TheNextReport

Independence? That depends. The United States of America passed its 241st birthday rather quickly, its hands partially covering its eyes.  Mired in the biggest scandal since the impeachment of Richard Nixon in 1974, much of the country has been left wondering how it happened. For those who claim to love democracy, there is a profound discomfort in the air, on television and in social media. It seems to confirm that the Republic is really a delusion. Peer behind that curtain and it hits us right in the face. We are living under the thumb of a homegrown oligarchy, a  twisted coalition of natavist fascism and fundamentalist theocracy, fueled by the deep pockets of a multi-billionaire corporate gentry. Today, the engine of the United States is being run by a legislature that is home to a group of hard-line ideologues, and an incompetent executive that is thoroughly corrupt. Coupled by an ignorant electorate that no longer reads and takes every opportunity to profess its disdain for governm

Oil in the Arctic is a hidden treasure that may provide answers to many of the questions surrounding America's deepest political scandal--the hacking of the 2016 presidential election. A 2008 United States Geological Survey estimates that areas north of the Arctic Circle have 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, recoverable oil (and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids ) in 25 geologically defined areas thought to have potential for petroleum. This represents 13% of the undiscovered oil in the world. In June 2007, a group of Russian geologists returned from a six-week voyage on a nuclear icebreaker, the expedition called Arktika 2007. They had traveled to the Lomonosov ridge, an underwater shelf going between Russia's remote, inhospitable eastern Arctic Ocean, and Ellesmere Island in Canada where the ridge lies 400m under the ocean surface. According to Russia's media, the geologists returned with the "sensational news" that the Lomonosov ridge was l

All the talk about Jared Kushner and secret "back-channel" communications seems designed to keep people wondering and interested in the Washington intrigue. Back-channel talks between Russia and the US on a range of critical issues have been ongoing since the Cold War and some good has indeed come of it. I worked with a small group of people during the late 90's led by television producer Ren Breck whose whose company (News Center One) provided networked communications for international crises. This was BI (bef ore the Internet) when actual human intervention was often necessary.  News Center One played a key role in networking scientists from around the world who used their expertise to address the problems generated by the Chernobyl disaster. Ren's work earned him the commendation of the Russian Academy of Science and established a measure of trust between the involved parties. The News Center One team helped facilitate a Bay Area back-channel visit b

The Conductor is having a ball working on the orchestration, pitting himself -- the twittering hero -- against the machine, unable to admit his social glaucoma, unable to admit that he is the machine. His deliberate obstruction of justice seems to have worked. He won't go to jail, however, and when it is all over he will have plenty of "content" at his disposal to construct a variety of entertainment packages, all with hardly a dent made in his personal empire. There's Trump the board game, Trump the caviar, Trump the vodka, Trump the champagne,Trump the lunchbox, Trump the after-shave; Trump luggage, Trump jewelry.  What's next? Perhaps asylum in one of those Persian Gulf principalities or maybe, just maybe, somewhere behind bars in the bowels of North Carolina, in a seat next to Bernie Madoff,...

President Trump passes his hundred days. Better to call it a period than an era. The game of politics known as the GOP can advance with its dangerous agenda for the nation and the world. When the period of Trump is at last over and the historians and commentators look back on what will surely be known as one of  the most profoundly unsettling episodes in the history of the American presidency, The long delayed reaction should be loud and clear--The Trump period revealed a serious flaw in the way we practice democracy. Adjustments to our democratic process must be made if we are to avoid a repetition of a similar disaster in the future. An amoral, nihilistic charlatan was elected President of the United States, a man with no experience as an elected official, a man who proceeded to subvert the most fundamental laws and norms of the republic with no concern for the damage done. In an age of nuclear weapons, we the people, must set some standards (other than double standards) for thos

Diplomacy 1. The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements. 2. Tact or skill in dealing with people   "The days of strategic patience are over--all options are on the table." Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Translation: Expect to have your nation obliterated at any time. This was the dialogue conducted last week between the American Secretary of State and a representative of the North Korean government. Yesterday, President Trump underscored the point warning of a "major, major conflict" with North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. . The American government has made it clear--it considers the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, to be a madman. What makes the situation twice as dangerous is that the United States doesn't have a particularly high regard for the sanity of its own leadership. The possibilities for negotiation behind

