Koran Burning: What Next to Help the Cause?

You have to question the motives of many people who seek to incite others. A minister who calls himself a Christian, Terry Jones, is now planning to hold a public burning of the Koran, the Muslim holy book on September 11.

The commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, has had to speak out at such actions as not just unhelpful but now potentially dangerous. We are at war with radical Islamists who need little or no excuse for their atrocities in the name of Allah. They have bastardized a legitimate religion by their actions and now some in our country will do the same to their own religion that purportedly emphasizes tolerance and forgiveness.

It is one thing to condemn the actions of the radicals, in fact more should be done by the defenders of the true Islamic faith, but it is another in incite the crazies again. Why would anyone risk putting our troops in further peril; why would any sane person intentionally shake the wasps nest? That they have the “right” to do these insanities is not in dispute, but to take an action that any reasonable person could see is done out of pure spite without regard to the consequences to others, is irresponsible and reprehensible. As Martin Luther King, jr. once said, “Hate begets hate, violence begets violence…”

The Christian loonies complain about the Muslim loonies who bomb and kill, yet they cannot see that their actions can have the same effect. Our only hope is that either someone stops their lunatic behavior, or those who could be offended will consider the source and chose not to be.

We can only hope.

Smoking Guns Might Be Cheaper!

I used to be a smoker. Two packs a day. I could not afford to smoke today. I don’t see how anyone can. Even at $5 a pack for the cheapies, my bill would be over $300 a month. That’s enough to cover my cable, electric, gas, water, and newspaper bills.

Paradoxically, it is the poorer folk who have higher rates of smoking. They truly cannot afford to smoke yet do so in too high numbers. Education seems to help. Those with a higher education seem to smoke far less, even though they might better be able to afford it.

Beyond the cost are the very real health risks. I am not a rabid ex-smoker on a mission to eradicate the filthy weed from the earth. Mostly my only reaction to being near someone else’s smoke is to screw up my face into a pained expression. Sometimes I will cough, and sometimes it is for real.

Reports keep coming out on second-hand smoke and with each one, a more ominous fate for those forced to inhale noxious things. At first, it was only mildly detrimental to the non-smoker’s health. Today, the findings show it to be far worse.

All of this is reflected in the non-smoking policies and laws that are in greater abundance. Most mid to upscale hotels no longer allow smoking in any rooms. Government buildings are off limits, and some laws push the inveterate smokers away from the entrances so employees and visitors do not have to run the smoky gamut anymore.

The smell is bad enough; the health risks notwithstanding. Get near a smoker for any time at all, and your clothing is tainted for the day. No “I-can-wear-this-another-day” shirts after that.

I have seen, among reasonably sophisticated people who smoke, a respect for the non-smoker. Many smokers will not even smoke in their own houses, knowing that the stench lingers in the carpeting and upholstery. Most smokers will not ask if you mind if they smoke anymore, anticipating the answer. I cringe at my discourtesy to others when I smoked. I often did ask if I could smoke in people’s homes, even when I knew no one smoked in the house. They would scramble to find an ashtray or a jar lid I could use. Such rudeness on my part. I even smoked in the grocery aisles, not denying myself that hit of nicotine even for a few minutes. Today, such tactlessness is gone.

I quit smoking on April 15, 1982 and have NEVER gone back. I won’t even tempt myself with an “It’s a boy/girl!” cigar, or take a “hit” off of a friend’s cigarette. I quit cold turkey (I know, yay for me!) and I wish others would try it. But we are all different so if Nicorette or Chantix works, then I wouldn’t knock it. But anecdotally, I see those methods fail frequently.

I believe cigarettes’ days are numbered. Increasing taxes, higher prices, less social acceptance, and more restrictive laws will eventually lower the demand in the U.S. I think that would be a good thing. Anyone got a Twinkie?

Ask What You Can Do for Your Country...

The economy is tanking, or at least it is not moving very fast to the positive side. The vicious circle of no jobs, therefore no money, therefore no spending, therefore no hiring is continuing apace.

