The Bravo Blog

Earthquake!

Mon, 12 May 2008 07:28:01 GMT

Yes, that's right, there was an Earthquake today and the building my office is in was swaying pretty bad. We evacuated and after 40 min or so we came back in. I am a little nercous and have vittago now but all seems well. I am really glad we sign papers on the new apartment tomorrow. The new place is a 5 story building and we will be on the 5th floor instead of the 32nd where we live now. I will get the low down on the quake, strength, epicenter, et all as I am sure it will be widely reported here, all the buildings in our area were evacuated. It did strike around 2:40PM local time, maybe a little earlier. Our office was not swaying side to side but felt like it was going around in circules. This was the second movement I have noticed in the building moving but this time it was really really really really bad.

When a toddler refuses to eat

Tue, 06 May 2008 02:04:50 GMT

Earlier tonight my wife and I were in distress because our daughter refuses to eat. My wife called her mom who started telling her we were not trying the right things to get her to eat and did not know any better; I turned to the internet, namely WebMD and Google. At first it seemed Sophia may have an intestinal issue, but keeping true to troubleshooting protocols you always try the more simple things first. After an hour of research I asked Coco how much milk she had given Sophia today, 3 bottles roughly the same amount of 36 ounces plus water and some juice. Our daughter is 15 months old this week, very tall, loves to play, and seldom complains or shows any symptoms of a stomach ache but she is under weight. The research is pointing to too much milk. Sophia has little interest in food, other then playing with it. She is starting to want to feed herself, which is understandable. I did not know that at 2 kids are supposed to be off the bottle, so it seems we need to cut back on her milk/formula then alter the times we give her a bottle allowing her to have an empty stomach and be more receptive to eating.

We will have to see how well the advice on the many parenting bulletin boards I read was. It makes sense to me, children have much smaller stomachs, higher metabolisms, and find bottle feeding much easier and less effort on their part. It has been hard to be away from her for so long and many of the things parents experience we have not so it ups the stress levels when things don't go according to our expectations. I am hopeful the old troubleshooting axiom of 'problems most often require the simplest solution' holds true and we just are not up to her feeding needs for her age. The next challenges will pale in comparison to this, getting her to understand English, listen when we tell her 'no' in what ever language we say it, and to enjoy taking naps or going to sleep. Less calorie fluids until she eats, then some milk for nap time and bed time, and smaller but more frequent meals/snacks over the day and hopefully she will start to eat more, drink less milk/formula, and her appetite should develop and feeding her will not take 2 to 3 hours and chasing her all over the house and fighting with her just to eat half a bowl of rice soup or noodles.

Thailand Photos done

Mon, 05 May 2008 08:16:52 GMT

I have finished all 3, yes 3, photo albums from our Thailand trip this spring. I have not forgotten about the recap of our take in the adventure, or the mishaps along the way. The past week was Labor Day holiday in China, 3 days including Saturday, and I took an additional day off as Coco brought our daughter up for a few weeks visit. There are things I would like to discuss, but the reason I have not is the same one why the postings have been scant, time. My project management role at work has expanded 3 fold. My MPLS implementation role has went from Asia Pacific to now include Europe and Americas too, a new total of 44 orders to track (up from 9) and monitor on a daily basis. My Benefits tracking role was extended by a minimum of 1 month, with them trying to fund me until the end of the summer, and guess what... I am now tracking the Americas in addition to Asia Pacific (yes Canada to Argentina). Add this to cleaning the home and toddler proofing the home, getting ready for a mid-month move to a new location in Shanghai, and you can see why time has been scant.

I think I have some photo quota left so I will get pictures of the much taller Sophia out, last weekend was rainy, and we wanted her to settle in and relax for a few days. There are ideas brewing on topics ranging from gas prices, to housing markets, to food inventories, to Detroit's sports teams (the two best being in playoffs right now, go Wings and Pistons!) and my thoughts on raising bi-lingual children (right now Sophia understands Mandarin but only speaks Cantonese and has no clue what I am saying if I speak English) and the state of world health care that Mr. Moore did not mention in his movie Sicko, and no, I did not see it.

The secret is out, N. Korea - Syria link in Nuclear Facility

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:14:49 GMT

That loud bang in the Middle East last September, and barely mentioned outside of the news feeds, was indeed a Syrian nuclear facility under construction with the material and technological help of the North Koreans being leveled by Israeli war planes. Israel found out, as well as the US, and took the action of bombing it last Sept 6th with no talk or retaliation, condemnation, or even a peep form anyone, and the media completely ignored it. I remember seeing it and thinking it was odd and in the days following thought the rumors of the mysterious building blow up had to be the purported nuclear facility. I thought I blogged about it, but I can’t find it in my search tool or by investigating the logs. I forgot about it as no one mentioned it again, until now.

The Wall Street Journal is questioning the timing and accusing the Bush administration of saying one thing about North Korea, a terrorist supporting state, while doing another, preparing to suggest lifting of sanctions due to North Korea’s nuclear technology proliferation being exposed (without them declaring it that was part of the original agreement). Routers is being less conspiracy lead in its reporting but it still asks the questions of why go public and now (the answer is the lifting of scansions). While the US media is focusing on the scansions and the timing the BBC is correctly reporting on the connection between the Syrian facility and the North Korean one at Yongbyon. While Syria denies ever having a nuclear facility or working with with the North Koreans on such a facility, the soon to be released video tape showing North Koreans working on the facility will tell a different story. This explains the lack of outrage on a violation of air space, international boundaries, and a bombing run against a sovereign nation not at war with Israel. Syria to this day denies any such cooperation or deal ever existed, despite the bombing run and destruction of the facility as a consequence. If the proof is irrefutable then Syria will join the long line of habitual liars about their military aims and aspirations in the region.

Why is this significant? The same reason anything about the Middle East is. The region is home of the most hostile, hatred soaked, fundamentalists, uneducated, and hopeless groups in the world with oil reserves and material resources to wage war in every country of the world, and doing it. This is much more then just about oil. Three of the world’s major religions have their origins in the region, civilization has its origins in the region, despite the smart people migrating out of the region over 3,000 years ago it still holds the most significance to us all culturally, politically, and economically. How is this? Culturally the region holds the old ruins and artifacts from the time before the Egyptians rose to power to the end of the Crusades. Politically because a stable Middle East has never been known in any of our times. Sure the French and British had large major colonies in the region but they ultimately failed showing the instability under that system. The area is still a major trade route, by land, sea, and air. The area is one of the least technologically advanced and poorest and therefore needs stability and security to give their peoples hope and futures. The area holds numerous resources, natural and human. We have not paid more attention to the Middle East since WWII and we are reaping the harvest of those policies, just like in Africa.

Despite all this the facts will point to the two following conclusions; North Korea was proliferating nuclear technology despite the agreements stating it would not do so and Syria was actively and covertly trying to obtain nuclear technology without acknowledging it after surveillance confirmed it and military action halted it. Now we have to deal with the fall-out of these two facts. North Korea and Syria governments have proven to be liars and underhanded in their admissions and plans with the international community. Rewarding North Korea with lifting of sanctions and a free pass on their violation of non-proliferation agreement is the wrong message to be sending to Iran. Rewarding Syria by doing and saying nothing sends a stronger and clearer message to countries who are not under international scrutiny for nuclear weapons or material processing. If Bush and his administration could keep their word and stick to a hard line they would have more credibility then waffling on requirements and going back on their public rhetoric in a public forum like they are now. It seems Bush is more concerned with his winning friends and deals then with keeping vigilant and resolute against proliferators of nuclear programs by rogue governments built on secrecy and hidden agendas.

