Putin and Trump Bromance

Trump is taking a ton of flack over his recent criticism of the CIA.

It is about time there was high level criticism of the CIA.  After all, they blew it on ISIS, Benghazi and Libya, Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, and 9/11.

As for Trump letting Pence take CIA daily briefings, unless something urgent surfaces, I don't see the problem.  Obama missed 4 our 7 briefings.  Besides, all Presidents have a huge human resource pool, from Secretary of State, to Senate committees to Pentagon to Cabinet professionals, all with far greater knowledge  to handle the daily intelligence chatter.  Instead of cririticism, Trump deserves kudos for smart use of his time. Does anyone seriously doubt that an important, or urgent matter won't be brought to Trump's attention if it needs to?  Absurd to think otherwise!

As for Russia, one of things I've believed for a couple years now, is that we are playing Russia all wrong.  And I think Trump is smart to rebuild Russian and American relations, along with encouraging Russia to rebuild its economy. I listed it as a 2017 Prediction on my blog.

A poor and desperate Russia, caused by USA sanctions is not in America's interests in my opinion.  We have backed Russia into the corner long enough and as far as I am concerned Trump is doing the right thing by seeking to work with Russia.  The Russian people are going to embrace Trump when he holds out his hand in peace.  And when Trump pushes to ease sanctions and develop greater trade with Russia, the people of Russia are going to give him a heros welcome.

The Russian people have suffered economic hardship long enough.  The best thing  for USA security, let alone international security and the war against radical Islam is to foster strong and positive relations with Russia.

No, I did not forget about Crimea.  I say let it go. We need to stay out of their business.  America needs to meddle a lot less in other countries disputes.  What happens in Crimea, let alone the Ukraine is much less in our National interests than we have made it.

Did Putin and Russia want Trump to win?  Hell yes. And so what - they have every right to perceive one candidate as being preferable!  Heck, look at how Israel's Netanyahu lobbied before congress against the Iran deal when he thought Israel's National security was at stake.  I don't see that in and of itself as a bad thing. Plus, there is such hypocracy!  For decades America has been has been actively trying to influence the politics of other nations, to the point of overt efforts at regime change. Putting an end to that practice is one of the reasons I voted for Gary Johnson.

Did Russia hack the DNC?  Perhaps.  But Trump has agreed that needs to be investigated.  And bipartisan members of congress agree it should be too and it will be.  But the problem with exposing emails and any damage it may have caused HRC rests with the fact the her close assistant, and her dick-head husband Weiner had damaging communications on his laptop which surfaced during an FBI investigation.  Hillary and Democrats can blame Comey all they want, but the whole terrible mess is of Hillary's making in the first place.

It all boils down to the fact that the Democrats hate Trump have yet to do exactly what they insisted Trump needed to when he lost the election, as they all expected he would - accept the results!

New Year's Brings Good and Bad Cheer

We are just days away from the New Year and the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th President.  For many, this is the scariest of occasions. They are still trying to steady themselves for a bad 4 year New Year's Eve hangover.  For those sad souls, New Year's hopes are pinned on impeachment.  (Haven't we seen that before.)

While some feel like they are watching their worst political nightmare happen before their very eyes, others including me see a brighter potential future.  Must so many Americans be so disssppointed, one way or the other?  Can America have it both ways? 

Evidently we can have our un-merry political disappoints and prosperous New Year too.  Don't take it from me.  I offer the following proof from the recent post election Consumer Sentiment Survey:

Quote from The University of Michigan Preliminary Consumer Sentiment for December- 

"Consumer confidence surged in early December to just one-tenth of an Index point below the 2015 peak—which was the highest level since the start of 2004. The surge was largely due to consumers’ initial reactions to Trump’s surprise victory. When asked what news they had heard of recent economic developments, more consumers spontaneously mentioned the expected positive impact of new economic policies than ever before recorded in the long history of the surveys.

[To put these results into the larger historical context since its beginning in 1978, consumer sentiment is approx. 15% above its historic mean. ]

How much does consumer sentiment matter?  On the one hand, the common perception is that the “Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the economy.”  On the other hand, experts point out that consumer spending is the effect, not the cause, of a productive healthy economy.  The Hands have it!

It is easy to argue that consumer spending is not the mainstay of the USA economy, and that "investment" is. Business spending on capital goods, new technology, entrepreneurship, and productivity is more significant than consumer spending in sustaining the economy and a higher standard of living.

