Book Review: “Finding Chika”​ by Mitch Albom

 

“Finding Chika” is Mitch Albom’s third book that I have read, first two being “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” Like the previous two books mentioned above, this book is also a portrayal of someone in his life.

This is a story of a little girl, Chika whom Mitch and his wife Janine brought home in Michigan from the orphanage in Haiti for the treatment of a tumor in Chika’s brain. After two years of care in the custody of Mitch and Janine, Chika couldn’t be saved.

During Chika’s treatment, Mitch and Janine, explored extensively all means possible that could have saved the little girl’s life. The story told by Mitch is poignant and is a lesson in love that only a parent can bestow on his/her child.

The vicarious chats between Mitch and Chika are adorable:

“Does God have powers?’ Chika asks.

“Yes,” we say.

“Is he brave?”

“Yes.”

“Does he protect horses?”

Mitch tells the story of the little girl, Chika through the combination of his imaginary conversation with Chika and narrations. He is both expository and persuasive throughout the book. If you love kindliness and innocence, you’ll love this book.

      -Reviewed by Anil Shrivastava ‘Musafir’

“So We Want To Impeach Mr. Trump”​ by Anil Shrivastava ‘Musafir’

We all know that the Democrats started working on Mr. Trump’s impeachment right after the latter took the oath of office in January 2017. Many key Democrats couldn’t accept Mrs. Clinton’s defeat in the hands of President Trump. Rep. Maxine Waters was one of the first Democrats to call for Mr. Trumps’ impeachment. She said this in 2017, “Why would we let somebody like Trump, a con man, come in here and turn it all upside down with his lies and his disrespect? And so, I personally feel very strongly about this and I’m going to keep working until he’s impeached.”

Rep. Rashida Talib complemented Ms. Waters soon after she was elected to the Congress with these famous words, “Baby ……. we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherf#@&!r.”

Our congressmen/women and Senators were elected by their constituents to work on critical issues facing the nation such as healthcare, immigration (including DACA), education, environment, budget caps, infrastructure, social welfare reform, new NAFTA just to name a few. I am sorry to report that our Congress has accomplished none of those.

Talking of Mr. Trump, many of his wounds are self-inflicted. He has added fuel to the fire facilitating his own impeachment. Here are some examples:

· 1. He has demanded that public officials put their loyalty to him ahead of their duty to the public

·2. He encouraged the department of Justice Launch criminal probes into his critics and political adversaries

·3. As Mike Bloomberg put it recently, Mr. Trump is tweeting more and leading less

· 4. He doesn’t trust his advisors; interferes in their work to make them ineffective. In turn they become his enemies

·5. He lacks the tact to work with opposition. (However, in his case the opposition refused to accept him as a legitimate president to begin with.)

· 6. Many of Mr. Trump’s actions seem autocratic not democratic

·7. He withheld military aid from Ukraine until they (Ukraine) agreed to investigate some business dealings of Burisma involving VP Biden’s son, Hunter Biden (a quid pro quo)

Of all the examples above, the Democrats think that Ukraine issue is an impeachable offence. The House of Representatives’ Leader, Ms. Pelosi took this accusation to the level of bribery. No one knows, for sure, whether allegations against Mr. Trump are impeachable charges or not. Representative Adam Schiff, whose committee is leading the inquiry will prepare formal charges against the president and will put that for an up and down vote on the floor of the House. Since Democrats have a 36-seat majority in the House of Representatives, it’s very likely that President Trump will be impeached, but most likely he will be acquitted of all charges by the Senate.

What Will Happen if President Trump Is Impeached?

That will be very interesting to watch because never in the history of the United States of America an impeached president has run for the White House again. Out of the two presidents ever impeached by the Congress, Andrew Johnson was denied nomination by the Democratic Party for the 1868 presidential election. He later became a Senator from Tennessee in 1875.

President Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 during his second term. So, he couldn’t have run for the office of the president, anyway. Interestingly, Andrew Johnson was acquitted in the Senate by just one vote and all the Senators who voted for his acquittal lost in the following elections. Bill Clinton was acquitted in Senate by 10 votes.

