The Democrats are helping Trump win.

Source

Blinded, by hatred for who an individual is,
and prepared to ignore what they themselves are doing.

That is the definition of the democratic party, and before you shout it down, consider the Republican Caucus; Trump Won by 97%. And guess why… By making it about Trump, the rest of the Republican Party is not as much in the spotlight as it should be. While the media focuses on the US President, they shift attention away from some that could be dancing in his shadow. And let’s be honest, Trump has been through such a media circus, it’s nearly been as popular as Game of Thrones. Republicans in Iowa are proof of that.

 

Source

It still hasn’t dawned on so many that the reality is that the Democrats did this. An ungraceful defeat that infected the democratic party since Hilary Clinton losing the 2016 election has dragged on to the point where the party appears to be desperate to do anything to remove Donald Trump from the oval office.

Source

Let’s be clear, it’s not the party they want out, its just Trump.  Whether it was the starting with the Russian Collusion allegations that escalated to the Mueller Report that cost $32 million US dollars funded by the taxpayer that concluded that Trump had not colluded.

The result only continued to show the lengths that the Democrats were willing to go with a frightfully wrong approach.

Iowa’s results for Democrats took their time, and the favourites are Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders while the expected favourite Joe Biden flopped out. Now the wild card here is Mayor Pete Buttigieg because Bernie is a socialist, which would undoubtedly make Trump the capitalist and that makes it very clear which way a country that was built on capitalism will vote if it came down to just them.

Source 1, Source 2

Source

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, on the other hand, is the kind of political outsider that many people originally wanted before Trump became involved. Someone not from the political chess game of Washington but a middle-class Mayor. Someone who has an understanding of what it is to be in politics and be in charge, now he just plans to upscale his game a little if he won. If he won, he would also be the first openly gay president of the United States which should have a much more positive effect on society in its treatment of the LGBTQ community. Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surprised many in his rise to popularity while at the same time not surprised others. Let’s be honest, even as a first impression, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a positive guy… let’s keep being honest, Bernie seems exhausted…just by standing there.

Source

The shared message that both Pete and Bernie have is that their campaign is there to defeat Donald Trump.  Pete talks about galvanizing the public in what they are voting for when they vote for their future. A message of increasing wages and putting an end to war and all the usual promises.

Bernie described Trump as “the most dangerous (US) President in American History”.  Describing health care as a human right, and making promises of making universities tuition-free and cancelling student debt. Bernie suggested the forming of a coalition of nations that include Russia and China to reduce their nuclear programme and together focus on climate change, just to name a few.

There can’t be another Charlottesville, (Image Source)

But it’s their supporters that need to change their approach, there can’t be another Charlottesville.

Very often we can find videos on youtube from both sides of the spectrum that show themselves or their friends being harassed. It is not very difficult to say that the majority of the violence is being committed by groups such as Antifa or even individuals. While their actions only solidify the position of those that disagree with them, that aside, they are also pushing away those who are floaters.

But the whispers have started on what is to come,

….PETE VS TRUMP?

It needs to be understood that in the same way that an individual has the right to think progressively because they feel that it is the ideal course; so does someone have the right to think conservatively. Labelling people with the word NAZI,  because someone doesn’t agree with you is wrong. I’m not talking about those in power, I mean the guy to your left, the woman at a bus stop, the old couple at the shop. If you see someone wear something that supports a politician you don’t like, you don’t have to comment, you don’t have to say or gesture anything. That individual is exercising a right, 

…a right which you cannot infringe upon.

 

Advertisement

February 10, 2020 by Matthew Sciriha

Trump set for an unwelcoming state visit in the UK.

Source

Trump is set to visit the Uk on the 3rd of June, but many people don’t want him to.
A series of protests and boycotts are already lining up, as this could be one of the tensest state visits in recent years.

