Easy Solution to Axis of Evil

So there is an easy solution to the hellbent destruction of the Axis of Evil...

North Korea and Iran are sworn to the destruction of the U.S. and it's allies. 

Repeatedly, they sponsor global terrorism, abuse human rights, violate agreements against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conduct nuke tests, and missile launches. 

Instead of destroying the missiles immediately upon launch or on the launchpad, which is a nice start...

Let's just do this:

- When North Korea launches, let's redirect the guidance system on the missile to Tehran. 

- And when Iran launches their missiles, let's redirect it toward Pyongyang. 

We don't have to fire a single volley. 

Let the evil ones destroy each other and have a gangbusters time doing it. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Pixabay)

Easy Solution to Axis of Evil

Crosshair Planning And National Security

So I wanted to share this amazing crosshair diagram...

Not because we currently have North Korea in the crosshairs before they hit us with a nuclear-tipped ICBM.

But rather for how this diagram can be used in strategic planning and enterprise architecture. 

The way this is used is the following:

First, you put your goals in the inner quadrants (or other such division of the inner circle).  For example, perhaps you have a goal to reduce your weight which is now 215 lbs. 

Next you create concentric rings around your goals with each ring representing a time horizon. For example, the first ring could be 6 months, the 2nd ring 1 year, and so on. 

Then for each timeframe in the rings, you put what your target is for that related goal. For example, maybe in 6 months you want to reduce your weight to 210, and then by end of year 1 to 205.

In this way, you can easily show your goals as well your targets over various time frames into the future. 

You can similarly use the other quadrants (or other divisions of the circle) for other goals emanating from the center to the future targets. 

Of course, you can also use this for North Korea--to target above the 38th parallel for dropping a good deals MOABs to clear the enemy and their nukes and missiles from threatening the U.S. and our allies.  The same solution goes for Axis of Evil, Iran, and their endless spread of global terrorism and human rights abuses. 

Targets are for restoring the peace and for strategic planning and these two intersect when it's comes to national security. ;-)

(Source Diagram: Andy Blumenthal)

Crosshair Planning And National Security

Rivers Of Blood

So after years of brutal war in Syria and use of chemical weapons of mass destruction...

Obama and Kerry did nothing!

And the result has literally been rivers of blood in Syria. 

Obama and Kerry could have fired the warning shots--as President Trump just did 79 days into his new administration--but Obama and Kerry choose weakness and inaction.

The result of the Obama administration's inaction is that Russia has now comfortably moved and settled into Syria and that 500,000 Syrians are dead, 13.5 million require humanitarian assistance, 6 million are internally displaced, and 4.8 million refugees have fled across the borders.

Contrary to all who have accused President Trump of being complicit with Russia, instead we now see in him a leader who in fact stands up for what is right to Russia and despots like Syria's Assad.

Perhaps the real person complicit with the Russians and Iranians was Obama who let them ride roughshod over human rights and over America.

In complicity was not President Trump, but Obama secretly whispering to the Russians and caught on an open mic: "After the election, I will have more flexibility"--to do what Americans obviously wouldn't want me to do.

With regards to Syria's chemical weapons, Kerry falsely stated to the American people:

"We got 100% of chemical weapons out of Syria."

However, the slaughter continued for years and we continue to see chemical weapons used again this week with horrific pictures of men, women, and children brutally murdered in the streets of Syria.

But the weakness, disengagement, and leadership from behind from Obama and Kerry is hopefully behind us now. 

Stay tuned...next up is the phony deal that Obama and Kerry made with "Axis of Evil" Iran and the do-nothing with North Korea that has continued to lead them to a nuclear ICBM that can reach America!

So as we will soon start the holidays of Passover and Easter, we know that only G-d can make rivers of white water or of red blood flow mercifully or justly, but Obama and Kerry are the ones complicit in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands in Syria that they could've stopped, but didn't. 

Rivers Of Blood

Time For The Cruise Missiles

It is high time to stop being bystanders while our military is forced to stand mostly idle in the face of the heinous crimes against humanity occurring in Syria over the last 6 years and half a million dead! 

Today, at least 70 people, including 10 children were killed in a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.

In 2013, Syria killed at least 1,500 in what was the unbelievable fiasco of Obama's disappearing red line on the use of such weapons of mass destruction. 

Unfortunately, we can ill afford to tolerate the irresponsible use of these dangerous weapons--chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear.

President Trump needs to show strength where Obama showed only weakness. 

It is high time to light up the cruise missiles into the heart of Damascus--goodbye Presidential Palace and then some. 

Aside from redrawing the solid red line against WMD and punish the Assad regime's criminal activity, we will also put Iran and North Korea on notice not to underestimate or mess with us. 

We must act, before the nuclear ICBMs and suitcases rain into American cities. 

