Want to know who the world can blame for what is occurring in America today?

Today at noon Washington DC time (4am Saturday 21 January Sydney time) this profoundly ignorant man, Donald John Trump, will be sworn in as 45^th President of the United States of America.

Business Insider, 8 November 2016

This is occurring because one month previously on 19 December 2016 the U.S. Electoral College¹ met to confirm Donald Trump by vote as the President², despite Trump losing the popular vote at the 8 November presidential election by over 2.8 million votes.

Electoral College places are allotted to states proportionate to each state's population, each place can only be filled by a person resident congressional district in that state and a person is barred from a place at the college if he/she holds an office of profit or trust in that state. Members generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize years of loyal service to the party. Throughout our [U.S.] history as a nation, more than 99 percent of Electors have voted as pledged.

Trump won by threading a needle in the Electoral College, carrying four large states by one percentage point or less: Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Winning the Electoral College vote by 304 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 227. According to CNN seven "faithless" electors voted for other candidates, costing Trump two votes and Clinton four.

Fair Vote states that these seven electors were Democratic electors David Bright (ME - Bernie Sanders), Muhammad Abdurrahman (MN - Bernie Sanders), Michael Baca (CO - John Kasich), Esther John (WA - Colin Powell), Levi Guerra (WA - Colin Powell), Bret Chiafalo (WA - Colin Powell), Robert Satiacum (WA - Faith Spotted Eagle), David Mulinix (HI - Bernie Sanders) and two Republican electors Chris Suprun (TX - John Kasich) and Bill Greene (TX - Ron Paul).

Members of the U.S. Electoral College indicating Democratic or Republican (GOP) affiliation, according to a 19 December 2016 Politico provisional list³:

ALABAMA (GOP)
1. Frank Burt, Jr. Appears to hold an office of profit in the state of Alabama
2. Will Sellers
3. Jim Wilson Appears to hold an elected office of in the state of Alabama
4. Tim Wadsworth
5. Elbert Peters
6. Mary Sue McClurkin
7. Bob Cusanelli
8. Perry Hooper Jr.
9. Grady Thornton

ALASKA (GOP)
10. Sean Parnell
11. Jacqueline Tupou
12. Carolyn Leman

ARIZONA (GOP)
13. Bruce Ash
14. Walter Begay
15. Sharon Giese
16. Robert Graham
17. Alberto Gutier
18. Jerry Hayden
19. Carole Joyce
20. Jane Lynch
21. Foster Morgan
22. James O'Connor
23. Edward Robson

ARKANSAS (GOP)
24. Jonelle Fulmer
25. Jonathan Barnett
26. Keith Gibson No registered voter of that name in Arkansas
27. Sharon Wright
28. Tommy Land Does not appear to live in Congressional District he is representing
29. John Nabholz

CALIFORNIA (DEM)
30. Dustin Reed
31. John Ryan
32. Faith Garamendi
33. Kathleen Scott
34. Timothy Farley
35. Analea Patterson
36. Janine Bera
37. Denise Wells
38. Mark Headley
39. Susan Eggman
40. James Donahue
41. Christine Pelosi
42. Saundra Andrews
43. Mark Olbert
44. Donna Ireland
45. Steven Diebert
46. Steve Spinner
47. Celine Purcell
48. Javier Gonzalez
49. Vinzenz Koller
50. Ana Huerta
51. Stephen Natoli
52. Andres Ramos
53. Gail Teton-Landis
54. Natalie Fortman
55. Shawn Terris
56. David Warmuth
57. Laurence Zakson
58. Nury Martinez
59. Sheldon Malchicoff
60. Cathy Morris
61. Benjamin Cardenas
62. Edward Buck
63. Olivia Reyes-Becerra
64. Robert Torres
65. Priscilla Richardson
66. Gwen Moore
67. Jacki Cisneros
68. John MacMurray
69. Marie Torres
70. Jane Block
71. Andrew Krakoff
72. Karen Waters
73. Dorothy Vann
74. Sandra Aduna
75. Gregory Willenborg
76. Carmen Perez
77. Raymond Cordova
78. Francine Busby
79. Patrick Drinan
80. Christine Kehoe
81. Katherine Lyon
82. Shirley Weber
83. Eileen Feinstein Mariano
84. Laphonza Butler

COLORADO (DEM)
85. Terry Phillips
86. Mary Beth Corsentino
87. Jerad Sutton
88. Robert Nemanich
89. Amy Drayer
90. Ann Knollman
91. Sen. Rollie Heath
92. Hon. Polly Baca
93. Micheal Baca

CONNECTICUT (DEM)
94. Barbara Gordon
95. Ellen Nurse
96. Edward Piazza
97. Tyisha Walker
98. Christopher Rosario
99. Robert Godfrey
100. Steven Jones

DELAWARE (DEM)
101. Lynn Fuller
102. Lydia York
103. Linda Cavanaugh

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (DEM)
104. Anita Bonds
105. Jack Evans
106. Franklin Garcia

