We’ve seen memes recently on social media saying nobody will remember your salary or how busy you were or how hard you worked and then they show a clip of someone doing something amazing—that’s what they’ll be remembered for. We have no video clips to show but probably the greatest thing we ever did in our life, or at least the one most used by another creature, was building a lair for our elderly cat, Willow. She just turned 18 but her whole life she has always craved warmth, sometimes lying on the heating vents in winter.* She also is the type who believes you can never be too careful. She likes to be sheltered—she’s fine hanging out with us but when we’re not around she prefers a location that feels protected.
As she got older, it was clear she was even less of a fan of the cold—if she was human she would be the old man in Florida in July wearing two sweaters. So we bought a heating pad, put it under one of her favorite soft blankets and essentially built a pillow fort for her on one of the couches in our family room. We deployed another blanket to create a roof. So she now has a lair—a heated one with three walls, a roof and a view of the birds and squirrels romping in the backyard. We showed the lair to Willow upon construction but being a cat we couldn’t force it upon her. However, after a few moments of investigation she took to it like a fish to water. And there, when not on our laps, eating, or during her nightly play time, is where she spends the majority of her day (and night), in cat Eden, never happier or more content.
If upon our demise we discover there is a cat god ruling this universe (of which there is much evidence for), we expect constructing and upkeeping this lair will gain us entry into paradise. And yet we remember a mostly forgotten genocide, discover where the real wildfires are and notice Chinese increasingly wanting to work for the government. It’s this week’s International Need to Know, pawing playfully at international information, curling up cutely with global data.
*We’ll never forget her reaction after we installed central air conditioning and cold air came out of said vent. She could not have been more shocked and upset.
Yes, we need to vacuum the black pillow…and the rest of the lair. it’s definitely shedding season
Without further ado, here’s what you need to know.
The Circassian Genocide
What is the Circassian Genocide you might be asking? We were reminded of it recently by Sonny Sehra’s tweet that noted the Circassian Genocide was the “6th deadliest in contemporary history and the first ‘modern’ genocide.” Indeed it was the worst ethnic cleansing of the 19th Century with 95-97 percent of the population killed or expelled. Where is this, you might also be asking? Circassia was a country in the north Caucuses, just north of Georgia. Russia wiped it off the map. They were mainly Muslims and were murdered in horrific ways. Entire villages were massacred or starved. Russia also instituted mass deportation of the population. Russia describes these events as “mass migration” denying it was a genocide or ethnic cleansing. Why bring this all up, you might also be wondering? To which we reply, look around and listen to what a variety of today’s leaders say.
The Circassia Flag, which we had never seen before, is a heckuva good looking flag.
Burn While Reading
Knock on wood (fire resistant timber, of course), Seattle has mostly been spared smokey skies this summer from fires in other parts of the state and Canada. But it’s easy to forget this is not a local problem but a global one. According to Our World In Data, “August 2024 has seen a surge in wildfires worldwide, mainly in Africa.” As you can see in the chart below, “the global weekly burn rate was 64 percent higher than any previous week during this period.” Around 22 million hectares (1 hectare is almost 2 ½ acres) burned in Africa, about 80 percent of the global burned area, making us feel a bit sheepish about our fire concerns here in the Pacific Northwest. The two places in Africa most hard hit are Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The data is drawn from the Global Wildfire Information System, a consortium of a variety of programs, that uses satellite systems to monitor fires around the world. Fires are a regular part of our natural world but are happening more frequently due to climate change and other factors. Sometimes you can’t see the forest through the smoke.
China Corner: Working For The Man
In recent years, China cracked down on the private sector, especially Ecommerce, Internet companies, educational companies and a few others sectors. The idea was China wanted to drive capital into industries that make tangible things, including semiconductors, robotics and batteries. And indeed that is where capital has gone. But the crackdown on the private sector has also had other effects. Yanzhong Huang points out in a blog post for the Council on Foreign Affairs, graduates in China are increasingly looking for employment with the government. “The proportion of new graduates preferring state-owned enterprises, government agencies, or public institutions has surged by 22 percentage points, from 51 percent in 2019 to 73 percent in 2024.” When you make the private sector unreliable and when the government becomes ever more important, it’s no wonder new workers are headed for stability. Indeed, students at Chinese universities are increasingly gravitating to law, political science, sociology and other degrees rather than ones that lead to work in tech fields. All of this might hamper China’s efforts to build up what it considers strategic industries—again everything from robotics to semiconductors. As Huang writes, “As talent rapidly flows towards government roles, it could potentially hamper innovation and economic dynamism.” It’s harder to manage an economy than dictators might realize.
