During Netanyahu’s visit a reporter wanted to know about the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States and concerns that the new administration was encouraging xenophobia and racism. The NYT reports: “There is no question that hate crimes and malicious speech have accelerated since the presidential campaign, with Jews among the prime targets. The Anti-Defamation League says anti-Semitic talk in the United States has reached levels unseen since the 1930s. And there have been bomb threats against Jewish centers across the country.” The NYT goes on: “As for racism and anti-Semitism, he said “bad things” have happened “over a long period of time” and gave no hint of appreciating how his nationalistic, anti-immigrant policies and fear-mongering have been a dog whistle for the alt-right.”
The media discussed this terrible response which did not address the havoc that organizations like Bannon’s media property Breitbart, who is known as one of the wife-beating men in the current GOP administration. Trump chose this racism promoting man as his most trusted advisor. Trump even is known to sign Executive Orders that were placed by Bannon in front of him, without even reading them, and without informing the National Security Organizations. Bannon calls the shots because Trump chooses this racist to call reign supreme.
Instead of taking the opportunity to reassure the country that he will uphold the US constitution, which does not allow racism, he simply whines about feeling accused. The President of the US, and the leader of the until recently “free world,” failed with his answers to this important question. The horrible rise in racism and anti-Semitism fostered and fomented by Breitbart, Bannon and his ALT-Right racist segment of the US population. The ALT-Right is emboldened by Bannon and his media company. Trump hired him and until he fires him, Trump is the boss, he is responsible. Bannon created speaking opportunities for racists, Ku Klux Klan Members and people who engage in the Nazi salute.
The dictionary explains: “A racist is a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” Trump has claimed in several interviews that he finds being questioned whether he is a racist “offensive.” So why does he keep promoting racists?
Trump was raised by a father who was a registered Ku Klux Klan member, and his grandfather rented out women. We can realize that many of his attitudes were formed during the pre verbal phase of his childhood. Trump rates women on a scale of 1 to 10, typically considering the age and the women’s bodies. Not their mind, not their personality, he sees women as possessions and as objects. He thinks that his being so attracted to women that he is compelled to touch them without invitation, is proof that he “loves” women. He succeeded in frightening and empowering women by the millions to leave the coziness of their homes to actually physically take to the street to protest.
It is quite possible that Trump is completely unaware of his attitudes, or how his actions, words, and attitudes perceived by an innocent bystander. Clearly Trump doesn’t have much respect for his own voters.
Donald Trump made the following statement in a 1998 interview with People magazine:
If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.
Donald Trump
Trump admires dictators who murder their own citizens, he hired billionaires after claiming through out to the Fox News watching audiences that he would “clean the swamp.” And claimed Hillary giving speeches was proof that she was pro-Wall Street. Now on a near daily basis Trump brings in his “very capable” – often previously accused of fraud – Wall Street friends to run the government. It is obvious that he and his Wall Street Friends rode into the White House by making false promises – Better Healthcare than ACA – Better Paying Jobs – Safe Streets – and a GOP that would be winning so much they would get “tired of winning.”
Meanwhile here is a quote from the Dalai Lama:
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”
? Dalai Lama XIV, The Art of Happiness
Trump’s website declares: “Mr. Trump will stop China from stealing our jobs, renegotiate NAFTA, cut unneeded regulations and make America the best place in the world to do business and hire workers. Putting America First — and not globalism — will keep jobs and wealth in America.”
The Obama Whitehouse website explains: “The rules-based international economic system has helped to propel China’s unprecedented economic growth over the past 35 years, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. The United States has also benefited from the emergence of a global middle class that, by 2030, is projected to include more than 3 billion consumers in Asia alone. U.S. exports of goods and services supported approximately 12 million jobs in the United States in 2014. China has a strong stake in the maintenance and further strengthening and modernization of global financial institutions, and the United States welcomes China’s growing contributions to financing development and infrastructure in Asia and beyond.” Full Article
Trump will stop China from “taking” jobs from the US.