FLORIDA (GOP)
107. Ade Aderibigbe
108. Larry Ahern Appears to hold elected office in Florida
109. Brian Ballard
110. Kristy Banks
111. Michael Barnett
112. LizBeth Benacquisto Appears to hold elected office in Florida
113. Robin Bernstein
114. Pam Bondi Appears to hold elected office in Florida
115. John Browning Appears to hold an office of profit in Florida
116. Sharon Day
117. Dena DeCamp
118. Nick D
119. Jeremy Evans
120. John Falconetti 
121. Peter Feaman
122. Kat Gates-Skipper
123. Joe Gruters Appears to hold elected office in Florida
124. Debbie Hannifan
125. Blaise Ingoglia Appears to hold elected office in Florida
126. Tony Ledbetter
127. Mike Moberley
128. Susan Moore
129. Joe Negron Appears to hold elected office in Florida
130. Clint Pate Appears to hold an office of profit in Florida
131. Ray Rodrigues Appears to hold elected office in Florida
132. Carlos Trujillo Appears to hold elected office in Florida
133. Robert Watkins
134. Susie Wiles
135. Christian Ziegler

GEORGIA
136. Bruce Allen Azevedo
137. Brian K Burdette Appears to hold an office of profit in Georgia
138. Lott Harris Dill
139. John David Elliott
140. James Randolph Evans
141. Bobbie D. Frantz
142. Linda D. Herren
143. Rachel Blackstone Little
144. Deborah M. McCord
145. Michael Neil McNeely
146. Mary L. Padgett
147. Neil L. Pruitt
148. Joshua Kirk Shook
149. Frank B. Strickland
150. Baoky Nguyen Vu (resigned, will be replaced by alternate)
151. John B. White

HAWAII (DEM)
152. John Bickel
153. Janice Bond
154. Marie (Dolly) Strazar
155. David Mulinix

IDAHO (GOP) All 4 votes irregularly given
156. Jennifer Locke
157. Melinda Smyser
158. Layne Bangerter
159. Caleb Lakey

ILLINOIS (DEM)*
160. Toni Preckwinkle
161. Carrie Austin
162. Silvana Tabares
163. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia
164. Pam Cullerton
165. Nancy Shepardson
166. Vera Davis
167. William Marovitz
168. Barbara Flynn Currie
169. John R. Daley
170. Michelle Mussman
171. Lauren Beth Gash
172. Kevin Duffy Blackburn
173. Jerry Costello
174. Carol Ammons
175. Mark Guethle
176. Flint Taylor
177. John Nelson
178. Don Johnston
179. Shirley McCoombs

INDIANA (GOP) All 11 votes irregularly given
180. Stephanie Beckley
181. Kevin Steen
182. Kelly Mitchell
183. Daniel Bortner
184. Laura Campbell
185. Jeff Cardwell
186. Donald Hayes
187. Randall Kirkpatrick
188. Edwin Simcox
189. Ethan Manning
190. Chuck Williams Does not appear to live in the Congressional District he represents

IOWA (GOP)
191. James Whitmer
192. Don Kass
193. Dylan Keller
194. Alan Braun
195. Kurt Brown
196. Polly Granzow

KANSAS (GOP) All 6 votes irregularly given
197. Ashley J. McMillan
198. Helen Van Etten
199. Mark Kahrs Appears to hold an elected office in Kansas
200. Ron Estes
201. Clayton L. Barker
202. Kelly Arnold

KENTUCKY (GOP)
203. Jim Skaggs
204. David Disponett
205. Robert Duncan
206. Michael Carter
207. Scott Lasley
208. Walter Reichert
209. Mary Singleton
210. Troy Sheldon

LOUISIANA (GOP)
211. Chris D. Trahan Does not appear to live in the Congressional District he represents
212. Lloyd A. Harsch
213. Charles L “Charlie” Buckels
214. Louis R. Avallone
215. Kay Kellogg Katz
216. Lennie H. Rhys
217. Garrett C. Monti
218. Steven “Scott “ Wilfong

MAINE (3 D, 1 R)
219. Diane Denk
220. David Bright
221. Sam Shapiro
222. Richard Bennett (R)

MARYLAND (DEM)
223. Lesley Israel
224. Robert Leonard
225. Lillian Holmes
226. Salome Peters
227. Hagner Mister
228. Claudia Martin
229. Courtney Watson
230. Karen Britto
231. Susan Ness
232. Wayne Rogers

MASSACHUSETTS (DEM)
233. Nazda Alam
234. Mary Gail Cokkinias
235. Marie Turley
236. Dori Dean
237. Donna Smith
238. Cheryl Cumings
239. Marc Pacheco
240. Curtis Lemay
241. Jason Palitsch
242. Paul Yorkis
243. Parwez Wahid

MICHIGAN (GOP) All 16 votes irregularly given
244. John Haggard
245. Jack Holmes Does not appear to live in Michigan
246. Kelly Mitchell
247. Judy Rapanos
248. Henry Hatter
249. Robert Weitt
250. Wyckham Seelig
251. Ross Ensign
252. Michael Banerian
253. Brian Fairbrother
254. Ken Crider
255. Mary Vaughn
256. Jim Rhoades
257. William Rauwerdink
258. Hank Fuhs
259. Joseph Guzman

MINNESOTA (Dem)
260. Fred Knudson
261. Roger Gehrke
262. Marge Hoffa
263. Raymond Hess
264. Muhammed Abdurrahman
265. Betsy O’Berry
266. Mike Wammer
267. Mary Murphy
268. Jules Goldstein
269. Sherrie Pugh

MISSISSIPPI (GOP)
270. Ann Hebert
271. Joe F. Sanderson Jr.
272. Bradley R. White
273. J. Kelley Williams
274. William G. Yates Jr.
275. Wirt A. Yerger, Jr.

