I have Negotiated in Nearly 50 Countries - The Most Dangerous? The Place Where I was Kidnapped

Even though I once negotiated in nearly 50 countries over 30 years -- including in SYRIA for a Texas mom whose 12 year old daughter was taken without her consent to a city near Damascus -- the most dangerous place I have encountered was right here in the USA. 

Despite flying into coups and traveling around war zones (documented in my book “Better Times Ahead April Fool”), the only crime that ever happened to me was when I was personally kidnapped in East Texas, by a white man. Ironically, I even knew the person, which makes it even more strange.

As an American who has negotiated in nearly 50 countries, people often have asked me “what is the most dangerous country you have been in?”  I have to say …the USA.  Why is that? 

Why is that we fear a foreign terrorist when our own domestic terror is so much GREATER?  

Even murder of little kids at schools like Sandy Hook hasn’t bothered America as much as two losers in California killing co-workers. The term “postal” is old hat in America.  (And if its true that a co-worker did that “My religion is better than yours” crap, then I can see why they became the targets instead of a mall. The whole problem is the “My religion is better than yours” crap going on by all sides).

In 2015, 14 people were horribly gunned down by two Muslims and people lost their minds. That demeans the deaths of the other 30,000 people who were gunned down in the U.S. by our own killers with easy access to the most lethal of firepower with the minimum of thought.

We should not ignore those 30,000 deaths as less important.  ISIS cannot bring us down any more than Al Capone or the drug lords could bring down our nation.  We can fear ourselves to death and hide under our desks, but ISIS is not an existential threat.

Planetary suicide from runaway carbon emissions is. A dead planet doesn’t have an economy. So on the priority scale Climate change should rank No. 1 and terrorism No. 3 after our economy (No. 2).

We need to elect a president in 2016 that doesn’t make the situation worse. We need a Congress to match. Under those standards, Mr. Trump is disqualified to be president but would make a great Nazi bully-sexist-racist-disgusting-rich-bastard-that-is-screwing-people-like-his-supporters!

Stay tuned…

Michael Fjetland

Author, Better Times AheadApril Fool
Twitter
@Fjet2020

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Texas Gov. Abbott - Stop Fearmongering and Sabotaging Texas' Future

Dear Gov. Abbott:

We had hoped that when Gov. Perry left that Texas would join the 21^st century, a high tech global economy that needs Texans with high tech skills. Instead, we have seen a leader that has made us less safe and wasted billions while failing to invest wisely.

I say that as someone who is a Texan and has negotiated worldwide and seen what we are up against.  Gov. Abbott, I can see that you are setting up Texas to fail our citizens and their future. Thanks to you, our roads will be potholed and crowded as we double in size even as our road debt soars; thanks to you our kids will be on the bottom rung of the ladder as kids with high tech skills from other states and countries take the best jobs of the 2st century leaving Texans behind.

Governor, you claim to be “pro life” but everything you are doing is the polar opposite. In fact, your policies are better described as “pro death.”  How else to describe denying the expansion of Medicaid?

Texas leads the nation in uninsured, yet to hear you talk one would think that having access to medical care is horrible and to be sabotaged at all costs.   That's pretty sick and disgusting. Even Mexico provides medical care to its poor.

Rather than expand Medicaid at no cost to our state, you cut access to low cost medical care provided by Planned Parenthood which serves poor women  across the state who need mammograms and prenatal care (only 3% of their services are abortion related.)

Instead of promoting sex education and access to contraception that would reduce abortions, you do the opposite. Instead of believing the 97% of scientists who say climate change is real and caused by us, you fight it even as the seas rise, threatening our coast. Did you know that you are the only conservative party in the entire world that doesn't acknowledge climate change? That makes you either pretty ignorant -- or a prostitute for the fossil fuel industry that is destroying the planet.

Like Gov. Perry, you are wasting millions of Texas taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars on frivolous lawsuits against the Federal government (and gifts for Ag. Commissioner Sid Millers friends) while throwing nearly $1 billion away by sending the Texas guard to the border -- to sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting to wave their guns at unaccompanied, unarmed children fleeing the death gangs of central America.

You stoke fear of refugee children, rather than providing a mature welcome and leading this diverse state like a mature adult who cares about the least among us (as Jesus did.)

Instead of investing in our kids’ education and upgrading our transportation needs , you have governed as if Texas is a never-ending GOP primary requiring the most extreme position – guns on campus, guns in classrooms, guns in churches, guns everywhere, yet no medical care for the poor, no help for Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS, no equal pay for equal work, no paying for road improvements with cash instead of borrowed money that your kids have to pay back.

In short, Gov. Abbott, you are sabotaging Texas future. You should resign along with your indicted Attorney General Paxton and make way for a real leader who will invest in Texas schools and update our transportation system to handle 21st century demands; someone who would stop the senseless fearmongering about children refugees; someone who would cease encouraging people to wear a gun to eat a hamburger. That's nuts, and making us more dangerous than the 50 plus countries I have been in so far.

