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Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Colombia: The New President's Policies???

https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/colombia-duque-farc-president-policies?id=743c2bc617&e=1bd154cf7d&uuid=0c8a363b-de42-4264-9b4f-d0d259d8a83a&utm_source=Topics%2C+Themes+and+Regions&utm_campaign=ac7e67c430-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_18_06_39&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_743c2bc617-ac7e67c430-53655957&mc_cid=ac7e67c430&mc_eid=[UNIQID]

Monday, June 18, 2018

Colombia: Revising The Future

COLOMBIA

Revising the Future

Right-wing candidate Iván Duque trounced his leftist rival to win the runoff vote in Colombia’s presidential election on Sunday.
Colombia’s election authority said Duque won 54 percent of the popular vote, while former Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro won 41.8 percent, NBC News reported. Another 4.2 percent of voters cast blank ballots, a popular form of political protest in Colombia.
In an election that pitted hard-right against hard-left, Duque had campaigned on a pro-business platform promising lower taxes and a stronger military – and vowed to amend the peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that won his predecessor the Nobel Peace Prize.
With the support of many Colombians, Duque argued that the peace deal wrongly allows the former rebels to avoid prosecution for alleged war crimes. Others say tampering with the deal, which has already shown signs of fraying, could result in a resumption of fighting.
Though he won’t become president, Petro was the first leftist candidate to reach the runoff stage in Colombia’s modern history, NBC noted.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Why Cashing In On Lithium In South America Won't Be So Easy

https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/why-cashing-lithium-south-america-wont-be-easy#/entry/jsconnect?client_id=644347316&target=%2Fdiscussion%2Fembed%3Fp%3D%252Fdiscussion%252Fembed%252F%26title%3DWhy%2BCashing%2Bin%2Bon%2BLithium%2Bin%2BSouth%2BAmerica%2BWon%2527t%2BBe%2BEasy%26vanilla_category_id%3D1%26vanilla_identifier%3D289921%26vanilla_url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fworldview.stratfor.com%252Farticle%252Fwhy-cashing-lithium-south-america-wont-be-easy

Argentina: Irish Wake

Irish Wake

In the wake of the Irish referendum overturning the nation’s strict ban on abortion, Argentina’s lower house of Congress on Thursday narrowly approved a bill that would legalize abortion before 14 weeks of pregnancy.
The bill may well be rejected by the Senate, which most likely will vote on it in September, NPR reported. But if it passes there, President Mauricio Macri has said he will sign it into law, despite his own reservations.
A massive crowd outside the Congress erupted in cheers when the passage of the bill by a narrow 129-125 vote was announced. Currently, abortion is illegal in Argentina except in cases of rape or danger to the woman’s health, a prohibition similar to Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, which voters there overturned last month.
Chile and Uruguay, which, like Argentina, are also staunchly Catholic, have recently rolled back their bans on abortion. But the issue remains intensely divisive in Argentina, where petitions against relaxing the ban have gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Brasil: Soccer Fever

Fever Pitch

Today, soccer fans around the globe will be glued to their seats to watch the start of this year’s World Cup tournament in Russia.
It’s an especially important event for Brazilians. Brazil may have suffered a 7-1 defeat by Germany in 2014’s tournament, but Brazilian electronic manufacturers and retailers stand to make huge profits from this year’s contest, Reuters reported.
“We’re seeing sales get stronger week after week as we get closer to the Cup,” Fabio Gabaldo, commercial director of one Brazilian appliance chain, told the news agency.
Production by manufacturers such as LG Corp and Panasonic Corp have risen 25 percent by some measures, while many stores and retailers are coming up with ingenious ideas to sell TV sets – like offering discounts for those trading in their old sets, playing on consumers’ superstitions.
“Are you really going to watch Brazil on the same TV as the 7-1 match?” an ad from a local chain asked.
Brazil isn’t the only country consumed with soccer fever.
In neighboring Peru, first-quarter TV sales jumped 25 percent compared to last year – though legislators landed in hot water recently for planning to purchase 60 televisions and several mini-fridges, which they denied had anything to do with the World Cup.
But there’s reason to bend the rules in Peru, considering that it’s the country’s first appearance in the tournament in 36 years.
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Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Panama: Moving Day

