Wednesday, October 12, 2022

 

Aung San Suu Kyi

According to a source familiar with the case, a court in military-run Myanmar sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's deposed former leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, to three more years in prison for corruption, bringing her total prison term to 26 years.

The verdict issued on Wednesday is the latest in a series of punishments meted out to the 77-year-old, a figurehead of opposition to decades of military rule who led Myanmar for five years before being deposed in a coup in early 2021.

According to the source, Suu Kyi was found guilty of accepting $500,000 in bribes from a local tycoon, a charge she denied. Her attorneys have stated that the series of crimes charged against her are politically motivated.

Suu Kyi is currently being held in solitary confinement in the capital's Naypyidaw prison.

Suu Kyi was found guilty of electoral fraud and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor last month in a trial relating to the November 2020 general election, which her National League for Democracy won by a landslide, defeating a military-backed party.

Suu Kyi was sentenced to hard labor for the first time since the military coup of 2021. She received the same sentence in a separate trial in 2009 under a previous administration, but her sentence was commuted.

Suu Kyi has previously been convicted of crimes ranging from bribery to election violations.

Since the military took power, rights groups have repeatedly expressed concern about the treatment of pro-democracy activists in the country.

According to a Japanese diplomat, a military court in Myanmar sentenced a Japanese journalist to ten years in prison last week for sedition and violating a law on electronic communications after he filmed an anti-government protest in July.

According to a Change.org petition, Toru Kubota, 26, was arrested by plainclothes police in Yangon while filming a documentary he had been working on for several years.

Following a trial condemned by the UN and human rights organizations, the military junta executed two prominent pro-democracy activists and two other men accused of terrorism in July.

Posted on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Saudi Minister of Energy

Saudi Arabia's energy minister famously stated that the kingdom "enjoys keeping everyone on their toes."

That is likely how White House officials and Democratic politicians felt when Saudi Arabia led OPEC to announce a massive cut in oil production this week, sparking fears of even higher inflation just five weeks before the midterm elections.

On Wednesday, OPEC+, the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day, which is twice as much as analysts predicted, in the largest cut since the Covid-19 pandemic. The US's intense pressure campaign to persuade its Arab allies not to cut ahead of the decision appeared to fall on deaf ears. Russia is already pumping below its OPEC+ limit, and the majority of the cuts will come from Gulf producers.

Saudi officials insist that the kingdom must prioritize its own economic interests over domestic political considerations in the United States.

"We are concerned first and foremost with the interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud said in an interview with Saudi TV on Wednesday, adding that the government "wants to be a part of the global economy's growth."

Prince Abdulaziz said the cartel needed to be proactive as central banks in the West raised interest rates to combat inflation, raising the prospect of a global recession, which would reduce demand for oil and drive down prices.

"This appears to be a proactive measure to hopefully avoid a price crash that would necessitate a sudden cut as the US Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates," said Ellen Wald, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington DC.

Because of its reliance on oil revenues, the Saudi economy has a history of succumbing to oil market boom and bust cycles, in which high prices bring in a flow of cash followed by downturns. According to experts, the kingdom is attempting to prepare for such an event.

"Saudi Arabia is attempting to avoid a repeat of 2008, when the market crash sent the global economy into a recession and oil prices suddenly plummeted, necessitating OPEC's emergency action," Wald said.

Analysts also believe that Saudi Arabia cannot afford to allow oil prices to fall below a certain level for fiscal reasons.

After eight years of deficits caused by low oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic, the kingdom is expected to record its first budget surplus this year.

According to the International Monetary Fund, global oil prices must be around $79 per barrel for its budget to break even. Prices fell to $85 per barrel last month, from a high of $139 just seven months ago. That was a red flag for Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters who rely on oil for the majority of their revenue.

"But the Saudis want to ensure a steady stream of surpluses, not just balance the books," said Robert Mogielnicki, a senior scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, adding that the kingdom "would like to see prices moving closer to the high $90s."

Saudi Arabia has the world's lowest oil extraction cost, at around $3 per barrel. That means that the vast majority of the revenue generated by each barrel is retained by the company. Those funds are required to finance everything from futuristic trillion-dollar desert cities to a sizable government wage bill, despite recent tax increases and attempts to diversify the economy.

"The high price [needed to balance the budget] is due to large spending on government services, infrastructure investment, public sector, etc," said Omar Al-Ubaydli, director of research at the Bahrain-based Derasat think tank, adding that "conventional tax instruments, particularly personal income tax, are largely absent."

