Don't cut off your nose to spite your face

Perhaps some third world leaders should look at the latest poll conducted among the citizens of Cuba before making bold statements about the United States. The latest poll reveals 79% of Cubans are dissatisfied with the country’s economic system; 70% want to start their own business and the Cuban government will not allow them to do so. Nearly two-thirds of Cubans (64%) believe normalizing relations with the U.S. could change the economic system, though only 37% thought the Cuban political system would allow the changes to take place because it would mean them surrendering control to the people.

Growth has slowed sharply in recent years. According to Cuba’s national statistical agency, the country’s gross domestic product in 2013 was 77.2 billion pesos – which, depending on which exchange rate one uses, could equate to anything from $77.2 billion (at the official rate of 1 convertible peso to $1) to $3.2 billion (at the internal rate of 24 regular pesos to 1 convertible peso). But either way, growth has slowed dramatically from the mid-2000's. The rate exchange of their money is different for Cuban citizens and foreigners visiting or doing business in the country. The growth rate in GDP is below 1.3 percent. They rank 177 out of 222 countries world wide. Compare that to the Philippine GDP - The Philippines economy grew an annual 7.0 percent in the second quarter of 2016. GDP is based on population that must be kept in mind.

The Soviet Union was the main trading partner and strategic ally of Fidel Castro during the time of the Cold War. The collapse of the socialist bloc put the island on the brink of economic collapse in the early 1990's. Since the Russian government could no longer provide the support they had given Cuba they agreed in 2014 to reduce the DEBT Cuba owed Russia by 35%. Cuba could not pay the debt anyway.  Cuba still owes Russia 3.5 billion dollars after the debt was reduced. In return for reducing the debt Cuba agreed to allow Russia to open a small spy facility in Havana.  

There was a time in the early 1960’s when Fidel Castro made statements like, “It will be Russia and Cuba against the United States.”  That did not work out so well! Obama in my opinion is making a bad mistake in giving Cuba any aid and relaxing the trade embargo with Cuba. It is obvious due to the Russian economy slowing Russia cannot provide what the Cuban government needs to survive so why should the United States bail Cuba out of their bad decision to “sever ties” with the United States in the 1960’s. Why should our incompetent President Obama be allowed to give them the $132 billion in aid he wants to give them, since in 2014 Cuba agreed to allow Russia to open a small spy station in Cuba?

Cuba is so desperate today that they are drifting out of Moscow’s orbit and wanting to return to the United States orbit. The people  not the leaders paid a price for fifty years by severing their ties with the United States for Russia and no longer can afford to pay the price. It seems some third world leaders do not do their research before making bold statements against the United States and other Western Nations.

It is best for third world countries not to sever ties with any first world country. They should try to maintain a relationship with them all. What does a third world country really have to offer a first world country? If Roosevelt and Truman believed they could attack and beat Japan without defending the Philippines I believe modern day Presidents realize they do not need the Philippines to defend themselves against China.  A war that most likely will never happen because China or the United States or Russia do not want that.

Cuba could not survive with the help they were getting from Russia and had to turn to Venezuela, the Cuban authorities made it clear that further economic cooperation with Moscow was not a priority.  Today the Venezuela economy is failing and Cuba cannot depend on Venezuela or Russia so they reach out to the United States to save them. Why should we?

Russia did build In northeast Cuba two nickel plants, but Russia has since turned them over to the Canadians. Why would Russia be interested in mining in the Philippines if they were not interested in maintaining mining in Cuba and turned the mines over to the Canadians? The Canadians presently mine in the Philippines. New hotels were built by Mexican and Spanish firms in Cuba they were not build by Russia or China. True, two years ago Cuba did seem to express renewed interest in working with Russian oil companies. But experience tells us to remain cautious. For two decades Russian experts explored for oil off the Cuban coast, finding a few juicy items along the way, but then suddenly turned all their discoveries over to  Mexico. I would tend to think any oil deal China makes with the Philippines will benefit China far more than it will the people of the Philippines. I doubt that the Russians really have any interest in the South China Sea oil production since it would possibly damage their relationships with China.

I have also been amused that all the contracts and deals China has proposed with the Philippines requires they use China Companies to build them which helps the Chinese economy not the Philippine economy. The loans to build go right back to the Chinese government and the Philippines pays interest on the money. I am not aware of any contract or deal that the United States has made with the Philippines that requires them to only use American companies.

I know that the powers to be in the Philippines have far more knowledge of deals, contracts, trade agreements, foreign relationships than stupid little me. I have never work for any government in my life. I am just a simple man with little knowledge, but I cannot make sense of all the talk of ending a long term relationship for a promise that may never materialize and if it does the strings attached may be more than the strings you claim you want to break with the United States.

