Archive for Big Government

War Update: Will the Covert War Against Iran Go Overt?

While we have been distracted by sideshows and clowns domestically, the world has become much more dangerous in the last few weeks.  Topping my list is the mobilization of the Egyptian military to support General Haftar in Libya against the Turkish backed Libyan government.  Also heavily involved are Russia and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of General Haftar.  In addition, there is a growing showdown in Syria involving Israel, Russia, Iran, Kurds, Islamic terrorist groups, and Turkey.  On most Wednesdays, this is sufficiently bad.  However, these are special times.  Armenia backed by Russia and Azerbaijan backed by Turkey are again approaching a breakout into all-out war.  Further east in Asia, India and China are squaring off over disputed territory while the United States is facing down China at sea.  I cannot tell you exactly how this will all play out, but my money is on at least one of these issues breaking out into a full-blown conflict by fall.  My bets are on the conflict in Libya significantly escalating and then spilling back into the Middle East as well as a war with Iran.  However, I want to focus on how Mossad is trying to instigate the war with Iran because it will directly involve the United States.  Mind you, these conflicts all have links, and all have disastrous consequences.  It is just a matter of what issue proves dominant when trying to order how the dominoes will fall.  Let us take a quick look at how this could develop and why it matters to you.  

Since my previous post, another string of explosions has besieged Iran hitting a power plant in particular.  No one…no one, believes these are accidental events.  Barring another state acting covertly, which would likely cause both the United States and Israel to disavow the acts, Israel’s Mossad is the prime suspect.  The Israeli government is keenly aware their alliance with the Trump Administration is as good as they have ever enjoyed and will significantly degrade if Joe Biden is elected President in November.  Netanyahu knows with President Trump; they can face down Iran and be backed up.  They also know that any plans of expansion, annexation, or war with Iran will be supported by President Trump.  However, under a President Biden, everyone of these core issues for Israel will be quashed.  Further, Israel has not forgotten how then Secretary of State Kerry and President Obama sold them out with the “Iran Nuclear Deal” and the unfreezing of billions of dollars for Iran.  Israel believes it cannot afford to take the risk of Biden and his radical socialist agenda taking over.  As such they must act.

To avert the risk of a Biden presidency and an ascendant Iranian threat, Israel has one major hurdle to overcome.  The hurdle is President Trump.  Although President Trump blindly backs Israel, has made it abundantly clear to his policy advisors that he does not want a war with Iran.  Therefore, “by way of deception,” Mossad must initiate a war that President Trump cannot back out of.  Perhaps, better said, a war Iran cannot back out of.  Remember, Iran is not suicidal and does not want a war with the United States.  It is Israel that will bring these two nations to blows in what one may point to biblically as foreseen in the book of Daniel.  For those that are not biblical scholars, writing over two thousand years ago, Daniel knew this would be bad and usher in far worse.  Knowing they must instigate the war, Mossad must covertly create the conditions that force Iran to respond in a way President Trump cannot not respond.   

So, for Israel, it is now or never.  Expect the tempo of attacks against Iran to continue until Iran retaliates, but here is the twist.  This is a no win for Iran.  If Iran does overtly retaliate, Israel will feign innocence and immediately overtly respond in “self-defense.”  Iran will then have to escalate, and the United States will be sucked into the war.  Helping Israel is the Deep State, which has salivated for a war against Iran for years and will rally the United States to join the war.  However, I believe Iran will wait to retaliate covertly to avoid this escalation and Mossad also knows this.  To mitigate an Iranian non-response, Mossad must carry out a spectacular attack on American interests that will be designed to immediately look like Iran conducted the attack.  This will be a false flag, “by way of deception,” and force President Trump to retaliate in a manner that triggers a major war.  In addition, voting for the November election begins in six short weeks.  President Trump is looking extremely vulnerable and will need to take every opportunity he has to control the headlines, look powerful, and rally support beyond his base.  Sadly, he will “need” the Deep State if he has any chance of re-election.  Trump knows this and Israel knows this.  Trump will not be able to look weak when something like one of our destroyers is taken out by a torpedo that conveniently has “made in Iran” stamped on it…even though it was launched from an Israeli submarine.  Make no mistake, Mossad is far more concerned about Israel than the disastrous costs to the United States and will not hesitate to put a plan like this into action.

What does this mean for us?  If you are into hedging your bets that the chaos this year will only increase, you are in luck.  I am warning everyone that we will enter a period of extreme danger in September.  This is about as late as Israel can afford to postpone triggering a war with Iran with any hope of sucking the United States into it deep enough that regardless of who is elected in November, they will have to continue the war against Iran.  This also gives enough lead time for President Trump to leverage it to support his re-election, which is important timing because Netanyahu wants President Trump to win a second term.  If September comes and goes, the next and last window will be the month after the election if Biden wins.  If Israel thinks President Trump could win re-election, they just may hold off, but would have to immediately act if he lost.  This is a dangerous gamble because they would have to trigger a full-scale war before Biden was sworn in and even then, President Biden may opt to not support Israel.  No matter what Israel believes is good for Israel, a war with Iran will be disastrous for the United States.  This will benefit no one and I pray our leaders step back from the brink.  The United States will prevail in a war, but at a cost that leads to a massive geo-political diminishment of American status and a re-ordering of the world’s balance of power.  The costs of this war will be game-over for America as we know it once the dust settles.  I hope I am wrong. After all, there is certainly the possibility that Israel through back channels gets the assurances it needs from the Biden campaign so that it holds its fire.  However, if you were Israel, would you trust Biden (whose healthy is poor) and his radically anti-Semitic allies?  I would not and that is why I assess the danger rising to an “extreme” level by September.  As we move forward through this year of great world turmoil, I will continue to update you, but please do not hesitate to take what I am telling you seriously.  You really need to prepare yourselves for hard times for they are upon us.

By Guiles Hendrik

July 22, 2020

The Role of Policing in Society Part I: How Big Government Spawns Hatred for the Police

I reject the narratives circulating in the media.  I reserve the right to think independently and dissent from what the nation is being intimidated into “believing.”  This is still a Right of free people.  The argument all cops are bad is absurd.  The argument that police are systemically racist is patently false…a fact we should all be proud to announce vice succumbing to political intimidation and pandering.  On the other side of the narrative, it is false to declare that all cops are good and beyond reproach.  Like all institutions, there are always some wrongdoers.  However, when we find these miscreants wearing blue, we should all agree to weed them out instead of insulating them from accountability, be it by a union or immunity.  Also false are the polarized arguments insisting at one extreme, we abolish the police, or at the other extreme, cops must be protected from all criticism.  Neither narrative is beneficial and neither serves to address the real problems underlying the growing animosity and distrust between the public and the police.  This is not accidental.  This is a classic false choice, a red herring, set up by subversive elites to effectively trick the public into division.  To be clear, the police writ large are still the good guys and appreciated by vastly more people than the mainstream media portrays through a campaign of relentless disinformation.  So, rather than rehashing ridiculous narratives, I hope I can inject some balance and reason back into this ideological divide, which has been engineered to rip apart the fabric of this great nation.  In Part I of my articles on policing in the United States, I address the root causes of conflict between the police and the public, which are by definition systemic, and how to reverse it at a macro level. 

