Tag Archives: Putin

It’s a Strange and Bizarre World

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Pedro Castillo, the Peruvian President under the legal scanner, declared a national emergency, dissolved the Congress, and anointed himself as the dictator. Half the capital’s populace came out on the streets to save democracy, the Congress convened to impeach the despot and by the night he had been arrested and jailed. Popular protests continue to dissolve the Congress and hold democratic elections.

In Germany, 25 persons were arrested in a plot to storm the Reichstag parliament, seize power and overthrow the government. The conspirators included members of the extremist Reichburger group (Citizens of the Reich) who do not believe in the legitimacy of the German State. A crackpot movement, harking back to the days of the Kaiser Emperor and then the Fuhrer, was stopped in its tracks because of good intelligence reports and the law and order machinery cracking down. This seditious group was already known for violent protests and racist and anti-Semitic attacks. A cache of 100 lethal weapons was recovered. Also uncovered were plans to execute and arrest people in the government, media and business. Those arrested included an ex-Member of Parliament, a sitting judge, a celebrity chef, and Wilhelm XIII, the ring leader, and an aristocratic real estate baron. Loony times?!! The German police estimate the committed cadres to number around 30,000.

On the 6th Jan 2021, the US Capitol was stormed by right-wing mobs fed on deranged conspiracy theories of a stolen election. The MAGA coup attempt egged on by Trump was supported by Senators and Congressmen, civil servants, and some media outlets. The evidence is all over the place. During the insurrection attempt, there were chilling chants of ‘Hang Pence’ (the VP) and ‘Where is Nancy?’ (Pelosi- the head of the Democratic-controlled House). Almost 2 years since the shameful event no top conspirator has been arrested and thrown in jail. The venal Trump is going to stand for re-election in 2024. His cult base of almost 30% white adult Americans are rooting for him. Simply put, neither the Justice Department, Congress or President Biden have the balls to indict and arrest this most dangerous of ex-Presidents. His powerful accomplices have also got away with acts of sedition, exposing an impotent legal and administrative system. MSNBC, and CNN have finally started drawing parallels with Peru’s fight for democracy and the German crackdown on the plot to oust the elected Government.  Not the normal B.S. about ‘this is not who we are as a people’ or about being the greatest and oldest democracy. Take a leaf out of the Peruvian book. Peru is not ‘the banana republic’. Get the point?!

The USA is a highly polarised nation but it is getting even crazier. Amongst Trump’s fervent supporters are the lunatic Q’ Anon who avow the belief that Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business, media, and entertainment. This cult has grown to scary proportions since its origins in 2017. Also, many rabid evangelical leaders embraced and endorsed the corrupt Donald as the man to right things, especially for the white folks-abolish abortion, and LGBTQ rights and clamp down on immigration. The ‘land of the free and the brave’ also has a rigged and subverted Supreme Court- SCOTUS- which would be a disgrace in any other civilized democracy. Filled with ultra-conservative Trump appointees with lifetime tenure. So SCOTUS has turned the clock back 50 years (Roe v Wade) by declaring abortion illegal except in the rare case of rape victims. The USA has moved even ahead of Indonesia which recently declared sex outside marriage as a criminal offense.

When there is a coup plot in Deutschland (Germany) can Italy be far behind? Giorgia Meloni, the PM is inspired by Mussolini and heads a far-right government. The fascist II Duce (the leader) still has his fan base in Italy. Definitely not good news in 2023 for gay rights, abortion laws, and especially for minorities and immigrants.

We have heard a lot of sermons from the European Union Headquarters in Brussels on democratic values, human rights, freedom of speech… Now the Qatar corruption scandal has blown open the sleaze at the Brussels Institution. A  Vice President at the EU along with a few others have been arrested for alleged illicit lobbying for Qatar, money laundering, and for a soft stance in the run-up to the World Cup. Euros 1,50,000 were found in cash at the VP’s apartment and her PR for Qatar in the lead-up to the World Cup and other issues are trending on social media and news channels. The hypocrisy is deafening.

The controversial allotment of the ongoing World Cup to Qatar happened in 2010. The sordid story is well documented in ‘FIFA Uncovered’ on Netflix. This premier sports body is again managed and controlled by major European countries. The scale of greed and manipulation is staggering. Now that the tournament is well on its way, the deaths of thousands of migrant workers whilst constructing the grand stadiums and infrastructure facilities will be reduced to a mere statistic. The appalling living and working conditions will all be forgotten.

The Russia-Ukraine war takes us back to the tense decades of the Cold War. NATO’s reach-out to countries like Ukraine and Finland which border Russia has had Tsar Putin fuming. After all, he was a mid-level KGB operative in East Berlin when the Wall fell in 1989 leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union. If this totally unnecessary war continues Ukraine will be reduced to rubble as is the case with the unfortunate Syria and Yemen.  It’s the 70-year-old geopolitics of brinkmanship being played out again and again. No mature diplomacy or well-thought-out response from both sides. The world is certainly not a better place in 2022.

After 2 years of the Covid pandemic seriously undermining the world economy, Putin’s switching off the Nord Stream gas to Europe has ushered in a fresh crisis. A cold winter, double–digit inflation, and looming recession and unemployment.

