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When I made a comment about a relatively new Trump administration around a year ago now, I labelled that choice of administration as a collection of idiots. Now year on, it seems that label was almost too complimentary as these people make idiots look like Einstein. Real Estate guys as chief negotiators to end war-torn conflicts, Cos-play influencer running Homeland like the Gestapo, Fox news host directing a made-up war (Wag the Dog), Health dept run by an antivaxxer, Education dept by someone determined to dismantle it, Dept of Justice with a political enemies list, EPA, FBI it’s an endless collection of totally corrupt or incompetent people overseeing the dismantling of American infrastructure only because they are Trump loyalists or MAGA maniacs. Trump blames allies for not helping him in his made-up war, expecting countries to donate warships with personnel into a Killzone in the Strait of Hormuz when his own navy knows how vulnerable they are in that narrow strip of water, that’s why they are NOT there. This is the “genius” of Trump on display which is why everything he touches fails unless it’s a grift because with him it’s always “concepts” of a plan mixed with a whole bunch of lies. Remember DOGE, how did that work out. Republicans and the MAGA mob will not be judged by history kindly. Especially the Republican party who sold their soul and every principle they ever held while actively overseeing their country’s demise with incompetence on steroids. Outside of that corrupt system there is a large majority of Americans who feel a great sense of shame when their President makes stupid disgusting remarks, insulting allies along with criminal behaviour and the endless barrage of lies which isolates America even further from the world. Almost 40% of a nation, brain washed from birth, living in a closed eco system to believe any hardship they endure in life always originates from those “commie” liberals or anyone who is different from them & never the real cause. When you are this far gone, truth doesn’t matter anymore, your identity is so entangled in the fiction that to admit a mistake would be to disappear. Be it science, economics, foreign policy or anything else you care to name the lie becomes the ground you walk on. This Administration will not last forever and sooner or later the world will correct itself and most of these people are going to end up before the justice system. Only this time the Trump pardon’s will not be available. If justice takes its course, then in an ideal perfect world they should be given the choice of jail or “the walk of shame” Game of Thrones style in front of a million person no kings protest televised to the nation which should include all the pardoned insurrectionists. That would be a fitting end to the Trump regime with him leading the parade alongside all the republicans that refused to remove him from office when the evidence was overwhelming. This coming July the American empire will hit that milestone 250 yr mark, a time in history when most empires have collapsed and it will not be due to the swords of its enemies, but will collapse under the weight of its own greed, sold piece by piece by the very people sworn to protect it.

Australia has introduced it’s ban on Social Media for under 16s which is a good thing and the tech companies will not like it.  But the evidence is clear,  social media algorithms promote hostile content more than they do with truthful content because it engages a user for longer periods of time for more advertising. This is a clear and present danger to society as it breeds conspiracies and hate speech not to mention sending people down rabbit holes that allows all the flat earthers to connect while proclaiming to be under the banner of free speech.  Free Speech is one thing, but hate speech and bullying is something else and that is the main difference between truth and opinion.  Tech companies have a lot to answer for and unfortunately governments have  been to slow to act on enforcing companies to comply in what is a dangerous product. No different than a faulty child’s toy taken off the shelves because of safety concerns. It was the same when Australia was first to ban Tobacco advertising and put warnings on cigarette packets. It looks like we are first to do this and it should not stop there, with all the advancements in AI technology coming online at the moment it  could be used for good and police the internet for scams, hate speech and anything else that is harmful to society. This stuff will never be done voluntarily by Tech companies because it takes down around 10-15% of its revenue stream so it has to be forced.  That is where governments come into play and its the reason we have governments in the first place to look after the welfare of its people rather than be beholding to some wealthy oligarch whose product causes harm.