Trading Floor in China
China Experts at the Brookings institute let us know that China is now the economic superpower they set out to become in the early 90s. They hold the world by the proverbial financial purse strings. Their strategy has been to provide amazingly affordable goods and thus wipe out competition in many countries the world over. With the money they made they have purchased raw materials and have a corner on several core commodities. For instance the Wall Street Journal reported that during the first four months in 2016 the trading volume on the Shanghai and Dalian exchanges had more than doubled over the year before. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Dalian-traded iron and ore futures generated approximately the same dollar volume as gold futures in New York. Full Article
Trump now is pursuing an extreme protectionist strategy that puts the U.S. commitment to open trade severely in doubt. There is already the widespread view in China that the United States is withdrawing from the global economy. China and investors all around the world believe that the US is in decline economically and this is borne out in reality. The Balance reported in October 2016: “China’s economy produced $19.5 trillion in 2015 (based on purchasing power parity). It’s the world’s largest economy. The European Unionis second, at $19.1 trillion. The United States fell to third place, producing $17.9 trillion.” The US produces the value of $56,300 per person per year which is roughly four times as much as China produces with $14,300 per person per year.
China has 1.37 billion people as to compared to 325 Million people in the US. Even though 1 half of the Chinese people live very impoverished lives in the country side, there are over 1 Billion more Chinese than Americans. That will not change anytime soon.
The Middle Class in China is growing steadily, it is actually a rather small fraction of the Chinese population. In 2013, China accounted for 35 percent of the world’s total online shopping. By 2018, it is estimated that China’s spending will exceed the rest of the world’s combined, and will account for one in every five yuan spent in China, according to Bloomberg. This is not because the lifestyle in China is higher than it is in the US, but it is due to the fact that there are so many people. And there are so many unmarried men who can spend all their money to make up for their loneliness, created by the questionable 1 Child Policy the Chinese government had pursued. There are 33% more men than women in China. So how does Trump plan to assist American firms to out-maneuver the highly sophisticated and highly educated middle class from China?
So far Trump wants to dismantle our already faltering education system even further. Most jobs these days require superior math skills and all the tariffs in the world that Trump and his team want to impose on China, will not change the fact that China outperforms the US in math and science skills by a HUGE MARGIN. The 2012 PISA study shows: “Percentages of top performing 15-year-old students (those scoring at level 5 or above) in mathematics literacy ranged from 55 percent in Shanghai-China. In the United States, 9 percent of 15-year-old students scored at proficiency level 5 or above, which was lower than the OECD average of 13 percent.” China on a percentage basis out performs the US by a margin of 6. And when you add the fact that China has so 4 times as many people than the US, the US is simply no longer competitive and will not become competitive unless it starts to focus on repairing the education gap. Tariffs don’t make people more educated.
If the US due to the fact that the current administration is terrible in math, cannot realize that if they add tariffs, Chinese products will get more expensive. This means that the products US manufacturers produce with Chinese parts will get more expensive. The end result is that the US manufacturers may loose the few jobs they were able to keep. The world is a competitive market and all countries compete. Wishing it were not so will not change that fact. Even Trump agrees and he purchases his products all around the world and uses the underpaid and unemployed American Consumer as customers while providing the earning capacity to countries who have a better educated workforce.
Americans suffer due to lack of education, due to lack of health care and due to the fact that their hard earned taxes are used in wars all around the world instead of on infrastructure and basic human needs at home. Trump promised he will fix this situation. He claimed he is the “only one” who can fix it. So far he brought in DeVos who plans to ruin the rest of the countries education the way she ruined it in Michigan. He has tasked Paul Ryan with is pet project of robbing the American people of what is left of their Medicare payments, and he wants to abolish Affordable Health Care.
He has empowered Pharma companies to raise their pricing to completely irresponsible levels that surely will end up literally killing the lower income people. He has brought in more military personnel than any previous administration since the Civil War. We are still waiting for him to provide us with signs that he is intent on following through any any one of his promises. Making America Great Again? What does that even mean? The media never received an answer from him. Unfortunately we will find out very soon and the damage will last a long time.
