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Will Obama’s Diplomacy Work ?
Jun 3rd
I’m on pins-and-needles today, waiting with a lot of trepidation and anxiety to see how the President’s speech in Egypt is going to be accepted by the Islamic World Community.
Now, I do take exception with his beginning this goodwill tour in Saudi Arabia. As the home of the majority of the 9-11 conspirators, and the continuing sponsor for thousands of fundamentalists madrases around the world, I don’t think visiting there first was a great idea. That’s not even mentioning their recent rulings regarding girls as young as 8 years old being married off to men who could be their Grandpa, (Here I should inject something Cheney-like about incest in an American State).
As a matter of fact, our continued support of one of the most conservative / oppressive monarchies in all of Islam, is just as much a recruiting bonus for Al Queda as was every Bush / Cheney blunder.
If the President wanted to start his tour in an oil rich nation, he should have started in Kuwait, or another kingdom that recognizes women as humans, and is enlightened in a multitude of ways that the Saudis may never become.
That said, I am truly gratified about this Administration’s acknowledgment that America’s image among the Islamic Nations and Peoples is what is in need of redemption. If we are ever to overcome the influence of the terrorists within the Islamic world, we first need to be seen as something besides “The Great Satan“.
For more on this see this post _Pakistan_Fights_Back.Another Great thing about this latest effort by the Obama Administration is this: “What better President have we ever had who holds more credibility with the Islamic people of the World?”
I mean, come on, the man went to elementary school in an Islamic nation, His middle friggin’ name is Hussien ! With his nice Mocha complexion, he even looks more like them then any Leader we’ve ever had ! If Barack Hussien Obama can’t heal these wounds, and bridge these gaps, then who can ?
Below are some related Items from today’s Media:
Related articles by Zemanta
- Poll: Few Americans have good view of Muslim world (cnn.com)
- Osama bin Laden says Barack Obama ‘planting seeds of hatred’ (telegraph.co.uk)
- Romney raps Obama’s overseas speechmaking (msnbc.msn.com)
- Obama embarks on Mid-East mission (news.bbc.co.uk)
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What a Crazy Week That Was !
Jun 1st
Man-Oh-Man, I don’t know where to start! There’s just so much going on in this nutty world right now, that ordering the priorities of what to write is way too difficult !
Let’s start with “The Child-Molester Tyrant” of North Korea. He’s got his panties in a wad again, apparently he’s not getting enough attention, so like the little girls he “dates”, he’s throwing tantrums of a major sort. First of all he set-off another alleged Nuclear explosion, which was strong enough to be sensed by seismographs in Japan and Russia. When that didn’t garner enough attention, he followed up with some missile launches, and those combined actions got the world community to call Security Council meetings at the UN, and even got China to issue some condemnations too.
People like myself like to condemn groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Taliban for using human shields, and holding hostages and arms caches in schools and mosques. but this guy is a second-generation terrorist, who is holding an entire starving nation hostage against the world’s justice. The really sad part is that the poor people are so brainwashed with paranoia and so afraid to think for themselves, that when a few million of them fall victim to a retaliatory attack their lifetime of living in an isolated “Hermit Society” will cause them to blame the outside world, in particular the United States.
Back home in the states, President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor has unleashed some latent insanity among the Republicans. Never mind that many of these same politicians have easily approved her for past Federal Judiciary posts, all of a sudden she’s a “Reverse Racist”, a judge known to “Legislate-from-the-Bench”, and is a surefire vote to overturn Roe-V-Wade, because she’s a Catholic !
Over in Iran, someone is finally giving them a dose of their own medicine. Last week a mosque was bombed, and just yesterday, a bomb was found onboard a plane bound for Teheran, flying out of the city of Ahvaz, capital of the Oil rich province of Khuzestan, a place where the Arab population has long complained that they do not get a fair share of the income from their province’s oil output, and claim that the central government in Teheran ignore their needs. To quickly defuse the anger about the mosque bombing, three men were quickly hung for the attack ! Look for the same fast action on the attempted airplane bombing.
The three men who were hung were just accused of bringing in the explosives, and of course, the Ayatollahs have accussed the US for planning the attack on the mosque, which was said to have killed 25 and injured scores of others. Here is a good report on the situation from CNN:
A judiciary spokesman in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan told the state-run news agency IRNA that Haji Noti Zehi, Gholam Rasoul Shai Zehi and Zabihollah Naroubi had smuggled into the country the explosives used in Thursday’s bombing in the Shia mosque of Amir al-Momenin. Before the executions, Hojatoleslam Ebrahim Hamidi said: “These three traitors, who smuggled in the explosives and put them at the disposal of a terrorist played a major role in the murders,” IRNA said. The three were hanged in public just before the funerals of the people killed in the mosque Thursday. “The three were charged with waging war (against God), corruption on earth and activities against the state. They were convicted and they had confessed to their crimes, and their role in smuggling explosives into the country had been proven,” Hamidi told IRNA. Reports on the number of casualties varied in Iranian reports. Some local agencies said more than 20 people were killed and 125 were wounded in the bombing. He said the three had been arrested a few days before the actual bombing and their role in bringing in the explosives had been proven. The judiciary spokesman in Zahedan added: “Immediately after the mosque explosion, the cases of the three men were referred to a team from the judiciary who spent thirty hours investigating it. The three men were convicted of the charges after the due process of the law, including a state-appointed lawyer to defend them, was observed and the defendants were found guilty of all charges.” The spokesman added that the three men had been accused of several other crimes, including direct participation in a bus bombing three years ago in Zahedan and at least two other bombings, IRNA said. Hamidi said that the three men had also been involved in four hostage taking incidents, had planned eight other hostage taking and terrorist operations that had been discovered by the police before they could be carried out. * Deadly blast at Iranian mosque “This file is not closed yet. They (men) were only a part of this plot, more culprits will be identified and punished in the near future,” the judiciary spokesman said. Hamidi said: “The enemy is now trying to sow dissension among the various tribes and sects and are trying to flame the fires through terrorist acts. While the country is preparing for the 10th presidential elections, the hand of world’s arrogant powers is coming out through the sleeves of a bunch of traitors who ignore even the sanctity of mosques.” IRNA said Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, condemned the bombing and sent a message of sympathy to the victims’ relatives. “In his statement, he condemned the involvement of certain expansionist superpowers and their spying organizations in the plots against Muslim nations and between the followers of Islam’s different sects and causing bloodshed among Muslim brothers in Iran and other regional countries,” IRNA reported. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a hard-line cleric, also said there were signs that the United States and Israel were involved in the mosque bombing, IRNA reported. The United States denied the allegations. “The U.S. strongly condemns all forms of terrorism. We do not sponsor any form of terrorism in Iran. And we continue to work with the international community to try to prevent any attacks against innocent civilians anywhere,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in a Friday briefing. Here’s a link to the Airline Bomb Plot:http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/05/31/iran.bomb/index.htmlPlease leave a comment, and let me know what you think of All these Items, Thanks, HV
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A “Memorable” Memorial Day Weekend
May 25th
This American Holiday weekend has been a different sort of time for both myself, and Our Nation. As our First Memorial Day with an Afro-American President, this weekend saw some 60 college Professors urging the President to break with the Tradition of the US President laying a wreath at the monument to the Confederate Soldiers. Because these professors have long viewed honoring these soldiers of the Confederate States as an insult to all Afro-Americans, they wanted the tradition ended. Another, much wiser Professor, suggested that the President send flowers to the Confederate site, while also sending one to the Monument to Black Union Soldiers of the Civil War.
That’s exactly what the President chose to do, and thus ended another “Tempest in a Teapot” controversy. This calm and deliberative Commander-in-Chief has deftly trod through the minefield that is Federal Politics, without arousing the ire of the many fringe groups and special interests that create that minefield, and keep it dangerous for the un-alert and unaware.
Meanwhile, back in the “Real” world, this weekend has seen Hezbollah rally their ’sheeple’ in Lebanon, just ahead of an election in that pitiful nation. The rally comes at a time when proof is forthcoming that Hezbollah was responsible for the assassination of the popular Lebanese Prime Minister back in 2007.
Across the Globe, the North Korean child-molester tyrant has tested another Atomic Bomb, once again violating every United Nations and Asian regional directive. How long the Chinese will let this little twerp continue to spit on the World’s Laws and sanctions remains to be seen. If America and Japan decide to end Kim Jung Il’s reign of terror and deprivation, then the Chinese will be whining about our intrusion into their regional affairs. I guess they don’t realize that this shrunken bastard is just as much a danger to them as he is to South Korea and Japan? I personally see this pissant’s continued survival, as an overt failure on the part of the CIA, and every other so-called “Intelligence Agencies” in the world. Surely there are some military and bureaucratic leaders that we could involve in a plan, (conspiracy if you will), to kill this pervert, and put sanity back in their leadership. Oh, I guess “sanity” would be a whole new concept for that nation, as their very existence was the result of rabid communist ideology.
