Month: March 2011

No Way Out!

Nope…not a movie with Kevin Kosner….but rather a statement of reality on the war with Libya…..

When the bang-bang began, the American people were told that this was a temporary thing….that we were only helping NATO nations enforce a UN resolution…how noble…..if that is true why is the US doing most of the bombing?  We were told by just about everybody in the Obama Admin that America’s involvement would be a matter of days and NOT weeks or months……,seems I have heard that from another president….Clinton when he spoke of Serbia and Kosvo and if I am not mistaken…we still have troops there…..(In case the American memory is as short as I believe it to be)….Bosnia and Somalia started off as humanitarian efforts and look where that went……

If you believed the Prez then explain what this means…….NATO is once again refusing to take command of the ops part of this situation….mainly because of the objection from Turkey!

So, sports fans….what part of temporary is the actions by the Americans?  Unfortunately the only way to get rid of Qadafi is that someone will have to get down and dirty….who will step up to take the lead?

France?  Could be….Sarkozy needs help in an upcoming election for he is sadly behind the Nationalist candidate, LePen……..Does the UK want to lead this endeavor?  Good question and my commenter Quin could have the answer…..if he would like.  The Arab League is about as worthless as tits on a boar….they are out!  Who will be the hero of North Africa?

For humanitarian reasons?   Every act of military aggression by the United States is routinely justified as a humanitarian effort to rescue a population under duress. Such was the case in the 1993 incursion into Somalia and the Bosnia intervention and air war against Serbia later in the decade. The invasion of Afghanistan was promoted in part as a crusade to protect the Afghan people against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and the US government and media packaged the Iraq war as a mission to remove a leader who gassed and killed his own people and bring the blessings of democracy to the Iraqi masses.

Personally, I think the US is screwed!  Why?  Is this not the way all our wars have started?  We started this, we played a major role in the onset and we will be stuck in yet another Arab country……..we are SCREWED!

A Couple Of Exciting Months

And in that proclamation….is a HA HA moment!  (more like side splitting laughter….but I was trying to be polite)

The media is all a tither about the upcoming budget debate…..tell me, please…..what will be exciting?

First of all, the GOP has its point man on the talk shows talking about what dire straits the country will be in if the Dems win the budget debate….they defend their position by saying that they are disappointed in the Prez for NOT leading the debate……when they presented with the deficit commission report, that Repubs did NOT vote for…..they say well we gave our own report and no one listened……typical game……if they were serious about conversation then they would have used the report to fuel the conversation….they did NOT….instead they gave thier hatch man, Rep. Ryan and free rein to come up with their own plan with the hopes that they would get more support….they did not and now it is the Prez fault that there is NO exchange between the two sides of Congress…..

So the media thinks that the next couple of months will be exciting, eh?  I think it will be a worthless waste of time….now is the time to focus on JOBS….and many well known economist say the same thing……but instead of putting America back top work…..we will play this partisan game of he said, they said…..and the end…the deficit problem will be kicked down that proverbial road…..yet again.

So after all the haggling, the lies, the stats, the misinformation and the word games….and I mean both sides of the damn stupid aisle…..what will we have accomplished?  Pretty much the same thing that is accomplished almost every Congress…..NOTHING!

So, once again….what will be so exciting about doing NOTHING?

The American people are NOT being governed…..they are being played like a CHEAP flute…….

Tip Toe Thru The Humanitarian Minefield

For decades, the Middle East has been a minefield…this guy our guy….that guy bad man….this guy (who the Hell knows)….there has been war in the ME since they were fought sticks and stones and every age has had its humanitarian problems…..now I ask which one is a humanitarian problem?

I ask this because we are told that the US had NO choice but to act in Libya because of the degrading humanitarian situation….at least that is the official tag line……but what made Libya a humanitarian situation?  The threat of people dying with an attack on Benghazi?  If we use that explanation….why was the Sudan, where 2 million civilians have died, not a humanitarian crisis?  Or Yemen, where the government forcves are killing their residents….or Bahrain where the Sunni majority is killing Shi’a majority this time with the help of Saudi Arabia, who by the way are Sunni….why are these NOT in the crosshairs of the UN or the US?  Could it have anything to do with the oil reserves in Eastern Libya?

The ME is a minefield with young “facebookers” fighting old establishment and moderates…..or tribe against tribe…..or Sunni against Shi’a…….there is NO one size fits all in the ME…….each one is different….but one thing is a constant in the ME….despotism!

And then there is another land mine to worry about…..who do we stand behind in each of these conflicts?  We have NO idea who are the leaders, if any, of any of these developing situations……..and then there is this…..what are the chances that say AQ gets their hands on oil and the money that it generates?  Would that constitute another armed intervention?  Yet another war?

