Afghanistan, Iraq Wars: US Leaving a Legacy of Chaos

                                  Good Day World!

It doesn’t take a prophet to see Afghanistan is descending into chaos when American and NATO troops leave the country at the end of this year. The situation will probably look very similar to what’s happening in Iraq right now.

After over a decade of lost lives and billions of dollars the country will probably default back to the Taliban. The signs are already apparent: 

"Afghanistan is on the brink of descending back into chaos and civil war,” Afghan lawmaker Nisar Haress told NBC News. “The situation is getting worse every passing day."

The outcome of the April election was seen as a make-or-break moment for Afghanistan’s future, with billions of dollars of funds tied to the success of a free and fair election.

The U.S. had high hopes for the vote, deeming it a critical test not just of Afghanistan’s ability to ensure a stable transition but also to measure the impact a decade of Western intervention had had on the country.” (source)

To say the whole electoral process collapsed in April is an understatement. The two presidential candidates are acting like greedy little babies. Their actions are taking the country to the brink of a breakdown:

“The United Nations threatened on Saturday to cut aid to Afghanistan if its staff are harassed, responding to tensions surrounding its participation in a drawn-out and bitter investigation into fraud in the still-unresolved presidential election.

The warning came a day after dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the Kabul headquarters of the world body and accused it of aiding vote-rigging. It was another sign of heightened anxiety in the run-up to the release of final election results over the next week.

Analysts and officials are fearful the political impasse could embolden the Taliban to stage more brazen attacks – and to seize the opportunity to present themselves as a viable alternative to out-of-touch and paralyzed politicians.” (source)

The Taliban are gaining confidence,according to The International Crisis Group. "Ongoing withdrawals of international soldiers have generally coincided with a deterioration of Kabul's reach in outlying districts," an ICG report said in May.

You want to know the kicker? The US Reconstruction of Afghanistan Is The Most Expensive in US History.

“Washington's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said the U.S. has provided more than $104 billion to rebuild Afghanistan -- more money than the United States has spent on reconstruction for any one country in history.” (source)

All of the above is bad enough, but what are we going to do when Afghanistan becomes the Taliban’s playground again?

I look at what’s happening in Iraq and have a sinking feeling that Afghanistan is going the same route by next year.

One thing is for sure, billions of taxpayer dollars have been thrown down the drain in pursuit of global ambitions.

Have either of these wars accomplished anything? I certainly don’t think so. All I can do however, is to watch and wonder when we’ll ever learn our lesson – invading countries in the name of freedom is a horrible waste of lives and money!

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

 

200th Anniversary: The Surprising Origins of the Star-Spangled Banner

Good Day World!

Happy anniversary Star Spangled Banner!

Did you know the melody is from an old song about drinking and sex?

Today is the anniversary of the bombarding of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812’s “Battle of Baltimore” on Sept. 13 to Sept. 14, 1814.

I thought it would be fun to look at the history of the song, The Star-Spangled Banner, that came about after that historic battle.

I strongly suspect most readers will be surprised at the origins of our National Anthem:

“At dawn, Francis Scott Key was able to see the U.S. flag waving over the fort, as he noted in his opening lines.

Key was on a British ship, part of a U.S. delegation to negotiate a prisoner release. He was kept on board to prevent the American forces from being tipped off about the forthcoming bombing by the British.

He was allowed to return to Baltimore on Sept. 14 and was so inspired by the U.S. pluckiness that he wrote a poem, "Defence of Fort M'Henry," which he published on Sept. 20, 1814.

Key wrote his poem to fit the beat and melody of British composer John Stafford Smith's "To Anacreon in Heaven" -- a popular tune Key had used for an earlier hymn to America’s military might, "When the Warrior Returns," which celebrated U.S. heroes of the First Barbary War.

Neither Key's early hymn nor the Barbary War is widely taught in American schools anymore (except for the reference in the Marines’ Hymn: “To the shores of Tripoli”).

Most elementary school classes note that the music for "The Star-Spangled Banner" came from a British drinking song. But in his well-received book, historian Marc Ferris, author of “Star-Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of America's National Anthem” (John Hopkins University Press, August 2014) gives a more sophisticated reading.

“The words of ‘To Anacreon in Heaven,’ the song that Francis Scott Key borrowed for the melody of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' is a sly 1700’s paean to drinking and sex. Though understated, the line 'I’ll instruct you, like me to entwine; The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus’s vine' is unambiguous,” he wrote.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" continued to gain in popularity over the decades and was backed by John Philip Sousa, who knew a thing or two about rousing music. It was officially made the national anthem in 1931 by President Hoover. (Condensed version. Full story found at LA Times Nation Now)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Swamp creature named after Mick Jagger, Sleepwalker walks off cliff, Ferrari stolen twice by same guy

Good Day World!