Flim Flam 1.Nonsense; humbug. 2. A deception; a swindle. tr.v. flim·flammed , flim·flam·ming , flim·flams To swindle; cheat. "When you are given immunity, that means you've probably committed a crime."        -- Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (Sept. 2016) Lieutenant General Michael Flynn was a sought-after speaker in Russia when he was nominated to be National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. As a former military man, Flynn had knowledge of strategic matters that were of particular interest to his Russian audiences (and to the regime in Turkey), earning him in the neighborhood of $1.3 million per year.  Flynn was forced to resign as Trump's advisor after failing to disclose talks he had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about sanctions the U.S. had placed on Moscow and for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.  As the nation's leaders so often like to remind us, we live in an e

The attempt by the Republican party to repeal the Obamacare law has proven to be a failure. On the doorstep of a vote to replace Obama's healthcare program, the GOP bosses abruptly pulled the legislation from consideration rather than face the ignominious certainty of a legislative defeat. After more than 60 tries over a period of 8 years, the Republican attempt to diminish the legacy of the country's first African American president came to nothing. What happened? The representatives in the House went home to their districts and heard the voices of their constituents. Findings by the Congressional Budget Office were sobering to say the least: if adopted, the Republican health plan would not only result in higher premiums and deductables, but it would mean 24 million people being stripped of their healthcare entirely. In this era of frighteningly real television, the once-- and possibly future-- king of reality TV and his rightist minions had met their match in the American

What was that old axiom that describes the meaning of insanity? Obsessively repeating a clearly failed activity and expecting a different outcome. The Republican controlled Congress has its chance (again) to vote on repeal of the Affordable Care Act. During the Obama Administration, the legislative body voted unsuccessfully over 60 times to axe the law, which was the first meaningful move toward a system of universal healthcare in the United States.  Now, with the three branches of government in the hands of the GOP, the attempt to reject the ACA is set to be repeated with over twenty votes against repeal coming from dissatisfied radical Republicans. When President Trump was elected, Republican leaders scrambled to put together their own healthcare plan that utilized the party's free market-based philosophy, tax credits and health savings accounts as a means of financing. Most health authorities say the consequences of putting in place the Republican proposal--which would cut f

Republican Budget Director Mick Mulveney demonstrated his diseased arrogance while explaining without a touch of emotion that the budget plan he designed for the Republican party features cuts to  food aid for families in need, assistance for the disabled and support for the  National Endowment for the arts and humanities. Twenty-four million people would lose their healthcare coverage. All of this and a massive tax cut for the wealthy. How is the "greatness" of a nation measured? By its quality of life, the health and longevity of its people, the education level of its children, the cleanliness of its environment, the strength of its economy; all categories certain to diminish during President Trump's reign. How the heck did this happen? Stay tuned and hopefully the truth will come out.

The Tweeter-in-Chief is at it again. In  spite of all the evidence to the contrary, President Trump and press secretary Sean Spicer, continue to insist that former president Obama tapped the communications at the Trump Tower during the run-up to the 2016 election. Using Fox News as his source of information, the Emperor provoked a confrontation with the United Kingdom by claiming that the British intelligence agency participated in the covert surveillance. That statement seriously ruffled some English feathers with outraged UK officials issuing immediate denials and calling for an apology. One would think that those who demanded satisfaction would know better. Alienating our closest ally is all in a day's work for the Tweet-master. We should all, by this time, recognize the truth--the Donald doesn't do apologies. The trans-Atlantic dust-up did cause a reaction from our own National Security Agency, however. When asked for an opinion on the matter, a top NSA official calle

The GOP has presented a sales pitch for its version of healthcare reform.  Indications are that the Republican controlled Congress will try to ram it through the legislature in a few days without a score from the Congressional Budget Office; no one knows what it will cost or precisely how it will be paid for.  The country is in the hands of a group of unethical politicians led by a deluded demagogue who cares little for the truth. The fate of the country doesn't matter to these soldiers of the right-wing who care most about their own bottom line and their need to win at any cost. It is clear that the GOP plan will result in millions of dollars in tax breaks for those with higher incomes and damage the sick, elderly and disabled recipients of Medicaid.The Brookings Institute expects the CBO to estimate that at least 15 million people will lose coverage if the Republican plan passes Here's one way to resolve the healthcare debate: You create a multi-tiered structu