Back in “Terror Central Command” AKA Iran, the fearless leader has told the world press that he is not the one who has blocked “FaceBook” access across the Nation. He said that there are hundreds of thousands of such websites across the world, and has said in the past that they should all be available to the people. That BS doesn’t fly with the young people and students, who know that FaceBook was only blocked after Ahmahjinadad’s main political opponent gained tens of thousands of followers on his Facebook page, as compared to a few hundred for AmA-JiveAssDad.
Now, to my personal weekend’s activities,..well, this is the first Memorial Day in memory where I have not at least attended a party, (or hosted one), to cook-out with friends and family and listen to the Indianapolis 500 on the radio. Even on those years when the race is broadcast on local TV stations, we will watch the muted TV accompanied by the radio’s announcers, because that is the tradition here in HoosierLand. My pick of the “Driver to Win” was the odds-on favorite, Helio Castroneves, and sure enough, he won handily. My lonely weekend continues.
The Senseless “War on Drugs”UpDated 5-26-09
May 22nd
Just finished reading a Time Magazine Article which speaks to this subject. While comparing the small country of Portugal with the US is a stretch of these statistics, the percentages make perfect sense when viewed as a measure of the “Human Nature” issues involved.
Today’s Story on CNN, titled ” Moonshine to Marijuana: Family gets Busted “, is just another example of ; (a) How pervasive the use of Marijuana is in America, and (b) How senseless the American laws against marijuana are, and (c), something is wrong when an 83 year-old man can be sentenced to 20 years, for helping his son and grandson sell some pot.
My views on this subject are well known to my friends and family,as well as My Brother Veterans. As a participant in Transition.gov,Recovery.gov, and numerous other US Government blogs and Websites, I have tried to make a case for decriminalization that takes into account the social, economic, and legal aspects of the whole War-on-Drugs debate.
My plan for Legalization is a bit more complex than most. I take into consideration:
1. Disarm and destroy the Drug Cartels by eliminating their profits.
2.Controlling the Growth and distribution chain for Marijuana
3. Severe penalties for providing to minors, students, and habitual criminals.
4. An employment or vocational requirement for licensed Users.
5. Uses defined for Taxes and Permit revenues from Marijuana.
6. The social benefits of freeing non-violent drug offenders.
Item number One is pretty self-explanatory, if pot is grown in the “States”, the Mexican and Columbian Cartels have no profit motive to import their product. This would also have the benefit of ending the inter-cartel competition that incites violence at home and abroad.
Item number Two is another rather unique part of my plan. Cultivation of Marijuana would only be allowed on land owned by Native Americans. Which tribes could grow pot would be limited to those tribes who do not presently own or operate casinos or other gambling enterprises. In this way, the poorer tribes and reservations would have an income stream to improve the lives of the entire group, and also have the added benefit of employment for one of our most neglected and discriminated against groups among us. With Reservation and Government land being the only legal growing areas the BLM and Interior Department would have an added income stream as well.
Item number Three : Because the effects on short-term memory is one of the few negatives ever proven about Marijuana, Use by High School students should be strictly forbidden, with severe mandatory sentences for anyone furnishing to such Students.
Item number Four : High School drop-outs would be prevented from being licensed to smoke until (a) they have been steadily employed for 4 years, or, (b) have gained a Vocational school certificate in a trade or skill. The “Hard-core” unemployed should also be restricted, as they are already a burden on society if they are able-bodied persons who refuse to work.
Item number Five : Some percentage of taxes and permit fees garnered from the licensing of growers and distribution rights, should be dedicated to the Health Care and Rehabilitation of IV Narcotics Users. Who, with the demise of the International Cartels, will be unable to obtain the drugs their habits require, and will need to be weaned-off of the drugs that control their lives.
Item number Six: Far too many College Students and young people are presently imprisoned for simple use or possession of Marijuana. Even for the less-educated among these prisoners, there is a large pool of talents being wasted in incarceration. The same skill sets of the entrepreneur and business manager are required to become a successful drug dealer. Being sharp mathematically, being shrewd about investments, and being a good manager of people are required to be a street dealer. Given the chance, these young people can become good business managers and owners, and will become taxpayers, and contribute to their community in a variety of ways.
That’s My personal solution to ending the Failed efforts of “The War Against Drugs”, which would more sensibly have been called “The War Against Human Nature”.
As someone who self-medicated their PTSD for 32 years with beer and pot, I can attest to it’s benefits for Stress Relief, Anger management, and it aid against acute Depression. Indeed, the help I have received over the last 9 years since my health collapsed, has fallen far short of what I used to get from just having some smoke around for the worst moments.
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