In my personal life I have never ended a long term friendship in order to gain a new friendship. In my professional life I have never ended a business relationship with an old reliable company to do business with an unknown company with no proven record. 

Revenge is hell and destroys! The Aquino's and some in the Philippines have spent three decades trying to get even with the Marcos family and it has not brought them peace. There are some that were and still are loyal to the Marcos family that have sought revenge on the Aquino family and the United States for not supporting Marcos and it has not brought them peace. Only forgiveness brings peace. 

To show how arrogant some in governments can be when it comes to revenge a United States Congressman is stopping the sale of 27,000 weapons to the Philippine National Police. Who does that hurt? Certainly not the Philippines. Duterte will purchase the weapons in China, Israel or Japan. It only hurts the people of the United States and the United States economy. The people we elect are not as smart as we think they are. 

Politicians cannot be trusted before or after they are elected to office.

Edward Snowden proved Government’s (politicians) cannot be trusted – WAKE UP AND MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE !

What keeps a person passive and compliant is fear of repercussions, but once you let go of your attachment to things that do not ultimately matter – money, career, physical safety – you can overcome that fear. The Internet should allow people to experience freedom and explore fully what freedom in a democratic society is all about. Washington is not allowing that to be possible.

I do not want to live in a world where we have no privacy and no freedom, where “Big Brother” might be watching and listening to everything I say and do. I do not think Edward Snowden ever wanted to destroy the NSA, but he did want the people to know what was going on so that the people could decide if they were willing to give up their freedom of privacy.

After Snowden returned to the NSA he went to Japan until 2011. He then returned again to the Dell Corporation assigned to the CIA office in Maryland. If Edward Snowden was the loser, low tech computer operator as the Obama administration portrayed him to be why did NSA, Dell Corporation, CIA and others keep rehiring him over and over again?

In 2012 he was transferred by Dell from Maryland to Hawaii that is where he started downloading the documents he thought the world should see. He realized there was one set of documents that would only be available to him by having access to NSA files so he applied and got a position with Booz Allen Hamilton  which gave him that access. He took a large pay cut in order to secure the job.

In 2013 Edward Snowden requested a few weeks off to receive treatment for his epilepsy. He went to Hong Kong telling none of his family or his girlfriend because he did not want to get them involved in what he was about to do. 

Edward Snowden was staying at a Five Star Hotel, paying with his own personal credit card, using his legal name and was not in hiding as the media and government said. He did not choose Hong Kong so he would have ties with the Chinese mainland government. He chose Hong Kong because he knew it was part of Chinese territory and he believed American Agents would not be as free to operate against him for fear of China getting involved.  He never contacted the Chinese government. His ultimate plan was to seek refuge in Ecuador or Bolivia.

Hong Kong was also attractive to him because it had an elected Democratic government, and it was use to being at odds with a major power – China Mainland. It was also a place where dissenters formed big street protest against China. He felt the people in Hong Kong would be more sympathetic to his cause.

Obama had pledged to protect whistle blowers when he campaigned for President, but he did the opposite once he took office. Obama actually waged a war against whistle blowers. The Obama administration has prosecuted more government leakers under the Espionage Act of 1917 than ALL previous administration in the history of the U.S.A.  I think Snowden believed he had to leave the U.S.A. in order to accomplish what he wanted to do. The man did not and does not want to go to prison – who does?

Let us not forget what the Obama administration tried to do to James Rosen at Fox News. They would have done far more to Edward Snowden. He would have been arrested immediately without bail.  

It would be hard for anyone to deny that the New York Times is pro Obama, but they even came out and said, “The administration has now lost all credibility. President Obama’s ‘Dragnet’ proves he will use any power given him and most likely will abuse it.”  The New York Times back down somewhat after the story was released and said they were only talking about what Obama would do with this one issue. We know Obama has abused his power on MANY issues.

Whistle blowers have been abused and prosecuted under the Obama administration. Journalists have been threatened with jail by intimidation. Laws , ethics, morality nor the Constitution has stopped the Bush or Obama administration from violating U.S. citizens’ rights to privacy.

 How many times have we  read or heard the media say that Edward Snowden  “FLED TO CHINA”? Media was doing what Washington ask them to do even if it was a lie. They made it sound as if Snowden was a secret agent for China.  The governments goal was to turn the American people and the world against Edward Snowden.

Washington was involved in economic espionage and diplomatic spying while condemning China for doing the same thing.  Documents Edward Snowden released proved NSA was spying on Petrobras, the SWIFT banking system, the
Russian oil company Gazprom and the Russian airline Aeroflot strictly for economic reasons. The surveillance had nothing to do with terrorism or national security. How many times have you read about or heard Obama condemn China for economic surveillance? 