While the rest of the world was very aware what would happen in a new Trump regime, it seems the MAGA movement were somewhat misaligned in how they thought a vote for Trump would somehow benefit them. Cumulating with an attack on Immigration, Trade, Allies, the courts, the law, government services, voter suppression, free speech & democracy along with social services, education, health care and the economy was all going to turn out great under Trump. Not to mention taking guidance from that “genius” policy template, project 25 that he knows nothing about! Well, it’s still only early days but the writing is on the wall for the ship of fools in the Whitehouse. It may be too late for any MAGA voters’ remorse as well as all those lazy democrats in every swing state who apparently stayed home on election day. But as one MAGA voter commented, “I voted for other people to get hurt, not me!” That will become their calling card, almost three decades of choosing to live in the Fox news universe comes with a price along with their leader always committing crimes then claiming to be a victim. If Fox news tells their audience its raining on a blue sky day then it must be raining, its exactly how a cult works, make people ignore what they are actually seeing.  They did this the entire time Obama & Biden were in office, but when in Trump world everything is just fine. The very wealthy are no different, they also live in that same bubble totally removed from the real world, thinking what benefits them must benefit everyone.  The obsession with tribalism and owning the libs rather than policy or proper governance speaks volumes on how low information voting gets exactly what they deserve. Although not so fair for the other free thinking sixty percent of the country who want no part of it. Top this off with a so-called war on woke just shows how a lack of empathy for their fellow man with this America first BS can just as easily be translated into America last. This is how North Korea evolved to become an isolated state with a large percentage of their population always struggling just to survive. It’s what happens with authoritarians, especially a narcissist like Trump because anyone who comes into his orbit its the “kiss of death” they either end up in jail, bankrupt, or their career is over. That can also include countries, even Elon Musk is now feeling that pain, yet was lured down the same rabbit holes where critical thinking abilities vanish despite his intelligence. Helped along by poor lifestyle choices (or perhaps victim to one of his own neural implants going rogue) where an alternate reality becomes his new world view. The same goes for all Maga & Religious fanatics, regardless of education cannot critically think anymore. It’s either that or a more underlying prejudice in why 70+ million Americans would rather vote for an ignorant fascist criminal knowing his track record that comes with a high risk to destroy everything along with almost 90 million who decided not to vote which is just as bad. As opposed to voting for a smart educated black woman and I think that question answers itself. So, a simple example like the Trump tariffs believing this will somehow revive the 1950’s with a Labor-intensive manufacturing industry suddenly being resurrected back to the US in 2025 is a complete fantasy. Even the mining industry has become automated with specialised machinery now and the same goes for the car industry. It’s even less labour intensive in production line assembly with multi parts sourced globally. Automation & Robots are far more efficient than human labour, (no vacations, no pay, no sick leave, etc) and most of these robots are made in Asia. Governments were not responsible for moving manufacturing offshore, Corporations and Capitalism did that.  What Governments were responsible for, opening trade on previously closed markets and making unions ineffective, capitalism did the rest. Stolen IP (Intellectual Property) and unfair trade practices in some countries is another issue but corporations were well aware of that before moving there but did it anyway including Musk along with Apple. So, unless you want to import sweat shops back to the US, all these stupid exercises achieve nothing except a complete collapse of the economy and total self-destruction of a country.

America like most western advanced countries achieved their success in the current century providing services not by throwing more people into coal mines or drilling for oil and the MAGA mob just don’t get it. Any large manufacturing venture that starts from scratch these days will want the skills of highly educated engineers for automation not low skilled people assembling parts & packing boxes unless it’s a small boutique industry. The highly skilled demands will far outweigh the unskilled by a massive margin. Trump has surrounded himself with an Administration of complete idiots.  With the exception of Rubio who also succumbed to the cult mentality there are no wise people giving him advice anymore. He chooses people like him where ideological fanatics operate on a world view that is totally opposite to the truth. Taking the most successful country on Earth into the toilet and no-one in the regime has the courage to speak up to realize what massive mistake’s they are making. There is a trend in conservatism worldwide these days especially in western countries flooded with propaganda trying to resurrect failed economic and ideological ideas that have no place in a modern connected global world. Currently in Australia we are also in an election mode but what is going on in America right now has tremendous impact on all western countries that are aligned with the US. A tragedy in the making where no good outcome for both the US and the world can be seen while it’s allowed to continue. Greed that comes with capitalism has always been good for building empires but it can never be sustained the same way once an Empire is established. That’s what the Europeans have learnt, especially the Scandinavian countries  with 1000’s of years more history, they have done all forms of government with Kings & Queens, along with dictators and everything in between. Yet settled on a form of government where everyone pays their fair dues in taxes and year after year always rank as the happiest nations on Earth. America has NEVER been one of them, due to that uneven wealth distribution accelerated during Regan’s time results in a higher percentage of their population permanently living in poverty.  Much higher than all their western competitors which is helped along by the undue influence of big business in the way government is run. However, the world is about to give Trump’s America a real look in the mirror exposing that minority section of their population who choose a seriously flawed regime self-destructing their own country was never going to make America great.

While this podcast is long and in two parts, it explains in great detail how voters are continually manipulated into cult like behavior just on the basis of targeted misinformation and how that is coupled with corruption on steroids. Technology has a lot to answer for, as it’s a contagion spreading worldwide. Not only that real journalism is also under attack both financially (no one buying newspapers) and having to compete with nonfactual commentary across all platforms. As a result, the powerhouse news organizations lose their relevance and influence in getting real information out. Budgets become less and less for proper investigative reporting and society suffers the consequences. Where a fitting comment from journalist Anthony Davis ends up with “turkeys voting for thanksgiving”. Part 2 is featured first as I thought it covers more ground on important issues. Part one here:

As the opportunity came up for a road trip north again this winter into warmer weather I couldn’t pass it up. Considering all that has gone on over the past to two years globally, its nice to be able to travel freely once again while still being cautious at the same time. These are a small sample of pictures taken along the way at various locations. This has always been part of my retirement bucket list, I hope to keep doing it as long as I can.