Japanese Militarization, Refusal to Acknowledge War Crimes, Whale Hunting, and Over fishing are a disgrace to the “Land of the Setting Sun”

The news from Japan is foreboding. Japan is  increasing substantially its military. The Prime Minister is paying respects to the Japanese war dead (from World War II). The former is an offensive measure and should be received with alarm. The later is just one in a long line of insults, but proves the Japanese haven’t changed and are unrepentant. The pretense of Japanese increased militarization is to counter increased Chinese military capability. This is a facade. It is the same type of specious propaganda asserted by Hitler (as his justification for the militarization of Nazi Germany prior to World War II.)

 

The instant dispute involves a bunch or rocks in the ocean somewhere between Japan and China referred to as the Diaoyu Islands. No one lives there. No one will ever want to live there. But these islands may be located near some natural resources (under the ocean). Fishing rights are involved. Japan needs natural resources. That was a major reason they [Japan] waged World War II in the first place (lack of natural resources). Here they go again. Lack of natural resources is not a justification for aggression and provocation, except to the Japanese, whose sense of superiority leads them to believe it is Japan’s destiny given by God. More war in the name of God.

 

Thinking of Buying or Renting at Oak Hill Estates and Terraces in Penn Valley (Oakhill Condominiums)?

Thinking of buying or renting an apartment or townhouse in Penn Valley (also considered Narberth) at the Oak Hill Estates and Terraces (“Oakhill“)? You might want to think long and hard and look elsewhere.

Since I wrote this Blog, I have been subjected to further retaliation and attempted bullying and intereferenced into my personal affairs. Furthermore, I received a slew of so called “anonymous” comments which I traced by IP address to the same people I was writing about, and hence, they were not published. These comments, in the same gutless manner management operates, did not address the issues but were personal attacks against myself. 　IF YOU PLAN ON MOVING HERE, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE GETING YOURSELF INTO.

While prices may abnormally low here (where I currently reside), that is because things are abnormal (in a bad-way) here. We all know that the closer and more involved one is with one’s neighbors, the more vulnerable one becomes to the eccentricities and problems of those neighbors. Condominiums (a legal way of owning property) which are apartments (even the townhouses here have either an upstairs or downstairs neighbor as well as people on each side of a common wall) carry with them a great risk of entanglement with people one would not wish to be “entangled” with. Oakhill is the best example (worst place) I have witnessed (in 25 years of representing condominium associations and property management companies) of a place where those entanglements are so bad they should be avoided at all costs. I have lived here between 5 to 6 years and my experience and observations are shocking, disturbing and should serve as a warning to prospective purchasers and renters.

Let emphatically state, as an initial comment, that Rules, and behaviour and social interaction, should always be geared to be moral, ethical, and compassionate. When behaviour, whether or not codified in Rules, rums afoul of morality, compassion, and ethics, that society is sick. The organization that is the Oakhill condominium is sick.

If ethics and morality are not your concern, then the there are other reasons which should nonetheless make you think twice about Oakhill. The financial costs you will pay, the way you (and children) will be treated (included selective and malicious targeting of people with the “Rules”) and other reasons make living at Oakhill far less desirable then it appears.

For example, a condominium owner not only has to pay the initial costs of purchasing a home along with taxes and utilities, but you have to pay condominium dues and fees (which can be very high) and includes such things as gardening of common areas, salaries of people (whom you may prefer to be far far away from yourself and your family), air conditioning of hallways, etc. Even worse, your ability to use and enjoy your home becomes subject to the whims, rules, and threats of the association, property managers, and other employees and officials and quasi-officials. There is even a “pool rules” committee.

I have witnessed, on all too many occasions, expensive landscaping during the day, and at night the deers feasting on and destroying that landscaping [this is a deer infested area]. This happens over and over and management is death to complaints about this and other facts. Some actions have been so inexplicable that kickbacks were the only logical explanation I have ever been able to determine, although I have no evidence of such has been seen (it rarely is). Rules get selectively enforced against some people, while other members of “cliques” have been given a free hand to, for example, to allow their pets to defecate on public walkways and violate the same rules others are threatened with fines and other penalties.

When I moved in here, there was a registered sex offender on the floor above me (while he moved recently, there appear to be others who seem to belong on that list and, in fact, three Tier One offenders live in this zip code). A high placed official/employee in the employment of the association committed assault on a resident, among other things. The use of illegal drugs proliferates here, and one resident was observed today to be seen trying to “score” some illegal drugs. That was ignored, while an “out of favor” resident was yelled at for eating blueberries too close to the swimming pool.

I was yelled at for helping a lifeguard clean leaves from the pool last August. It seems two of the “pool clique” members wanted to swim laps, and it being the end of the summer (and a windy day) leaves were blowing into the pool. The lap swimmers kept yelling at the young lifeguard until she started to cry, at which point I happily volunteered to help her clean while I was floating around on my raft. The next day, I was contacted by the management as though I had been discovered selling crack and told I was not permitted to clean leaves from the pool. That same clique member yelled at me twice today because I wanted to swim from the deep end to the shallow end, and she was swimming laps across the entire pool and my path intersected her path (even though I was far away from her and going to great pains to avoid her lap swimming).

Yesterday, another resident (who considers me to be a friend) began an anti-China anti-Black tirade wherein he also accused President Obama (and his wife) of being a Muslim terrorists. Other people, who mistakenly consider me to be sympathetic to their sentiments (they no longer make that mistake) have made severely rascist, mysognystic, and/or homo-phobic statements, [they used hate speech]. One woman was so “troublesome” that, on the day I moved in, when she started ranting about the rules, my (then) nine year old son reckognized that “There is something wrong with that lady.”

Aside from the waste of exorbitant management fees (which are only going to get higher especially after I and others sue the association and its officers) there is something sick about this society of “main-line want to be’s.”

Don’t get me wrong in that there are some very nice people here, some of whom I have known for a very long time. And the landlords who own my unit are wonderful people. But this small minority is far overshadowed by mean spirited and ignorant people living here. To many  of the people who reside here are an odd bunch of outcasts. Others have nothing doing in their life except to manufacture delusions of rules and then to try to make other people (other residents) miserable. These people are insensitive, at best, and sadistic, at worst, when dealing with others.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that, while most owners greedily want to maximize their real estate prices, and thus allow the owners of units to rent their apartments, the owners really don’t like the more transient, generally younger tenants. Furthermore, since many owners are senior citizens, or approaching (to their dismay) that age, they really don’t like children, or the activities that children engage in.

An excellent example of the renter owner issue is the rule that prohibits renters from owning a dog, while owners are free to have one. These same people, who are so quick to run screaming about alleged “rules violations” by non-owners, can be seen daily walking their dogs in front of signs prohibiting dog walking on the manicured lawns.

An example of the mistreatment of children (and the families who struggle to raise them) is exhibited by the behaviour of full grown (and then some) adults at the swimming pool. Many of the nasty residents will read their books in the middle of the swimming pool ( and then complain if some innocent child accidentally splashes them while similarly enjoying the pool. Things are so bad that the life-guards used to constantly quit and refuse to work at this site. Now, I believe, they are paid “combat” pay to work here.

I have spent much of my 25 year career representing condominium associations and property management associations, many of which were far more significant than here at Oakwood. Nonetheless, the ignorant arrogant meanness which certain residents, quasi-officials, and others misstate the rules and other issues relating to condominiums causes a tremendous waste of money, failure to take constructive steps to reduce costs while increasing quality of life, etc.

Much of this mean spirited behaviour comes from the fact that many of the people here are embittered with their own status in life (socially, career, etc.) Many are single and have little prospect of changing that fact given the “ugliness” in their lives and the ugliness of their behaviour.

So, before buying here, consider the non-economic costs of living here, as well as the future economic costs. When people like me (who are experienced lawyers) are forced to litigate (which is coming shortly), condominium association dues go up as the costs of defense can easily enter six figures, and I am but one of many residents who intend to litigate. Even if covered by insurance, such litigation makes the cost of insurance in the future prohibitive or even impossible to obtain. The costs of dues can also depress resale prices.

Query, Why did one of the longest property managers quit with no notice and seeming extreme animosity towards Oakhill?

Query, Why do life guards quit constantly, and why are they paid more to work at Oakhill then at other residences?

Query, Why are subordinate staff, who are good people, often heard cursing upper management?

Query, Why have more than a dozen people approached me about suing Oakhill?

Query, Why did maintenance head, Mickey McDermet (who I may have a lot more to say about) complaint that I was helping a life guard clean leaves out of the swimming pool when that lifeguard was being screamed at by two residents because the wind was blowing the leaves into the pool at the end of summer [a windy day when the leaves had already begun to fall] to the point that the lifeguard began to cry?

 

In Defense of Edward Snowden

REMBERING 9/11:

After all, in its essence, the Bradley Manning Case, and the Edward Snowden case, are really all about 9/11 and our response to it.

I remember 9/11. I was at Disney World with my then wife and young son. I saw a restaurant closing and thought it odd, but then, for a second, thought the owner must be taking a break. Just a for second, however, because then I realized that there are no privately owned restaurants in Disney World. I had a bad sense of foreboding, as I saw more and more facilities closing. Then came the announcement I will never forget, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, due to circumstances beyond our control, the park will be closing immediately. Plan A.” I knew enough to know that “Plan A” was an emergency code to the staff regarding evacuation. I also knew that Disney World had never ever closed, even for weather. Something was very very wron

People around me, and then I, tried to make phone calls on our cell phones. But the cell phone networks were overloaded, and we could not get through. We did not know why. We thought there was no cell phone service any more. Rumors started floating around. Some true, you know them: (1)World Trade Towers attacked and collapsed; (2) Pentagon attacked; (3) Capital a target; (4) planes hijacked; (5) thousands dead….Add that to the rumors which were not true, and sitting there in the middle of Disney Land, with my young son, and with Disney Land a feared target or another attack, it seemed like Armageddon.

Writing this more than a decade later is still very emotional. Few Americans have fully recovered. I was very affected. I have no respect, no compassion, no quarter for these terrorists. It is hard to compare evils, but they are right down there with the Nazis and others.

I am a pacifist. But I make an exception for the most evil people. The day they killed Bin Laden was a very good day. The people who did it are heroes.

ARE YOU WITH ME? LOOK AT THE COSTS:

But we have paid, and keep paying, so much more than a mere mortal like Bin Laden could take from us. We need to stop. Our fear is destroying us, and even worse, it is destroying “Who we are.” It has been said, “It is not the number of years in your life that counts. It is the life in your years.” We are letting Bin Laden destroy the quality of our life and the essence of who we are.

I am not just talking about the expense and delay of TSA checks at airports, or the fact that I cannot go into an office building in Philadelphia without passing security, since 9/11. Nor am I referring to extra police everywhere, especially in New York City, with dogs, extra weapons, and so on.

These are monetary costs and inconveniences. Perhaps they are worth it, even though I don’t think so. Yes, they may save lives by preventing a future attack. But people die every day, and money can be better spent saving lives in other methods. What is the cost of saving a life? But that is another debate. Our fear of terrorists compels us to take these security measures.

WHERE THE COSTS RUN TO0 HIGH:

But most importantly, it is the diminishment of our civil rights, the very definition of who we are as Americans, where the costs run too high. The Declaration of Independence states that we are endowed with “certain unalienable Rights” and most Americans hold that these include those rights contained in the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. Most importantly, rights such as: (1) Due Process of Law; (2) Trial By Jury; (3) No Cruel and Inhuman Punishment; (4) Freedom of Speech; and, most importantly; (5) the Right to Protection Against Unwarranted Search and Seizure. The United States Supreme Court, and most Americans, also hold that the Constitution and its Bill of Rights contain implied privacy rights.

These rights are what we believe make America great. These are the very things that define who we are. These are the Rights that we defend, with our lives if necessary. In fact we have spent many lives defending these rights, such as in World War II. To toss away, to discard, these Rights is to diminish, to redefine, and to degrade who and what we are. It hurts us far more than Bin Laden was ever capable, and could ever be capable.

We have seen these rights degraded and impaired in response to 9/11. We did it to ourselves. We did it voluntarily. Most people are never affected, so most people don’t care. But most people would not be affected if the Bill of Rights were renounced. Nonetheless, we have always cherished and defended the Constitution. We take oaths to defend the Constitution. We pledge our allegiance, and sing songs about defending the Constitution. Now we just discard it as though it were outdated and frivolous.

We think that only terrorists are having their rights affected, and we don’t care about these “sub-humans.” While the welfare of true terrorists is of no moment to me, it is not what they do which defines who and what we are. It is what we do, how we act, and by what laws, rules, codes, and ethics we live by which defines who we are. This is why even animals are entitled to humane treatment. When we let these terrorists, in response to their actions, change our actions, our legal codes, are moral standards, we have let them hurt us in ways otherwise impossible.

