More Honorable Is An Honest Enemy Than A Dishonest Hero

Photo from patdollard.com

There has been a lot of remarks recently by regular people about just how horrible Russia and Putin are and how the whole world should back Ukraine, which they do not realize means backing a government that bullied its way into power. One of the words used to describe Putin has been bully. Yes, Putin very much can be a bully and if people had been paying attention to the world around them for longer than 5 minutes they might have some real concept of the political climate that has existed in Russia for several hundred years. If you are going to criticize and judge then you should do that with regard to the environment that the one you are criticizing exists in.
By comparing everyone and everything to your narrow American view you are being arrogantly egocentric. This arrogance creates misconception and fosters misunderstanding that will lead to dislike and distrust. If you want to criticize someone and be taken seriously then you should use the standard of their environment to be the measure by which you criticize and ridicule.
Russia was ruled by the Czars for centuries and as is usually the case that meant that even under good or descent Czars life for the masses was hard and meager. Then in the beginning of the 20th century came Lenin's Revolution, while one can argue the positivity of his intentions, the fact is that Stalin pretty much reverted to the strict oppression of the masses that was reminiscent of life under the Czars. After the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain it seemed as the Soviet Union broke up, much to the eager encouragement of the West, that Russia herself might spiral out of control in a free fall of corruption and organized crime. One of the largest factors in this free fall was the lack of a strong leader to put the government and country back together.
Enter Putin, yes he is former KGB, and he is from the old school. That being said he is intelligent, focused, motivated, savvy, educated and above all strong enough to have remained in power for decades. What is his secret to his staying power; easy, he is brutal and ruthless and cunning. He is a man that cut his 'political' teeth in the intelligence world, he is probably one of the most knowledgeable world leaders in respect to understanding the complexities of international relations and the intranational relations of all leading countries as well as most if not all emerging ones as well.
The West and Russia, primarily (China, more recently) have been competing for the rest of the world for the last 500 years. So the events in Middle East, North Africa, and now Europe are not new and should not come as surprising. As for the 'aggressiveness' of Russia and Putin's remarks and 'actions' I think most Americans should reverse the situation and think about how we would react if say Quebec managed to unseat the legitimate government of Canada and by the actions of their extremists made the residents of several English speaking provinces nervous and they asked the US for help. US actions would be at least on the same level as Russia's has been if not escalated. Make no mistake that the US would be much more assertive with similar action on her own borders.

Step back and look carefully...

While it is VERY true that I am not a conspiracy theorist, I would not label those individuals as crazy, out of touch, or paranoid. Not everything they say is wrong; as the saying goes, 'just cause I am paranoid, doesn't mean I am wrong'. Those words are very true. I also believe in 2 more important things:
1) that EVERYONE has the right to free speech, up to the point that it infringes on another's rights,
2) that no matter how EXTREME the views of individuals might be, they are entitled to their point of view and they help to provide a broad dialogue on issues that should be important to all citizens.

So today, I would like to present a different view on certain statements that are being printed in the media and my opinion of said statements might seem logical or paranoid; but, hopefully, they will start a dialogue.
'The government currently in power in Ukraine is a legitimate government. They were elected by the Parliament.' Before the protests started, not one single leader of Western countries stated that the legally elected government of Ukraine was not legitimate. Matter of fact that government was recognized and conducted business like any other European country. In order to ensure peace and democracy, that government even offered to hold early elections to allow the protesters to change the government in power legally, the pro-West protesters continued their violence until they were in power by a vote under duress of what was left of the Parliament.
'The people in power in Kiev have sanctioned/ordered "anti-terrorist" actions against pro-Russian protesters in Eastern Ukraine.' Whereas the legitimate government was criticized as being brutal when it finally sanctioned appropriate force by police, the new power grabbers are being praised for being measured and restrained by using the military against its own citizens, whom are being called Russian spies.
The United States has not ended its Global War On Terror. Top on the terrorist enemy list is Al Qaeda and its off-shoots. It has been reported not just by media, even mega-corporate controlled western media, but also, by the various terror groups, themselves, that most of Al Qaeda's off-shoots have sent fighters into Syria to remove the legitimate government of that country. The law of the land states that a traitor is any person that by any action supports or enables through any means the enemy of the state or provides comfort. Now this law is broad as it is expected to be applied with logic and reason based on the intent of those charged. That being said, the media has reported that the US is now directly and officially arming the rebels of Syria. Their supposed 'get out of jail' clause is that they are only arming moderate rebels, yet only a complete idiot or the most naive fool would believe that ONLY moderate rebels will have access to any items provided. Not to mention that arms and money and any other needed support has been provided indirectly via American allies in the region. Yet, not one person in the US government is being investigated for treason. It will be interesting to see how the government reacts if some independent journalist actually grows a pair and reports on US weapons being used against US soldiers in other areas of the world, like, maybe, Afghanistan! Which will be a very distinct possibility.
Again I say, if Pro-Russian protesters are equated with terrorists and professional terrorists that entered Syria solely for the purpose of overthrowing the legitimate government there are equated with rebels or freedom fighters how can any independent country in the world think that it can be independent in opinion and action, even internally, and not risk invasion directly or covertly by the US and EU!!!

