Does your federal representative represent you?

 I FEAR THEY ALL REPRESENT WASHINGTON

REFORMS NEED TO BE DEMANDED BY CITIZENS

With primaries coming up in the next few weeks and midterm elections coming in 6 months, many question if there will ever be any difference, no matter who is elected.  We hear all the campaign slogans, the diatribe against their opponent, but in reality very little changes. The biggest reason that little changes is that once elected, these representatives spend most of their time in Washington, only coming home for occasion fundraisers or photo ops. It is almost inevitable that they are soon overwhelmed by the culture of Washington, no matter their good intentions, when first running for office.

Their party and their Washington donors have much more power over them than any power in their district. That power translates into campaign money, and media image building. If there is no reform concerning our representatives there will not be any change and they will in effect just be representatives of Washington to you, rather than the other way around.

Making changes will require a steadfast demand for simple changes by you, the voters. Voters need to focus more on the overall well being of the country rather than some hope of benefits or financial incentives of bringing home the bacon. After decades of this incentive, the bacon is getting slimmer, and the debt and loss of representation is getting greater.  

Just a few simple demand by voters would be a start.

1. Limit campaign donations to only money from citizens of their district. Eliminate money from outside the district, even from  national parties. Do not vote for any representative who accepts money from foreign lobbies of any kind. We should also demand daily disclosure of  contributions on their website. 

Personally I have been a super voter for near 50 years, I fully expect that I may no longer be able to find a candidate to vote for, under these conditions, we have to start somewhere.

2. Representatives must maintain an office in their district that they occupy, not in Washington. No more wining and dining with special interests 300 days a year and only coming home for the campaign season. They can conduct business right from their office and I suspect they could even do their voting from this office. It would remove a lot of the power of parties and lobbyists. They need to represent the people of their district, that is what this job is supposed to be about. If they need to depend on the support in all ways from the citizens, they will better represent those citizens.

While there are most likely many more reforms needed, this would be a major start to really restoring our system of government as it was intended.

 

Day 74, No change in Iran non negotiations.

 NO CHANGE IN POSITIONS SINCE BEGINNING OF WAR

BEST DEAL WAS REACHED IN GENEVA

Sending messages back and forth with the same ultimatums and demands is not negotiations, there is no movement to end this Iran conflict.  It has been reported that the best deal was achieved in Geneva when Iran agreed to most parts of the nuclear deal and the war began the next day. We should not expect that any negotiated peace is possible at this point. It seems there is probing attacks and some sort of effort to find a weak spot in Iran in the hope of some decisive military action,  an action to defeat Iran without collapsing the world economy. 

Trump is off to China to meet XI, unless war resumes, I wonder if there is really anything to talk about? We will soon be at an impasse with China, especially with the continuous trash talk coming out of Washington.  The reality is that contrary to the narrative about China needing access to the U.S. market, it will soon be true that they will no longer need that access, but can the U.S. survive without the products now made in China? As for cutting off their energy from the Gulf, don't underestimate China's ability to increase its moves to other forms of energy and also increase access to Russian oil.

Rumors are increasing of a decisive event building internally in Ukraine, coupled with other reports that Putin has finally been convinced by his right wing to get this conflict over with quickly. A combination of internal turmoil and outside escalation at the same time?

Financial problems in the Gulf countries, who have massively increased their debt in an effort to diversify away for dependence on oil, but insured by oil revenues that no longer exit. The fear is that they will need to start liquidating their U.S. holdings, already causing some private equity firms to limit withdrawals. The U.S. treasury it seems is hoping to rescue them rather than let their liquidations start a slide in asset prices. Can the  U.S. treasury prop up any more, when it is having a hard time doing the same at home? 

Something has to give soon, oil needs to flow or increased prices and actual shortages will inevitably cause liquidations of other assets, once started, it may be impossible to stop.

Are Plug in EV's soon obsolete?

 CHINA AUTOMAKERS BECOMING INNOVATIVE LEADERS

BECOMING THE DOMINANT GLOBAL AUTOMAKERS

Chinese automakers, now producing 35 million vehicles in 2025, are also becoming leaders in innovation. It seems the innovations are moving so fast that within only a few years older models are looking obsolete. China is the largest producer of electric vehicles. It is also the largest producer of vehicles, 35 million,  with the U.S. second at 10 million and Japan third at 6.2 million. China exported 8.3 million vehicles with the largest markets Mexico, Russia, UAE and the UK. China also exported over 500,000 used vehicles. Canada is expected to allow a test import of 50,000 cars in the near future.

