SOTU 2023: Domestic Events

Observations of past and present events. Narratives are not intended to indicate an order of significance. Depending on the individual reviewer or organization, summaries may have a different order of importance. In time each of the items below will be expanded.

(a). U.S. Capital Attack – On January 6, 2021, President Trump claimed the election had been stolen and mounted legal challenges in several states that he had lost. More than 2,000 entered the capital, many of whom occupied, vandalized, looted, and assaulted Capitol Police. Wikipedia.

(b). Congressional Baseball Game – On June 14, 2017, the FBI, federal, state, and local law enforcement partner agencies investigated a shooting at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park. The mass shooting occurred during a practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia. Wikipedia.

(c). San Bernadino – On December 2, 2015, a terrorist attack consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernadino, California. ATF conducted traces on the weapons and has determined that they were purchased by the shooter from federal firearms licensees. No evidence that the weapons were purchased unlawfully.

(d). Fort Hood – On April 2, 2014, a mass shooting spree was perpetrated at several locations on the Fort Hood military base near Killeen, Texas. Four people, including the gunman, were killed while14 additional people were injured.

(e). Boston Marathon Bombing – On April 15, 2013, two terrorists planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs which detonated near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring hundreds of others, including 17 who lost limbs. The attack took place during the annual race.

(f). Fort Hood – On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place. A U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military base.

(g). Oklahoma City Bombing – On April 19, 1995, perpetrated by two anti-extremists, killed at least 168 people, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed more than one-third of the building, which had to be demolished. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings within a 16-block radius. Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building,

 

SOTU 2023: Running Summary

Past and present selected observations considered important will be summarized. The summary is a standing post that will be updated throughout the year. Each year, the current copy of the post will be archived and become the basis for the next year’s post. Tenth Anniversary of the 2012 Future Forecast.

The future horizon may indicate international events affecting the U.S. are driven by root causes to manipulate financial markets for international, organizational and personal gain.

If so, this may open the door and expose participation by domestic and international interests in events against the U.S.? Refer to the “SOTU 2023: International Events” posting.

If the 9/11 report has the same lack of integrity as charges against President Trump by fifty security experts, this should be cause for concern.

Background I: Notes, Terms and Examples

  • Links in this posting open additional postings or external references for review of the subject listed. Close opened postings or references to return to this posting.
  • Issues are unsettled matters of a long-term nature where there is disagreement on recognition of the issues or the manner in which to resolve them.
  • Events are occurrences of a negative or positive nature noteworthy of recognition at the time of occurrence.
  • COVID-19 is an example of a negative event in which millions have died. COVID-19 has become a long-term issue in that there is disagreement on the origin of the disease, and the proper method to resolve the issue.

Background II: Observations Derived from Horizon Scanning:

  • Subjective observations may be factual however, researchers may partially agree or disagree with observations presented. Typically used in social sciences.
  • Objective observations are derived from facts and conditions. Typically used in physical sciences and engineering.

Background III: Research Methods

Evaluating a single subject may be simple, while linking the effects of multiple subjects can become highly complex. Typical methods used singularly or in combination include:

Background IV: Horizon Scanning

Techniques listed in the research category will be applied:

SOTU 2023 Running Summary:

Apply objective logic and provide a forecast for future years based on past and present observations. Where the past and present meet the future.

Forward I: Summary of War and Terrorism Issues and Events

Issues summarized in this post are listed in the War and Terrorism category. The summary will evaluate actions taken or not taken, and where responsibility is assigned. Based on outcome of past and present issues, the probability of future events will be presented. Summaries of Issues and Events will develop over an extended time.

2017 SOTU Part IV: National Defense, Security and Immigration establishes the basis for the 2022 Summary. The Oath of Office of the President of the United States and all members of Congress are plainly stated. Additionally, employees, lobbyists, contractors and virtually any position paid for by the citizens of the United States are covered by a similar Oath of Office requirement.

Forward II: Presidents

Presidents of the United States in chronological order. Entries contain links to separate pages with historical information for each president. (Wikipedia) (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Historical rankings of the Presidents of the United States are debatable. Surveys conducted by several independent organizations are listed. The lists are somewhat subjective in nature with different poll results provided.

List of wars involving the United States: There are 105 wars on the list, 4 of which are ongoing. The list is categorized as follows: conflicts, allies, opponents, results, and presidents at the time of conflicts. Wars listed on the above link provide a view of seemingly constant military actions. Consult the following list links for major conflicts. The periods listed may have intervals in conflict.

