In 2016 it already was clear and being published by reliable sources: Trump and Putin were in close contact. Over the years numerous interviews and remarks, recorded of Trump too, made two things very clear:
He uses scare tactics to ‘make deals’. He proudly calls himself in front of cameras a ‘deal maker’.
But these also are facts:
The most powerful industry in the US is the one producing weapons.
The most needed resource in the US is oil, fuels from fossils, in general.
Now, perhaps even fighting for his life, this sorry excuse for a man called Trump uses any means in the book of cruelty and baseness to get his way.
The Ukraine war is welcome and even obviously one more cruelty that costs thousands of lives – to put NATO and the EU under pressure: Buy more weapons, raising their annual used on ‘protection’. Putin right behind it…
Tariffs raised purportedly to protect the US…
EU leaders have been called one after another to visit and ‘discuss’. The first to fall was Giorgia Meloni, Italy.
The first to go was Britain.
NATO seems at the mercy of the US, since they produce most of the weapons NATO-members so far buy – yet.
Trump has been known for bullying, corruption and bribery, as well as molestation in smaller contexts.
The Epstein papers are another instance and proof of that fact.
The only means to fight back is: Standing together. Because, the US depend on the EU just as much as the EU does.
The Office of United States Trade Representative states so itself in numbers, here.
Mr Trump has to be reminded of his ‘manners’ and the limits he comes off at.
This is no way to deal with a strong, international community. Period.
Anyone with the least bit of knowledge of recent history (past couple of decades) and the main characters involved knows: It’s not about anything but oil. And that sad excuse for a man being US-president who is not only fighting for his ‘job’, but also probably has to fulfill more or less secret promises to industry leaders. Rather less secret, I should think…
When we look into history these things can become clearer, since patterns emerge. It’s not about conspiracy theories but facts.
Facts are, and have been as long as the industrial revolution and cars as well as factories clamored for ever more oil and gasoline and petrol and… you name it – especially in the US – that this dire need of fuels triggered all kinds of wars and pushy international behaviour.
Fuels made from fossils, in short.
It’s shameful to watch how the second time in office makes this person even more ruthless, reckless and actually disgusting.
I know a lot about Iran, I love that old, wonderful culture and language. I know how much the people there suffer from the internal affairs a regime of apparently religiously motivated clerical leadership creates for them in severe restraints to personal freedom and denial of the basic human rights.
Yet, there are signs that since threats don’t work with Iran’s regime and international support is strong, triggering uprisings is the next step a country like the US famous for its ruthless interventions and conquering when to their advantage, ‘protecting their interests’ (‘dohhh’…in foreign countries??) – will stoop to.
Let’s be very aware: Even with more enlightened and very capable leaders at the top the US usually looked out for their own monetary and resources’ needs – not those of others. Look at confirmed chronicles and stories, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, South-America (Chile, Columbia, Nicaragua/Iran…you name any, literally any of them, they consider South America to be their ‘backyard’), Irak, now Venezuela; it’s criminal. Period.
The first to condemn when also to their advantage the last to pull back; almost all the time, with a few fine leaders as exceptions.
The CIA as well as other secret services are part of the system: They determine the knowledge that will be handed down to any new president as soon as he’s inaugurated. (I feel for them sometimes: They all turn grey on top inside of days, after that…)
Iran now: It’s ‘bang full’ of oil and other natural resources. So, after cancelling the contracts for control of uranium enrichment without cause and then bullying and threatening for a couple of years and then realizing that there’s EU, UNO and even some NATO members to be reckoned with – they now try again differently?
The CIA was involved when the last Shah was ‘sent packing’: He had become unable to control the starving masses who saw him and his entourage live in luxury while they weren’t even able to read. The so-called White Revolution was ‘too little too late’. The Islamic Revolution for the past four decades removed Iran’s oil for discount prices from their reach.
The US’s own oil deposits are not nearly enough to feed that greed. That dire need: Keep ‘promises’ and keep US population on the road, because the car is their (second) best-loved device, right after weapons, so it seems.
I beg the pardon of the good ones; but the smart ones over there know what I mean.
Again, be very wary of a country like the US who literally use any means – especially with this ‘leader’ – to reach their self-centered goals.
Author’s Note: The idea of people feeling threatened by all kinds of things, making up conspiracy theories to fit their particular view of the world, is wide-spread. Especially these days. Yet:
There are historical facts known at the respective university departments too. Which can be found in books you can find in all major libraries.
I know that too, because I studied the subject. I received my M.A. degree for English, US-American and Persian language, literature and culture almost 20 years ago, from a well-known university in Germany.
I feel dedicated to the concept of being careful about your facts.
I summarize things here that can be found in more detail elsewhere.
But some things that happen at the moment have reasons that can only be guessed at, this very moment.
The intelligent guesses we can make stem from all those historical facts and the patterns that emerge over time, because it’s the same thing over and over again.
Bluntly put: It’s just too obvious but partners of NATO are not free to say so in front of cameras. The contracts we are bound to as members of NATO and other alliances compel people to keep quiet in public.