Happy Earth Day

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:38:29 GMT

It's Earth Day again, all I can remember from the mid '70's was a huge book my Mom bought with a picture of the earth from space on its cover and back. While growing up the Earth Day thing faded away along with bell bottom jeans, pizza collars, and rayon button down shirts and afros. In the '90's there was a brief come back, thanks to the Clintons and Gore but the tech boom erased it until the media picked up on the sky is falling mantra they have been screaming for the past 8 years. With that said and out of the way it is important to take a step back from our over-consumption fixations and look at what we can do to lessen our impact on the planet.

I grew up in the Boy Scouts of America, earned Eagle and later on Order of the Arrow. One of our fundamentals was low impact camping. You bring it in, you take it out. Spread your ashes, leave the site better off then it was when you arrived. A good philosophy we should be teaching our kids by example of each day. We are more aware today of where our trash goes, its effects on the landfills, water tables, and ground soil, this is good. It is only a bandaid though for the real problem. In America we are still the largest group of consumers in the world, well, for at least a few more years... thanks to the Chinese. It's high time we started to live low-impact life styles as much as possible.

What do I do? Great you asked. For one, I no longer own a car. I take the subway or light rail as much as I can. Our home is full with florescent light bulbs. We turn on the minimal lights and don't have the TV on for background noise, reading replaces that activity. I only use rechargeable batteries, some of which are 6 years old now! We flush our toilet only 2 times per day, after our shower at night and when we leave for work in the morning. At work I use the electric hand dryer, put my PC to sleep, turn off the monitor, and don't use paper cups. Recycling in China is fairly new, you see old people collecting plastic bottles from the trash, people taking used news papers, styrofoam and such to centers for money, but it is still not realistic to separate trash here, they just heap it all together in the collection truck each day. Every little bit helps, it all adds up. It's not some hippie living or sacrifice to make our lives uncomfortable and it works.

Plan trips, car pool, chose packages made from recycled paper, replace light bulbs, use rechargeable batteries, get a hy-brid, separate your trash and help educate your kids. Our planet is warming, that is true. Our polar caps are melting, this again is true. To be so conceded to believe we are capable of destroying the planet in 100 years is a farce. Our planet is not traveling around the sun in a perfect circular orbit. The earth is not a perfect sphere. Our daily rotation is not perfect and neither is our axis tilt. This means the earth goes through hot spells, cold spells, and moderate spells. Science can not find the crater of the impact that killed the dinosaurs, they can theorize about it but can not 100% prove it. We had 12 ice ages each lasting about 1,000 years back to back, that science can prove. In the age of the dinosaurs the climate was hot, very hot... again science can prove this. So it is safe to say we are in a temperate age between 2 extremes. The earth will get warmer, the ice will melt the sea will rise and planet will go on as it did for 4 to 5 billion years. Compare this with out scant 20,000 year probable existence. The Grand Canyon was once under water, during a hot climate. Off the coast of Australia they found evidence of dry land plants, over 100 meters below sea level, when most of our water was locked up in ice and glaciers. They have found cave paintings in the African desert showing sea animals and swimming. Our planet is constantly changing, we just need to adapt. We can't prevent the planet from warming up, but we need to treat it better if we want to survive with a lifestyle that is sustainable for the next 20,000 years.

There are more people walking the planet today then have ever been born, this is a fact. We need to rationally think about our effects on the planet to ensure the eco system we rely on does not collapse. Life will continue without us, but we can't if the current balance is shifted much more then it is now. The sky is not falling, just changing.

Monthly photo quota reached again

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:08:13 GMT

As you can tell from my 2 Thailand photo albums, I have exceeded my photo quota for the month, 500 pictures uploaded. We visited 3 areas of Thailand, Chiang Mai, in the north, Phuket in the south, and finally Bangkok in the middle. I will have to wait for next month to finish my photo albums as I did take too many pictiures yet again. I will try to blog about the trip as many interesting things happened in each locatin. Enjoy the photos I have posted and know I am not finished just yet. Also I have pictures from Shanghai's Forest Park, the only natural wooded park in the city, well just outside the city but a nice park to go to none the less.

Back to the old rat race

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:05:46 GMT

It is always a shame when your vacation time comes to an end, this time was especially so. We are back in Shanghai, tanner, healthier, and more relaxed but going through sun, sand, surf, clear air, amazing sunsets, and friendly people withdrawals, not to mention currency shock. After 9 days, 3 cities, over 2,000 photos, and many mini adventures I hope to find the time to share these along with insights into Thailand from both an American and Chinese perspective (care of my wife's observations).

We were in Chiang Mai, a northern city close to the border with Myanmar (Burma) and not too far from Laos, for 3 days enjoying the jungle tours, seeing the old temples, or wat in Thai language, and enjoying the relaxed and laid back atmosphere of the north. Next we spent 4 days on Phuket Island, the largest island in Thailand, located on the southwestern side of the country, and sandwiched between the Andaman Sea to the west and the Gulf of Phuket on the north and the Phang-nga Bay on the east. Due to the location this is a prime tourist spot with all the charm and trappings of such.

We rounded up our adventure with a full day and night in Bangkok, the capital, and took in what we could in just less than 20 hours, minus 6 hours for sleep of course. The capital offers a much different view of Thailand as the city is a major Asia Pacific hub for finance, commerce, and trade and this is reflected in its views, attitudes, and atmosphere. We did the tourists thing, seeing the Royal Palace and shopping in one of Thailand's larger shopping malls, can't remember which one right now, and was able to get all the VAT (variable allowance tax) back from the mall shopping we did. We did hit the Patong Bar scene and after an hour and a half were pretty much board and did get out of being ripped off, well only ripped off slightly, before returning to our hotel only to be kept up most of the night by unruly Koreans screaming at each other most of the night and morning.

Back in Shanghai we were shocked by the cool, damp, and smoggy conditions, hence the withdrawals, but we did get a day and a half to decompress, unpack, and watch something besides Star Movies or BBC. I will be getting the photos converted and uploaded over the week as well as highlights of the trip. Thailand was a great place to visit and one I am wanting to visit again, and if the US dollar can improve, as well as the Chinese RMB, will definitely go back to again and soon.

Thailand

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:48:47 GMT

We arrived at the Bangkok airport this morning and are waiting on our connecting flight to the north part of the country, then the sounth. It is hot here, 90F and no idea in C. Looking forward to a few days downtime, only got 1.5 hours of sleep last night due to last minute work items and bankning issues. Will be posting pictures and stories upon my return to Shangahi around the 4th. Did not register with the US Embassy, don't know if I will for such a short trip. Any way, enjoying the airport lounge and duty free shopping which you can do AFTER you land, not just before you leave!

Rant of the week

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:32:55 GMT

Happy Easter for those who celebrated the Christian events of the past holy weekend, to all others, happy spring as this week also marked the beginning of spring in many northern hemisphere locations. Since my last rant there have been quite a few things going on in the world, let’s start from where we left off last time.

Over the past week the largest World News story on this end of the planet was the anniversary, and subsequent social unrest at the roof of the world. While I should not go too in-depth on this topic, for obvious reasons I will cover the most interesting and contradictory aspect of the whole affair. Xinhua, the official Chinese News agency, has been working overtime in the past week to spin the events of the civil unrest into Beijing’s favor. While it is nothing new, or unique, it does bring up one really good question, one I will pose in a few moments. While my old friend, Non-Stop Nancy Pelosi, made her way to Dharamshala India, the home of the Tibetan government in exile, Xinhua stated she was aligning with the rioters eventually calling her a looter, arsonists, and killer. They could have logically gotten away with this if they had stopped here, but they had to push it into the realm of contradiction when they stated, “Finding a leverage to tarnish China, 'human rights police' like Pelosi are habitually bad tempered and ungenerous when it comes to China, refusing to check their facts and find out the truth of the case”, in its weekend edition. Now for the question that this statement begs to ask, what are the facts and truth of the case?

