Geneva in Vain

Charles Krauthammer's column published 10/29/11 in The Oregonian expresses justification for the manner of Gaddafi's death at the hands of the rebels. Apparently because he’s a bad guy that gives justification to the NATO backed rebel forces in sodomizing, torturing, and then murdering him. He had his chance to leave. “Call it the Gadhafi Rule: Give it up and go, or one day find death by "Libyan crossfire” – a temple to temple bullet shot point blank across the skull. “Followed by a Libyan state funeral. That's when you lie on public view for four days, half-naked in a meat locker” Krauthammer gleefully writes, blood curling down from his lower lip.

How are we to distinguish between the rebels and Gaddafi if they are willing to do this to an unarmed man - without due process - and then display his body publicly for days against sacred Muslim law? We support these people - this reflects on us as well. As does the manner of death of Osama Bin Laden and others. Is this really how we want it to go?  

To people like Krauthammer apparently so. I would very much want to ask Mr. Krauthammer and all the other blood thirsty people like him - where is your honor? Where is your humanity? There are rules of conduct in war - they are hard earned coming out of the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Apparently, Mr. Krauthammer has no use for them – and for that he and those like him should be deeply ashamed.

2019: Charles Krauthammer is dead now and cannot defend himself. The above was written while he was alive. I leave it here now for despite his death, his words live on. His words will forever leave a stain on his legacy, and on his decedents, for which there is no defense, and no forgetting.  An eye for an eye will never be a pathway to peace, or to our collective humanness. It may feel good at the moment, but Charles’s words harmed and diminished us all.  

Is George Will Short?

George Will says in his column as published October 30, 2011 .."Obama, a floundering naif who thinks ATMs aggravate unemployment, is bewildered by a national tragedy of shattered dreams, decaying workforce skills and forgone wealth creation."

Am I alone in suffering an overwhelming urge to just pop this smug, arrogant, horse's pitute right in the kisser? Bam! I mean really? Does he forget it is the ultra-conservatives he so smugly represents and their 30 years of trickle down economics that created what 'bewilders' Obama in the first place?

George uses a unique and at times eloquent writing style to spew forth this sort of dribble. His talent - the gift of gab - but minus the wisdom or even common sense his grandiosity demands. Always smug, always arrogant, always trying to impress - leaving one not so much impressed as annoyed, and left asking - what is wrong this guy?

A Better Place

The Nuremberg trials following WWII set the stage for the healing of Europe and in many ways helped usher in a new age of peace and prosperity that included post war Germany. Joseph Stalin had advocated the summary execution of 50,000-100,000 German officers – skipping the whole messy system of due process – his brand of justice. But the peoples of Europe and the US chose instead open trials, this despite the fact that the actions of many of the defendants had led to the deaths of at least 40 million people, having committed unbelievable atrocities along the way.  While far from perfect the trials did result in acquittal and jail sentences for many – a far cry from the Stalin plan. Of the 22 defendants accused of the most serious crimes, 3 were acquitted, seven received prison sentences, and twelve sentenced to death. The Genocide Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Nuremberg Principles, the Convention on the Abolition of the Statute of Limitations on War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, the Geneva Convention on the Laws and Customs of War, and the establishment of a permanent international criminal court all resulted in large part to the principles and spirit that came out of  Nuremberg.  

Examining the manner of death the US or those it supports has chosen for many in Al Qaeda – execution by drone aircraft, for Osama Bin laden – shot point blank with two lethal shots while standing in his bedroom unarmed, and now for Muammar Gaddafi - beaten, shot and then dragged through the streets, it appears we have little use of the international court, or for that matter international law. Instead we have chosen summary execution, without due process, without humanity, or even basic decency. We have in effect chosen the Stalin plan.

Do not mistake this as sympathy for those we have murdered. It instead stems from a deepening sadness at what we do to ourselves and to humanity in general each time we or those we support go down this path. We are supposed to be better than this, better than them. These actions only serve to add to the hate, the anger, the inhumanity of our very fragile world. It is time to address the reasons for terrorism, and evil, and hate and do something about it. It is time we led the world to peace and fairness and stop using military might as a form of world ‘diplomacy’. It is time we again set a shining example of decency and the best humanity has to offer. It is time we lead this world to a better place.

Crime and Punishment

The wall street protestors are not protesting against wall street or the big banks or the government per se. They are instead protesting the dishonesty, corruption, and breath-taking greed of some within these institutions. They protest because the game is fixed and it is America - the poor and middle class - that pays the price, and they are tired of it.