How’d you like to be known for your big lips?

Better yet, how’d you like to have an animal named after you?

Mick “The Lips” Jagger recently had a swamp creature named after him.

I know that being named after a fossil of an extinct pig-like swamp creature doesn’t sound like much of a tribute to the aging rock 'n' roll star, but one scientist says it is.

Ellen Miller, an associate professor of anthropology at Wake Forest University, paid homage to the pouty-lipped Rolling Stones frontman by giving the scientific name Jaggermeryx naida, or “Jagger’s water nymph," to the fossil of a large-lipped animal she and colleagues discovered. (source)

Man sleepwalks off Kentucky cliff, suffers minor injuries

An Ohio man fell 60 feet off a cliff while sleepwalking in a national forest in Kentucky, but suffered only minor injuries, officials said on Wednesday.

Ryan Campbell, 27, was camping with his friends in the northern part of the Daniel Boone National Forest early last Thursday when he plummeted down a steep incline a few yards into his nighttime stroll.

It took several hours for emergency crews to rescue him. (source)

Man held for stealing the same Ferrari twice

Authorities have arrested a Southern California man they say stole the same Ferrari — twice.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise (http://bit.ly/Zg6kaD ) says Earnie Hooks of Los Angeles was arrested last week behind the wheel of the $250,000 car. Court records say he's pleaded not guilty to car theft and resisting police.

Police in Fontana, 50 miles east of LA, say they stopped Hooks at a drunken driving checkpoint on Aug. 29 and discovered that the black 2014 Ferrari 458 Spider he was driving had been reported stolen.

Police claim Hooks drove away from the checkpoint and later abandoned the car, which was impounded. But around 3 a.m. the next morning, someone stole it from the impound lot.

Hooks was arrested five days later while driving the Ferrari in his Studio City neighborhood. (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Is Independence Worth it? Historic Scottish Vote Set for Sept. 18th

Good Day World!

Will Scotland become an independent country this year?

There’s going to be a referendum to decide whether Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom or becomes independent for the first time in 307 years, on September 18th.

It’s been 700 years since Scottish warriors scored a celebrated victory over an invading English army. Now Scots are engaged in a new battle for independence. This time it’ll be at the ballot box, instead of the battlefield.

The modern battlefield is social media, where the economic and social pros and cons of a future divorce from London rule are debated under the #indyref hashtag.

PROUD HISTORY

Robert the Bruce secured Scotland’s status as an independent country by winning the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Scotland stayed an independent country until the early 18th century, when the Act of Union created the United Kingdom.

The independence debate in Scotland, whose 5.3 million inhabitants represent about eight percent of the total U.K. population would create a new country bigger than Ireland (4.5 million) but smaller than Denmark (5.5 million).

Britain seems worried about the possibility.

Prime Minister David Cameron and the main opposition leaders canceled a weekly Parliamentary showdown in order to travel to Scotland, where polls show a dramatic surge in support for independence from the United Kingdom.(source)

Will the Scots once again gain their independence?

Should they even bother too? Not having a horse in this race, my guess is they keep the status quo. Becoming an independent country can be an expensive proposition. Beside, things haven’t been that bad…have they?

Meanwhile, as they say in Scotland:

"Lang may yer lum reek" (Translated this Scottish saying becomes "Long may your chimney smoke" - meaning 'May you live long and keep well.')

RELATED:

Polls put Scottish unionists a nose ahead as vote approaches

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Unbelievable! Cheney Advises GOP on What to Do in Iraq

Good Day World!

The very definition of stupid is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results each time.

With little effort, I could name a legion of stupid politicians, but for brevity’s sake I’ll just talk about one; Dick Cheney. You remember him don’t you?

Thanks to Cheney,his puppet George Bush, and assorted cronies, the US invaded Iraq on false pretenses. The public was lied to about weapons of mass destruction and about the regime threatening Americans.

The Iraq War turned out to be a clusterfuck. Excuse my language, but there’s no better way to put it. Anyone who was involved in that sad chapter of American history should not be currently advising the US on military affairs. Period.

Here’s where the stupid comes in…twofold:

(1) Behind closed doors on Tuesday the Republican Party invited Dick Cheney to advise them on the current situation in the Middle East – specifically the ISIS situation in Syria and Iraq.