If China wants ‘human right police’ to be good tempered and generous with China and its actions what must they do? Allow foreign reporters access to areas of civil unrest? Allow people with grievances against governmental actions to air their grievances in an open and civil forum with free, fair, and protected free speech about their situation and complaints? Not have military or police escorts accompany foreign reporters to ‘authorized’ citizens for interviews in the police presence? Have an open and transparent accounting for events up to and including the total number of deaths, causes, people responsible, hospitals autopsies were preformed in, burial places named, employees of said places available for interviews, and access to prisons where the accused were taken until their charges are to be filed? This is the expectation of an open and democratic state and society, neither of which China is, has, or wants to be. No, China would like the whole world to believe solely and totally in its own reports, accounts, and descriptions of the events as they see fit, spun in a mostly favorable light as possible, of course, wink wink, nod nod.

China is crying foul of world opinion because it can not control world views as it does its citizen’s views and opinions. While it is not as bad here as in North Korea, it is still a restrictive and oppressive regime as evidences by its handling of the whole affair and subsequent press issue handling. At first there was a reporting blackout (for almost a week), then only 10 Han people, the ethnic majority, were killed, no soldiers using any kind of weapons involved, then it was 13 killed, again Han people brutally attacked and savagely murdered, and this time the police had only self defensive weapons. As the unrest spread into other provinces the military was involved, in the papers, and then only shots were fired to disburse the crowds, then it was live ammunition was used but only after great restraint and in self protection. Well, being a fair and open minded person I can accept this if not for one glaring issue. The Tibetan government, in exile, is claiming, and has claimed since the first day, that 99 to just over 100 Tibetans were killed. Surely some were hurt and taken to hospital, maybe even killed in legitimate self defense by security forces, if so show the files and proof. If the world is not being fair because the facts are missing, and China has closed off all access to seek and validate the truth, then the burden of proof lays on the Chinese governments, and believing the words and reports solely provided by the government, who has a vested interest in looking good, is far from enough to meet international standards. By taking such a stance China is ever more looking like they are hiding something, something big, and playing right into the very stereotype they are crying foul over. China has a credibility issue on the world stage, and there is no amount of propaganda or public relations spin that can reverse this perception; only open and fair access to the evidence will satisfy those who you have a grievance with, this is the reality of life on the global stage, welcome to prime time.

All over the National News is the recent study stating that 1 in 4 American teen girls, between 13 and 19, have at least 1 STD, sexually transmitted disease. After reading the report, which states that the most common disease is Human Papilloma Virus, HPV (the virus responsible for cervical cancer), the rest with the usual suspects of premisocus behavior, gonorrhea, syphilis, and herpes. Overall 1 in 3 African American teen girls are infected by at least one of these and 1 in 5 of both Caucasian and Latino teen girls also. What are parents doing in America now? I know what they aren’t doing, parenting. In the 1980’s when AIDS was just starting out, teen pregnancies became all the rage, so STD's and teen sex is not a new topic. Our culture of sexualization of our kids, mostly teen girls, and lack of strict and private disciplining of our children, is leading to a national epidemic. In the Navy part of every port brief included the list of off limits areas and STD rates of the general population. In Africa the AIDS rate was 90% in the 1990’s, and I can tell you this really sticks in your brain. What will the port breifs be on America by visiting sailors?

Why is it we are allowing so many teen girls to have sex? Last time I checked, having sex with girls under 18 was statutory rape, in many states it does not matter how old the male is. While we all know this does happen, how has it gotten to such a disastrous level? Dating is about learning how to tell someone you like them and work out your feelings, not about learning about sex and sexual acts first hand, that is what college is for. My first girl friend’s mother told me that we were lucky to go out on dates, her husband and her were not allowed to do more then look at each other and talk before their wedding. Now this is extreme but how did we get from the dating ideals of the 1950’s to an overall 25% STD rate we have now and have it happen so casually and with little to no public outrage? In 50 years, just over 2 generations, we have swung the pendulum from one extreme to the other. Unfortunately if parents try to discipline their kids now days it is classified as abuse and child services gets involved and we all end up like Britney Spears. For 25% of teen girls in America to have a minimum of 1 STD then we have to have a minimum of 50% of American parents of daughters who do not know where their daughters are, what they are doing, or who they are doing it with! This can not be blame shifted to the schools for lack of good sex ed classes, or the media for desensitizing us to images of teen sex and lust or sexually charges advertising seen in teen targeted media outlets, this is a parenting problem one that is damaging our future and national health. Parents, get your heads out of the sand and sit your kids down and begin parenting before it gets worse, because as it is going now, it will get much worse by staying on the same course.

All the Political News rage was Barack Obama’s race speech in response to his former reverend’s pulpit speeches on race and America, former because Jeremiah White is now retired and Obama still lists him as an influence and mentor. I watched the speech, I read the speech, it was a very good speech but… I have stated before that Barack Obama gives very high rhetoric with very little substance, cotton candy if you like. This is not to denounce any of his points, policies, or stances, quite to the contrary I believe in many of them up to a point, and that point is, they are inclusive on the highest level. Obama does not flesh out anything, just gives glazing overviews of this issue or that topic. We hear it and it makes sense, it sounds good, but we never get the plan for getting there. Life is a journey. Like any journey you need key elements to accomplish it. I have stated this time and time again, you need an origin, where we are now, a destination, where we want to be or achieve, and a plan to get there, the tools we will use to accomplish our goals. I believe in all the things Obama outlines in his speech, but I want to know how we are getting there. Are we taking a car, bus, train, plane, walking, horse, jumping in the air and letting the Earth rotate below us, how?

Race is an issue in America, sure we all know this, how are you going to fix it? Everyone, except maybe Florida voters, can tell you race problems exist and need to be fixed, what we are looking for is real leadership to fix it. Tell us the plan, don’t point to the 500 pound gorilla in the corner and tell me he is there, tell me what and how we are going to deal with him. Poverty is an issue in America, yes we all know this as well, doin’t tell us it exists and how bad it is, tell us how you intend to fix it. Education is becoming an embarrassment for our children in public schools, gosh we all knew this since the late 1970’s, how are YOU going to lead us to fixing it? Healthcare is America has been broken and caught in HMO hell since the insurance industry took it over, again we all know this and have personally been affected by it but what we really want to know if HOW CAN WE FIX IT. Get my point?

I too am a mixed race person. Yes, I too associate more with one race that makes me up but I never state I am more then what I am, a Native American with German blood. I might have issues seeing things in the same way my European ancestors did, but I do not discredit or abandon them at all. I know I am, at most, ½ Native American and I did not grow up on a reservation, talking to or with other Native Americans (until college). How can I then relate to them or their plights? Why am I saying this, because I have not heard Obama state this clearly. He states he is a black man, not a mixed man. At most he is no more then ½ African American, rightfully so as his father is Kenyan. His mother and her parents raised him in Hawaii. His story is inspiring and uplifting, but he is not a full representative of one world or the other. The point is, despite this I know how I would fix the issues we face, I would love to share my plans and convince people to back them, why isn’t Obama being as passionate and forceful with his ideas on fixing our nation? Why is he, at this stage, not outlining his platform beyond the national inclusion phase of saying things nearly everyone can agree? At least I know where Clinton stands on many issues, she has history we all can see, Obama has to over come this by telling us more. You addressed you race issue, now follow up with some meat and potatoes on the issues you outlined other then race. Fixing our racial and ethnic divides are far harder then just stating the obvious and that we need to work on them. The speech was good, but it reminded me of a magic show, look at this hand while I dazzle you with the other. I am still waiting to be sold, show me the plan.