The most obvious degradation to the Bill of Rights began with imprisonment without due process, and, in extraordinary cases, torture and/or rendition. “Rendition” is when a person in the custody of America, but is given to a foreign country that freely and openly engages in such practices as torture. When in the foreign location, the prisoner is tortured, without ever having even been charged or found guilty of a crime. The person may not even have any knowledge of terrorism, and may have previously loved America. Our torturing or prisoners has in fact created more extremism and terrorists than any other occurrence or reason.

While we may claim that the Constitution was upheld because these people were tortured in another country, that is a façade, as it was done by America, at our direction, and on our behalf. Abu Ghraib and disclosures about Guantanamo Bay in Cuba proved that we didn’t often bother to go to the façade of rendition.

It is far from clear that every tortured victim, who never had a trial (or prisoner at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo), is or was ever guilty. One simply needs to watch the movie “Rendition.” While it is fiction, clearly the potential for such a situation to happen exists, and has probably occurred more times then we want to know. Watch “Rendition” and ask yourself, “How many innocent people can justifiably be tortured, before it is too much?” Even if the failure to engage in torture allows a terrorist to attack and costs me my life, my answer remains, “Zero.” I refuse to engage in condone in, be a part of, or stand silently by, while I, any group I am associated with, or my country engages in such practices.

I recall (from documentaries) those heroes of WWII who gave their lives to destroy regimes (Nazis and Japan) who were engaging in these activities. We have invested so much, and expended so many lives, to protect who we are; now a mere Bin Laden gets us to voluntarily throw all this away?

Edward Snowden

While I agree that every American with access to classified information can’t be judge and jury as to whether such information needs to be disclosed, in Snowden’s case, he made the right call, showing bravery in the face of inevitable severe consequences. We owe a debt to Snowden, and need to defend him and his actions.

It is settled law that the Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which protects us against unreasonable search and seizure, extends to the interception of electronic communications, such as phone calls, e-mails, etc. In Snowden’s case, each and every American was having their Fourth American rights violated with every phone call and e-mail they made. The fact, that the government may not have been interested in most of us, is of no moment. There is no difference between what the NSA is doing then a random and unwarranted search of your house, for no reason and with no search warrant, which results in no arrests because the victim is a law abiding citizen. Most people would not tolerate the later. Why tolerate the former?

In 1971, a man named Daniel Ellsberg released classified information called “The Pentagon Papers.” It was a specifically commissioned top-secret report about the Vietnam War which concluded that the Vietnam War could not be won. At the behest of the government, he made many secret trips to Vietnam, serving the government, having worked both for the Pentagon and the State Department. He had a very high security clearance, and the Pentagon Papers were classified as “Top Secret.”

The public needed to know this information, because America was still actively engaged in the Vietnam War, spending countless amounts of money, and more importantly, sending our young men to their death in order that they could kill Vietnamese people fighting for their independence. The Vietnam War needed to end, and the release of this document helped end it. People were being misled by the government about the war, including that we could win it. History has proven that we did not win it, and probably could not have won it. But several administrations, both Republican and Democrat, had told the American public that the war was necessary and winnable. Ellsberg’s act was an act of conscience, and Ellsberg was not charged with espionage, treason, or any other crime.

It was obvious that his disclosure was a necessary, moral, and courageous act. It was clear that Ellsberg, like Snowden, sought only to help America by disclosing something which the public needed to know, regardless of its “classified status.” There is no difference between Ellsberg and Snowden. Ellsberg was quoted recently as saying that had he done now what he did then, he would be prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced.

I don’t want, and you should not want, your Fourth Amendment Rights violated, even if there are never any consequences to us. I don’t want to live in a country which does not have and follow, with the strictest defense, the Bill of Rights. I have, as many Americans have, personally tasted the bitter pill of t constitutional rights violations, for example, of my “Due Process Rights,|” and that pill is not fit for human consumption.

We have paid enough already. We need to become “America” again.

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CBS’s Big Brother 15 – Bad People Doing Bad Things

Big Brother 15 is one of my favorite shows. I have been watching it since the third season, 12 years ago. Of course, some years are better then others, and some are more unique then others. Each year, CBS tries to change something about the show to make it more interesting as opposed to mere repetition of the prior year. Even my ten year old daughter joined my 14 year old son (and I) in liking this show (in prior G-Rated years).

Before you jump the gun and think this is just another discussion about another dumb reality show, wait. This season’s show has made headlines throughout the world, caused CBS to rewrite their disclaimers, and ended the careers of two contestants.

For example, one year, the contestants had to compete with their significant “ex-s,” whether that was a former love or a former spouse. Some had bad breakups, others were still friends. Some hadn’t spoken in years, others were still in contact with each other.

The game is played like this. At the beginning of the show, there are about 16 players. While the contestants appear somewhat homogeneous, being in their 20’s, for good measure, they usually throw in someone who is gay, a contestant who is older, and some other mix of contestants to achieve a measure of diversity in the house (big city northern sophistication v. small town southern country).

Each week, someone is voted off the show. The last “man or woman standing” wins 1/2 million dollars. The runner up wins 50K. everyone else wins next to nothing. Each week someone wins the “HOH” or “Head of House” and is the person who nominates the two people to be evicted. That person also gets luxuries like a private room, special food treats, and more importantly, is not only safe from being evicted, but has power to influence who will be evicted. The remaining people vote on who stays. OK, for simplicity sake, I have omitted some minor rules..

Here is the catch. If you go all the way, you are in the Big Brother House for 3 months.There is no TV. No Books (not that the people chosen look like the reading type.) There are no phone calls, no newspapers, etc. Absent the occasional death or serious illness of a family member, no information is given to the contestants. On the other hand, television subscribers can watch the contestants 24 hours a day on the Internet in addition to the three one-hour episode(s). Contestants have no privacy, and everything they say or do is watched by the public (and the good stuff is shown on TV). They only get privacy in the shower or bathroom, and then, only if they go in alone. If you go in with someone else, the cameras come on. There are cameras all over the place, including night vision cameras, and one-way windows (with cameramen lurking on the other side), so that every contestant can be filmed and heard all the time, without the possibility of escape.

People mistakenly assume that contestants can hide their true selves due to the fact that they are being filmed. Interviews, however, with reality show participants show that the people become immune to the effects of the cameras and forget that they are there. That is even more true in the “Big Brother House” where there is nothing to do except talk to others. People drop their guards and say things they later regret. One year, a contestant whispered her secret to another contestant – that she had gotten an abortion and no one, including her family, knew. She got angry when that contestant told her secret to a third contestant, incredibly forgetting that tens of thousands of viewers heard her secret live, and that the blogs picked it up the next day.

Here is where the game gets interesting. There is nothing to do but to form alliances and conspiracies in order to try to win the 1/2 million. If is impossible to do well in the game if you play honestly. You have to lie about who you will vote for, who you are in an alliance with, etc. So the show is about good people acting bad, and that effects people. Some people are effected very badly and get torn up by guilt. Others have no morals and that becomes very evident.

Furthermore, people who are perceived as too strong a player or in too strong an alliance [like in a romance on the show (called a showmance)], can make other contestants feel threatened and “put a target” on their back, causing even their friends and alliances to vote them out. Similarly, weak players tend to become targets as no one fears nominating them for eviction of or conspiring to follow through. People ingratiate themselves with others by trading information (like who is campaigning to evict whom) for promises relating to future votes.

Some people have fallen in love on the show; at least one marriage resulted. Some really nice people have appeared, and some really rotten ones have been exposed. On the third season, one contestant made some cruel anti-Semitic remarks about a Jewish contestant which I, as a Jew, took personally. No one made a big deal that year (curious)? People with genuine dislike, fear, or lack of exposure to homosexuality have had to get to know, in intimate and close quarters, gay contestants. Usually there is a positive result. Usually, people become friends after the show, as everyone understands that “it is just a game” and people have to act badly to win.’

Not this year! CBS outdid themselves in finding people who were already bad, real bad. In a week in which allegations of racism permeated the news in connection with the Zimmerman trial, we needed tolerance and harmony. INSTEAD, The first week, the severely racist, misogynist, and anti-gay comments were flying on the show. Minority contestants were in tears. Two contestants have already lost their jobs [even though they don’t know it] as their employers have issued Press Releases terminating their employment due to their racism.

Since contestants are secluded from society, so they have no idea that they have lost their jobs, and are hated and mocked by America, while they continue to play this game on reality TV. I AM REPEATING THE UGLY COMMENTS WHICH WERE MADE SO THE AUDIENCE CAN SEE THE HATRED, IGNORANCE AND UGLINESS WHICH STILL EXISTS. I SPECIFICALLY AND MOST VIGOROUSLY DISCLAIM AND OPPOSE THE COMMENTS AND THE THINKING WHICH GAVE RISE TO THESE COMMENT:

One contestant said that, because of her income level, she receives “nigger insurance” (she whispered the n-word, so it’s possible she said the version that ends with “a”). She also referred to another contestant who is Asian, and said, “should be kissing our ass and serving us some fucking rice.”

The most vile contestant, who lost her job, said of another contestant [who is a nice guy but appears a little different] “No one’s gonna vote for whoever that queer puts up.” She also suggested he’d win MVP because “people love the queers.”

In talking about a Black candidate, incredibly, she said, “be careful what you say in the dark; you might not be able to see that bitch.” She told the Asian contestant, “Shut up. Go make some fucking rice.”

A third contestant, incredibly said that the medical torture conducted by Nazi doctors was beneficial and praised Hitler’s speaking abilities, even while acknowledging that he’d be criticized for that.

TMZ reports, Aaryn Gries — the Paula Deen of the “Big Brother” house — has been dropped by her modeling agency after dropping racist and homophobic comments in the BB house … TMZ has learned – Click Here

At least I get to root that the bad people get evicted and loose. Talk about reality shows, what I wouldn’t give to watch these people when they learn they are more hated and more unemployed then Zimmerman.

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13 Year Old Super Fan of Japanese TV Show Ninja Warrior Wins Parkour Contest

 

Etan Ginsberg already started his own Ninja Warrior Web Site for fans of the show, Ninja Warrior.  CLICK HERE FOR THE WEBSITE. Etan also built his own “environmentally friendly” Ninja Warrior course, as is shown on his Videos of Etan Building and Completing His Ninja Warrior Course and Obstacles]. Incredibly, he is already a top competitor even though he is prevented from competing only because of his age- 13 years old. American Ninja Warrior requires one to be 18 or 21.

The show is far more popular in Japan than in America. Etan has become friends and fellow athletes with the people the public watches on TV, the top contenders on both American Ninja Warrior and Ninja Warrior. Top Super Athletes like Chris Wilczewski, who is a physically among the very best in the world and, on a personal level, incredibly inspiring and deserving.

In finishing up one interview for Etan’s website, Etan became interested in Parkour. In his first contest, a video submsission, with the help of some friends and his ten year old sister, Etan came in, incredibly, FIRST PLACE. Click Here for the Video Entry.

In the interests of full disclosure, I must reveal that Etan is my 13 year old son, and his sister, who also participated in the Video, Shaina, is also my daughter. He (my 13 year old son) and Shaina (my 10 year old daughter), and their friends won 1st place for Etan’s Parkour contest. They deserve credit for their achievments, and their accomplishments (not parental pride) justify this post.

What is Parkour you ask? (so did I). It is intense and strenuous activity involving  Free Running and Jumping (like off of houses).

 

Etan is already 1st in his tennis team, and was undefeated last year. He skis double black diamonds, yet finished first in the country in a National TSA Science Competition and is one of the top Students at Welsh Valley Middle School in Pennsylvania. He does all the SEO [Search Engine Optomization] for my Blog.

Even though Etan was in China this summer, promoting his SEO activities and Ninja Warrior Web Site, he received requests for help from members of the US military, who also wanted to build a Ninja Warrior course for some troops. As busy as he was, Etan refused to turn his back on the troppos, and stayed up night after night finishing the plans which were needed. It turns out that Etan was helping the US Special Forces (we don’t know which one as that is a national secret, but we think it was SEAL TEAM 10). Etan helped them design their own Ninja Warrior Course (with Army obstacles as well) to train navy seals and members of the army. 

Etan is seen here with a fan while touring China doing a promotional tour of his website
 

Before walking along the mosquito, snake, and crocidile infested Mekong Delta (cite of many bloody battles in Vietnam) and still dangerous due to the prescence of narco-traffickers.

