The State of the World

There’s a holdup in the Bronx,
Brooklyn’s broken out in fights,
There’s a traffic jam in Harlem
That’s backed up to Jackson Heights.

There’s a scout troop short a child,
Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild…
Car 54, Where Are You?

The opening theme for the sitcom Car 54 Where Are You seems appropriate to give a thumbnail view of the current state of the world.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

The United States has a critical case of waste, fraud, and abuse which, if not resolved, could very well bankrupt the richest country in the world. Just to show how petty, venial, greedy, and absolutely stupid politicians and government workers can be, the politicians, mostly Democrats, are complaining about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) finding waste. That’s right, they’re complaining about DOGE actually doing the job the President assigned them rather than applauding the finding and removal of waste as a national good. The government workers are so used to their “guaranteed no fire” no-show jobs that they’re irate when told “you’re fired.” Some may remember the “no-show” jobs in the TV show, The Sopranos. One of Tony’s “boys” would show up at a job site and announce he worked there, then would sit in a chair all day and collect his pay. 2 years of continuing to “work” from home after Covid was done they, the government workers, were found in many cases to be not doing their government job at all. Instead of firing them immediately, they were given the opportunity to collect 8 months severance. Many refused. Dumb move.

Now they’re complaining about having 15 minutes to clean out the offices they didn’t use.

Tariff Wars

The hemisphere has what looks like an incipient tariff war whose stated reason, by President Trump, is the distribution of Fentanyl and other illegal drugs from Mexico and Canada – two virtually failed states without US trade – where drug cartels and Chinese drug lords combine the precursors to create the Fentanyl. Both Canada and Mexico were given the opportunity to avoid the tariffs. All they had to do was cut off the drug trade. Didn’t get it done, or even make a good start at it. We’ll have to see which economy is robust enough to stand the strain.

Being the source of the drug components, China also has a tariff coming at it. China says they’ll fight to the bitter end. There are some who believe losing US trade will severely impact China’s economy, possibly destroying it.

All of this, the government waste, fraud, and abuse, the workers who went along to get along, the countries that turned a blind eye to the drug trade and the horrors they were inflicting on the US, well it looks like FAFO to me. And about time they all found out.

But that’s not all!

The Clown Prince of Ukraine

Let’s take a moment to talk about the poorly dressed midget comedian that runs Ukraine. A perfect case of believing your press agent rather than the truth. He’s a celebrity world-wide, the Democrats hang on his every word like he was really what his press releases say he is, the European heads-of-state are unanimous in their praise and in telling the world how much they support him.

Well, Zelenskyy is a fraud and a sham. He couldn’t lead his way out of a wet paper bag. I don’t care how patriotic you are, when the only reason you’re still alive is Orange Man, you don’t bow up on him. Ukraine cannot win the war without exceptional outside help. And not just guns and ammo and planes. Without troops from other countries there’s no way they can afford to lose 1,000 men a week. Their population isn’t big enough to support those losses. So Trump decides – I agree with him 100%, not that that means anything – that peace is the only reasonable solution. Zelenskyy has a meeting with some RINOs and Democrats right before meeting with Trump and Vance, and they pump him up to ask for more. The little twerp falls for it hook, line, and sinker and goes into the meeting full of piss and vinegar instead of thankful for expected savior. He insults our leader in our house. Bye Bye!

So he runs to Europe where all the really civilized poobahs rule and they gather around him and tell he he’s good enough and smart enough, and they’ll support him. Well Britain has less than 20,000 combat troops, and France has only 200 tanks. That’s enough combat power to last a couple of weeks in the Ukraine war, and without the US to protect their countries, they’re pretty much defenseless, so the murmurings of support were more public relations because there isn’t any real sizzle, much less steak. In private – this is only my thoughts – they were telling Zelenskyy “do whatever it takes, but get back in Trump’s good graces.” So of course he now wants to restart peace talks that he sabotaged and which never needed him in the first place. The Ukrainian parliament had already signed off on the agreement, and his visit and signature was only supposed to be the public celebration. What a turd. And of course all the time he’s playing like he was really “somebody” his army is losing 1,000+ men a week and having to kidnap people off the street to send to the combat zone.

Israel and the Palestinians (still)

Haven’t heard much from Israel and Gaza lately. News cycles need more blood than they’re getting in the Mediterranean, so they’ve gone on to something else. The cease fire is over and all the hostages were not released. Trucks carrying aid into Gaza were allowed, but without an agreement to extend the truce artillery and air strikes resumed and aid trucks were turned away.

The Arab leaders had a summit in Cairo where they turned down Trump’s plan to restore Gaza. They met in Cairo to come up with a plan of their own. Egypt presented a $53 billion reconstruction plan aimed at rebuilding Gaza by 2030 without displacing its population, including temporary housing, recycling rubble for land expansion, and developing sustainable urban areas.

Hamas has welcomed the support for reconstruction but firmly rejected disarmament discussions. They’ll take whatever is offered but won’t give up their guns. Typical.

So the situation with Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Gaza is pretty much the same. The ones that are winning are open to conversations on how to go forward, and those on what looks like the losing side cling to their dreams of winning with no observable path to that destination.

Human beings are some of the worst people I’ve ever met. Greedy, petty, selfish, we’ve got it all. And all of us are infected with it, it being human.

Sure wish Adam and Eve didn’t eat that apple.

Jack Sotallaro

Continuity planning, civilian and military