Onto the Economy, I need to shift everything into big oil, all my investments. Gas has hit $3.26 a gallon nationally and diesel $4.06! This is only good for investors not living in the US as diesel is the major hinge for all consumer goods. Ships, trains, and trucks run off of diesel. Everything we consume arrives on our store's shelves thanks to diesel. Food, electronics, clothing, books, batteries, greeting cards, dental floss, even our mail and entire service industry runs off of diesel. When these prices go up, the items go up… this is called inflation. Supply and demand dictates the rates and values of items, fuel is special as it impacts every other one. The developing nations are hungry, making alliances we refuse or are unable to do, and therefore are competing with us for the rate commodity that is our fuel. Venezuela it turns out is the largest exporter of an oil that can only be refined as diesel, but then we are only 1 or 2 places on the planet capable of refining it because of its bad quality and high sulfur content. This means we are having to use oil originally destined for gas, jet fuel, or heating oil into diesel. Those selling oil are in a sellers market, the rest of us are just along for the ride now, and it seems we are footing the bill more then ever.

On a positive note, and I wish we had more of these to discuss, the space shuttle Endeavour is heading back to Earth soon, completing its historic number of space walks and additions onto the ISS. Soon this large lab in the sky will be done, then we get to ask the obvious question, now what? The next president needs to recapture our imaginations and keep the march into the stars going. Who knows what we can learn or find from these small steps back towards the stars, hopefully answers to our most immediate concerns, sustainable habitat. While focusing on the small and selfish is good for the short term, we will eventually need to go other places to sustain on the long term.

In a recap of last week, Michigan seems to be following Florida’s lead and abandoning a re-vote attempt. Now that the screaming, arm and leg furling, and crying has stopped maybe we can see the DNC act rationally, fairly, and stop the air of suspicion and conspiracy I have seen of late. Super-delegates and back room deals will not solve this riddle. Clinton called for the abandon of the Electoral College back in 2000 when Gore had the popular vote but not the College vote, now she is saying she is ahead in College votes therefore making her the logical choice, man how I love 180 degree policy changes. In my opinion they need to seat half the delegates, in the percentages of their electorate and let the uncommitted decide where they want to go, as well as Edwards, and let the chips fall where they may. There will be a contested convention I am sure, but the party has to plan for this and how they will resolve it, and hopefully this time they have learned from recent events and can prevent further trauma to their cause or our nations self image.

Select Your Issues, Match to Candidates

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:30:49 GMT

As it is obvious I am politically minded and opionated, I would like to do my part by offering a nice tool that allows you to grade the issues that matter you the most and select the degree to which they matter and then get rating on how they match against the national candidates as they are. This IS NOT in any way form or fashion an endorsement, test, or way to select a presidential candidate, but mearly a tool to use to identify your issues against nationally publicized platforms. I find its results interesting and hope the designers and owners can keep it updated and improve on it so it is more useful.

If nothing else it offers a window into your issues against the candidates stances so you can research them further and find the best match for the person who best represents your values, ideals, phylosphy, and direction of interest for the next president. Again, this is a tool, not a magic 8 ball. I found this link on the Chigago Tribune's web page researching Obama's latest speech about race in America.

Visit Select A Candidate™ at www.selectacandidate.org.

Select A Candidate™ link above is built and maintained by Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, Minnesota and American Public Media, the producer and distributor of national public radio programming, used with permission in accordance with licensing agreement

In a continuing effort to help spread the passion of democracy to my fellow Americans, home and abroad like me, I want to take every opportuninty this election year to offer smart, insightful, and passionate articles and tools on this historic and important election cycle, because we all have to live with the results for the next 4 years and the policies set forth during those years will be felt for many more years to come. Participate, stand up, argue, debate, and take control of your selection for president, don't allow anyone to make your decission for you!

Florida will not re-vote, Michigan still unsure

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:37:43 GMT

It is wonderful how time works sometimes, murky water clears up and issues there were foggy before have the light of reason and intellect shown upon them. Now for the contradiction of the week, the DNC, Democratic National Committee, has won a small battle when the Florida Democratic Chair, Karen Thurman, stated Florida will not hold a re-vote. Now this is only a small battle, as stated before, because there is still Michigan’s primary results issue, what to do with these delegates now. Will the DNC cave and provide a compromise, something akin to the RNC decision to seat only ½ the delegates, or none as their own rules state, or some harebrained scheme cooked up by some special interest group within the party? Time will only tell. The crontradiction is, the Democrats want to have unity, strenght, fairness, but are unsure how to acheive this, and it looks less and less likely every day.

Again I am astonished by the utter ignorance and profound stupidity of the average American voter and how little they know about their own election process. I thought most Americans HAD to attend a civics class in high school, that's right a whole year to teach citizenship. Was this class cut out since the 1980’s? Is it not required anymore? Did they not teach the class in the 1950’s to 1970’s? Why is it nearly 80% of Americans, especially those in Florida and Michigan, has no clue about what a primary is, who holds and runs it, and what rules, laws, and rights are associated with a primary verses a general election (reflected by the numbers of people on message boards, blogs, and opinion sites decrying voter fraud)? Most importantly, why are people not worried, concerned, or outraged by the blatant call for violation of the rules and negation of agreements or the obscene disregard for the truth, accurate information, or education of the public? Why isn’t the main stream press educating the clearly confused and ignorant citizens of my fair nation to clear up this mess? Isn't the primary mission of the press to inform the public?

I stated it before and I will state it again, the primaries are not covered under US election laws as they are not a federal election. They are a private vote, preformed by a private party, subject to the private rules and regulations set by the before mentioned private party to chose a single candidate to represent their collective interests in a general electing in NOVEMBER! If there is disenfranchisement it is not a legal issue covered under the constitution or rights provided by our Constitution to anyone, it is the responsibility of the party holding the nomination vote, it is not an election! If people have issues, contact your local party leadership, state ELECTED officials, or Howard Dean and complain to them, STOP screaming disenfranchisement, unconstitutional voting policies, un-American practices, unfair this or that bull crap you constantly light up the discussion boards with.

I just learned that the supposed "Republican conspiracy" (echos of Vast Right-Wing Conspiracies of the 1990's) to sabotage the DNC process in Florida was passed by a vote of 118-0 to move the primary up to January. Not one single, lonely, steadfast Democrat voiced opposition to moving the primary to an earlier date despite knowing all good and well what the rules, article 20, section C, stated and what the consequences of violating said rules would be. Not only this, but the news media was reporting this since the votes in Florida and Michigan were announced AND BEFORE they were voted on by their respective state legislatures. The citizens of these states had the access and opportunity to voice their concerns before this mess was created but, no they decided to play sheep, follow the leader like a bunch of lemmings and now that they are falling off the cliff they want to scream foul... hogwash! And yes, if I were a Democrat I would be saying the same thing, fair is fair, right is right, and every decision/action you take has a consequence. What lessons are we teaching our future generations by having such a public display of ignorance, misinformation, and justification to only follow the rules that make sense after the consequences have played out? Where is the accountability? Where is the leadership? Where is the voice of reason telling people what the truth is?

At least I am not alone in my thoughts. At the NY Times (as disturbing as this is I am referencing the liberally toned Times) I have found a great article with better comments airing out all this insanity. To share a quick snippet of the 10% - 15% sensible and correct and not the 85% - 90% ignorant or misinformed quotes;

“Voters aren’t being disenfranchised. Constitutional rights apply only to the general election - political parties are free to set whatever rules desired in order to select its nominees, which is why the lawsuit got kicked in the lower court and will get kicked again by the appellate panel.

Florida and Michigan agreed to and signed off on the schedule months in advance, then chose to violate that schedule with full knowledge of the consequences. Michigan was controlled by a Democratic legislature. Florida was controlled by Republicans, but the Democrats in the Florida legislature voted unanimously for moving the primary up. Both state politicians have no one to blame but themselves, and they are who the voters should be angry with. Not the candidates, and not the DNC.

If the two states wish to have their delegates seated, they should figure out a way to hold new primaries in June and pay for it themselves. The constituents would be rightfully outraged at having their tax dollars pay for the do-overs, and should voice their displeasure the next time their representatives are up for re-election”. – Posted by bb

““The Republicans in Florida moved the date up.”
The same Lie Spewed Again and Again by members of the Clinton Cult hoping if they sat it enough it will be true.
A reminder of the Florida vote again to move up the Primary and loose their delegate.
Vote: 118 - 0 to move up and loose delegates.
118 – 0
read again the elected representatives of the Florida people both Republican and Democrat
118 – 0
Again
118 - 0 to move up primary and loose delegates.
Why is the lie that it was the Republican who moved the date up still being spewed?……
Now theses are the ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES of the people of Florida speaking on their behalf.
This is Democracy.
What is the problem here.
No RE DO, No RE VOTE, NO MAIL IN, NO INTERNET VOTE.
The Rules stand as they are Delegates are not seated as per the existing rules.
What is going on?” – Posted by Louise

“The notion that the issue of the Michigan and Florida delegations is something that must be adjudicated is ludicrous on its face. This issue is not about disenfranchising voters; it’s about a national party’s nomination process. There is no Constitutional guarantee of participation in a nomination process. The national parties make their own rules; the fact that both the Michigan and Florida state party organizations chose not to follow those rules may be unfortunate, but it is the state parties themselves with whom voters in Michigan and Florida should be angry, not the national party. And this argument fails to address the utter hypocrisy of the Clinton campaign’s flip-flop for political gain—disgusting!” – Posted by Lawrence

“The bill moving the primary passed 118-0 because it was a classic example of logrolling…vote FOR the bill and get new voting machines, or vote AGAINST it and deal with touch screens, which no one wanted, for another year. The primary move as a tacked-on amendment that the Democrats tried and failed to stop.

There is NO constitutional right to vote in a party primary. Unless the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, which heard argument on a case challenging the Democrats, reverses all prior precedent, there will be no judicial intervention here. Political parties are not in the Constitution, and there are numerous court decisions that say the government has no legal role in prescribing methods used by parties to select nominees.

Obama ran no ads in Florida. National ads that aired on the cable news networks were seen by Florida viewers, but the networks can’t beam one satellite signal for Florida and another for the rest of the country. With ten days to go to Super Tuesday and significant name recognition issues, you’re telling me Obama can’t advertise to the other 48 states just because people in Florida or Michigan might see it?

Although I would hope not to see the misinformation on these matters again, I’m sure that’s not likely. After all political campaigns and candidates thrive on misinformation. And you sheeple just eat it up.” — Posted by K_Hussein

“Florida voters were only disenfranchised in a technical sense. The state party made the strategic decision that its voters would have more influence on the outcome of the national campaign by going early - even if the delegates wouldn’t be counted - than the ratification value of its delegates’ votes at the end of the process. It was a logical calculation, given the absurdly disproportionate influence that Iowa and New Hampshire have wielded for decades simply by virtue of the make-or-break momentum they give to the campaigns. And in fact the Florida outcome did have its impact — if not as much as it could have if the delegates had counted. But who could have known the race would go so long and be so close? (Actually, Florida of all states should have!) But that doesn’t mean Florida should get to have it both ways. A second vote in this case is tantamount to giving Floridians an extra vote, not an equal vote. BTW I am a Clinton supporter. But I’m a “democrat” with a small “d” first.” — Posted by Hilary

The above is owned and all rights and associated acknowledgement belong to the NY Times and its political blog page, the referenced article is by Kate Phillips.

I really wish the newspapers, talking heads on the national and local boob-tubes, and magazines (like Time, Newsweek, US News and World Reports, Life, Reader’s Digest, heck even TV Guide) would clear the collective air and publish the truth about the nomination process so more and more people are informed correctly and can voice intelligent opinions about this matter. This firestorm, that really does threaten the cohesion of the national Democrat base, is allowed to spread by the absence of the press trying to quash all the misinformation out there about disenfranchisement, constitutionality, and laws concerning primaries as we obviously need refresher courses in civics. If not the press then the cause or source of all this insanity should do something, the DNC should be informing its members and the people they represent about what is going on and what the real story is much better then they currently are.

If the DNC caves we will most likely start a leap frog contest that has the Democrat Party Nomination process being held in November or October the year ahead of the actual general election. I for one hate to see all the money wasted on campaigns, see my previous posts regarding this, as well as all the pre-nomination crap we have to put up with as it is now, much less the thought of dealing with it for a full year apposed to the 10 months we have of it now, thanks to Florida and Michigan for kicking off things in January. Why must it take more then 2 months in our modern electronic era to nominate a party candidate, then 1 to 2 months to select our president? 3 to 4 months is reasonable and enough time, we do not need to drag this out to 10 to 12 months. Democrats, clean up your party and stop making such a mess just to get your name and issues in the press! No wonder things are so convoluted.

DNC Nomination mess and Do-over anxiety issues

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:54:40 GMT

The events leading up to and around the Florida and Michigan delegate debacle have proved just how disorganized, dysfunctional, and fractured the Democratic National Party is. Often people are amazed to learn I am a conservative. Born in San Francisco, Native American, long hair, well read and educated at a liberal college but despite all this I can not agree with a vast majority of the things I see and hear coming out of the DNC and the party faithful mouth’s.

Last summer there was speculation and talk of states challenging Iowa’s symbolic stance of kicking off the presidential campaign run by holding primaries ahead of the Feb 5, 2008 date set by the DNC by-laws and rules committee. Only the traditional and historically early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada were authorized to have primaries/caucuses before February 5^th, Michigan’s Democratic party defied the rules and pushed for and got a Jan 15^th primary, Florida’s Democratic Party did not offer strong opposition or resistance to the Republican held state legislature from holding a Jan 29 vote that the primaries would be attached to. Both states were warned in advance, both agreed, and all Democratic candidates signed pledges to not attend political rallies, air commercials, or campaign in either state, they could hold and attend fund raisers and non public appearance events. In Michigan only 4 names were on the ballot, Hillary Clinton being the only real nationally recognized one. Barak Obama ran a commercial in Florida on CNN during prime time but the ad was not targeted specifically to Florida residence.

I have read the DNC rules, article 20, section C and it clearly states the consequences for holding an early voting process. Please see the rules here, Page 24/27. How is it the Republicans were able to work out a deal, seating ½ their delegates and taking care of the issues before the election was held and the Democrats still have not fully resolved this? Leadership, or the lack thereof. Howard Dean, the DNC chairman, is leading a party after his failed presidential campaign fell apart due to money mismanagement, public meltdowns, and speculation on who was running the show and now he is telling everyone else what to do? Where there is smoke there is usually fire. Despite violating the rules, agreeing to the consequences, and holding the vote anyway Florida is again looking like a fool on the national stage. Michigan is quietly working things through and making deals to get as many delegates to count as they can despite the lopsided ticket people voted on.

Here is my problem. Florida is crying foul and disenfranchisement. You can’t have it both ways. I have read people saying they did not know the Florida vote would not count. Were you living under a rock on the moon? I live in China, where my access to information is limited at best and I knew since December! I have read people crying disenfranchisement because their votes will not count and this is America and how can this be? Simple, you have no clue what you are talking about. Primaries are not elections, they are nominations, which are run by private organizations (political parties), and your voting rites are observed under federal law for elections and elections only, thus your selection for a Democratic nominee is not governed by the federal government but by the organization who is sponsoring, running, and using the process. You can only blame your state party officials for not serving your best interests, end of story.