Prior to attending the Latin America, energy companies conferences in Mexico and Venezuela our Washington representatives made sure they had all the surveillance NSA had collected on Latin America energy companies which allowed Washington an advantage during the conferences. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden.

NSA employs about thirty thousand employees and that does not count the private contractors. It is estimated 70% of our national intelligence budget is spent on private contractors. In 2010 AT&T was paid to spy on Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Venezuela for the U.S.A.  It is a known fact, thanks to Edward Snowden, that the government , telecommunication companies and tech companies all work together to carry out surveillance. They cooperate with each other to rob us of our Fourth Amendment rights.

NSA does not only pay private contractors for surveillance they pay foreign governments as well. In 2012 they paid the governments of Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand to carry out surveillance for them.  We know this thanks to Edward Snowden. How can we be assured the information these foreign governments give us is accurate. Is this how the “weapons of mass destruction” got started and was used to start a war?

In 2012 Microsoft was advertising they had the ability to guarantee privacy through their new Outlook program. They promised high levels of encryption to its customers. The government became worried and within a few months Microsoft devised methods so NSA could intercept and decrypt the data on Outlook. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden.

The government even has manufacturers to install malware in individual computers before they are sold to the public giving the government complete control of the computer. China does the same thing and the U.S. officials warned U.S. corporations and individuals not to buy computer equipment manufactured in China because they were installing malware at the factory, but we were doing the same thing.  If you bought Chinese products China could monitor you and the U.S. could not so they wanted you to buy U.S. products with U.S. malware installed in them. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden. At the time Edward Snowden released his documents at least 50,000 computers made in the U.S. had this malware installed in them. The New York Times has reported since more than 100,000 computers have this malware installed in them.

NSA has the ability to alter information in your computer even when the computer is not connected to the Internet. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden.

On June 18, 2013, Obama told Charlie Rose: “What I can say unequivocally is that if you are a U.S. person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls … by law and by rule unless they … go to a court and obtain a warrant and seek probable cause, the same way it has always been.” THIS WAS AN OUT AND OUT LIE.

The GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, around the same time told CNN that the NSA, “…is not listening to Americans phone calls. If it did it would be illegal and they would be breaking the law.” THIS WAS AN OUT AND OUT LIE and Edward Snowden proved it.

To be continued …

If Hollywood is against Trump he must be a good candidate.

 Prominent actors, writers and thinkers joined a "Stop Hate Dump Trump" campaign to denounce the billionaire Republican presidential frontrunner, saying he is a threat to the United States.

Harry Belafonte, Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, Jonathan Demme, Noam Chomsky, Eve Ensler, Danny Glover, Rosie O’Donnell, Michael Moore and Lily Tomlin are among those lending their support to the drive to prevent Donald Trump from getting into the White House. Prominent thinkers I question that! The persons I have underlined have always been anti-American. The fact that these people, with their anti-American views, are against Donald Trump makes him more attractive to me. They have all lived well because of capitalism. 

I do not know of anyone that has been more of a threat to the U.S. and U.S. military personnel than JANE FONDA. I was in Vietnam when Jane Fonda paraded around in Hanoi with our enemy. She gave her support to the very people that were killing American military personnel. She did it openly and was never charged with a crime.

‘THINKERS’ – I do not need them to think for me. I do not know of any thought Jane Fonda has ever had that lines up with my thoughts. I listen to her apology on Oprah Winfrey for going to North Vietnam and I did not buy it.  Jane Fonda said, “I made one unforgivable mistake when I was in North Vietnam, and I will go to my grave with this. I don’t know if I was set up or not,” she said. “I was an adult. I take responsibility for my actions. I was laughing and clapping and there were pictures taken.” She was “laughing and clapping” while Americans were dying; she was “laughing and clapping” while Americans were rotting away in POW camps; she was “laughing and clapping” with her new pals who she knew were torturing American soldiers.

She did not make ‘one’ mistake she made many mistakes! She went behind enemy lines to give our enemy support, she spoke on North Vietnam radio calling American military personnel in Vietnam baby killers, she gave messages that the POW’s slipped to her to the commanders of North Vietnam military before she left Hanoi, she straddle a North Vietnam weapon that had been used to shoot down U.S. aircraft and laughed while posing on it.

The POW’s that slipped Jane Fonda notes thought she would help them, but instead she betrayed them. Two of the men were killed and the others were beaten after Jane Fonda left. She is responsible for their beatings and deaths! Her apology was a business decision.  

