No More Excuses

Enough is enough already. With Israel once again believing it answers to no one and attacking humanitarian ships out to help Palestinians, they have shown their hand in their unmistakable hatred for the Palestinians. For too long, U.S. foreign policies relating to this issue has always leaned to the side of the Israeli’s but this action cannot nor should it be denied or ignored.

If Israel wasn’t being devious and underhanded, they wouldn’t have been sneaking onto the boats in the wee hours of the morning, when they assumed most of those on board would be asleep. At this point, it really doesn’t matter where one is on the political or religious spectrum, Israel’s action is suspicious. For their soldiers to say they were defended themselves is akin to the giant saying he was protecting himself against Jack. This incident didn’t happen at a time when people were wide awake nor did they try and alert the boats of their intention of boarding. No, the soldiers lowered themselves onto the ships via military aircraft. To make matters worse is the official fact that these boats were in international waters, am I missing something here? For far too long, the international neighborhood kept their opinions to themselves regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but finally they are staying silent no more. It’s about time. Much of Israel’s behavior has been more or less condoned by former administrations especially a Republican administration, only President Obama has had the backbone to address the issue as it should be, demanding Israel to give the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinians and stop the building of settlements. Due to policies of past administrations the U.S. has become a target for those who hate Israel. Fair and equitable diplomacy should be the priority in international relationships, with some exceptions of course.

For far too long, administrations and the policies have catered to the whims of Israel due to religion and the religious. Is not evil still evil, no matter who is committing the evil deed? Is not t Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians similar to what Hitler did to the Jews or America did to the slaves and Native Americans? Inhumane treatment should not be tolerated in the guise of religion or protection from ally or foe. Didn’t GOD have mercy on Hagar, an Egyptian woman and mother of Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn and Sarah’s maid? It was an Angel of the Lord who informed Hagar the name to give her yet unborn son.[1] Most importantly, the Angel said to Hagar, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”[2] GOD is no respecter of persons, that’s why John 3:16 uses the word “whoever” which means anyone not just US and Israeli citizens, anyone and everyone who’s willing to believe. In the Gospel of John, JESUS CHRIST described Himself in seven (7) spiritual descriptions, of which one is The Shepherd. He stated, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold (Jewish/Israelis), them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”[3] Another illustration of the fairness of GOD and CHRIST, the Bible states, “That JESUS would die for the nation (Israel), and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather in one the children of GOD who were scattered abroad”.[4] So the religious right who try and blackmail administrations with their religious point of view no longer have a leg to stand on. There’s not one religion on the face of this earth that will say Israel’s actions of depriving the Palestinians of their basic rights is right, it is evil. There can be no complacency with Israel’s actions any longer. There can be no more excuses.

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[1] Genesis 16

[2] Genesis 16:10

[3] John 16:16

[4] John 11:51-52

Miscalculations

Born in Jamaica, West Indies to a Jamaican mother and Cuban father, raised middle class and going through life’s struggles, I have the advantage of seeing from different perspectives but I’m rambling. I love politics, have done so since I was in junior high (middle) school. I say all this because contrary to popular beliefs, intelligence and wisdom is not determined by how many degrees one has and I’ve arrived at this conclusion due to the many missteps and miscalculations of our country’s foreign policies, no matter which parties’ man is sitting in the Oval office.

