The White House seems to have a problem picking sides in a fight until a sure winner becomes obvious. All we ever hear from American politicians and we will stand with democracy where ever it wishes to grow. If it is all about democracy why has the White House been so slow to pick the side of democracy when there is revolution in the streets. They were trying to keep the power base in Egypt as the revolt started and kept backing the Egyptian President until it was a fore gone conclusion that the people would oust him. We are presently seeing the same approach with Libya. The President waited until there were hundreds dead and Libya's leader became backed into a corner that the American stand against Kadafi was taken. The rest of the world sees these plays for what they are, which is pure political pole watching before taking a stand, and these actions have not made believers nor friends of many in the Middle East. In fact the rest of the world must be second guessing any promises made to them and wonder if push came to shove where the U.S. would stand.

Send us your comments on this article

Beginning with the first oil crisis in the early seventies U.S. politicians have been putting off the search for an energy replacement for oil. There have been many different approaches over the years but no full commitment to any one possibility. They know what the answer is but they refuse to commit to it. The answer is fusion as the source of power. Cold fusion would be the cure if we could only put it on the table. The problem is the scientists said it will take a while to perfect it. There is research in play right now but what we needed is a Manhattan type project with full funding to make it happen. We can no longer fool around with these silly projects such as wind and solar energy, though they are honest and reasonable projects, because they can not solve the entire energy problem alone. We need to define and initiate a dedicated project for the discovery of a safe cold fusion process and then fund a program to design the methods of using this energy in the appropriate manner and for the purposes we need it. The time is past for a safe start, so we need to start now if we wish to remain capable of turning on our lights every night when it gets dark.

Send us your comments on this article

From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli is how the U.S. Marine Hymn starts off. Those words speak of the time, during the infancy of this nation, when we refused to be threatened or extorted by pirates. Now pirates off the coast of Somalia, who are based in and protected by Somalia, are plying their trade with little opposition from those who they take hostage. At present they hold thirty three ships and approximately seven hundred people hostage awaiting a ransom for each ship and person they hold. Today a small boat that was taken by them several days ago fired on the U.S. navel vessel that was trying to negotiate the release of the hostages. The Pirates fired a shoulder held missile at the ship and at the same time executed the hostages. When the navel operations team arrived at the boat in question the pirates all came on deck and put their hands up to surrender. They did not want to be shot or die but they were part of this kidnapping and murder. These are offences that, when put together, usually call for the death penalty. The question is what will happen to these pirates and what will we do to prevent a reoccurrence of this situation?

The first line of the Marine Hymn reminds us that we do not negotiate with pirates or terrorists or any beings of that ilk. We have past experience with Somalia and we know the people in power are not to be trusted so why do we say nothing and in the long run do nothing to take them down? I am not talking about a slap on the wrist I am talking about attacks on their operation sites and bases that will devastate all the individuals in those areas. We have the tools and we have the people and it is time we step up and destroy what we can in a few days then pull back and hit them again when they regroup. The last caveat to that action is to tell the people of Soamalia that they need to stay away from these bases because we will strike again. When we strike again anyone in the area will be considered a combatant and will sustain the same punishment as those we hunt.



Send us your comments on this article

The events in the Middle East and North Africa over the last several weeks proves the U.S. intelligence agencies are not doing a good job. It almost seems they can only gear up to deal with one big problem at a time. There have been excuses for 9/11, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan just to name a few. It always comes back that the intelligence agencies never have enough time, money, manpower, or the appropriate talent to accomplish the jobs at hand. Intelligence people on the ground cannot control what they do not understand and analysts do not seem to even know the direction of north even when they have a map in their hand. The process of sharing information between agencies that was supposed to start nine years ago has made little progress. Some of the heads of the agencies seem to be a bit over their heads having been given command over organizations they know little about. These agencies heads are not looking ahead nor are they thinking out of the box. Some of the fault lies with the President because he sees the same errors I see except he believes the excuses provided for these short comings and I do not. It is time for the U.S. to do business a different way and we had better start soon before it is too late in the game.

