Tag Archives: libya

It’s from me it’s for you. It’s from you, it’s for me. It’s a worldwide symphony

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The U.S. president stood at the podium and looked at the camera.

“Earlier today I authorised a large-scale mobilisation of our naval and air forces to converge on Syria.

“I have not made this decision lightly.  In fact, I consulted with historians as well as your elected representatives on both sides of the aisle.

“Based on the advice I graciously received, I instructed our armed forces to take the following action.

“One, we have a brotherly and sisterly love for the Syrian people.  Our first order of business is to flood the cities and neighbourhoods of Syria with leaflets warning of our plans we are declaring in full disclosure to every country that wants to interfere with our humanitarian mission to prevent more senseless bloodshed, offering a peaceful solution backed by our military might to restore order.

“Two, a massive airlift is now underway.  We will soon drop air cargo loads filled with blocks of pure, nutritious American cheese from our country’s heartland to feed the Syrian people in dire need of real food.

“Three, to address the rumours of starvation driven by despair and depression and to prevent any chance of malaria or other tropical disease, we will spray the people of Syria and their beloved geography with a special formulated mix of pest-deterring organic cannabinoids and low-concentration psilocybin, which I have been assured by both scientific and medical experts will restore the appetites and happiness of war-weary inhabitants of the City of Jasmine and other metropolitan areas ravaged by over two years of civil war.

“Four, we will offer a trade-in program for citizens on all sides of the Syrian conflict.  Every gun, tank, missile, ammunition or other weapon not authorised for the strict use of American military to protect global citizens in Syria is eligible for this program.  If you turn in a weapon, we will provide you with enough food and clothing to last you a year.  In addition, we will send you to a nearby training centre to provide you the trade skills and business acumen to start your own business to compete in the world economy.

“My fifth and final announcement on this important issue.  We ask not only the Syrians but all the people of the Middle East to open their stores and shops to people of any race, creed, national origin, political or religious difference.  If you do so, your family will prosper.  At the end of the day, isn’t that what we want for ourselves and our children?

“That’s all that the United States of America is trying to do here, provide Syrians with a peaceful path toward prosperity, cementing a healthy relationship with the rest of the world.  No other country can offer or is offering you such a solution.

“My administration will keep our phones and doors open for Syrians.  Talk to us after you read our leaflets.

Thank you.  No questions.”

The president walked off the platform and turned to his closest advisor.  “Okay, now that that’s over, do you have the latest update on Tiger’s golf score?”

Lesson for the day

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If there’s only one thing you take away from this blog today, it’s this:

When giving a presentation to the military about new technological advances, make sure you first show how you’re protecting the lives of military personnel on the ground, in the air and/or on/under the water — technology is replaceable stuff, expendable, but people are not.

Hold your hand up if you think Syrians are human beings, too…

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…anyone?  Scared of losing important fuel sources from Russia come wintertime, are you, EU members and your neighbours?

That’s what I thought.

When it gets down to it, Damascus be damned, gassed, burned and bombed by its own people.

And you wonder why the concept of individual countries is another one of those quaint ideas we futurists laugh about?

Dragging the people along for a ride

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Ever looked at our planet?

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Lots of blue with some greens, browns and whites thrown in for contrast, is’nt it?

What about the pyramids of little creatures who tend to bond into tribes?

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Imaginary pyramids that intersect, a few so much larger than the others that they dominate many, many pyramids all at once (freely use your imagination here).

They blend, in other words.

The people at the top of the pyramid are constantly communicating pyramid-to-pyramid by the blended actions and opinions of their minions mixed into multiple pyramid intersections.

We may say that Obama, Hollande, Cameron and Putin are not talking to each other but there’s plenty of communication between their organisations, officially outside the public view.

That is why Mars decided to eliminate the pyramids and implement a peer-to-peer network, a meshing of independent nodes having full access to competitive data to reduce communication issues.