Major 20th and 21st Century Wars:

World War I: 1914-1918- President, Woodrow Wilson – Democrat

World War II: 1939-1945 – Presidents, Franklin D. RooseveltHarry S. Truman – Democrat

Korean War: 1950-1953 – Presidents, Harry S. Truman – Democrat, Dwight D. Eisenhower – Republican

Vietnam War: 1955-1975 – Presidents, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson – Democrat, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford – Republican

Gulf War: 1990-1991 – George H.W. Bush – Republican

Iraqi No-Fly Zone Operations: 1991-2002 – Presidents, George H.W. Bush– Republican, Bill Clinton – Democrat

Iraq War: 2003-2011 – Presidents, George W. Bush – Republican, Barack Obama – Democrat

Afghanistan War: 2002-2021 – Presidents, George W. Bush, Donald Trump – Republican, Barack Obama, Joe Biden – Democrat

Note: Wars listed in the above references were essentially armed conflict between adversaries. There appears to be a change in methods from direct armed conflict to indirect confrontation and third-party players as listed in the Issue and Event Summaries below.

Of significant concern is the inability to hold aggressors responsible. Conducting business as usual with aggressors does not appear to have consequences. Individuals and groups appear to be practicing profiteering without loyalty to their home country.

Forward III: International Conflict

The Indochina War in which North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam is referred to as the Vietnam War. The United States in support of South Vietnam were confronted by the militaries of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), and Russia, which were both in support of North Vietnam. Prior to the Indochina War, the United States military were also involved in confrontation with the PRC and Russia when North Korea invaded South Korea.

The history of conflict with the PRC and Russia is longstanding and founded in the doctrine of communism and socialism. Observations have demonstrated that taking a liberal, non-defensive posture when confronting or negotiating with followers of the communist or socialist doctrine will not result in satisfactory outcomes.

Communism is a political, social, and economic ideology that advocates the replacement of private ownership and profit-based economies with a classless economic system.

Socialism refers to democratic control of recourses where everything is owned or controlled by the state as opposed to private ownership of resources. List of socialist states.  (communist)

Islam is a religious system based mostly in the Middle East with the duty to struggle to gain resources and territory. Islam can involve aggressive behavior and the desire for conquest through Jihad. Modern conflicts.

Democracy is a system of government by the eligible population through elected representatives, and which embraces Capitalism where a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.

Forward IV: Theoretical Discussion

YouTube: Firing Line video of September 10, 1995, with William F. Buckley Jr. and Henry Kissinger outline and define past posture of international issues over a period of thirty years (1960s-1990s). It seems that Communist, Socialist, and Islamic actor states have changed little since that period and may predict continuation of conflict into the foreseeable future.

Henry Kissinger expressed a point of view that it may be possible to negotiate and become involved in commerce with adversarial states given a strong stance and military were maintained. The cautious optimism expressed by Henry Kissinger may have been the catalyst that many government, financial, consulting, and commercial organizations needed to venture into the abyss with the PRC and other self-proclaimed unfriendly states.

Moving commerce in sourcing goods and services from the domestic economy of the U.S. and other democratic nations to unfriendly states has resulted in a loss of citizen and U.S. national wealth, and a significant increase in national debt. Refer to: U.S. Economy and International Trade, and currently to the Future Forecast Background for 2022-2028.

Forward V: Profiteering

Frequently comments in the media address the significant wealth generated by government insiders trading and investing in stocks. The basis for the comments appears to be advance knowledge of government actions affecting the market. Offshoring of U.S. manufacturing and services may have presented an opportunity that could not be resisted. This may be improper conduct and violation of the Oath of Office. The total sum of profits may not be significant, however, may demonstrate malfeasance. U.S. Politician Stock Trading.

Of greater concern may be questionable activities between members of the government, financial, consulting and commercial organizations using national positions to act as agents of foreign governments and entities. Although the U.S. government has a required budget reporting system, it is not a financial accounting system of annual budget expenditures. It is estimated that annual unaccounted funds may average twenty-eight percent (28%). With $6 Trillion budgeted for Fiscal Year 2023, the unaccounted value could be $1.68 Trillion.

Is profiteering indicated by acts performed for the benefit of self-proclaimed adversaries of the United States, acting as an agent on behalf of an enemy state?