Will the New Government Be Chastised for Deaths Inflicted........(don't hold your breath)

The new government in Ukraine, conducted military operations against protestors that had taken over government buildings in the eastern Ukraine town of Kramatorsk. “They must be warned that if they do not lay down their arms, they will be destroyed,” General Vasily Krutov, first deputy head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) told reporters, as cited by AFP. The general went on to state that the protestors were supported by hundreds of Russian soldiers. Those are very strong words for a government that has been commended by the West for being more democratic and patient and controlled in their response Pro-Russian protestors. Yet, not one word of restraint has been uttered by the west concerning the possible loss of life of protestors in eastern towns.

Photo Credit- Sergei Grits/AP

Ironically, the legitimately elected government of Ukriaine; that, in response to Pro-EU protestors, agreed to early elections, the legal and proper thing to do to ensure legitimate and fair forming of a new government, was harshly criticized for using force against protestors after they used force and violence to gain control over government buildings in Kiev.  How the rule of hypocrisy does rule the day!
The Kiev military operations resulted in the rapid recapture of the airstrip, this mere fact disproves the Kiev claim that the Russian Army had a contingent of hundreds of troops in support of the protestors, had that in fact been the case, this conflict would not have gone so easily in favor of the government. However, mainstream media in the West will not point out the fact that is so obvious. In fact as this article is being written, AlJazeera is reporting that the US is praising the Kiev government for a 'measured' response, but that means congrats on only killing civilians and not losing any troops. How sad that the US considers the 'Pro-Russian protestors' in Ukraine to be classified as terrorists and the professional, life-time terrorists in Syria are rebels.
To bolster the Western support and possible future intervention in the Ukraine, the UN has released a statement that places total and complete blame on the Anti-West parties for spreading lies and propaganda to incite hatred and a false sense of insecurity towards the Russian minorities. Guess the UN workers that visited Ukraine, were not informed of the brutal treatment of those that did not support the Pro-EU protestors once the protestors replaced the legitimately elected government by force.

Changing Education in Serbia.....

As another condition to joining the sinking EU, Serbia needs to reform its education system. There are many countries that need to reform their education systems, some that are more 'developed' than Serbia. Part of the 'issue' seems to be that the best and brightest of Serbia's students leave their home country to make it some where else. This basic premise seems to imply that Serbia's education system isn't maybe as 'bad' as the EU Commission makes it seem. It would actually seem that the greatest reforms should be in the economy and market place as well as in research and development to create an environment that allows for the best to stay home and make their mark on the world from Serbia.
As I said most education systems need to be reformed. Most of them no longer educate, instead they train children to grow into compliant obedient workers for mega-corporations.
This immoral mentality is destroying the culture of humanity. We are not robots. We are creative, curious, adventurous, explorers of the amazing, wonderful world around us. We should be teaching our children to cultivate those traits with respect and morals. Education systems should encourage and treasure the various talents of each and EVERY child. For it is in this manner that we can truly ensure that humanity retains its humanness. We are so focused on advancing our materialistic interests that we forget our cultural needs as well as losing our respect for our heritage, especially if it conflicts with the materialistic advance. This error will be more damaging than any other action by any group or disaster that could impact the planet. It is a complete and total disgrace that not only are we throwing away historical artifacts and locations, we are also not teaching students to value, understand or gain from the knowledge left us by our ancestors.
Serbia is a prime location for a REAL reform in education. Let's start by showing the EU the door, minding our manners, of course. Then let's preserve all the history and knowledge of Serbia, both her land and people. Then lets get innovative and motivated and use that rich treasure as our guide for the future. Let Serbia be a new example for how to get it right, how to balance materialistic advances with our humanness. It can be done, we can have both. We can treasure our past and our history and still take steps forward in the materialistic world. This is the perfect time for Serbia to break free embrace her independence and blaze her own path.

