Battle Of The Bullies

I, along with my fellow international relations scholar, Jax the Wonder Dog, recently sat down and put together our list of the three biggest bullies on the international scene today.  Here are our finalists:

North Korea's Kim Jong Un

Coming in at third place is Kim Jong Un.  He has been trying hard since his elevation to power back in 2011 to prove he is a worthy successor to his late father and grandfather, the two previous dictators of North Korea. They have all tried to elevate themselves onto the world stage by becoming a nuclear power, but it appears KJU is now on the cusp of actually succeeding.  

His spoiled-rich-kid's temperament has until now been to run his mouth, threatening to rain death and destruction down on America with his new toys.  He might, however, be thinking twice as President Donald Trump seems to be calling his bluff.  Between the economic sanctions we have against his country and what the Chinese have piled on with, too, not to mention the US 7th Fleet parked off his coast, he may soon be down to eating tree bark like the rest of his countrymen.  In his upcoming summit with Trump he might try to dance and shuffle a bit hoping to save a little face, but Jax and I think KJU will eventually have to retreat with his tail tucked.

President Donald Trump

Coming in with a solid second place showing is Donald Trump.  Donnie John has been oozin' for a brusin' since the day his former lawyer, the legendary Mafia consigliere Roy Cohen, taught him to Attack, Attack, Attack!  He, of course, didn't himself actually attack, but his lawyers and bodyguards did on his behalf.  Now he has Twitter that enables him to mouth off, and a Department of Defense to back him up as he recently showed by rearranging the debris formerly known as Syria.

That was likely enough to convince Kim Jong Un Trump could both talk and walk and scare him back into his hole.  Likewise, Trump's strutting to date will likely bring the pragmatic Chi Coms to the bargaining table to conclude some sort of new trade agreement with America.  (They have too many warehouses full of cheap junk they need to unload.)

Russian President For Life Vladimir Putin

And now, after serious deliberation, our 2018 World Champion Bully Award goes to *drum roll* Vladimir Putin!  That's right, rootin' tootin' Vladimir Putin backs down all opponents and detractors by forcing them to break eye contact, rigging elections, and as a last resort, dropping errant journalists who dare say mean things about him from their 5th floor balconies. 

If Vladimir Putin demands your lunch money, you'd better give it up!

Putin is an old school KGB street brawler, and the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg are tougher than those in New York or Washington.  He has the gumption, the muscle, hookers with hidden cameras, and the willingness to use them all, and that makes unblinkable Vladimir Putin once again the World's Biggest Bully.

S

 

Hmmm....what's this button do?

I just watched this fascinating 14 minute HBO film that explains in layman's terms how the world of cyber warfare works, what it can do, and how vulnerable we might be:

It's from the perspective of the Israeli cyber security industry, one of the most advanced in the world.  (I built a home for a family, the guy being a cyber security expert...Naval Academy graduate...super smart...who works here in the US for an Israeli company, so I already knew bits and pieces of this.)  

The video shows how a hacker can take control of your car when you're driving and cause you to crash.  It shows how, with a laptop keystroke, a hacker can shut down the pumps in our water supply system or sewage treatment plants.  Ditto for our power grid.  Not everything at once, but selected here and there, at their discretion.  Can you imagine how disruptive this would be to our economy?  OMG!  And all those infrastructure controls might already be infected, just waiting for the command to activate.  They're always attacking, we're always reacting.  Not a good position to be in!

So who are these hackers?  They most likely are Russian, or Chinese, or North Korean, or Iranian, but they could also be freelancers working for the highest bidder.  It's like we're living in the 21st Century Wild West!  What they conveniently don't discuss is what the US, or the UK, or France or Germany, etc, is capable of doing to them.  Which brings me back to Israel.  Why don't we hire them, or collaborate with them (hopefully we already are), to "take care" of the Iranian mischief makers?   And the North Korean's whose expertise is behind the Iranians?

It seems to me the days of massive standing militaries are waning, just like the days of sailing ships gave way to steam and nuclear power, horses to tanks, and catapults to cannon.  We can attack an adversary, or be attacked by an adversary, without ever firing a shot.