"It is attempting to have a diverse and stable revenue source for the government because unstable government finances are extremely disruptive to the economy," Al-Ubaydli added.

Still, Democrats have been outraged, framing Saudi Arabia's move as a hostile act against the US that benefits Russia by filling its coffers with petrodollars as it wages war on Ukraine.

"What Saudi Arabia did to help Putin continue his despicable, vicious war against Ukraine will be remembered by Americans for a long time," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted on Friday.

The Biden administration reacted quickly. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying that "it is clear OPEC+ is aligning with Russia." Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Thursday that the United States is "reviewing a number of responses" to Saudi Arabia's move, adding that the White House is "consulting closely with Congress." Some Saudis are calling the outpouring "hysterical."

The Biden administration may now back the bipartisan NOPEC bill, which would subject OPEC+ members to antitrust lawsuits by removing immunity from the cartel's national oil companies.

"The reaction from Washington policy circles is exaggerated," said Mohammed Alyahya, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC. "Saudi Arabia is primarily concerned with keeping OPEC+ apolitical and focused on technical matters."

Posted on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Smog in New Delhi on October 20,2021

According to a new report, global air pollution reached unhealthy levels in 2021.

According to the report by IQAir, a company that monitors global air quality, average annual air pollution in every country — and 97% of cities — exceeded the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines, which were designed to help governments craft regulations to protect public health.

Only 222 of the 6,475 cities studied had average air quality that met WHO standards. The French territory of New Caledonia, as well as the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, were found to have met WHO guidelines.

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh had the worst air pollution, exceeding the guidelines by at least ten times.

The Scandinavian countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom were among the best for air quality, with average levels exceeding guidelines by 1 to 2 times.

IQAir discovered that air pollution in the United States exceeded WHO guidelines by 2 to 3 times.

"This report emphasizes the need for governments around the world to help reduce global air pollution," IQAir North America CEO Glory Dolphin Hammes told CNN. "(Fine particulate matter) kills far too many people every year, and governments must set more stringent national air quality standards and investigate better foreign policies that promote better air quality."

It is the first major global air quality report based on the World Health Organization's new annual air pollution guidelines, which will be updated in September 2021. The new guidelines reduced the acceptable fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) concentration from 10 to 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

PM 2.5 is the smallest pollutant, but it is also one of the most dangerous. When inhaled, it penetrates deep into lung tissue and enters the bloodstream. It is emitted by sources such as the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms, and wildfires, and has been linked to a variety of health problems such as asthma, heart disease, and other respiratory illnesses.

Every year, air pollution kills millions of people. According to WHO, fine particulate matter was responsible for approximately 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016. WHO discovered that if the 2021 guidelines had been followed that year, there could have been nearly 3.3 million fewer pollution-related deaths.

IQAir looked at pollution monitoring stations in 6,475 cities spread across 117 countries, regions, and territories.

In the United States, air pollution increased in 2021 compared to 2020. Despite a 6% decrease compared to 2020, Los Angeles air remained the most polluted of the more than 2,400 US cities studied. According to the report, pollution levels in Atlanta and Minneapolis increased significantly.

"The (United States') reliance on fossil fuels, increasing wildfire severity, and varying Clean Air Act enforcement from administration to administration have all contributed to U.S. air pollution," the authors wrote.

According to the researchers, the main sources of pollution in the United States were fossil-fuel-powered transportation, energy production, and wildfires, which wreaked havoc on the country's most vulnerable and marginalized communities.

"We are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, particularly in transportation," said Hammes, who lives just outside of Los Angeles. "We can act smartly with zero emissions on this, but we're not doing it." And this is having a devastating effect on the air pollution in major cities."

Wildfires fueled by climate change played a significant role in lowering air quality in the United States in 2021. The authors cited the Caldor and Dixie fires in California, as well as the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, which sent smoke all the way to the East Coast in July.

China, which has some of the worst air pollution, showed improved air quality in 2021. More than half of the Chinese cities studied in the report experienced lower levels of air pollution than the previous year. According to the report, the capital city of Beijing maintained a five-year trend of improved air quality, owing to a policy-driven reduction of polluting industries in the city.

