Friday, December 4, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
“Specialness” for Kim
In life come challenges that just seem almost too hard to comprehend. They are problems that many look to study in order to solve. Others choose to labor over them just to make them make sense. Both, only to find that life itself often boils down to very complex exponentials that is practically unsolvable and force you to redefine life itself. What happens when in your new definition of life you learn that you have been dealt an unfair hand? You have been presented with challenges that are seemingly overwhelming. You wake in the middle of the night wondering why your life is so suddenly unfair while the lives of so many others seem so suddenly easy. The friends who once leaned on you for support in their life's problems now seem to have been complaining for nothing. The trials and tribulations in their lives are now petty. The hand you have been dealt is just that challenging. For some the redefining of life is the redefinition of self. The challenge in the problem is answered by the defining aspects of their character. They develop an altruism that is indescribable. They have a sense of self that is the epitome of patience and discipline and they are able to balance the things in life that no one wants to deal with. When our children are born we check to see if they have ten fingers and ten toes while they let out their first cry that will in weeks of time will be the source of sleepless nights. The first hurdle is cleared before some stumble over a hidden hurdle in the journey of parenthood. It can be years later that parents learn their children have challenges that set them apart from the walk of life as it was once known. This ruthless card dealt from deep within life's deck of cards is what brings them to their best. They adapt to this challenge and remain true and strong unto themselves while they commit a new level of dedication. This defining moment in life does not define them or who they are; it serves to strengthen their resolute position that life and what it holds will not defeat them. They have a unique perspective on life because they live and understand life differently. What most take for granted is a great luxury in life. Their word is a sacred pact with whomever it is shared. From them is much to be learned. Commitment to a given cause. A word given with intent of always keeping it. An altruistic sense of life. Imagine if we all carried these traits as defining characteristics of our own being. Our world would be a better world. Some understand that their world is only as good as the world is for others. The parent of some one of "specialness" has defined this understanding and refined the world of another to make their world a better world, which makes the world for us all just a bit richer with a touch more hope. Thank them. They more than deserve it! For some life is no longer taken for granted. It is a precious gift that is made sweet through persistence of character and the unconditional acceptance of challenge. Every day they face what many deny exists and do it with a sense of dignity and humility that most of do not even realize we need to be successful in life. Many have put the personal aspects of their lives on hold to become a better provider, protector and parent; while other parents spend their evenings in clubs and bars having not grown into parenthood (or adulthood for that matter). The fundamentals are perfected and built upon. The very principles of parenthood that masses of today seem to missing, they have mastered. Instead of heeding their actions, we look past them because we so desperately hope that what they have to deal with, we do not. The whole time we do this, we lose out on the keys of making our own world a better place. There is perfection found in imperfection; you just have to look and appreciate what you see.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Fingering the other
I cannot help but get drawn into politics. Largely because none of it really makes sense. It is not the lies or positions of politicians; it's the public opinion and acceptance of such lies and positions. One thing that I do understand is how emotionally driven people are; to the point of being self destructive in many cases. From a political perspective this becomes very evident, but it still confuses me. (I think because emotion often lacks logic and reason.) Going into the elections I repeatedly asked people that I knew were voting for Obama; why they were voting for him. I simply would not get a response. Pages (here) adorned with support for Obama of people who would not (or perhaps could not) say why they supported him. For someone like me, something could not be more confusing. A person with a rainbow bumper sticker is more than willing to not only announce that they are gay, but they will freely tell you why they are. A person with a pro-life bumper sticker will talk your ear off about why they stand against abortion. What would make so openly supporting a presidential candidate any different? The lack of ability to respond to such an easy question had lead me to believe they simply had no reason other than his popularity itself. If you were grading Barack Obama on his performance as president, what would he get? * 1986850 responses He gets an A 29% He gets a C 5.5% He gets an F 44% Remember, this is from a currently open survey. The first time I looked at it just over 1.2 million had responded at which time he was at 32% for an A and 42% for a F. As it approaches the 2 million mark the gap is spreading. Few are willing to openly admit that have had the wool pulled over their eyes, but in terms of anonymity they are coming forth in not so insignificant numbers. This same trend is also found in the blogs. As the election drew near pro-Obama blogs were always among the top blogs. After the inauguration his weekly address blogs were among the top blogs. They are now nowhere close to the top blogs, his support has already begun to wane. Pride prevents people from admitting this, but the signs are everywhere you look. In the blogs also lies a huge problem! Anti-Obama blogs are very negative, derogatory and demeaning to not only those that support(ed) Obama, but liberals in general. These blogs are written by very smart people who have very good ideas, their points are not heard because of the tone in which their points are being made. (You cannot call someone stupid or a moron and then expect them to be receptive to what you have to say - especially after they have come to realize that things are not going to turn out as they hoped.) Above and beyond the rhetoric lies some truths no one wants to deal with. We; as Americans are in very deep water. In fact, we are drowning; we have elected an administration that is shoving our heads under water while we try to gasp for air. All economic issues start where the dollar stopped being a dollar. Today less than two percent of Americans own the cars they drive and less than one percent owns the homes they live in. We as a culture have borrowed our way into oblivion and lack to the equity to light our course back to reality. There was a time when a dollar was a dollar and that dollar was backed by not a signature and credit score but by tangible bullion. 
