The Art of a Really Big Deal?

It is interesting to note the commentary today after the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin.  It seems to be consensus that Putin gained and Trump lost.  I seriously doubt that is the reality of the situation.  Here are my thoughts:

• Russia has tremendous resources but is backward in many ways as an economy.
• Trump's focus and basis for everything he has done appears to be business and making deals.
• Leverage for gaining what one wants is based in economic power (at least that's the way I suspect Trump views things).
• Russia could "balance" China.
• Russia can offset the E.U.

As to the claim that Trump "trusts" Putin above his own intelligence service on the matter of election interference, can you really blame him when you see the farcical hearings of FBI agent Strzok and the supposed "blackmail" file that our esteemed CIA was involved in collecting and releasing during the campaign?  Would you trust the Deep State?

Then we have the comments about the EU being our opponent.  Certainly they are an opponent relative to the Iranian Nuclear Deal in which the EU continues to trade with Iran while we re-imposed sanctions.  They are negating our efforts to thwart the rise of a nuclear Iran.  What else would you call them?

I believe the President sees opportunity with Russia.  There is opportunity for trade which might be the "fertilizer" to strengthen the seeds of Capitalism within that country and give us leverage for stronger foreign policy.  After all, Russia, like the U.S., is one of the strongest holdouts to the rise of "One World" thinking which is rooted most deeply in the E.U.

Let's Make a Deal on a global scale....

Spotted Cattle, Vodka, and Boat Rides

Dairy genetics is one of the more esoteric fields of modern animal husbandry.  The selection process in the U.S. is finely tuned to the productivity of the animal and their ability to provide a steady stream of profit to the ailing industry.

The art has reached such a pinnacle of success upon this continent that prize specimens of the species are in great demand throughout the world.  Therefore, it was no surprise when Ivan (whose country of origin you might guess) came calling on an organization known for developing such prime specimens to the point that their genetic potential was ready to burst forth with amazing productivity.  The problem being that a large body of water as well as a couple of extensive land masses lay between the developer and the ultimate recipient of said genetic wonder.

So, Ivan, through the good offices of a broker for such phenomenon, came calling. 

The ordeal of extensive time within the confines of the large silver bus with wings was quickly overcome by the selective offerings of various libations carried on large carts pushed by comely servants who soon found that Ivan was depleting their stocks quite rapidly.  But, never worry, the duration of the flight would eventually end and the charge would be handed to one whose skill at communication was limited to two languages -- that of Ivan and that of his intended victim -- er, I mean business acquaintance.

Ivan came with an entourage:  A Veterinarian whose years alone must have been the prime qualifying factor for his services, a government official whose youth indicated acquaintance with the most modern practices of animal husbandry, and a business partner whose nervous character was probably due to the lack of body guards which likely accompanied him in his native country.

Their visit brought the clash of cultures into sharp focus when they finally arrived in Southwest Kansas and immediately began to deplete the local supply of vodka.  Every brand.  Every bar.  Every liquor store.  It created something of a celebrity stir when they found that Crowne was but a poor substitute for their preferred libation.

Finally, however, they faced the task at hand -- selecting by careful inspection, the candidates for the long boat ride back to Ivan's homeland.

The process took several days as well as the timely review of each specimen and then the requisite battery of tests which proved no disease of consequence could possibly be contained within their ample frames.  Each patterned heifer, bulging with their growing progeny, passed through the confining strictures which allowed the Veterinarian and the budding government official to pass judgement on their individual merits.

It soon became apparent that merit was in the eye of the beholder for many exceptional specimens were passed off as unacceptable due to minor blemishes in favor of more questionable individuals that exhibited perfect eye-color, or perhaps a special pattern of markings which appealed to the judges.  Of course, the requisite fuel for judging consisted of barley, hops and the results of a fermentation process that had previously been confined to brown glass bottles.  That was before lunch.  After lunch, a higher octane was required to maintain an equilibrium that must only have developed in the womb and been carried to perfection through proper medication in liberal amounts.