Finally, when fans got out of control, Riot Police had to be called in for Etan’s safety. Etan had to finish the remainder of his trip in China under a fake name, much to the disappointment of Etan’s Chinese fans.

 

 

Etan is also socially conscious and has been a vegetarian since age 8  and has been recognized by the PA State Legislature for Environmental Activities.

Here is the award winning video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doiRD2NAaJ0&feature=plcp

See More

 

 

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Thinking of Buying or Renting at Oak Hill Estates and Terraces in Penn Valley?

 

Thinking of buying or renting an apartment or townhouse in Penn Valley (also considered Narberth) at the Oak Hill Estates and Terraces (“Oakhill“)? You might want to think long and hard and look elsewhere.

 

While prices may abnormally low here (where I currently reside), that is because things are abnormal (in a bad-way) here. We all know that the closer and more involved one is with one’s neighbors, the more vulnerable one becomes to the eccentricities and problems of those neighbors. Condominiums (a legal way of owning property) which are apartments (even the townhouses here have either an upstairs or downstairs neighbor as well as people on each side of a common wall) carry with them a great risk of entanglement with people one would not wish to be “entangled” with. Oakhill is the best example (worst place) I have witnessed (in 25 years of representing condominium associations and property management companies) of a place where those entanglements are so bad they should be avoided at all costs. I have lived here between 5 to 6 years and my experience and observations are shocking, disturbing and should serve as a warning to prospective purchasers and renters.

Let emphatically state, as an initial comment, that Rules, and behaviour and social interaction, should always be geared to be moral, ethical, and compassionate. When behaviour, whether or not codified in Rules, rums afoul of morality, compassion, and ethics, that society is sick. The organization that is the Oakhill condominium is sick.

If ethics and morality are not your concern, then the there are other reasons which should nonetheless make you think twice about Oakhill. The financial costs you will pay, the way you (and children) will be treated (included selective and malicious targeting of people with the “Rules”) and other reasons make living at Oakhill far less desirable then it appears.

For example, a condominium owner not only has to pay the initial costs of purchasing a home along with taxes and utilities, but you have to pay condominium dues and fees (which can be very high) and includes such things as gardening of common areas, salaries of people (whom you may prefer to be far far away from yourself and your family), air conditioning of hallways, etc. Even worse, your ability to use and enjoy your home becomes subject to the whims, rules, and threats of the association, property managers, and other employees and officials and quasi-officials. There is even a “pool rules” committee.

I have witnessed, on all too many occasions, expensive landscaping during the day, and at night the deers feasting on and destroying that landscaping [this is a deer infested area]. This happens over and over and management is death to complaints about this and other facts. Some actions have been so inexplicable that kickbacks were the only logical explanation I have ever been able to determine, although I have no evidence of such has been seen (it rarely is). Rules get selectively enforced against some people, while other members of “cliques” have been given a free hand to, for example, to allow their pets to defecate on public walkways and violate the same rules others are threatened with fines and other penalties.

When I moved in here, there was a registered sex offender on the floor above me (while he moved recently, there appear to be others who seem to belong on that list and, in fact, three Tier One offenders live in this zip code). A high placed official/employee in the employment of the association committed assault on a resident, among other things. The use of illegal drugs proliferates here, and one resident was observed today to be seen trying to “score” some illegal drugs. That was ignored, while an “out of favor” resident was yelled at for eating blueberries too close to the swimming pool.

I was yelled at for helping a lifeguard clean leaves from the pool last August. It seems two of the “pool clique” members wanted to swim laps, and it being the end of the summer (and a windy day) leaves were blowing into the pool. The lap swimmers kept yelling at the young lifeguard until she started to cry, at which point I happily volunteered to help her clean while I was floating around on my raft. The next day, I was contacted by the management as though I had been discovered selling crack and told I was not permitted to clean leaves from the pool. That same clique member yelled at me twice today because I wanted to swim from the deep end to the shallow end, and she was swimming laps across the entire pool and my path intersected her path (even though I was far away from her and going to great pains to avoid her lap swimming).

Yesterday, another resident (who considers me to be a friend) began an anti-China anti-Black tirade wherein he also accused President Obama (and his wife) of being a Muslim terrorists. Other people, who mistakenly consider me to be sympathetic to their sentiments (they no longer make that mistake) have made severely rascist, mysognystic, and/or homo-phobic statements, [they used hate speech]. One woman was so “troublesome” that, on the day I moved in, when she started ranting about the rules, my (then) nine year old son reckognized that “There is something wrong with that lady.”

 

Aside from the waste of exorbitant management fees (which are only going to get higher especially after I and others sue the association and its officers) there is something sick about this society of “main-line want to be’s.”

Don’t get me wrong in that there are some very nice people here, some of whom I have known for a very long time. And the landlords who own my unit are wonderful people. But this small minority is far overshadowed by mean spirited and ignorant people living here. To many  of the people who reside here are an odd bunch of outcasts. Others have nothing doing in their life except to manufacture delusions of rules and then to try to make other people (other residents) miserable. These people are insensitive, at best, and sadistic, at worst, when dealing with others.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that, while most owners greedily want to maximize their real estate prices, and thus allow the owners of units to rent their apartments, the owners really don’t like the more transient, generally younger tenants. Furthermore, since many owners are senior citizens, or approaching (to their dismay) that age, they really don’t like children, or the activities that children engage in.

An excellent example of the renter owner issue is the rule that prohibits renters from owning a dog, while owners are free to have one. These same people, who are so quick to run screaming about alleged “rules violations” by non-owners, can be seen daily walking their dogs in front of signs prohibiting dog walking on the manicured lawns.

An example of the mistreatment of children (and the families who struggle to raise them) is exhibited by the behaviour of full grown (and then some) adults at the swimming pool. Many of the nasty residents will read their books in the middle of the swimming pool ( and then complain if some innocent child accidentally splashes them while similarly enjoying the pool. Things are so bad that the life-guards used to constantly quit and refuse to work at this site. Now, I believe, they are paid “combat” pay to work here.

I have spent much of my 25 year career representing condominium associations and property management associations, many of which were far more significant than here at Oakwood. Nonetheless, the ignorant arrogant meanness which certain residents, quasi-officials, and others misstate the rules and other issues relating to condominiums causes a tremendous waste of money, failure to take constructive steps to reduce costs while increasing quality of life, etc.

Much of this mean spirited behaviour comes from the fact that many of the people here are embittered with their own status in life (socially, career, etc.) Many are single and have little prospect of changing that fact given the “ugliness” in their lives and the ugliness of their behaviour.

So, before buying here, consider the non-economic costs of living here, as well as the future economic costs. When people like me (who are experienced lawyers) are forced to litigate (which is coming shortly), condominium association dues go up as the costs of defense can easily enter six figures, and I am but one of many residents who intend to litigate. Even if covered by insurance, such litigation makes the cost of insurance in the future prohibitive or even impossible to obtain. The costs of dues can also depress resale prices.

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The Legacy of Former President George W. Bush – His Library Opened Today

 

Today, the President Bush (the son) Library was opened. What information and displays should be inside:

1) US economy is destroyed;

2) Cost of Iraqi war is way over One Trillion Dollars which is the amount we don’t have now which is cause for sequestration;

3) Thousands of dead American military personal in Iraq, tens of thousands loose limbs or are maimed, and the cost to Iraq is so much higher with car bombs going off daily which kill hundreds of civilians at a shot;

4) Pro-Iranian government wins control of Iraq, and Iran becomes biggest state sponsor of terrorism as well as nuclear threat in the making and now has major ally next door;

5) Easy win in Afghanistan (including capture of Bin Laden at Tora Bora) is missed because troops spread to thin because they are in Iraq;

6) Tax cuts worth billions for oil companies even though budget deficit grows and oil shoots to $100 per barrel;

7) 9/11 occurrs;

8) Bin Laden is never captured (during remaining 7 years of Bush’s tenure);

9) Hurricane Katrina totally mishandled, Bush to busy to care;

10) More tax cuts for the ultra rich even though we desparately need to reduce budget deficit and Americans sink into unemployment and poverty;

11) Unemployment at all time high when Bush leaves office;

12) Whackadoodle Tea Party comes into existence;

13) America becomes a country which engages in the torture of people;

14) Civil rights of Americans are totally erroded due to, for example, Patriot Act;

15) Gasoline prices quadruple;

16) Kyoto accords rejected, global warming denied by administration, while polar bears starve to death because there is no more ice in north pole where bears used to hunt for seals, and hundreds of other species now threatened or extinct;

17) Afghanistan, which started out as easy win, becomes totally unstable;

18) American infrastructure continues to erode;

19) Laws which protect American consumers and investors are eviscerated allowing people like Bernie Madoff to steal billions;

20) Major Bush contributors earn hundred million per year salaries while the financial institutions they run go into bankrtuptcy (AIG, Bear-Stearns, etc.) thus further devastating US economy;

21) World opinion of US (which after 9/11 is at all time high) plummets to all time low; and,

22) Mexico continues to grow into major narco trafficking center and millions and millions of illegal immigrants cross the border for each year of his eight year term while major drug distribution networks continue to flourish.

23) George Bush’s drug supplier and alcohol vendors go broke because Bush has to stop drinking and drugging.

 

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George Soros and David M. Ginsberg Agree – Republican Politics are Obstructing the Recovery and [Betraying America]

In my Blog Post of July 28, 2011 [more than six months ago], I accused Republicans of Treason and obstruction because they were putting their own political careers and interest in destroying the Democratic Party and President Obama. In an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN in a program titled “GPS” Billionaire and knowledgeable economist and investor George Soros said exactly the same thing [without using the word treason]. He said that Republicans will not want to see a recovery until after the elections, and were out to destroy the democratic party instead of putting the interest of the United States first.

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When Will the World Heed the Call For Armed Intervention In Syria

On December 25, 2011, I called for armed intervention in Syria in my Blog Post, which you can read in this Blog.

It is almost two months later, and the massacre has only escalated, The Syrians are arming themselves, to the extent they can, with rifles and machine guns against tanks and artillery. The massacre of civilians has not only continued, but it has escalated, even despite the temporary presence of the Arab League.

Now as the country descends into civil war, the world has itself to blame. Analysts, politicians, and commentators refer to the “Tipping Point” at which opposition to the regime outweighs its support, and the military and others in power begin defecting to the opposition. But as Elliott Abrams has pointed out in a recent interview on CNN, if the violence continues for too long, the time will pass for a peaceful reorganization of the country and there will be to many deaths and to much “blood spilled” for a peaceful ending.

It should already be noted that Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad has already attempted to blame the opposition for the violence, citing two car bomb attacks on government buildings. While the people responsible have not yet been determined, and it is not beyond comprehension for a murderous dictator to create an attack against his regime to justify war (Hitler did it before he invaded Poland by creating a false attack on German border patrol which was really carried out by SS soldiers in Polish uniforms), it matters not who is really responsible.

What does al-Assad expect as he shoots, and now uses tanks and artillery to indiscriminately kill (what is now estimated to exceed) a hundred innocent civilians a day?

Of course, the Syrian opposition will eventually use force to attempt to stop the murder of innocent civilians and topple the regime. If car bombs are the most effective weapon they have, then they will use them. They were certainly effective against US forces in Iraq (although condem their use in that war).

We need to remember that the Syrian Opposition movement started as a non-violent exercise of freedom of speach and freedom of association to opposie a rutheless, corrupt, and murderous dictatorship. It is the actions of al-Assad, the inaction and apathy of the world, and the collusion of Iran and Russia, which will necessitate the violence.

I believe in legal non-violent opposition and resistence. Ghandi, King, and Egypt showed us that this works. But that is not the same as self-defense. It is predictable, if not inevitable, that the Syrian pro-democracy groups will need to defend themselves. We (the world) must intervene to stop the violence and prevent Syria from sliding into a violent civil war.

Since the entire world feels the same way, the United States need not and should not shoulder the burden as it has in so many efforts. Furthermore, in today’s “high tech” world of warfare, minimal effort with no “boots on the ground” are necessary (as they were not necessary in Libya).

Since Syria is the principal ally of Iran (our main enemy in the region and the cause of world instability and a principal sponsor of worldwide terrorism), and since Syria is a supporter of Hezbollah, it is hard to see how the demise of the current Syrian regime is not in the best interests of the United States (not that this should be our main motivation for intervention).