In the aftermath of Mr. Trump’s impeachment there are two possibilities on the horizon. First, Because Mr. Trump’s offense was not compelling, overwhelmingly clear, and unambiguous and because people are tired of inaction of the legislative branch, his base will be energized behind him. Many independents and moderate Democrats will vote for Mr. Trump and other Republicans. Trump will be re-elected and the Republicans may recapture the House.

Secondly, many voters who supported Mr. Trump may not like to cast their votes for an impeached president. They may also express their anger against the Senators who would vote for Mr. Trump’s acquittal repeating the scenario that followed President Andrew Johnson’s acquittal in the Senate.

Whatever, the outcome, the do-nothing Democrats (and Republicans) have clearly engaged in a purely partisan project. In reality those Democrats (especially in red states and swing districts) are worried about the inquiry’s effects not only on their own reelection chances, but also on the balance of power in Washington.

The following dialogue from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice aptly applies to both the Democrats and the Republicans:

      Salarino: “Why, I am sure, if he forfeit thou wilt not take his flesh. What’s that good for?”

            Shylock: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”

“The Whistleblower” –A Satire by Anil Shrivastava ‘Musafir’

 

According to my maid the rumor was going around that I was a philanderer.

“Who told you that?” I asked.

“I can’t reveal that. I was given this news on the condition of anonymity. My source got this from an anonymous source. No one knows who that anonymous source is.”

As a matter of fact, I always felt disappointed thinking that I was a man of no consequence. I always expected someone would notice me, and then when no one did, I felt lonely. So, I was flattered listening to this allegation from my maid but I hid my emotion from her.

Anonymous source? I fell in love with that phrase ever since the anonymous source got after President Trump. It happened to important folks only. Now I was one of them. Wow!

In the next party to honor Chirkut for quitting smoking after 70 years (having damaged his heart and collapsing his lungs), I was the center of attraction. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on me. I don’t know what ladies were thinking about me now that I was a man of dubious character. It felt good, but who could be this anonymous source? One thing I was sure of that the culprit was present in that room since my maid worked for many of the same ladies who were present there. Their (ladies’) pastime was to spread rumors.

“Anonymous Source!” The anonymity was killing me. I took a group picture of everyone present there in the hope of pin-pointing the suspect later. That night while in bed, I heard a whistling sound in my backyard. Thinking that it may be a bird mistaking the night for the morning, I went back to sleep. Following nights I heard the same whistle sound in my yard. Yes, this was certainly a whistleblower. Maybe this was the same whistleblower that the maid referred to as an anonymous source.

I thought of catching that whistleblower right there, but got reminded of their legal rights. I realized that whistleblowers had certain rights that I was not supposed to violate. For example, Whistleblower protection laws and regulations guarantee freedom of speech to them. Whistleblowers are protected against retaliation or threats of any kind. Considering that, I gave up the idea of catching the whistleblower because I didn’t want to get into any legal trouble. I remembered the statement of Adam Schiff, the leader of the Trump impeachment inquiry, “By law the public cannot learn the identity—and perhaps the motivation—of the “whistleblower.”

So, I gave up on the whistleblower and decided to concentrate on the anonymous source instead. The next time the maid came to my house, I confronted her heads on and asked her to identify the culprit. “Was that Cindy, Mindy or Sita, Gita or Yolanda, Miranda or was that Ching, Ming?

The maid breathed in slowly through her nose, closing her eyes and replied, “Sir, you ae coercing me to identify the anonymous source. Do you realize that this can put you in legal trouble?”

“Legal trouble? My foot! Let me tell everyone that you seduced me and you do the same to all your client’s men. We’ll see who goes to the court. You should also know that during the course of litigation, the court may require you to disclose the whistleblower’s identity,” I threatened her.

The maid turned fearful and accidently dropped her unzipped handbag on the floor. I saw a whistle dropping out of her bag. We both reached for it. After some struggle, I got it first and immediately blew the whistle. It made exactly the same pitch that I had been hearing from my bedroom.

Ultimately, the mystery was solved as I had found the whistleblower and thus the anonymous source.

