This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Foreign Policy

  • …and the Pendulum Slowly Swings to the Right

    The Brits have already voted for Brexit and given the Prime Minister’s job to a conservative, Theresa May, who campaigned on that platform.  The talks for this change will begin in March this year.

    Next autumn, the French will have their own election for a new President. François Fillon is the leading Republican candidate, but has come under scrutiny because his wife Penelope has been getting a fat paycheck since before 2002. The work contracts that she signed have yet to turn up. Fillon insists that her employment is all above board, and these complaints are nothing but attempts to discredit him, part of an “institutional coup d’etat from the left’, per this BBC article.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38826458

    Nepotism is never a  pretty thing, is it? Pres. Trump’s (get used to that) son-in-law has been hit with the nepotism label.

    Unfortunately for Mr. Fillon, the Froggies do not like to see someone getting what they think is a free ride, any more than we do. French farmers may dump truckloads of tomatoes on a roadside if they can’t get the price they expect to get, but in France, there is no such thing as ‘le fromage gratuit’.

    In the discussion in that article the author looks at the possibility of Marine LePen getting the position of President, and holds it as unlikely.  However, Mlle. LePen is a Frexiteer. Her father founded the National Front, and she is its leader. She has changed and softened its positions and image, including expelling her father from the party, but it’s still quite conservative.

    In the opinion of author Barry Gordon, “if there were a referendum in France on the EU, they would vote to leave. I don’t know if a vote would actually go that way, but it is indicative of popular sentiment. A referendum on the constitution in Italy at the end of last year turned into a referendum on the EU, and the anti-vote won. In Finland, severe curbs are being placed on immigration. Austria has just banned the wearing of the veil in public.”  He predicted a year ahead that  Trump would win the US elections last fall. LePen is quite protectionist and wants France to leave the Eurozone and the Schengen Area, which allows free movement across national boundaries. She is the only candidate with enough radicalism to bring about such changes.

    Brexit begins in earnest in Autumn; through the summer, we’ll see what Gordon has termed a ‘phony Brexit’, more a rehearsal than the real thing. This BBC article defines the Brexit talks as “on a humongous scale”.  http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38825830

    Two to three years after the Spring elections in Germany and the Fall elections in France, in addition, we should see a complete change. Antiglobalism is raising its head.

  • To help you keep up with things….

    Resistance is futile!!!  It seems that the controversy over Pres. Trump’s (get used to that)  immigration ban is having some side effects.

    A few days ago, Iraq said they’d retaliate for it, but they now appear to have changed their minds.  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-iraq-idUSKBN15F238

    They just happened to remember that they still need our help on stuff like ISIS/Daesh, and we do, after all, have 5,000+ people over there helping them out, don’t we?  Yeah… we do.

    However, Sally Yates has been fired for refusing to enforce Pres. Trump’s EO.  She was the previous administration’s lawyer.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-idUSKBN15E1DE

    Meanwhile, jihadists are giggling and snorting, telling us: “Your decision will do nothing. Attacks will come at you from inside America, from Americans born in America with American parents and grandparents,” posted by one Islamic State supporter on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-islamists-idUSKBN15E0MI?mod=related&channelName=politicsNews

    And finally, because there are growing concerns in Europe, there is now an Austrian ban on the full face veil.  There’s  a link in the BBC article to Mrs. Merkel’s statement banning the same thing in Germany.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38808495

    What was that Chinese curse? Oh, yeah: May you live in interesting times.  Well, one financial forecaster has said he is expecting some shocks of all sorts, political, financial and geophysical (quakes or eruptions)  this year.

    Keep your eyes open and your ears on ‘High Alert’.

  • Saudi Warship Attacked by Houthis from Yemen

    This happened late yesterday.  Fighters from Yemen’s Houthi movement crashed three boats loaded with explosives into a Saudi warship, killing two people. (Yes, I do know that’s one of our own, USS Mahan, but it’s the only war ship photo I could find.)

    http://news.sky.com/story/deadly-attack-on-saudi-warship-near-yemen-claimed-by-houthi-fighters-10749675

    In December, the Houthis’ rebel Prime Minister accused the UK government of war crimes for sending arms to the Saudis.

