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Mike Pence is the most far-right pick Donald Trump could have made.The Koch brothers must be very happy with his pick. If you are unfamiliar with the Koch brothers, please read Dark Money by Jane Mayer. Citizen’s United turned this country over to about twenty billionaires. Democracy is dead. The sooner people accept this fact, the sooner we can take it back from them.Mike Pence is one of the Koch brothers’ favorite elected leaders. Support from the Koch brothers and conservative donors are a major component in a presidential run, so having the major money people’s favorite guy at your side if you’re new to politics is certainly helpful for campaign cash. Americans for Prosperity has been holding up Mike Pence’s work in Indiana as a paragon of a good governor. Pence’s former chief of staff now runs the Koch’s political group Freedom Partners. Given the fact that the Koch’s have pledged to spend $1 billion in the 2016 election to support conservative candidates, his ties could be an asset to Trump as he realizes his own financial limitations.Here are 5 disturbing things you should know about Trump’s likely VP pick Mike PenceThis where Mike Pence stands on various issues. Ask yourself if you agree with him. If not, cast your vote for the Supreme Court. Imagine the United States with Mike Pence at the helm if Trump should die.This is a long list. There are a few things on which I agree with him.Mike Pence on AbortionCommit to unalienable right to life, including the unborn.Arguing about abortion is as fruitless as arguing about whether or not God exists. I’m for women having the first right of refusal when it comes to their bodies. You don’t want one, don’t have one.You have no right to make that choice for me.Mike Pence on Budget & EconomyVoted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry.I have nothing else to say about his position on the budget except that we disagree.Mike Pence on Civil RightsVoted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman.I have nothing else to say about his position on civil rights except that we disagree.Mike Pence on CorporationsVoted NO on allowing stockholder voting on executive compensation.I have nothing to say about his position regarding corporations. There are, however, a few things in this section on which I agree with him.Mike Pence on CrimeVoted NO on enforcing against anti-gay hate crimes.I have nothing else to say about his position on gay rights except that we disagree.Mike Pence on EducationVoted YES on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror.Constitutionally guarantee parent's right to educate kids.I have nothing else to say about his position on the education except that we disagree.Mike Pence on Energy & OilVoted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling.Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution.Voted NO on tax credits for renewable electricity, with PAYGO offsets.Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies.I’m speechless about his position on Energy & Oil. There’s much more in this section. Read it carefully if you care about the environment.Mike Pence on EnvironmentStrengthen prohibitions against animal fighting.I agree with him.Voted NO on protecting free-roaming horses and burros.I guess horses and burros don’t count.Stop considering manure as pollutant or hazardous.Mike Pence on Families & ChildrenVoted NO on four weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees.We are among a chosen few of countries that doesn’t give paid parental leave to employees. There are only three. The other two countries are Papua New Guinea and Suriname.US Is Still Only Industrialized Nation Without Paid Maternity LeaveI have nothing else to say about his position on the education except that we disagree.Mike Pence on Foreign PolicyCommitment to unbreakable U.S.-Israel bondThis is an odd one. Why are so many right-wing Republicans in a love affair with Israel? Do they love the Jews so much? Do they see Israel as the only stabilizing force in the Middle East? Perhaps. Could it be something else?“Dispensationalists, Christians who believe that the end times are near, are thrilled to see what is going on today in Israel since the plan fits well into their own expectations for the End. Dispensationalists find comfort in knowing that under The Temple Institute's auspices, small groups of Israelis are sewing priestly vestments, manufacturing implements for animal sacrifice, and teaching a new generation of Temple priests what will be expected of them. It seems to matter little that the desire for a new Temple has the potential of precipitating holy war.”On the Road to ArmageddonA significant number of Christians believe that the end times, as set forth in the bible, are near. In order for all to go as planned, the temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt.I’d rather have someone in the White House who doesn’t set foreign policy based on biblical prophecy.Mike Pence on Free TradeMike Pence voted yes on every single trade bill. He’s a capitalist who wants to engage in free trade with any country. I’m not sure how this position will work with Donald Trump. He wants Apple to bring all of its manufacturing back to the United States. Will consumers be happy about paying $6000 for an iPhone?Mike Pence on Government ReformCampaign Finance Reform is censorship.Voted YES on requiring photo ID for voting in federal elections.I have nothing to say regarding his position on Government Reform except that we disagree.Mike Pence on Gun ControlRated A by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record.I wonder who pays his bills? Perhaps the Koch brothers and the NRA split them. I apologize for being sarcastic.Mike Pence on Health CareVoted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health.I have nothing to say regarding his position on Health Care except that we disagree.Mike Pence on Homeland SecurityVoted YES on extending the PATRIOT Act's roving wiretapsVoted YES on continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight.If you don’t believe that democracy is dead, perhaps we can meet at the graveside of the 14th Amendment.Mike Pence on ImmigrationVoted YES on building a fence along the Mexican border.I have nothing to say regarding his position on immigration except that a fence isn’t the answer. If we build a wall, someone will come along with a higher ladder.Mike Pence on JobsVoted NO on increasing minimum wage to $7.25.Why in the world would we want big corporations to pay their workers a living wage? I’m being sarcastic.Mike Pence on TechnologyReject the censorship of the Fairness Doctrine.“The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the Commission's view—honest, equitable, and balanced.”Fairness DoctrineWe do have a television station that purports to be fair and balanced. It isn’t.I have nothing more to say on any of Mike Pence’s positions. Ask yourself if you support his philosophy. Ask yourself if this is the man you want only a heartbeat away from the presidency.Mike Pence on the IssuesClick here for 21 full quotes on Abortion OR background on Abortion.Commit to unalienable right to life, including the unborn. (Feb 2008)Voted YES on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion. (May 2011)Voted NO on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007)Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)Voted YES on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (Apr 2005)Voted YES on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb 2004)Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)Voted YES on forbidding human cloning for reproduction & medical research. (Feb 2003)Voted YES on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sep 2002)Voted YES on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)Voted YES on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (Apr 2001)Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)Rated 100% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-life stance. (Dec 2006)Prohibit transporting minors across state lines for abortion. (Jan 2008)Bar funding for abortion under federal Obamacare plans. (Jul 2010)Ban abortions for sex selection or race selection. (Dec 2011)Prohibit federal funding for abortion. (May 2011)Prohibiting forced abortions by UN Population Fund. (May 2011)Sponsored bill to prohibit fed funding of Planned Parenthood. (Jan 2011)Grant the pre-born equal protection under 14th Amendment. (Jan 2007)Declare preborn as persons under 14th amendment. (Feb 2009)Mike Pence on Budget & Economy Click here for 17 full quotes on Budget & Economy OR background on Budget & Economy.Voted YES on terminating the Home Affordable mortgage Program. (Mar 2011)Voted YES on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)Voted NO on modifying bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures. (Mar 2009)Voted NO on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package. (Jan 2009)Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure more mortgage relief. (Jan 2009)Voted NO on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. (Dec 2008)Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)Voted NO on revitalizing severely distressed public housing. (Jan 2008)Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. (Nov 2007)Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)Mike Pence on Civil Rights Click here for 13 full quotes on Civil Rights OR background on Civil Rights.Future of conservatism demands traditional marriage. (Feb 2008)Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. (Jul 2006)Voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)Voted YES on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)Voted YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)Require "Privacy Impact Statement" on new federal rules. (Apr 2002)Rated 7% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)Rated 22% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)Amend Constitution to define traditional marriage. (Jun 2008)Mike Pence on Corporations Click here for 8 full quotes on Corporations OR background on Corporations.Voted NO on letting shareholders vote on executive compensation. (Jul 2009)Voted YES on more funding for nanotechnology R&D and commercialization. (Jul 2009)Voted NO on allowing stockholder voting on executive compensation. (Apr 2007)Voted YES on replacing illegal export tax breaks with $140B in new breaks. (Jun 2004)Voted YES on Bankruptcy Overhaul requiring partial debt repayment. (Mar 2001)Rated 96% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)Repeal ObamaCare reporting requirements for small business. (Jan 2011)Rated 14% by UFCW, indicating a pro-management voting record. (May 2012)Mike Pence on Crime Click here for 3 full quotes on Crime OR background on Crime.Voted NO on enforcing against anti-gay hate crimes. (Apr 2009)Voted YES on expanding services for offenders' re-entry into society. (Nov 2007)Reduce recidivism by giving offenders a Second Chance. (Mar 2007)Mike Pence on Drugs Click here for 3 full quotes on Drugs OR background on Drugs.Voted YES on more funding for Mexico to fight drugs. (Jun 2008)Voted YES on military border patrols to battle drugs & terrorism. (Sep 2001)Rated -20 by NORML, indicating a "hard-on-drugs" stance. (Dec 2006)Mike Pence on Education Click here for 10 full quotes on Education OR background on Education.Voted YES on reauthorizing the DC opportunity scholarship program. (Mar 2011)Voted NO on $40B for green public schools. (May 2009)Voted NO on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)Voted NO on allowing Courts to decide on "God" in Pledge of Allegiance. (Jul 2006)Voted NO on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges. (Mar 2006)Voted YES