Month: February 2014

Is History On A Tireless Loop?

Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

From the days when I was studying international relations I was fascinated by conflict and its resolution……and that has lead me to interests in Middle East and now the Ukraine……it will be interesting to see how this situation turns out……will it be a calm transition or will the specter of civil war once again raise its ugly head?

I want to ask this question but I fear it may be a bit much, considering the sad condition that our educational system is in….but what the Hell?

What did Germany use as a pretense of invading Czechoslovakia and Poland?

(Pause here for thought or the use of the Google finger)………he invaded to protect the ethnic Germans living in the region……why do I bring this up?  just look at the map provided below…..Putin could use that excuse for an invasion, of sorts, into the Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians……also let us not forget that the Russians have a massive naval force in the Crimea and he will want to protect that port at all costs……..

Using above map…….if this situation boils down to a civil war…we will be looking at another Iraq and/or Syria.

All this depends on what Putin and Russia are willing to do……take into consideration they had NO problem invading Georgia back in the first decade of the 21st century….all on the pretense of protecting Russians……

Will this cycle repeat itself?

Another thing to consider is the US has a proposal to lighten the army to a total of 450,000 men/women under arms……this could be another thing that Putin would consider invading and US that is war weary and may not react aggressively…….

There are many variables here……but the one thing we can be sure of is that Putin and Russia have not given their final word on the situation…….and another thing to think about….could this be an Arab Spring-like movement for the area we call Eurasia?  Could this be the beginning of my “Linch Pin” prediction?

Sad part for me is that Americans will have little say until their brains, the media, starts telling them what to think and then there will be a wealth of opinions….none of which will be accurate in any way…….

Thoughts?

Ukraine–UpDate

So much has happened in the Ukraine in the past couple of days……a peace deal that did not take effect before more violence….a second peace deal that seems to quiet the opposition……the elected prez on the run……a jailed opposition leader released from prison to form a new government….and now some breaking news……

Ousted Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich is now officially a fugitive from justice, just two days after the country’s parliament voted to remove him from office. The country’s interim interior minister has issued an arrest warrant accusing the ex-leader of “mass murder of peaceful citizens” over the deaths of scores of protesters in Kiev last week, the BBC reports.

  • Yanukovich, who fled the capital over the weekend while still declaring himself the country’s legitimate leader, seems highly unlikely to turn himself in. Officials say he was last seen in the autonomous and strongly pro-Russia Crimea region, but left by car for an unknown destination.
  • The Obama administration has warned Russia against sending troops to Ukraine, which is split between a pro-Russia east and pro-European Union west, Voice of America reports. Russian intervention would be a “grave mistake,” National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned yesterday. “It is not in the interest of Ukraine or of Russia, or Europe, or the United States to see the country split. It is in nobody’s interest to see violence return and the situation escalate.”
  • The Kremlin has recalled its ambassador to Kiev and there have been pro-Yanukovich demonstrations in parts of the country, but fears of a split are easing, the New York Times finds. Yanukovich’s own party has now turned against him, issuing a statement accusing him of betraying a country that now finds itself “deceived and robbed.”
  • Parliament speaker and acting president Oleksandr Turchinov—an ally of now-freed Yanukovich archrival Yulia Tymoshenko is expected to form a unity government before tomorrow to run the country until elections in May. But whoever takes charge will face very tough challenges, including an economy in crisis, Reuters notes. To ease the transition, the EU and US have both offered financial aid.

This is yet another civil war in the making….the US might want to think of something beyond rhetoric to handle the situation as it develops……just thought.

Russia’s covert role in the Ukrainian crisis | World | DW.DE | 18.02.2014

There will be accusations on both sides of this situation……but who will win in the end?

Found this while doing some surfing today………….thought it might add to the conversation….that is if I can get one started…..full disclosure…I cannot attest to the accuracy of this article….just want to start the debate…….

Russia’s covert role in the Ukrainian crisis | World | DW.DE | 18.02.2014.

Do We Care About The Ukraine?

For over a month the Ukraine has been butt deep in revolt……the media called it a protest…..but if you would have checked the situation then you to would call it a revolt.  But the question before us is…..do we really care what happens in the Ukraine?

The best answer is…..NO!  Most Americans could care less.

The events that have been turning in Ukraine are working a a fevered pace……the government of the country broke with the EU in favor a closer relationship with Russia and all Hell broke lose…..and after a couple of weeks of violence a ceasefire (if you will) was signed and then the country went into overdrive…….

