Is US Higher Education Yesterday’s News, Especially for Men?

 

Is US Higher Education Yesterday’s News, Especially for Men?

Over the last two decades, we’ve dropped from 75% of Americans seeing higher education as a worthwhile ticket to success down to 35% today. Is that the cost of higher education has run triple the increase in the cost of living over the last three decades? Could it be the rise of labeling universities, particularly those with graduate and professional schools, as bastions of liberalism, “woke” and “out of touch”? Does Trump’s assault on “elite universities” – cutting off federal research funds, pushing tuition-paying foreign students out of the country and falsely using “antisemitism” (a bigoted bias that seems to sweep through a significant segment of Trump supporters) as an excuse to investigate and fine some of our nation’s best universities, depriving them of the financial support upon which their very existence depends – encourage fewer young people from moving to higher education?

Our largest adversary seems to be moving in the opposite direction. China is building institutions of higher learning, focusing on STEM curricula, and building the next generation of ubiquitous and widely accepted technology. As America’s top universities, under attack by the Trump administration, are falling in the quality rankings, China’s top schools are rising. And as the United States pushes potential and once major trading partners away with rogue and TACO-fluctuating tariff policies, China is stepping in with extraordinary new massive trading agreements, opening markets in Asia, Europe, Africa and in the Americas (minus the United States)… as the United States seems hell-bent to make our markets thoroughly unattractive. Bullies seldom win.

If you focus on the wave of machismo “Pete Hegseth” values permeating a rising segment of young men to focus on well-paying physical jobs… trades if you will… leaving “woke” white collar jobs to women. Empathy is viewed as a weakness. Of course, hands-on jobs, and the trade schools that support such skilled blue-collar labor, are essential and valuable across the board.

Where physical strength is involved, men have always prevailed in those fields. Jobs for women without a higher education degree are generally not as well paid as those skilled blue-collar jobs for men. So, how does all this impact the demographics of work and higher education? The headline: in contrast to male demographics, women increasingly dominate higher education, as male enrollment declines, and view higher education as a step to a more valuable career. Jon Marcus, writing for the Hechinger Report (and published in the January 20th Los Angeles Times, looked at the underlying numbers:

“Women not only have overtaken men in their pursuit of bachelor’s degrees but have also eclipsed them in graduate and professional schools, new data show… Women are earning 40% more doctoral degrees than men, and nearly twice as many master’s degrees, according to the U.S. Department of Education. And women now outnumber men in law, medical, pharmacy, veterinary, optometry and dental schools… This is not some distant statistical abstraction. Americans can see this quiet but dramatic shift when they take their pets to the vet or their kids to the dentist, need a lawyer or an eye exam, see a therapist or pick up a prescription. In every case, they’re likely to see more, or only, women.

“The main reason behind the increasingly entrenched trend: More women than men are earning the undergraduate degrees required to advance to graduate and professional school… Women now account for about 60% of undergraduate enrollment. Nearly half of women age 25 to 34 have bachelor’s degrees , compared with 37% of men, according to the Pew Research Center… Lisa Greenhill, chief organizational health officer at the American Assn. of Veterinary Medical Colleges… states ‘Men have a lot more options. They feel like they don’t have to go to a four-year program or a graduate program.’

“In the University of California system, new female undergraduates in the fall outnumbered new male undergraduates, 28,301 to 22,747. Women outnumbered men by more than 50,000 in the California State University system , making up 56% of the total student body, with 44% male enrollment last year… The number of women earning law degrees passed the number of men in 2019 , figures from the American Bar Assn. show. By 2020, the bar association said, the majority of general lawyers working for the federal government were women , and by 2023, the majority of associates at law firms were women.

“In medical schools, the number of women also overtook the number of men in 2019. Today, 55% of future doctors are women , up from 48% in 2015, according to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges… Women already make up significantly larger proportions of residents in specialties including endocrinology, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine and psychiatry…

“Officials from associations of graduate and professional schools who are trying to recruit more men said the gender shift can be self-perpetuating. Men may be put off by what they see as the ‘feminization’ of professions in which they now are the minority, research by the veterinary medical colleges association concluded… ‘I’m not seeing a national effort to say we need to change this,’ [Claudia Buchmann, an Ohio State University studies gender studies sociologist, said.] ‘If anything, the opposite is true.’” Without the priority of higher education, we will stagnate… and women will bear the burden of advancing society. Gone is the zeal for higher education, spurred by the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite into orbital space. We need that back. We need both men and women to advance the job-making values of the modern era.

