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March 28 2025

Debt surpasses WWII peak; Stefanik nomination pulled; Ghibli images flood internet; Black Sea ceasefire set; East Asia boosts ties; Xi courts CEOs; Red Raiders top Arkansas; Citizen Journal expands reach, how to subscribe to cities

Greg Loving

28 Mar 2025 • 7 min read

From left: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul gather for the Eleventh Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Tokyo, Japan, Mar. 22, 2025.

U.S. Federal Debt to Exceed WWII Peak by 2029, CBO Warns

White House Withdraws Stefanik’s U.N. Ambassador Nomination

OpenAI’s GPT-4o Sparks Studio Ghibli Image Craze Online

Battle for Eurasia Update: Black Sea Ceasefire, China, Japan, South Korea Push Economic Ties, Xi Courts Global CEOs

Red Raiders Rally from 16 Down to Top Arkansas in OT

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FLASH…Powerful Earthquakes Strike Myanmar, Rocking Bangkok Hundreds of Miles Away….7.7.-magnitude quake strikes near Mandalay, leading to collapse of buildings and at least one bridge…

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U.S. Federal Debt to Exceed WWII Peak by 2029, CBO Warns

The US’s federal debt burden is set to surpass the peak it reached in the wake of the second world war in coming years, Congress’s fiscal watchdog has warned, underscoring growing concerns over America’s public finances. The Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday that the US’s debt-to-GDP ratio would reach 107 per cent during the 2029 fiscal year — exceeding the 1940s era peak — and continue rising to 156 per cent by 2055. The debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to be 100 per cent for the 2025 fiscal year. Despite the scale of the rise in the debt burden, the rate of expansion is forecast to be less drastic now than anticipated a year ago due to the CBO’s assumptions of lower interest rates, less spending on Medicare and higher revenues.
Source: FT

White House Withdraws Stefanik’s U.N. Ambassador Nomination

The White House made a shocking announcement Thursday: It was pulling Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik (R-New York) had been announced as the pick in November, but her confirmation had been delayed because House Republicans hold such a narrow majority. They didn’t want to spare her vote, even for just the period between her resignation and a special election. So they delayed it until they got some key votes out of the way on Trump’s budget and averting a government shutdown. Her confirmation hearing was then set for this coming Wednesday, the day after Republicans are expected to win a pair of Florida special elections that should bolster their numbers. But now they’re pulling it entirely. What changed? The answer appears to be: They legitimately feared losing her district, even though it favored Trump by 21 percentage points just months ago. Trump even acknowledged that in a social media post. “With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,” Trump said. “The people love Elise and, with her, we have nothing to worry about come Election Day.” And this fear looked increasingly warranted. While a Democratic victory in the race appeared unlikely, a loss could have been crippling for the GOP’s majority. Right now Republicans are in line for a historically small 220-215 majority when all seats are filled; it would have slid to just 219-216 — meaning they could lose only one GOP vote if Democrats were united against them.

Source: WaPo

Editors note: In the new political alignment, Democrats hold a significant advantage in low-turnout elections such as special elections and, to a lesser extent, midterms. The Democratic coalition is increasingly made up of highly educated, high-propensity voters—people who closely follow politics and consistently turn out to vote. In contrast, the Republican coalition, while numerically larger, leans more working-class and less educated, with lower overall voter turnout, especially outside of quadrennial presidential elections.

OpenAI’s GPT-4o Sparks Studio Ghibli Image Craze Online

The launch of OpenAI’s new image generator, powered by GPT-4o, has flooded the internet with Studio Ghibli-inspired images After OpenAI released a new image generator, users quickly realized that it could deliver high quality images with relatively unrestricted copyright filters. Users experimented with different cartoon styles, such as South Park, Rick and Morty and The Simpsons, but Studio Ghibli proved the most popular, trending on X (Twitter). While Studio Ghibli films are often dark and turbulent, the animation studio is also famous for its quiet, contemplative scenes, featuring meticulously animated characters simply soaking in the hand-drawn scenery. Hence, the studio’s brand tends to be associated with cosy, wholesome vibes. The trend inspired plenty of memes, altered movie stills, edgy images turned cute, but many simply wanted to Ghibli-fy their own personal photographs. Pic
Source: Forbes

Battle for Eurasia Update: Black Sea Ceasefire, China, Japan, South Korea Push Economic Ties, Xi Courts Global CEOs

Editors note: This ongoing conflict pits the West, led by the United States, against an axis of adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. At stake is dominance over the vast and strategically critical landmass of Eurasia. The conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and rising tensions with China in East Asia are all interconnected, forming part of a larger struggle: the Battle for Eurasia. To dive deeper into my framework for understanding the Battle for Eurasia, see my article.

A. The White House said on Tuesday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to cease fighting in the Black Sea and to hash out the details for halting strikes on energy facilities.

B. Amid a tumultuous international situation, the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo for the 11th Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on March 22. Notably, it was the first meeting of the three nations’ foreign ministers since 2023. U.S. President Donald Trump is upending long-standing alliances, which might pave the way for China to establish deeper connections with nations that have historically supported Washington – including close U.S. allies Japan and South Korea. In Tokyo, the top diplomats from the three countries discussed the importance of trilateral cooperation, particularly amid the geopolitical flux. As Japan’s Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, the meeting’s host, put it, China, Japan, and South Korea share “significant influence and responsibilities for the peace and prosperity of the region and the international community,” meaning that “enhancing future-oriented exchanges and cooperation of the three countries holds great significance.” In the face of the Trump administration’s heavy reliance on tariffs, which will hit the export-dependent economies of China, Japan, and South Korea hard, the three countries paid special attention to their economic cooperation. “We agreed to push forward with regional economic integration, including the resumption of free trade agreement [FTA] negotiations,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who urged better communication and trust between the three countries. He highlighted that the China-Japan-South Korea trilateral holds “the greatest potential for development in East Asia”

C. Xi Jinping has urged global business leaders to work together to protect supply chains at a meeting with a group of executives including Rajesh Subramaniam of FedEx, Ola Källenius of Mercedes-Benz and Georges Elhedery of HSBC. Amid a deepening trade war with the US, the Chinese leader told the group of more than 40 business leaders, which also included Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, Miguel Ángel López Borrego of Thyssenkrupp and Amin Nasser of Saudi Aramco, that foreign business leaders should resist behaviours that “turn back the clock” on history. The event at the Great Hall of the People marked the second consecutive year that Xi held a carefully staged meeting with foreign CEOs in the Chinese capital. Last year’s event was held exclusively with US business leaders.
Source: NYT, The Diplomat, FT

Red Raiders Rally from 16 Down to Top Arkansas in OT

Williams hit a 3-pointer to cap a massive comeback in regulation and then backed his way into a game-winner at the rim with seven seconds left in overtime, sending the Red Raiders to an 85-83 win over the Razorbacks and into an Elite Eight matchup with No. 1 seed Florida. Texas Tech trailed by as many as 16 points and was down 13 with four and a half minutes to play.
Source: NYT

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