Listen to the Children

Too often we adults shun advice from children as too naïve and not worth our time to listen to.

Here is a twelve-year-old who has something meaningful and worthwhile to say and actually says it better than most adults. She addressed the United Nations meeting in Brazil with an elegance and style far beyond her years.

Please, take the time to listen, it is only a five minute segment of her speech but in that short time she paints reality far more succinctly than any adult I know ever has.

From her we have so much to learn and just maybe we can learn to share what we have with those who have nothing.

Don’t Eat the Beef

South Koreans are truly incensed that their government refuses to give in to their protests over beef imported from the United States. They have been protesting regularly since April when the government announced it would resume importing beef from the United States after a five-year ban. That ban was instituted over a case of mad cow disease in 2003.

Nothing meaningful has come from these protests. The government is still going to import the beef that their ‘big brother’ the U.S. is basically coercing South Korea to buy. Countless millions of dollars in property damages are being sustained that South Koreans are going to have to pay for to repair through their tax dollars that could and should go to better use.

Sure they essentially paralyzed their government but who did that hurt most, themselves.

More than 100 South Korean protesters were wounded after this latest rally turned ugly as they marched toward the presidential office battling riot police and turning over buses that had been parked around the presidential office to block the marchers from entering.

Why go through the all this trouble and subject themselves to physical injury and/or arrest? The only protest that is truly meaningful is to not buy the beef.

Making and losing money is the only thing governments understand these days. All the deals made between these two governments will collapse if the South Koreans simply refuse to buy the beef.

South Korea is the third-largest market for U.S. beef exporters. Refusing to buy this beef will have another even broader effect. The U.S. cattle industry would be forced to cut back on the number of cattle raised which will in turn reduce the amount of grain required to feed the cattle. Which would ease the pressure somewhat on the world grain market and hopefully help reduce the cost of food.

If you have to protest, please do it more intelligently.

Impeach Bush/Cheney, Ain’t Gonna Happen

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich called for the impeachment of U.S. President George W. Bush for launching the Iraq war while the rest of congress just set back and let him act out his fit of defiance.

Nice try, but the timing is way off. This action should have been taken a long time ago. I feel your pain, Mr. Kucinich, I really do. But Bush and Cheney and all of their corporate benefactors are sitting back laughing at how easy it was to get away with all that they have done to this once great nation. They have made a mockery of the ‘rules of government’ that our forefathers laid out and members of congress have done nothing but blow wind and bluster about how ‘this is an outrage’ and then set up ‘committees to investigate’ and have assembled panels to ‘grill the accused’ in an attempt to show the country that you too are outraged.

You have not convinced us, sir. And this dog and pony show of bringing impeachment charges against a lame duck president knowing that nothing will come of it just amounts to nothing more than a cruel joke.

You and all those other weak, frightened, small-minded men and women in congress, who think more of keeping your jobs than to stand up for the American citizen and against two of the most openly opportunistic corporate puppets this country has ever been duped into allowing into office, have done nothing more than to firmly position yourselves as part of the problem.

Even if I could be convinced that this call for impeachment is sincere and could have some small chance of bearing fruit, I seriously doubt anyone else would have to stones the back you up. Even your own party’s leader House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to back you.

I cynically suspect that your ulterior motive is to present yourself as a ‘strong leader’ who will be remembered as ‘the guy who stood up against Bush/Cheney’. Nothing more than an another opportunistic act in this passion play for political power.

Abuse of power and fraud is nothing new in politics but how the Bush/Cheney gang was allowed to plunder this country is criminal. Those people, you included Mr. Kucinich, in positions to do something to reign them in but instead chose to play the game while they developed and executed their schemes and scams makes you all guilty of aiding and abetting.

No Mr. Kucinich, we all see through your charade and denounce your ill-timed gambit for what it is, an attempt to paint yourself as ‘one of the good guys’.

World’s most sophisticated bomber taken out by nature

The U.S. Air Force B-2 Stealth Bomber that crashed in February of this year was caused by moisture in sensors. This just goes to show that no matter how sophisticated man’s technological prowess becomes, nature will always have the upper hand.

In the investigative report, Major General Floyd L. Carpenter states that the crash probably could have been avoided if knowledge of a technique to evaporate the moisture had been disseminated throughout the B-2 program. He is saying that someone had learned a technique to prevent this mishap and that learned ability was not passed on to other pilots. Why?