The report also discovered that the Amazon Rainforest, the world's main defender against climate change, emitted more carbon dioxide than it absorbed last year. Deforestation and wildfires have jeopardized the critical ecosystem, polluted the air, and exacerbated climate change.

"This is all part of the equation that will or is leading to global warming," Hammes explained.

The report also revealed some inequalities: monitoring stations are still scarce in some developing countries in Africa, South America, and the Middle East, resulting in a lack of data on air quality in those areas.

"Without that data, you're really in the dark," Hammes said.

The African country of Chad was included in the report for the first time, according to Hammes, due to an improvement in its monitoring network. According to IQAir, the country's air pollution was the second-worst in the world last year, trailing only Bangladesh.

Tarik Benmarhnia, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography climate change epidemiologist who has studied the health effects of wildfire smoke, also noted that relying solely on monitoring stations can lead to gaps in these reports.

"I think it's fantastic that they relied on different networks rather than just government sources," Benmarhnia, who was not involved in this report, told CNN. "However, many regions lack sufficient stations, and alternative techniques are available."

In its 2021 report, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that, in addition to slowing the rate of global warming, reducing the use of fossil fuels would improve air quality and public health.

According to Hammes, the IQAir report is yet another reason for the world to transition away from fossil fuels.

"We have the report, we can read it, we can internalize it, and we can really devote ourselves to action," she explained. "There must be a significant shift toward renewable energy." We need to take drastic measures to stem the tide of global warming; otherwise, the impact and train we're on will be irreversible."

Posted on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Tuesday, October 11, 2022

West Bromwich Albion

It's been more than a decade, the legendary former Manchester United midfielder has been absent from the coaching world, it looks like this time he will return to the gridiron as head coach at The Hawthorns Stadium, West Bromwich Albion's home base.

After eight games without a win this season, West Brom's management decided to dismiss Steve Bruce as head coach of The Baggies.

Steve Bruce was signed to replace Valerien Ismael as coach in February. In the hands of Bruce, West Brom is considered a team that has no achievements and only finished in tenth position last season.

West Brom have only 1 win from 13 matches they run, for now West Brom are ranked 22nd in the English championship with 11 points.

Steve Bruce's sacking is imminent once administration is complete, and West Brom are targeting another Manchester United legend.

Roy Keane is one of the most potential candidates for the position of West Brom main coach. Last week, the former Ireland midfielder was also seen in the stands as West Brom lost 1-0 to Preston.

This was considered a rather unexpected move, as Keane had long since stopped working as a coach and only served as an analyst on the television station Sky Sports.

More specifically, since January 2011, Keane has never led any team to date. It was then that he received a dismissal from the Ipswich Town Board of Directors after a poor tenure at the club.

So have West Brom thought carefully about using Roy Kane's services as head coach? Given that he also has not had any achievements in terms of coaching, even though he is an analyst, he is not necessarily proficient in leading a club that is currently on the brink of relegation to the 3rd division.

And this is a very difficult task for a Roy Keane who has not been in coaching for almost ten years.

However, the selection of Roy Keane as coach of West Brom must have thought carefully. They believe that Roy Keane can give a new color to the football team called The Baggies.

It may be very difficult to boost West Brom's current performance given the team's position on the brink of relegation. The club's hope for Roy Keane is to be able to bring the team out of the death zone, and hope to enter and finish in 4th position in the standings.

It looks like Roy Keane will bring Ferguson's style of play at Manchester United, or will instead follow the strategy he built himself.

Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Gadget and Children

Behind the familiarity of children with various games that have been programmed in the application, children can surf according to their pleasure and desire to play with gadgets.

Not a few children are ultimately addicted to gadgets which attack their mental health, so parents also need to be careful and balanced in regulating their children's activities playing gadgets, so they don't get addicted and attack the child's own mentality.

There have been many facts that have occurred in the field, as a result of addiction to gadgets with a variety of game choices, making the child addicted, so that in turn if this is allowed it will make it difficult for children to eat, find it difficult to sleep, and even absorb the mentality of children as a result of addiction to existing gadgets. in the smartphone.

It would be nice if we keep the principle "it is better to do prevention, than to treat". Before the child is addicted which leads to damage to the child's thinking patterns and mentality, it would be better if it did not happen to our children.

To prevent children from being addicted to gadgets, there must be a strategy that must be carried out by parents, starting from managing game time, whether games on gadgets or smartphones, and games that have nothing to do with smartphones, aka games that move children physically.