Texas deserves better than what you and the GOP are providing.  I know you won’t resign (or respond to this letter) and Texas will be the loser as a result. We can only hope either you come to your senses -- or the voters do in 2018.

Michael Fjetland, BBA/JD
Author, Better Times Ahead April Fool

The Big Short - How Wall Street Destoyed the World Economy in 2008 - And May Be Doing It Again

If you are a citizen of America and worried about our economy and your job, then you MUST see the just released movie “The Big Short.”  It is about how Wall Street crashed the American (and global) economy in 2008, which led to massive job losses that Obama had to face his first days in office. Ok, it isn’t “Star Wars” but it matters because your wallet is at risk again.

The movie is fast paced and lays out how corruption took over to the point where even the referees were rigging the game – Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s were giving AAA ratings to JUNK Bonds, consisting of Grade D mortgages, bought by investors worldwide.  They are supposed to be independent referees on ratings, but weren’t.  “If we don’t give a AAA, they will take their business to the other guy” was their excuse!

Moral: It could happen again! 

The Chinese have a saying that “To scare the monkeys you have to kill a chicken.”  Since no chicken was killed—no big bankers went to jail--no monkeys were scared. In fact, they may be encouraged to act out again because, as the movie portrays, the same flawed system remains in place as rich lobbyists dumped money bombs on Congress to get the laws watered down.

The Chinese have been around 5,000 years know a lot about human behavior.  No one went to jail for massive, systemic FRAUD in our financial system during the Bush years that the “experts” didn’t see--but a couple clever entrepreneurs did.  This movie shows how two of them turned $110,000 in $80 million (and they were the little players who saw through the hype and greed on Wall Street.)

What Wall Street was doing was beyond gambling with other people’s money. It turns out that if you and I make a bet, Wall Street was then selling bets on those bets! That “bet-on-a-bet-on-a-bet” system turned a $10 million bet (on mortgages) into a multi-Billion loss! It brought the world’s economic system to its knees in the dark days of late 2008 and early 2009 as Wall Street giants like Lehman Brothers started going bust fast and furiously. The Bush administration ran out of office just as the ceiling and walls were collapsing in the market.

There is another saying in China that, "Once you open the window, ALL the flies can come in."

The flies are the lobbyists that now control our Congress to benefit the 1% (Wall Street) while the 99% will be left to pick up the tab-- like in 2008.

Obama was left with a smoking wrecked ship on a reef by the Bush administration and two hot wars and chaos, so maybe that’s why he passed on prosecuting the offenders. Big mistake. Since then, banking as grown more powerful and concentrated –now only 6 big banks control the vast majority of assets (2/3’s), and can still play Russian Roulette with your money.

But Obama can’t be blamed when the GOP Congress has the big banks best friend, watering down Dodd Frank (weak as it is) and by fighting the restoration of Glass Steagall, the law that resulted from the Great Depression which forbid banks to also be stock traders with other people’s money.  

Go watch “The Big Short” because the howler monkeys on Wall Street are brewing up another bust and are trying to buy this presidential election and Congress.

We don’t want to be hit by another Financial Tsunami when the pain of millions of jobs lost and lives ruined could be avoided by proper Congressional action.

Michael Fjetland

Author, Better Times Ahead April Fool

A Christian, A Muslim and a Jew - All Friends for Over 15 years. America's model

It dawned on me in the shower this morning that America has the answer in one county in Texas, where a Christian, Muslim and Jew can be friends. I am thinking of myself and my friends Farha and Hillary G.

While Donald Trump and the GOP presidential candidates continue their fear campaign, it dawned on me that we have an example of the real America right her in Ft. Bend County, Texas.

I was raised as a Christian, and since 2000 I have been friends with a lot of people I met while running for Congress, including MUSLIMS and JEWS. I went to Mosques and Synagogues.
I heard the same sermon in each - be good, pray, repeat.

My shower thought was that Farha, Hillary G and I should do a video to show America how its done. We have been friends for over 15 years.

And guess what? One of us is a Republican, and its not what you think. Two of us are Democrats.

People fear what they don't know.  Let's get to know one another. That is what Global American values is all about.

Putin PraisesTrump - Vain Trump Jumps At Darth Vader Endorsement

Putin has endorsed Trump and Trump is trumpeting Putin's praise.

Being praised by Darth Vader isn't exactly a good thing Mr. Trump. Mr. Putin has assassinated his domestic opponents, one of them in view of the Kremlin. He invaded the Ukraine and stole Crimea. He has returned to the old Soviet Union bellowing after Russia had moderated under men like Boris Yelstin and Gorbachev, who had replaced the hardliners like UN shoe-pounding, shouting kruschev.

