Pakistan is unafraid to level criticism at the Trump administration and ineffective US Congress; where is everyone else?

This could make the world more dangerous for everyone. Stand up to this lunatic. Are wars the future of diplomacy? Is that the only way sovereignty will be decided? There needs to be more to support Iran's decision to sign the agreement and others to continue to participate in it.

May 9, 2018

FO says arbitrarily rescinding such agreements will undermine confidence in the value of dialogue and diplomacy.

Hours after President Donald Trump (click here) announced pulling the United States out of an international agreement aimed at stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, Pakistan expressed on Wednesday its serious concerns over the move.

Trump on Tuesday said he was reimposing economic sanctions on Tehran and pulling his country out of the deal, achieved through months-long negotiations.

In a statement issued on today, Pakistan said it believes that international treaties and agreements concluded through painstaking negotiations are sacrosanct.

“Arbitrarily rescinding such agreements will undermine confidence in the value of dialogue and diplomacy in the conduct of international relations and the peaceful resolution of disputes,” it added.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) represented a very good example of a negotiated settlement of complex issues, through dialogue and diplomacy....

There are two kidnappings today in Pakistan. Karachi construction boss . Probably ransom money.

May 9, 2018

Construction tycoon Latif Sorathia (click here) was abducted by unidentified suspects on Tuesday.

CCTV footage showed the noted builder being kidnapped by two, one sporting a police uniform. Police said an FIR of the incident had been registered following a complaint by Soarathia’s son.

Earlier in February, an eight-year-old girl was recovered by police six days after being kidnapped. Officials also claimed to have arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the kidnapping.

Fida Hussain, the father of the abducted girl, had registered a complain at the Boat Basin police station on January 25 pm the kidnapping of this daughter against Nazeran Bibi alias Rani and Nazar  Muhammad alias....               

President Rouhani and the Supreme Leader need to remain civil in their dealings with partners of the JCPoA.

I understand the anger and passion that is exhibited in Iran, but, it would be a folly to end all contacts with Europe, Russia and China. Instead of the P5+1, it is now P4 + 1 and the USA is beginning to practice isolationism anyway.

There are not many in the USA that have confidence in the Trump administration and while it is difficult to tell whether the majority Republican Congress will act there is still vast opportunity with Iran and the P4 +1. Considering there is no emergency session of the US Congress or it's committees that is a sign as to the future of any action by them. They are easily intimidated by Trump and his anger.

The real concern is the US Military and what will occur if Israel launches into a war in the region. President Putin has already addressed that in calling Israel's Prime Minister to Moscow, but, the future is not set in stone. There are many that want to see Iran succeed. I have a strong suspicion former US Presidents are already involved in their own initiatives to protect from the zealotry of Trump and Israel.

Tomorrow is a concern, but, today is business as usual until all the ships captains have a chance to reassess and set a path forward. Hopefully, Wall Street will convey the message to the US Congress it will be hurting for campaign dollars that will go elsewhere on the political spectrum and the Congress will decide Trump is not so important in the first place. Lots can happen, the only question is, will it?

US President Donald Trump’s decision (click here) to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal prompted furious reaction in Tehran, regret in Europe and cheers from Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The following is a selection of reactions from around the globe to Trump’s biggest foreign policy move since taking office:

“This decision was an act of psychological warfare against Iran.” – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

“I have instructed the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation to take the necessary measures for future actions so that, if necessary, we can resume industrial enrichment without limit.” – Rouhani

“Stay true to your commitments as we will stay true to ours and together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.” – European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini

“France, Germany and the UK regret the US decision to leave the JCPOA. The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake. We will work collectively on a broader framework, covering nuclear activity, the post-2025 period, ballistic activity and stability in the Middle East, notably Syria, Yemen and Iraq.” – French President Emmanuel Macron, on Twitter, referring to the Iran deal by its formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action....
                            

The US EPA is worthless even in protecting American lives.

May 7, 2018

Wilmington, NC (WECT) - National Gypsum (click here) has announced that it is reopening its plant in Wilmington.

“We expect to have the plant operational by the end of the year,” said National Gypsum CEO Tom Nelson in a statement. “Wilmington will allow us to better respond to customer demand as the construction industry continues to build momentum.”

The company says it plans to hire 51 associates and will spend $25 million over the next five years to upgrade existing machinery as well as install new equipment....

There are high levels of formaldehyde affiliated with this company. It causes cancer. The children of Wilmington, North Carolina will be experiencing cancers in 20 years.

The US EPA is throwing the American people back to the 1960s when clean air and water were first an issue. See, Pruitt will change the toxic levels to provide for old industries to reignite their profit structure. Believe me, the Trump economy is a killer.

