TRUMP AND CO ......

Mr. Trump exemplify the eternal and expanding divide between the more or less cultured American minority , and the larger majority of simpler and less educated and cultured politically , economically or socially Americans , the day to day Americans . Yes Mr. Trump has stricken a solid chord with most regular and normal Americans , to the abhorrence of all other , more sophisticated and affluent citadins , who cannot even start to understand or stomach what Mr. Trump means or say . He talks and jokes , whether intentionally or genuinely , the simple and easy language of the millions of Americans in every state and every precinct , people who feel overtaken by modernity , politics and economics , social and cultural .

More than 62% of Americans are against Mr. Trump , still he manages to get over 10 million voters in most states to back him , and look for him and his pseudo policies to lead . In any sane analysis he is supposed to loose , still he is winning state after state , even some of the more experienced and cultured like Pennsylvania , Maryland or Connecticut . A very interesting and well staged play , being carefully watched by all American and world spectators .

Obviously, Mr. Trump's popularity is benefiting from not having anyone interesting or captivating as an opponent , on the contrary , some of the finalists like Mr. Cruz are disliked and mistrusted by most , even described by senior GOP establishment as " Lucifer in the flesh ", and "SOB",  WOW !!! big words . I honestly like the words offered to describe Mr. Cruz , I second Mr. Boehner for his choice of words . the rest of GOP candidates now and before , are and were not impressive and only are surviving on a anti Trump ticket . Maybe we are suddenly discovering that a Ted Cruz is the real danger , and how his GOP opponents are innocent and possibly more electable compared to him .

Mr. Trump managed , to antagonize many minorities from all colors to ethnic to religious to gender , I'm surprised he didn't use any anti Semitic slogans , quiet popular and spread in certain rural communities , but we all have to admit , that he is a good businessman , and calculator , and obviously the best disciple of the school of immediate attention and its gratification , he is surely accomplishing a lot with very little . Plus proving that money can buy anything , he even alluded to it himself .

Monsieur Trump , declared ; that , the theme of his presidency will be   " America first " , an early WW2 slogan , coined and used back in 1941 by the aviator "Lindenberg ", to stop America joining the war against Nazi Germany . By claiming that our allies , " Britain , France and the rest of Europe were unimportant compared to what we could lose in entering the war . No American president or politician in the last 70 years used or insinuated this slogan in directing American politics .

Totally on a different tone , the Democrats are proving to be very electable , and probably will be elected . even when showing brilliant chances of moving a little to the left , a little more social , a little more equitable , Mr.  Sanders is the best reminder of that , eventually cornering the Republican party into a real conflict of a minority extreme right versus majority centrists , a situation that could dictate the course of the next coming decades .

If I were an aspiring Republican , I might consider switching to the other side , as the near and intermediate future clearly indicates a shift to the middle and its left of middle sentiments , the future is definitely more social , fair and regulated , against all bigger untouchable corporations , banks and closing wealth gaps , and unregulated big political money and savage lobbyism .


My many thanks as usual , for your time and help spreading the blog .      

ADDENDUM .........

Additions to my previous blog analyzing corporate greed , in America and the world .
Verizon is cutting workers health care benefits , and outsourcing American jobs abroad , while paying its CEO McAdam , 18 million $ a year , in salary and compensations .

Verizon makes somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 billions per year , and it's not willing to seriously address its workers , or the health of their families , outsourcing their jobs to foreign cheaper labour .  Denying their workers any form of a fair contract , is becoming in America a serious policy followed by many if not most corporations , as if it's contagious or a policy coming from a higher authority , it is offending to middle classes and only mirroring corporate pure greed .

McAdam , Immelt of GE , Merlo of CVS or Wexner of Victoria's secret parent L brands , plus tens of other CEOs , from Viacom , Oracle or Disney and many others , never mention or totally avoid mentioning their salaries , which are nowadays for all of them ,well in excess of 300 or 400 times the salary and compensation of their average worker , hundreds of CEOs see their salaries in the tens of millions per year , many exceeding  $50 millions per year , while some of these companies' shares even dropped  or they were bailed out by tax payers . They are invariably hailed as brilliant when crafting very harsh conditions for their workers and employees .