Enrepreneurial formation and activity drive the economy!  And these rely on the availabilty of capital, productivity, and technological advances.  This principle was discovered and developed by the brilliant French economist Jean-Baptiste Say in the early nineteenth century and is known as Say’s Law. In fact, Jean-Baptiste created the word “entrepreneur” to describe the primary catalyst of economic performance.

Clearly, things are clearer since the election.  For better or worse, at least we all, with the exception of Jill Stein, now know who the next President will be.  That alone is HUGGGEEE!  (Sorry, had to say it.)

But here is something we all should be able to agree on. Trump is a very a "pro-business" and "pro-American jobs" President.  Markets, businesses and investors, expect lower and more simplified taxes, large investments in infrastructure, reduced regulation, and improved (re-negotiated) trade terms. Prospects for new Intitial Public Offerings ( IPO) are looking up, which will raise important capital for business expansion while simultaneously freeing up venture capital for new rounds of investment. Thus compounding growth and innovation.

The economy is also going to get a lot of help from its friends ... queue upbeat music. 

Advances in technology, such as Artificial Inteligence, transportation with self-driving and drones, and new business models such as AirB&B and the "Gig-economy" with the likes of Uber, are all reshaping opportunties for entreprenuers and increasing American productivity and competiveness.

Expansion in USA capital markets will benefit further from the massive impact of the energy revolution taking place in America. Moving from energy dependence to energy independence will have large and profoundly positive effects on the American economy and trade deficit. And, if President Trump reverses the negative trend for American manufacturing to a positive direction, in combination with this energy revolution, we have got quite a one-two set of positive economic forces on our hands.  The Hands have it again!

Frankly, I've only scratched the surface of all the positive potential of forces. No room to expand on the benefits of world synchronized monetary easing, pent up demand and replacement cycles, new household formation, and other major forces at hand. Surfice to say, I believe a giant economic spring has sprung. And, if I'm right, there will be a lot more blooming this spring than flowers!

All this lifts demand for USA goods and services. Which leads to business investment and bank lending.  Which leads to improvement in wages. Which leads to a rise in consumer sentiment.  Which leads to consumer spending. Which takes us back to the begining.  Such is the great spirals that both expansions and recessions are made of.  

Gone are the yesteryears of slow growth. Gone are the yesterdays of election uncertainty.  Things are shaping up to be a very prosperous New Year.  Beyond that, between black swans and chaos, nobody really knows. 

Unfortunately, from a political standpoint, a bit more than half of Americans drank from the HRC & Obama punch bowl, and they look to be waking up with a miserable political hangover when President Trump is sworn. A real bad banger. This too shall pass. Whether it be in 2017, or four more years is what remains to be seen. Fortunately, that is up to you, and whether your New Year's glass is half empty or half full. 

The Apprentice - The Laughs On Who?

Do you remember the White House Correspondance Dinner when Pres Obama mocked Donald Trump over the trivial nature of his role on The Apprentice?  Now the joke is on Obama.

We are witnessing how "The Donald's" experience with vetting is coming into play. Most Presidents in the past have filled their Cabinet picks in a highly secretive way. Trump candidates are parading in and out of Trump Tower, in daylight, in a manner remeniscent of The Apprentice.  The public and the pundits can weigh-in.

Not only was Trump's Apprentice show relevant, so is his 50 years in business, hiring & firing people!  Let's see, how many job positions did Obama fill BEFORE he was President?  You got that right!  Trump darn well knows how a Meritocracy works!  And, he knows when someone is NOT DOING THERE JOB right and needs to hear "YOU'RE FIRED!"

Mothballing Federal programs - what a wonderful fresh concept in Washington where government programs are practically never shut down!  Oh, and after ~20 years of paying someone for unproductive paper pushing, there is a lifetime of pension and health care benefits that taxpayers have to fund as well -- a giant waste!!  This is just one of the ways we need to "clean-up Washington."  I just hope we don't overlook the military budget, especially foreign bases!

Right now all the attention is on the positions Trump is filling. But one of most positive aspects that we will soon have a long overdue pleasure of witnessing is the end of useless and wasteful operations and programs in the Federal Government.  The public is very used to seeing private sector businesses packing boxes and shutting their doors when the market for what they offer vanishes or the business fails to perform.  Creative destruction is the natural order in a free market capitalistic system.