Especially in the south, the state and not the federal government will change the toxin levels to allow the companies to begin their production again. Acid rain will be back and all the nasty issues Americans used to face. There will be compromising lung disease in children and the list is too long to mention here.

However, one of the reasons National Gypsum seeks out east coast cities (the other being Miami) to produce it's product is the winds. The winds will help dilute the pollution. It will carry the pollution out to sea. There won't be mitigation of the toxins by the company, they will simply add wind movement into their formula to justify their toxin levels.

The problem for the people is who do they turn to and the answer is the courts. The people won't have ready organizations, except for the American Cancer Society and American Lung Association, to bring suit to end the assault against their health. They will have to organize and raise funds to advance their wellness through scientific information to end the return of these companies.

The reason Trump wants everything defunded in Washington is to remove any authority that can be used in the future to return regulations. I would think that obvious. He enjoys having long time staffers leave their jobs because that means a return of expertise to the agencies will take time in recruiting experts to work for the USA government. With Trump being the current reality there will be less and less confidence in a see-saw system of government in DC. The USA is a banana republic. It is now. Unless the people stabilize their government again and end the huge deficit spending of Trump, the USA will forever be untrustworthy.

Communities need to have at the ready organizations that can carry them into court with experts to end any assault against their health now that the US EPA is as corrupt as the day is long.

One would say, the elections have to prove to produce people that will act in the best interest of a communities health, but, whoever expected this? No one. So, trusted officials are now the enemy and it is difficult to direct policy and monies once such individuals are in place. The South has a horrible economy without such attacks on community health. North Carolina defaults to "the internet" for it's economy and the cities are basically ghost towns except for pawn shops and colleges and sparse sprinkling of Wall Street companies like McDonalds. "The Family Businesses" in the fashion of The Kochs is what Red State politicians seek to provide jobs. Companies like Dell don't stay. They accept all kinds of tax breaks and function for a short time, but, ultimately they leave. 

At any rate, that is the federal government now. It functions to bring companies back no matter the price and they call it governance. That is not governance, it is simply incompetents that allow the government to flounder and misdirect.

The current Department of Energy is a disaster zone. The issues in Puerto Rico regarding the energy grid is due to the lack of expertise in the Department of Energy right now. The Army Corp. is being used to shore up efforts. The Army Corp of Engineers is a stop gap until the Department of Energy prepares a strategy and revamps such problems. The Army Corp. is the only real agency of the USA government that can solve domestic problems right now. The US Army Corp. and the National Guard will be the infrastructure to domestic emergencies. The problem is that their role is extended far past what it should be. And then realize the National Guard is training others like Ukraine and the picture domestically gets really sad and stupid. Governors have to rethink the roll of the federal government now and into the future until things improve, if they ever do and the American people understand the importance of expertise and complexity.

Citizen's United disarmed the American people. Money can buy corruption. The really interesting thing is that Wall Street bought incompetency and greed in family owned businesses, not one of it's own and now Wall Street is a target.

It gets really scary to realize Trump is probably the smartest guy in the room at cabinet meetings.

There is a really cool story out of Afghanistan.

May 8, 2018

One of the games (click here) designed by the all-female team has caught the eye of developers and gamers as it illustrates the scourge of opium cultivation and the challenges the Afghan security forces face as they try to stamp it out.

The US Congress can legislate continuance of the Iran Deal.

It is really easy to understand what is occurring in the White House. It is called "Making it happen for Koch."

I can't believe the Trump White House is this corrupt. This is astounding to think they thought they could get away with it, but, Trump figured with Comey out of the way he had control. That is why the White House staffing, especially the State Department is so sparse.

Wall Street is used to looking at the USA government to help decide about the future and where adjusts need to be made to compete. THERE IS NO COMPETING WITH TRUMP. Trump is pulling all the strings to benefit Koch. Koch Industries is a private company and the only information available to Wall Street to read the tea leaves is to measure it's moves. There is no prospectus for Wall Street to understand Koch's balance sheets. Koch is undermining Wall Street, whether it means it or not. There needs to be hearing held by Congress as well. This is outrageous. The White House has become an arm of Koch Industries.

March 7, 2018
By Ed Lin

Koch Industries (click here) is probably as well known for its leadership in the Koch brothers as its brands, which include Dixie and Lycra.

Koch Industries Chairman and Chief Executive Charles G. Koch and executive vice president David H. Koch are high-profile philanthropists and libertarians. The brothers are not supernatural, but they recently helped a company buy some time.

The Kochs recently did some buying on their own. Koch Industries initiated positions in Qualcomm(ticker: QCOM), Groupon (GRPN) and Synders-Lance (LNCE) in the fourth quarter. They also bought more shares of Time Warner (TWX) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI).