The countries of interest for this article are Iraq and Iran. See, before the quagmires that President Obama has to contend with became open, festering sores, our policies contributed to the putrid stench that is now present in the international community. Prior to the 21^st century, our government had illicit affairs with both countries. The Shah of Iran was a despot whom we supported but the people weren’t happy and when Saddam usurped the former ruler of Iraq, we didn't make too much noise. When Ronald Reagan was in the office, we were very cozy with Saddam. Why? Because “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, an Arabic proverb which really applied here, came about due to the uprising in Iran to get rid of the U.S. supported Shah. Citizens, mostly college students, took over the American embassy. It was so bad in that country that the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini returned shortly after taxpayers’ money was used to get the Shah, his family and cohorts out of Iran. Although President Carter sent in a covert team to free the hostages, the mission failed and thus he lost the presidency to Reagan. Now, back on track, as I aforementioned President Reagan’s administration climbed into bed with Saddam, who even took a picture with Donald Rumsfeld. We got in bed with Saddam because of the actions of the Iranians and both the U.S. and Iraq hated Iran; therein lays the punch line for “politics making strange bedfellows”. When President Bush’s administration invaded Iraq, without just cause as the 9/11 was perpetrated by mostly Saudi (allies?) citizens, they took away the stop gap in keeping Iran under control. Saddam loved power and had no problems flexing his military muscles but it was also ideological as well as Saddam was Sunni and Iran is mostly Shiite. It was no surprise about Saddam’s sadistic ways, he was our sadist but because of an alleged rumor, that Saddam had put a hit out on Daddy Bush plus the fact that during the Clinton administration, conservative think-tanks were plotting how to invade parts of the Middle East, for oil of course, we invaded. This can be verified via ABC’s Nightline when Ted Koppel was the moderator. GW and daddy’s cohorts, (one can’t have missed the fact that from Dick Cheney to everyone in Bush’s cabinet, all formerly worked in Daddy Bush’s administration as well as Reagan’s) decided they would flex their muscles and take Saddam down. Now, mini-me Napoleonic Ahmadinejad is flexing what little muscles he has. If you can go back a little, you will notice that “mini-me ” or Iran wasn’t doing much before as they feared Saddam, everyone did and with just cause; he had his own son-in-laws murdered for going against him. If I may ramble a little here, no matter how vile Saddam was, he was murdered by his enemies within his country and the Bush administration. Why is it murder, you ask? By international law, even if there were WMD’s found in Iraq, there is an order one is required to follow and it wasn’t. Enemies or not, both Bush and Saddam were leaders of a nation and it should have been addressed through that channel as Saddam stated. The most heinous criminal in this country receive better treatment than what Saddam received. No matter one’s political point of view, the law is the law, international or otherwise and the Bush administration broke the laws on so many levels but the murder of Saddam was another tool for the extremists to use and recruit. I will say this, Bush well learned the ways of the CIA, as his dad headed the agency back in the day. The invasion of Iraq and the murder of Saddam is the flip side of the coin in what this country tried to do during the Kennedy administration with Fidel and the Bay of Pigs incident. They had to do it like this, with everything going so viral and Saddam being the hard-ass he was, the CIA could never get close enough. Those who opposed Saddam and saw Desert Storm as a way of usurping Saddam got some support from daddy Bush but in the end he left them flapping in the wind and ultimately to their death.

Writer Barbara Tuchman, said, “war is the unfolding of miscalculations” and due to the many Laurel & Hardy type bumbles our policies have created, this is our fate, another fine mess.

Womanhood – Sexy vs. Trashy

Although I love addressing political issues, I occasionally love to write about societal issues and have strayed from it for a while but after the article addressing the political observance of womanhood, I thought about looking at the same issue from another point of view, so here I go.

Do you know why we love getting presents? Because we’re excited about what we’re getting and of course, sometimes we’re disappointed. The same cannot be said about how some females, girls, women of all shapes, sizes and races are dressing or not. Allowing the world to glimpse your goodies doesn’t make one sexy; in fact, it makes some look like unkempt prostitutes, trashy. Unfortunately, it’s become the norm.

Being sexy means loving who you are as a woman and your clothes are well fitting. What that means is that it molds onto your body in comfort; that it reveals your femininity without showing everything. One shouldn’t have to squeeze into their clothes. It’s too tight when a part of your body looks like it’s trying to escape for air. It’s too tight when one can count all the rolls on your body and the lines of your delicates are shouting its existence to the world.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice being a little spicy but there’s a time and a place. Yeah, you may have the guys checking you out but it’s not “you”, it’s about sex and nothing but the sex. No respect, no commitment, no relationship, nothing but the sex. That decent man you’re looking for, if he’s about anything, isn’t going to settle for a female who doesn’t know how to carry herself well. Oh yeah, that really irks me, stop looking, stop trying "to find", he'll find you. That man isn’t going to settle for a female who doesn’t know how to carry a conversation and I don’t mean gossip. Snookie, from “The Jersey Shore” may be quite intelligent but what she chose to share with the rest of us made me pity her. Unfortunately there are men who want their women to be bimbos and many play into that stereotype.