PANAMA

Moving Day

Former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli left a prison in Miami for another one in the Central American nation, where he will stand trial on charges that he used public money to spy on more than 150 political rivals during his 2009-2014 term.
Martinelli has been in US custody since June 2017, when Panama requested his extradition, Al-Jazeera reported. He has denied any wrongdoing and claims that the charges are politically motivated.
The supermarket tycoon presided over an infrastructure boom and Latin America’s fastest economic growth in recent years. But he is also under investigation in about 20 other cases of corruption. Under the terms of his extradition, he theoretically cannot be tried in those cases.
He fled to the US in 2015, shortly after Panama’s Supreme Court launched a corruption probe into his activities. Upon arrival in Panama, Martinelli was taken to a “kind of chalet” in the El Renacer prison, which once held ex-dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, reported Panama Today.

Easter Islands-History's Mysteries

History’s Mysteries

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, the famed islet over 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile, is known for its hundreds of giant stone figures, or moai.
The island’s iconic sculptures have become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but historians still question how the statues, weighing several tons each, were moved about the island without modern machinery.
More perplexing still: How did those heavy stone hats end up atop the statues?
In a study published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science, researchers posit that islanders relied on a technique called “parbuckling,” a simple maneuver of using ropes and ramps to move the massive stone hats known as pukao, some weighing as much as 25,000 pounds, miles and miles to don the moai’s heads.
“Parbuckling was a simple and elegant solution that required minimum resources and effort,” said Carl Lipo, an anthropology professor at Binghamton University.
Researchers believe the parbuckling theory matches the physics of the feat, as well as the archaeological record, Popular Science reported.
And with a simpler theory in play as to how islanders raised the statues – parbuckling requires fewer than 15 people – scientists believe they played a social or even economic role in society, dispelling some theories that they were used for war.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