on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror. (Nov 2001)Voted NO on requiring states to test students. (May 2001)Let schools display the words "God Bless America". (Oct 2001)Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)Constitutionally guarantee parent's right to educate kids. (Jan 2011)Mike Pence on Energy & Oil Click here for 22 full quotes on Energy & Oil OR background on Energy & Oil.Voted YES on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling. (May 2011)Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. (Apr 2011)Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution. (Jun 2009)Voted NO on tax credits for renewable electricity, with PAYGO offsets. (Sep 2008)Voted NO on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (May 2008)Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)Voted NO on criminalizing oil cartels like OPEC. (May 2007)Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)Voted NO on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)Voted YES on scheduling permitting for new oil refinieries. (Jun 2006)Voted YES on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct 2005)Voted YES on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy. (Jun 2004)Voted YES on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov 2003)Voted NO on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels. (Aug 2001)Voted NO on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR. (Aug 2001)Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)Bar greenhouse gases from Clean Air Act rules. (Jan 2009)Signed the No Climate Tax Pledge by AFP. (Nov 2010)No EPA regulation of greenhouse gases. (Jan 2011)Drill the Outer Continental Shelf; & license new nuke plants. (Mar 2011)Set goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025. (Jan 2007)Mike Pence on Environment Click here for 11 full quotes on Environment OR background on Environment.Voted NO on $2 billion more for Cash for Clunkers program. (Jul 2009)Voted NO on protecting free-roaming horses and burros. (Jul 2009)Voted NO on $9.7B for Amtrak improvements and operation thru 2013. (Jun 2008)Voted NO on increasing AMTRAK funding by adding $214M to $900M. (Jun 2006)Voted NO on barring website promoting Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. (May 2006)Voted YES on deauthorizing "critical habitat" for endangered species. (Sep 2005)Voted YES on speeding up approval of forest thinning projects. (Nov 2003)Rated 10% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)Stop considering manure as pollutant or hazardous. (Sep 2011)Rated 0% by HSLF, indicating an anti-animal welfare voting record. (Jan 2012)Strengthen prohibitions against animal fighting. (Jan 2007)Mike Pence on Families & Children Click here for 4 full quotes on Families & Children OR background on Families & Children.Voted NO on four weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees. (Jun 2009)Voted YES on establishing nationwide AMBER alert system for missing kids. (Apr 2003)Voted YES on reducing Marriage Tax by $399B over 10 years. (Mar 2001)Rated 100% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-Family-Value voting record. (Dec 2003)Mike Pence on Foreign Policy Click here for 14 full quotes on Foreign Policy OR background on Foreign Policy.Voted NO on supporting democratic institutions in Pakistan. (Jun 2009)Voted YES on cooperating with India as a nuclear power. (Sep 2008)Voted YES on deterring foreign arms transfers to China. (Jul 2005)Voted YES on reforming the UN by restricting US funding. (Jun 2005)Voted NO on keeping Cuba travel ban until political prisoners released. (Jul 2001)Voted YES on withholding $244M in UN Back Payments until US seat restored. (May 2001)Member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. (Jan 2001)Keep sanctions against Syria until WMDs are dismantled. (May 2007)Member of the Silk Road Congressional Caucus. (Nov 2007)Member of House Foreign Affairs Committee. (Mar 2011)Withhold UN funding until voluntary and program-specific. (Aug 2011)Rated -6 by AAI, indicating a anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)Sponsored bill supporting demonstrations against Iran. (Jun 2009)Commitment to unbreakable U.S.-Israel bond. (Mar 2010)Mike Pence on Free Trade Click here for 8 full quotes on Free Trade OR background on Free Trade.Voted YES on promoting free trade with Peru. (Nov 2007)Voted NO on assisting workers who lose jobs due to globalization. (Oct 2007)Voted YES on implementing CAFTA, Central America Free Trade. (Jul 2005)Voted YES on implementing US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. (Jul 2004)Voted YES on implementing US-Singapore free trade agreement. (Jul 2003)Voted YES on implementing free trade agreement with Chile. (Jul 2003)Rated 61% by CATO, indicating a mixed record on trade issues. (Dec 2002)Extend trade restrictions on Burma to promote democracy. (Jun 2007)Mike Pence on Government Reform Click here for 15 full quotes on Government Reform OR background on Government Reform.Campaign Finance Reform is censorship. (Feb 2008)Voted NO on Senate pay raise. (Jun 2009)Voted YES on requiring lobbyist disclosure of bundled donations. (May 2007)Voted YES on granting Washington DC an Electoral vote & vote in Congress. (Apr 2007)Voted NO on protecting whistleblowers from employer recrimination. (Mar 2007)Voted YES on requiring photo ID for voting in federal elections. (Sep 2006)Voted NO on restricting independent grassroots political committees. (Apr 2006)Voted YES on prohibiting lawsuits about obesity against food providers. (Oct 2005)Voted YES on limiting attorney's fees in class action lawsuits. (Feb 2005)Voted YES on restricting frivolous lawsuits. (Sep 2004)Voted NO on campaign finance reform banning soft-money contributions. (Feb 2002)Voted YES on banning soft money donations to national political parties. (Jul 2001)Prohibit non-legislated earmarks. (Jul 2005)Sunset Act: review every federal agency every 12 years. (Jan 2009)Member of House Judiciary Committee. (Mar 2011)Mike Pence on Gun Control Click here for 7 full quotes on Gun Control OR background on Gun Control.Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)Rated A by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record. (Dec 2003)National cross-state standard for concealed carry. (Jan 2009)Teach kids Eddie Eagle GunSafe's lifesaving message. (May 2010)Loosen restrictions on interstate gun purchases. (Oct 2011)Ban gun registration & trigger lock law in Washington DC. (Mar 2007)Mike Pence on Health Care Click here for 20 full quotes on Health Care OR background on Health Care.Voted YES on the Ryan Budget: Medicare choice, tax & spending cuts. (Apr 2011)Voted YES on repealing the "Prevention and Public Health" slush fund. (Apr 2011)Voted NO on regulating tobacco as a drug. (Apr 2009)Voted NO on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)Voted NO on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)Voted YES on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)Voted NO on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. (Nov 2003)Voted NO on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs. (Jul 2003)Voted YES on small business associations for buying health insurance. (Jun 2003)Voted YES on capping damages & setting time limits in medical lawsuits. (Mar 2003)Voted YES on allowing suing HMOs, but under federal rules & limited award. (Aug 2001)Rated 11% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)Repeal any federal health care takeover. (Jul 2010)Deauthorize funding for Obamacare. (Jul 2010)Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law. (Jan 2011)Mike Pence on Homeland Security Click here for 15 full quotes on Homeland Security OR background on Homeland Security.Voted YES on extending the PATRIOT Act's roving wiretaps. (Feb 2011)Voted NO on requiring FISA warrants for wiretaps in US, but not abroad. (Mar 2008)Voted NO on Veto override: Congressional oversight of CIA interrogations. (Mar 2008)Voted YES on removing need for FISA warrant for wiretapping abroad. (Aug 2007)Voted NO on restricting no-bid defense contracts. (Mar 2007)Voted YES on allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant. (Sep 2006)Voted YES on continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight. (Apr 2006)Voted YES on federalizing rules for driver licenses to hinder terrorists. (Feb 2005)Voted YES on continuing military recruitment on college campuses. (Feb 2005)Voted YES on supporting new position of Director of National Intelligence. (Dec 2004)Voted YES on adopting the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. (Oct 2004)Voted YES on emergency $78B for war in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Apr 2003)Voted YES on permitting commercial airline pilots to carry guns. (Jul 2002)Rated 0% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record. (Dec 2003)Extend reserve retirement pay parity back to 9/11. (Dec 2007)Mike Pence on Immigration Click here for 7 full quotes on Immigration OR background on Immigration.Voted YES on building a fence along the Mexican border. (Sep 2006)Voted YES on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment. (May 2004)Voted YES on extending Immigrant Residency rules. (May 2001)Rated 100% by FAIR, indicating a voting record restricting immigration. (Dec 2003)Rated 92% by USBC, indicating a sealed-border stance. (Dec 2006)End Birthright Citizenship; no more anchor babies. (Apr 2009)Declare English as the official language of the US. (Feb 2007)Mike Pence on Jobs Click here for 10 full quotes on Jobs OR background on Jobs.$700B stimulus did not deliver promised employment. (Jan 2010)Voted YES on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks. (Oct 2008)Voted NO on overriding presidential veto of Farm Bill. (Jun 2008)Voted NO on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Mar 2007)Voted NO on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Jan 2007)Voted YES on end offshore tax havens and promote small business. (Oct 2004)Voted YES on $167B over 10 years for farm price supports. (Oct 2001)Voted YES on zero-funding OSHA's Ergonomics Rules instead of $4.5B. (Mar 2001)Rated 7% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)Rated 100% by CEI, indicating a pro-workplace choice voting record. (May 2012)Mike Pence on Principles & Values Click here for 5 full quotes on Principles & Values OR background on Principles & Values.Rated C by the Club for Growth, pro-growth but not targeted. (Sep 2004)Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation. (Dec 2006)Member of the House Republican Young Guns. (Sep 2010)Member of the Tea Party movement. (Aug 2010)Designate first weekend in May as Ten Commandments Weekend. (Apr 2011)Mike Pence on Social Security Click here for 2 full quotes on Social Security OR background on Social Security.Voted YES on raising 401(k) limits & making pension plans more portable. (May 2001)Rated 22% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)Mike Pence on Tax Reform Click here for 20 full quotes on Tax Reform OR background on Tax Reform.Across-the-board tax relief better than stimulus bill. (Jan 2010)Voted NO on extending AMT exemptions to avoid hitting middle-income. (Jun 2008)Voted NO on paying for AMT relief by closing offshore business loopholes. (Dec 2007)Voted YES on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends. (Dec 2005)Voted YES on providing tax relief and simplification. (Sep 2004)Voted YES on making permanent an increase in the child tax credit. (May 2004)Voted YES on permanently eliminating the marriage penalty. (Apr 2004)Voted YES on making the Bush tax cuts permanent. (Apr 2002)Voted YES on $99 B economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts. (Oct 2001)Voted YES on Tax cut package of $958 B over 10 years. (May 2001)Voted YES on eliminating the Estate Tax ("death tax"). (Apr 2001)Reduce the capital gains tax . (Jan 2001)Phaseout the death tax. (Mar 2001)Rated 76% by NTU, indicating a "Taxpayer's Friend" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)Rated 0% by the CTJ, indicating opposition to progressive taxation. (Dec 2006)Replace income tax & employment tax with FairTax. (Jan 2009)Taxpayer Protection Pledge: no new taxes. (Aug 2010)No European-style VAT (value-added tax). (May 2010)Replace income tax & estate tax with 23% sales tax. (Jan 2011)Supports the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. (Jan 2012)Mike Pence on Technology Click here for 15 full quotes on Technology OR background on Technology.Reject the censorship of the Fairness Doctrine. (Feb 2008)Voted NO on delaying digital TV conversion by four months. (Mar 2009)Voted YES on retroactive immunity for telecoms' warrantless surveillance. (Jun 2008)Voted NO on $23B instead of $4.9B for waterway infrastructure. (Nov 2007)Voted NO on establishing "network neutrality" (non-tiered Internet). (Jun 2006)Voted YES on increasing fines for indecent broadcasting. (Feb 2005)Voted YES on promoting commercial human space flight industry. (Nov 2004)Voted YES on banning Internet gambling by credit card. (Jun 2003)Voted YES on allowing telephone monopolies to offer Internet access. (Feb 2002)Promote internet via Congressional Internet Caucus. (Jan 2001)Permanent ban on state & local taxation of Internet access. (Oct 2007)Popularize Electronic Signatures with ESIGN Day. (Jun 2010)End net neutrality; allow tiered Internet service. (Jan 2011)Sponsored bill prohibiting return of the Fairness Doctrine. (Jan 2009)No performance royalties for radio music. (Mar 2009)Mike Pence on War & Peace Click here for 11 full quotes on War & Peace OR background on War & Peace.Voted YES on banning armed forces in Libya without Congressional approval. (Jun 2011)Voted NO on investigating Bush impeachment for lying about Iraq. (Jun 2008)Voted NO on redeploying US troops out of Iraq starting in 90 days. (May 2007)Voted YES on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun 2006)Voted YES on approving removal of Saddam & valiant service of US troops. (Mar 2004)Voted YES on authorizing military force in Iraq. (Oct 2002)Solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism. (Apr 2002)Strengthen sanctions on Syria & assist democratic transition. (Apr 2008)No contact & enforce sanctions on Iran until threat is gone. (May 2011)Support the completion of the US mission in Iraq. (Feb 2007)Sanctions on Iran to end nuclear program. (Apr 2009)

"An Yll Wynde That Blowth No Man To Good"“America has the best wind resources in the world. Not harvesting America’s wind would be like going to Saudi Arabia and not drilling for oil.” Ditlev Engel, Chief Executive of Vestas Wind SystemsOf all renewable energy, the most contentious is wind. Wind stirs most passion and documentaries are made of suffering communities at war with each other lying in the shadow of the big blades. ‘Big wind’ companies are made to sound as evil as ‘big oil’ in their calculated pursuit of profits. I know people living north of London in the UK, who are actively moving to cancel wind farm installations on the grounds of fears of wind turbine syndrome (WTS)[i] a serious health problem described by people who live close to the towering structures.The Caithness Windfarm Information Forum (CWIF)[ii] produces a list of the frequency of all wind turbine related accidents globally confirmed by press reports. Renewable UK[iii] also follow such data with reports on such topics as:Radar and aviation securityScenery despoliationProperty pricesHealth Impacts from aerodynamic noise and shadow flickerThe CWIF reports find that blade failure is the most common problem that causes accidents with fire a close second and poor maintenance coming third. They found that globally, total accidents since the 1970’s numbered 1,549, a level that is growing each year along with the number of installed wind turbines. Fatal accidents also are rising but at a much lower level with a total of 146 deaths in 108 accidents since 1970, with 14 in 2011 but more in 2012.Blade Failure – Up to 2012 there are 289 incidents with some cases of parts of blades being thrown up to a mile away from the turbine hub. In Germany, parts of blades have penetrated roofs and walls of nearby buildings. ‘Renewable UK’ reported 1,500 accidents in the UK alone over the five years up to 2011 with some deaths and serious injuries. Unless there is an injury, there is no requirement for an incident to be reported. The Wind industry plays down the incidents. In 2006 part of a wind turbine blade snapped off its hub and crashed into a field in high winds. The operator, Cumbria Wind Farms said, “Nothing like this has happened there before”, but they forgot to mention that in fact one month after the park opened in 1993, a similar accident had occurred. A similar situation occurred with Scottish Power with a blade separation event in Whitelee. Three bladed wind turbine blades are secured only on one end, unlike many vertical and arguably safer VAWT wind turbine designs. The Risø National Laboratory[iv] in Denmark reported 15 turbine collapses in the three years from 2005 to 2008.Fire – can occur due to gearbox lubrication failure or friction within the nacelle or when bearings fail. 231 incidents of fire have been reported. Most fire is restricted to the turbine nacelle but out of reach of firemen on the ground. In dry weather there is a danger of wildfire. Wind turbines are also a magnet for lightning strikes which can ignite flammable blade resins. In October 2013 a crew of 4 mechanics were working for a service company that was charged with maintaining the 13 turbines at Deltawind’s Piet de Wit wind farm in the Netherlands. They were in a gondola next to the nacelle of a Vestas V-66, 1.75 MW turbine, when a fire likely caused by a short circuit blocked the only escape to the stairs in the shaft. Two men jumped through flames to reach the stairs and saved themselves, while the two remaining men, only 19 and 21 years of age were trapped and died. One jumped from the tower and the other was burned.[v]Structural failure – 148 instances mainly of collapsing turbines in storms but also including component failure. This is a very expensive form of failure but mostly at arm’s length from human beings.Ice Throw – In icing conditions, wind turbines can fling a loose piece of ice a considerable distance, but as with aircraft wings, the performance of the turbine blade deteriorates as ice builds up. Turbines are equipped to detect imbalances caused by ice and normally shut down. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agency, established by President Nixon in 1970, detailed requirements for wind turbine workers to observe when in icing conditions. Complaints about ice are common and the fear is that rotating blades in melting conditions will fling heavy chunks of damaging and lethal ice long distances. This is alleged to have happened in Whittlesey in England, where lumps of ice two feet long were flung from a 410 foot wind turbine, through the air, finally colliding with a carpet showroom and car park. Residents had the offending turbine shut down. A report by GE’s wind turbine division[vi] did alert users that ice chunks can indeed be flung several hundred yards. A Swiss study[vii] made in a ski resort in 2007 showed that up to 5% of the ice on a turbine was able to travel 260 feet from the turbine. As experience grows with wind farms the ability to protect the community that lives near them improves. Ice is thrown a maximum of 400 feet and this is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. A 2003 report cited 880 events between 1990 and 2003 alone and another report published in 2005 described 94 incidents. Further reports in 2006 reported 27 further incidents.Transportation of wind turbine components to the installation site – 147 incidents since 1970 including a house being rammed through by a turbine tower section in Germany, a utility pole being knocked through a restaurant and a turbine section falling off in a tunnel. In one case a $75 million barge was lost at sea with expensive turbine sections. Transportation is the largest cause of public fatalities including the Brazilian bus disaster mentioned above. In a single incident in Brazil in March of 2012, a bus driver was behind a slow truck, hoping to overtake. He was indicating and thought the truck ahead of him was moving over to let him pass. He gunned the accelerator to overtake only to suddenly find himself faced with a 40 ton wind tower section being transported in the oncoming lane. It sheared off the left side of the bus, driver included. 14 passengers and the driver died on the spot and two more died later[viii].Bird Deaths –"When you look at a wind turbine, you can find the bird carcasses and count them. With a coal-fired power plant, you can't count the carcasses, but it's going to kill a lot more birds." - John Flicker, National Audubon Society, president.Sibley and Monroe estimated that there are about 9,703 species of birds[ix]. They are found on all major land masses and over the oceans. Total populations are difficult to estimate due to seasonal fluctuations in populations but Sibley & Monroe accepted that there are between 100 and 200 billion adult birds in the world. Kevin Gaston and Tim Blackburn[x] doubled that estimate with 200 to 400 billion. Birds are killed by wind turbines and solar installations, but it turns out that the numbers of birds already killed by buildings, high tension lines, vehicles, cats and pesticides are so much greater that there is clearly a perception twist, which is likely deliberate, going on here. This is not to say that we should be complacent about bird deaths. It’s a universally accepted fact that all parties are against any kind of animal mortality as a result of our energy activities. The presentation of it though, ought to be based on the factual wider context of bird deaths from other causes. The Altamont pass was one of the first locations in the US preserved for wind power due to the excellent winds funneled by the hills there. At the time bird deaths were not on the minds of the responsible individuals who created this wind resource.Even institutions who are protective of birds, the National Audubon Society, the US Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Society all have commissioned studies that result in the same conclusions afforded by the following chart. Bird deaths by wind turbines do not remotely compare with the impact of cats, cars, power lines or buildings. As wind power increases its penetration however, its currently small impact on birds will grow less than proportionately as operators learn how to avoid avian mortality by siting, colors on blades, kick in speeds and other methods.BIRD DEATHS FROM DIFFERENT CAUSESFigure 9: Bird deaths from different causes, showing that wind turbines are the least of threats among many. Source Bloomberg New Energy Finance, US Forestry Service.Perception of bird deaths can halt wind turbine installations during the public planning phase and then effective resistance can scuttle installation plans. It turns out though, that wind turbines are responsible for only 1 in every 10,000 causes of bird deaths.Small birds are killed in the billions by housecats while wind turbine casualties tend to be relatively larger bird species. Bigger birds, normally not the direct target of a housecat, like the protected Bald Eagles and other birds of prey, are more likely to be killed by a wind turbine than by a cat. Balanced against this has to be the effect of coal and oil on birds mentioned in the earlier solar report. Many energy technologies apparently are bad for birds, but wind and solar are far from being the worst culprits. In 2013 a study by Smallwood indicated that the estimates of wind turbine bird deaths may be understated for three reasons. Estimates of bird deaths by wind turbines depended on counting carcasses found under the turbines. It was entirely possible that searches were done in less than efficient ways and in inadequate search radiuses. Additionally carcasses could easily be removed by predators and his bird death estimate was 573,000, slightly higher than others.