This piece of American adventurism leaves more questions unanswered than it answers……what will we do?  What will be our future in the next 5-10 years?  Will we be fighting Arabs?  Because that seems to be a war that we cannot win and hopefully that is NOT on the agenda in Washington.

On a side note:  The US will give Tunisia $20 million to help promote democracy…..think about that for a moment……maybe we should spend that $20 million in the US because it looks like our democracy is in its waning days…..JUST A THOUGHT!

Abby Kelley–Radical Woman

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  American History/Women’s History

I try to do my part to educate the people on things that they may not think about or realize…..it is March and Women’s History month…..I also try to find people that have contributed to the making of this country and have not been given the respect that they deserve……and Abby Kelley is such a person…….

Abigail (Abby) Kelley was born in 1811 into a strict Quaker family…..being a female her education was that in Quaker schools….after her education was complete, as much as any woman could hope to obtain, she taught school and her road to radical feminism….she lectured and wrote about temperance, pacifism and anti-slavery…..she became more and more progressive while involved with abolitionists, but she not only lectured about freedom for slaves but also a full civil equality…she not only opposed war but also all forms of government coercion, as well as calling for equality for slaves she lead the talk on equality for women……

Her radical abolitionist views continually garnered her recognition as well as hatred even among her male comrades…they especially distanced themselves from her when she began lecturing to “mixed gender” audiences….this promoting many to pull away for her and her endeavors…..she was ridiculed and hated by many within the movement….

In 1838, Kelley began her speaking career and over the years she was criticized over her lectures to men…..she continued to lecture and to be a  fundraiser for the cause of anti-slavery up until her death in 1887…her farm in Mass was labeled “Liberty Farm” and was a meeting place for reformers and radicals, as well as a stop on the Underground Railroad, a path for escape slaves to make it to safety and freedom…..she remained a staunch reformer and radical for equal rights for women as well as slaves until her death…

Abby Kelley was a cornerstone of radicalism in the US and she has not gotten as much respect as she deserved….for she played a major roll in the fight for equal rights…she like so many others, deserves more recognition that she has received….we Americans seem to forget that we owe radicals a large thank you for their work…for without them the country would not be the country it is today……

We Are Recovering!

Daily Agitator

Are tired of the spin yet?  Well, let us be honest and call it what it is…….LIES!

We hear daily that the economy is recovering….that the markets are up….that there are jobs being created (but at a slow rate) ……..corporate dividends are rising…….CEOs are making out like bandits……..yada…yada……but are we truly recovering?  According to many media outlets the recession has ended……but so far as I can see and I am not looking through rose colored glasses, it still sucks and many others are worse off than I…….

Let me see……8.9% unemployment with the real figure more like 19%……housing starts down to a 5 year low……home sales down…..foreclosures still rising……food prices up 6%…….gas prices rose by 4%….so what part of those figures look like a recovery is occurring?

OK, I will admit that if you can afford it and by it I mean investments, then you are in the middle of a recovery….but unfortunately, most Americans are NOT that heavily involved in the investing in stocks and bonds…..

But the American do not seem to see the recovery that the airwaves are reporting….

A new CNBC survey finds the percentage of Americans who believe the economy will get worse in the next year spiking to 37%, a 15 point gain from December. It’s now just five points below the all-time high of 43% in June 2008, which came in the midst of a surge in gasoline prices.

If you are an average middle class working family…..then you have NOT seen the recovery that those on Wall Street tell you that you are experiencing…….funny how that works……one part of society is doing fine and even maybe prospering and the other is stuck scratching out a living day to day, pay check to pay check…….

All the cheer leading for the economy is for those with cash to invest…..not you…your investments are such things as home payments, food, gas and the necessities….you have NO room for luxuries….what would you call this phenom?

It’s Not As Bad As You Think

Calm Down!  Just take a deep breath and calm down!

There is been a plethora of “experts” paraded across the tube trying to calm the sensibilities of the American people over the possible contamination from radiation pouring out of reactors in tsunami torn Japan…….CALM DOWN!

Here is a quickie for your history buffs…….about 25 years ago we had the same scenario playing out in the world……we bombed Libya and Chernobyl was heating up (no pun intended)……okay on to the main point of this post……

If you are old (like me) then you will remember all the fear that was foisted onto the American people back in the days of the Cold War…..we told that we could die from radiation and we were told how to protect ourselves from it…..like hiding under your desk…..now there was a brilliant idea……we were told that fallout….even if miles away would still infect us with all sorts of biblical afflictions….boils, loss of hair, blindness,  frogs (no that one was not in there)….anyway you get the picture….we were told that it was bad…..really BAD!

But now it is not so bad that we need to worry about any sickness……but how bad is bad?