Send us your comments on this article

There is a need for all people to remember that people all over the globe are quite the same. America in general does operate that way to a much higher degree than most any other nation. That is not so with the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. The U.S. sees Israel as an ally and therefore is less than even handed with the needs and political desires of the Palestinian people. Israel refuses to provide fair negotiations and the U.S. supports this approach with silence. The U.S. does not chastise Israel nor does it effectively use back door diplomacy to move the negotiations along. What the U.S. must wake up to is the countries all around Israel are moving to change their present governments and in doing so is setting the stage for a similar type of event by the Palestinian people. The Palestinians will start on their side of the wall that separates them from the Israelis but the great number of Palestinians who are citizens in Israel and live inside its boarders will start to demonstrate on their side of the wall in support of their brothers. Once this happens Israel has but two choices in response. The first choice is to sit down and come up with a settlement right from the start. The negotiations can take months but the Israelis must start immediately and run the process to a successful conclusion. The second choice is to use force and crush the demonstrators within its boarders. That would be a mistake because world opinion would fully turn against Israel. At that point the U.S. would have to condemn its friend and ally completely or it will look as bad to the rest of the world as Israel would. It would be the time for the U.S. to tell Israel to either do the right thing or the U.S. will have to withdraw all support from Israel and publicly denounce their actions and tell the world they no longer consider them an ally.

Send us your comments on this article

The U.S. needs to do some new strategic thinking when it comes to the Arab world. Over the last several weeks members of Congress and other government officials have made comments that were not consistent with the truth about the U.S. relationships with and the general understanding of the different players in the Arab world. I could chalk up one or two of these errors as part to the panic of the moment but there were just too many mistakes. Statements were so wrong they were either real errors of stupidity or were designed and planned to mislead. For anyone who has any knowledge of the area or of the people in question, to be the recipient of such erroneous information is beyond comprehension.

These terrible instances, of error laden information, coming from many sectors indicates there is a problem with the strategy we have for the Arab world. As this area shifts power and changes government heads it is time for the U.S. to get its head together and be sure all those who speak, in an official capacity for the government, know what they are talking about. Our analysts need to know what is going on and the briefings they provide need to be effectively understood by those who will speak for our government. From this point forward mistakes that show that all players are not on the same page could bring a small disaster about in this vulnerable area.

Send us your comments on this article

The U.S. and Egypt have had a long and friendly relationship but now the players will change. If it were just the military that the U.S. would have to deal with there would be little problem. It is the elected governing body that will eventually take over that may cause a problem in the relationship. Most new governments like to show their independence by refusing or challenging considerations that may have been made by the former governmentto outside nations. This would be a gesture to the people to show that the new government is not a puppet of any other nation. Depending on who gets to run the Egyptian government, based on how the people feel about the U.S. after their political parties have formed and the elections are completed, the U.S. may have a tough road ahead. This potential situation requires the U.S. to make strong and sound overtures to the rights of the people and assure that a United Nations Team is in place to verify the elections and their results. That is all we can do to show the Egyptian people we are their friend and we support their cause and its eventual outcome.

Send us your comments on this article

As Egypt moves itself toward democracy, as we hope, providing power to the people and allow them access to the government the rest of the Arab world will be watching. If, as it already appears, the nations surrounding Egypt carry on open opposition to their individual governments the most nervous of all the governments in the region will be Israel. The Arab governments know what the demands of the people are and so does the government of Israel. Those demands will come from the 30% of the Israeli population who are Arab, as well as full citizens of Israel, and live within its boarders. The demonstrations will start on the Palestinian side of the border but the Israeli citizens, who are Arab, will join in the demonstrations.

The Palestinians will demand to become a free standing state with the right of return to the lands of Israel. There is little that can be done to the Palestinians if they stay on their side of the border. The situation is much different for Israel because if it moves to quiet its own citizens it will look as bad to the world as the rest of the Arab governments. There is no safe political place for Israel in this situation because denying the Palestinians a chance for peace and its own state will make Israel look bad to the world. If Israel goes against its own people it will loose the support and the money from the U.S. This is the best way for the peace to be settled with fairness on both sides. If Israel fails to step up it will come to a point when the world will force the issue of Palestinian statehood and that move will take away all of the bargaining chips Israel has.