Since the election of Donald Trump, the emotional stability of American society has begun to deteriorate. Street demonstrations from both the left and the right are on the rise. Violence over the Trump administration's immigration ban is growing. Ongoing uncertainties about the Russian hacking scandal seem to grow with the hour; concern over the Republican assault on the Affordable Care Act and what it will mean to the stability of the healthcare system in the United States is spreading daily; volatility in the stock market has made some investors rich and wiped out others. The tremors appear in all directions with disturbing implications of what might come. What's the reaction of the nation's leaders to these troubling events? Put more guns in the hands of the mentally ill.  In the United States, a person with untreated schizophrenia and a history of violent behavior has the right to own firearms. Psychiatric disorders such as depression are often a factor in suicide

A Thought for the Month of March: What is the GOP response to Obamacare? Pay for healthcare with tax credits...so you better not miss the April 15 deadline or it could be fatal. And what do we do with the 43% of the population that don't pay taxes? Put them to work on building the wall and other infrastructure projects of course; so better get your shovels ready--the Republican war on the nation's poor is on the march!

          Now, where the hell did I put that damn recipe?

Keeping the pieces orderly on the Trumped chessboard can be confusing, but also lends itself to odd insights. Okay, lets get this straight: Michael Flynn is the name of a former Army General who was appointed by President Donald Trump for the role of National Security Advisor. He was forced to resign by Emperor Trump after it was revealed that he had engaged in private conversations in December 2016 with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. It is thought that among the topics they discussed was a deal that would ease sanctions put in place to punish Russia for hacking into computers during the campaign for the American presidency. A "Mickey Finn" is supposedly named after a piece of 19th century lore from the city of Chicago. Finn was the keeper of Chicago's Lone Star Saloon. It was alleged that he had a nasty habit of drugging selected customers then robbing them. Such was the power of Finn's concoction that the unwitting victim would awake the next morning complet

Andy Puzder, the nominee for the Trump cabinet post of Labor Secretary, has withdrawn his name from consideration after it was revealed that Puzder -- the billionaire CEO of an empire of fast-food restaurants -- had been accused of spousal abuse by his ex-wife and had once employed a non-documented immigrant as a domestic worker. Domestic baggage is not new to the Trump administration, and is a powerful instrument with which to gauge a politician's level of hypocrisy. It has been the obvious practice of the Trump regime to demonstrate its disdain for contrasting points of view by deliberately appointing to cabinet positions people whose opinions have been diametrically opposed to the agencies to which they have been nominated. In some cases the contrasts have been stark, as though Lewis Carrol had the blueprints. Lets take environmental policy. During his tenure as Attorney General in Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt brought 19 lawsuits against the EPA to kill a host of environmental reg

Why did the Republican Party insist on backing Donald Trump's choice for Education Secretary even though she has been proven to be entirely unqualified for the position?  In hearings before the education committee, nominee Betsy DeVos showed that her grade for understanding and supporting public education would be zero. As the wife of Amway billionaire Rich (yes, that is his name) DeVos, Betsy D. has never been a public school student or teacher, has never developed curricula, has never been a school superintendent or administrator and she has never been elected to public office. Her unequivocal advocacy of school voucher programs would translate in damage to public education by re-routing available federal education funds to parents who could then choose what they do with the money. As the results of the 2016 election demonstrated, entrusting parents with the responsibility of making sure their children are properly educated would be a big mistake. Rather than looking at test

Donald Trump's investiture as President of the United States will be barely noticed in the annals of American history, as will his presidency. The institution of the inaugural address has traditionally been a message of hope for the country -- not so with Mr. Trump.  Filled with canned platitudes and implicit threats, his inaugural speech will be remembered for its absence of substance or a meaningful vision for the country. Instead of the inspiring words of John F. Kennedy, the soaring rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson, Trump painted a bleak, dark portrait of a country where we have: “Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted-out factories, scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.” Mr. Trump ha

Ethics and the GOP. If the American people suspected that the two terms were mutually exclusive they needn’t wonder any longer.   Yesterday, the leadership of the House of Representatives decided at a rare night-time  meeting  to demonstrate its adherence to conservative principles by voting to strip the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics. What would motivate these people to meet unannounced, during a weekend, under cover of darkness, in order to clamp down on a suppos e dly impartial ombudsman acting in the public interest? The OCE is an independent, non-partisan entity charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct against m embers, officers, and staff of the United States House of Representatives. It was created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.   No one expected the mind-bending negative reaction that would greet legislators when the doors of the 115 th Congre