Fiction or Reality?: Trump's first day at the Oval Office - First briefing by the CIA, Pentagon, FBI

US Presidential Election 2016

Trump: We must destroy ISIS immediately.

CIA: We cannot do that, sir. We created them along with Turkey, Saudi, Qatar and others. 
Trump: The Democrats created them.

CIA: We created ISIS, sir. You need them or else you would lose funding from the natural gas lobby.Trump: Stop funding Pakistan. Let India deal with them.

CIA: We can't do that.  Modi will cut Balochistan out of Pak.Trump: I don't care.

CIA: India will have peace in Kashmir. They will stop buying our weapons. They will become a superpower. We have to fund Pakistan to keep India busy in Kashmir.Trump: But you have to destroy the Taliban.

CIA: Sir, we can't do that. We created the Taliban to keep Russia in check during the 80s. Now they are keeping Pakistan busy and away from their nukes. 

Trump: We have to destroy terror sponsoring regimes in the Middle East. Let us start with the Saudis.

Pentagon: Sir, we can't do that. We created those regimes because we wanted their oil. We can't have democracy there, otherwise their people will get that oil - and we cannot let their people own it.Trump: Then, let us invade Iran.

Pentagon: We cannot do that either, sir.Trump: Why not? THEY ARE OUR NEW "FRIENDS" ...

CIA: We are talking to them, sir.Trump: What? Why?

CIA: We want our stealth drone back. If we attack them, Russia will obliterate us as they did to our buddy ISIS in Syria. Besides we need Iran to keep Israel in check.

Trump: Then let us invade Iraq again.

CIA: Sir, our friends (ISIS) are already occupying 1/3rd of Iraq.Trump: Why not the whole of Iraq?

CIA: We need the Shi'ite gov't of Iraq to keep ISIS in check.Trump: I am banning Muslims from entering US.

FBI: We can't do that.Trump: Why not?

FBI: Then our own population will become fearless.Trump: I am deporting all illegal immigrants to south of the border.

Border patrol: You can't do that, sir.Trump: Why not?

Border patrol: If they're gone, who will build the wall?Trump: I am banning H1Bs.

USCIS: You cannot do that.Trump: Why?

Chief of staff: If you do so we'll have to outsource White House operations to Bangalore. Which is in India.Trump: What  the hell should I do???

CIA: Just enjoy the White House, sir! We will take care of the rest!!!

God bless America! 

Final note: "What if Hillary Clinton becomes President - Don't worry, she already knows all this from previous briefings as a member of the Presidential Cabinet".

EU-Digest

Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon Appoints Scottish Brexit Minister

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has appointed a Brexit minister to manage negotiations with the European Union as Britain begins the process of leaving.

Mike Russell, a former education secretary, was appointed, Sturgeon said, to make sure Scotland’s voice is heard “loudly and clearly” during talks.

When Britain as a whole voted to leave the European Union on June 23, Scotland as a country voted to remain, by a margin of 62 to 38, with all 32 council areas backing continued membership.

Sturgeon has secured assurances from Prime Minister Theresa May that Scotland is to be fully involved in Brexit discussions, and that May will listen to any proposals for a new arrangement for Scotland brought to her.

Scotland is seeking to establish how it could maintain the closest possible relationship with the EU while Britain leaves, with some even hopeful that a new federal arrangement could see Scotland remain a member of the bloc and part of the United Kingdom.

Such an arrangement is likely to be politically tricky, however, and the strong possibility that Scotland will leave the EU despite its citizens having voted to remain has led Sturgeon to say that a second referendum on Scottish independence is “highly likely.”

Read more: Nicola Sturgeon Appoints Scottish Brexit Minister

US Presidential Race: FBI Director James Comey closely connected to Clinton's and Washington cronyism culture

A review of FBI Director James Comey’s professional history and relationships shows that the Obama cabinet leader — now under fire for his handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton — is deeply entrenched in the big-money cronyism culture of Washington, D.C. His personal and professional relationships — all undisclosed as he announced the Bureau would not prosecute Clinton — reinforce bipartisan concerns that he may have politicized the criminal probe.

These concerns focus on millions of dollars that Comey accepted from a Clinton Foundation defense contractor, Comey’s former membership on a Clinton Foundation corporate partner’s board, and his surprising financial relationship with his brother Peter Comey, who works at the law firm that does the  big money  entangled with cronyism cClinton Foundation’s taxes.

When President Obama nominated Comey to become FBI director in 2013, Comey promised the United States Senate that he would recuse himself on all cases involving former employers.