Yet Trump is so vain he basks in the glory of an endorsement from a man who flies his planes to breach borders and causes chaos instead of fixing things.

Didn't Jeb call him "The Chaos Man"?

Now he (Trump) says that Putin is "respected more" than the American President Obama, who inherited the worst economy in 70 years from GW Bush and two (2!) unpaid for wars. Yet is was Obama who not only saved the ship despite determined GOP sabotage from day 1, went on to put in place improved healthcare access for Americans, stopped Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, signed a global climate framework to start lowering carbon emissions so desperately needed by a planet on the path to environmental suicide. 

While Putin has started wars, Obama has been doing the American thing of trying to end the ones we were in--not create new ones. So praising Putin is like praising Hitler's cleverness in having one-party news touting phony facts for the public with no opposition Congress that Obama has had to deal with. In Russia, openly opposing Putin is a death warrant, not democracy in action.

We need a president in 2016 who bridges the multi-racial, multi-religion country/world in which we live - both here and aboard.   American Presidents act with respect to build bridges, that's what we Americans do (like the Geico commercial).  We don't need white supremacy gang leader for president, who plays footsies with tyrants and hurls insults at everyone, even encouraging supporters to beat and hurl racial insults at protesters at his events, and cannot pull himself away from the mirror mirror on the wall (who is the fairest of them all?)....

America needs a new vision to win. Mr. Trump is blind, deaf and dumb. If America picks that road, we betray what our founding fathers left us.  America is a nation of many colors and religions living side by side in peace. Let's not fall into bigotry, ignorance and fear promoted by snake oil salesmen.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-celebrates-christmas-rally-talking-putin-praise/story?id=35862424

I was right on predicting 911 on TV. I was right about predicting Iraq was wrong...Follow Expert With More Expertise Than Entire GOP Prez Field

For nearly 25 years now I have provided TV analysis on terrorism and have been right.

In the 1991 broadcast (left photo), I predicted 911.

After my appearance on 911 (right photo), I predicted that invading Iraq was a mistake.
I was right.

Instead of following the clowns running for president who don't know the difference between hummus and Hamas (one tastes great), I suggest you follow someone who has actual experience in 50-plus countries and terrorism--who has been ahead of the curve on these complex issues confronting Americans today. 

Follow someone with more global expertise than the entire GOP Presidential field.

We live in globally dangerous times. It's not the time to listen to amateurs with no track record..

LIKE and follow us here or on our Global American Values Facebook page.

Michael Fjetland, JD/BBA
Author, Better Times Ahead April Fool
www.BetterTimesAheadAprilFool.com

The GOP Presidential debate was a ISIS Dream Come True – and a Recruiting Bonus!

The GOP Presidential debate was a ISIS Dream Come True – and a Recruiting Bonus!

If ISIS watched the GOP Presidential debate last night, they would have been doing the terrorists equivalent of “high 5’s” because the tone of the candidates was a terrorism recruiters dream. Each candidate, except one not on the main stage, played the fear card without regard to informing Americans of the true facts.

Not one candidate led their scared followers to believe anything than that every single Muslim man, woman and child was a threat. You would never know that the 30,000 members of ISIS represent only .1% of the 1.5 Billion Muslims in the world. 

From that “debate” you would never know that of 11,000 gun deaths in America by guns, only 14 were by Muslims. Not mentioned was that most Americans have a much higher chance of being shot by their neighborhood white guy (or a cop) than by a terrorist. Not one mention of Sandy Hook, Colorado planned parenthood or school shootings by our own domestic terrorists was made. 

As a result, a number of stories in the news about innocent storekeepers being attacked by Americans who think they are Muslim terrorists, when they are from India or another country. Ignorance rules the day.

When candidates for America’s top job impugn a billion people instead of just the trouble makers, saying to millions of Americans and billions of people worldwide that they don’t mind innocent civilians being killed; that they want to ‘carpet bomb and turn the desert to glass so it will glow in the dark’; that Muslims are like rabid dogs, they insult the 99.9% of Muslims who aren’t terrorizing anyone.  It’s an ISIS recruiters dream to hear words like that coming from us!

A large number of Muslims in the world have little education, are young and without a job.  ISIS promises them revenge, glory and MONEY to come join the fight. Our own Presidential candidates’ words are the jet fuel that propels ISIS ability to recruit more fighters as we bomb away.

So every GOP candidate last night, except for Lindsay Graham who was the only grown up on the stage, disqualified themselves to be President of the United States. We have enough problems without our own extreme language and fear mongering by our highest office seekers generating more backlash against Americans globally.

How to STOP Terrorism?

 

This 911 terrorism analyst sees a lot of unemployed Muslims. Many are in poor countries like Pakistan where Malik, the San Bernardino wife, went to school. They are not taught math and science along with the Koran. They are just taught HATE.  There is little Pakistan government money going into secular schools. This is true even here in America, where education funding has been cut.

