The American people are not alone in their worry.

March 9, 2018
By Daniel B. Shapiro

King Abdullah of Jordan, left, looks on as Jared Kushner talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his wife during the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. Feb. 2, 2017.

It was always folly that Jared Kushner, (click here) a key example of Trump's terrible, nepotistic distortion of American government, monopolized the U.S.-Israel relationship. Now he's going down, how much further will critical decision-making deteriorate?

Not since the November 1, 1973 meeting between Prime Minister Golda Meir, under fire for the failures that led to the Yom Kippur War, and President Richard Nixon, already deep into the Watergate scandal, have American and Israeli leaders met at a time of such internal political turmoil in both countries.

As thousands of advocates for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship gather in Washington for the annual AIPAC Policy Conference this week, the fraught situation in both governments raises the question of how to manage the U.S.-Israel relationship through choppy waters and bumpy roads....

...What all these advances had in common was that they resulted from an effort, at least on the U.S. side, to ensure that the bilateral relationship, and the policy that guided it, were spread across all parts of our government....

...There will always be a few key, high-level individuals managing the relationship and making decisions on the most sensitive matters, but others in the government need to be involved, informed, and coordinated.

Lately, one has the impression that the relationship has been shrunk down to three or four people on each side. Trump White House paranoia about the loyalty of career officials, whom they deride as the "deep state", surely contributes. So does the failure to fill many senior State Department posts. Israeli coalition politics, with cabinet portfolios spread across multiple parties and no foreign minister, are a factor as well.

A structure like this one creates problems that benefit neither country....

...Finally, this structure injects chaos when someone leaves or gets in trouble. If all the eggs of the U.S.-Israel relationship are in Jared Kushner’s basket, what happens when that basket self-immolates, as is going on now? Over-investment in one or two individuals, no matter how supportive, actually weakens the structures that the bilateral relationship needs.

Other governments, particularly in the Gulf, have made a similar mistake, leaning far too heavily on Jared Kushner as the be-all and end-all of their relationships with the United States.

That’s because of the terrible distortion of the U.S. government under the Trump Administration - from a collection of professional departments to a family-run business, complete with a crown prince and blatant misuse of government positions to advance private commercial interests. 

As Kushner goes down, those governments must ask themselves, now what?...

...President Obama used to say that government officials are like runners in a relay race, carrying the baton for a while and then handing it off to the next runner. That is true across administrations, but it is also true during a single administration, when most people only serve in their posts for about two years. 

When Jared Kushner has the baton pulled from his hand, who is going to carry it for the U.S.-Israel relationship in the coming years?

U.S. United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt wait for a meeting of the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York

Except for Trump and Kushner, no other party finds the plan interesting. 

March 12, 2018
By Amir Tibon

Washington – The Trump administration's Israeli-Palestinian peace (click here) plan is currently being finalized and it will not include an explicit endorsement of a two-state solution, according to a report published Monday by the New York Times....

Currently, Eric Prince was hired by the UAE to fight in Yemen.

I believe it was Jason Greenblatt that felt the Palestinian President Abbas was out of line and Anti-Semitic by stating the US Envoy was the "son of a dog settler." 

That is laughable.

Greenblatt has a boss in DC, namely the President, that never stops calling absolutely anyone derived names with an emotional punch. I do believe President Abbas was paying Greenblatt a compliment carrying an appropriate greeting. It seems the sincere meaning was lost in the translation though.

I was wondering did Greenblatt receive a handshake in public yet?

Oh, by the way, the Saudis are headed to the White House for a meeting. I'd bet real money they will be asking for OCO funds for Eric Prince's militia.

Why was Geoge Nader in the White House? Trump has pedophile tendancies. Why is there any doubt why Nader was in the White House?

You won't hear this from Larry Kudlow.

The Republican Tax Plan may have given Warren Buffet a windfall, but, it didn't do anything for "Toys 'R' Us," which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. All the American stores are closing in May, but, other countries will continue to have them.

• Toys R Us will begin to slow down its U.S. business this week (click here)
• Liquidation agents will begin to arrive at Toys R Us stores Monday.
• Toys R Us has already canceled in-store events like an Easter Egg Hunt.
• Stores are still getting some shipments, and deep discounts are not expected until business slows down.

"Toys 'R' Us" registered only 50 percent of its sales during the holiday season of 2017. Evidently, rather than being a seasonal specialty store, the company registers losses all year and makes them up during the US holiday season.

