Uncle Sam Please Go Home

Uncle Sam is good at making wars, but to win them? Please don't ask. 

The U.S. has spent 20 years and trillions of dollars in Afghanistan, and is now leaving in defeat and embarrassment. The Taliban have re-taken Kabul and the whole country. Uncle Sam can no longer be the global leader. He has lost his ability and credibility.   

Do you still want to play, Uncle Sam? Do you have the money to play? By printing and creating it out of thin air? Sorry, it no longer works. 

Dear American friends, please take care.

Edi Lee for Peace  *** Fast Edi Thoughts and Comments 

Ask the Boss (2)

Boy: What is freedom of speech?

Boss: It means I am free to lie,

you are not free to tell the truth.

Boy: What is human right?

Boss: It means give me your money,

no money no right.

Boy: What is your kind of democracy?

Boss: It is one dollar one vote, not

one person one vote.

Boy: I don’t understand.

Boss: Good. 

 

Petro Yuan

Today is the launching date of Oil futures trading in Chinese Yuan convertible to Gold. The US Petro Dollar is no longer King.

What Do The Conservatives Conserve?

There was an interesting posting in Facebook. It came from a Miss R.EVOLutionaries, who asked these questions, "Can someone tell me just what it is Conservatives believe they are conserving? It isn't the air, the water, or the land. So just what it is?"

My thoughts and comments:

The Conservatives conserve old values like the master's absolute power over his slaves, which has evolved to become today's political and economic favoring of the rich and powerful, while treating the working class still as slaves to exploit, like refusing to pay them a living wage. The Conservatives would be on the side of the master, not the slaves.

It made me sick to read the news that some poultry workers in the U.S. were not allowed to go to washroom, and were forced to wear diapers, so that their corporate master's money-making machine, of which they were part of, would keep running and not be interrupted. Even if you think this is not modern slavery, it is still a clear violation of human rights. Conservative or not, this is just indefensible.

The Conservatives conserve their money and power, and would tell the government to downsize and deregulate its control, so that they would be free to do their business any way they like, without fear of investigation and prosecution. That would encourage many to do unethical, even illegal activities, to make more money and pay less or no taxes.

The Conservatives would be on the side of the 1%, not the 99%. If you disagree, please correct me and tell me why.

Thank you.

Fast Edi Thoughts and Comments 

What is Success in Life?

A friend posted 11 rules, or life lessons, according to Bill Gates in Facebook.

My thoughts and comments:

What Bill Gates said is generally true but not absolutely true. Rule #11 is sort of funny. It says if you born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake.  

Have you heard of this Chinese saying? What a person's life is like, or whether it will be successful or not, depends on these 5 determining factors: birth, luck, feng shui, karma (charitable work or helping others) and education.

Indeed life is not fair. Only death is fair (everybody dies). If you were born to poor parents in a poor and backward country, you would face much greater challenge in life. If you were born to rich parents in an advanced country, you would gain much advantage to succeed in life. Still, Bill Gates' advice or life lessons are good references to think about.

My philosophy is that whatever card life gave you at the beginning, you just have to play the game the best you can. Got an Ace? Good for you. Got a 5 only? You still have to play the game and never give up.

What is success in life? There are so many different definitions. To most people, it means money, power and fame. To some spiritual people, it simply means health and happiness. To me, success in life is not about money and material possessions. Peace !

Korea (2)

Early this year, on January 13, 2015, I wrote about the two Koreas showing hints that they were willing to talk, which I supported. Now North Korea accuses South Korea of political and military provocation and threatens to risk an ' all out war '. The U.S. then halts military exercise with South Korea.

Dear Uncle Sam and Korean people of the North and South, please don't play chicken. One miscalculation could lead to irreversible disaster. No war in the Korean Peninsula ! No war period !

A Canadian Korean friend told me that this is the way the game is played:

North Korea under the dictatorial leadership of Kim Jong Un would threaten to go to war with South Korea. Rich corporations of South Korea then made big donations to North Korea, which enabled them to pay less tax to the South Korean Government. The leadership in the North got what they wanted, and the leadership in the South stayed in power. If the US or UN would bomb North Korea, then the ' Mafia Bill ' from North Korea would be even bigger.

Money and Power Games everywhere, only played in different ways. Peace !  