Explosive New Connections? The Biden Foreign Agent Scandal – The Dan Bongino Show on rumble, may expose the roots of the tree as addressed in the Mask of Sanity.

2023 Running Summaries Continued

The history of war and terrorism is a continuous series of events and issues. Regardless of the location, today’s events and issues are most often affected by international influences based in Communism, Socialism and Islam. Leaders of countries based on these beliefs are most often concerned with personal power and conquest. Citizens of the countries are generally peaceful and subject to the dictatorial and repressive regimes.

Interim observation indicates, over time, worldwide warfare has been underway for decades and is increasing in severity. Self-described enemies of democracy appear to be anxious and fearless in their desire for escalation leading to major incursions.

Domestic criminal organizations appear to be expanding at a rapid rate impacted by loss of international control of immigration. This may become irreversible affecting even the supporters of decreased law enforcement.

SOTU 2023: Event and Issue Summaries:

Consult the Recent Post links on the righthand task bar for the following supplementary research posts.

SOTU 2023: Domestic Events

SOTU 2023: International Events

SOTU 2023: Domestic Issues

SOTU 2023: International Issues

 

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SOTU 2023: International Events

Observations of past and present events. Narratives are not intended to indicate an order of significance. Depending on the individual reviewer or organization, summaries may have a different order of importance. In time each of the items below will be expanded.

(a). New York Twin Towers. September 11, 2001 (9/11). Attorney General John Ashcroft blames Clinton-era FBI, CIA. The 9/11Executive Summary. The Commission Report.

Review of THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT titled: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States. The commission consisted of eight senior members (senators, governors and lawyers), and eighty commission staff in support of the effort. The most significant statement in the executive summary is that another attack is expected. Reasons for this are stated problems with foresight, planning and support.

Although there was an overall sense of discomfort that “something” was occurring, the ability to identify, track and impede unknown events was not supported by FBI (domestic), CIA (international) security efforts. Reasons stated were insufficient resources, inability to share information between the entities and ineffective tracking of alien movement within the United States.

Although a significant number of personnel were assigned to create the Commission Report, it reads as a summary. The main Commission Report is significantly more detailed with respect to FAA procedures, however, could not accurately track the hijacked aircraft.

Additional sections of both the summary and main report were superficial regarding real data. Tracking movement of terrorist members was essentially nonexistent. There was advanced indication that significant members of the group were known to be present on the east coast and west coast, routinely moving between locations. The fact that there were groups was unknown prior to the terrorist attack.

As stated, the Executive Summary indicates additional attacks are expected within the United States. The inability to track alien movement today is far more difficult given the growth in millions of aliens, documented and undocumented, entering the country. Are there terrorists entering the country?

Current efforts to control alien entry and movement does not appear to have improved, and may be interpreted as aiding alien movement, and potential terrorists.

(b). World Trade Center Bombing. Occurred on February 26, 1993. Later investigation revealed that Yousef’s Trade Center plot was far more sinister. He wanted the bomb to topple one tower, with the collapsing debris knocking down the second. The attack turned out to be something of a deadly dress rehearsal for 9/11. With the help of Yousef’s uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al Qaeda would later return to realize Yousef’s nightmarish vision.

(c). War in Ukraine. Ongoing international conflict between Russia, alongside Russian backed separatists, and Ukraine, which began in February 2014. Following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian military in the Donbas war. The first eight years of conflict also included naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and heightened political tensions. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

(d). Afghan War. Biden administration’s decision in April 2021 to pull out all US troops by September 2021 without leaving a residual force, were the two critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August 2021.

(e). EgyptAir Flight 990. October 31, 1999 The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded the captain excusing himself to go to the lavatory, followed 30 seconds later by the first officer saying in Egyptian Arabic “Tawkalt ala Allah,” which can be translated as “I put my trust in God.” A minute later, the autopilot was disengaged, immediately followed by the first officer again repeating the same Arabic phrase which can be also translated as, “I rely on God.” Three seconds later, the throttles for both engines were reduced to idle, and both elevators were moved 3° nose down. The first officer repeated “I rely on God” seven more times.

(f). Pam Am Flight 103. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, while the aircraft was in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, it was destroyed by a bomb that had been planted on board, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew in what became known as the Lockerbie bombing. Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom, as well as its deadliest aviation disaster.

(g). Beirut Barracks Bombings. Early on a Sunday morning, October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in (MNF) Lebanon, a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers.