They are manufacturing small electric city cars with 300 mile range for near $10,000 up to exotic cars with 1200 hp competing with the Italian sports cars for under $100,000. 

Their latest innovations are a BYD hybrid that uses a super efficient gas motor rated at 46% efficiency that eliminates the transmission, which uses lots of power, and the engine runs a generator system that runs the car electrically until it get up to highway speed, then switches to low RPM direct engine drive. It is rated to deliver around 85 miles per gallon. This translates to a range for the vehicle of 1300 miles. The average efficiency of other vehicles is near 30%. 

Dongfeng company has stated that they have produced a new engine at over 48% efficiency that will produce 94 miles per gallon with a Hybrid driveline. 

Not much feedback is available on the maintenance and realizability of these cars, but when the EU and NATO forced BMW, VW and Mercedes to suspend car exports to Russia, the Chinese quickly replaced those cars. While Russians were apprehensive it seems they are becoming satisfied with their new Chinese autos.

It is not expected that Chinese cars will ever be imported into the US, but the rest of the world will be a massive market for Chinese cars. There are reports of Chinese cars showing up in Texas in greater numbers, driven by Mexican commuters. 

Day 70, Indications of war far into the future.

 SENATE DEFENSE BUDGET HEARING INDICATES MORE WAR

PERSIAN GULF STRAIT AUTHORITY UNVEILED

The Persian gulf war ceasefire seems to be on life support and hostilities could commence at any time. It appears that war will be the status for many months, if not years to come. 

Yesterday, Iran unveiled its new "Persian Gulf Strait authority", PGSA, to administer traffic through the strait of Hormuz, It defines the corridors and conditions complete with application forms. We will see if it will be able to allow traffic through the strait.

The recent Senate hearings on the new Defense Budget to $1.5 trillion seems to have many Senators, both Democrat and Republican, ecstatic at the hope of government money flowing into their states. We can expect that massive increase will be approved. The hearings narrative is that the United States now faces threats from many places and national security must be the most important thing on the agenda. It now appears that the Trump administration will soon confine its focus to foreign relations and war on many fronts. 

Discussion in the hearings on the need to implement the "Defense Production Act" and use corporations to increase military supplies including Detroit Auto makers. It is also planned to replace the dwindling energy supplies out of the gulf with U.S. LNG. creating excitement from Alaska's senators. One must ask, is the U.S. about to go on a total war footing? 

It may be that the status of the strait of Hormuz is exactly what is desired, replacing Persian gulf oil with U.S. LNG and thereby cutting off energy to those who we want to contain and control, and insure the payments in U.S. dollars.

Also part of the new budget is starting in December 2026, the Selective service registration will be automatically completed by information gathered from existing data. It will apply to all males between 18 and 26. 

It is clear that dominating the globe will require many more ships and sailors.

Day 69, More fake peace announcements?

 OIL PLUMMETS AGAIN ON PEACE PLAN

AMAZING THAT THIS STILL WORKS

On Sunday we saw the new plan to open the strait of Hormuz, it lasted one day. It was then followed by an announcement of an imminent peace deal, that only the U.S. knows anything about. It was followed by large drop in the oil futures market, just like after every other imminent peace deal. 

Project freedom lasted one day because Iran struck the UAE oil terminal that bypasses the strait of Hormuz and directs oil to the Red sea. It is reported that Saudi Arabia and Qatar also complained that it was going to risk damage to their oil facilities. Saudi Arabia yesterday announced it would now ban the use of its airfields and airspace for future attacks on Iran. The gulf nations understand that Iran is warning that if attacked again, they will destroy the oil production facilities in the region.

It seems there really is no progress on an end to this conflict and I doubt that Trump is that concerned if the gulf oil is taken offline permanently, except for the rise of the oil price, which would be politically damaging.  It is becoming obvious Trump believes the U.S. can supply oil to its allies if necessary and will increase the U.S. trade income.

The trade war, especially in oil, is heating up, Ukraine, with the help of the NATO, is increasing its attacks on Russian oil. Interruption of oil tankers is occurring in many places. Russia has warned Ukraine that any attacks on Moscow during their WW2 celebrations this weekend is going to result in a massive attack on Kiev, and has recommended the evacuation of civilians from Kiev. I doubt that this is an idle threat.

The increased threat to global oil supplies can be expected to result in big power direct conflict at some time, probably soon.

