Thursday, May 28, 2015

America's Arrogant Solipsism

The Return of American Narcissism by Peter Zeihan (21-8-15)

21-1-6 Arrogant Infantile Insurrectionists


[Modified to reflect unfortunate realities] The storming of the United States Capitol was a riot and violent attack against the 117th United States Congress at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Part of wider protests, it was carried out by a mob of supporters of Insurrectionist-in-Cheat, the 45th UNpresident of the United States, in an attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, which they failed to do. The riot led to the evacuation and lockdown of the Capitol, and five deaths.

Called to action by tRUMP, thousands of his supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., on January 5 and 6 in support of his [demonstrably false] claim that the 2020 election had been "stolen" from him, and to demand that Vice President Mike Pence and Congress reject Biden's victory. On the morning of January 6, at a "Save America" rally on the Ellipse, tRUMP repeated false claims of election irregularities and urged the crowd to "fight like hell" 01:11:44 At the president's encouragement, thousands of the protesters then walked to the Capitol, where a joint session of Congress was beginning the Electoral College vote count to formalize Biden's victory.

Many of the crowd at the Capitol, some of whom had gathered earlier, breached police perimeters and stormed the building. These rioters occupied, vandalized, and looted parts of the building for several hours. Many became violent, assaulting Capitol Police officers and reporters, erecting a gallows on the Capitol grounds, and attempting to locate lawmakers to take hostage and harm. They chanted "Hang Mike Pence", blaming him for not rejecting the Electoral College votes, [even though] he lacked the constitutional authority to do so. The rioters targeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA), vandalizing and looting her offices, as well as those of other members of Congress.

Upon security being breached, Capitol Police evacuated the Senate and House of Representatives chambers. Several buildings in the Capitol complex were evacuated, and all were locked down. Rioters occupied and ransacked the empty Senate chamber while federal law enforcement officers drew handguns to defend the evacuated House floor. Improvised explosive devices were found near the Capitol grounds, as well as at offices of the Democratic National Committee, the Republican National Committee, and in a nearby vehicle. Five people died from the events, while dozens more were injured.

tRUMP initially resisted sending the D.C. National Guard to quell the mob. In a Twitter video, he called the rioters "very special" and told them to "go home in peace" while repeating his false election claims. The Capitol was cleared of rioters by mid-evening, and the counting of the electoral votes resumed and was completed in the early morning hours. Pence declared President-elect Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris victors and affirmed that they would assume office on January 20. Pressured by his administration, the threat of removal, and numerous resignations, tRUMP later committed to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement.

The events were widely condemned by political leaders and organizations in the United States and internationally. Mitch McConnell (R–KY), Senate Minority Leader, called the storming of the Capitol a "failed insurrection" provoked by the UNpresident's "lies" and said that the Senate "will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation". Several social media and technology companies suspended or banned tRUMP's accounts from their platforms, and many business organizations cut ties with him. A week after the riot, the House of Representatives voted to impeach tRUMP for "incitement of insurrection", making him the only U.S. UNpresident to have been impeached twice.

Opinion polls showed that a large majority of Americans disapproved of the storming of the Capitol and of tRUMP's actions leading up to and following it, although some RepuGNicans [as distinct from Republicans] supported the attack or at least did not blame tRUMP for it. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened more than 170 investigations into the events, and indicated that many more are likely to come. Dozens of people present at the riot were later found to be listed in the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database, most as suspected white "supremacists". Members of the Oath Keepers anti-government paramilitary group were indicted on conspiracy charges for allegedly staging a planned mission in the Capitol.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Brazil under Bolsonaro

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Can Brazil Survive Bolsonaro | Economist > .
24-9-25 Brazil - [History, BRICS, Potential] - gtbt > .
23-4-18 Brazil: the troubled rise of a global power - Caspian > .
23-3-13 Xina Trying to Dominate in South America - Caspian > .

Since coming to power autocratic bigot Jair Bolsona-hole has shaken democracy, accelerated deforestation in the Amazon and played down the danger of the coronavirus pandemic, with calamitous results. Could Brazil survive another four years of his [tRUMPish] leadership? 

Special report: https://econ.st/3fPue6S

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Canada - Geopolitics

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24-2-24 Canada Can't Solve It's Population Problem with Immigration - EcEx > .

Canada - Trade

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Anglosphere - CANZUK ..
Canada - Geopolitics ..
Canada - Trade ..
Power Projection - US Military ..
USA's Borders ..