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica:-

“The average total dose received from all three [natural] sources by a person residing at sea level is approximately 0.91 mSv per year; however, a dose twice this size [which makes 1.82 mSv per year] may be received by a person residing at a higher elevation such as Denver, Colo., where cosmic rays are more intense, or by a person residing in a geographic region where the radium content of the soil is relatively high.   In the latter type of region, the radioactive gas radon, which is formed in the decay of radium, may enter a dwelling through its floor or basement walls and accumulate in the indoor air unless the dwelling is well ventilated periodically; occupants of such a dwelling may therefore receive a dose as high as 100 mSv per year in their lungs from inhalation of the entrapped radon and its disintegration products “

Anyway, you now have an official explanation to radiation and its effects (a scientist will be more help than me….I am a political historian and what the Hell do I know about the science side of this?)

We are already finding signs of radiation in the Northwest……but not to worry…it is NOT enough to cause in serious danger…..but what if the plant in Japan goes boom?  Will we, as Americans, need to start worrying then?  Or will we be kept in the dark to add cover to an industry trying to claw its way out from under the happenings in Japan and save its future government subsidies?

So after decades of terrifying young children….we have come to….”We have nothing to fear but fear itself”  (if you recall that was a statement about Japan….go figure)

Only Good War Is My War!

Ready….Set….Bomb!

While the people were screaming their heads off and eating nachos and guzzling beer……routing for their fav B/Ball team…the world went to WAR!  Yet again!

Yes, Irene the US has once again attacked an Arab country…this time with the help of the UN….and this time to protect civilians from the conflict raging around them between Qadafi and rebels…….to prevent innocent civilians from being caught up in the fledgling civil war……..

And of course, the GOP and its members in Congress who have been harping for a couple of weeks for the President to get more involved and stop dragging his feet….have this to say about the newest military action…..

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Sunday pressured President Obama to better explain the U.S.’s objectives in Libya before proceeding with further military actions.

Boehner did not specifically call for a declaration of war, or a speech before a joint session of Congress, but he did call on the president to articulate the goals of the mission.

Boehner and other Congressional leaders were briefed on Friday by Obama before the president announced that he had authorized the military to participate in allied actions in Libya.

My best reaction to this statement is….HA….HA….HA…..like I said to the GOP the only good war is their war…….and then we have the rattling buffoons like McCain and Graham who are acting like tired old men that do not want to bitch about the presidential action while bitching about the presidential action….typical BS from typical BS masters!

Please do not take my post as anything but what it is intended to be…….I am personally anti-war….I fought in one of the US great war….and I believe that we should keep our noses out of others conflicts….but I will agree with the Speakers intention…..tell the American people just what it is that the US will be doing and how long will we be doing it……..

I do not think that the GOP needs to have this righteous indignation about this war……theirs have cost Americans much more than this one will (at least that is my hope)………..

We Americans are getting pretty fed up with all this political one-up-manship played by both sides of the aisle….war time is NOT the proper time to play games….tell the American people what to expect….and tell the truth this time….try not to fall into the tag line of “tell us what we want to hear”….TELL US THE TRUTH!

One last question……what about the other humanitarian problems in say Bahrain or Yemen….why are these just NOT that important?  I mean places like Yemen are killing protesters daily….but yet the priority was Libya…..why?  Or could it be a misdirection on the happenings elsewhere in the Middle East?  Or could it be that “friends” do not commit humanitarian atrocities?

Just wondering!

Republicanism

College of Political knowledge

Subject: Political Theory/ American History

First of all…that is republicanism (with a small “r”) not to be confused with Republicanism or in the US conservative thinking….is it truly all that?  Is it the best way to govern?  Is it the best for the US?  Did the Founders actually give the system of governance much thought?   Or was it the easiest way to preserve their landholdings and in doing so, guaranteed their personal independence and autonomy?

I have to look at the term through an American filter and in doing so may not totally agree with the observations of Kant or Rousseau…….

A generic definition is that it is ” form of government that is not a monarchy”….anything but……in the beginning republicanism was founded on the premise that political right and personal virtue flowed from the ownership of land…….that an unencumbered title was the primary basis of all social order and individual freedom, but if that title was ever lost then one’s personal identity and and political liberties would also be lost……

Although conceptually separate from democracy, republicanism included the key principles of rule by the consent of the governed and sovereignty of the people. In effect republicanism meant that the kings and aristocracies were not the real rulers, but rather the people as a whole were.   Exactly how the people were to rule was an issue of democracy – republicanism itself did not specify how. In the United States, the solution was the creation of political parties that were popularly based on the votes of the people, and which controlled the government. Many exponents of republicanism, such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson were strong promoters of representative democracy.  However, other supporters of republicanism, such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, were more distrustful of majority rule and sought a government with more power for elites.

No matter how one slices the history of the Revolution, it’s outcome was that the government would necessarily extend influence over the lives of the people by what we could call “the public authority”…………so from the very beginning American republicanism was that the landed gentry would control all governing machinery…….and NO matter how one tries to deny it…..The US has always been governed by the landed gentry, if you will…….NOTHING has changed in 235 years……and there seems little hope of much change in the next 235 years…….without some sort of intervention(?)…….