Putting all this aside we are left with a huge rift that threatens to fracture the Democratic party to the point of fertile ground for a third party to be born. There is talk on the bulletin boards and blogs of people stating they will vote Republican in the general election out of protest and disgust. I see this as a mediocre threat used to just get the DNC to renege on its ruling and let the spoiled brat get dessert after not eating dinner. As much animosity as the GOP has generated over the past 8 years I see it impossible enough liberals will defect to elect McCain in November, however there is a lot of in-fighting going on and getting worse within the part as well.

Due to the nearly impossible momentum needed to edge one candidate out over the other, barring a Garry Heart or Mike Dukakis type media firestorm, this is going to go down to the wire. I am talking about math. For those outside of Florida, who are not living under rocks on the moon, you know the magic number to be nominated by the DNC is 2,025. This number is MINUS Florida’s 210 and Michigan’s 156 delegates. I was unsure of this at first so I will be a little forgiving of those who did not know. Obama has the lead with 1,400, Clinton has 1,251, and Edwards is holding onto his 26. This is a 149 margin. In Michigan Clinton got 55% of the vote, 40% were uncommitted due to lack of names on the ballots and the rest got 5% combined. In Florida Clinton got 50%, Obama 33%, and Edwards 14%, if all Edwards voters went to Obama then he would have 47%, only 4 names on the ballot here. With 1 large primary in April, Pennsylvania and then 7 in May and the final 2 in June before the Convention in Denver in August there is a real likelihood this could draw out even longer. Math wise Obama just needs to keep on keeping on to take it to the wire, we all know Clinton will not concede until the fat lady has sung her final encore. For Clinton to overtake Obama she needs to win by a margin of 60% or more, consistently past Pennsylvania. With just under a 150 margin gap, even introducing FL and MI back into the mix, it really does not change the landscape enough to matter much.

Now for the hypocrisy angle. If Florida and Michigan were allowed to re-vote, it would be a travesty and mockery of our selection process. Do-over’s, and I have written about this syndrome before, are never fair or good. Looking at the numbers, if Michigan did a re-vote, Clinton is not guaranteed her 55% margin as all the states surrounding Michigan split their votes and margins were in the ranges of less then 10%. Since the January 15^th vote people have been given new information, had their views changed, modified, or altered by the events of the past 3 months. In Florida, who would Edwards supports vote for? Could Clinton wrap up the Latino vote like she did in Texas? If they were allowed to campaign people’s views would change and the outcome would be too different to predict, in both states. No, a revote is not necessary. You voted in your private organization vote process, your re-vote comes in November. Your state party officials caused your nomination votes to not count so cry to them and Howard, the screamer, Dean over your spilt milk and hanging chads. The nomination process was to narrow the field down to 2 so the rest of the nation could chose, that is what happened. If you get to revote then all early states get to revote again as well, to be fair. From the point where just Clinton and Obama were left, let all these states re-vote as well so their voices can be heard. Your state party broke the rules, knowing the consequences and went ahead anyway and this is the result. Let’s leave the magic number at 2025 not 2381. Its still an odd number, there are still plenty of states left, and hopefully the America people will quite trying to vote in a clone of the bad old days of Clinton scandals, lawsuits, economic shut downs, terrorists passes, and foreign policies that have resulted in a greater destabilized geopolitical landscape (Please remember, it takes years, usually 8 to see effects of foreign policy unfold and mature to a point where it can be measured, GW Bush only inherited a world WJ Clinton set up and grew).

This process is beginning to get so out of hand its embarrassing for conservative Americans too. Instead of fighting over who counts and who doesn’t, that was settled back in December, let’s focus on who’s policies and platforms matter. Why can’t we see Hillary’s tax returns, Obama’s foreign trade policy draft, Clinton’s tax proposal, Obama’s hope translated into foreign and domestic outlines of milestones and accomplishments to be reached in 1, 2, and 4 years time? If I were to vote for a liberal in the general election, they must impress me in leadership and sound policies I could stomach and be willing to pay for with my tax dollars. Leaders stand out in time of crisis, and so far all I see is a sea of kids fighting over who shot who first and who died first on the playground. I might have issues with McCain, but I know what his policies are, what his ideals are, and what his vision of America is. The way the GOP nomination was conducted and settled was refreshing and impressive, especially when Huckabee conceded and McCain accepted, that was something the Democrats should learn from. Stop your in-fighting and look ahead, looking behind is not a way to lead, it's a way of staying where you are and I don’t want my country to stay like it is now for the next 4 to 8 years.

Rant of the week

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:22:58 GMT

It pains me to realize my submissions have becoming more and more infrequent and sporadic since January. The monthly newsletter I used to write to friends and old co-workers has fallen off completely. While excuses are never a good reason for such failures to find time to write I do have to give a few in defense. Weekends have become complete down times for my wife and I as we are both getting very busy at work and have to log many hours of overtime (neither of us get paid for the extra time either) and spending quality time and relaxing has taken precedence over nearly all our free time. This being said I have found a few minutes to recap some important items in the news and in general.

I will start with sports, Bret Farve, whom I have written about here before, has retired. He did so after one of his best seasons in 5 years and capped of a long career with setting records in every stat a quarterback in the NFL has (including interceptions). I would like to share my insight into what I believe is the most important stat in Mr. Farve’s record setting career. Of the 17 year career, 1 with the Atlanta Falcons who drafted Brett, 16 were with the Green Bay Packers, and this is the most impressive professional accomplishment in my opinion.

Since free agency very few players will stay with one team longer then 8 years. Brett could have gotten more money someplace else if he really tried, but he stayed in Green Bay. He WAS the franchise Green Bay player and unlike Joe Montana going from the SF 49ers to the Arizona Cardinals, he stayed put until the end. Sure Brett was no where close to being a finesse QB, but football is not about finesse, its about rugged play and he exemplified this. He went out with a good season which is hard to do, and many pro athletes don’t when they should. Brett will be one of those players in years not many will remember, except for all the records he holds, but those who do will remember him fondly.

In the realm of politics McCain won the GOP nomination, received an endorsement from the President and has toned down his independent nature, a shame as this is the only way he can keep the race interesting. On the DNC side Hillary stopped the bleeding but only for a few weeks. Obama is still chugging ahead, with another state win thanks to Wyoming. Now the ever persistent problem of Michigan and Florida have reared their ugly heads. Howard Dean will have to renege on his word of those states not counting and now they will actually count and not only that, they will get a do-over! This is wrong on so many levels and the liberal media will not call them out on the blatant hypocrisy of the spectacle.

For Florida and Michigan to hold elections again it will: A) cost a lot of money and time, B) be totally unfair to the other Democratic candidates who did not get a chance to really run or campaign in these states thereby shaping the primaries, C) show how the DNC has no spine, conviction, or ability to deal with the real problem at hand… a completely fractured party that is split down the center, and lastly D) if the costs come from the campaigns, donors, etc isn’t this money tainted with prejudice and influence? How can the election be fair in these 2 states? They were told they could not contribute and now they are bending over backwards, bending rules, making things up as they go along, all to have a vote in places they said it would not count. Why can’t the other states have a run off now just between Clinton and Obama? As for this talk of a joint ticket, who will decide who is president? Howard Dean? Superdelegates? Michigan and Florida? Funny how the press is not looking at this angle.