    This is not going to go away.

  • Our neighbors to the north and south and elsewhere….

    Last night, a report of an attack in the evening on a mosque in Quebec City, Quebec caught my eye.

    At the time, the report said 5 dead, several injured. That was updated this morning to 6 dead and 8 injured.  The Prime Minister did use the term ‘terrorist attack’ in his response to the news.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38793071

    Since we’ve been discussing immigration, our unfortunately porous borders, and the fact that both our neighbors to the north (Canada) and south (Mexico) have strict immigration policies, I think it’s fair to ask why we should be expected to simply throw the doors wide open and endure a swarm unchecked.  Ellis Island, which was the clearing place for incoming emigrants from other countries, was closed some time ago. It was the Checkpoint Charlie of its time.  Things have changed substantially in the last 100 years, making a single way station less efficient.

    Frankly, the Central American country of Belize is even more strict about immigration than either Mexico or Canada, and New Zealand is so tight-assed about it that you can visit, but if you really do want to emigrate permanently to Kiwiland, you have to meet their financial requirements ahead of everything else or they will tell you ‘N-O, NO’ and show you the door.

    No one is addressing this at all. The Eurozone countries are finding that following the imbecilic open doors policy promulgated by Angela Merkel has become a financial and political disaster. She herself admitted last fall that it was a mistake on her part. This nonsensical notion, that everyone – every single person –  running from a war zone is only a refugee looking for a place to squat has sent the political pendulum swinging back in the other direction. The Brexit vote was the Brits saying, bluntly ‘we want OUR country back’.  The same rumblings have been popping up everywhere in the Eurozone.

    Like nearly everyone else here, I’m a descendant of many generations of people who emigrated from Europe and England and Scotland in search of a better life, and who found it through hard work and contributing something tangible. None of those people were leeches looking for freebies.

    Ergo, I will ask again and a again until I get a sensible answer: if other countries, including Mexico and Canada, have such tight-assed requirements for immigrants and no one is complaining about it, why is it NOT okay for the USA and its citizens to expect the same thing?

    I’d like to repeat what has been said in several other places: Pres. Obama did the same thing in 2011. He also capped the incoming volume at 50,000 before he dropped the limits.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444370/donald-trump-refugee-executive-order-no-muslim-ban-separating-fact-hysteria

    Obama’s order stood for six (6) months. Trump’s EO has a duration of 120 days, a considerably lower number.

    The nonsense that is rising out of this effort by the media to poison the apple can only be smacked down when they learn to stop lying. They feed into the hysterics of the left because it gets ‘clickbait’ and raised viewer numbers for them.  They’re worse than 12-year-olds who sneaked out to go to a party they weren’t supposed to go to. There is no end to their obnoxious behavior and won’t be until they grow up.  The only way they will grow up is when the surging masses they weep for run over them roughshod, as has been happening in the Eurozone.  I’m just waiting for that shoe to drop, if you must know.  Their cocoon of protection needs to be stripped away for good.

    So I will ask again, and I expect some answers: why must WE be expected to have an open door for anyone who sees this country as a free ride, when other countries such as those I’ve mentioned are far more strict?

     

  • Don’t Weep For Poor Ol’ Venezuela

    Per this article from Forbes Magazine, the economy of Venezuela has tanked so badly that implosion is an insufficient way to describe it.

    It appears that Mr. Maduro, an incompetent ass if there ever was one, thinks that if he separates the bolivar from the USDollar, it will restore prosperity.   Lo siento, pendejo, but inflation is inflation and you devalued the bolivar because you’re an idiot.  It isn’t enough that the military is laundering money, is it? That’s being investigated by the US.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2017/01/23/congratulations-to-venezuela-now-maybe-real-us-sanctions-not-the-claimed-fake-ones/#504fa05f31e4

    And naturally, it’s all the fault of the US of A, not the Big Mahaffs of OPEC (Saudis) or the ‘lackluster’ oil market.  Maduro does not know about, nor does he understand, that the bubble in the price of oil a few years ago was just that: a bubble, and like all other bubbles, it burst like a bad tire and will not reinflate.