We’ll get back to that history lesson later.  Let’s show you what used to happen on the old home planet, via a demonstration.  Case in point: the proposed international military action in the geographical region of Earth called Syria.

Decisions were made months in advance at lower echelon levels of the pyramids but official announcements are designed to make it look like decisions are made in realtime news.

Watch and learn!

Ancient roadbeds

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A colleague once observed, “Never put a clown with nothing to lose and nothing to gain in charge of the planet.  Society will quickly descend into comedic chaos.”

Speaking of which, a friend on Facebook said, “Did you hear one of the Boston bombing victims was five feet away from the bomb?  One of them was hers.  That’s why we should convert to metric.”

Another said, “The Boston bombing is just more proof that the combination of rap music and government welfare is a ‘gateway drug’ to violence.”

And another, “When Grandma pulls out her pressure cooker to make jam this fall, I’m gonna say, ‘Grandma, your jam is the bomb,’ just to see her reaction.”

Yet more, “Mercedes-Benz — Proud to present two high-lights.  One: made for police-hating, gang-raping rap stars.  Two: great protection for terrorists on the run.”

= = = = =

Whew!  These jokes and comments always follow major news headlines.

= = = = =

Now, back to serious pursuit of planetary exploration and settlement, where we decide whether to take seriously North Korea’s threat to launch missiles; the claim that Syria has used chemical weapons; the assertion that U.S. states will use Dept of Homeland Security funds to target abortion clinics and “morning after” pill providers as domestic terrorists; and if anyone cares about government abuses in Africa.

Genre

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My wife and I watched “The Departed” a few nights ago.  We had planned to watch it the evening before the Boston Marathon but opted for finishing a film already showing on the tellie, Torn Curtain.

Why “The Departed”?

Well, it’s that plate-of-shrimp type thing.

You know what I mean — you want a straight good guy/bad guy movie, go to the theatre and watch “Olympus Has Fallen,” only to have your interest piqued in another movie because of previews discussing the career of Mark Wahlberg.

Even though Leo D and Matt D are not your favourite actors, you agree to watch a film about crime, cops, corruption and punishment in the south Boston area.

Then, as luck would have it (I can’t say that the phrase “better bad luck than no luck at all” applies to the local crime scene on the streets of Boston right now), your interest is raised higher due to the conflux of life imitating art, art imitating life, life imitating life and art imitating immigration control acts with as much likelihood of passing as gun control acts in the Senate but maybe as much as the CISPA cybersecurity bill in the House of Representatives.

While the world watches video clips of potential suspects of the Boston Massacre Part Deux, we have little in the way of interest in the U.S. of the faces on bombing perpetrators in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Such is the power of the Western mass media owners, advertisers and viewers who want to prove their peaceful way of life is best.

Now, tell me again, which companies, according to Forbes, are the tops in the world right now? Chinese banks, ICBC and China Construction Bank.

I won’t wax the philosophical surfboard and ride waves of meditation upon the rise and fall of company values and families based on shaky loans and house-of-cards economics.

Instead, I take off my hat and bow my head, in respect, to the recently departed.

For them, there is no future on celestial bodies.

For them, our celestial body futures are dedicated.

For them and the billions before them.

There is no imitation for life, no substitute, no art form that replaces our loved ones.

But art and imitations can teach a lesson.

Are you listening?  Paying attention? Can you afford the cost?

Congratulations or condemnation?

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Tools are also weapons.

Just like rockets.

I first send my congratulations to the engineering/scientific team that designed, built and launched a multistage rocket from North Korea.

It is no easy feat, despite more and more groups launching hobby rockets from their backyards.

I have launched more than one multistage rocket but putting Estes model rocket tubes back to back is not the same as launching a satellite into low-Earth orbit.

We have come a long way from fireworks displays.

We certainly don’t need another atomic bomb dropped on a large population of humans.

Scud missiles are never a good idea as a weapon against the desire for freedom from tyranny.

Dare we go into the political ramifications of a hereditary dictatorship owning multistage missiles with nuclear warheads?