Balance is very important, so that children's minds can be diverted to other games, so that children do not become addicted to gadgets that can attack the child's mental health.

Currently, gadgets are like dishes that are needed by anyone, anytime, anywhere and anytime playing with gadgets is "considered normal", even though everything that is served to children has its own risks, especially playing gadgets until they don't know the time.

What should parents do, when they see their baby, who has become familiar, and there is even an element of addiction in children, playing Gadgets? This is where parents need to anticipate things that are not wanted, even can be considered dangerous for both physical and psychological health.

Preventive steps for the mental and physical health of the baby, because gadgets must be considered as early as possible, maybe we can take the following steps to prevent gadget addiction in children for their mental health.

First: parents must teach children to always be disciplined, so that playing gadgets is still allowed as long as it doesn't interfere with the subjects being taken.

The importance of time management to teach children to be able to live disciplined, so that gadgets are not the only thing that can be played, because children can still play even without gadgets.

The above is part of the prevention so that children are not addicted to gadgets.

Second: Being an innovative and creative parent is not easy, because actually parents also need to learn to be creative, especially in the context of dealing with children.

Creative and innovative parents will always find a way, so that the prevention of gadget addiction in children can be prevented as early as possible, as the author said at the beginning of this article, it would be better to do prevention, than to treat.

Third: Parents must be smart in diverting the child's mind or mindset, so that the baby forgets the gadget.

Whether you realize it or not, playing with gadgets can make your child addicted, especially children who are treated to gadgets via online that are connected to friends out there, can create endless addictions, so that other activities can be fatal.

Besides being fatal in other activities, there is a tendency for the child's mental or psychological health to be disturbed, so that the child will be weaker in the context of social relationships that exist outside of him, and tend to be more closed.

This is where parents must be aware that children's mental health also needs to be taken care of, because the future of children is also very dependent on how we educate and guide the children themselves.

Why should parents understand the psychological aspects of children? Because this is very closely related to the mental health of the child itself, so that when parents understand the psychological aspect of the child, it will be easier to foster, guide and direct the child to more positive things, so that the child's growth and development can be monitored and directed. well.

When a child has started to get addicted to what is called a gadget listed on a smartphone, there are many things that lurk in the mental health side of the child.

Starting from the aspect of egoism, loners, stress or depression, uncontrollable emotions and many others.

This means that there are negative effects that need to be avoided for gadged games that can make children addicted, so that they can damage mindsets, both physical and psychological health, emotional uncontrollability, loneliness, social weakness, and so on.

So that the addiction to gadgets will clearly attack the mental health aspect of the child itself, so parents must really understand the psychological side, for the sake of the future the baby can grow and develop well.

Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Monday, October 10, 2022

 

Accounting

Sustainable development goals are important. Now is the time to safeguard the well-being of people, the economy, society and the planet. Why is it important? Looking at the issue of sustainable development, the whole world has been facing a global pandemic that has cost millions of lives and an economic downturn. Then, development so far has not been carried out evenly, there have been many injustices, and has never been directed to sustainable development.

The current crisis is already threatening the achievement of sustainability and further delaying the transition to a green economy. However, a shared commitment to achieving sustainable development goals continues. The United Nations (UN) encourages not only governments, but also businesses to get involved in these goals.

Companies as active development actors must play a role in maintaining and caring for the environment and climate change to support sustainable development. Through a summit in Brazil in 1997, 178 countries worldwide agreed on a joint plan of action to improve human life and protect the environment.

Until 2015, the world again made the Paris agreement on climate change. They make fundamental support for sustainable goals by discussing issues of energy, water, climate, oceans, transportation, science and technology, sustainable development reports, and partnerships.

Current economic activity is one of the factors causing global warming and environmental problems. Many companies use limited resources to fulfill their corporate goals.

Thus, current development must be directed at sustainable development, namely development that balances aspects of the economic and social environment. Sustainable development is a compromise between limited natural resources and the achievement of economic goals.

One of the important aspects of sustainable development, namely the ecological or environmental aspects, will be fulfilled if the company implements Green accounting which is proven to improve environmental performance.

In every industrial development, it is important that the company pays attention to the surrounding environment so that this can prevent pollution or damage to the environment and sustainable natural resources and the carrying capacity is not disturbed.

The main principle of sustainable development is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. Therefore, green accounting is able to fulfill environmental and social aspects in achieving sustainable development by allocating environmental costs.