God bless the American way of Capitalism - the most successful system the world has ever known for raising the standard of living.  It is high time for a wave of creative destruction in Washington!  Something we would not see if HRC was elected.

Riding the Pendulum

24 year old Tomi Lahren is brutally cynical.  Ouch!  And she gets why conservatives, republicans, and moderate democrats altered the direction of our nation politically, socially, and economically.  We are experiencing an enormous inflection in America.  Like a pendulum that just reached the maximum distance in one direction and is crashing back toward the alternate side.

One can argue that OBAMA IS THE BIGGEST REASON FOR TRUMP'S WIN.  Obama increased the energy in the pendulum by lifting the arc high to the left.  Which means the energy in the swing back to the right will be dramatic. And by early indications it is going to be!

In a state of equilibrium, the pendulum would rest in the center. There would be less volatility.  And America would elect a centrist -- A President supported broadly by both left and right. This won't happen till energy is exhausted, from both sides.  So not any time soon .... It seems to take 8 years, two presidential terms, to make a round trip.  Hold on everybody, cause it is going to be a hell of a ride!  For those facing forward it is fun. For those facing backwards, it is scary as hell. As Tomi Lahren likes to say, "she is your worst nightmare."

Would You Choose, A or B?

Which would you choose, A or B:

A) Giving a person, through public assistance a tiny percentage of what they could have made if they had a better job, but NOT the job itself
Or
B) Creating better job opportunities for a poor or unemployed person so they have less need for public assistance

A) Sending $100 to the Federal Government in order to return $70 of your money to  state and local benefit
Or
B) Sending $75 to state and local government and keeping the other $25 in your pocket but cutting the Federal government out of the process, even if this results in Federal employees losing their government jobs

A) Putting more responsibility on the Federal government to give out money to help the needy
Or
B) Putting more responsibility on the Federal government to create a conducive  environment for the private sector that creates opportunities which lets people to help themselves and reduces the need for Federal assistance

A) Giving $1000 to the Federal government to do all they do, including help the poor
Or
B) Giving $1000 to a church or temple specifically to help the poor

A)  Continuing the flow of illegal immigration
Or
B)  Giving more opportunities for people to come to America legally who have a greater likelihood of contributing to our society and desire to assimilate into American culture, but decreasing the flow of illegal immigration

A) A person who came to this country illegally has just as much right to be here and to recieve a free public school education and other benefits, even if they do not pay income tax
Or
B) A person who applies for the legal right to come to America and meets Federal requirements has a greater right to be here and receive benefits than an illegal aliens

A) $100 billion in the hands of the Federal government will create more jobs, create more wealthm and  contribute more to the GDP
Or
B) $100 billion in the hands of the private sector will create more jobs, greater wealth in America, and contribute more to the GDP

A) Increasing regulations in order to discourage bad behavior
Or
B) Decreasing regulation in order to encourage good behavior

A) Women's health issues are more important than Men's health issues
Or
B)  Men and women's mental and physical health issues are equally important

If you chose mostly A's you are most likely to be a Liberal Progressive Democrat. You are less moderate or centrist, and more likely to have supported Bernie Sanders and his concepts about Democratic Socialism than any of the Republican candidates for President and the GOP platform

If you chose mostly B's, you are most likely a racist, anti-semitic, misogynistic, Islamophobic bigot. And a Republican.

Want to know what I think?  Watch this because it comes very close!  (Once you get to the video, slide forward to get past the waiting period and up to the speakers.)

Crazy Ain't So Bad

There are times I feel crazy. Gerald Goodman, PhD, an emeritus professor of psychology at UCLA says. “Believing that you are going crazy is a good clue that you are sane." But I am referring to "crazy" in a somewhat different sense.

Crazy is naturally construed in terms of illness - actual psychosis and a medical condition such as bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia.  That is not the crazy I feel. Although, I have experienced a couple panic attacks in my life which gave me pause to wonder and seek advice.  What I mean by crazy in the context of this blog post does, nonetheless, have to do with the perception of reality. 

People, I find, tend to have a preference for self-supporting or reinforcing their bias. They tend to hang out with people who share a similar world view and follow media and news sources which support their own narrative.  Doing so reassures us that our perception of reality is accurate and reassures us that we are right - that we are not crazy.  