[xi]A 2005 study by the USDA Forest Service, was an early indication that wind turbines were a very small impact on overall bird populations.[xii] Then the National Audubon Society produced a study[xiii], funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in September, 2014 which took seven years to finish and which looked closely at 588 of the total 800 species of bird found in North America. 314 of these species are threatened in some way with a loss of environment by the end of the century. Climate change (therefore CONG) is blamed for effectively potentially destroying the ecosystem for 28 species. This data is not included in the chart above in Figure 9. The Bald Eagle and state mascots are at serious risk due to climate change which reduces the bird’s range and alters the lifecycle of their food sources. Bird mortality from fossil fuel pollution and climate change represents a far higher risk than wind turbines as far as the Audubon Society is concerned.In 1918, the US Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), a legislation aimed at protecting populations of over 1,000 species of birds from hunting or other forms of harm. It put in place penalties for causing damage to this part of the US environment. This may have been partly in response to the extinction by humans of the passenger pigeon, which had been the commonest bird in America, ranging in flocks of billions of individuals, but which had become completely extinct by 1914 after being exhaustively hunted for its meat and feathers. Martha, the world’s last passenger pigeon died at the age of 29, on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo. She had been there all her life. She was named after President Washington’s wife and within minutes of her death she was on the way to the Smithsonian museum in Washington inside a 300lb block of ice, where Nelson Wood, the Smithsonian taxidermist preserved her. Twice she left the Smithsonian, once to attend a conservation event in San Diego in 1974 and then a return visit to Cincinnatti Zoo to name a building in her honor. For both trips she travelled by plane in a box in first class with her own flight attendant.[xiv]Birds are famously victims of the huge wind turbine blades. This is certainly true and although bird fatalities from the house cat, vehicles and building windows account for literally millions or billions more, it doesn’t excuse the wind turbine’s effects impact. At least lip service is done to relocate turbines out of birds’ migration paths. Also, most song birds migrate flying at a height of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, well above the tallest wind turbines, at least so far. There is a very disturbing YouTube video of a large, elegant bird of prey being struck down by such a rotating blade[xv]. In an awful European case there was the death of a rare swift, the White-throated Needletail, the world’s fastest flying bird. The poor exhausted creature was spotted by a group of 30 birdwatchers who had made a special trip to the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The sighting was only the 9time that the bird had been seen since 1846, in Essex. The last time it had been seen at all was 1991. The assembled enthusiasts assembled in the appropriate location and waited for hours before being rewarded by sighting the bird. They were summarily horrified to see the rare bird, which had flown all the way from Australia, knocked down and killed by the rotating blade of a wind turbine.[xvi]The MBTA has been invoked several times to improve conditions for migratory bird species. Between 2004 and 2009 in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, just 85, unprotected, migratory birds were deemed to have died due to exposure to oil and gas facilities owned by Exxon Mobil. The Justice Department fined the company $600,000 or about $7,000 for each bird killed. Exxon pleaded guilty and cooperated with the department spending a further $2.5 million to clean up the sites. It turned out that the fine was equal to twenty minutes of Exxon’s profits, based on $8.6 billion earnings for the first half of 2009[xvii]. Other fossil fuel companies have been fined. BP paid $100 million for the impact of its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill on migratory birds. Pacificorp, which operates coal fired power stations, paid $500,000 in 2009 after 232 eagles along power distribution lines between its substations were found to have been electrocuted.[xviii]Wind farms started to kill birds on a regular basis although the MBTA was rarely invoked, prompting calls of hypocrisy against those claiming that wind was an environmental solution. Wind farms have been fined for killing birds too, however. Duke Energy was fined $1 million for the deaths of 14 eagles and 149 other birds, including hawks, blackbirds, wrens and sparrows, between 2009 and 2013. Duke were also called upon to restore and do community service (how do you ask a large utility to do that!) and were placed on 5 years of probation while they put together an environmental compliance plan to prevent bird deaths. Interestingly, Duke then applied for a permit to kill eagles, to help provide a context within which the system can absorb the inevitability of bird deaths. Another group, the Wind Capital Group applied for such a license only to be embroiled in an argument over its granting, by the Osage Nation in opposition. Many applications for this license have been filed. Environmentalists complain bitterly when President Obama’s administration, eager for non-polluting wind power, announced a new federal rule that allows wind farms to lawfully kill birds of prey.There is some evidence that birds change their behavior when in the presence of wind farms. Lowther in 1998 discovered that studying a 22 turbine wind farm in Wales, UK, no birds were killed by the turbine and in fact they were seen to have shifted their activity to a different location. Some wind farms have no bird fatalities at all. A study[xix] published in the Journal of Applied Ecology by Pawel Plonczkier and Ian Simms monitored migrating flocks of pink-footed geese using radar as they returned during migration to the shores of Lincolnshire, UK. Monitoring the movement of the birds over 4 years from 2007 to 2010, established that two new wind farms effectively caused the geese to change their flight paths. The proportion of goose flocks flying outside the wind farm locations climbed from 52% to 81% in this time and even geese flying through the windfarm area had increased their altitude to climb above the turbines.An Australian online group called RenewEconomy had an article which summarizes the whole bird situation quite nicely called “Want to save 70 million birds a year? Build more wind farms”, drawing attention to the impact of CONG on birds. Replacing all fossil fuel worldwide, it says, would save about 70 million birds a year establishing wind farms as a strong net benefit for birds. Author Mike Bernard[xx] explains that wind farms kill less than 0.0001 percent of birds killed by human activities annually out of a total 1.5% of human caused mortality.Bats and BarotraumaThe other species which more recently became synonymous with death by wind turbine blade is bats. Most of the damage is done to migratory bat species in the autumn. Bats are famously known for their ability to echo locate hard objects in their local environment, such as tree branches or cave walls, and even insects on the wing while they are feeding. They can actually detect moving objects better than stationary objects so the high death rate from wind turbine blades was puzzling. Several explanations were proposed but 90% of the bat fatalities involved internal hemorrhaging just as might be expected with damage caused by sudden air pressure changes. Birds have a more resistant respiratory anatomy and are killed by being hit by the blades, whereas the bats do avoid the blades, but come so close that pressure changes around the blades cause the damage to their lungs. The mammals have larger, flexible lungs and hearts. Birds have compact, rigid lungs with very strong pulmonary capillaries which can resist the higher pressure changes, even though the blood/gas barriers are thinner than the bats. Wind turbine blades are moved by the wind. An airfoil on a plane pushes against the wind but a wind turbine blade is moved by the wind. In either case, the airfoil cross section causes significant differences in air pressure. The greatest area of low pressure exists at the fast moving (approximately 180 mph) tip of the blade and cascades downwind from the moving blade. A zone of low pressure can cause a bat’s lungs to expand causing tissue damage, or barotrauma. A study[xxi] was paid for by fossil fuel companies like Suncor and Shell, but also from wind turbine companies such as TransAlta Wind and Alberta Wind Energy Corporation as well as academic institutions. They found bat bodies from hoary and silver-haired bats killed at a wind farm in south western Alberta, Canada and examined them for internal injuries. Of 188 bat bodies collected, 87 had no external physical injury. Very few bats had external injuries without internal bleeding.In 2012, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducted pressure studies[xxii] on mice, which were used because they are a close approximation to bats and discovered that pressures of only 1.4 kilopascals (kPa) were experienced by the bats at the blade tips in 11 mph winds but that it took 30 kPa to cause fatality in mice. There was no suggestion by NREL for an alternative cause of death however. At low windspeeds the pressures are even lower and yet it is at the low speeds that the bats fly which further confuses the issue.Intermittency – When the wind calms, electricity production needs to be backed up by a non-intermittent power source. On May 13th, 2014, Germany experienced 74% of their electricity grid, an astonishing 43.5 gigawatts, successfully supplied by renewable capacity[xxiii]. The world’s fourth largest economy not having to pay for fuel! However, the wind, solar, hydro and biomass generation activities needed to be backed up by over 10 gigawatts of ‘spinning reserve’. While there is no reason why a fossil fuel needs to be chosen to back up the wind, it just happens to be the current case that CONG are the bulk methods most available to make wind and solar intermittency more palatable. The short sighted criticism is that wind doesn’t cut pollution after all but it all depends on which non-intermittent power source is used. Since wind intermittency is mostly offset by the use of fast reacting gas turbines, instead of coal as back-up power or spinning reserve, the impact on emissions can be minor. In the future, sustainable base-load renewable energy can act as spinning reserve. Almost every type of renewable energy can become base load with some tweaks. Solar can go into space. Wind can harvest the energy from almost permanent fast winds at high altitude. Almost all other renewable energy types are already base load anyway, biomass, biofuels, geothermal, hydroelectric etc.Noise – like a propeller, wind turbine blades make a noise in contact with the air. Not surprisingly this particular complaint turns out to be very much less annoying than it at first appears. It turns