This incident received little press coverage, but both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars issued a joint statement condemning the U.S. Navy over the launch of its newest warship, the USS Jane Fonda. The ship’s name, which was kept under wraps until right before the launch, was revealed at a star-studded event presided over by Ms. Fonda. Prior to the launching of the USS Jane Fonda she made this statement, “I dedicate this ship to the brave men who fought and died in Vietnam.” How dare her!  This is just one more example of how sick our corrupt government has become and how the Obama administration goes out of its way to insult our military personnel. I would have declined the honor if I had been Jane Fonda – Jane Fonda does not think like me!

Something like this could not have been done without the authorization of Obama, who has ignored Navy tradition before by naming ships after other civilians, such as civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and Medgar Evers. Obama’s personal agenda is being played out prior to the end of his term.

For those of you who only know Fonda from her movies, her background speaks for itself. She received an Oscar for her portrayal of a military wife in Homecoming. In one scene she achieved a very real climax while receiving oral sex from her lover while her husband was deployed in Viet Nam. She just had to get one more dig in on Vietnam veterans.   

A film that did not make any money, Introduction to the Enemy (1974) is a film made by Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden to introduce Americans to our sweet, compassionate, kind North Vietnam enemy. It tells how resilient and industrious the North Vietnam people were and how they took the French and U.S. planes they shot down and made homes and bicycles out of them.

Between her anti-American radio broadcasts from North Vietnam and appearing at anti-Iraq War rallies, Fonda demonstrated against Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank. This is someone who once said, “I would think that if you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees, that we would someday become Communists.”

‘THINKER’ – Harry Belafonte is another one that does not think like me. I would not have gone to Venezuela and met with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, but Belafonte did and while there he praised the anti-American, anti-human rights Chavez regime, saying, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world and the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution."  He also said to Chavez, "We Americans respect you, we admire you."

Belafonte has been criticized many times for referring to Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as President Bush’s, "house slaves." I do not always agree with Colin Powell, but he has dedicated his life to the service of the United States. He also served as a much-needed role model for the black community in an age when men of his integrity have become rare. Harry Belafonte has proven to be a hypocrite in his criticism of American foreign policy while the socialist policies and leaders he has embraced have led to countless deaths of their own citizens in Africa and other Third World countries.

Harry Belafonte’s anti-American views are extreme and repugnant. He has praised Castro and Chavez, blamed the United States for the terrorist attacks that took place on 9/11 and denounced America as a villain in world affairs. No, Mr. Belafonte does not think like me. He thinks more like Jane Fonda and that is why they can join forces against Trump.

Michael Moore -made hundreds of millions of dollars off of the highly fictional Fahrenheit 9/11, a “documentary” that alleged close links between the Bush clan and Osama bin Laden’s family.  Recently he said that private wealth is a “national resource” that belongs to all the people and called for jailing the rich.  Then he called bin Laden’s death an “execution.”  For a man who made a fortune exploiting 9/11, denouncing wealth, and the action against the al-Qaeda leader, is beyond disingenuous. Michael Moore does not think like me.

Danny Glover -  Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover was a campus radical as a student at San Francisco State University and has been an advocate for left-wing causes ever since.  He was friends with Hugo Chavez, is a union rabble-rouser and said the Bush administration was composed of “liars and murderers.”  After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Glover was quick to blame the tragedy on global warming. Danny Glover is a supporter of Edward Snowden and has attempted to negotiate for his asylum in various countries even after Snowden’s own father said his son should return to the U.S. and face his punishment. I do not think Danny Glover’s thoughts represent my thoughts.

Rosie O’Donnell – I think Ms. O’Donnell is incapable of thinking. She just opens her mouth and garbage comes out. She says whatever she thinks will anger the most people. Talent does not keep her in the public eye, because she has none, so she resorts to controversy.

These great thinkers claim they are offering Americans a chance to be heard and engage in action, as Trump's campaign gains momentum even as he increases his hateful and divisive rhetoric. Trump has said some very politically incorrect things, but no one has been more divisive and hateful than the very ones that organized ‘Dump Trump’.

They say they believe Trump is a grave threat to democracy, freedom, human rights, equality and the welfare of our country and all our people. I have never heard of Trump meeting and supporting our enemies as the organizer of ‘Dump Trump’ has. I have never heard of Donald Trump giving his support to communist tyrants. I have never heard of Donald Trump saying if we understood communism better we would all pray to God that we would one day be a communist nation.  These so called great thinkers have always been on the opposite site of the U.S. in Vietnam, Middle East, Venezuela, Cuba and Africa. They have contributed nothing to the United States or to its people except left wing and anti-American rhetoric. If the United States is as bad as they claim it is why don't they move to a communist country?  

No, these pseudo political pundits (actors/actress/comedians/directors) do not think for me or speak for me.