Vitamin M

Are you stressed ? Are you depressed ? Health is not about physical health only. It includes mental and emotional health. Please take some Vitamin M ( Music, Meditation and Money ). Your stress or depression will be reduced, if not completely cured. Good luck! 

Could China Kill The US Dollar ?

I've just finished watching a Youtube video titled 'Could China Kill The US Dollar?' Here are my thoughts and comments:

My personal opinion is that China could indeed kill the US Dollar, but she would do so only gradually, not suddenly. She has been doing so slowly, but picking up speed recently, as evidenced by the newly formed China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), increase of gold production and purchase, and bi-lateral agreements signed with many countries in using their own currencies for trading, bypassing the use of US Dollar. 

The HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British Bank with a deep Chinese root. Both UK and Hong Kong are HSBC's 'home markets'. HSBC is thinking of moving its headquarters from London to Hong Kong. The UK was the first Western country and US ally that joined the China-led AIIB, followed by many others. Uncle Sam was not pleased.

I don't think China really wants to kill the US Dollar completely. China just wants to de-dollarize the world. China, Russia, Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East, even Europe and the World, just don't want to be completely dominated by the US any more. No more unipolar world controlled by big-boss America !
 
There are many speculations or predictions that the US Dollar will collapse, but my guess is that it will not die with a big bang but with a whimper. China is killing the US Dollar softy with her Yuan (Chinese Dollar), also known as Renminbi (People's money). 

Some Americans are super wealthy, but as a whole, the US as a country is broke, owing trillions of dollars to China, Japan and other countries. The 1% is still doing great of course, but the 99% is struggling. Does Uncle Sam still want to go to war, which is a super expensive, terrifying and deadly game, profitable only to a few people, but at the expense of the life and death of many ? 

The US Dollar may not even die, but it will no longer be the only dominant trading and reserve currency of the world. China's rise is certain, but the US' decline is not. Instead of setting road blocks and preventing China from rising, Uncle Sam should pay attention to his own many problems. As Jimmy Carter said, the U.S. must respect China, and vice versa. If a nuclear Third World War breaks out, the whole world will be finished. We must never let that happen. 

Global Wealth

The 99% complaint about the 1% is becoming real.

According to a report of anti-poverty charity Oxfam International, by next year, 1% of the world population will own more than 50% of the wealth in the whole world. The combined wealth of the 99% will be less than the combined wealth of the 1%.

1% of the world population will own more wealth than the rest of 99%. Something is wrong about this reality. What do you think?

American Politics

American politics is a two-headed snake (or eagle, if you wish). Whether you give your vote to the Republicans or the Democrats, you end up with the same old snake. The snake doesn't work for the common people, but the rich and powerful. When money and power are the priority, people become much less important.

The American Dollar

The American Dollar is no longer as mighty as it was. The Almighty Dollar doesn't sound Almighty any more.On the latest trip of Stephen Harper to Beijing, Canada signed a currency deal with China. Business between the two countries can now be conducted in their own currencies of Canadian Dollar and Chinese Yuan.

Canada is not the first country which has signed such a currency deal with China. Many countries have already done so. This enables business between countries to be conducted directly in their own currencies, without having to take the extra step of converting them  to U.S. money.  

As many know, the American Dollar was backed by gold in the past. In 1971, president Nixon untied the American Dollar from gold. It then became the Petro Dollar. International trading of oil and other commodities was then conducted in U.S. currency. At the present, the American Dollar is just fiat money backed by nothing, except you may say that it is backed by bullets and bombs. In other words, Uncle Sam would get mad and force you to use the American Dollar, and if you refused to comply, he would make your life difficult, by using political pressure, economic sanction, and even military action.   

The game of creating American money from thin air will be over. It may not be completely replaced by another new game, but it will not be the only game, or the primary game.

Some economists, investors, financial people, or even conspiracy theorists predict that the American Dollar will collapse soon. I don't agree with them entirely. I don't think that it will be a sudden and quick collapse. I believe it will gradually lose its status as the international trading and reserved currency. It is already happening. All said, I could be wrong, so please don't point finger at me, if the American Dollar suddenly collapsed. I pray that it won't, because if it happens this way, the American people will suffer greatly beyond words.     

