Pension/Judicial Reforms & Bans: France-U.S.-Israel Futures at Risk?

Europe, America and Middle East: Are Peoples’ Rights and “Golden Years” at Risk? Present and Futures are colliding as governments around the world propose Pension and Judicial Reforms, all amidst a new kind of Boycott.

“Paris is the grab bag for us…”

Remember when “We All Went to Paris,” our home away from home?  Oui!

My favorite book about Paris is by the charming author Stephen Longstreet, the 1972 book, We All Went to Paris. Americans in the City of Light 1776-1971. And what a City it was! A treasure trove of fascinating, famous and infamous characters!

But now, thanks to Macron, it’s literally turned into the city of shit on the streets. Of course Americans, thanks to their many presidents, have contended for decades with cities of drugs, violence and homelessness.

My fellow French men and women, I see that as Macron flies away as did Biden, you’re left ‘holding the bag’ of the problems he created. Nice timing, right?

Timing is everything for governments. Pension reforms, these new proposed changes, come on the heels of a ‘pandemic’ and economic disruption. By design? Ask America and her experiments. Still, it doesn’t look good when leaders ‘fly the coup’ when the ‘shit hits the fan.’ 

Frenchie’s, I propose you ‘stall for time’ and once again ignite the streets when travelers return to Paris on summer break and to watch Le Tour de France. Maybe then Macron will learn the meaning of bad timing.

In the Epilogue of Longstreet’s book, we find William Faulkner ask Longstreet, “Why, now, do you think all of us half-assed Americans went to Paris?” Longstreet replies with a question, “Why did you go, Bill?”  

Faulkner responds, “Well, now, the literary boys were always talking about it, and saying you had to be there, feel it, taste it, go see…”

Longstreet, if alive today, I imagine may have felt compelled to add a new final chapter to his book, “Au revoir, Paris! La fin des beaux jours de la France.”

Mes Amis, it won’t be easy but fight the good fight kicking and screaming, at least till Le Tour! Yes, ‘timing is everything.’ Bonne chance et “Vive la France!” 

America’s “Nest Egg”: Hatched in China and Made in Boycotts

Americans, are you finding yourselves living and “walking on egg shells?”  Your future hidden, will you once again gravitate across the Atlantic to Paris? Or, as Faulkner notes, “maybe because here at home the real events are hidden, covered over by the obvious ones.”

You have built your future on a dream turned nightmare. A future belonging to the lucky ones, NOT the many who preach to be right and ‘free’. Yes, as Faulkner noted, soon you will feel it, taste it and see this painful American “freedom!”

‘Kicking the can down the road’ is what Congress has done for four decades when it comes to talking about hard choices. And now its past has crept up to “bite it in the ass.”

In 2019, the year before the U.S. President officially declared a pandemic and subsequent travel bans, Senators were seeking a different China ban altogether: Federal Pension Plans:

“The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) said last week the bipartisan legislation would, if passed, deprive participants in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) it manages of a significant opportunity for better returns. The plan is similar to a private 401(k) and has around $600 billion in assets.”

In the current state of affairs, said ban, though understandable from an economic-national security view, is nonetheless incongruous as U.S. investments and debts overseas are primarily meshed with China.

Diversify and follow the money baby! “The FRTIB decided in 2017 to switch the benchmark for its international stock fund to the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S.A. Investable Market Index, which represents 99% of world equities, including China-listed stocks, from its current benchmark which excludes Canada and emerging markets.”

Not surprisingly, all this comes at a time when governments have once again proposed Pension and Judicial reforms.

National Security is the top reason senators support the bill for the China ban. Still, the FRTIB spokeswoman Kim Weaver notes, “There is no logic behind not allowing TSP investors to access the same index that’s used by the top 10 companies in America, the top 10 defense contractors, and the top 20 state plans.”

Sure. I also find it’s counterintuitive that Generals and Ambassadors who have fought to counter dangerous regimes or economic policies will forever be dependent on them and the volatile markets of Wall Street.

But here it is in black and white, “U.S. Generals, Diplomats Want Chinese Companies Out of Their Retirement Plan” Why? TSP investments are said to be linked to China’s military.

And to make matters worse, Pension bans and Boycotts appear to have U.S. and European companies in a ‘Texas Holdem’. Recall last summer when Reuters broke the news: “BlackRock, European firms face Texas pension ban over energy policies.”

According to Comptroller Glenn Hegar, these companies “are boycotting the oil and gas industry.” Firms listed by Hegar include, Vanguard Group. State Street, Credit Suisse Group, BNP Paribas SA, UBS Group AG and Schroders PLC.

Some deny boycotts. Of course, “Most top U.S. and European investors had lobbied hard to be excluded- read more.”