A Brasilian Lady Finds God And Her Place In The USA

NLCF_logo.png
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.’
Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
June 9th, 2018.  
Dear friends,                                            
My visa application was approved on May 24, 2018. PRAISE THE LORD! Throughout the paperwork preparation (June through Nov 2017), which I could not have done without the priceless help of Heloisa Coringa, Divina de Oliveira in Brazil and the unwearing work of Sharon Harrison at New Life, I reminisced on my Christian walk.
It started in the Summer of 1987 with a 12 year-old tearful response to the altar call of Pastor Robert Fife, then American Missionary to Goiânia.  My conversion was followed by the realization that in Christ I have life in abundance AND that I am a citizen of Heaven. I started serving God in the nursery,  then missions and educational ministries and any other area where I could be of help, from putting a video presentation together and leading Beth Moore and Linda Dillow Bible Studies under the blessing of Pastor Debbie McDonalds to sitting as Westgate Church Mission Committee member and moving to financially  support Valley of Blessing’s  ministries with orphans in Sao Paulo, Brazil. During this preparation, I learned that Debbie’s son himself had been to the Valley of Blessing on a short-term missions trip after I returned to Brazil.  
One of my favorite roles was as a chaperone/interpreter for a female indoor soccer team from Manteca, CA on a short-term missions trip to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.  Slum kids were touched by the Gospel and donations. The retired American missionary to Brazil, Pastor Roy Wooden, led us on this trip in 2000.
My passion for English began when I was in 3rd grade. My mom enrolled me in a Private English School as my first step toward my own Manifest Destiny.  In Middle School, I started praying for my future husband: (1) A Brazilian with an American mindset, (2) Fluency in English (mandatory!) and (3) equal plans to head to North America. There came Joao Santos, who was on his way to San Jose. I joined him six years later (1996) as Mrs. Cortez Santos.
Seven years in the capital of Silicon Valley, another eleven back in Goiania, a law degree and the Brazilian Bar under my belt, a daughter born Presbyterian, an ESL-teaching solo entreprise. During this time, I served as a Youth leader, Baptism class teacher sub, Children’s Ministry teacher and coordinator under the Presbyterian Reverends Jocider and Rafael Correa Batista and Juliana Arruda. Early 2015, Joao decided we should come to Pacifica, CA where Jack Waldbewohner and Elena Torello M.D. welcomed us until we settled in the southmost and sunniest part of town, Linda Mar. After a year in Pacifica, Joao decided to attend a church in the neighborhood; Bianca chose New Life. I followed suit after serving as an interpreter and Sunday School teacher to middle schoolers at the Brazilian Church (Igreja Brasileira da Bay Area) in Brisbane under Pastor Jose Ribamar. The rest is history.
Faith is extraordinarily difficult to keep in real life though, probably that’s why God is pleased with any iota of if. At a point I almost lost it, but I pressed on trusting God had worked the will and the act in me and would eventually fulfill His good purpose.  When finally God let me have a glimpse of what He was about to do, I was awestruck. My sponsor himself, a British pastor,  had walked the very immigration path I was about to tread.
Sometimes I am asked about my legal career, to which I answer: I now practice heavenly law and I LOVE every bit of it, including my skits: I’ve done Jesus as a choir maestro, a pirate looking for the worthiest of treasures  and the fourth lady magi.  My next one will be as a Brazilian soccer enthusiast speaking about mentorship. I praise God for giving me the passion and the energy to share His Word with people of all ages, especially children. The kids do reciprocate: “ I like the lady with the funny name!”, “I love Djenane” (beautifully pronounced by a 3 year old), “She is my favorite teacher”!
Thank you all so much for being an important part in this journey.
I stand in awe of our Almighty, Amazing and Awesome God!  
DEUS É FIEL!!!
Yours truly,
Djenane______
Tradução:
Meu pedido de visto de trabalho religioso foi aprovado em 24 de maio de 2018. Louvado seja o Senhor! Durante toda a preparação da papelada (junho a novembro de 2017), o que eu não poderia ter feito sem a inestimável ajuda de Heloísa Coringa, da Divina de Oliveira no Brasil e o trabalho incansável  de Sharon Harrison na New Life, relembrei da minha caminhada cristã.

        Tudo começou no verão de 1987, aos 12 anos com uma resposta lacrimosa ao apelo do pastor Robert Fife, então missionário americano em Goiânia. Minha conversão foi seguida pela percepção de que em Cristo há em abundância e que sou uma cidadã do céu. Comecei a servir a Deus no berçário, depois em missões e ministérios educacionais e em qualquer outra área em que eu pudesse ajudar, organizando uma apresentação em vídeo e conduzindo os estudos bíblicos de Beth Moore e Linda Dillow sob a bênção da pastora Debbie McDonalds ou como membro do Comitê de Missão da Westgate Church quand trouxe para a pauta o apoio financeiro ao ministério do Vale da Bênção com órfãos em São Paulo, Brasil. Durante esta preparação, fiquei sabendo que o próprio filho de Debbie foi ao Vale da Bênção em uma viagem missionária de curta duração depois que eu já havia voltado ao Brasil.

        Um dos meus trabalhos favoritos foi como acompanhante / intérprete para uma equipe feminina de futsal de Manteca, CA, em uma viagem missionária de curta duração para o Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo. Crianças em situação de risco foram tocadas pelo Evangelho e doações. O missionário americano aposentado, Pastor Roy Wooden, nos levou nesta viagem em 2000.
Minha paixão pelo inglês começou quando eu estava na 3ª série. Minha mãe me matriculou em uma escola de inglês como meu primeiro passo em direção ao meu próprio Manifest Destiny. No ensino médio, comecei a orar pelo meu futuro marido: (1) um brasileiro com mentalidade americana, (2) fluência em inglês (obrigatório!) e (3) planos iguais de ir para a América do Norte. Lá veio João Santos, que estava a caminho de San Jose. Eu me juntei a ele seis anos depois (1996) como a Sra. Cortez Santos.