(2) Dick Cheney is all about invading countries, and he thinks by repeating history it’s going to turn out okay this time. If Cheney had his way we’d be invading half the Middle East right now.

Cheney urged his fellow Republicans to adopt a more muscular military posture in the Middle East without being too specific. Lots of bluster and flag-waving. His little booster talk at The Capitol Hill Club was simplicity itself.

“Bomb, bomb, invade, invade…take names..boost military spending…Obama is weak and we must show the world we can kick ass…”

You know, the usual stuff one can expect from that idiot.

When Republican Tom Cole was asked by a reporter if he saw any irony in Cheney giving advise on Iraq his reply was a classic stupid remark, “No. because most of us think he did the right thing.” 

Most of who? Do the rest of the Republicans in Congress think Cheney was right, despite the facts and history? I don’t think so.

The ones who were listening to Cheney ought to be ashamed of themselves and need to throw themselves on their swords (metaphorically of course).

Not even the Republicans can re-brand the Iraq War. Despite Cheney’s allure for some conservative wackos, I don’t think he’s going to be a “player” in what the US does next in the Middle East.

I certainly hope not. That would be stupid.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Why are increasing numbers of Americans renouncing their citizenship?

Good Day World!

Why are more Americans renouncing their U.S. citizenship in the last six years?

The government doesn’t keep track of the reasons citizens give for renouncing their U.S. citizenship. If they have, they haven’t shared them, making it impossible to say for certain what has driven the sharp rise in Americans leaving our shores.

Consider this:

“From 2001 to 2008, 3,937 people who had lived on U.S. soil for at least eight years either renounced their citizenship or gave up lawful permanent resident status, according to Andrew Mitchel, an international tax attorney in Centerbrook, Connecticut, who tracks the figures closely.

From January 2009 to the quarter ending June 30, 2014, the number rose to 9,566, according to a Yahoo News analysis of the figures published on a quarterly basis by the Internal Revenue Service.”(source)

It’s a fact that during the Obama administration the numbers of Americans renouncing their citizenship has sky-rocketed. Are people so prejudice that the idea of an African-American in the Oval Office is sending them overseas?

Not likely. The real reason people are turning their backs on this country is taxes. For decades U.S. citizens have resorted to hiding their wealth overseas without fear of discovery.

That’s changed.

The most likely cause appears to be the Obama-era crackdown on U.S. citizens hiding their wealth overseas.

The rise has coincided with a campaign that has scooped up about $6 billion in taxes, interest and penalties from more than 40,000 U.S. taxpayers since 2009.

It appears to me that the idea of being proud to be an American has shifted in another direction. Once U.S. citizenship was a mark of honor. A coveted title that immigrants from around the world sought.

The new reality – the 21st century version – is a far cry from that. Even presidential candidates have shipped parts of their wealth overseas; take Mitt Romney for example.

The pride that came with being an American has disappeared, replaced with a “me-first” mentality that knows no borders.

Just saying.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Do you always know what your dog is thinking?

It’s not uncommon for pet owners to think they know what their dog’s thinking.

I can look at my pug, Molly (photo), and tell she wants to play. It’s obvious. She brings me her toys for fun and games.

As the year’s go by you establish a language without a name. Your dog is super attuned to you. It knows all of your subtle behaviors because it’s always paying attention.

My wife, Shirley, and I, probably know more about what Molly is thinking than any one of our three sons! Her thoughts are transparent. They flit by like butterflies. At the end of the day, I’m pretty sure what my pug is thinking about.

Researchers, however, have to research…even if it seems like a waste of time …the things you and I already know. The Canine Cognition Center at Yale University is currently studying whether dogs pick up on human social cues, and how a dog make a decision.

In other words, brilliant researchers are trying to figure out what dogs are thinking. I’m thinking they should have conducted a field study of dog’s and their owners if they wanted to find that out.

Instead, a research team is busy acting out puppet shows to find out whether or not dogs are moral. I’m not making this up.

Try to imagine a white-coated bespectacled researcher crouching on the floor with a rat puppet. He makes the rat run up a little hill. The rat sees another puppet, a hedgehog, having a hard time getting up the hill.

The nice rat helps him. This goes on a couple times as the bored dog watches.

Image fades.

That white-coated researcher is back with his rat puppet. This time the rat sees the hedgehog having trouble getting up the hill, and pushes him down! The dog is left to contemplate that after several repeats.