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My Blog Readers Hit The Ten Thousand Mark – The Fight Against Oppression Moves Foreward

My Blog Readers Hit The Ten Thousand Mark (since I started counting)

我的博客读者达到一万大关（自从我开始计算）

Мои читатели блога Hit Ten Thousand Марк (так как я начал считать)

هيت القراء مدونتي وعشرة آلاف مارك (منذ بدأت العد)

Translations at the End ترجمة في نهاية Переводы в конце  最后的翻译 תרגומים סוף

Thank you to all of my readers who now exceed Ten Thousand (10,000) [and that is since I just started counting]. I also have several more thousand readers on my nearly identical, but slightly inferior, copy of my blog (a mirror blog) on WordPress.com [click here to go there]. I have created this second Blog because I was warned that some countries do not allow their citizens to access Google’s Blogger on the Internet.

 

My readership continues to spiral up in numbers, and I want to thank you all and ask you all to keep reading and refer your friends. I fight with words and I fight for you. Feel free to submit comments and/or your own post articles for inclusion in my Blog (with attribution and credit if you want it). I welcome opposing points of view.

 

We already changed the course of one local election for Judge, and as we join together in one Internet force which crosses all borders, joining together people of all races and religions, and speak to thousands of people in an instant even though those people are scattered throughout the earth and speak many different languages. If your cause is legally or morally just, use my Blog to fight for you! With truth and morality on our sides, our victory is assured and our force unbreakable, as Gandhi showed us, without any acts of violence, lawlessness, unethical behaviour, cruelty, or indifference. Instead of striving to act in accordance with the law and ethics, we strive to act, not only in accordance with all laws, rules, and regulations, but to exceed those “minimum standards and act with the highest ethical and moral conduct possible and with the utmost honesty, compassion, selflessness, bravery and generosity.

 

Soon we will be as influential and powerful as other Blogs and published experts of the widely known and respected Blogs like the Huffington Post and CNN. While leaning towards what many consider, “The progressive liberal left,” the true slant of this Blog is to accurately state the true facts and expertly and impartially analyze those facts and give all of the conclusions without bias in their presentation or inclusion.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             But I am dedicated to fighting oppression and injustice, and reducing human suffering, wherever that occurs, instead of earning profits or gaining political power. Together we can make a difference. When I use the word “I,” it means we. I am powerless alone. Together we are “all powerful.” I suffer no delusions nor seek any accolades. My sole reward is more readers and more change. With you, we have already won and change is guaranteed. The others just don’t know it yet.

 

When my book is finished (which it almost is but some chapters are not over),you will bear witness to my actual fight against injustice in the legal system and the terrible price I paid and am paying along with my 12 year old son who is being physically and mentally abused with the enabling of one lawyer, the acquiescence of a Judge, and the inaction of the authorities who are in fact charged with protecting minors and enforcing the law. As it was said in one of my favorite movies, “When those charged with enforcing the law break the law [or allow through inaction others to break the law], then there is no law.”

 

Let us build a platform for the speaker with no freedom to speak, the person with no voice to speak, or the human with no education to give them the words and arguments, and/or the fear of punishment by oppressive governments who routinely torture, imprison, and kill peaceful protesters and even innocent bystanders (some of which are mere children seeking to buy items like bread).

 

As people are now learning, the truth is the most powerful weapon of all, when one is morally beyond reproach and the story which contains that truth can be told to a mass audience as the Internet now allows. The force of that non-violent legal and ethical weapon is stronger than steel and resists all of man’s weapons.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

David M. Ginsberg

 

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شكرا لجميع قرائي الذين تتجاوز الآن عشرة آلاف (10،000) [وهذا هو فقط منذ أن بدأت العد]. ولدي أيضا العديد من القراء على مزيد من ألف متطابقة تقريبا بلدي ، ولكن أدنى قليلا ، ونسخة من بلدي بلوق (أ بلوق مرآة) على WordPress.com [انقر هنا للذهاب الى هناك]. لقد خلقت هذه المدونة الثانية بسبب وحذرت من أن بعض البلدان لا تسمح لمواطنيها الحصول مدون غوغل على الإنترنت.

 

قراء بلدي تواصل دوامة بأعداد ، وأريد أن أشكركم جميعا وأطلب منكم جميعا للحفاظ على القراءة وتشير أصدقائك. أقاتل مع الكلمات وأحارب من أجلك. لا تتردد في تقديم تعليقات و / أو آخر مقالاتك الخاصة لإدراجها في مدونتي (مع إسناد والائتمان إذا كنت تريد ذلك). وأرحب وجهات النظر المتعارضة.

 

نحن بطبيعة الحال تغيرت بالفعل واحدة من الانتخابات المحلية للقاضي ، وكما كنا معا في قوة الإنترنت احد والتي تعبر كل الحدود ، حيث ستندمج الناس من جميع الأجناس والأعراق والأديان ، والتحدث إلى الآلاف من الناس في لحظة حتى وإن كانت مبعثرة هؤلاء الناس في جميع أنحاء الأرض ، ويتكلمون لغات مختلفة. إذا قضيتكم قانونيا أو أخلاقيا فقط ، واستخدام مدونتي للقتال من أجل لك! مع الحقيقة والأخلاق على الجانبين ، وضمان انتصارنا وقوتنا غير قابلة للكسر. غاندي كما أظهرت لنا ، من دون أي عمل من أعمال العنف والفوضى والسلوك اللاأخلاقي ، والقسوة ، أو عدم الاكتراث بدلا من السعي إلى العمل وفقا للقانون والأخلاق ، ونحن نسعى جاهدين للعمل ، وليس فقط وفقا لجميع القوانين والقواعد واللوائح ، ولكن أن تتجاوز هذه المعايير “الدنيا والتصرف وفقا لأعلى السلوك الأخلاقي والمعنوي وممكن مع صدق قصوى ، والرحمة والإيثار والشجاعة والكرم.

 

قريبا سوف نكون كما مؤثرة وقوية ومدونات أخرى وخبراء من مدونات نشرت على نطاق واسع ومحترم مثل هافينغتون بوست وشبكة سي. بينما يميل نحو ما يعتبره الكثيرون “، والليبرالية والتقدمية اليسار” ، والميل الحقيقي لهذه المدونة هو الدولة بدقة وقائع حقيقية وبخبرة وتحليل تلك الوقائع بنزاهة وتقديم كل ما من الاستنتاجات من دون التحيز في العرض الذي قدموه أو الشمول.

 

ولكنني كرست لمحاربة الاضطهاد والظلم ، والحد من المعاناة البشرية ، أينما يحدث ذلك ، بدلا من تحقيق أرباح أو الوصول إلى السلطة السياسية. معا يمكننا أن تحدث فرقا. عندما استعمل كلمة “أنا” ، فهذا يعني أننا. أنا عاجزة وحدها. نحن معا “قوية جميعا”. أنا لا يعانون من أية أوهام ، ولا تسعى الجوائز التقديرية. مكافأتي الوحيد هو المزيد من القراء وأكثر من ذلك التغيير. معك ، لاننا فزنا بالفعل ومضمون التغيير. الآخرون لا يعرفون حتى الآن.

 

عندما يتم الانتهاء من كتابي (والذي يكاد يكون ولكن بعض الفصول التي لم تنته) ، سوف تشهد على كفاحي ضد الظلم الفعلي في النظام القانوني والثمن الفظيع الذي دفعت وتدفع صباحا مع ابني من العمر 12 عاما الذي بدنيا وعقليا اعتداء مع تمكين أحد المحامين ، وموافقة من قاض ، وتقاعس السلطات التي هي في الواقع المكلفة بحماية القاصرين وفرض القانون. كما قيل في واحد من الأفلام المفضلة : “عندما وتلك المكلفة تطبيق القانون خرق القانون [أو السماح لآخرين من خلال التقاعس عن العمل لكسر القانون] ، ثم لا يوجد قانون.”

 

دعونا بناء منصة للمتكلم مع عدم وجود حرية في الكلام ، والشخص مع عدم وجود الصوت في الكلام ، أو الإنسان مع أي تعليم لمنحهم الكلمات والحجج ، و / أو الخوف من العقاب من قبل الحكومات القمعية الذين يمارسون التعذيب بشكل روتيني ، سجن ، وقتل المتظاهرين المسالمين والأبرياء من المارة حتى (بعضها مجرد أطفال تسعى لشراء سلع مثل الخبز).

 

لأن الناس يتعلمون الآن ، والحقيقة هي أقوى سلاح للجميع ، وعندما واحد هو أخلاقيا لا تشوبه أية شائبة ، والذي يحتوي على قصة يمكن أن يقال بأن الحقيقة لجمهور الإنترنت الشامل ، ويسمح الآن. قوة هذا السلاح غير العنيفة القانونية والأخلاقية أقوى من الفولاذ ويقاوم كل اسلحة الرجل.

 

تفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام ،

 

 

ديفيد م. جينسبيرج

انقر هنا لمراسلتي عبر البريد الإلكتروني

انقر هنا للذهاب إلى الصفحة الرئيسية لمدونتي

 

Спасибо всем моим читателям, которые в настоящее время превышает десяти тысяч (10000) [и это, так как я только начала подсчета]. У меня также есть еще несколько тысяч читателей на моем почти идентичны, но немного уступает, копия моего блога (зеркало блог) на WordPress.com [Нажмите сюда, чтобы туда]. Я создал этот второй блог, потому что я был предупрежден, что некоторые страны не разрешают своим гражданам получать доступ к Blogger компании Google в Интернете.

Моя аудитория продолжает к новым виткам спирали в цифрах, и я хочу поблагодарить всех вас и просить вас продолжать читать и относятся ваши друзья. Я борюсь со словами и я борюсь за вами. Не стесняйтесь представить свои замечания и / или свои собственные статьи сообщение для включения в мой блог (с атрибуции и кредит, если вы этого хотите). Я приветствую противоположные точки зрения.

 

Мы уже изменили течение одного местные выборы для судьи, и, как мы объединиться в одну силу Интернета, которая пересекает все границы, объединяются люди всех рас и религий, и говорить с тысячами людей в одно мгновение даже если эти люди разбросаны по всей земле, и говорят на разных языках. Если причиной является юридически, ни морально справедливым, использовать свой блог, чтобы бороться за вас! С истины и нравственности на боку, наша победа обеспечена, и наша сила нерушимая, как Ганди показал нам, без каких-либо актов насилия, беззакония, неэтичное поведение, жестокость или равнодушие. Вместо того, стремление действовать в соответствии с законом и этикой, мы стремимся действовать, а не только в соответствии со всеми законами, правилами и положениями, но и превзойти эти «минимальные стандарты и действовать с самыми высокими этическими и нравственное поведение можно и с максимальную честность, сострадание, самоотверженность, мужество и великодушие.

 

Скоро мы будем в качестве влиятельной и мощной, как другие блоги и опубликованы специалисты широко известных и уважаемых блогов, как Huffington Post и CNN. Хотя склоняется к тому, что многие считают, “прогрессивных либеральных левых”, истинный наклон Этот блог точно состояние подлинные факты и профессионально и беспристрастно проанализировать те факты и дать все выводы, не предвзятость в их представлении или включения.

 

Но я посвященный борьбе угнетения и несправедливости, и сокращения человеческих страданий, там, где это происходит, вместо того, чтобы получать прибыль или получение политической власти. Вместе мы сможем изменить ситуацию. Когда я использую слово “я”, это означает, что мы. Я бессилен в одиночку. Вместе мы “всемогущий”. Я страдаю не бред и не искать какой-либо награды. Моя единственная награда больше читателей и многое другое изменение. С вами, мы уже победили и изменить гарантируется. Другие просто не знают еще.

 

Когда моя книга закончена (а это почти есть, но некоторые главы не более), вы будете свидетельствовать о моей реальной борьбы с несправедливостью в правовой системе и страшную цену я платил и плачу вместе с моей 12-летний сын, который является быть физически и психически злоупотребляли с включением одного юриста, молчаливого согласия судьи, и бездействие властей, которые на самом деле, отвечающий за защиту несовершеннолетних и обеспечение правопорядка. Как уже было сказано в одном из моих любимых фильмов: “Когда тех, кому поручено исполнение закона нарушают закон [или своим бездействием позволить другим нарушать закон], то нет закона”.

 

Давайте строить платформы для говорящего, не свобода слова, человек без голоса, чтобы говорить, или человек без образования, чтобы дать им слова и аргументы, и / или страха перед наказанием от гнетущей правительства, которые регулярно пыток, сажать в тюрьму, и убивать мирных демонстрантов и даже невинных свидетелей (некоторые из которых являются лишь дети стремятся покупать вещи, как хлеб).

Как люди в настоящее время обучение, правда, самое мощное оружие из всех, когда люди морально безупречны и история, которая содержит, что истина может быть сказано массовой аудитории, как Интернет в настоящее время позволяет. Силу этого ненасильственные правовых и этических оружие прочнее стали и сопротивляется всем оружием человека.