How To Actually Prevent Another Ft. Hood Shooting

The recent shooting at Ft. Hood will give new breath to the Gun Control lobbyists. And while I certainly think that something should be done about the rise in violent crime, I believe in do something constructive and proactive. As I have stated before, I also believe that individuals should be held responsible and totally accountable for their actions, unless you can so valid mental defect or extreme duress. Limiting legal access by law abiding citizens to any and all weapons as is provided for in the 2nd Amendment, will NEVER reduce violent crime in this country. One need only look at the statistics of Chicago to see that. Chicago ranks tops in 2 things, the strictest gun restrictions and number of violent crimes involving, of all weapons, firearms. The obvious reason for this is that criminals do not respect the laws and thus do not use the laws or legal system to resolve conflict or to conduct business; therefore, they do not purchase their firearms legally.
The point of this article, though, is not to restate the obvious, but to point out another fact that shows how Congress and 'political correctness' have created monsters that they cannot control and refuse to claim. In what manner do I speak of? First and foremost, since this applies to most mass shooting events; we are so worried about image and we have such a force everyone to be one size education and mental health point of view that we do not properly support those individuals that need different classrooms or different enviroments to maintain stability and mental health and even to grow and be productive and contribute to the whole. These 'moments' of violence are usually a last result, they are the culmination of years and years of crying out for help, of being neglected, of not having a place of value in the group. You may be thinking how does 'political correctness' fit in here. Let me explain, when parents refuse to seek mental help for children cause they don't want to be labeled bad parents, no one encourages them, when schools and parents drug kids out of being kids they are completely screwing up the child on every level. When we cannot identify children by their differences cause it is not politically correct and when every word that can be considered a bad word is suddenly not politically correct and becomes the R word or the S word or the B word what happens when we run out of letters of the alphabet? As Shakespere alluded to.....'a rose by any other name is still a rose' and so it is with people as well.
Today we have two completely contradictory systems that do not benefit our children or at risk members at all. We have the political world that things by twisting words you make change, wrong. On the other hand we have the medical world that makes HUGE profits by providing pills for EVERYTHING. Fifty years ago a child that ran around with loads of energy and a million questions was a healthy well adjusted child, today that same child is ADD/HA and must be medicated. Those medications affect children for their whole lives, you cannot undo taking a childhood away, yet we have taken away whole generations of childhoods, not through war or disaster, but pills in bottles. All so parents can spend more time chasing dollars to buy bigger and better things to prove what good parents they are.
How does this relate to the shooting at FT. Hood? By taking away childhoods we leave create half adults. There is a real and needed purpose to childhood. It is a time where we explore and push boundaries and develop personalities. Half of EVERYTHING we will ever know we learn by the age of 7. If we medicate our children into stupors before that age then we have damaged them for life. Granted I do not know if the suspect in the shooting had this type of history, but I do not that he went through a VERY 'politically correct' basic training that does not allow for the stressing or pushing the limits of soldiers.
I have said it before and I will say it again, WAR IS HELL. And it is suppose to be. Everyone cannot be a warrior. It truly takes a very special make up of person to be a warrior. That statement is not a politically correct one, but war is not politically correct and trying to make it so and fight it with politically correct soldiers has created an even bigger hell. By trying to run the oxymoron of politically correct wars in Iraq and Afghanistan we have failed to achieve better lives for either the Iraqis, Afghans, or Americans. By allowing any individual that can achieve the bare minimum profeciency in tactical actions and practices to be sent to war we have sent unfit soldiers into harms way. This stupidity on the part of Congress to impose its political correctness agenda in an area that makes it detrimental to the participants has created the overwhelming number of PTSD cases ever seen in this country.
Had the suspect had to attempt to make it through Basic Training 50 years ago or even 25, chances are that he would have been weeded out for failure to adapt. And had that been allowed, instead of being considered mean and unjust by politicians that have no real clue about what it takes to carry out their whims for power, the event at Ft. Hood would have never happened. And as for the gun control lobbyists, if our military members were ALWAYS armed in uniform on duty, at most 2 persons would have lost their lives, the suspect and possibly his first victim. Unfortunately, for our military members and their families, no politician will speak on this real issue.