We stop terrorism by stopping the fear mongering that plays into the terrorists’ hands. We need to separate the innocent from the guilty and let Americans know the difference. Europe needs to follow America’s lead in integrating Muslims as part of the community instead of putting them in concentrated public housing where 50% are without jobs or hope of a future.

We need to boost education and job creation worldwide, instead of following Europe’s foolish austerity economics.

That is the only way to defeat terrorism.

Ironically, Saudi Arabia, that financed and promoted the wahabbi extremism that led to ISIS, has now formed a 30-plus nation coalition to defeat the monster they themselves created and continue to feed.  Stay tuned as this bizarre situation unfolds, here and on our FACEBOOK page..

Michael Fjetland

Author, Better Times Ahead April Fool

www.BetterTimesAheadAprilFool.com

L.A. Over-reaction to Hoax Threat - Just What the Trolls Want

As a 9/11 terrorism analyst here is my take on today's events, where L.A. shut down its schools over a supposed threat by terrorists to 'bomb' one.

New York got the EXACT threat to its schools that Los Angeles got, only New York apparently has better international experts. They noticed that

(1) it was identical to the LA one and

(2) the author spelled "Allah" with a small "a" - meaning whoever wrote the note wasn't Muslim because Muslims ALWAYS capitalize "Allah." 

It's too bad the NY authorities mentioned that  spelling error because now the next low education idiot who copy cats will get the spelling right the next time.

Another reason this "threat" should have been considered a hoax by L.A is this critical fact:

Did the 9/11 hijackers give an advance warning? Did the Paris attackers give an advance warning? Did the San Bernardino shooters give an advance warning?

NO, NO and NO!  I haven't seen a case yet where a terrorist group announced any attack or car bombing. So USE YOUR BRAINS folks in L.A.  The last group that gave warnings before they blew up something was the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.

WHY would terrorists tip off authorities of an attack? That defeats the whole purpose of striking unexpectedly. It's obviously a hoax by someone with an I.Q. of a fish, referring to the hoaxer instead of L.A. authorities.

I recommend L.A., which just locked down the second largest schools system in America, get some better experts because bomb threats happen all the time. Giving in to them generates unnecessary panic and costs us million of dollars.

NOW watch more of these copycats threats emerge because they can see how easy we panic. Stop living in fear folks. You have a better chance of drowning in your shower than being killed by foreign terrorists. In fact you have a better chance of being shot by domestic terrorists than foreign ones.

Trump/GOP Supporters Don't Realize GOP Created the Situation They Are Mad About

Let's face it, a LOT of Trump's supporters are angry white men with limited education and skills, as well as older angry people--nearly all of them WHITE.  Neither group seems to realize is that the GOP has created the exact situation that they are mad about.  I can prove it.

The GOP made the economy slower as it has attempted to sabotage President Obama on Day One on any bill that would actually create jobs and upgrade skills.  It failed until last week to pass a highway bill which has always been a bipartisan bill that rebuilds our ancient roads and bridges, not something to play games with. In Texas for example they gutted education as the world became a high tech global economy.

Result? Today we have 3 million high tech jobs available today in the USA (TODAY!) that Trumps supporters and others aren’t qualified to fill – but young Chinese and Indian workers DO have those skills.  The GOP answer? Give tax breaks to companies who then ship those jobs overseas. Democrats answer?  Invest in providing the education and training for Americans to fill them. (I cover this in my book “Better Times Ahead April Fool” at www.BetterTimesAheadAprilFool.com)

The older angry people in the GOP are mad because the world is changing, and it won’t be a whites-only majority.  Tough. They also forget that Jesus was a Middle Eastern man (he certainly wasn't white). Stoking fear against minorities is putting them in a squeeze because it’s a guaranteed electoral loser. Trump is insuring it stays that way.

But its not just Trump. The entire party has gone so far right it would reject Ronald Reagan is not strident enough and too much of a “compromiser” (Reagan was in favor of banning assault weapons as inappropriate, for example; he had drinks after 5 with the Democratic Majority Leader and cut “deals” which is now considered heresy).

Stay tuned…it’s a crazy race in an increasingly insane world of assault weapons, radicalized loners listening to ISIS and the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world, a widening sectarian war in the Middle East, the rise of right wing anti-immigrant political groups in an economically stagnant Europe -- and social media brought to you by the global Internet brewing up nationalism and xenophobia not possible since before World War I.

None of this is promising for peace and stability.  There is a deafening cacophony of phony experts and “opinion’s out there. 

Get the true global FACTS HERE out it here at Global American Values –written by a 9/11 Terrorism Analyst with unique (documented) insights Americans need to know when we live in a nuclear world and global economy.