Category: government

Eisenhower was wrong

On By Rick McIn economics, government, travel2 Comments

It’s as if you can’t trust a President / Commander in Chief. 😦

Though he never directly used the term “domino theory“, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower put the theory into words during an April 7, 1954 news conference, when referring to communism in Indochina:

Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the “falling domino” principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.

Introducing the domino theory, that if Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of Southeast Asia would soon follow. Press conference, April 7, 1954.

wikipedia

Today Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Canada? are NOT Communist.

domino_theory

Eisenhower was wrong.

… Hanoi will be the fastest growing city in the world in term of GDP growth from 2008 to 2025 …

On February 2013 Dubai-based property developer Global Sphere announced a mega-project to build about 70 residential towers in Hanoi in an area dubbed the Hanoi Wall Street. The first phase, valued at $10 billion, is expected to be finished by 2020. …

Fall of Saigon - evacuation of CIA personnel 1975
Fall of Saigon – evacuation of CIA personnel 1975

The USA could not win in Vietnam. Nor can they win in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, …

Santayana
George Santayana – The Life of Reason

When you hear a leader call for armed intervention, follow the money. Who’s going to profit in the proposed military action?

Gay marriage in Idaho

On By Rick McIn ethics, GOP USA, government, happinessLeave a comment

Idaho is one of the most Republican States.

Yet …

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed same-sex marriages to proceed in Idaho, lifting a temporary stay issued two days earlier by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

The developments capped a busy week for gay rights. It started with the court’s refusal on Monday to hear appeals from decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The next day, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, struck down bans in Idaho and Nevada.

Supreme Court Allows Same-Sex Marriage in Idaho

I’d say the battle for same sex marriage in the USA is pretty much decided.

click for larger version
click for larger version

Here’s a list of prominent American opponents of same sex marriage. I’m looking forward to those politicians flip-flopping on the issue.

Cruz and Huckabee are two who will stay the course.

I’m stunned that the U.S. of A., normally so slow to change anything has changed so quickly. Where is the Tea Party of 10 years ago?

Where are the Christian Righteous?

Where is the Pope?

… Oh right. We have a reform Pope. A new report by a top-level Vatican panel on the family calls for a more positive view of homosexuals.

Congratulations to my Gay friends and advocates for the dramatic turnaround in American public opinion. I do feel it’s for the best.

On the other hand, I completely understand the argument by opponents that the word “marriage” has traditionally meant a legal contract between one man and one woman. That’s true.

Seems the definition of a word can change over time.

In addition, fewer adults in the USA are married than ever before. More people will never marry. Will decline in marriage result in a less stable society? I doubt it.

related – FOX News – Is gay marriage battle over? The silence on the right is deafening

FreedomTM – Daniel Suarez

On By Rick McIn books, economics, governmentLeave a comment

Highly recommended. The plot of the Daemon (book series) is brilliant. And important.

Picking up a few months after the end of Daemon (2009), Suarez continues his popular technothriller and SF saga.

The computer program Daemon has taken over the Internet, and millions have joined its virtual world. Now the effect is spilling into the real world as Daemon assumes control of financial institutions, and the program’s real-life converts flock to small towns to re-create a sustainable lifestyle amid the agribusiness monoculture of the Midwest. …

Amazon

Freedom_MMIsometric02

It would make a great movie. But nothing is in the works yet.

German Universities now tuition free

On By Rick McIn economics, education, good news, governmentLeave a comment

Though Germany is a fiscally conservative nation, they’ve decided to invest in students. Education is the future.

All German universities will be free of tuition starting 2014.

free tuition Germany

More equal access to all citizens. The rich are less advantaged than in the past.

How does the tax burden compare with the most expensive nation?

Germany – 39.90%
USA – 22.70%

These tax rates apply to single people with no children, on an average salary for their country.

still a Global Warming skeptic

On By Rick McIn climate change, economics, ethics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

I have no idea whether or not YOU are destroying the Earth as claimed by Obama at the United Nations climate change summit. But arguments and statistics like the ones presented below, keep me skeptical

Doug L. Hoffman, author of the book The Resilient Earth (2009) …

  • Earth’s temperature is always changing.

  • Over time there have been periods when it has been colder than it is today.

  • For most of the Phanerozoic it has been much warmer than it is today.

  • Life has persisted during periods both hot and cold.

  • There is no one “right” temperature.

  • Carbon dioxide has always been present in Earth’s atmosphere.