Saying It's Over, Doesn't Make It So

A few days ago, the UNHCR recommended without much consultation of those being affected, to remove the refugee status of those persons that fled what is now present day Croatia. One of the arguments that the UNHCR used to justify their decision was the inclusion of Croatia in the EU. If joining a club makes you a different country, why wasn't joining the UN good enough?
The 'steps' that one has to go through to 'be good enough' to join the EU, have nothing to do with improving the real situation within the borders of said country, they are more an act of obedience. How willing are the new kids to follow orders and conform to the will of the Big Boys. The reality of the EU is not peaceful co-existence, it is economic, political and social control. Make no mistake, any country that has to answer to the demands, even if they are labeled as policies and laws, of another country or governing body down to the daily running of their affairs is neither free nor independent. The con of economic development and aid is not to improve the receiving country, it is instead to insure the conformity of the state to the oppressors. One need only look at Greece, whom ONLY if their economy was healed overnight, will be in-debt to the EU and IMF for the next 150 years. If you consider that 30 years is a generation, the current population of Greece has sold the next 5 generations of its citizens into servitude of EU, without any hope of enjoying the sense of self-worth that sovereignty allows. The situation in Greece is a prime example of how being a member of the EU does not denote that a country is of such quality as to make it a prosperous entity as opposed to being somewhere in the act of rebuilding from destruction or war, as the case in Croatia.
The prime example that Croatia is at most in healing stage and not healed is the anti-Serb actions of persons in Croatia that has continued since the end of the war. Last fall the signs that were in both Latin and Cyrillic script, Cyrillic being the script used most by Serbs were ripped down and or destroyed and now persons using social media are calling for boycotts of businesses and products that are owned and produced by Serbs. This is not the behavior of a compliant people, but Germany and France are not worried they will place more economic burden on the state to bring it into line, of course it will be called loans and economic boost as well as outside investment contingent on demanded behavior. This behavior is not as reprehensible to members of the EU as it is to the persons that have to live with the day to day violence. It is to the advantage of big government to have the little people fighting each other, instead of uniting and keeping government in check.

Geography Is Not Changed By Whims

So once again there are headlines defining Europe and or the EU. Apparently Geography is no longer taught in any school system in the world. Joining the EU does not make someone European. Europe is a continent, it is a geographic body and all countries that are located within the borders of the continent of Europe are European.
I do not understand the concept of the Ukrainians need to join the EU to be European......they already are.. Ukraine is located entirely within the borders of Europe. Nothing changes that and that fact makes ALL Ukrainians European. Even Russia is located within the borders of Europe to the Ural Mountains. So this concept of being European or Russian is also erroneous. It seems to be lost on a lot of people that certain things are not "changeable." The country you are born in determines your natural citizenship, however, it does not necessarily determine your ethnicity, that is determined by your ancestral lines. The location of the country that you are born in does not move on whims or political elections. Yes, you can move to new countries and you can change your citizenship, however that does not change your birthplace, nor does it change the location of the previous or current country.
Then today there is another headline that the EU isn't Europe without Serbia.....again I state, Europe is a geographic identity, not a choice, not a club, not a group. Joining Europe is like choosing parents after birth, it does not change your DNA. The same as being born with white or black skin, deciding that you want to be black or white does not change your skin color.  It was this misguided concept that lead to the violence and unrest in Ukraine. So I state, again, that countries should want to be free and independent. They should not want to answer to anyone except their own citizens.  And the citizens of each country should want their governments to only answer to them, not to them and other groups that do not have their best interests in mind. Trust me NO other country has the best interests of your country in mind ahead of or before their own. Only a fool would believe that.
There is absolutely no reason for the EU to care more about your people or country than the government and citizens of said countries. And if the governments and citizens really cared about their countries and their independence and freedom they would not want to join the EU or any other organization that takes away their independence and dictates their policies and alliances. 

It's Broke, But We Won't Fix It...........

