Mugabes mind, Biden and Israel, and a little Putin to boot… July 6, 2009

Well its always good to wake and find humor in world news. With all the death, and war, and economic whoas occuring all around the globe, it is nice to find something that can  make me laugh and roll my eyes. Todays little bit of humor came from Mugabe and his comments on the US envoy to Zimbabwe.  Mugabe called US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Carson,  an “idiot” with a condescending attitude.  He continued by saying that “You would not speak to an idiot of that nature. I was very angry with him, and he thinks he could dictate to us what to do and what not to do.” I had to laugh at this because Mugabe has a history of not liking most US envoys to his country, and in fact thought Carsons predecessor was an idiot also.  And I can only imagine how that conversation went. “Give us your money, but you cant stipulate what I do with it.” Obama has committed $73 million to Zimbabwe but has stipulated that the money will not be given to the government because there is still concerns about the powersharing government that has been established, and the ability for it to unite enough to successfully aid the economic and political issues facing the country.  And honestly this is no different then other foreign policy moves past administrations have made when assisting a failing third world country…we give supplies, aid with stipulations.  And it seems that the Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai understands and is willing to work with the US and other countries terms in return for assistance. Its sad to see one old man with power control issues hurting a country which was once so prosperous!

Well Obama’s meeting with Putin seems to go well, releasing a statement that says that there was an excellent chance to improve ties. Well of course! I some how cant see Obama giving Putin the angry parent look that Bush so famously gave him multiple times over the past 8 years, most infamously at the Beijing Olympics after the Russia/Georgia conflict.  But it seems that this visits agenda to begin negotiations to reduce nuclear warheads by up to a third may be successful. So one thing that Obama has wanted to achieve is underway, now what?

Well the drama in Iran has only just begun it seems. Iranian clerics have called Iran’s presidential vote invalid, and are calling for the results to be thrown out. And if their separation from Khamenei wasnt shocking enough, it seems that Ahmadinejad has been considering talks with Obama. But although this is different rhetoric from his usual anti-west/anti-US speeches, it isnt really much different, because he wants the talks to be held in front of the media, which doesnt make them diplomatic meetings, but a place for public pandering. We’ll see what comes of all this craziness…lets just hope our VP can keep his mouth shut in the future. Dont know what Im talking about? Continue reading then!

Also in the news…I have decided that Biden is an idiot. In an interview with ABC, he stated that the United States would not stand in the way if Israel chose to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, even as he reiterated an offer to Tehran for negotiations over its nuclear programme. While he is right by saying that Israel will make up its own decision on who to bomb as a sovereign nation, the way he phrased it was more in lines with the US wont interfere with Israel, ans in some ways seemed to be supporting the Israeli preference to deal with Iran in a military fashion.  No wonder the Ayatollah is telling the West to stay out of its affairs and not to meddle. If our VP is indirectly vocally supportive of military options against Iran, then of course they dont want to have to deal with us!  What disturbs me even more is that whenever one of our allies is about to bomb another country there is discussions at multiple levels of government on the issue, and if we felt that the bombing would do more harm then good we would try to stress alternative methods. Bidens interview leaves me with the impression that even diplomatic efforts to avoid military conflict between Israel and Iran wont be occurring. While this wasnt stated implicitly, it seems to be what was meant.  Its sad to see the Israeli lobby being so influential in DC and with US foreign policy decisions. Lets just hope that Israel isnt stupid enough to actually airstrike Iran right now or we could end up in another war!

Oh and I really wish I was in spain right now, cause I could be running with the bulls! Oh well..

Later!

Pre draft day happiness, gecko flu, and the great pirate debate April 24, 2009

Although I have class tomorrow (yes on a saturday…morning nonetheless)this weekend should be relaxing…as long as the Packers draft the players they need and dont do something stupid like draft a QB, then I will be relaxed. So until I get home tomorrow to watch the draft, I will be following it on my cell…not as fun or relaxing, but it should go unnoticed tomorrow since we only have presentations and I am done!