Are we screwed?  Is it too late already?  Probably not.  We just need to make sure that our (Western) educational systems cultivate the best and brightest minds in the world to defend "us" and stay one step ahead of "them". And be grateful Israel is our friend, and do all we can to assist them and keep them our friend.

I know reading blog or Facebook or Instagram posts about puppies or butterflies or casserole recipes is more entertaining, but this is pretty fascinating, too.  Please watch it and leave me your comments.

S

Сделаем Америку снова великой

I'll admit, I'm old school, and in most cases I don't apologize for it.  Especially when it comes to my intense wariness concerning all things Russia.  I'm not paranoid....I don't see a Rooskie behind every tree....but my memory is still vivid enough to remember stories of Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on a desk back in 1956 before a gathering of Western ambassadors and telling them "We will bury you!"

Back then Russia was the Soviet Union, and their enforcers were their KGB.  They were to the Soviet Union what the Gestapo was to Nazi Germany.  Think secret police.  Nasty, evil people they were.  When the Soviet Union disintegrated and collapsed in 1991, Vladimir Putin was a proud member of that nefarious group.  For nearly 20 years now he has been the supreme authority in Russia.  The name may have changed, the flag may have changed, but Russia is just as untrustworthy today as it was back in the old Soviet days.  There's no daylight between Putin the KGB agent and Putin, the President of Russia.

Vladimir Putin desperately wants to see his Russia back on par with the United States as a world superpower.  He knows that won't happen, though, as his Russia only has an economy roughly equal to California's.  They're living hand-to-mouth.  His only hope is to saw the legs out from under the US, and the European Union, and NATO.  If he can't stand 6'4 like us, he wants us to be 5'7 like him.

Vladimir Putin is a bully, he gets what he wants, and he will do whatever it takes, legal or not, to get it.   Many psychologists say that bad boy, gang leader image is how Donald Trump sees himself, too.  They say he feels a certain kinship with Putin.  Others say it's more complicated, and commercial, than that.  They say Trump has depended on Russian money for years to keep his Trump Organization afloat.

 Vladimir Putin has been patiently cultivating Donald Trump for years.

Regardless, I can't forgive Donald Trump for not standing up to Russian evil.  With this President, I'm a one-issue citizen.  My displeasure with him is not about his foreign policy, or his economic policy, or his cabinet choices, or even his private life.  Some I agree with, some I don't.  But overriding EVERYTHING is America's security, and on this, our Commander-In-Chief has failed us.  Unless he can somehow find the courage to step up and go toe-to-toe with Vladimir Putin, I will continue to be critical of him.  Why any red-blooded American would cover for him baffles me.

S

The no-spin, honest-to-goodness $64,000 question:

Then-businessman Donald Trump with Russian oligarch (and close Putin ally) Aras Agalarov (R) and his son, Emin (L).  Sberbank is a state-owned bank and the largest in Russia, and Crocus is Agalarov's real estate development company.

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Do the Russians have compromising information on Donald Trump, either through his past business dealings with Russian oligarchs, or through election collusion, enough to blackmail him?  Have the Russians entrapped President Donald Trump?

THAT is what the Mueller Trump/Russia investigation is about.  Period.  Hillary's emails and DNC rigging against Bernie Sanders, etc, are legitimate questions that can be addressed in some other venue.

President Trump thinks the investigation is an effort to deprive him of his legitimate election.  Republicans think it's an effort to remove him from office, which they oppose as they think he's a political novice they can manipulate.  Democrats want to discredit Trump/Republicans so they can regain power for themselves.  They all have their own near-sighted selfish agendas....and they've all missed the point.

Even White House Counsel Don McGahn missed the blackmail point at first.  He once asked the Acting Attorney General why the FBI cared if one administration official (National Security Director Mike Flynn) lied to another (VP Mike Pence)?  She had to explain to him that Flynn had publicly stated he hadn't discussed sanctions with Russians (a really big deal) when the FBI had proof he had.  And of course the Russians knew he had, too.  

At any time of the Russian's choosing they could have blackmailed Flynn, threatening to unmask him as the Benedict Arnold of the 21st Century if he didn't cooperate and give them what they wanted.  RUSSIA WOULD THEN HAVE A SPY IN THE INNER CIRCLE OF THE WHITE HOUSE!

