Wow. Just Wow.

So - It's been almost four years since I (apparently) had anything to say here. But the events of the last 24 hours have been historic, and warrant critical observation.

For background, I am a white male, formerly from Kentucky (now living in Virginia), 55 years old. I am a veteran, married to a a disabled spouse, renting rather than owning at the moment, with extensive student loan debt, and not a lot of disposable assets, trying to purchase a home, and by all indications, will have to work until I am 72 in order to afford to retire (especially sitting on a 30-year mortgage). Based upon the turnout for the victor of the electoral college vote, you'd think I'd be a happy camper. 

However, the other side of the coin presents that I am also a defense contractor with a Master's degree in Cyber-related disciplines, two cars and a motorcycle, a truck and another motorcycle (I inherited on the passing of my last sibling), and a trailer for my sometime hobby. From this perspective, life doesn't appear to suck too much. But last night's election results will likely change that last bit for me, considerably. Both personally, and professionally.

President-Elect Trump, soon to be the Entertainer-in-Chief, has sold the White American Underclass a bill of goods. And they swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Make America Great Again. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. And be afraid of those who are different (immigrants, especially Muslims). All illegal aliens are criminals (while an accurate statement from an immigration point-of-view, Trump's POV is that they're all drug-addled or drug-dealing felons who will steal your jobs, rape your sons and seduce your daughters). This all made for a very acrimonious campaign cycle.

The fact is, industrial jobs that went overseas aren't coming back. He/We can't change the tax laws enough to offset the value of cheap labor in foreign markets. Even if we could cajole American firms to bring back their offshore capital, it will just be to marginally support the consumer economy we have become. He/We can't reinvent the American manufacturing sector because manufacturing requires raw materials that we've pretty much spent. If you look at a map of the world of raw materials, the majority of cheap Iron is coming from Chinese-run, coal-fired forges (the U.S. is 8th in production of Iron/Steel). China produces 32 times the Iron we produce in the U.S. And 91% of the rare earth minerals used to enable the technological wonders of Silicon Valley are mined in China. Importing those materials to the U.S. to reinvigorate a 2nd generation industrial complex and the manufacturing sectors would require end product pricing that simply will not enable us to be competitive in world markets. And even if we're not exporting, then we'd saturate the U.S. market with our own non-tariffed products in pretty short order, if we could even afford to buy them with our rapidly diminishing wages. Our products are coal and oil, two things we can readily sell abroad (or use to continue diminishing our dependence on foreign influence; but if we are buying our own rhetoric about global warming, probably shouldn't.

So - Cars, Appliances, Steel for construction of buildings and infrastructure: Largely gone for good. Coal, bad idea. Being from Kentucky, I get it. But it is a losing proposition. You can't make mining it safe, and the use of it sets the planet on a path to self-annihilation. Oil? It's like sitting at the casino table too long. It's a long-term gamble that won't pay off in the end, because all it does is buy time to a conclusion that won't come out in our favor. The rest of the world will sit quietly until we run out, then we're stuck. And again, it also keeps us (all) on that global path to environmental doom. These are not answers. They're desperate, cloying attempts to recapture the global dominance which, in our shortsightedness, slipped our grasp.

As for the social issues that Trump has brought to the fore, while I agree that the path to citizenship should not be amnesty for those who have already broken our existing immigration laws, I do not believe that everyone who comes to our shores is here simply to take from others, lower our standards of living, or threaten our way of life (whatever that has become these days). Given the size of the Muslim cohort, I do believe that there is some 'Six-degrees of separation' between many Muslims and those Muslims who mean to do us harm. However, I do not believe that every Muslim who has immigrated to America (or converted; don't forget, there are many who have) is an inherent threat to our country, or personally knows someone who is. Yes, we should be more diligent, do a better job at screening on both ends of the pipeline into our country. Yes, we should be deporting illegal aliens based upon violent or drug-related criminal records (here or in their home country). But building a wall will be a ridiculous expense we can ill afford when we cannot yet care for our own.

And while we do possess great military might, we are not Rome, nor is Trump an Alexander the Great. Our allies as well as many of those unfriendly to the U.S. have all amassed armaments sufficient to keep anyone with a shred of wisdom at bay. The days of Empire building are over. And if we retreat or pivot back to an isolationist policy, I doubt we will ever find ourselves enjoying the role of sole superpower of this world ever again, unless we foolishly choose (or provoke) a return to the dark ages and start over.