 

 

С уважением,

 

 

Дэвид М. Гинсберг

 

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תודה לכל הקוראים שלי שעכשיו יעלה עשרת אלפים (10,000) [וזהו מאז אני רק התחלתי לספור]. יש לי גם עוד כמה אלפי קוראים על כמעט זהה, אבל נחות מעט, העתק של הבלוג שלי (בלוג המראה) על WordPress.com [לחץ כאן כדי ללכת לשם]. יצרתי בלוג זה ושנית, מפני שאני הזהיר כי חלק מהמדינות אינן מאפשרות לאזרחיהן גישה ב-Blogger של גוגל באינטרנט.

הקוראים שלי ממשיכה ספירלה למעלה במספרים, ואני רוצה להודות לכולכם ומבקש מכם לשמור על כל קריאה להפנות את החברים שלך. אני נלחם עם מילים אני נלחם בשבילך. אל תהסס להגיש הערות ו / או במאמרים שלך פוסט עבור הכללה הבלוג שלי (עם ייחוס אשראי אם אתה רוצה אותו). אני מברך על נקודות מבט מנוגדות.

 

יש לנו כבר שינתה את מסלול הבחירות מקומי אחד עבור השופט, וכפי שאנו מצטרפים יחדיו חיל האוויר אחד באינטרנט אשר חוצה את כל הגבולות, שהצטרף יחד אנשים מכל הגזעים והדתות, ולדבר עם אלפי אנשים בבת אחת, למרות אותם אנשים מפוזרים ברחבי הארץ ומדברים שפות שונות. אם הסיבה שלך הוא משפטי או מוסרי, פשוט, להשתמש בבלוג שלי כדי להילחם בשבילך! עם האמת והמוסר על הצדדים שלנו, הניצחון שלנו מובטח הכוח שלנו שביר, כמו גנדי הראה לנו, ללא כל מעשי אלימות, הפקרות, התנהגות לא אתית, אכזריות, או אדישות. במקום שואפים לפעול על פי החוק והאתיקה, אנו שואפים לפעול, לא רק בהתאם לכל החוקים, הכללים והתקנות, אבל יעלה אותם “סטנדרטים מינימליים ולפעול עם ההתנהגות האתית והמוסרית הגבוהה ביותר האפשרית עם כנות רבה, חמלה, חוסר אנוכיות, אומץ ונדיבות.

 

בקרוב נהיה כמו השפעה ורב עוצמה כמו בלוגים אחרים ומומחים לאור של בלוגים ידוע ומכובד כמו Huffington Post ו-CNN. אמנם נוטה מה שרבים מחשיבים “ליברלית ומתקדמת שמאל”, המשופע האמיתית של בלוג זה היא מדויקת המדינה עובדות אמיתיות במיומנות וללא משוא פנים לנתח את העובדות ולתת את כל המסקנות ללא משוא פנים במצגת שלהם, או הכללת.

 

אבל אני המוקדש למלחמה דיכוי וחוסר צדק, והפחתת הסבל האנושי, המתרחשת בכל מקום, במקום להרוויח רווחים או צובר כוח פוליטי. ביחד אנחנו יכולים לעשות את ההבדל. כאשר אני משתמש במילה “אני”, זה אומר שאנחנו. אני חסר אונים לבדו. ביחד אנחנו “חזקים כל”. אני סובל אשליות ולא לחפש כל השבחים. הפרס היחיד שלי קוראים יותר לשנות יותר. איתך, כבר ניצחנו ולשנות מובטחת. האחרים פשוט לא יודעים את זה עדיין.

 

כאשר הספר שלי הוא סיים (בו הוא כמעט אך פרקים מסוימים אינם ומעלה), תוכל להעיד להילחם בפועל כנגד העוול שלי במערכת המשפטית ואת המחיר הנורא שילמתי ואני משלם יחד עם הבן שלי בן 12 מי להיות פיזית ונפשית עם התעללות שמאפשר של אחד עורך דין, הסכמה של השופט, ואת חוסר המעש של הרשויות אשר למעשה מואשם להגנה על קטינים ואכיפת החוק. כפי שנאמר באחד הסרטים האהובים עלי, “כאשר הממונים על אכיפת החוק על החוק [או לאפשר לאחרים דרך חוסר המעש לעבור על החוק], אז אין חוק.”

תנו לנו לבנות פלטפורמה הדובר עם חופש לא לדבר, אדם עם קול לא לדבר, או אדם ללא השכלה לתת להם את המילים ואת הטיעונים, ו / או פחד מעונש על ידי ממשלות דיכוי אשר באופן שגרתי עינויים, לכלוא, ולהרוג מפגינים שלווים עוברי אורח חפים מפשע אפילו (שחלקם ילדים בלבד מחפשת לקנות פריטים כמו לחם).

 

כאשר אנשים נמצאים כעת למידה, האמת היא הנשק החזק ביותר של כל, כאשר אחד הוא מבחינה מוסרית דופי, סיפור המכיל את האמת אפשר לספר לקהל הרחב כמו האינטרנט מאפשר עתה. הכוח של נשק בלתי אלימה כי חוקיות ואתיות חזק יותר מפלדה מתנגד כל הנשק של האדם.

 

בכבוד רב,

 

דוד מ ‘גינסברג

 

לחץ כאן כדי לשלוח לי דואר אלקטרוני

לחץ כאן כדי לעבור לדף הראשי של הבלוג שלי

 

谢谢我的读者，现在已超过一万（10000）[和的，是因为我刚开始计数]。我也有一千个读者，我几乎相同，但略逊一筹，复制我的博客上WordPress.com（一面镜子博客）[点击这里去那里]。我已经创建了这第二个博客，因为我是警告说，一些国家不允许本国公民在互联网上访问Google的Blogger。

 

我的读者继续以螺旋状在数量上，我要谢谢大家，请大家继续阅读，并请你的朋友。我打话，我为你作战，。随意列入在我的博客提交意见和/或您自己的发表文章（如果你想让它的归属和信贷）。我欢迎反对的观点。

 

我们已经改变了法官的一个地方选举过程中，因为我们一起加入在一个互联网的力量，跨越所有边界，加入所有种族和宗教的人，一个瞬间，即使这些人分散在发言数千人整个地球，并说出许多不同的语言。如果你的原因是法律或道义上，用我的博客为你作战！我们双方用真理和道德的，我们的胜利是有保证的，我们的力量牢不可破，甘地表明我们没有任何暴力，违法乱纪，不道德的行为，虐待，或冷漠行为。努力按照法律和道德行为，而是我们努力采取行动，不仅在与所有的法律，法规和规章的规定，但要超过那些“最低标准和最高的伦理和道德的行为可能与行为最诚实，同情，无私，勇敢和慷慨。

 

不久，我们将赫芬顿邮报和CNN等的广泛了解和尊重的博客其他博客和出版专家的影响力和强大。虽然对许多人认为倾斜，“进步自由离开，”这个博客的真正倾斜是准确地陈述事实真相，并熟练地和公正地分析这些事实，并给所有没有在他们的介绍或列入偏见的结论。

但我专用的压迫和不公正作斗争，减少人类的痛苦，无论发生，而不是赚取利润或获得政治权力。只要齐心协力，我们可以有所作为。当我使用这个词：“我，”这意味着我们。我无能为力单独。我们一起“的所有强大。”我苦于没有妄想，也不谋求任何荣誉。我唯一​​的报酬是更多的读者和更多的变化。有了你，我们已经赢得了和变化是保证。别人只是不知道它。

 

当我的书是成品（它几乎是，但某些章节不超过），您将见证我不公正的法律制度和实际打击了惨痛的代价，我支付，我支付我12岁的儿子是谁的身体和精神虐待与一名律师，法官的默许，而实际上是被控与未成年人保护和执法当局的无所作为使。由于这是在我最喜欢的电影之一说，“当那些负责执法犯法[或允许通过无为他人犯法]，那么有没有法律。”

 

让我们建立一个平台，没有说话的自由，没有发言权的人说话，或没有受过教育的人类给他们的话和参数，和/或处罚的人经常折磨压迫政府的恐惧与扬声器，监禁，并杀死和平示威者，甚至是无辜的旁观者（其中有些是单纯的儿童寻求购买像面包的项目）。

 

随着人们现在的学习，真理是所有的最有力的武器，当一个人在道德上是无可非议和故事，其中包含真理可以告诉互联网现在允许大量观众。的，非暴力的法律和道德的武器的力量是比钢强，并拒绝所有男人的武器。

 

您诚挚的，

 

大卫M ·金斯伯格

点击这里以E – mail给我

点击这里进入我的博客主页

Violence, instead of Peace, Erupts Throughout the World As the New Year Begins: Shia v. Sunni; Jew v. Jew; Christian v. Muslim; Christian v. Christian; and Government v. the Governed 的暴力行为，而不是和平，整个世界新年伊始爆发：逊尼派什叶派诉;犹诉犹太人，基督教诉穆斯林，基督教诉基督教;和政府诉治理 لعنف بدلا من السلام ، ويثور في جميع أنحاء العالم مع بداية العام الجديد يبدأ : الشيعة ضد السنة؛ يهودي ضد يهودي، مسيحي ضد مسلم، مسيحي ضد المسيحيين، ويحكم ضد الحكومةאלימות, במקום שלום, פורצת בעולם כולו את השנה החדשה מתחיל: שיעים נגד סונים, יהודי נגד יהודי, נוצרי נגד המוסלמים; כריסטיאן נ ‘נוצרי; ו נ’ ממשלת הפלשתיני

Enough is Enough, and it is time for the violence to end!

“Can’t we all just get along?” Rodney King (after the riots in LA)

 

 

Translations in Hebrew, Arabic, and Chinese are Below the English Text.
The Videos and Links to Other Web Sites Such as CNN and the BBC are in the English Text.
תרגומים בשפות עברית, ערבית, סינית להלן הנוסח האנגלי.
סרטי וידאו ו – קישורים לאתרי אינטרנט אחרים, כגון CNN ו-BBC נמצאים טקסט באנגלית.
ترجمة بالعبرية والعربية والصينية وفيما يلي النص الانكليزي.
وأفلام وروابط لمواقع أخرى مثل سي ان ان والبي بي سي موجودة في النص الانكليزي.
在希伯来文，阿拉伯文和中国翻译下面的英文文本.
视频和链接到其他网站，如CNN和英国广播公司（BBC）在英文文本中。

As the year ends and another begins, as the western world celebrates the joyous holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah, and as the Arab world celebrates the liberating movement of the Arab Spring, the news of the last two days is filled with amazing examples of violence which seems to evidence our inability to “Get Along.” It must stop!

We are all used to some conflicts, such as between the “Superpowers” and between Arab and Israeli, but as these old conflicts disappear, they seem to spread like a virus to every aspect of society. In fact, some of the conflicts, violence, aggression and oppression is, to be frank, mind boggling. It is saddening as it seems we can never ever move this world towards one in which people can coexist freely and peaceful, with mutual respect.

Why Jews Who Support Israel Should Support USA President Barak Obama למה יהודים התומכים בישראל צריכים לתמוך נשיא ארה”ב ברק אובמה

As a liberal progressive who emphatically supports President Barak Obama, I often receive criticism from Jewish friends and associates, especially American, who feel that our President is not a friend of Israel or concerned with her security while the Republican party candidates are. This belief is factually inaccurate and the result of misinformation and a media campaign by people who aspire to be President, and are thus free to say what they believe will win them the most votes and campaign contributions. Unfortunately, a sitting President, like Obama, must be restrained in his comments and actions, because there is a different set of responsibilities and goals between a candidate for President and being the President.

 In fact, I don’t agree with everything Obama does, same with Israel. But the same goes with the Republicans. They [Republicans] just do a better PR job with respect to Israel. But deep down, they provide no more support for Israel then Democrats. In fact, historically, President Nixon, it was revealed decades later, was deliberately withholding arms which he had promised and agreed to supply Israel during [I think it was the Yom Kippur war.] He was also anti-Semitic, The Bush administrations (both father and son) were extremely cozy with the Saudis and other Arab countries. When Israel bombed and destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor before it could become operational, President Reagan (along with his advisors) instructed Jean Kirkpatrick to vote to condemn Israel for this, even though the entire world was in reality breathing a sigh of relief.