Older women should know better. They are supposed to be examples of class for younger women, not following the dressing fashion of younger women. GOD has already blessed you with natural sexiness; one shouldn’t need to dress like a hooker to show that you’re sexy. Being female is sexy in itself. Sexiness is in the way a woman walks, in the way that she carries herself; the way she uses the brain GOD blessed her with and the way she lifts up those around her.

This may sound old fashioned but back in the day, only women with loose morals dressed the way many are dressing today. Don’t believe the hype shown on TV, music videos, etc.; those females make their money dressing that way, no innuendos here. They live in a world some dream of but it’s not reality. I found out a few years ago why Muslim women cover themselves. They are seen as treasures that only their husbands should see them in their feminine glory. Eva Longoria said, “I love being a woman. I love the sexiness we get to exude. But the best thing about being a woman is the power we have over men.”[1] Although the adage states, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, in today’s society you are judged by your appearances. When one doesn’t leave anything to the imagination, what’s left? Here’s looking at you!!

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[1] http://www.popmonk.com/quotes/sex.htm

The Political Observance of Womanhood

This is Monday, May 10, 2010, the day after Mother’s Day. On Sunday, I opened an e-mail from First Lady Michelle Obama describing what she owes to her mother but also what her husband has done to assist women, which is very interesting.

What's interesting to me is how the two major political parties view women. It was the Democrats which had the first woman, Geraldine Ferraro, representing a major political party to fill the vice presidential seat and this wasn’t a move of desperation. During the 2008 presidential campaign, John McCain selected a female, not from serious thought and deliberations but one of desperation in hopes of picking up Hillary Clinton’s leftover women’s support and vote. Bad enough being desperate but he picked a woman, who although is a brunette, was essentially and mentally a blond. All you blonds out there, please don’t be offended, we all know of the dumb blond jokes but some of you are smarter than a fifth grader, unfortunately she wasn’t nor has that changed. The two leading Democrats to challenge the GOP’s stance on womanhood were Bill Clinton and now President Obama and there are two reasons for this. The first is the fact that both of these men were raised by hard-working single mothers and they saw how much these women sacrificed to make sure their sons achieved their dreams. Because of and through these experiences, they could more easily understand the needs of single mothers and the strength of women. The second reasons ties in with the first as they have realized the strength of women and not see them as “damsels in distress” who needs to be rescued or them having to stay in the kitchen. President Obama signed the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act” on January 29^th, 2009, thus amending the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which provides women legal remedies if they feel they are being discriminated against due to their gender. Responding to a question on the fact that her retirement benefits are based on the discriminatory pay she received from Goodyear Tire, Birmingham News, January 23, 2009, Lilly Ledbetter responded with, “I will be a second-class citizen for the rest of my life ... It affects every penny I have today".[1] Her comment on being a second-class citizen was justly stated and re-enforced by the Republican Party's vote. Wait a minute, Muslim extremists see women in the same light as the GOP, interesting. I can’t say if she was aware of how the votes went prior to making that statement but I will share with you that on January 9^th, 2009, there was a House vote on this bill. Democrats voted “Yea” with 244 votes and seven (7) not casting any votes while the Republicans voted “Nay” with 166 votes and eight (8) not casting any votes. It doesn’t take an Einstein to read into these numbers.

