Recall in Wisconsin

Well this I certainly know off-hand, the recall election for the Governor's seat in Wisconsin is soon approaching. It'll be interesting to see if Scott Walker will keep his job as governor or will meet his end. Let's seee what happens.

Israel's New Low in Misbehavior

Where do I even begin with this? How is it that whenever the international community tells Israel to quit building settlements for the sake of peace (this includes Israel's only real ally, America), that it just builds more? Well, that is nothing new, by any stretch of the imagination. The real issue is that it now won't let any UN Human Rights Inspectors come to investigate claims about the settlements underming the Palestinians' right to national self-determination, as well as the right to stay in their homes and live in peace. They see the settlements correctly for what they are. It's a land grab, and soon will lead to the development of a new Apartheid system. I know Israel will continually deny this analogy to the American South's Jim Crow and South African Apartheid, but it is going in the same direction. Saying that they won't let anyone verify their claims, or those of the Palestinians, is only allowing injustice to flourish. If Israel wants to be an equal member of the international community, it must heed the community's will for peace.

Reliving the 1960s

My God, I've been seeing the news about the teen Trayvon Martin's death. It's hella racially motivated and the dang cops near Orlando are not even bothering to investigate, saying either the witnesses misspoke on some of the facts, or that there was no one to refute the gunner's claim that he acted in self-defense. That's complete b******* if you ask me. By all means, are the cops attempting to let the guy get away with murder, since in their minds it's just another n***** kid about to cause trouble. It's not, and there's 3 reasons to say this. #1 and most obvious, Trayvon wasn't armed, he only went out to the local 7/11 to get some candy during the half-time break of an NCAA basketball game. #2, the gunman had been previously arrested for assaulting a police officer and had no business maintaining a gun license. #3, the final reason, Florida's "Stand Your Ground" (or as I'll put it; Shoot First, Ask Later) is hella racist and further more, the gunman acted as a self-appointed cop. I mean the cops can simply replay his 911 recording, and the recordings of the other witnesses. The fact is he failed to comply with an order to stay put and let the cops handle the situation if he felt threatened. Instead, he followed Trayvon and shot him in cold blood. That's what's called a hate crime. The reason that the gunman felt threatened by Trayvon, was as the man put it, "He's black." That's enough evidence to convict him on that.

I'm going to make this very clear, I feel like I'm reliving the 1960s. I don't see why we have to let this kind of nonsense happen. There's no reason that America, or any other nation, should be arming its citizens to the teeth. This is exactly why I think that gun control is so desparately needed. Anyone who wants a gun to either protect themselves, or to hunt, should have that right. After all, we have the 2nd Amendment for that reason. However, I don't think that people need assault, automatic or semi-automatic weaponry, nor do I think that people should be allowed to own guns in an unlicensed fashion. If you want to own a gun, simply take the necessary tests to receive a federally issued (not state-issued) license and have your gun registered in a federal database. I think that makes a lot of sense, and I also think that it will do the country some good. Let's make America safe and secure for the next generation, and not one that allows yahoos to get guns and kill innocent people for their own sadistic pleasure.

More Settlements

What is the Israeli government thinking? Don't the top ministers in Israel, as well as their subordinates, realize that by approving legal status for those outposts previously deemed illegal is a massive step backward? I can see this for what it is, a land grab. When will Netanyahu realize that he is alienating Israel from the rest of the world? These settlements are only successfully doing one thing, making any Mideast Peace Deal unattainable. We do not need another war, but that is what this will boil down to.

A new round of threats between Israel and Iran

I've been hearing too much about what the Israelis and Iranians have been saying back and forth past each other. Israel, after a successful campaign of assassinations, now has deal with attempted assassinations directed by Iran. I know why Iran did this, it's to show Israel that it can carry out a campaign of this nature as well. However, that's old news, as the assassinations failed miserably in both Bangkok and T'blisi.

What's going on now, especially from Iran's end, is that they will hit anyone it considers a threat pre-emptively. What the heck are they thinking? Don't they realize that by doing that they're dealing with a military power who has backing from the worlds most powerful military? I honestly don't see the logic.

As for Israel, attacking now would be a disaster waiting to happen. Both America, Israel's chief ally, and Russia have starkly warned against such a maneuver. For America, the reason is simple, give the sanctions time to work. For Russia, the reason is not to have a war flare up near its borders. Lastly, if such an attack happened, anyone that is anywhere will become a target of a death-bearing cult that has taken over Iran.

This is the worst way to start WW III.

If I became the President

Okay, first of all, I'm really not interested in running, just to be clear. However, in the scenario that I would end up becoming President, I would only say to people what I think is the way to go, but keep engaged with them as much as possible. At the same time, I also think that having meetings with the leadership in Congress is another way to keep in touch with everyone. It's something I would try to do on a regular basis. One thing I know that I cannot do is make too many high stakes promises, especially knowing the reality of politics, but I can tell people that will be as honest as I can and explain to them what choices come before us. In my opinion, it's better to be straightforward with the American people, especially once in power, and it's better to keep everyone in the loop about what's at stake.

Worst Corruption in America

In all my life, I have never seen corruption quite this bad. For many Americans, this holds particularly true, and for those around the world. America does not need to be this way, but with all our new gadgets and other distractions, this situation is exactly as those on top want it to be. Corruption has marred Americans’ belief in both the political and judicial systems, as well as in the media, religion and other institutions. Where does this all come from? Well start thinking back to the decade before the Reagan debacle and the catastrophes of its horrid legacy. If there was one thing, we can be thankful to Pres. Ronald Reagan for; the massive deregulation that he put in place that allowed these powerful corrupt forces to become involved in our daily lives again. Everyone thought that generations of past years solved these issues a long time earlier, but apparently the Baby Boom generation, who helped to put Reagan into office, did not bother to read its horrible history about how deregulation, and some cases non-regulation, can lead to massive economic disasters. All it took in 2008 was a credit/financial crisis to pull the country to its knees and force the American people to tackle the corruption in front of them. So far, it looks like the corrupt will not only win, but will stay in place forever. I credit Pres. Obama and the Occupy and Tea Party movements for getting this conversation started, but I seriously think that they will not succeed in changing our current situation. The status quo will stay intact and Pres. Obama will not be in office come Nov. 2012 and Jan. 2013. The reason: the radicalized forces of the corrupt status quo are willing to rig the electoral and judicial systems to the point so that they can defend their economic dominance. Just watch, they did it under Bush (using the Republicans as their pawns), they will do it again. I just hope that this time, they will not be successful, but I know it is completely wishful thinking.

At what point will the American people say enough? Probably sooner, or probably not at all, depending on how far the right pushes them. Yes, I will admit, I am a hard-hitting, despicable, no-good, loony liberal, but the fact is that I really do not think that it is the government’s place to be taking resources away from people who need those the most to give to those who really are without any to begin with. Not to mention, there is no reason to be eradicating people’s rights in order to achieve some political agenda, nor is there any reason for discrimination, or in some cases segregation, to return. Lastly, whose stupid idea was it to make unregulated capitalism our law? I really do not understand the logic of the Republican Party or the Conservative movement in general to undo what Pres. Roosevelt put in place in the 1930s. They kept us from getting into a bunch of crises like our current one for nearly fifty years (1933-81). I really think that to allow corporations to monitor and enforce compliance upon them and privatizing the entire system, from election and government posts and benefits to justice is among the dumbest ideas ever. It sends the message that only those who can pay or who are of a specific race or background have the ability to get justice, while others have to suffer, as they must for being the worst infections to society. To me, this is exactly like living in Nazi Germany again, only this is 21^st Century America. We can be better, but we need to change our thinking.

**An update to al readers**

While many of these concerns of mine have so far not unfolded as of yet or at all. Pres. Obama is clearly still in office as of January 2009, having won another term in November 2012 (I know, old news). However, some things have come close to what I was scared of happening. For one thing, the Republicans are trying new gimmicks to rig the electoral college again, in addition to having a green light from the Supreme Court to engage in voter suppression across the states. In addition, they're trying to set the scene for taking away basic rights that we as Americans have, and are looking to expand their ability to wage further indefinite perpetual warfare, which we'll be paying for not only in dollars, but in blood. For what? Crusades to de-Islamify the Middle East (to Republicans in Congress all Muslims are Infidels, though not all voting Republicans think this way).

Even though segregation has not become law of the land as of yet, it's always a concern that it will be. I'm exceedingly opposed to any efforts, to quote the late Strom Thurmond, to prevent, "The amalgomation of the races", as it will only create a permanent underclass of second-class citizens. History proves time and again, that subjecting people who are different to permanent second-class citizenship is an invitation to open rebellion and/or possible revolution. Think of the Civil Rights Movement. Even though it was non-violent under the direction of Martin Luther King, it was an open revolution against the Jim Crow system. That didn't mean the activists and protesters didn't lose their lives, as they did. The resistance to the Civil Rights Movement was often violent and was joined frequently by local and sometimes State law enforcement.

Far-Right at it again

How the heck is this reality shaping up? I understand that people are pissed and frustrated about the economic situation and not having their voices heard. I feel that way myself, but I don't think we need to go to crazy extremes just to get our voices heard, nor do I think we need to engage in divisive politics in order to get to the top.

Well, now that the Far-Right is in power, or at least controls the House and has a stronger presence in the Senate, I can see their crazy ideas coming out into the light. Who the heck will benefit from a flat tax or from shutting out all immigrants from coming to this country? And lastly, what is the reason for trying to prevent African American and other minority communities from voting, or stripping union rights? I honestly don't see the logic in it, unless you're trying to take out the Democratic base for the 2012 election cycle.