The country's CEOs and their paid for  politicians are decrying the proposed increase over many years , of the minimum wages to 15 $ , or even lower , while most of them make 10 to 15,000 $ or more an hour , it would take an employee earning 15$ an hour nearly 23 days to make as much as his or her CEO make in one Hour , and double that time at present levels of minimum wages . Seriously !!  45 working days equal one hour !!!!

We are well into our 21st century , and surely drifting back to 17 , 18 and 19th century's slogans and total free market economic philosophies , of total "laissez faire" As Mandeville argued back in 1723 , "the rich are the useful ones and not the poor , as the rich are in fact the real contributors , and their creations provide employment for everyone below them , without these rich , poor laborers would be starving and vanishing ". David Hume continued the argument ; "The rich initiatives ,  rather than the manual labour of the poorer , is what creates real wealth , by spending their moneys they insure employment and survival for the working classes .

Adam Smith said ; " in spite of their natural selfishness and greed , they only mean their own convenience and expanding their own power and wealth , while the highest in business cadre are considered and hailed as creators of national prosperity , the poorer working lower and middle classes are viewed and accused of draining national wealth through their massive and oversized numbers , and reliance on welfare and charity .

We are , in America as in some parts of the industrialized world  returning to these archaic and obsolete ideas , rather than expanding our modern concepts , whereby workers and the less fortunate are considered as full members of the same fabric of the national family . And are appropriated with measures of loyalty , gratitude and a fair chunk of the national GDP and wealth of the country . The same would apply to our military personnel and veterans , who are mostly crafted and drafted from these same poorer classes .

Modern morality would not permit us raising and cultivating minimum wage families , having just enough to live , reproduce and work .  creating the same workers generation after generation , for the benefit of big industry , corporations and military conglomerates .  Leading the Enlightenment ages , and our modern times morality , Immanuel Kant argued that ; "Behaving with morality toward others require us to respect people for what they are and their selves , and not to use them as means to our enrichment or power."

Our esteemed CEOs , seem to have lost touch with reality , when they earn in excess of 30 , 40 or 50$ millions per year , and expect 10 and 20 % increase year after year with the growth of their shares , mostly at the expense of their workers living and surviving paycheck to paycheck .

My as always many thanks for reading and spreading the blog .

         

WRONG FINANCIAL TACTICS ........

---- Ford motor company announced few days back the go ahead with their new auto plant in Mexico , with a 2800 jobs potential , obviously the whole exercise , is about gaining more through cheaper labor , and maximizing share holder's profits and wealth . The $1.6 billion venture to add to the existing 3 full operating plants in Mexico with a total of about 9000 jobs has already vanished from any media coverage or any official and congressional objection .

Such behavior by huge conglomerates and corporations , especially the ones saved few years back by taxpayers money , is not in the interest of America nor its middle classes , on the contrary it is surely hampering the country's economical recovery and comeback . Replacing thousands of American jobs by cheaper ones abroad , plus the benefits of building here in the country and taxation in their states , it should be part of economical strategies of big companies and corporations .

Such acts , ought to be fought by governments at all levels , but mostly it should be resisted at the general population levels . Let's all of us , as many Americans as possible stop visiting dealerships and buying any Ford car or truck for a month , say the month of May or June , and inflict some reasonable losses for that month ,to both Ford and their Dealerships ,  anything like 20% to 50% for the month , and they will all understand the power of the people , and probably reconsider and think twice in the future about their moves affecting thousands of American jobs . Something of the same is taking place in NC, albeit on very different scales and for different reasons.

---- Another example in the same line of behavior , was the Pfizer case , who were still pursuing their plans of moving their head quarters to Ireland by teaming up with Allergan in a $160 billion merger in a "tax dodge" scuffle . Despite an organized media campaign to the effect of possibly backing off from the deal while the saving or evading of  $40 billions in taxes was hardly even mentioned , finally they did back off after public outrage and presidential pressure .

