Dear USA,
Contemplate for a moment, USA, your current set of circumstances against the global backdrop:
The USA has 17 trillion debt.
The Chinese own 1.5 trillion of that. They are the largest "shareholder" of our debt. Moreover, they have the planet's lion share of lathanides- metals your cell phone, car, and computer need. Supplies of lathanides, or rare earth metals, are decreasing. China does not export them, which requires that many computers and electronics - including department of defense systems-- be manufactured in China.
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/rare-earth-metals-upgrade-recycle-ethical-china
Trump says he is not worried about any diplomatic disadvantages or trade embargoes with China. And he proved that with his Tawain chat.
Whether Trump is too ignorant of diplomatic and economic agreements between the US and China, or he is actually willfully trying to destroy these agreements for his own benefit, it doesn't matter. It will be We The People that pay the price. (And I cannot help but mention as a sidenote, that a man who takes offense at SNL lampoons, or what photograph the news media uses, should be able to understand that unnecessarily and capriciously provoking foreign countries that we are indebted to, is bound to slight egos and create conflicts.)
Yes, the Obama administration did approve an arms sale to Tawian about a year ago. Obama had been President for 7 years when he did this, and he followed protocol. And China did register a complaint.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-taiwan-arms-idUSKBN0TZ2C520151217
The White House said there was no change in the longstanding U.S. "one China" policy. Past U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan have attracted strong condemnation in China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province.
The White House said the authorization followed previous sales notifications by the administration totaling more than $12 billion under the Taiwan Relations Act.
"Our longstanding policy on arms sales to Taiwan has been consistent across six different U.S. administrations," a National Security Council spokesman, Myles Caggins, said. "We remain committed to our one-China policy," he added.
Although Washington does not recognize Taiwan as a separate state from China, it is committed under the Taiwan Relations Act to ensuring Taipei can maintain a credible defense.
Trump is probably just looking to line his pockets. The only motivation that both his supporters and detractors agree on. Trump is a "successful" businessman, meaning whoever he has to screw over, including the country that elected him President, he only cares about more money and more fame.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/politics/bob-dole-donald-trump-taiwan-lobbying/
The Saudi's own about 116 billion of our debt, but the US is tied to them in another was. We pay for OPEC oil with petrodollars. Petrodollars are like a department store credit card- they can only spend them with us, moreover, they can only spend them on OUR SPENDING.
Will it effect our economy if the Arab oil cartels stop shopping at our company store? YES.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untold-story-behind-saudi-arabia-s-41-year-u-s-debt-secret
The basic framework was strikingly simple. The U.S. would buy oil from Saudi Arabia and provide the kingdom military aid and equipment. In return, the Saudis would plow billions of their petrodollar revenue back into Treasuries and finance America’s spending.
http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2016/05/30/u-s-saudi-arabia-petrodollar/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2016/04/22/u-s-hostage-to-china-and-saudi-arabia-but-only-one-seems-to-matter/
OPEC is talking about lowering production to increase prices.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/30/why-saudi-arabia-surprised-the-skeptics-with-an-opec-deal.html
Russia has agreed to halt production, too... Maybe. (They have made soft agreements.)
http://in.rbth.com/economics/business/2016/12/05/evidence-of-growing-russian-influence-on-opec-deal_653717
Russia is the second largest oil producer in the world. The Saudi's and Russia have been courting an alliance. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/06/russias-putin-and-saudi-prince-talks-could-be-big-deal-for-oil-market.html
Russia and Iran have done a lot to avoid economic sanctions from the West by non-dollar trading. This has weakened the petrodollar. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/petrodollar-us-saudi-policy_b_6245914.html
Trump claims that his Energy strategy relies on the Saudis and Russia, but I can definitely see where factions in Russia might be interested in getting the Saudi's out of the USA oil picture.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2016/11/22/trump-energy-strategy-hinges-on-opec-and-russia/#177921f35569
From the end of World War 2 until the present, the Saudi's (the only country in the world with the name of the royal family in the name of the country- remember it used to be simply "Arabia"?) have been untouchable by the USA. With the decline in power of the Saudi-loyal Bush family, we can now sue them for September 11, 2001. I doubt any Saudi takes that lightly.
And no Islamic country is going to take Trump's Muslim registry without umbrage, no matter how many hotels he builds in Arab countries.
Any USA-Russian alliance is going to affect Syria. Any change in USA- Saudi relations will affect Syria. I am more worried about the people of Syria than any government's interests. If I thought that any changes Trump's presidency would be good for the Syrian people, I might not be so worried. But I guarantee no one is looking out for the Syrian people.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23849587
Yes, Putin is still paying lip service to "the USA, the only superpower in the world."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-forum-putin-usa-idUSKCN0Z31G4
But if Trump is using the Russians as much as they appear to be using him? Or if Trump really is just a clown, being used like a tool for Putin's agenda? Obama's administration has been very careful not to let the face off between the USA and Russia in Syria get too out of hand. It wouldn't take much for full on confrontation, again, at the expense of the Syrian people.
If it is true that Russia was involved in any way with our election, we as a country need to ask why? There may not be one answer. Governments, like companies, and schools, or any organization or agency, are really just a group of people that work for that government or company. From the bottom to the top. And within any group of people there are always factions.
Please read this opinion piece which really connects the dots:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/opinions/troubling-relationship-russia-america-treisman/index.html
And please call the White House and demand a full investigation, including a judicial order for Trump's tax returns to be examined for evidence of financial collusion with the Russian government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/us/obama-russia-election-hack.html?_r=0
And Homeland Security needs to be investigated, whether they are working in concert with the Russians or not:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/homeland-security-tied-attempted-hack-214720934.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb
If Trump breaks a NATO alliance, or compromises a long standing trade agreement, or simply uses his election to further his own career, it is WE THE PEOPLE that will face the consequences- Republican and Democrat, Left and Right, Fascist and Anarchist alike.
And thanks to Obama (who other than being a black man married to a black woman is really another neoliberal "wolf in sheep's clothing" like Bill Clinton) Trump is going to inherit some stunning powers:
https://theintercept.com/2016/11/11/commander-in-chief-donald-trump-will-have-terrifying-powers-thanks-obama/
When it comes to sustained bombing campaigns, Trump may not have to justify his actions much at all. Obama dramatically reduced the number of ground soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he has continued to bomb seven countries, with virtually no Congressional acknowledgement or debate.
Obama has continued the Presidential tradition of going to war without Congress, sometimes in almost absurd ways. In 2011, for example, the White House needed to argue that it could continue bombing Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya without Congressional authorization. So the top lawyer in the State Department sent a memo to Congress arguing that a bombing campaign did not amount to wartime “hostilities,” mainly because the enemy could not fire back.
...
And perhaps most alarming is that Trump will inherit a Justice Department that has waged an unprecedented war on press freedom. Rather than shut down the Bush-era office that prosecuted leaks to the press, Obama made it his own, and has prosecuted more than twice as many people under the Espionage Act for leaking information to the press than all of his predecessors combined. His actions met with no resistance from Democrats.
In 2013, Obama’s Justice Department seized the phone records from three Associated Press bureaus to uncover the source for a story. Obama also waged a seven-year legal campaign against New York Times Reporter James Risen, threatening him with prison if he did not reveal his source for a story about a botched CIA operation. The prosecutors dropped the request at the last minute.
Please read the whole article. The rest of it is just as terrifying as these two snippets.
I think Wikileaks was played by the Russians, and I think the DDoS attack just prior to the election was the Russians, not Wikileaks supporters. Testing our easy to invade system. (This was done through your "smart toaster." Through the "internet of things.")