MISSOURI (GOP)
276. Tim Dreste
277. Janice DeWeese
278. Hector Maldonado
279. Sherry Kuttenkuler
280. Casey Crawford
281. Tom Brown
282. Cherry Warren
283. Scott Clark
284. Al Rotskoff
285. Susie Johnson

MONTANA (GOP)
286. Thelma Baker
287. Nancy Ballance
288. Dennis Scranton

NEBRASKA (GOP) All 5 votes irregularly given
289. Phil Berlin
290. John Dinkel
291. Chuck Conrad
292. Craig Safranek
293. Paul Burger

NEVADA (Dem)
294. Dayananda Prabhu Rachakonda
295. Larry Jackson
296. Joetta Brown
297. Paul Catha II
298. Greg Gardella
299. Teresa Benitez-Thompson

NEW HAMPSHIRE (Dem)
300. Bev Hollingworth
301. Terie Norelli
302. Carol Shea Porter
303. Dudley Dudley

NEW JERSEY (Dem)
304. Alaa R Abdelaziz
305. Tahsina Ahmed
306. Anthony Cureton
307. Lizette Delgado-Polanco
308. Edward Farmer
309. Christopher D. James
310. Leroy J Jones Jr
311. Retha R Onitiri
312. Marlene Prieto
313. Ronald G Rios
314. Hetty M Rosenstein
315. Kelly Stewart Maer
316. Mary Ann Wardlow
317. Heriberta Loretta Winters

NEW MEXICO (DEM)
318. Lorraine Spradling
319. Edward Torres
320. Noyola Archibeque
321. John Padilla
322. Roxanne Allen

NEW YORK (DEM)
323. William J. Clinton
324. Andrew M. Cuomo
325. Kathy C. Hochul
326. Thomas P. DiNapoli
327. Eric T. Schneiderman
328. Carl E. Heastie
329. Andrea Stewart-Cousins
330. Bill de Blasio
331. Letitia A. James
332. Scott M. Stringer
333. Melissa Mark-Viverito
334. Byron W. Brown
335. Christine C. Quinn
336. Basil A. Smikle, Jr.
337. Melissa Sklarz
338. Mario F. Cilento
339. Rhonda Weingarten
340. George K. Gresham
341. Daniel F. Donohue
342. Stuart H. Appelbaum
343. Gary S. LaBarbera
344. Lovely A. Warren
345. Stephanie A. Miner
346. Katherine M. Sheehan
347. Anastasia M. Somoza
348. Sandra Ung
349. Ruben Diaz, Jr.
350. Hazel L. Ingram
351. Rachel D. Gold

NORTH CAROLINA (GOP)
352. Linda Harper Does not appear to live in Congressional District she represents
353. Charles Staley Does not appear to live in Congressional District he represents
354. Karen Kozel Does not appear to live in Congressional District she represents
355. Martha Jenkins
356. Celeste Stanley
357. Donald Webb Does not appear to live in Congressional District he represents
358. Robert Muller
359. Jennifer Dunbar
360. Andrea Arterburn
361. Glenn Pinckney Sr. Does not appear to live in Congressional District he represents
362. Mark Delk
363. David Speight  Does not appear to live in Congressional District he represents
364. Ann Sullivan Does not appear to live in Congressional District she represents
365. Lee Green
366. David Smuski

NORTH DAKOTA (GOP)
367. Duane Mutch
368. John Olson
369. Ronald Carlisle

OHIO (GOP) All 18 votes irregularly given
370. Alex Triantafilou
371. Mary Anne Christie
372. Cory Schottenstein
373. Jim Dicke II
374. Cheryl Blakely
375. Marilyn Ashcraft
376. Christina Hagan
377. Richard Jones
378. Tom Coyne
379. Judy Westbrock
380. Ralph King
381. Leonard Hubert
382. Tracey Winbush
383. James Wert
384. Brian Schottenstein
385. Curt Braden
386. LeeAnn Johnson
387. Ed Crawford

OKLAHOMA (GOP)
388. David Oldham
389. Teresa Turner
390. Mark Thomas
391. Bobby Cleveland
392. Laurie Beth
393. Charlie Potts
394. George Wiland

OREGON (DEM)
395. Frank James Dixon
396. Karen A. Packer
397. Austin Folnagy
398. Leon H. Coleman
399. Harry W. "Sam" Sappington III
400. Timothy Norman Powers Rowan
401. Laura Gillpatrick

PENNSYLVANIA (GOP) All 20 votes irregularly given
402. Robert Asher
403. Mary Barket
404. Robert Bozzuto
405. Theodore Christian
406. Michael Downing
407. Margaret Ferraro
408. Robert Gleason
409. Christopher Gleason
410. Joyce Haas
411. Ash Khare
412. James McErlane
413. Elstina Pickett
414. Patricia Poprik
415. Andrew Reilly
416. Carol Sides
417. Glora “Lee” Snover
418. Richard Stewart
419. Lawrence Tabas
420. Christine Toretti
421. Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh

RHODE ISLAND (DEM)