I’m Peter Dekom, and in a modern world where technology defines competitive advantage, glorifying the hard-labor past just might pull the entire nation into competitive decline.

While Most Voters Care About Affordability, Trump Spits on the Constitution... Again

 

While Most Voters Care About Affordability, Trump Spits on the Constitution… Again

"The Republicans should say, 'We want to take over,'… We should take over the voting ... in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked and they're counting votes." 

 Donald Trump post, February 2nd

Unless and until Congress votes otherwise, the “Elections Clause in Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution establishes a framework for elections, delegating initial authority to state legislatures while granting Congress the power to adjust these rules. States decide the ‘Times, Places, and Manner’ of congressional elections, but Congress can change these arrangements. This dual approach allows for state-specific solutions and federal oversight… Federal oversight of elections under the U.S. Constitution involves an interplay of authority between national and state governments. Congress has taken action to ensure fair and equitable voting practices across the nation, particularly when state regulations fall short of protecting fundamental voting rights.” USConstitution.net. And there is no way that Congress could generate enough votes to implement Trump’s demand.

But as is exemplified throughout the Trump administration - defying court orders, delaying or reconfiguring statutes and court orders to say what the Trumpers want them to say - has been Trump 2.0 signature response… with a Constitution-twisting Supreme Court all too frequently siding with Trump. Thie above=quoted message means Trump has seen the Democratic victories in red state special elections, recent victories in statewide elections displacing GOP candidates handily and is acutely aware of his unpopularity among the general population, even as his MAGA base cheers him on… except for the embarrassment of the Epstein scandal which just getting worse.

According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence dropped by 9.7 points to the lowest it has been since 2004. Even as the GOP has outraised campaign funding for the midterms by a significant multiple of Democratic efforts, Trump knows that, without serious vote manipulation and rigging, Congress will no longer be under his control after any fair midterm election. From his crass gerrymandering effort to his causing voter rolls to be altered to eliminate likely Democratic voters (red states have cooperated, blue states have resisted), dumping “vote-by-mail” and preparing to seize voting machines and ballots – his FBI seizure of 2020 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, tells you how far he is willing to go – Trump truly wants to cancel or rig the midterms in favor of his minions and sycophants in Congress.

While Americans are getting riled up at the scenes of ICE/CBP cruelty, shifting the tide away from Trump’s/Stephen Miller’s brutal sweeps and immigration tactics, affordability is Trump’s weakest suit. His federal agencies also have little credibility from the lower courts and most people polled. 52% of Americans question his mental stability, and even MAGA advocates who have fought for open carry gunowner rights have joined the NRA in decrying Trump’s statement that citizens who legally carry guns face being shot by ICE agents in areas of likely immigration sweeps.

We’re even seeing some movement in a few CEOs facing these horrible events, the economic chaos, that represents Trump 2.0… who are finally speaking up. Not with the force that should take place, but they are beginning to realize that without some containment of Trump’s international expeditions, his hard track to alienate allies, and his failing economic policies, their businesses will suffer at every level. Knowing that Trump punishes those who do not support him, these CEOs have been wary of speaking what needs to be said for fear (clearly justified) of government inquiries, loss of government contracts/approvals, targeted FBI investigations and denial of exemptions from tariffs and regulatory controls. Their employees want more than passive acceptance. The loss of immigrants impairs corporate growth. So little voices, particularly from Minnesota based major corporations, are starting to emerge. Not what should happen… but at least something.

There has been zero evidence of measurable voter fraud in any major election since 2016, even after numerous judicial challenges. But loser Trump cannot accept a system where he cannot win. Everything he is doing is either lining his own pockets with conflicted cash or foisting exceptionally inane or harmful policies on the American people. His clown-car of major political appointments seems to have eschewed neutrality, evidenced a willingness to side-step or reject constitutionally mandated choices, favoring appointees who prioritize Trump’s will over the law, even over common sense.

But after watching the stock market plunge at notions of his controlling the Federal Reserve, even Trump understood he could not appoint a puppet as the new Fed Chair. Shifting from an unacceptable choice, Trump moved to the lowest common denominator of acceptability choice, in the hopes of rapid Senate confirmation. The markets were confused at the appointment of Kevin Walsh, as LA Times columnist, Michael Hiltzik points out in his February 3rd editorial: “The best being said for Trump’s pick for Fed chair is that it could have been worse…

“On paper, Warsh’s credentials as Fed chair look decent enough. He served on the Fed’s Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011, as an economic assistant in the George W. Bush White House from 2002 to 2006 and before that as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley… Kevin Warsh… is lightly regarded by economists and expected to vote the way Trump wants on interest rates… The one thing that was clear about President Trump’s nomination of Kevin M. Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, announced Friday, is that the investment community didn’t really know what to make of it.

