News & Analysis.
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1. Why are there People in Venezuela who support Maduro if they know what the country is in crisis? Is there a crisis or not?
https://es.quora.com/Por-qu%C3%A9-en-Venezuela-hay-gente-que-apoya-a-Maduro-si-se-sabe-que-ese-pa%C3%ADs-est%C3%A1-en-crisis-Es-o-no-es-verdad-la-crisis?__nsrc__=4 Translation of question and Vince Dhimos’ answer from Spanish sector of Quora: Look, France is in crisis too, but no one would want the US to invade, right? The EU is in crisis due to the rise of ultra-nationalism, but no one is clamouring for US intervention. White Americans and Europeans, as well as rich Venezuelan oligarchs, are still in colonial mode. The Third World is their colonial empire and they are convinced they are entitled to the souls of its people and the minerals in its soil. That is the real reason Westerners ask questions like this. International surveys show that the US is no longer trusted. The US has a terrible reputation as an arrogant terror regime that bombs and imposes sanctions on numerous countries to force the people to replace their government with people sympathetic to the US. No one likes tyrants and warmongers. Venezuela has a long history of Bolivarian Revolution, which is not extremely democratic but is proud of its sovereignty. The people there also know that China and Russia have no colonial history and are good friends who lend them money and invest in their country's development. Following Putin's advice, Maduro has instructed local banks to float the bolivar against the dollar and this has helped reduce inflation. China has also recently sent a large shipment of medicines. Finally, America has started to buy some of their oil now and things are starting to look a bit better. 2. Does China have an interest in occupying Okinawa? https://www.quora.com/Does-China-have-an-interest-in-occupying-Okinawa/answer/Vince-Dhimos Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present) Answered just now No. And there is no way they could because Okinawa is occupied by the US armed forces. On the other hand, Okinawans are really fed up with the noise of the US aircraft, the frequent bad behaviour of the service men and the danger from crashing Ospreys. I wouldn’t doubt there are some who would trade for the Chinese. I know this because I used to view NHK on cable to practice Japanese and almost the only thing they presented about Okinawa on the news was related to the Okinawans’ discontent with the US armed forces. The problem is, the Chinese are leery of the Japanese due to mistreatment during WW II and they would have a hard time occupying due to friction. 3. What can the US do politically if Chinese decided to stop exporting rare earth metals to the US? What can the U.S. do politically if China decided to stop exporting rare earth metals to the U.S? Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present) Answered just now Fortunately, there are options. The US used to refine its own rare earth metals but stopped for environmenta reasons. This is no doubt why China has not decided to stop the supply yet. After all, they would risk losing the market forever. 4. Is the stock market likely to crash due to Donald Trump’s trade wars? https://www.quora.com/Is-the-stock-market-likely-to-crash-due-to-Donald-Trumps-trade-wars/answer/Vince-Dhimos Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present) Answered just now It almost seems as if Trump wants to crash the stock market, quite honestly. His new plan for tariffs on Mexico has cost the stock market 350 points so far and his trade war with Huawei has cost the tech stock market $1 trillion. In all, according to Deutsche Bank as of May 31, the stock market has lost $5 trillion thanks to Trump’s trade wars. This is only the beginning. Hold onto your hats. 5. Is the US really a country ruled by law? Is the United States really a country ruled by law? Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present) Answered just now Internally, the US still seems to be controlled by laws, although some of the laws are not constitutional. For example, Article 1, section 8 of the Constitution says that the Congress has the right to coin money and regulate the value thereof. However, in 1913, the Congress abrogated this provision and gave this right to a group of bankers, who call themselves the Federal Reserve Board. In the latter part of the 20th Century, presidents started declaring and waging war without consulting Congress. This too is a violation of the Constitution so presidents are now declaring war whenever they so desire. That is a form of lawlessness and very dangerous. The eavesdropping on citizens’ phone conversations also has no foundation in law and I think it is a gross violation of human rights. But externally, it’s actually much worse. The US has completely ceased to guide itself by international law. Trump’s trade war, for example, his arresting of a CEO official in Canada, his sanctions on various countries, all this is a violation of international law and WTO rules, and Trump is not the only one. He is only the worst example, but others have transgressed as well. The Iran-Contra affair was another example of illegal shenanigans by government. The CIA is extra-legal and extra-constitutional. No one can control it. Its first sleazy affair may have been the overthrow of Iran’s legitimately elected president, Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 (and Americans still can’t figure out why Iran is mad at them?!). Yet the public must pay its operatives to violate the law, for example, by toppling governments. The extradition of Julian Assange is also one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice imaginable. Assange was not even charged with a crime when the US first demanded he be held in the UK. There is no law in the US when it comes to foreign affairs. So I would have to say that the US is becoming increasingly lawless and while most Americans seem oblivious to this roguish behaviour (some even think it is part of making America great!), they will pay for it eventually. 