Now is the time to correct the mistakes of the past and reset our national security for the future by restoring the peace through strength. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Time For The Cruise Missiles

Clash Of Civilizations

Things are looking a little less rosy today in the world...

Clash of Civilizations - Tensions continuing to heat up in Middle East as Saudia Arabia is accused of bombing Iran's embassy in Yemen after the Saudi embassy in Iran was ransacked. 

Weapons of Mass Destruction - North Korea conducts H-Bomb test threating major escalation of WMD in Asia, and Iran unveils nuke capable carrying ballistic missiles at 2nd site, and claims surface that ISIS (similar to Syria) is now using chemical weapons. 

Wold Economy - Yesterday, China had to again halt trading (after only 30 minutes) when their stock market dropped another 10%, and the World Bank cuts global growth forecast to just 2.9% for 2016 (down another .4%). 

Violence From Immigration Crisis - Dozens and dozens of women were sexually attacked by alleged gangs of immigrants in multiple cities in Germany after Germany opens its border to 1.1 million immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan, etc. just last year.

Terrorist Attacks -- After multiple terror attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, and on a Russian airliner flying out from Egypt last year, another attack was thwarted just yesterday in Paris on the 1-year anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo killings. 

We may not want to say the words "clash of civilizations," except that we are desperately trying to avoid it, but it seems to be happening and with all it's effects anyway. 

The question is what happens when the proverbial politically "acceptable losses" rise to the point of being completely unacceptable disasters? ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Guio Gloor Modjib)

Clash Of Civilizations

Tears & Fears

All Opinions my own. 

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal adapted from here with attribution to International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons)

Tears & Fears

A Political Teddy Bear

Thought this was an awesome photograph.

Taken on the Washington, D.C. Mall...

You can see the Capitol of the United States in the background.

The gate is surrounding the construction being done.

On the fence is a Teddy Bear--representing so many of our national challenges--sort of just hanging there helpless.

This political bear looks like he's clutching for dear life, but unfortunately he is left hung out to dry as we just keep chugging away...but where is the real progress? 

- ISIS and radical Islam is still growing stronger.

- Iran continues building toward a nuclear WMD.

- China and Russia are "becoming [ever more] aggressive as they perceive U.S. pulling back."

- North Korea achieves capability for a "nuclear ICMB."

- Cyber insecurity is a "real and growing threat."

- There is a growing danger of a catastrophic EMP attack with a "staggering human cost."

- Immigration crisis remains in "limbo."

- Economic growth is "grinding to a halt."

- National deficit is "projected to skyrocket over next decade." 

- American economic competitiveness is in ongoing "slow decay."

- U.S. education "still lagging" significantly in science and mathematics. 

- Life expectancy in U.S. ranks 26th, "right behind Slovenia."

This doesn't mean that good things aren't continuing to happen especially with innovation despite all the gridlock...there is the Apple Watch (ok, the jury is still out on that one too).

Why don't we let the bear down gently please. ;-)

(Source Photo: Minna Blumenthal)

A Political Teddy Bear

2014 The Bad News Goes On

What a 2014 it's been as the world continues it's descent into madness.  

If Ebola, the War with Hamas in Gaza, the shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 killing 298 including 80 children and 15 crew, the intransigence of Iran on Nuclear Weapons, employment still near a 30-year low, the National Debt hitting over $18 trillion (and growing $2.43 billion a day!) and the suicide of comedian, Robin Williams wasn't enough...

- Criminal Records: 1 in 3 adult Americans (i.e. 80 million people) now have a criminal record...hmm, if the average family has around 2.5 people then just about 1 person per household has a criminal record. Are you starting to look around you now?

- Economy: Uber, yes, it's a online "ride-sharing" (i.e. taxi) service, but after it's recent IPO, Uber is worth over $41 billion dollars (more than Delta, Charles Schwab, Salesforce.com, and Kraft Foods). Someone's getting taken for a ride. Is this even surprising considering the S&P is priced over 27 times average 10-year earnings (while the historical average is only 16), the result of pumping the economy with short term easy money policies.  

- Cyber Attacks: After a blithering cyber attack by North Korea, Sony withdraws the release of the movie, The Interview, surrendering to cyber terror, and putting us all at greater risk in the future because cyber crime does pay!

- Islamic Terrorism: While ISIS advances in Syria and Iraq, 132 school children (mostly ages 6-18) plus 9 adults massacred by the Taliban this week in Peshawar, many shot in the head and others lit on fire with gasoline and burnt to death so they are unrecognizable. This only 9 months after the April kidnapping by Boko Haram of more than 280 schoolgirls in Nigeria, which was repeated this week with the kidnapping of another 185 woman and children.