Personally, last night's political victory for the unwashed white minority feels more like a splenetic hemorrhage by those simply unable to engage the world as it has become, for better or worse.
Trump has knowingly set the under-educated, under-employed segment of white America on itself (and everyone else), turning us into the proverbial 'Crab Bucket'.

Facebook sells stake in business - BBC.co.uk

Facebook has sold a 1.96% stake for $200m (£126m) to a Russian internet firm, a move that values the social networking website at $10bn. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said he had been impressed by Digital Sky Technology's (DST) "impressive growth and financial achievements".

I understand the needs of capitalization, but this move is a foolhardy one on the part of a significant presence in the social-internet scene. Along with China, Russia and other Eastern-bloc countries are a primary source of SPAM, Malware and *targeted* data-mining attacks against western (read: U.S.) citizens and business interests. Where better to obtain e-mails and inside target info than the world's largest social network? And how better than to buy one's way in?

I would love to be wrong, but I'm going on the record here and now and forecast a significant uptick in Russian-originated SPAM and spear-phishing within the next 18-24 months, predicated primarily upon this imprudent transaction. Any previous advice to be vigilant about confidential information in public profiles is to be redoubled.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

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Can Obama Keep IT Jobs in the U.S.? - InsideTech.com

Obama initially proposed a $3,000 tax credit this year and next for every net new job created. Still, outsourcing executives say that’s not enough of a financial incentive to keep jobs in the U.S. “An average salary for a software developer in the U.S. is $75,000 and it’s $8,000 in India,” says Mary Jo Morris, president of World Sourcing Services for Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC).

Pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Sure, anyone with any kind of business acumen understands why jobs are going offshore. If I were the CEO/CIO charged with cutting costs, then the CBA (Cost Benefit Analysis) for sending jobs where there was a 90%+ savings is an argument that sells itself.

But there appears to be a larger landscape to be observed here, and corporate citizenship is part of it. How much does a company owe to the citizens and shareholders of the country it benefits so greatly from? Would it be nearly as profitable and prosperous if it were incorporated elsewhere? Would it continue to enjoy the 'inside' advantage if it weren't an American corporation?

And these are only some of the reasons why we need to be telling our legislators:

DAILY GRILL - Center for American Progress Action Fund

Q: But if [Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki] said get out now, we don't want you anymore –
BUSH: I don't see how we could stay. It is his country.
-- President Bush on the Charlie Rose show, 4/24/07

VERSUS

"The United States on Tuesday rejected a demand from Iraq for a specific date for pullout of US-led foreign troops from the country, saying any withdrawal will be based on conditions on the ground."
-- AFP, 7/8/08
© Center for American Progress Action Fund

Belgian woman wages war for Al Qaeda on the Web - International Herald Tribune

A truly interesting article:

"Now, even as El Aroud remains under constant surveillance, she is back home rallying militants on her Web site - and collecting more than $1,100 a month in government unemployment benefits."

The new Cold War - IHT.com

"The next American president will inherit many foreign policy challenges, but surely one of the biggest will be the Cold War. Yes, the next U.S. president is going to be a Cold War president - but this Cold War is with Iran.

"For now, Team America is losing on just about every front. How come? The short answer is that Iran is smart and ruthless, America is dumb and weak, and the Sunni Arab world is feckless and divided. Any other questions?"

Sadly, this is all too true. Obama wants to talk, and Clinton doesn't. And as the author rightly points out, talking (or not) is best done from a position of power or leverage (something we have neither of at the moment). And without it, the only way to get some of either is to either give up something we don't care to, or exercise options we don't care to. Neither are particularly enticing options at this moment in time.

Sadly, Obama seems more likely to be the one to give ground on the Middle East than Clinton. And with Syria and Iran in cahoots with Hezbollah to subvert Lebanon, and with the U.S. already being "not liked, not feared and not respected," giving ground doesn't really seem to be a profitable option. I mean, really? What's to be gained?

A Tsar Is Born: Putin - TIME Man of the Year

"Stalin's ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for his help running the country. Stalin says, 'Round up and shoot all the democrats, and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue.' 'Why blue?' Putin asks. 'Ha!' says Stalin. 'I knew you wouldn't ask me about the first part.'"