out that noise from other sources is louder and more persistent. Traffic, aircraft, wind itself, household noises, industry, farming etc. When windfarms are going through the public planning stage, it’s quite likely that the developer will ask local residents to sign a waiver for any noise irritation and give them an incentive to do so. They suggest local people accept this $5,000 check and if the turbines happen to be noisy, they have no recourse. One of many states that has addressed this issue is Oregon where a state noise ordinance reflects a specific regulation restricting noise from wind turbines. The law here, allows for noise to exceed what is considered an area’s ambient noise level by a given amount, often the subject of controversy itself. Interestingly in Oregon’s case the law that limits turbine noise is an evolution from one that once enforced industrial noise conditions and was part of the Department of Environmental Quality which was closed down in 1991, before wind power became a state priority.An 85 page study was conducted on the subject in 2009 for the Canadian Wind Energy Association and the American Wind Energy Association. The selected panel concluded that wind turbines do not make people ill because of noise. They did say the swooshing sound of blades could be irritating. Such a conclusion from such a source is hardly surprising, although the study panel members, a doctor, a vibration and acoustics expert from the UK, a professor of audiology and a biological engineer, all claimed to have been at arm’s length and totally able to design the study themselves.Eighteen studies were done between 2003 and 2014, not one of them saying there was any evidence that wind turbines did any harm at all. In 1918 there was a medical condition that at the time was not acknowledged to be real. It was a reaction to the hell of fighting on the First World War front often caused by the close impact of exploding shells. In fact it was called ‘shellshock’. The military term for it was cowardice or desertion and many otherwise perfectly good people were shot at dawn for supposedly letting the side down. In August of 2006, the UK Defense Secretary published posthumous pardons for 306 soldiers, four of whom were only 17, who were executed this way.[xxiv] I don’t think that wind turbine syndrome will one day be recognized as a real complaint, but I wouldn’t like to live close enough to a turbine to experience long term noise effects either.In February of 2015, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) completed a comprehensive study[xxv] on the effects of wind turbines and farms on people who live further than 1,500 meters from the closest turbine. The study identified over 4,000 international papers on the subject of which only 13 suggested a possible relationship between the wind turbine and human health. They determined that the body of direct evidence was small and of poor quality but admitted it was a complex subject as much of it is subjective opinion. NHMRC concluded there is no consistent evidence that wind farms cause adverse health effects in humans. The concern over the topic led them to recommend specific research to produce a body of high quality observations of those who live within 1,500 meters of wind farms.Resistance to Offshore WindFarmsCape Wind is the name of an offshore windfarm project that has been moving forward at a glacial pace and while it appeared positive for the start of construction as of the end of 2014, just a few months later, the cycle of delays has begun once again. There has been no offshore wind in the Americas, while many large installations have been completed in Europe. The UK has staked part of its energy future on very large offshore wind farms because of the huge reserve of energy there. It hopes to generate 18 gigawatts by 2020 and double that again by 2030.[xxvi]There is a paradox attached to the location of one of America’s most affluent playgrounds, Cape Cod. White warriors of the US clean energy army, people who in any other circumstance would do their best for renewable energy, are here arrayed against the installation of the first offshore wind turbine farm in America because of a fierce determination not to despoil their little plot of nature. This resistance to installation of something new is called “Not in My Back Yard” (NIMBY). Cape Wind Associates has tenaciously hung on to the goal of installing 130, 400 foot tall turbines, which were originally supposed to be up and running by 2006. Opposition has been fierce. An entity called ‘The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound’ has raised millions and paid staff members and a public relations firm in Washington. It has purchased radio, newspaper and TV time and has distributed flyers. It has also engaged the support of wealthy landowners in the region such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Walter Cronkite who lent his distinctive, patriarchal, trusted voice to a radio advertisements for the group.Many Cape Cod beach homes are as much as 7 miles from the proposed site, Horseshoe Shoal. At that distance the relative size of the giant turbines is less than that of a dime held at arm’s length. The indigenous hold-outs were being marginalized and the project was closer than ever to going ahead as of the end of 2014. Today though it is tied down again in delaying lawsuits which seem to never end. The site is in federal waters not subject to the same zoning laws as land based projects. Private money is ready to be put up to pay the expected $750 million equity money. Complainants like these are well funded, whereas the Cape would benefit hugely over two decades at least of clean energy supply for a very reasonable cost. Any foundations placed offshore additionally act as a wildlife magnet, creating the equivalent of an artificial reef teeming with life. There are artificial reef projects achieving this in many locations along the world’s coastlines using old ships, planes and other relics.[xxvii][i] Wind energy is considered a disaster responding to the hoax of climate change in this vociferous website which of course also discusses wind turbine syndrome. Available at: http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/wind-turbine-syndrome/what-is-wind-turbine-syndrome/[ii] The Caithness Windfarm Information Forum. Available at: http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk/[iii] RenewableUK. A leading renewable energy trade association. Available at: http://www.renewableuk.com/en/events/conferences-and-exhibitions/renewableuk-2015/[iv] Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy. Available at: http://orbit.dtu.dk/en/organisations/risoe-national-laboratory-for-sustainable-energy%2869f3623e-9f3f-48aa-8b46-4b4fb2abab7f%29.html[v] Available at: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3cd_1383772851#Opj3eWpLL6Co282t.99[vi] David Wahl, Philippe Giguere. Ice Shedding and Ice Throw – Risk and Mitigation. Wind Application Engineering. GE Energy. Available at: http://www.cbuilding.org/sites/cbi.drupalconnect.com/files/ger4262.pdf[vii] Cattin et al. Wind Turbine Ice Throw Studies in the Swiss Alps. EWEC 2007. Based on studies of a 600 kW Enercon E-40 at 2,300 mASL in Swiss Alps[viii] Summary of Wind Turbine Accident Data to 30 September 2014. PDF. Caithness Windfarm Information Forum.[ix] Sibley and Monroe. 1992.[x] Kevin J. Gaston and Tim M. Blackburn. April 1997. How many birds are there? Available at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1018341530497[xi] K. Shawn Smallwood, “Comparing bird and bat fatality-rate estimates among North American wind-energy projects”, Wildlife Society Bulletin, 26 Mar. 2013. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.260/pdf[xii] Wallace P. Erickson, Gregory D. Johnson and David P. Young Jr. A Summary and Comparison of Bird Mortality from Anthropogenic Causes with an Emphasis on Collisions. USDA Forest Service. PSW-GTR-191. 2005. Available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr191/Asilomar/pdfs/1029-1042.pdf[xiii] Erickson WP, Wolfe MM, Bay KJ, Johnson DH, Gehring JL (2014) A Comprehensive Analysis of Small-Passerine Fatalities from Collision with Turbines at Wind Energy Facilities. PLoS ONE 9(9): e107491. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107491[xiv] Smithsonian article on Martha, the last passenger pidgeon. Available at: http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/featured_objects/martha2.html[xv] Bald Eagle seriously injured by wind turbine. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwVz5hdAMGU[xvi] Rare swift killed by Scottish wind turbine. Available at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/birdwatchers-see-rare-bird-killed-by-wind-turbine-1-2980240[xvii] Exxon Mobil pleads guilty to bird deaths. Available at: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8322081[xviii] BP and Pacificorp pay fines for killing birds. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-eagle-death-wind-farm-oil-energy-epa-2013-5[xix] Pawel Plonczkier and Ian C. Simms. Journal of Applied Ecology. 2012. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02181.x/epdf[xx] Mike Barnard. 10 August, 2012. Want to save 70 million birds a year? Build more wind farms. RenewEconomy. Available at: http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/want-to-save-70-million-birds-a-year-build-more-wind-farms-18274[xxi] Erin F. Baerwald, Genevieve H. D’Amours, Brandon J. Klug and Robert M.R. Barclay. Barotrauma is a significant cause of bat fatalities at wind turbines.[xxii] “NREL Study Finds Barotrauma Not Guilty”, November 27, 2012. Available at: http://www.nrel.gov/wind/news/2013/2149.html[xxiii] Germany has 74% of its power supplied by renewable energy. 2014. Available at: http://gas2.org/2014/05/27/for-one-hour-germany-was-powered-by-74-renewables/[xxiv] Posthumous pardons of First World War shellshock victims. Available on: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526437/Pardoned-the-306-soldiers-shot-at-dawn-for-cowardice.html[xxv] Information Paper: Evidence on Wind Farms and Human Health. February 2015. PDF. National Health and Medical Research Council. Available at: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/eh57a_information_paper.pdf[xxvi] UK Renewable Energy Roadmap. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48128/2167-uk-renewable-energy-roadmap.pdf[xxvii] Positive environmental impacts of offshore wind farms. European Wind Energy Association. Available at: http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/files/members-area/information-services/offshore/research-notes/120801_Positive_environmental_impacts.pdf