Then it’s time for the moment of truth; the dog is given a choice to check out the nice or the mean puppet rat. Can it tell the difference? Does it want to interact with the good or mean rat?

If this study turns out like a similar one done with babies, the dog will like the nice rat and want to play with him. Interesting huh? Just one thing: dogs are not human babies. Thus, I’ve concluded those researchers are going to get flawed results.

Gee…it’s a shame watching all those researcher dollars going to the dogs with no appreciable benefits.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Satanists Aim to Go Mainstream With First Church in Detroit

Good Day World!

My first experience with Satanists happened in 1991 when I was a managing editor of a group of newspapers in the Palm Springs area (Post Newspapers).

My reporters were investigating a series of animal mutilations (chickens, rabbits, and even a dog) that had weird things next to their decapitated corpses – like black candles, and inverse crosses spray-painted on the ground or wall.

(Photo: Regina H. Boone, Detroit Free Press)

After a couple of months investigating these strange finds I met with a Palm Desert detective who gave me a short education on Satanism. He explained the meanings of the many symbols left by the makeshift altars.

We never did catch those involved. But the experience left me wondering how many people were into Satanism. Back then, Satanists didn’t go around advertising their quasi-religion. It just wasn’t cool in the 20th Century.

Everything changed in the 21st century. For example, Satanists don’t hide their beliefs anymore. The best example of this assertion I can give you is the following story:

THE DEVIL YOU SAY? SATANISTS SAY THEIR A PEACEFUL SECT

“A new religious group aims to bring the devil to Detroit.

The Satanic Temple on Saturday marked the launch of its first chapter outside New York. But leaders say they don't worship Satan. They don't practice cannibalism, or sacrifice people or animals.

"It's peaceful," said Jex Blackmore, 32, local leader and part of the temple's executive ministry. "The idea of sacrifice specifically is to appease some demon or some god, and that's a supernatural belief that we don't subscribe to."

(Photo right: The Satanic Temple aims to place this statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed deity, at the Oklahoma State Capitol in response to Christians installing the Ten Commandments there. The Satanic Temple recently started a Detroit chapter, the first of 15 planned across the United States. Photo: Courtesy of the Satanic Temple)

The group's tenets include free will, compassion toward all creatures, respect of others' freedom — including freedom to offend — and beliefs supported by scientific understanding: "We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs," according to the Satanic Temple's website.

Based on Western civilization's most notorious evil character, the sect is intrinsically controversial.

The Satanic Temple was started about two years ago and has drawn national attention for First Amendment-related demonstrations in communities as far-flung as Florida and Massachusetts.

Detroit is the first of 15 chapters to be announced in the coming weeks.” (Read whole story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

#Merry Monday: A Look at Laughter

 Good Day World!                                        

 When I was a newspaper editor I use to look for innovative ways to improve readership.

I discovered people like to read obituaries and letters to the editor. They also liked to look at the cartoon page. Especially in the Sunday edition.

It didn’t take a degree in philosophy for me to figure out people liked to laugh. I made sure to inject my column “As It Stands” with humor whenever possible.

Recently, I took the topic of laughter and broke it up into three categories. Laughter is a versatile subject that deserves a really good look.

The first board - Why Humans Laugh- will give you an excellent understanding of the dynamics of laughter. You may be surprised to learn that most laughter isn’t about humor. Basically, laughter is a social structure, something we do to connect with one another.

You’ll discover the origins of laughter - we laughed before we spoke any language - and why it’s so important to laugh for your health. Have you ever wondered what happens to your body when you laugh? This first board provides a good overview on why humans laugh.

The second board - Meet Animals That Can Laugh- takes you on a tour of the animal kingdom like you never thought about it before. In case you wondered, laughter and joy are not unique to humans. Pet owners can attest to that.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that ancestral forms of play and laughter existed in other animals long before humans began cracking up. There is amble evidence that many mammals make play sounds, including tickle-induced panting.

And wait until you hear the call of a Laughing Kookaburra! This bird’s laughter sounds like a variety of trills, chortles, belly laughs, and hoots. It starts and ends with a low chuckle and has a shrieking "laugh" in the middle.

You’ll be amazed at how many types of animals laugh. Owls, dogs, meerkats, penguins, and even a camel and a dolphin have been observed laughing by researchers. When you check out this board you’ll get the whole list of laughing animals.

In the third, and final board - Why Laughter is the Best Medicine -  you’ll discover  laughter as a meditation and a way of life. The benefits of laughter extend to improving marriages, your overall health, and general happiness.

Witness the positive power of laughter in Cancer therapy groups and why their becoming more common.