The Justice System that is. Matter of fact to call it broken would mean that it has improved. There are more aspects of the system that are broke, corrupt, immoral, abused, or outdated than there are parts of the engine itself. Another example of just how broken this system is, is the recent plea-deal agreement with a member of the DuPont family of Delaware over the rape of his own 3 year old daughter.  As horrendous as this crime is, it is just another example that we would rather hide from truth and not face reality within our society and the superior belief held by the masses that since we are so affluently civilized and crime doesn't effect us we do not have to worry about it or deal with it.
The reality is that having a proactive, well thought out, effective and forward looking justice system is to the benefit of not only the stability and security of the internal functions of society, but will also improve the health and strength of the society over time. These facts make the justice system second to the education system in importance for the survival and advancement of community. Some of you might argue that health care should be one of the top 2 systems for society, the fact is that the more successful your education and justice the better the standard of health is of individuals within society as a result of the improvement of the health of the whole society.
What does this mean? It means that we need to take the time to face the fact that both our education and justice systems are beyond broken. We need to recognize that both are vital to all members of society, not just those that are 'handled' by those systems. We need to not only say equal opportunities, we need to provide them. We need not only say equality for all, we need to insure it.
We have the tools to make the changes, what we need is the courage and determination. We need to remember that all children are different with different gifts and we do have the means, facilities and technology to meet the needs of ALL our children. Understanding and accepting and even appreciating the differences of each and every child is the basis for a successful education system and the first step in creating a fair justice system as well. We need to cease having just one measure for 'smart' and one measure for success. Not every child is an academic, not every child is an athlete, not every child is super-star and that is not only okay, it is what is needed. If every child was a doctor or lawyer, then they might be rich but they would not have houses or cars or food or clothes or offices or any of those 'finer things' that parents seem to think measure success of their parenting styles.
Our education and justice systems began to fall apart as we changed our values from character and honor and being the best that you can be to how big a house can you mortgage, how fancy a car can you lease, how many 'toys' can you charge. We no longer judge people by their actions but by the things they have. The result is that our selves and society are hollow and we are more unhappy, less mentally stable and less fulfilled.
We have become so morally bankrupt that we think privatizing prisons is an acceptable thing. That is the worst thing. But we need to completely change our punishment and rehabilitation mentality. Prisoners should not be separated from their minor children, especially if they are single parents, unless their crime was committed against one of their children. Part of the 'punishment and rehabilitation' should include as mandatory the parent's involvement and accountability to their child and the life of that child. While I think Amnesty International and other watch dog groups have their place, I think they need to re-think what is humane and what isn't. Prisoners doing 'hard labor' in fair and safe conditions is not in and of itself inhumane. Having prisoners clean their own facilities and grow their own food and participate in daily living activities is not inhumane either. Prisoners do not need to spend their days being idle watching trash TV, that is inhumane and in no way improves their sense of self-worth or allows them the self-respect and sense of pride that comes from being a contributing member of a group. It is these changes in the internal self views of prisoners that will increase their chance of legitimate success after incarceration.
These suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg of changes that need to be made. It would take at least a couple volumes of well thought out and effectively expressed detailed concepts rebuilding both the education and justice systems from the ground up to include all the needed changes and redefined measures of success. Hopefully, this tip of the iceberg will start the thinking and dialogue needed to initiate the change. Change that will benefit EVERYONE!

Eli Lake Needs A Dictionary.......