September 28, 2017
By Abha Bhattaral

Within hours of Toys R Us’s bankruptcy filing last week, (click here) the maker of Max Tow Truck and Animal Babies Nursery sounded a financial alarm of its own: Jakks Pacific, the company said, expected to swing to a loss this year as a result of the mega-retailer’s bankruptcy.

Toys R Us owes $14.06 million to Jakks, which last year posted a profit of $1.2 million, making the California-based toy supplier one of more than 100,000 creditors sideswiped by the toy chain’s bankruptcy in the run-up to the all-important holiday season....

A few things happened with "Toys 'R' US;" they never recognized the movement of American parents to local toy stores where questions about quality and materials were easily provided. The CEO simply kept selling regardless of the fact there were monthly shortfalls in costs. He was bringing some cash flow to minimize the shortfall, but, it was never enough. Manufactured toys became really expensive. Disney had it's own stores and what girl didn't want to have a "Frozen" dress in the closet? Amazon was a real competitor in the prices of toys. It was a company frought with problems that were never addressed.

I doubt toy manufacturers will have a huge problem, although they need to measure their loss of sales to "Toys 'R' Us" and decide if Amazon sales are going to pick up the slack.

Governor Brown may want to reach out to toy manufacterers in his state to facilitate a transition to availabe markets as "Toys 'R' Us" is phased out this May.

Then the former "Clear Channel," (click here) with the largest number of radio stations in the USA has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, so they can make the same mistakes all over again. "Clear Channel" thought if it changed it's name to "I Heart Radio" it would save the company. Nope.

March 15, 2018
By Sherisse Pham and Brian Stelter

The two biggest owners of radio stations in America (click here) have both filed for bankruptcy.

iHeartMedia, the operator of 850 stations across the United States, submitted the paperwork on Thursday. Its rival Cumulus, the operator of 445 stations, did the same thing a few months ago.

The two cases are unique, but both companies face similar challenges in a troubled industry. And both companies are trying to restructure their debt.

iHeartMedia (IHRT) has been crippled by piles of debt for many years. It has been struggling to get out from under a massive debt load it took on as part of a leveraged buyout of billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor in 2008.

"The heavy debt burden became unsustainable during the persistent long-term secular decline of the radio broadcasting business," analyst Sharon Bonelli of Fitch Ratings said in an email....

Yes, indeed, Donald Trump has been an inspiration of all Wall Street.

Now, realize as time goes by with Wall Street being deregulated and Trump nealry handing out bankruptcy as a way to gain wealth, this trend will continue.

The USA economy will shrink and there will be job losses. There are already job losses in the Financial Sector. I do not expect those job losses to convert into new jobs. The Financial Sector will end it's departments that kept records and reported to CEOs regarding their alignment with regulation. So, middle management and the clerks will continue to look for work.

In the graph above and below there are job losses increasing in separation. The unemployment rate for this sector is an increasing percentage. The changes are nearly microscopic, but, they exist and will continue to exist as deregulation sets in.

Trump has changed the way jobs are recorded and reported, so there is a new baseline and it is only beginning to show losses to the American workforce.

Donald Trump has turned the "greed machine" loose and it is not going to end anytime soon. Bankruptcy is now on the desk of every CEO in the USA. I think "Toys 'R' Us" is an excellent example of the projection into the future. Wall Street will shrink for greater profits after it gobbled up mergers and takeovers. As a result the vendors of which monies are owed will be lucky to get a dime out of the bankruptcy. There will be more real estate on the market and prices for commercial buildings and warehouses will drop.

So, local economies need to take assessment of their economies and realize Trump's Wall Street is now the worst nightmare in the world. Those small businesses that sell items from vendors need to take stock of their supplies and merchendise and begin to determine if their businesses are growing with continued bankruptcies or not and adjust appropriately for profit.

The local economies will do well if they see this trend, take it seriously and expect an uptick in local commerce as the big conglomerates turn to liquidity in bankruptcies. That was liquidity and vendors in debt to Wall Street should not hesitate to have their invoices paid.

I don't trust any of them, be it government or Wall Street.

The real problem with driverless anything is the fact the USA can never string enough cable to accommodate an entire driving nation with service. So, what has to occur is what occurred in Arizona; the manufacturers preprogram the car with maps, ie: "Garmin GPS."

