HEADLINES FROM WORLD PRESS

We offer samples of headlines that appeared in the world press along with our comments.

UK, Independent:  ”Honeymoon Over”

With Republicans in Congress, it never began.

New Zealand, New Zealand Herald: “Missing Man’s Body Found”

That means he is not missing.

Denmark, Copenhagen Post:  ”Demonstrate Against Freedom of Information”

I guess they want freedom of non-information.

Russia, Moscow Times:  ”Attack One Muslim, Attack All”

I guess that is rationale to attack all Christians.

China, China Daily:  ”Hold Off Hurricane”

That will require a  lot of blowing.

Australia, Sydney Morning Herald:  ’Politician KO’d By Kangeroo”

Finally, a constituent got mad.

Netherlands, Dutch News:  ”Nude Girl Fetches 2 Million”

I assume she only fetches one million if clothed.

 

Cold War Blows Hot

The Republican party is determined to renew the cold war with Russia. It appears that Republicans have yet to get the message there no longer is a Soviet Union and that Stalin has been dead for over sixty years. President Obama seeks to work with current Russian leader, Vladimir Putin on plans to reduce nuclear weapons and to ensure that both nations no longer fear being attacked with missiles. Obama is willing to share missile defense data with Putin in order to make certain there is no confusion regarding possible missile attacks. Republicans want to deny this sharing of data because…….?

Guys, Putin is a semi-dictator, but he is ready to reduce nuclear concerns. Russia lacks any capability of attacking any nation. It has an army that is ill equipped, ill led, and soldiers who lack any fighting spirit. End the Cold War-NOW!

To Russia With Love

The Berlin Wall was torn down in 1991 as people in Europe decided it was time to end decades of rule by the Soviet Union. In the aftermath of this act, hope arose, not only in Russia, but throughout Europe that a new day was dawning in which totalitarian ideas would cease for the people of Russia. Ah, that was then, and today is now for a land controlled by a former agent of the KGB who goes by the name of Vladimir Putin. The European Union  send a clear message to Putin Land that a July law which declares that NGOs which receive any funding from outside sources must register as “foreign agents.”

In other words, if an NGO whose goal is to reduce violence against gays received a  single ruble from a non-European source it must now admit it works as an agent for foreigners. The law is simply another ploy by Putin to crack down on those who do not accept his rule. The dream of 1991 has come to an end in Russia. A dictator by any name is still a dictator.

Afghan Men Want Afghan Men To Rule–Forever!

As I recall, rather dimly at the moment, among reasons offered by then President George Bush for the invasion of Afghanistan was one that dealt with protecting the rights of women who were being abused by the Taliban. After a new government was established, American pressure ensured passage of legislation to protect the rights of Afghan women. That was then when the evil Taliban ruled, today we have ordinary decent Afghan Muslim men who are sorry that women got the right to be treated like a human. A crowd of Afghan university students protested at the possibility the decree on Elimination of Violence Against Women might be repealed by radicals in Parliament.

As protestr Fazel Hadi pointed out, this decree was “imposed by foreigners” and goes against the basis of their culture which empowers males to do what they want with women. On a more realistic note, Human Rights Watch announced that  Afghanistan now has the highest number of women in jail for “loose morals.”

I guess, in the end, the Taliban won that war.

Think It, Don’t Say It

A few hundred years ago, Christians were very concerned when people spoke ill about their religion or other religions. The name of the game was to keep silent if you did not have anything nice to say. Turkish-Armenian writer Sevan Nisanyan has been sentenced to jail in Turkey for 58 weeks because he made fun of Allah or Mohammed or someone who lived hundreds of years ago. The prosecutor charged him with “insulting the religious beliefs held by a section of society.” His crime was setting up a blog entitled: “We need to fight hate speech. Making fun of a Arab leader who claimed he contacted Allah hundreds of years ago” is not hate speech.

It is quite proper to insult any political leader in Turkey who is part of the government, but don’t dare insult government officials or make fun of any  religion–other than Jewish, that is.

Don’t Mess With Them Chechens!

