Donald Trump Inaugurated! Now what?

President Donald J. Trump Inauguration: Sign of the impending Apocalypse? Or Much Ado About Nothing?

For those of us who watched a rather celebrity-less Presidential Inauguration, and the WTF aftermath (Sean Spicer press conference, anyone?), it remains to be seen if this administration can reach a level of competence that will assuage the anxiety and fear of certain segments of the American population. First, there was hardly anybody of entertainment value that was willing to perform.  Even though that does not portend whether an administration will be scandal-free, or if they can accomplish anything, perception does matter.  It was partially due to immense public pressure (bullying, in my opinion), which caused some artists and entertainers to "pull out due to other conflicts" from performing for the new administration.  IF artists and entertainers were forced to not play for presidents who committed adultery, or said things they regret, inaugurations would have no celebrities present.  I think in order to protect and honor the dignified and peaceful transfer of power between administrations, artists should play even if they loathe or dislike the new President.  Be above partisan fighting.

Too many artists and entertainers give in to the bullying committed by the online community.  In addition, the level of political correctness that is prevalent in our society, along with the threat of boycotts has forced people to make decisions based on fear and calcuation of loss of income, which is sad.  It is not a sign of a great society where small but influential group of bloggers, online trolls, etc. can force people to make a choice between income and being decent people.

President Trump's Inuagural speech was not too uplifting or aspirational.  Instead, he painted a bleak picture of a dystopian America, one in which he alone can make better, and atone for past Presidents' mistakes.  I believe that America is doing very well, but for  the 1% of Americans primarily, who are high earners and who do not struggle to make ends meet, or worry if they will have the money to feed their kids.  When he states "Make America Great Again," I feel he is targeting those Americans who are not part of the success that benefits others, i.e. the 1%.  He has the right message for those who feel they are being left behind by a globalized economic model, but I am not sure he has the right solutions for those individuals.  Tax cuts for the wealthy, decreased government spending, except for the Department of Defense, is not the way I would go.  Personally, if I were President, I would raise taxes on the wealthy, provide tax cuts for the middle class and lower income earners, place a moratoriam on government spending, and ease certain regulations for businesses so that they can improve local economies.    

However, Congress is controlled by the supply-side Republican party.  They are not interested in increased government spending, but essentially use a "one-size fits all" legislative model of tax cuts for the wealthy, decreased entitlement (social security, etc) and massive defense spending.  That usually is a recipe for large increments to our national debt, but that has not stopped Republicans before.  They seem to care about deficit spending and the troubling debt when Democrats control the White House, and or one branch of Congress.  I do not see President Trump making the lives of people better.  I think he is essentially a puppet of the GOP donor class, and does whatever Chief of Staff Reince Priebus tells him to do. The rumors of Trump spending most of his time watching tv to retaliate against those who make fun of him, or are critical of him, is disconcerting to say the least.

The area of the new Trump Administration that worries me the most is foreign policy.  He seems to be way too cozy with Russian Presient Vladimir Putin, and add the fact that he has not released his tax returns is very troubling.  Those Americans who feel that not releasing his returns means he is hiding something from the country is a serious issue.  Is he compromised?  Are most of the loans he receives from foreign investors primarily Russian in origin?  Media reports have said that many banks are reluctant or outright against loaning money to the Trump organization, mainly due to the fact that Mr. Trump is very litigious.  He makes Scientology, which has a reputation of intimidation through massive and frequent litigation, seem benign in nature.

I sincerely hope that President Trump does not given in the the Neocons in his administration who are angling for war with Iran.  I believe the American people are exhausted from the last two wars that endured for over 15 years.  The electorate will not stand for another stupid invasion of a Middle Eastern country. Since Russia is a protector of Syria and Iran, and Trump is friendly with Putin, perhaps one of the benefits of this shady friendship will be an aversion to armed conflict in the most volatile region of the country.  One can hope anyway.