It’s been 3 years since the outbreak of the Wuhan virus in China through a lab leak. The independent figure of the pandemic mortalities is over 6 million globally, with the World Health Organisation finally admitting to 3 million deaths. Remember – the Secretary General of WHO played PR for China and played down their negligence in the spread of the deadly virus which then mutated into other forms. Recently scientists and researchers from the USA and Europe have admitted to the leak from the Wuhan lab where a ‘Gain of Function’ research was on without adequate safety and security measures. Briefly, the virologists control the ‘serial passaging of micro-organisms to increase their transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity and host tropism by applying selective pressure to a culture.’ Both the USA and China have conducted these experiments for bio-chemical warfare also. A top US epidemiologist who worked closely with the Wuhan lab for 2 years has recently spoken out that ‘what he saw at the lab terrified him.’ Many US & European scientists have been part of the cover-up as they benefitted from the huge grants in this space- ‘Gain of Function research.’ The close association of some US institutions and private firms with the Wuhan lab is now being exposed.   At least an apology from China, WHO, USA, and the top researchers in the know, if no reparations- wishful thinking, what?! The double standards and sheer sense of entitlement are shocking. The Dragon nation is now facing a resurgence of Covid and a record-high number of cases. Leading to Zero Covid lockdowns and unprecedented public protests. The Chinese vaccines are not effective and the wheel has come full circle.

Anti-hijab protests started in Iran more than 4 months back after the tragic death of a young woman in the custody of the moral police. After more than 450 deaths, 2 public executions and thousands of arrests by a brutal, repressive regime, the young and the women agitators remain unbowed. Shockingly, women have been shot in the face and genitals by pellet guns. The movement has now morphed into a resounding call for democracy, equal rights, and a modern State. Yet another nation where the rulers have turned the clock back to 1979-80 instead of progressing forward.

Now, a take on our erstwhile colonial master, the United Kingdom.  The Brexit vote in 2016 was a narrow one- 51.8% to 48.2%. Russian hackers swayed the ‘Aye’ voters through images of hordes of brown and black immigrants. The pitch for regaining British sovereignty was a pure hallucination. Within 3 years the volume of British Trade with the EU has slumped by almost 20% and it has had an adverse impact on the labor market in the UK.  It’s just a matter of time before foreign investment takes a hit as also the pivotal position of London as a financial capital. As of now, London is the most attractive refuge destination for financial scamsters from across the world.  You see the extradition process is tedious and difficult as in the case of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.  The country is facing a bleak winter further aggravated by strikes by nurses, rail employees, and many unions. And lest we forget, in the last 5 years there have been 4 Prime Ministers at 10 Downing Street, all from the Conservative Party. Not becoming of a civilized, mature, functioning democracy, is it?!

The West has long patronized and dominated the ‘Third World countries. They have created a lot of hotspots and war zones through their manipulative geo-political games. They have exploited natural and human resources for their own gain subverted emerging democracies and installed puppet rulers. But their hollow preaching and high moral ground stands have gone unopposed and unquestioned for decades. Not anymore. There are many developing nations asserting themselves in a multi-polar world and many voices cutting through these hypocritical posturing. Social media is also exposing the rot with real reporting from the ground. It’s time to reset the equation with the so-called First World. Peru’s tryst with democracy is showing the mirror to the United States of America.  The island country of Mauritius not only boasts of a growing economy but has a high literacy rate of over 90%, a life expectancy of 75 years, provides free health care and schooling, and is a beautiful and safe African country to visit. Brazil is a leader and the largest job creator in renewable energy and one of the most respected experts on climate change on the global stage. India’s leadership is being accepted globally not only as the 5th largest economy and a soft power to reckon with but as a responsible military power, especially with hostile neighbors in China and Pakistan. A multi-polar world does not necessarily mean a more peaceful and collaborative world.  But it does open up an opportunity by dismantling the old order and having more seats at the global geopolitical table.

The Sinister Art of Covert Warfare

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John Adams, the second US President, had prophetically said, “The two ways to conquer and enslave a country is by the sword, the other way through debt.”

The USA, the undisputed super-power after WW2, suffered humiliating military defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan after many years of occupation. But for decades their geo-political strategy, as supposed leaders of the Free World, was to install puppet rulers to do their bidding. They rolled out 800+ military bases across the globe in a show of sheer power. US controlled institutions like the IMF and the World Bank doled out loans to the developing and poor countries. As they got sucked into the quicksand of debt, the Americans took over their natural resources and cheap labour. Arms sales further pushed these nations into US subservience. Colonization- without the burden of actual occupation.  Please read ‘The Confessions of an Economic Hitman’ by John Perkins to get the real picture.

Xi Jinping, the Chinese strongman, has delusions of being the Emperor of China. In 2013, ‘The One Belt One Road’ (now Belt & Road) initiative was launched with grand fanfare. To supposedly promote trade, commerce and development in partnership with over 100 countries across the world. What happened? The $ 300 million power plant in Tajikistan has made the country a China vassal state. Default has led to take-over of the gold and silver mines. A debt-ridden Angola is now supplying cheap oil to its benefactor. The Hambantota port in Sri Lanka is’ a white elephant’, adding no value to the local economy. The corrupt ‘Gotta Go’ Rajapaksa family perfectly fits into the profile of leaders the Chinese government wants to deal with. The Chinese research vessel which docked at the port for a few days is a naval warship used to track down satellites and missiles. China has already established a naval facility at Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. It’s said that the Sri Lankans are reeling under a $12 billion debt from China.  In fact much more. The Chinese banks, monitored by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) have also loaned big.