422. Clay Pell
423. Grace Diaz
424. L. Susan Weiner
425. Frank J. Montanaro

SOUTH CAROLINA (GOP)
426. Glenn McCall
427. Matt Moore
428. Terry Hardesty
429. Jim Ulmer
430. Brenda Bedenbaugh
431. Bill Conley
432. Shery Smith
433. Moye Graham
434. Jerry Rovner

SOUTH DAKOTA (GOP)
435. Dennis Daugaard
436. Matt Michels
437. Marty Jackley

TENNESSEE (GOP)
438. Joey Jacobs
439. Beth Scott Clayton Amos
440. Jason Mumpower
441. Susan Mills
442. Liz Holiway
443. Lynne Davis
444. Tom Lawless
445. Mike Callahan
446. Pat Allen
447. Shannon Hanes
448. Drew Daniel

TEXAS (GOP)
449. Marty Rhymes Does not appear to live in Congressional District she represents
450. Thomas Moon
451. Carol Sewell
452. John Harper
453. Sherrill Lenz
454. Nicholas Ciggelakis
455. William Hickman
456. Landon Estay
457. Rex Lamb
458. Rosemary Edwards
459. Matt Stringer
460. Shellie Surles
461. Melissa Juett Kalka
462. Kenneth Clark
463. Sandara Cararas
464. David Thackston
465. Robert Bruce
466. Marjorie Forster Does not appear to live in Congressional District she represents
467. Scott Mann
468. Marian Stanko
469. Curtis Nelson
470. Tina Gibson
471. Kendell Muenzler
472. Alexander Kim
473. Virginia Able
474. John Dillard
475. Thomas Knight
476. Marian Knowlton
477. Rex Teter
478. Stephen (Chris) Suprun Jr.
479. Jon Jewett
480. Susan Fischer
481. Loren Byers
482. William Lawrence Greene
483. Mary Lou Erben
484. Art Sisneros
485. Candace Noble
486. Fred Farias

UTAH (GOP)
487. Peter Greathouse
488. Jeremy Jenkins
489. Kris Kimball
490. Cherilyn Eagar
491. Chia-Chi Teng
492. Richard Snelgrove

VERMONT (DEM)
493. Peter Shumlin
494. Martha Allen
495. Tim Jerman

VIRGINIA (DEM)
496. James O’Connor
497. Vivian Paige
498. Delegate Lashrecse Aird
499. Bethany Johnston Rowland
500. Jasper Hendricks
501. Deb Fitzgerald
502. Harold Boyd
503. Ginny Peter
504. Jeanette Sarver
505. Kathy Stewart Shupe
506. Keith Scarborough
507. Susan Rowland
508. Terry Frye

WASHINGTON (DEM)
509. Varisha Khan
510. Bret Chiafolo
511. Ryleigh Ivey
512. Levi Guerra
513. Phillip Tyler
514. Julie Johnson
515. Chris Porter
516. Dan Carpita
517. Esther John
518. Eric Herde
519. Robert Satiacum
520. Elizabeth Caldwell

WEST VIRGINIA (GOP)
521. Ron Foster
522. Patrick Morrisey
523. Ann Urling
524. Mac Warner
525. Bill Cole

WISCONSIN (GOP) All 10 votes irregularly given
526. Steve King
527. Mary Buestrin
528. Kim Travis
529. Kim Babler
530. Brian Westrate
531. Brad Courtney
532. Kathy Kiernan
533. Dan Feyen
534. Jim Miller
535. Bill Berglund

WYOMING (GOP) All 3 votes irregularly given
536. Karl Allred
537. Bonnie Foster
538. Teresa Richards

1. The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress.

The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators. Read more about the allocation of electoral votes.

Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is allocated 3 electors and treated like a state for purposes of the Electoral College. For this reason, in the following discussion, the word “state” also refers to the District of Columbia.

Each candidate running for President in your state has his or her own group of electors. The electors are generally chosen by the candidate’s political party, but state laws vary on how the electors are selected and what their responsibilities are. Read more about the qualifications of the Electors and restrictions on who the Electors may vote for.

The presidential election is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. You help choose your state’s electors when you vote for President because when you vote for your candidate you are actually voting for your candidate’s electors.

Most states have a “winner-take-all” system that awards all electors to the winning presidential candidate. However, Maine and Nebraska each have a variation of “proportional representation.” Read more about the allocation of Electors among the states and try to predict the outcome of the Electoral College vote.

After the presidential election, your governor prepares a “Certificate of Ascertainment” listing all of the candidates who ran for President in your state along with the names of their respective electors. The Certificate of Ascertainment also declares the winning presidential candidate in your state and shows which electors will represent your state at the meeting of the electors in December of the election year. Your state’s Certificates of Ascertainments are sent to the Congress and the National Archives as part of the official records of the presidential election. See the key dates for the 2016 election and information about the roles and responsibilities of state officials, the Office of the Federal Register and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and the Congress in the Electoral College process.

The meeting of the electors takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election. The electors meet in their respective states, where they cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots. Your state’s electors’ votes are recorded on a “Certificate of Vote,” which is prepared at the meeting by the electors. Your state’s Certificates of Votes are sent to the Congress and the National Archives as part of the official records of the presidential election. See the key dates for the 2016 election and information about the roles and responsibilities of state officials and the Congress in the Electoral College process.