Current Affairs: “Mercury’s Visit – What’s the Fuss?” Compiled by Anil Shrivastava “Musafir”

A very significant celestial event took place in our own solar system on November 11, 2019. The planet Mercury crossed the disc of the Sun on that day. In laymen’s term, the planet Mercury came directly through the path between the Earth and Sun. So what’s the fuss about it? After all, this event will happen again in the year 2032. (By the way, planets Mercury, Venus and Earth are the nearest planets from the Sun in that order).

These celestial events are significant because of a couple of reasons. First, this is only during these transits when we can view Mercury in the sky. Secondly, these events help determine the distance of our Earth from the Sun. It’s true that we already know those distances, but they are still approximations to some extent. Every time these transits happen, interplanetary distances are further fine-tuned. Also, once any one distance gets known, it becomes easier to tell the distance of other planets from the Sun.

Fine tuning of the distances between the Sun and other planets is very important. Cassini and his fellow scientists determined the distance between Earth and Sun at 87 million miles. Now the same distance is readjusted as 93 million miles. We owe these accuracy to these transits. Scientists measure those distances by observing the transits from different points on earth. The distance between the points of observations combined with the transit time of the planet in front of the Sun permits accurate calculation of the distance of the planet Earth from the Sun using trigonometric parallax. (You may do your own research to find out the math behind this). A similar method used in 1771 determined the distance between Earth and the Sun to be 95 million miles. (Now this is adjusted to 93 million miles).

Though the above method has been superseded by radar measurements of the distances to other planets in the solar system, transits of planets along the disc of the Sun have other advantages too such as looking at the planets beyond our solar system (Extrasolar planets) and discovering facts about our own planets such as atmosphere and composition. These are enabled due to the dimming effect and creation of fuzzy halos on the planet in transit.

More significantly, in the future, the distance between the Sun and its planets will keep on increasing because our Sun is constantly losing energy and hence it’s mass, which allows the planets to move to larger orbits. This is not a good news for us earthlings, but we’ll keep on refining interplanetary distances through these transits as long as we’ll walk on the terra firma.

“Hope over Fear” by Anil Shrivastava ‘Musafir’

I was diagnosed having ulcerative colitis in 1995. Despite diet control and medicines including occasional use of steroids, I kept on bleeding, sometimes profusely resulting in a severe weight loss. God granted me the serenity to accept the things I couldn’t change. But my condition started worsening. Many of my friends and acquaintances started showing concerns over my deteriorating health. I never revealed having ulcerative colitis to either my friends or my employer. I decided to choose hope over desperation, fight over flight. I got the entire colon removed and a J-pouch built from my own body tissues in place of the colon. That was in 2004.

After a few years, the J-pouch started malfunctioning giving me incessant cramps, stomach aches, diarrhea and urgency to go. Doctors told me that there was no way out except replacing the inner pouch (j-pouch) with ileostomy (wearing an external pouch through my stomach). I had to decide between living with the present condition confined in home or go for ileostomy. I still kept working and socializing with constant fear and insecurity of losing control. After all, “When God gives you lemons, take a bow.” (Dale Carnegie).

On October 5, 2019 my original surgeon at Cleveland Clinic took a chance. She opened me and found that the J-pouch she had created was choking under massive scar tissues that I had developed in my stomach over the years. Fortunately, she was able to correct the problem. Consequently, I got rid of unyielding misery and sinking feelings. I got a new life.

The purpose of the above story is not singing the blues. I am not trying to declare valiance of any kind either. I simply realized that I had now the capability to make an effort towards accomplishing many things. I don’t believe in the saying, “You can accomplish anything, if you have life and health,” but we, certainly, can make an effort to achieve anything.

We become quite adaptable to any condition when we are forced into a do or die situation. I came across many people around me struggling and going through more intense situation than mine. Their courage gave me something to aspire to, something to emulate.

During the many tedious hospital visits that were part of my life, I came across hundreds of people with afflictions worse than mine, young patients going through painful therapies, patients too weak living with bouts of pain. Many had spent much more time in the dreaded hallways of hospitals than I did. Their struggles opened my eyes.

I now have the ability to maintain a daily routine, learn new languages, and acquire knowledge about new technologies. And a chance that I will maintain my health removes that gut-wrenching feeling in me (no pun intended).