China has been in the news over it ingredients for the blood thinner Heparin, foiled terrorist plots for the Olympics, progress in Dufar after a very public spat over the Olympics, and the whole Tibetan issues from the Dalai Lama to Bjork and now talk of the relaxing of the ‘one child policy’. As my wife and I passionately discuss, China is having mixed emotions about being on the world public stage. For the last 60 years America has been railed against on the world stage for unfair foreign policies, imperialistic alliances, double standards, this and that sort of negative issues. In America we have become used to such criticism of our country, we are still the most immigrated to country on the planet so many more people like us then hate us, even if they are unwilling to state this publicly. China has to get used to this. Each and every policy China has will become public domain and every crackpot in the world with a microphone and video camera will state their opinion on this and the Chinese can do nothing about it. People will criticize every facet of your society, human rights, finance policy, judicial system, environmental protection policies, trade, state run companies, arts and entertainment sensors, free press restrictions, and much much more will become open debate forums on the world stage and the degree of control China has over its state run media will be gone as they can not control the global media. This is inevitable so I hope China is ready for it, hosting the Olympics is not going to be a 100% positive PR campaign, it will have a dark side and this is just a taste of it.

The media has been ‘blessed’ with a number of highly profiled shootings over the past month. From the reports it seems everyone is getting shot, kids, families, young successful college girls, its all over everywhere. I say this because the press has been railing against the second amendment for decades now. Truth is there are less gun owners, legal gun owners, in the US now then almost anytime in history. Gun crime is only slightly going up in trends seeing the past 5 years gun violence at the near historic lows of the 1970’s. Perception is being shaped by the press who is showcasing tragedies of families being murdered by career criminals out of jail for murder and then committing murder on their own family in less then a month, or kids at a buss stop being shot at by gang members, or a high-school football star shot on his way home, or the two Georgia college students shot over petty cash by people who don’t value anything but money and self image. Trust me when I say this, I have done the research many time, 90% of guns used in crimes are obtained ILLEGALLY! No gun control law will prevent this statistic. Guns are bought on the black market for a fraction of the price every day, gun laws work when enforced which 95% are not, ask your DA about this. As for the shocking opening statement, I stated this for a very specific reason. In 2004, the latest Department of Justice reports available, stated of the 16,137 homicides in America just over half, 10,650 or 66%, involved firearm and yet we only hear about gang land shootings, with no followups on the important facts, or grossly celebrated cases like the 2 college students in the news this week. The liberal media is cherry picking the gun violence to scare the public into thinking we need to forfiet our second ammendment right. In 2005 the statistics are clear, of all the violent crimes in America a gun was used, or brandished only 10% of the time, 4.7 million violent crimes is more disturbing to me then 15,000 gun deaths out of 470,000 crimes involving a gun (around 3%). While letting out millions of crack offenders from jail will lessen the burden on the jail system, what will become of these people when they can’t get employment, housing, medical care, or a decent standard of living? It seems fear mongering is the what they like to use to shape the reality of the vision they think is best for us all. Lets fix the problem, create security, jobs, futures and hope in these communities, not add gun laws, purge criminals into the neighborhoods, and turn a blind eye on the facts until a pretty white college kid is shot for her ATM card and car keys.

The American people love oil companies. I have given up on outlining the sheer and utter robbery the oil companies perform each week in my country. People just shrug and say “I don’t like it but I have to pay it.” This is such a winning attitude. Sure we don’t have public transportation in place to solve the problem, we used to rule the world in public transportation until the 1950’s, because we can’t inconvenience ourselves to use anything public. I say let it continue, let gas go up to $5, $6, $7 a gallon, Americans will pay. I have started shifting all my IRA funds into big oil and why not, after 5 years of record breaking profits quarter after quarter I can get a really nice nest egg off people just sitting back and paying the man for the luxury of driving a car. Not to mention as China ramps up its middle class and they buy cars, guess what… Chinese love big gas guzzling cars too, the law of supply and demand will only multiply the current prices by large numbers! We sit back and take it with a frown but never get off our arses to try and protest it at all.

This week there was an important Islamic conference in the UK where 75% of participants voted that Islamic community was failing its people to combat extremism. I watched the 3 hour debates and vote on BBC and was impressed by the debaters, the audience questions and answers given by the keynote speakers, and mostly the outcome. The Muslim leaders there, while not mullahs, were brilliant in their positions, for and against, and I feel the community is beginning to take the right steps to get rid of the ideology of hatred that has hijacked their great religion and culture. One of the best points I heard (paraphrased): Question, How can we, as Muslims, not take great offence and act to outrages like the Danish cartoon of the Prophet. Answer, While this is a large insult and slight, one we have to educate the west about, why is it we have such fervor and distain over this injustice of prejudice and not speak out equally over the hundreds of racial and prejudice cartoons against the Jews, Americans, Europeans in our own newspapers every day? We have to equally condemn prejudice and hatred wherever it is, whether it be by our brother and sisters next door or the Jews in Jerusalem. We have to fix our own house before we can expect other to respect our words of condemnation for their acts, we have to be fair and righteous equally to all. Good advice we all need to heed, observe, and practice daily. This is such a groundbreaking event as it demonstrated the Muslim community is acknowledging a problem and clears the way for them to begin fixing it.

Photo Quota reached... Again!

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:05:34 GMT

I have reached my monthly quota again; unable to upload any more photos until March. I will have to complete the Downtown Shanghai album (showing a panoramic view of Shanghai from a unique vantage point, I will discuss when the album is done. I also have some shots of fireworks on the last night of Chinese New year as well as the festival at Yu Garden I will add after that. I was planning a trip to Osaka Japan to see the cherry blossoms in March/April but getting my wife a Japanese visa has become too problematic and seeing the atmosphere towards Americans there at this time, it is best to not go there.

Castro handed over the government to his brother, no big surprise there. He is vowing to continue the revolution. Forgive me for being a little off struck here, but how can a revolution last for 50 years, and with the past government overthrown and opponents executed... isn't the revolution over?

Ralph Nader is running for president, again. Billary Clinton stated that is unfortunate and a waste for everyone. Funny how the possibility of a third party is met with such cynicism and distain. I though America was about choice and options, not just the mainstream flavors of the year. Now yes, Nader did get 19k votes in Florida and Bush had only a 500 vote lead over Gore in 2000 so the Dems feel he cheated Gore from the White House for it but hey, that is water under the bridge and is it really fair to blame your lack of generating better votes for your party your candidate’s problem and not the third party candidate who is offering a different vision, not just the vanilla or chocolate we are told to chose from? Nader will be negligible in this year’s election, but we the people need to decide who we vote for, not just the two ruling parties who want to control the political process and keep it out of our hands.

Congrats to the US Navy for not only striking, but demolishing the failed spy satellite last week. We accepted the mission and executed it flawlessly. The modified SM3 may cause the ‘deck apes’ problems as it scorched the paint job, but a large Bravo Zulu to GM’s and Weapons Department onboard the USS Erie! While the mission was clouded in speculation as to why, it was done, done right, and proved the effectiveness of our anti-missile/satellite capability and again shows the world that we can do what we say we can. Yes the Chinese did the same earlier, but now they know we can also do it too.

The torching of the embassy in Belgrade was unfortunate and while the country is going through the motions to look like they are trying to bring justice to those who did it, we all know this is just a dog and pony show. Russia is now threatening to stir up trouble in Georgia in retaliation. Let’s hope that we can put cold war policies aside and work this out diplomatically for once.