It’s a day of fast-moving developments in Ukraine: The parliament voted to oust President Viktor Yanukovich, while he fled Kiev but vowed to stay in office. Meanwhile, his main political rival has been freed from prison after two years, declaring that “a dictatorship has fallen.” It’s a jumbled mess, but one thing that’s clear is that yesterday’s concessions by the government won’t be enough to appease protesters:

  • Parliament boots Yanukovich: Lawmakers voted to remove him from office and set new elections for May 25, reports the New York Times. His spokesperson rejected the vote.
  • Yanukovich vows to stay: In a recorded TV interview, Yanukovich declared that he will not leave office, reports the BBC. The president, who has fled Kiev but whose whereabouts are unknown, denounced what’s happening in the capital as “vandalism, banditry, and a coup.”
  • Tymoshenko free: Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been freed from prison after two years, reports AP. Earlier, parliament elected one of her allies as the new speaker.
  • Protesters defiant: They seized control of the presidential headquarters in Kiev after factions rejected yesterday’s deal because it left Yanukovich in power. “We will guard the building until the next president comes,” one commander tells Reuters. “Yanukovich will never be back.”

All that was the day after an agreement was reached between the government and the opposition…….and then this……

Ukrainian opposition icon and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko arrived today at a Kiev protest camp after being released from a hospital where she was incarcerated. “You are heroes, you are the best thing in Ukraine!” she said of those killed in the violence, looking tired and speaking from a wheelchair as she addressed a euphoric crowd of thousands. The BBC reports that she didn’t favor amnesty for her political opponents, saying, “We simply cannot afford to pardon those who were allowed to send bullets into the hearts of our young men.” She promised to let the public know what is happening “back stage” in the “big theater” of politics, and said she would run for the presidency in May. But some who support regime change were less than enthusiastic, seeing her as a face from the past with her own political baggage, NBC News reports. “She was a part of the system, and that’s why maybe a fresh face and a fresh person would be a better choice than someone who was already there,” said a woman in the crowd. Meanwhile, the far-right Ukrainian opposition group Right Sector vowed to keep protesting Yanukovych’s ouster, Reuters reports. “The Right Sector will not disperse,” the group said. “Now we must be more united than before.” Click for more on what’s happening in the Ukraine.

As of yesterday, Sunday, 23Feb, the worm has turned yet again…….

The whereabouts and legitimacy of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych are still unclear today, after he left the capital and archrival Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from prison and returned to Kiev to address a massive, adoring crowd. Ukraine’s newly emboldened legislature voted today to hand the president’s powers to parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchinov, a Tymoshenko ally. Turchinov in turn informed MPs that they had until Tuesday to form a unity government, notes the BBC, telling them “this is a priority task.” Parliament also voted to remove a string of government ministers, as well as confiscate the luxury estate of Yanukovych (the New York Times takes a look inside, which includes a golf course, private zoo, and restaurant inside a pirate ship). But Yanukovych has dismissed parliament decisions in recent days as illegal. A plane with Yanukovych onboard was denied permission to take off last night from Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine that is his base of support. A spokesman said this morning that even he does not know where Yanukovych is. The Kiev protest camp at the center of the anti-Yanukovych movement filled with more and more dedicated demonstrators this morning setting up new tents after a day that saw a stunning reversal of fortune in a political standoff that has left scores dead. “We need to catch and punish those with blood on their hands,” said a 45-year-old engineer on Independence Square today.

Right on cue…..as usual…….McCain had to spout his brand of foreign policy……..lip service……….

John McCain had some stern words for Vladimir Putin today, saying that it was clear that the people of Ukraine “want to be Western” and not “Eastern,” and that the protests there ought to make the Russian strongman, an ally of Viktor Yanukovych, more than a little uneasy about his own leadership in Russia. “If I were Vladimir Putin, I would be little bit nervous.” He cautioned that splitting Ukraine along Eastern-Western ideological lines was “totally unacceptable,” reports Politico. National security adviser Susan Rice chimed right in, per the AP, warning Putin that getting involved “would be a grave mistake. It’s not in the interest of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or the United States to see the country split.”

Just like when Russia invade Georgia several years ago….McCain was quick to condemn such action saying that countries do not invade other countries in the 21st century…..he forgot about Iraq I guess…..we could write it off on old age ……….

Okay the violence is over…..well for now…..there will be a bloodbath in the near future……this situation will not go away quietly…..or peaceably…….this is far from over….the question will be…just how deep will the US or the EU care to dive into this mess?

Cannot Happen Too Soon!

AHHHHHHHHH!  The weekend and some relief from the hum-drum day to day drudge of politics….the sickening aspects of American life…….