Sustainable development can be achieved if development activities carried out in addition to pursuing economic interests, also pay attention to social and environmental interests. Thus, efforts to link the company's economic interests and environmental conservation with the implementation of Green accounting, the results of the financial statements will be holistic.

In 1971, Parker has explained green accounting or what is called Green accounting. Then Green Accounting has experienced scientific progress. The concept of green accounting involves the assessment of environmental costs and resource losses within a country.

It has become a necessity for companies to develop methods to promote green incentives for the present and the future through green accounting. By studying green developments and becoming the big picture, green accounting is able to promote a sustainable future.

Sustainable development requires companies to consider their performance goals in three dimensions, namely: financial, environmental and social. That is, the company has a goal to gain profit in the financial aspect, but the company is required to protect the environment and social.

In addition, an understanding of environmental issues will direct the company in its policies, especially those related to environmental safety

In fact, sustainable accounting, social reporting, and the environment have not really been rooted in the concept of sustainability and ecology. Reporting and accounting concepts that exist are only as a complement and legitimator of the company, that the company does have social and environmental concerns only "clothes" and not the "heart" of the company.

However, many researchers state that the main source of environmental damage in addition to thinking about economic benefits, companies should also be responsible for the environment. As explained above that companies must return to improve the environment.

The old business paradigm, the organization was only built with a single P (profit), but in line with the current global warming issue, the company began to take into account the 3P concept, not only profit but also have to look at the planet and people.

Triple bottom line theory implies that companies must prioritize the interests of stakeholders (all parties involved and affected by the activities carried out by the company) rather than the interests of shareholders (shareholders).

The demands on the company are getting bigger and the company must look at a new side, namely the company's responsibility to stakeholders, and the company is not only concerned with the interests of management, but also employees, consumers, society and the environment.

Thus, when humans are empowered and the planet remains sustainable, profits will come automatically, both the benefits enjoyed by management as the entity's managing agent and investors as owners of the economic entity.

So profit (profit) is not the first and main goal, but becomes the impact of good and responsible company performance. Profits that will be long term and sustainable.

With green accounting, sustainable development goals can be achieved. Green accounting must be implemented properly, companies should pay special attention to protecting the environment and disclosing environmental management by companies.

According to the concept of sustainable development, resources are used to meet current needs, without reducing future resources. Therefore, it is said that implementing green accounting can save our future generations.

Posted on Monday, October 10, 2022 by The Wiseman

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NFT

Interesting topics that are increasingly being discussed on various social media, ranging from the death of NFT in the future to becoming an investment field. All of this cannot be separated from the increasingly complex human needs of today.

It sounds strange if young people haven't heard of Ghozali's NFT every day, which has emerged recently, it is an example of an NFT that has an interesting history behind its photos. We will discuss them one by one in the current session.

Before the author describes about NFT that the author has studied, allow the author to express the author's opinion about it, maybe a little different from what you hear in various other media but whether it is good or not depends on the point of view of the viewer/reader. Let's discuss together.

What is NFT?

NFT is a digital asset that is stored in the blockchain, like the skin of mobile legends, we all say that digital assets do not have physical form but have value.

We break down one by one:

Fungible = can be broken down but still has the same value example 100 money is split into 50.50 the value remains the same 100

Non fungibile = cannot be exchanged

Non-fungible token assets = unique because there is only 1 in the world

Token = Digital certificate i.e. blockchain Example : The house that oversees the certificate is the government. The NFT that oversees the certificate is a blockchain, so in a nutshell Blockchain is like a government.

Art is the most popular form these days. Art is the hallmark of an NFT. Through art all artists have the opportunity to sell their best work.

Why can NFT be expensive?

The value given indicates how expensive the NFT is. Many other projects only offer the quality of the art but the results are not enough to make an NFT work expensive.

No wonder the community can make NFT works expensive. One of them is the Bored Ape Yacht Club or what we often call the NFT Monkey. How not only certain people can enter the community, one of which is Justin Bieber.

The usefulness of an art is also a value in itself, the high cost of an NFT work, for example, NFT food is certainly a market for everyone who owns a restaurant in this world. Moreover, if the NFT is long in the restaurant, it certainly increases the value of the restaurant itself.

Of course, we call all NFT works limited or only 1 in the world. What is meant here is limited from a work of art that is quite a lot. How many of us see the prices at Opensea are different, even though they are still in the same community, that's because only a very few stocks are issued like the art.