        Sete anos na capital do Vale do Silício, outros onze anos de  volta em Goiânia, formada em direito, com OAB de Goiás, uma filha nascida presbiteriana, uma empresa individual de ensino de inglês. Durante esse tempo, servi como co-líder da juventude e estudo bíblico, professora substituta em aula de batismo, professora e coordenadora do Ministério das Crianças, sob a responsabilidade dos reverendos presbiterianos Jocider e Rafael Correa Batista e a Juliana Arruda. No início de 2015, João decidiu que deveríamos ir para Pacifica, CA, onde Jack Waldbewohner e Elena Torello nos receberam até nos instalarmos na parte mais ensolarada da cidade, Linda Mar. Depois de um ano em Pacifica, João decidiu frequentar uma igreja no bairro; Bianca escolheu a New Life. Vim atrás deles,  depois de ter servido como intérprete e professor da Escola Dominical para alunos do ensino médio na Igreja Brasileira da Bay Area sob a batuta do Pastor maranhense José Ribamar. O resto é história.

        A fé é extraordinariamente difícil de manter na vida real, provavelmente é por isso que Deus está satisfeito com um grãozinho de mostarda. Em um ponto eu quase a perdi, mas eu insisti em confiar que Deus tinha operado o querer e o realizar em mim e eventualmente também cumpriria o Seu bom propósito. Quando finalmente Deus me lasquinha do que Ele estava prestes a fazer, fiquei maravilhada. Meu patrocinador, um pastor britânico, havia ele mesmo percorrido o caminho da imigração que eu estava prestes a iniciar.

        Às vezes me perguntam sobre minha carreira jurídica, eu respondo: agora pratico a lei celestial e AMO tudo que faço na igreja, inclusive meus mini-monólogos teatrais: fiz Jesus como maestro de coral infantil, um pirata procurando o tesouro mais precioso de todos, a quarta rainha maga. Meu próximo será como um entusiasta do futebol brasileiro falando sobre discipulado. Eu louvo a Deus por me dar a paixão e a energia para compartilhar Sua Palavra com pessoas de todas as idades, especialmente as crianças. E essas retribuem: “Eu gosto da moça com o nome engraçado!”, “Eu amo a Djenane” (lindamente pronunciado por uma criança de 3 anos), “Ela é minha professora favorita”!


        Muito obrigado a todos por terem sido uma parte importante nesta jornada.
        Eu louvo o nosso Todo-Poderoso, Maravilhoso e Gradioso Deus!
DEUS É FIEL!!!
Djenane______