Because Japanese leaders and right wing asshats are catering to the white supremacy itself. Japan has a section in bookstores to dedicate either hating Koreans/Chinese or worshipping the West/Nihonjinron.Japan, just a puppet of America?Japan always disappoints me as the place of Asian dignity. They have a worshipping attitude towards all things Western. An American nationality with any Asian heritage automatically won any heart over there, while if one has white skin, then he or she would ascend to godhood in Japan.Japan is responsible for the massive expansion of “Orientalism” where the West thinks Asia as a fetish. Thus, they ruined how the Westerners see Asian people and cultures.Bushido: Way of Total BullshitThe consequences that many Asians face today are partially due to Japanese misguided advertisements towards the West. Japanese leaders, low on self-esteem, actively accepted all stereotypes to submit themselves as equal as white people A Submissive East Asian Woman's Dreams and Fantasies. Japanese people accept all stereotypes that the West put on them, and proudly wear the badge of “honorary white/Aryan” to continue looking down on other Asians. The Japanese leaders, in fact, extended the Western oppression on Asia through paving ways for Western investors exploiting the Asian economies. Thankfully, China rises and puts a halt to the Westernization of Far East Asia. They looked down at other Asians until China begins to surpass them, and Vietnam/South Korea/Taiwan/India begin to rise. Japanese people begin to admire China but they also talk trash against China and other Asian countries in secret. Their worship of America also increases as their self-esteem suffers heavy damage when looking other Asian successes.Japan’s New Leader, Suga Yoshihide, Will Maintain the Old RegimeWhat’s worse that they simply resigned themselves towards white supremacy after the Plaza Accord. Their PMs actively sold their economy to the highest foreign bidders who are mostly Americans. Their national tax revenues now dedicated entirely to keep the USD Petrodollar regime alive through using the trade surpluses (favored through exporting mostly to the USA) to buy the American treasuries/bonds/stocks, while China and Russia are ditching them to create their own global currency. Meanwhile, none of those money used to truly boost Japanese consumption and entrepreneurial spirits. Not to mention, Abe and Suga signed away their national sovereignty through becoming American military lapdog whenever the Japanese help is needed, with the huge rise in national defense budget in the already debt-ridden economy.China and Vietnam learned the important lessons of national sovereignty and economic independence from Japan’s utter failures. China and Vietnam impose heavy barriers in the economic spheres to prevent any foreign interference. China used its massive market to blackmail the capitalists at the costs of building ghost cities. Vietnam does not have the size of China but it’s very selective of FDI as well as imposing strict investment controls - they realize that any sudden rise of money, under pretense of miracle economy, is a recipe for economic catastrophe. For years, Vietnamese interest rates have been very high but the people here still have incomes to buy luxury things.My point here is that authoritarianism is the ideal tool to maintain national sovereign and independence against Western imperialists. Singapore and Hong Kong once escaped the 1997 Financial Crisis because they have an authoritarian systems to prevent any foreign takeover and speculative attack. They were in control, while Asian Tigers and Japan weren’t (except Taiwan for odd reasons).As an aside about common criticism against authoritarian countries, Japan’s human rights record is quite horrendous if you considered the recent abuse of Olympian athletes in Japan or systemic discrimination against foreigners. The US ignored almost all of the human rights violations in Japan during the Cold War. The biggest no-responsibility winner of all times, a very important ally of the US, is Saudi Arabia. The country has the medieval rules of laws and North Korean authoritarianism with oil wealth. It casually destroys Yemeni cultural heritage sites and historical artifacts of Yemen as we speak. No American press is talking much about those totalitarian Arabs. My point is that you can be authoritarian and receive no Western criticism if you are allied with the West. If Japan is a state-Shinto country that hates the US right now, I bet the NYT journalist will call Japan’s practices of Shinto rebuilding as barbaric, and anti-environmental for putting more CO2 into the atmosphere. If Vietnam becomes more allied with the West, will be soon, the dogs/cats cuisine will be advertised as “cultural experiences of a lifetime” by any American journalist.I am quite angry at the reality that the Japanese people and leaders refused and wasted the entire 20th century on useless party bubbles and white worshipping “rituals”. They could have used their wealth to retake their country independence, like what South Korea is doing right now. They could have improved the cultural and social standing of Asian people through advertising the real Asianism not Orientalist craps created by the West (Anime is a notorious piece of Orientalist garbage, most of them).Japan was NEVER innovative. They are a "post-facto consensus" society. America was the top manufacturer until the mid-50s. They converted to be a military industrial complex leeching money and talent while Europe and Asia rebuilt. By the late 60s Japan picked up the slack America dropped TEN YEARS EARLIER, because no one else was. Asia was utterly undeveloped. For about 15-20 years Japan was uncontested. Then the Asian tigers happened and now Japan is a joke with a lot of slowly dwindling cash protected by the US dollar hegemony.Once the US pulled the plugs on Japan, the Japanese economy immediately went into eternal stagnation for decades. China and Asian Tigers have far surpassed Japan in the manufacturing. The only thing that stops Japan from completely becoming irrelevant in the manufacturing is the US. Now, Japan and South Korea are in shambles due to the Plaza Accord and Asian Financial Crisis 1997. Being a vassal for the USA isn’t good! The problem isn’t just the default. It’s the stagnation. Japan owned all its debts in Yen, their own debts. No foreigner wants to own the Yen as Japan declines. If Japan ever declares its debts disappeared, it basically means the Yen is useless as German Weimar Mark in 1920s where hyperinflation will become real in Japan. The USA played a vital role of keeping Japan stable under conditions where Japan exports stuffs in exchange of receiving the USD to finance more projects (lending) for the Americans. A perpetual cycle to artificially keep the USD and American debts in high demands. Without the access to American supply chains and finances, Japan would have ended up like North Korea economically and financially. This is gradually becoming a reality as the USA shifts its attention to India and the SEA where they can replace Japan’s role.China knows how to make basically everything in existence except the core technologies and R&D capacity. The US severely sanctions China to stop the dragon from becoming more than Japan could ever be. Japan still serves as an intermediary place of manufacturing high quality goods to lower the costs at home for the Americans. Once Trump finds away of pulling high quality manufacturing into American reach, Japan will lose its crown jewel in the economy.Additionally, the US also found new partners to fill the gap of Japan or any Asian tigers. Now, India and Vietnam have become more attractive partners for the US in the long game against China. Once the US transfers the know-how to those nations, Japan’s place will become increasingly obsolete.As long as there are many Japanese people thinking themselves as the West, then there will be nothing much to improve Japan’s deteriorating society and standing in the Asian world. However, I am glad that there are many Japanese leaders, LDP moderates and JCP members, actively try to wrestle with the USA for the control of Japan. Unfortunately, most of the Japanese population had fallen into the Western brainwashing so bad that they barely consider themselves as an Asian much.Client State: Japan in the American Embrace, by Gavan McCormack. New York: Verso Press, 2007, 246 pp., $29.95 (paper). Gavan McCormack, professor emeritus at Australia National University, argues that the closer embrace of the United States at the opening of the 21st century has widened the gulf between Japan and its neighbors. Japan’s “neocons” are isolating Japan and making it more dependent on the U.S. while pretending to be assertive and charting their own destiny. “Client State’s” central thesis is that Japan is a puppet state, one that emerged during the U.S. Occupation 1945-52. McCormack points out that the three key issues at that time — the role of the emperor, the role of the military and relations with Asian neighbors — remain “vexed and unresolved.”McCormack explains that, “Identity is the fundamental unresolved question of Japan’s modern history.” In this context one can better understand the culture war being waged by Abe in imposing patriotic education, airbrushing Japan’s wartime history and promoting constitutional revision. By allowing the emperor to remain institutionalized as the symbol of the state in the Constitution, embracing the wartime conservative elite and postponing any reckoning over Japan’s shared history with Asia due to the Cold War, Washington has powerfully shaped Japan’s identity. These policies keep Japan aloof from the region and impair moves toward regional reconciliation.True heroes of Meiji Restoration are the class of merchants and Confucianist scholars who were long oppressed by the illiterate Samurais. They bought Japan into modernity after cleverly borrowing Western help and accepting free trade.Unfortunately, Imperial House later accepted many Samurais into the military, and they similarly repeated the mistakes of Heian Japan where warrior class again took over. Samurais drove Japan into many suicidal wars, while the gentry scholars of Japan were systematically eliminated. Japan was drunk on delusions after the Samurai class took over to lose horribly in the end, and the USA exploited the naivety of the Japanese warrior-class bureaucrats for the divide-and-rule.Again, the CIA and Pentagon used those Samurai puppets to crush down the Japanese gentry scholar class who were mostly left-wing and pro-independence. Samurai has fucked up Japan for centuries, rather than saving it. Japanese people have been admiring the wrong guys, and this fact painfully allows American manipulation of Japanese conscience. McCormack simply stated the so-called Japanese nationalism is an empty ideology based on a fantasy of self-control and supremacy.Japan’s New Leader, Suga Yoshihide, Will Maintain the Old RegimeLike Noam Chomsky and Chalmers Johnson, McCormack challenges the dominant narrative and underlying assumptions, raising serious questions about the nature of the U.S.