This concerned me because so much was at risk because people wanted to support the man cited by the media as being a winner vice actually standing behind his positions and policies. People were so entranced by the Obama fever that it seemed to me as if they lost all ability of independent thought.
His policies pointed to one direction and one direction only. Socialism; and with socialism comes big government. I would ask a person that intended to vote for Obama how they felt about these issues. In most cases they either felt it would not happen or did not think things through to that degree. Having to make things logical, I concluded that it was not Obama himself as much as it was what he represented; Change.
The problem with wanting change is having to know what you want changed. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; usually that is due to the added horse manure in that greener pasture. Some saw this coming and worked feverishly against it. Some bought the two year song and dance of a campaign and are now confused about which direction we are going.
Every once and while a person pops up whom I have asked about why they were voting for the way they were. Since he won the election, I figured it would be safe to again ask. No response. My Candidate; Myself spoke not only to the emotion behind such selections but the feeling of being wrong - and of course having to admit to being wrong. Through all of these months some people have come forward and said that they now feel like they have been fooled.
One person I talked to a few weeks ago literally had to hide under her desk to speak her true feelings about Obama because her office was still caught up in Obama fever. That trend seems to be gaining more and more momentum. In an online survey (which is still open) on msn.com a more accurate picture is being painted. Not one of popularity but one of performance.
He gets a B 6.2%
He gets a D 15%
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29493093/
It is us, not the president, not a political party or another country buying our debt; it ia us that has to stop borrowing and start owning our way out of this. Your life and my life are not about keeping up with the Jones'; our lives are collectively about becoming and remaining solvent in our own individual right - responisbly. We blame a lot of these problems on the government, on banks and on the greed of others. The fact of the matter is simple. It is our own individual greed and desires to have more than we could afford than it is any individual or organization that lent us the enabling credit to self destruct. A smaller home and a smaller car do little for self image but do wonders for self development and betterment. Look at it this way. A family (hell, everybody) should have a minimum of six months of living expenses in savings. We do not because our living expenses too often inhibit our ability to save. (We are living beyond our means). When something goes wrong we find ourselves immediately stuck because living paycheck to paycheck only works when you have a paycheck. Like it or not, we are in this together; liberal and conservative alike. The trend is indicating that we are rapidly approaching an all out revolt against the administration. States in large numbers are claiming sovereignty, once supports of the administration are now protesting against it and everyone is pointing a finger at all things other than their own ways of life and the excessive nature thereof. If you cannot afford a Porsche, drive a VW (they are now owned by Porsche so you still actually get one.) If you can't afford Fruit Loops buy some Kroger Sugar Frosted O's (kids say they taste the same anyway.) Until we go back to living within our own individual means; we are doomed. Imagine how effected we would all be today if we all did. There would be no recession and we could afford as a country to do the things countries need to do in order to survive in the world. Our country could support us as we do it; we first must be able to support ourselves. Sitting back and waiting for the government to find better ways to absolve ourselves of our personal responsibilities is no longer going to work. As a culture we live in the red. Spending for most households has curtailed to such a degree that we have killed off our own businesses. Increasing spending and furthering the debt of the country will have the same economic results. The country will spend itself into a freeze. It will become so entwined in debt and foreign countries will have so much interest in our treasuries the entire nation will be in the same "foreclosure" situation because it has so egregiously spent outside of its means. 