Pakistan has become a willing pawn to the Dragon’s scheme of things. Govt to Govt debt of $ 26 billion has made it a basket case. The majestic African Union (AU) headquarters in Ethiopia has been built by Chinese loan money, Chinese contractors and workers and even their food sent over from mainland China. As the African countries cope with the debt, the Chinese have already cashed in. Also Huawei cameras have been installed to spy on their African brethren leaders.

The factory to the world plans to rule the world.  Markets + Natural Resources + humongous geo-political influence. Many of these countries are being coerced to vote for & support China on critical issues like Taiwan and human atrocities in the Xin Jiang province.

Vladimir Putin was a middle level KGB operative in East Berlin when the Berlin wall fell in 1989. Followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union. This trauma has dictated his world view and it helps that millions of Russians think the same. The Ukraine invasion was triggered by the NATO overreach. But control and supply of oil and gas to Europe is what the news headlines are now all about. Europe and especially Germany are in for a harsh and long winter. Putin has turned off the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The Continent is now reeling with the heat-wave and high inflation and is bracing for the inevitable recession. If you add the fact that Russia and Ukraine are amongst the world’s major wheat exporters, the consequences are even more alarming.

Trump has always been Putin’s puppet. The Tsar probably has the dirt on him-peeing on the bed occupied by President Obama during his Moscow visit or doing something more in keeping with the Donald’s playboy image. Russian oligarchs also got together to secretly bail out the distressed Trump Org through a major European Bank. Likewise, the Saudis sent $2billion to Jared Kushner’s (Trump son-in-law) dwindling account to control the fall-out of the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi reportedly at the behest of MBS.

The army of hackers in St Petersburg have attained cult status. They delivered Brexit to Putin with the Ayes at 51.9%. Social media was flooded with images of hordes of immigrants from the Middle East & Asia. In 2016, the same ploy had helped to get Trump into the White House. Only, then the hordes were from Mexico and South America. Indian economic institutions, corporates and infrastructure utilities are major targets of hacking, mainly from China and North Korea. A hack attempt on JNPT port was thwarted a few months ago. Imagine if the ATC (Air Traffic Control) of a major airport like Dubai or Heathrow is hacked- with flights grounded for days the financial losses will be huge. A few years’ back 60 trusts of UK’s NHS (National Health Service) bore the brunt of a cyber- attack with ransomware demands. 20% of the UK Health Service was crippled. It has still not been established whether the Russian State or a criminal group from the US were behind the attacks.

In this age of frenzied social media, misinformation by hostile powers is the name of the game.  Take for example the controlled propaganda narrative about the prolonged Farmers’ Agitation in India. Public protests and rallies are an integral part of any democracy. Yes, the genuine grievances of the farmer community deserves to be heard and addressed with sensitivity and respect.  But it soon became obvious that a very grim picture was being created, hyped and funded by controllers in Canada, USA and UK. As if the entire country had come to a stand-still. The underlying objective was to create chaos and malign and embarrass the Government of the day. Even PM Trudeau jumped on to the bandwagon to satisfy a segment of his vote-base as did some western celebrities for the lure of Mammon. But Karma hit back. The transporters strike in Canada against some Covid-19 regulations saw Trudeau hiding from the public eye for days and then emerging to declare a national emergency. Hence, spreading toxicity, stoking social unrest and fanning law and order problems is the subversive agenda of such ‘warriors.’

The proxy war through radicalised terrorists has been going on for more than 30 years. Major outfits like the Ku Klux Klan (now morphed into Proud Boys), Red Army, Black September, ISIS, Boko Haram have done their work and spread their message . Young men, brainwashed on-line, are now weaponizing motor vehicles to kill and maim and to spread terror as they did in London and Spain in 2017. Interestingly, after 9/11 an unknown assailant sent weaponised anthrax through US mail in an unsuccessful attempt to kill members of the US Congress. Disruption, fear, instability and more free lancers recruitment ensues.

Insidious infiltration of the political parties, journalists and academia has been the game-plan of the CIA & KGB from the 1950’s onwards. ‘The Mitrokhin Papers’ (KGB archivist who fled to the UK) reveals how top Indian leaders and bureaucrats were compromised by the KGB in the 60’s. The Comrade ideology was soon embraced by journalists, writers, poets, professors and even some in the film industry. Vodka, honey-traps and money did the trick where Ideology did not deliver. Now the Chinese are up to the same tricks. Besides India, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Eastern Europe and South America are on their radar. In India, we have heard some netas screaming that the People’s Liberation Army has occupied over 2500 square km of Indian land over the last 2 years. Debunked by international intelligence agencies of standing and repute. The Lab leak of the Wuhan virus and gross negligence by China has been downplayed by some of our top TV channels and newspapers. Moreover some human rights activists and NGO’s have kept eerily silent on the brutal pogrom run by the CCP against the 1 million Uyghur Muslims in the Xin Jiang province of China. Surely, the Comrade-rie is growing.

