We have all watched thew courageous Free Libyan Army make war on Qaddafi. It makes one wonder:
What percentage of ammunition is expended by firing in the air as compared to the percentage fired at Qaddafi troops?
What percentage of rebel casualties are caused by bullet that were fired into the air, returning to earth?
While i would like to see the rebels oust Qaddafi and set up a democratic regime, I cannot help thinking that the rebel army looks very much like a group of Western Virginia b
I am currently reading "The Mughal World" by Abraham Eraly and I came across this quote. The author was making the point that in the 16th and 17th century there was no sense of nationalism in what is now India.. He further states "The people had no loyalty to there rulers, and the rulers had no regard for their subjects,the people were prey, the rulers were predators." Whats different in America today?Only that the people have no loyalty to their rulers. We are still prey, they are still predato
I lived in Japan in the 60's, learned the language fairly well and credit those wonderful people with easing my transition from 2 years of combat,physical and mental wounds than accompany that. I look today in horror at the devestation that has become northern Japan. Tears fall from my eyes,prayers from my lips. But I notice there is no large arena filled with forgotten poor,there is no looting, there is no part of the nation refusing to accomodate the homeless. No,this not Katrina, actually it
Once again conservative activists were successful in embarrassing the liberal establishment. This time,it was NPR,just when it was hit by budget cuts(art and culture not being particularly and interest of our dear frineds on the right) They even succeeded in using the "Islamic" factor. Previously, you might remember the scam the laid on Acorn,by posing as prostitutes. What amazes me is the agenda these people have. It aMFears to be a fully declared war. The radio talk show hosts attack Obama rel
The main focus for many right wing politicians,Tea party types and some Republicans is beginning to emerge. It seems,what with all the major budget cuts in domestic spending being put forward by the right,that they intend to hold the economy hostage until 2012. Then they can pin economic woes on Obama. Making Obama a one term president is the major goal of these strategists. Now Rep Peter King has begun a MacCarthy like investigation aaimed at Muslim Americans. Since the Muslim American communit
I have been thinking about this option,weighing its merits and its drawbacks. In the course of my musings I did a little research. First off our military does not suMFort it. Makes you wonder? Who does suMFort it? Well Wolfowitz rose from the grave to suMFort it. And he knmows lots about the military,being the chief architect of the Iraq debacle. Other hawks and conservatives,including John McCain are pushing for it. Well,what is a no fly zone? Sounds simple but it ain"t. You need to keep an air
It is sad to listen to the rhetoric of America's political parties as they dismantle what once was a very great nation. To listen to the talk of liberty,freedom,patriotism echoing from the lips of well paid popular marionettes,and watch what is going in the Arab world is the high point of hypocrisy. Those very freedoms our talk show host say we must defend are being eroded under our very eyes. Bulwarks of the American social system,which made us great, are under attack everywhere. Social securit
Lots of people see Libya degenerating into civil war, because there is no other recognized leader or group about. Qaddafi saw to that. Now I am not Libyan,never quite got there(was refused entry in1973 at Ghadames on the Tunisian border because I had no visa and some Tuareg said they could get me in)so perhaps my solution is not grounded on reality.
However there is a crown prince,heir to the throne of King Idris, deposed in 69 by old Qaddafi himself. His name is Sayyid Muhammad ar Rida as Sen
What with most of the Arab world clamoring for democracy, you would think the suMFosed world's leader of democracy would stand up and give full suMFort to the brave people. We are engaged in conflict with different groups in that area,we have altered our understanding of what democracy means to suit our needs. Democracy is the peoples freedom of choice regarding the make up of their government. To America, democracy means the same thing it meant to Mubarak, Ben Ali, Qaddafi and the rest, the fre
Accolades to the Democratic state senators for walking out on the vote for a bill that would cut teachers benefits and curtail union representation.Hopefully this grassroots awareness will spread. AMFarently there is suMFort for their efforts in New York. Under the banner of budget cuts, the rich now want to attack the security of the middle class.They have railed about the evils of social security,union health care, collective bargaining and what the right calls entitlements. So while we allow
Buried on CNN.com behind stories of Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber and other world shaking news was the obituary of the middle class and the birth of what the article called an underclass. It pretty much followed my 15 February blog entry but provided a factual basis for my theories. Rather than digest the article for you, you can access it here CNN Money
Now for all you raging conservatives and republicans its not about pro life,traditional marriage,gays in the military, Christian values,