  • Over time there have been periods when CO2 has increased and decreased naturally.

  • For most of the Phanerozoic it has been much higher than it is today.

  • Life has persisted during periods with high CO2 and low CO2.

  • CO2 levels will change with or without human contributions.

  • Over time there have been a number of ice ages—Life has endured multiple ice ages.

  • For most of the Phanerozoic there have been no persistent polar ice caps.

Those who say CO2 is the most important factor in climate change, that human GHG emissions will cause runaway global warming, have no historical basis for such claims. …

Given 4 billion years of Earth history and 542 million years of complex life, blaming mankind for 9,000 years of global warming seems rather silly. …

Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay skeptical. …

read more …

ice age

 

 

Obama – ISIS Campaign unending, expensive ordeal

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, ethics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

… White House aides confirmed that President Obama will reassure Americans that the impending military campaign against ISIS will be the exact same type of open-ended, drawn-out conflict that they are used to. …

… speech to comfort the American public by reminding them that they have been through armed engagements without clear end dates or even concrete objectives plenty of times before, and that this case is no different,” …

… the president will assuage viewers’ concerns by laying out precisely how the U.S. will mire itself in the same old quagmire that citizens have grown accustomed to over the years. “The president’s message is clear: This will be just another one of our routine intractable engagements in the region—it’s going to be unending, it’s going to be expensive, and it’s going to affect our credibility within the international community. …

The Onion

Worst two Presidents ever, I’d say. And for much the same reasons. 😦

Barack Obama, George W. Bush

Losing Iraq

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, Islam, things getting worseLeave a comment

When you hear anyone tell you that the USA could have WON in Iraq, please know they are blowing smoke.

George W. Bush

11 May 2003 Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush appointed L. Paul Bremer to run Iraq. Bremer did not speak Arabic. Knew nothing of the Middle East. Seems to have done pretty much everything wrong.

On May 23, 2003, Bremer issued Order Number 2, in effect dissolving the entire former Iraqi army and putting 400,000 former Iraqi soldiers out of work. Discontent and insurgency grew stronger.

… It probably doesn’t matter what Bremer did.

It’s not possible for a foreign invader to WIN in Iraq or Afghanistan. Never has been. Never will.

Recall that wannabe President John McCain said that U.S. troops could spend “maybe 100” years in Iraq. That wouldn’t have been long enough. 😦

If you want a recap, I recommend Frontline:

U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011, ending America’s military commitment in the country.

Now, chaos is once again engulfing Iraq. The team behind “The Lost Year in Iraq,” “The Torture Question” and “Bush’s War” takes a look at how we got here, what went wrong, and what happens next.

Losing Iraq (July 29, 2014)


The longer the U.S. military stays, the more suicide bombers they will inspire. The more Westerners will join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 😦

Paul Ryan – specific proposals

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

The main reason I gave up on Romney was that he had no specific platform.

Ryan’s not perfect, but at least he’s got the guts to put a plan forward.

Rep. Paul Ryan said Friday that Republicans must do more than criticize President Barack Obama to succeed politically, saying they must become the “proposition party” to become an alternative to Democrats. …

Last month Ryan released a new anti-poverty plan, calling for reforms to the nation’s welfare, education, and criminal justice systems. …

Time – Paul Ryan Says GOP Must Become ‘Proposition Party’

On the other hand …

Asked whether he supports the military action authorized by Obama in Iraq on Thursday, Ryan told a reporter “Yeah, nah, call my office. I don’t want to give you a flippant, walking-through-the-halls thing. It’s something I’d rather think through.

Republicans are two faced. Saying one thing, doing the opposite if it’s in their own benefit. I’m hoping Ryan is slightly better than the rest of the Presidential contenders.

tumblr_mhathfOnKS1rdkw6yo1_500

For a Republican, he’s no Tea Party nut.

Ryan was one of 32 Republicans in the House to vote for the auto industry bailout.

related – Tea Party steers GOP right — away from White House

an honest American polititican

On By Rick McIn economics, GOP USA, government, humourLeave a comment

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Though “Honest” Gil Fulbright claims to be running for Senator Mitch McConnell’s seat in the great state of Kentucky, he isn’t actually on the ballot. McConnell, running in a tight race for reelection this November, can breathe easy.

In fact, Fulbright doesn’t actually exist at all. He’s a fictional candidate played by movie and TV actor Frank Ridley …

Mashable