Uncle Sam is in heavy debt, owing trillions of dollars to China and other countries. It is a losing game, to keep borrowing and printing money, in order to maintain a false or exaggerated economy, and to finance the very expensive military adventures everywhere.

Will the Almighty Dollar, the American Greenback, give way to the Chinese Yuan (Dollar) or Reminbi (people's money) ? Just wait and see !!!       

Elephants

This is so horrific: according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, 96 elephants are kill every day in Africa. That's 35,000 elephants killed in a year.

A friend Mariah said that if you believe BBC, the majority of the tusks went to China.

I said yes, Chinese gangs and criminals made deals with poor African poachers, to illegally smuggle the elephant tusks to China, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc. to make ivory artifacts. It is not only elephants. Humans should be ashamed of themselves, to keep destroying the environment and abusing the natural resources and wildlife on planet earth. Unfortunately, money and the economy often speak louder than ethics and morals, and people would even break the laws for greed of money, power and self interests.

I said yes,

Incompetent World Leaders

Our world leaders are very good in making wars and troubles, but are very incompetent in making peace. They have very little or no spiritual I.Q. (a term I coined). Instead of talking to one another to find peaceful solutions, they keep screwing one another. They don't work well with one another, but repeatedly work against one another like different gangs, always fighting for control and influence in different territories, even in distant lands far away from home. 

War is an evil, the worst kind of organized crime. War is an extremely profitable business to a few people, but sadly, at the expense of many peoples' life and death. Only love and universal brotherhood can save this world and bring peace. Did you notice that when our world leaders said they were going to bring peace, they were rather making even more wars? This world is a big mess !!!

Nine One One

Today is the 13th anniversary of 911. Is the U.S. and the world getting safer and better ?

Reality Show

Forget the manufactured Reality Shows on American T.V. This is the true Reality Show of the world we live in: international economics and geopolitics.

 

We are living in interesting time. It is very exciting and hopeful, but also very worrisome and dangerous. The problem is that world leaders do not genuinely work 'with' one another, but 'against' one another. It's like different gangs fighting for control and influence in different territories.

 

Uncle Sam, USA, while already in heavy debts and with so many big problems at home, continues to insist on being the big boss of the world and refuse to let other countries rise up peacefully. Just creating fiat money from thin air is only an illusion, not a solution. How long can Uncle Sam fool people to accept his fiat money? Sooner or later, the American Dollar will lose its international value and trading status. Is World War 3 coming? I don't know. It's possible, but I hope not !!!

Privatized Prison and Army

A posting in Facebook:

The prison industry in the United States: big business or a new form of slavery. No other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens.
.......................................................................................................
My thoughts and comments:

The main objective of doing business is to make money and profits. Privatized prison system needs tenants / prisoners to keep the cells occupied. It keeps the very profitable business going. Even judges are played into this unjust game by passing severe long-term jail sentence on petty crimes like possession of weed. Privatized army also sucks, but war is an extremely profitable business, so the military industrial complex is happy to see or stir up troubles everywhere and anywhere. So very sick and selfish profiteering at the expense of people's life and death !!!!!

Is USA a Democracy ?

USA is no longer a democracy, is it ? Extreme Capitalism, with the extremely selfish and individualistic concept of winner takes all, while having no sympathy for the less capable, less fortunate and losers (deserved or not), has turned America into an Oligarchy and Plutocracy. It has become a country of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. Indeed if you have the choice, please consider moving to Canada. You probably won't regret. Take care !

Money and War

Make money, not war.
But don 't make war in order to make money, which is the most deadly and dishonorable thing to do.

Good Bye Jim

RIP Jim Flaherty ... a good Finance Minister of Canada !

Climate Change

It is rather stupid to argue about climate change. Climate always changes, from Spring, Summer, Fall to Winter, then back to Spring. The climate that you like or dislike depends on the time and location of the place in question. Whether you believe in global warming or deep freeze, climate will continue to change. The focus should be rather about pollution and irresponsible human activities in abusing nature and misusing its natural resources, which is a fact. Of course the big oil companies and oil producing countries will continue to promote the production and use of oil. It is their interest to make big money and huge profits. But it will change. It is already happening, I mean the production and use of green and renewable energy in lieu of burning fossil fuels. Did you hear my joke before ? It is this: due to the cold weather, the gathering to protest against global warming has been cancelled :)