-Japan relationship that are often buried behind nostrums about “the most important alliance bar none.” He writes, “The Koizumi-Abe ‘revolution’ actually meant the liquidation of some important residual levers of Japanese autonomy, and the acceptance of an even higher level of submission and exploitation within the U.S. global empire.”Because Japan has been nurtured as a dependent “superstate” with an American-imposed identity, the author believes that “The symbols and rhetoric of nationalism function as empty conceits, while the substance of nation is denied.” He adds that “prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine are a sign not of a reviving nationalism so much as an attempt to compensate for an abandoned one.”Similar to UK, Japan is betting to become a client state of the USA for relevance. Unlike the UK, Japan has nothing that the Yankees want - the Brits possess core technologies, elite financial institutions and great espionage power. Japan has none, and gradually becomes a Philippines. The USA doesn’t even want Japan to be in the Anglosphere when the Pentagon rejected Japan’s bid to join the F35 program - kinda hurt for Japan despite of how long that Japan has been sucking the Yankees.One thing UK and Japan have in common is that they are both islands that think they are superior to their respective continents and they don't consider themselves European and Asian respectively. UK looks down on continental Europeans and Japan looks down on continental Asians with contempt. Japan colonized and exploited their neighbors to form an empire while UK colonized almost the whole world and even after their empires ended, they still continue to be nostalgic about their past glory and refuse to let the past go when things around them are changing. Japan can't accept China and South Korea's rise and continental Europe doesn't like the UK dominating Europe.At least, the UK accepted and embraced outsiders who are better than them. Additionally, they also embraced changes so bad that it allowed Americans to take over their entire British Commonwealth - the Iron Lady deregulated the British politics, economy and military to allow American dominance. Meanwhile, Japan is the opposite of the UK with an exceptional grandeur of delusions, except smart LDP cronies like Abe and Suga who saw Japan is now reliant on China and the USA to survive. Soon, they will also rely on Vietnam as well because I have seen multiple of these Japanese elites, with real money, evangelize the greatness of Japan among the Vietnamese populace. However, I bet those images will fall apart after 10 years when Japan becomes irrelevant, just like how China barely cares for the existence of Japan after it surpassed the islandic nation in GDP.What’s worse that Japanese leaders actively profess their admiration to the UK, the most loyal lapdog of the USA. Japanese leaders hope that they would be treated as equal as the UK. As the result, they implemented neoliberal policies that PM Thratcher did in the UK. Poverty rate in Japan is almost as high as the USA, while full time employment is declining. If they follow the next step of deconstructing social programs and universal healthcare in favor of American healthcare companies, then the suicide rate and misery for Japanese people would go through the roofs! Especially the elderly people, as neither of them can survive the American healthcare system as the Tories are attempting in the UK.Unfortunately for them, the UK and USA are fully Western countries, and they never ever take Japan seriously. In their eyes, Japan is a place of prostitution and porn, nothing more! Japan is ending up just an another Philippines or Hawaii but the Japanese people don’t mind of being exploited and raped by Americans.Make no mistake: wealthy class of Japan has also been in the pocket of Chinese CCP elites for a long time since all Japanese performing assets are stashed in China. Most of them are pro-CCP, like Tadashi Yanai or Yoshihiro Nikai. Of course, they prefer to use Chinese stuffs out of consideration for the CCP.I see the status of being world net creditor is a sign of weakness. Japan doesn’t have the power to project anywhere to reclaim its debt and protect its investments. Most of Japanese assets are stashed in China and the USA. Both superpowers can unilaterally default on Japanese debts and get away easily - the USA got away on the default of French debt in 1971. Not to mention they can seize Japanese assets as well like Koreans did. South Korea recently seized assets from Japanese companies to pay for comfort women. Japan’s sanctions on chemicals and visas for diplomats did not change Moon’s mind or cripple Korean economy. Japan’s pride was devastated by the move as they can’t even bully Koreans anymore. If they can’t bully Koreans, then how can they stand against China? So no, Japan basically begs two world superpowers for meager scraps each year.Japan’s current biggest fear is the loss of export manufacturing where the USA won’t need Japan for its high end manufacturing anymore. This has been proposed as a possibility because of population decline. Unfortunately, I see this possibility manifests quicker as the USA will likely ditch Japan to favor China and South East Asia instead. Without the export manufacturing, Japan has no physical economy to back up its debts and funny money. No way to earn foreign currencies through trade surpluses. Hyperinflation.Trump is a douche because he forces Japan to become the American ATM. Nothing will ever change unless the LDP loses power permanently and the JCP becomes powerful.Japan doesn’t have the power to refuse Americans. Last time, the DPJ was trying to be slightly more cordial towards China. The USA sabotaged the Party’s efforts of ruling Japan through making the Japanese bureaucracy to act belligerent towards the DPJ. If any Japanese leader refuses American dominance, the Americans would kill their families or depose them for good. We have seen this type of action many times in the past, from Vietnam to Iraq.Kuril Islands dispute - WikipediaJapan was quietly trying to get some Kuril Islands back from Russia. The USA sabotaged the whole efforts as well.Abe resigned because his plot of breaking away from American influence had failed. He was the most pragmatic PM in the Japanese history. He seeks to improve ties with China and Vietnam at the greatest level than ever. He wants Japan to play the role of a regional world balancer without answering to the Washington DC. His fatal mistake came from his refusal to accept the new Aegis missile defense from the USA which angered the American defense companies. The Pentagon was suspicious of his loyalty, so they probably pressured him to resign.However, Abe is still a neoconservative who is willing to sell the country’s economy for the highest bidders like Margaret Thratcher did. Under Abe, foreign interference and control over Japanese economy has skyrocketed.Big, foreign corporations who are likely European, American and Chinese.Odyssey fund closes with US$50 million in gross assetsPrivate equity sees hot opportunity in Japan's traditional onsen innsSubscribe to read | Financial TimesIf you aren’t a big corporation, Chinese business people are doing some serious raids.China's Wealthy Out to Buy Japanese Ryokans That Suffered Losses During Pandemic | JAPAN ForwardMeanwhile, Shinzo Abe goes AWOL when Japan needs him the most. Lifetime employment and seniority pays became a distant memory as more Japanese people work part-time now. Inequalities also skyrocketed under Abe administration, which Japanese people are experiencing the legacy of Reaganomics as Americans do now. His revisionist Constitution is actually detrimental for Japan’s economy in the long term. The USA supports Japan for revising the 9th article. This is a huge risk of dragging Japan into American endless wars. Japan will have to accompany the USA at every single war, and the costs will be detrimental for Japanese taxpayers. Ask the Brits on how Americans constantly drag them into the endless wars.Reports: Japan may deploy military to protect U.S. from China, Tokyo warns of Taiwan tensions, seeks to deploy military overseas for 1st time since 1945Breaking News, Latest News and Current News from OANN.com. Breaking news and video. Latest Current News: U.S., World, Entertainment, Health, Business, Technology, Politics, Sports.https://www.oann.com/reports-japan-may-deploy-military-to-protect-u-s-from-china-tokyo-warns-of-taiwan-tensions-seeks-to-deploy-military-overseas-for-1st-time-since-1945/By laws, any American 4-star general is the most powerful person in Japan in the case of wartime. The mutual defense treaty between Japan and USA used to have a clause that American military has the rights of using its military force to intervene in Japanese domestic affairs. The clause was replaced with the rights for Americans to choose any piece of land to put a base as well as Japanese inability to remove American presence. Additionally, Edward Snowden revealed that Japan forced to sign a secret agreement to allow unlimited surveillance in Japan by American intelligence communities - al Japanese leaders are being monitored and controlled by American spies.The picture is fitting because Suga addresses his Gaijin Shogun. Ironically, it was also an official title given by the Imperial Family to Supreme Commander of Japan.Shinzo Abe’s liberal policies are a must if Japan wants to return as a world power; however, Abe’s intentions and handlings are not for the good of Japan. He is a neoconservative who seeks the benefits of his American masters not Japan.Too bad for Japan that his fellow LDP members aren’t as smart as Abe. You have a delusional fascist (Ishiba), an idiot (Aso), and naive youngling (Koizumi). I have been quite a fierce critic of Abe but I have to admit that his brain is the largest among the LDP cronies. I only dislike the purposes behind his policies aka messes. Kono is at least not in the Nippon Kaigi and ever visiting the Yasukuni shrine. He is probably the best choice! The next PM of Japan will be more anti-China and loyal to the USA.The subversive elements from the West are very dangerous. An authoritarian system ensures nothing will harm the society. The USA always sends agents of subversion into Asia. A lot of democratic countries have been capitulated, while authoritarian ones remain defiant. South Korea right now has rapidly become more more independent than Japan under Moon Jae In. Meanwhile, Shinzo Abe kowtows to Trump’s every word. Japan rapidly forced to become globalized at the cost of national sovereignty. Every year, Japan becomes more like Thailand as the capital for prostitution. This broke my heart!Trump or not, Japan will be an eternal bitch for Americans. Japanese people literally gave up on their national pride and Pan-Asianism for the comfort of being labeled as “white”. They should have driven the LDP cronies out of power before these cronies destroyed Japan for good. Well, the LDP cronies are still around and more prevalent than ever. There is no hope for Japan at this point.The same suicide crisis spiked greatly in 2007-2009 where many Japanese companies went bankrupt and many people were laid off. Now, the COVID-19 is way worse than the 2008 for Japan. What can Japan do? With inequality rising, employment ever less secure, and 15 percent of the population living below the poverty line, neither Koizumi’s postal privatization or Abe’s emphasis on constitutional revision and patriotic education seem the right prescriptions for what ails the nation. Nor is spending vast sums of money — an estimated $26 billion over 10 years — to relocate U.S. bases. Perhaps the most ominous development from McCormack’s perspective is the “2005/06 agreement to the fusion of command and intelligence between Japanese and U.S. forces.” This agreement effectively subordinates Japan to U.S. strategic leadership and commits it to collective defense, one of the remaining security taboos that Washington has been eager to eliminate. Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of State, is portrayed as a bullying proconsul repeatedly intervening to shape and drive Japanese security policy.Any Japanese company that has very huge price tag of their stock is likely foreign owned. Keyence seems to be the exception but I highly doubt it. Keyence heavily relies its business on China and the West, so there might be much higher foreign ownership. Nintendo will be foreign owned for a long time, just like Sony who became majorly foreign-owned after the bubble collapse.Again, Japanese economy has been going crap for decades as well as their currency loses relevance every year. The LDP cronies are in bed with Western capitalists. These cronies sold out Japanese assets to Western investors for years but no one watches. The sell-out is much more insidious than I imagined.The USA forced Japan to transfer all of its wealth into the Western world. Japan is the world’s net creditor out of American pressure. The USA wants to preserve the precious USD, so they need the largest holder of its USD. It was Japan who keep the USD strong and omnipresent. Japan’s insane (forced) investments into the USA helps to secure the global business confidence in the USA. At the same time, almost all Japanese assets overseas are in the USA under the direct control of US Treasury. If Japan ever revolts against the USA, the US Treasury will confiscate all Japanese assets and render the country poor as Zimbabwe. This is also the reason why Japan will never ever nationalize its economy or forgive its own debts because the USA held Japanese assets as hostages.If Japanese people have backbones, they should vote out the LDP and choose the JCP. They should choose a leader with a backbone and an independent spirit, like Moon Jae In. President Moon is actually a genius who tries to break away from the USA for an independent Korea.Suicide Spike in Japan Shows Mental Health Toll of Covid-19The huge spike in suicides is greatly due to the declining socioeconomic conditions not your stereotypical sensation of “Japanese suicide mentality rate”.Every year, Japan is becoming more like Thailand. I am quite stunned to learn the high income earners in Japan are now prostitutes, JAV actresses and club hostesses. Yuki Rumina is the graduate from the elite university of Gakushuin. She became a lawyer and descended from the prestigious family but she chose the path of JAV actress. She used the reason of taking revenge on her boyfriend but most people doubted it. Women in Japan are badly treated in their profession, while all jobs in Japan see their wages diminishing every year. There is an article on Japan Times that said average entertainers and prostitutes make around 1 million yens per day in Tokyo.The following comments from the article are very insightful.