“The dollar rallied, even though Warsh has been agitating for more rate cuts, which tend to undermine the dollar’s value. Gold and silver spot prices plummeted, with the latter experiencing its worst day in 45 years, as fears about Trump’s attacks on the Fed’s independence eased — despite Warsh’s alignment with Trump’s disenchantment with the Fed’s management.”

But economists the world over know that if the Fed’s neutrality is compromised, if the Fed follows Trump’s dictates on cutting interest rates, the long-term impact will make the United States look like inflation ravaged Argentina. Consumer costs will skyrocket, credit and mortgage markets will be compromised… and even Republicans in Congress are wary. In the end, Trump truly seems to be unable to create stability, to maximize values for Americans, and is more obsessed with his own wasteful visions – particularly his monarch-mimicking architectural visions – than the welfare of all but the richest in the land and his own power/enrichment. This must end.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it’s time to draw a line in the sand, reject the rule of Trump law and to return to the rule of law for all.

"ICE is Playing Soldier, But Without the Discipline"

 

“ICE is Playing Soldier, But Without the Discipline”

Untrained in deescalation and the proper use of deadly force, they are neither police nor military

“Beyond the investigations [of the Minneapolis shootings], as the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA underscores the important constitutional rights that are at stake. The constitutional rights at issue must be protected. These include freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press… The Rule of Law undergirds these inalienable rights. It ensures that all people and all government entities are accountable to laws that are clear, just, and fair.” 

 American Bar Assn President Michelle A. Behnke

Their training is much shorter than most police and sheriffs, certainly US military, and while Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents have some training in crowd control, ICE has virtually none. DHS recruiting campaigns for ICE agents have presented what look like Nazi “culture warrior” ads, focused on those who find violence acceptable and are given directions from their superiors that are simply false statements of what the Constitution says, being accorded “absolute immunity” for their actions without any statutory or constitutional basis, and encouraged to shoot first and ask questions later. As a result, they are woefully misdirected on 1st Amendment (free speech and the right to protest peacefully), 2nd Amendment (right bear arms), 4th Amendment (requirements of judicially issued warrants for most arrests, forced access to search premises, etc.) and the 5th Amendment (due process) constitutional rights… which no government official, even if there is an invocation of the Insurrection Act, can revoke.

The above quote comes from senior command experienced and battle hardened, retired Lt General Mark Hertling. Deeply disturbed at the shooting deaths of Renee Good, a mother and harmless American citizen, and Alex Pretti, a Veterans Administration Hospital intensive care nurse, Hertling railed at the almost instantaneous determination, up and down the entire Trump Administration, that, without any investigation, these two innocents were “domestic terrorists.”

“Hertling said Monday [1/26] that video of ICE officers and federal agents involved in the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis proves that ‘this is not policing and it’s not military service.’ In an interview on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, Hertling said ‘from the standpoint of a former soldier, I will tell you they are an undisciplined militia, and the leadership is awful.’… Hertling told MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough that ICE officers ‘dress up as soldiers,’ but show none of the discipline and training of the military or traditional law enforcement. Instead, Hertling said, ICE is ‘running through the battlefield as it were in civilian vehicles, maneuvering like assault teams, and engaging civilians as if they were hostile forces.’

“‘ICE and DHS are neither military nor police,’ he said. ‘This is not policing and it’s not military service. It’s something dangerously undefined… ‘The leadership of ICE and DHS seems to be overlooking quite a lot’… In a piece for The Bulwark, Hertling writes that ‘leaders are accountable not only for what they order their subordinates to do, but for what they allow. The leadership of ICE and DHS seems to be overlooking quite a lot.’” Mark Joyella, writing for the January 26th Forbes. But ICE officers, performing purportedly an administrative function to deal with detaining and deporting undocumented aliens, are absolutely not cops and most certainly not military, although they pretend to be either or both when they feel like it.