"...just as Yeltsin rewarded Putin for his loyalty, now Putin is doing the same for his anointed successor, Medvedev. There is already a new Putin joke: Putin goes to a restaurant with Medvedev and orders a steak. The waiter asks, "And what about the vegetable?" Putin answers, "The vegetable will have steak too."

Time claims that their Man of the Year designation is not an honor or an award, yet their writeup of their interview with Putin goes far to present him in admirable light. I agree that Russia has never seen better times, and Yeltsin and Gorbachev were both miserable failures upon the global stage, but despots are still despots. You decide.

Iraqi fugitive Cabinet minister is in Jordan - ChicagoTribune.com

A former Iraqi Cabinet minister from the Chicago area who escaped from a Baghdad prison this month has arrived in Jordan on a U.S. plane, Jordan's prime minister said Tuesday. Ayham al-Samaraie, a former minister of electricity with dual U.S. and Iraqi citizenship, was serving time for corruption when he escaped mid-December.

Okay, so I understand why someone who was in prison might want to escape, especially if you're cooling your heels in Iraq (pardon the irony of that pun).

...the Iraqi government was investigating al-Samaraie's escape, "and we are vigorously supporting their effort." He declined to say whether al-Samaraie, who has a home in the Chicago area, would be allowed to return to the United States. Al-Samaraie is a partner in the KCI Engineering Consultants firm in Downers Grove, Ill. He has told the Tribune that he intends to return to his home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill., after the new year.
On Dec. 19, he called the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times and gloated over his escape, referring to U.S. and Iraqi officials in Baghdad as "suckers." He declined to tell the newspapers where he was, but said he was in "a very safe place."

But to escape, then call the hometown newspaper (and the NYTimes) in the U.S. and brag about it, all the while deriding the intelligence of your U.S. captors and claiming that you'll be home for Easter, isn't exactly what I'd call smart.
This person might have outsmarted (with help, as admitted) the U.S. Army, the world's largest bureaucracy. I doubt having taunted stateside law enforcement, that U.S. Immigration will make the same mistake.

In the telephone interviews with the Tribune and the Times last week, al-Samaraie said a "multinational" group had helped him escape from a police station inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. He said he escaped "the Chicago way" -- a reference to the film about Al Capone called "The Untouchables."

And I wouldn't be surprised if that U.S. Citizenship and Visa evaporate rather quickly. And if they don't, we're idiots.

Oh, and here's his picture in case DHS actually needs it.

Indian PM says tough talk ahead on U.S. nuclear deal - Boston.com

Manmohan Singh said India would not be bound by "extraneous" conditions attached to the deal when it was passed by the U.S. Congress this month, rejecting efforts to constrain New Delhi's policy toward Iran or its own nuclear weapons program.
...
"India will find it difficult to and cannot accept any such conditions beyond those already agreed to in the understandings with the United States," he told parliament in a debate.
...
Singh said the law reflected India's arrival on the world stage "as a power to be reckoned with."
...
Experts say India has already produced about 50 nuclear weapons and plans to reach up to 400 in a decade. Many fear selling India fuel for civilian energy use will free up New Delhi's indigenous uranium stocks for weapons.

Hmm... I was also saying that India already had enough resources to handle their civilian energy problem themselves, if they weren't so busy diverting it to weapons use. Now, we've just made that more feasable.

India warns against changes to US nuclear deal - Forbes.com

India warns against changes to US nuclear deal - Forbes.com

House OKs Nuclear Fuel, Tech to India - New York Times

House OKs Nuclear Fuel, Tech to India - New York Times

US Congress okays nuke deal; rejects killer amendments - The Times of India

US Congress okays nuke deal; rejects killer amendments - The Times of India

VOA News - US Lawmakers Set to Consider US-India Nuclear Deal

VOA News - US Lawmakers Set to Consider US-India Nuclear Deal

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis | NY Times

Why am I not surprised. Revenue IS revenue, and when we have to pay for our own war effort, it's hardly surprising that we'd choose to share some of our war machine to subsidize that same war we're waging.

But the pundits are correct: How is our supplying Israel any different than Iran supplying Hezbollah (other than that Hezbollah isn't a state militia, AND that Hezbollah has effectively hijaacked the Lebanese government, AND that Hezbollah crossed UN-recognized lines to initiate a war)?

