A country that prided itself on stability has seemed to be in free-fall. Whodunnit?
BREAKING NEWS: Passenger plane skids off runway and breaks in half
FULL STORY: https://dailym.ai/399xVOF
Trump's impeachment comes at the perfect time ... for Trump
https://www.cnbc.com › 2019/12/09 › trumps-impeachm...
2019/12/09 - But as much as historical legacy clearly matters to this president and all presidents, a flawed legacy was probably guaranteed for Trump long ago. As it stands now, the future negatives seem like a small price to pay compared ...
Trump總統爽。自有人收拾殘局：
特朗普政策轉彎美國延緩撤軍敘利亞
美國總統特朗普上個月突然宣布，將在幾週內撤軍敘利亞。但國家安全顧問博爾頓暗示計劃延緩，並提出兩項先決條件。
特朗普政策轉彎美國延緩撤軍敘利亞
美國總統特朗普上個月突然宣布，將在幾週內撤軍敘利亞。但國家安全顧問博爾頓暗示計劃延緩，並提出兩項先決條件。
Bolton Puts Conditions on Syria Withdrawal, Suggesting a Delay of Months or Years
By DAVID E. SANGER, NOAH WEILAND and ERIC SCHMITT
John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, said troops would remain until the Islamic State was completely defeated and Turkey guaranteed it would not strike Kurdish forces.
.jpg) | John R. Bolton (1948–) | April 9, 2018 | September 10, 2019 | 520 |
"Xi Jinping is an interesting character. Has Xi Jinping seen the most tumultuous periods in recent Chinese history? Indeed, he has. Does he want to return to those years? Guaranteed not."
European Car Sales Fell 18% in February
Europe's car market continued to contract in February, shrinking 18% as sales skidded in all major markets except Germany.
New-car registrations in the U.K. recorded their worst monthly performance in 28 years, the latest sign that the market in Western Europe is in freefall.
Japanese three biggest automakers on skid street
Economic Times - Gurgaon,Haryana,India
TOKYO: Toyota Motor, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co, Japan’s three biggest automakers, may say fiscal first-quarter profit dropped as US demand for ... Sprint Nextel Swings to a Loss as Subscribers Defect By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The company lost another 1.3 million wireless subscribers during the third quarter, leading to a loss that sent its stock skidding.
free fallor free-fall n.
- The fall of a body within the atmosphere without a drag-producing device such as a parachute.
- The ideal falling motion of a body that is subject only to the earth's gravitational field.
- Rapid uncontrolled decline: “The markets threatened to go into free fall and we came within an eyelash of … an uncontrollable panic” (Felix Rohatyn).
skid
verb [I] -dd-
(especially of a vehicle) to slide along a surface so that you have no control:
Trevor's bus skidded on some ice and hit a tree.
skid
noun [C]
1 an uncontrollable sliding movement:
She was riding too fast on a wet road, and the motorbike went into a skid.
2 one of two long flat pieces under some aircraft such as helicopters, which help the aircraft to land
3 a support, often made of wood, for raising heavy objects off the ground or for moving them
poor, without a job or a place to live, and often drinking too much alcohol
skids Slang. A path to ruin or failure:
His career hit the skids. Her life is now on the skids.on the skids In the process of decline or ruin, as in If she quit now, her career would be on the skids. The skids here are runners such as those on a sled, enabling one to go downhill quickly. [c. 1920]
UN bid puts Taiwan on skids with China
Taiwan's push for a seat in the UN has complicated cross-strait relations and rattled Washington.
By Jonathan Adams | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the September 25, 2007 edition
Taiwanese rallied on the streets of Kaohsiung on Sept. 15 to support the island-nation's bid for UN representation.Taipei, Taiwan - Taiwan and China are gearing up for another season of escalating tensions that many, including Chinese President Hu Jintao, are calling a "high-risk period" for cross-strait relations.
Taipei's announcement Friday that the Olympic torch will not pass through Taiwan was one of the first major embarrassments for Beijing as it gears up for next August's Olympics.
Meanwhile, the island-nation's ruling party is pushing to join the United Nations under the name "Taiwan" – a bid the UN General Assembly rejected last Wednesday. But Taiwan plans to force the issue by holding a referendum that appears planned to help the party drum up nationalistic sentiment ahead of a presidential election next March. The US government, keen to avoid a conflict, has taken an unusually strong public stance against the vote, which officials see as a foolish provocation.
Taiwan's UN referendum may be timed for maximum political effect. But it's tapped a powerful current of Taiwanese national pride whose implications extend far beyond the next election. Beijing fears that nationalistic trend, and Washington has little sympathy for it, but in the coming years, both may well have to come to terms with it to avoid confrontation.
China sees the referendum as a step toward formal independence, which it's threatened to prevent by military force if necessary. The US, which has pledged to help defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression, wants to nip any cross-strait spat in the bud. But the island's ruling party looks set to press ahead with the referendum in order to fire up supporters before they go to the polls in March.
The result won't likely be war, say analysts. But the UN push has already helped derail cross-strait talks on a range of issues, including the Olympic torch. And Washington and Beijing are concerned that the referendum could set the stage for an all-out independence push.