Qualcomm’s contested relationship with would-be acquirer Broadcom (AVGO) has been a messy drama that anybody obligated to read daily business news has been involuntarily bingeing on. Now, national security is the latest terrain the dance of the chip makers has trampled upon. Koch Industries bought 31,000 Qualcomm shares in the fourth quarter, the same time frame of Broadcom’s initial overture. Qualcomm eked out a 2% gain, excluding dividends, in 2017 but has given all that back so far in 2018 through Tuesday’s close....

Oil has reached $77 per barrel which is the highest in a long time. When realizing ATT was paying Michael Cohen for advice to understand the current administration, it was to control the outcomes of mergers. The ATT merger with Time Warner went to Koch. This is all manipulation for the benefit of Koch Industries since they are the primary contributor to the GOP.

Former Secretary John Kerry and/or President Obama should be educating Congress to the corrupt and illegal measures being employed by the Executive Branch. This is simply unbelievable. This is something that no one ever conceived would be possible by the USA. The most Wall Street every have hoped for is competition for US Contracts; not paying to play in commodities. Wall Street is slowly floundering into major losses since they celebrated Trump in the White House after the election and there were huge gains in the market.

I dislike Wall Street for many reasons, but, hate them to the point where they are destroyed by their own greed is not what I call prudent government policy. This is simply outrageous. The White House has few staff and advisors to conceal the corruption. Wall Street needs to take the information provided by Mr. Avenatti and file suit against President Donald Trump, Trump Company, Michael Cohen, Koch Industries and the Koch Brothers themselves. What are their names, David and Charles. They need to end this insult to the markets. The markets are lost at least up to this point. US Justice needs to put mergers on hold until the criminal content is realized and recorded and acted on.

China, India and Korea (click here) could all be hit by Trump’s decision.

As this chart shows, they are the biggest customers for the oil which Iran has been pumping vigorously since sanctions were lifted in 2016.

Donald Trump’s decision has gone down predictably badly in Iran.

MPs symbolically burned a US flag in the country’s parliament this morning and chanted “death to America”

The Iranian parliament’s speaker, Ali Larijani, accused the US president of conducting a “diplomatic show” and claimed that president Trump “does not have the mental capacity” for the job....

There are currently issues in the Middle East and Netanyahu is on his way to Moscow to coordinate bombing in regard to Syria. To say, Trump's plans are not going well is an understatement. Trump needs to resign.

The US military should be on alert that the President is incompetently using the military for personal goals and not national policy. However, that has to happen it needs to happen.

With Iran burning the USA flag in its parliament, Saudi Arabia has intercepted missiles over Riyadh. Israel was bombing missile sites in Syria supposedly justified by the discovery missiels were pointed at Israel. No one knows the real truth at this point and the USA military needs to be coordinating with the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council to establish a common understanding of hot spots around the world and how best to move forward. The President is not capable of leading without corruption. (click here)

Pakistan and India are definitely trying to move to stable borders. There has been some issues in Kashmir and there are some attacks against police with casualties. But, the two countries are trying to establish better relations. The Pakistani Courts are doing their level best to rule according to law, but, the ISI and other police groups are causing issues. There was a raid on a party with about 40 people, about half were women. The raid was without a warrant because it was based in religious practices and not the law in Pakistan.

The power of local elders are a real issue in Pakistan. 

I think the Koreas are stable and moving forward with their peace initiative. I don't see that changing. Russia and China are strong authorities in the region to insure stability and Kim Jong Un should be aware of his position in the region so there won't be insults from the outcome of corruption by the USA. Basically, everyone hold on to their hats and continue to move forward toward stability and peace. The USA military has to be secure and the generals and the Joint Chiefs will make it so. Everyone needs to be talking and ignoring Trump.

There is no telling what the USA Congress will do next, because the Republican majority are political cowards. The idea the Kochs are in trouble should be their reality.

As far as oil goes, China needs to work with Russia and Iran if it is highly impacted by price. India is seeking outside companies in bids to the government to squeeze current oil fields. I think Halliburton is involved. Perhaps an appeal to Saudi Arabia for oil might be an advantage. Everyone is going to have to find oil allies. I don't I just stated that. I hate the petroleum industry, but, that is mostly the USA petroleum industry, it is lead by idiots. I would think that would be evident by now.

I will take this opporunity to state, EVERY COUNTRY NEEDS TO WORK TOWARD ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES. I would think this havoc reeked by Trump and Koch is a good example of what can occur with commodities. It is unbelievable to realize the extent Trump has been able to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. Who knows what is next?