Inauguations are symbolic of something new.    Will President Trump usher in a new era for prosperity for all?  Will he avoid the shameful foreign policy of President Bush?  Will he be an faithful steward of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

No one knows how the next four years are going to turn out.  The world prays that it will not be a disaster.  Terrorism can only be defeated by being smart, and building trust and cooperation between those Western nations and the Islamic community around the world. President Trump is now the Leader of the Free World.  

Now what?  

What the Hell Just Happened? Yikes!

Donald Trump wins Presidency!   WORLD opinion of America in state of shock!

January 13, 2017

At the time of my last blog post, the United States was gearing up for a Presidential election vote on November 8th.  Even though Hillary Clinton was not my favorite choice, I felt that she would win comfortably.  Little did I know that she was far more unpopular, in addition to Donald Trump's savvy reading of the electorate, which made his victory such a shock. Truth be told, I was in total shock when the networks called the race for Trump.  There was a sense of WTF did our country just do?  Will I see a mushroom cloud in downtown Los Angeles?  I am not gonna lie, I was a little afraid, despite the bluster of past blog posts.

Reviewing the media of both the left and the right, you get a sense of different opinions of how his presidency will turn out.  Liberal and progressive websites profess an outcome where the Trump Presidency will fail and damage America's global reputation.  Conservative websites believe that although Trump is an unknown entity, he will do the bidding of the GOP and its pro-business goals.  This includes unnecessary tax cuts for the wealthy. 

Democrats continue to push the narrative that Putin and Russia's intelligence services worked to defeat Hillary Clinton, in that a Trump White House will be less confrontational to Putin's global ambitions.  This is to also damage the legitimacy of Donald Trump.  The recent intelligence reports that imply that Russia interfered with the November 2016 elections is ambiguous at best.  I believe that Russia did try to influence the election, but that they did not "hack" voting machines to alter votes.  Most countries use covert methods to influence our elections.  I am not shocked by this, and I think it has been going on for decades.  What do you think AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbbying group, does all the time?

If Donald Trump can avoid a war with Iran, I think he will have provided some sense of pragmatism in international affairs.  I personally get the sense that Trump is not a war monger, and that the neoconservatives who are angling for another stupid war in the Middle East will not have the influence they had in the Bush White House.  The jury is still out in terms of what kind of jobs he will bring back to the United States.  Carrier and Ford got good publicity through Trump's "negotiations" to keep or bring back some jobs to American workers.  However, the finite details as to the real outcomes need to be made transparent.  If Donald Trump gives away the store to companies who treaten to move jobs overseas unless they get concessions, the benefits he espouses may not add up to that much.

I share many American's fears of a Trump administration.  Hopefully, he is not the ignoramous that liberals promote to the country.  His presidency has many unknowns, but if he can manage the country in a pragmatic and careful manner, maybe his time in the White House will not be so bad?  Eh, I really cannot say, but pray that it will work out.

I am now returning to my bunker.  Pray for Peace!

I am a Foodie...and it is Glorious!

October 16, 2016

The culinary industry has been transformed as chefs become renowned for their craft

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I have been an avid diner over the course of my life.  In my younger years, restaurants were just a place for my family and I to enjoy each other's company and to enjoy our favorite eateries. 

However, over the last 15 years, I have noticed an explosion in interest in the craft of the culinary arts.  The Food Network has turned chefs into celebrities (the term "Celebrity Chef" I find insulting, but I digress).  

This has formed millions of fans who turned the restaurant business, and the craft of cooking, into a multi-billion industry, and these patrons who created fandoms of legendary restaurants, such as Per Se (NYC) and The French Laundry ( Yountville, CA) and their chefs (Thomas Keller) into global legends.

I have the utmost appreciation of the efforts and dedication that many of these gifted chefs spend to make meals some of the greatest memories for people who patronize these restaurants.  These talented artisans turn meals into lifetime memories and experiences that become part of the human life story.  I am enthralled when I see these chefs make their masterpieces into meals for personal enjoyment.  