Also, Israel is not always right, and when Israel acts in the wrong, such as by continuing to build settlements, she is morally wrong and is acting against her own self-interests because internal Israeli politics make it important for whomever wants to win to gain the support of a small group of fanatics (since the rest of the country is pretty much tied between the two competing parties.)Everyone agrees that Israel’s building of more settlements is a bad move for many different reasons. The costs alone of guarding a small group of settlers (in some cases literally a couple dozen) in terms of military expenditures is enormous, and the anger it creates with the people whose land the settlements were appropriated from, along with the use of this issue as a worldwide tool for publicly condemning Israel make this action, regardless of whether it is legally justified or not, is against Israel’s self-interests. The issue of borders is also far less relevant, militarily, since wars are no longer fought by ground troops marching to conquer land with guns. That was the reason the Golan heights were critical. Wars are now fought by missiles and planes that can travel across the world and over mountains at supersonic speeds. We no longer need “the high ground” which was once, such as the days of Caesar, provided a strategic advantage. In those days, whomever controlled them could fire down on the enemy instead of up, and it is easy to defend the top of a mountain and hard to take one over, when the battle is fought with foot soldiers shooting guns. This strategy is no longer relevant.

But that is no longer how wars are fought. They are fought with missiles and high speed aircraft with laser guided missiles and now drone aircraft. Even Israel concedes that the military importance of the Golan Heights has diminished almost entirely. I am not saying that Israel should give them back. But the best security for Israel likes in a real long term peace with her neighbors, which is why the Arab Spring in the best chance for Israel to achieve her real goal which is security through peace with democratic and free neighbors.

On another note, by far the biggest message learned from the Holocaust, and the major reason for the founding of Israel, is that Israel’s security must never be dependent on the goodwill, charity, and/or aid of others. While America’s words and money (which will at worst be marginally different from one administration to another), Israel’s security requires her to be entirely self-sufficient, politically, economically, and militarily. These are goals which she has achieved, for the most part. Accordingly, the slight differences in actions and words of Obama v. Perry and his Republican cohorts, for example, will not, should not, and must never be allowed to jeopardize Israel’s security.

On another note, Israel was founded on the basis of the highest moral principles, as was the Jewish religion. Israel needs to strive not just to be “right” or equally bad but continually endeavor for the highest level of morality of peace even if it costs us dearly. Israel’s strength lies not from the barrel of a gun but through the strength of God and the laws and protection given to Israel which includes a code containing the highest moral principles. Those principles include peace, charity, compassion, and love. Remember, it says in the Ten Commandments, “Thou Shall Not Kill.” There are no exceptions contained in this most holy mandatory law from God.

My final and most important note is that we are Americans first, and our support of Israel is secondary. Otherwise, we are traitors and the criticism of the virulent anti-Semites is, in part, justified. The Republican party, now more than ever [just look at the advertisements being run by Rick Perry] make it clear that these people [social Republicans] want America being run consistent with the laws of Christianity, in the same way Afghanistan was run under a strict interpretation of Islam under the Taliban and as Iran and Saudi Arabia (the latter being our “dear” ally.) As a loyal and patriotic American, who believes in the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion, the Republican party is totally committed to transforming America into a Christian Theocracy. I am not prepared to allow them to do this just because they support Israel (for the time being – which support could evaporate at any time). The Republicans are only doing this because, underneath their lies and obfuscation, the New Testament purportedly states that the second coming of Jesus will not occur unless Jerusalem is in the hands of the Jews. The Evangelicals care nothing for the Jews of Israel except as a tool for the second coming of Christ and as a protector of their holy shrines. Also, even less fanatical Christians recognize that the Holy Lands, specifically the sites of historical significance to Christians, will be protected as long as they are in the hands of Israel, whereas many Arabic countries have witnessed the desecration of sites holy to other religions, including Jewish, Christian, and even Buddhist. But in America, their desire to make America a Christian country is, while hidden and obfuscated, evident in their anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-health education, and pro-prayer in schools and other desire to eviscerate the separation of church and state in favor of a Christian Theocracy. The Christian Bible forbids homosexuality, sex between anyone (including your own self-fulfilling release) unless it is between a man and wife for the purposes of procreation. It expressly considers abortion a mortal sin. They can’t attack premarital sex directly, in the same way they can’t go after homosexuals directly. So they disguise their attacks as, for example, being against Gays serving openly in the Military [Rick Perry just reaffirmed that position], Gay marriage, abortion (including the morning after pill). I could go on and on.

At the same time, they want to make sure we can all pray in school. Well, let me tell you from personal experience what this means. I went to a Quaker elementary school, and private schools can do whatever they want. I was on the wrestling team. You don’t know what it was like when you are the only Jewish kid, and right before the big game, the coach tells us all to form a circle and join hands. First he begins with a neutral pep talk. Then he begins asking for Gods help. At the end, he adds the part about “in the name of the father, the son…” The first time I felt sick and tricked. But even after that, it was too hard for me to tell the coach I could not participate in this team oriented activity, so I just sat there and pretended to mouth the words. But I felt coerced and degraded and I prayed to God to forgive me later on. Remember, I was only in sixth grade and scared to death, both of my fellow wrestlers who were older and stronger than I [I was last on the team] and the opposing team. I may have had the right to “opt out.” But tell that to a single small child who wants to be part of the team.

In short, they can keep their pro-Israeli rhetoric and money (which Israel will get anyway) and keep their religions to themselves and do what they are supposed to do which is: (i) obey the Constitution of the United States which requires religious freedom and the separation of church and state; and (ii) give aid to those countries which deserve it and which serve the US interests, and I strongly suggest that Israel has been the only real ally, as a pro-west democracy, in the entire middle east. The problem with the other Arab countries, even those with pro-west dictators, is that dictators die, get overthrown, etc. and there is no guarantee that the next dictator will also be pro-west or have peaceful intentions towards Israel. Egyptian Dictator Assad showed how an anti-Israeli dictatorship could turn pro-Israel. The Shah of Iran (who as pro West and an ally of Israel) was replaced by Ayatollah after Ayatollah, who all share a rabid hatred of both Israel and America and now threaten Israel with nuclear weapons. The only hope for Israel’s security is if the she has a peace with, not just the governments, but the people of the Arab countries who now threaten her, and if, eventually, through the process of democracy, those people gain control over their governments. How can the irrelevance of borders be so clearly proven to be meaningless when: (i) Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons; (ii) Iran is essentially a theocratic dictatorship which ignores the will and wishes of her own people; and, (iii) given resent democratic movements in Iran, by a people who remember what it was like to be free under the Shah (at least in terms of freedom from religious oppression), and a people who used to be friendly to the West and even Israel, there is danger in the current regime continuing, but the best long term threat to the anti-regime is the democratic yearnings of her own people. Israel’s security from Iran will not be achieved by getting borders which are a few miles away from other borders or putting settlements in the West Bank or Gaza strip. It is by taking the highest moral ground, regardless of her rights, and proving that Israel respects Islam and the practice of Islam in those lands which she governs and will treat Muslims and Jews alike. Israel wants peace and to live in peace and will do, not what is required of her, but (within reason) what is desired of her to live in peace with the Muslims within and outside her borders.

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למה יהודים התומכים בישראל צריכים לתמוך נשיא ארה”ב ברק אובמה למה יהודים התומכים בישראל צריכים לתמוך נשיא ארה”ב ברק אובמה

כפי מתקדמת ליברלית אשר בהדגשה תומך הנשיא ברק אובמה, לעיתים קרובות אני מקבל ביקורת מצד חברים ושותפים יהודים, אמריקאים בעיקר, שמרגישים כי הנשיא שלנו הוא לא ידיד של ישראל או מודאג עם הביטחון שלה בעוד מועמדי המפלגה הרפובליקנית. אמונה זו אינה נכונה עובדתית תוצאה של מידע מוטעה מסע תקשורתי על ידי אנשים שואפים להיות הנשיא, ולכן הם חופשיים לומר את מה שהם מאמינים ננצח אותם הקולות ביותר בתרומות כספיות. למרבה הצער, נשיא ישיבה, כמו אובמה, חייבת להיות מרוסנת על דבריו ומעשיו, כי יש קבוצה שונה של אחריות ומטרות בין מועמד נשיא להיות נשיא.

למעשה, אני לא מסכים עם כל מה שאובמה עושה, אותו עם ישראל. אבל אותו הולך עם הרפובליקנים. הם [הרפובליקנים] רק לעשות עבודה טובה יותר יחסי ציבור ביחס לישראל. אבל עמוק בפנים, הם לא מספקים תמיכה נוספת עבור ישראל אז הדמוקרטים. למעשה, מבחינה היסטורית, הנשיא ניקסון, התברר עשורים מאוחר יותר, היה מכוון במקור נשק שהבטיח והסכימה לספק לישראל במהלך [אני חושב שזה היה מלחמת יום הכיפורים.] הוא היה גם אנטישמי, הממשלים בוש ( הן האב והן הבן) היו חמים מאוד עם הסעודים ומדינות ערביות נוספות. כשישראל הפציצה והרסה את הכור הגרעיני בעיראק לפני זה יכול להיות מבצעית, הורה הנשיא רייגן (יחד עם יועציו) ז’אן קירקפטריק להצביע לגנות את ישראל על זה, אף את העולם כולו היה במציאות נשימה לרווחה.

כמו כן, ישראל היא לא תמיד צודקת, וכאשר ישראל פועל לא נכון, כגון על ידי ממשיכים לבנות התנחלויות, היא לא בסדר מבחינה מוסרית היא פועלת נגד עצמה עצמית האינטרסים כי הפוליטיקה הפנימית בישראל לעשות את זה חשוב מי רוצה לנצח כדי לזכות בתמיכתם של קבוצה קטנה של קנאים (שכן שאר המדינה קשורה במידה רבה בין שתי המפלגות המתחרות.) כולם מסכימים כי הבניין של ישראל עוד התנחלויות היא צעד רע מסיבות רבות ושונות. העלויות של שמירה לבד קבוצה קטנה של מתנחלים (במקרים מסוימים, פשוטו כמשמעו, כמה עשרות) במונחים של ההוצאות הצבאיות הוא עצום, הכעס שהיא יוצרת עם אנשים שאדמותיהם הופקעו מן ההתנחלויות, יחד עם שימוש של בעיה זו ככלי ברחבי העולם בפומבי בגנות ישראל לעשות פעולה זו, ללא קשר אם הוא מוצדק מבחינה משפטית או לא, הוא נגד האינטרסים העצמית של ישראל. סוגיית הגבולות היא גם הרבה פחות רלוונטי, צבאית, מאז מלחמות מתנהלות כבר לא על ידי כוחות קרקעיים הצועדים לכבוש שטחים עם רובים. זאת היתה הסיבה הגולן היו ביקורתיים. מלחמות מתנהלות כיום על ידי טילים ומטוסים שיכולים לנסוע ברחבי העולם, על ההרים במהירויות קולית. אנחנו כבר לא צריכים “הקרקע גבוה”, אשר היה פעם, כמו בימי קיסר, בתנאי יתרון אסטרטגי. בימים ההם, מי מהם יכול לשלוט באש על האויב במקום למעלה, קל להגן על פסגת הר וקשה לקחת אחד מעל, כאשר הקרב הוא נלחם עם החיילים ברגל ירי תותחים. אסטרטגיה זו אינה רלוונטית עוד.

אבל זה עוד כמה מלחמות הם נלחמו. הם נלחמו עם טילים ומטוסים במהירות גבוהה עם טילים מונחה לייזר ועכשיו מטוסים מזל”ט. אפילו ישראל מודה כי החשיבות הצבאית של רמת הגולן פחתה כמעט לחלוטין. אני לא אומר שישראל צריכה לתת להם בחזרה. אבל את הביטחון הטוב ביותר עבור ישראל אוהב שלום אמיתי לטווח ארוך עם שכניה, ולכן האביב הערבי ההזדמנות הטובה ביותר עבור ישראל כדי להשיג את המטרה האמיתית שלה שהיא אבטחה דרך לשלום עם שכנינו דמוקרטית חופשית.

ובעניין אחר, ספק מסר הגדולים למדו מהשואה, ואת הסיבה העיקרית להקמתה של מדינת ישראל, היא כי ביטחונה של ישראל לא צריך להיות תלוי ברצונו הטוב, צדקה, ו / או סיוע של אחרים. בעוד דבריו של אמריקה כסף (אשר במקרה הגרוע יהיו שונים באופן שולי מהממשל אחד למשנהו), ביטחון ישראל מחייב אותה להיות לגמרי עצמאי, מבחינה פוליטית, כלכלית וצבאית. אלו הן המטרות שהיא השיגה, על פי רוב. לפיכך, ההבדלים קלים פעולות דברי אובמה נ ‘פרי המחזורים הרפובליקני שלו, למשל, לא, לא צריך, והוא חייב לא תורשה לסכן את ביטחונה של ישראל.

