If I were a US voter I would have reluctantly voted for Trump. I had no confidence in his opponent, but not a lot in him. Since the election, as a keen observer, I've been watching The Donald morph into what is starting to look like a pretty formidable President. The best place to see this is in his choices for the various cabinet positions. It suggests he really does want to drain the swamp.

You can see the enthusiasm for his approach in the Dow Jones which is soaring. The US might be back in business.

Here is a list of the appointments so far. What do you think?
VP
Mike Pence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence

Secretaries
State
Rex Tillerson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Tillerson
Treasury
Steven Mnuchin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Mnuchin
Defence
James Mattis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mattis
Jeff Sessions AG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sessions
Interior
Cathy McMorris Rodgers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_McMorris_Rodgers
Wilbur Ross Commerce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Ross
Labor
Andrew Puzder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Puzder
Health
Tom Price https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Price_(U.S._politician%2529
Ben Carson Housing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson
Transportation
Elaine Chao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Chao
Education
DeVos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_DeVos Betsy
Homeland Security
John F. Kelly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kelly_(Marine%252

I was a lukewarm Trumpian from the outset as he seemed to be the only Republican available who offered a workable solution to the myriad problems that had beset the US under its previous three presidents. I became more enthusiastic about him once he started to flesh out his thoughts with scripted speeches such as his foreign policy speech in April (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW8RqLN3Qao).

This is a presidency that came about through a radical understanding as to how to campaign ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2016/11/22/exclusive-interview-how-jared-kushner-won-trump-the-white-house/#76cf02b2f50f) and will adopt radical procedures to implement its aims. We'll hear a lot about him not being 'presidential' because he doesn't think like a politician. The president will be the CEO and rely heavily on his immediate subordinates to implement their shared agenda. As such look to these various secretaries to have a larger degree of autonomy than we've been used to over the past decade, while being kept on a short leash. We, and they, know that failure will be a sacking offence, despite the optics.

As to the personnel, its hard to quibble. One of the problems with bringing in a Tillerson type, is the possibility that they get swallowed up in the byzantine DC bureaucracy. But there is enough 'insider' knowledge in the likes of Pence, Chao and Sessions to combat such problems. As well, it seems that there is a significant knowledge-base below the secretary level who will hold the hands of the uninitiated while being dedicated to the agenda. As such, the potential benefits of an acknowledged international player like Tillerson, greatly outweighs the risks, real as they are.

/cont

/cont

Clearly Trump has three overriding objects: get on top of the immigration problem, reboot the economy and rationalise the US position in the world. Congress still carries the risk of grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory, but its hard to see it standing against Trump, Sessions, Kelly et al on immigration. Trump understands that energy policy is crucial to the economic reboot and he now has the people in place (including Pruitt) to make the US a world leader in that regard.

Given Australia's growing problems with our education systems, I'm particularly interested in how, and if, DeVos addresses her ideas on school voucher systems. We may well see a real-life experiment in new education thinking that could radically change our own funding arrangements.

This is a very different type of leadership group and the problems it'll face are formidable since it still has to deal with a politician dominated Congress. It could easily go pear-shaped but I'm very optimistic.

Obviously no thinking person could have voted for Hillary, but I will admit to having my doubts about Trump also.

I've been holding my breath, waiting to see if he actually lived up to any, or most of his promises. So far he is looking even better than I have hoped. Lucky US, they got the Trump, & we got the loser.

Hi Graham,

I don't think that Donald Trump would have
gotten this far if he were lacking in
intelligence. The New York Times tells us
that he is the first non-politician to be
elected President since Dwight Eisenhower.

I tend to agree with the New York Times summation
that President elect, Donald Trump very likely
knows what the rest of us know - that some of the
things he promised to do in order to get elected
make no sense. For that reason alone
he may not do them. There's also the fact that
even a Republican Congress may resist his policies,
for example - funding the construction of the
proposed wall bordering Mexico.

Time will undoubtedly tell. However, Trump just may
surprise us all.

The US election isn't quite over just yet.
Trump needs to get the 270 college votes on December 19, then he needs to make it to inauguration day on Jan 20.
There are a lot of potential electors among the college vote who may be prepared to cross over and support Hillary Clinton in a 'conscience' type vote.(bribes, deals, whatever)
Some states carry penalties but they're only small.
Many in the independent media have reported a soft coup by Hillary in play.

They're opinion is that the globalists haven't done everything they've done to lose control now and see Donald Trump reverse everything back towards nationalism / populism.