SOTU 2023: Domestic Issues

Observations of past and present long-term issues. Narratives are not intended to indicate an order of significance. Depending on the individual reviewer or organization, summaries may have a different order of importance. In time each of the items below will be expanded.

(a). Border Security: Homeland Security’s mission is to protect U.S. borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs, contraband, and people, while promoting lawful entry and exit. Key findings about U.S. immigrants are rapidly becoming outdated. Immigration appears to be used as a political issue by all sides without any indication of rectification.

The failure of economic science is a main contributor to the problem. To be addressed under the Issue Summary for the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

(b). FBI Cyber Strategy: Security is a complex and rapidly changing subject. In essence, it is a fulltime 7/24 function to safeguard citizens, businesses and government from becoming victims. Consult their website for current information and how to report cyber-crime. Additionally, the link Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency is applicable. Cyber Crime – Credit Cards and Fraud.

(c). Bureau of Economic Analysis; BEA provides current data on the status of the economy, which may seem to the general reader, to be an obscure mystery of how the economy functions. Economics is a highly complex issue. There are thousands of economists at work in government, business and academia. The following is a very limited explanation of the topic.

Fundamentally, economists look for, and recommend, the least cost approach to producing products and providing services. In that regard, automation and robotics have proven to be more efficient than labor. That may appear to provide least cost, and therefore lower prices for the consumer, be they individuals, organizations or the government.

The least product and service cost approach is a fallacy and has led to a negative trade balance with more dollar value of products and services imported than exported. The negative trade balance is over $17 Trillion and is a main cost driver of the higher national debt. It does not consider cost impacts to the environment, lost labor income, taxes and fees not paid as a result of automation.

The loss of taxes and fees also drive the need to borrow to upgrade the infrastructure (roads, railroads, waterways, bridges, airports . . . etc.). It has been suggested that automation in the form of robotics should be taxed to partially make up for the loss of taxes and fees.

In reality, the efficiencies of automation create a REAL excess in the labor market. This excess can be expressed in terms of lower income service sector jobs.

Still, the open border concept is importing millions of lower skilled workers. The result of this combination of automation, lower skilled and lower paying service jobs, and increase in availably of workers as a result of excessive immigration, is leading to increased homeless and immigrants seeking government support, and eventually higher taxes to the citizens.

The real picture of unbalanced trade with foreign markets will, over time, result in imported products and services to effectively be more expensive than domestic production.

Profiteering by members of congress, business and finance markets indicate the driver of these issues may be acts performed for the benefit of self-proclaimed adversaries of the United States. In that event, they may have unintentionally acted as agents on behalf of an enemy state.

However, the result of highly unbalanced international trade is a complex issue which appears to be deeply rooted and leading to aggression toward the United States and other democratic nations via profits earned through excessive exports to these markets.

(d). Education – The Nation’s Report Card Data indicate outcomes in mathematics and reading for grades 4 and 8 continues to decrease. Although assessment of effectiveness of distance education ranked high, it reflects teacher confidence in their mastery of the process, not student outcomes.

U.S. Department of Education USA Facts must be evaluated carefully. Student-to-teacher ratios have decreased from 26.89 students per teacher in 1956, to 15.9 students per teacher in 2020. However, mathematics and reading scores are lower in 2020 than they were in 1956, averaging around 40 percent of expected outcomes. This situation existed prior to COVID-19.

Comparison of U.S. students to international outcomes places U.S. students in the middle-of-the-pack, nearly thirty (30) points behind Chinese students which rank highest on test outcomes. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Day: Global Lessons for the U.S. Education System and Economy: Published on Dec 8, 2018.

It appears that with offshoring of manufacturing, the U.S. has become a consumer-focused, service sector market, while China is a design, engineering and manufacturing environment.

(e). Law and Order – U.S. Department of Justice. The average citizen and many in government are unaware of the responsibilities of the department. The organization structure is quite cumbersome. The expectation created is that the Attorney General is knowledgeable of everything that takes place, whenever and wherever it occurs.

The legal system has ridged procedures when it comes to decisions and following actions. It seems somehow unusual that institutions of higher learning considered dropping courses on the constitution or dropping the subject to the status of an elective course.

As a result, high school and college students increasingly demonstrate failure to adhere to the rule of law. The point is that the intensity of criminal activity of every definition is increasing. As before, the data require close scrutiny. When group violence of all kinds is ignored, the data in the above references are not included that data. Effectiveness of the legal system reflects the failure of the education system. Accountability appears to be too difficult to address. FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR).