tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62973453067551977832024-02-19T18:35:59.627-05:00The Inconvenient TruthHarry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.comBlogger259125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-13893618847864196262018-05-10T18:58:00.000-04:002018-05-10T18:58:33.913-04:00The Iran Deal - Analysis<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six months after the Obama inauguration <span style="color: red;">Israeli intelligence labelled Barack Obama as an "enemy of Israel” </span>and this label was adopted by the Israeli cabinet. Israel then set about nullifying the Obama effect, knowing that congress support of Israel was almost across the board. In the eight Obama years Israel settled more settlers in Judea and Samaria than in all of modern Israeli history. Israel created suburbs and towns all around Jerusalem making Jerusalem for all intents and purposes indivisible. The Iran deal was supported across the board by Israeli intelligence, even while the politicians railed against it. A stronger Iran created new alliances for Israel in the Sunni world. <span style="color: red;">A coalition of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States gave rise to a potential regional collaboration against the strengthening Iran. </span>A mistaken Obama worldview and his naive mismanagement created an Arab winter and ISIS. Even better for Israel. As a result the two state solution died a natural death except in the UN which was dying its own natural death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point two important developments changed the course of Israeli strategy vis a vis Iran and the US. Donald Trump was elected president and to put it bluntly, a policy of sucking up to the narcissistic American president was implemented. The second and more important development was that <span style="color: red;">Iran diverted the billions meant for its people,</span> to strengthening its military infrastructure in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. This was a mistake of epic proportions by the Iranian leadership and typical of religious tyrants bent on spreading a primitive fanatical doctrine by force and hatred. At the urging of Netanyahu, Trump withdrew from the Iranian deal. Using extreme aggression, Israel attacked different Iranian targets in Syria, culminating in an Iranian attempt to fire missiles at the Golan heights. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria. An IDF spokesman said, “We do not know yet the (Iranian) casualty count. But I can say that in terms of our purpose, we focused less on personnel and more on capabilities and hardware ... to inflict long-term damage on the Iranian military establishment in Syria. We assess it will take substantial time to replenish." He also said that Russia had been informed prior to the operation. Bottom line... <span style="color: red;">at least 95% of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria has been destroyed. </span>Even more far-reaching and critical, the Iranian currency, the rial has collapsed and inflation is about to spike. In this writers opinion, the regime of Ali Khamenei</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is doomed and it is a matter of "</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when" and not "if". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes it is important to watch what leaders do and not what they say. For example, <span style="color: red;">Bibi Netanyahu has visited Putin at least 8 times in the last two years.</span> This week, Netanyahu laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier together with Putin and the Serbian president Vucic in Moscow, while the Israeli attack on Syria was unfolding. It is also an interesting fact that Netanyahu is the only world leader to speak to both Putin and Trump on a weekly basis. Add to that the fact that Oil and gas make up 70% of Russias exports and Russia’s government is more likely to run a surplus for the first time in almost three years – if the average oil price for this year comes in at over $53. At the moment, as a result of the crisis with Iran, the price is $70 a barrel....that man Putin!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose - Bill Gates</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory - George S. Patton</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Victory is the child of preparation and determination - Sean Hampton</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-4246500800109755432018-05-03T17:40:00.000-04:002018-05-03T17:40:14.326-04:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Business Insider: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Israeli officials cited in a Ynetnews report characterized the missile strike on Friday by the US, the UK, and France on suspected chemical weapons facilities <span style="color: red;">in Syria as a failure.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Multiple Israeli government and military sources suggested the strike was not effective in hurting Syria's ability to conduct chemical attacks. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These officials also criticized President Donald Trump's talking about the strike beforehand. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The latest strike most likely didn't change anything on the battlefield in Syria, and it's hard to know how much of the chemical weapons stockpile it hit. COMMENT: Another win! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An overnight missile attack against weapons storage bases in Syria <span style="color: red;">destroyed some 200 surface-to-surface rockets,</span> a regional official told The New York Times Monday. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The official, from the regional alliance of Iran, Syria, Iran and its proxy Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, said the strikes killed 16 people, including 11 Iranians. COMMENT: Note to Trump from the IDF...That's how it </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is done Mr Trump.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.Ehud Yaari: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Israel and Iran are on course for a collision in the near future. Indeed, a military clash that could expand well beyond Syrian territory appears almost inevitable. In particular, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is determined to transform Syria into a platform for a future war against Israel, whereas leaders of the Jewish state have sworn to prevent what they often describe as the tightening of a noose around Israel’s neck. GPF: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tehran is facing resistance at home as well, most recently with strikes in Iranian Kurdistan, farmers striking in Isfahan added to Iran’s socio-economic problems –<span style="color: red;"> high unemployment, inflation in the price of certain staple products and currency depreciation. </span>COMMENT: The disappointing expectation that Iranians had from the nuclear "deal" is feeding local unrest as Iran squanders economic advantages in Syria,Iraq,Lebanon and Yemen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. The James Comey book is out. He should have called it "The Last True American". For me, the fact that both the Democrats and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Republicans are as mad as hell at him is an indicator that he is an honest broker. COMMENT: The GOP, who tries to brand Comey as a “leaker”, leaked his memos in less than 40 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5 .China’s main strategic challenge is that the US controls the seas. Geography means China’s imports and exports must traverse coastal bottlenecks the US could easily close if it wished. That’s intolerable if your goal is to be a superpower, and that’s definitely what Xi wants. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One Belt, One Road is the answer. It will link the Eurasian land mass into a giant trading bloc with Europe at one end and China at the other.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The project will open land routes the US cannot interdict, thereby letting China take what it feels is its rightful place of leadership. The scope is breathtaking, but Beijing is determined to make it happen. COMMENT: Add to that the "Made in China 2025" project and it is clear that China is initiating a serious economic challenge to the US.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Dr. Ian Bremmer: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last week was James Comey week here in the United States. The former FBI director came out swinging, announcing that Donald Trump isn't morally fit to be president. Note to Comey: 1) We knew that. 2) We elected him anyway. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What does that say about the United States? That much of the electorate is morally unfit? If so, which part? The part that voted for Trump? The (larger) part that stayed home and didn't cast a ballot in the most important election in decades? The part that continued to vote for a bunch of establishment candidates who allowed the system to progress to the point where someone like Trump could actually be elected? COMMENT: Dr Bremmer </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">recommends buying gold.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. So Trump thinks he is taking on China in a Tariff war. In reality, he is actually taking on the whole world. For example, <span style="color: red;">China is about to slap a tariff on US soybeans.</span> Its as if Trump thinks that US soybeans are so delicious that the Chinese are desperate for "Made in the US" soybeans. Stratfor: Today, China is a major market for Brazil's soybean exports, which account for over 40 percent of its total exports to the Asian country. And because of Beijing's trade spat with the United States and ambitious infrastructure investments in Brazil, Brazilian soybean exports to China are poised to keep growing. COMMENT: Life is tough in the fast lane. And now Trump is talking about re-entry into TPP.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.” </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― Bertrand Russell</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― George Bernard Shaw</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either. ” </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― Gore Vidal</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company.” </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― Benjamin Franklin Wade</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-62693124694857661302018-04-02T12:18:00.001-04:002018-04-02T12:18:18.842-04:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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1. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All these social media platforms that gather your information and your friend info are in for a rocky legal and PR ride. Anyone who thought Zuckerberg, @facebook and co would keep your data "safe" was never paying attention. When the product is free, <span style="color: red;">YOU are the </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">product! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We haven't heard the last of this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. So the march of a million on the Gaza border turned into a march of 30,000. Then a few hundred, including Hamas gunmen who tried to storm the fence, and 17 were shot dead. Note to Hamas: The more you try to create an international incident, the more your people will die. You can thank the heavens and Alluah Akbar that <span style="color: red;">this cynical attempt to provoke media attention did not take place on the Egyptian border.</span> You would be burying 30,000 people today. The IDF has sent a clear message. Pay attention.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Geopolitics traditionally studies the links between political power and geographic space, and examines strategic prescriptions based on the relative importance of land power and sea power in world history - Wikipedia</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During an October 2012 presidential debate, Obama ridiculed Romney about his concern over Russia’s “geopolitical” threat. He criticized the former Massachusetts governor for saying Russia -- not Al Qaeda -- was America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“You said Russia. Not Al Qaeda. You said Russia,” Obama said regarding a question, which involved the biggest threats facing the world. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because … the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” he chided the Republican presidential contender. COMMENT: In case you have been blinded by Trump's stupidity, this would be <span style="color: red;">a factual reminder of the ridiculous and dangerous Obama worldview.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.USA Today: </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Six weeks ago, they were just high school kids in Parkland, Fla.: cramming for tests, plodding through college essays, jousting with friends. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, they are a thundering force on the national stage, unrelenting voices determined to upend the history of gun violence in the U.S. <span style="color: red;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">"Welcome to the revolution,” </span>said Cameron Kasky. COMMENT: Total U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan: 6,950 vs </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Number of U.S. children killed by gun violence in past five years: 6,984. And Americans wonder why the planet looks at their country with derision. These kids will change America. They bring hope. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Patrick Watson: Unlike virtual reality, AI-driven “fake” video is ready for primetime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">With tools that are available right now, computers can study a person’s voice and facial expressions, then produce a convincing video of that person saying… anything. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Adventurous FakeApp users have used it to create realistic-looking celebrity porn, replacing the original heads of the actors with those of movie stars and singers. And that’s not even the worst you can do with this new technology.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Take politicians or top business leaders, for example. Stock prices often move when a CEO or a Federal Reserve official says something important. But did they really say it? With this technology out there, you can’t be 100% sure unless you were in the room.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The potential for mischief is obvious. Worse, the mischief-makers can make a bundle by generating price movements, so you can bet it will happen. We just don’t know where or when.COMMENT: Welcome to a new and dangerous world. <span style="color: red;">If you are not nervous about the Nasdaq...now is the time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">6.Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: In the face of the enactment of the Taylor Force Act the current entrenched Palestinian leadership now has some difficult choices to make. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The long waited enactment of the United States’ Taylor Force Act, which could require the State Department to withhold $350 million of its annual American aid to the Palestinians if they continue using these <span style="color: red;">taxpayer funds to pay monthly stipends to the families of imprisoned terrorists and suicide bombers, </span>has created a crisis for their leadership. COMMENT: Life is getting tougher for the so-called Palestinian Arabs and who fall under the heading of liars, cheats, loud-mouths, scam artists and cowards....and now that the oil weapon is non-existent....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. A huge controversy has exploded in the cricket world as the Australian Coach, captain, vice-captain and some team members are caught cheating on camera in an international test match against South Africa. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Brydon Coverdale: To understand the public response, and why the incident touched such a nerve, you need to understand the role sport has always played in Australia's national identity. The Australian public has a line, too. And with their culture of sledging, whingeing, hypocrisy and arrogance, our cricketers have been head-butting it for so long that they have become an insufferable national migraine. "What sort of leaders not only hatch a plan like this, but have the team's most junior member take all the risk? </span><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That is not leadership, it is cowardice." </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">COMMENT: Enough said.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) - </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">You gotta hand it to Putin. If you wanted to pick a President to divide our nation, destroy our morale and lower our standin' in the world, you couldn't have made a better decision than Donald Trump. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will in time produce a people as base as itself - Joseph Pulitzer</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow - Robert H. Schuller</b></span><br />