Apparently (don't quote me) she needs 32 electoral college votes but even is she gets them congress can still block the move.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-13/soft-coup-builds-more-electors-demand-russian-interference-briefing-they-vote

Maybe they are looking for a reason that they can justify voting for Hillary?
- That's what all this so-called electoral rigging by Russia is actually about. And the 'Hillary won the popular vote' thing too. It's clear there was vote anomalies favoring Hillary, plus the illegals, dead people, and people who were being bused from one polling booth to another...
The truth is she shouldn't have even won the nomination, stats actually showed Bernie Sanders should've won (but that's history now).
The recounts were an attempt to tie those states up in litigation to close the college vote gap for Hillary.

Stein was never challenging the electoral outcome, she made 6mil from donations and US electoral law says if you retire from politics you can keep your unused 'war chest'.
There's talk some of the states are pretty peeved about the costs though and might make her pay for the recount.

And if this Hillary soft-coup thing doesn't work and stop Trump, they may yet JFK him.
It know it probably sounds a little bit doubtful but that's what I'm hearing.

Donald Trump might change the world economy into a thriving business.

I think the ace Donald Trump has up his sleeve is that he has been a businessman and not a politician.

Pre election Donald Trump stood up to his own Republican Party politics and has now selected capable team members instead of professional politicians.

I think Donald Trump could build an economic wall between the US and Mexico.

From my point of view I envisage how Donald Trump could make business so prosperous and attractive in Mexico that most Mexicans would want to stay in Mexico while many Mexicans already in the US would want to return to Mexico.

Why not?
Its not impossible.

A US Mexico economic wall scenario could feasibly involves economic stimulus of all economies worldwide by developing export productive infrastructure linked to regeneratin land and ocean ecosystems to produce affordable food for trade.

Food production and supply is now the world's biggest economic undertaking.

Export-productive infrastructure has potential to generate and sustain business and employment through international trade.

Over seven billion humans and their animal's and plants need to be fed every day.

For those who think that the world can be run as a mega-business club, let me respectfully suggest that what the US (and the rest of us) have to endure for the next four years, with Trump's 'cabinet', is a rancid bucket of turds.

Please forgive my intemperate, but accurate, use of language, Foxy :)

Joe

Oh come on Joe, give the rancid turdbucket a chance!

I remember hearing in my childhood days that Chinese market gardeners used rancid buckets of that stuff to grow the most beautiful vegetables.

That stuff was also used to grow the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Appearance can be very deceiving.

Whilst not really paying a lot of attention, I've noticed an increase in stories about 'Fake News' as well as accusations of 'Russia Hacking the US election'; I'm guessing they will continue across the weekend; Hillary is still trying to steal the US election, and it seems like the complicit media is laying the groundwork for college vote defectors.

You see this is where they all try to manipulate you.
It's all theatre to try to steal the election from Trump on Monday.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-16/obama-vows-retaliation-for-suspected-russian-hacking/8128704

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/12/17/russia-hits-back-at-us-cyberhacking-claims.html

Hillary is trying to say she lost because of the Podesta emails, (which were leaked from within the Democratic Party itself as I understand it and not by Russian hacking) but the party have not challenged the content of those emails itself.
She won't admit she lost for all the genuine reasons that Trump supporters actually opposed her.
Remember the 'Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy' and the 'Deplorables'?
Everything she accuses others of she does herself.

You're right AC. Apparently the Clinton camp are claiming 20 switchers, which is still not quite enough. Law Professor Lawrence Selig has even written to delegates offering to help them with legal advice. If the results of the College were subverted it would be a severe blow to US democracy, so let's hope it doesn't happen.

But those pressures have also shaped some of what Trump has been doing since the election so that he looks as middle of the road as possible. Will be interesting to see how he behaves past the Electoral College vote.

The conservatives who reluctantly supported Trump are now looking for any "positive" spin they can attach to the bloke to justify his electoral victory. One such justification is pointing to his batch of appointments as the people to drain the swamp, assuming the swamp needs draining in the first place. Has The Donald saved one life in the Middle East as yet, or feed one staving person in the world, no, but we can all take great comfort in fact the swamp dwellers love him, as indicated by the numerical approval give by the swamps Mr Dow Jones.
All looks good now.