Source

So who’s not showing up to the state dinner?
Well, the Duchess of Sussex; Meghan Markle was openly against Trump, is set not to meet the US president during his state visit. Not quite snubbing the meeting, but she is on maternity leave from her duties, which conveniently includes state dinners and the such. Back in 2016, she made her position on Trump quite clear :
“You’re not just voting for a woman if it’s Hillary because she’s a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting.”
She is not the only royal with issues with the Trumpster, Prince Charles and Donald Trump have very different views on climate change. So the traditional invitation for visiting heads of state to Clarence house for tea might get lost in the mail. Not to mention that the last time the US president was in the UK, Prince Charles and Prince William were both err… “busy”. Charles at a board meeting and William at a charity polo match, giving him quite the royal “sod off” if you ask me.
So what do the politicians think?

Source (Image 1, Image 2, Image 3)

 

Parliament speaker John Bercow, Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrats Leader Sir Vince Cable all don’t want to meet trump and have already made it clear that they won’t be attending the state dinner.

Source

So far the only people in Parliament who seem to have openly and publically welcomed trump are:

• Theresa May (who barely has any friends at this point)
• Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who said “the UK should offer the best possible welcome to the president( but let’s be honest it’s his job to be nice to Trump)

So the state dinner might have a few vacant seats… but that’s not the only place where the US president might get a cold reception.
State visits sometimes include a speech in the British parliament, but even here, there are already people who aren’t too keen on him being allowed into the building, let alone the House of Commons.
The moment everyone’s tension will be highest though will be two moments: Two speeches by the US president, one at the state dinner and one in the House of Commons. While the state dinner is important, the speech in the House of Commons is as well but parliament is a little more complicated. House Speaker John Bercow said he doesn’t feel that Donald Trump should be allowed to formally address the MPs but his office will put the request through the normal process just the same (despite he can technically Veto the speech).
And last but not certainly not least is the 200,000 protestors estimate to demonstrate. Aside from the return of the Trump baby, it seems that robot trump is also making its way to the UK.

And of course, the ironic twist of fate is that said “dumping” robot, was made in, you guessed it… China.

And with the success of the Trump baby balloon last year, it’s organisers are planning for a bigger one with talks about the possibility of a hot air balloon version.

 

But is all this necessary, in the past the Queen entertained Romania’s Ceauşescu, Zimbabwe’s Mugabe and Zaire’s Mobutu. Alongside them, Trump might seem an angel.

The more hate is thrown at him, the more his supporters will rally to defend him. Which raises the question, if so many people hate him and want him out of office, why is there a fear that he will take the second term?

May 19, 2019October 3, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

Labelled the worst humanitarian crisis

 

Source

While Syria takes centre stage in world news, not everyone is aware of the crisis in Yemen. The UN has reported that Yemen is currently the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. A country that is on the brink of starvation and is faced with a grim future.

 

A civil war between the government backing coalition forces, a southern separatist group; but they aren’t the only players, large portions of the country are under the control of terror cells Al-Qaeda and IS.

But the real punch that sent the country into free fall… a blockade.

Source

In 2015, coalition forces between the US-backed Saudis and the Yemeni Government set up an air and naval blockade, stifling of food and medicine coming into the country. For a country that would import approx 90% of its food and medicine, this was the start of a living nightmare.

 

Yemen was now a nation under siege and divided from within. In December 2017 the ban was partially lifted, but it was too little too late.

Currently, about two-thirds of the country is considered to be pre-famine.

2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen report, reflects

• 14.3 million people are classified as being in acute need,
• of which 3.2 million requiring treatment for acute malnutrition;
  • including two million children under-five,
  • and more than one million pregnant and lactating women.

More than 8 out of 10 need humanitarian aid as the WHO reports outbreaks of

• Cholera
• Dengue fever
• Drug-resistant Typhoid

Since January 2019 alone, health officials in Yemen have reported over 200,000 new cases of Cholera. As of October 2018, since 2016 there had been 1.2 million cases of Typhoid and are currently still facing an ongoing outbreak of Dengue Fever.
The numbers, don’t lie. Yemen is the current Hell on Earth.

Source

The world cannot continue to stand idly by, because while the civil war is between two different Yemeni perspectives, it is the US and Saudi forces that played a significant role in this mass starvation — touching both the Obama administration as well as the current Trump administration. So let’s make no mistake that the US can be considered to be complicit in this mass genocide.