Some of my best memories with my family (and sometimes myself) have been to eat at many of the finest restaurans in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Montreal and Vancouver to name a few.  Many of the restaurants are on my foodie bucket list, such as Alinea in Chicago, which has won Michellin stars, Boloud and Le Barnardin (NYC), Noma in Denmark, the Fat Duck (England) and El Bulli (Spain, which has since closed).

I hope to try many of these great locations before my time on earth has passed.  They will most certainly be worth it.

Dessert at Alinea (Chicago-Chef Grant Achatz)


Apple Taffy made with helium (Alinea, Chicago)

       

Debate II Results: I am now resigned to believe Hillary will win November 8th

October 10, 2016

Why I feel Hillary will win the Presidency of the United States on November 8th

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I watched intently the second Presidential debate on Sunday, October 9th.  It was interesting to see Donald Trump change from the clumsy debater to someone who appeared calm and didn't invade Hillary Clinton's personal space, like senate candidate Rick Lazio (R) did in a debate in 2000 for Hillary's first campaign for senate in New York.

As I have stated in my previous blog posts, I tend to go back and forth on this election. Not because I feel Trump would be a good President, in fact, I think he would be a poor President.  However, he seems to be the grenade that would blow up the current political system, one that favors the large dollar donor class, Wall Street and the fields of finance and tech.  Most Americans are angry that their lives have not improved, and wages have either remained stagnant or decreased, while the 1% have seen their fortunes rise.   That is what Trump would represent, and that is why I feel he has the support he does.  Most of the media feel that his support his mainly white and male, but I believe he could not have won the Republican primaries if his support consisted of that small demographic.  I think liberals will be in for a shock on election day, and find out how much of the country supports him.  Not enough to win, but make it very close.

However, after the second Presidential Debate, while Trump did tend to make some improvement in terms of his posture, composure and what he said, I feel that most voters who saw the debate didn't really move in his direction.  He needed to show that Hillary will be more of the same type of leader in the White House, with little change in terms of what will be accomplished. Specifically, towards economic policies that would help the large segments of American society that are struggling in this global economy.

Hillary did just enough to convince her supporters that she has enough horses to win on November 8th, but not enough for a large mandate.  She is a corporate Democrat, and the changes she will push won't make the economy grow to the levels it needs to do, I feel.  Asher Adelman, the real-life character that Wall Street's Gordon Gecko was modeled on, felt that Bernie Sanders had the right idea of growing the economy. Mr. Adelman believed that in order to grow the type of economy that America needs, the low and middle classes need higher wages in order to spend money.  Those types of consumers are what determines if the overall economy of the country is good, because when they spend money, it forces banks to lend, which is how banks improve their financial holdings.

So, based on the debate this evening (Sunday), Hillary Clinton performed well enough to convince America she is the best candidate, but for the usual elite crowd of people, who as before, will benefit the most.

Nothing will seriously change, unless a similar populist to Mr. Sanders comes around and makes a better push for the White House, and succeeds in getting there.

The Negatives for Trump and Hillary just keep getting worse

October 7th

What is going on with these two candidates? Enough already!
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With the shocking new "revelations" recently about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it seems this election is about to get a whole lot worse.

It is not a shock that unearthed "hot mike" recordings of Donald Trump and Access Hollywood's Billy Bush were heard on their way to a taped event,  which were released to the general public today.  In it, Bush and Trump can be heard talking in lewd terms about several women that Trump and had met, and attempted to sleep with, and generally debased their reputations with "guy" talk aboard a bus on their way to watch Trump take part in a soap opera acting session, or something to that effect.  While I am not surprised that it was somehow found and released just before the 2nd Presidential Debate, and the the timing reeks of politics, it does not help the embattled Trump's image with many female voters, one in which his mysogonist opinions and poor outlook towards women in general are well known and discussed.  It presents a serious calamity with women voters, and seriously harms Trump's general election prospects, which were an uphill climb to begin with.  Now, there is talk that he should drop out, but he is the type of person who will not, and that will force the GOP to determine if they chalk up this election as a loss, and work to obstruct President Clinton for the next four years.