There's an interesting website
regarding the Trump appointments. It's worth a read.
Here are some issues that it raises:

The Trump appointments are more establishment than
one might have thought. However, what is also
interesting it raises the question regarding the
Vice-President - Pence. How much power will Pence
really have? Will he be another Cheney? Pence
might turn out to be the 2nd most powerful
person in America depending on how interested Trump
is in actually governing as opposed to just
enjoying the perks being President. We're told that
it is actually the way a lot of powerful
organisations work. There's a person who is a
figurehead who knows how to charm or have a presence
in public, and then there is the behind the scenes
workhorses. Let us not forget that Pence is a hard-core
conservative. He endorsed Cruz in the Republican Primary.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-do-trumps-cabinet-picks-say-about-his-presidency/

What exactly was Obama refering to when he said to Putin to "cut it out". Cut what out?
Could it also mean for Putin to stop helping Assad in Syria?

Putin helping Assad was a slap in the face for the Obama Democrat camp that was supplying the rebels and their allies against Assad.
I think Putin helping Assad was how Russia influenced the US election.

Clinton is a professional politician who has been engaged in warmongering.
Trump is a professional businessman who has a history of making money.

The choice generally is obvious.

People worlwide want prosperity and peace, not hardship and conflict.

There is no evidence of substance of Assad committing crime nor evidence of Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction.
And there is no evidence how Putin meddled with the actual Trump-Clinton election.

People worldwide are I think tired of political warmongering while prosperity and peace in general declines.

Hey Paul1405,
I don't feel any need to justify Trumps electoral victory.
The facts speak for themselves, and the liberal left would always find something to argue about anyway.

Trump won the vast majority of states, and where Hillary did win, it was in 'Sanctuary Cities' that do not send illegals back also the back of policies to encourage illegal immigration AND encourage them to vote without prosecution - as Obama did.
http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/obama-encourages-illegal-aliens-to-vote/

The Podesta emails mostly outlined the extent to which the DNC rigged the outcome of the primary process for Clinton, and against Bernie Sanders.

So Hillary should never have been running for President in the first place, and that isn't taking into account that FBI director James Comey should have prosecuted her for the Title 18 breaches relating to her private email server.

What about all the other revelations such as Project Veritas?
And the 'Pay for Play' scandals going on inside the Clinton Foundation?
And all this is before Hillary's own track record, like taking down Ghaddafi?
A project that she personally took charge of.
Ghaddafi acted as a plug to stop extremist migration from Africa to Europe and look what happened.
Europe's ruined, but Hillary's in with George Soros and well what do you know he wants 'Open Borders' and they are all part of a group that wants to destroy Nationalism to push for Globalism instead.

All this stuff really all just the tip of the iceberg of what a bunch of crooks they really all are.

But they come out accusing of 'Fake News' when they are engaged in producing it themselves.
- There's no evidence at all that Russia was engaged in any hacking or attempt to manipulate the US election, though I'm sure they will manufacture some; for Hillary.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/comey-fbi-russia-trump/2016/12/14/id/764008/
Other reports this morning however, suggest Comey has now changed his stance.
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/12/16/fbi-director-comey-now-backing-cias-claims-that-russian-interference-helped-trump/
(Not that I'd trust Glenn Beck's 'The Blaze' to be a reliable source of info as he's just another establishment shill.)

Hi AC,

Speaking of shills and swamp-dwellers, it's clear now that there isn't much difference between the two rancid buckets of turds, Clinton's and Trump's. They are both solid Establishment, if from different wings of it. They are both frauds. They will support, or would have supported, the status quo. And neither one will be, or would have been, able to deliver on their promises to the American people.

We've got four years to realise that: I think realisation will come a lot sooner. Will Trump last four years without being impeached for misuse of his Office ? I don't mean some trivial thing like "I did not have fifty shades of sex with those women, at least not all at once," but more to do with his company dealings with Putin's mafia, his rampant use of insider trading and his obvious intent to use his position to massively - and surely illegally ? - build his businesses.

I never thought I'd ever have to feel sorry for Yanks, but ......

Joe

Paul,

I see you are scathing of Trump's record in office. Could you at least wait until he takes office?

This all goes to show what a joke Americas so called democracy really is, to steal a phrase from the English establishment, as long as the winner is the "right sort of chap" it does not matter. Conservatives are now taking heart that there is evidence Trump is indeed the right sort of chap, and to steal another phrase and not some "loose cannon". Bravo, bravo. Trump may spill a few apples from the cart, but hopefully for them, never upset it.
Then again Joe is probably right, he will turn out to be a complete goose and they will have to get rid of him. That's saying something when you take a look at the gaggle of geese that have been elected US President, starting with George Washington.
Taking an interest in US election results is on a par with taking an interest in the result of, what was the winning margin for Bashar al-Assad last time he contested the Syrian Presidential race. Boring!
I would be totally disinterested in Donald Trump's Presidency, just as I was totally disinterested in his crappy TV program, having never watched an episode. Unfortunately I have to take an interest in Trump the President, as it seems they are going to let him put his finger on the button and yell, "your fired!" for real, and that worries me.
Then again I could be wrong, he could turn out to be a good President in the mold of a Jimmy Carter or George Bush, don't natter which one, take your pick.

