NATO Is Asleep At The Wheel

So this is the dumbest military strategy I have ever heard. 

NATO is planning a “rapid deployment force” of at least 30,000 troops, 30 naval ships, and 360 planes to fight off a Russian invasion.

Sounds good?

The only problem is that this rapid reaction is planned to occur “within 30 days” of being put on an alert. 

Gee, a lot can happen in 30 days. 

It took only a little over two weeks for Russia to invade and annex Crimea in 2014 in a blitzkrieg that completely took the West by surprise. 

NATO continues to be shockingly unprepared for a Russian land grab.

Further, the 4,600 troops stationed on “forward deployment” and the 5,000 additional “spearhead force” to come to their aid “within 10 days” is again completely inadequate and ridiculous. 

Israel won the 1967 War in just 6 days against invading armies from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and Israel again halted the advancing Egyptian army in the 1973 Yom Kippur War in just 3 days. 

With modern weaponry, Wars are fought and won in days–not months and years anymore. 

The long deployments we’ve had in Iraq and Afghanistan are not traditional wars, but wars of attrition again terrorism and dictatorships. 

If and when there is a war with the “Great Bear,” it will be fought and won–OR lost in days–as well. Russia will act with stealth and speed and a ferocity that we remain blind to. 

And I fear that when we are ready to fight back, it will be way too little too late–like in Crimea–and all that will be left–after the European lands are gone–is more meaningless sanctions that Russia will retaliate against, tit-for-tat, anyway. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The REAL Problem Is NOT Healthcare

Why can’t all the really smart people in this country solve the healthcare crisis?

The democrats tried and it didn’t work out to well. 

And now the republicans are trying and sort of the same thing so far.

Is it politics?

Sure, that is what it can easily look like. 

One side wants to give more to these folks and less to someone else, and the other side vice versa.

But I don’t think that is the truth!

Wouldn’t we all like to give health coverage to every single man, woman, and child in this country!

Seriously…doesn’t everyone have a heart and soul somewhere in there.

And we all know and/or fear what it’s like to be at risk, without proper coverage, and without the medical care and medicine that can be lifesaving!

So here’s the real problem folks:

It’s not healthcare, nor any of the other social or national security issues we face–whether the military, space exploration, environmental concerns, jobs, or anything else. 

This is what it is…

It’s called the national debt, which stands art $20,000,000,000,000. 

And that doesn’t even include ANOTHER 127,000,0000,000,000 of unfunded liabilities for things like social security and medicare etc. 

This is a nation that collectively doesn’t save–it spends–and it spends not only it’s current purse, but it’s future one too!

In fact, total U.S Household wealth in aggregate of $90,000,000,000 is eclipsed by our overall national debt!

True, this doesn’t include trillions of dollars of other significant business or national assets, but it does point to the overall severity of our highly-leveraged financial position.

So where does this leave us?

We can’t really solve healthcare or any of our other problems–if we are BROKE, busted, and a debtor nation. 

Yes, it takes money to invest, and money to pay for solutions for now and for the future. 

But how can you possibly solve anything, if your pockets are not only empty but have a big f*ckin’ hole in them. 

So folks, the lousy decisions of the past and present are coming back to haunt us. 

It’s a tidal wave, a tsunami of debt–of unbelievable corruption and kicking the can down the road–of fraud, waste, and abuse–of shortsightedness and lack of real leadership–and the time is coming to pay the piper!

If you think the political infighting–liberal and conservatives–tea party and progressives–alt left and alt right–socialists and dictators–is bad now?

But unfortunately, unsolvable problems lead to accusations and recriminations–finger-pointing all around–calls for impeachment–calls to let the other party or some independent lead us out of this mess.

Do you think being in such a challenging situation could also lead us to make rash and stupid mistakes or even go to war? 

In the end, how do you lead us out of a dead-end caused by generations of recklessness with our country’s finances?

Some say perhaps we can grow ourselves out of the debt–maybe we need to go back to school and all get our MBAs and start the whole messed up story all over again?

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Uber Overconfidence

As everyone knows, Uber is essentially–for now–a high-tech taxi company.

And high-tech tends to command high price.

But they are IMHO very overconfident of their position. 

And while I generally like taking Ubers, I would go so far to say that in many respects they are potential dead cab meat!

Why?

– Not because their leadership is in disarray and their founder and CEO was just forced to resign.