The Wuhan Lab leak happened when a ‘Gain of Function’ research was on.” This refers ‘to serial passaging of micro-organisms to increase their transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity and host tropins by applying selective pressure to the culture.’’ A Red Flag alert to the scary scenario of bio-chemical warfare. The USA sprayed Agent Orange and napalm bombed Vietnam with brutality. They weaponised and stockpiled 7 bio-agents by the time they shamefully exited Vietnam. Saddam Hussein’s stockpile of chemical weapons was unleashed on the Kurds and during the Iraq-Iran war. Russia used Novichock nerve agents to murder political opponents in Salisbury, England in 2018.

The other intriguing facet enabling the Art of the unconventional power-scramble is the undermining of independent international institutions. The IMF & the World Bank were run by the US for decades. The WHO played tango with China to cover-up the country’s responsibility in the origin and spread of the pandemic which cruelly enveloped the world for 2 years. The UN and the Security Council are clearly impotent in dealing with tragic crises like Yemen, Syria or the Ukraine war. This has led to an unstable and untrusted world order. India as the largest democracy, the most populated nation and the 5th biggest economy in the world does not have a seat as a Permanent Member of the Security Council. This tells the whole story of the power struggles in the elite, self-serving club and the overwhelming desire for control.

Conventional war-fare is no longer the preferred option for the big powers. If wealthy Europe can be brought to its knees by shutting down the Nord Stream gas line, why not?! Hacking and disrupting the Pentagon or a financial powerhouse sends an incredibly strong message. A much wanted terrorist in Kabul can be taken out by a drone attack. Planted news articles and relentless social media propaganda can diminish a country, manoeuvre an election there or even topple a legitimate government. Sinister disinformation and conspiracy theories can lead to riots and even civil wars. The Remote, covert way of warfare is now the espoused strategy by both States and fanatical groups. The world may not be on the brink of WW3 despite all the noise and posturing but the world is certainly a very troubled and uncertain place.

You’re Fired, Mr Trump!

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Photo by Marco Zuppone on Unsplash

In 2004, a TV reality show called “The Apprentice” made Donald Trump a household name.  A reality business competition, it aired for 15 successful seasons and just under 200 hit episodes. It added to his aura of the savvy, tough billionaire tycoon with the Catch Phrase, ‘You’re Fired.’

Reality was different. By 2004, his companies were in the dumps. He had received around $ 40 million from his father in the mid 80’s and had started managing Fred Trump’s $ 250 million real-estate empire. Another bright spot was the co-authored book ‘The Art of the Deal’ which topped the best seller lists and made him a celebrity. Thus began this tale of myths, illusions and charades.

Between 1991-2006, Trump companies filed for bankruptcy 6 times. Starting with the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York. An interesting aside is that some vendors for the casino project claimed that they had not been paid in full. This was a recurrent theme in some other projects also. By the mid 90’s major US banks had blacklisted the Trump Organisation for loans. So he re-worked on the valuation of his assets and Deutsche Bank was happy to oblige.

However, the real bailout in 2004 came from the Russian oligarchs looking to launder their ill-gotten wealth. Paying top prices for office spaces and apartments, mansions and cottages at exclusive resorts. A few years’ later the Saudi Sheikhs went on a buying spree shelling out exorbitant amounts for the properties. The Trump brand continued to grow and he diversified into licensing his name. The Trump name attached to prestigious projects globally for a 15% (??) equity stake it is said. President Trump continued to see US foreign relations through the prism of his own business deals. For instance, the $90 million dollars Saudi investment in Kushner’s companies, to pull them out of a deep hole. No wonder that the President and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were so protective of the Saudi prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) after the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Shady business deals. Unethical practices. The US President pushing his UK Ambassador to get the Open Championship (of  Golf) moved to his property in Scotland. Hosting Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. Business as usual!!

Citizen Trump did not pay any Income Tax for 11 of the last 18 years. President Trump paid $750 dollars as Income Tax in 2016 & 2017. Billionaire Trump did not file any tax returns for the last 10 years and more. Now having lost the White House, Citizen Trump will have to face the lenders at his door. For starters, $100 million in mortgages in 2022. Another $125 million two years later for the Florida golf course property. Deutsche Bank will also be jumping into the fray to recover $ 340 million in outstanding loans. The German Bank, tired of all the controversy and negative publicity, has tired of Trump and wants to end all ties. Even if there be an overlap in the figures above, the President is in deep shit.

Prominent Trump supporters shrug this off as this is how real estate business works. So let’s move on to Trump University, affiliated to the Trump Organisation. Running specialised classes and seminars on how to crack the best deals in the real estate domain. A great rip-off whilst it lasted from 2005-2010. In 2013, approx. 6000 duped students received a court settlement of $ 25 million.

In 1989 he had publicly shown his racist colours. The Central Park 5 (a young group of blacks and Latinos) had been convicted of rape and aggravated assault on a white woman despite contrary evidence. Trump took out full page ads in 4 New York newspapers screaming ‘Bring Back the Death Penalty’  The wrongfully convicted men were released in 2002 after the actual criminal had confessed. No remorse, no apology from the builder businessman even after the City had awarded a $41 million dollar settlement.

