Ferri Tales

Is Donald Trump working for Vladimir Putin? Evidence   follows . -- A year ago, Trump blocked condemnation of Putin after Russia attacked Ukrainian ships in Ukrainian waters and held the crew captive. -- Last year, Trump cancelled U.S. naval exercises in the Black Sea because they upset Putin. -- Trump wants Russia readmitted to the G-7 despite their removal for invading   and occupying Crimea, a part of Ukraine. -- Trump held up military aid to Ukraine casting doubt that the U.S. is a reliable ally thus weakening Ukraine's position. Putin still views Ukraine as a part of Russia. -- U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, quit when he realized that Trump was trying to extort the president of Ukraine. Volker's job was to help Ukraine negotiate with Russia. He was not replaced. -- Trump help up javelin anti-tank missiles from Ukraine after they were approved by the National Security Council, the Dept. of Defense, and the State Department to defend against...

The Trump presidency is testing the design of the U.S. Constitution. Its Founders took great pains to prevent an outright fraud and criminal from overthrowing our form of government by designing three co-equal branches that would, theoretically, provide checks and balances on gross abuses of power by the other branches. Our system of government is currently undergoing what is commonly called a stress test. Stress tests are used to determine if a system can survive outside of its normal operational range. After the 2008 Great Recession, large banks were required to undergo stress tests to see how they would respond to theoretical scenarios of, for example, 10% unemployment, a 15% drop in stock prices, a 30% plunge in home prices, all happening at the same time. Other stresses may be used, but if the bank failed the test, changes in its operating structure would be required. In the 1930s, Germany had a system of government that included various branches of government with checks and ba...