There are a few things that we humans find disturbing….like stupidity or how we treat others or cruelty towards animals or….well we all have some things that we find more disturbing than others……for me it is anyone that wants to be a clown…..but that could be a concern that is diminishing……

Good news, coulrophobes: A “national clown shortage” may soon be upon us, the New York Daily News reports. It seems as older clowns are dying, not nearly as many younger clowns are joining the ranks to replace them—leading to a drastic decrease in membership at the country’s biggest clown organizations (yes, those exist) over the past 10 years. Even kids who are into clowns “go on to high school and college and clowning isn’t cool anymore,” explains the president of Clowns of America International. “Clowning is then put on the back burner until their late 40s and early 50s.” “American kids these days are thinking about different careers altogether,” says the president of New York Clown Alley. It probably doesn’t help that clowns usually only make $300, at most, per birthday party performance. And if they have their sights set higher, well, they’ll have a harder time than ever making it to the big leagues: The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, not yet touched by the looming clown shortage, has been making the audition process even more difficult. But at least one clown assures Gothamist there’s nothing to worry about: “There are still a lot of younger people becoming clowns, they’re just not joining the Clowns of America International. It’s more of a generational thing I think. It’s like joining the Shiners club or something like that.”

For me, I am leery of anyone that wants to hide their true identity behind some thick make-up……I immediately think of Gacy or pedophiles….so in my mind this trend cannot end soon enough……

Thoughts?

It Is Always….Location–Location–Location!

There are always visionaries especially when it comes to retailing….think about the “Pet Rock” from the 70’s or the run up to the iPod or iPhone…..all were very effective in selling a product.  But I recently read about an absolute genius in retailing…….

A business-savvy Girl Scout in San Francisco had to call for back-up cookies just 45 minutes after setting up shop in an inspired location: outside a medical marijuana clinic. In two hours on Monday, 13-year-old Danielle Lei sold 117 boxes of cookies to customers who may have been expecting to have the munchies. Her mother, who accompanied her and asked the Green Cross clinic for permission, says that’s dozens more boxes than she managed to sell outside a Safeway in an identical time period the next day. “It’s no secret that cannabis is a powerful appetite stimulant, so we knew this would be a very beneficial endeavor for the girls,” a Green Cross worker tells Mashable. “It’s all about location, and what better place to sell Girl Scout cookies than outside a medical cannabis collective?” Indeed; Danielle will reportedly be back with more cookies tomorrow. A Girl Scouts of Northern California spokeswoman says the organization has no problem with sales outside any legitimate business. In Colorado, however, where pot has been fully legalized, Girl Scouts are banned from selling cookies outside marijuana outlets or liquor stores, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

A 117 boxes in 45 minutes!………I thought I was a genius back in the day when I sold tuna sandwiches to “Dead Heads” for $5 a pop….but this young lady has my admiration……any thoughts on this young lady?

When It Rains It Pours On The GOP!

The GOP is having a wealth of problems these days……it all started about 2 years ago….there were a couple of high ups in the party that were caught doing what they accuse others of doing….voter fraud.  Then there was the Virginian (I believe) head of the state GOP that said emphatically that the voter issues in the state legislature were there to prevent some people (mostly democrats) from having a easy time to vote….and then the BIG shoe fell….Christie and his bridge debacle….and that one is still playing out…but so far it is looking more bleak for the governor.

Many 2016 GOP hopefuls are finding it difficult to keep a straight line to the primaries……the newest report that may play out similar to the Christie thingy is one of the GOPs fave governors…..Scott Walker of Wisconsin………another bright GOP star looking at 2016 as their time…….but……..

Another huge setback for a Republican governor with ambitions for 2016: Some 27,000 emails were released yesterday relating to a probe that led to the arrest and conviction of former aides to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and some of them could prove highly damaging. Some key facts, as per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post:

  • The emails link Walker, then county executive to a secret email system used by his taxpayer-funded staff to break campaign law communicating directly with his 2010 campaign for governor during business hours. “Consider youself now in the ‘inner circle,'” his administration director another county employee. “I use this private account quite a bit to communicate with SKW and Nardelli,” she wrote, referring to Walker by his initials.
  • The emails show the Walker appears to have been “aware that laptops were being used in the county executive’s office for accessing things on non-county networks,” the chief investigator says, a sign that use of the private email system was widespread.
  • Several highly racist emails were forwarded among Walker’s staff, including one recounting a “nightmare” of waking up “black, Jewish, disabled, gay with a Mexican boyfriend.”
  • Walker ordered staff to get rid of a doctor the county’s Behavioral Health Division who had worked a thong model. “Get rid of the MD asap,” Walker wrote after being told the modeling wasn’t “pornographic, but is quite suggestive.”

The Walker affair hasn’t received as much attention as Chris Christie’s traffic jam scandal, though both feature GOP governors with “national profiles and national ambitions, allegedly using their public office to boost their political standing, all the while distancing themselves from the work their staffs sullied themselves with,” writes Emma Roller at Slate, predicting the emails will haunt him through next year’s re-election fight.

Just when the media pick up on this juicy piece?

These are actual ‘scandals’…there is no need to make it into one….the misdeeds are there for all to see.  Now the question is….how will these types of things effect who becomes the bright star for 2016?