His womaniser reputation just added to his charisma. Hosting the Miss USA &Miss World pageants added to the glamour. The 2005 tapes boasting about his ‘conquests’ and objectifying of women to a TV host, his friendship with the disgraced sex trafficker the late Jeffrey Epstein and his pay-off to porn-stars to ensure their silence revealed a sleazy and sordid side of his personality.

In the 2016 elections, Trump was pitted against an unpopular Hillary Clinton. Just banking on the Clinton name she had little personal connect with the voters and a rather dubious reputation. Remember, ‘Crooked Hillary’ and the ‘Lock Her Up’ chants at the Trump rallies. Yet, she led in the popular vote count by more than 3 million votes. Donald Trump entered the White House through the Electoral College door. His trump card was the Outsider Image, the Anti Establishment guy who would get things done. He would’ drain the swamp’ in Washington – another effective rally cry. His business acumen would propel the economy to unheard of heights. Make America Great Again. Typical Trump speak- the greatest, the biggest, never before in history.’

His Russian friends and Putin were firmly in his corner. The Republican candidate openly called out to the Russian hackers to hack into the DNC server and also to out the Hillary e-mails. More sinister was their infiltration of Face-book and other social media platforms to scare off swing states and the undecided voters to support their Man.

Some hoped that the White House would make him more responsible.. The Oval office has never seen such a venal, corrupt, narcissistic, self-serving and incompetent President. The fault-lines of racism have re-surfaced because of his support to the White Supremacists and his dismissal of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. His support for white cops killing unarmed black men in cold blood and his deference to the slave owners/Southern Confederate generals.  African countries have been called ‘shit holes’. The Mexicans are thugs and rapists-so the need for a beautiful border wall which Mexico would pay for. Like most of Trump’s projects, the Wall remains incomplete. That Homeland Security has not yet re-united 545 separated children with their parents would be heart-rending to most- a top priority- but not to this Administration.

On foreign relations, his admiration for brutal dictators is there for all to see. MBS in Saudi Arabia, Putin in Russia, Erdogan in Turkey. He is Putin’s puppet and the ex-KGB officer has some dirt on him. His photo-ops with Kim Jong Un of North Korea  achieved nothing except to raise the stock of this cruel despot. The tested allies in Europe, Canada and Japan played second fiddle at the cost of world order and balance of power. Yes, NATO countries have to pay their dues. A long over-due rap on the knuckles. But undermining the alliance played into the hands of Russia, China and Turkey. There are many who say that he is the only US President who has not led his country into war. But the US withdrawal from Syria was tantamount to surrender to Assad, Russia and Turkey and a death warrant for thousands of Kurds who had fought on the American side. Yemen has been left to the mercy of the Saudis and is being bombed out of existence. Trump’s bromance with the’ Rocket Man’ of North Korea was fuelled by a desire to get the Nobel Peace prize and played out by the hermit kingdom and its Big Brother China. His hated predecessor Obama had received the Nobel. For trying to make the world a better place- especially through constructive engagement with hostile nations like Iran and Cuba. Plus he had got Bin Laden.

His sneering comments calling fallen American soldiers as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ would have sunk any other Presidency. Not Mr Teflon-for nothing seems to stick to him. It has been said that ‘you can fool some of the people all the time’. We are now talking about 70 million plus Americans here.

Most appalling is the way Trump has undermined US democracy and institutions over the last 4 years. The Attorney General has become his personal lackey, the DOJ doing his personal bidding. The Republican led Senate has become a mute spectator and complicit in his autocratic actions. The GOP has mutated into the Trump party. The Democrats dominated Congress has been undermined, ignored and thwarted at every turn. The list of his associates indicted for crimes keeps growing from his personal lawyer to his campaign manager… The Conservatives are thrilled that he has packed the courts with judges of dubious track-records and regressive persuasions. In retrospect this may turn out to be his single biggest achievement . National Guards, Reserves, Prison Patrols without insignia or badges or identities were deployed in cities to intimidate non-violent BLM protestors.

Trumpers have hailed him for a robust economy before the pandemic struck. Fact check. It was Obama who inherited a recession crippled economy in 2008. Every year of his second term generated more employment than happened in the first 2 years of the current President. Trump is simply surfing off the economy that Obama had turned around after the initial gloomy years of his Presidency. ‘The Donald’ was simply overseeing and taking forward what he had inherited. His only major initiative was another tax-break for the very rich- for the first time in American history the 400 wealthiest Americans paid at a rate lower than any other group…  And the extraordinary $ 48 billion bailout for the agriculture sector reeling from the trade war and the Covid outbreak.  In 2016, soya bean exports alone to China had netted $ 11 billion. Of course, this record direct subsidy has kept his farmer base intact.

The gross mishandling and underplaying of COVID 19 has cost him the White House. More than 2,37,000 deaths and counting is a record which even the record-obsessed Trump shies away from. His disdain for the advice of his own scientists, derision for mask-wearers and for social distancing puts the onus of thousands of deaths on his conscience and his watch. Not wearing masks became a political statement for millions of his devout followers. Trump pledged that he would dismantle Obamacare and come out with his own grand plan. Zilch!!. Even die-hard Republicans have admitted to the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid which the GOP threatened to unravel in the midst of a pandemic. The withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change is one with this contempt for the scientific community.