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Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-13597826031203657612018-03-20T11:34:00.000-04:002018-03-20T11:34:19.729-04:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.Taku Tamaki: The US’s commitment to protecting Japan is currently based on the idea that the American mainland remains safe from North Korean retaliation. But faced with the reality that North Korea could soon be able to strike American soil, there is now a serious question mark over how willing the US will be to come to Japan’s aid while its own security is at risk. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">COMMENT: Kim Jong Un definitely has Trump"s number. Imagine that...<span style="color: red;">Trump being conned by a better con man. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. And now Trump has fired Tillerson The announcement of the firing was made a day after Mr. Tillerson said: "we have full confidence" in the UK's assessment that Russia was likely responsible for a nerve agent attack against a former Russian spy in Salisbury last week. The WH refused to point a finger at Russia. COMMENT: Man, It is so obvious that there is a Manchurian candidate in the WH, It's embarrassing watching while the president "re-arranges the deck chairs on the Titanic" <span style="color: red;">to accommodate the incomparable puppet master, Vlad Putin.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.TED Talk: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to Pink, monetary incentives work best for repetitive, rules-based jobs. Yet those same contingent motivators (“If you do this, then you get that”) often<span style="color: red;"> reduce productivity in cognitive and creative jobs.</span> People take longer and achieve inferior results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The reason, Pink says, is that bonuses, commissions, and the like <span style="color: red;">make you narrow your focus. You concentrate on delivering the results that will give you the reward.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That’s fine in jobs like manual labor, certain kinds of accounting, some computer programming, and financial analysis. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But those jobs are also the ones being most rapidly automated. COMMENT: Good jobs today will be the creative roles. Thinking out of the box and succeeding should be rewarded on an equity basis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.Mauldin Economics: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Karen Bain thinks automation will eliminate up to 25% of US jobs by 2030, with the lower-wage tiers getting hit the hardest and soonest. That will be devastating, and it’s not that far away. Remember 2006? </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In theory, automation will enable lower prices, which will raise demand and create more jobs. Bain does not think it will happen that way. <span style="color: red;">They foresee up to 40 million permanent job losses in the US,</span> even accounting for higher demand. COMMENT: Scary stuff</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Connor Lamb! America is rising up on its feet and roaring a message to what is left of the Trump base. It's not about the issues of Democrat vs Republican. It's about simple human decency. Ivanka, Don Jnr, Trump himself all visited Pennsylvania and campaigned for the Republican candidate. They invested a record amount of 10 million dollars in an area Trump won by 20 points in the election. This is a gas and steel area. The Dems didn't even run a candidate in this seat in the last two elections. Ninety-six (96%) of the population are whites. They lost. COMMENT: <span style="color: red;">Picture sitting on a Trump beach </span>and a Tsunami is rushing towards you. Weigh the choices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. Andrew McCabe - Republican</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">James Comey- Republican</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Robert Mueller - Republican</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rod Rosenstein - Republican</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">All of these Republicans are not part of some secret liberal FBI scheme. </span>This ridiculous Fox News fairy tale needs to be put to bed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.What would you do if you and your coworkers were getting raises totaling $700 million? If you're like a group of doctors in Canada, you'd fight it. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some general practitioners and medical specialists in Quebec have signed a petition saying <span style="color: red;">they don't want the hundreds of millions in raises</span> they got after negotiations with the provincial government last month.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Instead, they say the money should be redistributed -- to fund more nurses and other health-care professions, and to make care more affordable for their patients. COMMENT: Only in Canada!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Armchair-general</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Noun. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An outspoken warmonger, and/or a self-appointed strategist, who normally lacks actual military experience, and probably has no intention to get any in the near future.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The coward only threatens when he is safe - von Goethe</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actors are con men and con men are actors - Edward Burns</b></span><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-69472901459435087142018-02-27T12:19:00.000-05:002018-02-27T12:19:42.392-05:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.Tom Bentley: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Markets are inherently cyclical and inherently volatile, but they do self-correct before inflicting massive damage. Now you put </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">government<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">in the mix, it zigs when it should have zagged, and all hell breaks loose. Think of it as an airplane in a storm – it bounces around, people grab their air-sickness bags, then the plane lands and all is fine. Now let’s assume the hand of God intervenes and grabs a wing of the plane in an effort to stop the shaking – the wing will break off, </span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">and the plane will start</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it’s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"> death spiral. </span>COMMENT: Hold on tight folks. Preservation of capital trumps profits! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.YNET: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If the prime minister (Netanyahu) had any good advisors left, they would have urged him to try to strike a deal with the attorney general before it became too late; but then his fate was sealed by his confidant, the man who up until Tuesday seemed to be willing to spend his entire life in jail as long as his master remained unharmed. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We won’t forget what happened Tuesday. <span style="color: red;">It’s the day the walls of denial broke down.</span> Like in the theater, when a curtain falls on the last act of a play. COMMENT: The era of Bibi is over. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.Turkish armed forces are confronting Assad and the Russians at a place in Syria known as Afrin. Syrian Kurds, feeling betrayed by Trump and co. have turned to Assad and Russia for aid. Assad's forces have entered Afrin and the Turkish invasion has stalled. COMMENT:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The western media and North Americans (me too) <span style="color: red;">are so obsessed with the Trump reality show</span> that none of this appears to be news. Putin must be smiling to himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prof. Alon Tal, chairman of Tel Aviv University’s department of public policy: In terms of the wide-held belief that Jews must continue to outpace Arab birthrates in order to ensure a Jewish majority, Tal said that race has already been won. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“That used to be an absolutely valid argument, but today Arabs are averaging roughly 40,000 births a year and the Jews are averaging over 100,000. <span style="color: red;">So if there was a demographic battle, it’s over,” </span>he said. COMMENT: The argument espoused by the Americans and Europe that Israel would lose its Jewish identity without a Two-state solution...is total BS. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Since the Trump election in 2016, I have been talking about <span style="color: red;">an approaching trade war. </span>And now it is appearing on the horizon. Patrick Watson: "President Trump thinks China is acting unfairly by dumping excess steel on the world market, to the disadvantage of US steel producers. He wants to stop it, but Congress won’t go along because steel consumers, like automakers, enjoy the low prices." Now that it has been identified as a national security issue, Trump can make decisions on the matter without permission from Congress. Watson: <span style="color: red;">"</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">It could also be a huge problem for Canada </span>if the president includes our northern neighbor in any tariffs and quotas. Canadian steel is highly integrated into US manufacturing." COMMENT: Canada built much of its steel industry specifically to help US national security—supporting each other as allies do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">6. <span style="color: red;">Trump is a knife in the back kinda guy.</span> Most American allies and trade partners are slowly getting the idea. Israel understands that sucking up to this prez will get it what it wants. So far so good. I would, however, counsel caution. Getting into bed with a man who is already compromised by the Oligarch elite is not a good long-term idea. Consequently, a negative Israeli reaction to a Trump peace plan would put the cat amongst the pigeons. Alternatively, If matters go sideways for Trump, his partnership with Netanyahu would be seen with extreme prejudice....to say the least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">7.George Friedman: <span style="color: red;">"Seoul has opened its own dialogue with Pyongyang,</span> separate from any U.S.-North Korean discussion that may have been underway." Clearly, South Korea, staring down the barrel of a gun, do not trust Trump and his shenanigans. Further, it is becoming more apparent that China is promoting a North-South dialogue, thus distancing American influence. Friedman: "South Korea, is a vast economic success. Its primary interest is retaining that economic success, which means avoiding war. Before North Korea’s recent evolution, the U.S. guaranteed the South’s security and economic success. <span style="color: red;">Now, the U.S. threatens it." </span>COMMENT: Trump's preference for the white skin color is not lost on the peninsula. The law of unintended consequences.... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter - Winston Churchill</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance -Robert Quillen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument - Will Rogers</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-11143828118339580592018-02-13T14:13:00.000-05:002018-02-13T14:13:07.891-05:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.Patrick Watson: Somewhere in the Newport, Wales garbage dump is a computer hard drive that local resident James Howells discarded in 2013. He had spilled lemonade on it and thought it wasn’t worth fixing. Howells forgot that the hard drive contained the codes to access some bitcoins he had “mined” beginning back in 2009. He had about 7,500 bitcoins, worth $75 million assuming a $10,000 bitcoin price. COMMENT: A month ago the value was $140 million...wow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2</span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Senator Tammy Duckworth: “I spent my entire adult life looking out for the well-being, the training, the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible,” she continued. “Sadly, this is something that the current occupant of the Oval Office does not seem to care to do — and </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">“And I have a message for cadet bone spurs:</span> If you cared about our military, you'd stop baiting Kim Jong Un into a war that could put 85,000 American troops, and millions of innocent civilians, in danger." </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duckworth, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, lost both of her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade shot down the helicopter she was piloting over Iraq in 2004. COMMENT: "Five-deferment draft dodger" and "cadet bone spurs"...That's about right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.Russian President <span style="color: red;">Vladimir Putin has become the owner of a one and half room apartment in the heart of Tel Aviv. </span>The apartment belonged to his St. Petersberg high school teacher, Mina Yuditskaya Berliner, who immigrated to Israel in 1973. They were reunited in 2005 when Putin visited Israel. Putin began sending her gifts, including the apartment. Berliner left the apartment to Putin in her will. She passed away in December. COMMENT: Interesting how easily we forget influential and so-called important people, but never forget our teachers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.The Turkish government has said that, despite Russia’s wishes to the contrary, it has made no commitment to limit its military operation in Syria to Afrin province. Ankara noted, however, that it was coordinating with the United States and Israel, stressing the importance of avoiding confrontation with nation-states operating in Syria. COMMENT: In case nobody has heard from the Trump frantic media, Turkish forces are operating in Syria against the Syrian Kurds in what has been described as<span style="color: red;"> a full-scale military operation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In an interview with Israeli newspaper Yisrael Hayom, US President Trump said that while US-Israel relations were “great,” peace with the Palestinians would make them “a lot better.” He said, “Right now, I would say the <span style="color: red;">Palestinians are not looking to make peace.</span> <span style="color: red;">And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace.</span> So we are just going to have to see what happens.” </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Regarding settlements Trump said, “The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements.” COMMENT: All this from the guy who recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel LOL</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The White House <span style="color: red;">denied as false </span>claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that he had spoken with the United States about a specified proposal regarding Israeli annexation of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. COMMENT: Looks like the competition to be crowned "The Kindergarten Bully King of Fake News" is hotting up as we approach lunch break.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.GPF: South Korean media have painted a poor picture of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was reportedly <span style="color: red;">told by South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he should stay out of South Korea’s internal affairs.</span> South Korea continues to reach out to North Korea, with China backing its play, while the United States and Japan appear to be on the outside looking in. It’s clear Japan is the biggest loser right now. COMMENT: The military build-up in Japan is making South Korea very, very nervous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Are you a politician or does lying just run in your family?” </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― Fannie Flagg</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Lies sound like facts to those who've been conditioned to misrecognize the truth.</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― DaShanne Stokes</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer ''present'' or ''not guilty.''</b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">--Theodore Roosevelt</b><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-86526339714670038052018-01-24T15:20:00.001-05:002018-01-24T15:20:23.889-05:00Trump Reality Check - George Friedman<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George Friedman is one of the world's most respected geo-political analysts. Its always worthwhile taking note of his thoughts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George Friedman</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that Donald Trump has been president of the United States for a year, I’m struck by how stable U.S. foreign policy has been. Things remain unchanged, for the most part, or are following the path they were when he was elected. His behavior has been extremely disruptive, of course, and the fact that he is disliked around the world creates the impression that U.S. behavior is altogether different. But it isn’t.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Consider U.S. relations with NATO.