Each state’s electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress on the 6th of January in the year following the meeting of the electors. Members of the House and Senate meet in the House chamber to conduct the official tally of electoral votes. See the key dates for the 2016 election and information about the role and responsibilities of Congress in the Electoral College process.

The Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides over the count and announces the results of the vote. The President of the Senate then declares which persons, if any, have been elected President and Vice President of the United States.

The President-Elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the Presidential election. [https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html]

2. The date for officially counting the electoral votes is fixed by law as January 6 following each presidential election.

3. Annotations in red reflect part of the contents of ELECTORAL VOTE OBJECTION PACKET, 4 January 2017.

The Doom of Donald Trump: fleshy man given to vulgarities and gauche behavior, boastful, thin-skinned, politically amoral, vengeful, unforgiving and, most important, considered an illegitimate president

New York Daily News, 16 January 2017:

Whether he knows it or not, the specter of Lyndon Baines Johnson haunts Donald John Trump. There are some jarring similarities -- two big fleshy men given to vulgarities and gauche behavior, boastful, thin-skinned, politically amoral, vengeful, unforgiving and, most important, considered illegitimate presidents. For Johnson that took some time to sink in; Trump is already there.

Johnson ascended to the presidency upon the death of John F. Kennedy and then won election in a landslide over Barry Goldwater. Nevertheless, an air of illegitimacy clung to him like an odor. It thickened as opposition to the Vietnam War became more and more furious and it peaked, in my estimation, with a hoax in 1967 by Paul Krassner in the counterculture magazine The Realist.

Tongue in cheek, it reported that Johnson had climbed into Kennedy's casket and there done unspeakable things. The story was abominable, tasteless and deserved any other insult you could throw at it, but some people believed it. I know. I heard it.

Jump now a half-century to the recent stories relating to Trump and alleged shenanigans in Russia at a time not all that distant. The accounts, unverified and as revolting as any concocted about Johnson, had a currency that can only be explained by Trump's own behavior -- a persona that seems so self-indulgent, so juvenile, that almost any sort of behavior seems credible. Trump called the report fake news and, as always, blamed the messenger (the media, the intelligence community, etc.) but he ought to have looked in the mirror and wondered why he looks so ugly to so many people.

Krassner is an obscure 1960s figure; Rep. John Lewis is not. He said the other day that Trump's presidency was illegitimate and he would not, as an invited member of Congress, attend the inaugural. Trump, of course, tweeted a disparagement. As he did when he belittled John McCain's heroism under torture, Trump said Lewis was "all talk" and "no action."

Lewis is one of the last of the great civil rights era heroes. He marched. He protested. He had his head cracked at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. It was 1965 and the Alabama police nearly beat him to death. He is a man of immense courage and morality, so much greater than Trump in those respects.

Yes, Trump won in the Electoral College and that, alas, is all that matters. But on the larger point, Lewis is right. Trump conducted a dirty, dishonest campaign which sullied the very presidency he won. He questioned Barack Obama's legitimacy, trafficked in racism and demagoguery and seems to have had poll workers in far-off Moscow. Still, he'll be the President….

By the end of the week, Donald Trump will be the President. I wish him the best; I wish him the worst. The dilemma is how to separate loathing for him from love of the country. I am leaving it to time to work that out.

In the meantime, Trump will have his moment, that's for sure, but when things go wrong he will be chased from office -- just like Johnson once was. The ancient Greeks knew why: A man's character is his fate. In that case, Trump's presidency is doomed.

How Malcolm Turnbull's approval rating compares with seven other national leaders

OVERVIEW

2017 Edelman Trust Barometer:

The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer finds that two-thirds of the countries we survey are now "distrusters" (under 50 percent trust in the mainstream institutions of business, government, media and NGOs to do what is right), up from just over half in2016. This is a profound crisis in trust that has its origins in the Great Recession of2008. The aftershocks from the stunning meltdown of the global economy are still being felt today, with consequences yet unknown.

Like the second and third waves of a tsunami, ongoing globalization and technological change are now further weakening people's trust in global institutions, which they believe have failed to protect them from the negative effects of these forces. The celebrated benefits of free trade—affordable products for mass consumption and the raising of a billion people out of poverty—have suddenly been supplanted by concerns about the outsourcing of jobs to lower-cost markets. The impact of automation is being felt, especially in lower-skilled jobs, as driverless trucks and retail stores without cashiers become reality.

We have moved beyond the point of trust being simply a key factor in product purchase or selection of employment opportunity; it is now the deciding factor in whether a society can function. As trust in institutions erodes, the basic assumptions of fairness, shared values and equal opportunity traditionally upheld by "the system" are no longer taken for granted. We observe deep disillusion on both the left and the right, who share opposition to globalization, innovation, deregulation, and multinational institutions. There is growing despair about the future, a lack of confidence in the possibility of a better life for one's family. The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer finds that only 15 percent of the general population believe the present system is working, while 53 percent do not and 32 percent are uncertain.

MALCOLM BLIGH TURNBULL (AUSTRALIA)

Essential Report, 17 January 2017:

DONALD JOHN TRUMP (USA)

9 News, 18 January 2017:

President-elect Donald Trump takes office this week with dismal approval and popularity numbers, according to polls out Tuesday, underscoring the deep divisions among Americans as the New York businessman prepares for his inauguration.