To scope the argument, let me ask this question.  Is there a difference between law enforcement and the police?  I asked many police officers this question and the consensus answer, albeit nuanced, was they were the same.  Inherent in this consensus the two terms are synonymous is what I believe to be one of the greatest problems with “law enforcement.”  There is a huge difference between protecting citizens as citizens and enforcing any edict an insane bureaucrat may concoct as a paramilitary arm of the regime.  This divide can be traced directly back to the differing Franco-Continental and British views of policing pre-dating the 1700s.  The British ideas, captured in Sir Robert Peel’s Nine “Peelian Principles,” represent policing by the consent of the people.  The Franco-Continental view is one of authoritarian absolutism through law enforcement.  One is the champion of the people and respected and the other becomes the enemy of the people and detested.  Not surprisingly, governments left unchecked often create a Franco-Continental model of law enforcement instead of the citizen based British model of policing.  Being that the law enforcement model has been embraced by big government socialists around the world to force policies without the consent of citizens, I do not find it at all coincidental that this glaring distinction between policing and law enforcement has been eradicated in modern vernacular and discussion.  Equally true is that as our nation moves from policing by consent to policing by force, there will be growing resistance.  As such, when asked how to “fix” our police departments, my answer is simple.  It is not to outright defund the police or get rid of cops.  It is to remove law enforcement from the corrupting control of politicians and make the police directly answerable to the public, which they directly serve.  With this comes training, re-education, and a heavy scoping of the role police serve in society and how they perform their duties.          

In a perfect world, the public would elect competent officials that execute the duties of their office with the utmost integrity and the best interests of the public in mind.  The public would be well represented by their officials.  The elected official would be directly accountable to the citizens not just in theory, but in practice.  They would rigorously adhere to the legal precedents codified in the Constitution and jealously guard the Rights of the people enshrined in the Bill of Rights.  These representatives would craft legislation that improves the lives of the citizens and only when necessary, would they use the police to enforce these just laws in the defense of life, liberty, and property with the citizens’ consent. 

Then there is the real world where corrupt and utterly incompetent bureaucrats and politicians spend lifetimes enriching themselves and their close friends at the taxpayers’ expense.  These career politicians have an insatiable appetite for more power, which means bigger government.  How does government get bigger?  It creates more government organizations to churn out an endless supply of new laws and regulations that give the politicians more power, wealth, and protection.  To fund these all-consuming fiefdoms, the political elite need an ever increasing amount of money to be extorted from the public in a thousand different ways ranging from traffic cameras, highway tolls, and speed traps, to the 78,000 pages of tax codes and counting.  The bigger their government fiefdom becomes, the more inefficient it becomes.  The more inefficient it becomes the greater need for even more laws to raise even more revenue.  This leviathan left unchecked will create so many laws, regulations, codes, taxes, ordnances, and rules, life for the ordinary citizen becomes oppressive and the citizen soon sees the government as the enemy.   

This growth of government directly impacts how police are seen by the public they serve.  Bigger and bigger government requires the need for more and more enforcement capacity.  This is an inherent problem that defines the violence and tyranny of big government, which soon becomes synonymous with Socialism.  To sustain the government, police are placed on the front lines of revenue generation, which immediately makes them the object of scorn for the financially extorted public.  Yes, it is true that it is the “elected” politicians of the “people” that created these taxes, but the fact is lost on the individual who only sees the officer in blue writing the ticket.  Some examples of how law enforcement become the face of revenue collection include enforcing ridiculous taxes on cigarettes, issuing frivolous traffic tickets, and enforcing tolls on highways paid for a thousand times over by taxpayers.  We may dress this up better, but a man with a gun enforcing the extraction of a $40 toll on Interstate 66 from the father trying to get to work is little different in practice to the ordinary citizen than the highwayman of old that held up travelers at gun point and robbed them face-to-face.  In addition to revenue collection, law enforcement is tasked with all manner of intrusive actions into people’s lives.  The list of egregious abuses grows by the day and includes everything from civil asset forfeiture better known as state sponsored theft to raiding homes in the middle of the night killing innocent citizens through gross negligence.  Whether arresting a six-year-old for a playground scuffle or unconstitutionally disarming innocent citizens without due process, the root of these outrages grows from too much government.  This insatiable growth of government ultimately pits the organs of state sanctioned force against the people it was designed originally to serve.  It is at this juncture when our men and women in blue must ask who they serve and whether they are representing law enforcement and the bureaucrats or police and the people. 

Our nation is at cross-roads.  Do we want police, or do we want law enforcement?  My question to our officers in blue is will you force the corrupt politicians with their overzealous rules to capitulate or will you continue to protect and empower them?  Will you serve by the consent of the people or the decree of the bureaucrats that despise the police, yet use law enforcement for their benefit?  You, the men and women in blue, have the power to be the champions of the people by denying the political elite the ability to force their oppressive ideologies on the public.  You are their enforcement capability.  Without your consent, their edicts are hollow.  Who do you serve?  Are you going to stand in formation all night long getting pelted with bricks and bottles of urine as your neighborhoods burn because some corrupt councilman dictated a stand-down order?  Are the only arrests you make going to be the father that pulled a gun to protect his family as the mob attacked him, burned his business, and trashed his car?  If so, in spite of the disinformation and propaganda in the mainstream media, which does not represent the actual attitudes and values of the majority in the nation that want to support the police, you have not only have lost the people, but have become the willing dupes of an elite that despises you.  Instead of selectively enforcing the law based on intimidation and pressure from radical politicians, I challenge all officers across this nation to push back, use discretion, and exercise their right to dissent by not engaging in inequitably practices that alienate the public.  Equally important, if communities genuinely want change in our policing practices…and I do, I challenge the citizens to replace career politicians, roll back the insane number of intrusive and unnecessary rules, and remove the control of the police departments from these governing bodies.  Our nation desperately needs checks and balances and for all too long, the big city police departments have been hamstrung by corrupt officials unfit to wear a badge.  Make the departments and their budgets independent.  Make the police chiefs elected officials.  Make the governments stop using the police to enforce revenue collection and all other non-criminal matters.  As Sir Robert Peel advocated, make the police the citizens and the citizens the police.      

By Guiles Hendrik,

July 14, 2020

Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principles:

  1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.
  2. To recognise always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.
  3. To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.
  4. To recognise always that the extent to which the co-operation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.
  5. To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
  6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.
  7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
  8. To recognise always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.
  9. To recognise always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.

Will Negative Oil Prices Finally End the Petrodollar… and America as We Know It?

Image Source: https://www.sbcgold.com/blog/will-petrodollar-collapse/

Yesterday, the “impossible” happened.  Oil traded below $0.  In fact, not by a little, but by up to $40 dollars.  Not only is oil now cheaper than water, but it is so cheap, producers are having to pay people to take it.  The energy markets are imploding.  Obviously, this isn’t a sustainable situation and horrific for anyone invested in the energy market.  However, while all the talking heads are focused on the immediate problems this creates, a far bigger financial storm is brewing that no one in the mainstream media (MSM) dares to discuss. This financial storm has a very real potential of spiraling out of control and destroying the reserve status of the U.S. Dollar by disrupting, if not destroying, the Petrodollar.  The impact would not be some distant crisis in the Middle East, but would be the destruction of the standard of living every America has come to know and expect.