Nevertheless, after hours of evaluation, the perfect specimens had been selected for the cruise.  They were loaded on trucks and shipped to port to await their pampered journey which by-the-way was delayed for ten days while appropriate paperwork was completed, stamped, sealed, signed and delivered.  For you see, stamps and seals are the sign of authority -- in spite of the fact that the local Staples can deliver -- custom-made, to-your-door -- the stamp or seal of your design and choosing within the same ten days.

Deal completed, selectees delivered, the entourage and Ivan departed.  The local bars celebrated their record sales and the U.S. export balance was momentarily moved in a positive direction.  Or, at least that was the thought until recently discovered that all was funded by the American taxpayer through the good offices of our current Administration in Washington.  For you see, it was our own USDA funding the enterprise.  It is now time for Paul Harvey to speak his famous line -- "And now you know......"

Paradigm Shift

It takes many generations to effect a fundamental shift in attitudes. How can we expect Russia to make the leap to a modern state in the few short years since the collapse of the Soviet Union?

May 31, 7:51 PM EDT

Rice: Russian Attitudes Locked in Past

By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer

POTSDAM, Germany (AP) -- Russian attitudes are locked in the past, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday, adding that the United States is perplexed by the current fracas with Russia over a planned U.S. missile system in Europe.
"We want a 21st Century partnership with Russia, but at times, Russia seems to think and act in the zero-sum terms of another era," Rice said, referring to the suspicions and territorial ambitions of the Cold War....(complete article here)

_______________________________

How can we expect
A complete paradigm shift
In less than a generation?
The leaders of Russia
Grew up in a time
Of a completely Communist nation.

It is much like Iraq
Where we think we can take
The people out of the dark ages
And in a few years
Change their total thought system
To that of Democracy's sages.

One of the failures
Of our electoral system
Is that of lost continuity.
For the gains that are made
Under one administration,
Post election fall in obscurity.

So we rush to accomplish
In one or two terms
What should span many more years.
'Cause unlike a dictator
Our view is short sighted
And based on our most recent fears.

However, I don't think
We should trade what we have
For some other system of rule.
The alternatives there
Leave much more for desire
And to change would make us the fool.

In spite of the flaws
What we have is the best
System devised by man.
If you doubt then you're free
To pick up and move
To Russia, Iraq, or Sudan.

It's Going to Take One Big Mole!

This is interesting in light of my previous post this morning concerning China.

Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a Link to Alaska (Update3)

By Yuriy Humber and Bradley Cook

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to build the world's longest tunnel, a transport and pipeline link under the Bering Strait to Alaska, as part of a $65 billion project to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia.
The project, which Russia is coordinating with the U.S. and Canada, would take 10 to 15 years to complete, Viktor Razbegin, deputy head of industrial research at the Russian Economy Ministry, told reporters in Moscow today. State organizations and private companies in partnership would build and control the route, known as TKM-World Link, he said.
A 6,000-kilometer (3,700-mile) transport corridor from Siberia into the U.S. will feed into the tunnel, which at 64 miles will be more than twice as long as the underwater section of the Channel Tunnel between the U.K. and France, according to the plan. The tunnel would run in three sections to link the two islands in the Bering Strait between Russia and the U.S.
``This will be a business project, not a political one,'' Maxim Bystrov, deputy head of Russia's agency for special economic zones, said at the media briefing. Russian officials will formally present the plan to the U.S. and Canadian governments next week, Razbegin said.
The Bering Strait tunnel will cost $10 billion to $12 billion and the rest of the investment will be spent on the entire transport corridor, the plan estimates.
``The project is a monster,'' Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist with Trust Investment Bank in Moscow, said in an interview. ``The Chinese are crying out for our commodities and willing to finance the transport links, and we're sending oil to Alaska. What, Alaska doesn't have oil?''
Finance Agencies
Tsar Nicholas II, Russia's last emperor, was the first Russian leader to approve a plan for a tunnel under ......

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Follow the link and read the entire article. A tunnel under the Bering Strait? I suppose it is better for us to beat the Chinese to the vast repository of raw materials in Siberia. I can't see them sitting still for it when they will desperately need these materials and the energy over the coming years. It is going to become a matter of priorities for them. Do they invade north into the "storehouse", or head west to the "powerhouse"? If they go north, they get both. Will this country be willing to go to war as an ally of Russia against China to prevent it? We'd better be becoming energy independent quickly!