A CNN/ORC poll showed 40 percent of respondents approved of the way Trump has been handling the transition period heading into Friday's inauguration, a figure that's sharply lower than any incoming US president in recent history.

Trump will enter the Oval Office as the least popular incoming president in at least four decades, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll…….

The CNN poll showed Trump lagging more than 20 points behind the approval ratings of his three most recent predecessors and 44 points below that of President Barack Obama as he prepared to enter the Oval Office in 2009.

Obama had an 84 percent approval rating ahead of his inauguration, Bill Clinton scored 67 percent approval in late December 1992 and 61 percent approved of George W. Bush's transition in poll figures from January 2001, CNN said.

Forty percent of respondents told the Washington Post-ABC survey they have a favorable impression of the incoming president, compared with 54 percent who said they have an unfavorable impression.

That makes Trump the most unpopular incoming president since at least Jimmy Carter in 1977, the Washington Post said.

Forty-four percent said Trump is qualified to serve as president, as opposed to 52 percent who said he's not qualified, the Washington Post-ABC poll said.

When asked how much confidence they have that Trump will make the right decisions for the country's future, 38 percent said they had a great deal or a good amount of confidence. Sixty-one percent said they had just some or no confidence.

The CNN/ORC poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. The Washington Post-ABC poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

JUSTIN PIERRE JAMES TRUDEAU (CANADA)

CBC News, 16 January 2017:

Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government continue to enjoy strong support as the prime minister makes stops in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on his cross-country tour Monday and Tuesday.

A poll released Monday by Corporate Research Associates of Halifax suggests 73 per cent of residents in Atlantic Canada are satisfied with the performance of the federal government, which is one percentage point lower than in August 2016.

The proportion of those polled who were dissatisfied with the performance of Trudeau's government was unchanged at 20 per cent. Six per cent of those questioned did not offer an opinion and one per cent said it is too soon to decide how the government is performing.

Trudeau's personal popularity stood at 62 per cent, which is down three percentage points from August.

THERESA MARY MAY (UNITED KINGDOM)

Sky News, 13 January 2017:

Theresa May has enjoyed the longest opinion poll 'honeymoon' of any Conservative prime minister since the 1950s.

May's premiership reaches the six-month mark on Friday, during which time her party has opened up an average poll lead over Labour of 14 points.

No Tory government in modern times has been in such a commanding position at this stage of a prime minister's time in office.

But pollsters have warned that the party's performance is more a reflection of Labour weakness than Tory strength, and could crumble if Brexit negotiations run into difficulty.

The Press Association has analysed the poll ratings for every government of the past 60 years precisely six months into the term of a new prime minister.

Only one government of any political colour has beaten May's current rating: the Labour administration led by Tony Blair, which had a colossal 29-point lead in the polls six months after Mr Blair took office in 1997.

By contrast, Margaret Thatcher's government was an average of five points behind in the polls, while John Major was six points down.

The Tories were one point ahead of Labour when David Cameron reached the six- month mark.

VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH PUTIN (RUSSIA)

Sputnik News, 22 December 2016:

More than 60 percent of Russians trust President Putin, with the level of confidence in the president increasing over the last months, a trust rating published by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) showed on Thursday.
According to the poll, Putin's actions as the Russian president are supported by 85.8 percent of Russians…

The all-Russian opinion poll was conducted by VCIOM on December 17-18, 2016, in 130 cities around the country among 1600 people. The maximum margin of error is no higher than 3.5 percent.

SIMON WILLIAM "BILL" ENGLISH (NEW ZEALAND)

TVNZ News Now, 21 December 2016:

Support for National fell to 45 per cent at the start of December, but it's not clear if the party's leadership change had anything to do with the latest poll.

The Roy Morgan poll shows support for a Labour/Green alliance is up to 43 per cent and an election held now would have a close result, as a result of National's 4.5 per cent fall.

The poll was carried out between November 28 and December 11, covering the week before former Prime Minister John Key's shock resignation and the following week which saw Jonathan Coleman and Judith Collins contest Mr Key's eventual successor Bill English for the leadership.

SHINZO ABE (JAPAN)

The Japan Times, 18 December 2016:

The support rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet has tumbled to 54.8 percent from the previous month, according to a two-day nationwide poll, with over half of the respondents viewing the outcome of last week's Japan-Russia summit negatively, along with the unpopular legalization of casinos.

The Cabinet's approval rating compared with 60.7 percent in November, while its disapproval rating rose to 34.1 percent, up 3.7 points.

In the survey, conducted through Sunday by Kyodo News, 54.3 percent had a negative view of the summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin held Thursday and Friday in Japan.

Questioned about the Diet's legalization of casinos the same week, 69.6 percent opposed the law and 24.6 percent supported it.

The same survey, meanwhile, showed 75.3 percent said they would not want a so-called integrated casino resort to be built in their neighborhood and 21.9 percent said they would support one.

Kyodo conducted the poll on 1,456 randomly selected households and received 1,018 valid responses.

JOKO WIDODO (INDONESIA)

The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 November 2016:

In contrast, Jokowi engineered a comeback. His approval rating stands at between 60 and 70 per cent in the various polls, close to his honeymoon highs.