I am reading a wonderful book by Christopher Ondaatje about East African explorations in the 19th century. Livingstone,Stanley, Burton,Speke,Baker and the quest for the source of the Nile. One is continually bombarded by statements crediting one or another white man with the "discovery" of some geological wonder or piece of land. I guess Blacks in Africa couldn't see Mt Kilamanjaro or Lake Victoria, or perhaps their eyes didn't count. Although I have English,Slavic and Turkish blood in my vein
I was born in 1945,grew up in the fifties,America's golden age. There jobs for everyone,women could stay home and raise the family and all we had to worry about was the Soviet Union.If you didn't have a college education, you get a job in factory with union wages and health care. Layoffs were rare,but there was always unemployment. The company had a pension plan and there was social security. Those factory jobs have vanished overseas,pension plans were raided by Wall st gangsters when the housi
Do they really think we are that dumb? Mrs. Obama says ole Barry doesn't dye his hair. Now just the other day the Concubine and I were discussing how gray hes' gotten and then on to the usual discussion of how the office of president visibly ages one rapidly. Now,its all black, but not dye. Grecian formula maybe, spray paint,Afro Sheen deluxe? Same with Reagan,297 years old and not one gray. Then there was Clinton, didn't inhale my ass. And Monica,need we say more about Slick Willie.George Bush
You should read this guy's resume. One of the CIA's finest assets,Omar was primarily responsible for the rendition program,first in the Clinton administration and then later,refining it for Bush and Co. Egypt was the most popular destination for kidnaMFed terrorists and kidnaMFed innocents. It was in Egypt that the torture took place, that george Tenet denied haMFened. And sometimes the torturer was old Omar himself. Now thats hands on.After 2000,Omar began to encroach on the foreign ministry, c
Is that over the top? Maybe,but both Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin(finally found Egypt on the map) said that basically Mubarak is a nice guy and that all the freedom and liberty rhetoric coming from Tahrir square was just window dressing.(Just like it is from the mouths of Palin,Cheney and Beck) These guys love authoritarian tyranny,you can impose your morals on everyone. As for any one even thinking of using the word Muslim, that immediately puts them into the terrorist classification.
Another i
From what little information is leaking out of Egypt since they started beating up journalists,it seems that American diplomats are closeted with Mubarak, trying to find a solution. I had suspected that the "I'll leave in September and won't run in the elections" was an idea floated by some American style thinking. Then there was, "I'd really like to go, but I'm afraid my country will fall into chaos" Hmm look out the window,Hosni. There was all the Interior dept. denial of thSPAM!&#
Last night and this morning crowds of Mubarak suMForters aMFeared out of nowhere with knives and clubs and banners reading "30 years of stability" Where did these goons come from? The streets were filled with protesters, now we have all these Mubarak suMForters.$17 dollars a day is the pay for a Mubarak suMForter and quite a few of them forgot to leave their secret police ID cards at home. Stability is their by word. Funny the only people talking stability before last night were Obama and Netany
I see once again the United States is taking a safe and secure position in regards to events unfolding in Egypt. Just as America did with the revolution in Tunisia and the election protests in Iran earlier. We squak about democracy but when it raises its head, we dare not take a brave position of suMFort, but hide behind the comfort of status quo. Protesters in Egypt need to hear America suMFort. Loud and strong. Otherwise America loses more ground until in the near future America and Israel wil
After reading numerous analyses of President Obama's "State of the Union" message, I am beginning to view the American political process as a battle by two rival gangs to acquire turf. Turf being the symbols of power,ownership giving control. The Constitution is waved about,hallowed heros eulogized,slogans like patriot,liberty etc are tossed around. Truth is you got the Jets and Sharks,Crips and Bloods,Angel's and Pagan's,democrats and republicans, take your choice , the winner gets to tell you
I am presently reading "The Highly Civilized Man...Richard Burton and the Victorian World" The book presents Sir Richard in different light than most biographies written of him. The author, Dane Kennedy, sees Burton as an observer and a critic in this age of proto globalisation. Burton finds, in his research of peoples, that other societies can and do find solutions to life problems as relevant or more relevant than standard British Victorian judgement. However, Burton still carried with him th
The dialogue that has been coming out of D.C. and out of various pundits gives me cause for alarm. The shooting of Rep.Giffords and killing of 6 people has provoked a variety of responses. In a post in the forum, I highlighted the need to better identify the whackos before the emerge from their larval forms. Others have talked of the need to implement stricter gun control. Some have sSPAM!!!ested a better monitoring and policing of the internet to help identify these thre
While we in the US of A sit around and throw tax dollars at an ever greedy Wall st while gasoline prices rise,Russia has opened a massive pipeline to transport Central Asian oil to China. Remember one reason Afghanistan was so important was because Unocal wanted a pipeline from the Central Asian fields thru Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian ocean. Well guess its too late now.
And why is it that Barak Obama said that economic recovery was going to be fueled by the technology and change ove