In case you live under a rock (or on one like me), there is a swine flu waging in Mexico…and according to Anderson Cooper in NYC.  And here in Hawaii we are worried abou H5N1 (aka Bird Flu)…no one ever thought about swine.  Hmm…maybe we should be worried about gecko flu too because we have a lot of those out here!  All joking aside, any kind of pandemic sucks!  Especially since its a relative shock and not completely expected from what I can grasp. Mexico did the right thing by shutting down schools an dpublic buildings, but there needs to be more and soon…Bates would be so proud of seeing me use my NIMS training and disaster management mindseet to analyze the problem!

Ha..my classroom pirate debates have gone to Petraeus…Jared have you been talking?! Since I am in a program with many military people, it is common to end up in discussions about random military things…like arming boats with cannons or massive gun turrets to prevent Somali pirate attacks…yes…we have those discussions.  I always fell on the side that arming the crew is a bad idea cause handing people with little training guns could lead to bad situations…But it looks like Petraeus and the military ae looking at such options…but they seem ot be leaning toward trained gaurds rather than the crew…maybe they see the same problem as me.  Should be interesting to see if any country recommends this approach to their shippers…and what the outcome will be!

Aww I want to adopt a wild mustang!  Can I?!?!  Please!!!!  A fedral agency is offering stipends to people who adopt the older wild mustangs from the range and offer them new homes…all to help combat the population boom that is occuring in the wild.  Eventually one day I will get me a house and I will be happy! Yes it only takes getting a horse to make me happy…ok…i tend to be easily appeased by small things like gum but a horse sounds good too!

Well Im off to help Stella set up the IloveStella.org website she just bought…check it out sometime in the future when she actually gets it operational!

Later!

Dancing under Redoubt, cost of Hawaii, and Colbert to Space! March 23, 2009

 

Well Bobby Jindhal?   How do you feel about your comments on pork barrel spending related to Volcano watching now?  Mt Redoubt has errupted 5 times…Hope you realize that disaster management isnt pork barrel spending.  In a turn of direction, I have decided that I want to witness a volcano erupt. I want to dance in teh falling ash.  Yes I know Im weird, but it would definately be a once in a lifetime event, unless you are one of the people who live by a volcano, then i guess it would be a several times in a lifetime event.

March Madness has been disappointing. Only one Ohio team left and its Xavier. I cant believe Ive been reduced to rooting for Xavier.  UD got creamed yesterday, and it was saddening to watch Cleveland State lose too.  Oh well, Im off to root for the underdogs now.  Go AZ!

I just learned that the minimum salary for a single person to live modestly inHawaii needs to be double that of the mainland.  Wow!  And I can tell you from experience, wages definately arent more that I would earn in Ohio…no wonder im not looking for a job out here!

Haha.  In case you missed it, NASA held a name the new addition to the space station contest and Stephen Colbert rallied his troops to have his name written in.  And he won!  Now we will have to see if NASA will honor the name, or will elect for something lamer.

Wow!  I gotta love the NY district court!  The ruled against the FDA, stating that it let politics cloud its judgment when it denied teenage girls over-the-counter access to the Plan B morning-after pill, and ordered the FDA to let 17-year-olds obtain the medication. Following the popes visit to Africa where he condemned condoms and pledged more abstinence training, this ruling is more inline with modern society today. Abstinence education is fine, but teens need to be introduced to the risks of and safety issues associated with sex.  And that means, not barring access to sex safety options!  Go judiciary system!

Well Im off to read…and relax since its spring break!! yay!

Later!

Night on Diamondhead, scary tunnel, and tsunamis February 25, 2009

Hmmm…my goal for tonight was to visit the County and State EOCs (or Disaster Management Centers) and hope that it would help me overcome my irrational fear of tsunamis that I have developed since moving to Oahu and taking this disaster class.  Unfortunately it wasnt much help, especially when I learned that the 3 “worst case” disasters for Hawaii were Hurricanes, flash floods, and tsunamis.  Add in poor Hawaii infrastructure (like homes that are only single panelled) and a Catagory 1-2 hurricane would wipe out Oahu….I think Florida is looking better everyday!

