Steve Kelman on politics, culture, and life July 1, 2025
Israel arms embargo and Democrats
Three state Democratic parties have passed resolutions calling for a US arms embargo to Israel. Sad.
Huge news story in China Daily
First line of lead story in today's China Daily: "Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China central committee, emphasized on Monday the need to advance full, rigorous self-governance of the Communist Party by fostering good conduct." Party members, listen up! This is huge news.
High prices in Swedish coop
Embarrassing story in Sweden's leading newspaper that the Swedish Coop chain has the most expensive prices for a food basket of any in Sweden. Considering that the chain is a not-for-profit and was originally set up to offer lower prices to consumers than for-profit stores, this is very problematic.
Hezbollah flag
An Irish rap group has displayed a Hezbollah flag at a British music festival. A second band chanted "death death to the IDF."
Europe still leads luxury
Being taken to the business class lounge in Seoul Korea, passing through the various luxury stores in the area. Large outlets for Gucci, Louis Vuitton. Didn’t see Tiffany, coach, or any other American luxury brand . Europe still a home for luxury.
Musk story on China TV news
Surprised to see a story on Chinese TV news on Musk’s criticisms of Trump. Though I couldn’t really understand details of the story, surprised they found it newsworthy.