So, will everyone with such a car upload updates everyday? No. Will these cars perform to get a person from one point to another? Sure. But, no one knows when that computer software glitch will result in real tragedy. 

Sorry, but, there is no such thing as a secure internet and computers are not as reliable as the human mind.

No disrespect for the dead intended, but, this is the problem with self-driving cars.

No one knows whether a car is self-driving or not. In this case, the human being was misbehaving and was outside the lines of a crosswalk. How many people in the USA when a pedestrian walk outside the lines of a crosswalk? It is ridiculous. The entire idea behind these cars is the safety of the human being. The car is supposed to operate safer than any human driving a car or truck. Here it is. The technology has no room for human beings being human.

What if a child is playing outside. There are signs in neighborhoods stating, "Children at play." "Deaf child playing." "Drive like it were your children." How many places in the USA suffer from drivers that don't read speed limit signs and neighborhoods have to demonstrate in order to get the attention of the local council? Many. 

This is technology that will never be perfected and will always be a problem.

People invest in this mess and then it will be the human being at fault when such incidents happen. Soon people will be wearing ankle bracelets just to keep from being killed; so the car can see them.

13 February 2018
by Chloe Aiello

Uber loss jumped 61 percent to $4.5 billion in 2017(click here)

What is Uber doing in business? They lost billions last year and if the drivers weren't paid they wouldn't be on the road.

I can hear the propaganda now, "Did you get your ankle bracelet yet? They are nearly invisible and some are really attractive, too." 

Who is going to have money to spend to ride in an Uber cab? Technology will put people in poverty because there are no jobs and these companies will be worthless penny stocks. This is still yet another problem the American people have with their runaway capitalism. In Great Britain, Uber is a taxi service and pays all the fees and taxes. How many Uber drivers in Great Britain are going to pay for an Uber medallion?

It is worthless technology that has already put independent taxi drivers out of business.

Better yet, there will be an app for the iPhone that can be turned on to send out a signal when walking outside. Then there will be those folks who forgot to recharge their phone or will have A malfunction or get caught in the rain. Who's fault is it now? Human beings will have to be insured with "No Fault" before too much longer. "Get your "Walking About Town No Fault Insurance, guaranteed to pay the bills if you aren't."

I DON'T THINK SO!

March 19, 2018
By Marco della Cava

San Francisco — An Uber self-driving car (click here) hit and killed a woman in Tempe, Ariz., Sunday night, according to local police.

The Uber car was in self-driving mode when the accident occurred, but had a safety driver at the wheel as is the norm when testing autonomous vehicles.

Uber issued a statement saying that it was "fully cooperating with local authorities." The ride-hailing company has temporarily halted its self-driving tests in wake of the incident in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto, as is its policy following any accident.

The woman, who has not been named, was crossing outside the designated crosswalk at about 10 p.m. when she was hit, police said.

Sgt. Ronald Elcock, a Tempe police spokesman, confirmed to the USA TODAY Network that the car was in autonomous mode with a driver behind the wheel when it hit the pedestrian. There were no passengers in the car at the time....     

Vladimir Putin is afraid of novices.

In reflection of Putin's long career, I believe he is afraid of novices at the head of government. When "W" came into power and overreached any authority into Iraq, Putin knew he had a problem. He had a self-righteous US President with intentions of war without cause or permission by the greater international community.

March 19, 2018

The material (click here) was meant to be sold for some 70 million dollars, reports the Turkish NTV news channel. The source of the radioactive element and the identity of its buyer remain unclear...

Three-quarters of the reason these Russians die is that they have information Russia's enemies want. Putin still believes "The West" is his enemy. It might be his, but, it is not the enemy of the Russian people.

Anarchist hacker and bitcoin developer Amir Taaki (click here) tells Haaretz about the 15 months he spent in Syria's secular oasis of Rojava, and describes his plan to foment world peace through technology

This, besides Putin's election, is the biggest joke going. It is interesting propaganda. Bitcoin is going to ensure peace breaks out everywhere. I don't think so. Especially, when considering the $70 million dollar nukes were probably paid for by bitcoin.

It is Putin's knowledge that Russia or the international community cannot replace and he knows that. He is ruthless and everyone knows that, too.