Millions have lost their homes, their retirement funds, their jobs as a direct result of the unbelievable greed and corruption of wall street, big banks, and government. Where are the consequences? Where is the fairness? Millions suffer while these corrupt few - thrive. And no, they do not thrive because they are the better capitalists. They thrive because they are corrupt to the core and at least as greedy. They thrive because they are abetted by a dysfunctional government. They thrive because they have no shame.They gather wealth by deliberately destroying the lives of others. One has only to look at the current mortgage/derivative/world recession debacle to confirm that. They are successful, not through hard work and cleverness, but instead by fixing the game and breaking the law. No, they are not the smarter capitalists, they are just dirty, greedy crooks.

If I were them I'd take care when dismissing these current protesters as quirky, eccentric, fringe. For what is happening in fact reflects a deep frustration and discontent of the mainstream. Enough individuals are cheating at wall street, in big banks and our government to cause real harm to millions and everyone knows it. Up until now no one has done anything about it. For what they have done and continue to do they will eventually have to pay the price. What do you think destroying the lives of millions is worth?

Don't Ask Don't Tell - Get Over It

The evidence is overwhelming that sexual preference is hardwired at birth. We are born to respond to the shapes and appearances that we are hardwired to respond to. Some males will then find males more attractive. Some females will find females more attractive. Don't believe it? Look at peoples' response to infants. We are all hardwired to respond to the infant shape, the infant face - in fact almost any mammalia infant will tug at our hearts strings. We didn't learn that - it's hard wired. As is sexual preference.

We know who we are attracted to - it's not something that has to be taught. They tell us that is the result of complex brain interactions and function centered on things like facial symmetry. It's for sure alot more complicated than that - but for sure it's hardwired. As is sexual preference.

There is a heterogeneity to this. It's not - your attracted to males or your attracted to females. There are shades of gray. Homophobes probably have more gray than they can handle. These feelings threaten. Feeling threatened makes people angry. Probably most people are hardwired to respond primarily to the opposite sex. But this does not make other preferences 'unnatural'.

Being gay is just being who you are. It's not unnatural, or deviant, or the result of being oversexed, or evil, or godless, or mentally ill - although after putting up with what society puts you through for being born gay one could certainly feel that way at times. Gays are gay - born that way. Get over it.

Class Warfare - The Robber Cries Foul

According to many in politics balancing the budget, fiscal responsibility and the health of our economy is not and should not be the concern of the wealthy. Any attempt to get wall street, banks, corporations or the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share into the community chest is now, according to them, class warfare. This is not class warfare. That is a distraction, a lie, told by the very people that helped put us in our current recession in the first place. A lie told in order to deflect attention from their greed.

The world's economies are broken. At its most basic one has only to look at the US to understand why - greed, corruption, and lack of oversight. Greed begets money. Money begets corruption and political influence. Corruption begets ineffective or non existent oversight. And that is exactly what caused this current recession. If you sell mortgages to people who can't afford it - lying about their ability to pay -  in effect preying on them; and then package those mortgages into something you can trade on wall street, illegally awarding AAA status along the way; and if you then bet for these packages to both succeed and fail; and then, when the entire house of cards falls, you pull out the 'we are to big to fail' card, causing the government to just hand over billions - no strings attached - of the masses money - your money, my money - and give it to the very few, unbelievably greedy that caused all this mess in the first place - what do you get? Our current recession. And now when asked for a little of it back - class warfare? - really?

400 people in the US now possess the same amount of wealth as the all the people in bottom half of economic scale - combined. The game is fixed. Governments and the media are controlled by this extreme concentration of wealth and influence. The final result is the greatest transfer of wealth from the masses to the very, very few since feudal Europe and a lot of human suffering.

If the people have no money they cannot buy. If they cannot buy there are no sales. If there are no sales there are no jobs. If there are no jobs there is no money. If the people have no money...

It is the perfect storm - the current recession - all courtesy of the greedy and corrupt. Class warfare? Robber just crying foul.

Go Electric

And now the popular 'cool' alternative mind-set is that electric cars aren't green. The production of the electricity to charge the cars results in the same amount of pollution as gasoline powered cars. And oh yes - the carbon released in making the car negates any benefit to global warming.
Wrong.
None of this is true.
Plug-in electrics are responsible for about 30% fewer climate-changing greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline-powered cars, even if the electric vehicle is charged with a coal-fired power plant, according to a joint study by the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group and the utility industry-sponsored Electric Power Research Institute. That is because they are considerably more efficient than gasoline or diesel powered cars. And if you live in a state like Oregon that uses 55% hydroelectric for its electricity production that figure can exceed 75% less. Not to mention the particulates, and poisonous gases NOT coming from theses cars non-existent tailpipes.
Can you imagine Tokyo or Los Angeles without pollution from tailpipes???