169 results for author: Dave Svetlik

TECTONIC SHIFTS

History matters. As World War II came to an end in 1944, Europe and Japan were in ruins while the U.S. had become the world’s economic powerhouse. At a historic meeting in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, forty-four countries agreed to fix their currencies to the U.S. dollar and the dollar was made convertible to gold at $35 per ounce. Thereafter countries would settle their international trade in dollars, and the dollar became the world’s reserve currency. As one might expect, having the dollar as the world’s reserve currency proved enormously beneficial to America. The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, and the large Wall Street banks that control it, ...

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

  Anyone who was of high school or college age in the 1960’s remembers the black comedy sitcom, The Addams Family. It was a delightful show with strange and morbid characters one couldn’t help but love. One of these characters was the little girl named “Wednesday.” There have been subsequent productions of The Addams Family, but the most recent is the new TV series “Wednesday,” based on the original little girl, but now as a young woman (played by American actress, Jenna Ortega) coming of age and “leaving her family’s spooky mansion for the halls of Nevermore Academy.” A wonderful video of Wednesday dancing at a school ...

BUT WOULD YOU LIKE ANOTHER AIRCRAFT CARRIER?

Average American to US Congressman: “Congressman, my city’s water is supplied through aging lead pipes. Children are showing high levels of lead in their bodies that damages brain development and their overall health. I’m terrified for my own children. We need congress to provide the money to replace these dangerous pipes.” US Congressman to Average American: “Yes, yes, I know – these pipes are a real problem and believe me, I feel your pain. But you know, times are tough and we just don’t have the money right now. Maybe you can buy bottled water for the kids and cooking and have everyone take quick showers. We’ll sure look at this ...

IF THE B-21 COULD SPEAK

The First Commandment: “I am the Lord thy God – thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Idolatry: the worship of a physical object as a god   The dignitaries, the VIP’s, the CEO’s, the top brass had gathered. Hundreds had come on a warm, a beautiful, California evening. The dusk sunlight still lit the air. The national anthem was sung. Hands covered hearts, the brass stood in uniformed salute as the ear shattering military aircraft flew overhead. It was perfection. Hollywood was humbled. The stage was set. The CEO of Northrup-Grumman extolled the great accomplishments, the dedication, the unimaginable advances. But this ...

RUSSIAGATE REVISITED

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth.” -  George Orwell This past October a group of 30 Democrats from the U.S. congress wrote a letter to President Biden suggesting  he pursue negotiations with Russia for peace in Ukraine. They were immediately and loudly condemned by the remainder of the Democratic Party and quickly rescinded the letter. Think about this – let it sink in. A group of legislators was condemned for the outrageous act of suggesting efforts toward peace. What does it say about a political party, about a society, ...

JUST WHO IS THE AGGRESSOR?

Americans all know Russia is aggressive, populated by Slavic barbarians, and their leader, Putin, is a mad gangster out to dominate the world. The Chinese are just as bad. Their leader, XI Jinping, is friends with Putin. Need one say more? We need to hate these people. But Americans also believe in fairness, a level playing field. Since the U.S. has placed missiles near Russia’s boarders in Poland and Romania (Ukraine was next) just 5 – 7 minutes flight time to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major Russian cities, Russia should put missiles back in Cuba. And as the U.S. is placing arms and missiles on the internationally recognized Chinese ...

AVOIDING NUCLEAR WAR

The world is now closer to nuclear war than at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. History matters. In 1961 the U.S. placed nuclear armed Jupiter missiles on the Soviet Union's border in Turkey. The Soviets reacted and in 1962 placed missiles in Cuba. The U.S. was outraged and threatened nuclear war because the Soviet Union had had the audacity to do to America what America had done to them. Quoting then Soviet Chairman Nikita Krushchev in a statement to President Kennedy: “You are disturbed over Cuba. You say that this disturbs you because it is 90 miles by sea from the coast of the United States of America. But Turkey adjoins us; our ...

The Prophetic Words of Plutarch

“The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections. Later on, this process of corruption spread to the law courts. And then to the army, and finally the Republic was subjected to the rule of emperors.” “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” - - Plutarch When first reading this quote, I thought - “This person must be an American describing the current state of our nation!” But Plutarch was not an American. He was a Greek philosopher/historian who lived over two thousand years ago in the first century A.D., 1300 years ...

Social Security

Established in 1935 under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), social security has kept millions of retired and disabled Americans out of abject poverty. But we hear a repeating refrain from politicians – currently Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson – that the program is “going broke” and needs “reform.” History says otherwise. Luther Gulick was an aid to FDR and an expert in public administration working for the Treasury Department. The following conversation from the Social Security historical archives took place between Gulick and FDR in 1941: “In the course of this discussion I [Gulick] raised the question of the ultimate ...

Who Is the Aggressor? By Dave Svetlik

WHO IS THE AGGRESSOR? By Dave Svetlik Older Americans remember well the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 when the US and the Soviet Union (USSR) nearly launched a civilization ending war because the Soviets had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. But what was kept from US media at the time was that a year earlier the US had installed nuclear missiles in Turkey [1], bordering the Soviet Union. Moscow and other Russian cities were easy targets. Americans also never heard that in agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba, the USSR forced America to remove its missiles from Turkey. Americans will find it hard to accept, but the Soviets simply did ...