The exact same thing could happen with President Trump.  The Russians have their eyes on all high-profile Americans who visit Russia and/or do business with Russians.  They've been watching Trump for decades.  Russian oligarchs, all friendly with Vladimir Putin, have done business with him.  Trump has been used, perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not, to launder their money.  They've financed some of his hundreds of business ventures, primarily run through suspect Cypriot and German banks.  Now all of a sudden he just might become the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!  HOLY CRAP!  The incentive was surely there for Russia to want to see him elected, hence entrapping collusion.

Everything else is just a smoke screen.  The ONLY thing that matters is to find out once and for all if President Donald Trump is subject to being blackmailed.

Our national security demands that we have a President who is beyond ever being cornered in a compromising position. Those amateurs who say Trump is or isn't susceptible are just thinking wishfully based on their own prejudices.   We need to know if President Trump passes muster.  This is why it's imperative for Robert Mueller to finish his investigation.

S

Is "covfefe" President Trump's vision for America?

Strategy is an overall, general plan to get us from where we are to where we want to be.  Tactics are the specific zigs and zags and actions needed in order to get there.

Leaders have goals that (often) come to fruition after strategies and tactics are developed and executed.  Lincoln preserved the Union, FDR (and allies) defeated Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Reagan saw the US prevail over the USSR, etc.  Can someone please tell me what President Trump's goals are?  Where does he see America's place in the world?  Does he have a strategy to get us there?

During his campaign he said he wanted to repeal/replace ObamaCare.  It appears doubtful that he can pull that off.  He promised a big tax cut.  To do that he needed to slash spending (which meant a new, cheaper healthcare plan), but his proposed budget cuts will likely hurt too many constituencies to get through Congress.  

He promised more jobs, saying those would come when his (now DOA) tax cuts spurred the economy.  All of his announced goals seem to be interdependent, and so far none of the pieces have fallen into place.  This while his party controls both houses of Congress.  That may not last much longer.

Internationally, President Trump seems to have some sort of fascination with Russia, while our closest traditional allies are circling their wagons in response to Russia's increased aggressiveness.  He seems to have something he wants to convey to the Russians, as evidenced by his Attorney General, his son-in-law, and his disgraced National Security Adviser all making clandestine contacts.  For some reason he doesn't want our own intelligence agencies to know what it is he wants to convey, yet wants to use encrypted Russian communications sources to convey it, which are completely compromised.  What gives?  What is his end game?

President Trump has publicly chastised many NATO members for not contributing more.  While that case can be made, there are discrete diplomatic channels that could have been used to make his argument.  Now, feeling humiliated, our NATO allies are taking one step back from us.  Germany's Angela Merkel has gone so far as to say Europe can't depend on us like they once could, and France's President Macron has said he won't obediently fall in line, either.  And now it looks like President Trump will pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, joining Nicaragua and Syria as the only other environmental pariah.  How can we be leaders if we're increasingly self-isolating ourselves?

It seems like President Trump has metaphorically done little more than bounce little steel balls around inside a pinball machine, hoping something good will happen.  So far all he has to show for it is a big TILT!  How long can this go on?  Show us his vision and a strategy to "Make America Great Again".  If he has one, it's incoherent.

S

The only acceptable outcome: We win, they lose

When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, it was pretty obvious who did it....the sky was full of planes emblazoned with the Rising Sun.  Japan!

The same was true in 1939 when Germany attacked Poland, in 1967 when Israel got the jump on the Arab nations surrounding them, and in 1991 when the USA went into Saddam Hussein's Iraq.  It was obvious who the combatants were because they had insignia on their tanks and planes and uniforms.  It was mano a mano, black hats vs white hats.  Old school warfare.  

But when peasant guerillas worked their Vietnamese fields by day, then went on the attack at night, it was difficult to know who we were fighting.  The rules began to change.  Today they're changing again.  Today we're being attacked, and this time we're not even sure who or where they are.

