Welcome to The Husk's Friday edition, which I'm calling our Weekender. ¹

3

…things from Micronesia

• Palau and Nauru recently signed an air services agreement that will allow air travel between the two Micronesian countries.

• On the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, this is a must-watch documentary. Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Marshall Islands, they can volunteer to serve in the U.S. armed services. I had the absolute pleasure of rewatching “Island Soldier” this week. The full documentary is on PBS here: https://www.pbs.org/video/island-soldier-qwuawg/ It hits pretty hard so IDK get ready to cry.

• Speaking of the U.S., in its ongoing effort to flex on China in the Indo-Pacific region, Reuters has reported that Daddy America will be paying for undersea cables to get high-speed internet to Kosrae. This comes after a Chinese company was going to get the bid that included a planned connection to a sensitive cable to Guam was but then Uncle Sam was like wait a minute this is a security threat.²

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2

…things from other parts of the world

• A woman is deliberately editing her photos to look like a teenager and selling nudes on OF, which brings catfishing to a whole new level, adds a generous sprinkling of the heebie-jeebies and begs the time-honored question, What is wrong with people?

• Singapore, a favorite destination for my husband and me, has robots 🤖 patrolling pedestrian areas and making sure folks are not congregating, smoking in banned areas, or participating in other “undesirable social behaviors.”

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1

…thing from Guam

• Google wants to invest in Guam. Details are sparse but it seems like a good idea, right?

And just like that in 3, 2, 1...it's the weekend.³ Have a great one.

Thank you for reading. I'll write again soon.

Cheers,

Jasmine⁴

P.S. Does anyone have any tips for wrist pain? In my middle age, I’ve started to feel the effects of continuously dragging a mouse across my table-disguised-as-a-desk and also I’m not looking forward to getting older and the rest of my body falling apart. Also! I just read that Social Security funding is going to run out by 2034 which means I’m definitely working until I die which means more mouse dragging and clicking in my future and oops brb I’m just going to have an existential crisis. Catch you on Monday. Subscribe so you don’t miss an edition of The Husk’s Weekender in case the name changes lol.