- Russian Militarism: The Great Bear is back with a vengeance as Putin continues driving Russian nationalism and buildup of advanced weapons, including WMD (e.g. nukes), aircraft, submarines, and ICBMs to counter alleged "Western Aggression." And despite, the rubbles' massive decline, Putin promises an economic comeback within 2 years--he'll wait out the West and hold Crimea hostage and spoil it for everything it's worth. 

So where are we going next--more hell on Earth or at some point a turnaround towards heaven again?   

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

2014 The Bad News Goes On

Why We Expect Nothing

I took this photo of a sign at the Metro station to the Reagan National Airport by Washington, D.C. 

"Expect The Unexpected" is the warning.

Don't be complacent--anything can happen--be vigilant--is the message. 

It reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where Jerry jokes about people going to the beach and hiding their wallets in their shoes.

Like, a criminal would never think to check your shoe!

Oh, push the wallet all the way down to the toes, under the tongue, that way the bad guys will never be able to get to it. 

Here, it's more a case of of why don't we expect the darn expected. 

Everybody knows that people "hide" their valuables at the beach in their shoes!

In modern times, we seem blind though to any expectations at all.

- Arab Spring and civil war spreading into Syria and Iraq--after Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, and more--who would've thought?

- Russia taking over Crimea and agitating in Eastern Ukraine--after their little excursions into Georgia and Chechnya--who would expect that?  

- Financial meltdowns and major recession after the dot com and housing bubbles--even my barber was talking about retiring and buying a mansion in the Caribbean--where are these coming from?

The question then is are we really unable to see past our noses or do we just hold steadfast to principle that ignorance is bliss?

Well let's just test the "expect nothing doctrine" that we seem to all be living by these days and see how you feel about these:

• North Korea--they would never invade the South again.

• Iran--sure, they are going to give up their nuclear weapons and their greater Middle Eastern Caliphate ambitions. 

• China--Yeah, we'll just pin them in the South China Sea and they'll never get out.

• The national deficit--it's not and will never be too big for us to handle because we're rich. 

• Terrorism in a major American city--not after 9/11 and all that Homeland Security.

• Environmental catastrophe--we will build a big bubble over ourselves, so no problem.

• Economic inequity--the top 1% deserves to control 43% of the Nation's wealth and everyone else just sit down and shut up.

• The Singularity--how could a machine ever be smarter than us; we've got all the technology fully under our control. 

Well, if you are blind or dumb enough to believe these, just keep putting your money in your shoes at the beach, because there is no reason to expect that anyone would ever think to look for it there. ;-)

Why We Expect Nothing

A Dangerous Game of WMD

According to ArmsControl.org--in 1994, we reached a historic "agreed framework" with North Korea to "freeze operation and construction of nuclear reactors suspected of being part of a covert nuclear weapons program."

In return, the U.S. would phase out economic sanctions, North Korea would be supplied with 500,000 tons of fuel oil annually, and South Korea would build two lightweight reactors for them.

Fast forward just a decade--by 2005, North Korea declares that it has indeed manufactured nuclear weapons, which are then on display for the world in a nuclear test in 2006.

Today in the Washington Post, we herald another historic deal, this one with Iran that "freezes key parts of their nuclear program."

In return, Iran gets relief from economic sanctions.

Yet, even now as we celebrate this historic agreement, the Iranian President is not dismantling but rather demanding the right to keep their atomic program.

Moreover, just last week, according to USA Today, Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei called Israel a "rabid dog" amid chants of "Death to America!"

Online, The Diplomat confidently says this time is different, "Iran is not North Korea," because "Iran is cosmopolitan" and "prides itself on international engagement."

Yet, according to PBS, The Islamic Republic of Iran is far from both of these with a "Supreme Leader who exerts ideological and political control over a system dominated by clerics who shadow every major function of the state."

And Amnesty International writes that Iran has a history of "widening crackdown on dissent that has left journalists, students, political and rights activists, as well as clerics languishing in prisons."

Lest we forget, that Iran is the country that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, threatened to annihilate Israel, denied the Holocaust, asserted that the U.S. itself was behind 9/11, and is the "most active state sponsor of terrorism" in the world.  

Oh, how very cosmopolitan!

While we all would hope and pray for a sincere and lasting peace with Iran, this agreement seems to spell a deja vu world of scary WMD cat and mouse, all over again.

(Source Photo: here)

A Dangerous Game of WMD

Planning For The Next Big One

I saw the movie Olympus Has Fallen, where the North Koreans attack the White House and take the President and the National Security Council hostage. 

While the acting was a "B" at best, the creativity of the attack and the action was an "A".

The attack begins with a stolen Air Force modified AC-130 with side-mounted Gatling guns unleashing hell on the streets of Washington, D.C. and the White House, followed by suicide bombers creating a breach in the gates, RPG's blowing up the security towers, 40 commandos storming though, and more Gatling guns hidden in the sides of two garbage trucks taking out our finest, the Secret Service agents that protect it. 