This is the problem I have, the Far-Right is using our current crisis as an opportunity to drag America backwards to the 1830s. I would not even be surprised should they try to reinstate slavery again, or make it so that we can rescind citizenship to those who are not White and Christian. I have to say, this is complete horseshit.

The Far-Right's bullshit has me ready and willing to put my full effort into get getting President Obama re-elected in 2012. Yeah, I can say that our president has made some decisions that I don't particularly agree with, but I can say that he's also done what he could considering the circumstances as well. I personally think he did not go far enough in some instances, such as Healthcare and Wall Street Reform. I think those bills needed to be made stronger. However, I still think that he'll be better than the yahoo that comes out of the Republican nomination process (which my instict tells me is Perry).

Current status of Mideast Peace

I don't believe this, Pres. Obama goes out of his way to try to end the ongoing dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, and at every step, PM Netanyahu continues to fight him. I don't know how Israel can think that by putting off the peace process and demand that it get recognized not as a state, but a Jewish state, when that was not a part of the initially agreed upon text. I think for the Arabs to complain is more than legitimate, as Israel has been dragging its feet for the past year or so.

As for the Arab side process, I think that Pres. Abbas needs to realize that by daring Israel to annex the areas the Palestinians want for a state is only giving the Israeli radicals and settlers what they want, the right to oppress the Palestinians without any kind of rebuke from the international community. Additionally, it is going to damage Obama's credibility as an even-handed broker, working to bring both sides together. Abbas should not give in or cave, he should continue to fight for Palestinian sovereignty and call for Israel to end the construction of settlements. As long as he continues to work in tandem with the Arab League, and the UN, that should provide him enough political cover to make the hard choices necessary to create a Palestinian state.

As for President Obama, he needs to be more vocal. He really needs to display more disapproval of Israel's severe misbehavior on the international scene. If he doesn't start showing America as being more assertive, it'll only show that America will always turn a blind eye to any of Israel's consistent flouting of international law with its settlements. Not to mention, it will forever damage America's role as an honest peace negotiator in the eyes of the Muslim world. Now is not the time to give in to Israeli demands, Mr. President. Today is the day that, politics aside, someone can actually make a situation a lot easier for a nation with no homeland. The last thing we need to do is treat a humanitarian crisis as a military conflict, and this should be your consistent message to Netanyahu. Where are you now, Mr. President? We need someone of your standing to go out and really create a fuss. We need you to remind Israel that its actions are alienating its one true ally in a world where everyone else remains extremely critical.

One more note to play before concluding. Iran has been causing more hell than Israel, which is something I do recognize off-hand. They still provide support to various militias in the Mideast, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Not to mention, it's this kind of backing that's keeping the Arab states in a constant cycle of fear, more than anything else. I don't see how everyone is blaming the Arabs for all the violence directed towards Israel, or more specifically how there's state funding from the Arabs. Let me be clear on this, outside of possibly Syria, the Arabs are largely content on leaving Israel in peace. Most have become resigned to the fact that Israel is not going anywhere anytime soon, and are still trying to settle old disputes and extend diplomatic recognition. However, they're not venturing anywhere near the final step of recognition, not only because of the settlements, but because of Iran's meddling in their affairs. Most Arab states fear a revolt from Iran, so they largely stay quiet. Which brings me back to my original point, which is that if anyone is causing trouble for Israel these days on a state-based level, it's Iran. The Arabs see the militias largely as an unnecessary hindrance to peace and are making it clear that their aims don't reflect Arab nationalism. Iran doesn't and that's how these groups are still able to operate.

To conclude, this process does not seem to make itself any easier to work with. Now matter how many steps forward are taken, we always have to take about four steps backward to compensate. I don't see how in a world where people can agree on a consensus gap of 95%, can kill each other of the remaing 5%. Oh wait, I remember, it's because of extremism.

Life as of today

Well, I'm back in school and have been moving crap for a very long while. Thank God I'm finally outta University Park North. It's not to say that it was a bad place, it was decent for what it was, but I just didn't feel that it was the right place for me. I would have preferred to have lived elsewhere only because I didn't want to be in an area I knew I'd be bored in. The area around SFSU has almost nothing to keep you entertained. I'm serious, you have to take between a 30-60 minute trip on Muni to go for some entertainment. Most people on the weekends don't hang out on campus anyway.

It also doesn't help that I don't do anything, either. Now at this point in time, I'm thinking I may want to spend more time out of the next domain. It's better to do that, than staying inside bored all day. That was the problem @ UPN. Just bored all day, looking for something instant to keep me hooked. Well I gotta say that it was the worst decision I could have made. I'm on campus another 2 years, might as well see what's there.