How is the world still silent? How are we still silent?

May 18, 2019October 27, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

49 days later… yeah! Rocketman is bouncing on the button again.

Image Sources: Sky News

I’ve been metaphorically holding my breath.

….but they couldn’t even keep it together for two months, so …

So a lot of people are surprised Trump was the one that didn’t do something silly, but Kim claims he did. Kim was hurt by the fact that Trump, wait for it, got friendly with other dictators.

Source

As funny as it sounds, the implications are serious. North Korea is reported to have tested a new InterContinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM, despite agreeing to stop all missile tests and nuclear programme. The question now is, how many strong-arm tactics are going to be employed to try and rein Kim in. The fact that lines of communication are at their best means that there could be a chance for discourse to succeed. To be fair though, it is not the first time that a North Korean dictator pulls a fast one on an American President. Recently Kim Jong Un sent a letter to President Trump and did, in fact, stick to a part of the agreement which was to return the remains of American Soldiers from the Korean War.  The fact that a part of the agreement was respected is a step forward. Is it enough though?

Truth be told, returning the remains is purely a gesture of goodwill albeit one that wouldn’t come at a cost to Kim. President Trump thanked for returning these as it would be a relief for the families, that their loved ones remain’s, are back on their native soil; and it means he gets their support and vote in 2020.

So what’s gonna happen next? 

Well, you can expect the strong-arm tactics to come back into play. This time, however, there is a wild card. Since the lines of communication have become more accessible, it would be very easy for one side to engage the other in a more informal conversation. What some are afraid of is that one side will say something wrong, then so does the other and the whole thing escalates too rapidly to contain. 

They expected this at the summit, but in the hours that they were together, Trump and Kim were on their best behaviour. But this is like a first date, everybody acts right, as time goes on though someone relaxes and the truth slowly gets revealed.  What is ironic, is that one of the leaders that Trump met, which made Kim angry was President Putin. All the while, Moscow continues to issue new permits for North Korean workers which is a breach of the sanctions, despite the Russian representatives having in the past agreed that sanctions have to be enforced. Yes, you read that right… 

 

And what will these Strong arm tactics be? Well, the truth is, Trump is using heavy-handed boardroom tactics so far. However, Trump has a reputation for seeing through what he says he’ll do and he we’ve seen that in the actions that were ordered in Syria. 

The question therefore is, will Trump order military action against North Korea? 

August 5, 2018May 4, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

Where in the world is burning? : ART. 02

 

Some claim that Kim will go back on his deal…

Here is something to think about however…you know the fact that they might bury the hatchet, actually means the hatchet has to go somewhere else.

What am I talking about?

Image source

The USA has about 23,000 soldiers in South Korea, probably some more in nearby countries too. Now let’s say that all of those soldiers, who are standing at the ready to push back an evil invader; suddenly have no one to protect against.

What are they gonna do? Send them home?….

With tension’s rising in Syria, the US will get more troops involved. Now I know he said he will get them out. Well if he is pulled into a conflict, he certainly won’t.

Syria isn’t the only problem though. Today there was another suicide attack in Kabul, journalists, and civilians the target as terrorists carried out horrific attacks. 

This wasn’t your average terrorist attack either… this plan was carried out with real malicious intent.

On Monday, a terrorist detonated a suicide vest, killing and injuring various people. If this wasn’t terrible enough, it gets worse. A second terrorist watched on, then pretended to be a journalist so that when other nearby journalists and civilians would rush over; he could detonate a second suicide vest and continue to injure and kill even more journalists. I have to be honest, I think both terrorists were sick people; the second had to have certain kind of malice though, to be able to watch one person kill themselves and enough people to cause more people to rush over and use it as a way to draw them in to kill more of them… That’s not human.

The rest of the world watches as Syria continues to be eradicated by a civil war(that involves 8 different parties). 

Support for the Syrian Ba’athist government

• Russia
• Iran
• Hezbollah
• Iraq
• Companies

Support for Syrian opposition

• United States
• United Kingdom
• France
• Turkey
• Arab League
• Support from non-state groups

The thing is this, every one of those countries has a goal, but that doesn’t mean that their goals are also supporting what their compatriots support.