I’ll leave you with the lines of Longfellow to ponder:

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal; …

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

Book Review: “Capitalism in America”​ and “Women Who Hate Other Women”​

“Capitalism in America” Authors: Alan Greenspan and Adrian Wooldridge

Capitalism in America is an excellent book for everyone who wants to understand the reasons for American economic might and what causes economic ups and downs with a historical perspective. The authors, a past Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan and an economist, Adrian Wooldridge also consider whether America will retain its economic superiority or will fade into mediocracy.

The most important reasons for America’s unprecedented economic superiority, according to the authors, are innovation, creative destruction and encouragement provided to the entrepreneurs.

Creative destruction is described as the dismantling of long-standing practices in order to make way for innovation. Creative destruction was first coined by Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942. Thus, creative destruction is also called Schumpeterian process

The authors give credit for America’s economic growth to Laissez-faire. Further on, the authors suggest that entitlements reform and more pragmatic reserves ratios at big banks are essential to maintaining our economic superiority.

Entitlement reform is making changes in government programs such as Social Security and Medicare so that they are less expensive. Cash Reserve Ratio is the percentage of deposits which commercial banks are required to keep as cash.

Capitalism in America is a must read for a clear understanding of capitalism vis-à-vis democracy.

“Women Who Hate Other Women” Author: Heather Hodsden

I came across Women Who Hate Other Women by Heather Hodsden while browsing Linkedin.com. The introduction of this book states, “My goal is to shed light on the problems they (women) face and to tell women’s workplace horror stories.” This subject, which is extremely close to my heart, has been overlooked, ignored, and ill-addressed.”…” The goal of this book is to let other women who have been verbally assaulted, fired for no reason of their own, and gossiped about by another female coworker know that they aren’t alone.”

The book’s Chapter One starts with Heather’s own experience at Sayreville War Memorial High School where she was employed as a French language teacher. There she was bullied, ostracized and humiliated by none other than her female co-workers. To add insult to injury, the school administration fired her at the end of the 2003 school year without taking any steps to act on Heather’s complaints. The other teachers were jealous of her superior pedagogy. Later, a male teacher gave her the shocking news that her own mentor (a female) felt insecure due to her (Heather’s) teaching abilities.

Heather suggests that women should fight against this malaise. She reveals that “The “history” of women in the workplace is to pretend that “hating” doesn’t exist.” She gives facts and figures about women’s abuses at the workplace and provides the needed suggestions about the remedies and resources to get help.

The book is easy to read and very interesting. The problem is that the book’s title and the first chapter, “Sayreville- My Story” gives the impression that Women Who Hate Other Women may just be a sob story. In fact, it’s not so.

“Lies, Deception and Distortion” by Anil Shrivastava “Musafir”

Recently I read a story about the Greek philosopher, Diogenes (4th century) who traveled thousands of miles to find a truthful man. Sadly, he couldn’t find one. What was true then is true now also. Lies, deceits and distortions are predominantly evident in our daily lives and politics. Seems like these are the essential tools for becoming a profession politician. LOL, Lie or lose! Unfortunately, public and media don’t like to hear or speak truth either. As most of us are not independent thinkers, we like to hear only the stories that fit our preconceived notions. The most vulnerable are those who have put some kind of label on themselves. Thus, their labels guide them to action instead of their faculty.

We have found Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Dick Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Holder, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton and everyone else caught in a web of lies. The worst thing is that all of them support their untruthfulness with passion. Statements like, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, (Bill Clinton)” “Read my lips-no new taxes (George H W Bush),” “I am not a crook, (Richard Nixon),” “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it (Barack Obama)’ still haunt our ears.

Lying, deception and distortion are not the traits of the present-day politicians only. Let’s look at history. Lyndon B. Johnson, who repeatedly promised during the 1964 presidential campaign, “We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” At the very same time and with Johnson’s approval, the Pentagon was drawing up plans to send the first wave of more than 100,000 American servicemen to Vietnam.

The election campaign between presidential candidates John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson was nasty and bitter and involved extreme lies and accusations. Adams’ campaign said Jackson was an adulterer for having a relationship with a married woman (his own wife). And they said Rachel (Andrew Jackson’s wife) was a bigamist for having two husbands and thus she was declared an adulterer too. Jackson believed that those attacks had hastened his wife’s death.