During the 1990s, the Russian government under leadership of Vladimir Putin launched a horrible war against the people of Chechnya. The result was massive death and thousands of people fled their country seeking some peace and quiet in life. Among those refugees were many who came to America seeking a more hospitable place to live. Somewhere along the road of life, some who had taken refuge in the United States concluded that America had something to do with oppression of the people of Chechnya. One result was the Boston Marathon Massacre carried out by Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar. Yesterday, some police in Boston halted a young Chechen boy named Ibragim Todashev and questioned him about his friendship with the boys.

The rest is unclear. Ibragim grabbed something and lunged at an FBI agent only to be shot down. We now have another mystery as to whether this young man was involved in planning the bombing. It also goes to make clearer that American involvement in Muslim countries only compounds problems, rather than solves them. There is no doubt Mr. Todashev has a record of personal violence. As always, violence begets violence.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT

We offer observations on the human condition from a 22 year  old  mind trapped in an 82 year old body.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT

I no longer possess the unlimited energy of an 8 year old.

Two white shirted men in coffee shop-executive meeting?

Some walk in hurried small steps, some do not.

Leave a child alone, she will find a  way to entertain herself.

As a child I considered tests to be boring and  confusing.

Paying taxes is simply paying what one is due in order to live in America.

If you desire to fail, you will.

My mother would be lost in this fast food world.

Some seek a connection with a machine, some with people.

To be poor in America is to be unnoticed.

Some count bodies, I count butts.

To eat alone is to think alone.

A tall thin attractive woman always captures my attention.

I wonder which is more productive, meeting in coffee shop or in office.

I no longer am a brisk walker.

The only enduring fame is that within your family.

In modern America the quickest way to fame is to shoot someone.

I feel warm snuggling my back against the couch.

I do not play with fingers while waiting, some do.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap. Still true.

Barack Obama Smells BO

In a speech at the National Defense University the president raised some interesting issues such as continuance of powers given to him to kill who the hell he desires if only he supports those murders with some evidence that bad guys were out to harm the United States of America. He also wants to close down Guantanamo Bay prison because it finally  dawned on him that millions of Muslims in the world do not like him around and killing people-particularly, those of the Muslim faith.

I guess this is a good step to restore basic American values such as an independent free press that can print whatever  it desires. I realize a Fox News reporter printed the secret story that North Korea might threaten use of nuclear weapons. I must confess joy at being let in on this story.

Now, if former constitutional professor Barack Obama can shift his focus from sending drug users to jail and send a few Wall Street criminals to prison, perhaps, he can go down in history as a defender of the United States against Wall Street terrorism.

Iran, Its Sad Story Continues

The people of Iran possess a well educated population, they possess excellent sientists and scholars who seek to create a modern society. However, they are led by a group of ancient thinkers seeking to use outdated ideas and views in the modern world. The Interior Minister announced the names of those eligible to run for president of the country next month. The name o f Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani does not appear even though he once led the nation. Neither does the name of Esfander Rahim Mashaei, close ally of current President Ahmadinejad. It is clear that Ayatollah Khamenei intends to control the leadership of Iran and he will only allow someone who obeys his will to become the president.

There was hope that Rafsanjani might open doors to negotiate with
Western nations and find a way out of the current impasse over nuclear weapons. That road is now blocked. There is slight hope that Iran can end its diplomatic isolation and access to the means of creating a dynamic economic system.

GOP Creative Thinking

Extremism in the service of God allows an individual to engage in distortion and lies because the end goal is-truth. The White House released to Republicans over 100 pages of Benghazi emails which were then released to the public by congressional Republicans. According to CBS News, Republican versions of some emails used alternative language than that given by the White House:

White House: “We need to resolve this in such a way that respects all the relevant entities, particularly the investigation.”

Republican: “We must make sure that t he talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the  State Department and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation.”

White House; “The penultimate point could be abused by members to beat the State Department for not paying attention  to Agency warnings”

Republican: “The penultimate point is a paragraph talking about all the previous warnings provided by the Agency(CIA) about al-Qaeda’s presence and activities of al-Qaeda.”

We need a special commission to investigate the Republican party in Congress!