Some thoughts on current events

 

The longer the Orange Monster stays in office, the more I'm afraid that he'll have enough time to turn this nation into a dictatorship.  The media is either afraid to lose access to key government personnel, or simply afraid of being put out of business by this regime.  Fox "News" is owned by an oligarch who wants to destroy liberal institutions.  CBS is now owned by another oligarch with similar political views.  It's a damned shame that a bandit capitalist class is working to exterminate liberal democracy.

Whether of not the bandit capitalist class succeeds in the US, the American empire will have left something of great value to the world: An economic structure where David Ricardo's ideas of capitalism based on comparative advantage and free trade has been adopted by most of the world's most powerful economies.  Each nation does what it does best, and prospers because of this.  

The orange monster believes that the US can stand alone.  (I'm giving him credit for a belief system that he probably doesn't have.)  Seeing what North Korea and its Juche philosophy has done to that nation, I expect to see the fall of America in my lifetime.  What will happen next?  Who knows?  But I know that we have helped democracy flourish around the world, and that the American empire has left the world better off than when we entered this stage of its existence.

Luckily, we are seeing a rebellion from below.  Power is not centralized in one level of government.  The states are resisting the monster's grab for absolute power.  Democrats in the Senate have checked the power of the orange monster by denying funding to DHS and ICE.  TSA officials at airports will not get paid while this pissing match between the Democratic party and the Orange Monster has ended.  Although ICE has 75 billion to piss away, the Coast Guard does not.  In short, the Democratic party is shutting down a key area of government to cause as much pain as they can for the GOP.  The Democrats simply want ICE officers to follow the same standards that most police officers have to follow - to be identifiable, so that rogue officers can be identified; to have people in ICE detention have the right to Habeas Corpus; and to have only judicial warrants used for detaining people. I may not be phrasing everything correctly, but the Democrats want to make sure that ICE follows all of the laws, and recognize the constitutional rights afforded to all residents in our country.

Sadly, I see events in America being a race against time.  How much damage can the monster do to keep his opposition from gaining power on January 3, 2027?  Can we prevent him from doing so?  When we have someone like Pam Bondi excuse the Jeffrey Epstein cover up by citing a Dow Jones Average over $50,000.  It's sick, and it shows that a large part of America no longer cares about anything but fluffing up their bank accounts. I hope to see America regain its sanity before I die... 

Thanks to Trump, I can't take this cruise

During the Obama administration, the USA relaxed travel restrictions for Americans wishing to visit Cuba.  This small trickle of people served an important purpose - it helped our two countries to learn how to trust each other again, and see that cultural exchange benefits both nations.  When Trump came into office, the limited number of cruises to Cuba stopped, and many passengers who booked these trips cancelled their mini vacations.

I'm one of those people who would like to take the "Axis of Evil World Tour" documented in Scott Fisher's book of the same name.  (I'd skip Iraq, as it is not a "Stable" country.)  It would be interesting to see North Korea before the regime has its next generational transition.  And, more than that, I'd love to see Iran and hear their point of view about the troubles in the Middle East.  (The DPRK is one extreme model for a country and Iran is the other extreme model for a country.)  Given that this kind of travel would require me to travel as Mario AND have US State Department approval, this will likely never happen.

One travel itinerary which may open up again in my lifetime is Cuba.  We slammed the doors shut on that country during JFK's administration, and it has only opened up a little for a lucky few over time.  (I've known a school counselor who legally went to Cuba when I was young, and a friend who went there during the 2010's.  I am envious of both.)  I want to see the Hershey Electric Railway there, as well as the 1950's American cars that they keep running with Scotch Tape, Chewing Gum, WD-40, and Duct Tape.

Sadly, there are still way too many Cuban Exiles in Florida who want to keep my wish a dream.  There is no hope that the current regime will fail.  Yet, they still have their dream of the Communist Regime falling and having all of their properties restored to their former owners.  Sounds like the calls of "The South Will Rise Again!" heard in the former Confederacy.  To me, both groups can screw themselves.  We live in the present, and not the past.  (And this coming from a person who wants Major League Baseball to return to Brooklyn....)

What do you think?

 

PS: I decided to contact a friend in Canada for more information.  Even she can't find any cruises.  But her situation may be more realistic in information gathering, as Canada has not embargoed Cuba.  Instead, none of the top 3 cruise lines serve this market, as their management (not their ships) is based in the United States.  And it doesn't make much sense for anyone else to serve this market without access to the United States market.