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/22/business/internet-problems-attack.html
A
distributed denial-of-service attack, or DDoS, occurs when hackers
flood the servers that run a target’s site with internet traffic until
it stumbles or collapses under the load. Such attacks are common, but
there is evidence that they are becoming more powerful, more
sophisticated and increasingly aimed at core internet infrastructure
providers.
Going after companies like Dyn can cause far more damage than aiming at a single website.
Dyn
is one of many outfits that host the Domain Name System, or DNS, which
functions as a switchboard for the internet. The DNS translates
user-friendly web addresses like fbi.gov
into numerical addresses that allow computers to speak to one another.
Without the DNS servers operated by internet service providers, the
internet could not operate.
In
this case, the attack was aimed at the Dyn infrastructure that supports
internet connections. While the attack did not affect the websites
themselves, it blocked or slowed users trying to gain access to those
sites.
It doesn't matter if my theory is right or not. The whole world got a good look at how vulnerable we are cyber-wise. Our country has mistaken technology for strength. I invite you to consider what life would be like here if there were widespread internet outages and/or utility disruptions. We are dependent on the internet and computer technology and electricity. We are dependent on trucked in food (the 1,000 mile salad). Most of our wealth exists in the form of electronic payments and computerized banking systems. We would suffer if DDoS attacks were widespread and continuous.
Whether The Orange One With Tiny Hands is in on it or not, his election could be the key to the collapse of our country. Even if the Electoral College does the right thing and votes for Clinton, it may be too late. The world is filled with wobbly dominoes. Enough hot air and the collapse will begin.
Trump is a coup d'etat waiting to happen.
It is surreal to me that GW Bush's Ethics Lawyer and I agree that Trump is a disaster (the least ethical administration prior to the monstrosity Trump is breeding). The unity against Trump is astonishing:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-noam-chomsky-junot-diaz-and-more-than-1480457912-htmlstory.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/08/us/politics/national-security-letter-trump.html?_r=1
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Donald-Trump-Makes-History-With-Zero-Major-9887263.php
In fact, the one bright spot is that all these corrupt factions are now facing their own "Karmageddon." Just like the powers that Obama has left for his successor to inherit, all of these corrupt alliances were the architects for an outside coup d'etat. I am certain that they are all aware of this, and that is why there is so much protest about Trump coming from these factions. The Republican party and the conservatives created this monster, and he is going to destroy them first.
We The People can use that in our favour to dump Trump. (And later we can dismantle their corrupt systems too. But for now "the enemy of my enemy is my ally.")
I am not leading up to a Hollywood Movie, conspiracy theory, "denouement." Real life is messy. Sometimes contradictory. I am trying to point out how precarious the world situation is right now, and how globally connected we are. If the Russians are trying to destabilize the USA, and shift the global financial power base, all they need to do is sit back and wait for Trump to enter office.
Domestically, the white supremacists will create such chaos with their "Racial Holy War" (slated to begin on Inauguration Day) we will be so busy we won't notice until it is too late. With leftists dissidents under lock and key, the general populace will be easy pickings for civil war and/or invasion, and/or financial hi-jacking.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/donald-trumps-white-nationalist-bannon-sessions-alt-right
Someone like me (a political activist for 35 years) expects to be on watch lists. But between the NSA and Homeland Security and Five Eyes**, we could be a nation with a unclothed emperor and naked populace. Easy prey for a rising superpower like Russia.
Oh but our big huge military right? 57 cents of every dollar income tax goes to military spending- although that doesn't include Veteran's Benefits. No, that pays for things like the development of the Epi-Pen and those billion dollar prototype fighter jets.
It also pays for the services of companies like Blackwater and Serco, and Booz Allen Hamilton (Snowdon's employer). Blackwater and Booz Allen Hamilton are, I think, technically American companies. (Serco is UK based. It began as part of RCA Victor.) But Five Eyes (USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) shares intelligence. There is no reason for these contractors to remain loyal to our country if we collapse. They would not lose their ability to monitor our citizens, or interfere- in our defense or to our detriment.
