Thursday, May 10, 2018
The Iran Deal - Analysis
Six months after the Obama inauguration Israeli intelligence labelled Barack Obama as an "enemy of Israel” 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. A coalition of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States gave rise to a potential regional collaboration against the strengthening Iran. 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.
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 Iran diverted the billions meant for its people, 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.
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... at least 95% of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria has been destroyed. 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 is doomed and it is a matter of "when" and not "if".
Sometimes it is important to watch what leaders do and not what they say. For example, Bibi Netanyahu has visited Putin at least 8 times in the last two years. 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!
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose - Bill Gates
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory - George S. Patton
Victory is the child of preparation and determination - Sean Hampton
Thursday, May 3, 2018
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1. Business Insider: 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 in Syria as a failure. Multiple Israeli government and military sources suggested the strike was not effective in hurting Syria's ability to conduct chemical attacks. These officials also criticized President Donald Trump's talking about the strike beforehand. 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!
2.An overnight missile attack against weapons storage bases in Syria destroyed some 200 surface-to-surface rockets, a regional official told The New York Times Monday. 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 is done Mr Trump.
3.Ehud Yaari: 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: 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 – high unemployment, inflation in the price of certain staple products and currency depreciation. 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.
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 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.
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. 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. 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.
6. Dr. Ian Bremmer: 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. 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 recommends buying gold.
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, China is about to slap a tariff on US soybeans. 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.
“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.” ― Bertrand Russell
“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” ― George Bernard Shaw
“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. ” ― Gore Vidal
“Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company.” ― Benjamin Franklin Wade
1. Business Insider: 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 in Syria as a failure. Multiple Israeli government and military sources suggested the strike was not effective in hurting Syria's ability to conduct chemical attacks. These officials also criticized President Donald Trump's talking about the strike beforehand. 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!
2.An overnight missile attack against weapons storage bases in Syria destroyed some 200 surface-to-surface rockets, a regional official told The New York Times Monday. 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 is done Mr Trump.
3.Ehud Yaari: 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: 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 – high unemployment, inflation in the price of certain staple products and currency depreciation. 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.
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 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.
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. 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. 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.
6. Dr. Ian Bremmer: 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. 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 recommends buying gold.
“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.” ― Bertrand Russell
“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” ― George Bernard Shaw
“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. ” ― Gore Vidal
“Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company.” ― Benjamin Franklin Wade
Monday, April 2, 2018
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1. 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, YOU are the product! We haven't heard the last of this.
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 this cynical attempt to provoke media attention did not take place on the Egyptian border. You would be burying 30,000 people today. The IDF has sent a clear message. Pay attention.
3.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
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."
“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 a factual reminder of the ridiculous and dangerous Obama worldview.
4.USA Today: Six weeks ago, they were just high school kids in Parkland, Fla.: cramming for tests, plodding through college essays, jousting with friends. Now, they are a thundering force on the national stage, unrelenting voices determined to upend the history of gun violence in the U.S. "Welcome to the revolution,” said Cameron Kasky. COMMENT: Total U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan: 6,950 vs 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.
5.Patrick Watson: Unlike virtual reality, AI-driven “fake” video is ready for primetime.
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. 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.
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.
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. If you are not nervous about the Nasdaq...now is the time.
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. 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 taxpayer funds to pay monthly stipends to the families of imprisoned terrorists and suicide bombers, 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....
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. 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? That is not leadership, it is cowardice." COMMENT: Enough said.
Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) - 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.
A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will in time produce a people as base as itself - Joseph Pulitzer
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
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 this cynical attempt to provoke media attention did not take place on the Egyptian border. You would be burying 30,000 people today. The IDF has sent a clear message. Pay attention.
3.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
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."
“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 a factual reminder of the ridiculous and dangerous Obama worldview.
4.USA Today: Six weeks ago, they were just high school kids in Parkland, Fla.: cramming for tests, plodding through college essays, jousting with friends. Now, they are a thundering force on the national stage, unrelenting voices determined to upend the history of gun violence in the U.S. "Welcome to the revolution,” said Cameron Kasky. COMMENT: Total U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan: 6,950 vs 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.
5.Patrick Watson: Unlike virtual reality, AI-driven “fake” video is ready for primetime.
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. 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.
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.
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. If you are not nervous about the Nasdaq...now is the time.