Hitler couldn't say, "Nope, those aren't our guys" after we saw them.  There was physical evidence to the contrary.  But today Russia's Vladimir Putin, after his cyber-warriors hacked into sensitive American political files and emails, can simply say "This is nonsense.  We have done nothing.  Show me your proof."  His cyber-soldiers don't leave behind flags or insignia on the side of tanks or airplanes. 

Our geeks can today finally say with great certainty it was Russia who interfered with our recent national elections (while not impossible, it's extremely difficult to backtrack a cyber attack), and I'm sure after a month or so of intensive investigation France will say it was also Russia who tried to influence their election (which BTW is tomorrow/Sunday).  German elections are later this year, and I'll bet you a steak dinner Russian political hacking will occur then, too, with the aim of helping whichever candidate Putin thinks will be more friendly to him.  All our aircraft carriers and ICBM's and special forces will be helpless to defend us.  We're not going to nuke someone we're not absolutely certain harmed us.  It's unthinkable, and Putin knows it.

National security no longer necessarily means guarding a border or builder bigger, better bombs.  It means outsmarting our adversaries while not getting caught ourselves.  We need to review where we're spending our defense dollars.  We need more for science and technology education, and less for some stupid border wall.

Ronald Reagan showed the Soviet Union they didn't have the financial resources to go toe-to-toe with us militarily, which caused them to throw in the Cold War towel.  Donald Trump needs to double down on the economic sanctions Barack Obama and our allies put in place to back down Putin today, and maybe even cyber attack them just enough to show them two can play that game.  If Mr. Trump flinches, IMO that should be grounds for impeachment followed by a treason trial.  We can't lose this one!  Cut Putin no slack Mr. President, and for Pete's sake, get yourself and/or your people out of bed with him.

S 

Oh yeah? Well...mine's bigger than yours. Take THAT!

I had to look twice to make sure this story wasn't from the The Onion:

"Russia claims its Electronic Warfare troops can detect and neutralize any target from a ship's system and radar to satellites, rendering ships, planes and missiles useless."  It went on to say, "You don't need expensive weapons to win.  Powerful radio-electronic jamming is enough."

You can read it for yourself here if you like.

While this story dovetails nicely with my previous post, it seems just a little too far fetched to be believable.  First of all, why would the Russians put this story out?  Why would they admit to us how advanced they were?  Unless....they had reason to believe that the US actually did have the technology to, for example, zap a North Korean missile at launch?  

Taking it a step further, do they actually think we really could somehow take down their satellites or aircraft or other systems, too?  Or is this story just their pathetic attempt to play "Anything you can do, we can do better"?

I'm wondering now if the hypothesis of my last post might have just received a (tiny) bit of credence?  Do the world's Superpowers really have some revolutionary new technology that will make our traditional weapons systems obsolete, or are the surviving Twilight Zone writers back at it again pulling our chain?

S  

What's this button do?

North Korea tried Saturday to launch a ballistic missile, and just like their last test attempt, it also failed.  Crashed and burned big time, it did.  The question now is WHY?  Was it simply a case of inferior engineering, or something else?  Sunday the former British Foreign Secretary suggested it was likely that a US cyber-attack was responsible for the North Korean missile's spectacular failure. 

We've heard for years now about other countries successful hacks / cyber attacks on American commercial and public interests.  Through all this I've been wondering, "What are we capable of doing to them?"  Of course, barring a security leak, we'll never know for sure.  But if science is truly on the cusp of being able to disable enormously expensive weapons systems with cyber commands from a dark, secure room somewhere, this could be a world "balance-of-power" game changer.

This potential new form of dominant warfare has far-ranging implications.  For many decades there have been only two true superpowers, the USSR / Russia and the US, with the US generally believed to have a considerable edge.  "Superpower" being defined as quantities and qualities of missiles, warheads, aircraft, submarines, tanks, etc.  Only a select few advanced countries could get into our very exclusive club.  

Now, with a relatively small financial investment, many smaller countries could soon find themselves in the Cyber Big Leagues.  Surely tiny Israel is there right now, joining the US, Russia, and China in the top tier.  Other potential members might include N Korea, S Korea, Japan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and a few others you wouldn't think of as likely superstars.  

