Cruel and Unusual Freedom

About a week ago, the White House released those secret memos that pretty much declares America has been torturing people for years now. A few people were against the Obama administration releasing those for security reasons and a few people were outraged over why those people who are responsible for the memos and the torture are not in jail? But the most interesting part of the story came later.  

First Obama declared that he will not prosecute those responsible so America can move forward, then in response to human right groups furious over that statement, he retracted by saying, it is all up to AG Holder.  Granted that is a pretty big flip flop but still the climax is yet to come.  

Fox News held specials trying to explain how putting a man in an extremely small space with insects or simulating drowning by waterboarding is not torture.  

The American public did nothing.

I did not see demonstrations in the streets, I did not see petitions to hold those responsible accountable, I did not see people condemning this self-defined act of torture. 

The fact of the matter is until we speak out (pretty loudly) against what happened, apologize and put rules in place to make sure that the next nut job president will not do the same thing, we have to rid ourselves of the phrase "the greatest country in the world." We have to stop calling ourselves "the land of the free and the home of the brave." We have to admit that we are as human and imperfect as any other nation on Earth and we are not special.

If you do believe that what we did is torture, then you need to ensure the greatness of your country by speaking out against it, but if you do not believe what we did was torture then you need to write a little apology letter to the families of those Japanese soldiers who waterboarded our soldiers (fearing a nuclear attack which did come) then were hanged by us for torture. Let's see Fox News twist this.

Nostradamus, Mayans: What do they know? Part III

In the third and final chapter of this three-part series to discuss the possibility of the end of the world within a decade or two, we will cover mother nature. At the risk of sounding like a nut job liberal who is spreading democratic agenda and lies, I will assume everyone reading this blog believes in Global Climate Change formerly known as Global Warming. If you do not believe in Global Climate Change, I could spend some time explaining how historical trends have been towards warmer temperature, how carbon dioxide is increasing sporadically in the atmosphere as well as methane, how extreme weather has been the norm during the last twenty years, how glaciers are disappearing faster than Madoff's money, how the arctic and antarctic sea ice are melting, or how we can finally see Greenland's coastline because its ice sheet is melting but it wouldn't matter.

It is wild how balanced our environment is and how anything changed could throw everything off its normal track. A small increase in average temperature or a small increase in the salt level in the oceans could literally mean the end of life as we know it.  We cannot view Katrina as God's way of punishing the sinners in New Orleans. We cannot turn away as tens of thousands die each year because of storms, tornadoes, tsunamis and hurricanes. We need to realize the severity of our passiveness.

Let us discuss how global warming could be catastrophic. Firstly, the miles of ice sheets and glaciers that are melting each year. Those miles of ice would raise sea levels to extraordinary heights, California, Louisiana, Florida, the Eastern Seacoast, Japan, and many islands all over the world would be under water. Not to mention other effects like seawater intrusion and lost wetland.

Another tool in mother nature's toolbox of destruction when talking about global climate change is the rising temperature's effect on extreme weather. As temperature of the oceans rise, hurricanes become more and more frequent and extreme. Droughts and wild fire will increase in staggering numbers along with killer heatwaves.

Last but definitely not least is carbon dioxide.  According to study done at Mauna Loa, Hawaii the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has risen 25% in the last 40 years. That number would not be as alarming if it wasn't for a compound that is toxic to the human heart. How about the increasing proportions of the extremely flammable chemical, methane? 

The over-whelming majority of scientists across the world are warning of Global Climate Change, but what do they know?

Nostradamus, Mayans: What do they know? Part II

Yesterday we discussed prophecies by Nostradamus and the Mayans (and many more) regarding the end of the world on December 21st, 2012. While I absolutely do not believe in prophecies or the supernatural, this gives us a good opportunity to talk about the direction of our planet.  I made the claim that the world ending within four years is not impossible and I began making my case.  I started by describing the many possibilities through which the world could face extinction as a product of nuclear war by discussing specific scenarios that are not far fetched.  Today I will discuss starvation or as Nostradamus likes to refer to it: Famine.