The Republican party cannot support him publicly anymore, and many senior party officials must work overtime to protect their candidates who have winnable races despite the Trump albatross around their necks.  Trump supporters will vote for their guy anyway, and this problem will be a left-leaning media story until November 8th.  The GOP is in a world of hurt, and their problem candidate is about to explode party unity. The Republicans are trapped on a runaway train, going at high speed, with no crew in the engine, and there is no sign that train will stop until it is derailed.  There are going to be many sleepless nights at GOP headquarters.

Hillary has new problems of her own, which will be covered by Fox News extensively, and by conservative websites and blogs.  Wikileaks has released transcripts and emails from Hillary's speeches and emails from John Podesta, a Hillary campaign advisor.  In her speeches, Wikileaks shows that what Hillary says in public about issues that progressives support (No TPP, no Keystone pipeline, etc), she supports those items, which will damn her to Bernie supporters as well.  Allegedly, Hillary also supports reforms for Wall Street, but insists that Wall Street insiders must lead the charge, which will anger Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. I bet he does regret endorsing her now too.  Also, Hillary is an advocate of an open, global economy, one that is contingent on an "open borders" policy.  With immigration policy at the heart of this presidential campaign, this is going to hurt her. However, no liberal media network (CNN, MSNBC) will cover it. Those networks will spend most of their time on Trump's anti-woman narrative.

It is a shame, because the immigration issue could be a winner for the candidate that provides cogent, honorable and pragmatic immigration law and policies.  A good friend of mine, Kevin Lynn, has written something related to this as a writer on a progressive blog:

http://progressivesforimmigrationreform.org/someone-left-truth-rain/

This election could be about issues that need addressing, and the American voter is anxious to hear solid policy positions, but the campaign now will be about two horribly unpopular candidates, and their increasing negartive narratives. This is a sad time for this country.

Shame on us.

I go back and forth about Trump

October 1, 2016

Uugghhhh...I go back and forth about Trump the person, and presidential candidate

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After watching the presidential debate, I felt Hillary had made enough points where the general perception would agree that she won the debate.

However, I am still not a fan of her, nor her policies.  I don't think she would make the right decisions on the global stage relating to the use of our militiary.  Her supporters tend to praise her actions as our country's chief diplomat.  I didn't think her time as Secretary of State accomplished much. Hillary will not change Obama's interactions with foreign leaders, nor will she lower the military's foreign engagements.  I feel that she will make Syria worse (unless President Obama can work with Putin to agree to a meaningful cease-fire before he leaves office). It could explode a wider war in the Middle East, including a much anticipated civil war between Sunni and Shia Musims.

Her economic policies don't inspire much confidence in me, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt.  It will be a wait and see approach.  Economic policies tend to take a few years before they warrant a verdict by economists and business interests.

I feel that Hillary will ensure Wall Street will continue to have strong influence on her business policies, and that will cause major tension with liberal and moderate citizens who believe banks and large corporations have too much influence in Washington, D.C. Additionally, those corporate interests write laws that benefit and protect them at the expense of the American voter.

I desperately wanted Donald Trump to be a real change agent, but he has proven to be an amatuer (quite literally) in the general election campaign, making stupid statements, wasting time with beauty pageant controversies, etc.  He needed to show that he has the temperance to handle the world's most difficult job.  His actions do not inspire moderate voters to cast their lot with him.

This election has turned out to be a choice between two bad options, two flaming piles of elephant turd, if you will.  Neither is that appealing, and for some, one is downright scary.  The campaign of 2016 will do down in American history as the race with no good options (including the Green and Libertarian parties).

Pray for Us.