Yet there are about 90% of us who do have jobs, or don’t have jobs by choice as in retired (or fabulously wealthy). So what can we, who are in that 90% do to help our country along with our fellow countrymen (and women)? Isn’t it obvious?

Spend money! There are reports of a pent-up demand for all sorts of consumer goods, but we who have the gold are now saving more. I suppose that is a good thing except that in today’s world, it looks like hoarding.

I’ll go even further out on this fragile limb and suggest that we buy locally and buy products produced in the U.S.A. Do we really want or need to support China more than we already are? China and India have a growth rate much higher than ours and the trade imbalance is striking. How about buying an American car instead of the “cooler” imports. Unless you really need a Maybach, most American cars are now built well enough for our use, and are backed up by liberal warranties. Detroit finally got the message.

We may have to pay more for clothes and other goods made in the U.S. but the effect is great when done in large numbers. Spend just a little more (sometimes) and help out your neighbor. If we all did a few things like buying what we have been wanting for some time, buying goods from our own country, and encouraging our friends and relatives to do the same, the consumer numbers would tick up, causing businesses to produce more, causing more hiring, then causing more spending from those new paychecks. See? It can all work out if we all do just a little.

I have now convinced myself to buy that new car now.

Katrina Lessons: Planning and More Planning

Watching the 5th anniversary news shows on Hurricane Katrina and its devastation reminded me of how quickly we forget. Our daily lives get in the way of keeping such a tragedy at the forefront. The pictures were even more shocking today, watching what happened at the Super Dome and on rooftops and on bridges. Or I should say, what didn’t happen.

I heard more than one commentator say something like, “if we can get aid to Haiti and to Pakistan and to a number of other foreign countries within days, if not hours, than how could what happened in New Orleans have occurred?” Where were the airlifted food and water drops? Why did it take four days to get troops in place?

Never mind the poor and inadequate pre-planning that should have been done by the city, the state, and the feds. We can’t change that now but we sure can change the planning for such an emergency response when a disaster strikes again as it surely will.

The government can maintain stockpiles of water and MREs all over the country. By rotating the stock in the normal course of daily use, there will always be a supply in warehouses around our many military bases. Contracts with bottled water makers, food purveyors, and other necessities can be in place for a quick response using trucks or a few spare Air Force C-5s which we have all over the country. If we can deploy a “surge” to the Middle East, how about the same for the Midwest, or the southeast…you get the picture.

Finally, we have to train our citizens to have a plan of their own, especially when they live in an area where natural disasters occur. Families should have contact plans, phone trees, meeting sites, and the like in place before they are needed. It was said that even with the evacuation order in New Orleans (given a little late), many people did not have the means to move out of the way. Maybe true with elderly or the disabled, but in the case of Katrina, there was enough time to walk north far enough to avoid the flooding before the levees failed. To heck with your property, lives are far more precious and finding a ride or walking would have been better than living in the Super Dome, or worse, drowning. The government can’t do it all, but it should have its own plan of action, plus should actively encourage all citizens to have plans and “go-bags” of their own.

What happened in New Orleans five years ago should never happen again. Unfortunately, it will.

Why is Congress' Approval Rating So Low?

For some reason Congress keeps rolling along, thinking that the have credibility to continue passing laws we don’t need or want, and spending money like we had it.

With only a 19% approval rating (I would like to test those 19% for dementia), Congress should have its collective tail between its collective legs and out on the hustings begging for forgiveness. But that won’t happen. They will continue with their collective arrogance and hubris to spend money they really think is theirs, raising the deficit because they themselves won’t have to pay it.

A few of them don’t seem to know the rules the rest of us have to follow like reporting income, not using business (House) stationary for personal benefit, and so much more. They can’t even follow the U.S. Constitution to get a bill passed. The Senate passed the bill to increase border patrol agents and increase border security. Then the House was called back from recess to pass the bill, which would then go to the President. Only one thing wrong. It was a spending bill which, by law, has to originate in the House.