Friday, June 8, 2018

Doug Casey On The Crisis In Argentina

Doug Casey on the Crisis in Argentina

by Doug Casey | June 08, 2018
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Justin: Doug, what do you make of what’s happening in Argentina? Is the government taking the right steps to prevent a crisis?
Doug: Let me start by saying that no government should be in the money business. Money is something that society should determine for itself. In today’s world, it would probably be gold, some type of cryptocurrency, or some combination of the two. Remember that, before about 1933 in most cases, all the world’s currencies—the pound, the mark, the franc, the dollar, all of them—were just national names for a specific amount of gold. Then governments withdrew gold coins from circulation, and would no longer redeem their currencies with anything. But people continued to use them—even though they started dropping radically in value.
This is especially true about Argentina, which has about the worst track record of any government. They’ve completely destroyed numerous currencies since they went off the gold standard in the 1930s. They’re neck and neck with Brazil for creating tens of trillions of percent of inflation over the last 80 years. Repeatedly wiping out their lower and middle classes in the process.
But back to your question. Argentina’s central bank has just raised its key rate to 40%. And people are saying, “Oh, this is horrible, this is terrible. It’s going to destroy the economy. Nobody’s going to be able to borrow anything. It’ll bankrupt businesses that need to borrow.”
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Justin: Do you think the IMF will impose austerity measures on Argentina? And if so, should Argentina be cutting spending right now?
Doug: Argentina should fire many, many more government employees. Macri has already gotten rid of about 80,000 of them. But that’s a drop in the bucket.
They should, for instance, sell the national airline. It’s the only major airline in the world, that I know of, that loses money. Every other airline is coining money right now. Aerolineas loses about a billion dollars per year. That’s mainly because of the unions.
Unions basically run Argentina. They’re everywhere. And they treat their members like gods at the expense of the public.
They’ve got to destroy the union movement down here. It’s totally corrupt. They would put the Teamsters in the United States to shame on their worst day. Unions everywhere are basically run by thugs. But, as in the US and Europe, the average guy has been programmed to believe unions are good, and protect the downtrodden worker from employers, who are evil.
Unions don’t have to be abolished. They simply shouldn’t be protected by the State. If unions were voluntary, no problem. But they’re not. Membership is almost always compulsory, everywhere. They put a straightjacket on the working man, and damage society as a whole.
Unions are just part of the problem. They also need to get rid of their price controls, their subsidies, their duties, their taxes, and their regulations. Argentina, however, is probably no worse than France, Italy, or other EU countries. They’re all a nightmare for the entrepreneur.
Justin: So, Macri hasn’t done enough yet?
Doug: Macri has done some good things. But he’s not moving nearly fast enough.
I’ve got to say that the best thing that’s happened to any country in South America in the last 50 years was Augusto Pinochet in Chile. However, he’s a good news/bad news situation. The fact that Pinochet was a military dictator. That’s bad news.
But—strange for a general—he had good economic instincts. That’s the good news. Before him, Chile was just a poor, isolated mining province. He took Chile from a backwater with some copper mines to the most successful country in Latin America. Now, everything works there. The average Chilean is, believe it or not, wealthier than the average American. One reason for that is their national Social Security funds are individually owned accounts, invested in their stock market. Argentina needs something like Pinochet.
Everybody says, “Oh, Pinochet, he killed a couple thousand people.” Yeah, he did. And that’s too bad, even though they were mostly communists. But you’ve got to remember that the Argentine generals killed 30,000 or 40,000 people. The Brazilian generals probably killed another 20,000 or 30,000 people. Even the Uruguayan generals killed a couple thousand people. And that’s Uruguay, which used to be called the Switzerland of South America.
Pinochet was mild by South American standards. The only reason that he was pilloried, brought to trial, and hated so much, is because he put economic reforms into effect. It wasn’t because he killed a couple thousand people. It’s because he was pro-capitalist. That’s why he was persecuted.
That’s the direction Argentina should go. The country is still following the model Mussolini set for Italy in the ’20s. Hopefully, they can accomplish this without killing anybody.
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Justin: So, are you still optimistic about Argentina? I ask because you recently told me that Argentina was one of the only countries in the world headed in the right direction. Do you still think that, given what’s happened recently?
Doug: Yes. They’re absolutely moving in the right direction. But, like I said, they’re doing one smart thing followed by one stupid thing. Two steps forward, one step back. But that’s better than doing one stupid thing after another. The previous government, under Cristina Kirchner, did something unbelievably stupid every single week—nothing intelligent, ever. If she’d been re-elected, Argentina would have moved in the direction of Venezuela, or at least Bolivia.
But let me say this. The average voter, anywhere in the world, has no philosophical bearing whatsoever. Look at New Zealand. By the mid-1980s, the country had become the shallow end of the gene pool. Anybody with any sense and enough money to buy a ticket to Sydney, London, or LA was getting out.
Then, Roger Douglas, a reformed socialist, started deregulating the economy, cutting taxes, and privatizing. The place boomed. It became an extremely prosperous country in the ’90s, ’00s, and early teens. Everybody started doing well. The currency got strong, it doubled against the US dollar. Real estate prices tripled and quadrupled.
But what did the stupid Kiwi voters do after 30 years of good times? They elect a 37-year-old female, who’s a hardcore communist. Now New Zealand’s going downhill rapidly.
And as corrupted as the average Argentine voter has become over the last 70 years, I don’t know if they can handle four years of a good thing. That may be too much to bear. So, they might elect someone even worse than Cristina after Macri. It’s unpredictable.
But we really shouldn’t be worried about what happens with Argentina. Instead, we should be worried about what comes after Trump. Because the chances are excellent that we’ll be deep in stage two of The Greater Depression by then. Perhaps we’ll also be in something resembling World War III. The next president of the United States is likely to be extremely dangerous.
Justin: So, I don’t take it that you’re buying Argentina’s 100-year bonds.
Doug: Of course. They’re a monument to human stupidity. $2.3 billion of them, 8% coupon, in US dollars. The idea that anyone would lend any government money for 100 years, let alone the Argentine government, is crazy. It’s completely insane. You won’t have to wait 100 years for them to be worth zero. They’re now trading at about 8x.
These bonds were sold as a speculative vehicle. They were a bet on lower interest rates, an improving Argentine economy, and the ability to repay the bonds getting better over the short run.
The fools that bought them will probably consider playing Russian roulette with an automatic pistol in the near future as well.
The fact that these things even exist shows you how loose credit has become. It’s telling us how much funny money has been created. Next thing you know, Zimbabwe will be able to float a 100-year bond…
Justin: You can’t rule it out. Anything is possible these days.
So, what should the average Argentine be doing right now to protect themselves?
Doug: They should be buying precious metals. This used to be very easy to do in Argentina. But the Kirchners shut down the local gold exchange. This made it harder and more expensive to buy gold coins. I don’t know if Macri has plans to allow it to start up again. It would be a good idea.
Argentines should also buy property, specifically farmland. Commodity prices are still very low. Farmers aren’t making any money—but commodity prices have been perking up. Buying farmland is an excellent bet right now.
You could also speculate in cryptocurrencies. I know a lot of Argentines that have done this. They were early adopters. They got involved in the space because you can’t save pesos, and it was inconvenient to save dollars. So they saved Bitcoins. And they made a lot of money.
Of course, Bitcoin’s up an enormous amount over the last few years. But there are waves of new cryptocurrencies coming out. So, there’s still a lot of profit opportunity.
Those would be my three recommendations for an Argentine.
Justin: Yeah, those are all better ideas than shifting wealth from pesos to currencies like the US dollar and British pound. After all, you and I both know that every paper currency on the planet is losing value. So, you just end up playing a game of hot potato.
Doug: Absolutely. All of them.