    Last year, there was a news item about the Venezuelan army assisting cattle ranchers in stopping cattle rustling.  When you read that article, note that Maduro’s supporters are also going hungry now.   Gee whiz, guys, if people are starving to death, where’s the beef?

     

  • Trump tells China to keep drone

    Trump tells China to keep drone

    USS Bowditch

    Last week, China stole an underwater drone out from under the US Navy. The Obama Administration arranged for the equipment to be returned, but the President-elect Tweeted that China should keep it, according to the Navy Times;

    The U.S. said that “through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return” the unmanned underwater vehicle, according to a statement from Peter Cook, spokesman for U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

    But Trump, after holding a rally to thank supporters for his election, took to Twitter to criticize the deal. “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!” the president-elect tweeted Saturday evening.

    I kind of agree – the problem isn’t that they HAVE the drone, the problem is that they thought they could get away with TAKING the thing. The Chinese have already duplicated all of the technology, so getting back won’t change anything. It’s just an opportunity for the Chinese to have us come on bended knee for the return of our own gear. Let them keep it.

  • Gee. What A Surprise.

    Well, it looks like the current DC cognoscenti are beginning their preparations for departure.

    Why do I say that?  Because yet another of those “high mucky-mucks” currently in the Federal government now seems free to speak his or her mind – and deviate from the accepted “party line”.  Here’s a quote from a current high-level political appointees:

    “But there will still be much more to do after that to make sure that, once defeated, ISIL stays defeated.  We’ll need to continue to counter foreign fighters trying to escape and ISIL’s attempts to relocate or reinvent itself. To do so, not only the United States but our coalition must endure and remain engaged militarily.

    In Iraq in particular, it will be necessary for the coalition to provide sustained assistance and carry on our work to train, equip, and support local police, border guards, and other forces to hold areas cleared from ISIL”.

    Yeah, he’s saying we’ll need a US “stay behind force” in Iraq after Daesh is defeated in order to maintain long-term stability.  Surprise, surprise.

    If that sounds familiar . . . it should.  It’s the same thing several others were telling the current Occupant, 1600 Penn Ave, Wash DC and his       clueless clown krewe       Administration about Iraq during SOFA negotiations in 2011.  It’s also what several of them later said publicly about the resulting mess – as well as saying that the rise of Daesh is directly attributable to a lack of any US stay-behind forces.

    The person quoted above?  That would be the Honorable Ashton Carter – AKA, the current SECDEF.

    Hmm.  For some reason, the phrase “rats leaving a sinking ship” comes to mind.  Oh well.

    I will be so glad when something resembling adult leadership having a freaking clue about how the real world works returns to that Open Air Brothel on the Potomac called DC next month.  I’m thoroughly sick and tired of being led by clueless ideologues with zero understanding of the real world.

    Eight years of Leftist idiocy is far too long.

     

  • Gee. What a Surprise.

    Ever wondered about those nearly 900,000 “refugees” that Germany admitted last year?  You know, how they’re making ends meet?

    Well, we don’t have to wonder any more, courtesy of Fox News.

    Short version:  a sh!tload of them are receiving Germany’s equivalent of “welfare”.  Here’s the money quote from the above article.

    The Federal Employment Agency said 469,403 immigrants from asylum seekers’ eight most common countries of origin received benefits in June, a 93% increase from a year earlier. The number of Syrians tripled to 292,326 while the number of Iraqis rose by almost a quarter to 68,813.

    As the title above says:  gee, what a surprise.  Even Stevie Wonder could have seen that coming.

    What’s not a surprise is that the German public is getting kinda fed up with getting stuck with the bill – along with the increased crime caused by the refugee influx.

    The Fox article above includes a link to a Wall Street Journal article giving more details.  Unfortunately, you need to sign up to get access – and I routinely pass on doing that.  So I can’t give you any of those other details.

    Now, tell me again why we have some kind of “obligation” to do the same thing here?  Especially since we know that some number of those so-called “refugees” are in reality terrorist operatives using “refugee” status as cover for infiltration?

    Oh yeah, I remember now.  It’s because DC is currently run by a gang of naive idiots without the sense to pour p!ss out of a boot.