This is why the situation continues to worsen and why governments need to step up their game. The entire middle east has become a problem that is not limited to the middle east but is being suffered by everyone. 

Some are even arguing that rather the rest of the world step in to set them straight, in future we should simply hang back and “let them settle it amongst themselves”. What do you think?

So that’s what has been going on, tune in next month for another perusal of problems faced by the egomaniacs we call world leaders.

 

April 30, 2018July 14, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

They nominated him for what?!…. ….Would you give it to him?

 

Absolutely not. This is where I draw the line. Personally, I think there is no way that Trump would be awarded that award.

Obama got the 2009 award and many debates, even today if it was justified.

Why are they saying Trump should get it?

Since North and South Korea shook hands and declared; that they had started the journey of peace and to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, the Republicans are already hailing that Trump’s initial pressure and then quick U-turn gamble in accepting North Korea’s invitation was a remarkable albeit risky victory.  

Trump hasn’t even met Kim yet, but Fox News is already repeating the words “De-Nuke”.  

http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=5777945735001&w=466&h=263 Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

But he isn’t going to get a prize. Should the meeting happen; he will portray it as a success over the failings of his predecessors. A success which will help him in his campaign for re-election but no more than that.

What’s are the real reason Trump won’t get it.

Well, one possibility is that it would be a PR issue that they wouldn’t recover from. Just imagine. People boycotting the Nobel Prize because they awarded it to Trump. The prestige of the various parties involved in choosing Trump would be tarnished in the eyes of too many. 

So will they take that risk?….No

The result is, of course, is that many people who support him display their outrage. 

Societies are constantly becoming more polarised and divisive despite calls for co-operation. Due to this, I think that it’s safe to say that just like the USA, a lot of westernized countries will soon follow the same road and this will mean a sudden rise in conservatism.  I don’t think the wave will spill over into a hard right perspective but it will need to be watched and managed very carefully.

If the Democrats want to get back into the driver seat, then they are going to have to sit down and wait a bit. Trump will present a very difficult challenge in 2020 but after that will no longer be an issue. That’s their window. 

April 29, 2018July 27, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

Trump is going for gold.

 

Trump’s ticket to his second term is within his reach, as North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un declares the country will be halting nuclear/ ICBM tests.

Trump quickly followed up this news with the following tweet:

North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World – big progress! Look forward to our Summit.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018

Bearing in mind that Trump said that this meeting is going to happen by end of May, I would say he is pretty much at the finish line.

To be honest, no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall under; not supporting this would have to be the dumbest you could do this year. I’m not a fan of Trump but a successful summit with North Korea has so many positive possibilities that I believe nobody could fault.

Consider the humanitarian effort:

It’s no secret that there is a large percentage of the population living in abysmal conditions. Peace talks could start to alleviate their suffering and perhaps even allowing aid groups to go in and to help. Not to mention pushing to eliminate the three generational punishments. 

However…

Here’s a thought I had. There is a large presence of the US military within the vicinity of North Korea, to act as a deterrent should the dictator feel a little trigger happy.  But if peace is established and the majority of those military personnel leave ( I say majority because let’s face it, where the Americans land they never leave. ), then they have to go somewhere.

Question is where?….

Well there’s always the middle east…but something tells me they’ll go a bit north….( food for thought )

Back to the matter at hand though. Should Trump and Kim both make it to the meeting, then Trump would have a diplomatic victory that will boost his approval and guarantee his position for a second term as a US president.

Will populism over-power liberalism?

This is how populists rise, on the back of the nation by giving them exactly what they want. The US is in the current mindset as at the end of the 1970’s. The hippie movement was losing one of their core factors of their raison d’être and so are the hardcore liberal movements today.

Is this a mournful farewell to progress? I think quite the opposite. Should the progressive achievements now be given time to settle in as part our cultural norms, optimistically speaking; I think that we can look forward to a time where a lot of innovation and change will be going on as well as a lot of growth.