Hey Paul,
Yes US democracy is a joke, no arguments from me.
But I think that is fairly true of just about all democracies.
I guess some are more of a joke than others...

If pollies make the rules for us, then we should make the rules for them.
They can't be allowed to make their own rules.
There's no real balance of power when making a distinction between 'us and them'.
So I think most democracies are just a fable, or a figment of peoples imaginations.

Iceland, (if I recall correctly) may have the democracy which is the closest to a real democracy.

I never watched Trumps 'The Apprentice' either.

Hi AC,
The election of what might me termed renegades in English speaking Western democracies is not new. The most famous election of such could have been the first Labour government in Britain led by Ramsay MacDonald in 1924, a rather short lived government. There was much consternation in the ranks of the establishment that the election of this new and unknown quantity called "socialists" could see the destruction of Capitalism itself, were these men Bolsheviks, as some believed. One interesting aspect, the new PM and his Cabinet had to be presented to the King, how would they act, like animals some thought, how would they dress. All was well it seems, Mr MacDonald and his band were quite cordial with the King, even coming attired in the correct morning suits.
From then on the Establishment realized there was not a great deal to worry about, or fear, with the election of Labour Governments, they were indeed the "right sorts of chaps" even if they did spill a few apples from the cart, but they never upset the cart.
The first national Labor Government elected anywhere in the world was that of Chris Watson in Australia in 1904, another short lived government.

Australia and America and Donald Trump could build an economic wall between the US and Mexico by teamng together and being innovative with productive water infrastructure.

Mexico once built 50 super seiner fishing boats but when completed there were no longer enough school fish left in the ocean for those ships to catch.

Try to understand the situation and type of development that could be undertaken.

Some super seiners have nets big enough to encircle the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The ocean is a big place.

Trump business saw crowded houses and applied innovation by stacking apartments skyward.

Mexico is a big arid country like Australia.
Mexico however has a big population that has to be fed with affordable food.

Innovative water infrastructure can make arid country lush and productive.

Thriving farmland can take up nutrient waste presently being dumped in ocean waters including in river ecosystems.

Sewage and land use nutrient overload pollution waste in waters of Mexico and El Salvador and Peru are linked to formation of El Nino events that are impacting weather and climate even in Australia.

Donald Trump may well drain CO2 out of the swamp and realize its actually nutrient causing the damage, inclufing increasingly severe storm and drought damage.

Many Mexicans have fled their increasingly dry and useless farmland and moved to their cities and the US.

Imagine if Australia could lead the way by suggesting to Trump how IMF resourced water innovation in Mexico could also help make El Nino phenomena more natural once again.

Imagine if building productive and business and employment generating water infrastructure could help make the Mexican and US economies healthy again.

Surely the Australian Institute for Progress is not just about progress in Australia.

In haste in addition to my post above.

Some people seek data before considering opportunity.
Accordingly I submit the following link and indicate the Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly * February 1998, graph therein.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ElNinoColor/

Despite text at the above link referring to nutrient from equatorial upwelling, I specifically point to the more intense and larger red area showing in the graph nearer the coast of Mexico to Ecuador, intensity that I submit is due to bonded nutrient overload/pollution in fresher surface water originating from rivers and coast of Mexico, Peru, and north western South America, not from upwelling alone.

Understanding El Nino phenomena is not just about politics.
Hopefully a businessman US President Donald Trump will not just ignore the situation or opportunities from solutions.

During the past month I have used a digital probe to measure temperature in algae plant matter water, and in adjacent plain water.
Results consistently show temperature sometimes up to 2c degree warmer in the algae water compared to the plain water.
The algae water is always at least a fraction of a degree warmer than the plain water, even just pre sunrise, 24x7.

I reiterate as in my previous posts on this OLO website.
Warmth in anthropogenic nutrient proliferated ocean algae plant matter was not measured and assessed in AGW, IPCC, Kyoto associated science.

To the point.

There is evidence of substance indicating dire urgent need to understand and reduce the sewage and land use nutrient load (pollution) presently entering ocean ecosystems and impacting water quality and weather and climate and animal protein food sustainability worldwide.