We can understand with relative ease how this is bad for a household but quickly fall into denial when it comes to a country. The same economic principles apply. No equity, in time means no return! When the dollar had value, so did our nation. Moving away from lifestyles which we could actually afford has left us in dire straits. The same thing will happen to the nation for the same reasons. (If you don't have it; don't spend it.)
In the end, a bad situation has turned worse and every passing day it worsens. The time to stop this is now and stopping it starts with individual solvency. Once we (unitedly) begin to regain equity, the country and its programs will follow. It is simply too late for the country to do it for us. If you think you can sit back and wait for the government to provide for your wants you should probably start going to the gym and work out your triceps because your hand is going to extending for a very long time.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
F#%k The Police! (while they remain strong and loyal to us!)
Too often there are articles concerning the conduct of police officers in the news. As of late, in Dallas; yet another story of a police officer using less than perfect judgment. We can speculate on racism, we speculate on corruptness; but what really happened in Dallas that day? Defied power, authority and control is what happened.
“I have my lights and sirens and they are not stopping! They know to stop! Unless they have something to hide.”
“I have my lights and sirens and they are not stopping! They know to stop! Unless they have something to hide.”
And let’s face it he was right, in part. Or unless there is something more urgent in their lives than him with his lights and sirens. To us that assumption makes complete sense, but to a police officer that is not a conclusion they are apt to jump to. Something more urgent than a police officer in pursuit? Yeah, a dying mother I think constitutes being more important.
“I see him; he will just have to wait until we get to the hospital.” Defied power, authority and control. Three elements that make police officers successful all rebuked in a display defiance due to a sense of greater urgency. Once on the scene police officer sought to gain power, authority and control.
What makes this incident stand out is this time the defiance was not a lie. Police officers get lied to all day everyday and this time the police officer was faced with the truth. People hide drugs in diapers being babies and make up the most outlandish stories to get out of the least of infractions. Could this have been handled any differently? Absolutely. He could have escorted the family inside, verified the story and called it fair and square. He would have drawn accolades for his understanding and cooperative nature. He instead took it personally. I don’t think this police officer is a racist, I simply think he felt the need to reestablish his power and authority – at a very bad time.
Things like this make us forget what police officers actually do on a daily basis. They make us forget the risks that they take t preserve the rights of citizen they have never met, don’t know and in some cases will never know; even after putting their lives on the line to do so.
Trooper Mike Haynes succumbed to injuries sustained five days earlier when a car being operated by an intoxicated driver struck his patrol car head-on on US 93 near Kalispell.
The drunk driver was driving the wrong way on the highway when the collision occurred at approximately 2:40 am. The intoxicated driver was also killed in the collision.
Trooper Haynes had served with the Montana Highway Patrol for 2 1/2 years. He is survived by his wife, two young children, and parents.
Officer John Hege and Sergeant Mark Dunakin were shot and killed during a traffic stop at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. During the stop, the driver opened fire, killing Sergeant Dunakin and mortally wounding Officer Hege. Citizens who witnessed the incident called 911 and started CPR on both officers.
The suspect fled on foot, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of officers from the Oakland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.
At approximately 3:30 pm, the Oakland Police Department received an anonymous tip that the suspect was barricaded inside an apartment building on 74th Avenue.
Officers first attempted to negotiate with the suspect, but when that failed a SWAT team was sent into the location to apprehend him. As the SWAT officers approached, the suspect opened fired with a rifle, killing Sergeant Ervin Romans and Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and wounding a third officer. Officers returned fire, killing the 26-year-old male suspect.
It was later determined that the suspect had an extensive violent criminal history and was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. At the time of the incident he had a no-bail parole warrant.
Sergeant Daniel Sakai and Sergeant Ervin Romans, SWAT team members, were killed when they attempted to apprehend a suspect that had earlier in the day shot and killed Sergeant Mark Dunakin and mortally wounded Officer John Hege during a traffic stop.
At approximately 1:15 pm, Sergeant Dunakin and Officer Hege, patrolling on motorcycle, pulled over a car on a traffic stop at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. During the stop, the driver opened fire, killing the officers. Citizens who witnessed the incident called 911 and started CPR on both officers.
The suspect fled on foot, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of officers from the Oakland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.
At approximately 3:30 pm, the Oakland Police Department received an anonymous tip that the suspect was barricaded inside an apartment building on 74th Avenue.
