are all the new infographics from last week in one easy place!

How China Overtook U.S. as the World's Major Trading Partner

China has become the world's major trading partner – and now, 128 of 190 countries trade more with China than they do with the United States.

Visualizing the Expanse of the ETF Universe

The global ETF universe has grown to be worth $5.75 trillion — here's how the assets break down by type, sector, and investment focus.

Tesla's Valuation Surpasses Ford and GM Combined

Tesla is not only the top valued US automaker, it's now worth more than Ford and GM combined. Will the rally go on, or will short sellers win the day?

Ranked: The World's Most Downloaded Apps

The app economy is expected to be over $6 trillion by 2021—see the world's most downloaded apps and how they're driving the future of this market.

Mapping the Global Flow of Foreign Aid

This infographic looks at who is giving – and who is receiving – the billions of dollars in foreign aid that flows between countries each year.

Internet Browser Market Share (1996–2019)

A nostalgic look back at the market share of various web browsers, from Netscape Navigator to Google Chrome.

Visualizing Unequal State Tax Burdens Across America

Poor families pay a higher share of their income towards state and local taxes than wealthy families. These maps show the inequitable tax burdens.

This Week's Flashback Favorite: The World's Most Powerful Reserve Currencies

Here are the reserve currencies that the world's central banks hold onto for a rainy day. Originally from October 2019

As our team will be providing daily assessment over our Twitter Corner regarding Impeachment, the health emergency that originated in China, the challenges throughout the Middle East, the World awaits the dawn of the Middle East Peace Plan which has been in the works for about 3 years now.  The Israeli Prime Minister and Key Opposition figure are slated to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington before it is released--the Palestinians have already rejected it as they have been left out of the process and as the United States withdrew long-standing support to the United Nations Refugee Agency, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's Capital and walked away from a commitment to a Two-State Solution.   Israel's Haaretz noted one column as the World Awaits: As the US Elections heats up, we close out this edition with this cautionary note: Global Economy A plot twist in Donald Trump’s US growth story The president’s ‘roaring geyser’ narrative may be about to run out of steam JANUARY 26, 2020 by Rana Foroohar As China dealt with the deadly outbreak (and our Twitter Channel headlines the latest courtesy China Daily), then there is India as it celebrated 71 years of Independence on Republic Day.   However, the Economist of London underscored profound challenges India Faces: '         Our cover this week looks at how Narendra Modi and the BJP are sowing division in India. Last month they changed the law to make it easier for adherents of all the subcontinent’s religions, except Islam, to acquire citizenship. At the same time, they want to compile a register of all India’s 1.3bn citizens. Those sound like technicalities, but many of the country’s 200m Muslims do not have the papers to prove they are Indian, so they risk being made stateless. Ominously, the government has ordered the building of camps to detain those caught in the net. The scheme looks like the most ambitious step yet in a decades-long project of incitement against Muslims. That is electoral nectar for the BJP, but political poison for India. By undermining the secular principles of the constitution, Mr Modi’s latest initiatives threaten to do damage to democracy. They also risk spilling innocent blood. To drive home this point, the Indian National Congress undertook a very cute outreach to the Indian Prime Minister which we caught on Social Media--it began with a notice noting that it had purchased a copy of the Indian Constitution for the Indian Prime Minister: It then went on both on Hindi & English to cite excerpts of the Constitution: Never a dull moment in our World.....