But Comey earned $6 million in one year alone from Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin became a Clinton Foundation donor that very year.

Comey served as deputy attorney general under John Ashcroft for two years of the Bush administration. When he left the Bush administration, he went directly to Lockheed Martin and became vice president, acting as a general counsel.

How much money did James Comey make from Lockheed Martin in his last year with the company, which he left in 2010? More than $6 million in compensation.

Lockheed Martin is a Clinton Foundation donor. The company admitted to becoming a Clinton Global Initiative member in 2010.

According to records, Lockheed Martin is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which paid Bill Clinton $250,000 to deliver a speech in 2010.

In 2010, Lockheed Martin won 17 approvals for private contracts from the Hillary Clinton State Department

In 2013, Comey became a board member, a director, and a Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee member of the London bank HSBC Holdings.

HSBC Holdings and its various philanthropic branches routinely partner with the Clinton Foundation. For instance, HSBC Holdings has partnered with Deutsche Bank through the Clinton Foundation to “retrofit 1,500 to 2,500 housing units, primarily in the low- to moderate-income sector” in “New York City.”

Read more: FBI director received millions from Clinton Foundation, his brother’s law firm does Clinton’s taxes | EndingFed News Network

EU Defense Cooperation: Threat or Benefit for NATO? - by Markus Heinrich

Britain has always been a somewhat half-hearted member of the EU. The country has been reluctant to hand over competences to Brussels and principally opposed to “ever closer union” — even as it was eager to widen the EU’s membership.

Has the time come for the EU to say "bye-bye NATO" ?

As a reluctant (and soon to be ex) participant in European integration, the British worldview has been, and continues to be, Atlanticist rather than European.

As a firmly Altanticist nation, Britain has been vehemently opposed to any EU military structures. It deemed NATO as the one and only framework for providing security in the Euro-Atlantic area.

But with Britain set to leave the EU some time in 2019 – based on Theresa May’s announcement that Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty will be triggered in March 2017 and the assumption that a successful exit is negotiated within the two-year time limit – a major obstacle to EU defense cooperation will be removed in the foreseeable future.

Negotiating Brexit will be a difficult and complex process that will occupy politicians and diplomats on both sides of the English Channel for some time. Even so, there are signs that the EU is determined that this will not prevent its defense agenda from progressing.

France and Germany have been leading calls for enhanced European defense cooperation (such as a permanent EU military headquarters and the sharing of military assets).

The Franco-German proposals were outlined by French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Ursula von der Leyen in September 2016.

Von der Leyen called for a European defense union – initially comprised of a core group, but open to all EU members – comparing it to a “Schengen of defense.”

The recent EU summit in Bratislava – at which Britain was not represented – saw Franco-German proposals for defense cooperation generally well received by member states. The plan is therefore not just a Franco-German objective, but is likely to enjoy wider support in a 28-1 member EU.

A concrete example of how European defense collaboration could benefit from Brexit is the European Defence Agency (EDA).

The EDA was established in 2004 to “support the Member States and the Council in their effort to improve European defense capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the European Security and Defence Policy as it stands now and develops in the future.” Its three main missions are to:

1. Support the development of European defense capabilities and military cooperation

2. Stimulate defense research and technology to strengthen Europe’s defense industry

3. Act as a military interface to EU policies

An increase in the EDA’s meager budget has been vetoed in the past by Britain. With its veto gone post Brexit – and given the generally positive reception of the Franco-German proposals at the Bratislava summit – a future budget increase for the EDA is a distinct possibility. 


Read more: EU Defense Cooperation: Threat or Benefit for NATO? - The Globalist

The Netherlands - employment opportunities: Lack of qualified staff holding back Dutch companies

A  shortage of qualified staff is holding Dutch companies back as the economy recovers from the recession, according to new figures from the government statistics service. Statistics Netherlands said 7 per cent of businesses reported problems with understaffing because of a lack of suitable and experienced candidates. 

The figure is at its highest level since 2009. The problem was most acute in the IT sector, where one in six firms said there was a lack of qualified staff. In the service sector the proportion was one in 10. Overall businesses feel there are fewer obstacles to growth than in recent years, according to the survey, which recorded fewer complaints about financial restrictions or weak demand.

The number of businesses planning to take on more staff is at it highest level for years, with 8 per cent planning to add to their team in the second quarter of this year. The figure for the third quarter was 6 per cent. The total number of vacancies reported at the start of July was 155,000.