Officers first attempted to negotiate with the suspect, but when that failed a SWAT team was sent into the location to apprehend him. As the SWAT officers approached, the suspect opened fired with a rifle, killing Sergeants Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai and wounding a third officer. Officers returned fire, killing the 26-year-old male suspect.
It was later determined that the suspect had an extensive violent criminal history and was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. At the time of the incident he had a no-bail parole warrant.
Sergeant Sakai had served with the Oakland Police Department for nine years.
Sergeant Ervin Romans and Sergeant Daniel Sakai, SWAT team members, were killed when they attempted to apprehend a suspect that had earlier in the day shot and killed Sergeant Mark Dunakin and mortally wounded Officer John Hege during a traffic stop.
At approximately 1:15 pm, Sergeant Dunakin and Officer Hege, patrolling on motorcycle, pulled over a car on a traffic stop at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. During the stop, the driver opened fire, killing the officers. Citizens who witnessed the incident called 911 and started CPR on both officers.
The suspect fled on foot, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of officers from the Oakland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.
At approximately 3:30 pm, the Oakland Police Department received an anonymous tip that the suspect was barricaded inside an apartment building on 74th Avenue.
Officers first attempted to negotiate with the suspect, but when that failed a SWAT team was sent into the location to apprehend him. As the SWAT officers approached, the suspect opened fired with a rifle, killing Sergeants Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai and wounding a third officer. Officers returned fire, killing the 26-year-old male suspect.
It was later determined that the suspect had an extensive violent criminal history and was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. At the time of the incident he had a no-bail parole warrant.
Sergeant Romans had served with the Oakland Police Department for 13 years and had previously served with the United States Marine Corps.
Sergeant Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege were shot and killed during a traffic stop at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. During the stop, the driver opened fire, killing Sergeant Dunakin and mortally wounding Officer Hege. Citizens who witnessed the incident called 911 and started CPR on both officers.
The suspect fled on foot, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of officers from the Oakland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.
At approximately 3:30 pm, the Oakland Police Department received an anonymous tip that the suspect was barricaded inside an apartment building on 74th Avenue.
Officers first attempted to negotiate with the suspect, but when that failed a SWAT team was sent into the location to apprehend him. As the SWAT officers approached, the suspect opened fired with a rifle, killing Sergeant Ervin Romans and Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and wounding a third officer. Officers returned fire, killing the 26-year-old male suspect.
It was later determined that the suspect had an extensive violent criminal history and was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. At the time of the incident he had a no-bail parole warrant.
Sergeant Dunakin had served with the Oakland Police Department for 17 years and is survived by his wife and three children.
Corrections Officer Mark Parker succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained on January 10, 1984, in the Orange County Courthouse.A suspect had gone to the courthouse with the intention of shooting a police officer who had given him a traffic ticket. The suspect entered a courtroom and exchanged gunfire with Deputy Harry Dalton, mortally wounding him. He then shot and killed Deputy Arnold Wilkerson in the courtroom and shot at the judge, but missed.
After exiting the courtroom he exchanged shots with another deputy in hallway. Officer Parker, who was unarmed, was caught in the crossfire while attempting to shield citizens in the hallway. He was left paralyzed from the chest down and required round-the-clock care for the remainder of his life.
The suspect was convicted of murder and executed in June of 2000. Officer Parker attended the execution.
Officer Parker had served with the Orange County Department of Corrections for only one year, and was 19 years old at the time of the shooting. He was later made an honorary deputy.
It has been a long week for police officers. Many of these names, faces and incidents are not familiar to most. A fallen police officer tends to be local news with emphasis not on the police officer and the things they were doing to protect and serve, but on all of the things wrong with the person that turned fine and courageous men and women into mere statistics aired locally. There is a problem when this face is more popular!
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An offer’s whose mistaken actions outweigh and is more popular than those that have paid the ultimate price acting on the front lines of protecting civil liberties.
Currently there are more than 800,000 men and women in blue. We see “Protect and Serve” but perhaps do not really understand what lies underneath. The moment that your inalienable rights are so much as suggested as being infringed; these men and women are there. When your safety “could” be jeopardized; these men and women are there. A lapse in focus on a busy day; these men and women are there trying to get your keys out of your car for you. Helping you change a flat tire on a busy highway while they direct you stand off to side safe putting their lives on the line to help you just get home from work. And in thanks we glorify the less than perfect.