ובעניין אחר, ישראל הוקמה על בסיס של עקרונות המוסר הגבוהה ביותר, כמו הדת היהודית. ישראל צריכה לשאוף לא רק להיות “נכון” או רע באותה מידה, אבל הרף מאמץ עבור הרמה הגבוהה ביותר של המוסר של שלום גם אם זה עולה לנו ביוקר. עוצמתה של ישראל אינה טמונה מלוע של תותח, אך באמצעות כוחו של אלוהים ואת החוקים ההגנה הניתנת בישראל הכולל קוד המכיל את העקרונות המוסריים הגבוהים ביותר. עקרונות אלה כוללים, שלום צדקה, חמלה ואהבה. זכור, זה אומר את עשרת הדיברות “לא תרצח”. אין יוצאים מן הכלל הכלול בחוק זה חובה קדושה ביותר מאלוהים.

הערה אחרונה וחשובה ביותר שלי הוא שאנחנו האמריקאים הראשון, התמיכה בישראל היא משנית. אחרת, אנחנו בוגדים הביקורת של אנטישמים מושבעים היא, בין השאר, מוצדק. המפלגה הרפובליקנית, עכשיו יותר מתמיד [רק מסתכל על פרסומות להיות מנוהל על ידי ריק פרי] להבהיר כי אנשים אלה [חברתי הרפובליקנים] רוצה אמריקה מתנהלת בקנה אחד עם חוקי הנצרות, באותה דרך אפגניסטן היתה לפעול תחת הפרשנות המחמירה של האיסלאם תחת הטליבאן כמו איראן וערב הסעודית (שהאחרון “היקרה” שלנו ברית.) בתור אמריקאי נאמנים ופטריוטים, מי שמאמין בהפרדת הדת מהמדינה ואת חופש הדת, המפלגה הרפובליקנית מחויב לחלוטין להפוך את אמריקה תיאוקרטיה נוצרית. אני לא מוכן לאפשר להם לעשות את זה רק בגלל שהם תומכים בישראל (לעת עתה – אשר תומכים יכול להתאדות בכל עת). הרפובליקנים הם רק עושה את זה כי מתחת שוכנת שלהם ערפול, הברית החדשה כביכול קובע כי חזרתו של ישו לא תתרחש אלא אם כן ירושלים היא בידי היהודים. האוונגליסטים טיפול דבר יהודי ישראל אלא ככלי לביאתו השנייה של ישו כמגן של המקומות הקדושים שלהם. כמו כן, גם נוצרים קנאי פחות מכירים בכך מקרקעי הקודש, במיוחד על האתרים בעלי החשיבות ההיסטורית לנוצרים, יהיה מוגן כל עוד הם נמצאים בידי ישראל, בעוד מדינות רבות בערבית עדים חילול מקומות קדושים לדתות אחרות, כולל יהודים, נוצרים, בודהיסטים אפילו. אבל באמריקה, הרצון שלהם לעשות את אמריקה לארץ הנוצרית, בעוד מוסתרים לטשטש, ניכר אנטי הומו שלהם, חינוך נגד הפלות בריאות אנטי, ופרו תפילה בבתי ספר אחרים כדי להוציא את העקר תשוקה הפרדת הכנסייה המדינה לטובת תיאוקרטיה נוצרית. התנ”ך הנוצרי אוסרת הומוסקסואליות, יחסי מין בין אדם (כולל שחרור משלו שמגשימה שלך) אלא אם כן הוא בין גבר ואישה לצורך הולדה. זה בפירוש רואה הפלה חטא בל יכופר. הם לא יכולים לתקוף ישירות יחסי מין לפני הנישואים, באותה דרך שהם לא יכולים ללכת אחרי הומוסקסואלים ישירות. אז הם להסוות את ההתקפות שלהם כמו, למשל, להיות נגד הומוסקסואלים המשרתים בגלוי הצבאי [ריק פרי רק חזר ואישר כי עמדת], נישואים הומוסקסואלים, הפלות (כולל בבוקר אחרי כדור). יכולתי להמשיך עוד ועוד.

במקביל, הם רוצים לוודא שכולנו יכולים להתפלל בבית הספר. ובכן, הרשו לי לספר לכם מניסיון אישי מה זה אומר. הלכתי לבית ספר יסודי קוקר, ובתי ספר פרטיים יכולים לעשות מה שהם רוצים. הייתי בנבחרת ההיאבקות. אתה לא יודע איך זה כשאתה הילד היהודי היחיד, וממש לפני המשחק גדול, המאמן אומר לנו כל כדי ליצור מעגל לשלב ידיים. ראשית הוא מתחיל עם שיחת עידוד נייטרלי. ואז הוא מתחיל לבקש עזרה האלים. בסוף, הוא מוסיף את החלק על “בשם האב, הבן …” בפעם הראשונה הרגשתי חולה מרומה. אבל גם אחרי זה, זה היה קשה מדי בשבילי לספר את המאמן לא יכולתי להשתתף בפעילות זו הקבוצה מונחית, אז פשוט ישבתי שם ועשיתי את עצמי להגות את המילים. אבל הרגשתי מושפל בכפייה ו והתפללתי לאלוהים שיסלח לי מאוחר יותר. זכור, הייתי רק בכיתה ו ‘ו – פחד מוות, הן של מתאבקים חבריי שהיו מבוגרים וחזקים אני [הייתי האחרון בנבחרת] ואת הקבוצה היריבה. אולי היה לי את הזכות “לבטל.” אבל להגיד את זה ילד קטן אחד שרוצה להיות חלק מהצוות.

בקיצור, הם יכולים לשמור על הרטוריקה הפרו ישראלית שלהם כסף (שבו ישראל תקבל בכל מקרה) ולשמור על הדתות שלהם לעצמם לעשות מה שהם אמורים לעשות אשר: (i) לציית לחוקה של ארצות הברית אשר דורש דתי חופש הפרדת הדת מהמדינה, (ii) להעניק סיוע למדינות אשר מגיע ואשר לשרת את האינטרסים של ארה”ב, ואני מאוד מציע שישראל הייתה בעלת הברית היחידה האמיתית, בעד דמוקרטיה מערבית, ב המזרח התיכון כולו. הבעיה עם מדינות ערביות אחרות, גם לאלה עם הפרו מערבית רודנים, דיקטטורים כי הוא למות, לקבל מהשלטון, וכו ‘, אין ערובה כי הדיקטטור הבא יהיה גם הפרו מערבית או יש כוונות שלום כלפי ישראל. מצרים הדיקטטור אסד הראה כיצד דיקטטורה אנטי ישראלי יכול להפוך תומכי ישראל. השאה של איראן (אשר כפרו המערבית בעלת ברית של ישראל) הוחלף על ידי האייתוללה אחרי איתאללה, אשר כל נתח השנאה הקיצונית של ישראל ושל אמריקה עכשיו לאיים על ישראל בנשק גרעיני. התקווה היחידה לביטחון ישראל היא אם יש לה שלום עם, לא רק הממשלות, אבל האנשים של מדינות ערב אשר כעת לאיים עליה, ואם, בסופו של דבר, בתהליך של דמוקרטיה, האנשים האלה להשתלט על ממשלותיהם . כיצד חוסר הרלוונטיות של גבולות יכולה להיות כל כך מוכח בעליל להיות חסר משמעות כאשר: (i) איראן נמצאת על סף רכישת יכולת צבאית גרעינית (ii) איראן היא למעשה דיקטטורה תיאוקרטית המתעלמת את הרצון ואת רצון העם שלה וכן, (ג) נתון להתרעם תנועות דמוקרטית באיראן, על ידי מי זוכר מה זה היה כמו להיות חופשי בתקופת השאה (לפחות במונחים של חופש מדיכוי דתי), וכן אנשים אשר היה אמור להיות ידידותי למערב ואפילו בישראל, קיימת סכנה של המשטר הנוכחי ממשיך, אך האיום הטוב ביותר לטווח ארוך למשטר אנטי הוא געגועים הדמוקרטי של העם שלה. ביטחונה של ישראל מפני איראן לא תושג על ידי מקבל גבולות אשר כמה קילומטרים מן הגבול אחרים או לשים ההתנחלויות בגדה המערבית או ברצועת עזה. היא על ידי לקיחת הקרקע המוסרית הגבוהה ביותר, ללא קשר לזכויות שלה, המוכיחים כי ישראל מכבדת את האיסלאם ואת הפרקטיקה של האסלאם באותם שטחים שהיא שולטת ו תתייחס מוסלמים ויהודים כאחד. ישראל רוצה שלום ולחיות בשלום יעשה, לא מה נדרש ממנה, אבל (בגבולות ההיגיון) מה הוא הרצוי לה לחיות בשלום עם המוסלמים בתוך ומחוץ לגבולותיה. 

לחץ כאן כדי לשלוח לי דואר אלקטרוני 

לחץ כאן כדי לעבור לדף הראשי של הבלוג שלי

The Time Has Come For Armed Intervention In Syria to Stop the Government of Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad from Slaughtering, Torturing, and Massacring Innocent Non-Violent Protestors لقد حان الوقت للتدخل المسلح في سورية Stop the Slaughter and The Massacre وقف المذبحة والمجزرة

As a member of the Syrian opposition correct argued [I am rephrasing], by failing to provide armed intervention and assistance to the largely non-violent protesters against Syrian President/Dictator Assad’s murderous tyranny, the free and democratic world is losing its credibility, legitimacy and degrading its moral mantle. I agree. It is time for armed intervention. Furthermore, as I will explain, in no other country affected by the Arab Spring is American and Western self-interest more aligned with the freedom movement of the Arab Spring. He even said that, “A no-fly zone would do the trick.” We could do that at minimal cost and with minimal loss of life.

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I updated this Blog on January 2, 2012 What appears in Italics was added on that date.

While the observers from the Arab League have arrived in Syria, the violence against the peaceful protesters continues. Bashar al-Assad continues to murder these protesters, despite the presence of the Arab League observers. Assad has previously and continuously ignored both world opinion, the condemnations in the United Nations and the condemnations by the Arab League. The right of the protesters to demonstrate peacefully without fear of arrest or violence is sacrosanct. The only reasonable conclusion is that Bashar al-Assad must leave both his office and Syria, along with the regime that he created. While it is regrettable, because I do believe in non-violence as a general rule, I see no other solution than the use of force.

While this may seem contradictory to my belief in non-violence, legitimate and restrained self-defense is an exception I can embrace, and it seems to be the situation now clearly called for in Syria. Assad’s continued violence in defiance of all outside and internal condemnation, and even in the presence of the Arab League observers, clearly makes the use of armed intervention an act necessary to defend the protesters who have the legitimate right to protest.

Intelligent people of good conscious can simply not stand idly by and ignore the slaughter of the brave and innocent protesters and bystanders who risk their lives for nothing more than the most basic human rights.

Amateur video uploaded on December 28 is purported to show an Arab League observer waving a white flag as gunfire rings out during an inspection in Homs.

In some countries such as Egypt, there has been a concern that the regime which would replace the old regime might be worse, more militant Islamic and Anti-West, or that anarchy would set in if the existing regime were replaced. While I remain absolutely optimistic about the future of Egypt and Libya, there is some evidence that some of these concerns were not totally irrational. Nonetheless, benign revolutions are fluid and not static moments in time. I am certain that the tyranny currently being experienced in Egypt and the anarchy in Libya will move towards benign democracies where these countries will find themselves as welcome, free, proud, and democratic members of the world’s community of nations.

On the other hand, in Syria, a different set of facts makes armed intervention a clear moral imperative. First, that member of the Syrian opposition is correct, if we do not intervene and stop the slaughter of unarmed innocent protesters who simply want the same “regime change” that our former President Bush sought to impose on Iraq [which never asked for it and never stopped regretting his gift], why would we not do it in Syria?

Furthermore, unlike Iraq  which was the nemesis of Iran (our real enemy and the threat to stability in the Middle East), Syria is an ally and proxy of Iran. So when we destabilized Iraq, evidence of which we see daily on the news, we created a valuable ally for Iran, who now even threatens the entire world with nuclear weapons and the exportation of terrorism. These are not fears or suspicions, but well documented facts.

We invaded Iraq for absolutely no reason. They had no “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and they did not help Al Queda. The cost to America was about One Trillion Dollars (the same amount which is paralyzing our congress which is trying to cut the same amount from the economy). We turned world opinion against America, which was at a high point post 9/11 and was at a low point during the invasion of Iraq.

The invasion of Afghanistan, I will note, was different. It was more limited, more necessary, and understandable. Afghanistan had turned into a severely extremist regime that was so extreme and oppressive, even Iran was having military confrontations with it. It had few friends and allies. It was actively giving safe harbor to Al Queda and Osama Bin Laden, and was the site where the terror attacks, with the acquiescence of the Taliban government, were planned and directed against America. As anyone familiar with the pervasive and severe human rights violations, including especially against women, some governments (and this is rare) are so inherently evil that the world must intervene for moral and humanitarian reasons. Afghanistan was such an example. Iraq was not.