Can Obama Find A Cure For The Common Core? | ThinkProgress

Recently I did a day on American education……I am not at all comfortable with the plans, both Dem or Repub, to ‘fix’ our ailing system……the prez idea Common Core is just another plan that is setting up for failure……education is way too important for band-aid solutions……so far neither partyhas a good idea….they only propose a band-aid for a sucking chest wound…….

A great piece written for Think Progress……….

Can Obama Find A Cure For The Common Core? | ThinkProgress.

It’s A FAKE!

I realize that there are many that absolutely hate Muslims……for whatever reason, my guess is 9/11 but I could be mistaken……the other day while I was surfing some sites I ran across the story of the Syria girl that was stoned to death for using Facebook…….it was a horrible story so I Googled the subject and here is what I found…..iCNN, The Daily Mail, Breitbart, Tundra Tabloids, Examiner, India Today, Global Times, Israel Hayom, Daily Bashkar, FrontPageRag and numerous other news sites and blogs reported the story.

Syria-Girl-Stoning-for-facebook-account

I received the following from a friend that I contacted to see how accurate the story had been…..

It is ironic because the still that was used to claim that Syrian rebels were stoning a woman for having a Facebook account was originally about a supposed “true-story” recounting of the stoning of “Soraya M.” in an Iranian village in the 80s.

Iran’s government castigated the movie as false and Orientalist but apparently years later their news agency has no quibbles in pushing their own Orientalist style fear-mongering that eventually played into essentialized characterizations of Islam and Muslims.

The story appears to have originally been reported in English by Iran’s Fars News Agency, which doesn’t always have the best track record for reliability. For example, it reported last month on the “alien/extraterrestrial intelligence agenda” driving U.S. policy, which bizarrely linked President Barack Obama, Adolf Hitler and space aliens.

Fars attributed its report on the alleged Syrian stoning incident to the Arabic-language Al-Rai Al-Youm.

The story is a HOAX and too many people will believe a lie without verifying the information….and that is the tragedy…people too willing to believe a lie to feed their hate…..truly sad.

Labor For Life

In my younger more impetuous days I was a labor organizer and since then I am always reading about the movement and trying to decide where it is going in this country…….

In modern politics the word labor and unions are dirty words in conservative circles……..this institution has been blamed for all sorts of woes…it has been blamed for a wide array of situations from the high cost of cars to poor educational performance to the unwanted outcome of elections…..in short…..unions are the anti-Christ in some corners.

The perfectly executed character assassination of unions has, in my opinion, has lead to a weakening of labor’s position in the workplace which in turn has slowly fueled the demise of the middle class….

Fast forward to this week……the ‘big story’ has been the union vote in a VW plant in Tennessee on whether to unionize or not….BTW the union lost out in that vote…..they voted to NOT unionize…….

The obvious loser in last week’s failed bid to unionize the Volkswagen auto plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., was the United Auto Workers. The union was counting on a victory at the German-owned plant, which stayed officially neutral in the unionizing effort but hinted it welcomed a platform for organizing other plants in the South.

But the vote — and the forces that had arrayed themselves against the UAW — could also represent a setback for the economy and blue- and white-collar employees, a number of auto-industry and economic experts suggested.

U.S. management and labor organizations have battled each other —with both sides wasting resources in the process — ever since Frederick Winslow Taylor used his “scientific” methods a century ago to de-skill and control production workers, explained James P. Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute in Cambridge, Mass., and a co-author of “The Machine That Changed The World.” For Womack, the acrimonious fight and vote in Chattanooga was part of a historical continuum that has often hobbled U.S. industry, especially in the face of international competitors who embraced much more collaborative approaches to management.

My personal opinion was that it would not succeed in unionizing the plant….after all it is in the South and Right To Work is strong in the region…….so was the vote a big win for VW?  I thought so until I read another article shortly after the vote…….

The head of Volkswagen’s General Works Councils in Germany is threatening to block any further investment in the southern United States, Reuters reports, after workers at VW’s Chattanooga plant voted against union representation. “I can imagine fairly well that another VW factory in the United States, provided that one more should still be set up there, does not necessarily have to be assigned to the South again,’ Bernd Osterloh said. “We as workers will hardly be able to vote in favor” of one. Osterloh blames US conservatives for stirring up “massive anti-union sentiments.” He serves on a 20-member supervisory board split evenly between workers and management that could block future investments unless Chattanooga gets a German-style workers’ council. VW would still like to create a council without the United Auto Workers union, the New York Times reports, but legal experts say that might violate federal laws against company-controlled worker groups. Some anti-UAW workers have offered to set up an alternative union to get around the problem.

An interesting turn of the screw, right?  With all that info in hgand, who would you say was the big winner in this situation?

Please throwing your hat into this conversation.  I would like to have as many thoughts as possible……