Many have heard the term “Petrodollar,” but few understand what it represents and how critical it is to America’s global dominance.  Here are two links to help: https://internationalman.com/articles/timing-the-collapse-ron-paul-says-watch-the-petrodollar/; https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/petrodollars.asp The very simplified explanation is that almost all commodities (wheat, hogs, gold, oil, etc.) are traded and settled globally in U.S. Dollars.  This represents the broader application of the term Petrodollar, which was originally used to denote just the purchase of oil.  This means countries must purchase dollars to trade.  This arrangement is critical for the United States and came out of the post-World War II Bretton Woods financial agreement that established the U.S. Dollar as the world’s reserve currency.  At the time, the U.S. controlled most of the gold in the world and the dollar was backed by gold and redeemable for gold.  During the Nixon era, the U.S. announced it no longer would back its dollars with gold, which significantly decreased demand for dollars. To protect the dollar’s reserve status post-Gold Standard, the Petrodollar system was established. The system created a reliable buyer of our debt by Middle Eastern oil producers.  Since then, the U.S. has allowed the dollar’s value to float in order to finance trillions of dollars in subsequent debt spending.  This has led to a steady devaluation of the dollar.  In spite of this, the dollar is still the best bet in town and countries continue to use it as the primary means of settling trade and storing wealth. The Petrodollar arrangement, in effect, has allowed the U.S. to create and spend enormous sums of money without massive inflation since there has been a large and reliable source of buyers for our debt in the form of U.S. Treasury Bonds and users of the U.S. Dollar for trade.  Note that treasury bonds are the biggest category of U.S. debt and are backed by the U.S. government’s ability to tax in order to pay back the debt issued through the bonds.  Up until now, this has generally worked since the demand for dollars has counterbalanced the supply of dollars, which has maintained a reasonable stasis in currency value.  However, we have just experienced the most destabilizing impact in modern history on this relationship.

Specific to the Petrodollar, the U.S. has had a longstanding deal with the major Middle Eastern oil producers to buy their oil in dollars in exchange for them to use our dollars to buy massive amounts of our treasury bonds (our debt).  To maintain this relationship, we have “looked the other way” and provided significant political and military protection to these countries; despite the fact they are brutal totalitarian monarchies and about as un-American as it gets.  Now, as oil demand continues to plummet and global commerce vapor locks, much as predicted in previous articles, this is creating a situation where no one has the ability to buy our treasury bonds (our debt). Simultaneously, the use of U.S. Dollars drops off a cliff.  Compounding that situation is the need for nations holding our treasury bonds (our debt) to cash out their holdings to finance covering the cost of their economic losses incurred as the pandemic spreads across the globe.  This is occurring just as the U.S. is creating massive amounts of additional dollars (more debt), which it needs to sell in the form of treasury bonds to finance its domestic bailouts.  This is creating a perfect storm.

Remember, the purchase of our debt by Middle Eastern oil producers has been a critical cornerstone of the dollar’s survival since the currency was removed from the Gold Standard.  Ultimately, there are only two ways this debt is paid for.  It is either paid back by higher taxes or by creating more money and additional debt, which causes inflation and then hyperinflation if no one is able or willing to buy the debt.  The latter appears to be what is developing as the big buying oil producers go broke and no politician in Washington is ready to roll out a huge tax hike on Americans.  Historically, when presented with this situation, governments have opted for printing cash and obliterating the value of their currency.  This has always led to a currency crisis. Once the stability of a currency is in question, people abandon its use. For the U.S. Dollar, this would mean its use as a reserve currency would end or be heavily diminished. This is why the crisis could be catastrophic and no one from the MSM is willing to touch the subject. 

Make no mistake, we are still early in this crisis.  The global impacts are only just beginning to be felt and much is still unknown.  The crisis this pandemic has initiated (I say initiated since the U.S. economy was already in a massive bubble and primed to collapse) will persist for months and years, not weeks.  The economic consequences may well last decades and lead to a total reset.  In addition, few have attempted to recognize the grim reality for what it is and think through the catastrophic consequences of how the collapse of the Petrodollar could play out.  The dominoes have begun to fall and where they lead is truly scary.

So, what could this domino effect look like?  At minimum, the major oil producing countries in the Middle East are facing a legitimate crisis that is likely to topple some, if not most, of their monarchies if the depressed oil prices persist another six to twelve months.  Remember, these dictatorships have used their oil revenue to maintain power through brutal oppression and paying off their populations by generous welfare systems.  Without oil money, these hated regimes will fall and fall fast, which is one of the few silver linings of this unholy alliance with dictatorships.  With them will fall the Petrodollar.  Without the Petrodollar system, the U.S. will be facing staggering levels of inflation and the dollar’s status as the reserve currency will not only be jeopardized, but most likely lost.  This leads to even higher levels of inflation and a rapid collapse in the standard of living.  At this point, the U.S. government will be incapable of funding social welfare programs and sustaining the massive bureaucracy it created.  This leads to an endgame reset with social unrest and political upheaval.  Let’s hope this chain of events can be stopped, but the reality is at best, with close to $30 trillion in rapidly growing debt, the crisis can be only temporarily interrupted and delayed.  The endgame is now set.

Note: I am far from the first to point out the issues with the Petrodollar or suggest the system is or will collapse. However, I believe that unlike previously, we are in a situation where the reality is more likely than ever before. See: https://peakoil.com/business/the-coming-collapse-of-the-petrodollar-system; https://www.sovereignman.com/podcast/the-petrodollar-is-collapsing-and-its-one-of-the-biggest-opportunities-in-the-world-right-now-14975/; https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-last-time-this-happened-the-us-went-to-war-to-defend-its-interests-14979/; https://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-end-the-petrodollar-25002

By Guiles Hendrick

April 19, 2020

Absurdities of the Coronavirus Lockdown

Today is simply venting about the absurdities I have witnessed over the course of the last few months.  Feel free to comment and add to what amounts to a lengthy and admittedly far from comprehensive list.  I could care less if you agree or disagree.  This is simply an exercise in mental health. 

To start my list, I am tired of the idiotic retort of “the coronavirus is not really bad because (fill in the blank) kills (fill in the blank) people each year.”  This comparison logic is void of any understanding of the logarithmic spread of a contagious disease.  A fair analogy of this logic would be an officer on the first day of World War I and telling his soldiers that it’s absurd to worry about this new device called a machine gun because only a few people have been killed by them.  How about this instead?  In a matter of just a few months, the COVID-19 has wiped out more Americans than all of America’s senseless wars in the last forty years?  These are thousands of people that would be upright and walking and talking had a very nasty virus not hopped from China to the United States.  All deadly diseases start by killing a single person.  The point isn’t that only a single person has died; it’s how many people could die if it isn’t prevented. 

I am tired of talking about “peak” infections.  Does it really matter if 977 people die instead of 983?  Can we agree that its horrible either way?  As long as we have the virus in our communities it will rapidly spread.  Remember we started with zero infections and within weeks, absent social distancing, we had thousands of infections.  As such, I am curious how it is okay to start with, say 1,300 infections, and think that the result will be any different.

I am tired of people who can’t “deal” with reality.  Get over it snowflakes and toughen up.  Newsflash, you don’t have a right to the world being perfect.  You wanted to socialize everything else, so why not risk and hardship?  After all, that is the result of socialist policies so take good notes.  No matter how much you deny reality, you are not immune from the consequences of your denial.  In fact, it’s healthy your normalcy bias was shattered.  Look at it as being cured of a state of chronic mental illness for free.  Oh, and yes, it is possible you are faced with nothing but bad options.  A statement comes to mind that many grunts can appreciate, “welcome to the suck.” 

I am tired of the Left race baiting and trying to politicize the suffering during this pandemic.  The disease is not racist contrary to the absurd proclamations from these divisive subversives openly operating in the United States.  The disease kills irrespective of race, gender, or class much to the chagrin of these radicals.  Further, whether they like it or not, it kills unhealthy people at much higher rates.  I hope this wasn’t a big surprise.  In particular, if you are obese, chances are you have a pre-existing condition that will be exasperated by this disease whether you are a fat white person that smokes in Appalachia or a fat black person that smokes in the inner-city.  If you don’t like it, I would recommend accepting some responsibility and living a healthier lifestyle. 