</span> Trump raised the question of whether NATO was obsolete. The way he raised the question was no doubt abrasive, but considering the alliance is now 65 years old, it’s not a preposterous question to ask. And yet the answer is the same. The U.S. position has not changed. The U.S. is still a full member, and Trump has pledged to honor Article 5, which commits the United States to come to the defense of any member.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">U.S. policy toward Russia,</span> for all the vitriol that surrounds it, is remarkably similar to the policies in place before Trump’s election. The United States levied additional sanctions on Russia, which agrees with the U.S. that bilateral relations are the worst they’ve been in decades. (Notably, the sanctions were initiated by Congress but unopposed by Trump.) U.S. interests in Ukraine are largely the same – the promise to send anti-tank missiles to Kiev poses only a modest challenge to Moscow – as are U.S. commitments to the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe, where troop deployments, rotations and exercises continue to take place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">U.S. relations with China are not so different either.</span> The North Korea issue notwithstanding, Washington continues to demand that China change its export and currency policy. In keeping with prior administrations, Trump’s has achieved nothing substantial in this regard, but the perennial face-off with Beijing on economic matters continues unabated. Likewise, in the South China Sea, both countries continue to provoke each other, as evidenced by the deployment of a U.S. destroyer last week, but the game of gestures that has gone on for years goes on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Then there is NAFTA, </span>which is in the process of being renegotiated. Mexico, Canada and the United States have all declared, at various points, that an agreement is impossible. This is a normal tactic in these kinds of talks. The agreement may collapse. New terms may be negotiated. The negotiations may never end. But NAFTA is still the framework by which North America economic relations are built.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">In the Middle East,</span> the policies of the Trump administration – no major commitments – are in keeping with the policies of previous administrations. The Islamic State has been disrupted (but not destroyed) but Trump’s was not the first administration to decide to fight the group. The United States did relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, but it was a purely symbolic gesture that changes little on the ground, and incidentally was mandated by Congress years ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">The only major difference in Trump foreign policy concerns North Korea.</span> The crisis itself predates Trump by decades. It stems from a policy that held that the U.S. would not allow North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons. Nuclear development surged under the Obama administration and continues under Trump. Like Obama, Trump has declined to go to war, opting instead to find alternate ways to resolve the crisis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trump’s rhetoric on the matter has been incongruous with the aggressiveness of his actions. A more tactful translation of his language might have read: “North Korea’s development of an intercontinental ballistic missile able to strike the United States will be viewed in the gravest terms by the United States, and will be met with an appropriate response.” The fact remains that he has pursued a very cautious policy toward North Korea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This points to something too <span style="color: red;">many observers tend to forget: </span>Over matters of foreign policy for all nations, they take rhetoric a little too seriously. What shapes U.S. policy in Korea has far more to do with the quality of intelligence on nuclear facilities and the placement of artillery along the Demilitarized Zone. What shapes U.S. policy on China has to do more with the supply chain running from China to the United States – and the costs of disrupting that supply chain.<u> A president who ignores recommendations from the military and intelligence organs – and screws up – will have to reckon with a hostile public. A president who severs supply chains – and hurts the bottom line of American business – will have to reckon with a hostile business community. These constraints beget caution.</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trump’s rhetoric is designed to animate his support base. His actions are designed to maintain the status quo. Reasonable people can disagree on whether the status quo is what any president should aspire to. But whatever the expectations for Trump’s foreign policy may have been, the reality is that it has changed very little. It’s a timely reminder that rhetoric and reality are different things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato</b></span><br />
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<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-57617227211201640872018-01-19T12:02:00.001-05:002018-01-20T12:25:34.616-05:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.Once again CNN has shown its anti - Israel bias. They recently ran with a headline that the Israeli Parliament had passed a law requiring a supermajority vote (81 votes) to divide Jerusalem suburbs from the city as a whole. According to CNN commentators, this law is of major significance and would prevent a two-state solution from ever being implemented. What they did not mention is that this law could be repealed with a simple 61 majority in a Knesset of 120 members, making the new law only <span style="color: red;">a symbolic statement of no importance. </span>COMMENT: Perhaps this has something to do with a large number of Palestinian employees at CNN's Atlanta headquarters. On a more de facto basis CNN ratings are in collapse mode with CNBC taking over the leadership reigns of liberal media in the US. CNN should try reporting all the facts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Trump tweet - "please inform him (Kim) that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" - COMMENT: So-called intelligent people voted for this ""stable genius"...wow!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.Globes: How do you know that a real estate venture in Israel is as real as Donald Trump's hairdo? You put Trump's name on it. It worked excellently well over the past decade; in 2006, it was reported that Trump would build the tallest tower in Israel in Ramat Gan (on the site of the Elite chocolate factory), then the mayor of Netanya said that she had met him in order to promote construction of the "Trump Hotel" on the Netanya beach. Then community leaders in Ashkelon, Israel's southern Riviera, said that Trump would build a giant golf course on the sands of Ashkelon, which would, of course, bear his name. Well, they said it. Fake news, anyone? COMMENT: Trump station? What a farce. <span style="color: red;">Nobody is really planning to dig a railway station and tracks under 3,000 years of archeology. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.<span style="color: red;">Three of Israel's top banks (Leumi, Israel Discount and First International) are currently led by women.</span> So is the Bank of Israel. At Leumi 40% of top management are women. So is the supervisor of banks, the director of the capital markets, insurance and savings authority and others. COMMENT: #metoo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Less than a week after taking up her position as the president of the Supreme Court, Esther Hayut on Monday presided over a swearing-in ceremony in which several appointments were made. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of the seven appointees, five were women, prompting Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to remark that <span style="color: red;">54% of judges in Israel are female.</span> She also pointed out that whereas in Israel there have been three women presidents of the Supreme Court, the United States has not had a single female chief justice. COMMENT: #Timeisup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.Shoshi Jambar, <span style="color: red;">a 31-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli single parent,</span> worked her way from office cleaner to manager at Israeli enterprise guidance and engagement platform WalkMe within three years. Jambar’s story is one of about 50 featured on the Women of Startup Nation Facebook page introduced in January 2016 to raise awareness of Israeli women’s accomplishments in high-tech. COMMENT: Apartheid eh?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.Recently unclassified documents relating to JFK assassination reveal CIA arranged for Jordan's King Hussein to meet Jewish American actress Susan Cabot; two allegedly had an affair, and rumor has it Cabot's son—who later murdered her—was Hussein's illegitimate child. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">COMMENT: Wow! This is almost as good as the Steele Dossier. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Read%20more%20https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5072040,00.html">https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5072040,00.html</a></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't confuse confidence with arrogance. Arrogance is being full of yourself, feeling you're always right, and believing your accomplishments or abilities make you better than other people. People often believe arrogance is excessive confidence, but it's really a lack of confidence. Arrogant people are insecure, and often repel others. Truly confident people feel good about themselves and attract others to them - </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christie Hartman</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits - Albert Einstein.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mr. Trump, </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>If I wanted to kill myself I'd climb your ego and jump to your IQ - Planet Earth</b></span><br />
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Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-57787943454936710772017-12-13T11:30:00.000-05:002017-12-13T11:30:00.866-05:00Trump - A Peanut Gallery Special Edition - Part Two<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It interesting how the media gets itself into a hysterical tangle trying to speculate whether Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice, collusion etc. Whether any of this is true, only time will tell. I prefer to follow the money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2009, Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison after investigating fraud involving Russian tax officials. While in prison, Magnitsky developed gallstones, pancreatitis and was refused medical treatment for months. After almost a year of imprisonment, he was beaten to death while in custody. As a result, a bipartisan bill was passed by the U.S. Congress in November–December 2012, intending to <span style="color: red;">punish Russian officials responsible</span> for the death of Sergei Magnitsky. To be clear the bill </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">went</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> after not the Russian people, but the elites who stole from them with brazen impunity. Their assets in US banks and real estate were frozen.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some say that <span style="color: red;">Vladimir Putin is one of the worlds richest men,</span> in the same category as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Unofficial estimates say he is worth at least $100 billion. When Putin came to power he made a deal with the oligarch powerbrokers. Cash for favors. Something similar to the Clinton Foundation "pay for play" or the Republican/Democrat big donor confluence. The fascinating part about these funds is that the majority are in accounts outside of Russia. Perhaps Putin is not able to move funds, but his oligarch partners have bank accounts all over the world. They invested heavily in US real estate, and until the Magnitsky Act, <span style="color: red;">the US was one of the easiest and most profitable destinations for the money laundering oligarchs.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then Russia invaded the Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Europe slapped further sanctions on the oligarch elites and froze their assets. What good is all this money and assets if they cannot be accessed?<span style="color: red;"> </span>Enter the Trump Family, Manafort & co., Flynn & son....the rest will soon be history. What went down was <span style="color: red;">financial corruption on an epic scale that makes political corruption look like child's play.</span> The truth is staring us in the face, but as they say..."there are none so blind as those who will not see". The Russian oligarch elite led by Vlad have mounted an all-out political and intelligence attack on democracies in the US and Europe. <b>They want their money and assets back!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Donald Trump has never criticised Vladimir Putin. The GOP helped by Flynn and Manafort changed the Republican platform to accommodate Russia in the Ukraine. Trump has never released his tax returns. So arguably Trump could be removed for obstruction of justice, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">sexual harassment or even collusion with a foreign power during an election. Trump, however, should definitely go because he has been compromised by a foreign power and <span style="color: red;">is little more than a Russian flunky in the oval office.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b>It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office - H. L. Mencken</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b>The torch America carries is one of decency and hope. It is not America's torch alone. But it is America's duty - and honor - to hold it high enough that all the world can see its light - Mitt Romney</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Those who fight corruption should be clean themselves - Vladimir Putin </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white;">Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power - William Gaddis</span></b></span><br />
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Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-75903024381261627482017-06-06T19:59:00.000-04:002017-06-06T19:59:26.847-04:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Six ME countries have severed ties with Qatar. Trump is taking credit and so he should. Sometimes keeping things simple is the easiest way forward. Perhaps the president should have stayed in the background but thats not always his style. Qatar has been a sponsor of terrorism for years. At a minimum, confronting them head on places this problem on the table and talking to them via Kuwait keeps the negotiating option open. <span style="color: red;">Good move by Trump.</span> COMMENT: This is a departure from the Obama doctrine (Kerry and the State Dept used to talk to Hamas via Qatar). In the Arab world occasionally bulldozer diplomacy is more effective than lip service. The Trump national security team appears to get it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. GPF: </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There are reports that Syrian Kurdish forces are attacking Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State. This was expected. What was not expected are reports that Syrian government forces are preparing to attack the city as well. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Al-Masdar News say the Syrian army has crossed into Raqqa province and is garrisoned roughly 50 miles from the city. But according to an unconfirmed report from by Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV, the army has actually reached the city itself. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">The assaults, nearly simultaneous, cannot be a coincidence. </span>COMMENT: this combined assault </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">could <span style="color: red;">indicate a new understanding between Moscow and Washington.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> It appears that Trump has given his NS team the go ahead to get the job done. This will be a long and bloody campaign.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">3. The United States is preparing to go to war in North Korea. The Americans have assembled a huge maritime and air armada in the vicinity. Obviously a diplomatic solution would serve all sides. However, any diplomatic solution at this time would look like a North Korean capitulation. COMMENT: This will be a moment of truth for China. They understand that the US intends to use substantial force to get the job done including the possible use of an EMP device. <span style="color: red;">An attack on NK will potentially send world markets into a tailspin, so stay tuned.