Rumbles

Iran strikes two air bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of one of their generals. Casualty data reports no deaths, and minor structural damage. Senator Graham declares the attack an act of war. The stock market calms.


So, what is it? An act of war or two bullies fighting on the playground?


I think the latter. Two bullies with the means to do real damage to their opponent. But they are limiting their strikes. They are minor. The deceased general was a real trouble maker and a worthy target. Whether he was legitimately in Iraq on innocent business, has not been established. If his purpose was terrorism against Iraq, Syria or the US, and if there is proof of that, then taking him out was legit. If not, Iran has every right to retaliate. And that is not an act of war, mr. graham.


News of the US assassination action caused the US stock markets to decline and boost the cost of oil on global markets. American gas pump prices were slow to rise. Then they fell. With Iran’s retaliation action, pump prices have spiked, but global oil markets are steady. The stock market slumped then recovered a bit. Today it is up modestly while overnight the futures were down 400 points. That prediction did not happen at the opening bell, however, and markets recovered.


So, the world community is taking the actions of two bullies seriously but not ‘bigly,’ to use a word of the white house occupant.


The bluster of American spokesmen is also in close review by the public. So far it appears the bluster is not believed. With good reason: the white house and republican leaders have told the public so many lies in the last few years no one is taking their oratory as truth. Or factual. In fact, fact checking denudes them every time.


Sad. If you want to know what’s going on, watch news channels for the footage and audio; avoid the opinion by reporters. Piece facts together and make a logical conclusion. Then talk it over with friends you trust who have a track record of studying issues seriously. Talk about the news in that environment.


I am encouraged to witness and learn that such discussions hold much logic and dutifully fact checked. Google makes this easy. The American public is not easily fooled by political rhetoric. By either parties. So Democrats, don’t get smug! Stick to the facts and take these matters seriously.


Too many people emptily support the trumpster. It will be hard work to remove him from office at the next election. Focus on that task and make it happen, people. The future we save is our own and our kids’.


Take deep breaths and do your homework. Act responsibly and remain calm and logical. And factual.


Thank you. That is all!


January 9, 2020

Killing Iranian General

The ends and the means. Again, mankind attempts to answer the imponderable to suit himself. It doesn’t work.


The ends are one thing. The means another. You want someone to die, now or later?  Wait. He/she will die. It is the natural order of things. If you wish to speed up the end result, then you are taking matters into your own hands. Which means can be used to speed the result? A few pop to mind:

1.      Murder the person. Illegal at all times in all places. 

2.      Place the person in a dangerous position and hope circumstances do your bidding; but don’t make the death happen directly; that is the same as murder. Death by accident is not murder.

3.      Hire someone to kill the person. This is still murder and illegal. The same as staging an accident.

4.      Hunt the person down in a place of war and chaos, and end his life. This is heinous but not illegal; it is an act of war.

That’s it. The means are limited. The right and wrong of it are variable. If you don’t mind being wrong, then do it and pay the consequences. It you do mind and prefer to do it right, you will have to wait. Death comes to each of us. The timing is happenstance and not in our hands.


The morality of means versus ends has been debated for eons. Accepting immoral, illegal means to acquire the desired ends diminishes the persons involved and the society. A moral society cannot approve immoral means. Plain and simple.


The Iranian general may have been killed as the result of a crime he was committing. Was he in Iraq legitimately, legally? If so, his killing was illegal. If he was on a mission to overthrow Iraqi order and legitimacy, then he was fair game. If he was working in league with other conspirators to overthrow Iraqi authority (this is part of the Iraqi civil war that has raged for generations), then both he and the other generals were fair game to be killed. This describes a war standing and the general is presumed to know what he was doing and the risks he was taking.


If Iran chooses to see the above as anything other, then it is on them to prove those facts. If Iraq wishes to blame America for the drone attack against their interests, then let them prove those facts.

Until then, America is presumed to be in the right.


However, to involve our nation in such a messy event, is unscrupulous, stupid state craft, and irresponsible to the citizens of America. Protocols exist to think these acts through before they are committed. We do not know what protocols, if any, were employed. It would help to know more about this.


The fact that the current White House does not respect protocol and professional state craft, clouds belief and trust. That is not a burden on the citizen. It is a burden of political leadership.


Mr. trump, Bolton, Pompeo and others in the line of command in this matter, step up and explain yourselves. Your nation and the global village awaits to hear your case.


Either that or be judged guilty and removed from office. There are other options for us to pursue, but we still remain a civil society. Speak or face the consequences of your silence.

And please, no spin or bluffer. Only the facts. Provable facts.