What Has Happened To Men?

It is the week-end and I feel I need to cleanse my soul from the week of politics….I just feel dirty!

And now…for something completely different!

From time to time there are things that just make me think that civilization is in dire straits….things that are seemingly unexplainable….recently I saw a thing on the tube that made me think that men, as a whole, are in trouble….deep trouble……when did men stop being men?

In the early days, the 70’s and 80’s, men started wearing loud smelling cologne and then it was hair gel and spray….and just when I thought men had finished with the woosie stuff and new list was about to happen…..and then……

First, men started shaving or otherwise removing hair from their bodies…..I understand a porn star wanting some goodies more visible but most men?  What purpose does that accomplished?

Second, men started using facial scrubs, hand lotions and such….when did that become a norm?

And now……there is a vitamin for men that are “gummies”…..you know….gummies?  That childish little candy that is similar to chewy jelly…..is swallowing a pill that difficult for men?

When and why did men become so feminine?  Or put it another way….when did they become such p*ssies?

It is NO longer manly to have hair on your chest or wash their hands with lava soap or for that matter swallow a damn pill……when did men become such woosies?  And why?

God!  We are a shallow people!

Do You Irritate Your Dog?

I admit it I am a dog lover….I have two dogs that I rescued after Hurricane Katrina, little man and baby girl, and after I was hurt in a construction accident they played a major roll in my recovery….so yes I am a dog lover!

It is the weekend and as usual I have found something other to post than the political tomfoolery or economic games….it always feels pretty good to find something that everyone can relate to…..for politics and economics are not those subjects…….

I know your dog may do things to irritate you like barking or peeing on the floor or well you probably have your own list…..but do you realize that you could be irritating your dog as well?

I found this on a site called Paw Nation and just had to pass it along to my readers……

Misunderstanding His Bark: Dogs use barks to communicate alarm, excitement and boredom — and owners annoy dogs by ignoring these important warnings.

– Shouting “Shut up!” can increase barks if your dog thinks you’re joining the barkathon.
– Ignoring some barks — squirrel alert! — could encourage a dog to stay quiet when a burglar drops by.
– Lonely dogs relieve boredom by talking to themselves with barks or howls.Being Inconsistent With Potty Training: Accidents in the house are common owner complaints, but dogs don’t think we play fair. Yelling at your dog to stop midpee or punishing the dog minutes or hours after she’s done the dirty deed is confusing. She knows you’re unhappy but won’t know what to do instead. Particularly confusing is if you do something crazy like rubbing your dog’s nose in her mistake.
Anger over potty problems teaches your dog to hide deposits better and avoid “going” in front of you, which makes it even harder to explain proper potty manners. Instead, take your dog to the right spot after meals, naps or playtime, and reward her production so she understands that pooping outside on the street is what you want.

Incarcerating Him Outside: Though dogs enjoy spending time outside, they want to be part of the family. Leaving Fido alone too much hurts his feelings, so he’ll dig, climb or jump fences to find company. You may think tethering or chaining is a solution, but such tactics can increase aggression — tethered dogs can’t get away from scary or threatening situations and use their teeth instead. If you think your dog is feeling too fenced in, boost the time you spend with him and work to make him feel like part of the family.

Forcing a Car Ride: Dogs either love cars or hate them, based on what happens during or after the ride. Work to associate the car with fun, positive experiences rather than just trips to the vet. Go for rides to the dog park or stop at the drive-through for a tasty treat.

Leaving Him Behind: Separation anxiety affects some dogs so much that they throw fits if left alone. Dogs will destroy objects or even injure themselves trying to soothe their angst or escape to follow you. One way to handle this is by helping them get accustomed to your coming and going. Stage situations where you leave and quickly come back over and over again to dilute the power of your absence. Puzzle toys also keep the dog’s mind (and teeth) occupied during the critical first 20 minutes or so after you’ve left.

Making Him Go Out in Bad Weather: Sure, some breeds adore romping in snow, but those same dogs may hate going out in the rain. Whatever the case, each dog, regardless of breed, will have its own preferences about going out in bad weather. But you can diminish the discomfort. Invest in a raincoat or jacket for your dog to protect him from the elements. Consider creating an indoor-potty zone for tiny dogs who get chilled easily outside.

Sleeping Late: Dogs can’t imagine why owners sleep late on weekends when the best sniffing and walking time is the break of dawn. Cold-nose pokes and raising a ruckus points out empty bowls and full bladders. Dogs believe their job description includes keeping owners on the proper schedule. Understand that and try to stick to a regular timetable.

There you have the list of things that irritate your dog…are you guilty?  I have done my part to make you a better pet person……you are welcome!