Campaign war between Thomas Jefferson and his VP Aron Burr got down-and-dirty. The campaign of 1800 between the two is supposed to be the nastiest in the history of presidential elections. This was the only election in history where a vice president had run against the president he was currently serving under. Jefferson hired a writer to pen insults rather than dirty his own hands. One of his nasty lines said that Adams was a “hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force nor firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.”

Considering that our elected politicians are our own reflection, we shouldn’t blame them wholly for their dishonesties. Just think of all the small, petty untruths we engage in our daily lives. When we are asked a very basic question like how old we are, a lie is often used in lieu of the truth. We also tell a lie to avoid conflict or avoid hurting someone’s feelings. For example, when we know we are inconvenienced when someone asks for our help, we are often not honest with our answers, saying instead that we will be happy to help even when we know very well this isn’t true; or we even make up a story based on a falsehood to get out of the situation.

We don’t speak the truth because we don’t want to hurt or offend the other person. When someone confronts us for derogatory statements, we often respond by saying: “I didn’t quite say that,” or “You didn’t understand me.” We lie on income- tax and expense accounts. We often engage ourselves in one-upmanship to impress others by making false stories about expensive vacations or about our heritage.  We, very often, do not regard these lies as a serious offences because for us they are actually quite harmless. In fact, we are often led to believe that engaging in these kinds of lies actually benefits us. Our politicians being personification of the time we live in (past, present and future) indulge in cover-up lies, conspiratorial lies and so on. So, if we need honest politicians, we need to change ourselves first.

This widespread cultural acceptance of lying is one of the main reasons why we don’t have honest politicians. The very categories of truth versus falsehood, facts versus lies seem to have been obliterated. Consequently, the possibility of lying has become boundless and are met with little or no resistance when we lie. Therefore, lies, deceptions and distortions have become mandatory in politics all over the world. First step we should take against this is rid ourselves of any kind of labeling and start thinking independently.

“But liars we can never trust,

Even when they say what is true.

And he who does one fault at first

And lies to hide it, makes it two.” –Isaac Watts

“Trump’s Exit Strategy” by Anil Shrivastava ‘Musafir’

Seems like everyone has a conspiracy theory, so why shouldn’t I have one? There is no certainty that my theory will come true, but others are also in the same boat as I am. No sooner had it became obvious that Mr. Trump’s impeachment was inevitable due to his soliciting Ukraine’s interference to reveal dirt on Mr. Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, than he asked China and Australia to look for more dirt on Biden and his son.

Mr. Trump did great things for this country such as getting rid of ISIS, Let NATO countries pay their dues, initiate policies to boost economy, struggle to stop illegal immigrants, ask China and Europe to do business on equal playing fields, withdraw from unending and wasteful tribal wars in Syria (and Afghanistan which is in progress) contrary to the prediction that he couldn’t have been trusted with Gold Code (the nuclear code that presidents always carry). So, why is he behaving erratically to devastate Joe Biden and Hunter now?

I think he has gotten irrational due to constant irritant from the Democrats. Now with his back to the wall he, feels frustrated and helpless. No doubt that Mr. Biden is senile and incoherent. Hunter Biden was involved in drawing on investments from the Chinese government-owned Bank of China and had similar deals from Ukraine. The Chinese fund was announced in 2013, days after Hunter Biden and one of his daughters flew to China from Japan aboard Air Force Two with the Vice-President.

But why is Trump doing all this now? Two reasons. First, his business empire is losing money as he is not paying attention to it (also, he donates his salary to the veterans) and secondly, he cannot take the heat of Washington politics. He not only has a thin skin and a foul mouth, he lacks the temperament a president ought to have. Trump is losing three to five billion dollars a year because he is not able to manage his business personally. He can’t afford this to continue.

Mr. Trump also knows that the Democrats will not let him live in peace after he leaves the presidency. The Democrats are already borrowing a page from Trump’s own playbook, “Lock him up.” The only thing that can save him is a pardon from President Pence. You may be thinking how? Well, my theory is that Mr. Trump will certainly win the 2020 election. He will resign in the middle of the next term which will make Mike Pence our 46th president. The condition for the transfer of power will be that Mr. Pence provide complete absolution to Mr. Trump for the charges brought upon him by the Democrats.