Built on Willis Carrier’s invention of modern air conditioning in 1902, Carrier is the world leader in heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. Their corporate websites informs us: “We create comfortable and productive environments, regardless of the climate. We safeguard the global food supply by preserving the quality and freshness of food and beverages. We ensure health and well-being by enabling the proper transport and delivery of vital medical supplies under exacting conditions. We provide solutions, services and education to lead the green building movement.” Carriers Corporation is one of the United Technologies companies which employs 197,200 Employees, brings in an adjusted net sales volume of $56.5B*, pays out $6.3* an adjusted diluted earnings per common share from continuing operations $3.9B. UTC’s Total R&D investment includes company- and customer-funded around the world. The US government and other governments around the world are included in these pre-sales earnings.
From what we can tell the company is doing great work in India for instance. They are working hard on assisting companies reduce their food waste, which is a worldwide issue indeed. Food Waste is a major issue in a world where so many people go hungry every day, and it is also known to be a major contributor to Green House Gases. Pence and Trump who don’t believe in protecting the environment, are planning to donate even more money to United Technologies, Carriers Corporation.
Let’s celebrate the positive when we can.
We know that United Technologies has “supported” to create a study that will allow Carriers Corporation sell their products in India. BIO Intelligence Service for the Global Food Cold Chain Council (“GFCCC”) with support from United Technologies (“UTC”). This Report presents an assessment of the potential of the cold chain sector to reduce GHG emissions through food loss and waste reduction. The report educates:
"In monetary terms, the most recent global food loss estimate is a staggering $1 trillion in retail value, or about twice the gross domestic product of Norway 2 , equivalent to the Gross Domestic Product of Switzerland. Further, such loss aggravates food insecurity and malnutrition in a context of growing population and increasing food demand3 . And finally, this food wastage represents a missed opportunity to mitigate environmental impacts and use of resources from food chains. The carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is estimated to be 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2 equivalent: food loss and waste would rank as the third top GHG emitter after USA and China if it were a country. This amount is more than twice the total GHG emissions of all USA road transportation in 2010."
United Technologies, and by extension Carrier, seemingly is doing a great job reducing food waste in India. Full Report
How is support of this international conglomerate “Making America Great Again?
Every day at United Technologies, nearly 200,000 people across the globe help move the world forward. In Europe they are quite competitive in the aerospace industry and in environmentally refrigeration units.
United Technologies and their brands Otis, Pratt & Whitney, UTC Aerospace Systems and UTC Climate, Controls & Security have recently initiated a $1.5 billion multiyear restructuring plan to improve our competitiveness in the global market. In 2015 they returned approximately $12 billion to shareholders in dividends and share buyback, including a $6 billion accelerated share repurchase program. In February 2016, Carrier announced it would close its Indianapolis factory due to ongoing cost and pricing pressures and to take advantage of and Carrier’s existing infrastructure and a strong supplier base in Mexico. They also initiated a $1.5 billion multiyear restructuring plan to improve competitiveness in the global market. They already operate out of Belgium, Canada, China, Israel, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, UK aside of their seven corporate offices in the US. The UTC companies conduct operations in more than 160 locations in 26 countries. Most of the manufacturing and parts businesses are outside the US already. Location
In the letter to the shareholders UTC President and CEO elaborates on his commitment to partake in the Middle Class growth in China, India and the Middle East. He is particularly interested in aviation as the middle class in Asia will nearly double the air travel industry in terms of carriers. Letter Aside of making air travel in Asia great again, UTC is a major supplier and repair contractor for the US Military. The company has enthusiastically agreed to a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases and is in the process of moving their core business to the aviation industry. Otis is still and will stay involved with elevators and escalators.
Announcement of Carriers plant shut down in February 2016.
In July Carrier and the United Steelworkers (USW) came to a generous agreement that the any of the 1,400 people who may be loosing their jobs, as they closed down old technology manufacturing lines. They would get a severance package and support with a scholarship fund to get retrained. It seems the company is planning to get out of the HVAC business as they have had lot’s of trouble with leaky freon. The CDC explains that the colorless, odorless gases released when freon leaks cause problems to skin, heart, central nervous system, cardiovascular system. The symptoms include: irritation skin, throat, drowsiness, dermatitis; central nervous system depression; In Animals: cardiac arrhythmias, narcosis.