This, however, is not the sole responsibility of governments though, we the people must do our part in electing the right leaders. At the moment, I personally don’t like Trump; however, it would be wrong to say that he hasn’t done anything good.

So far, the good he has done is worth its merit and praise. So I’m personally already starting to say he will get his second term…I guess we’ll find out.

April 21, 2018July 18, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

US, UK and France launch airstrikes on Syria….and Russia ain’t happy.

Sabres out and first blood has been drawn.

We have another war on our hands, and to be honest I’m not surprised. I mean let’s be honest, 

Trump…

….who needs a war for the American economy…you know their economy can’t survive without a good fight going on… So what’s happened here? While some people have said,

didn’t Trump want to get along with Putin? he said so during his presidential campaign…. he even congratulated Putin on his last electoral victory.

Yes, those are all true. I think the reason might be as follows:

While Trump had previously been going off on Twitter at the North Korean Dictator, their spiralling descent to chaos took a sudden U-turn when Trump accepted an invitation to meet with Kim Jung-un. The world was momentarily stunned.

Article on TRUMP meeting KIM JUNG-UN

Could it happen?!

Two of the biggest hotheads in the world.

 

Could they actually manage to blow off enough steam at each other, that they would be able to both sit at the table and cut the bullshit to sort it out? It might look that way. The reason being that Trump needs a war for his economy and with a chance for diplomatic victory for the history books…

…becoming the first US president to meet a leader of North Korea…

 Trump needs to point his barrel elsewhere.  Theresa May was conveniently having a big disagreement with Russia, so it was only too easy to shift the aim to Putin. Trump’s choice was simple, the ally they have a good history with or the country who they have been on difficult terms with and have a history of being enemies. Is his choice surprising? …No…

On to Theresa May?

Article on how Uk – Russian Ties don’t look good.

If she took Russia’s side on the Syria situation, all her credibility will be lost…the public sentiment being “what little credibility she has”… In a press conference, she tried to explain how they took a limited amount of action because the had a window of opportunity with a short time duration. Though the truth is that the UK is trying to send a message to Putin. The Russian Spy incident is, of course, a looming shadow over all the currently ongoing activity that might relate to the UK and Russia working side by side. The incident itself triggering a massive recall of diplomats to their respective countries, in and out of Russia. Many people felt a lot of concern as the ties continue to degrade.

What about Macron?

Well in case you didn’t know; before Macron entered a political career, he was an investment banker.

What does that spark in my head?

Image source.

The man is a businessman. He was affiliated prior to his presidency, with a social liberal political party. So what does Macron care about? Pushing his country to progress in a business-like manner; meaning it has to be semi-profitable to pump back into social efforts such as social benefits. ….At least that’s what I think…

So why the airstrike? Well, Macron might be a socialist liberal who believes in progressive multiculturalism but his business nature won’t let him sit by and watch his company(France), get attacked from within. The strike in Syria is simply a gateway to get more troops on the ground there and go after the heart of terrorism(or so they perhaps will say soon). Not to mention that with the UK approaching Brexit; that leaves Macron with a big problem, he made big promises about those still sitting in Calais but they will soon not be allowed to cross into English territory and will not leave him with the washed hands he wished for. So he has supported the UK to maintain better relations with them.

…Putin…

So after a lot of big talk … such as Moscow warning “actions will not be left without consequences” , nothing has actually happened. Many people finding it odd that Russia seems to have backed down. In public, they claim to be very angry and have called the strikes as an act of aggression but I think the Russian’s seem pretty relieved. 

The New York Times reported :

If anything, the Kremlin may have been somewhat pleased, albeit secretly, that the United States had hit targets well away from the primary areas of Russian control, one analyst suggested.

Image Source

In reality, I think Putin had to maintain a tone of aggression, so as to maintain his current level of influence and maintain his support for Assad. The reality is that the Russians have a powerful anti-missile defence system in Syria, but they didn’t even turn it on during the strikes.

In fact, they didn’t have to, because none of the targeted areas in the strike wherein Russian interest zones.