The military is supposed to work as a team of one. Meaning everyone knows everything that everyone else knows. That’s my estimation of what a ‘team of one’ means.

$1.4 billion dollars is hell of a lot of money to crash into the ground because preventive information was not passed on to that pilot.

Again, the U.S. Air Force fails in its responsibilities.

U.S. Air Force fails in its responsibilities

As an insight into the systemic thinking of the military mind, the general said that the report was forwarded to commanding officers to determine whether any disciplinary measures are required. Disciplinary Measures. The report was not presented in such a positive light as to what can be learned for the safety of future pilots and equipment, but whether or not someone should be punished for this accident. This negative thinking reinforces the command-and-control thinking that runs rampant in the military as well as in politics. We need to move in a more positive direction away from the fear-of-punishment-as-incentive. I am certain that the two pilots of that aircraft on February 23, 2008 were not intending on destroying that bomber. And their training was very extensive and thorough. To be under the threat of punishment for negligence resulting in the destruction of this piece of equipment is ludicrous.

However, something needs to be done to disseminate information on how the crash could have been prevented. Now that would be positive, forward thinking.

In this day of lightning-fast-gossip of the antics of some debutante why can’t information as critically important as preventing the uncontrollable behavior of a $1.4 billion aircraft be quickly spread to everyone concerned?

Oh, as an after thought, Carpenter said procedures and policies are now in place to guard against similar crashes. It is unfortunate that we had to lose one of our nation’s most technologically advanced and expensive bombers before everyone became privy to how the accident could have been prevented.

For a video of the actual crash click here. The video two B2’s taking off. It is the second aircraft, about 1:50 minutes into the video that crashes.

Air Force Brass Kicked to the Curb

After allowing armed nuclear weapons to be flown across the U.S. last August, after allowing nuclear components be shipped to Taiwan instead of the helicopter parts requested, after an Air Force base failed a “nuclear surety” inspection, the federal government finally acted in what can only be described as a token show of problem solving. The top military and civilian leaders of the U.S. Air Force were forced out simply to show the country that something is being done to avert future mishaps.

The problem of course goes much deeper than these two top officials, and the responsibility was ultimately theirs, but there still remains the real problem. Each individual who was involved in these ‘mishaps’ should have felt the duty, and should have been given every opportunity, to raise questions about what they are doing.

I know most underlings are not privy to the big picture and they don’t truly need to be, but, somewhere along the line concerns need to raised when something seems out of the ordinary. Something like when ‘live nuclear missiles’ are removed from storage, someone should have been alerted. Something like when ‘live nuclear warheads’ are taken out onto the flight line, someone should have noticed. Something like when ‘live nuclear-tipped missiles’ are loaded onto a bomber to fly across the U.S. (hell, anywhere) someone should have said let’s re-examine what we are doing here. Has all of this become so routine, and are these live nuclear missiles labeled in such a way as to be indistinguishable from unarmed nuclear weapons that such a mistake can so easily be made?

Shipping errors happen every day but when anything associated with nuclear weapons are so easily confused for anything else, then there are serious issues involved. Issues like lack of inventory control, sloppy job performance, basic human recognition that something just doesn’t seem right. Live Nuclear Warheads shipped across the United States. Doesn’t this seem, I don’t know, dangerous?

Yeah, the ultimate responsibility falls on the top brass, but that does not diminish the obligation of every individual below them right down to the grunt doing the physical labor from thinking about what they are doing. Everyone from that grunt’s supervisor on up the line better be open to any question or concern from their workers about the job they are performing. Allowing the military to become unquestioning, unthinking robots who simply follow orders just because those orders came from ‘on high’ is one of the greatest dangers we pose for ourselves.

When an individual wears that military uniform, they are taking on the responsible for the safety of this nation. The gravity of that responsibility is heavy and should never be taken for granted. That individual remains an individual who should be allowed to question authority. Questioning the validity of what you are doing focuses the attention of those around you onto the job at hand thus instilling a greater sense of responsibility. This act alone just might divert a disaster.