Can you imagine the challenges to traditional spheres of influence where former minor league players can demand and win concessions from today's superpowers?  Where most of today's massive aircraft carrier battle groups and nuclear-tipped missiles are made redundant?  Where warfare will be (even) more about electronic / digital measures and countermeasures than about the actual hardware?  Will today's heavyweights be able to gracefully and willingly share power?

For those who are today willing to appease the Tea Party's thirst for tax cuts at all costs, please think twice.  Cutting funding in the wrong places, such as in education, especially in the nerdy fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, would likely come back to haunt us in the not-too-distant future.  It's time to double-down on funding our future.  Cyber-nerds sitting at computer keyboards may not be as sexy as a fleet of stealth bombers, but they will likely someday be far more important to our national security.

Chew on that thought for a while.

S

Dirty Harry lives!

How Donald Trump would like for us to see him

So far in his Presidency Donald Trump is batting 0.000.  By historical standards his first 70-something days have been a bust.  That might all change soon.  Donnie John lambasted Barack Obama for NOT doing anything to punish Syrian strongman Bashar al Assad after he said using chemical weapons would cross his "red line".  Assad did, and O'bama did nothing.

Until recently the US stated position on Syria was that Assad must leave office.  Last week, however, Sec State Tillerson said, no doubt with Prez Trump's approval, that the people of Syria would decide Assad's fate.  Read:  we're staying out of it.  And as no one should be surprised to learn, Assad heard this and felt emboldened to do whatever he wanted.  He chose to hammer some of his people with Sarin gas as a lesson to all those who opposed him....and the world, including Donald Trump, was repulsed.

Today Prez Trump said Assad crossed a red line when he killed innocents yesterday.  What?  Did...did Donnie John just say "red line"?  Whoa!  Let's review:  He's under assault at home.  The legislative agenda he ran and won on has so far struck out.  The wolves are nipping at his heels.  This crisis in Syria is a chance for him to break out and actually do something, and IMO he's just the Gambler to roll the dice.  I think he'll do something militarily.  I think he'll gas up the jets and send them on their way.  

Will it work?  

My extensive military background (zero) says on a micro level, yes.  Yes, we can spank Assad any time we want.  It will risk killing some Russians who are in Syria to prop up Assad, but Russia simply doesn't have the capability, short of all-out nuclear war, to do anything, and they aren't crazy enough to start WWIII over the little Turd al Assad.  Russia's power is greatly overblown at this time....they can talk the talk, but they aren't yet ready to walk the walk.  With the first Tomahawk impact, Assad will likely experience his first of many changes of underwear.  But on a macro level....

HOLD THE PRESSES:  The news just reported (8:20 PM) that the US has launched 50 cruise missiles at Syria.  I guess my point/post is now moot.

Over the next few days and weeks President Trump will be proven either a hero or a goat.  Interesting times.  Stay tuned.

S

Son of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Master spy novelist John le Carre in Hamburg, 1964

You might be good, Mr. le Carre, but I think this one is even beyond YOUR imagination.  The embryonic plot:  A neophyte politician shocks the world and is actually elected President of the United States.  He's strong in economic theory and practice, but has to depend on others to give him advice on foreign matters.  But who?

Enter a former Navy SEAL, let's call him "Eric", working on behalf of the President-Elect, who travels quietly to The Seychelles, a small island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to meet with a representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Oooo....let's have the meeting be set up by a Middle Eastern Prince!  The purpose of the meeting is to establish a "back channel for high level communications" between the two powerful leaders.  Or is it?  

Eric is adept at working in the shadows, having founded a "dark" para-military / security firm (something sinister sounding....Blackwater!) that makes him a fortune thanks to years of lucrative US government contracts.  Some of it, say a quarter million dollars, is later donated to the campaign of the President-Elect.  Oh, and to pique your interest even further, let's have Eric's multi-billionaire sister be the new President's Education Secretary, and a major campaign donor herself.

At about the same time, the President-Elect's National Security Adviser-designate, "Mike", a former 2 3-star Army General (Ret), makes some "innocent" phone calls to the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Igor...no...SERGEY Kislyak to wish him a nice Christmas holiday.  Later they talk again, this time their conversation centers around "logistics", nothing more.  Or does it?  Mike tells the new VEEP and others that it is an innocent enough visit, just part of his job to meet & greet.