Can we feel the pulse of the finger on the trigger?

Why is China happy with having North Korea as a buffer zone between it and the capitalist/democratic country of South Korea?

Why are we using sanctions as a means of keeping North Korea in the socioeconomic past?

If Syria falls, what does that mean about relationships of North Korea and Iran with the rest of the world?

When Chavez is no longer in control of Venezuela, then what?

What is a repressive regime these days?

Who in charge of the economic and military might of a subculture has the right to protect that might against the desire of others to take their turn as King of the Hill?

How much can we trust an entertainer like PSY that previous anti-American views are no longer valid now that the entertainer is making money off the American people as a mainstream pop culture figure?

What does it take to forgive and forget?

My father hated Jane Fonda to the end of his life.  Should I?

Wordyisms

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Best observation of the recent U.S. presidential election:

“Pundits argue whether Obama’s reelection is a mandate for change.  To single women and gays, he’s simply a man date.”

Worse source verification of the recent “Hillary says let’s avoid talking about Benghazi, get revenge on socialites and philandering men in the military” scandal:

What was that book title, again?

Ticks and Tufts

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To act the part of one who is insane, one can get to know the insane.

But what is insanity?

Have you ever visited an insane asylum?

What is the absence or opposite of insanity?

Two recent events have bummed me out — the loss of the political party of my parents in national elections and the recent spy movie called “Skyfall.”

Both imply that the generation which raised me has passed the torch to a generation that has been labeled the “Me” Generation and the Baby Boomers, allegedly including myself.

The next generation, as exemplified by a recent restaurant server of ours who reminded us of the character Mr. Humphries in “Are You Being Served?” and knows neither Benny Hill nor “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” will have to decide for itself what of my generation is worth perpetuating.

For them, a “war” on foreign soil must seem normal, having experienced sensational news headlines about the continuing war on terror in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, etc.

For some of them, the phrase “7/7” or “9/11” will seem as old-fashioned as “Remember the Alamo,” or “December 7th, 1941…a date which will live in infamy.”

The old wars of military might have not completely faded away but new wars — cyber, financial, cultural — pick up the pace.

With Stephen Covey dead and gone, will anyone in the new generation know what a win-win situation is?

What about insanity?

How much of any one generation (generation being a label, of course, that generalises, not always accurately) is insane and is carried on by the next one?

Questions up for debate

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We can imagine the U.S. presidential debates to contain questions like these:

  • Do you consider the sense of global cooperation higher or lower than when you took office four years ago?  Examples: Middle Eastern countries considering formation of their own Internet after U.S. insult of historical religious figure; China/Japan/Taiwan tension; European economic/political unrest; a war in Syria that threatens peace in Turkey, one of our friends; al Qaeda still strong enough to surprise a consulate and kill our own…
  • You say you are for the people.  Which people?  For instance, were Wall Street banker bonuses smaller or larger after the bailout?  Who has benefited the most during your term in office?  Hasn’t it been the very same people you blame Bush for the recession?  What has fundamentally changed?
  • Reagan didn’t blame the economy on Jimmy Carter four years later.  Why do you keep blaming your predecessor four years later?  Doesn’t that mean you admit you don’t have the power base to make the fundamental changes this country needs other than plugging a few holes in a dam that’s still losing a lot of water on your watch four years later?
  • How many more Solyndras do we need until we can see your administration’s track record on picking winners is no better than throwing darts in the dark?
  • I am financially independent enough that I can make my own decisions.  You are a pure politician who has not united our government, let alone the real world.  Which one of us has the real global power to make the U.S. economically strong again?
  • They say you’re a quick thinker.  Okay, try this.  A preacher, a rabbi, and an imam walk into a bar.  Finish the joke, making sure a Buddhist priest says the punchline…

Having politicians to play with is like herding cats — open a can of food and watch ’em come running to eat, despite whatever else they thought they were doing that was important enough to pretend to ignore you.