We often overlook how important laughter is. It makes us feel good inside and we smile when we hear others laugh. The positive feelings involved in a good chuckle are worth more than money and material things.

I’ll leave you this one last thought; “Laugh to live, live to laugh, and he who laughs last…laughs last!”

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

World Wide Droughts Will Lead to Water Wars Someday

Good Day World!

We can’t live without drinking water.

It’s the most precious resource on the planet, but you wouldn’t know it by the way it’s wasted.

We need to price water accordingly. When you turn on the tap and water flows, there's little recognition it's a finite resource.

We’re facing a worldwide weather phenomenon that threatens the future of water and food supplies, according to experts.

Colombia, Pakistan, Somalia, Australia, Guatemala, China and Kenya are just a few of the other countries currently suffering from severe drought conditions.

Droughts have plagued the earth for centuries. In fact, there's some debate over whether the recent spate of drought is different from the past.

What is clear to some analysts is that more severe weather episodes like drought are on the way. It’s only going to get worse.

"We'll see more droughts and floods in the decades to come," said LaDawn Haglund, a professor of justice and social inquiry at Arizona State University and an urban water expert.

"Warming temperatures are changing when and where how much water falls from the sky," she said in a recent NBC interview.

In California, the well-documented drought will cost the state $2.2 billion and put some 17,000 agricultural workers out of a job this year, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. California is easily the biggest agriculture-producing state in the United States.

It's the use of groundwater supplies after surface wells have dried up that has helped keep food prices low for now. That’s changing.

With drought almost guaranteed, the issue, say experts, is how the world deals with dwindling surface and groundwater supplies.

What's missing in all the drought talk is advanced planning by political leaders. Partisan politics prevent any unified response to an issue.

A lot of the blame goes on governments around the globe for failing to think beyond the last drought. That failure could bring on national security issues and heighten conflicts over water and food in the future.

It does not seem likely that we can realistically slow down population growth or the demands of economic growth that comes with it.

The demand for water will increase with time. The resources won’t.

For centuries, wars have been fought over precious commodities from all over the world—though, so far, water hasn't been one of them.

But according to Blue Gold: World Water Wars, that's all about to change as political, economic, and social movements make water a limited resource in more and more international regions.

(Book Photo via PBS)

The film takes viewers through the causes of the water crisis—mining, pollution, wetland destruction—and blocks out the potential effects of a water shortage.

If you're not even sure that fighting to own water is possible, then Flow is a good film to start with; the award-winning documentary asks that exact question, and then sets about answering it through interviews with scientists and activists, and in-depth discussions of, as the film refers to it, "the growing privatization of the world's dwindling freshwater supply."

But it's not all gloom and doom: filmmaker Irena Salina also looks at the solutions, individuals, and companies that are developing ways to stem the tide of water damage.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

GOP’s Latest Attempt to Restrict Voter Access Fails in Ohio

Good Day World!

You have to hand it to the Republican Party; their creativity knows no bounds when it comes to trying to control election results.

It took a federal judge Thursday to stop their latest attempt at restricting voter access. U.S. District Judge Peter Economus blocked an Ohio law that scales back early voting just prior to the upcoming fall elections.

It took a lawsuit by civil rights groups and churches to halt the GOP’s latest attack on minority voters.

A directive from Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted that established uniform early voting times and restricted weekend and evening hours was overturned.

Another attempt to restrict voting access was a GOP-backed law that eliminated golden week, when people could both register to vote and cast ballots. Without those days, early voting would typically start 28 or 29 days before Election Day instead of the prior 35-day window.

Thanks to the judge, early voting will begin Sept. 30 instead of Oct. 7.

The ruling directs Husted to require boards to set expanded evening hours and adds another Sunday to the state's early voting schedule this fall.

The judge also blocked Husted from preventing boards from adopting additional early voting hours beyond his order.

According to Freda Levenson, managing attorney for ACLU of Ohio, the state's early voting opportunities are key to residents with inflexible work schedules or other responsibilities that prevent them from getting to a polling place during regular business hours.

This ruling means voters will not see their access to the ballot compromised during the upcoming election. It doesn’t mean however, that the GOP will not continue to try to restrict voter access.

It’s a pathetic ploy that the GOP should be ashamed of. By narrowing minorities ability to participate in the voting process the GOP is showing it’s true colors – and they’re not Red-White-and Blue.

What the GOP is doing is conceding that they’ll never get a majority without restricting some Americans ability to vote.

Time for me to walk on down the road…