– Not because they have a disastrous corporate culture.

– Not because of their uber low or not profitable margins.

– Not because of the threat of autonomous driverless vehicles.

– Not because of the (alleged) stolen documents from Google.

– Not because Uber is (potentially) overvalued at nearly $70 billion (more than GM, Ford, or Honda)!

– Not because of its numerous competitors coming up from behind, including Lyft.

But a major reason is because:

They just gave you a not-so-hidden increase in price by tacking on a new tipping mechanism that will result in many people paying as much as a 20% hike to their overall fares.

Uber is now losing a sizable portion of their price point competitive advantage!

With the risks involved here, who could be so overconfident?

Perhaps, it’s time to take a cab or hovercraft somewhere else. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

(All represents my own opinions)

Paper Navy Tiger

We spend $600 billion on defense and this is what we get?

In the middle of the night our U.S. Navy DESTROYER crashes with a ginormous container ship.

The commercial vessel (yes it’s bigger, but it’s a civilian ship) is lightly damaged, but the U.S. Navy BATTLESHIP (after having undergone a recent $21 million upgrade) has 7 dead, the captain injured, and it can barely make it back to its port except with tugboats for extensive repairs. 

WTF!

How does an battleship with the latest sensors and technology collide with a civilian ship–how did such a foreign vessel even get close to our navy ship let alone collide with it–was someone completely “asleep at the wheel?”

This is no joke!–this is our first line of defense in our ability to project force globally. 

What if this had been a terrorist ship laden to the hilt with high explosives or an Axis of Evil Iranian or North Korean fast attack craft or even a Russian or Chinese attack submarine–surprise!

Doesn’t a battleship need to be ever-vigilant and -ready for battle? 

How can we fight sophisticated 21st century militaries with advanced ship-killer cruise missiles, torpedos, and mines, if we can’t even avoid the essential sinking of one our own fighting ships in peacetime. 

Our brave men and women who take up the uniform to serve this great nation–and this country–DESERVE BETTER!

Does this paper navy ship with a punched hole in it represent a larger forgotten or war-weary military in dire need of modernization and genuine readiness to defend the beautiful and free America? 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal via The Guardian)

You Can Take The Man From Washington

Wow, it just seems like there is no getting away from Washington, D.C. politics!

Even here in beautiful Florida, I ran into this caricature of former President Obama in some street art downtown.  

Man, isn’t it enough that he empowered the Axis of Evil Iran and North Korea; left Syria and Ukraine to rot in bloody civil war and to kneel beneath the will of the Russians; ignored the Sino military buildout in the South China Sea, was lax on radical Islamists, ISIS, and global terrorism; abandoned America’s allies Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the gulf nations; and let’s not forget that he literally doubled our national debt to $20 trillion!

What was once an admirable Democratic party is still reeling today from the embrace of leadership from behind, disengagement, weakness, and blatant anti-Semitism. 

Like Forrest Gump says, life is not a bowl of cherries or box of chocolates, especially when failed leaders do the wrong things and hurt the country and their party. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Rivers Of Blood

So after years of brutal war in Syria and use of chemical weapons of mass destruction…

Obama and Kerry did nothing!

And the result has literally been rivers of blood in Syria. 

Obama and Kerry could have fired the warning shots–as President Trump just did 79 days into his new administration–but Obama and Kerry choose weakness and inaction.

The result of the Obama administration’s inaction is that Russia has now comfortably moved and settled into Syria and that 500,000 Syrians are dead, 13.5 million require humanitarian assistance, 6 million are internally displaced, and 4.8 million refugees have fled across the borders.

Contrary to all who have accused President Trump of being complicit with Russia, instead we now see in him a leader who in fact stands up for what is right to Russia and despots like Syria’s Assad.

Perhaps the real person complicit with the Russians and Iranians was Obama who let them ride roughshod over human rights and over America.

In complicity was not President Trump, but Obama secretly whispering to the Russians and caught on an open mic: “After the election, I will have more flexibility”–to do what Americans obviously wouldn’t want me to do.

With regards to Syria’s chemical weapons, Kerry falsely stated to the American people:

“We got 100% of chemical weapons out of Syria.“

However, the slaughter continued for years and we continue to see chemical weapons used again this week with horrific pictures of men, women, and children brutally murdered in the streets of Syria.

But the weakness, disengagement, and leadership from behind from Obama and Kerry is hopefully behind us now. 