So then the Senate had to be called back, unless most agreed (including Republicans) that they could do a voice vote over the phone or some such workaround. Thanks to a few bipartisan Senators, the bill was passed although not in the usual way.

How can they and their staff not know something about spending bills that we all learned in fifth grade?

But you know what? Nothing will change; or rather not much will change. We, the citizens, rant and complain and rail against both sides and even incumbents. But when we march into the ballot box in November, we will do what we almost always do and vote for our incumbents. Somehow, although we hate Congress, we seem to think our own guys and gals serving us directly are usually all right. It’s must be those from the other states who are bad. Heaven help us. We are starting to see “The Rise and Fall of the American Empire” and not enough of us seem to care.

Counter-insurgency Seldom Works: A Long Costly Slog

As the American people become increasing tired of the war in Afghanistan, the military and the administration keep looking for victories that will show that the war is winnable. Fewer people believe that everyday.

Most wars of history involve “traditional” methods taught in military academies, where a sort of chess game was played between the sides. In Afghanistan, there is no clear enemy and one that certainly does not subscribe to the “rules of war.” The insurgency continues on with the U.S. and (dwindling) allies playing a sort of “Whack-a-Mole” but never getting to the core.

Guerilla warfare is not new, but it is the lesser method that is often looked down upon by our trained generals. The problem, it seems, is that there are no rules, and therefore hard to define the “game.” In the U.S. Revolutionary War, the colonists essentially won by their guerrilla methods attacking from all sides, within towns, and often without a uniform to identify the combatants from the citizenry.

In the U.S. Civil War, the Confederate Quantrill’s Raiders were successful at terrorizing the people and the Union armies alike. In fact, in 1865 when General Lee could see that the cause was lost, he kept fighting for honor. He was approached by his soldiers who begged him to let them fight by insurgency and guerilla methods, which Lee knew to be their only chance for any success. He knew that insurgents would wreak terror and murder on the North with the Union army unable to quell the actions. Lee knew that he would not have to surrender and that the army as guerillas could keep the population terrorized for decades, and eventually the North would ask for a truce. This was the best and probably only chance the Confederacy had of any success in keeping their new country and with it, its slavery.

Yet Lee, a statesman at heart, also knew he could not put his country (the U.S.A., not just the C.S.A) through this prolonged nightmare of unending battle. He chose to say no to those who wanted to mix with the population and fight in the streets. He did not want to have the country go through that pain.

Today we have a similar situation in Afghanistan. The insurgents will continue to terrorize and mix with the population to plant bombs, murder civilians, execute aid workers, and the U.S. with all its might cannot whack the last mole. Lee was right in thinking that the Union would eventually declare a truce and stop the war, especially after Lincoln was gone. Today, the same thing is starting to happen. Public support is fading and successes are few. Afghanistan does not want our help, cannot form a government that works, and fails to even police themselves. While fighting insurgents we are desperately training Afghans to take over and they are not up to the job. It will not work. We must preserve what treasure we have left, and certainly spill no more blood thinking that we are fighting the ghost of al-Qaeda. No one seems to have a better idea.

Another Peevity: Hey Hey Ho Ho Has Got to Go!

The protests of today will never match those of the 60s and the Viet Nam War era. Today's marches are tame, often lame, and the lamest always resort to the banal chant that goes something like, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, this (insert the Evil du jour) has got to go,'' and then it is incessantly repeated by seemingly intelligent beings.

I wonder about that. Most protests require some thought and at least a little dedication to the "HH, HH" cause at hand. Why can't someone come up with a chant, rant, or polemic that is more creative and expressive? I suppose that if something "has to go", the chant has to rhyme with "go". So how about "bobo", or "momo". Even better and often more relevant would be "dodo".

I fear this will remain a peeve of mine as this time-honored ditty will rear it monotonous head every time someone wants to protest for a cause. So I say, "Ho Ho, Hey Hey, this old drivel is bound to stay."