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. 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 taxpayer funds to pay monthly stipends to the families of imprisoned terrorists and suicide bombers, 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....
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. 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? That is not leadership, it is cowardice." COMMENT: Enough said.
Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) - 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.
A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will in time produce a people as base as itself - Joseph Pulitzer
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
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
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. COMMENT: Kim Jong Un definitely has Trump"s number. Imagine that...Trump being conned by a better con man.
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" to accommodate the incomparable puppet master, Vlad Putin.
3.TED Talk: 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 reduce productivity in cognitive and creative jobs. People take longer and achieve inferior results.
The reason, Pink says, is that bonuses, commissions, and the like make you narrow your focus. You concentrate on delivering the results that will give you the reward. That’s fine in jobs like manual labor, certain kinds of accounting, some computer programming, and financial analysis. 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.
4.Mauldin Economics: 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? In theory, automation will enable lower prices, which will raise demand and create more jobs. Bain does not think it will happen that way. They foresee up to 40 million permanent job losses in the US, even accounting for higher demand. COMMENT: Scary stuff
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: Picture sitting on a Trump beach and a Tsunami is rushing towards you. Weigh the choices.
6. Andrew McCabe - Republican
James Comey- Republican
Robert Mueller - Republican
Rod Rosenstein - Republican
All of these Republicans are not part of some secret liberal FBI scheme. This ridiculous Fox News fairy tale needs to be put to bed.
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. Some general practitioners and medical specialists in Quebec have signed a petition saying they don't want the hundreds of millions in raises they got after negotiations with the provincial government last month.
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!
Armchair-general
Noun. 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.
The coward only threatens when he is safe - von Goethe
Actors are con men and con men are actors - Edward Burns
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. COMMENT: Kim Jong Un definitely has Trump"s number. Imagine that...Trump being conned by a better con man.
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" to accommodate the incomparable puppet master, Vlad Putin.
3.TED Talk: 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 reduce productivity in cognitive and creative jobs. People take longer and achieve inferior results.
The reason, Pink says, is that bonuses, commissions, and the like make you narrow your focus. You concentrate on delivering the results that will give you the reward. That’s fine in jobs like manual labor, certain kinds of accounting, some computer programming, and financial analysis. 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.
4.Mauldin Economics: 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? In theory, automation will enable lower prices, which will raise demand and create more jobs. Bain does not think it will happen that way. They foresee up to 40 million permanent job losses in the US, even accounting for higher demand. COMMENT: Scary stuff
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: Picture sitting on a Trump beach and a Tsunami is rushing towards you. Weigh the choices.
6. Andrew McCabe - Republican
James Comey- Republican
Robert Mueller - Republican
Rod Rosenstein - Republican
All of these Republicans are not part of some secret liberal FBI scheme. This ridiculous Fox News fairy tale needs to be put to bed.
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. Some general practitioners and medical specialists in Quebec have signed a petition saying they don't want the hundreds of millions in raises they got after negotiations with the provincial government last month.
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!
Armchair-general
Noun. 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.
The coward only threatens when he is safe - von Goethe
Actors are con men and con men are actors - Edward Burns
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1.Tom Bentley: Markets are inherently cyclical and inherently volatile, but they do self-correct before inflicting massive damage. Now you put government 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, and the plane will start it’s death spiral. COMMENT: Hold on tight folks. Preservation of capital trumps profits!
2.YNET: 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. We won’t forget what happened Tuesday. It’s the day the walls of denial broke down. Like in the theater, when a curtain falls on the last act of a play. COMMENT: The era of Bibi is over.
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:
The western media and North Americans (me too) are so obsessed with the Trump reality show that none of this appears to be news. Putin must be smiling to himself.
4.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. “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. So if there was a demographic battle, it’s over,” 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.
5.Since the Trump election in 2016, I have been talking about an approaching trade war. 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: "It could also be a huge problem for Canada 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.
6. Trump is a knife in the back kinda guy. 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.
7.George Friedman: "Seoul has opened its own dialogue with Pyongyang, 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. Now, the U.S. threatens it." COMMENT: Trump's preference for the white skin color is not lost on the peninsula. The law of unintended consequences....