It stands to reason that we like people who are like us. It is comforting to believe we see clearly and that we are right,  So we tend to stay in circles of thought which fit for us and where we fit in. That way we avoid the emotional tension and stressful disonnance that comes from disagreements.

By the same token, there is a difference with being open and willing to engage with people who have very different views than we do, and looking for a fight. Some folks enjoy confrontation.  They enjoy the challenge and want to take up the fight.  This can be a good thing, especially when it comes to worthwhile cause and related social activism, such as the fight against hunger or hate crimes. But even in situations such as these there can be useful observations to be found and solutions to be gained from the willingness to see other views on the causes.  

An example may be helpful for what I am trying to explain.  So here is a brief try.  Suppose two people agree that poverty which leads to hunger is a bad thing. Those same two people can disagree on a particular solution, such as whether the answer is for the Federal Government to raise the national minimum wage. In such a situation, the person for the increase may perceive the person against the increase to be an evil person who is unwilling to address the problem of hunger. When in reality the person opposed to the national increase simply has different views on the solution. 

Back to where I am going with this blog entry ...

When we see things differently, it is enough to make one feel crazy.  In other words to feel like our sense of reality is "out of touch."  But there are different realities.

Depending on perspective - how two people can view the same paradigm can differ 180 degrees. And a paradigm can be extremely nuanced, so there are multiple levels and possible interpretations.  Unfortunately, it seems that today, especially with recent politics, that the divide is greater than I can personally recall.  (My general awareness of the greater world I was living in began after the Vietnam War was coming to a close.  I suspect the divisions were even greater during that period.) 

There is something positive about feeling crazy.  And there is something constructive to challenging ourselves to acknowledge and consider views very different from our own.  

When we don't leave ourselves open to other possibilities our ability to find common ground between one another is impeded.  And we may miss opportunities for solutions.  Almost surely we forgo the potential for teamwork and the likelihood is that people work at cross purposes with frustratingly few benefits.

Therein lies an essential and deep problem with society today.  The issues today with debt, governments role, foreign relations, racism, healthcare, environment, etc. are extremely troubling. I perceive everyone of these problems to be man made and thus solvable.  But they are so large that they will ONLY be overcome if we work together. 

The difference between Liberal and Conservative views are stagering.  People's minds are made up.  We assure ourselves that we are not crazy by convincing ourselves that our perception is correct and the others are wrong, and that there is no other possible way to justify the situation, and that only either a Democratic or Republican approach to problems is right.

Prejudices are made of this.  Anger and fear come from this. Hate grows out of this. Obstructionism is the result of this.  But finding common ground and mutually workable solutions and teamwork is NOT what comes from it! And that is why our congress and our country and even friends and family members find themselves at odds.

There are times I feel crazy.  But I view that as a positive sign that I need to dig deeper to find a better understanding and means to communicate with the other side.  And when I have the opportunity, with someone who is open to me, to try to offer another perspective, in the spirit of mutual respect and with a loving spirit.

The very sad and distressing side to this is that there is often a very unfriendly and even hostile reaction to anyone whose views are different. This is not to say that we should tolerate acts of hate!!!  But what I do find personally difficult is how harsh people can judge others who see circumstances in the world and have a different interpretation.  In an ironic twist, maybe the world would not be as crazy and scary as it is if we each felt a bit crazy and tried to seek a better understanding with greater openess. 

What Hineni Means To Me

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." 
Jacob's Dream, Genesis 28:10−32:3

What does Hineni mean to me? 

According to Cantor Linda Hirschhorn, Hineni is about the attitude of the entire person - their emotional and spiritual presence. 

In the Bible, each time God calls out to the prophets Abraham and Moses, they answer, Hineni (Hear I am), to signify their fully present readiness to respond. 

Throughtout life, I believe their are opportunities to hear - opportunities to be present and open to the possibilty that we have the potential to have a life-changing experience for ourselves or someone else. And that by hearing the call, we might offer some solace and inspiration.  But only if we say Hineni הִנֵנִי.

Hineni represents the potential we have to change the world - or our world and people around us - through a decision, resolutuion, and actions.

Hineni represents an readiness and attentiveness.  It is rooted in the belief the God is in every moment and every place, in the smallest and biggest things.  And that it is up to us to notice, to listen, to see the potential that life offers to serve and to be grateful.  

Hineni also represents faith and confidence.  When we say Hineni, we proclaim our willingness to overcome fear.  To act on faith no matter what the odds and despite our limits.