Consumer Affairs is full of costumer reviews who are not at all pleased with the damage caused by Carrier products, i.e.: “I have two top of the line Carrier Furnaces. Both have been serviced annually. Both crapped out requiring major repairs after 6 years. Both were sold with 10 year parts warranties as they were high-end models. Now however, Carrier refuses to honor the warranty – even for parts. They claim a legal technicality buried in tiny fine print. Customer service was not responsive in any way. Both for reliability reasons and because of their unwillingness to honor their warranty, I would join the chorus of voices suggesting to avoid Carrier.” And another: “I replaced 13 year old Trane units that performed flawlessly for two Carrier Inverter units top of the line for top efficiency with the promise of quiet and reliable and an overall install cost of 50K. In year two one unit’s outdoor inverter caught fire and was backorder for nearly a month. While they paid for the part I had to pay $1200 of labor not covered and was without AC for a month. Then the second unit failed who was installed a year later with some freeze thermostat malfunction and a bill of 1400. Again labor not covered and a month delay on getting parts. So all the energy savings and huge investment barely pay for the repair bills. Clearly Carrier does not stand behind its products and I would never buy their units again. Additionally seeing the pictures of how the unit was burned to a crisp was very troubling and when the dealer said it happens sometimes, I lost faith in Carrier. The people who invented air conditioning forgot that customers have choices. Our family will never buy Carrier again.”
According to a July 2016 article Carrier was planning to eliminate 2,378 jobs as well as 1,400 jobs during a plant closure. “The decision to cut 2,100 manufacturing jobs across the state was financial, according to a statement from Carrier, which will begin eliminating its Indianapolis workforce in 2017 and continue the layoffs through 2019.” Full Article
According the recent reports there will be 1,000 jobs “saved” in 2017. What exactly does that mean? Does they mean they will be laid off in 2018 and 2019 as was already planned anyway. Or, will the jobs be saved for good and the long term? Neither the Trump/Pence team, nor Carrier have been very precise in their reports. If indeed manufacturing jobs would be saved for good at the current payment level that would be a major win for the Trump team. Service sector jobs pay an average of $39,338 a year, compared with $59,029 in manufacturing. Or it may be a misinformation campaign. The provide millions of free dollars to a multi-billion dollar company that moves forward anyway with the lay-offs as negotiated with the Steel Workers Union in July 2016. And, unless the quality of the furnaces improves and/or they are redesigned, it may just be a PR stunt for both the company and the new governmental administration, who are counting on the short memory of the public and the media alike. Perhaps the company may be doing it primarily to hold on to those Boing contracts. This is an exciting story to watch unfold. So far it sounds more like a PR stunt.
KTLA reported: “United Technologies collects about $5.6 billion in annual revenue from U.S. government contracts, according to company filings, which is equal to about 10 percent of its overall revenue. The government also pays for nearly $1.5 billion of the company’s annual research and development spending.” full story
All that said, the retraining programs that United Technologies offers their ex-employees are exemplary. Carrier offers their own private HVAC “University.” They donate money to their ex-employees (tax write-off) who are able to sign up online with their non profit company (low to no taxes) for a fee and instead of having the multi-billion dollar company pay for training, they charge the soon to be or already laid-off employees. Now if they could update the curricula to more modern and usable jobs that would be great. A well managed multi-billion dollar operation now receives even more money for keeping out-dated jobs that create unpopular products that leak toxic gases. (Consumer Affairs)
Their government sponsored (see paragraph above) commitment to move into new technologies that are environmentally friendly should not go unnoticed. Even though they help Europe, Singapore, India and China more than the US. We are going to stay tuned and report on how the Trump / Pence team will “Make America Great Again.” They get an A for media relations so far. Hope real jobs will follow in a verifiable way soon.
Why do rural blue color workers and rural college educated people love Trump?