As for Iran, the air war has not brought about capitulation, further air war promises to bring retaliation and a further damage  to oil supplies. The attempt to capture the nuclear material failed and the attempt to open the strait also failed. Now in the 10th week, it may be an indication that this conflict may go on for many months. It is racking up enormous costs to everyone on the planet. There is no indication that either side will capitulate any time soon.

U.S. policy, Reinvent the British Empire?

PLANNING ON  RULING THE WORLD

CONTROLLING GLOBAL CHOKE POINTS AND ENERGY

While many assume the Iran war is a tragic mistake or caused by Trump's deference to Israel. The reality is becoming quite clear that this is all about global dominance. It is not a mistake, it is all about the foreign policy adopted long ago, at least for 35 years. It is nothing more than an attempt to reinvent the British Empire, but under U.S. dominance. 

At one time the British Empire came as close to any nation in history in ruling the world. While Greece, Rome and others ruled the advanced world of the time, only the British empire did, in effect, rule the world. It was not possible until the industrial age with ships and eventually aviation, capable of projecting power around the world. 

It seems this plan has been adopted by the Trump administration, before being sworn in for his second term. He signed on for the plan being pursued by previous administrations.  Whether the American citizenry really wants to adopt the policies of the former British empire, is yet to be decided. A system that created division, death and destruction and forced it dominance by any means possible, starvation in Ireland and India, forced drug acceptance in China or brute military power. For any Christian or other person with a morale foundation it is not what we should be setting the hope of our future on.

The signs were visible since the beginning of this administration, The changing of the name of the department of defense to the department of war. The funneling of all saving wrought by DOGE to the military budget and now the hope of increasing the military budget by 50%. The plan to retake control of the Panama Canal and the plan to incorporate Greenland and Canada into the U.S.,the colonisation of Venezuelan oil and now the attempt to take control of Iranian oil, all Persian gulf oil and control the strait of Hormuz and Malacca straits. This is also tied to the hope of gaining access to Russian oil and resources or make them unavailable to the rest of the world. It is a hope to control the flow of energy and resources all around the world and thereby force political compliance and the use of the dollar in world trade. 

So far, the rest of the world has not seriously pushed back to this plan, whether because they do not believe the U.S. has the financial or manufacturing base to support this project and would rather see it die of its own overextension rather than by military confrontation. We may expect that soon all that may change, as now, the economic security of many nations is being threatened.

This plan requires a large vibrant Navy. The U.S. produced .5% of the world ships, China produces 50%., similar statistics relate to steel production, China produces over 1 Billion tons, the U.S. 80 million tons. A world ruling nation needs massive amounts of production. It also requires massive investment in capacity, the U.S has near $40 Trillion in debt caused by past consumption, with little available for investment in the future.

If the plan is to "Make America Great Again" by coercion, threats and controlling who will get resources and at what price, the leadership should have focused on providing the ability to sustain that power. When this power is seriously challenged, which it soon will, it may be a short and devastating disappointment.

Will AI produce wealth?

GOVERNMENTS MAY BE BIGGEST CUSTOMERS

WILL AID IN EXPANDING SURVEILLANCE STATE

AI has become the biggest source of speculative profit in the stock market. It is estimated that 75 to 80% of the stock market gains in 2025 were related to AI stocks. It brings back memories of the .com boom and bust of the past. While I suspect there will be success stories in AI, I have yet to understand how this new phenomenon will translate to more food, energy or improvement in the standard of living of the general population. 

So far,  it appears the biggest customer is government, for either military applications or for expanding the surveillance state. I suppose that it could eliminate a lot of jobs and costs in the bureaucracy, but only time will tell if it will be used in that way.  I also believe that there will be a massive bust in these companies as the best and those with the applications that can produce wealth will survive and prosper. With the advent of the internet, those companies and applications that increase sales and revenue out lasted those that did not. In most cases it was able to facilitate the movement of goods and services to more people more efficiently.   

So far, AI appears to be mostly about collecting data. We hear of massive data centers rising everywhere, with there thirst for energy. A thirst that may add to the cost to the public, but will it benefit the public or just make data about the populace a commodity. A commodity that will not likely produce any product or resource needed for human needs.

If AI is going to be used to better surveil and control the population one has to wonder, why. Does government now view its citizens with suspicion and will AI make it easier to identify those that may not be willing to easily conform to government plans. 

It seems the world is hell bent, or at least the elites and governments, about the possibilities of AI, all to be paid for by the taxpayers. There needs to be a better explanation of how this new technology will add to the wellbeing of the general population.