I think Putin has convinced himself he is invincible and his presence is needed to stabilize the global community, regardless, of sanctions, illegitimate war with Ukraine and their loss of Crimea. He sees war with Ukraine as an activity that protects Russians. I think he has the country convinced he is needed all the time as well. But, he isn't helping Russians and the results of this election should have been different if there were other qualified candidates running. Putin's will cannot be in leadership forever. If he is convinced he is needed internationally as a stabilizing factor; he isn't doing a good job of providing for leadership today or in the future.

He will not live forever and while he might be preserved as with Lenin, he still shows no willingness to build a solid foundation for Russia's future leadership. He was Prime Minister while Dmitry Medvedev was President. It is time for Vladimir Putin to retire. Seriously.

So, let me just say this, one of the reasons Putin and any of his ENFORCERS saw to it he won by a large margin in this election it is because he has no faith in the leadership of the USA with Donald Trump culling the entire brain trust within the federal government. Vladimir Putin knew full well what he was looking at in Trump and he knew he could handle Trump's administration. As Putin said, "...if Hillary is elected there will be a nuclear war." Vladimir Putin believes he is entitled to have a world order of his own making.

First, it was Kahn in Pakistan and now it was Anatoly Kuntsevich sabotaging peace. 

This is the map Vladimir Putin understands best because Russia still has enough power to influence the borders of Russia. The word was influence and not control.

I do not believe Anatoly acted as a rogue agent and Russia knew nothing about it. I believe Anatoly was every bit a "good Russian" as Vladimir Putin. He was ordered to share information with Syria. When one looks to this map, Turkey is bordered by Syria and the Black Sea where Crimea sits and Russia is a short swim in the Black Sea. No, Putin ordered Anatoly to teach Assad's generals the way to make bombs that would deploy chemical weapons. It just is so very obvious.

Putin would like Turkey to leave NATO and become Russia's ally. Lots of reasons including intelligence the Turkish government has through NATO. But, Russia would be receiving Turkey when it is still in chaos and Erdogan is looking to inspiring nationalism with child soldiers.

Russia's Putin doesn't have the best military and if threatened will go to nuclear weapons rather than engage in a conventional war he would lose. He has children and he does not want nuclear war, but, if he felt Russia was losing it's sovereignty he would take the leap of faith and deploy missiles. I have no doubt about that.

Vladimir Putin is dangerous, but, not because Russia has a first rate military, but, because it doesn't. An ongoing dialogue that ensures Russia its borders and its people should be part of the future paradigm of the United Nations Security Council. Russia should look to the Post-Soviet states and realize it's future is not as a possession/territory of The West, but, of an autonomous country rebuilding it's economic prowess and improving the Russian peoples' quality of life. When high ranking Russians have their own medical facility one has to realize average Russians are not happy campers and very much forced into voting in yesterday's election for the only candidate allowed to win.

Oh, one other thing, the lack of Russian tourists will weigh heavily in any of Turkey's decisions about being an ally to Russia and leaving NATO. Russia will be Turkey's ally even if it doesn't leave NATO. Turkey's western economy is dependent on peace within it's borders. A decison to be an ally to Russia will not resolve the conflict currently in Turkey, if anything it would escalate the problem.

Russians were forced into service in yesterday's election and to that end Vladimir Putin should be moving to build better leadership and resolve the lack of confidence he has in the idea of peace.

When there is no reason for war, demigods like "W" and Trump will never win the argument for invasion anywhere. The peace has to be strong and has to prove there are sovereign nations that comprise a vibrant global community. Peace and a strong peace is the answer for Russia, not forever wars.

The United Nations should dedicate election observers of Russian elections upto six months before the election day.

Putin may not have a mandate to war or otherwise. The record number of voters, including many voting for the first time, may have been impressed into service.

Vladimir Putin needs to be held responsible for the deaths in Great Britain of Expats. The Hague is the place for the human rights crimes. The Russia people are scared of him and dare not stay home on election day.

March 18, 2018
By Natalya Vasilyeva and Angela Charito

Moscow — Russia’s presidential election (click here) was tainted Sunday by unprecedented pressure on voters to turn out and incidents of suspected ballot box stuffing — a barely democratic exercise that will grant Vladimir Putin another six years of power.

His opponents have called the election a farce, but his millions of fans hail the 65-year-old former KGB officer for restoring Russian greatness and defending their proud nation from a hostile outside world.