Ok, given all that, perhaps the fuckers deserve what they get... :)

Middle East: The revenge of the spider - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

Middle East: The revenge of the spider - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

Salon.com News | The showdown

Salon.com News The showdown

Terror as statecraft | Chicago Tribune

Also:
The Nation of Hezbollah - Los Angeles Times

The (Lebanese) elected government was still in meetings Wednesday, arguing over what to say in public, when Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah went before television cameras with a pointed threat for the ruling elite.

"Today is a time for solidarity and cooperation, and we can have discussions later. I warn you against committing any error. This is a national responsibility," the cleric said, looking every inch the head of state.

Any criticism over the capture of the two Israeli soldiers would be tantamount to colluding with Israel, Nasrallah said, making it clear that he expected citizens and officials to heed his orders.

"To the Lebanese people, both officials and non-officials, nobody should behave in a way that encourages the enemy to attack Lebanon, and nobody should say anything that gives cover to attack Lebanon," he said.

Overextended U.S. Weighs Its Options in the Mideast - Los Angeles Times

For more than a year, U.S. officials have pointed to what they see as signs that Lebanon could be moving away from Syrian control toward greater autonomy and stability. But the new fighting underscores the weakness of the Lebanese government, and it could lead to a strengthening of Syria's influence.

If Israel strikes Syrian locations in an effort to target Hezbollah militants, Damascus could retaliate by allowing a greater flow of militants across its border into Iraq. U.S. officials have recently praised Syria for exerting firmer control over its eastern desert region, but the long border could again become a major headache for U.S. forces in western Iraq.

And Hezbollah's longtime supporter, Iran, which is facing growing international pressure over its nuclear ambitions, may see the new confrontation as a way to remind Washington of Tehran's power to strike back at U.S. interests and allies.

---

In two previous posts, I have openly espoused a position that the U.S. should diminish or discontinue its support of Israel's military efforts (via continued sales of military weaponry and munitions), so long as they play the disproportionate aggressor. And despite today's reports that 70 or so rockets were launched into Israel from Gaza (after my having glibly remarked that they couldn't do more than launch a few rockets and bomb a bus or two), I still stand by that position. Frankly, I think if we cut everyone off, they'll go back to throwing rocks, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

However, the author of the first editorial above (Tribune) makes several valid observations. Israel has indeed been provoked, no doubt about it. That terrorist activity continues to be supported by Hamas, an organization that has also undertaken the additional use of the electoral process to engage the Israelis. And I agree that Hamas can't have it both ways (terror and diplomacy, or terror as diplomacy). That's not an olive branch, but more like trying to club Israel with the whole damn tree. While they're not looking (ok, ok, Israel is never not looking).

I also acknowledge and support that Israel is well within their sovereign right to respond to recent incursions and kidnappings, whether by Hamas, or the Hezbollah, or any other agent. Still, their responses still seem wildly disproportionate (in the short term), and threaten to undermine the entire region. Yesterday's incursions into Lebanon and bombing of Gaza have the enormous potential to rally and unify the Arab states in opposition in a way not seen since World War I. Especially with a prickly Iran pulling the strings in Syria.

With the U.S. being spread thin at other corners of the world, one wonders how the U.S. will respond. According to these and other authors, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians want interlopers in this conflict, preferring to look to the EU for empathy and support. McFly could continue with the 'blind eye' approach he's taken all along, but something tells me that our own interests in the region will eventually prod us to stick our nose in where it isn't wanted. Again.

Amended: 7/13/06 13:15CDT

War on Iran Has Begun | The New York Sun

Indeed, it may well have. After last night's post, I woke to find that Israel has gone ahead to further make my point.

With two more soldiers kidnapped by Hamas or Hezbollah factions having provoked Israel even further, they are now fighting on two fronts and dispensing yet more sabre rattling at a time when composure might serve them better. Has Israel given no thought to who just might be pulling the strings? Certainly not a militant faction, incapable of bringing the fight to Israel with anything more than the occasional rocket or bus bombing.

Clearly, there are other interests at work here. Divide and conquer is a military strategy as old as the bible itself. Being a nation that's been at one state or another of war since its inception, you'd think Israel would have a better grasp of the players in this strategic game of 'King of the Mount'.

Or maybe its simply time to confiscate Jerusalem and turn it into a city/state like the Vatican. But then again, my idea of forclosing on Brazil when they owed us so much money wasn't well received either.