His signature line from the TV show resonated across the Oval Office many times in these 4 years. ‘You’re Fired.’ 2 Chiefs of Staff, an Attorney General, the Defence Secretary, National Security Advisor, Labour Secretary, Director of National Intelligence, Homeland Secretary, EU Ambassador and the list goes on and on… Even after the election results he has fired the present Defence Secretary on twitter.

No President has been a more polarising figure. USA is a severely divided nation. More than 70 million Americans have voted for Trump even after a grossly decadent 4 year term. Biden has pulled in approx 5 million more popular votes. Trumpism has become a cult and is here to stay. A coarse ideology of white grievance and alienation, racism and bigotry, narcissism and superiority, disregard for science and facts, an alternative reality full of conspiracies.  Fox News huddles together with Breitbart (a far right news network) and QAnon (a crazily wierd conspiracy outfit). Shameless Senate leaders like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have become a part of the pack. Surprise, Shocker!! Trump’s solid vote base of 30% plus voters includes Evangelical leaders and their loyal followers. Driven by their anti-abortion, anti LGBTQ dogma.  

It is possible that all this divisiveness has lurked below the surface for some decades. It has taken a Trump to tap into it and bring it out into the open. The Statue of Liberty has shrunk. The USA is no longer the ‘land of the free and the brave.’  It can no longer take the condescending high ground and dismiss a third of the planets’ nations as banana republics. It has lost its credibility and stature on the world stage. Biden and Harris have a tough road ahead to heal and to get things back to normalcy.

Joe Biden does not cut an impressive figure. He is definitely not a President Bartlet from the iconic ‘West Wing’ TV series. COVID 19, the revulsion for Trump and the Obama factor have seen him through. In the early 70’s he was seen as a segregationist and his racial prejudices came through right till the mid 90’s. His son Hunter Biden’s dealings with Ukraine and China may be above board but the stink of political privilege and leverage will linger on.

Some Indian commentators have called the Biden/Harris win a setback for India. Some adverse comments in the past underpin these concerns. On the other hand, Trump has pushed back China and ignored Pakistan over these years. Betting on his support is fraught with risk. A fickle, all about himself person can be easily manipulated. A summit meeting invite by the Chinese strongman, a photo-op with elaborate pomp and ceremony on the Great Wall and he would be feasting on the popular Chinese dish Chow Mein instead of his favourite McDonald burger. Remember how the Saudis got him to dance with a royal sword at the palace. The President elect and his VP will have to grapple with realpolitik in a troubled world.  Mend fences with and rally their traditional allies again. In the current global scenario with an expansionist and aggressive China, India will get a seat at the table.

Over the last 4 years, only the Saturday Night Live hosts have called out President Trump for what he is and what he represents. Calling a spade a bloody shovel with spadesful of laughs thrown in. I distinctly recall 2 comments from a few months back. One that COVID 19 would magically beat Trump. Prediction realised. But the Don will sulk terribly and fire out tweets. He and his Mob will shout ‘fraud’ and seek to delegitimise Biden’s win. He will put his ‘Capo’ William Barr to probe into the electoral fraud. All from the Putin playbook.  

The other prediction from the SNL episode was that Trump would pardon himself before exiting the White House. Very much on the cards. After 3 months of sordid drama the curtain will finally fall on what has been a ridiculous, long drawn and very dark soap opera.

A Strange and Troubled World

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Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash

We live in disturbing times. Eerily reminiscent of a century back. The Spanish flu, the British and French colonies, the failure of the League of Nations, the rise of Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler and of course the Great Depression.

Take COVID 19 which has brought the world to its knees. The secrecy shrouding its origins and spread- the buck stops with China. Check-out the reckless social behaviour of millions- defying medical science and data. In the US, to wear or not wear a mask has become a political statement.

The anti-mask group belong to the Trump cult. A racist, divisive, incompetent, venal and corrupt President. Surely, the holy Evalengicals would deride and oppose him. No, they are his biggest supporters. A quid-pro-quo to get their agenda on anti-abortion, LGBTQIA+ and immigration passed or ruled into laws.

The most powerful man in the world is Putin’s puppet. The Russian mob-boss and his oligarchs do as they please- manipulate elections and poison their enemies. The former KGB agent has only one life purpose and that is to restore the glory of the former Soviet Union. He has high approval ratings in Russia.

Xi Jinping fancies himself as the Chinese Emperor. He covets lands in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Taiwan , Japan, Philippines and surprise, the city of Vladivostok in Russia. He wants to control the South China sea. His one-belt one road policy is not just the revival of an old trade route. Chinese footprints have reduced Pakistan, Sri Lanka, some African countries to debt-ridden vassal states.

After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, it was hoped that democracy would thrive. Instead, there is a plethora of strongmen across Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, Philippines, North Korea (is he alive?). These authoritarian leaders (some with elected credentials?) take their cue and inspiration from the master manipulator, Putin.

The fickleness and spinelessness of the political class has become obnoxious. In India, the Grand Old Party and their leftist comrades shed copious tears for the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. But there is deafening silence about the incarceration of a million Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province in China. It does not suit the narrative of these human rights activists. And the Islamic Republic of Pakistan remains subservient and loyal.

Even in the 1990’s the UN, NATO and the ICJ (International Court of Justice) played an effective role in ending the long-drawn genocide and hostilities in Eastern Europe. The Syrian and Yemen conflicts drag on and on. The world has become numb to the devastation and human suffering.