There was a few upsides today…I got to ride in a Mini…and now I see them every where I go.  Next, I got to go to Diamond head, which is always fun…but I got to do it at night, and I also got to go in to the “secret” underground bunker that is the State EOC…which was sweet.  The tunnel that goes through Diamond head to get to the EOC looks ominous and slightly fake.  I think they just blasted their way through and then fiberglass sprayed the shit out of the sides…it looked like a bad stage prop but you know it was real…especially the boulders sticking out the sides as you drive by. Finally, I got to see real time earthquakes occurring around the world, and there are a lot.  Like at 6:30 this morning there was an earthquake in California….granted it was only a 1.1 on the scale, but it was an earthquake.  The EOCs board keeps all earthquakes for the past week, their size, and how deep they occurred.  Any earthquake that occurs within 12 miles of the surface can cause tsunamis…so yay for deep earthquakes!!!!!!!  No close ones please.  Plus I learned that at the end of July there is going to be a pandemic disaster drill…and I may be a corpse!  One of my things on my wish list to check of…play dead.  Yes I know Im weird.

Keeping with the disaster theme…what was with the Republican response to Obama by Jindal? Bringing up Volcano watching as a negative aspect of the $800 billion bailout and listing it as pork barrel is stupid. Thats disaster management idiot!  As a Governor of any state you are in charge of the State EOC, and thus in charge of all state disaster responses.  Yes, your state may not have a volcano, but you seem to do oh so well tih other disasters…ie Katrina.  Granted, disasters are local and county problem until they ask for help, but you still have to know what is going on, and part of any good disaster program is sufficient preparedness.  And that means knowing what disasters are immanent for given areas.  The minute a volcano erupts and kills people, you are going to have everyone micro-managing the situation and examining what went wrong and what could have been done better.  Give the folks the proper funding so they can do their job.  And if the bonus allows for the creation of additional jobs, then bonus!  Jobs in this economy is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Later!

My wish is dying, the italian fashion bailout, and my new anti-malarial option! February 21, 2009

Uh oh…my plans for the afterlife could be in jeopardy.  With the focus from the collision of the satellites moving to all the junk orbiting our planet, everyone seems to be concerned about cleaning it up.  My fear?  That I wont be able to become space trash…that would be highly disappointing…well at  least it is currently disappointing.  If I was dead, I wouldnt be disappointed cause I wouldnt be alive anymore!  Oh well…i havent given up on my dream yet, and hope I wont have to.

Ooohhhh I want this!  Why couldnt I have this back in Togo?!  Apparently a Swiss drug company has come up with a cherry flavored anti-malarial!  I wonder if I would be allergic to this one?!  I hope not cause if I make my way back to Africa next spring I will need some form of malarial protection and Im not looking forward to doxycyline.  Novartis and Coartem here I come!

Guess whos wanting a handout now?!  The fashion industry.  Apparently designers have petitioned Italy for assistance as their sails for designer garments plummets, resulting in a lack of profit.  Im not sure that bailing out everyone is a good thing, and the fashion industry may be included in this, but the last thing I want is Meryl Streep coming and hunting me down with a turquise colored garment and reminding me that the clothes I wear come from those designers…eventuallly (Im having flashbacks to the Devil Wears Prada….sorry)

Class was interesting today.. I learned all about my classmates obsession with cheese, and that my professor thinks Stalin was a great man. Perhaps the funniest part is that when we started talking about the way in how Americans idolize heroes from war has changed since the WWII era.  During WWII we idolized soldiers who were strong, who took out the enemy single handedly, etc…then came Korea and Vietnam, where things changed and people began to idolize the POWs and those who sacrificed themsleves for others.  The change from strength and skill to victim and compassion is interesting.  It explains why we see every soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan on the news.  We have begun idolizing someone who died just doing their job.  Their job may be dangerous, but it is a job.  Upon their death, everyone becomes the greatest person ever, but as my professor pointed out…maybe just maybe one of those dead wasnt as nice as everyone wants to believe, but maybe just maybe was a real asshole.  Just food for thought. (Not that Im saying soldiers are assholes!  They arent, but idolizing them just for doing their job is kinda strange).

Off to read Mao.

Later!

