POWER CORRUPTS

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." Lord Acton 1887

Do we have too much power? Is the rise of terrorism around the world a reflection and concequence of this power? When World War 2 ended, we didn't bring home our armies. They stayed as occupiers in Europe and the Far East as part of our foreign policy and attempts to improve security, especially againat the rise of communisim.
We also involved ourselves Middle East politics both for oil and Israel.

One egregious example of this is Iran. The following quote is from Wikipedia:
"In 1953 the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh. The Eisenhower Administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons; but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs."
We were in cahoots with the Brits over this because Massadegh wanted to nationalize the oil industry that was under the Brits control at the time. The Iranians have never forgotten our role in this fiasco, and obviously haven't forgiven us. This is but one of many examples of the misuse of power.

We can't control the world. If we continue to try, we will bring ourselves down. Terrorism is the result of the past 60 years of misguided policies. I believe that the time has come to bring troops home. We should concentrate our efforts into being sure our borders, skies and coastlines are secure. Look at the money we will save! Might pay for proper healthcare for all.

WHO HAS THE GUTS

To be the Patrick Henry of healthcare, stand up before Congress and say, GIVE ME THE PUBLIC OPTION OR GIVE ME DEATH!?
I think, without the Public Option, the insurance companies will guarantee death to many.

Clothing = No Security

For many years the San Francisco CHRONICLE had a brilliant and satirical columnist by the name of Art Hoppe. Art is long gone, but my memories of daily reading of his column linger on.

Way back in the 1960's there was a rash of airline hijackings to Cuba. Because of the emnity between Cuba and the USA, there was no legal way to get there from here, so hijacking to Havana became popular.

The current news about the Nigerian terrorist who tried, but thanks to courageous passengers, failed to destroy an airliner as it was preparing to land in Detroit, reminded me of one of Mr. Hoppe's columns concerning Cuban hijacking. Art, with one of his satirical quips provided the solution to passengers with weapons gaining access to the airplane. EVERYBODY FLIES NAKED!!!

Art, we have no peace, but I hope you REST IN PEACE! We miss you.

HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE

There is an award winning movie titled SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. I'm planning a movie titled SCUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Here's how it works: Become a United States Senator. Get rich doing the bidding of the health insurance industry. If Joe can do it, so can you.

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS!

THE LAP DOG

Joe Lieberman is the lap dog of the insurance industry. He has received 100's of thousands of dollars, some say millions from the insurance industry. He is being paid to do their bidding. Some, including this writer would say this is bribery. Bribery is a crime.

Joe LIEberman---------------------------

------------will do the bidding of his masters, the health insurance business based in his state, Connecticut, and do his best to ruin any meaningful legislation thsat may improve the life of the less than wealthy among us.
Joe is a skunk, and should be removed from all positions of power in the Senate.

THE FIGHT OVER HEALTHCARE

NO PUBLIC OPTION = PUBLIC SHAME

Nobel Prize

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama brought to mind the George Orwell novel, 1984, one of the important socio-political works of the 20th century. I couldn't help but remember a slogan from the novel. "War is Peace". Was Orwell a prophet? More and more it seems that he was.

INSUROCRACY

Apologies to A. Lincoln

It seems that we will be burdened by GOVERNMENT OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY, BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY, FOR THE INSURANCE COMPANY--------------

A TALE FOR THE TIGER

Once upon a time in a little town situated by the railroad track lived a big tom cat who was a roamer all about the local countryside.
On a very warm day as he wandered far and wide, visiting friends, especially female friends, he reached the railroad tracks south of town. As he was warm, and tired from all his perambulations and dalliances, he decided to lie down by the track for a much needed rest. As luck would have it, he lay close to the track and soon fell into a deep sleep, so deep he didn't hear the train coming. While he was in this deep sleep, his tail was twitching and came to rest on the track. The train came along, and snipped off the end. Mr. Tom awoke, saw that a piece of his tail was gone, and in a rage tried to bite the train. Tragically for old Tom, the train cut off his head.
There's a moral to this story. Are you listening Tiger?

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD OVER A LITTLE PIECE OF TAIL

IN DEFENSE OF SARAH PALIN

Every citizen needs a voice to speak for them. Even the stupid. ESPECIALLY the stupid.

TIME TO PAY

For the past 8 years we have been fighting war on credit. This is irresponsible. This is wrong. If war is necessary, then a war tax must be levied to pay for it. Nothing less will do. If war is patriotic, then paying for it up front is also patriotic.
If there must be war, then there must be troops to fight it. It's time to reinstate military conscription to provide the "boots on the ground" necessary for "victory". Far too many National Guard members have been sent back for multiple tours. This is wrong. If the war is patriotic, then patriotic citizens must step up and bear arms for their country.
War is pain, and all must bear their share of the pain.

Afghanistan and Vietnam. Karzai and Diem

From Wikipedia:
1963 South Vietnamese coup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On November 1, 1963, President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of the Buddhist crisis and, in general, his increasing oppression of national groups in the name of fighting the Communist-dominated National Liberation Front.
The United States had been aware of the coup d'état planning,[1] but Cable 243 from the Department of State to U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. stated that it was U.S. policy[2] not to try to stop it. Lucien Conein, the Central Intelligence Agency's liaison between the U.S. embassy and the coup planners, told them that the U.S. would not intervene to stop it. Conein did, however, provide funds to the coup leaders.[3]
The coup was led by General Dương Văn Minh of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Diem was executed the next day.
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Afghanistan President Karzai better watch his back. History, especially bad history seems to have a way of repeating. I don't think that Pres. Kennedy gave permission to assasinate Diem, but it happened anyway. Giving our generals in Afghanistan more power could backfire.

WAR AND MORE WAR

Well, it looks like Obama is going to escalate the Afghan war. Will this make him a one term President? I thought he was smart enough to understand that war is not always the answer. Guess I was wrong. Looks like we're on the road to "Afgha-Nam".

BAN DIVORCE IN CALIFORNIA ! ! ??

Some doofus in California is gathering signatures on a petition to have a vote to amend the California Constitution so as to ban divorce. One wonders about his motives. Is he working for Nevada? Business is slow there. If Californians had to go there for a divorce, it might help the economy. I can see businesses being set up that would involve hotels, casinos, law offices, courts, etc. A regular resort for the maritally disaffected. I even have a name for it. Trumpets and drumroll------------------- THE LAST RESORT