The Administration (and many others in the US involved in determining international policy) appears startlingly ignorant about the countries it interacts with in more or less therole of "savior." (See also Mexico) Similarly, Obama doesn't seem to realize that he's running an empire whose wealth was in many instances ill-gotten and which continues to be responsible for huge non-military damages to air, jobs, resources, etc. etc. How could someone who spent part of his childhood in the Philippines and whose family is healthily mixed in a number of ways be so tone-deaf?
Religionist is a good term. The young man and his kid brother look Boston through and through. This is about two souls who got terribly, terribly lost. The citizens of Boston, as far as I could see, responded with decency and kindness. Law enforcement perhaps overreacted, but understandably. The older man was killed in a shoot-out that was more characteristic of criminal apprehension than of anti-terrorism activity. The boy was all alone in the end in a boat in a suburban backyard. In a sense, all murderers are terrorists. We should not have separate systems of justice for any group. We should work to make sure our Constitutional system of justice is functioning and respecting our fundamental concepts. And we really need to demand that the media, especially the 24-hour media, behave ethically and with restraint. And that their commentators learn to shut up and take a breath once in awhile, for God's sake. Their 24 hour coverage is completely antithetical to maintaining a civilized society.
Gun control efforts as proposed by Obama (which make no effort to ban them) are I think important because they may shift our culture's nature a bit, from its emphasis on individual rights to one in which we show more concern for our neighbors, a willingness to sacrifice a little for the common good.
Ignorance of foreign areas is not limited to the Middle East. The shallowness of the Obama's understanding of Mexico and Latin America is breathtaking. The warrior-like approach to mafias in Mexico and the ignorance of such drug mafias and trafficking in much of the world is extremely dangerous. I understand that at least in Mexico, underlings in the Embassy don't stay more than six months. If this is true internationally, how can anyone in the US which STILL craves dominance gain any meaningful knowledge of the world they are living in?
I have been enjoying your foray into US political stuff. So when I ask this, it is not to diminish anything you write, but could you please put up an Omar Khayyam category in the side bar so I could go back and find the poems?
Thank you.
The Administration (and many others in the US involved in determining international policy) appears startlingly ignorant about the countries it interacts with in more or less therole of "savior." (See also Mexico) Similarly, Obama doesn't seem to realize that he's running an empire whose wealth was in many instances ill-gotten and which continues to be responsible for huge non-military damages to air, jobs, resources, etc. etc. How could someone who spent part of his childhood in the Philippines and whose family is healthily mixed in a number of ways be so tone-deaf?
I was appalled but not surprised that Obama, Clinton and Carter attended the opening and appeared jovial.
An amendent: all mass murderers and serial killers are terrorists. Any murderer on the loose probably could be considered a terrorist, too.
Religionist is a good term. The young man and his kid brother look Boston through and through. This is about two souls who got terribly, terribly lost. The citizens of Boston, as far as I could see, responded with decency and kindness. Law enforcement perhaps overreacted, but understandably. The older man was killed in a shoot-out that was more characteristic of criminal apprehension than of anti-terrorism activity. The boy was all alone in the end in a boat in a suburban backyard. In a sense, all murderers are terrorists. We should not have separate systems of justice for any group. We should work to make sure our Constitutional system of justice is functioning and respecting our fundamental concepts. And we really need to demand that the media, especially the 24-hour media, behave ethically and with restraint. And that their commentators learn to shut up and take a breath once in awhile, for God's sake. Their 24 hour coverage is completely antithetical to maintaining a civilized society.
Gun control efforts as proposed by Obama (which make no effort to ban them) are I think important because they may shift our culture's nature a bit, from its emphasis on individual rights to one in which we show more concern for our neighbors, a willingness to sacrifice a little for the common good.
The whole thing is as good as a Mexican telenovala.
Ignorance of foreign areas is not limited to the Middle East. The shallowness of the Obama's understanding of Mexico and Latin America is breathtaking. The warrior-like approach to mafias in Mexico and the ignorance of such drug mafias and trafficking in much of the world is extremely dangerous. I understand that at least in Mexico, underlings in the Embassy don't stay more than six months. If this is true internationally, how can anyone in the US which STILL craves dominance gain any meaningful knowledge of the world they are living in?
I have been enjoying your foray into US political stuff. So when I ask this, it is not to diminish anything you write, but could you please put up an Omar Khayyam category in the side bar so I could go back and find the poems?
Thank you.