So where does it leave us? Putin has taken the peaceful route as he pushes for a UN council meeting and a summit with Trump.

 

 

Whatever the individual real goals may be, it will perhaps seem that this airstrike was simply the overture to the next act of the Syrian theatre of war.

April 15, 2018July 18, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

Where in the world is burning? : ART. 01

The Lion’s after the bear,

Pyongyang is playing with its train set,

and the eagle keeps kicking people out of the nest…

…heck of a week.

With the UK leading the charge against Russia, we kinda have to look around and understand what’s happening.

Theresa May warns Europe that Russia is a real Threat. Image Source

The recent collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers from twenty-eight different countries is the biggest in history. Tensions continue to grow, as more and more diplomats keep getting sent home and lines of diplomacy have started to degrade.

 

 

Interestingly enough North Korea’s relationship with Beijing seems to have improved as the recent rumours of a North Korean train travelling within China; turned out to be true. Convenient? I dunno…

See here’s the thing… recently Trump accepted an invitation to meet with Kim Jong-un. Part of the agreement is that the North Koreans would work to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. 

…the North Koreans were in Beijing. On an unofficial visit, but it is confirmed that they offered a pledge to denuclearise…

Kim Jong-un with the chinese delegation on his private train. Image Source

Many see this as a positive thing, but of course, you’ll still find some like Michael J Green who told ABC News :

it’s morally distasteful for the President of the United States to meet with the leader of a truly evil, Stalinist regime that is also a criminal enterprise.

The truth is that the above is proof, that many politicians push an agenda for the sake of a political game but I don’t they genuinely care about the people they represent. No one is going to dispute, that the North Korean dictator is considered to be one of the evilest people currently in power.

But the fact that even an extended hand of potentially better diplomatic ties is considered bad by Trump’s opponents, is practically sigh-worthy at this point.

The reason the Democrats are doing so badly is that instead of saying…it’s true, we don’t have a better idea… they continue to try and discredit everything without proper justification.

Don’t get me wrong, Trump gives the impression of someone who invited everyone to a party but isn’t the life of it.

He keeps firing members of staff(but apparently, he doesn’t do it himself), who then start painting a picture of what’s going on in the White House.

Donald Trump with now ex -VA Secretary David Shulkin who is the latest to the large growing list of those dismissed by the American President. Image Source 

Many claims that Trump is like a bull in a china shop and with the rising tensions with Russia, Americans are quite uneasy with their leader. A small observation is that a spokeswoman for the American State Department, referred to the ex-Russian Spy and his Russian daughter as British Citizens; I don’t know about you but that was something that caught my eye.

If we start to refer to the Sergei Skripal as a British Citizen, it will certainly sound very different to the average individual. An ex-Russian spy being poisoned by Russia is something that some would describe as the usual M.O. for the Russians since the 70s. Calling him a British citizen shows me that the ball is shifting. I personally don’t think many people realise that, and we are only a few misunderstandings away from a someone like Trump to push things in the wrong direction. 

I know what you’re thinking, oh there are plenty of safeguards against this sort of thing. The thing is that I feel like Trump is the little kid at the grown-ups party simply bouncing around till he gets real attention. It’s just that this little guy has a stockpile of nuclear weapons, is considered the leader of the free world and is a major superpower; sure what could go wrong.

And who is he backing up?

Theresa May.

I have to be honest, I kinda feel bad for her. She got elected as prime minister because Cameron screwed up in the Brexit referendum, and she wasn’t even elected with a normal election. Currently holds an atrocious approval rating and she has to lead the UK out of the EU.  

People need to get away from the sleight of hand being performed in front us and take off the wool that is covering our eyes and elect leaders that really do make a difference. And maybe we could ostracise those who have failed us, as a warning to any future politicians who want to take their country for a joy ride.

 

So that’s what has been going on, tune in next month for another parade of noteworthy gambles by the egomaniacs we call world leaders.

 

March 31, 2018July 18, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

Will populism over-power liberalism?

With Trump in power and Putin having just won another election, it’s not hard to see why many people think populism is a fast track to power…

March 25, 2018July 18, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha