Archive for October, 2011

Let’s give credit where credit is due.

The U.S. government has reacted to the UNESCO vote to give full nation status recognition to the Palestinian territories by announcing that the U.S. will not continue to contribute the $60 million dollars to the UN agency’s budget. Well, hallelujah!  It seems someone in our government still knows how to stand up for what is right. And while I’d like to see such appropriate actions occur more often… I’ll at least pause here for a moment to acknowledge, and enjoy, this one.

That was the sense. Now, here’s the nonsense.

Herman Cain’s campaign director, Mark Block, created and starred in a campaign video promoting the candidate for President of the United States, Mark Block.

Oops. Sorry. He was supposed to be promoting Herman Cain, his boss. But not so much. Block not only made himself the star by creating a video that went viral on the web… he did it while also promoting, if even passively, smoking.

Is that possible?

Could a thinking person trying to positively influence voters to back his candidate actually conclude that promoting a product that has killed millions of Americans (and will continue to do so) would be a good idea?

Despite the enormity of his ego, Block is not the main topic here or my concern. My concern is the poor judgment of Herman Cain. Mr. Cain has said repeatedly in both interviews and debates that in areas in which he lacks foreign policy or other experience to govern he will surround himself with competent and capable people. Like Mark Block?

It seems to me that if Herman Cain was lax enough to hire Block (Block seems to have had more than his share of run-ins with violating the law) and now is not conscious or concerned enough to fire Mark Block… then Mr. Cain is not a viable candidate for the highest office in the land.

After all, I think we can agree that we’ve had enough morally and ethically wanting leaders in recent years. Can’t we?

 

Nature has a way of balancing things out and making quick friends of entrenched adversaries.  When tsunamis, earthquakes or any type of natural disaster strike a nation, it is instructive to see how the peoples of the world come together to offer aid. New Orleans, Haiti, India, Chile… these were but a few of the geographic regions that experienced natural disasters where our differences were transcended by our humanity. Or, as I prefer to think of it, our Oneness.

Let’s pray that Turkey can move beyond its political and religious agendas to rethink its decline today of the medical and humanitarian assistance Israel has offered following the devastating earthquake just suffered there.  It is hard for me to believe that anyone, or any nation’s leaders, would deny themselves some of the nearest and best medical, military and technological aid on political or religious grounds. In fact I would have to question the politics or the religion of any group of people who would allow their own to suffer and die rather than accept the outstretched hand of a neighbor whose intentions are heartfelt.

Perhaps Turkey and the world in general, should consider that what we have failed to do of our own Free Will may now be imposed upon us in a most distasteful way by the Earth itself.  When we accept that we are powerless to oppose the full force of Nature unleashed… and that our only hope during such moments and their aftermath is our support of one another…perhaps we will rethink the wisdom of so much division and hatred and contemplate a new strategy whereby we pull together rather than apart.

If not, like children, we may have to learn the hard way. Turkey certainly is.

Adbusters, a Public Relations firm located in British, Columbia, is a company with a website of interest to me. It should also be of interest to you…if you want to understand the manipulation and money fueling the “Occupy” protestors nationally.  Adbusters is financed in part by the Tides Foundation, a George Soros organization. Soros, you may or may not know, makes sport of manipulating global currencies and politics. Which means manipulating you.

On their website today, Adbusters is advising and directing the protestors as follows:

“We’re living through a magical moment … OCCUPYWALLSTREET has catalyzed into an international insurgency for democracy … the mood at our assemblies is electric … people who go there are drawn into a Gandhian spirit of camaraderie and hope for a new kind of future. Across the globe the 99% are marching! You have inspired more than you know. People are digging into Act One of the long Spring.”

A few observations:

1.  Democracy is not an American aspiration. Democracy is mob rule. We live in a Constitutional Republic by deliberate design of the men and women who were sufficiently educated and enlightened to know the difference.

2.  Gandhi never advocated defecating on police cars, carried signs that said “Eat The Rich” or espoused getting “all the Jews out of the country.” Gandhi was abut peaceful, unwavering commitment to the dignity of individuals and national self-determination.

3.  It’s apparent that “digging into Act One of the long Spring” is a planned strategy intended to unfold over time while making unequivocal demands accompanied by continued disruption and unrest.

If there was ever a time for individuals to think for themselves, rather than as a monolithic herd, it’s now. Group think will get us mob rule. Just look at the photos of the rebels who found Ghadaffi. While I have no love of the deceased dictator, rational and civil people who think for themselves don’t pull and pick at a body as animals over a carcass might do.  And that’s giving short shrift to the animals, since they do it for the sole purpose of obtaining nourishment.

Let’s be conscious and aware that whether it’s Vice President Biden giving out false statistics on crime rates in Flint, Michigan in order to scare us into passing President Obama’s jobs bill… or a Canadian P.R. firm doing the bidding of its financial backer by cleverly manipulating public opinion and passions…it’s up to each of us individually to discern truth from fiction and have the courage to act upon our findings.

Unless you are willing to do that, you’re in for more Hope and Change. By the way, how has that worked out for you thus far?

Today, 1027 Palestinian prisoners, some having been convicted of suicide bombings, were released by the State of Israel in exchange for one Israeli soldier, 24-year-old Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped and held incommunicado by Hamas for over five years.

The Palestinians were bussed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to a prearranged exchange point. There was no fanfare. No media coverage. No interviews. No political exploitation.

At least on the Israeli side of the equation.

The Egyptians and Hamas (a designated terrorist organization) went beyond the pale in exploiting the moment.  A female Egyptian anchor did a TV interview of Gilad Shalit while he was in Egypt and not yet transferred to Israeli authority and protection. Shalit was clearly suffering from malnourishment and lack of exposure to sunlight, having been kept in a dungeon for the entire 5 years of his captivity and denied visitation even by the International Red Cross.  The anchor brazenly posed politically loaded questions to a young man who had obvious difficulty breathing, speaking and collecting his thoughts.  All the while, a masked Hamas terrorist stood behind Shalit’s back with a loaded weapon.

It was a disgrace.

But for anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear, it was the most poignant and unequivocal statement of the total disregard for human life, decency and compassion that is Hamas.

As I watched the fiasco unfold, and sensed the confusion, caution and fear Shalit must have been experiencing, I wondered how we will ever negotiate a peaceful resolution with a people who heap rewards and accolades upon an organization so devoid of humanity.  If you have the answer I’d love to hear it. As of this writing, I remain at a loss for one that satisfies.

And “yes” if you wonder if the ratio… 1:1027… was worth it.

Yes.

Definitely yes.