It has become a natural thing for a price from a history. As we know that the expensive Monalisa painting is due to the story and history behind the picture. Moreover, it is supported by the creator, namely Leonardo Davinci, which makes it bloom everywhere.

Scarcity is an important thing in assessing the expensiveness of a work. Many works are circulating in the Opensea market place and there are many unique and funny works. But what is meant here is rare in human reason or what we call strange. Maybe it can't be described in detail but the author hopes that the reader understands what is meant.

NFT Becomes Investment Field

Will NFT be an investment field for all people? Let's look back.

If we look at the beginning of the rapid development of NFT in late 2021, all attention is focused on creators and artists.

Currently, everyone is competing to create an NFT project, but it is very shallow if a project is without a community. Maybe there is a success but very little.

Counting the count of a businessman of course always relates it to time, how long this asset will last. Again NFT answers this problem, maintaining an identity makes this technology more visible to the world.

There is a privilege given by the world community to NFT technology, namely its relevance to human life (needs).

This is the reason why NFT is made into an investment area. According to the author, people should see this. That's the only research argument from the author.

Posted on Monday, October 10, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Google

Starting from the fun of 7th grade students in my class, they tried to find my name through a search engine on the internet, called google. It turned out that they were able to find my Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Kompasiana account names. Likewise, when they choose the option with image or photo search, they can find my photos through that search engine. Some of them are on the veranda thanks to "the father is famous too, the photos can be found on google."

The search engine was able to find my social media account names and photos, in seconds. On the one hand, if used properly, it can be used to extend the relationship, as I can still connect with some friends during elementary school, middle school and high school. However, like a coin that has two sides, this technology also makes it easier for people who want to make profits by utilizing the personal data of someone they find through this application.

How amazing is internet technology, which can make us easy to find and find someone or even something. This makes us globalized without borders and national barriers. especially if we want to find celebrities or world famous figures, it will be easier and more sources to be found.

There is also a google map application that can find the address we mean with the help of gps (Global Positioning System), which is supported by a satellite navigation system. Although currently the accuracy is not very precise, this application provides convenience when we visit places that we visit for the first time. Through this application we can also search for lodging, places to eat and tourist attractions, accompanied by an estimated length of the trip. At least we have a benchmark to find the address we are going. On the other hand, this facility can also be used by certain parties to commit crimes.

Posted on Monday, October 10, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Books

Life on campus greatly affects the comfort of students in carrying out activities on campus. Within the scope of the Pamulang Viktor University campus, there are several students who are starting to worry about how quiet activities on campus are after they died due to the COVID-19 pandemic for 2 years. Some students, especially students from the Faculty of Letters, have begun to formulate activities with the theme of literature, positive activities that can build other students to take part in a forum to discuss works. And on June 20, 2022, a campus hangout called "Rutinan Sastra" was formed.

Rutinan Sastra is a hangout to discuss work for Pamulang University students. They hold an agenda that is routinely carried out every Friday in the parking area on the 7th floor of Pamulang University, Viktor campus. The agenda carried out include; reading, discussing, and appreciating a literary work. As students of the Faculty of Letters, they make this hangout as a place to study outside the classroom, which is free of expression but still upholds the ethics of discussion. Literature routines have carried out 4x their weekly activities, as for the theme of each meeting they have discussed works on Life & Nature, because every meeting there is a theme for the work to be discussed.

The students prepare several works before they are finally read on the literary routine agenda, the writer reads his work and others can ask about the meaning or some of the metaphorical dictions used in the works that have been read. During the 4 weeks running, about 30 works have been collected, and the plan is to make an anthology of literary works as their archives. The themes of each meeting will be part of the anthology. The 5 predetermined themes are as follows: Life, Nature, Politics, Struggle, Death. The theme was determined by voting at the first meeting and was mutually agreed upon by the members of the Literary Routine.

"We are literature students, don't we want to try to create a forum outside the classroom to hone analytical skills in the field of literature or create a work. It's a shame if it's just going to college-going-to-college-going home. Moreover, in class we only learn so Literary critics don't just become writers. Students are only asked to analyze and critique literary works." Said Wilman, a 5th semester student of the Faculty of Letters who took part in establishing the Literature Routine.