But Mike, after spending a career in national security and counterintelligence, somehow forgets (?) that the Russian Ambassador's phone is always tapped, and on one of his innocent calls he is recorded discussing with Sergey the possible removal of the crippling economic sanctions the US imposed on Russia after they invaded a neighbor.  When his lie becomes known, Mike is dismissed by the new President after only 3 weeks on the job. 

Still, the press, smelling there is more to Mike's past, keeps digging.  They soon learn that while he is advising his neophyte American candidate (who was elected by promoting "America First"), Mike is accepting a half million dollars in remuneration for advising someone "close" to the autocratic leadership of Turkey, too.  In fact, after an attempted coup in Turkey, Mike meets with senior Turkish representatives to suggest how the suspected coup leader, now residing in Pennsylvania, USA, could be quietly "removed" from the US without going through the proper American extradition process.

Mike is a surprisingly sloppy intelligence operative, failing to file the proper paperwork with the country whose uniform he wore for 33 years, as representing a foreign government.  Mike also attends several events in Russia, having dinner seated right next to none other than the Russian President himself, while actually receiving $33,000 from the Russian government-controlled TV news outlet RT for his attendance.  

Claiming innocence, Mike files his paperwork late, but fearing he (and his 6-figure military pension) might be in serious trouble, offers to tell all he knows about....he won't say exactly what....in exchange for legal immunity.  (Should Mike now have a surrogate start his car for him?  *boom!*  Interesting subplot?)

Still another Presidential adviser, "Rock",  no, even better, Roger "Stone" admits he met up numerous times with a known Russian spy years ago, but shared nothing of value, claiming he just thought his "friend" was part of the Russian UN delegation.  Even though the Russian spy was recorded as saying he thought Mr. Stone was an "idiot", Roger is later brought on board to advise the new American President "how the world works."

Not enough....I need more intrigue?  OK, so how about if the President's own son-in-law, "Jared" (no, not the Subway perv), a young real estate mogul of note, quietly meets with a Mr. Sergey Gorkov, Russian President Putin's hand-picked man to be the CEO of state-owned Vnesheconombank.  Jared says it is to discuss personal banking matters, never mind that Vnesheconombank is itself on our officially sanctioned "do not touch" list.  Sergey, however, apparently doesn't get the memo, and tells us all it was to discuss those same sanctions that General Mike somehow forgot to mention.

Shortly after, our lame duck President, in his last days in office, expels 30+ Russian diplomats as punishment for Russia's meddling in the recent American election.  Vladimir Putin just smiles, looks the other way, and doesn't retaliate, greatly pleasing the new President-Elect. 

Whew!  Enough?  OK, so how did the neophyte politician ever manage to get elected in the first place?  By a stroke of supreme luck he manages to hire Paul, an accomplished political handler, away from ousted Ukrainian President (and confidant of Russia's Putin), Viktor Yanukovych.  And just like that....Wah La....Hail To The Chief!

Now my mind is truly mush.  I'm exhausted.  I'll have to finish my work-in-progess after I get some much needed sleep.  Maybe I can watch the news tomorrow and get some more inspiration.  *wink*

Nite all.  :)

S

Our unraveling world

Let me just throw out some random observations regarding what's going on in the world today and then let you connect the dots:

Donald Trump campaigned on "America First", and for better or worse, he's delivering on it.  Among his demands is that NATO members should start pulling their weight financially.  They had previously agreed to each spend 2% of their GDP on defense, collectively strengthening NATO, but so far all but the US, Greece, the UK, Poland, and Estonia have reneged.  The German Foreign Minister recently said it was "quite unreasonable to believe Germany would spend 2% of its economic output on the military."

Last year the United Kingdom voted to separate themselves from the European Union, aka Brexit.  And now Scotland is again making noises about separating itself from the UK.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front Party, who vows to follow the UK's Brexit lead and get France out of the EU (Frexit?), is on the short list to become the next President of France.  She also says she will strengthen French relations with Russia.   