Stay tuned…next up is the phony deal that Obama and Kerry made with “Axis of Evil” Iran and the do-nothing with North Korea that has continued to lead them to a nuclear ICBM that can reach America!

So as we will soon start the holidays of Passover and Easter, we know that only G-d can make rivers of white water or of red blood flow mercifully or justly, but Obama and Kerry are the ones complicit in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands in Syria that they could’ve stopped, but didn’t. 

Needed: A Giving Hand With Smart Border Security

While we should certainly help immigrant refugees and those in need, we also need to provide adequate vetting and border security for our people. 

This does not mean that all immigrants are bad or that we are mean or paranoid, bur rather that we need to take smart and measured precautions in the dangerous times we are living in.

Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other such brutal terrorist organizations have shown they mean murderous business, and they are vowing to strike at the hearts of America and the West.

So while we open our hearts, we can’t close our eyes!

Safeguard America and the good decent people already here, and at the same time be merciful and giving to immigrants, but don’t sacrifice one for the other. 😉

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal with photos adapted from here and here and with attribution to the New York Times and Alan Silver)

When Little Girls Are Not Princesses

Normally, little girls dream of and are treated as the beautiful princesses that they are. 

But not in Rockville, Maryland last Thursday, where a 14-year old, 9th grade girl was brutally raped by two immigrants (17- and 18-years old) in the bathroom of their high school. 

She was mercilessly raped multiple times “vaginally, orally, and sodomized.”

One of the attackers had previously been detained at the border, but then released as per the lax standards of border security that were in place by the prior administration. 

It is incredible that as a superpower nation, we have not secured our own borders and our homeland. 

Unfortunately, there are many stories like this, and I personally know of a girl from the Bronx who was similarly raped in the stairwell of her school. 

Forget education or competitiveness, when we can’t even provide a safe and secure school environment for our children. 

It is not a strength to let our enemies gain the upper hand, but rather a weakness of our national character–to let bleeding hearts undermine our security.

Sure, we must be empathetic and caring for all people, but this must come hand-in-hand with proper vetting and due precautions. 

Every child in the United deserves to be a princess and a prince, and no one here legally or illegally should be allowed to destroy that present or future. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

U.S. National Demise From Political and Media Extremism

When media becomes propaganda, this country is in serious trouble.

We are so busy telling each other what “the truth” is that nothing is getting done. 

While Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and radical Islamist terrorists increase in strength and bravado, we are fighting one another here at home.

As more people in the U.S. gravitate to the extremes–alt-left and alt-right–lines in sand are drawn between us, while the red lines defending our common interests are eviscerated. 

Self-destructing from within, while we outwardly spend $600 billion on defense–34% of that of the entire world!

No strategy or weapons can defend us, when fake news and alternate facts and hatred of one another is at our present-day core. 

Tearing us apart, the endless hateful calls of:

– “Not my President”

– “Resistance and persistence“

– “Love Trumps Hate”

– “Deplorables, Nazis, Communists!”

The political extremists and their media henchmen are leading the charge to America’s downfall and possible doomsday. 

Unless we, the American people, can moderate and unify and love each other again.

We must before our enemies take advantage of our inner divisiveness and weakness.

If we don’t come to our common senses, then we may very well pay a most heavy price in our persons, property, and freedom that we all so cherish and value. 😉

Naked Sitting

This was some amazing sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. 

This “Big Man” is just sitting in the corner at the top of the escalator.

Sitting naked and looking deep in thought and down on his luck.

In a sense, as we sit or stand in front of our Maker, we are all naked bearing witness to our transgressions and trespasses. 

What are we to do when we give in to weakness?

We see people looking around and hoping no one is seeing them as they try to get away with doing the wrong thing.

But as my Oma (grandmother) used to say in German to me: 

“Liebe Gott sieht alles” 

Almighty G-d sees everything!

Our souls, and the souls of those that came before us, and those that will come after us, are all around us, without limitation to time or space. 

Our nakedness is revealed no matter what we use to try to cover up with. 

Hunched in the corner, we don’t really know what to do, but to try to do better with each and every next time.

We have opportunities to right the wrongs, if we get up and exert self control and overcome our mortal and character weaknesses. 

Then our nakedness won’t be foul in sight and smell, but will be radiant, with our spirits having risen to the occasion of what we can be as the children of G-d. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)