6. The US-China trade war could cost the US stock market more than several trillion dollars in upcoming months. Do you think it would be a wise decision to sell half my stocks? https://www.quora.com/US-China-trade-war-could-cost-U-S-stock-market-more-than-several-trillion-dollars-in-upcoming-months-do-you-think-it-would-be-a-wise-decision-to-sell-half-of-my-stocks/answer/Vince-Dhimos Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present) Answered just now I do not give advice because I would feel bad if I was wrong. But if I were holding US stocks today, I would get rid of them. I feel that Russia is the most stable economy on earth right now (as shown here: http://www.newsilkstrategies.com/economics-and-finance/russia-the-most-stable-and-healthy-of-all-industrial-economies) and would investigate that stock market or bond market. Again, that is not advice, just telling you what I would do. 7. If you could decide America’s defence budget how much would you spend? https://www.quora.com/If-you-could-decide-Americas-defence-budget-how-much-would-you-spend/answer/Vince-Dhimos The US has already overspent and yet is behind Russia in terms of development of new arms. I would not spend one dime on aircraft carriers because any aircraft carrier complete with crew and aircraft burden can be sent to the bottom of the sea within a few minutes of a Russian or Chinese decision. Iran also has missiles that are accurate enough to sink any aircraft carrier. I would spend on subs, torpedoes, hypersonic missile development and anti-air defences. I would place several batteries at important sensitive sites. And I would not spend over 20% more than the Russians. Yes, the defence industry would come after me with their long knives and try to sabotage my next campaign, but after all, I would be in the employ of the American people, not those vultures. But your question ignores one point: diplomacy. This is the missing ingredient in the US, where armaments are no longer the deciding factor in dealing with other countries. When the US stopped using diplomacy, that was when the Russian arms developers went into overdrive. The problem is, US policy is not written by technical or even remotely competent people. It is written by politicians based on political considerations, and that spells disaster. No politician in the US cares about national security. They are all concerned with one thing: votes and keeping the real rulers of America happy, ie, Israel, Saudi, the arms manufacturers who donate millions to candidates, the FED, which wants more and more spending, and generally everyone but the American people. 8. Is Boris Johnson an appropriate choice for prime minister? (sorry, I lost the link) Foreign Minister Boris Johnson was very typical of high ranking British politicians including prime ministers and was similar to Theresa May in that he was a devout Russophobe. When the former Russian spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury, England, Boris immediately proclaimed that the Russians were to blame for their poisoning. Like May, he did not await the results of an investigation. He just immediately concluded that the Russians were guilty because blaming the Russians is what patriotic British pols do. In other words, he is the ideal British politician. A real gentleman who is not afraid to jump to conclusions for his country's security! Of course, he is no Sherlock Holmes, but then you can't be all things to all people. 9. What are war crimes? This question is a translation from the German sector of Quora. The following is my translated answer, with additions made after posting. https://de.quora.com/Was-sind-Kriegsverbrechen/answer/Vince-Dhimos War crimes are crimes that are committed by a combatant in a war that are essentially defined according to definitions applicable in ordinary civilian criminal court but are adjudicated in a military tribunal, with one very important exception, namely, there is no punishment if they are committed by Americans or American allies. For example, the Nuremberg trials were held after WW II under the control of the US and Germans were held accountable for war crimes such as murder. Some were even hanged. Later, when American soldiers were found to have committed a massacre at Song Mai in Vietnam, the responsible persons were not tried or convicted. All returnees from the war were feted as heroes in the US. This paragraph was added after my answer was posted at Quora: Now the case of Bradley/ Chelsea Manning is perhaps the most bizarre example of how US war crimes not only are not prosecuted but whistle-blowers who expose them can be tried and jailed for doing so. Manning’s case is also an example of just about everything that is wrong with America. For example, it illustrates what I had written about American “democracy,” namely that it does not exist and that the US is ruled by around a dozen agencies that make and implement most of the important decisions. One of Manning’s best-known deeds was the leakage of secret video footage of the murder of a group of men, including well-known journalists, in Baghdad by a US helicopter crew. This video is linked at the top of this page. It was considered a crime to leak this footage, and as far as the US government is concerned, it is no doubt a crime to view it. I invite everyone to do so so that you can see how far the US government has sunk and why a poll shows that the US is no longer trusted even among its allies and another international poll shows that the US is deemed as the country most likely to cause a war. It is hard to understand what makes Washington tick. Satanism would seem like the best explanation.
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