Day: January 26, 2010

Russia Warns The World

There are a few international situations that do not get the press it deserves and when it explodes into a full blown incident people ask how could that be….we knew nothing of the situation…..well I try to bring you a few situations that I see as a problem waiting to happen….

Russia on Friday joined China in calling for more diplomacy on Iran, warning against imposing fresh sanctions against the country’s nuclear energy section for delays over a fuel exchange deal.

He called on Tehran to work constructively to alleviate concerns over its nuclear activities but cautioned that any punitive actions against Iran will be counterproductive.

Under a UN-brokered proposal discussed in mid-October, the US, France and Russia asked Iran to send most of its domestically-produced low enriched uranium abroad to be converted into more refined fuel for the Tehran research reactor that produces medical isotopes.
The foreign minister of Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), said that his country wanted “to see constructive actions from Iran.”

Sanctions will be a breaking point for Russia…..they have told the world not to do it…..but what will be their response if their warning is not heeded?

And then there is China who does not want sanctions either……would China use the ownership of American debt against them?

Just a few things to think over while drinking coffee or just plain chillin’…….

Yet Another Delusional Attempt

There has been a wealth of opinions, including myself, on how to end the conflict in Afghanistan and bring the troops home…..some have been hideous and others just plain stupid….but as always there are those that think it can be done by throwing money at it……

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday unveiled a long-term, non-military strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan that calls for sending more civilian experts to the region.More than a month after the Obama administration announced a military surge for Afghanistan, the new civilian strategy outlines plans to rebuild the Afghan farm sector, improve governance, and reintegrate extremists into society.

It also calls for boosting Pakistan’s capabilities to fight a growing Islamist insurgency and to enhance the US partnership with Islamabad partly through supporting political and economic reforms.

They want to improve governance and farming…okay, let us look at those two specifically…… Opium production accounts for $2.8 billion of Afghanistan’s GDP that is about 25% of the total economy and $2.5 billion is spent on bribes to keep the wheels of government turning, which is about 23% of GDP….there you have it about 50% of the country’s economy is from illegal activity….now I ask how will we improve on that?

Wait!  I am not finished yet!  There is more…Karzai has a new plan to counter the Taliban…..

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Friday he plans to offer money and jobs to insurgents to draw them back to civilian life and away from their Taliban masters.Karzai told the BBC the major powers, including the United States, would fund the scheme to tempt Taliban fighters to lay their weapons aside and head home to their communities.

Hardline Taliban supporters, who were members of Al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups, would not be accepted, the president stressed.

The Taliban gives its volunteers higher salaries than the Afghan government can afford to pay its forces, and the president said his project would have international backing to provide the necessary funds.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Friday described the Taliban as part of the “political fabric” of Afghanistan, but said any future role would depend on insurgents laying down their weapons. Related article: Taliban part of ‘political fabric’ in Afghanistan.

The US will fund the project?  Is it just me or does all this sunshine and puppies sound a bit whimsical?  BTW, this has all been tried before and it did not work so well in Vietnam….what is that old saying?  “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome……”

The South Does It Again

Over the years I have pointed out numerous times that some person in the South has made a complete ass of themselves by saying something that is totally inappropriate….and the beat goes on…this time it was the Lt. Governor of South Carolina….apparently the state is full of morons….we have the governor who was hiking the Appalachian Trail (wink, wink) to the idiot that yelled ‘you lie’ at the president and now yet another yo-yo that needs to have his tongue ripped out…..

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has compared giving people government assistance to “feeding stray animals.”Bauer, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, made his remarks during a town hall meeting in Fountain Inn that included state lawmakers and about 115 residents.

“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better,” Bauer said.

I think that there will be those who will agree with this statement….you know those people who think that poverty is caused by laziness and not the government or possible that dislike the poor because they are poor……

It is interesting comment considering that there is high percentage of the people of South Carolina that live below the poverty level…..and many of those are African American…so were his comments slightly veiled racism or what?  He sounds like a typical Southern Republican to me…..I live there and many of them feel this way about the poor….