Last week, The Daily Beast's Eli Lake stated that the Kremlin was not familiar with the term hypocrisy for releasing the private phone calls of politicians and leaders that are involved with the Ukrainian unrest. Mr. Lake seems to think that protecting the freedom of Edward Snowden is somehow hypocritical to the afore mentioned action. What Mr. Snowden did was to inform the public that the NSA was not only spying on the enemies and those that pose a threat to the security of the US; but, the NSA was also spying on private citizens of the US, as well as, the leaders of our allies. What Mr. Putin and the Kremlin did is not the same. Mr. Snowden was a private citizen, whom acted as a whistle-blower, whereas the Kremlin was acting as a government entity.
Here is a little history lesson, Mr. Lake, it has always been the prudent common practice of governments to spy on the leaders of their enemies. It is not common or prudent for a government to spy on its own citizens when that country is tauted as a democracy, with freedom of speech. This means that there is absolutely nothing wrong with or uncommon about what Putin and the Kremlin have done by releasing the private phone calls of the opposition to the democratically elected government of Ukraine. It is exactly the same as the US releasing transcripts of Al Qaeda to justify the use of drone attacks on family gatherings in countries that we are not even at war with; in countries that we do not have large American populations in; in countries that do not border the US main land.
To compare the circumstances of the Ukrainian unrest and the circumstances surrounding the Edward Snowden affair is either at best a lame attempt to demonize Putin to the American public or at worst to bolster US involvement in Ukraine that is in contrast to International Law by promoting the blatant misinformation of the government in order to initiate military action in an area and manner that is not justified. If the US, on its own or as part of NATO, intervenes in Ukraine in a military manner, it is the Balkans all over again. And the Balkans were not ethically or morally just interventions but the actions of the greed of our German and French allies whom have eyed the containment of the Balkan peoples for hundreds of years.

The Only Guarantee of Freedom.....

 During the 18th Century, the British Colonies in America found themselves feeling more and more oppressed by a government that not only was not listening to them, but was so removed from them that they had no idea about the lives or issues facing the daily lives of the colonists. Ironically, most of the leaders of the Revolution were originally willing to remain British, if only their country would treat them properly. The first attempts to bring about change between the Acts coming out of Parliament and the quality of life of the colonists was in the form of editorials and pamphlets or the use of free speech and freedom of the press. When that brought no relief then the colonists sent envoys to plead their case in person in front of Parliament and the King. Benjamin Franklin was one such envoy and was actually initially a very loyal subject of the crown; that was until he was shown first hand exactly how poorly the Crown looked down on His subjects from 'across the pond'. It was after this experience that Mr. Franklin returned to the Colonies to sadly state that there would be no comfort found under the rule of the Crown. Thus, the Revolution became necessary.
After with the founding of our free republic our forefathers wrote one of the greatest living documents ever. The whole point of the document was for it to be adaptable to the needs not of the government but the people. To insure the eternal freedom, or so the founding fathers thought, of the people of the United States the Constitution included 10 Amendments, commonly known as the Bill of Rights. The rights include the most sacred and necessary rights for the people to be able to keep the government in check. 

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

 The current government would tell you that an individual's right to bear arms is limited to the purpose of the sport of hunting or sport target shooting and at the pleasure of the government. However, one needs only read the first 13 words of the Second Amendment to see that any limitation of any person of the United States to own any arms is a direct violation of the Constitution. The purpose of the Second Amendment clearly states, that our founding fathers understood that the public needed to be equally armed with the government so that it was the government that feared the people not the people who fear their government. An armed population is the ONLY guarantee of a free state. Any state that removes the right and means by which the population is to be equally armed with the government is a questionably oppressive government.

US One Step Closer To Ukraine

President Obama stated yesterday, in his address on the Ukrainian Crisis, that the US was imposing sanctions on several high -ranking Russian officials as well as ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Konstantinov of the Crimean Parliament and Viktor Medvedchuk of Ukrainian Choice. So basically, everyone that isn't supporting the American view of what is right for Ukraine. It is a fact that Crimea is ethnically Russian with very strong ties to Russia. It is very natural for those with Russian heritage and contacts to be concerned with the very anti-Russian rhetoric coming out of the "new" government in Kiev. There have been concerns that some of the groups that make up the new leadership contains those with neo-Nazi ideas, this mere suggestion instead of being properly investigated and then with sourced and verified information refuted, has been buried under all the Russian/Putin imperialistic accusations. While I am not denying any such motive on Putin's part; he is a very ambitious man with a real desire to see Russia increase her international presence. That is not anything different than any other world leader. That is how world leaders become world leaders.
In this instance there is the fact that Russia is certainly more justified to be involved in Ukraine than the US or even NATO. The first is that Ukraine boarders Russia; second Russia has military interest in Crimea; third there is a strong Russian populace in Crimea that feels insecure with Kiev.
Ironic that it was okay for Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Macedonia to succeed from Yugoslavia over 'ethnic' differences, but it isn't okay for Crimea to succeed over basically the same issue. The major difference being that Crimea isn't seeking NATO protection, it is seeking Russian protection and that cannot be allowed.
Ironic the same supporters of the 'elections' in the Balkan break away states now consider elections in Crimea illegal and unfair, carried out under the duress of the alleged presence of armed "Russian soldiers" "on every corner". Where was the out cry for armed men in black on every corner in Bosnia and Kosovo? How can any armed person be a Russian soldier in Crimea, yet the same individuals in the Balkans were "freedom fighters"? How is it so awful that persons in the streets for any reason in Crimea are said to be outsiders from Russia, yet it is NEVER mentioned that a majority of the "freedom fighters" in the breakaway Balkan states were outsiders that had previous military training and experience?