(And I advise you, reader, if you haven't already- to look into Serco beyond the sabotaging of the Affordable Care Act here in St. Louis. Not only did the sabotage ACA enrollment, and get caught red-handed, they also profited from it. Even after the sabotage was discovered they were awarded a second fee to continue sabotaging enrollment. Yes, taxpayer, you paid for that. If Serco decided to strong arm the world, they could. They have their fingers in every pie, in every part of the world. Not just espionage- but education, transportation of all kinds- they control a lot airports and air traffic, and school buses, medical, commodities, etc.)
Oh, but our stock market? Our big wealthy Wall Street? Stocks soared after the Orange Oompa Loompa was elected, right? The stock market doesn't have jackshit to do with the economy. That's rich people betting on future corporate profits. It doesn't matter what language the corporations speak, or what country they call home. The stock market is like the lottery- a really expensive and exclusive lottery. If everyone that played it won there would be no jackpot.
(And there are plenty that see the Orange One as the "final straw" that will cause the collapse of the global market:
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/22/david-stockman-doubles-down-on-his-sell-everything-call.html)
One should never doubt a powerful, rich person when they say things like "I'm going to deport all the immigrants." Or "I"m going to institute a registry based on religion." History has proven that given the chance they will. That is why Trump must be stopped. We need to take that seriously.
In fact, Trump is already abusing his new power and fame to threaten people's lives and whip up the brownshirts. And eventually no one, including his supporters, will be safe from this.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/12/08/who-will-stand-donald-trump/s0xv1MGzIyLcXBA6AYi3GK/story.html
Consider the experience of Chuck Jones, the head of the local union responsible for the workers at the Carrier plant in Indiana, who accurately went on TV and said Trump was misleading Americans about the number of jobs he saved. Trump savaged him on Twitter. He accused Jones of doing a “terrible job” representing workers and said that if his local union was “any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana.” Once you get past the surreal nature of an alleged billionaire who lives in an apartment that looks like it was designed by Saddam Hussein’s interior decorator bashing working-class Americans who work in a factory in Indiana, this is pretty scary stuff. Here’s the president-elect of the United States attacking a private citizen who criticized him. Jones is now getting death threats from outraged Trump supporters.
We need to resist him NOW. Much, much more than we are already doing. I am less inclined towards demonstrations in the streets and civil disobedience than I am towards widespread demands via phone calls, letters and emails, and visits to congressional leaders. Economic boycotts and "no business as usual" days (weekdays that everyone stays home and makes calls and holds meetings, etc.) are more effective than the opportunity for Trump supporters to attack us and the police to arrest us.
It is vital that we learn to protect our own private lives while risking them for our children's and country's future. We can do this by making the wheels of government come to a halt until we get answers and investigations. We need to voluntarily disrupt our mundane lives in order to prevent the more serious disruptions lurking in the future.
We need to take over this government and run our officials. That we cannot get election recounts without a candidate paying millions of dollars is ridiculous! We need to defend our election system and our voting rights! (And shame on you, Democrats, for not taking the lead).
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-recount-idUSKBN13Y22B
Faithless Electors are the strongest possibility to keeping Trump out of office, until they vote on December 19th.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/30/faithless-electors-electoral-college-donald-trump
A Republican Electoral Collegian in Texas is calling for a revolt. It may not be Clinton, but Kasich, that they vote for. At this point, Kasich would be a hundred times better than Trump.
https://www.democracynow.org/2016/12/8/meet_the_republican_elector_who_is
We need to demolish the electoral college altogether, regardless of what happens.
We need to demand the Department of Justice investigate Donald Trump's business dealings, and the election fraud that happened in swing states.
