Month: June 2017

Trump’s Middle East Foreign Policy is a Disaster Waiting to Happen

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Today’s post will focus on Trump’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, a revolting spectacle which I could barely bring myself to follow. It all started Saturday morning as I tried to enjoy a beautiful day with my growing family and parents who were in town for a visit. My day was more or less ruined upon witnessing the appalling scene of Trump and his top advisors dancing with the rulers of the terrorist sponsoring state of Saudi Arabia while clutching swords. I’m sorry for doing this to you, but in case you missed it…

– From last month’s piece: America Has Become a Total Joke

The main thing we learned from Trump’s grotesque, orb clutching spectacle of a visit to the 9/11-funding absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia, was that our demented President essentially green-lighted the Saudis to do whatever the heck they want in the Middle East. Considering Saudi Arabia is effectively being run by a 30-something princeling with sociopathic tendencies, absolutely nothing good can come of this. While Obama’s foreign policy in the Middle East was an unmitigated humanitarian and geopolitical disaster, it appears Trump’s doing his best to one up his predecessor.

Saudi Arabia is the most dangerous entity in the Middle East, and the writing’s been on the wall for a long time. In fact, German intelligence warned about it back in 2015. As The Telegraph reported:

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Saudi Arabia Used U.S. Veterans to Lobby Against 9/11 Bill

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Elements of the charm offensive include the launch of a pro-Saudi Arabia media portal operated by high-profile Republican campaign consultants; a special English-language website devoted to putting a positive spin on the latest developments in the Yemen war; glitzy dinners with American political and business elites; and a non-stop push to sway reporters and policymakers.

That has been accompanied by a spending spree on American lobbyists with ties to the Washington establishment. The Saudi Arabian Embassy, as we’ve reported, now retains the brother of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, the leader of one of the largest Republican Super PACs in the country, and a law firm with deep ties to the Obama administration. One of Jeb Bush’s top fundraisers, Ignacio Sanchez, is also lobbying for the Saudi Kingdom.

In September, the Kingdom helped sponsor opulent galas for Washington’s business elite at the Ritz Carlton and the Andrew Mellon Auditorium. The events were attended by King Salman, along with the chief executives of General Electric and Lockheed Martin, the chairman of Marriott International, and prominent think tank officials.

From the 2015 post: A Look Inside Saudi Arabia’s Elaborate U.S. Propaganda Machine

Some of the information in today’s piece was widely reported last month, but I didn’t have a chance to look into it until now. What the Saudis are up to in Washington D.C., throwing their money around everywhere is absolutely revolting. One of the more despicable things the barbaric, terrorist-supporting, absolute monarchy did recently was recruit U.S. veterans to go to D.C. and lobby against a bill passed under the Obama administration (Obama vetoed it, but his veto was overridden), permitting terrorist attack victims to sue foreign states. The bill was driven by the desire of 9/11 victims’ family members to have the opportunity to sue Saudi Arabia for its obvious and disturbing role in that attack.

A couple of months ago, I highlighted the fascinating story of attorney Jim Kreindler who is intimately involved in this fight.

Here are a few snippets from the post, Meet the Lawyer Who’s Suing Saudi Arabia for Financing the 9/11 Attacks:

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Dear Great Britain – Blame Your Intelligence Agencies and Government, Not the Internet

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The dishonest and dangerous response of Theresa May’s UK government to the horrific terrorist attacks of the past month is unfortunately all too common when it comes to those in power. Rather than look inward at the glaring shadiness and corruption inherent throughout UK government polices, its “leaders” are looking to use these barbaric acts as a excuse to push through an authoritarian and illiberal expansion of state power. Specifically, Theresa May’s government is despicably using the attacks to push for regulation and censorship of the internet.

As reported by the Independent:

New international agreements should be introduced to regulate the internet in the light of the London Bridge terror attack, Theresa May has said.

The Prime Minister said introducing new rules for cyberspace would “deprive the extremists of their safe spaces online” and that technology firms were not currently doing enough.

“We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed – yet that is precisely what the internet, and the big companies that provide internet-based services provide,” Ms May said.

The Conservative manifesto pledges regulation of the internet, including forcing internet providers to participate in counter-extremism drives and making it more difficult to access pornography.

Silly me, I thought this was about terrorism.

The Act, championed by Ms May, requires internet service providers to maintain a list of visited websites for all internet users for a year and gives intelligence agencies more powers to intercept online communications. Police can access the stored browsing history without any warrant or court order.

Ms May’s speech is thought to be the first time she has publicly called for international cooperation in bringing forward more red tape to cyberspace, however.

The intervention comes after the introduction of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – dubbed the “Snooper’s Charter” – which expands the powers of spying agencies and the Government over the internet.

It’s important to understand that May’s government was aggressively pushing for internet censorship well before both the recent terror attacks. For example, here’s some of what I highlighted in last month’s post, UK Government Moves Aggressively to Censor and Control the Internet:

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Liberty Links 06/03/17

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If you appreciate my work, and want to contribute to genuine, independent media, consider visiting our Support Page. Must Reads Hell Is Empty And All the Hedge Fund Managers Are At The Bellagio (I hope one day I can write half as good as this person, The Concourse) When the Left Turns on Its Own (Total insanity, The New York Times) … Read more

How Donald Trump’s Presidency Could Inadvertently Lead to a Far Less Powerful Washington D.C.

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Before I get started, I want to make it completely clear up front that while I will be discussing the Paris climate change agreement in this post, I am only doing so to make a much broader point about where we are as a species and where I think we need to go. In a nutshell, I believe a large percentage of people on this planet posses a slave mentality which essentially revolves around authority worship. I consider this to be comparable to a mental illness. It doesn’t matter whether that authority is Trump, Hillary or the UN, the sickness manifests itself in the same ways. There’s this conception that big government bodies, or powerful elected political figures, are indispensable when it comes to telling us what to do or how to think. Too many people prefer not work on themselves as individuals, and would rather be told what to do by an authority figure. This is perverse, unhealthy and it stunts the growth of the species.

I’m not in the camp that sees these United States as hopelessly divided. In fact, on many issues of existential importance, such as imperial militarism abroad, crony capitalism, Wall Street bailouts, the two-tiered justice system and some others, I think most Americans are very much on the same page. That said, there are definitely certain issues Americans are emphatically and passionately divided on, and divisiveness on these issues tends to prevent widespread unity on the others. Climate change, what causes it, how to stop it (or even if we can) is one of those issues.

It’s important to read the rest of this post without obsessing over your own personal opinions on the topic of climate change. The reason I am bringing it up at all, is to highlight the different ways people have responded to Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement. We see both a productive response, and a lunatic response.

First, let’s take a look at the lunatic response (and my response to that response), courtesy of billionaire Tom Steyer.

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Even Hillary Clinton’s Former Aides are Sick of Her Incessant Bull$hit

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Personally, I’m in the camp that thinks a large percentage of Trump voters didn’t support him out of personal affinity, but rather as a means to ensure that Hillary Clinton would finally shut-up and go away forever. That is not happening.

I issued a code red warning last month highlighting that I thought Hillary Clinton’s ongoing spotlight-hogging, blame deflecting, Russia fear-mongering tour is driven by a remnant burning desire to be President and the delusional dream that it could still happen. As I explained in the post, Manufacturing Resistance – The American Public is Being Manipulated Into Irrelevance:

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