1787 Constitutional Convention (US)

1787 Original Intent of the Constitution | Myths of American History - Wondrium > .

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress (Article I); the executive, consisting of the president and subordinate officers (Article II); and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III). Article IV, Article V, and Article VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. Article VII establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force.

Since the Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended 27 times, including one amendment that repealed a previous one, in order to meet the needs of a nation that has profoundly changed since the 18th century. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government. The majority of the 17 later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. The original U.S. Constitution was written on four pages of parchment.

According to the United States Senate: "The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments." The first permanent constitution, it is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of federal constitutional law, and has influenced the constitutions of other nations.

RepuGNican "Justices" have commandeered the “original intent” of the writers of the Constitution, but the Founding Fathers did not plan to create the political system we have today: a democratic republic based on two national and permanent political parties. Indeed, “democracy” and “political parties” were dirty words to them. They did realize, however, that the world was likely to change, which is one reason they included an amendment process in the Constitution that has allowed this document to survive as the US frame of government for so long. 

1:00 Who Were the Founders of the Constitution?
3:24 The Ongoing Process of Historical Interpretation and Reinterpretation
4:05 The Process of Creating Governments Begins
4:30 Balance Government Rejected for Legislative Power
5:30 Articles of Confederation Replaced Second Continental Congress
7:50 Successes of the Articles of Confederation
9:30 Problems with the Articles of Confederation
12:05 What was Shays' Rebellion?
13:00 An Elite Definition of Liberty
15:00 Constitutional Convention of 1787
17:25 What It Means to Create an Empire of Liberty
19:00 How the Constitution Separates Sovereignty from Rule
19:35 What are Checks and Balances?
20:00 Combining Elements of Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy
22:27 The Bill of Rights
26:17 What was the Great Compromise?
28:57 The First Ten Amendments to the Constitution

Cuban Protests

21-7-12 Mass protests in Cuba over economic crisis and COVID pandemic > .

Cuba's Importance to USA ..
Cuban Protests ..

Cuba's Importance to USA

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Hawaii


A group of Jesus-loving sugar warriors took over an island nation.

Hegemonic Insecurity

2021 Is the American Century Coming to an End? - [CAUTION Socialist Bias] > .
23-9-29 Decoding P00ti-PooXi blueprint for Noxious World Order | DW > .
23-9-7 Three Abominable P00ti LIES: Ukraine to WW2 | Tele > .
23-8-29 Dictatorships: From Spin to Fear | Ruscist Regression (subs) - Katz > .
23-8-17 [Twisted] History Book | [Lying] High School P00paganda (subs) - Katz > .
23-8-2 Xi's Anti-Corruption Purge of PLA Rocket Force | PLA structure - Digging > .
23-5-12 Pakistan is dying ⇒ global problem - Caspian > .
23-5-3 International Security: Past Lessons, Projections - HR & Nick Carter > .
23-4-16 R-U Hybrid Warfare: P00paganda, cyber, hybrid methods - Perun > .
22-12-14 US National Security Strategy in 6 points – Geopolitics c Alex Stubb > .
22-11-24 Ukrainian Consequences: The New American War Model - PZ > .
22-10-27 Xina is "Pretty Much Screwed" - laowhy86 > .
22-10-9 "Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise" | Susan Shirk - CU > .
22-7-21 Why Every NATO Member Joined (Why Others Haven't) - Spaniel > .
22-6-26 US administration's plan to control Asia-Pacific - VisPol > . skip ad > .
22-4-21 Fake data re Chinese economy: GDP, import-export, unemployment - Lei > .

Saturday, May 16, 2015

1823 Monroe Doctrine 1898


The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy that opposed European colonialism in the Americas. It argued that any intervention in the politics of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act against the United States. It began in 1823; however, the term "Monroe Doctrine" itself was not coined until 1850.

Despite America's beginnings as an isolationist country, the foundation of the Monroe Doctrine was already being laid even during George Washington's presidency. According to S.E. Morison, "as early as 1783, then, the United States adopted the policy of isolation and announced its intention to keep out of Europe. The supplementary principle of the Monroe Doctrine, that Europe must keep out of America, was still over the horizon".