The DHS/ICE vertical, sometimes with the FBI but mostly with their own internal HSI investigators, have taken on the role of investigating themselves, excluding the well-trained local police from gaining access to on-scene evidence, and pronouncing guilt often hours after ICE/CBP shootings. They issue instant “domestic terrorism” labels, calling the victims “suspects,” even as only a blind man could look at the same videos that the entire nation has seen and almost consistently reached an opposite conclusion. They’ve even pissed off the National Rifle Association, by telling licensed citizen gunowners that even if they’re fully compliant with the law, do not threaten ICE/CBT officers with their weapons, they should not be surprised if they are shot anyway.

Nobody trusts an investigative body that issues a ruling of conclusive guilt before a minute of bona fide actual investigation. How did Pretti get 10 bullets shot into his body in 30 seconds after it seems that an officer removed his holstered weapon, which was never brandished against the officers? Looking at the videos, Pretti seemed to have been murdered by unprofessional federal officers. As local Minneapolis police were barred from Pretti’s crime scene, although operating with a local warrant, federal ersatz cops blocked them with batons. A federal court ordered the feds to preserve evidence intact. As rightwing media tried to justify the “instant” guilt, even their news hosts struggled. A few elected Republicans voiced their own horror at this attempt to cover up what happened, already fearing a massive backlash at in the mid-terms, and popular sentiment was believing what they saw, not what they were told by the feds.

Even Trump, finally willing to talk to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, was beginning to sense that Americans were, for the most part, aghast at the visuals. Sending in immigration tsar Tom Homan in to take as look at the ICE actions in Minneapolis, seemed inappropriate, but it is no secret that Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem considers Homan a competitor. I would bet that Trump will try and recapture voters by removing this utterly incompetent ICE Barbie and self-declared beauty queen very soon.

Virtually every major police force requires its officers to wear body cameras, but despite the fact that CBP/ICE are overfunded, their officers do not wear them. Too hard to cover up facts, I guess, because it cannot be the cost, under $1,000 per officer. That all these mass sweeps occur only in blue cities makes me ask the question: what would red cities do under a Democratic administration if the roles were reversed? And exactly why do so many MAGA evangelical Christians believe that along with the Constitution, the Golden Rule… heck the entire New Testament… has been repealed?

I’m Peter Dekom, and history usually imposes a very harsh level of accountability to individuals so blatantly violating the law, crushing human rights and making a mockery of their own purported morality under their own religious teachings.

A Big Fat Slap in Trump’s Face – UK Goes Its Own Way

 

A Big Fat Slap in Trump’s Face – UK Goes Its Own Way

As Donald John Trump, President of the United States and self-declared “acting President of Venezuela,” stood at the podium on January 21st at the Davos economic forum, and blew off what had been America’s allies, denigrating their contributions to American efforts. In particular, he denigrated the response of NATO allies after the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in NYC and the Pentagon, in which the US response was the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. NATO allies joined US forces, side-by-side. He insulted heads of state of several NATO nations by name, claiming they did nothing. Denmark, threatened almost daily to give up Greenland to the United States, saw a greater proportion of its troops in Afghanistan killed or wounded than the proportion of US forces there. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was deeply insulted, as news footage showed British Afghan casualties being shipped back home. A sad and impressive set of images. Even as Trump stated he would not invade Greenland, the damage has been done.

In that moment, on January 21st, Trump crossed a red line, a point of no return, decimated the remnants of trust that our own allies had kept intact until that moment. Trump’s speech also alienated most of the rest of the world, as Canada’s Prime Minister described the current status of US relations with its “allies” as no longer a “transition” but a permanent “rupture.” Trump continues to threaten countries – Cuba in his sights now – with tariffs if nations do not follow his lead. He is arresting journalists, claiming zero evidence that all the protesters in Minnesota are “paid agitators,” and his border Tsar, (taking Greg Bovino’s place), Tom Homan’s message to deescalate is falling on an extremely skeptical Minnesotans. A huge fleet is anchored near Iran, and a war with that beleaguered nation is quite possible.

The economy is shuddering from all the bad news, and I suspect unless Republicans in Congress stand up to this bully-fest, even knowing that MAGA extremists mostly like what they see… except for the “Epstein files,” which have been so redacted that half of the information been removed… they will face a blood bath in the midterms, which Trump continues to threaten he wants to cancel. The Trump-enabling, Constitution-evading Supreme Court has enabled the autocracy that runs the country today. Meanwhile, as the United States, which has made tons of trade deals with the China over the years, Trump watches Canada’s attempt to forge its own trade agreements with the Peoples’ Republic, threatening massive tariff increases if they make a deal Trump does not like… plus there is also a dispute over the sale of US aircraft into Canada, and vice versa.