And he has transformed a feeble grip on the parliament into a dominant one. His ruling coalition now enjoys 70 per cent of the seats in parliament.

The Australian Government doesn't only wreck asylum seeker lives on Manus and Nauru - it tosses away billions of taxpayer dollars in the process

The Turnbull Government (like the Abbott government before it) once again demonstrates why it is unfit to govern……

ABC News, 17 January 2017:

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has been accused of mismanaging offshore detention centre contracts, with an independent audit alleging more than $1 billion was spent over the last four years without proper authorisation.

A report from Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) detailed "significant shortcomings" in the management of contracts for security and welfare services on Manus Island and Nauru.

It cited $2.3 billion in payments made between September 2012 and April 2016, which it stated were not authorised or recorded correctly.

"$1.1 billion was approved by DIBP officers who did not have the required authorisation and for the remaining $1.1 billion there was no departmental record of who authorised the payments," it stated.

The report further stated that contract variations totalling more than $1 billion were made without a documented assessment of value for money.

The Immigration Department disagreed with the claim that some payments were not appropriately authorised.

However, a response from Jenet Connell, the department's chief operating officer, acknowledged the lack of documentary evidence around the payments and cited plans to "further embed improvements".

"It is important to recognise the complex environment in which these contracts were established and continue to operate," she said.

"The garrison support and welfare services contracts were originally established during great uncertainty and over the last four years, the department has worked very hard to establish sustainable contract arrangements."

The report comes four months after an earlier audit that stated that the department was unable to demonstrate it had secured valued for money in three of the four hiring processes for centres on Nauru and Manus Island.

Australian National Audit Office, excerpt from Audit Report No. 32 2016-17:

Conclusion

8. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s management of the garrison support and welfare services contracts at the offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea (Manus Island) has fallen well short of effective contract management practice.

9. The garrison support and welfare contracts were established in circumstances of great haste to give effect to government policy decisions and the department did not have a detailed view of what it wanted to purchase or the standards to apply. These are key considerations in achieving value for money. While the department took between 20 to 43 weeks (depending on the contract) to enter into final 2013 contracts, there remained significant shortcomings in the contractual framework. Many of the shortcomings persisted in the 2014 contracts, indicating that the 2014 contract consolidation process was not informed by lessons learned from the department’s management and operation of the 2013 contracts.

10. The department did not put in place effective mechanisms to manage the contracts. Other than the contracts, there was no documentation of the means by which the contract objectives would be achieved. In the absence of a plan, assurance processes such as the inspection and audit of services delivered, has not occurred in a systematic way and risks were not effectively managed. In addition, the department has not maintained appropriate records of decisions and actions taken in the course of its contract management. As a consequence, the department has not been well placed to assess whether its service strategies were adequate or fully met government objectives.

11. The department developed a comprehensive and risk based performance framework for the contracts to help it assess provider performance. However, development of the framework was delayed and in applying the framework the department was not consistent in its treatment of different providers. Performance measurement under the framework relied heavily on self-assessments by providers and the department performed limited independent checks. Delays in the department’s review of self-assessments and the provision of feedback on contractor performance eroded the link between actual performance and contract payments. Risk assessment was a key component of the performance reporting processes and while risk assessments were conducted, DIBP did not review risk ratings or determine if controls and mitigations were in place and working. Risks materialised in both the 2013 and 2014 contracts.

12. An appropriate framework of controls was in place for payments under the contracts, including the authorisation of actual payments by a delegate. This control was intended to provide additional assurance over payments under the contracts but did not always operate as intended. In respect to $2.3 billion in payments made between September 2012 and April 2016, delegate authorisations were not always secured or recorded: an appropriate delegate provided an authorisation for payments totalling $80 million; $1.1 billion was approved by DIBP officers who did not have the required authorisation; and for the remaining $1.1 billion there was no departmental record of who authorised the payments.

13. In addition, this audit highlighted further weaknesses in the department’s management of procurement. Substantial contract variations totalling over $1 billion were made without a documented assessment of value for money.

14. Contract management is core business for Australian Government entities, and the department has managed detention contracts since 1997. Previous ANAO audits of the department’s contract management have found that: its contracting framework had not established clear expectations of the level and quality of services to be delivered; and its ability to monitor the performance of contractors was compromised by a lack of clarity in standards and performance measures and reliance on incident reporting to determine when standards were not being met. This audit has identified a recurrence of these (and other) deficiencies, which have resulted in higher than necessary expense for taxpayers and significant reputational risks for the Australian Government and the department. The audit recommendations are intended to address the significant weaknesses observed in DIBP’s contract management practices.

Australian Dept. Immigration and Border Protection - Auditor General's Report No. 32 2016-17 by clarencegirl on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/336776634/Australian-Dept-Immigration-and-Border-Protection-Auditor-General-s-Report-No-32-2016-17

Lessons That The NSW Government Never Learns: these marine deaths were entirely predictable and avoidable

Green Sea Turtle

ABC News, 17 January 2017:

The latest report on the New South Wales shark netting program revealed 133 target sharks [27 found dead] were caught along with 615 non-target marine animals off beaches between Wollongong and Newcastle.

Almost half of the animals caught perished in the netting.

The report revealed 90 threatened or protected species were caught in the nets during the 2015-16 season.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 January 2017:

The Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program Annual Performance Report, covering 51 beaches off Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, says there were 748 "marine life interactions" with the nets during the period.