The Guardian’s Thomas Frank, pointed out on March 7, 2016: “..what motivates the supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump? I call it a “mystery” because the working-class white people who make up the bulk of Trump’s fan base show up in amazing numbers for the candidate, filling stadiums and airport hangars, but their views, by and large, do not appear in our prestige newspapers. On their opinion pages, these publications take care to represent demographic categories of nearly every kind, but “blue-collar” is one they persistently overlook.” Full Article
The Atlantic Monthly received letters from a range of people who support Trump for president in August 2015. The reasons they quote are similar:
A self proclaimed Liberal who voted for Obama wrote: “Rather, I genuinely believe that Trump feels the need to fight for the country he loves. There once was a time when people could actually feel proud to be Americans, and Trump comes from a generation that experienced that feeling. Now, many are embarrassed to be associated with this country. Jobs are being outsourced with reckless abandon and this country is literally being hollowed out. Economic statistics do no justice to this reality, and the average American knows this to be true.”
An undecided voter writes: “..the preeminence of political correctness among the culture class indicates a momentous shift away from formerly prominent middle-class cultural values and towards something entirely different. Even if Donald Trump were to accomplish little in his presidency, I think there is a hope that were he president, he could in some way alter that prevailing Washington/media culture and set a new cultural tone. Many would probably question why, of all people, a decadent, rude, and pompous billionaire should be trusted to meddle with American culture? I think it comes down to a perception that America has already drowned in a post-modernist nightmare of moral relativism, from which extreme political correctness and protest culture stem. Trump, on the other hand, is all absolutes.” Full Article
Kathy Kramer shared with Kevin Drum in an interview for Mother Jones, November 8, 2016, that her political science study showed this:
“What I was hearing was this general sense of being on the short end of the stick. Rural people felt like they not getting their fair share. That feeling is primarily composed of three things. First, people felt that they were not getting their fair share of decision-making power….Second, people would complain that they weren’t getting their fair share of stuff….And third, people felt that they weren’t getting respect….So it’s all three of these things — the power, the money, the respect. People are feeling like they’re not getting their fair share of any of that.” Full Article
So let’s take a close look and let’s see if what they feel is true.
The Brookings Institute states that Republican States have more entrenched poverty than Democratic States. Republican districts have more poor residents overall: 25.1 million poor people lived in red districts in 2010-14 compared with 22.7 million in blue districts.
Between 2000 and 2010-14, the poor population grew faster in red districts than blue. The number of people living below the poverty line (e.g., $24,230 for a family of four in 2014) in Republican districts climbed by 49 percent between 2000 and 2010-14 compared with a 33 percent increase in Democratic districts. As a result, Republican districts accounted for 60 percent of the increase in the nation’s poor population during that time. At the same time, poverty rates rose by similar margins in both red and blue districts (3.3 and 3.2 percentage points, respectively).
Table 1. Congressional Districts with the Fastest Growth in Poor Population, 2000 to 2010-14
Party
State
District
Representative
Percentage Change in Poor Population
Share of Poor in Suburbs
R
NV
3
Heck, Joseph J.
268.4%
51.0%
R
GA
7
Woodall, Rob
223.6%
100.0%
D
GA
13
Scott, David
213.1%
100.0%
R
AZ
8
Franks, Trent
188.5%
93.5%
R
AZ
5
Salmon, Matt
177.7%
50.4%
Source: Brookings Institution analysis of decennial census and American Community Survey data
Hunger in Rural Communities is higher than Urban
According to the United States Department of Agriculture report, Household Food Security in the United States in 2014, 14% of U.S. households were food insecure at least some time during the year. The prevalence of food insecurity was higher in rural areas than metropolitan areas.
The Digital Divide created by lack of Internet Access
55 percent of people living in rural areas have access to the speeds that currently qualify as broadband, while 94 percent of the urban population does. As of 2015, 74 percent of households in urban areas of the U.S. had residential broadband connections, compared with only 64 percent of rural households. This gap has persisted over time. Research reveals that broadband adoption can help improve the economy in these rural areas (including increasing income, lowering unemployment rates and creating jobs). In addition, we know that roughly 40 percent of the rural-urban adoption gap is because rural areas don't have the same level of broadband access. This is because large providers are not interested in serving these communities and in some instances have refused Federal Subsidies to get rural communities connected.