But shortly after the Trump lost the last sliver of respect (vs bully intimidations) from most of the world, it was immediately apparent that our “allies” would deal with the United States solely out of necessity, rapidly finding ways to carve the United States out of relevancy to them.

While Trump had to apologize to Starmer over his slight about UK troops in Afghanistan, the UK Prime Minister immediately set a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a new trade agreement, a “strategic partnership” they called it, that would not include the US. Writing for the January 30th Associated Press, Ken Moritsugu and Jill Lawless, explain: “Neither Prime Minister Keir Starmer nor President Xi Jinping publicly mentioned President Trump, but Trump’s challenge to the post-Cold War order was clearly on their minds.

“‘In the current turbulent and ever-changing international situation ... China and the U.K. need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation to maintain world peace and stability,’ Xi told Starmer at the start of their meeting… Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Xi had stressed, without mentioning the U.S. directly, that ‘major powers’ must adhere to international law or the world would regress into a ‘jungle.’

“Starmer said that ‘working together on issues like climate change, global stability during challenging times for the world is precisely what we should be doing.’… The two leaders met for 80 minutes — double the scheduled time — in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as their nations try to improve ties after several years of acrimony. Relations have deteriorated over allegations of Chinese spying in Britain, China’s support for Russia in its war on Ukraine, and the crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, the former British colony that was returned to China in 1997…

“Xi appeared to acknowledge the criticism that Starmer has faced for reaching out to China despite national security and human rights concerns. The United Kingdom recently approved controversial plans for a huge Chinese Embassy in London, removing a sticking point in relations but also overriding fears that the ‘mega-embassy’ would make it easier for China to conduct espionage and intimidate dissidents.

“‘Good things often come with difficulties,’ Xi said… ’As long as it is the right thing to do in accordance with the fundamental interests of the country and its people, leaders will not shy away from difficulties and will forge ahead bravely.’’ Most of Europe was already negotiating with China or lining up to replace an untrustworthy United States with a trade powerhouse that could counter their turning away from the US.

While some Europeans feel sad for the plight of so many Americans who may never recapture the pre-Trump good life they once knew, they also blame US voters of reelecting a leader they already knew was megalomaniac… such that if even a Democratic leadership were elected someday, the prospect that Americans just might bring back a MAGA autocracy again weighs heavily on their reluctance to make any deal with the US. And it’s not just Europe. Trump seems to have alienated most of the rest of the world as well. The world is finding ways to marginalize the United States, and as international sporting events in the US (e.g., FIFA finals and the 2028 Olympics) loom, most believe that they will lose billions from those who will no longer travel to the US.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it is strange that so many Americans actually believe that their lives will improve under Trump’s isolationism and bully tactics… even as history has shown the damage isolationism can bring in modern world.

"The Main Threat Is the American People "

 

“The Main Threat Is the American People” DHS Internal security Assessment Report

Yes, America, if the government wants you, you have no rights, no recourse

So, what’s new under that report? Writing for the January 24th Better America, Thomas Smith explains: “The U.S. faces ongoing risks to critical infrastructure and national security from hostile actors including Russia, China, and others. But according to a new report, an unreleased Homeland Threat Assessment drafted under the Trump administration places the greatest emphasis on threats emerging domestically.

“Since 2020, DHS has issued an annual Homeland Threat Assessment outlining the department’s view of the biggest risks facing the nation. The usual categories—crime, drug trafficking networks, and illegal immigration—appear again this year. However, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein says the latest version introduces a new focal point: terrorism tied to ‘class-based or economic grievances.’”

That wondrous DHS memo, explaining that judge-confirmed warrants are not needed to support a CBP/ICE forced entry to a private home in search of immigration perps, effectively repeals the 4th Amendment. Further, JD Vance was just one administration official to assure those agents that they have absolute immunity from criminal prosecutions for their acts, seemingly even for excessive violence and even killing. Not the law, JD.CBP/ICE agents have also been informed that individuals exercising their 1st Amendment rights, peacefully to protest against the Minneapolis killings, do so at their risk – including standing in a spot that the agent feels (usually without justification) is impeding their immigration sweeps, photographing agents pushing the limits of the authority – as agents can direct flash bangs, hold pepper spray an inch from a civilian’s face… if they feel threatened, kill even a US citizen… even as a federal court has ordered them to cease such tactics (that court was reversed). So, the 2nd Amendment can get you killed, the 4th Amendment offers you no protection if a fed wants to break into your home, and if you are peacefully exercising your 1st Amendment rights, you could easily be deemed a domestic terrorist earning a database target on your back.

