Not Read For Prime Time -- Rambling Out Loud -- Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Locator: 48500ARCHIVES.

The big stories:

• Trump's vision for America
• Ukraine-Russia: biggest geo-political impact since the US-Cuban missile crisis?
• re-emergence of Russia as a political super-power
• Victor Davis Hanson: link here.
  
• weakening of NATO alliance 
• is China relevant only as a trading competitor and possible takeover of Taiwan
• if so, China quickly becomes irrelevant
• think about this: China has its eyes on no expansion except Taiwan
• Putin: wants to put the "Union" back together. To say otherwise suggests one cannot "read" Putin.  Eastern Europe is at risk.
  
• the sixth industrial revolution
• China
• Taiwan
  
• Middle East: Gaza, Houthis
• global -- no longer energy transition / energy addition
• Europe's slow-moving train wreck
• renewable energy
• immigration
• military is a shell of its former greatness
• birth rate, or lack thereof
  

Where the cuts can be found:

• Department of Defense

Link here.

Folks who believe that NATO's budget is $1.3 trillion / year and the US only funds $3.5 billion of that $1.3 trillion, have no clue.

• entire departments and major agencies:

• Department of Education
• Department of Energy
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• FEMA

• foreign aid.

• entangling alliances:

• NATO