Like my theory? Hate it? Not sure? Please post your feedback.

Friday Fun: “Parking Lost”​ By Anil Shrivastava ‘Musafi’

Dork Dunce is very particular about his workout regimen. He never misses out on walking in shopping malls to save his sweat. One day I accompanied him to the mall because I needed to buy a melon slicer.

“There is one,” I shouted pointing to an empty parking space, but he kept on driving to find a more convenient spot.

“Why don’t you park over there?” I asked pointing to the space on the other side of the median.

“Oh, sure, you want me to park there so that I never see my car again?” Asked Dork.

“Buddy, do you realize that you are driving an old clunker whose tailgate is held up with bungee cords and the side-view mirrors are just hanging there on life support?”

Suddenly, he put pedal to the metal snapping my neck like a slinky. He noticed an old lady coming with loaded shopping bags towards her car. She then made a vigorous search for keys in her purse.

Finally after locating her key ring, she stuck a key in the car door slowly as if she was anticipating ketchup to drip from the bottle – “slow and good.” She jiggled the key left and right not realizing that it was the wrong key. She found another key in the key ring. After fidgeting forever, she was able to open her car door. Having dropped her keys in back in her purse, the old lady started digging her purse again like a gofer.

Next she started the pre-flight inspection. She locked doors. Buckled seat belt. Adjusted radio. Checked makeup in the rearview mirror. She checked makeup again.

Finally her brake lights blinked and she started pulling out of her parking space. Dork immediately put his car in the first and revved the engine like a tiger jumping toward its prey. The woman stopped and looked both ways.

Suddenly the old lady slammed on her brakes and started adjusting her side mirrors. At this point Dork lost his patience. He started beating on the steering wheel in rage. The car behind him started honking at Dork. Dork honked too in retaliation. The driver of the other car showed finger to Dork. Dork made the same gesticulation in return. Meanwhile, a red car came around the corner and made a sling shot into old lady’s parking space.

“Why did you come to the mall? I asked.

“To walk,” Dork answered dismayed.

Current Affairs: “Vulnerability of the US Defense System-It’s Not Good” by Anil Shrivastava “Musafir”

The US defense budget for the fiscal year 2019 is a whopping $693 billion. That is more than the budget of the next seven highest spenders combined. I don’t think that the massive dollar amount tells us the entire story. The question is “Are we getting our money’s worth?” Unfortunately, most of the money allocated for defense is pocketed by the defense contractors. As an example, General Dynamics, where I worked from 1983 till 1985, sold toilet seats to the US Air Force for $10,000 a piece. You can imagine the magnitude of the abuse. Their biggest contractor, Boeing couldn’t design 737 Max correctly destroying hundreds of innocent lives. Six months have passed to those tragedies. Their planes are still grounded in planes’ graveyard. Again, question comes to mind, “How cost effective and reliable is our defense system?” A food for thought: India’s unmanned mission to Mars costed 66 million dollars which is only 11% of what it costs the United States for a similar mission

It’s especially scary in the light of USA’s recent system’s failure in detecting and defending drone strike by low tech Yemeni’s (Houthi rebels) drone that knocked out Saudi Arabia’s major oil facility on September 14, 2019 crippling 5% of world’s oil production. Saudi Arabia recently spent billions of dollars in building six battalions of US made Patriot surface to air missiles and radars. The system failed to detect and intercept the Yemeni drone. And it was not the first time that the US defense system failed. Patriot failed five times before when Saudi Arabia tried to stop a barrage of rocket strikes in March of 2018. The customers too have limits to their patience. Do not be surprised if Saudi Arabia, just like Turkey and India, would choose the Russian built S-400 system soon (according to the latest report by Bloomberg that I read while writing this article, The Saudis are already negotiating with Russia to obtain their S-400 system). It reminds me of the Japanese auto giants almost annihilating US car manufacturers in the 1980s. I was working for General Motors at that time.

The videos have shown that Patriots exploded on their way and veered off its course. “It’s nothing but an unbroken trail of disasters with the weapon system,” said Theodore Postol of MIT. As an American, I am not happy to report this to you, but I can’t do anything but write to our Senators and Congressmen/women to put our country ahead of their personal interest. What is happening is not good for America.