Will Trump Lose in 2020? But to Who?

 

There is a very interesting aspect of our model which will begin to come into play in 2020. The cycle is changing here in 2019 and we are entering a period of a new political trend into 2023. This not such a great thing for either party. What is clearly taking place is that the shutdown seems to have been a turning point. True, Trumps polls have collapsed to 37% approval. But at the same time, faith in Congress has also collapsed. This is introducing this trend our model has been pointing to which is the rise of a 3rd Party going all the way into 2024. Polls are fickle. It is a long time between here and the election in 2020. The attention span of the people seems to be too short to remember this one two years from now. Still, the damage is not really about the shutdown itself. It seems to be centered on the fact that both sides acted like children demonstrating that neither party seems capable of managing anything.

Japanese Prime Minister Wants to Revise Pacifist Constitution to Create Military Force

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and wife Akie Abe arrive at Marka international airport on April 30, 2018 in Amman, Jordan. Abe is on a Middle East tour visiting the UAE, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. (Getty Images)

 

Prime Minister Shinzō Abe steps up efforts to change Japan’s constitution to allow the creation of a military force by 2020.

“Let’s fulfill our mission by clearly writing in the constitution the Self-Defense Forces that protect peace and independence of Japan,” Prime Minister Shinzō Abe said on September 9, reiterating his support for changing Japan’s constitution to allow for a military.

The second clause of Article 9 of Japan’s constitution says that “Land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.” Nonetheless, Article 9 allowed Japan to create its own military strictly for the purpose of defending its own borders. This de facto military is known as Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (sdf).

Prime Minister Abe wants to officially change this policy. And he wants to do it by next year.

New Pentagon report names Russia, China as threats to US space capabilities

 

A new space report by the Pentagon has named Russia and China as key threats to US space capabilities, according to a document released on Thursday.

“The United States faces rapidly growing threats to our space capabilities. China and Russia, our strategic competitors, are explicitly pursuing space warfighting capabilities to neutralize US space capabilities during a time of conflict,” the report said. “Other potential adversaries are also pursuing counter-space capabilities such as jamming, dazzling, and cyber-attacks.”

US General Warns China Could Deploy Hypersonic Weapons On A “Large Scale”

As mentioned in a post from 2012, China has captured and monopolized over 90% of the planet’s rare earths. These will be stored and horded until the time is right to easily mass produce high-tech weapons as if they were cookies, such as drones and hypersonic missiles by the thousands, if not by the millions — while all at the same time putting a squeeze on much needed rare earths for the American military.

You’re looking at the possibility of war on a Biblical scale where the sky is blotted out by an enemy so numerous it’s like clouds covering the land.

¹⁴ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? ¹⁵ You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. ¹⁶ You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

– Ezekiel 38, 39

The average American cannot begin to fathom the repercussions.

You can read the story here: China’s Rare Earth Revenge

Also see: Rare Earth Market

 

 

The United States could lose its military technological superiority to China by late 2020s if it does not spend its $700 billion defense budget wisely, like more investments in artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, and hypersonic missiles, former deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Gen. Paul Selva, vice-chairman of the Joint Chief warned Thursday at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) conference on “Strategic Competition: Maintaining The Edge.”

“We should be prepared to be surprised in any conflict with China, not only because it has invested heavily in modernizing its armed forces but also how it has invested in next-generation military technology,” said former Deputy Secretary Work.

China “wants to be a first mover” in artificial intelligence, by incorporating machine learning algorithms into submarines, drones, hypersonics, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). “That will be how they will get ahead of the United States,” Work warned.

Ben Bernanke: The US Economy Is Going To Go Off The Cliff In 2020

 

It looks like Ben Bernanke is a Bridgewater client.

Recall that earlier this week we reported that in the May 31 “Daily Observations” letter to select clients, authored by Bridgewater co-CIO Greg Jensen, the world’s biggest hedge had an ominous, if not dire appraisal of the current economic and financial situation facing the US, and concluded that “We Are Bearish On Almost All Financial Assets”

Russia hypersonic weapon likely ready for war by 2020: US intel

In this video grab provided by RU-RTR Russian television via AP television on Thursday, March 1, 2018, a computer simulation shows the Avangard hypersonic vehicle en route to target. (RU-RTR Russian Television via AP)

 

• Russia has successfully tested a hypersonic weapon the United States is currently unable to defend against, according to sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports.
• The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle is expected to enter Russia’s arsenal by 2020.
• The weapon could be outfitted with a nuclear warhead but would be able to create destruction even without explosives.

A Russian weapon the U.S. is currently unable to defend against will be ready for war by 2020, according to sources with direct knowledge of American intelligence reports.

The sources, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity, said Russia successfully tested the weapon, which could carry a nuclear warhead, twice in 2016. The third known test of the device, called a hypersonic glide vehicle, was carried out in October 2017 and resulted in a failure when the platform crashed seconds before striking its target.

Germany starts to build Nord Stream 2

Danish and Swedish permits still pending (Photo: nord-stream2.com)

 

Germany has started to pour concrete on a Russian gas pipeline that risks dividing the EU and harming its energy security.

The construction began in Lubmin, on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, on Thursday (3 May), with the laying of foundations for a terminal that will receive 55bn cubic metres (bcm) a year of Russian gas via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline when it goes online in 2020.

