Foreign Relations

New Mnemonics

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As a child, I was able to memorize all fifty of the (now less than) United States’ states by learning to sing the catchy little ditty, Fifty Nifty United States.* (As an adult this skill came in handy because I won a bet or two on my ability to not only name all fifty states, but to name them all in alphabetical order. (There’s a good chance alcohol may have been involved.))

And, being a child borne on the shores of Lake Erie, it was mandatory that I learn the names of all five of the Great Lakes. This memorization feat was accomplished easily enough by employing the domestically appearing mnemonic H. O. M. E. S.

  • HURON
  • ONTARIO
  • MICHIGAN
  • ERIE
  • SUPERIOR

However, due to the recent administrative adjustment to the naming convention of one of the lakes, H. O. M. E. S. is now obsolete, at least in the U. S. It is of course still a viable memory aid for the rest of the English-speaking world.

But in my narcissistic neck of the woods, the new mnemonic effective immediately for use is:

S. H. A. M. E.

*At least the Fifty Nifty ditty is still germane… for now anyway. Hold tight Greenland!

When We Were King*

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If only we had sane, country first politicians in office who could run a functioning Congress that could take strategic advantage of the economic woes and geo-political fallout from the heavy-handed bullying and uncivil friendships that China has brought upon itself.

Yeah… if only.

Twenty years from now, if not sooner, when the dollar is no longer king* and the sole international currency of choice and, leveraging all the secrets it has stolen during the past decades from all our previously leading sectors, China has become the world’s leading economy and has manned a military base on the moon strong enough to thwart our dreams of space dominance, we’re going to be kicking ourselves in our bloated and ignorant political butts for missing this window of opportunity.

Or something like that…

Mr. Xi has been trying to stabilize relations with Washington, apparently pressed by China’s economic troubles and a desire to reduce Beijing’s diplomatic isolation. “We have a thousand reasons to grow the relationship between China and the United States, and none at all to ruin it,” Mr. Xi told American lawmakers in Beijing recently.

But with mutual distrust running deep, any easing of antagonism between the two sides could be tenuous.

Behind Public Assurances, Xi Jinping Spread Grim Views on U.S., New York Times, November 13, 2023

*non-gender specific