I am tired of over-zealous police acting as if they are Gestapo agents demanding “your papers.”  “Voluntary” recommendations should be the operative term.  Going about your life…as in traveling, recreating, eating, working, visiting, etc. is not a crime.  Only in the worst of authoritarian regimes would a human be stripped of what amounts to one of the most basic human rights…the right to pursue the means of subsistence.  How exactly is jailing a person for walking down the street helping to prevent disease spread?   Our bureaucrats do not understand the most basic relationships between cause and effect.  These newly imprisoned people not only present a serious risk of bringing the disease into to the isolated prison population, but also acquiring it and then being released soon thereafter and spreading it back to the public.  Ironically, the unnecessary contact exposes our police and judicial officials to a far greater risk of infection, which may be a form of poetic justice.  The mounting number of government abuses from fines to outright imprisonment of citizens is intolerable. 

I am tired of neighbors ratting out each other as if they are informants for the East German Stasi.  I am all for outing these loyalists to the Crown.  What kind of self-respecting American calls the police on their neighbor for cooking out or playing catch in their own backyard?  Further, how stupid are these people?  Do they not know even the most basic facts about viral spread?  This is chilling.  Please do everything you can to shame these “Karens” into a bit more old fashion anti-establishment American rebellion for the good of everyone.

I am tired of releasing prison populations into unprepared communities.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe many thousands of people are unjustly imprisoned every year and many never should have been jailed.  I am not debating that point.  What is of concern is that thousands of convicted criminals are suddenly being released from jail with no money, no job, no place to stay and no hope of finding any of the aforementioned necessities under the current circumstances.  A thinking person would recognize this is rather destabilizing and could quickly lead to a spike in crime for any community victimized by a sudden dumping of inmates in their backyard. 

I am tired of people that have spent their entire lives supporting anti-gun measures suddenly racing out to buy a gun.  If you don’t own a gun yet, you should be prevented from purchasing a firearm until this crisis has passed.  The only background check should be to see if you have previously purchased a gun and are in good standing with the Second Amendment.  For once, the anti-gun advocates should have to suffer the consequences for blindly stating their entire lives that there is no reason for a person to own a gun.  Further, these people truly don’t know what in the hell they are doing with a firearm and epitomize everything they feared about reckless gun owners.  Now that these hypocrites are forced to admit that security could quickly deteriorate and the government cannot protect them, we shouldn’t let them off the hook before their lesson is learned. 

I am tired of the term “worker” as if we are some type of Bolshevik slaves.  Terms like citizens, employees, managers, business owners, or even a generic statement like people recently unemployed would be fitting, but President Trump unthinkingly taking his talking points from Bernie Sanders is a bridge too far.  Workers of the world unite!

I am tired of how people reflexively turn to the government for an immediate “fix” even though the government’s failures are to blame for the spread of the virus within the United States.  Why would anyone expect the organization most responsible for this colossal failure to have the solution?  Do people not realize hundreds of billions of dollars and entire organizations within  the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security (FEMA) as well as our intelligence agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are specifically tasked with preparedness, early warning, defense, resilience, and recovery in the event of a biological threat?  Further, where are all the open borders activists and globalists demanding we produce everything cheaply overseas?  At what point will these organizations and their leadership be held to account?  At minimum, considering the time and money spent over the decades, the government should have stockpiled personal protective equipment for healthcare providers and the population.  It is simply inexcusable that our nation was caught unprepared and by surprise considering the massive amount of money dedicated to intelligence.  This failure is on par with Pearl Harbor.

I am tired of global corporations and financial institutions that made reckless risk decisions getting trillion dollar bailouts.  These corporate executives are making millions running unprofitable failing companies, but the taxpayers get what?  A bill?  Hell, we don’t even get stock options in these lousy companies.  Let them fail.  Instead of stock buybacks, perhaps they should have built some savings.  How is it that Joe the Plumber is responsible for bailing out a company like Boeing, which was failing long before any pandemic?  Boeing has horrible management made up of former career bureaucrats, quality control levels so poor they are producing aircraft with debris in fuel tanks, and have been producing aircraft more unsafe than jets designed decades ago while charging astronomical prices.  The company should fail or have to radically clean up its act.  Nonetheless, somehow their gross mismanagement is the problem of the taxpayer through a system of cronyism and socialist government policies.  This cannot end well. 

I am tired of hearing how we have the “best economy in history” even though that statement is based on incredibly manipulated numbers and what amounts to complete revisionist history.  We have known for years that we have been living in one of the biggest bubbles ever created.  The financial markets have soared to record highs as a result of manipulation by the Federal Reserve, but are underpinned by nothing.  Anyone with sense knew this bubble would burst sooner or later.  The only question was what would pop the bubble.  Admittedly, this is the subject of an entire dissertation so I will leave it at this.  If it truly was the best economy in history, why did it collapse in a week and if it didn’t, why did it need (as of this week) six trillion in tax dollars to bail it out?    

I am tired of how our government conspires with the Federal Reserve to conjure trillions of dollars out of thin air and then pretends that there are no negative consequences.  Are Americans really so naïve as to believe the middle class isn’t going to get stuck with the bill?  The poor can’t pay and the rich don’t pay.  Put another way, I will be happy to give a two thousand dollar check to any sucker willing to give me ten thousand dollars in “taxes” to pay for me giving them the two thousand dollars.  This is literally what the government is doing to “help” and it appears Americans are truly dumb enough to think this is beneficial. 

Finally, I am tired of people’s apathy and immediate acquiescence to even the most draconian government dictates.  Do we honestly think Google has our best interests in mind volunteering to help track us for the government? This sounds an awful lot like what China does to control its population. For once, many of the “workers” don’t have to be at work.  There is no excuse why we all shouldn’t be marching on our state capitals demanding our Rights instead of sheepishly ignoring the draconian precedents being set daily.  It’s true; no good crisis should go to waste.  However, rather than allowing us to be manipulated by fear into giving up more Rights, let’s use this chance to take back the ones we have lost. 

By Guiles Hendrik

April 11, 2020

Distributed Operations: Keys to Countering the Modern Police State

I am often asked how an insurgent (a.k.a. guerilla) force could successfully function against a modern police state. The answer to this complex challenge has taken on a mystique akin to the search for the Holy Grail. Many have come to believe that any resistance against these authoritative regimes leveraging the latest in surveillance technology is futile. This conclusion is false. Any modern police state can be successfully confronted and if necessary, overthrown. This is even more likely when a true critical mass of the populace is unified in their demand for the change. However, for those suffering under brutal regimes that were hoping for a simple panacea, I am sorry to disappoint you. This is a highly complicated and daunting operation that involves plans custom tailored to each unique regime. Even then, at the outset of resistance, the odds of success are not good making the endeavor highly risky. Most insurgencies are crushed in their infancies, but like newborns, those insurgencies that can survive for at least a year rapidly turn the tables and with each passing month statistically become more and more likely to succeed. Of those successful struggles against tyranny, one finds commonalities that will be applicable to any guerilla war. One of the most important of these is the use of Distributed Operations (DO). Read more

Game over in Syria or a new crisis around the corner?

LMS has extensively covered the conflict in Syria where we have witnessed the great game of global elites jockeying for control.  This relatively small patch of land has been victimized by proxy war, state-sponsored terrorism, false-flag chemical attacks, and even brought the US the closest it has been to nuclear war with Russia since the Cuban Missile Crisis, yet few Americans have cared to pay even the slightest attention.  After all, didn’t we “defeat” ISIS and all is well?  The truth is this may be the calm before the storm and a new far bigger conflict is right around the corner.    Read more

Whose Clearance Will Trump Revoke Next?