Using the same logic , if all or many Americans abstain from buying Pfizer products , from simple over the counter to higher prescription drugs , most people will save themselves some money and Pfizer will see the effects of some sharp decreases in sales for the month ,they and other similar corporations contemplating similar acts and tactics , will revise their plans and start behaving within American interests , and not just maximizing profitability .

---- The still developing scandal of hiding and laundering money through the Panamanian system , known to everyone by now as the Panama papers , and the same in many tax heaven islands or entities , should be carefully studied and examined by officials from all levels of government , media and tax experts . Not different from what's happening in many world wide democracies , but not the U.S.  Any official , politician or corporate or banking high entity , proven of money  laundering , evading taxes or hiding parts of their wealth , should be prosecuted and made to pay their proper taxes plus maximum fines .

It is the people's responsibility to assist government in not letting these normally immune entities from escaping payments of their full share on moneys made and accumulated while living and benefiting from the country . These are companies and corporates that betray the country and its people , only to insure higher profitability and more financial gains .


My usual appreciations for your time and help spreading the blog .

 

CONNECTED NOTIONS AND CONCEPTIONS .......

Are right and wrong the same everywhere and with everyone ??  Morality is generally thought to be a universal affair and concept , if and when something is wrong , it's naturally wrong for everyone , for instance if it's wrong to kill someone because you want to steal his land , water and his wealth in life , and put your family in his place , annihilate him , believing it's your only way to survive and  flourish , it should be wrong everywhere and for everyone .
Could we think that morality is not universal ?? that the same moral rules apply only to certain groups and not others ? When we observe and compare moral standards of different societies through different times , we get to some startling results ; slavery , human sacrifices , racial segregation , apartheid , denial of other's religious , political and intellectual freedoms , giving rights and law protection to certain groups based on skin color or religious backgrounds .
One could think , that these acts and many others would invoke a certain moral chock , and some indignation in all living watchers . Morality shouldn't and couldn't be relative .

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If fighting an occupying army is nowadays  "terrorism" simply because the army belongs to Israel , and the attackers are Palestinians , and the U.S. is backing Israel by ignoring the issue and looking in the other direction , then  I wouldn't know how and what can we call and label the French resistance  against occupying forces during the Nazi occupation in WW2 , is it possible to label them as terrorists ?  Is it not incredible how this term is being manipulated and exploited ??
So resisting an occupation ,  in this case is terrorism , while resisting the same injustice peacefully , by boycotting  the occupier, makes both ; the Israeli government and the American establishment illegitimize and forcefully outlaw  the entire concept and movement (BDS) , and equating the whole international peaceful movement to one phrase ; "anti Semitic".
All and any form of resistance to Israeli occupation , is called and considered illegitimate , obviously that's the name of the game , at least for some of the West and surely America .

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I cannot bring myself to understand , how this kind of  faith-inspired  belief and morality could be possible . But evidently some people can manage around it , even find it natural and justifiable .
What an unbearably sad  affair it is to watch and cohabitate with such situations  of absolute injustice , or even worse, live and suffer them for decades with no end in view, only learn to ignore them and pretend normalcy . I believe it was the Warsaw ghetto leader Edelman who said ; "To be a Jew means always being with the oppressed and never the oppressor." different worlds !!!

Syria and other Arab hot spots , are promising the exact same injustices and scenes , similar to the actual Israeli one , whereby the smaller group is fighting everyone else and thriving only by annihilating all others . Winner takes all . The frightening idea that Israeli injustice , will not be the main outrageous  cause , but one of several , thus easier to swallow , forget or not condemn is scary . Maybe after all ; "it's all willed" .

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Eventually one day , the solar system might cool down , or the universe will wind down , implode or collapse , should we as humanity wait for such cataclysmic events to solve our great injustices ?? can't we find it in ourselves, within our times to react to great injustices by putting an end to them.


My thanks to all , readers and helpers propagating the blog .     

ENLIGHTENING OURSELVES AND OUR TIMES ......

The enlightenment , is identified  with an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries within Europe . A movement that carried some distinctive ideas , engaging a wide array of readers and thinkers . One of these ideas , and a major philosophical side of the enlightenment , was religions , and the relationship with their gods , as well as their influence on the human kind .

