Thursday, November 24, 2016

Trump's Happy Holidays for the Rich: Oligarchies Still Popular on Wall Street

Shortly after Trump's "unexpected" win, the financial futures
markets took a steep dive, but then quickly recovered, rallying to
new heights. We are now in historic ~1900 DJIA points territory.
There are absolutely no surprises here, dating back as far as you
like, to even before the Dutch East India Company and other
"greed is good"  groups/corporations/combines.

I wonder how Wall Streeters hold their heads up so proudly
amid their many scandals, seldom escaping from a decade
without a major one; no embarrassment engages them in
any will to change, reform. Probably, they shrewdly note that,
given time, everything blows over for most Americans...but not
for me. Ivan Boesky,  Michael Milken, the Savings and Loan
debacle, dot com crisis, Enron, Bernie Madoff--they all are major
malfeasance felons  fresh in my mind. Wall Street employees
and major brokers are unconcerned with what their policies
and sales strategies do to the average investor, to say little
regarding the macroeconomic implications; their main focus
is on them and theirs, comfort and luxury, bragging rights
(--Welcome to my home! Would you like to take the tour?)
--Ugh. Don't selecting the finer wines, food and decor
ever get old?

Trump's Happy Holidays' better behavior may emanate from
advisors' wake up calls, or simply ensuring his election is
not overturned on December 19th, 2016, when the Electoral
College actually delivers its votes: few "faithless electors"
are predicted to cast a change to Clinton. Maybe the Don
suddenly recalled many other nations possess the atomic
and hydrogen bombs, so treading a bit more rationally on
the domestic and international stage, after all the bullying
bluster, seems sane--after all.

Both Roosevelt presidents are spinning in their graves
right about now, for some of the same reasons as well
as different ones. Oligarchy's dark, devious practices
were not approved economic policy by either TR or FDR,
despite the family wealth...

But let's lift  a glass of Cranberry Juice to anyone who
will keep fighting for reasonable, just reforms and
accountability. Lift another one with a toast wishing
Oligarchy a short season as we stumble into 2017.

--Stay alert, y'all!

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Tough Reality Check for The Don's Pledge of Better Heartland Jobs

...and wages, according to Reuters, "Politics",
November 10th, 2016.  I strongly urge one and
all to read this article; its bottom line concludes
that even if Mr. Trump had the ability to change
the trade deals he claims Clinton devised to ruin
America, any improvements "would be at the
margins", would be slight. Several economists
are quoted in the piece, reminding people that
~40 years of automation, technology and
offshoring manufacturing jobs won't disappear;
it's almost impossible to "shift the needle", "...
"to turn back the clock."

Here are a few hard-hitting questions for the Don
and crew, assuming they are actually serious about
effecting such a massive blast to the past:

(1) Where will the money come from to build the
factories required to give the blue collar workers
jobs they used to have? Will the Don tax the
Koch Brothers, et al.?

(2)  These purported products created here at home--
who will be buying them? --Only Americans? What
about trade and debt imbalances?

(3)  Can the U.S. become totally self-sufficient,
insular, thumbing its collective nose at the rest
of the world?

(4)  If the USA could become completely
self-sufficient, as it was well over 100 years
ago, what would the implications be for
international relations (i.e., defense)?

(5)  Has Mr. Trump made any provision to
combat other nation's invading us via hack?
In view of China, Russia and others hacking
our web, the disabling of  our infrastructure
and utilities are real possibilities. For those
who read and view documentaries, such
threats are all too real and potentially
immediate.

I'll continue to lob hard balls at the media,
the politicians, the addled, uncaring rich and
the desperate/deluded poor, as Albert Einstein
advised: "Never stop asking questions."

--Questions, the best reality check. Let's polish
them up and put them to the elite and the elected
...but the rest of us must review and reflect
as well.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Trump Troops Us Closer to Disaster: the "Win" is a Loss

November 9th, 2016, 2 a.m. Chicago time:

Yes, as I feared for months, back to Summer, 2015, well
before Trump won the Republican Party's nomination, the rabble,
roused, rising, now reigns. The disaffected, the low-class,
uneducated/educated  white males plus their odd minority and
female fellow travelers, they have all won.

So what exactly is the nature of this win? Destabilization has
already reared its ugly head; the financial futures market has
dropped sharply just two hours ago. World leaders who
previously asked our diplomats "Is Trump crazy?" will
now find out.

                    Errors Revealed and Reviled:

(1) Trump's knowledge of our global village only
exists in the arena of luxury hotels and golf courses.

(2) The new president thinks he can return the planet
to pre-President Clinton days, before NAFTA, before
DA-ESH (ISIL), before Brexit, Syria, et al.

(3) Watch for a wave of extreme Executive Orders
and Presidential Directives issued by our new president
...to say nothing of ones on the books, such as
PD 59, which "legally" allows the U.S. the privilege
of a first nuclear strike.

I am ashamed of everyone who voted for the Donald
and supported him in any way. It is clear now,
inescapable, really, that this is STILL a racist,
insular, sexist, trashy and delusional country, an ever-
accelerating reality here since the Allies won
WWII...a denouement which has brought
us to this travesty of an election.

This Trump win troops us ever closer to disaster,
a downward spiral in a nation not willing to admit
it must relinquish its former "number one" status,
or show the proper respect to the rest of the
planet--which DOES, by the bye, possess
very effective means to retaliate, through
trade, through military realignments and
other international mechanisms.

This world and this country have lost in
the early hours of November 9, 2016.
May God help us, as we were unable
to help ourselves.