'Never again' gone mad in Israel | SeattlePi.com

While I am not a Jew, I have been married to one. And in that family, there were more than a few who still promote the 'never again' philosophy. Given the reported scale of atrocities against the Jews during World War II, I can easily imagine why they persist to this day.

Still, even though I am not a Jew, and have no vested interest in the general goings on in Israel, I am a human being. Thus, I am compelled to agree with the author of this article, that the Israeli response to the kidnapping of a single soldier in what is clearly a long, well established history of conflict, does not 'seem' out of proportion. It is out of proportion.

Yes, Israel is a sovereign nation. And like the U.S., has the right to defend itself and its citizens against harm and attack. But we should remember that when U.S. citizens have been kidnapped in the past, we did not threaten and terrorize entire populations. We did not deprive innocent citizens of their ability to subsist. Literally, to survive. And our response to the events of September 11th are not even on the same playing field as the abduction of a single soldier.

Soldiers are meant for one thing. To stand in harm's way. This is the choice of every soldier (voluntarily, in most cases), and of that soldier's government in general. They are the pawns by which diplomacy and influence are effected.

It is time for the U.S. to withdraw its unilateral support of Israel. At best, if our administration believes its support is not 'unilateral', then it needs to use more than rhetoric to demonstrate that reality. Withdraw military support from Israel so long as it continues to respond out of scale to offenses given.

Catching up...

As mentioned nearly 45 days ago, time and tide have not been my ally this last few weeks. But in the ensuing period, much has happened.

• U.S. soldiers have been captured and slaughtered, ultimately rigged as booby-traps for their would be rescuers.
  
• The U.S. government has pursued an amusing backhand to the Indian Nuclear Material Treaty the President himself brokered with India just a few short months ago, by proposing to the Conference on Disarmament a halt to all production of fissile material for weapons purposes, effectively capping the Indian stockpile.
  
• Congress has wrangled with immigration, flag burning, and English as an official language.
  
• Israel has gone on the offensive for the return of a soldier kidnapped by the Palestinians.

Unfortunately, these would all be subjects for great discourse. However, by now, most are yesterdays news. Our soliders have been retrieved, and identified. Sadly, identification required DNA testing, for they were brutally tortured and disfigured. And reluctantly, I am forced to admit that using the FMCT (Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty) to manhandle India's unwillingness to sign the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) was far more than a deft sleight of hand. Fortunately, I don't have to give G.W. McFly all the credit for that smooth move. Time will tell if it pays off.

Immigration: Went nowhere quickly. Not surprisingly, conservatives and dems are wholly against the notion of amnesty for illegal immigrés (something about that word 'illegal'), nor the notion of giving the GOP 11 million new votes in exchange for a slap on the wrist and a (proportionally) small fine.

Flag Burning: Tough issue. What would be the limits? Is a screen printed image on a T-Shirt 'a flag' also? Since burning is the accepted method for disposing of a damaged or desecrated flag, who will be privileged to destroy such flags? More later.

Official English: Woo Hoo! Bout damn time! The U.S. government spends billions of dollars every year producing documents in various languages (especially docs related to voting and voting rights). Passing this kind of legislation would save an English Metric Buttload (yes, that's an official unit of measure on my websites) of revenue best destined for other uses. And it would also empower employers to require English in the workplace.

Sorry folks. Economics aside, I work in a very culturally heterogeneous industry (Information Technology). Lots of Indians, and Pakistanis, and Asians of various extracts. From a personal perspective, nothing horks me off more than inadvertantly walking into a discussion (in English), only to have it instantaneously change to . Using English was good enough 30 seconds ago... America is supposed to be this 'melting pot'. What language you speak in the privacy of your home is entirely your business. But in the workplace, I think its time to melt.

Israel: Another tough issue. In a region that has been largely 'at war' for decades, the capturing of a single soldier would not be so significant, save but for the fact that Israel has gone on a campaign of self-righteous indignation, which could eventually escalate to genocide all for one soldier. Time for Israel to admit they're at war, write him off as a casualty, and move on. No, he's probably not worth the 1000's of prisoners Hamas is demanding be released. But he also isn't worth the financial cost of incursions to get him back, or the munitions they're expending (or the cost of the additional humanitarian aid being sent in to relieve the suffering caused by this campaign.