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter - Winston Churchill
Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance -Robert Quillen
People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument - Will Rogers
1.Tom Bentley: Markets are inherently cyclical and inherently volatile, but they do self-correct before inflicting massive damage. Now you put government 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, and the plane will start it’s death spiral. COMMENT: Hold on tight folks. Preservation of capital trumps profits!
2.YNET: 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. We won’t forget what happened Tuesday. It’s the day the walls of denial broke down. Like in the theater, when a curtain falls on the last act of a play. COMMENT: The era of Bibi is over.
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:
The western media and North Americans (me too) are so obsessed with the Trump reality show that none of this appears to be news. Putin must be smiling to himself.
4.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. “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. So if there was a demographic battle, it’s over,” 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.
5.Since the Trump election in 2016, I have been talking about an approaching trade war. 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: "It could also be a huge problem for Canada 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.
6. Trump is a knife in the back kinda guy. 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.
7.George Friedman: "Seoul has opened its own dialogue with Pyongyang, 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. Now, the U.S. threatens it." COMMENT: Trump's preference for the white skin color is not lost on the peninsula. The law of unintended consequences....
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter - Winston Churchill
Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance -Robert Quillen
People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument - Will Rogers
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
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!
2.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 I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.”
“And I have a message for cadet bone spurs: 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." 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.
3.Russian President Vladimir Putin has become the owner of a one and half room apartment in the heart of Tel Aviv. 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.
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 a full-scale military operation.
5.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 Palestinians are not looking to make peace. And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens.” 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
6.The White House denied as false 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.
7.GPF: South Korean media have painted a poor picture of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was reportedly told by South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he should stay out of South Korea’s internal affairs. 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.
“Are you a politician or does lying just run in your family?” ― Fannie Flagg
“Lies sound like facts to those who've been conditioned to misrecognize the truth.
― DaShanne Stokes
When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer ''present'' or ''not guilty.''--Theodore Roosevelt
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!
2.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 I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.”
“And I have a message for cadet bone spurs: 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." 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.
3.Russian President Vladimir Putin has become the owner of a one and half room apartment in the heart of Tel Aviv. 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.
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 a full-scale military operation.
5.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 Palestinians are not looking to make peace. And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens.” 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
6.The White House denied as false 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.
7.GPF: South Korean media have painted a poor picture of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was reportedly told by South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he should stay out of South Korea’s internal affairs. 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.
“Are you a politician or does lying just run in your family?” ― Fannie Flagg
“Lies sound like facts to those who've been conditioned to misrecognize the truth.
― DaShanne Stokes
When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer ''present'' or ''not guilty.''--Theodore Roosevelt
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Trump Reality Check - George Friedman
George Friedman is one of the world's most respected geo-political analysts. Its always worthwhile taking note of his thoughts.
George Friedman
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.
Consider U.S. relations with NATO. 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.
U.S. policy toward Russia, 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.
U.S. relations with China are not so different either. 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.
Then there is NAFTA, 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.
In the Middle East, 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.
The only major difference in Trump foreign policy concerns North Korea. 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.
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.
This points to something too many observers tend to forget: 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. 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.
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.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato
George Friedman
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.
Consider U.S. relations with NATO. 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.
U.S. policy toward Russia, 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.
U.S. relations with China are not so different either. 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.
Then there is NAFTA, 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.
In the Middle East, 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.
The only major difference in Trump foreign policy concerns North Korea. 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.
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.
This points to something too many observers tend to forget: 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. 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.
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.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato
Friday, January 19, 2018
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
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 a symbolic statement of no importance. 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.
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!
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. Nobody is really planning to dig a railway station and tracks under 3,000 years of archeology.
4.Three of Israel's top banks (Leumi, Israel Discount and First International) are currently led by women. 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
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. Of the seven appointees, five were women, prompting Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to remark that 54% of judges in Israel are female. 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
6.Shoshi Jambar, a 31-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli single parent, 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?
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. COMMENT: Wow! This is almost as good as the Steele Dossier. Read more https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5072040,00.html
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 - Christie Hartman
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits - Albert Einstein.
Mr. Trump, If I wanted to kill myself I'd climb your ego and jump to your IQ - Planet Earth
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 a symbolic statement of no importance. 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.
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!
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. Nobody is really planning to dig a railway station and tracks under 3,000 years of archeology.
4.Three of Israel's top banks (Leumi, Israel Discount and First International) are currently led by women. 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
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. Of the seven appointees, five were women, prompting Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to remark that 54% of judges in Israel are female. 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
6.Shoshi Jambar, a 31-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli single parent, 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?