Speaking of:  The Russia of Vladimir Putin is punching above its weight class.  It's expanding militarily, although still for now exhibiting more bluster than true power.  At home it's an economic basket case, but Putin still has visions of Russia regaining the glory and prestige it had back in the days of the old Soviet Union.  They meddled in the recent US election (fact), and right now are meddling in the upcoming elections of France and Germany.  Their cyber-warfare capabilities are immense and expanding, and we don't seem (?) to have a way to counter them.

Russia is leaning heavily on some of their former Soviet Republic neighbors, occupying Crimea, and now actively stirring things up in the Balkans (south-eastern Europe).  Meanwhile, back at home, the Putin regime is under pressure to reform, which he isn't about to let happen.  Although it's seldom reported in the press, there is considerable public discontent with Putin.  And what often happens when a leader wants to deflect attention away from discontent at home?

The leader of Turkey, Recip Erdogan, an avowed Islamist, is consolidating power, slowly but surely dismantling the secular state established there after WWI.  He is rapidly filling the power vacuum left by crumbling neighbors Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and others.   Turkey is a long-time member of NATO (another eventual nail in NATO's coffin?) , but not a member of the European Union. (They applied, but so far have been rebuffed).

North Korea is perfecting their nuclear arms at a steady pace.  So far no one has been able to convince them to cease and desist, not even their benefactor communist neighbor, China.  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has shown nothing but contempt for the rest of the world and seems hellbent on seating himself at the Big Table with the major powers.  He doesn't seem frightened by the concept of "Mutually Assured Destruction", which for 40 years kept the US and the USSR from attacking each other.  We don't seem to have any feasible way to dissuade North Korea.

The United States, traditionally the most stable country in the world, is still stable, but feeling some tremors.  We need some truly dependable allies, but they seem to be few and far between (see above).

Our climate is changing.  It's getting warmer almost everywhere.  Whether this is due to natural cycles or man-made factors, who knows?  But instead of playing it safe and being pro-active, we're looking the other way and just chasing the Almighty $$$.

Folks, we need to get our shit together.  Look back through history and you'll see we've been in hellacious messes before and gotten ourselves out, and we can now, too, assuming it's part of God's Grand Plan.  But just like in those past situations there will be a serious price to pay.  

The soft life we've been living for many generations may be coming to an end, which actually isn't a bad thing.  To eventually prevail we'll need to stop thinking in terms of "me, me, me" and start thinking of the common good for a change.

And as a personal request, can we please get all this worked out before next football season?  *wink*  

S
aka Chuckles :)

Let's put some lipstick on this pig....

For years now we've heard about how our enemies were eating the USA alive via cyber-warfare.  They (N Korea, China, Iran, Russia, Russia, Russia) have been relentless in getting into every nook and cranny where we might hide our intellectual jewels.  They long ago mastered corporate espionage, stealing plans for everything we design and make.  And now they've hacked into our CIA, revealing our most sensitive national security secrets.  They say the most recent WikiLeaks information dump dwarfs anything Edward Snowden ever thought about handing over to the bad guys.

Throughout all this I've wondered, "So what are WE doing to THEM?  Surely we're not gonna just sit still while they bend us over?  Please tell me our nerds are better than their nerds."

Our nerds are better than their nerds.  

Our nerds long ago figured out how to hack into every TV, tablet, cell phone, hearing aid, picture frame, Viagra bottle, and toaster in the world.  Our spooks can listen in on every two-bit terrorist in the sandbox as he whispers sweet nothings into his camel's ear.  The night shift at CIA HQ probably makes prank phone calls to the Kremlin and makes it look like it's coming from Kim Jong Fatty Fat Fat's little pink princess phone on his nightstand.  Yes, we're THAT good!

Now the bad guys have figured out how to get into our secret stuff.  Scary, but at least I now know we have nerds that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, anywhere, anytime.   Game on!  More lipstick?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Republican's new health care plan, whatever they care to call it, has already crashed and burned.  They're just putting on a show to make it look like they're at least trying.  Besides Speaker Ryan and Donnie John Trump, virtually no one else wants to be seen anywhere near it.