Just this last February, ‘Texas’ biggest pension fund has divested its direct ownership stakes in BlackRock Inc. and several other financial firms to comply with a state law prohibiting investing in companies deemed to be discriminatory against the oil and gas industry.”

Ooh, now who would want to discriminate against these guys? 😉

Americans say, ‘Everything is big in Texas.” Apparently not. The big “BlackRock” is no more, at least for the immediate future of Texans. Speaking of big, Chevron CEO questioned why some refer to American oil and gas companies as ‘big’ when they have such a small percentage of the overall market.

Hmm, seeing it from this poor little rich boy’s view, we should refer to these petros as ‘small oil’ dicks. Now that’s quite an image, unappealing but at least it gets us laughing!

Either way, I concur with the American Journalist H. D. Lloyd view back in 1881:

 “The cat must be killed or belled. In either case, it must be confronted by a power greater than itself. There is but one such power.”

→Mark my words, the “cat’s in the bag!” 🙂

‘Justice for All’ in a State or Staked Land?

”Had the peoples and the nations known how much harm they brought upon themselves by destroying the Temple of Jerusalem, they would have wept more than the children of Israel” – TALMUD

Israel, my Brothers and Sisters, as the former U.S. President pleads not guilty before a Justice Court, his former Israeli counterpart in the Abraham Accords pleads for ‘pause’ of his proposed Judicial Reform.

In ‘Trumponian’ fashion, the prime minister appears to have ordered a ‘firing squad.’ Netanyahu called for the “two most senior Likud ministers: Gallant, who has openly defied him, been virtually fired and remained in his post; and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has been cheated out of his “legal reform.”

Well, would you look at that. The very reform the PM proposes may work in his favor. These “reforms would give the parliament authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority and would make it difficult to declare a prime minister unfit for office and remove them from power.”

Liken to the U.S. president, “The prime minister denies any wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of a “witch hunt.” Gentlemen, this is not hutzpah, but an affront on our dignity.

The People of Israel have spoken, “Nobody Trusts Netanyahu Anymore.”

Pending the PMs ‘pause,’ may I suggest you do the same. As I proposed to the French, ‘stall for time’ until the timing is right to ignite the streets when the whole world is watching or walking the Holy Land. As the Tiberias Marathon and other national and international events have passed, best you wait for the right time to strike!

But overlook not those who strike from outside. Brothers and Sisters, “Let us all keep our wits about us…” As we fight from within, enemies stand near ready for the opportunity when our guard is down.

Soldiers need to put Israel’s State security first. If “when an army is disbanded it turns mob,” breaking the ‘chain of command’ turns deadly.

Security of State and Home Land did not come to be without sacrifice and vigilance. Victory came at a high price. It is incumbent on you to honor the brave brothers and sisters who came before you.

Yes, you’ve built a top defense force. But it is an IDF dependent on the unjust and costly wars of the U.S. Each time they fail and fall, they bring you down. And still their President has the gall to criticize your Leader!

Watch your back: Not only Militarily and Judiciously, but Economically. U.S. is not alone when it comes to risky foreign investments and relationships. Middle Eastern leaders too have followed suit resulting in distrust from within.

Let us not have a semblance between the “Land of Israel” and Las Vegas, where too often we find the foolhardy follow the dogma of ‘nothing wagered, nothing gained.’   

Israel announced “Emirati group, led by Abu Dhabi government-backed ADQ Developmental Holdings, is set to buy a 25% to 30% stake of Phoenix from US private investment firms.” Seems the Abraham Accords had a new take on “tourism.” Foreigners see Israeli futures more picturesque than postcards. 

But when it comes to deals, they steer clear from what they appear to see as suspect. “Chinese conglomerate Fosun, fell through over concern by Israeli regulators that foreign groups would take control over the firm, which manages a large chunk of Israeli pension funds and the public’s savings.”  

Abu Dhabi, a few years into the Accords, and just like that, it’s no longer considered a “foreign group?”

 ‘Freedom’ for a Kingdom!

France, in short order, “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” have sadly lost its je ne sais quoi.

Americans, as you rant with pride ‘it’s a free country’ and ‘only in America,’ a shit load of money buys anything in any country!

Israel, high stakes in this land you call your own has sealed your fate in a paradox with its forebears, People you call your neighbor →Security≠Peace.

Let me enlighten ALL of you to the fact that the wealthy and powerful around the world cry not for ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom.’

By God, how many of you wouldn’t trade in a heartbeat this illusive ‘freedom’ for a kingdom? Inspired by Shakespeare’s “Richard III”, I leave you with my own words:

A Kingdom, A Kingdom, my ‘freedom’ for A Kingdom!

T’s was good to be a ‘free’ peasant. Aaah, yet in a fated twist of the “Ring of Gyges,” I am both King of a world and Queen of my domains!