Day: December 7, 2016

Closing Thought–07Dec16

75 years ago day……

Today we commemorate the “Day of Infamy”…..the Japanese attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor….they also attacks a few other installations but Pearl Harbor was the biggie for them……the day we entered into the conflict known as “World War 2″…….

Please take a moment and remember those brave men, 2403 total, that gave their lives on this day……they should NEVER be forgotten!

We are also in the middle of commemorating the 100 years that it has been since the start of another “Great War”….World War One…the war that gave us the world we now live in……

The world as we know it today began with the 1st World War…..and sadly…not much has changed…..

As this year closes out I want to remember the horrible battles and the massive deaths of that war and that year, 1916…..the Battle of the Somme, Verdun, the Alps, etc…….

Spend a few minutes of your time and see what the soldiers a hundred years ago faced…..

Source: Overview of 1916 During World War 1

Thanx for your time….please take some time to remember these braves souls also….

We should NEVER forget the sacrifices that our troops have made over the years…….and are still making…..we owe them so much…..and we remember so little.

Iraq/Syria Update–07Dec16

How soon our minds wander……

As an analyst of the Middle East I am ashamed of myself for allowing the silliness around the election and the after math to consume my thoughts…..I will try to make things right….today I will start a regular update on the situations in Iraq and Syria…and the region.

Iraq

As Iraqi security forces wage a grinding house-to-house battle to push the Islamic State out of Mosul, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is rushing to prepare for a potential mass exodus of up to 700,000 mainly Sunni civilians. But winter is closing in, funds are short, and the head of the UNHCR mission is worried that the international community and the Iraqi government could be overwhelmed by events, possibly setting the stage for renewed sectarian tension. – Foreign Policy’s The Cable

Iraqi army said on Wednesday that Islamic State militants launched an overnight attack against security forces in the southeastern part of Mosul, a day after the troops advanced deeper into the city. – Associated Press

Syria

Syrian government forces pushed deeper into Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing areas around the medieval citadel whose narrow streets had long given rebels cover, pro-government websites and conflict monitors reported. – New York Times

The United States is discussing with Syrian rebels their surrender and evacuation from Aleppo, as Russia on Tuesday threatened the imminent “elimination” of anyone who refuses to leave the city. – Washington Post

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and his Russian counterpart will speak this week as a fierce bombing campaign backed by Moscow continues in Aleppo, fueling diplomatic arguments and straining prospects for talks. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

The House passed a defense bill last week that included language giving the incoming Trump administration the authority to send shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to rebel groups fighting in Syria. While the bill provides certain restrictions for transferring the controversial weapons, known as MANPADS or Man Portable Air Defense Systems, it represents a significant shift from prior iterations of the legislation. – Washington Post

Vladimir Putin is seizing on President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to reverse U.S. policy on Syria to press for a military victory that could mark Russia’s return as a great-power rival in the wider Middle East. – Bloomberg

Secretary of State John Kerry has resumed bilateral negotiations with Russia over the Syrian civil war, despite Russia’s refusal to make the policy changes that Kerry demanded when he canceled talks in October – Washington Examiner

Israel’s military attacked an airport in Damascus near Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s palace early on Wednesday morning, Arab media reported, in what appeared to be the second air strike by Israel inside Syrian territory in less than a week. – Financial Times

Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan write: Deterrence, by way of fait accompli, has worked so far. Explicit deterrence will work still better. At the end of the day, the choice is not whether the U.S. stays in Syria or leave, it is whether it stays or, eventually, is forced to come back. – The Daily Beast

I shall try to keep my readers updated as often as possible…..it is important because we have troops fighting and dying in these regions….but I am assuming that Americans actually give a crap……

2020 Is About To Begin?

We had the Taiwan “China-Gate” last week…..and now that it is starting to wind down….not much more can be said….not much that would make any sense that is…..what could the MSM find to replace the phone call?

Don’t hurt yourself….they have already found a replacement “story” to analyze and speculate until they have that semi-orgasmic experience…..

The media is expecting a very large field of Dems for the 2020 election…..and they have found a way to start this conversation…the one that NO one else would like to have right now.

The new story is VP Joe Biden…..he made an unofficial official almost statement…..

Fans of Joe Biden memes, rejoice: The vice president has hinted at a 2020 White House run—though he may have been less than 100% serious. After presiding over a Senate session Monday, CNN asked Biden if he plans to run for office again, and he said: “Yeah, I am. I’m going to run in 2020.” Asked what position he was going to run for, the six-term senator said: “For president. What the hell, man.” The AP notes that Biden, who will turn 78 in 2020, had a slight smile when he spoke, and he walked the remarks back a little when asked if he was joking. “I’m not committing not to run. I’m not committing to anything,” he said. “I learned a long time ago, fate has a strange way of intervening.”