That’s why historical documents are so important for a deeper understanding: They show what at the time had been handled behind the scenes as well.
Screenshot of the news item on New York Times website, taken at 03-01-2026_12-15-05, local time, UTC+1
Today the US strike against Venezuela and its president, Maduro, has been reported. Again, the same patterns repeat: Venezuela is known for oil and gold; additionally, the latest government there was not one to easily stoop to US-influence or orders…
And Donald Trump’s ‘star’ in the US was sinking fast the past couple of weeks, if not months. Now he emerges apparently strong and – additionally – some weapons storage places have been lightened of their burden to make room for more.
“Selling it for all it’s worth.” Sensations make the news. Even here. All one can do is hold back and ignore.
Except when cruelty and plain aggressiveness and greed reign – once more. This has nothing to do with heroism. It’s pure cover-up and greed. Perhaps even desperation.
Shame, shame, shame: Shame on you, Donald Trump and all who are with you. Using money and inherited influence, cruelty and greed to make the headlines.
Majorities seem to be the thing… they are many, they are often loud (not always) and they seem to be everywhere… Really? With a little closer look, taking a different view – taking a step back and looking from the outside we may see more.
A crucial matter is that ‘thing’ humans have: They need to be part of something, of a group, a club, a family, a tribe; people, in short, they fit in with. At least to some extent.
But, since the dawn of time we were not all the same: Some people are gardeners, you might say, some are philosophers, some are mathematicians. Some are … you name it.
Another thing can be that at times people tend to feel irritated or self-conscious or intimidated when faced with new ideas and strange people.
So, belonging is a central aspect. It can become complex and sometimes even painful, when there seems a larger group of gardeners and a small group of philosophers, to stay with the examples. Both sides may feel challenged: One side because philosophers seem ‘strange’. The other because they ‘fit’ differently, elsewhere.
When we know about these facts – the idea that we cannot be all the same, that changing perspectives and recalling what is important in life, is crucial too, we may become able (again) to accept the new or strange idea.
Because we feel grounded in our own world view and still are able to integrate something else, something different. New.
That’s where joy can be found: Combine the old and the new into something fruitful and inspiring.
Image by Dorothe Wouters, and general content, from Pixabay
“Negotiate the hell out of them”… da…rn it. – I’d like to say that directly sometimes to the people concerned at present trying to reach an end to that war, that was unnecessary in the first place, if…
Yes, if people would do their homework, people in power learn from history, and those who know:
Diplomats, for centuries learned ‘at their mothers knee’ what is essential in any kind of politics you may want to conduct:
Realize that in politics it is about money, power and – 3rd party interests, those of your own country as well as those of others.
Know your opponents’ interests as well as possible.
Realize that it is about power-balance just as much as saving face!
The one-time elegance of manners stems also from here: Get to realize that treating the opposing party with respect and the usual formalities makes all the difference.
Learn to be patient! Patience – without giving up, or in – is the most important characteristic of successful negotiating.
The Thirty Years’ War in Europe raged exactly that: 30 years.
Whole regions were wasted and cities laid bare because of plundering, murder and legions of soldiers passing that had to be kept, resulting in hunger, starvation and more death.
The weapons’ industry and its entourage are the only ones – if they survive it – that profit from a war.
So, let’s keep telling them: We want peace, we want a power-balance, at least. We want that cruelty and useless destruction to stop, now.
The Thirty Years’ War took 5 years to end it. 5 years of negotiations.
Patience is the order of the day. Not more profit from yet more weapons.
Ever since nuclear power plants were first thought of and installed, there were warnings. Scientific, serious ones. Ever since the USA first used nuclear weapons on another country, namely Japan, there have been protests. All across the world. And huge. Now, the Japanese of all countries put Fukushima, that plant that so dreadfully blew up in 2014, back – ‘on line’?
In the 1970s even Hollywood itself made it part of a feature film, starring a memorable cast of Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas. It makes abundantly clear what people go through when forced to cover up the truth.
We are a little farther along the road, these days. But the danger remains.
And now the French even plan to not only bring back nuclear power by building more plants – but also a whole, nuclear power driven war carrier?
When you read up about it, ‘backed by 800 firms’, you may start to realize what all this warmongering is about: If nothing else works, building weapons always does… make profit, start the economy to be fuelled…?
There is strong evidence that former president John F. Kennedy was murdered by order of the weapons’ industry in the US. Why? Because he planned to change the laws on weapon sales and ownership to make the US ultimately more secure for everybody.
Weapons are no solution. War isn’t either.
Nuclear power is not only dangerous but completely outdated.
Why, in the name of all that is good and productive, don’t they start thinking of and using the alternatives? And produce them? Da…rn it.
“Perspective is Key.” – “Pride and Prejudice”: The latter is a novel by Jane Austen, one of her most famous ones. Jane Austen was a lady and writer and wrote about what she knew best: The life of the landed gentry in early 19th century England.
The title encompasses a lot of what gets in the way of people knowing each other well, especially in formal surroundings, these days most often business.