Posted on Monday, October 10, 2022 by The Wiseman

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Sunday, October 09, 2022

Recession

China is a superpower and the number 2 most influential country in the world, but now its economic condition is being discussed. The economic condition of this country is described as being on the brink of crisis. This is based on several factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and exacerbated by tensions in world geopolitics.

One proof of the economic downturn of the bamboo curtain country is the crisis in the property market. As we know, China applies a ponzi scheme in the development of their property business. This means developers are 'turning' the money they have received from property sales to build new properties. Since the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a decline in people's purchasing power, there is no source of income for developers. As a result, some of the properties that are being built are no longer working and are left unattended. This of course causes huge losses for the country's economy.

Then extreme weather also has an impact on China's industrial sector. A severe heatwave and drought hit the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Chongqing in August 2022.

As a result, the demand for air conditioners has soared. The impact of this is an increase in the use of electricity, the majority of which depend on hydroelectric power. Factories such as iPhone, Foxconn, and Tesla were forced to cut working hours, some even closed completely.

Furthermore, many have questioned the influence of China's economic conditions with Indonesia, especially since Indonesia is currently establishing an 'intimate' trade relationship with the bamboo curtain country. China is the 3rd largest contributor to investors in Indonesia after Singapore with an investment value of US$ 1.4 billion. This number increased from the same period last year, which was US$ 1.1 billion.

Not only that, in the same year, China is still Indonesia's largest trading partner. The total trade between the two countries reached US$ 35.6 billion.

Bhima Yudhistira as Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) is of the opinion that this influence can occur, especially against the background of the close relationship in the economic sector between Indonesia and China. "Could the transmission line be faster," said Bhima, quoted from detikcom, Thursday, October 6, 2022.

China has a 30 percent share as the country of origin for imports and 20 percent as a destination for commodity exports from Indonesia, said Bhima. Furthermore, it is necessary to pay attention to the derivative impact of the economic recession experienced by the country.

Bhima highlighted the production activities of electric car factories in China. The decrease in purchasing power by consumers causes a decrease in the quantity of production. This affects the return of nickel raw materials from Indonesia.

"That could lead to a sharp decline in Indonesia's export receipts, the trade surplus could turn into a trade deficit," said Bhima.

Furthermore, the effect felt was the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate. According to him, logically, investors will postpone their investment plans and look for alternatives to assets that are much safer, adjusting to the situation and conditions in their home countries.

In the import sector, he said, particularly in the electronics and automotive assembly industries as well as construction projects that use raw materials from China.

“Domestic prices will increase, while from the consumer side, of course they are not ready, so what is likely to happen is a decrease in sales. Furthermore, business actors may not increase prices, but of course the quality of an item will be lowered,” he said.

The increase in interest rates is likely to occur again and is offset by the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate due to inflation driven by rising import costs. According to Bhima, Indonesia seems to feel the symptoms of an economic recession as a result of its main trading partner countries.

“It has been felt that the last week there has been a significant fluctuation in the Rupiah exchange rate. In addition, interest rates also experienced a fairly aggressive increase by the central bank. That's why it's starting to feel like inflation. The latest data is almost 6%, which is the highest since 2014," he said.

In contrast to countries located in Southeast Asia with a not-so-big domestic market, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Moreover, small countries whose economic milestones are driven by the global economy, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Furthermore, Faisal also highlighted the conditions of integration or the relationship between the Indonesian economy and the external economy, which according to him is relatively small.

"Although it has been getting higher and higher, but when compared to other countries, it is relatively smaller. Compared to Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. We have cleaner relations with the global economy, including China. So this makes us relatively more resilient if compared to other countries," he added.

China is one of Indonesia's main export/import sources. The Central Statistics Agency as of August 2022 noted that the value of Indonesia's imports from China reached US$ 6.596 trillion or equivalent to Rp. 100.26 thousand trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 15,200). This amount covers almost 1/3 of the total value of Indonesia's imports.

Meanwhile, the value of Indonesia's exports to China in the same month reached US$ 6.398 trillion or equivalent to Rp 97.25 thousand trillion, which also reached almost 1/4 of the total value of Indonesia's exports that month.

Not only that, in a note quoted from detikcom last April, China was in the 3rd position for the largest foreign investment value, with a nominal value of US$ 1.4 billion or equivalent to Rp. 21.28 trillion. Its position is just below Hong Kong, which is in 2nd place, and Singapore in 1st place.

Posted on Sunday, October 09, 2022 by The Wiseman

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