While not specifically the Monroe Doctrine, Alexander Hamilton desired to control the sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in North America, but this was extended to the Latin American colonies by the Monroe Doctrine. But Hamilton, writing in the Federalist Papers, was already wanting to establish America as a world power and hoped that America would suddenly become strong enough to keep the European powers outside of the Americas, despite the fact that the European countries controlled much more of the Americas than the U.S. itself. Hamilton expected that the United States would become the dominant power in the New World and would, in the future, act as an intermediary between the European powers and any new countries blossoming near the U.S.

In a note from James Madison (Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State and a future president) to the U.S. ambassador to Spain, the federal government expressed the opposition of the American government to further territorial acquisition by European powers. Madison's sentiment might have been meaningless because, as was noted before, the European powers held much more territory in comparison to the territory held by the U.S. Although Thomas Jefferson was pro-French, in an attempt to keep the British–French rivalry out the U.S., the federal government under Jefferson made it clear to its ambassadors that the U.S. would not support any future colonization efforts on the North American continent.

The U.S. government feared the victorious European powers that emerged from the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) would revive monarchical government. France had already agreed to restore the Spanish monarchy in exchange for Cuba. As the revolutionary Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) ended, Prussia, Austria, and Russia formed the Holy Alliance to defend monarchism. In particular, the Holy Alliance authorized military incursions to re-establish Bourbon rule over Spain and its colonies, which were establishing their independence.

Great Britain shared the general objective of the Monroe Doctrine, and even wanted to declare a joint statement to keep other European powers from further colonizing the New World. The British feared their trade with the New World would be harmed if the other European powers further colonized it. In fact, for many years after the doctrine took effect, Britain, through the Royal Navy, was the sole nation enforcing the doctrine, the U.S. lacking sufficient naval capability. The U.S. resisted a joint statement because of the recent memory of the War of 1812; however, the immediate provocation was the Russian Ukase of 1821 asserting rights to the Pacific Northwest and forbidding non-Russian ships from approaching the coast.

The Monroe Doctrine was issued on December 2, at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved, or were at the point of gaining, independence from the Portuguese and Spanish Empires. It stated that further efforts by various European states to take control of any independent state in the Americas would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." At the same time, the doctrine noted that the U.S. would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal affairs of European countries.

The full document of the Monroe Doctrine, written chiefly by future-President and then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, is long and couched in diplomatic language, but its essence is expressed in two key passages. The first is the introductory statement, which asserts that the New World is no longer subject to colonization by the European countries:
The occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.
The second key passage, which contains a fuller statement of the Doctrine, is addressed to the "allied powers" of Europe; it clarifies that the U.S. remains neutral on existing European colonies in the Americas but is opposed to "interpositions" that would create new colonies among the newly independent Spanish American republics:
We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power, we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.
President James Monroe first stated the doctrine during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to the Congress. The doctrine asserted that the New World and the Old World were to remain distinctly separate spheres of influence. The separation intended to avoid situations that could make the New World a battleground for the Old World powers so that the U.S. could exert its influence undisturbed. By the end of the 19th century, Monroe's declaration was seen as a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States and one of its longest-standing tenets. The intent and impact of the doctrine persisted more than a century, with only small variations, and would be invoked by many U.S. statesmen and several U.S. presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.

After 1898, the Monroe Doctrine was reinterpreted in terms of multilateralism and non-intervention by Latin American lawyers and intellectuals. In 1933, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the U.S. went along with this new reinterpretation, especially in terms of the Organization of American States.

Mexico - Geopolitics

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2020 Geopolitics of Mexico - CaRe >skip ad > .

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

PEMEX & AMLO

22-2-3 Why Mexico is No Longer an Oil Power - VisPol > .
24-3-24 Why We Can’t Just Stop Oil - EcEx > .
Oil - Curse - Penny Wyse >> .

Andrés Manuel López Obrador ((listen); born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who has been serving as the 65th president of Mexico since 1 December 2018.

Born in Tepetitán, in the municipality of Macuspana, in the south-eastern state of Tabasco, López Obrador graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1986 following a hiatus from his studies to participate in politics. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science. He began his political career in 1976 as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Tabasco. His first public position was as director of the Indigenous Institute of Tabasco in 1977, where he promoted the edition of books in indigenous languages and the project of the Chontal ridge. In 1989, he joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and was the party's 1994 candidate for Governor of Tabasco. He was the national leader of the PRD between 1996 and 1999. In 2000, he was elected Head of Government of Mexico City. In 2012, he left the PRD, and in 2014, he founded the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), which he led until 2017.