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4.Yuval Steinmetz (Israeli energy minister) :“Even if there’s a 50 percent likelihood that climate change and global warming are caused by human activity, it is our duty to act to minimize risks,” Steinitz posted on Facebook Thursday, the same day as Trump’s announcement. “The Paris accords were a rare occurrence in which the world united — save for Syria and Nicaragua — to care for the welfare and health of future generations.” COMMENT: Anybody who does not believe that the planet is in dire straits, should simply step outside and smell the coffee. <span style="color: red;">This phenomena is putting our kids and grandkids in danger and needs to be addressed urgently.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. So Trump has decided <span style="color: red;">not to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.</span> TOI: "Disappointing Jewish and Evangelical supporters in Israel and the US, but not really surprising anyone, Trump set his signature underneath the exact same “presidential determination” that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama made before him. The president has already publicly urged a most unhappy Netanyahu to<span style="color: red;"> rein in settlements,</span> and openly differed with him over Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s readiness for peace." COMMENT: Israel's supporters were ecstatic at Trump's words of friendship. Now apparently Trump doesn't want to upset the "peace process" applecart. Been there...done that!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">6.Mark Yusko: "According to the CDC, <span style="color: red;">the fertility rate in the US is at its lowest level since records began in 1909. </span>This, coupled with the fact that 10,000 people turn 65 each and every day in the US, means growth in the working-age population will remain at record lows... thus weighing on any economic expansion." In addition by removing labor costs, automation is driving down the price of core goods. But no longer is this just in manufacturing. In a recent study, PriceWaterhouseCooper found that 38% of US jobs will be automated by 2030. COMMENT: Automated vehicles, automated manufacturing...this does not bode well for Trump voters or Chinese manufacturers. lets hope these folk don't get left behind. Leadership is required!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">7.WPO: Ricky Best was stabbed to death last Friday on a Portland light-rail train when he and two other passengers tried to calm a man yelling anti-Muslim slurs at two teenage girls. Best and the two other stabbing victims have been hailed as heroes. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, Portland police say that as Best lay helpless, someone apparently made off with his wedding ring and backpack. The suspect is</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> described as a “white male with a blonde hair mullet, wearing a black Jordan Brand baseball cap, a black T-shirt featuring <span style="color: red;">an image of Marilyn Monroe and an American flag. </span>COMMENT: God Bless America!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out - Bullyville.com</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bullying builds character like nuclear waste creates superheroes. It's a rare occurrence and often does much more damage than endowment - </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Zack W. Van</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>That millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane - </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Erich Fromm, The Sane Society</b><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-79348638603904768672017-05-31T12:24:00.000-04:002017-05-31T12:24:39.115-04:00Trump-A Peanut Gallery Special Edition-Part One<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">General Michael Flynn is spilling the beans. The Trump team is freaking out over the leaking boat and the US is preparing for war on the Korean Peninsula. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Michael Flynn is making a deal with the FBI. You can take that thought to the bank. In order for him to to get immunity he has to give up somebody higher on the food chain. The president. All the FBI leaks lead back to Flynn and the bad news for the Trump Train is that the investigation is much more advanced than the leaks might indicate. The science behind the leaking is straightforward. Once the investigators confirm a fact, it is leaked at an appropriate time putting the cat amongst the pigeons. The targets are then interviewed and entrapped trying to cover up and have to make a deal. Other targets are followed to see whom they contact...and so the investigation widens. The two main channels in the investigation are collusion and financial...specifically money laundering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">GPF: </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.S. Navy has announced that the USS Nimitz will leave Bremerton, Washington, on June 1, for the Western Pacific. This is the third carrier battle group to be sent to the region – enough to support a broader military mission – and it will take roughly a week to get to its station, after which it will integrate with the fleet. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So here’s the situation: Soon the United States will have its naval force in waters near North Korea. It already has strategic bombers in Guam, and it already has fighter aircraft in Japan and South Korea. The US is preparing for war in preparation for a situation where North Korea does not back down. A moment of truth for the administration, the tough talk and the markets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently I was asked by a member of the anti-Trump media on my thoughts as regards the way forward in Trump saga. My advice was simple: Supporters of Donald Trump have no moral clarity. It does not bother them that this already married man chews on a tic-tac before grabbing married or unmarried pussy or his obsession with kissing young beautiful women. It does not bother them that he mocks the disabled or labels immigrants as rapists. It does not bother them that he is selectively disdainful of Goldstar families or of Senator John Mcain's military service. Climate change to them is a Chinese hoax.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what would they understand? The great leveller that most of humanity understands is a monetary subterfuge. In the Trump believer world world a financial con man reverberates...even at the bottom of the barrel. Which brings us to the money laundering part of the investigation. Perhaps this is the most damming part of the collusion between the Russians and the Trump machine. The numbers are the numbers, Trump refuses to release his tax returns and his poodle Kushner meets in secret with the head of VEB Bank, a Putin Poodle. You can run baby but you cannot hide. Stay tuned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I've always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie - Bill Paxton</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government - Donald Trump</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Criminal always returns to the scene of the crime - proverb</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-8715113395350548192017-05-08T10:24:00.000-04:002017-05-08T10:24:31.346-04:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.<span style="color: red;">Trump-type politicians are taking a hammering in Europe.</span> First Holland and now France. The "revolution" is mutating. Apparently Europeans want change....."Anything but a Trump-type" change will do. The traditional European attitude of disdain for anything American is clearly being reflected in high voter turnouts. The silhouette of Russian election interference also looms in the background. COMMENT: The struggle between nationalism and globalism continues while Europe's multi-cultural approach is highlighting the lines of polarization. Next up are Italy and Germany. Their choice is between the devil and the deep blue sea. Tolerate Islamic jihad or tolerate the empty promises of racist right wing politicians. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.<span style="color: red;">China has moved 150,000 troops to its border with North Korea.</span> It has also refused permission for North Korean ships laden with coal to unload their cargo. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NK News says the price of petrol in North Korea jumped 83 percent by the end of last week. it appears that China is slowing exports of oil to North Korea (The other option is that NK is hoarding gasoline in case of a military confrontation). COMMENT: Perhaps the US pressure on China is paying dividends. This storm in a teacup 'crisis' suits the Trump administration at this time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The less talk about Russia in the media the better. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.Analysts estimate that by 2030, self-driving cars and trucks (autonomous vehicles) could account for as much as 60 percent of US auto sales. <span style="color: red;">Are they safe?</span> They are not, but they are much, much safer than human drivers! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First and foremost, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 90 percent of all traffic accidents can be blamed on human error. Next, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, nearly 80 percent of drivers expressed significant anger, aggression, or road rage behind the wheel at least once in the past year. Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 29% of the total vehicle traffic fatalities in 2015. And finally, of the roughly 35,000 annual traffic fatalities, approximately 10 percent of them (3,477 lives in 2015) are caused by distracted driving.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Remove human error from driving,</span> and you will not only save a significant number of lives, you will also dramatically reduce the number of serious injuries associated with traffic accidents – there were over 4.4 million in the United States during 2015. COMMENT: A rough ride for Insurance, truck drivers, first responders and more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.TOI: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently released documents show that the Allied forces were aware of the scale of the Holocaust some two years earlier than previously assumed. They did little to stop the deaths or rescue the victims. The unsealed United Nations files show that the US, UK and Russia knew as early as December 1942 that two million Jews had been massacred and millions more were at risk of being killed. COMMENT: The refusal to take in Jewish refugees by many countries just amplifies why a strong Israel in todays world is <span style="color: red;">a crucial component to the survival of the Jewish people.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Truckers from the city of Moscow and the surrounding region have joined the Platon trucker protests against new state and national road taxes, BBC reported April 18. These demonstrations, which involve blocking roads and other actions, are now taking place in varying degrees in 80 regions across the country. The Kremlin has imposed a media blackout on the strikes. The truckers now claim 600,000 of them will be out of a job if the tax hike remains in place. COMMENT: This is <span style="color: red;">a symptom of the economic stress in Russia </span>created by the fall in the price of energy and could easily spread to other parts of the economy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. Canadian real estate: <span style="color: red;">Ontario is following British Columbia’s lead,</span> promising to introduce a tax on foreign homebuyers that the province hopes will help cool the frantic housing market, easing concerns about a potential bubble in Canada’s fastest growing urban region. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 15% “non-resident speculation tax” was among 16 housing measures the provincial government announced Thursday, which also included a promise to expand rent control, allow Toronto to impose a tax on vacant homes and use surplus provincial lands for affordable housing. COMMENT: Houston, we have a problem...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. WSJ: </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What would a country’s stock market do if its neighboring country threatens to attack it with nuclear weapons? <span style="color: red;">Hit a record high, of course. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">South Korean shares reached all-time highs Thursday, brushing aside concerns about a potential military conflict on the Korean Peninsula. The market’s benchmark Kospi has risen 4% since the beginning of April, when President Donald Trump warned that he could take unilateral action against North...COMMENT: Follow the money. Tuesday is election day in South Korea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>― Alexander Pope</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“We fool ourselves so much we could do it for a living.” </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>― Stephen King</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How awesome it would be if a liars pants actually caught fire....</b></span><br />
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<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-59575400619561859862017-03-26T11:20:00.001-04:002017-03-26T11:20:55.195-04:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.When James Comey stated before congress that there was a criminal investigation into co-operation between the Trump camp and the Russians, <span style="color: red;">he put the cat amongst the pigeons...deliberately.</span> All the leaks emanating from the intelligence services are designed to sow panic amongst potential targets. It works....and sooner rather than later it will be every man for himself. General Michael Flynn has probably been offered a deal and is chirping to whomever will listen. Note that he is the only target that has not volunteered to testify before the intelligence committee. The plot thickens! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.The IDF is preparing contingency plans for a post ISIS era. <span style="color: red;">ISIS will eventually be crushed as a militarily power </span>(although I suspect they will continue to live on in the minds of potential terrorists). Other groups will replace them on the ground...Al Qaeda and Hezbollah jump to mind. With one potential caliphate weakened, the Shiite caliphate, Iran and its satellites Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others will try and seize the advantage. COMMENT: Israel and its new coalition partners in the Sunni world are readying for this new threat and we can expect to see more activity, especially on the Golan, in Syria and Lebanon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.TOI: "The head of a Lebanon-based United Nations agency that promotes development in Arab countries resigned Friday, after the body she led was ordered by the UN secretary-general to remove from its website a controversial report that charged Israel has established an “apartheid regime” guilty of “racial domination” over the Palestinians." The report was compiled by Richard Falk, a Princeton professor with a history of Israel demonization. COMMENT: <span style="color: red;">The Trump administration is finally starting to function.</span> Go Nikki Haley! A victory for truth!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 Amos Gilad, the former head of the Defense Ministry’s political affairs bureau, credits Israel’s security with its relationship with its Arab neighbors. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">“All our security services have great relationships with Arab countries. That’s an incredible asset for Israel,” </span>he says, referring to Egypt and Jordan, as well as “other” unnamed Arab nations. COMMENT: This also includes the relationships with Arab communities in Judea and Samaria. "Tough" guys like Trump would do well to take note of this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Foreign ministers from 68 countries are convening in Washington on March 22 to discuss the fight against the Islamic State, Reuters reported. <span style="color: red;">The meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the group – the first since President Donald Trump's election </span>– will focus on Mosul, where Iraqi security forces are locked in a major battle against the Islamic State, and the upcoming fight for the group's de facto capital of Raqqa. COMMENT: Another indication that despite the noise, Trump's national security team is operational quietly "oblivious" of the fact that they are implementing the Obama plan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.During a 2012 election debate with Republican nominee Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama laughed at the idea Russia posed any threat to the United States. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Not Al Qaeda, you said Russia,” Obama continued. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because you know, the Cold War has been over for 20 years.” COMMENT: Now who's laughing? Words matter...the truth matters even more...but <span style="color: red;">misguided intellectual arrogance in a US president can be deadly!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.The State of Texas and the Samaria Regional Council signed a cooperation agreement Wednesday to share information and expertise on agriculture and water technology. The h</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ead of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan said, "This is a significant move that sends an unequivocal message to those attempting to boycott Israel. COMMENT: <span style="color: red;">The Trump footprint </span>is definitely having a positive effect in Israel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">There are more millionaires than ever in the United States.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As of the end of 2016, there were a record 10.8 million millionaires nationwide, according to a new study from Spectrem Group's Market Insights Report 2017. That's more than ever before and marks a 400,000 person increase from the previous year. COMMENT: The new American middle class and the American dream compliments of debt and a devalued dollar!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. No Peanut Gallery would be complete without a comment on the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">healthcare debacle. Its time for Trump and his supporters to sober up and reach out to democrats in order to repair Obamacare. The ACA is here to stay and regardless of the hogwash and tweets emanating from the White House, Trump now owns Obamacare. He would do well to understand that <span style="color: red;">when it comes to healthcare there are no Republicans or Democrats. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>As every scuba diver knows, panic is your worst enemy: when it hits, your mind starts to thrash and you are likely to do something really stupid and self-destructive - Daniel Dennett</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us - Jane Austen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><b>Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt - Abraham Lincoln</b></span><br />