The prejudice we grow up with or develop over time. A blunt example: People wearing black beanies are at least doubtful in character, perhaps some sort of outlaw – or even criminals…
Or: People laughing may be lacking in respect and subordination in a business context…
Or: People wearing comfortable shoes and clothing (especially women) are of a certain orientation in their private life…
Or: Italians are always passionate and easy to smile and make jokes, and like celebrating and joyful activities… whereas people in North European countries tend to be gruff and a little lacking in social graces…
Really?
Try meeting an Italian at night on a lonely road… or on the other hand North Europeans when you ask them for help – or around a fire on the beach with a guitar…
Stereotypes are often a misstatement of possibilities that have been generalized – too often, too long.
And they also can easily be abused to stamp a group or an individual with the sign of a brand, sort of: Difficult, avoid…
When in actual fact it’s the misogyny, or hatred of the other (better…??) principle, the person that might be considered a threat to ones position – or the simple envy of a (perceived) advantage over ones own existence.
Images and perspective are key, in so many respects.
That’s why checking your sources carefully can be crucial, not to say of the essence.
So much suffering, pain and useless effort are delivered and spent in regard to prejudice.
My father used to put it jokingly, and in plain irony:
“Those are the types that will not have their prejudices spoilt by fact.”
The way out of such pits of misery and their pitfalls? Since, misery is the real result of such thoughts and sometimes ensuing deeds:
Find out about your own true self, all the good things and skills you own. The self-esteem.
Try and change perspectives on your life and your peers now and again, even if for fun only and see what can happen, at times…
There’s joy and the good, lighthearted laughter in that.
In this world of digital devices and internet connections, faster every day, basically, the so-called IoT, the Internet of Things, for some time now has made a sad appearance and fashion of sorts: The devices connecting to the internet through integrated hardware, such as your Smart-TV, your ‘smart mobile’ — or simply the Smart Home devices such as Siri or Alexa, listen in…
Indeed, it’s a fact: If not switched off deliberately, such devices will record and transfer spoken words, in many cases. Just like that…
What is particularly interesting, is the ‘eavesdroppers’ paradise: People who for the sake of curiosity — or simply to gather information — listen and start assuming…
I have seen it time and again: People observe or hear certain words or situations – and start assuming… Based on a few facts — and a lot of ‘reasoning’, which in fact is just your basic assumption.
These assumptions can be wrong. A nice example is the clip below from the movie “Desk Set”, with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It makes it clear too, how easily we can be wrong when trying to interpret.
I always think, should you overhear somebody in anger, swearing, letting off steam, as it were — and would assume general views of that person, you might come to sadly wrong conclusions…
I’d like to create more awareness of these things: It’s sooo easy to be mistaken. And can lead to such sad results, depending on the situations…
Images from the movie’s webpage and licensed via Adobe CC, my graphics – Documentary by John Houston, award-winning director, “Le There Be Light“, 1946
When you look into news and messages you will find that around war there still is a sort of halo or glow being created: As if it actually was about heroes, about being brave and strong and resilient in the face of adversity.
It’s not. It’s a means to an end. Sometimes more than one end.
Oil. Power. Money. … You name it.
Especially in these days, where more than half the world is online and rather better educated than ever before. Patterns of human behaviour are age-old and they repeat. But war is young in history, compared. And that’s a fact, stated by scientists and archaeologists of long standing.
Think of the hundreds of thousands of years that humans have been part of this planet.
Around ten thousand years are a pea on a hot plate in that respect.
There are a few very easy to follow arguments that support this view:
People who come back from war, alive, are scarred in their feelings and emotions, their souls, for the rest of their lives. One proof of that fact is shown with widely recognized precision and compassion in the documentary from 1946, created by John Houston about WW II soldiers, coming back.
But also in former times soldiers who came back would behave differently. Would be uneasy in everyday life and often become furious at any little thing. Turn to be alcoholics. The reports are legend. In literature and in chronicles.
In other words: If war was so natural, would people mind?
Again:
Conflicts are natural. Wars are not!
We can resolve conflicts, if we really want to, because there’s always another road.
Change is a big word in business sometimes. I believe that we may feel tempted to expect fast and smooth changes in people every day, led by ideas in some pamphlets or flyers or even books or consultants… that say:
“If you do X and Y you will get there in no time.“
The thing is:
People don’t change fast or by a click. And that has its reasons too: When you are grown up you have seen parts of life even when still young. The more mature you grow the more you know that people need time.
That changes grow – a little like fruit on a tree: That takes at least months.
And animals, when you watch them you will find that they grow up and mature in some years.
Now, people?
We have complex brains – so they tell us (- ‿◦ ) and that means also that we start thinking about consequences at some point. The more the merrier… and additionally the history of mankind did prove that embracing the unknown, the new, the strange, could lead to dangers, even loss of your live.
So, what happened?
In essence people are ‘conservative’, in the true sense of the word:
They preserve the things that did prove reliable at least, and good in the past. Because that makes you feel safe. Secure. And more relaxed.
If change needs to happen in business it’s a good thing to calculate with that ‘staying power’ humans have.
A power that can be endearing and very necessary. And that can be overcome by patience, perseverance – and with very good reason(s).