When ICU nurse, Alex Pretti was gunned down by federal agents, because he was armed, a court ordered the officers to preserve all the evidence, but the officers had long since contaminated the crime scene and excluded any state of local police from the site entirely. Minnesota is a 2nd Amendment state, where getting a license for open or concealed carry is little more than a background check. Republicans fought hard for such pro-gun legislation, but when a legally licensed individual has a gun and much more, federal agents, if the feel threatened, can use the presence of that guns as a reason to shoot to kill. As least, unlike the Renee Good death, the FBI is investigating this gun death… with or without local police (TBD). Yet, the assemblage of videos of the events surrounding the killing do not show Pretti brandishing a gun (DHS claims that happened), and he was apparently disarmed before a stream of federal bullets ended his life.

There is a notion of “sovereign immunity” prevents a citizen from suing the government unless it consents to the suit. Until 1941, citizens had to petition Congress, on a one-off basis, to find redress. Then Federal Tort Claims Act was enacted, a landmark moment for victims’ rights. But the Trump administration has developed a pattern of instantly exonerating a CBP or ICE agents engaged in what frequently is an act of excessive violence, now involving two recent Minneapolis killing of two American citizens, which sure appeared to be innocent protesters. In both cases, local police were excluded, and the deceased victims were instantly declared to be domestic terrorists. In the case of Good, the Trump administration began investigating the dead mother of three to see whether her opinions might explain it all. There was no investigation (taken or even permitted) of the Good shooting, and the FBI, now devoid of agents embracing their historical pledge to neutrality as they look at the Pretti shooting, although their bosses have preordained the verdict. There is no accountability for clearly horrible CBP/ICE agents engaged in excessive violence under the guise of getting rid of the worst of the worst… gardeners, waiters, construction workers, nannies and small business people who have never committed a crime worthy of the treatment we give them.

Bottom line, we are tracking a pattern of behavior that mirrors the behavior of the Nazis before and during WWII. Step for step. And as Canadian PM, Mark Carney, pointed out, Trump’s actions on the global stage were viewed as unhinged and irrational, creating a permanent “rupture” in the way the world now will treat the United States, even as Trump backed off a military invasion of Greenland. He burned a global bridge, which will not be rebuilt anytime soon… no matter who our next president may be. Trump stated that for those nations not supporting his ultimate takeover of Greenland, even by peaceful means bear the consequences: “we will remember.,” he declared. The international refrains of nations’ pushing back were an echoed counter of many foreign voices saying, “WE will remember!”

I’m Peter Dekom, and the constitution seems to have been repealed, and in our future relationships with the rest of the world, trust has left the building and isn’t coming back anytime soon.

Law & Possibilities in a World of a Bully’s Mega-Distractions

 

Law & Possibilities in a World of a Bully’s Mega-Distractions

EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN, EPSTEIN!!!!

Just as the United States has itself done for many years with trade agreements with People’s Republic of China, still one of America’s major trading partners, Canada and China, following years of tense relations, struck a new trade deal in mid-January, opening China to Canadian agriculture and Canada to Chinese electric vehicles. What was TACO loser Donald “lame duck” Trump’s response? “If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken," on Truth Social on January 24th. “Governor” Mark Carney, implying Canada’s fate as our 51st state, was simply boiling with rage at the unhinged President of a formerly good neighbor. Trump threatened a 100% tariff as the price for a trading arrangement between Canada and China. “Drop-off” point??

The world has begun to accept an economic universe where the United States is decreasingly a necessary player… much less the global shot-caller it once was. Global resistance to Trump ‘sunlawful assertions is exploding. Not one single Western democracy has signed on to Trump’s Board of Peace, under a logo that bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the United Nations. Internally, our entire country is witnessing a red against blue war, where only red has all the rights.

BYD, China’s premiere EV carmaker, now dominates global sales at a multiple of any US manufacturer, and since Donald Trump has long since disabled all alternative energy initiatives he associated with the “hoax of climate change,” the United States is increasing its dependence on burning fossil fuel as most of the rest world is shift to clean energy. The glut of oil is pushing prices downwards, just as Trump is still trying but failing to convince BIG OIL executives to rebuild the frayed Venezuelan petroleum extraction and processing system. What we are seeing is the Trump administration’s living in a parallel autocratic universe, where no one can dare to disagree with his policies and “vision” without suffering retribution, and the real world where anyone with eyes can confirm that what the Trump administration tells us is real defies what we actually see.