Why I think Hillary will win the presidential campaign

September 30, 2016

Why I think Hillary will win the presidential campaign

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Much as been made of the recent presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on September 26th.

What should have been an interesting contrast between a (faux) populist, Republican modern-day P.T. Barnum and a corporate Democrat, turned into a farce of comical proportions.  Trump should have focused his attention on what he would do for the American people, and what his business skills (allegedly) would do to improve the economic outlook of millions of American citizens who live anxiously day-to-day and wonder about their futures. Because Trump is a political neophyte, and is not used to debates, he fell into traps that Hillary laid for him.  She is a skilled debater, who uses her legal acumen to force Trump into defensive postures on his life and personal faults.  This debate was for him to win, since the country had low expectations regarding his ability to hold his own with with a formidable legal mind.

Donald Trump needed to just focus the narrative of the debate on the future of the country, and provide simple analogies to show that Hillary Clinton is not a change agent. Rather, Trump need to provide she is a continuation of the Washington, D.C. Establishment providing for their elite members, at the expense of the American people and their quality of life.

He fell into traps Hillary provided due to his massive ego and insecurity, and as a result he had to defend her assertions at the expense of her fatal flaws as a candidate and her political history.

Since he did not do any of the things mentioned above, he will now have to react to her challenges to his competency, temperment, and leadership, rather than her lack of new ideas.  I believe that the remaining  story will fall under Hillary lobbying false narratives, provided by her campaign and the Democratic party, instead of showing the country that Mrs. Clinton is not going to be the transformative candidate she claims to be, outside of her gender, which is still signifiant nonetheless.

Mr. Trump had the opportunity to lay out a foundation of his goals to change the direction of the country.  However, he will be forced to parry and counter Hillary Clinton's strategy of making the race about him, rather than the tiresome scandals of the Clinton brand.

-AK

State of the US Presidential Race

SEP 29, 2016

Subject:  The state of the presidential race

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After watching the recent presidential debate between Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump, I am resigned to the fact that the rut and general malaise (economic for the middle class, political and legislative for the entire country) that America is enduring currently, will continue for some time henceforth.

Neither candidate wants to speak truth to power, for fear of insulting or angering their needed consituencies needed in order to win.  Trump did not want to say that realistically, he will not get legislation passed bu Congress to punish companies that move jobs offshore, because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the army of lobbyists for Fortune 500 companies will make sure any proposed legislation will be gutted and rendered meaningless if it ever comes to the floor of both house of Congress.

Hillary will not rock the boat either, because she is generally a good friend of banks and large corporations, and I don't envision her introducing any legislation that will be unpopular with those constituencies.  She might introduce an "equal pay" bill, but it will be proof-read by her large donors (banks, corporations, etc) to make sure there are loopholes that won't interfere with the status quo.  In fact, had spoken to an HR person, and she said that salary amounts are not determined by federal law (for now), but a formula that includes the fair-market value of the position in that particular industry.
I am not opposed to equal pay, but it must be absolutely for two or more people who have the exact work history (years), education and other simiar qualifications.  It must not be to pander to a constituency envious of co-worker's incomes, without the justification.

Finally, neither candidate will make sure the United States avoids costly and unnecessary wars in the Middle East. Iraq has turned into a huge headache for American foreign policy, and the rise of ISIS is part of our inability to shape events after the US invasion in 2003.  So now, American armed forces has to repeatedly go back into the meat grinder of combat deployments to deal with a complex problem.  Hillary will continue operations in Iraq, make things complicated in Syria, drawing Russia in to defend its client state and try to begin combat operations (not calling it a war) in Iran, with Israel's blessing, in my opinion.

So, after watching another tired presidential debates, which now resemble soap operas, sit-coms, and boring press conferences, I don't have faith that America will elect a good president with strong virtues of temperance, and character.  I wish I had optimism, but I think the United States will not change the course of her destiny until we elect better leaders, and in Congress too.

- Anish Korula