They put their personal feelings aside to uphold the constitution for all. For a while they were all heroes following the terrorist attacks on September 11th and honored around the nation for their heroic actions.
But as time pushes on, our memories fail and our perverse desire for the undesirable forces our memories to ebb the good to find reason, justification and rationalization usher in the bad. This is not fair representation of what these men and women do for us. We repeatedly snub our noses at them while they unyielding go forth with a sense of duty that most Americans have no way of understanding.
What if; one day they got fed up and said F#&k You back! What if; one day they decided that enough is enough and our pretentious attitudes towards them would no longer be tolerated? What if; one day the just walked off the job and told us to fend for ourselves? Given the way we treat them, we have every right to do so! They won’t of course because their loyalty to us far exceeds our loyalty to them!
If you haven't forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others?
Dolores Huerta
Perhaps our inability to forgive them in these current times is a greater reflection of ourselves!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The US is planning to boycott the UN conference on racism.
Many are assuming the US boycott is about what the US has to hide as far as racism within our country. Several things come to mind on this. I really do not think that this is so much an issue of our nation being perceived as racist by other nations, but more of our nation's support of Israel. The cited reason for the boycott is unflattering verbiage that stands to (further) darken Israel's reputation in its handling of Palestine and Muslims in general. Agree or disagree with the war, truce, war, cease fire, war relationship between the Muslims and Israel, the bottom line is that Israel refuses to ebb to the Arabs. One first has to understand the history of the conflict and our unyielding support of Israel in their efforts to both claim and keep a homeland (Zionism). Jews started entering what is now Israel in the 1920's and 1930's and given statehood by a fledgling UN in the 1950's. The Arabs (Muslims) were strongly opposed to this and fought their immigration both politically and violently. Problem was the Jews kept kicking their asses every time they were attacked. The Jews were given half the land by the UN and were again attacked. The results were the same and Israel pushed the fight deeper and deeper into Palestine and forced the Palestinian Arabs into the final quarter of the territory which made over 700,000 Arabs refugees who sought shelter in tent cities in Syria. The UN offered to take these refugees in but they insisted in remaining refugees while they waited for the Muslims to again reclaim their land from the Jews. Under political pressure from Arab states and the UN, Israel withdrew – not from being forced out. Their withdrawal was viewed as an Arab and Muslim victory and not a political concession. The "victory" fueled the motivation of Muslims to fight and they have relentlessly attacked the Jews in forms of war and terrorism since. For Jews in this Muslim "holy land" there is no peace in life and there is no peace of mind. It is either fight or be again run out of a homeland. So, they fight and we (America) support their fight. One way of looking at this is from the Islamic perspective. Jews (a much hated infidel) is not only living on their holy land, but Israel has persecuted and oppressed its people! This religion is notorious for its hatred of infidels to begin with, when you add the fact that they keep getting defeated by said infidels it serves only to add insult to injury to a very proud people. Our support of Israel is largely why we (America) fall under attack by Muslims and Muslim Extremists – and of course, we too are infidels in their eyes. In reading the current definitions of infidels in Islamic propaganda you repeatedly find Christians, Jews and Atheists /Pagans; which has replaced Polytheists. (To us, Atheists and Pagans are two completely different things but to them they are one in the same). Semantics aside, Islam revolts against all that which is not of its own religion. It is a religion that is both written and designed to conquer all religions that are not Islam. The Koran is a "timeless" write that directly reads to oppress, tax, and fight to the finish against any person or religion that refuses to accept it (Islam) as world order. That is of particular importance at this time because the new administration is under the impression that this is an enemy in which we can simply disengage and walk away from. We look to draw down the troops in Iraq, we look to politically speak directly to a government that does not separate church and state (not to say that we do) with a "we are not your foe" statement as if these acts will allow us to fly under the radar against an enemy that stands against us by its very design. Our withdrawal, just as Israel's withdrawal will be viewed as a victory and new violence will be garnished as it reward. (Mark my words on that)! In our defense of Israel and our boycott of this conference; "…unless the final document is changed to drop all references to Israel and the defamation of religion". The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through that eight-day meeting over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism — the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state — to racism. The anti Zionist movement is purely Muslim and in their eyes are grounds for religious genocide. Canada (by the way) is also looking to boycott the conference. The irony here is that the conference is named