Putin is facing seven challengers on the ballot but the outcome of the vote is pre-ordained, given his high popularity ratings. The major goal for Russian authorities is producing a big turnout that will hand Putin the legitimacy he craves and provide a convincing mandate for his fourth term. Sunday’s election is expected to further embolden the Russian president both at home and in world affairs.

Casting his ballot in Moscow, Putin seemed confident of victory, saying he would consider any percentage of votes a success....

The mysterious deaths of Russians go beyond the UK. Israel had told Russia they know Mr. Kuntsevich was providing Syria with intelligence to facilitate chemical weapons. 

It is easy to point a finger at Israel when a Russian weapons expert turns up dead of mysterious methods. The deaths in the UK are easy to find as an act by Russia, but, there are other Russians dying without reason.

I think it is Russia cleaning up their involvement in human rights abuses and use of outlawed chemical weapons. Israel had no reason to kill him. They already knew who was involved and notified Russia of his actions. It is my assumption Russia is the murderer, Russia needs to be held responsible for providing chemical weapon technology to Assad.

March 18, 2018

Anatoly Kuntsevich, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Hero of Socialist Labor Lenin Prize winner Doctor of Chemistry 

Anatoly Kuntsevich, (click here) one of the former heads of Russia's chemical weapons program who was said to be in charge of the Soviet Union's development of nerve agents in the 1970s and 1980s, was reportedly a target of Mossad, Israel's espionage agency.

Israel believed Kuntsevich was supplying his chemical weapons know-how to Syria during the 1990s and pressured Russia to cut their relationship. After Russia refused, he died under mysterious circumstances on a flight from Syria to Russia.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth's Ronen Bergman, Kuntsevich oversaw the development of Novichok, the powerful nerve agentsuspected to have been used in the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the U.K. earlier this month....

It is pure foolishness to insult and seek to stop the Mueller probe.

No one knows exactly what Former Director Mueller has that needs additional clarification, but, subpoenas of Trump Company records maybe the last clarification needed for conclusions to this inquiry.

There are people implicated in wrongdoing. Mr. Mueller needs all the information he can get to solidly know the direction these arrests are going to take. President Trump has provided all the records from the White House requested. There isn't anything else President Trump needs to do at this time. 

Trump Company is managed by his son, Donald Trump, Jr. The President of the United States of America would be wrong to interfere with an investigation of a company, especially because of the conflict of interest in this case. A President interfering in a federal investigation that has lead to arrests and plea deals has questionable motives and certainly violates any ethical standard of the presidency.

I would expect Don, Jr. to receive phone calls from lawyers regarding a subpoena, but, not the President. President Trump is no longer leading the company while serving in office and received the information about subpoenas second hand. Certainly, the subpoenas were served on the President to obtain records from Trump Company.

Former Director Mueller may not be able to close this case without records housed with the Trump Company. Why put the Mueller investigation into a posture that would force trails when that might be resolved with information inside the Trump Company. I think Donald Trump needs to scold his personal attorney that started this entire mess about firing the former FBI Director. President Trump's personal attorney outside the White House was wrong to ask him to be involved. The Trump Company needs to cooperate, as the White House has done, and provide whatever documents the investigation requires. 

Clarification of facts could prevent lengthy trials. Certainly, the President of the USA isn't involved in decisions within his company now that he has taken the oath of office. I find it unfortunate, president Trump has such poor council outside the White House. His private lawyer demanded the investigation to be shut down. That is very poor lawyering. The President has no interest in those subpoena's while in office.

March 19, 2018

US President Donald Trump (click here) has been warned by fellow Republican against interfering special counsel Robert Mueller's investigations.

It came after he attacked Mr Mueller's inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

In tweets at the weekend, Mr Trump reiterated that there had been "no collusion" between his team and Russia and called the probe a "witch hunt".

He added that it was dominated by "hardened Democrats".

Mr Mueller, a highly regarded former head of the FBI, is a Republican....

"Good Night, Moon"

New moon

1.6 days old

2.8 percent lit

16 March 2018
By Dylan Furness

The moon (click here) is under constant bombardment by meteorites and asteroids that can leave massive craters on its surface. The Aitken basin, the largest impact crater on the lunar surface, has a diameter equivalent to the distance from London to Athens, Greece. But not all craters are so noticeable — most are relatively insignificant.

Thousands of previously unknown craters have been spotted on the moon thanks to an artificial intelligence program designed by researchers at the University of Toronto....