That's a reckoning both the US and China are keen to avoid. On Sept. 11, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Christensen described Taiwan's UN gambit as "ill-conceived and potentially quite harmful," as well as a "needless provocation."
Meanwhile, the island's political logic means there's little prospect that it will back down. The ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is keen to hold on to power, and it's strongest when fighting on themes of Taiwanese identity. Indeed, the UN referendum issue has already helped it seize the initiative and set the agenda as the presidential campaign begins to heat up.
On the surface, Washington's stance puts it in an odd position: Joining with an authoritarian regime to oppose a democratic vote in Taiwan. But analysts say that's just realpolitik at work. The US may cast itself as the global champion of democratic values, but in East Asia, as elsewhere, it has more pressing strategic concerns. And Washington can ill afford to wage a war with an increasingly strong Chinese military.
"The US doesn't want any scope for miscalculation that would require American flyboys and sailors to go to that part of the world," says Steve Tsang, director of the Taiwan Studies Programme at Oxford University.
Taiwan is also a unique case: The US military is the ultimate security guarantor of the island's democratic choices. But the US is not bound to defend the island in all circumstances. The Taiwan Relations Act, a domestic US law, merely requires Washington to offer the island weaponry to defend itself and for the White House to notify Congress if hostilities break out.
Beyond that, any US administration is free to define the extent of its commitment to Taipei. Former US diplomat Chas Freeman perhaps says it best: Taiwan "does not have a blank check that it can fill out in American blood," he wrote in a 1996 New York Times editorial.
This time around, the Bush administration sees the UN referendum as a move by Taiwan to unilaterally change the cross-strait "status quo." What's more, Washington views the referendum's use of "Taiwan" as a violation of the spirit of President Chen Shui-bian's past pledges to the US not to change the country's name.
So it is putting Taipei on public notice that it can't rely on US military muscle to back up its latest push for greater recognition.
"I don't think the US is trying to intervene in Taiwan's democracy," says Andrew Yang, a security expert at the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei. "They are trying to emphasize that if you decide [to go ahead with the referendum], we will not be responsible for the consequences."
The result – whether coordinated or not – is something akin to a "good cop, bad cop" routine in which Washington and Beijing have joined ranks against Taipei. China rattles the saber, while the US tries to reason with its island ally.
Washington's public lectures have sparked indignation in Taipei. Chen Ming-tong, head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, acknowledged that the UN bid had likely thrown a wrench in cross-strait talks on the Olympic torch and other issues. But he insisted that China's bullying disrespect for the Taiwanese people is ultimately to blame.
put/throw a spanner in the works UK (US throw a (monkey) wrench in the works)
to do something that prevents a plan or activity from succeeding:
The funding for the project was withdrawn so that really threw a spanner in the works.
"The criticisms are unfair," says Mr. Chen. "Can you imagine, our people go to peacefully cast their vote to show their will to join the UN, and people say that will cause disaster? What kind of world is that?"
Continental accepts Schaeffler's takeover bid
The German ball-bearing manufacturer Schaeffler has reached a takeover agreement with Europe's second-biggest tyre-maker. Continental accepted Schaeffler's bid after it raised its offer by almost €5 to €75 per share. Schaeffler also agreed to limit itself to a minority interest in Continental for the next four years. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is the guarantor of the agreement. Continental said in a statement that as part of the deal, its CEO, Manfred Wennemer, would leave the company by the end of the month. No successor has yet been named. The deal comes less than a month after Schaeffler launched a hostile takeover bid for Continental.
guarantee
Origin
Late 17th century (in the sense 'guarantor'): perhaps from Spanish garante, corresponding to French garant (see warrant), later influenced by French garantie 'guaranty'.
guar・an・tee
━━ n. 保証（書） ((of)); 担保; 保証人; 被保証人.
━━ vt. 保証する, 保障する ((against)).
guar・an・teed ━━ a. 保証された, 間違いない.
guaranteed annual wage 【労働】年間保証賃金.
guaranteed bond 【株】保証社債.
guaranteed employment 【労働】保証雇用 ((一定期間の一定時間労働を保証する雇用形態)).
guaranteed (annual) income 〔米〕 （貧困者に対する政府の）年間保証所得.
guaranteed rate 【金融】保証利率; 【労働】保証歩合給.
guaranteed stock 【株】（配当・元本）保証株.
guaranteed wage 保証賃金.
guar・an・tor
, 
━━ n. 保証人.
━━ vt. 保証する, 保障する ((against)).
guar・an・teed ━━ a. 保証された, 間違いない.guaranteed annual wage 【労働】年間保証賃金.
guaranteed bond 【株】保証社債.
guaranteed employment 【労働】保証雇用 ((一定期間の一定時間労働を保証する雇用形態)).
guaranteed (annual) income 〔米〕 （貧困者に対する政府の）年間保証所得.
guaranteed rate 【金融】保証利率; 【労働】保証歩合給.
guaranteed stock 【株】（配当・元本）保証株.
guaranteed wage 保証賃金.
guar・an・tor, ━━ n. 保証人.
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