Let me be very direct regarding the stripping of former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance.  It was long overdue and no one has any “right” to a clearance.  None of the folks spending a lifetime of honest work in the intelligence world retains a clearance after leaving and neither should the director, which knows far less than career operatives.  In fact, Brennan never should have had a clearance and the only contact he should have had with our intelligence community is if he was a subject of collection for anti-American activities.  This is not debatable.  The only question to settle now is who is next.

Brennan is and always has been a hostile anti-American activist.  The fact that Brennan is a proud, self-admitted communist that supported Soviet activities during the height of the Cold War should have landed him in jail.  Instead, because of the remarkable corruption and penetration of communists to the most senior echelons of our society, he was appointed to be the head of the CIA.  This coup should have been an alarm sounding defeat for liberty and our Republic, yet not a word of dissent or outrage was publicly raised.  The CIA’s entire existence could be summed up by a mission to battle the communist ideology, but instead, communist “s” (Yes, Leon Panetta also had close Soviet/Russian ties and many links to the Marxist ideology…like being named Leon after Trotsky.) were put in charge and the ranks purged and stocked with radical left-wing ideologues.  Not only was Brennan put in charge of the agency allegedly created to defeat his exact ideology, but the political elites, media, and rank and file CIA officers applauded his appointment leaving no doubt about how thoroughly penetrated our society had become by Communists in a true McCarthyist sense.  Now, they vociferously chastise President Trump for what has proved to be phony Russian collusion.  How rich?  The organization that was run by Soviet loving communists and was instrumental in the creation of the fake Russian Dossier through actual collusion with Russians is pointing fingers at President Trump.

Let’s not also forget that Brennan is a perjurer and one of the most disastrous directors in memory.  In particular, he repeatedly lied about his knowledge and involvement in the CIA’s computer hacking and spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee.  This was one of the most egregious violations of our separations of powers in recent memory, but he was allowed to walk away with his clearance and job by then President Obama.  The man also managed to preside over numerous massive intelligence failures to include misreading and actually supporting the emergence of ISIS, losing all of our CIA agents in China, failing to prevent the claimed Russian meddling in our elections, losing Crimea, allowing North Korea to go nuclear, and just about 100 other noteworthy disasters.  As mentioned before, he also lied about his knowledge and involvement in the creation of the fake Russian Dossier.  If not bad enough, he also tried to destroy the careers of the members of the CIA’s Global Response Staff or GRS for not covering up the Libya disaster and had their clearances stripped.  In fact, one of the heroes of “13 Hours” in Benghazi was Chris Paronto who recently gave an outstanding interview to Fox blasting Brennan and his circle of elitist thugs.  I urge everyone to view it here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/17/special-ops-shoot-down-brennan-and-his-defenders-put-your-politics-before-us.html

Brennan without question deserved to have his clearance stripped.  He also deserves to be in jail, but what about the others?  Who is next?  I would argue it should be all of them.  No one, irrespective of party, should be retaining a clearance after they have left the billet requiring their need to know.   This is the definition of the “Swamp.”  Keeping a clearance as a senior appointee is a perk or benefit for elites not afforded to the actual people doing the hard work, developing the expertise, and briefing them so that they can make a decision.  These elites ingratiate themselves to this highly sensitive intelligence for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to retain power.  This information is monetized in many ways that has nothing to do with national security and in fact directly undermines national security.  Often, I would argue it is then funneled back to their political friends to solidify their power.  Further, this intelligence is often used for insider trading.  Did you ever wonder why many of these former directors end up at hedge funds knowing nothing about investment or portfolio management?  Let’s put it this way, wouldn’t it be nice to know the exact date of a planned attack in the Middle East so you could buy oil futures.  I think so and apparently Wall Street and many others do to.  This is criminal and needs to stop.

President Trump is right to revoke Brennan’s clearance, but he would be wrong to stop there.  The Swamp does need to be drained and one of the easiest things he can do right now is to revoke every clearance being held by someone not actually serving in a need to know billet.  The benefits of cutting the flow of money and intelligence to these enemies of the Republic can’t be understated.  If President Trump is wise, he will push for this and to make it law so that the second a new administration comes in this isn’t all overturned.

By Guiles Hendrik

August 17, 2018

How to Protect Your Credit Cards from Latest Theft Techniques

Today, I wanted to talk briefly about simple ways to protect your privacy and money from the latest trends in identity theft.  Both Big Brother and well-organized criminal elements target you for your information, but some of these thefts are far more prevalent and intrusive.  Credit card theft is one that is top on my list.  In fact, it is safe to say many of us at one point or another have already had our credit card information stolen.  At best, this is a huge annoyance and a costly problem for banks and consumers, but at worst, you could have your savings wiped out and identity stolen.  To protect our accounts, banks continue to add new security features to cards, but as users, we too have to be aware of the latest trends in theft and take action.  Let’s discuss a new theft technique most of you are completely unaware of: How thieves get your pin codes and how to prevent it. Read more

Are You Ready to Pay $8.00 per Gallon for Gas

If you have filled up lately, you have noticed that gas prices have been steadily inching higher.  Enjoy these prices while they last because chaos is again on the horizon.  Those of you cheering America’s never ending wars in the Middle East should take heed.  If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets his wish for a war between the US and Iran, we very well could be looking at fuel prices spiking north of $8.00 per gallon, which under even the best scenarios will collapse the US economy.  The implications of this alone should cause any thinking man to reconsider how “necessary” a war with Iran is and how much it will actually cost America to “win.”  I strongly urge anyone that will listen to take a step back and work hard to prevent the US from getting sucked into another conflict in the Middle East. Read more

Deep State using Staged Chemical Attack in Syria to Sucker Trump into War with Russia

It is time for our senior intelligence and defense officers to publicly speak out and expose the Deep State’s plan to bait the US into war with Syria, Russia, and Iran.  The US and Russia have known for months that radical Islamic forces operating in Syria had acquired chemical weapons and were planning a false flag attack.  The US in particular confirmed that Syrian rebels not only possessed, but had used chlorine gas on multiple occasions.  Further, the Russians have very publicly warned that this false flag attack was in the making and would take action if the US used it as a pretext to attack the Assad Regime or any location with Russian forces.  Now with the lunatic John Bolton as the National Security Advisor, you can be sure this paid foreign lobbyist and draft dodger (no, the National Guard does not count during Vietnam) will stop at nothing to spin this false flag chemical attack into propaganda he can use to railroad the US into another disastrous war in the Middle East.

How could anyone with even a partially functioning brain not see the setup?  Let me break it down.  Islamic radicals are getting crushed by the Syrian Regime, Russia, and even the US-Kurdish forces.  The Syrian government with the backing of Russia has all but won the civil war.  These terrorist proxies and their sponsoring states (Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc.) desperately need to find a way to change the balance of power in a big way or they know the game is over.  The only way they can do that is to get the US involved to counter Russia.  As such, they have acquired and been provided chemical weapons to stage another false flag chemical attack where they gas their own people and blame the Assad regime to the great outrage of the world.  In fact, our “ally” Turkey, which sponsored the attack that killed an American Delta Force operator last week, has been one of the worst offenders and has already been caught trying to transfer chemical weapons to Syrian rebels.  This situation climaxed last week when Trump announced ISIS was essential defeated as a conventional force so he was going to pull American forces out of Syria and let the Syrians clean up the rest.  This terrified the military industrial complex (aka Deep State), the terrorist proxies, and their sponsor states.  Action had to be taken and Israel’s paid propagandist (Bolton) arrived just in time.  With Bolton in power, the order was given to gas a civilian area to maximize casualties amongst women and children, which was immediately blamed on Assad even before a shred of evidence was obtained.  Now, based on no facts whatsoever and before any questions can be answered, we are to believe Assad sabotaged his own success by launching a very small and ineffective chemical attack against a target completely unrelated to any current operation.  Nonetheless, in a tragically predictable form, Trump is rushing the US into a war that will most likely lead to a direct conflict with Russia and catastrophic consequences.  The US literally has nothing to gain and everything to lose from being sucked into this conflict.