We might not know it or notice it but close to 5 Million people die of starvation each year ( that is more than half the population of New York). Famine has been a big part of every society of every era, so why does it pose a global threat now? 

The first issue that makes starvation a bigger deal now than it ever was is the ever-increasing population of the world. The world's population is increasing in staggering numbers and soon enough the bubble will burst and the massive crises will reveal itself to those who are unaware.  The other problem with the world's population is that the increse is usually occuring in countries where the standard of living is below average.  

The second issue is corn which has always been a big part of the world's diet.  Corn is now converted to ethanol fuel which means less of it will be available as food. That is obvious because any battle between the starving Haitian villagers who are forced to eat mud pie (not kidding) and gas for your SUV, you will win.

It is very simple! People will show mercy, compassion and good morals but in the end when there is one piece of bread that is enough for one person and many people are eyeing it, you will make sure that you will be the one that is eating it.

Nostradamus, Mayans: What do they know? Part I

The world will END on December 21st, 2012, at least that is what many prophets have predicted.  Nostradamus wrote about it in his quatrains and the Mayans predicted it before their extremely mysterious disappearance. Along with those two sources, Bible Code researchers as well as historians and archaeologists of ancient Egypt and many other civilizations say that this date is when the world is going to end. At any other period in history if someone would have told you that the world will end in less than four years, you would probably laugh.  That is why I am laughing, but only at the notion that the world might survive another four years.

Fine! So four years might be a bit pessimistic but not as much as you would like to believe, and here is my case:

The first logical choice to cling to is war.  Some might say that the world has survived much harsher conditions and number of deaths during the two world wars, the crusades, etc and they would be right, but none of the participants in those wars possessed weapons like TODAY's nuclear bomb. I know that the U.S. had an A-Bomb and used it in WWII but imagine if Japan also had one then, enough said? A nuclear war between any two nuclear nations would undoubtedly scar the planet beyond repair but the good thing is that it is extremely hard to start a nuclear war.  Unless one of the sides had a lunatic leader like our former president or many of the Russian generals that still think it is the early eighties.  How about something as small as a computer error which launches a nuclear weapon by accident.  

Let me give you a scenario which is not that far from reality. Iran will posses a nuclear weapon sometime in this decade.  Israel and Iran are religious based governments, by definition they are dubbed lunatics. As crazy as some of the U.S. and Russian leaders are, religion isn't a big part when it comes to decision making in those countries, at least not as big as Iran and Israel. If Israel and Iran go at it, Israel would undoubtedly vanish from the planet (because it is only two cities) and Iran would probably go back the stone age, not to mention the countries that surround those two, but that is not the worst part.  The worst part comes when Israel asks the United States for help and the U.S. jumps in and Russia definitely will try and protect its asset and investment in Iran, and there you have it.

Now substitute Israel and Iran with North Korea and another U.S. alley (like South Korea or Japan) and you will see extremely similar scenarios brewing on that end with China protecting North Korea. And the list goes on. It is no secret that we posses the power to end life on this planet, but people are always underestimating how close we are to actually achieving that goal at any given day.

Faith brings happiness

If you read this blog on a regular basis, chances are: you are not happy.  I say this because most religious people cannot stomach my blog for long, so if you follow my blog then you are probably non-religious.  If you are non-religious then you are probably miserable. The happiest, most satisfied people in this world are religious.  Why?

If you are religious, that means that you truly belief in a religion along with its answers about the universe.  To have faith in a particular religion, means to believe in the stories the religion tells you about the past, present and future.  All of your questions are answered.  How was the Earth created? How did the universe come about? Are we alone? What happens after we die? Is there a god? etc.

These questions keep non-religious people up at night. They are on their mind constantly. Since they do not believe a certain religion's interpretation or answers, non-religious people will never stop seeking answers to these questions. They will haunt them until they die, because there are NO acceptable scientific logical answers.  The only way to really know for sure is to die and see for yourself. You will either find yourself standing at the Pearly Gate or just become ant food when you are burried, or (HOPEFULLY) something else in between.