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Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-29101671647094601832017-03-23T16:13:00.002-04:002017-04-01T12:12:26.737-04:00The Age of Transformation <br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Believe it or not, we are only at the very dawn of a new hi-tech revolution...a period in which change will continue to accelerate until it comes at us blazingly fast. This change will have both political and individual consequences that will range from the positive potential betterment of humankind to a situation of extreme danger to society as we know it today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When world population jumped from two billion souls in the 1950's to about 7 billion today, the powers that be realized that the only way for the US to survive this throng of humanity, was to compete with them. They also understood that the US advantage lay in the fact that they were were the masters of innovation but were unable to compete with the cheap labour in poorer developing countries. <span style="color: red;">Thus globalization was born under the heading of "our technology and know-how for your cheaper goods".</span> On the surface this sounded pretty good. At the end of the day, though, technology is replacing jobs...and not only manufacturing jobs!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Employment and job creation are also changing extraordinarily quickly. Lets take a look at the impact of driverless cars. Estimates are that by 2030, 25% of vehicles will be autonomous. I happen to believe that percentage will be much higher. John Mauldin: There are 250 million cars and trucks on US roads today. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">there are 3.5 million truck drivers, 75% of whose jobs (at least) will be replaced. Ditto for the 250,000 taxi drivers and 160,000 Uber drivers, not to mention the 100,000 Lyft drivers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mauldin continues - "Estimates are that automated driving will reduce accidents by 90%. That will obviously reduce insurance costs but will also decimate the ranks of auto insurance agents. Each year 1.3 million people are injured in vehicle accidents, that’s a lot of hospital visits. Eventually, 90% of those injuries will go away, reducing demand on hospitals and eliminating jobs. We won’t need as many policeman, firemen, and ambulance drivers at accident scenes, either. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">The total job loss just in the United States might approach 10 million." </span> And that folks is just one industry! The Bank of England: The adoption of driverless cars will leave a massive dent in the car insurance market, forcing insurers to team up with car firms as they transform their business.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Guardian: "New technology is revolutionising modern farming, but this brave new world of robot farms and hi-tech sensors could have consequences for rural livelihoods. Around the world, but especially in the developing world, food and farming systems continue to rely on 20th century technology. But this is changing. The same information technologies that brought us the internet and transformations in medicine are now revolutionising farming." It’s a new era for agriculture and one that does not bode well for middle America. For example, Japanese company Spread has recently announced that <span style="color: red;">robots will carry out all but one of the tasks required to grow tens of thousands of lettuces each day </span>in its indoor automated farm. Hopefully the talking heads and decision making bigwigs are aware of the breathtaking transformation we are facing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In simple language, billions of people are going to be left behind when this transformation arrives. We either find a way to move forward together or humanity will be draining a different swamp.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination - Jimmy Dean</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world - Malala Yousafzai</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Without a struggle, there can be no progress - Frederick Douglass</b></span>Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-45761742795086161982017-03-18T19:54:00.001-04:002017-03-18T19:54:12.321-04:00“It just doesn’t matter”<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Author: Mark Diamond</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I don’t disagree with many of the thoughts and essays we are so fortunate to receive from you such as the most current piece regarding the “Great Anti-Semitism Panic” (which you just sent to me) but my concern is everyone is missing the most important point. Trump should not be in power and the damage he is doing will be felt for years to come and therefore he must be stopped with every legal means possible using the checks and balances in the U.S. system which for once is there to help rather than hurt a challenging situation. The issue is not if Trump has directly caused more anti-Semitism or not, the issue is what does his approach do to the state of the world order for all races and for the safety of person kind and does he perpetuate hatred. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think Liberals, Conservatives, left wingers and right wingers, so all of us, always look to the answers which are most consistent with our world view because we are busy and want to believe our views make sense as we do not have the necessary time to do the complete research required to challenge our basic assumptions. So instead of being critical and questioning of our assumptions, we look for information to support them. But are we not better off to read articles and books that counter our viewpoints? It’s time for left wingers and right wingers to be open to each other’s ideas because ultimately this makes us a stronger society where we can apply real facts rather than emotions to the world issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So, let us do this now with respect to Trump and let’s not deal in ideology but with facts:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As someone that is just a basic camp director I can tell you that after speaking to 30 families in Mexico in a country that since WW2 has been as good to the Jews as any country worldwide, Netanyahu’s statements about the wall put the Jewish community 50 years back. This community had to take out full page ads indicating they do not support the Israeli Prime Minister in any way since for understandable reasons anti-Semitism spiked because of such comments. This is not helpful to Israel or to the Jewish People nor to the Mexicans. Without Trump in power this clearly would not have occurred. Some of you may feel that this is not a cause of Trump but this is where I feel the biggest point is being missed. As the President of the United States, Trump’s actions affect every other politician worldwide which creates a domino effect. We see this in Europe now where racist politicians are using Trump’s name to garner power as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Closer to home, professionals and experts in Canada and the U.S who work in the Canadian Jewish community say that antecdotal evidence shows an increase in anti-Semitism since the election but the facts will not be available for six more months. But this is a red herring as the only thing that matters is that one of the reasons (not the only reason) that Trump was elected was a result of his intolerant views. The facts do show that the year before Trump was elected there was a spike in racism in North America. It’s a chicken and egg thing- is Trump increasing racism or was he elected because of it. WHO CARES- IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For my American friends in New York, I have had three families in New York tell me that for the first time in their lives they are scared and that there is a permissiveness now that makes it acceptable to be racist, against Jews and against anyone that is different. They feel that their children have been impacted to a degree that is unprecedented. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you see the anti-Islam sentiment taking hold, and where for the first time ever Muslims are murdered in their place of worship in Quebec city (ironically those killed were members of a very tolerant and progressive community ), again this would not have occurred if not for the Trump Era. Those same murderers and racists and anti-semites previously would have talked quietly about their views but in the past would have decided not to act, but now our world leader is empowering them to act. It seems like Trump is allowing not only the worst of American society to lead us but that it’s empowering the worst of all the world to do the same.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you see the riots in Montreal and the three bomb threats at Concordia against Muslims, the cemetery desecration, the bomb threats across North America, all since Trump took office, I think this is no coincidence. Whether Trump inherited this situation, or is creating it, we need a leader that will not encourage and exacerbate this horrific situation When Jewish Community Centers around the world, including in Toronto, have bomb threats it’s easy to say there was no bomb but I cannot imagine the pain and horror in the hearts of mothers and fathers right now wanting to instill in their children the value of a Jewish education but wondering if doing so could put their lives in jeopardy. It doesn’t matter whether a bomb goes off and it doesn’t matter if there have been other years where such threats occurred. Can we dismiss the 120 threats against Jewish Organizations since Trump took office, or we can admit the obvious? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue at hand is not that Trump is anti-Semitic or racist; we can argue that point. It’s the fact that he is a narcissistic and illiterate bully who encourages worst in all of us to come out. It’s the fact that he is ill and says things that are so outrageous that is makes it acceptable for everyday people to act in even more outrageous ways. It’s the fact that he limits freedom of expression and demonizes anyone that does not agree with him. Every dime he made was by not paying his trades, or his taxes and by destroying everyone in his path. Having someone in office with such a weak moral code allows everyone else to rationalize their behaviour. By setting a lower standard, given his position, he empowers behaviour which would otherwise be seen as inappropriate. If there is one key role for a president, it is to maintain the tenuous balance in the world, as there will never be world peace; the goal is to hold that balance in check by acting with intelligence, and a high moral code that the rest of us can try to live up to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank goodness, we see the money raised by Muslims for the desecrated cemeteries in the U.S.A. and as usual we see the Jewish Community reaching out in Montreal, Quebec and Toronto to show as much support as possible. Maybe that will be the good that will come of this horrific situation. Even the Iman of the Quebec City mosque which was the site of the killings reminded us of the humanity of the alleged killer, noting that this murderer also had ruined the lives of his own family. Trump’s fear and all our fears of terror attacks are grounded in fact but the approach in dealing with those facts whether you agree or disagree must be done in a way that promotes tolerance and is grounded in effective strategies not just angry outbursts (or tweets).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If you read an excellent book called “The Muslim Tide” you will learn that Canada is a model for the world in terms of how we deal with immigrants and our approach to religious tolerance. This book challenges some basic assumptions on terrorism that are often based on emotion and assumption rather than fact. And while I don’t have any issue with anyone saying that Trump has some good ideas, any President must articulate his approach with substance, facts and a proper moral code. If it comes to pass that there is someone from one of the banned countries who perpetrates a terrorist act, we will hear Trump say “ told you so”, without recognizing that he is in the process of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by giving excuses for the polarized, and sick segments of society to act out. In fact, by putting overt bans on immigrants from certain countries, he helps ISIS and Al Qaeda recruit new members, thereby making them stronger! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every day we hear of acts that fan the flames of xenophobia such as when a man kicked and assaulted an airline worker for wearing a jihad saying “Trump is here now” and “he will get rid of you”. Maybe those things were already happening but when you can quote the President whether you are Conservative or Liberal you can easily see the concern. We used to say when Islamic extremists go after the Jews the Christians will be attacked next. Well when every day Americans go after Muslims or Mexicans, and paint any group with one brush then any possible minority is next, whether it be the LGBTQ community or others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It doesn’t matter if the racism is the same or worse since Trump took office. It matters that the most influential leader of the western world is both explicitly and implicitly endorsing these new behavioural norms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only point that matters is that Trump needs to be limited in every way so that these four years he does as little damage as possible. It is our responsibility to help guide the discourse so that we can limit his ability to effect negative change as a result of his mental disorder that has been described by many professionals as Narcissistic Personality Disorder. (definition attached). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(note- since writing this article, Trump has accused the former President of wire tapping his phones without having any evidence of it having taken place, and as this situation has unfolded, he has turned to blaming Fox News as the source instead of taking responsibility for his actions. It only gets worse). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: For a definition and characteristics of Narcissitic Personality Disorder please read <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/con-20025568">http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/con-20025568</a></span><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-10736646564694068842017-03-16T13:21:00.000-04:002017-03-16T13:21:55.254-04:00When Polarization gets Dangerous<div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Roman Empire probably believed that they had invented the wheel when they increased the money supply <span style="color: red;">by removing the silver content in their coins and replacing it with copper.</span> When the silver content of the coins reached zero, the Roman Empire collapsed in 476 a.d. The elitist Romans were invaded by hoardes of barbarians in search of a better life. <span style="color: red;">These days we just vote.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1971 an event known as the "Nixon shock" took place. The famous (or infamous) Nixon shock was a series of economic measures undertaken by United States President Richard Nixon, the most significant of which was <span style="color: red;">the unilateral cancellation of the direct international convertibility of the United States dollar to gold.