Seeking to outsmart US, China races ahead on artificial intelligence

Chinese students work on the Ares, a humanoid bipedal robot designed by them with funding from a Shanghai investment company, displayed during the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Oct. 21, 2016. China’s goal is to transform the country into a global leader in artificial intelligence in just over a decade. (Ng Han Guan AP)

 

WASHINGTON – When a Google computer program beat the world’s best player of an ancient Chinese board game last May, it might have seemed like an incremental milestone.

But for some, the success of the program known as AlphaGo marked more than a man vs. machine clash. It set up a broader race between China and the United States over artificial intelligence, a competition that could mold the future of humankind just as the widespread arrival of electricity did in the last century.

The Go tournament took place in Wuzhen, a city of canals that is more than 1,300 years old, a fitting venue for a competition involving the strategy board game Go that has been played for several thousand years. Go is renowned for its complexity, and it is said that there are more variations to the game than there are atoms in the universe.

Perhaps it was a coincidence of timing, but the AlphaGo competition kicked off events that demonstrated China’s resolve to close the gap with — and quickly surpass — the United States in deploying artificial intelligence, or AI. Goals Chinese authorities announced last July are ambitious: Reach parity with the United States by 2020, achieve major breakthroughs by 2025, and “occupy the commanding heights of AI technology by 2030” as the world’s undisputed leader.

Pentagon: China, Russia Soon Capable of Destroying U.S. Satellites

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin / Getty Images

 

J-2 intelligence report warns of new dangers to low earth orbit satellites

China and Russia are developing anti-satellite missiles and other weapons and will soon be capable of damaging or destroying all U.S. satellites in low-earth orbit, according to the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.

The Joint Staff intelligence directorate, known as J-2, issued the warning in a recent report on the growing threat of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons from those states, according to officials familiar with the assessment.

Russia finalises S-400 missile system deal with Turkey

 

Russia said Thursday that it had completed negotiations with Turkey for the sale of an S-400 air defence missile system, with delivery scheduled for late 2019.

“Practically speaking, the contract is entering the phase of realisation,” said Vladimir Kozhin, a presidential aide who oversees matters of military cooperation. “All parameters, all technologies, the entire deal has been agreed.”

China Planning Nuclear Naval Vessels

China hopes to miniaturize its marine nuclear reactor to put inside submarines, according to government news reports, but it also hopes to use the smaller power plants on reusable rockets that would propel its future space exploration needs. (Getty)

 

(TruNews) According to a report carried by Chinese state-run media, the government’s shored-based nuclear reactors being built in a South China Sea are the prelude to development of naval nuclear reactors—and possibly more.

The government’s English-language news outlet, Global Times, reported that China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation will soon begin construction on marine nuclear power platforms designed to supply power for the country’s offshore oil drilling platforms and islands. But the report states the platforms have two modes—floating and submersible—and that when successfully reduced in size, could be later applied to the country’s military vessels, including nuclear-powered aircraft carriers or next generation nuclear submarines.

China builds world’s fastest wind tunnel to test weapons that could strike US within 14 minutes

The JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel near Beijing is able to replicate hypersonic flight conditions. Photo: SCMP

 

Researchers want new facility to be up and running by 2020 as race to develop hypersonic technology intensifies

China is building the world’s fastest wind tunnel to simulate hypersonic flight at speeds of up to 12 kilometres per second.

A hypersonic vehicle flying at this speed from China could reach the west coast of the United States in less than 14 minutes.

Zhao Wei, a senior scientist working on the project, said researchers aimed to have the facility up and running by around 2020 to meet the pressing demand of China’s hypersonic weapon development programme.

U.S. Navy Launches First-Ever Submarine Drone Squadron

USS Nimitz, USS Kitty Hawk, and USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Groups transit in formation during a joint photo exercise / Getty Images

 

The U.S. Navy launched its first-ever underwater drone squadron on Wednesday, demonstrating the growing role of unmanned craft as a vital component of the military.

Russia tests hypersonic missile it says is impervious to U.S. missile defense systems

Russia’s said the Zircon would go into serial production in 2018.

 

Russia has conducted the first test of a hypersonic missile it claims can fly at 6 times the speed of sound and makes U.S. missile defense systems obsolete.

Military analyst Vladimir Tuchkov told government-controlled news agency Sputnik: “It (the Zircon missile system) is expected to be added into Russia’s arsenal between 2018 and 2020.”

Abe declares 2020 as goal for new Constitution

Due in part to America’s decline over the last eight years under the Obama administration, like a lot of the major powers in the world, Japan is beginning to realize it cannot 100% depend on the U.S. as a reliable partner. Policy changes with almost every new president make it difficult to find stability. It has now decided to scrap its current constitution and do away with the pacifism that keeps it from efficiently defending itself.

This is also the beginning of an Asian hegemonic bloc. Japan will eventually gravitate and align towards China, as the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are currently doing.

 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses the annual rally on revising the Constitution organized by conservative lawmakers in Tokyo on Monday. | AP

 

In an unprecedented declaration, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he hopes to see a revised Constitution take effect in 2020, when the nation will host the Tokyo Olympics.