Round Winner: Iran

Regardless of your politics, regardless of your religion, nationality, background or beliefs, contemplate this with an open mind. The United States claims reason under the new administration. Obama has publicly contended that he will meet with Iran under no pre-conditions during his campaign and reiterated that during his speeches following the elections. Yet when the United Nations holds an "anti-racism conference" the U.S. boycotts it because of the presence of Iran's president Ahmadinejad.  This does not sound like the Obama administration we know, it sounds a lot like the former administration.  

The reason behind the boycott by the U.S. is really the reason behind the boycott by Israel.  This conference's agenda includes discussing the Israeli campaign against Gaza and the racism illustrated based on accounts by Israeli soldiers printed in an Israeli newspaper and also based on dozens of reports by humanitarian groups and red cross members who were not allowed into Gaza to help with the relief months after the Israeli offensive. So basically the few countries that have much at stake with Israel boycott the conference like the U.S., Germany and Poland but most countries stayed, listened and participated.  

Here is my issue with the actions of the United States: by doing what we did, we are giving Iran and Ahmadinejad more credibility than he deserves.  The worst thing the United States could have done (and we did) was not let our voice count. Whether you care or not, more and more nations now, know and understand the point view of Iran and are clueless to ours. If you are George Bush or Dick Cheney, that does not matter much to you, but if you are Barack Obama who claims that the United States NEEDS the world's respect and cooperation, then your previous action was the very definition of oxymoron.

Why do they hate us?

I was reading a CNN article today about an American travel author, Beth Whitman, in Veitnam who witnessed a bunch of young American boys horsing around in the streets of Veitnam, during which some of the boys' shirts were ripped off.  The writer claims that simple incidents like this is why there is this image of the "Ugly American."  She argued that those shirts were at least 20, 30 dollars and that amount was more than the average monthly salary of the people in Veitnam.  Later the article goes to argue that maybe America's failed dimplomacy with developing nations might contribute to this image.  I proclaim that none of this is true.  Not true in the sense that these are NOT major contributing factors to the ever-dwindling American image.  

It is not a mystery nor a paradox.  It is extremely simple if we remove our American goggle with which we view the world around us.  We are not hated because we do not help others, we are hated because we hurt others.  We have a stake in major policies all across the world.  We are heavily invovled in almost every nation that is currently suffering from war, poverty or starvation. Offcourse when I say us, I don't just mean the American government or poeple, I also mean American coorporations who mostly shape American policy.  We have started and funded almost every American foe at one point in history.  Saddam Hussein? We funded his party to overthrow the previous party, not to mention we were an extremely strong proponent of his 8-year war against Iran during which 2 million Iraqis and Iranis died.  Matter of fact, most of Iraq's arms were American donated from that war.  Iran? We funded them too.  Actually, we funded both sides of the war at one point, but mostly Saddam.  Bin Laden? Who do you think gave the Taliban and Alqaeda all the weapons and training that they have?  The United States were the number one supporter of those terrorists during the cold war, when Russia was fighting with them (watch Charlie Wilson's War). 

The list keeps going on and on of wars and revolutions we financed by money, weapons and/or soldiers.  So the next time you go back-packing through Europe, visit the Pyramids or The Great Wall of China, and you get the evil-eye from the locals, do not think that this is because of what you are wearing or how much you spent on your sun-glasses. To think that is just another example of why we are hated.

Futurama Religions

I was reading about religions of the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans.  While it is very intriguing to compare those religions to modern-day religions (and by modern-day I mean Judaism, Christianity and Islam) the similarities are scary. Judaism is based on mythical characters like Moses who split the red sea to escape the Egyptians who were pretty much tortured by Moses (according to the Bible). The very idea of Judaism is to convince Jews that they are God's chosen people no matter what they do on Earth is intellectually insulting. The story of Jesus's birth and life is almost carbon copy of other kings, prophets and gods like the Hindu god Krishna who was also born of a virgin some 3000 years before Christ was born or Horus son of Isis (Egyptian Goddess) who was also a product of a virgin birth 500 years after Krishna's theology.  Similarities do not end with the virgin birth, where Horus and his father were often referred to interchangeably, he was of royal blood, he had twelve followers, crucified, buried for three days then resurrected.  Krishna's father was a carpenter, his birth was signaled by a star in the east and much more identical traits to those of Jesus. Not to mention other myths that have extreme similarities to Jesus like Mithra of Persia and Attis of Phrygia.  