Durban II. The initial conference (Durban) in 2001 was dominated by clashes over the Middle East and slavery. Here we have a conference that is enabling religious oppression by Islam at the expense of the only Jewish State in existence in the name of racism directed against the Jew that eight short years ago stood against the Middle East. (The word hypocrisy should slamming into your temples right about now). Should the conference let out and globally speak against Israel, the country and religion will be set back more than 50 years of evolutionary development. The consequence of such actions could lead to the fall of Judaism given that more than 48% of its followers live in Israel. This is exactly how Zoroastrianism fell to Islam (less the political involvement of global sympathizers). This is what Islam does; it eradicates competing world religions and forces violence through intolerance. (This is not to be taken as a slight to Muslims. It is simply stating the design and nature of this religion). Jihad's Future speaks to this outside of the conference. Boycotting is the new administration's way of not supporting the UN's stance against Israel. In not supporting it, our current administration assumes a very passive and cowardly role. We wish to not further agitate the Muslims by speaking in support of Israel and therefore against them. We will be dragged into this regardless. Shortly following the conference (should it go forth on the current agenda) Muslims will have found both political and global validation in their agenda of intolerance and aggressively move forward against Zionism. We will either assist Israel militarily or we will (in our life time) watch the fall of a world religion. You may note that the founding Monotheistic religion is Zoroastrianism. It was born in the Middle East but is now considered an Indian religion because Islam forced the few remaining followers out of the Middle East after killing the rest. Zoroastrianism now comprises .07% of encompassed world religions; the FOUNDING monotheistic religion was written of the books as a Middle Eastern religion and eradicated by a religion it gave birth to. This religion did not lose followers to more progressive religions; its followers were slaughtered, enslaved and driven out by Islam. Judaism is next. As much as our boycott seems that it is about what we have to hide as a nation, it's not. It's about Israel, it's about religion and it's about the US becoming passive and cowardly under the new administration. Only by standing firm can we gain respect and stop such acts. In effect, our passivity is ignorantly enabling the Muslim movement of dominance. One then has to question what happens next. Understanding Islam, I think it obvious. They will seek new territory and continue efforts in Africa to push Christianity out. It will look to deepen its grip in Europe and gain further economic strength. Then its aggression will intensify here in the US. If this sounds in the least bit farfetched take a quick look at the progression of Islam. Study the Koran. Learn about Jihad. Notice how in the religion of Islam "love" is used. Identify how martyrdom is rewarded. And then ask how can there ever be peace with a religion such as Islam gaining such political strength through its corrosion and corruption of the UN. There are simply no nice answers to be found. I am not anti Muslim. I am however anti oppression. The Jews are lifelong victims of oppression by Muslims. A great deal of the genocide carried out against the Jews by the Germans was orchestrated by a banished Muslim leader and his followers when they fled Palestine to Libya. And for me, therein lies the problem. We like to think that conferences such as Durban II are about us. Hell, we like to think everything is about us but we forget to look back before we look forward. In looking back we can gain better perspective on the events of today and can begin to draw reasonable conclusions as to what lies in store in future years. It is from that perspective that I gauge this on. How the UN can draft a conference that enables anti Zionist temperament is of grave concern. The very organization that granted Jews statehood now moves to sign its death certificate and all because Israel refuses to succumb as both a state and religion to Islam. To me (and this is just my opinion) the UN now has an Islamic agenda; while it may or may not fully understand the history of Islam, this agenda is ill fated for all but Muslims. Israel reserves the right to fight so long as they continue to fall under attack by Muslims and Muslim Extremists – just as you and I do, just as America does and just as any nation or any people do. Fighting oppression, enslavement and for your home is beyond human in terms of condition. It is a natural condition innate to all living creatures. The worst thing that can happen is the UN revokes statehood at which time ethnic cleansing will commence and the Middle East will erupt in full war as Israel falls. Pulling out of Iraq serves this agenda as it will allow Muslims to concentrate efforts and resources on Israel. The best thing that can happen is this issue is stricken from the conference and the Muslim agenda goes unaddressed as it pertains to Israel in this forum and is thus not globally validated. The best simply meaning delaying the inevitable fight that is to come shortly after our withdrawal. The fight will be less popular from a Muslim perspective, but they are going to fight. Israel is no slouch. The fight will get ugly and get ugly fast but with the added resources, Israel this time may very well fall and history will again begin repeat itself as we watch the destruction of a religion because it is simply not of the Islamic religion. (Or Israel