January 8, 2019

Sweeping Dirt Under the Rug

The GOP (republican party) is preparing to dump the House Articles of Impeachment in the trash bin of history. We expected this. This is how political bosses deal with truth, fact and history. They disrespect what is uncomfortable for them.


Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina continues his romp to protect the damaged king. He insists he can and will change the Senate rules governing impeachment trial processing. He wants to change the rules. The guy who claims Democrats have done this for years. Wrong. The Democrats have not changed rules unless bipartisan agreement has been secured. Not the case with GOP. They do what they want when it fits their point of view. How they get away with this is a mystery. The opposition party has steadfastly stayed with compromise, cooperation and gentlemen practices. That is the culture of what both the House and Senate were built on over the centuries.


Madmen do their thing when inner demons call. We are witness to this now.


So, the trump dirt will be swept under the rug soon, maybe as soon as this week (January 10^th) or by the following Friday, January 17^th.


This will happen because they can do it. Nothing stops them. Not decency, certainly.


The GOP now owns donald j trump. He is there leader and values standard bearer. He admits the wrongs he has done and even gloats about them. And the party of Lincoln thinks nothing of it. It allows the accused full sway over their party and their government. What they don’t seem to realize is they now own all the problems of the USA. These problems emanated from the George W administration, repaired in the face of full opposition of the GOP during the Obama administration, and torn apart during the current trump reign of shame. History will have a field day with this.


With no admission of their guilt, the GOP appears ready to cover up history in some way or another. Wonder what this will look like. Wonder how they will spin this garish failure of standards, values and principle. But hey, education appears low on the priority list of the GOP. And most social issue for that matter.


I am beyond mystified. How can decency be so absent in our government? The courts? The Senate? The House? The White House?


The checks and balances are gone. The government Of, By and For the people is hanging by a thread. Where have We The People been?


Is this our future? Is this what we want? Government by special interest groups? Government of the wealthy? Government of the power seekers?


Why?


January 7, 2020

Where to Go From Here?

Where indeed!?


The stock markets are exuberant over very little. They are poised for every sling and arrow that threatens it. Huge drops and surges of value happen weekly. It is unsustainable and illogical. Yet it does its thing regardless.


Higher education is priced to exclude tens of millions of worthy students. Students who cut across society’s warp and woof to create, invent and revolutionize our nation’s potential, future and gift to mankind.


Healthcare is excellent. Its delivery pretty darn good. But it is jammed with people needing services without a clear pathway in. Meanwhile the rest of us pay enormous premiums, and taxes to support government subsidies. The system is not sustainable in its current arrangement. What will and should replace it?


International relations is an art form built from patience and deep study. Generations of professionals built an institution to manage world relations for our nation and the global village, yet two presidents in recent years (and currently) have labored to disassemble that institution. Generations of work and investment are pruned away. Some actions are large lops and axe hacks. Our hopes for peace are dwindling.


We need leadership. We need wisdom. We need steady hands at the helm of our ship of state.


Yet a madman amateur is in position.


Where do we go from here? Don’t worry about how we got here. Fix what is wrong right now. We are in that immediate situation of danger and disruption. It is time to address the primary bollox staring us in the face.


If more than half of us agree with this assessment, what then do we do? Who should be in charge at this time? How do we get him or her or them in the position to act in our name?


That is the direct question of our age.


Answers anyone?


January 6, 2020

Freedoms

Curious things have been happening for several years. Most are based on unique American values and freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution. Examples:

1.      Freedom of Religion: our nation got its start as an escape from religious discrimination in England. Protestants did not want to follow the edicts of the Church of England – be it Catholic or Protestant-Episcopalian. Yet today, we have people persecuting our Jewish brothers and sisters. We even have people who claim that some of our laws discriminate against religious freedom. That isn’t true, but claimants persist with their argument on an ideological basis, thus politicizing religion. In the next breath they avow their religion ought to rule state or national policy. This then precipitates an argument over separation of church and state. The result: we have come full circle and freedom of religion rekindles as an issue.

2.      Freedom of Speech: our nation was created to be a bastion of individual freedom and initiative. Having free thought and expression of same, was believed to be the bedrock of community discourse and understanding. Indeed, freedom of speech leads through the chaos of all education to produce workable understandings common to many. However, today we have many people and commercial interests controlling and manipulating what gets said or printed and when and where. Huh? Freedom of speech negates that control. What gives? Is money speech? Is control speech? Is commerce speech? Interestingly, access to speech is increasingly controlled by subscription pricing and contracts. How is this free speech?

3.      Freedom of Press: this is an echo of the Freedom of Speech paragraph shown above. The press may have freedoms, but access to what they have written is not free. It costs each and every one of us a lot of money. In the battle for ratings (print or electronic) prices and subscriptions are high. Along the way corporate control of the message came with ownership of the news outlet. Thus speech is not free in content or purse. Another result: journalists are a vanishing breed. They are underpaid and overedited. Their messages are thus out of their control.