There is plenty of subterfuge as the North Koreans posing as the security detail for the South Korean leader visiting at the White House make their way into the Presidential bunker, and there's even a countdown to a potential nuclear holocaust by detonation of our own Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) in their silos by the terrorists.

It was so upsetting to see the Secret Service agents overwhelmed by the North Korean's vicious attack--being literally mowed down trying to protect the President and White House. It was also wrenching to see them throw the American Flag from off the White House, as well as terrorize and nearly kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of Defense in order to get the codes to access our nuclear missiles to shut them down and then blow them up. 

There is a saying that "Generals are always trying to fight the last war," and this is the feeling you get when you see this brazen dastardly attack on the central pillar of our political power base--where we are taken by surprise and the White House and President are held in foreign hands on our own soil. 

These types of movies are great action, but also a wake-up call to our security professionals to think out of the box---yes, even like Hollywood--about what such a creative attack could look like. 

I remember after 9/11, when everybody seemed to be saying that no one could've ever imagined something like this happening to us with airplanes being used as weapons, yet the movie "Executive Decision" with Kurt Russell in 1996 posed just such a scenario with an airplane loaded with a bomb and poison gas hurtling towards the east coast. 

Years ago, as robotics and drones started to take anchor, I wondered out loud how prepared we were for armored robot(s) or commandos in robotic exoskeletons making just such a brazen attack. 

Science fiction today is real threats of tomorrow. We may not be there just yet, but how creative are we in really thinking and planning for the next big ugly surprise. 

I say get out your most outrageous thinking caps and let your mind run wild with the worst scenarios you can imagine, and then figure out what you will do about it--rather than waiting for the bad guys to figure it out for you! ;-)

Planning For The Next Big One

Leadership, Beyond Brainwashing and Beatings

Leading by decree rather than merit usually means that the people are either beaten or brainwashed into submission--this is oddly reminiscent of the age-old question, which is mightier, the pen or the sword?

History is full of examples of tyrants, dictators, and monarchs (this goes for some bosses at work too) who take "the throne" putting anyone who opposes them to either be put to death or be "reeducated."

On one hand, the sword is straightforward though it comes in a thousand varieties--where those who oppose the ruler die:

- in open opposition on the battle field
- in public display in front of a firing squad, by hanging, or even by guillotine
- in more surreptitious ways such as with a knife in a back alley somewhere, languishing in a dungeon of old, thrown in a van from the streets with a hood over your head, or taken in the middle of the night never to be seen or heard from again, or even assassinated by anything from a well-placed bullet to a vial of radioactive poisoning

The sword of the dictator knows no mercy.

On the other hand, the pen is more shady and comes in but one form--where those who disagree with the power(s) that be are convinced to think otherwise. There are many examples from the gulag to the labor camp where reeducation, indoctrination, propaganda, brainwashing, hypnosis and other, harsher forms of mind control are employed.

As a child of Holocaust survivors, who lived through the Hitler rein of terror, I am keenly aware of the devastating impact that dictators can have by sword and by pen. Hitler (may his soul be cursed forever) used both to achieve and hold power, sending millions to die in concentration camps and brainwashing a generation of Germans into believing his rhetoric of hatred, superiority, and megalomaniac ideals for world domination.

This week, watching power pass in North Korea from father to son, now for a third generation gripping unto the leadership mantle there, the potential for abuse is certainly present, but there is certainly also the opportunity for positive change. It remains to be seen who this new leader really is and what he will stand for--especially since he is so young--only age 28 or 29.

Previously, I had read about the sword being used to hold unto power in that country with horrifying prison camps, such as the infamous Camp 22 with 50,000 prisoners (many of them political opponents) living under the most inhumane conditions.

This week, I watched on the news and YouTube, citizens apparently wailing over the death of their leader there--and I wondered with the people starving and living in one of the poorest and most isolated nations in the world, are they really that brainwashed to believe in the absolute greatness (almost like a deity) of their leader or was this whole display staged?

In 2010, the son, was given the rank of a 4-Star General--yet supposedly he doesn't have any military experience.

This week, in the son's first week in power, he was given the title "Outstanding Leader"--even before having the chance to lead.

Today, I read in the Wall Street Journal (23 December 2011) how the "Propaganda and Agitation" department there is working to "quickly bolster [the] new leader's legitimacy." According to the article, their responsibility is "for filing North Koreans' minds with awe, devotion, and unswerving respect for the dictatorial dynasty."

While propaganda and force can create yet another generation whose will is bent to serve its leader, my hope and prayer is that we have a possibility for a new way of thinking and leadership in North Korea, and in many other countries around the world today.

Wielding power can be an opportunity to show benevolence, encourage freedom, and win people over through the power of ideas rather than by physical or mental coercion.

(All opinions my own)

Leadership, Beyond Brainwashing and Beatings