can pay the Muslims to coexist as the Islamic religion is written). Like I said, there are no nice answers on this. As one of my readers asked me not to long ago on this issue with Islam and Judaism; "Is this our fight?" My best answer is it will be our fight sooner or later; and the later the fight the worse the fight. The problem in letting it happen is the growth and spread of Islam. Fighting a smaller foe today is always better than fighting a bigger stronger foe tomorrow; but again, the fight will be fought. No one likes the idea of it but that's just how things are in today's world. The global fighting you see is ALL BASED ON RELIGION. The political wars we saw to stop the spread of communism and non democratic governments are gone. Today's fighting is different but the ideology is the same. One group feels the other is different and therefore bad. Until Islam stops (or is stopped) these are the new wars of the current age. Anything that violently lashes out at everything that is different to it will eventually come knocking on your front door. These people knocked on ours very noticeably on September 11th 2001. Failing to stop its progression only guarantees they will again come knocking. To teach them to stop knocking, you must prove to them they never again want to as much as walk the path to your door. This is exactly what we are currently undoing. Closing Gitmo. Releasing detainees while the fight continues (both administrations with more blame going to Bush's in this case) and attempting to try detainees as if the robbed a Best Buy or a Walmart. We are trying to fight a politically correct war with more concern of being liked as a nation than being feared and respected as a nation. The message that sends is that we are weak. We are the sheep cowering from the wolf. They will be back because we are not showing them it is in their best interests to stay away. Some military leaders such as General Black Jack Pershing understood how to handle such threats in terms that Muslim Extremists could understand. Until we bring that temperament and understanding back, this is the way the world will be. We can convict a US Marine for over reacting a killing an Iraqi man but we struggle to bring the masterminds of 9/11 to trial. We have detained and released a Muslim Extremist who is now the head Taliban officer fighting against the troop buildup in Afghanistan. Do we really think this is the way to be respected by an enemy? The Durban II UN Conference on Global Racism as written today in its agenda poses Islamic Militant temperament as correct and undermines the need of understanding how this religion poses a threat to all ways of life. A boycott is a cowardly act. It is the US stating that it is scared to go forth and publically stand up against Muslim Extremists, Terrorists and support the next nation that will fall victim to it. Seeing things like this validates that living in war is better than living in fear and denial. Putting things off only leaves them unfinished. Somehow we have to realize that this is not a nice world, this is not a peaceful world and come to the reality at some point we must either take measures to stop Muslim agendas or fall victim to them. It is not a crime to be both liberal and have a set of nuts; it's just that the two (like Islam and everything else in the world) cannot manage to coexist. And I thought Carter was bad! -T
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Flag
Long May I Wave I AM THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
By Howard Schnauber
I am the flag of the United States of America.
My name is "Old Glory".
I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
I fly majestically over institutions of learning.
I stand guard with power in the world.
Look up and see me.
I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident.
I am arrogant.
I am proud.
When I am flown with my fellow banners,
My head is a little higher,
My colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!
I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshipped -- I am saluted.
I am loved -- I am revered.
I am respected -- and I am feared.
I have fought in every battle of every war
for more then 200 years.
I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg,
Shiloh and Appomattox.
I was there at San Juan Hill,
the trenches of France,
in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome
and the beaches of Normandy, Guam,
Okinawa, Korea, and Vietnam.
I was there. I led my troops.
I was dirty, battle-weary and tired,
but my soldiers cheered me
And I was proud.
I have been burned, torn and trampled
on the streets of countries I have helped set free.
It does not hurt, for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn
and trampled on the streets of my country.
And when it's by those whom I've served in battle -- it hurts.
But I shall overcome -- for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth
and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space
from my vantage point on the moon.
I have borne silent witness
to all of America's finest hours.
But my finest hours are yet to come.
When I am torn into strips
and used as bandages
for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,
When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,
Or when I lie in the trembling arms
of a grieving parent at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,
I am proud.
MY NAME IS "OLD GLORY".
LONG MAY I WAVE.
DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN,
LONG MAY I WAVE.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Moron of the Month
This has been sitting in draft form for the better part of ten days until I got one too many hate mails last night for being late with Moron of the Month.