</span> Simply put, the politicians removed the disciplinary shackle of gold from our coins (notes) and placed themselves in charge of the money supply. At the time US national debt was $398 billion, the Dow was about 1000, the money supply was $658 billion and being a millionaire was the American dream. Today the national debt is $20 trillion, the Dow is at 21000, the money supply is $14 trillion and being just a millionaire is a nightmare. Removing the gold from our currencies has made the rich...stinking rich, the middle class is in tatters and the poor live in "inner cities" and rural America. <span style="color: red;">More polarized than this picture is difficult to imagine.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With this in mind in January I wrote "Hillary Clinton declared "We are stronger together!" Donald Trump stated “People talk about how we’re living in a globalized world, but the relationships people value most are local—family, city, state and country." <span style="color: red;">Those two sentences elegantly describe the fault line that is splitting entire nations and continents right now."</span> Polarization is an exclusively man made peculiarity conceived by human nature in the form of greed, arrogance, lust, fear and temptation amongst other excesses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fault lines have been exacerbated by a high tech and medical revolution that, believe it or not, is only in its infancy (I will be writing about some of the ramifications next week). The name of the game for our kids and their kids.... is a good education. The educated and street smart are pulling away from the majority of folks. The Trump plan to create more debt will only </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">emphasize the pain. Multiply that by the planned deficits in Europe and other countries, and we have a prescription for troublesome times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Its a fact that at least 80% of the US budget goes to social security (25%), Medical benefits (25%), Safety net programs for the poor (10%), Defence (16%) and interest on the debt (7%). What does that leave for discretionary spending, tax cuts and infrastructure? Not much. Acclaimed analyst Richard Russel provided a no-option "quick fix" twenty years ago by saying <span style="color: red;">"The creation of debt with expensive dollars and repayment of that debt with devalued dollars is an easy and temporary political solution to the problem." </span>Another way of phrasing the above so that we all understand is - "Kick the can down the road". The politicians have devalued our buying power and the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">barbarians are cloaked in a Trojan horse awaiting the right polarizing moment. This is an perhaps a reality for some of us to contemplate in more sober moments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><b>“Sometimes we want what we want even if we know it’s going to kill us.” </b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― Donna Tartt</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Sometimes you hit a point where you either change or self destruct.” </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>― Sam Stevens</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction - Erich Fromm</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And I know I'm paranoid and neurotic, I've made a career out of it - Thom Yorke</b></span></div>
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Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-22168862293411545002017-03-08T12:03:00.000-05:002017-03-08T12:03:31.059-05:00The Peanut Gallery<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.While CNN and others are obsessing about Trump, top military officers of the United States, Russia and Turkey. U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, Russian Armed Forces General Staff Chief and First Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Valery Gerasimov and Turkish General Staff Chief Gen. Hulusi Akar held a tripartite meeting in the Turkish city of Antalya. Meetings like this only take place after months of preparation. Kamran Bhokari: A meeting of the most senior generals is not about discussing tactical details. This meeting in Turkey – like all similar meetings – involves strategic-level discussions. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another critical thing to bear in mind is that heads of different countries’ military establishments <span style="color: red;">meet after their respective political bosses already have made a decision on joint action. </span>COMMENT: The anti-ISIS strategy is moving forward with US and Russian co-operation taking centre stage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. John Mauldin: The problem is that at least 80% of manufacturing jobs were lost not to companies moving factories to China or Mexico but to increased automation. Some estimates run as high as 90%. <span style="color: red;">Those jobs are never “coming back.” </span>They are gone. And that trend is going to continue and accelerate. I fully understand that if we do get corporate tax reform, along with some other reforms, it is quite possible that Apple, for example, would move its iPhone 10 factory to the US. But<span style="color: red;"> iPhones are increasingly assembled by robots,</span> and in a few years those and other such products will mostly be made on largely automated production lines, whether in China or the US. COMMENT: Trump's speech to congress hit the ball out of the park. Even a sceptic like myself was impressed. Again...its not what you say that matters....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.TIP: Inspired by the United Nation’s proposed blacklist of companies that “profit from the occupation” and upset by a delay, the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah party decided to release its own list of companies which should be boycotted. <span style="color: red;">A surprise appearance on the list? </span>Cosmetics giant Revlon. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Revlon made the cut because its head, Ronald Perelman, gives money to the “Zionist” Chabad and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other household names on the blacklist include Volvo (for Israel’s use of its heavy machinery) and ReMax (which sells real estate over the Green Line.) COMMENT: Anyone remember the Arab boycott of Israel? How did that work out for them....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.Fox News: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">President Trump <span style="color: red;">made a startling claim </span>Saturday that former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower phones tapped in the weeks before the November 2016 election.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In early Saturday morning tweets that began at 6:35 a.m., the president said the alleged wiretapping was “McCarthyism” and “Nixon/Watergate.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism,” Trump wrote. COMMENT: Sorry folks....but there is nothing funnier than an arrogant dumb guy who thinks he is a genius...LOL. Of course, on a more serious note, Trump is doing exactly what Putin expects of him. He is using the office of president to delegitimize America's democratic institutions. (and now wikileaks is back at the party).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5.GPF Deep dive: <span style="color: red;">China’s economic miracle, like that of Japan before it, is over.</span> Its resurrection simply isn’t working, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Sustained double-digit economic growth is possible when you begin with a wrecked economy. China’s dilemma, like Japan’s, is that it built much of its growth on exports. Both China and Japan were poor countries, and demand for goods was low. They jump-started their economies by taking advantage of low wages to sell products they could produce themselves to advanced economies. The result was that those engaged in exporting enjoyed increasing prosperity, but those who were farther from East China ports, where export industries clustered, did not. COMMENT: Bottom line....the Chinese slowdown is continuing. (The Chinese govt has predicted a slowing down in 2017). <span style="color: red;">This has important consequences for the real estate bubbles in Canada and Australia.</span> China is desperately trying to prevent funds from escaping the mainland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6.Daily Mail: Rotating Dubai skyscraper to be built in 2020 allows guests to swivel their rooms 360 degrees. <span style="color: red;">Residents at Dubai's new hotel with be able to watch the sunrise and sunset in the city's rotating hotel. </span>The Dynamic Tower was proposed nine years ago by Israeli-Italian architect David Fisher. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fisher created the design with the idea that 'the motionless state of today's houses does not reflect people's actual lives, where everything is constantly changing'. COMMENT: Israel and Israeli's continue to change the world! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read more: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4231698/Rotating-Dubai-skyscraper-built-2020.html#ixzz4aZ580zON"> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4231698/Rotating-Dubai-skyscraper-built-2020.html#ixzz4aZ580zON </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7.Israeli scientist Alan Bodner has created Like-a-Fish, a breathing device that can literally spin oxygen out of water. Not only is it great for divers, but its technology can also be applied to submarines and in underwater habitats. COMMENT: WOW! Read more <a href="http://www.israelisonit.com/inventions#/how-to-breathe-like-a-fish/">http://www.israelisonit.com/inventions#/how-to-breathe-like-a-fish/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“The trick is this: keep your eye on the ball. Even when you can't see the ball.”― Tom Robbins</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet - Rodney Dangerfield</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron - H. L. Mencken</b></span><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-91355317718466837382017-02-26T12:36:00.000-05:002017-02-26T12:36:19.473-05:00The Peanut Gallery<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. If anyone was under the impression that the Trump attack on NAFTA has anything to do with Canada, they would be mistaken. If the energy component is removed from the calculation (and it would be since the US prefers Canadian oil to Middle Eastern oil), Canada imports slightly more from the US than the US imports from Canada. Secondly, Canada has not seen much advantage from this deal, losing manufacturing jobs to Mexico and China. Thirdly, in the interests of market share <span style="color: red;">Canada would gain from a more protectionist US policy. </span>COMMENT: It appears that Trump is obsessed with Mexico. His approval rating is falling rapidly and he needs to keep his base intact. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.The private race to the moon is really starting to heat up. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A team from Israel called SpaceIL has signed a contract to launch its robotic lunar lander toward the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2017. SpaceIL is therefore a strong contender to win the $20 million top prize in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP), contest organizers said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To date, only three entities have succeeded in soft-landing a spacecraft on the lunar surface — the governments of the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Israel's economy shot up in the final three months of 2016 </span>and looks set to have grown annually by 4 percent, easily outstripping the central bank's expectations. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It came on the back of robust exports, but also increased consumer spending. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On an annualized basis, gross domestic product soared 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, as it also revised up the annualized third-quarter 2016 growth estimate to 4.2 percent from 3.6 percent. COMMENT: BDS......who? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Feb. 22 that the Russian government has created <span style="color: red;">a force of special information warfare troops</span>, AP reported. Shoigu's comments are the first official acknowledgement from the Kremlin of the new force and were made during a speech to the Russian parliament. The announcement comes amid the fallout surrounding Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. COMMENT: Typical politician speaking out of both sides of his mouth. This is nothing new and this force has been operating for many years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.China has nearly completed construction of some two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to hold long-range surface-to-air missile batteries, two unnamed U.S. officials said Feb. 21, Reuters reported. The concrete structures have retractable roofs and appear to be around 20 meters long and 10 meters high, one official said. In December, a report from the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said that<span style="color: red;"> China had installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on all seven of the artificial islands </span>it has built in disputed parts of the South China Sea. COMMENT: It appears that China is unperturbed by all the bluster emanating from the US.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.Jon Medved, CEO of the Jerusalem-based ‘Our Crowd’ venture capital group: the “issue” of Israeli communities in <span style="color: red;">Judea and Samaria is no more relevant to the international business community than they would be if they were located on the moon.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">“Are you kidding?” he laughs. “Listen to me: It is a non-issue. No one even knows how to spell it. It may be a big issue for diplomats and the United Nations, but it is completely orthogonal to what we are doing. It’s like a different planet.” COMMENT: In 2016 investment in Israeli Hi-tech was $4.8 billion compared to all of Europe's $13.6 billion. Compare populations and you have your answer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.Tired of stretching your arms to the limit just to take a selfie? Do cameras, tripods and selfie sticks frustrate you? <span style="color: red;">A new Israeli invention</span> that turns your everyday phone case into a flying aerial picture-taking drone may be just what the world needs! (LOL). Check this out....WOW! <a href="http://nocamels.com/2017/02/selflys-flying-phone-case-aerial-selfies/">http://nocamels.com/2017/02/selflys-flying-phone-case-aerial-selfies/</a> COMMENT: Israel is changing our world...not with words but with actions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8.The Old City of Jerusalem will soon join the ranks of the new, when <span style="color: red;">free Wi-Fi is introduced in all four quarters.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">Benefits of the technological upgrade include an improved tour experience, as more visitors will be able to access various phone apps that facilitate navigation of the ancient alleyways. COMMENT: In Israel...the sky is the limit!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><b>Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner - Les Brown</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><b>If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader - John Quincy Adams</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><b>No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it - Andrew Carnegie</b></span><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-73798976099256376782017-02-19T21:46:00.000-05:002017-02-19T21:46:00.143-05:00The Muslim Ban<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While serving in the IDF I was leading a patrol in an Arab village in Judea and Samaria. Suddenly from the nearby Mukhtar's home a loudspeaker wailed an age-old timeless message to the populace...."Death to the Jews". We surrounded the house preparing to enter. Without warning a storm of stones from every direction rained down upon us and shouts of "Allah Akbar" punctured the air. The Arab residents were out on the balconies and rooftops shrieking and whistling. The perfect ambush! As we prepared to rush the house and silence the threatening message, a Jeep pulled up beside the front gate and out jumped member(s) of the Shin Bet (Israel's FBI) who had apparently decided to chaperone us...phew!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the Mukhtar's house afforded some cover from the the screaming mob, we burst through the door and were greeted by an unbelievable sight. The Mukhtar was smiling and on the lounge table were cups of sweet tea with nana (a Moroccan mint herb). While we savoured this traditional brew the Shin Bet unit huddled with the mukhtar and was provided with a list of potential terrorism threats from within the area. The Mukhtar was "arrested" and taken to HQ for "questioning". Needless to say he was released and given a heroic welcome home by some of the villagers. That folks, is one example of how homeland security and the war against terror operates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stunned silence out of Israel that greeted Trump's Muslim ban (and that's what it is) speaks louder than all the combined total of articles published on this subject. No comment from Israeli government members and the two main opposition parties. It matters not whether 50% of Americans support this ban (let's face it, voters in the US have not covered themselves in glory for a decade or two), it matters only that most of the Muslim world sees it as a slight on their culture. Within the context of keeping America safe this ban added thousands of Jihadists to a list of imminent dangers in a volatile world. What is unfathomable, is why the Trump administration did not add a country like North K</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">orea to the list of banned countries. Perhaps they could have exempted threatened Muslim minorities in Iraq, Syria and Iran (like the Kurds) from this ban. What is even more incomprehensible is the public swagger that accompanied this order. The follow up of palpable leaking by the US intelligence agencies to the news media does not surprise me....not in the least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Islamic world is imploding. This is a simple truth and the result of some Muslim countries and communities who are unable to compete economically in a changing world. Sunni muslims are battling Shiites. Secular Muslims are at war with their religious sects. The so-called Arab nation states are unravelling. The logical conclusion is to let nature take its course. This order, regardless of one's personal beliefs has strengthened the dark forces lurking in the shadows and added a Christian twist to the narrative. The damage has been done and it's only a matter of time until the consequences of this mistake are felt. It wont be pleasant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I like to pretend that I'm a tough guy. It's kind of an admission of defeat if I have to ask for help - or even kindness. But if it doesn't come, at some point I snap and demand it - Mary Parker</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's easy to be a tough guy when no one's going to come knocking on your door - Pete Hamill</b></span><br />