Over here there has been quite a deal of flack over Steven Spielberg’s decision to quite the Olympics. First the Chinese are shocked, then offended, now they say he never signed the contract on time so he technically was never employed! Which is it! If he had not quite would it had been an issue if this document were not signed? Frankly his decision to quite was his own and the Chinese people have to deal with it. He can do what ever he likes, that is part of being a free and fair person. He had an issue with his employer, the Chinese government runs everything here so they were employing him (not just the Olympic Committee), and he decided to quite. My question to the Chinese people is this, why Stephen Spielberg? As they are now getting a Chinese artistic director to design the opening and closing ceremonies, why not do this from the beginning? So what if he is famous, he is a movie director, he is American, and he lives in the left wing Mecca of US, Hollywood. Why not John Woo, Ang Lee, or Zhang Yimou just to name the most famous and well known outside of China? One thing China needs to learn and learn quickly, if you are to be a super power (like the US or Russia) you will have all of your decisions, policies, and actions aired on public opinion platforms all over the world and most of it will be negative. Remember all the criticism of US policies you have shouted out over the past 50 years, well now its your turn to receive it. When you become an economic, political, and military powerhouse you invite criticism and denouncements on everything you do. This is just the beginning, trust me.

Finally some inspiring news to record. The ISS, International Space Station, has a new lab, the European Columbus module is installed, powered up, heated, and beginning operations soon. Next up, the Japanese Kibo module (the largest) to be ferried up to by the Endeavour shuttle next month. As the ISS grows, getting back to the moon accelerates, thanks to the Asian Space Race, and continued data from Mars rolls in we will have better things to do with our time then start conflicts over petty matters and quarrels better left to theologians and diplomats. The ISS will hopefully allow us to overcome the long term space exposure issues so we can begin to take our first real steps beyond our current womb of Earth.

New Photos

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:48:52 GMT

I posted 4 new albums, re-arranged some for better cronological order of events. For those in Shanghai last night's abrupt fireworks at midnight were the ending of the traditional Chinese New Year lunar month, the whole next day will be fireworks all day and night. Last year at this time the apartment above us caught on fire, hopefully none of that this year! Obama and McCain won Wisconsin and Hawaii... now the media has to buy into the fact they were backing the wrong horses. I hope people enjoy the photos and I still have 1 album left, photos from a mystery location, but one you can see all the famous downtown sights from, including the tallest 2 buildings in the world.

BREAKING NEWS - Castro Steps Down - Breaking NEWS

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:49:30 GMT

According to CNN International Cuban Communist leader and commander-in-chief has resigned and steped down. Announced at 3AM local time on the state run web-site and hitting the international wires 30 min ago it is not too unexpected since he has not been seen in public for over a year after having intestinal surgery and giving his brother Raul. He stated he would not stand in the way of young up and coming politicans so we will have to see if the rest of his government will follow suit or if his meaning is just a way for Raul to galvenize his interim position into a perminate one.

More interesting will be Washington's reaction as sanctions were placed on Cuba until Castro was gone, now he is gone, what about the sanctions? Will Chavez try a political back door move to help keep socialism strong in the region, my bet is yes. This is a huge oppertunity to finally get one of the last cold war chapters put to bed if the cards are played right and we can all put our egos on the back burner. Stay tuned to your favorite news outlet for the impending flood of Flordia celebrations, historical perspectives from all the 'experts' who the national media will give air play to and will come crawling out of the wood work. Coming during the election season will give it extra coverage, at least the vote in Flordia is done.

I have no thoughts on the topic at this time. Cuba was a huge mistake from the Bay of Pigs to the U-2 mission and the missile crisis to the refugee and boat people of the 80's and even Alberto Gonzales and Janet Reno. It has inspired our enemies, communists backers, and nut jobs on how to deal with the US. Castro stayed in power and watched 9 US presidents go by (Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush), all unable to do anything with him. Maybe now, despite Michael Moore, we can get some more realistic dialogue going with our southern island neighbor, unless the eventual sucessor turns out to be a Chavez clone or puppet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I bet Cubans are too this morning!

Voting day in Wisconsin

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:40:12 GMT

Today, Tuesday the 19th of February, marks 2 local elections and the presidental primary. While most of my readers are not living in Wisconsin or West Allis for that matter, the last US residence I had, this is still an important and interesting election day. For local races there were 2 primary elections, one for the Mayor of West Allis, the other for County Board Supervisor, Dist 16. The mayoral race is interesting because the present County Board Supervisor is running for mayor. Major issues revolve around taxes, Wisconsin is a very high property tax state and as Mark Belling puts it, 'in a state of tax hell' and the other issue is crime. West Allis has the highest home turnover rate in the state. I will not go into the reasons but people move in, then move out at an average of 19 months... this is not really a good thing. Second, Milwaukee city is trying its best to stamp out a rash of violent and gang/drug related crimes, murder rate is stable for the first time in 5 years so far this year. Crime in neighboring West Allis is beginning to climb, strong arm robbery and assults, and 2 of the candidates are running on the platform of reigning in crime. Unfortunately the only candidate with a multiple platform is the former County Board member and his record is ok, the rest just seem not genuine enough to be a mayor.

Onto the County Board primary, we have an ex-member (who was recalled over an unpopular street widening issue) who is running on a change platform, 2 new comers with little to no government experience, except 1 is a former police detective and has a good record, and the other a new resident upset about the cut in local services, and lastly a business man who hates high taxes and pledges to bring in job. I have mailed in my absentee ballot to narrow down the field when the general election is held in a few months. Seeing the lack of real platforms and the speeches and data available I am depressed at the lack of passion and forethought used for these races. Only the politicans and former politicians have realistic platforms that could work, if all the planets and stars aligned when the winds are perfect. The others seem to be 1 trick ponies which lead to a missmanaged and diasterous local government.

Why would I bring up the local elections of such a place as West Allis? The similarities we are seeing in the presidential primaries is why. Wisconsin has turned into a huge battle ground with low blows and hard shots coming from all sides. Clinton is blaming Obama with stealing a few lines from past political speeches, Huckabee is the posterchild for 'never give up', and their front runner opponents are polor opposites of each other, just as the two underdogs are. Obama is the liberal breath of fresh air who give really good speeches but I am not finding much meat behind the words. Clinton is the career politican who will stop at nothing to win re-election into the White House. McCain is the elder party maverick who is desperate to gain core GOP support without offending the moderate independents who he has championed for the past 12 years while Huckabee is the 'gee-wizz' Arkansas governor who is part Goober from Mayberry, part Rober Schuler from the Crystal Cathedral, part mystery man as coverage of him has revolved around his preacher in politics angle. McCain has not 100% locked up the nomination but barring a major campaign implossion unseen in modern politics, Huckabee is just keeping the party split. Obama needs to gain more then 20% of the popular vote to keep Hillary and her bag of dirty tricks from stealing the nomination as every single deligate and those damn super-deligates count and Wisconsin is not a big state but is could swing final momentum leading up to Texas and Ohio, remember Wisconsin and Ohio are midwestern states with many similar issues and concerns.

I voted. Now the absentee voting process is a little odd. The ballot looks the same, the process is the same, take a #2 pencil or black felt tip pen, complete the line next to the name of the candidate you like, and that is that. Hope you don't make a mistake because the ballot is signed by the elections board and it takes 5 days to get a replacement. Now here is the odd part. I have to fill in my ballot in front of a US citizen, place it in the envelope, fill in the back pannel, add my birthday because I am overseas, have the witness who is a citizen sign and fill in his address too and then mail it on the same day. Talk about hoops to jump through. I am the only American in my office, I don't socialize with fellow ex-pats, and how in the hell could the state of Wisconsin verify the signature and address of the witness anyway? In our modern world, with all our modern capibilities, we are still using paper ballots (needing to be collected, counted, validated, and hopefully not lost, misplaced, or duplicated). In the last election the GOP filed suit against the Wisconsin Democratic Party because of absentee ballot drives at nursing homes, prisons, mental hospitals, and places where people were placed into districts where they were not susposed to be, were not legible or allowed to vote, or were not able to vote for health reasons and the part the got the party really into trouble is that party members were signing the witness forms, which they are specifically instructed not to do because they have party affiliations. At least I know the process for the rest of the 2008 elections and I will have the ballots sent to my home for the whole year. Can't wait for November.