The Tea Party says it doesn't cut deep enough, that there are still too many poor swine getting gubment freebees.  The Liberals say they aren't about to turn poor people away from getting life-saving healthcare they otherwise can't afford.  Libertarians say "no" to any further "entitlements".  The American  Medical Association and various hospital groups are against it because they say poor people will lose their insurance and will all show up in emergency rooms again demanding to be seen for free.  The Old Folks...er...AARP says its members can't afford premiums 5-times as expensive as the younguns, on and on.

The only ones who like it are the US Chamber of Commerce, because their members will save a buttload, and those making over $200,000 a year who will save an even bigger buttload.

Even lipstick isn't going to sell this wagon load of shit manure.

D....O....A

S

America's Chief Incoherence Officer

"So today I'll be up here, but then tomorrow I'll be over there.  Everybody got that?"....said President Donald Trump at his first Cabinet meeting. 

You know how most organizations have a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, a Chief Technical Officer, etc?  Our government apparently doesn't work like that.  Instead we have a Chief Incoherence Officer, and then a bunch of confused underlings running around the world wondering what the boss is going to say next. 

This week was a good example of that with VP Pence, Sec Defense Mattis, and Sec State Tillerson all in Europe to reassure our allies there, and NATO, that we are solidly with them, just like we have been since we all kicked Hitler to the curb back in '45.   But....DOH!....then our Chief Incoherence Officer (CIO), aka President Donald Trump, piped in by saying they'd better pay up or we're outta there.

And just yesterday our CIO told a room full of influential conservatives that he was going to whip up on those %^&^* errant Muslims, and hours later his National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. McMaster, came along behind him and said the boss was....ummm.... just having a bad day.  *ahem*

Our CIO also told the crowd our program to expel Mexican illegals was a "military operation", but then his Sec of Homeland Security, a 4-Star Marine General (Ret), had to step up and say no, it was NOT a military operation.  Wha....what?

The only person who seems to be operating on the same wave length as the President is his Senior White House Adviser, Steve Bannon.  Not long ago I wondered aloud if Bannon was Trump's Rasputin?  (Grigori Rasputin was the glassy-eyed mystic/healer who became a favored adviser of the last Russian Czar after convincing him he could heal his seriously hemophiliac son.  He didn't, and his political advice reeked, too.)

Wanna hear an eerie coincidence?  I heard someone on TV recently say Steve Bannon's style was straight out of the playbook of Aleksandr Dugin, so I looked Dugin up and this is what I found:

Aleksandr Dugin

Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin is a Russian political scientist known for his fascist views who calls to hasten the "end of times" with all out war.  Wikipedia

Essentially Dugin says push, coerce, intimidate, and if it takes a war in order to prevail, so be it.  A nuclear war isn't unthinkable.

And speaking of Russia, what's the deal with Trump's bro-mance with Russia / Putin?  When all our intel guys say they caught the Rooskies red handed meddling in our election, why does Trump just shuffle his feet and yell SQUIRREL?   

Why did Trump's man Flynn tell the Russian Ambassador to not worry about the sanctions we've placed on them?  First Flynn said he didn't say it, then admitted he did and was fired for it.  Now that's a scandal all by itself.  Why have Republicans so far tip-toed around investigating any of this?  (One Congressman lamely said an investigation would take up too much congressional "band width".  HUH?)  Why did Reince Priebus (Trump's Chief of Staff) ask the FBI to say it was no big deal?  Maybe it wasn't, we don't know, but there sure is a lot of smoke.  Something smells!

And just coincidentally, still speaking of Mother Russia, here are a few interesting facts:  Russians are seriously underperforming thinkers.  Russian's share of international patent applications is just two-tenth's of 1%, despite having 2% of the world's population and 5% of the world's college graduates.

Also, due to widespread excessive smoking and drinking, the life expectancy of the average Russian today is just 64, with a 15-year-old Russian boy having a life expectancy 3 years less than his counterpart in Haiti.   Haiti!  (Source: Forbes)

Yeah boy....we really should pal around more with those cool Russians.  Good guys to suck up to, Mr. Bannon.  *NOT*

S