(Steve Martin)As a former 'tenured' professor at a Japanese college (and a year at Nissho Iwai ... a former Sogo Shosha), in the description of Keiritsu as the conglomeration of industrial, financial, and government, I would add 'educational' institutions to that mix.I still remember former Prime Minister Abe's plan to make Japanese universities world class by bringing in foreign talent with a world reputation ... but almost in the same breath, appointing an impromptu MEXT committee to try and coerce all public universities to drastically scale back or shut down departments of humanities and social sciences. Only a few of the more financially secure private universities could afford to question the LDP's policy shift. In one sense, the LDP plan was not contradictory because it would have reduced public universities to makers of STEM gadgets, but with only the ruling class having the 'wisdom' or right to know how or where to apply that expertise. But in another sense, it was contradictory. How does one produce robots with A.I. worth its salt ... without social psychologists, anthropologists, and other liberal arts. Kind of begs the question of 'human intelligence' behind those policies.This vision has fallen short in a number of other ways.1 — Japan has NOT developed renown for its universities, and is considered by many, 2nd tier even among schools in Far East Asia. Rather, a lot of small, for-profit 'colleges' have sprung up like mushrooms filling the gap for migrant workers by providing perfunctory student visas. The majority of the few foreign university teachers here are temporary migrant workers themselves, 'academic dekasegi' on short contracts ... whether in a STEM field or on the English teaching circuit. Looking at fields where Japan excels ... genetics, robotics, and primatology ... or fields where the don't ... the liberal arts, humanities, the social sciences, and journalism ... other than occasional guest lectures or visits by likes of Noam Chomsky, Michael Sandel, or Frans de Waal ... I don't recall any non-Japanese researcher of world renown working for a Japanese educational institution, much less in a tenured position. From personal experience, labor law and work contracts here in Japan are just a pro forma cover, serving those who manage the Keiretsu, not the individual working within them.2 — This is not restricted to foreigners. Just last week, NHK announced a continuing drop in the number of Japanese opting for a terminal degree (Ph.D) in their chosen field of study, largely because the big players in Keiretsu do not acknowledge and financially reward creative (and therefore potentially disruptive) expertise in their field. Entry salaries do not reflect that extra three years required for a Ph.D. Notice how quiet the mass media is with the 'sports-competition-propaganda-model' of the Nobel Prize this year? At least one recent Japanese Nobel laureate bemoaned this as a sign of things to come if the short sighted, current business model and government policies do not encourage basic research. The graphs in this article tell it all ... [Nobel Laureates Sound Alarm over Japan's Basic Research | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News](Nobel Laureates Sound Alarm over Japan's Basic Research | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News). It was just a few years earlier that the government had another warning when Nobel prize winner Shuji Nakamura (blue light LEDs) pointed out the discrepancy between Japanese patent law, and how it is implemented by the Keiretsu — again, 'law and contracts' as just another tool to control the little people, and when that won't work, traditions or algorithms will do. He was not the first Japanese STEM laureate to urge young Japanese with talent and passion to leave Japan ASAP.3 — In placing more resources on propping up zombie companies — and Japanese universities are the quintessential zombie company — Japan is beginning to lose even its short-term, economic competitive edge. If the schools were more like educational communities, and leadership was accountable to community stakeholders, schools would be innovative centers for cultural and technical problem-solving. But, again, from my experience, schools tend to be run by bureaucratic functionaries, not accountable to the needs of the local community or the needs of citizens of the nation-state, or even to their own students ... but to government 'stockholders' through government subsidies. While Japanese cars are still world leading, companies like Tesla are beginning to make a dent. And smart phones, televisions, solar power, and probably newer battery technology is quickly losing ground to Chinese and Korean counterparts. If this trend continues, the service sector, and public infrastructure will increasingly have to rely on the hospitality and tourist industry to market and mass produce Japanese cultural exceptionalism. As we are seeing in a comparison between J-pop and K-pop, that too, may be a failing strategy. There are only so many Olympic events to go around.Though Keiretsu is a Japanese phenomenon, the underlying group dynamics of social psychology are universal — the social primate trying to become the world's first, only, and final 'herding primate' ... and failing by becoming swarming primates. In the U.S., one phrase we use is 'Too Big to Fail' ... until it does. Again and again. More than Hegelian dialectics, I see pretty (and pretty disastrous) mandelbrot sets before my eyes. Meh, maybe just one too many grapefruit sours.I want to add that Masayoshi Son is merely a middleman for Americans and Arabs to move money around. His Vision Fund is propped by a secret group of foreign venture capitalists who want to use Japan as a disguise. He doesn’t invest in Japan, not only there is no potential, but his client-masters are betting in China, SEA and the West. He has to follow the orders.The better example is Nissan or Fast Retailing. Japanese companies have an epic history of mal-investments. The 1990s bubble collapse is a prime example of Japanese dumb investing. Nissan and Fast Retailing failed miserably in the West where real economic values, via the USD, can be sought. These firms now shift East to China and Southeast Asia, where there are archaic bureaucrats and lower economic values. China and Vietnam have bureaucratic techniques that completely devour all profits from foreign investors to make sure that neither of them will leave the country with the money. In fact, both firms rather bet their futures outside of Japan in the archaic countries with no real free market is pretty much telling how unattractive that Japan has become for anyone with money. I have spoken with a few Japanese elites now live in Vietnam, and they brazenly hate the investing environment of Japan. This is why many elites of Japan are seeking to invest and retire outside of Japan.Many foreign bosses struggle to make their Japanese underlings to comply. Ghosn case was already bad, now imagine this to happen at lower level. Japanese bigotry still exists strongly among all Japanese people. This element deters whatever possibilities to see Japan becoming a global hub to replace Hong Kong, which is what Abe wanted to do. Nobody wants to work in Japan when your Japanese employees are uncooperative and xenophobic.Due to the declining economy, Japan was forced to accept more foreign workers to replace the gaps. As China and Vietnam become more prominent, Japan also passes favorable policies to accommodate those workers from those countries. I have heard a lot of great employees in senior positions in Japan, having Chinese and Vietnamese backgrounds, to complain how Japanese workers didn’t cooperate with foreign bosses. Japanese workers get paid higher than foreign bosses as well. I have Vietnamese relatives who used to be senior engineers above Japanese workers in an IT corporation. The Japanese underlings always give them a dirty look when they point out whatever Japanese workers did wrong. Some of them outperformed Japanese peers, and they all get scorned for working too fast and getting underpaid worse than Japanese peers. For this reason, many Vietnamese workers gradually return back to Vietnam to find better opportunities in their own country than Japan. My relatives now find better high paying jobs in industrial zones within South Vietnam where Europeans and Americans are always hiring.Nevertheless, the notion of xenophobic Japanese by Westerners is “wrong”.They are very welcoming to those foreigners that are wealthy and influential.Like the Chinese, who most Japanese xenophobes considered as barbarians. However, those xenophobes can’t resist the USD, so they don’t have the guts of banning Chinese visitors, acting racist against Chinese, and attacking Chinese at Chinatowns. Chinese tourists have always been the number one source of income for all Japanese stores and tourist destinations.This NYT article Japan’s Locked Borders Shake the Trust of Its Foreign Workers uses the picture of a Vietnamese worker who has no mention in the article because they were the most favored one to bypass the foreign bans. Shinzo Abe and the VCP have a cordial relations for years, so Japan has been extremely cordial towards Vietnamese. That’s just a political side of the story. The other side is that Vietnamese labor force is now rapidly becoming the most prominent force across blue collars to white collars. They aren’t wealthy (not yet at the moment but very soon be) like the Chinese but very influential.If Japan loosens its security ties with the U.S., won’t it be a sitting duck in a dangerous neighborhood? On the contrary, McCormack thinks that the alliance is dangerous in the sense that it insulates Japan from the need of making headway on reaching accommodation with its neighbors based on a “return to the understanding of history it briefly reached in the mid-1990s.” Without reconciliation, the chances for regional peace and security are limited. McCormack advocates Japan shifting its priority from serving the U.S. to attending to its domestic problems and helping forge an “Asian commonwealth.”Trump or Biden, Japan’s national policies will be determined by the Pentagon. The executive branch or legislative branch doesn’t manage the American client states. The Pentagon does!Trump was simply the most straightforward president in history who exposed the real face of America. Biden will just smile and earn cultural perks with Japanese, but he will just stick a dagger behind Japan at anytime.