Why has none of this come out?  I will give you a hint.  Has anyone noticed that the only time that the anti-Trump crusade in the media falls silent is when he sends Americans to war?  Your answer is the Deep State, which includes the media establishment and both Democrats and Republicans.  The establishment gets rich off of wars and Americans are too apathetic to even care because they haven’t had to feel the fire and destruction here at home.  Let me warn everyone tonight.  Americans have become dangerously desensitized to wars and too accepting about how casually we enter them.  I have warned and warned about the trajectory of events in the Middle East leading up to this point where proxies are removed and major powers clash.  If Bolton and his lunatics get their way, Trump will launch an attack directly against Assad that will also kill Russians.  Russia is to be taken at its word and will respond.  Unlike previous disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a war that pulls in Syria, Iran, and Russia will become America’s undoing.  At best, we could achieve a Pyrrhic victory for nothing.  This war will bankrupt our nation, destroy the global economy, and lead to the deaths of countless people that will include many Americans here and abroad all over an easily debunked lie if Bolton and the Deep State get their way.  I caution everyone tonight to closely watch events as they could quickly spiral out of control.  In the interim, do everything you can to shed light on this rash rush to war and try to stop it.  I pray there is someone left within the military or intelligence communities’ senior ranks that will speak up and out about this insanity before it is too late.

By Guiles Hendrik

April 10, 2018

Anti-Gun Activists Conscripting Child Soldiers into Service

Here we go again.  Another absolute tragedy plays out in a school and it is immediately politicized by Leftist vultures willing to use their indoctrinated child soldiers for propaganda.  This touches on so many issues that are wrong, it is hard to know where to start.  There really is no low too low for these subversives.  As such, today, I am going to discuss the indecency of kids being shoved in front of a camera to dictate our national security policy and why this needs to be stopped.

For starters, any parent knows that their kids think they know it all, but they don’t.  Kids don’t run the household and tell their parents what to do.  This is disrespectful and upends the natural balance and order in society.  However, now according to CNN, our children are experts on what is best for our nation.  This is ridiculous.  These kids have never held a full time job, paid taxes on those wages, fought in a war, or even voted.  They have never lived under oppressive regimes that brutalize their people and clearly do not know the value of retaining the ability to resist tyranny so brilliantly enshrined in the Second Amendment.  These little dictators know nothing of the world and simply do not possess the wisdom gained only through years of experience, which has been understood and respected since pre-Biblical times.  However, I will say that I am impressed with the quality of the scripted rehearsals in front of the cameras.  These kids clearly get an A+ in their communist indoctrination courses, but fail basic logic, history, and Constitutional Law.  Pushing kids in front of the camera for political agendas is not only offensive and disingenuous, but exploitative and needs to be stopped.

As our nation races to ban everything to “fix” the “epidemic” of “gun violence,” has anyone actually identified what really is at the root of the problem?  I placed a number of words in quotations, because I hear them used daily as if factual, but these words and phrases are very misleading at best.  Yes, guns do facilitate the crime of murder, but they don’t commit the murder or even inspire one to kill.  What motivated the crime is the real source of the problem and where, if there is an answer the problem, we will find the true “fix.”  The term “epidemic” is grossly overused and implies a disproportionately large percentage of the population is affected by mass murder in schools, which is incorrect.  Referring to the number of obese people with serious health problems, drug abuse, or the number of traffic fatalities would be a more accurate and realistic use of the term.  Finally, “gun violence?”  There is no such thing and the term is nonsensical.  Violence and the resulting related crimes such as assault and murder are self-defining.  Guns are no more violent than pianos, rocks, or cucumbers.  If you kill someone, it is a violent act irrespective of whether a club, knife, or teddy bear is used.  Further, even though no single person has been able to definitively prove exactly why teenagers are committing mass murder we are told to believe these kids are now the sole holders of how to “fix” an unknown problem.  Even more enlightening is their absurd logic that banning guns would be remotely feasible, lead to less violence, or even work.  A classic case and point of this is probably every single one of those kids “demanding” guns are banned to “keep guns out of the hands of killers” have tried/use pot, alcohol, and/or cigarettes.  All of those substances are banned and illegal for “kids” to use, but that didn’t stop them from getting it.  Banning guns would be no more effective and no less violent than the government’s attempt to ban alcohol during prohibition.  Perhaps their contemporary American history classes were too focused on social justice movements to mention that pertinent case study on banning things that occurred from 1920 to 1933.

This all brings me back to my point of why using kids to promote ideological agendas needs to be stopped.  The kids are innocent and really don’t know any better.  They are being brainwashed from birth by a system that has become completely saturated with operatives promoting Leftist ideology.  They have been taught to replace thinking, logic, and facts with feeling, emotion, and perception.  With weakened minds, they are impressionable and incapable of independent thought because their baseline for good and bad, moral and immoral, normal and deviant was not just erased by the school systems, it was never established.  Not so coincidentally, this may be closer to the root cause of why we have kids killing kids than the sacrificial lamb of guns.  Not only is this exploitation of our children very sad, it is also a very disturbing precedent.  It requires very little imagination to see where the Left is going with this.  They have become so comfortable with their indoctrination of kids in school that they are now able to use them as child soldiers.  Make no mistake; these teens are being groomed to be the next wave of activists to hit our campuses for their final training before being unleashed on our streets as domestic terrorists with the power to vote.  The Left fully intends to empower them to sow social unrest, destabilize this nation, and ultimately take over.  We have a responsibility to our children to teach them well.  Allowing them to be exploited to push the subversive ideological agenda of the Left without calling them to task and presenting strong counter arguments is criminal.  Going forward, instead of indulging their rants and dictates, we will be better served educating our children about our Rights, the dangers of the Left, and the truths about gun control.

 

By Guiles Hendrik

February 23, 2018

 

For another great article see:

Prohibition Never Works: Banning Alcohol Didn’t Work, And Banning Guns Won’t Either

It’s Time for a Constitutional Amendment to Ban Secret Courts in United States of America

One of the biggest issues coming to light from the on-going Russian collusion witch-hunt, which has been a thinly veiled operation designed to knee cap the Trump Administration, was the revelation that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) or “FISA Court” had authorized the surveillance of now President Trump.  Released declassified documents prove the process to obtain surveillance warrants was heavily abused for political gain by what amounts to a cabal inside of the FBI and Justice Department seeking to pull off a soft coup.  This is high treason, which would have been extremely difficult if not impossible to pull off if the FISC were not a secret court.  Let me be clear.  Secret courts have no place in a free republic.  They have always been and always will be used as a political weapon that ultimately leads to the subjugation and oppression of a nation.  We now have incontrovertible proof that the FISC was indeed weaponized to seize political control of this nation’s highest office.  This is the real election meddling that actually did have huge impact on our nation.  Read more