If anyone can prove the opposite then please speak up.

John C Fairfax.

JF Aus
Came across a couple of articles this morning that relates to your points of discussion.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-18/scientists-dig-up-the-dirt-on-northern-australia/8124142
Also this:
One Nation plans to resurrect Bradfield scheme to irrigate western QLD.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-18/one-nation-to-announce-36-new-candidates-for-queensland/8129680

Thank you for worthwhile input, A.C.

I think One Nation founder Pauline Hanson is similar to US President-elect Donald Trump.
Both come from a business and not academic/legal/political background.
Both appeal to a majority of sensible and working type people.
Both at least offer hope ahead instead of taking economies backwards.

As to the links you have provided.
There was a time when I literally dug up the north with a bulldozer in the garden of Calvert Hills station in the NT.
As station manager I used the bulldozer to turn over deeper nutrient rich soil to grow fresh vegetables but intense natural heat from sun and wind handicapped or killed off garden vegetable growth.

In northern Queensland there is also damage to contend with from too much rain and flooding in that cyclone prone region. Arable Topsoil gets washed away almost overnight.
Consequently I have doubt about potential to develop the food bowl proposed in the north. But I wish those proponents well.

Heat and flood and cyclone damage cannot be controlled, that's why I have suggested harvesting over abundant northern rain and to aqueduct it to the Murray Darling catchment (inland from Fraser island), to supply new agriculture along the way and to drought proof existing farming in the more protected south.
Presently wasted northern water could ease demand on Murray water and help supply the drought starved Coorong estuary that is supposed to be naturally producing food for now hungry animals and fish in southern ocean waters.

I also wish One Nation well with starting the Bradfield Scheme but I think cost of pumping will make it non viable. Removing water from the Lake Eyre system will also be a problem for the environment.

No pumping is required for the water harvesting aqueduct system now tentatively labelled the NQA (north Qld aqueduct).

Continued…………..

Con’t……………


The NQA is feasible environmentally, socially and economically and to make it and other similar projects happen including ion Mexico, I think all that is needed is sensible business-like leadership.

I think when a swamp is drained the negative burden of muck can be removed and natural swamp can be refilled and sensibly managed productively.

I think both Hanson and Trump are capable leaders, they have led themselves into gathering a team that has taken them into office, as election wins show.
I think their type of leadership is what people in general want.

In the late 1990’s I briefed Pauline Hanson on seafood dependent islander malnutrition and world fish depletion, and as a fish shop proprietor she responded saying, "I wondered why I was having trouble buying fish".
I immediately took that to mean increasing shortage of fish was forcing up cost of wholesale fish to a point it was too costly to buy and cook and sell affordably to enough customers, to generate enough money to operate the business.

Fish used to be a common staple food for people with little or no money.
The swamp gremlins have hidden why they have removed fish from the Consumer Price Index.

Unaffordable cost of food is driving people into cities and even to other countries to hopefully find employment and money to survive. (the swamp gremlins have not told about that either)

Put the situation into reverse, people may want to remain in or go back to their own countries.

Dear Graham,

That Trump will be an unmitigated disaster for the US and the world in general is a given. Those who think otherwise are deluding themselves as are you. That the Australian right are now embracing the man speaks volumes.

Many great and powerful nations have felt threatened by the rise of other nations. The response has usually meant those speaking of regaining prestige for their nation are elevated. What inevitably happens is fascist and dictatorial tendencies appear attractive enough so normal caution is thrown to the wind. Ultimately this style of leadership hastens the decline.

Indeed what at first glance appeared to be a substantial first step in this downward spiral, the election of Trump, has been tempered by the fact Clinton won substantially more of the popular vote than he.

For me the question is how much damage will Trump do to the US and the regard it is held around the world during his presidency and will the country be in a position to repair itself. I hope it can.

Here is a little side prediction. He and his choice of defense secretary will see the deal with Iran collapse and that country becoming nuclear capable during his term.

Interesting times indeed.

Hi Steele,

Will he be able to bring back jobs from China ? I don't think so. So the legitimate hopes of all those ex-working-class, middle-aged, mostly men will be dashed pretty quickly.

Will he be able to zip into the Middle East, clean it up, just like Clint (Eastwood) would, and ride out again ? I don't think so. Neither would Clint.

Will he be led by the nose by Putin ? Probably. Or perhaps he has a cunning plan.

Will be turn tail in the South China Seas ? Probably.

Will the US be thirsting for some relief, for a fresh face in 2020, say, Michelle Obama ? I hope so.

Happy New Year !

Joe