Most enlightenment thinkers were hostile to religion , condemning it as an irrational  delusion , later circles of irreligious thinkers and writers , especially in the first decades of the 18th century produced works like      " Treaties of the three impostors " , in its final issue in 1721 , where they described  and identified ; Moses , Christ , and Mohammad as impostors who had deceived their people .

The irreligious enlightenment considered in many instances , that certain nations , had elevated one god above others , thus becoming monotheistic and monotheists , and this monotheism invariably tended to extreme enthusiasm and fanaticism , where in their fanaticism , monotheists were characteristically more brutal and less tolerant than polytheists and atheists .

David Hume strongly believed that all three monotheistic religions advocates and adherents , of elevating their supporters and themselves to the next world above the present one , with a morality of self denial ,  exactly  a major source of most of our ills in our actual modern times .  While and according to Spinoza , humans are part of nature , and god and nature are simply different , albeit of the same substance . God therefore  exerts no external providential  power over nature , nature is always determined in itself .

The religious institutions and hierarchies could be respected , only when they apply , and genuinely accept , learning how to live with the total liberty of the individual conscience , and any strongly held belief . The enlightenment argued and showed through historical facts , that the ancient Babylonians , Egyptians , Greeks and Romans , and more so Chinese , were by far more tolerant than the peoples of all three monotheistic religions throughout their histories , and unfortunately more so in our 20th and 21st century .

The enlightenment's contribution to historical understanding of religion , and to arguments of toleration , is exactly what is missing in our modern  Musslem and Jewish thinking , and practises toward others . Some pockets of the same type of behavior exist and is evolving steadily in some Christian societies , all leading to ; "The triumph of barbarism and religion" to borrow Voltaire's words.


My as always appreciative words for your times and help in spreading the blog to other intelligent minds .         

SHOW TIME ELECTIONS ......

As a matter of fact , the way things are progressing in the election process in the U.S. between and inside the two parties is rather comic but satisfying , pleasing or let's say positive in a sense .


Let me explain myself , and why I find them so ;  on the Republican side , I find Mr. Trump , contrary to most of his GOP  candidates , and establishment , almost reasonable , and surely the least dangerous , again compared to Ted Cruz , or the failed by now Marco Rubio , even some of the others with less apparent rhetoric , but deep old and archaic convictions .


Mr. Trump is the most independent and pragmatic , a demagogue with many naïve , laughable slogans and childish ideas , a little fascist for sure , but far from being totally indoctrinated in any ultra right or religious fanaticism . His penchant for some extreme right and religious blind conservatism and fascist behavior are only temporary acts , played and meant strictly to carry him through the election faze .


Ted Cruz would be for sure the destructive one with hidden dangerous fanatical ideas , leading the country into its darkest moments , and reversing the clock centuries back . And that is mostly what is infuriating the old guard and the establishment towards the two candidates , but not the general masses.


On the Democratic side only two are the possible nominees , I have a net penchant for Mr. Sanders , as obviously shown , that the country is ready and looking forward for some stronger jolt , or to borrow a wall street expression " a corrective measure ". While I have no doubt or illusions that Mrs. Clinton , is going to be nominated , and the final winner of the presidential elections .


She will be a strong president , maybe a bit too strong , with an incline for intrigues and dubious and questionable affairs , my major objections to her , are her strong affiliations to Wall Street and the corporate world . and as well her very strong relations and convictions with Israel , and more so the actual NEO CON Israel and its blind and crazy practises .


The longer Mr. Sanders stays on , in the campaign , the better , for Clinton and to a lesser degree for Trump , as he alone can steer the conversations , and show them both and their intelligentsia as well as their electorate what America and mostly younger America is longing for , in shaping the future .


If and when it's final , that the fight is going to be between Trump and Hillary , I have practically no doubt about the winner , and I will contribute with all I can to help elect our first woman president . But somehow I keep surprising myself by thinking that any of the three candidates could be OK. in a sense . And on a scale of  1 to 10 ; Bernie comes to 2 , Hillary to 4 , and Trump to 10 , but the three of them have a place at least on this scale , no other comes close .