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Argentina Gets $50 Billion From The IMF


ARGENTINA

Betting Big

The International Monetary Fund struck a deal with ailing Argentina to the tune of $50 billion in credit in an attempt to save the country’s dwindling currency and balance its crippling debt.
The IMF’s move comes only four weeks after Argentina indicated it would be unable to pay its global debt, much of which is pegged to the US dollar, as its currency continues to inflate. This year alone, the peso is down over 25 percent compared to the dollar, the Wall Street Journal reported.
With the new injection of cash, Argentina will be able to hasten the rate at which it pays back its debt, a result of high domestic expenditures that outpace revenues, and greater net imports than exports.
The deal is a big bet for embattled President Mauricio Macri, who is trying desperately to pull his country back from the brink amid a flurry of simultaneous crises.
But even high inflation, a drought that’s decreased crop yield by one-third this year, and a politically and economically sick Brazil, Argentina’s largest trading partner, haven’t bottomed out Macri’s poll numbers ahead of next years elections, the Financial Times reported.

Monday, June 4, 2018

Guatemala: Fire And Fury

GUATEMALA

Fire and Fury

Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupted on Sunday for the second time this year, leaving at least 25 people dead and 20 injured.
Located just 25 miles southwest of the capital Guatemala City, the volcano has been spewing rocks, black smoke and ash into the sky, the BBC reported, citing Guatemala’s National Disaster Management Agency, which said a river of lava hit the village of El Rodeo, destroying houses and burning people inside.
President Jimmy Morales has said at least three areas may have been devastated by the eruption. About 1.7 million people are likely to be affected, while already some 3,100 people have been evacuated from their homes, CNN said.
One of Central America’s most active volcanoes, Fuego also erupted in February, but Sunday’s eruption was the most violent one in more than four decades, Reuters reported.
Explosions are still coming from the volcano, and mudslides are likely as rainfall continues, CNN said.

Friday, June 1, 2018