Nothing brings that home more forcefully than Trump’s directed ICE soldiers, undertrained and, as they were falsely told by VP JD Vance, given absolute immunity for the actions. Their non-lethal “crowd control” weapons, like flash bangs with projectiles which recently killed a baby, must be stopped. As an internal ICE memo, released to congressional committee members – rapidly pulled back even as the policy remains unchanged – informing ICE agents that if they suspected an illegal were hiding inside a home, they were allowed without a legitimate judge-approved warrant, to break down the door and arrest the occupant. One elderly US citizen was so extracted in zero-degree Minneapolis cold, allowed on a blanket to cover his body (he was only clad in underwear); he was released an hour later, because the real target had been in prison for months.

Each of several ICE agent shootings in Minneapolis, resulting in deaths of American citizens, was ruled a justifiable defense against a “domestic terrorist,” the agent in question instantly exonerated, with no normal inquiry that always follows such shootings commenced, local police were barred from mounting their own inquiry, and often ICE began investigating the innocent victim targets and their associates as potential terrorists. ICE officers stopped one quiet protester who was recording an incident on a smartphone, retrieved her identification and told her that she would now be on list of confirmed domestic terrorists. Nazi tactics. Totally unconstitutional. Intimidating policies of an American dictator.

So, folks have asked me what to do, if it were up to me to turn down the escalating governmental provocations, very unpopular under every poll taken. First, the President needs to dismiss every governmental official who believes “might makes right” and that provocation is justifiable tactic. The first to go, in my book, would have to be the policy wonk who seems to be writing the rules, senior Trump advisor Stephen Miller (and his entire staff). Next to go include AG Pam Bondi who seems to revel in rewriting the Constitution with outlandish misdirection, as well as her senior political appointees in the DOJ who have dedicated their lives to seeking criminal indictments (with little success) again key figures who may have investigated and perhaps prosecuted Mr Trump, and most certainly Democrats who have raged against Trump’s obvious efforts to assume complete control as the nation’s sole lawgiver. High on the list of officials to be axed include Kristi “I have no constitutional limits” Noem, Tom “what happened to that bag with $50 thousand in it” Homan, and Border Patrol Chief Greg “I love the smell of pepper gas in the morning” Bovino, who seems to incent violence and has been very active in direct combat against innocent protesters.

Most ICE officers who have been recently recruited, often under the enticement of being “culture warriors” (read: white Christian nationalists), have received a mere 47 days of training (animal control officers generally get twice that), with no real instruction on how to deescalate an angry (usually justifiably) rising crowd of civilian protestors attempting to exercise their constitutional right to protest peacefully, a right repeatedly confirmed by federal judges. The mechanics of recruitment must be changed, the minimum training for new officers should be 6 months and should include at least fourteen days on how to deescalate potential confrontations. This means that virtually all new recruits need to be recalled and sent to complete the training in a way that lessens violence, instills a sense of individual responsibility and redefines their roles more into peacekeeping priorities.

All violent confrontations, most certainly any where a gun has been drawn by an officer, must be investigated by a combination of local polices and the FBI, before labels are applied to the “innocent” officers and the designated “domestic terrorists.” But what we are witnessing in Minneapolis is instead beginning of civil war. If Trump isn’t stopped and stopped soon, the global power of the United States will vaporize, the possibility of another world war will rise and except for the mega-rich doting Trump worshipers, life for most Americans will fall to levels we have not seen since the Great Depression… with potential casualties by the millions.

I’m Peter Dekom, and if you want to see the truth, turn off the Trump volume and trust your own eyes… and know that most of this Trump rhetoric and violence is just an effort towards distraction from the truth lurking in the Epstein scandal.

A 34,000 Orbiting Satellites Problem

 

A “34,000 Orbiting Satellites” Problem

It’s the stuff of science fiction films. Satellites collide, decay in orbit and crash to Earth or drift dead and inert in space where they constantly create dangerous orbital space litter. Space may seem to be the final frontier, but it is also a battleground for competing commercial interests, GPS and telecommunications mainstays, information-gathering spying systems, weapons platforms (defensive and offensive), space stations, weather and climate change trackers, etc., etc. The modern world is addicted to the benefits of connected satellites; the Internet, our global financial system, telecommunications, navigation and location technologies would collapse without those little orbiting communicators above.