And we need to re-instate Glass Steagall, get a nationwide $15 an hour minimum wage, Universal Health care, and more jobs. We need the rich to start paying their share of taxes, and for corporations to pay their taxes, and to limit CEO salaries and bonuses. We need sales tax charged for stock exchange transactions and to close the carried interest loophole. If we have those things A LOT of problems in this country will disappear.
We also need to defend Standing Rock and to develop public transportation and become less oil dependent. Our planet is in very fragile shape. We are just a few years away from drinkable water running out, and we have fewer than 60 harvests left before arable land is gone.
All of the things I say about life in developed countries getting disrupted by revolutions and war and nuclear bombs is also true for natural disaster. "Poor" countries like Mexico and Pakistan will survive, we will not.
(If you are one of those misguided souls that thinks the answer is some sort of violent "people's revolution"- whether white supremacist or Leninist or whatever- seriously, wake the fuck up. I don't care how many weapons the 2nd Amendment people and doomsday-preppers have, you can't win against the mercenary Department of Defense corporate contractors. This isn't Mao-ist China or Castro's Cuba. Read again that stuff I pointed out about utilities and water and trucked in food. Consider Satellite Defense Imaging and drones.)
Donald Trump is not Hitler. He's more a George W. Bush without any political grooming. Donald Trump is a spoiled, hedonistic, little rich boy, playing a game with our government and the world. The consequences of his actions mean nothing to him, whether he's a patsy, in bed with Putin, or just a lazy rich psychopath on a global ego trip. But Donald Trump is a perfect mask for a lot of little Hitlers. And even if we prevent him from entering office it might be too late.
I sincerely hope that whatever political persuasion you are, that you will consider what I am saying seriously and act. If we do not start running our government and demanding accountability and responsible actions now, we are facing a very real possibility of national and even global disaster.
Other suggested actions:
Wear a safety pin, to denote that you do not support a registry based on religion, or the attack of people that are not white or Christian or American or straight.
Stop paying income taxes or increase your deductions to 9. If enough of us do this it will impact the government coffers.
Register as a Republican and take over the party with your decidely un-Republican demands.
Get a "doomsday" network in place: where to meet if phones and servers crash, people to check on and people that check on you; stock up on food, water, batteries, and other supplies. Buy a generator and a HAM radio.
Keep a full tank of gas and supplies in your car, if you have one.
If you have the money to buy property in Bismark, North Dakota, do so. Move there if you can. In my opinion this is a likely site for an attack by Russian sponsored white supremacists. Being an outsider in an RV at Standing Rock reservation will not be helpful to the water protectors or stopping the DAPL.
Work on making your own community a safe haven for all people. Make sure your community has the resources and a back up plan in case of uprisings, attacks or natural disasters.
If you are a white American, you can also join a mosque or reach out to other communities, and get to know people that might be vulnerable or at risk.
Talk to people about what is going on and encourage them to take action and make preparations. However, I would avoid confrontations with the Trump supporters. Even those that are either willfully ignorant or star-struck (in other words, the supporters that really aren't a danger). Many Trump supporters are already regretting their support, and most of the rest will soon follow suit. Trying to argue or persuade them might just make them more rigid.
Focus on people that are uncertain about him, but not aware enough to take action, or don't think it is going to effect them.
If all of us do more, none of us will have to sacrifice too much. By acting now we can change direction and create a better future. But the time is NOW.
PAG2STL
**About Five Eyes: If Trump and Russia are teamed up, the access they have to English speaking countries. Many right wing people are okay with this as long as we are the top dog. As long as all those Blackwater and Booz Hamilton contractors are answering to us... but what happens when they answer to a new master?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/an-exclusive-club-the-five-countries-that-dont-spy-on-each-other/
https://www.justsecurity.org/13158/major-united-nations-report-rebukes-eyes-attempts-weaken-digital-privacy-rights/
And just a reminder, Blackwater's founder Erik Prince is Betsy DeVos' brother. Betsey DeVos is Trump's pick for Education Secretary.