This is significantly higher than the 189 recorded during the 2014-15 season.

Echo NetDaily, 17 January 2017:

A Bottlenose Dolphin and a Green Sea Turtle were among 12 animals killed by newly installed shark nets along the north coast in the first month of their operation.

Of the 43 animals caught in the nets, just one white shark and a bull shark were caught, with the bull shark among 12 animals that died.

The net at Lennox Head killed a Australian Cownose Ray, a Longtail Tuna, two Hammerhead Sharks and a Bottlenose Dolphin.

No deaths were recorded at Sharpes and Shelley beaches in Ballina, although Lighthouse Beach accounted for two dead Hammerhead sharks, an Australian Cownose Ray and a Bull Shark.

At Evans Head the net killed two Australian Cownose Rays and a Green Turtle.

The North Coast Shark Net Trial report covers the period 8 December 2016 to 7 January 2017

NSW Dept. of Primary Industries, NSW North Coast Shark Meshing Trial Report: 8 Dec2016 – 7 Jan 2017

The basic relationship between wealth, power, economic growth - globally and in Australia

It is no secret that the world is an unequal place when it comes to the distribution of wealth and the free exercise of political power.

This month Oxfam International released its Oxfam Briefing Paper January 2017, AN ECONOMY FOR THE 99%: It‟s time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few.

This paper pointed out that new estimates show that just eight men own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world.

That’s eight men in a global population of over 7 billion people.

The briefing paper went on to say:

By any measure, we are living in the age of the super-rich, a second "gilded age" in which a glittering surface masks social problems and corruption. Oxfam's analysis of the super-rich includes all those individuals with a net worth of at least $1bn. The 1,810 dollar billionaires on the 2016 Forbes list, 89% of whom are men, own $6.5 trillion – as much wealth as the bottom 70% of humanity. While some billionaires owe their fortunes predominantly to hard work and talent, Oxfam's analysis of this group finds that one-third of the world’s billionaire wealth is derived from inherited wealth, while 43% can be linked to cronyism.

On 16 January 2017 BizNews reported that:

The world’s 8 richest people are, in order of net worth:

1.    Bill Gates: America founder of Microsoft (net worth $75 billion)

2.    Amancio Ortega: Spanish founder of Inditex which owns the Zara fashion chain (net worth $67 billion)

3.    Warren Buffett: American CEO and largest shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway (net worth $60.8 billion)

4.    Carlos Slim Helu: Mexican owner of Grupo Carso (net worth: $50 billion)

5.    Jeff Bezos: American founder, chairman and chief executive of Amazon (net worth: $45.2 billion)

6.    Mark Zuckerberg: American chairman, chief executive officer, and co-founder of Facebook (net worth $44.6 billion)

7.    Larry Ellison: American co-founder and CEO of Oracle  (net worth $43.6 billion)

8.    Michael Bloomberg: American founder, owner and CEO of Bloomberg LP (net worth: $40 billion)

Oxfam’s calculations are based on global wealth distribution data provided by the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data book 2016.

The wealth of the world’s richest people was calculated using Forbes’ billionaires list last published in March 2016.

According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute in November 2016:

For financial wealth at least, direct estimates for the first quarter of 2016 were available for 27 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries account for 76% of global wealth in 2016.

Australia’s percentage share of global wealth was 2.5% in First quarter 2016, with 1.06 million individuals in a population of almost 23 million holding most of that wealth.

The wealth spread in Australia last year was calculated as:

§  20 individuals holding over US$1 billion each

§  39 individuals holding US$500 million-1 billion each

§  685 individuals holding US$100-500 million each

§  1,476 individuals holding US$50-100 million each

§  25,924 individuals holding US$10-50 million each

§  55,812 individuals holding US$5-10 million each

§  976,193 individuals holding US$1-5 million each

In Australia household gross wealth was estimated to be composed of 60.6% non-financial wealth and 39.4% financial wealth.

Forbes Media listed Australia's top eight richest people in 2016 as:

Blair Parry-Oakden - heiress to Cox Enterprises fortune ($8.8 billion)
Gina Rinehart - mining magnate ($8.5 billion)
Harry Triguboff - property developer ($6.9 billion)
Frank Lowy - co-founder Westfield Group ($5 billion)
Anthony Pratt - CEO Pratt Industries & global chair Visy Industries ($3.6 billion)
James Packer - media mogul ($3.5 billion)
John Gandel - property developer ($3.2 billion)
Lindsay Fox - trucking magnate ($2.8 billion)

On 20 August 2015 The Washington Post reported a new study (based on Does Wealth Inequality Matter for Growth? The Effect of Billionaire Wealth, Income Distribution, and Poverty, IZA DP No. 7733 November 2013 and later reworked as Billionaires and Growth by Sutirtha Bagchi and Jan Svejnar).

This study reportedly found that 65% of all billionaire wealth in Australia is based on political connections rather than on business innovation and, In sum, wealth inequality that comes from political connections is responsible for nearly all the negative effect on economic growth that we had observed from wealth inequality overall.

Or to put it another way, wealth amassed by certain billionaires world-wide, through the giving of political donations, public and private lobbying of politicians and/or the exchange of political favours, was responsible for nearly all declining economic growth this century.