The Lesser of Three Evils Still Shines

We have a republican president who is buried so deeply in corporate pockets that he has effectively turned this government over to boardroom CEO’s. He has told numerous lies. He has instigated an illegal war and used the American military to facilitate the financial rape of a sovereign nation for the benefit of his cronies. He has mocked the very foundation of our government through the abuse of executive privilege. He has perpetrated countless cover-ups to protect his closest friends from criminal prosecution.

We have a republican candidate for president who clearly has memory issues and has flip-flopped on issues so many times that no one really knows what he will do in any given situation. Here are some examples taken from Jonathan Martin’s post dated May 28, 2008:

1. McCain doesn't even know who is in charge in Iran.

2. Iraq/Iran, Sunni/Shia: McCain doesn't know the difference.

3. McCain still thinks Czechoslovakia (which split into two countries in 1993) exists.

4. McCain wrongly claimed that Baghdad was mostly normal.

5. McCain called Baghdad market safe.

6. McCain can't even remember how little he knows about the economy.

7. McCain falsely claimed he never requested pork.

8. McCain falsely claimed that tax cuts increased government revenues.

9. McCain's claim to be untainted by special interest money is false.

10. McCain wrongly claimed he never supported amnesty.

We have a democratic candidate for president who has told blatant, easily contradicted lies in order to bolster herself as the best candidate. She has a documented history of using smear tactics to attack her opponent while avoiding issues. Her desperate and deceitful actions reveal her contempt for the democratic process. She has become a plasticized political shark devoid of most human qualities that will stop at nothing to get what is in her best interest, even tossing DNC rules aside if it will benefit her. Her nasty, low-class, leave-no-prisoners demeanor is proof that she will not be an asset to the presidency.

We have another democratic candidate who, while not being an experienced leader as the media loves to point out inferring that he would not be ready to handle the task of presidency, does bring the ability to work across the aisle to pull people together in working towards solutions instead of participating in the historical partisanship that congress is famous for. He has more experience in public office (8 years in Illinois senate and 2+ in U.S. Senate) than Hillary (6+ as U.S. Senator from New York). But this type of experience does not guarantee a qualified leader. After all, Abraham Lincoln served only two years in the U.S. House. In spite of being constantly attacked for what others around him say, and having been threatened with physical harm because of his race, he refuses to descend to their level and continues to focus on his goal. He doesn’t become involved in the divisive and hateful rhetoric that his opponent uses and he is attracting followers from both parties. This proves he has leadership skills.

We have GOP personnel supporting Obama. We have seen Clinton backers drop her in favor of Obama. Clearly, since these people who are closer to the presidential race than the majority of voters are jumping ship to support another candidate then that candidate must have something to offer.

We have people who will vote for a candidate just because that candidate represents their party never taking into account whether the person is truly qualified for the office. These people do not have the nations best interests at heart.

This presidential race has become a circus. It continues only because we have a two-party system that requires the republicans have someone on their ticket. Since McCain (McBush) is the best they can come up with then they are truly floundering as a party and can not bring themselves to face the certainty of defeat. McCain has proven on many occasions that he cannot handle presidential responsibility. He will have to rely so heavily on advisors to both keep his facts straight for him and to clean up this messes after he speaks without consulting his advisors first that we as a nation will become a bigger laughing stock that we are while under Bush. Or, worse, his misspeaking could trigger an international incident. Why would anyone want this person representing our nation?

McCain, Clinton, and Obama are serving in a political arena that is famous for corrupting morally and ethically weak individuals with its promise of power and untold wealth. Clinton has forsaken her sense of civic duty, McCain has more than likely forgotten his. Obama has not yet been tainted by this process causing many people to label him as naïve. This new blood may be just what this nation needs. Our best hope in redirecting where this government is headed is to have someone who can stand up to corporate lobbyists and deny them any further access to the political process. He may not be the person to do it, then again he has the potential. McCain is certainly not going to do it. Clinton is too politically savvy to turn down special interest money so she probably will not do it. And that leaves us with Barack Obama.

If I may use the analogy of nature, whenever some major natural catastrophe strikes nature has the ability to counteract it with fresh new growth in an attempt to recover what was lost. We are being given a chance to combat the damage of the wholesale looting that George W Bush and his corporate robber barons have participated in throughout his term. I may be considered naïve myself to think that one person and his team can correct these past sins against our democracy but the alternatives are clearly worse.