Read more: Lack of qualified staff holding back Dutch companies - DutchNews.nl

Propaganda: ′Divide Europe′: European lawmakers warn of Russian propaganda - what about propaganda from other sources?

The Russian government channels propaganda aimed at disrupting democratic values across Europe, targeting "specific journalists, politicians and individuals in the bloc," lawmakers of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said in a resolution passed on Monday.

"The Russian government is aggressively employing a wide-range of tools and instruments, such as think tanks […], multilingual TV stations (i.e. Russia Today), pseudo-news agencies […], social media and internet trolls, to challenge democratic values, divide Europe, gather domestic support and create the perception of failed states in the EU's eastern neighborhood," the resolution said.

European lawmakers called on media representatives in the EU to compile facts on the "consumption of propaganda," worrying that "with the limited awareness amongst some of its member states, that they are audiences and arenas of propaganda and disinformation."

The resolution urged European authorities to turn the EU's Strategic Communication Task Force, an initiative mandated by the European Council aimed at dispelling propaganda, into a "fully-fledged unit" within the bloc's diplomatic office, "with proper staffing and adequate budgetary resources."

MEP Anna Fotyga, the chief rapporteur for the resolution, told DW that more needs to be done to expose the "mechanism of propaganda" directed at the bloc's member states, and more broadly the EU and the West.

However, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT (formerly Russia Today), told DW that the resolution, in effect, targets free speech in the 28-nation bloc.

"This a rather interesting interpretation of the much-touted western values, particularly that of the freedom of speech - which in action apparently means attacking a rare voice of dissent amongst literally thousands of European media outlets," Simonyan said in an emailed statement.

"If anything is eroding public confidence in European institutions, it's that," she added.

Note EU-Digest: Good move by EU lawmakers, but propaganda is coming to the EU citizens and politicians from a variety of sources and directions - countries and industry, and the question should not only be focused on one potential culprit, but other sources as well, including, the US, China, multi- nationals, etc. If the EU lawmakers don't approach the issue in a far more broader and objective way, it unfortunately does start to smell like censorship, and that, one can only hope is not the purpose of this exercise ?

Read more: ′Divide Europe′: European lawmakers warn of Russian propaganda | Europe | DW.COM | 11.10.2016

Britain: Scientist awarded Nobel prize slams Brexit - considering renouncing British Citizenship

One of the four British scientists awarded a Nobel prize this week has said he is considering renouncing his citizenship because of Brexit.

Two of the other new laureates, all of whom now work in the US, have joined him in criticising the decision to leave the EU, with one saying it may change his mind about returning to the UK.

Michael Kosterlitz told The Times that the vote “is a very stupid, narrow-minded decision and will have disastrous long-term effects on science in UK ... I feel strongly about Brexit and do not wish to be associated with a country which is so insular and narrow-minded.”

Professor Kosterlitz, now based at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said that even if he had not left the UK, “Brexit would have had me job-hunting immediately. The idea of not being able to travel and work freely in Europe is unthinkable to me. I have kept my UK passport for visiting Europe but if the UK does not change its mind, I will not renew it and may even renounce my British citizenship and just keep my US citizenship, because the British citizenship will not be worth anything useful to me.”

He shared the prize for his discoveries in condensed matter physics with two other British scientists, Duncan Haldane and David Thouless.

Professor Haldane, now at Princeton, also criticised the decision to leave the EU, which has been hugely unpopular among scientists. He said he had considered returning to the UK but was now unlikely to do so because of the loss of grants from the European Research Council. “I was seriously considering coming back a few years ago,” he told The Guardian. “It was suggested it might be possible to get one of these euros 5 million ERC grants. That’s much better support than I can get here.

“These grants are specifically aimed at bringing established people back. Without that, it makes it more difficult for people to come back.

“I wouldn’t be going back just to kill myself eating high table dinners at a college.”

Before the vote to leave the European Union, scientists argued that freedom of movement was crucial to their profession, with research increasingly done across borders. Sir Fraser Stoddart, who won the Nobel prize in chemistry on Wednesday and is originally from Edinburgh, said that the loss of immigrant scientists would be catastrophic.

“I am extremely worried about the consequences of Brexit,” he said. “My colleagues in the UK thrive on the free movement of young people back and forth between the UK and the other 27 EU nations. If the portcullis comes down then at one fell swoop we are cutting off the vast majority of talent.

“We would go from 500 million people to 65 million. This could have dire consequences for British science, it would be sheer disaster. I hope for the country’s sake that some group of people can put a massive spoke in this wheel and stop it.”

Read more: Nobel scientist slams Brexit