The Republicans like their dog and pony show because it allows them to still feel like men as they allow minorities and women to participate within their party, it’s just to get more dogs and ponies. Not to digress but in watching The Ed Show the other night on MSNBC, I learned that around 40 something African-Americans within the GOP were running for political positions, emboldened by the election of President Obama, unfortunately for them, they're not him. I don’t know if they are indeed supported by the RNC but if they are, it is only to say to African-Americans, "see we have people like you in our party" but it’s not from sincerity, it’s for political gain just as allowing women into their party is for political gain. Republican males are first and foremost or so they want to think, the master of their domain but the mindset is minorities and women knowing their place. Mrs. Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for two (2) decades during which times there have been Republican Administrations who were well aware of the Supreme Court’s ruling against her. Did any of them take any action? That would be a resounding “NO”. Republicans are threatened by strong political women who are usually Democrats. Just look at their response to Hillary Clinton during her husband’s administration, their comments on Teresa Heinz-Kerry during her husband’s run for the presidential seat or their reaction to Michelle Obama during the presidential campaign. In deference, John McCain’s wife played her part, as so many good Republican wives do. I, by no means, want to demean GOP wives but until they step out of their Stepford wives roles, they can’t expect to get the respect they so rightly deserve.

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[1] http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C1874954%2C00.html

Are They for Real?

I watched “The Ed Show” this morning on MSNBC and he was interviewing the former governor of New York who refused to give President Obama any credit for his accomplishments but he did state, for the record, that the Obama administration is not a regime as stated by that postulate pus of hatred named Rush Limbaugh. Unfortunately, he’s not the only postulate pus of hatred blowing hot air, he’s the only one so bloated with hot air that he almost resembles a walking blimp.

Rush stated, “I hope he fails.” Karl Rove, of all people, stated, “I’ve always said that I think he’s (President Obama) sort of an arrogant guy (who says) things that are simply not true.” Okay, this is from a guy who aided and abetted in the invasion of Iraq under the guise of WMD’s; who aided and abetted in the questionable second term of the real arrogant guy. Then we have good ole Dick Cheney, who never fails to live up to his first name, say, “President Obama could lead “foes” of the U.S. to “think they’re dealing with a weak president.” Okay, first, he must have forgotten their (Bush administration) policy on torture that assisted in the Muslim extremists’ ability to recruit more weak-minded people to join their alleged Jihad against the U.S. Second, does anyone not see how cool President Obama is? He’s like that silent but deadly hero we see in the movies. You know the one the blowhards always push around and ridicule but when it comes to the real smack down, he kicks their butts? The Bible says of folks like that, “he who is slow to wrath has great understanding; but he who is impulsive exalts folly.”[1] But here I go digressing again. Doesn’t my statement about the Muslim extremists’ ability to recruit weak-minded people sound like the right-wing conservatives and their tea baggers? One must truly be weak-minded to believe such fallacies and that takes me to my next stop. The Bible tells us that, “he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going”[2] and these poor, deluded citizens don’t know where they’re going. They are mindless zombies willing to bend and turn, rant and rave at the command of their leaders not dissimilar to how Hitler gained control of Germany. Again, they’ve called the Obama administration “the regime” “socialists” and “gangster government” to name a few but have they stopped to consider whose pattern they’re following? Hatred and fear are powerful and dangerous tools to be wielded and those who wield it, in the paraphrased words of the Joker (Jack Nicholson), “are dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight”. All those in history that we abhor for the hatred and fear they’ve spewed started in the same manner. Hitler used hatred of the Jews, Christians used fear in the Crusades, Christians also used fear in the Salem Witch Hunts, it was fear and hatred that produced the Apartheid in South Africa and I can go on and on but you know the point I’m making. Such unleashed hatred added to the fuel of fear and lit by the match of ignorance can only result in calamity.

Yes, debate is a healthy thing but this isn’t about civilized, responsible debate, this is about, for less of a better description, a pack of rabid wild dogs foaming at the mouth.

Edmund Burke stated, “The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear” and well does Bertrand Russell describe the mentality of these postulate of pus and their mindless followers when he stated, “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity towards those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”

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[1] Proverbs 14:29

[2] John 12:35