I May Be A Loon, But You Are Greedy.........

If you do not think just like me then you are a loon, at least according to Russell Saunders. In his op-ed, he claims that those parents whom wish to not vaccine their children are causing new outbreaks of Measles, which was considered eliminated in the US in 2000. In his slamming of parents that do not fund big pharmaceutical industry, he claims the risk of the virus for causing few deaths and some disabilities, the figures are fewer than deaths by prescribed medicines. However, if you read his own words about the disease being eliminated, then you have to logically conclude that his statistics about deaths and disabilities are irrelevant.
Once again this is just another example of quantity over quality. We think that if we can keep more people biologically alive for longer that we are making life better. However, we have forgotten that life isn't about how many breaths we take but about moments that take our breath away. Just like with the implementation of ObamaCare, I as a healthy, young adult that eats well, has no bad habits and takes care of myself without running to the doctor over every little sniffle asking for pills am being penalized with a tax, because others like my father's wife whom have never done anything to improve their health or quality of life and thinks that if the cure isn't in pill or shot form then it isn't not worth it is draining the insurance companies billion dollar profit margins.
The concept of health care is so money driven that instead of telling patients that you need to eat a better diet and exercise and stop smoking and drinking excessively, doctors simply write prescriptions that might treat or mask one symptom and cause other issues or side effects that require, guess what.....more pills! This is just one more example of the complete lack of common sense and personal responsibility. We are not suppose to live forever and honestly we do not deserve to. And things like childhood illnesses are actually better for humans as a whole than all the vaccines that are forced onto us when we are at an age that makes us unable to agree to what is done to us and with the duress consent of our parents whom are under informed and over intimidated. 

Finding Patriotism or Self-Promotion.......

Last week anchor Liz Wahl quit on air from her post at RT. Her claim was that she did not like taking money from Russia, nor for "white-washing Putin's actions". I am some what confused and certainly unimpressed by her "patriotic" actions. Wahl has been an anchor for RT for some time, has she never read her contract or her paystub? How did she not know that her money came from Russia? Is she not a journalist, did she not know whom she was seeking employment from, did she never figure out that the R in RT was Russia? All those questions, certainly makes one wonder why she was ever hired by RT to begin with. I do understand why she was on the desk and not out in the field; she could not conduct an interview or broadcast without extreme assistance of her legal pad. Matter of fact even upon finding her "Patriotism" she was so passionate and determined about her decision that she sat melancholy and despondent with legal pad in hand, reading her new found passion like a school child reciting a list of unappreciated historic dates.
I also find it ironic that she doesn't like that her previous employer was pro-Putin. Does she actually believe that any mass media outlet is not biased? Is she that naive that she thinks that the likes of CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, or BBC are not biased in their presentation of the news? Does she not think that they do not "white-wash" stories to the benefit of their audience and producers and ratings? This is just another example of how lacking our education system is that we produce individuals in fields where open-minds and free-thinking are primary components yet the individuals have no idea how to think for themselves, how to seek the truth, how to investigate the event without having a biased point of view. Of course the government and big business do not want reporters and a press that seeks the truth, that thinks for themselves, that is out for the common good of the people. That is why big business bought up all the news outlets. How can you call any mass media outlet unbiased when 6 corporations own over 90% of the news published in most countries.
I am sure that Wahl will find her 15 minutes of fame in US mainstream media, they cannot wait to exploit her antics in their very biased anti-Putin stance. Therefore, she will be a praised pawn for the very pro-Obama pieces, especially during the Ukrainian unrest. She should enjoy her 15 minutes and charge top dollar for her selling her legal pad patriotism and invest that money well, she has no real future in journalism, she is not smart enough, nor is she pretty enough to be of lasting rating for anyone worthwhile in the industry.