The United Nations is impotent. The US, Russia or China veto whatever does not suit their geopolitics. India should have a permanent seat at the Security Council. The largest democracy of 1.3 billion people and a growing economy does not get a seat at the table.

The WHO has disgraced itself with its mishandling of COVID 19. In the critical first months, it covered up for China and played PR in glowing terms. It called out the pandemic very late and its confusing directives on the spread and even measures like wearing the mask have been very disappointing.

Free media, the vaunted fourth pillar of free nations, is past tense.  Jamal Khashoggi, a well-known Saudi journalist in exile is dismembered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey- on the orders of Prince Salman. The outrage lasts for a few months. Then, it is back to business.

Fox News exemplifies the mockery of an independent, objective media. It has degenerated into a Trump channel. And the President gets his opinions, sound-bites and Twitter content from these TV anchors.

The Virus has dealt a body blow to the world economy. Manufacturing, IT and service sector, airlines, hospitality, tourism, local shopkeepers have all taken the brunt. Especially heartrending is the desperation of the down the line workers with no safety nets and the daily wagers and migrant laborers. Another nightmarish scenario lurks ahead-the eviction of millions of ordinary tenants who are unable to pay their rent.

In the movie “Wall Street” the Gordon Gekko character says the famous lines “Greed is Good”. Mark Zuckerberg of the $ 70 billion Facebook Empire could not agree more. He shrugs off hate content, misinformation and manipulation on his global social platform. It was used to undermine the 2016 US Presidential election and possibly even to swing the Brexit vote. Who cares!

Think Jeff Bezos at Amazon. He runs a boot camp where front-line workers do not have time to even take a leak. Show me the Money. Who Cares!

You can scratch your head on this. The great Warren Buffett has at times paid less Income tax as a percentage than his Secretary!!! With income disparities growing, the top 1% does not pay its fair share of the taxes.

Football is the most popular sport on the planet. Sports transcend borders. It should aspire to higher standards of human behaviour. The powerful apex body FIFA hands over the 2022 world cup to Qatar. Dubious, Controversial. A Disgrace!!! Meanwhile, poor migrant workers slog it out in inhuman conditions to build the grand infrastructure. Hundreds have died.  Deadly silence. When the kick-off happens, blood would have already seeped into the grounds. The players will be left to sweat it out in this hot Gulf country.

George Floyd whispers “I can’t breathe” in a chilling 9 min video as he is murdered by a racist white American cop. In 2020, ‘the land of the free and the brave’ and ‘the leader of the free world’ is a deeply divided and polarised country. Anti-Semitism is again rearing its head in Europe and the US. Fault-lines are developing all over on ethnic, religion or color basis.

Indians also have to wake up to how we treat our North Eastern brethren. Ostracising them for how they look or speak reflects poorly on us. We have a lot to learn from the cultures of this beautiful part of our land.

But there is reason for hope. The Black Lives Matter protests are resonating as never before. The protests in the US and Europe have been largely peaceful and have attracted world-wide attention. Thousands of whites, Asians and Hispanics have joined the cause and taken to the streets.

But as Angela Davies, a black activist, cautions- “It is no longer enough to be a non-racist. One has to be an anti-racist.”

Marquee corporates have started to move away from Facebook to advertise their products and services. The filthy rich billionaire is now being forced to discuss and review the toxic content on the platform.

In India also, many people are turning away from the negativity of their TV channels. These only spew propaganda, bias, hatred and sensationalism. Here’s hoping that we will be slowly moving to more mature and credible content.

Colin Kaepernick, the courageous NFL star, protested against racism a few years back by kneeling during the anthem. He was immediately kicked out of the league and vilified. He may now get a chance to play again this season. The powerful National Football League (host of the Super Bowl) has also publicly apologised for its denial of this serious issue over the years. NASCAR has withdrawn Confederate flags from its car-racing venues- the symbols of slave-owners. Even, statues of knighted and glorified slave traders are being taken down in the UK and Spain. Many players in the revived English Premier League took a knee to show their solidarity in the fight to end racial injustice.

The Indian State of Kerala was the first COVID 19 hotspot. With the Nipah success behind them, the public health officials acted efficiently to contain this new scourge. This southern state can also teach us about the laudable community model policing. With urgent need for police reforms in diverse lands like India, US, UK, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Egypt…… they can take a leaf out of this successful programme.

If the world has to become a better place, civic action and community participation are a must. The bar has been set very low for politicians, public departments, community leaders and business tycoons. It is time for a reckoning. Also time for truth and reconciliation forums. Time to tell the rich and influential that they cannot get away with everything. Take them off the pedestals and hold them accountable.  Only strong institutions and responsible governance can take us across the line. Then and only then can the common citizen- BREATHE.

The New Normal

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Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, famously said that if you tell a lie a hundred times it becomes the truth.  Those were strange and abnormal times. We are reliving them today.