How long do you think they will milk this piece of nothing?

Trump’s Economic Plan

To say that I have been disappointed in the results of Trump’s search for a cabinet would be an understatement…..so far his picks have been nothing more that the same vermin that has always been in the swamp.

And then there is his much taunted economic plan for the country…..to make the “country great again”…..personally I do not like what I see….does not appear to benefit any of us peasants that he tried to champion…..

But let’s look……

Trump’s economic plan can be broken into three parts: Tax cuts, deregulation and fiscal stimulus.

As far as tax cuts, there are three main subsets:

1–The corporate tax rate, which Trump wants to drop from 35 percent to 15 percent.

2–A tax cut on the so-called “repatriation of funds”– which lowers the rate on roughly $2 trillion of cash that’s currently stashed overseas by uber-rich US businesses that have been evading US corporate taxes for years. Trump wants to give these tax dodgers a one-time “holiday” with a 10% penalty for companies that agree to bring their cash back to the US. Trump believes that the one-time tax break will increase business investment and employment in the US. Critics say the scheme will not work unless the economy strengthens and demand grows.

3–Trump also wants to reduce the top tax rate from 39.6% to 33%, while making modest reductions to the other brackets. Under the Trump plan, “a taxpayer who makes between $48,000 to $83,000 a year would save about $1,000 (while) people in the top 0.01%, making $3.7 million or more in a year, would receive $1 million in annual tax savings.”

Source: Trump’s Economic Plan: This Isn’t Going to Work – The Unz Review

I know that his diehard supporters think he will do some miraculous things….but I just cannot see it….

Even the GOP House is not on-board with Trump……..

Donald Trump isn’t going to have a honeymoon period with House Republicans, if the frosty response to his call for a 35% tariff on companies leaving the US is anything to go by. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was among those pushing back against the policies Trump called for in a series of tweets over the weekend, the AP reports. “I don’t want to get into some kind of trade war,” McCarthy said, arguing that lowering corporate tax rates would be a much better way to stop companies leaving the country. “We’ve got to have a level playing field, that companies in America can compete on a level playing field across the world, and right now we do not have one.” McCarthy said it was healthy for a president to get involved in saving American jobs—but he believes in the free market, not “picking winners and losers.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan also called for policies more in keeping with the traditional GOP position on free trade, reports the New York Times. “We can get at the goal here, which is to keep American businesses American, build things in America, and sell them overseas—that can be properly addressed with comprehensive tax reform,” he said. Trump’s tariff plan, which is likely to need congressional approval, may have more fans among Democrats. Trump “won in part by campaigning against the Republican establishment on many economic issues,” said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, the next Senate minority leader. “If he wants to get something done for working families in this country, he’ll have to stand up to them when it comes time to govern, too.”

Will he, Trump, learn to work with his “buds” in the House?

He has promised an infrastructure boom, a huge military, tax reform, on and on and on….one question Mr. Trump……

Where you gonna get all this f*cking money?

The Next Cuban Revolution?

Fidel is dead….and the world is on pins and needles….what to do…what to do?

There has been wold speculation at what the world can expect……some are calling for more sanctions to force change…..others think another revolution would be the answer…..and even others are just drooling over the possibility of return to Cuba to continue the rape of the country that was terminated when Fidel cam to power…..

But what lies ahead for Cuba?

Fidel Castro’s death raises the stakes in the debate over the future of the Cuban state and economy.

Fidel Castro’s death over the weekend produced cries of lamentation in Havana and jubilation in Miami. He had been declining for years; long gone was the legendary stamina that carried him through four-hour public speeches, all-night bull sessions, and endless provocations. On the few occasions he was wheeled out for public appearances in recent years, he seemed crotchety and frail.

For example, last March, as millions of Cubans met U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba with curiosity, Fidel took to the state newspaper, Granma, to complain. Rather than considering Obama’s overtures as a new opportunity, he replayed an ancient litany of Cuban grievances, from Spain’s practice of slavery and the Americans’ Bay of Pigs invasion to vague accusations of Obama being racist. “We do not need the empire to give us anything,” he concluded.

Source: The Next Cuban Revolution? | Foreign Affairs

The answer my friend lies blowing in the wind…..(Dylan be damn)…..I’m not looking for much rational thought coming out of Washington on this issue….but I could be wrong….