Similarly, the third holy religion, Islam, does not offer anything new.  Almost all stories in the Qur'an are mentioned in the Bible.  Almost all practices and rules offered by Islam have been offered previously in almost every other religion in the past.  The only new thing Islam offers is the story of Muhammad and how he is the last prophet to this great list of some 44,000 Jewish prophets. That is extremely unfortunate to those who seek to start the fourth holy Monotheistic religion, because God says in the Qur'an that Muhammad is the last prophet he will send.

Which really brings me to the point I wanted to make: to believe in religion makes you ignorant.  To believe in religion is to announce to the world your lack of knowledge of historical facts and your lack of possession of deductive reasoning. It is no coincidence that the relationship between religion and education is inversely proportional, then again only educated people would know what that means.

Gentlemen O' Fortune

You have undoubtedly heard about the pirates that held an American ship captive along with its crew, who were later released with the exception of the captain.  As FBI negotiators are vying to get the captain back from the pirates' "life boat," where he is being held, many questions spring to mind, most important of all is: Are you kidding me?

Forget for a second that this sounds like a story best suited for Johnny Depp, the idea that the United States Navy and the FBI are trying to negotiate the release of an American captive held hostage on a freaking lifeboat by pirates is absolutely ridiculous.  So let me get this straight, we do not negotiate with terrorists but we do with pirates? Where do we draw the line? What if a pirate blows himself up, is he worth negotiating with? What about about a terrorist on a boat?

All of these questions are intriguing but perhaps what is most intriguing is the idea that this is happening.  What I mean is that if it was not for our "invade first, invade again, invade some more, and when everybody is dead, try to form relations through diplomacy, and if that does not work try to buy off the people who are trying to kill you" policy, we would not have half a million American soldiers scattered all over the world.  We have 50,000 soldiers in Germany for God's sake, because you never know when Hitler might be resurrected, or maybe those damn Swedes might start acting funny.  

To have that many soldiers all over the globe fighting one war or another, pirates will become more of a hassle than they should.  When a group of people less armed than your average American gang, give the most powerful nation that much headache, you start wondering that maybe you are spread too thin. Maybe, just maybe at the next opportunity, let Russia or China become the jerk who nobody likes. Who knows, you might like the idea of peace and perhaps even prevent the unnecessary death of a few thousand American soldiers.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

United States president Barack Obama just capped off an overseas trip in two predominately Muslim countries, Turkey and Iraq.  Although the visit to Iraq was unannounced and mostly for troop morale, his visit to Turkey was to make a statement.  In fact, he said that he planned this Turkey visit to be the last stop on his long journey to make a statement. His statement, as he explained it was to show the world the model of a relationship between two countries that bridge the gap between the East and the West.  The question that we find ourselves asking over and over again is: Why is it that no one is burning an American flag when Obama visit their country? Why is it that no one is burning effigies of Obama? Why is it that no one is throwing shoes at Obama?

Short answer is: RESPECT. Obama did not offend, insult or crucify an group of people except for those who mean harm to America. He extended an olive branch to almost all of America's enemies to come to the table and discuss issues and differences with respect. He didn't claim that God is talking to him and he didn't claim that he can see anybodies soul by looking through their eyes. Some people are calling what Obama is doing: Weakening America, I disagree. Because when you extend an olive branch to North Korea and they decline, you instantly get the global support Bush never had. To do the right thing, does not necessarily mean you will get the desired result but nevertheless, you have to do the right thing. 

Sure torturing an "enemy combatant" might get better results in the short run but you will alienate your country and people from the rest of the world as outcasts and war criminals in the long run.  What makes us great has never been reaching for what is easy but for what is right. We used to define our honor and dignity by whether we do the right thing, now we define the right thing by what we do.