The Treason of Voice of America; NPR’s Ugly Sister

Most people have heard of NPR and immediately recognize it as a mouthpiece for liberal progressive policies and a hotbed of Democrat apparatchiks.  What many may not be familiar with is NPR’s overseas sister, Voice of America (VOA).  VOA has largely operated outside of domestic scrutiny because its broadcast target is decidedly overseas.  Well, today, I had the unfortunate opportunity to experience firsthand what our taxes dollars go to fund respective of Voice of America (VOA).  Think of VOA as “America’s” voice abroad, much like the BBC World Service.  Naturally, one would expect some degree of pro-American propaganda for which VOA was established, but not an hour long Commander-in-Chief bashing session that went to great lengths to blame President Trump and America for all of the world’s ills.  The weekend commentary passed off as a news discussion on VOA left no doubt to the listener that President Trump was a reckless and incompetent man whose policies have made the world a more dangerous place.  In particular, it was clear that the President Trump’s unjustified aggression was picking a fight with “poor” North Korea that apparently had been a well behaved international actor right up until President Trump messed everything up.  This utter garbage is nothing more than angry Leftists still whining about losing the election.  However, it is very dangerous and not a game because it shapes world opinion.  What these spiteful editors and producers are doing is directly undermining US foreign policy and cannot be allowed to continue.  Read more

Major Threat to New Year’s Eve Celebration in New York City Identified

In case you haven’t heard, this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City will have “unprecedented” security.  Apparently, there is an even “worster” threat than any previous year that not just justifies, but requires even more security for “your” protection.  Read more

EXCLUSIVE – Michael Savage Scolds Trump, Blasts Boston Leftists: ‘Trump Has Buckled to the Mob’

Author and radio host Michael Savage scolded President Trump and left-wing “Antifa” protesters in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News Sunday  — accusing President Trump of having “buckled to the mob” in Boston and warning that if Trump keeps kowtowing to Antifa and other leftist groups, “it’s all over.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/08/21/exclusive-savage-trump-buckled-mob/

 

Warning: Healthcare is the new call to arms for domestic terrorists

As the farce of Russian meddling in the United States’ election has turned to focus on the very real collusion amongst senior Democrats, the story is quickly being killed by the mainstream media.  In its place, a new hysteria is being created to distract and divide the nation.  This hysteria is extremely dangerous and focuses on the lie that President Trump’s healthcare plan is “killing” Americans.  This extremist narrative needs little translation.  It is a thinly veiled message to radical leftwing extremists that they are now fully justified in killing people to promote their agenda.  I do not say this lightly.  By making the claim that President Trump and the Republicans are killing people, they have provided a moral justification and call to arms that can’t be ignored by the insurgents organized under the banners of the Left.  The media propagandists are knowingly yelling “fire” in a theater.  They are creating an insurgency in this nation that will lead to many more deaths, injuries, and huge amounts of property damage.  The leadership of these domestic terrorist organizations must be legally taken down now or our nation will continue to spiral closer to an all-out civil war, which the Left desires, but no intelligent person wants. Read more

Swamp Dupes President Trump into Expanding US War into Syria

Let me get right to the point.  President Trump is a complete moron if he honestly believes his military advisors are setting him up for success.  I want President Trump to succeed, but until he gets better advisors, he will self-destruct.  By ordering a surge of US military forces into Syria without any long term strategy or plan, he is effectively forcing America into the middle of an ugly civil war that will cost our nation dearly.  Further, by directly entering the Syrian Civil War, President Trump has committed our nation to yet another unnecessary and unconstitutional war without making the case to the American people or obtaining congressional approval.  This won’t just be a massive military mistake; it will be a political disaster.  President Trump has no idea that as the US gets sucked further and further into this war, the failure of “his” war will arm his political enemies with everything they need to ultimately cripple his administration.  By listening to the generals, President Trump has, within a month of taking office, committed the US to an even more disastrous war than his predecessors, which he will lose, and quite possibly destroy his administration.  Brilliant! Read more

President Trump’s Misplaced Faith in the Generals

Approximately, one month ago, President Trump tasked the Pentagon with delivering him a plan to defeat the Islamic State or IS.  What Trump failed to understand was the same people he tasked to solve the IS problem, were the same people that in a very large way created it.  His trusted circle of advisors not only are all products of an institution with a heavily flawed system of promotion, but collectively failed to deliver a winning strategy when they were in combatant command roles.  What kind of “solution” to IS does President Trump honestly think he will get from a group of institutionalized generals?  Does anyone want to bet it will be a “solution” that requires more war?  President Trump is literally asking “the swamp” to create his war policy and this is a fool’s errand.  Based on a 100% failure rate of our Generals this century, this is unfortunately another juncture where it is very easy to assess with high certainty that the “solutions” President Trump will be presented will turn into another policy disaster.  Both Presidents Bush and Obama suffered this hard lesson.  President Trump needs to trash these recommendations and look at completely different ways of soliciting policy if he is to defeat IS and make America great again.  This article is my attempt to speak truth to power and warn President Trump of the mistake he is making before it destroys his presidency. Read more

White House Releases Summary of Trump’s First Week of Action

I have to say, from a business perspective, we are getting a lot for our money.  Trump, to date, has proved to be the hardest working president in a generation…like him or not.  Further, the man has so far done exactly what he promised to do.  Even more amazing is that he is getting it done in hours and days not months and years.  For a man of his age, you have to respect his level of energy and dedication.  It also appears he doesn’t take weekends off.  Sorry bureaucrats…you have to work like the rest of us…and should.  The question is whether he can keep this schedule up.  The news agencies are literally physically breaking down trying to keep up with covering him.  It truly is unprecedented.  Here is the release in its raw form:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2017

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST WEEK OF ACTION

·         15: Presidential Actions to begin fulfilling his promises to Make America Great Again.

·         11: Diplomatic conversations with foreign leaders to promote an America First foreign policy.

·         4: Members of President Trump’s cabinet sworn into office.

·         3: Stakeholder meetings to get input from both workers and business leaders on jumpstarting job creation.

·         3: Engagements with members of Congress to discuss his agenda.

·         3: Visits to federal agencies committed to protecting our homeland and ensuring our national security.

·         1: Official White House visit by a foreign head of state.

·         1: Reception to honor law enforcement and first responders.

·         1: Proclamation supporting National School Choice week.

·         The President’s team followed through on his commitment to action, by:

o   collaborating with 28 federal agencies and departments on a near daily basis.

o   discussing legislative items with at least 75 House members or their staffs and 35 Senators or their staffs.

o   making initial contact with governors in each state and territory, and having in-depth discussions with 32 governors or their staff.

o   discussing issues with 22 state attorneys general.

o   beginning outreach to our nation’s largest municipalities and tribes.

President Trump Used The Power Of His Office To Follow Through On His Promises To The American People

WITHIN HOURS OF HIS INAUGURATION: President Trump moved to protect Americans from ObamaCare, government regulations, and future bailouts.

·         On the evening of his Inauguration, President Trump sought relief for Americans from the cost burdens of ObamaCare.

·         Through a memorandum issued by the Chief of Staff, all new regulations were frozen to protect job creators from the crush of new government rules on their businesses.

·         President Trump put a stop to a reckless action that would have reduced funding for the Federal Housing Authority after it was bailed out by the taxpayers as recently as 2013.

MONDAY: President Trump fulfilled his promise to immediately address trade and jobs by withdrawing from the harmful Trans-Pacific Partnership, put in place a hiring freeze, and protected taxpayer money from funding abortions overseas.

·         President Trump protected American workers by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

·         To stem the tide of an ever growing government, President Trump put in place a hiring freeze on federal civilian employees.

·         After years of taxpayer money being spent to promote abortions abroad, President Trump reinstated the “Mexico City Policy” to ban such usage.

TUESDAY: President Trump promoted job creation by jumpstarting the construction of two new energy pipelines, requiring the use of American-made materials and equipment in building those pipelines, and reduced the regulatory burden on America’s manufacturing and construction industry.