Lets support the War criminals!, When will politicians learn, and a night full of potential gut busting misery January 25, 2009

Ok…now Ive heard it all coming from the Middle East….Israel has stated that they will “back” any soldier that fouhgt in the 3week campaign against gaza that is acused of war crimes against the civilian population.  Gee, that going to win the hearts and minds of the international community, who you would like the support of in the future towards your campaign against Hamas!  Im a little concerned about this announcement. Its one thing to support your soldiers during a time of war, and most militaries have set guidelines in place that lays out “clearly” what is acceptable and unacceptable in a time of war…hello Geneva Convention?!?….so to pre-emptively state that you will support potential war criminals flags to the rest of the world that some not so cool things may/maynot have occured during that 3 week period of chaos.  Wow….and Israel is the main ally of the US?  Um…Im not saying we should ditch them, but I do think we need to seperate ourselves from them in some ways in order to preserve our own interests.  Here we are trying to give human rights to Gitmo detainees and Israel is defending potential human rights violators…time for us to move on…sorry Israel Lobby.

What is up with todays politicians?!  First Blagojevich decides to announce to the press that his ongoing corruption investigation, and the resulting pending impeachment proceeedings, are all a vast conspiracy against him…that hes the victim of a conspiracy to raise taxes. Seriously?!  Wow…and I thought Bush was creative on the excuses he made for his decisions, but he aint got nuttin’ on Blagojevich! And now theres some Mayor from Portland who has decided he won’t resign for lying about a sexual relationship with a teen (graned the boy was 18)!  Wow…please don’t tell me he’s taking a page from Illinois cause Im not thinking thats going to work out so well…one may be corrupt, but being a viewed through the lens of sexual scrutiny is no fun…just ask all the other politicians who have been busted for one sexual relationship or another!

And can I suggest that no one move to Pennsylvania anytime soon…it seems like there is a serial arsonist on the loose…just an FYI.

Well im off to watch some more Man v. Food with the roomies…One thing we cann all agree on…one day we want to take a road trip across the US and visit all the food sites from the cable shows!  Food vacation…fun! (Plus Josh baked a cake…well kinda…he didnt have all the ingredients needed, and got creative…so if poison control is called later, just know its not my fault!)

Later!

The goat thief, the wonders of a solar eclipse, and the Pope on Youtube? January 24, 2009

I have survived the first week of classes!  Yay!  But i fear that by the end of the semester I may be bald as I foresee me pulling out my own hair out of a combination of exhaustion, stress(and I dont stress easily!), and a brain freeze from all the research and writing I will be doing!  I think I can, I think I can….its all in staying positive (which can be a challenge for me).

There is a list of things I want to do in my lifetime…call it a bucket list if you want…and everyday I seem to find something new to add to it…today is no exception.  I may have to wait for a long time to witness this one myself, seeing as its not something that can be bought or that can be done anytime…I want to witness a complete solar eclipse.  The Indian Ocean recently had one, and I think its just fascinating to see, how nature and the universe can create something so instantaneous, and awe-inspiring that it leaves people in amazement! 

Its Chinese New Years!  How do I know? Well there seems to have been an explosion in the Chinatown area in Honolulu, plus the fireworks kinda gives it away too.. Apparently its the year of the Ox, but Im not sure what that means…I think I was born in the year of the rat…or was it the monkey, oh well, nevertheless, its made for an entertaining afternoon in Chinatown!

Is anyone else finding it weird that the Pope is getting his own Youtube channel?  Im finding it strange that the Catholic Church has been so unwilling to come into the modern era in so many ways, and on so many issues, that to find him utilizing a “technological phenomenon” like Youtube is startling!  Im sure its an attempt to spread the ideological beliefs of the religion to the young and “hip” but Im over the religious “propaganda” so im not sure Ill be tuning into the Popes podcasts anytime soon… (Its one thing to be spiritual, but im not too into the religion thing)

And in my favorite news item for the day, a goat was detained by the local police on suspicion of burglary….in Nigeria. Apparently several people took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.  Now this is not shocking to me in the least…Im use to the culture in Western Africa, and seeing people explain the bad things in life with accusations of ancestors being cursed and voodoo, but I am a little surprised that the police actually agreed to detain the goat! Maybe it was just easier to do this then tell the people that voodoo, and a goat, cant steal a Mazda 323.

Well Im off to watch UFC with the Roomies and then off to read some US foreign policy…

Later!