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<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-42163253410817121992017-01-25T12:22:00.001-05:002017-01-25T12:22:56.274-05:00The Peanut Gallery<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.Stratfor: Deployments of nuclear-capable missiles always send a message, but it isn't always immediately clear who the target is. Chinese media reported Tuesday on the possible deployment of long-range Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles in northeastern China close to Russia, triggering speculation in Russian media about China's intent. The nature and capabilities of the Dongfeng-41, along with its deployment near the city of Daqing close to the Russian border, mean that the systems <span style="color: red;">are far more likely intended as a </span><span style="color: red; text-decoration: underline;">nuclear deterrent against the United States.</span><span style="color: red;"> </span>The plot thickens. The Russians are not worried. The missiles are aimed at the US. One week into the Trump presidency and an unforeseen consequence which is not reported by western media. (they are too worried about debunking Trump theories).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.The new U.S. president made good on one of his campaign promises Monday, formally withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal, and signalling his intention to renegotiate NAFTA "at the appropriate time." COMMENT: There is no such thing as a vacuum in economics. China will be laughing all the way to the bank as they move to replace the US. <span style="color: red;">This decision will not save US jobs...just the opposite! Total capitulation to China.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. </span><span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">Officials say the Obama administration in its waning hours defied Republican opposition and <span style="color: red;">quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority.</span> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">GOP members of Congress had been holding up the money. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A State Department official and several congressional aides say the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning, just before Donald Trump became president. COMMENT: The </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Palestinians are using foreign aid to reward terrorists for acts that kill Israelis. About $140 million a year. Obama knows this and yet he still authorized a midnight transfer of funds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.China and the Philippines have agreed to work together on 30 projects on poverty reduction worth $3.7 billion, representatives from both countries said following a Jan. 23 meeting, Reuters reported. Details about the agreements, which come during a two-day visit by a Cabinet delegation from the Philippines to China, have yet to be released. Under the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte. COMMENT: The Phillipines are aware of the coming new world order and are playing <span style="color: red;">China against the US.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.Start-up Israel: </span><span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">An Israeli biomedical company announced that it has for the first time successfully transplanted artificially grown human bone into a group of patients suffering from bone loss. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A statement from Bonus BioGroup on Monday said the semi-liquid graft injected into the jaws of 11 people during the first phase of the clinical trial earlier this year had successfully fused to existing bone and filled gaps in the deteriorating jawbone. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">“For the first time anywhere in the world,</span> a quick, and effective and safe bone rehabilitation using a single injection of a living, growing graft transplanted inside a human bone has been completed successfully,” the company said. COMMENT: Go Israel!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">6. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On a state visit to Israel last week for the first time in his nation’s history, the president of the Muslim-majority West African nation of Sierra Leone expressed his gratitude to Israel for the Jewish state’s assistance in fighting the Ebola virus. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“I must use this opportunity to thank you, the Government and the people of Israel, for the support that was provided to us during one of the most difficult moments in our history – the fight against Ebola,” President Ernest Bai Koroma said last Thursday at a joint appearance with Rivlin. <span style="color: red;">“It was a moment others chose to turn their backs and isolate us, but Israel provided us with support, with financial, technical support, and we had people that volunteered to go out and assist us</span>….That we have put the Ebola behind us is because of the support of this nation. COMMENT: </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― Charles Dickens</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">7. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In a sign of growing ties between Israel and Africa, <span style="color: red;">Jerusalem is hosting seven ministers and many other top officials from over a dozen Western African countries</span> at an agricultural conference in Israel this week. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The three-day conference which began Monday, entitled “Enhancing Sustainable Agricultural Productivity in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions,” is co-organized by Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, and the Economic Community of West African States, a union known as ECOWAS. COMMENT: Its not what you say or how you say it....Its what you do that matters.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.” </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">― C.G. Jung</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters - Albert Einstein</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see - Henry David Thoreau</b></span><br />
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<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-57792564449034517342017-01-20T12:41:00.001-05:002017-01-20T12:41:16.915-05:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.Russia and Turkey carried out joint airstrikes against the Islamic State near the Syrian town of al-Bab on Jan. 18, the first time the two countries have launched joint strikes against the militant group, BBC reported. The coordinated strikes come months after Turkey launched operation Euphrates Shield, seeking to block advances by Kurdish forces and push back the Islamic State. COMMENT: One of the first orders of the day for the Trump admin will be to support the Russians and Turks in the war against ISIS. <span style="color: red;">The dawn of a new era.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Is NATO obsolete? George Friedman: "The issue is that the U.S. was engaged in wars for 15 years, and there was no automatic support from NATO or major European countries in those wars. The countries that wanted to participate fought, with as much or as little as they chose to send. Those that wanted to fight in one war and not the other did. Europeans must face two facts. <span style="color: red;">First, this is 2017, and the wars that matter to the U.S. are being fought in the Islamic world. </span>Second, this is not 1955, and Europe is not struggling to recover from World War II. It is a wealthy region, and its military capabilities should be equal to those of the U.S.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">COMMENT: It appears that the age of automatic US support of the EU and NATO are over. Perhaps the EU should have understood that the demonization of Israel and the embrace of multi-culturism (one big happy family eh?) might have unforeseen consequences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.Michael Diamond on moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem: So I say move it, and do it right away, with the full support of most of Congress which will support it, and against the yelling and screaming of most of the State Department, many of whom need to be removed from their positions anyway. <span style="color: red;">Enough of this accommodation.</span> The leader of the western world deserves to have its embassy in the capital of any state with which it has relations, particularly allies! And if the threat from the Palestinians is that they will “open up the gates of hell!” then the only reaction must be “those who open up the gates of hell will have hell to pay!” COMMENT: Couldn't agree more!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.The United States will be invited to upcoming talks aimed at resolving Syria's conflict due to be held in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Jan. 19, Reuters reported. This follows on Lavrov's Jan. 17 statement calling for U.S. attendance at the peace negotiations, which were organized chiefly by Russia and Turkey. The U.S. response is unclear at the moment given the power transition Jan. 20. COMMENT: Like I said before....<span style="color: red;">The dawn of a new era.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.The daily TIP: <span style="color: red;">Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed a water cooperation agreement </span>on Sunday, the fourth major infrastructure deal agreed to in the past year and a half. T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he agreement, which will restart the Israeli–Palestinian Joint Water Committee, was signed by Gen. Yoav Mordechai, head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) office, and Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s Civil Affairs Minister.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The committee is charged with modernizing the water infrastructure in the West Bank, giving Palestinian villages and towns better access to water. COMMENT: It matters what you do...not what you say Mr. ex-president Obama!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.Start-up Israel: Big data company Oracle said Monday it would open a<span style="color: red;"> Startup Cloud Accelerator program in Israel,</span> the second of several it plans to open soon in a multimillion dollar global program. The center, based in Tel Aviv, will help promote local innovation in cloud technology, the company said. COMMENT: Who's afraid of the big bad UN wolf?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.China’s borrowings hit 168.48 trillion yuan ($25.6 trillion) at the end of last year, <span style="color: red;">equivalent to 249% of economic output,</span> Li Yang, a senior researcher with the leading government think-tank the China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), has told reporters. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the huge number, which includes government, corporate and household borrowings, was lower than some non-government estimates. COMMENT: Corporate loans are 156% of GDP. This truly looks like an accident waiting to happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8.Ynet: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Israel opens first ever NATO office -</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Yair Golan was in Brussels for the official opening of the Israeli office at NATO headquarters after <span style="color: red;">it was decided that the two sides should have a closer working relationship.</span> Roni Leshno Yaar, who submitted his credentials to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, is the first Israeli representative to NATO since the Jewish state was accepted as a partner to the organization (not a member). While in Brussels, Maj. Gen. Golan also <span style="color: red;">met with the head of the Turkish Armed Forces General Hulusi Akar. </span>COMMENT: Apparently NATO is not as perturbed by Israeli settlements as is ex-Secretary of State John Kerry.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maturity is when you have the power to destroy </span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>someone who did you wrong but you just breathe, walk away and let life kill them - Alyssa</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Don't trust everything you see. Even salt looks like sugar - anonymous</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Sometimes it's not the people who change, it's the mask that falls off - The Good Vibe</b></span><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-66905833993505163622017-01-16T17:45:00.002-05:002017-01-16T17:45:20.145-05:00Preposterous Predictions 2017 <br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we get 7 out of 10 predictions correct that would be pretty good. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We continue to follow the money, the movement of refugees and the decline of modern day globalism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Islam will continue to implode. However the architecture of the confrontation between Sunni and Shiite muslims will be aggravated by a heightening of the crisis between Christianity and Islam. We are at the beginning of <span style="color: red;">the end of European multi-culturism</span> and this trend will imbed itself this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. The increase in nationalism will reverberate around the world as Trump attempts to forge a new version of the sixties. One of the unforeseen consequences of "Making America great again" could mean <span style="color: red;">the lessening of the influence within the world community of a UN</span> that has lost all sense of integrity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. The US Senate and the House will develop <span style="color: red;">a much more bi-partisan approach</span> in some instances as they attempt to balance a new and impatient US president attempting to make some of the changes he promised while campaigning. Russia, immigration and human rights spring to mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.Islamic Jihadists are not frightened by Trump. The fact that he has so many businesses at home and overseas and they all carry his name makes them an appealing target. <span style="color: red;">We will witness multiple terrorist attacks on his assets.</span> They know full well the infidel will retaliate and thats exactly what they want. To them he is a great mobilization tool and therefore this makes for a win-win situation as far as they are concerned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. The two state solution between Israel and the arabs </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">will die a painless death</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> equivalent to a diseased animal being put out of its misery. An inaudible sigh of relief from what is left of the Arab world might be heard at this time. Others will raise the possibility of a Palestinian State in Jordan. Regardless of the lip service, there wont be a Palestinian State any time soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.The new Trump administration will have <span style="color: red;">a bumpy landing</span> something akin to watching a bull in a China shop (excuse the pun). The new president will fire at least two of his advisors before the year is out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. The most affected by this new nationalist revolution is the European Union. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Especially Holland, France, Italy and Germany. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The effect of Brexit will only be felt this year </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">as Theresa May moves forward with an aggressive Brexit strategy. As for the rest of Europe, it is clear that their politicians still do not understand the menace of Islam in their societies. The people do - and will vote with both hands. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. If 2015 and 2016 were years of market stability, 2017 will be a year of extreme volatility. As nationalism continues to expand, central banks will adopt a policy of "every country for themselves" and <span style="color: red;">currencies will be their weapon of choice. </span>The threat of trade wars will exacerbate currency devaluation, rising inflation, falling bond prices and interest rate rivalry. There is no such thing as a calm revolution...at least as far as the markets are concerned. The federal reserve will clash with the Trump administration over a stronger dollar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. In today's world perception is more important than truth. Vladimir Putin knows this. He took one look at "Useful idiot" Obama and went to work. For a country struggling financially he managed to portray Russia as a huge power, when it is definitely not. He saw Trump as a much more "useful idiot" than Clinton. The expressions "Never try to con a con man" or "You cannot fool all the people all the time" come to mind. <span style="color: red;">The true nature of the relationship</span> between these two men will surface in 2017.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. In Israel the centre-right coalition will strengthen even as we witness the end of an era. The Bibi Netanyahu star will begin to fade this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. Egypt will confront the growing partnership between ISIS and Hamas in the Sinai and Gaza. General Sisi, president of Egypt is not a man to be trifled with and he will meet force with even more force. He will be aided by Israel. <span style="color: red;">Unlikely allies, but allies nevertheless.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11.Year in and year out I copy and paste the same forecast on Israel. "Israel is always at number 11 and outside the ten forecasts. Why you may ask? Israel from year to year remains a shining light to the world, regardless of the tinted glasses through which some may view this." <span style="color: red;">This year is no different.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Have a great 2017</b></span><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-59971631790750955202017-01-14T13:41:00.000-05:002017-01-14T13:41:45.410-05:00Preposterous Predictions 2016 - Report Card<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preposterous Predictions 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we get 7 out of 10 predictions correct that would be pretty good. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lets follow the money and the refugees</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.Stock markets and investors have become accustomed to markets continually recovering as a result of central bank manipulations. This will end in 2016 as markets come to terms with reality. The international credit bubble created as a result of the 2008 crisis will slowly disintegrate, punctured by collapsing raw materials demand and the demise of the oil market. The economic downturn will have a profound effect on our world and we predict a primary bear market in stocks and the continuation of the primary bull market in the US Dollar. - <span style="color: blue;">B totally wrong about equities but correct about the USD.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.The slowdown in China will continue at an increased pace. Potentially China can go one of two ways. Either it breaks down into separately governed regions (Coastal vs Inland) or a ruthless dictatorship will attempt to control economic dissatisfaction within the Chinese population. The Chinese currency (the Yuan) will continue to be devalued in an attempt to jumpstart fading Chinese exports. <span style="color: blue;">A - Correct. The Yuan depreciation continues as the Chinese population looks for safer alternatives. The ruthless dictatorship is building as I write. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.Historically the movement of refugees has created new geopolitical realities. The mass movement of refugees from unstable regions into the European Union is a geopolitical weapon of change that will create political, economic and violent chaos. Anti-immigration and anti-EU parties will strengthen and the movement towards fragmentation will be reflected in the value of the European symbol of unity, the Euro. <span style="color: blue;">A minus - The euro is steadily declining.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.The Italian banking system will come under serious pressure this year accompanied by friction between old enemies France and Germany. All it takes are a few terrorist attacks to understand that the so-called liberal European multi-culturism is just a cover for a deeper and darker psyche lurking in the shadows. <span style="color: blue;">A - Reports are emerging about the Italian Bank problem.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Russia will weather an economic meltdown (the Russian people are made of sterner stuff than most) as its ruble crumbles, but not without chaotic conditions amongst neighbouring countries who rely on Russian support (and energy) for their economic wellbeing. Russia will also have to overcome an AIDS epidemic of major proportions. <span style="color: blue;">A minus - Russia's neighbours are experiencing controlled chaos. </span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to UNAIDS, Russia has one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Apple will lose its shine as competing companies close the technological gap. They might even have to consider lowering their prices. <span style="color: blue;">A minus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7.Regardless of who the candidates might be, the Republicans will take the White House this year. President Obama's naive foreign policy of shaking hands with a crocodile, his alienation of US allies, his creation of a massive debt bubble and his inability to unite the American people will signal the demise of big government for the near and distant future. As for his legacy....need I say more? <span style="color: blue;">A - The luckiest A in history. Who would have believed?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8.Climate change will have positive (yes, positive) and negative results as the trend continues. Countries like Canada and parts of the US and Europe will definitely have the advantage, whereas parts of the Middle East and Africa (Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Sudan and others) will continue to pay the price. <span style="color: blue;">A</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Islam will continue to implode leading to a Sunni-Shiite face off. The violence being the product of dictatorships, religious fanaticism and the inability by over a billion people to compete economically. The stream of refugees will turn into a flood creating change wherever they flow. <span style="color: blue;">A</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10.North and South America will be the least affected by the refugee fallout, being continents geographically insulated from the deluge. Unless of course some politician decides to play saviour and opens the door. <span style="color: blue;">A</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11.Last year I wrote about Israel..."Israel is always at number 11 and outside the ten forecasts. Why you may ask? Israel from year to year remains a shining light to the world, regardless of the tinted sunglasses with which some may view this." This year all that is needed is to "copy and paste" <span style="color: blue;">AA</span></span><br />
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Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-18930390939082893742017-01-12T16:18:00.001-05:002017-01-12T16:18:31.014-05:00The Peanut Gallery<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">1.John Mauldin: "Canada also has a housing bubble that looks increasingly ready to pop. Home prices in Vancouver are unbelievable, and Toronto is not far behind. These prices have little to do with oil and everything to do with Hong Kong Chinese and other Chinese buying property. Wealthy Chinese, eager to evade their own country’s capital controls, are buying homes as offshore savings accounts. What happens in Canada will tell us something important about China and vice versa. </span><span style="color: red;">Anything that keeps Chinese money from leaving the country will raise the odds of Canada’s bubble popping."</span><span style="color: #333333;"> COMMENT: Funds fearful of a Chinese debt meltdown, a potential US China trade war, a powerful US Dollar puncturing the world credit bubble and the potential disintegration of the European Union are pouring into North America. More specifically they are pouring into Canadian real estate. </span><span style="color: red;">Its not only Canadians who believe that Canada (and Australia) are the last safe havens on the planet.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.An ex-MI6 officer who is believed to have prepared memos claiming Russia has compromising material on US President-elect Donald Trump is now in hiding, the BBC understands. The US president-elect said the claims were "fake news" and "phoney stuff".</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">COMMENT: Trump, the king of fake news and its main beneficiary, had better succeed as president </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">otherwise the swamp quicksand will drain him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">3.Russia denied unverified reports that it has compromising information about the president-elect, dismissing the claims as 'absolute fabrication and utter nonsense' on Wednesday. Earlier, two U.S. officials told NBC News that briefing materials prepared for Trump included damaging allegations, which have not been verified by American intelligence agencies, about his dealings with Russians. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Vladimir Putin's government, said: <span style="color: red;">'The Kremlin does not collect compromising information.' </span>COMMENT: LOL...Really? I thought the Russians would immediately verify! </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Three US senators have introduced legislation that would commit the United States to moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move US presidents have opposed for decades but which President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly signaled he is willing to do. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller (R) proposed the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act on Tuesday, the first day the new Congress convened on Capitol Hill as Republicans prepare to control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives for the first time since 2007. COMMENT: After the Obama betrayal of Israel, </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the time is finally right to make this move.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. An annotated edition of "Mein Kampf," Adolf Hitler's notorious manifesto, has become a non-fiction best-seller in Germany. News agency dpa reported Tuesday that 85,000 copies of the book have been sold since it was first published a year ago. Despite its incendiary and anti-Semitic content, the book wasn't banned in Germany and could be found online, in secondhand bookshops and in libraries. COMMENT: A sign of the times</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.The Turkish lira continued to depreciate Jan. 11, dropping by nearly 2.7 percent on the day and hitting an all-time low of around 3.93 liras to the dollar, Bloomberg reported. The lira has already fallen by nearly 9 percent since the start of 2017 after dropping by nearly 17 percent in 2016. COMMENT: The Turkish currency is not alone in this pre-Trump era. The Japanese Yen, the Euro, the Chinese Yuan, the Mexican Pesos and many others are compensating for possible US Tariffs and/or political upheaval.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.Stratfor: Though Netanyahu's government does not have complete control over the Israeli settlements proliferating in the contested West Bank, it has no intention of amending its settlement policy. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Holding the territory between the borders established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and those drawn after 1967's Six-Day War is part of Israel's defensive strategy. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> As for the rights of generations of Palestinian refugees, a unifying cause for the Arab states since 1967, new refugee populations in the Middle East have pushed the issue to the backburner. COMMENT: The two-state solution died when the Obama inspired Arab spring began. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><b>My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them-Mitch Hedberg</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made- Groucho Marx</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">― George Bernard Shaw</b><br />
<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297345306755197783.post-63565978217672355582017-01-08T18:35:00.000-05:002017-01-08T18:35:25.780-05:00The End of Globalism<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hillary Clinton declared "We are stronger together!" Donald Trump stated “People talk about how we’re living in a globalized world, but the relationships people value most are local—family, city, state and country." <span style="color: red;">Those two sentence elegantly describe the fault line that is splitting entire nations and continents right now.</span> In what appears to have been a perfect storm Clinton lost the election. Clearly this can be described as another devastating blow to globalism. She did not lose to Trump. She was swept away by the winds of change that are now sweeping the planet. The first indication was Brexit. Next came Trump and sooner or later the European Union will crumble as the nationalist revolution takes control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Globalism is the entree of the elite.</span> In the sixties, when Wall Street sneezed, the world caught pneumonia. In the seventies the same sneeze resulted in a dose of flu. In the eighties we caught a cold. How long could three hundred million American consumers carry the world economy on its shoulders? The US consumer could only buy so many cars, TV's and washing machines and this market soon reached the point of saturation. A plan was developed </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and thus globalism was born. it was simple....Germany would be the European engine, China and Japan the Asian engine, Brazil and Mexico would lead South America and South Africa and Nigeria would haul the coaches in Africa. If a peace deal could be reached in the Middle East then Israel was a potential engine. Perhaps one remembers the massive push for a two state solution by Clinton and Barak that was rejected by Arafat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1944 the Bretton-Woods Agreement made the USD which was exchangeable for gold, the world's reserve currency. International trade was denominated in the mighty USD. Richard Nixon removed the gold linkage of in 1971 and thus a new era of credit creation by Central banks was unleashed. Initially it began as a dribble but finally <span style="color: red;">culminated in 2008 with the near demise of the US banking system.</span> The world's Central Banks united with cynical politicians to create what is now an even larger international credit </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bubble in the misguided belief that 6.7 billion non-Americans would create enough productivity to make this credit bubble viable. <span style="color: red;">This is what Donald Trump designated as the "swamp". </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So while the elite were getting richer and main street was being decimated, the American dream was disappearing. <span style="color: red;">The creation of Twenty trillion bucks of US debt benefitted only the elite.</span> World stock markets have risen dramatically enriching those living in ivory towers and leaving the populations of forgotten people dangling by a thread. Lets face it....us mortals who live in a politically and economically safe and secure environment are a disappearing minority. Some might even label us as the elite. Either way, the nationalist revolution is underway and the dawn of a new cycle in world history is imminent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution - Abraham Lincoln</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid-Benjamin Franklin</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose-Bill Gates</b></span><br />
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<br />Harry Bauskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15086196955208350008noreply@blogger.com0