Enter "Murray". If you are from the north; that’s Murrie. If you are from the Kountray-fied south; that’s Murrauh. If you are from Boston; well you are pretty much assed out because there are too many R’s in his name for you to even begin to pronounce.
Either way one chooses to pronounce it (or not for my Bostonian readers), "tool" is always acceptable.
Murray’s story comes by way of a friend in the Southern AZ region. He got to meet Murray as he was rushed into the ER of a local hospital.
Murray just is not that smart of a guy. Not a bad guy, just that he is not a smart guy either. We all know the type. The guys that get themselves into "situations" because they do stupid things; it’s not that they really get into "trouble". We all have friends like that.
(Duke Farley from "Hot Butter Beans" fame was like that. In fact, it was how I got to know him. In Kindergarten Duke got bored and stuck his head through the back supports of his chair. Now I watched him do this. He diligently worked for what had to be a half hour trying to squeeze his fat ass head through that tiny little slot on the back of the chair between the two wood slats. As always determination pays, and his head popped through there just like he was being born all over. And much like Ms Farley would have reacted, the chair was having nothing to do with him going back the direction from which he came and thus, he and that chair were stuck like two Chihuahuas in heat. All that pushing made his ears swell. It was like a safety lock on a door. He was going nowhere and the chair remained on his head for four and half hours - the best first day of Kindergarten ever).
Not that Duke was bad, it is just that he would find himself in situations that could have easily been prevented.
Mr. Murray was of much the same. His grandfather detested the fact that Murray was so stupid and would demand that his mother send him down to his remote ranch to help with some work "to toughen the lad up and make him grow some common sense with his balls." (The irony in that comment will soon make sense).
Murray’s grandfather is himself a hot mess. Old school in every sense of the word, he believes that America is America and one should not enter without appropriate approval. Complicating this issue, Ol’ GrandPa Murray’s ranch is waaaaay down south in AZ and pretty much sits on the border of Mexico. His Devine idea was to put an electric fence around his property to "shock the piss" out of any would be trespassers. He had the fence installed and got a kick out of the occasional BUZZZZ POP in the wee morning hours.
Re-enter Murray our tool in question. Murray arrived one early morning to help Ol’ GandPa Murray around the ranch. On his chore list was the electric fence. With the size of the ranch in mind Murray grabs some beer and jumps on the AVT and off he goes to first tend to the animals before heading out to the fence.
This global warming winter we had our fair share of snow in AZ and on this fateful morning snow covered the ground as Murray blazed his way out to the fence. Five beers later Murray arrives. With nature calling he begins to wonder if the fence has been turned off.
[There is a little trick to electric fences when there is snow on the ground. If the snow line stops at the fence; it’s on. If the snow runs through the fence; it (could be) off. Checking the switch and LOCKING IT TO THE OFF POSITION WHILE YOU TAKE THE KEY WITH YOU IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA. Unless you name is murray anyway.]
Our inebriated Murray decided to kill two birds with one stone and arched a golden flow of very temporary relief on the fence. BUZZZZ POP! and Murray made instant raisins out of his tater tots. I know as guys we can cut the flow of the golden stream in times of dire need but no man can cut the flow faster than that blue bolt was racing towards his soon to be prosthetic tool of a tool. The shock of the shock; not the shock itself but the shock of what got shocked sent Murray into shock. He lay in a penis smoldering heap awaiting rescue by Ol’ GrandPa Murray - who decided to drench the smoldering, shriveled appendage with nice cold beer. Our Murray was now wide and awake and screaming bloody murder. To silince the lad (And I guess to toughen him up a bit) Ol' GrandPa gives his raisins a nice hardy kick. (Good looking out pops)!
To the ER they go and greeted by the person who submitted the story an ER physician I have known for a few years. Doc Croc had never seen anything like this. Confused, he asked the obvious and got the answer he least expected. "My whiz grand son checked to see if the electric fence was on by taking a whiz on it. He started screaming so I gave him a good swift boot to the balls. If he wants to scream like a girl I could at least try to make the lad one." To which Doc Croc laughed so uncontrollably that he had to have another doc fill in for him.
What did we learn from Murray’s plight? Nothing at all. People do stupid things at stupid times, all with varying degrees of failure, but only one can be selected as Moron of the Month!
Congratulations Murray!
BUZZZZ POP!
-T
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