·         President Trump began the process to finish construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline after a series of delays.

·         After years of delays, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum to revive the Keystone XL pipeline.

·         To make sure Americans benefit from infrastructure projects, the President signed an executive memorandum requiring all new construction and repair of pipelines to use American materials and equipment.

·         President Trump ordered the Commerce Department to streamline and reduce regulations affecting U.S. manufacturing to help bring factories back to America.

·         To jumpstart much needed infrastructure projects, President Trump signed an executive order to speed up the environmental impact review of projects.

WEDNESDAY: President Trump followed through on his pledge to protect America’s borders and end the lack of compliance with immigration laws.

·         Following through on his commitment to protecting the American people, President Trump signed an executive order to improve border security, particularly through the construction of a physical barrier on the southern border.

·         President Trump signed an executive order to ensure that immigration laws are enforced throughout the United States, including halting federal funding for sanctuary cities.

FRIDAY: President Trump followed through on his top priority to keep America safe.

·         President Trump signed an executive order protecting the United States from foreign nationals entering from countries compromised by terrorism, and ensuring a more rigorous vetting process.

·         President Trump issued a presidential memorandum to direct the Secretary of Defense to review our readiness and create plans to rebuild the U.S. military.

President Trump Has Held or Scheduled 11 Conversations With Foreign Leaders To Promote American Interests Around The Globe

·         On Saturday, President Trump spoke with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and discussed respect for the sovereignty of both nations.

·         On Saturday, President Trump also spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the importance of strong U.S.-Canada ties.

·         On Sunday, President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to discuss opportunities to strengthen relations.

·         On Monday, President Trump spoke with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi of Egypt, expressing his commitment for a new push in bilateral relations.

·         On Tuesday, President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to strengthen relations and cooperation.

·         Today, President Trump spoke again with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico to discuss bilateral relations, border security and trade.

·         Tomorrow, President Trump is scheduled to speak Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of with Japan

·         Tomorrow, President Trump is scheduled to speak with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

·         Tomorrow, President Trump is scheduled to speak with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

·         Tomorrow, President Trump is scheduled to speak with President François Hollande of France.

·         Tomorrow, President Trump is scheduled to speak with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia.

Four Of President Trump’s Nominees Were Confirmed By The Senate And Sworn Into Office

·         Last Friday, retired General John Kelly was sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security.

·         Also last Friday, retired General James Mattis was sworn in as Secretary of Defense.

·         On Monday, former Congressman Mike Pompeo was sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

·         On Wednesday, former Governor Nikki Haley was sworn in as Ambassador to the United Nations.

Following Through On His Commitment To Job Creation, President Trump Held Stakeholder Meetings With Business And Labor Leaders

·         On Monday, President Trump met with labor leaders to discuss his plans to renegotiate trade deals and put Americans back to work.

·         Later on Monday, President Trump met with manufacturing leaders to discuss how to bring factories and manufacturing jobs back to America.

·         On Tuesday, President Trump met with key industry leaders to discuss how the auto industry can bring back American jobs.

President Trump Held Meetings Or Spoke With Congressional Leaders To Discuss His Agenda

·         On Monday, President Trump hosted Republican and Democrat congressional leaders and chiefs of staff at the White House to discuss the upcoming legislative agenda.

·         On Tuesday, President Trump met with key Senate leaders to discuss his upcoming choice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

·         On Thursday, President Trump spoke at the Republican congressional retreat in Philadelphia.

President Trump Spoke At The Headquarters Of The CIA, The Department Of Homeland Security, And The Department Of Defense

·         On Saturday, President Trump spoke at CIA headquarters and told a raucous crowd that he’d have their back as he thanked them for their service to the country.

·         On Wednesday, President Trump visited the Department of Homeland Security to reinforce his strong belief in protecting America’s borders.

·         On Wednesday, President Trump visited the Department of Defense to highlight his commitment to rebuild our military.

President Trump Hosted U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May

·         In hosting his first foreign head of state at the White House, President Trump welcomed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May.

As One Of His First Actions After Inauguration Day, President Trump Thanked American Law Enforcement And First Responders

·         On Sunday, President Trump held a White House Reception to honor and thank law enforcement and first responders who helped make his Inauguration safe and successful.

President Trump Proclaimed National School Choice Week

·         On Thursday, President Trump renewed his commitment to expand school choice for Americans by proclaiming January 22 through January 28, 2017, as National School Choice Week.

The President’s Team Is Following Through On His Commitment To Action

President Trump’s team has worked to ensure his team is in place at various departments and agencies and working to implement his agenda:

·         The White House Office of Cabinet Affairs made 140 calls to 28 separate federal departments and agencies to collaborate on various issues.

·         Cabinet Affairs personally met with 10 Cabinet nominees.

·         Cabinet Affairs coordinated the swearing in of four cabinet members this week by the Vice President.

President Trump’s team has worked to ensure his legislative agenda is well-received in Congress:

·         The White House Office of Legislative Affairs met or spoke with 110 congressional offices or elected representatives in 75 House and 35 Senate offices.

·         Vice President Pence had several in-person meetings this week on Capitol Hill.

President Trump’s team began outreach to our nation’s states, municipalities, and tribes:

·         The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs made initial contact with the governor’s offices in all of the states and territories.

·         Intergovernmental Affairs held detailed discussions with the governors or their staff in 32 separate states.

·         Intergovernmental Affairs made initial contact with 22 of the 50 state attorneys general.

·         Intergovernmental Affairs has begun outreach to America’s largest municipalities, such as Los Angeles County and met with the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

·         Intergovernmental Affairs made contact with the largest tribes in the country and has begun outreach with many leaders.

 

 

Uber Joins Forces with NYC to Track You

I hope it isn’t coming as a surprise that Uber is collecting data on your travel habits.  However, as I previously warned (See: http://www.lastminutesurvival.com/2016/05/10/uber-update-uber-confirmed-to-be-providing-your-private-travel-data-to-the-government/) Uber has ceased to be the enemy of Big Brother and instead is now its best friend.  I noted that as soon as the government realized how much information it could gain by analyzing Uber’s travel data on passengers, the law suits against Uber would disappear.  Well, amazingly, the resistance of cities to Uber’s business has been evaporating before our eyes, so was the marriage with Big Brother consummated?

As an analyst, you learn to pay close attention to the timing of events.   Rarely are they random and coincidences are clues, not accidents.  In the case of Uber, which received stiff resistance from the taxi cab union in New York City, it appears that the marriage was consummated.  Reports are now circulating the NYC has been demanding the Uber hand over all of its travel data.  What this means is Uber is providing all of your travel data to NYC and that data is then passed to federal agencies and databases.  NYC is literally tracking you everywhere you go (See: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-05/uber-accuses-nyc-snooping-its-passengers-they-want-full-details-every-trip-you-ever-).   Ironically, New York simultaneously sued Uber for maintaining its users’ data (See:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/uber-reaches-accord-with-new-york-over-tracking-data-on-users).

Let me be clear.  The communist state of New York feels it is a violation of your privacy if a private company maintains your travel data, but believes it has the authority to demand all of that same private data is provided to the government.  Hypocrisy is an understatement, but when did that ever matter to radical Leftists like Mayor Bloomberg?  If you don’t hear Orwell knocking you need to start listening to what is going on.  This is the police state Orwell envisioned.  You have the power to stop this if you take some simple actions now.  Inform Uber that you won’t use their service if they continue to save and pass on your travel information.  If they blow you off, delete their app and stop using their service.  You can vote with your wallet and this is extremely powerful when used en masse.

 

By Guiles Hendrik

January 26, 2017