Vladimir Putin is a throwback to those sinister times. An ex-KGB officer, he is a master of intrigue. A master of spin. His is the ultimate macho-image, a bare-chested leader on horseback for the cameras.  The billionaire oligarchs are part of this Mafioso culture sworn to do his every bidding. The interference in the US elections and the poisoning of the ex-Russian agent are straight out of a spy’s playbook. Even the shooting down of a Malaysian passenger plane by a Russian missile and the outrage which followed was met with a shrug and a raised eyebrow. His popularity in Russia is huge- after all he is bringing back the glory days of the Soviet Union.

The Russian Boss also has some hold on Trump. The erstwhile reality show host is a purveyor of blatant lies, lies and half-truths. But he is a saviour to his core constituency. This master of deal making has filed for bankruptcy four times (Or is it six times? Does it even matter?), and not released his tax returns. Sex scandals, shady financial deals, racist comments, and the Russia probe – nothing sticks to him. He is made of Teflon. You can fool some of the people all the time and Donald J Trump is a hero and an unfairly targeted victim to his voter base.

Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has become a dangerous place. Despots like Erdogan from Turkey, the Filipino Duterte and Kim Jong Un of North Korea are now described as “Strong Men” and featured in a TIME magazine cover story. Right wing and ultra-nationalist parties have come to power in Italy, the Five Star Movement, Hungary and made big gains in Germany and France. Brexit is another assertion of sovereignty and nationalism. The BJP’s rise to power in India also is partly powered by this same undercurrent. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its invasion of Georgia have led to sanctions but no solutions.

China’s strongman Xi Jinping – Supreme Leader for life-has imperial ambitions. His adventures in the South China Sea have raised alarms. The grand initiative of resurrecting the old Silk Route with the One Belt-One Road project is one with this dream. It will drive many poorer or smaller countries into the Chinese hegemony and debt. The Chinese Empire is taking shape.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting proxy wars to achieve dominance in the Arab world. Yemen is one such cursed country, which seems to have fallen off  the world map. Nobody seems to be interested in resolving this acute humanitarian crisis. The Syrian war has gone on for 7 years but the numbing impact of the TV images has not led to peace. Who is fighting on whose side? It is a veritable jigsaw puzzle. The actors in this inhuman conflict fill a big round table.

True, in the 90’s the Balkan wars dragged on for nearly a decade. Remember  Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Serbia of the former Yugoslav Republic? But international efforts for a resolution were genuine and consistent. It was finally the NATO bombings that ended the war. Also many at the forefront of the genocides were dragged to the International Court at Hague.

The massacre of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar reeks of ethnic cleansing. The silence of the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is baffling. The rise of Hinduvta fundamentalism, the Chinese crack-down in Xianjing province, the perennial African hotspots all point to a disturbing trend. A world simmering with tensions.

Geopolitical, religious, ethnic, ideological, racial issues keep the pot boiling. A more globalised and connected world should have been a better place. Instead it has only become more complex and insular. We are not learning our lessons from history.

Compounding matters is the growth of both global and home-grown terrorism. Recruits for the cause are being brainwashed on the internet. The ISIS may be on the back-foot in Syria and Iraq but it has expanded to East Africa as Al Shabaab and in Indonesia as ISIL. Boko Haram holds sway in parts of Nigeria and the Philippines has also been battling the terror scourge for the last decade. Al Qaeda and Taliban are familiar names in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt. Deadly individual terrorist attacks have taken place in many European cities, a vehicle replacing the bomb as the weapon of choice in some instances. Chilling!

And meanwhile the media, the Fourth Estate, has lost its venerable status. Fox News and Sean Hannity openly champion the Trump agenda. “Deep State”, “Fake News”, “Witch Hunt”, “Liberal Conspiracy”- the new phrases are lapped up by the conservative core base. The rest of the media is tying itself into knots trying to come to terms with this new alternative reality. In their attempt to be fair and neutral no one is calling the bluff. In their misplaced efforts to analyse the latest Twitter tirade, the real issues of health-care, DACA, immigration, racism, tax-cuts are relegated to footnotes.

In India too, the media channels and news outlets have aligned themselves with either the previous Congress regime-the Opposition or the BJP led government. There is no attempt to seek the truth or present facts in a balanced manner. No commitment to present an unbiased narrative. In their quest for the sensational, the worst stories and soundbites are being played out.  Social media has followed suit with each party presenting its version of the truth. A negative, divisive atmosphere is being built up with each power-broker thinking this will work to their advantage.

Duterte the Filipino strongman comes across like a mob-boss. So does the secretive Putin and the Trump team. In your face. In the US, well- meaning politicians, news anchors, business leaders, academics are struggling to wrap their heads around these new situations. No tough questions are asked. Only the Late Night hosts have got it right, having the gumption to call out this bull-shit. But are they being taken seriously?

You can see how weird the world has become when the US President shares the stage with the brutal North Korean dictator, who commands a nuclear arsenal, and calls it an honour. Trump’s only agenda is the Nobel Peace Prize. Kim Jong Un aka the Rocket Man walks away with most of the spoils. What is wrong with the multilateral Iran Nuclear agreement which the USA has walked out off?

As for the Strong-Men! Well, we have, the world over, bought into their lies and their megalomania. Being corrupt, tyrannical, ruthless, repressive, immoral, manipulative and even incompetent does not matter anymore if you have a loyal fan-base.

This is then the New Normal.  Bizarre, unpredictable, erratic, unstable, scary. And we are all adapting to it instead of trying to confront, change and correct it.