Often described as a center-left progressive populist and economic nationalist, López Obrador has been a national politician for more than three decades. Critics have claimed that his administration has stumbled in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico and attempts to deal with drug cartels and other crime, and that the economy had already faltered even before the pandemic.

Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to Mexican Petroleum in English is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expropriation of all private oil companies in Mexico at the time of its formation. Pemex had total assets worth $101.8 billion in December 2019 and as of 2009 was Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue, surpassed only by Petrobras (the Brazilian national oil company). The company is the 7th most polluting in the world according to The Guardian.

Peru - Rise & Plummet

2021 How Peru went wrong. The failed promise of Latin America - VisPol > .

Power Projection - US Military

23-2-22 US Bases & Philippine Fight Against Xina - T&P > .


Monday, May 11, 2015

Rogue Superpower - USA

22-2-15 Life at the End of the World | Peter Zeihan @ Fort Benning - geopop > .
> Strategy >>

Michael Beckley is an associate professor of political science at Tufts University and a Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. 

His research on great power competition has received awards from the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association and been featured by numerous media including the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, NPR, and the Washington Post.

Previously, Michael worked for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the U.S. Department of Defense, the RAND Corporation, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He continues to advise offices within the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Department of Defense.

​ Michael holds a PhD in political science from Columbia University. His first book, Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower, was published in 2018 by Cornell University Press. Full talk > .

Friday, May 8, 2015

USA's Borders

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US Overseas Territories. Bases

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US Overseas Territories ..

The US has 14 territories: 5 legit territories, and 9 minor outlying islands (Wake Island, Johnston Atoll, Midway Island, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, Jarvis Island, Howland Island, Navassa Island) 
  1. Guam 
  2. US Virgin Islands 
  3. Puerto Rico 
  4. Midway Island 
  5. American Samoa 
  6. Northern Mariana Islands
Scattered across the globe you'll find American Overseas Territories. More than just partners but not normally actually part of the United States, these territories have a very interesting relationship with their motherland.

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano_I... .
​2 - https://www.britannica.com/place/Guam... .
3 - https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/ameri... .
4 - https://www.britannica.com/place/Unit... .
5 - https://www.britannica.com/place/Nort... .
6 - https://constitutingamerica.org/terri... .
7 - https://sannicolas.house.gov/financia... .

The Spanish–American War (Guerra hispano-estadounidense or Guerra hispano-americana; Filipino: Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano) was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The war led to the U.S. emerging predominant in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions. That led to U.S. involvement in the Philippine Revolution and later to the Philippine Insurrection.

The main issue was Cuban independence. Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish colonial rule. The U.S. backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. But in the late 1890s, American public opinion swayed in support of the rebellion due to reports of concentration camps (death estimates range from 150,000 to 400,000 people) set up to control the populace. Yellow journalism exaggerated the atrocities to further increase public fervor, and to sell more papers.

The business community had just recovered from a deep depression and feared that a war would reverse the gains. Accordingly, most business interests lobbied vigorously against going to war. President William McKinley ignored the exaggerated news reporting and sought a peaceful settlement. However, after the United States Navy armored cruiser Maine mysteriously exploded and sank in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, political pressures from the Democratic Party [Republican values] pushed McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid.

On April 20, 1898, McKinley signed a joint Congressional resolution demanding Spanish withdrawal and authorizing the President to use military force to help Cuba gain independence. In response, Spain severed diplomatic relations with the United States on April 21. On the same day, the U.S. Navy began a blockade of Cuba. Both sides declared war; neither had allies.

The 10-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. As U.S. agitators for war well knew, U.S. naval power would prove decisive, allowing expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already facing nationwide Cuban insurgent attacks and further wasted by yellow fever. The invaders obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila despite the good performance of some Spanish infantry units, and fierce fighting for positions such as San Juan HillMadrid sued for peace after two Spanish squadrons were sunk in the battles of Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay, and a third, more modern fleet was recalled home to protect the Spanish coasts.

The result was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, negotiated on terms favorable to the U.S. which allowed it temporary control of Cuba and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine islands. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($610 million today) to Spain by the U.S. to cover infrastructure owned by Spain.

The defeat and loss of the Spanish Empire's last remnants was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic reevaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98. The United States gained several island possessions spanning the globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism.



sī vīs pācem, parā bellum

igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum    therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...