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. COMMENT: Wow! This is almost as good as the Steele Dossier. Read more https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5072040,00.html
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 - Christie Hartman
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits - Albert Einstein.
Mr. Trump, If I wanted to kill myself I'd climb your ego and jump to your IQ - Planet Earth
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Trump - A Peanut Gallery Special Edition - Part Two
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
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.
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 punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky. To be clear the bill went 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.
Some say that Vladimir Putin is one of the worlds richest men, 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, the US was one of the easiest and most profitable destinations for the money laundering oligarchs.
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? Enter the Trump Family, Manafort & co., Flynn & son....the rest will soon be history. What went down was financial corruption on an epic scale that makes political corruption look like child's play. 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. They want their money and assets back!
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,
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 is little more than a Russian flunky in the oval office.
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
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
Those who fight corruption should be clean themselves - Vladimir Putin
Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power - William Gaddis
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.
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 punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky. To be clear the bill went 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.
Some say that Vladimir Putin is one of the worlds richest men, 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, the US was one of the easiest and most profitable destinations for the money laundering oligarchs.
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? Enter the Trump Family, Manafort & co., Flynn & son....the rest will soon be history. What went down was financial corruption on an epic scale that makes political corruption look like child's play. 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. They want their money and assets back!
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,
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 is little more than a Russian flunky in the oval office.
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
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
Those who fight corruption should be clean themselves - Vladimir Putin
Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power - William Gaddis
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
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. Good move by Trump. 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.
2. GPF: 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. 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. The assaults, nearly simultaneous, cannot be a coincidence. COMMENT: this combined assault could indicate a new understanding between Moscow and Washington. 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.
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. An attack on NK will potentially send world markets into a tailspin, so stay tuned.
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. This phenomena is putting our kids and grandkids in danger and needs to be addressed urgently.
5. So Trump has decided not to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. 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 rein in settlements, 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!
6.Mark Yusko: "According to the CDC, the fertility rate in the US is at its lowest level since records began in 1909. 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!
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. Now, Portland police say that as Best lay helpless, someone apparently made off with his wedding ring and backpack. The suspect is described as a “white male with a blonde hair mullet, wearing a black Jordan Brand baseball cap, a black T-shirt featuring an image of Marilyn Monroe and an American flag. COMMENT: God Bless America!
Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out - Bullyville.com
Bullying builds character like nuclear waste creates superheroes. It's a rare occurrence and often does much more damage than endowment - Zack W. Van
That millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane - Erich Fromm, The Sane Society
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. Good move by Trump. 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.
2. GPF: 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. 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. The assaults, nearly simultaneous, cannot be a coincidence. COMMENT: this combined assault could indicate a new understanding between Moscow and Washington. 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.
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. An attack on NK will potentially send world markets into a tailspin, so stay tuned.
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. This phenomena is putting our kids and grandkids in danger and needs to be addressed urgently.
5. So Trump has decided not to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. 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 rein in settlements, 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!
6.Mark Yusko: "According to the CDC, the fertility rate in the US is at its lowest level since records began in 1909. 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!
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. Now, Portland police say that as Best lay helpless, someone apparently made off with his wedding ring and backpack. The suspect is described as a “white male with a blonde hair mullet, wearing a black Jordan Brand baseball cap, a black T-shirt featuring an image of Marilyn Monroe and an American flag. COMMENT: God Bless America!
Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out - Bullyville.com
Bullying builds character like nuclear waste creates superheroes. It's a rare occurrence and often does much more damage than endowment - Zack W. Van
That millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane - Erich Fromm, The Sane Society
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Trump-A Peanut Gallery Special Edition-Part One
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
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.
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.
GPF: 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. 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.
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.
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.
I've always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie - Bill Paxton
One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government - Donald Trump
A Criminal always returns to the scene of the crime - proverb
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.
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.
GPF: 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. 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.
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.
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.
I've always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie - Bill Paxton
One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government - Donald Trump
A Criminal always returns to the scene of the crime - proverb
Monday, May 8, 2017
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1.Trump-type politicians are taking a hammering in Europe. 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.
2.China has moved 150,000 troops to its border with North Korea. It has also refused permission for North Korean ships laden with coal to unload their cargo. 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.