Whether Mr. Trump's nomination will totally wreck the Republican party and further separate the core from the fringes , no one can really predict , but it surely looks to be a serious possibility , while on the other side the two contestants are only adding to Democrats' coherence and future lucid vision , albeit some serious differences and interests . it could be quite interesting to see a ticket of both , Hillary as president and Sanders as vice president , the president fixing our foreign policies and international affairs , and Sanders more into fixing internal policies !!


A final note , Mr. Trump is surely not directly responsible for many ugly scenes and vulgar rhetorics all through the campaign , he is simply reiterating loudly what the Republican party and many of its constituencies have been saying , thinking and doing for some long years now .




Thank you all for your time and help spreading the blog .


 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS .....

White House hopefuls  Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio , plus 13 other republican U.S. senators demanded today , that ISIS fighters be sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention center , which would boost its population , while Pres. Obama moves to close it .


These acts and demands bring back the old discussions about closing the Guantanamo prison and facilities . Just to mention one aspect of the debate , the cost of each prisoner to us tax payers , is in excess of 6 million Dollars per inmate per year , so a quick calculation of the costs to maintain about 300 of them locked up in Guantanamo is closer to 2 billion Dollars , funny !!! How funny for a Republican rich politician trying to cut on every dime for public health , education , infrastructure fixing and social security for the seniors , to be so very OK. with an extra 2 billions per year for maintaining an obsolete prison for few hundred terrorists .


If we are absolutely short of reasonable space for them , let me propose two solutions ; We ask our top ally , Israel , who owe us a lot in money , arms and everything else to take some of them , interrogate them and eventually dispose of them as they see fit , and the rest we send to Syria 's Assad , whom we are trying lately to revamp , some of the regime's specialized high ranking officers would gladly oblige and do whatever we ask them for , as both countries and regimes are top qualified masters at treating prisoners , and all at a small fraction of the costs .


Holding prisoners for years without charge or trial is of no concern to some , as well as any human right violation that goes against our most fundamental values .






-----  We should exercise some cautiousness in totally antagonizing  our  neighbor , Mexico , and all its smaller affiliates of Latino descenders countries , they are going to be here , close and very close to us for ever , long after some of our politicians and aspiring ones expire , we do not need to absolutely poison all of our neighborhoods with stupid electoral inflammatory rethorics .
 We do not need as well , to turn ourselves into total religious fanatics and colour haters , whether all monotheistic and other religions , white , blacks ,red or yellow , who ever needs and cherish this type of life can emigrate to Saudi , Israel , Iran or Africa , or even the newly reemerging Christian Russia .


----- The biggest farcical charade , turning us into a mockery nation , in tune with  Lebanon not being able to elect its president for two years , is the absurd game of refusing to discuss or confirm any candidate for the supreme court , to fill the gap after the sudden vacancy , why can't we just keep the supreme court out of politics , and out of the usual bickering . Liberal , conservative or anything in between should be the norms and the limits , and all of these could be discussed and solved , maybe some of our fanatical politicians ought to go and live in Lebanon as well , fulfil their emptiness and have their fill .  Let's hope some cool heads will prevail .


----- and finally , why  don't we once and for all , learn and apply the international Metric system , even Britain did so , NASA and the whole scientific society are there naturally , it's only our old us and our old politicians resisting the switch to a kilo instead of a pound ,  a meter in lieu of an inch and a foot , a liter instead of gallons ,and kilometers instead of miles , it's the same mentality still governing us in most aspects of our life and politics , we are paying  for our pounds  and ounces and being defrauded at every supermarket check-out point .


Our issues and social problems and old ways could be discussed  and solved , and should be , let's not put our democracy and our  recent supremacy in leading the world into the future , let's not put it all in jeopardy , let's not lose it all for partisanship and stubborn bickering , we can in my honest opinion be again a very moral nation and very close people , something we're not at these moments .


As always , my thanks to all , for your time and help spreading the blog .