Send us your comments on this article

The direction that Egypt takes over the next six months will have great meaning for the rest of the Arab world. The areas, within the Arab nations, of current unrest and those with potential unrest will be looking at the progress, problems, resolutions and the time frames of change relative to the arrival of actual democracy. As some of the Arab enclaves fall under the spell of revolt the actual occurances in those nations will be acted out and responded to because of the recent events and the progress based on those events. Egypt has become the template for the future for both the people who want change and those in power trying to hold on to their power. We have already seen those actions play out in the offerings the governments have made to their people in the last several weeks. However, on the negative side we can also see the counter measures being used by those in power, based on the failings of the Egyptian internal power structures to suppress its unrest, to quiet and disburse the gathering demonstrators. It appears the next six months may show severe unrest in the region and perhaps disruption in the global economy.

Send us your comments on this article

Egypt is at a fork in the road and soon it will have to decide which path it will take. The first path is the desire of certain groups of the people to push for immediate demands such as increases in salary or the price of food to go down. Because this is their first taste of democracy they have not yet learned that change takes time even in the most immediate circumstances. The people must also understand that withholding services from the free flow of the nation will not bring about their changes any faster. This process will become even harder when the people select and back political parties. Because they backed a party does not mean they can go on strike if their party does not win. If the elections are fair then they must accept the results even if is not the results they wanted.

The second path is the strong possibility of those who strike turning to groups and political parties who will woo them, to get a vote, by promising what they cannot deliver. In such a case the people will never get what they were promised and perhapsthey will help install a replacement dictator and perhaps a complete regime of the same ilk. What the people of Egypt need now is a powerful leader with a voice to slow down the process and make the people feel there is progress yet understand that the important things take time.

Send us your comments on this article

Right now the Egyptian people seem up beat about their future but the road ahead may be harder than they can imagine. In one way the people are ready for a democratic society because they have already taken the first steps to obtain one. The demonstrations prove the majority of the people have the desire and the will to stand up and fight. The downside of this experience is they believe things can be changed over night and that is the great frustration with democracy as it takes time to get things done. The other problem they will face is they have not experienced negotiation in the political arena. That is the frustration which may kill the movement as in time there will be those who will be willing to demonstrate and obstruct the process pushing for a faster turnaround on issues at hand. Such a condition will allow the wrong elements to play their hands and push for a less democratic process. If this scenario were to happen the chipping away of the democratic dream will have started and once in motion it will be difficult to slow down and or even stop.

Send us your comments on this article

The Supreme Court should look at the new healthcare bill and decide if it is allowable within the Constitution. There are too many politicians who want it to stay and also those who want it to be repealed. What everyone fails to realize is this is not a win or loose proposition because it is real for those who need help while the rest of the country is not assisting where it should. If the court settles this issue the results will give the nation a direction that will, in one way or another, move us forward.

A yes vote by the court will force the political parties to go back to the bargaining table and negotiate the correct prescription for this bill. Changes can be made that will settle this out for everyone. Politicians, on each side, will get some of what they want in the end. The uninsured will have the coverage they should have at a price consistent with their ability to pay. The business community will continue to hire people not because it will cost less but because they make money when they expand their work force to meet demand.

If the court decides the law does not allow the bill in its present state then it can kill the bill but it can also force the Congress to come up with a new bill. From that point all of the above applies and in the long run the country will end up with healthcare coverage for everyone. Perhaps it will force Congress to adjust its thinking on what health insurance and drug companies can and must provide at a cost that meets the Federal budget. This will be a slow and arduous task but if this is the way the court goes it will be worth it.

Send us your comments on this article

Here is a question that we should consider when we decide to invest in China. Just how good, I mean accurate, are the numbers that we receive out of China to support their economic posture. My answer is the numbers are suspect at best. To keep this comment short I suggest the numbers, that are supplied quarterly by China, are almost always on target with what the government has openly projected and that is almost impossible. I also support my allegation of misrepresentation by suggesting one simply do the numbers. To do so, by looking at the labor volume alone, anyone can see the numbers do not match the volume of labor reduction ending up with their shrinking GDP number that comes in on target to their projection. This can be done with many of the numbers provided by the Chinese government. With that said, the thought you should go away with is: if you cannot trust their numbers what else is it that we should not trust when presented by this government?

Send us your comments on this article