Suicides in Rural Areas are double of those than in Cities
A study by the JAMA states that Suicide is a serious public health problem. For youths between the ages of 10 and 24 years, suicide was the third leading cause of death in 2010 behind only unintentional injuries and homicide.1 Males are at higher risk, accounting for 81% of suicide deaths in the 10- to 24-year age group. Suicide risk increases with age, with 6% occurring in individuals younger than 15 years, 34% in those between 15 and 19 years, and 60% in young adults aged 20 to 24 years.1
Rates of suicide also vary by rural-urban residence, with higher rates in rural compared with urban areas. Suicide rates among rural men were higher than those of urban men, with rural-urban differences widening over time. Higher rates of suicide attempts have also been reported8 among rural compared with urban adolescents. The studies conclusion stated Although low population density per se may be operative, efforts to improve access to mental health services and offer social support at the local level could narrow the gap in risk for youths in rural as opposed to urban settings. Additional study is warranted and of potentially great public health significance. Full Article
Rural communities as our research shows are genuinely struggling with problems that are not adequately addressed by neither the major political parties nor the major media outlets. It seems that one of Trump’s appeal is that at least give this audience the feeling they are seen and heard. While this does not qualify him to do anything about the issues he has succeeded in mobilizing millions of Americans to vote for him to “stick it to the elite.” Rural people are angry for having been ignored as their lives have grown ever more depressing. Trump has pulled them out of this feeling of helplessness and he has unleashed their anger.
Next we will investigate why a supposedly educated people would vote for Trump.
Vanity Fair wrote an interesting article about what would happen if American women refused to vote for Trump. Nate Silver thinks the entire country would become democratic. Maybe it is time for women to use those women’s cards imposed on women by the likes of Trump.
Trump is famous for his terrible attitudes and lack of respect for women. These attitudes are rooted in his upbringing. His family has a long multi-generation horrid attitude toward women.
He comes from a family that looked at women as objects. His grandfather, Frederick Trump, moved to New York City in 1885 where he worked as a barber for six years. Later on he joined the gold rush and moved to the red light district in Seattle, Washington, where he made his money in a “decadent restaurant” he called “Poodle Dog. ” He practiced plagiarism and took the name and the concept from another “Poodle Dog” red-light district “establishment” that then operated in San Francisco.
A Yukon Sun Newspaper writer described his business: “For single men the Arctic has excellent accommodations as well as the best restaurant in Bennett, but I would not advise respectable women to go there to sleep as they are liable to hear that which would be repugnant to their feelings – and uttered, too, by the depraved of their own sex”. Full article
Grandfather Fred Trump did not have respect for the military either, he left for Germany despite being a US citizen to get out of the service to his country. An article published this year by Politico, explains that Frederick Trump sold off his investments and returned to Germany in 1901, as he sensed the end of the gold rush and a subsequent end to prostitution. Full Article
Like the grandfather, the Republican Presidential candidate does not get along well with others. USA Today reported on June 2, 2016: “An exclusive USA TODAY analysis of legal filings across the United States finds that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.” Many of the lawsuits were gambling debt related. The USA Today’ research shows that Trump and his enterprises have been named in almost 700 personal-injury claims and about 165 court disputes with government agencies. Full article
When looking into Trump’s childhood you don’t have to look far as to where his racist views come from. The Washington Post reports: “On Memorial Day 1927, brawls erupted in New York led by sympathizers of the Italian fascist movement and the Ku Klux Klan. In the fascist brawl, which took place in the Bronx, two Italian men were killed by anti-fascists. In Queens, 1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica neighborhood, eventually spurring an all-out brawl in which seven men were arrested. One of those arrested was Fred Trump of 175-24 Devonshire Rd. in Jamaica.” Fred Trump is Donald Trump’s father. Full article
Women are regularly insulted, treated as objects. Trump is said to be terrified by the fact that women are becoming self reliant and financially supportive of their husbands. He wants to turn back the clock to when his mother was relegated to housekeeping duties by his racist brawling father. Now look at the map above again. If all women were to decide that they don’t wish to have a President who is too busy dealing with lawsuits, offending other nations, ruining the world’s economy and safety with his misguided policies, his wish could become true. This country could be great again and democratic for ALL Americans.