4.      Freedom of Assembly: most communities require permits to gather and speak in groups of any size. The permit is supposed to provide the community the time and thought needed to prepare for the ‘event’ and safeguard public health and safety. In many communities, however, the permitting process is not easy or equally accessible. Assembly of citizens is thus curtailed.

5.      Right to Bear Arms: we have this right aplenty today. Many would say the right is overwhelming us and creating chaos. A clear and present danger to the right of the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness is now the result. I believe this is so and would appreciate a better means of governing the right to bear arms. I find arms to be prohibitively expensive. I prefer society to maintain order without me having to own a gun for any purpose. That is a freedom I cherish more than the right to own a gun.

There are other freedoms but these are the main ones we attend to most commonly. The curious thing about each of the freedoms is who is doing the talking and who is feeling aggrieved. Opinions quickly change sides depending on who feels hurt. We should be able to do better with these five freedoms.


Who takes the first step with this? Where do we even discuss this in freedom?


January 3, 2020

The Beat Goes On, and On

I had hoped the noise of politics in Washington DC would have quieted down over the holidays. Not to be. The ‘fake news king’ ranted on camera, social media and twitter. Never silent for long, he continued to spin stories. Ever faithful for ratings, the news media parroted his nonsense back to the American people.


2020 is about many things. The impeachment process will continue through the Senate. A final decision will be rendered, and life will go on regardless the verdict. At the same time the national elections in November will cause endless posturing by presidential candidates and other congressional wannabes. Incumbents will tout their records and ideologies. The election date will approach. Voters will have their say. The verdict on who is in and out will be thus assembled.


And life will go on.


Of course, I hope for silence from ‘he who shall not be named.’ I know that will not happen. I also hope the Senate will finally get the balls and morals to decide the white house occupant is guilty and remove him from office. I am realist enough to know that will not happen.


So, my final position is betting on the American voter to remove him from office by honest, direct vote. I do not know if that will happen. I can hope.


Our nation is divided almost evenly at the moment for and against the sitting president. How that can be is a question I’ve pondered in this space for nearly 3 years.  The only answer I can believe in is many Americans feel disenfranchised from power and financial future. They find it necessary to blame that on someone else, and flock to the white house incumbent to speak their truth. They want a smaller government so as to have it out of their lives. Meanwhile, they enjoy the largesse of that government at every turn.


Those on the other side of the argument fervidly believe government is a necessity on many levels, recognize the good it accomplishes, and represents a serious investment in the lives of all Americans. Room for entrepreneurial freedom, freedom of speech, thought, print and religion remains well at hand. Those freedoms are the glue that holds us all together. Those freedoms also create the economic might our nation represents to the rest of the global village.


It is the global village that benefits from American inventiveness, thinking, education and creativity. But it is America that benefits hugely from the global village needing and buying our outputs because they don’t or can’t. This is a win-win situation. It is not an ‘us vs them’ situation. Decidedly not.


That is our strength. And that is what we do in the world because of all of us. Right or left, middle of the road, republican or democrat, we are one America doing what we do best: creating the new.


We diminish ourselves by arguing the weaknesses – real or imagined – of others among us.


2020 needs to be our year of renewal: of spirit, knowledge, action and self-determination.


My fervent prayer is that we all come to agree with this central point. And move on with our promise to the world community. It is up to each of us to do this. No one can decide this for us. Only you and I acting alone.


Blessings be with you on your 2020 journey.


January 2, 2020

Happy New Year

So, a new year begins! Another one! Just like last year, and the year before that, and so on as far back as we can remember. Here we are again at the beginning. Another beginning. You would think we would have this down pat by now. So many years of doing the same thing.  Starting, stopping, ending, beginning again, and so on and on.


Yikes!


I won’t belabor the point. Yes, the old year has ended. Some would say a fond farewell while others would gladly dispense with 2019 with a cheey “Good Riddance.” The point of ending something is the opportunity to begin something new. That possibility holds the potential for accomplishing great things. All we need do is think them up! Ah, well, perhaps that’s the hard part?


It might help if we count our blessings. A good start to the new year is accounting for the wonderful things in our lives – each other, loved ones, wonderful work colleagues, neighbors, financial blessings, a car that works, and a roof over our heads.


Health is a variable. So is age. Time is with us to live and know joy. The pains and hurts will be common companions, but joy is there as well. Know this and begin 2020 with confidence and passion. All will be well if we start well.


Happy New Year to each and everyone of us!!


January 1, 2020