The less talk about Russia in the media the better.
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. Are they safe? They are not, but they are much, much safer than human drivers! 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.
Remove human error from driving, 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.
4.TOI: 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 a crucial component to the survival of the Jewish people.
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 a symptom of the economic stress in Russia created by the fall in the price of energy and could easily spread to other parts of the economy.
6. Canadian real estate: Ontario is following British Columbia’s lead, 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. 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...
7. WSJ: What would a country’s stock market do if its neighboring country threatens to attack it with nuclear weapons? Hit a record high, of course. 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.
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
― Alexander Pope
“We fool ourselves so much we could do it for a living.”
― Stephen King
How awesome it would be if a liars pants actually caught fire....
1.Trump-type politicians are taking a hammering in Europe. 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.
2.China has moved 150,000 troops to its border with North Korea. It has also refused permission for North Korean ships laden with coal to unload their cargo. 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.
The less talk about Russia in the media the better.
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. Are they safe? They are not, but they are much, much safer than human drivers! 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.
Remove human error from driving, 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.
4.TOI: 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 a crucial component to the survival of the Jewish people.
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 a symptom of the economic stress in Russia created by the fall in the price of energy and could easily spread to other parts of the economy.
6. Canadian real estate: Ontario is following British Columbia’s lead, 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. 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...
7. WSJ: What would a country’s stock market do if its neighboring country threatens to attack it with nuclear weapons? Hit a record high, of course. 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.
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
― Alexander Pope
“We fool ourselves so much we could do it for a living.”
― Stephen King
How awesome it would be if a liars pants actually caught fire....
Sunday, March 26, 2017
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1.When James Comey stated before congress that there was a criminal investigation into co-operation between the Trump camp and the Russians, he put the cat amongst the pigeons...deliberately. 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!
2.The IDF is preparing contingency plans for a post ISIS era. ISIS will eventually be crushed as a militarily power (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.
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: The Trump administration is finally starting to function. Go Nikki Haley! A victory for truth!
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. “All our security services have great relationships with Arab countries. That’s an incredible asset for Israel,” 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.
5.Foreign ministers from 68 countries are convening in Washington on March 22 to discuss the fight against the Islamic State, Reuters reported. The meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the group – the first since President Donald Trump's election – 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.
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. “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 misguided intellectual arrogance in a US president can be deadly!
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 head 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: The Trump footprint is definitely having a positive effect in Israel.
8.There are more millionaires than ever in the United States. 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!
9. No Peanut Gallery would be complete without a comment on the 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 when it comes to healthcare there are no Republicans or Democrats.
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
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
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt - Abraham Lincoln
1.When James Comey stated before congress that there was a criminal investigation into co-operation between the Trump camp and the Russians, he put the cat amongst the pigeons...deliberately. 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!
2.The IDF is preparing contingency plans for a post ISIS era. ISIS will eventually be crushed as a militarily power (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.
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: The Trump administration is finally starting to function. Go Nikki Haley! A victory for truth!
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. “All our security services have great relationships with Arab countries. That’s an incredible asset for Israel,” 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.
5.Foreign ministers from 68 countries are convening in Washington on March 22 to discuss the fight against the Islamic State, Reuters reported. The meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the group – the first since President Donald Trump's election – 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.
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. “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 misguided intellectual arrogance in a US president can be deadly!
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 head 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: The Trump footprint is definitely having a positive effect in Israel.
8.There are more millionaires than ever in the United States. 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!
9. No Peanut Gallery would be complete without a comment on the 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 when it comes to healthcare there are no Republicans or Democrats.
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
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
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt - Abraham Lincoln
Thursday, March 23, 2017
The Age of Transformation
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.
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. Thus globalization was born under the heading of "our technology and know-how for your cheaper goods". On the surface this sounded pretty good. At the end of the day, though, technology is replacing jobs...and not only manufacturing jobs!
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. 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.
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. The total job loss just in the United States might approach 10 million." 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.
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 robots will carry out all but one of the tasks required to grow tens of thousands of lettuces each day in its indoor automated farm. Hopefully the talking heads and decision making bigwigs are aware of the breathtaking transformation we are facing.
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.
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination - Jimmy Dean
Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world - Malala Yousafzai
Without a struggle, there can be no progress - Frederick Douglass
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