When Iran shut down its internal Internet during the recent violent upheavals, intending to stop communications among and between protesters, preventing smartphone transmissions of their massacres on the ground from being shared with the outside world and purportedly limiting intelligence gathering from countries with a strong interest in what the theocracy was perpetrating against its own people – hiding, they hoped, the slaughter of an estimated 20,000 protesters. Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink satellite array found ways to distribute ground-based transmitters/receivers to restore the protesters’ connection to the rest of the world and each other. That effort and some minor diplomatic pressures were pretty much the extent of Trump’s promised support for the protesters.

So far, Starlink has defined the primary global orbital connective tissue enabling the Internet to function. SpaceX’ ability to launch satellites into low Earth orbit for a price has been at the core of Starlink’s business plan, which, to date, has been wildly successful. But success invites competition, and with America’s growing unpopularity, many nations would prefer not to have to rely on a US-controlled satellite system for their Internet and telecommunications needs. Furthermore, the very technology that lies at the core of Starlink’s system is disturbing, and with technology offering alternatives, competition is ramping up, unsurprisingly especially from China, capitalizing on a general global aversion to all things American.

Writing for the January 16th, FastCompany.com, Jesus Diaz addresses Elon Musk’s upcoming satellite challenges: “The fiercest space race is not about getting back to the moon—it’s about allowing you to post a TikTok or watch Netflix on your phone anywhere around the globe, from the Atacama Salt Flats to the Khongor sand dunes in the Gobi Desert. To make this happen, two distinct design philosophies are at war, as companies build out the infrastructure needed to ensure every phone on the planet is permanently connected to the internet.

“On one side is Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink and the copycat companies that have followed in Starlink’s wake. Their approach is to invade space with tens of thousands of small satellites, creating a network of objects that blanket low Earth orbit. On the other side is a small Texas-based company called AST SpaceMobile, which believes it can provide better service with fewer than 100 gigantic satellites in space.

“Both companies—along with Amazon and a handful of Chinese organizations—want to dominate worldwide wireless communications. The satellite constellation with the fastest service, widest coverage, best compatibility with 5G cellphones, and lowest operational costs will own how we communicate for years to come. Which approach prevails will have serious impact not only on the future of the internet but also the health of our planet…

“Musk set off a new space race with his desire to rule low Earth orbit. SpaceX, which owns Starlink, launched its first satellite in 2019, providing broadband internet access to anyone with a large Starlink antenna and modem on the ground. Since then, it has put more than 9,000 satellites into orbit. The company projects it will eventually have a constellation of 34,000 satellites. After Starlink’s initial launch, competitors followed suit, including Jeff Bezos and his Project Kuiper—now called Amazon Leo—and the Chinese, whose plans include two large satellite constellations.

“But there’s a fundamental problem with this mega-constellation design: Musk’s plan for space internet is a flawed, wasteful, and dangerous game of orbital Russian roulette… Scientists worry that Starlink’s projected 34,000-satellite constellation will cause irreparable damage to the atmosphere. A large-scale constellation also dramatically increases the possibility of a space collision that could start a catastrophic chain reaction, destroying orbital networks that are crucial for our survival as a species.

“Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and spaceflight historian at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been documenting satellite launches in his newsletter, Jonathan’s Space Report. He believes there may be other, better ways to achieve global coverage via satellites—if we need to be doing it at all… ‘I do personally have a preference for smaller numbers of larger satellites,’ he tells Fast Company. ‘One of the reasons is the risk of space collisions. If you have 10 times as many satellites, you have 100 times as many close misses. So from that point of view alone, consolidating on a smaller number of satellites seems wiser.’

“That’s where Musk’s biggest competitor comes into play. AST SpaceMobile has developed a direct-to-cell technology that utilizes large satellites called BlueBirds. These machines use thousands of antennas to deliver broadband coverage directly to standard mobile phones, says the company’s president, Scott Wisniewski.” Larger, more powerful satellites in higher geosynchronous orbit make Musk’s approach seem obsolete. So much for the first mover, competitive advantage. Not that Mr Musk is particularly popular… er… anywhere.

I’m Peter Dekom, and as the United States roils in major and disruptive global controversy, if there is a more efficient Internet linking technology to replace a Musk-driven product, I suspect Starlink is must face the global reputational damage that Elon Musk and the United States itself have wrought.