Syria, and its leader Bashar al-Assad, are dictators of the worst form. They use any form of murder and torture they feel will be effective. They torture young children to death in the most cruel manner, and then release the body to the families, not so that the families can bury their young children, but to serve as a deterrent to the community against further opposition. Each and every day, unarmed and peaceful men, women, and children are being slaughtered. Many are not even protesters, but people on their way to market or other chores.

Here is a video from YouTube. The Description of the author is as following:

Syrian victims are screaming for your help. Will you answer? A protester is tortured and cursed at by Assad forces and forced to admit to accusations that he is a drug dealer. They repeatedly tell him to laugh and at one point to say he is having a good time. These are the faces of the Baath Regime.

To date, the number of dead in Syria exceeds the number of dead US servicemen in both Iraq and Afghanistan (except the Syrian opposition had no body armor, no guns, only words or peace as weapons.) Bashar al Assad and the current regime in Syria is no friend of the USA or the west. We have nothing to loose in seeing their demise, and everything to gain. The same goes for those who support Israel, democracy, freedom, and/or peace.

Both Egypt, under Mubarak, and even recently Libya, had a relationship with the West. We had reasons to be concerned with the regime that would replace the prior regimes. I disavow that selfish analysis, but only mention it to further to convince my readers that no argument favors ignoring the slaughter of innocents, and every arguments compels military intervention (at the very least a “No Fly” zone.) Syria is both an ally and proxy to Iran and helps spread and support terrorism and instability wherever it can, including in Lebanon, Iraq, and against Israel and the West.

I am not arguing for armed intervention because it is in the West’s interests’ to do so. I am simply pointing out that this argument (against acting in our own self-interests) argues for intervention in Syria unlike in Egypt (where it was not necessary) or Libya (where the West did intervene). The main reason for military intervention is that people are fighting to achieve the same freedom and democracy we enjoy against an illegitimate government which is a true dictatorship. Instead of achieving freedom, people are being slaughtered at the very second you are reading this.

I don’t think that every government which is different than America’s is either an enemy of America or should receive our intervention. Far from it. There are many legitimate forms of government as the Socialist and even Communist governments of Europe and China have established. I believe that China, Russia, the Arab World, the West, and the rest of the United Nations should finally unite without fear and out of strength and moral obligation. But, in any event, Bashir al-Assad must go, and it is time that we “Helped him to the exit.”

It is easy as a Blogger in the USA to write about intervention in Syria as I sit in peace and safety. But indeed I have attempted to contact people involved in the Syrian uprising for the purpose of entering Syria, whether legally or illegally, as an independent journalist to document, first hand, also with a high resolution video camera and my words and writing, the massacre going on. This would involve to me, a Jewish American not credentialed or supported by a powerful news organization such as CNN, great personal risk. I am willing to share my videos and stories with all major news organizations for free in the hope of stopping the slaughter. I will do my reporting from the very front lines and without a support or security staff, in the sole interest of stopping the slaughter. This is desirable because many of the videos smuggled out are not authenticated and/or are taken from a distance. That would not be the case with me.

I have not heard from anyone connected with the Syrian uprising. If anyone who is in a position to help me in my goals reads this blog, please contact me.

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وقد أضفت تحديث هذه المدونة في 2 يناير 2012 ما يظهر في مائل في ذلك التاريخ.

في حين أن مراقبين من الجامعة العربية قد وصلت إلى سورية ، والعنف ضد المتظاهرين السلميين لا يزال مستمرا. بشار الأسد لا يزال القتل هؤلاء المتظاهرين، رغم وجودالمراقبين جامعة الدول العربية. الأسد سبق وباستمرار تجاهل الرأي العام العالمي على حد سواء، والإدانات في الأمم المتحدة والادانات من قبل جامعة الدول العربية. حق المتظاهرينفي التظاهر السلمي دون خوف من اعتقال أو العنف هو مقدس. الاستنتاج الوحيد المعقول هو أن بشار الأسد يجب أن يترك كل من مكتبه وسوريا، جنبا إلى جنب مع النظام الذي أسسه.في حين أنه أمر مؤسف، لأنني أؤمن باللاعنف، كقاعدة عامة ، لا أرى أي حل آخر سوىاستخدام القوة.

في حين أن هذا قد يبدو مناقضا للاعتقادي في عدم اللجوء إلى العنف، وضبط النفسالمشروعة للدفاع عن النفس هو استثناء أستطيع احتضان، ويبدو أن الوضع الآن دعابوضوح في سورية. استمرار العنف الأسد في تحد لادانة كل من الخارج والداخلية ، وحتى في وجود مراقبين من الجامعة العربية، يجعل من الواضح أن استخدام التدخل المسلح فعلاللازمة للدفاع عن المتظاهرين الذين لديهم الحق المشروع في الاحتجاج.

يمكن للناس ذكية واعية من الجيد ببساطة لن تقف مكتوفة الأيدي وتجاهل ذبح المتظاهرينالشجعان والأبرياء والمارة الذين يخاطرون بحياتهم من أجل لا شيء أكثر من أبسط حقوق الإنسان الأساسية.

وهنا شريط فيديو من يوتيوب. ووصف المؤلف على النحو التالي :

تم الرفع الفيديو الهواة يوم 28 ديسمبر أن المفروض أن تظهر مراقب الجامعة العربية تلوح بعلم أبيض وحلقات اطلاق النار من خلال عملية تفتيش في مدينة حمص.

بوصفها عضوا في المعارضة السورية الصحيح القول [أنا إعادة صياغة] ، من خلال فشلها في توفير التدخل المسلح وتقديم المساعدة للمحتجين غير عنيفة إلى حد كبير ضد سوريا الاستبداد الأسد الرئيس / الديكتاتور القاتل ، والعالم الحر والديمقراطية تفقد مصداقيتها وشرعيتها والمهينة في عباءة الأخلاقية. وأنا أتفق. حان الوقت للتدخل المسلح. وعلاوة على ذلك ، كما سأشرح ، في أي بلد آخر تتأثر الربيع العربي الأميركي والغربي المصلحة الذاتية أكثر انسجاما مع حركة حرية الربيع العربي. وقال انه حتى ذلك ، “منطقة حظر الطيران سوف تفعل خدعة.” اننا يمكن ان نفعل ذلك بأقل تكلفة ممكنة وبأقل الخسائر في الأرواح.

في بعض البلدان مثل مصر ، كان هناك قلق من أن النظام الذي سيحل محل النظام القديم قد يكون أسوأ ، وأكثر الاسلامية المتشددة ومكافحة الغربية ، أو أن الفوضى سيحدد في حال تم استبدال النظام القائم. في حين ما زلت متفائلا على الاطلاق حول مستقبل مصر وليبيا ، وهناك بعض الأدلة على أن بعض هذه المخاوف لم تكن غير عقلاني تماما. مع ذلك ، هي ثورات حميدة السائل وليس لحظات ساكنة في الوقت المناسب. وإنني على يقين من أن الطغيان التي يشهدها حاليا في مصر والفوضى في ليبيا سوف تتحرك نحو الديمقراطيات حميدة حيث ستجد هذه الدول نفسها على أنها موضع ترحيب ، حرر ، أعضاء فخور ، والديمقراطية للمجتمع في العالم من الدول.

وهنا شريط فيديو من يوتيوب. ووصف المؤلف على النحو التالي :

الضحايا يصرخون السورية لمساعدتكم. سوف تجيب؟ هو احد المتظاهرين للتعذيب ولعن من قبل الاسد في القوات وأجبر على الاعتراف على اتهامات بأنه تاجر مخدرات. يقولون عنه مرارا وتكرارا أن تضحك وعند نقطة واحدة ليقول انه هو وجود الوقت المناسب. هذه هي وجوه نظام البعث.

من ناحية أخرى ، في سوريا ، مجموعة مختلفة من الحقائق يجعل التدخل المسلح واجب أخلاقي واضح. أولا ، أن عضوا في المعارضة السورية هو الصحيح ، وإذا كنا لا تدخل ووقف ذبح الأبرياء من المتظاهرين العزل الذين يريدون ببساطة نفس “تغيير النظام” ان لدينا الرئيس السابق بوش يسعى إلى فرضها على العراق [التي لم يطلب لها و لم يتوقف أبدا عن أسفها] هدية له ، لماذا نحن لا نفعل ذلك في سوريا؟

وعلاوة على ذلك ، على عكس العراق الذي كان الأبرز في إيران (عدونا الحقيقي ، وتهديدا للاستقرار في الشرق الأوسط) ، وسوريا حليف لايران والوكيل. خلقت لذلك نحن عندما كنا زعزعة استقرار العراق ، والأدلة التي نراها يوميا في نشرات الأخبار ، وهو حليف هام بالنسبة لإيران ، الذي يهدد الآن حتى في العالم كله مع الأسلحة النووية وتصدير الإرهاب. هذه ليست مخاوف أو شكوك ، ولكن حقائق موثقة توثيقا جيدا.

نحن غزا العراق لسبب على الإطلاق. لم يكن لديهم “أسلحة الدمار الشامل” وأنها لم تساعد آل Queda. كانت تكلفة لأمريكا حول تريليون دولار (المبلغ نفسه الذي شل مؤتمرنا الذي يسعى الى خفض المبلغ ذاته من الاقتصاد). لجأنا الرأي العام العالمي ضد الولايات المتحدة ، والذي كان في آخر نقطة مرتفعة 11 / 9 وكان في نقطة منخفضة خلال غزو العراق.

غزو ​​أفغانستان ، وسوف نلاحظ ، كان مختلفا. كان أكثر محدودية ، من الضروري أكثر من ذلك ، ومفهومة. وكانت أفغانستان قد تحولت إلى النظام المتطرف بشدة أنه متطرف جدا والقمعية ، وإيران حتى بعد أن المواجهات العسكرية معها. وكان عدد قليل من الأصدقاء والحلفاء. كان يعطي بنشاط الملاذ الآمن لQueda القاعدة واسامة بن لادن ، وكان الموقع حيث تم التخطيط لهجمات ارهابية ، بموافقة حكومة طالبان ، والموجهة ضد أمريكا. مثل أي شخص مطلع على انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان انتشارا وخيمة ، بما لا سيما ضد النساء ، وبعض الحكومات (وهذا أمر نادر الحدوث) هي بطبيعتها ذلك الشر الذي يجب على العالم التدخل لأسباب أخلاقية وإنسانية. وكانت أفغانستان مثال على ذلك. لم يكن العراق.

سوريا وقائدها بشار الأسد ، هي من أسوأ الحكام المستبدين النموذج. يستخدمون أي شكل من أشكال القتل والتعذيب يشعرون ستكون فعالة. انهم أطفال صغار التعذيب حتى الموت في معظم بطريقة قاسية ، ثم حرر الجسم للأسر ، بحيث لا تتمكن العائلات من دفن أبنائهم الصغار ، ولكن لتكون بمثابة رادع للمجتمع ضد المعارضة. كل يوم ، ويجري ذبح الرجال العزل وسلمية والنساء والأطفال. ولا حتى العديد من المحتجين ، ولكن الناس في طريقهم إلى السوق أو غيرها من الأعمال المنزلية

حتى الآن ، فإن عدد القتلى في سورية يتجاوز عدد الجنود الامريكيين القتلى في كل من العراق وأفغانستان (باستثناء المعارضة السورية ليس لديها الدروع والبنادق لا ، كلمات فقط أو السلام كأسلحة.) بشار الاسد والنظام الحالي في سوريا ليست صديقة للولايات المتحدة أو الغرب. ليس لدينا شيء فضفاض في رؤية زوال ، وكل شيء لكسب. الشيء نفسه ينطبق على أولئك الذين يدعمون إسرائيل ، والديمقراطية ، والحرية ، و / أو السلام.

وكان كل من مصر ، تحت حكم مبارك ، ومؤخرا حتى ليبيا ، والعلاقة مع الغرب. كان لدينا أسباب تدعو للقلق مع النظام الذي سيحل محل الأنظمة السابقة. أنا بريء من هذا التحليل الأنانية ، ولكن أذكر فقط لاقناع مزيد من قرائي أن أي حجة تفضل تجاهل ذبح الأبرياء ، وتجبر كل حجج التدخل العسكري (على أقل تقدير “No_Fly” المنطقة.) سوريا على حد سواء وحليف وكيل لإيران ، ويساعد انتشار ودعم الارهاب وعدم الاستقرار أينما كان يمكن ، بما في ذلك في لبنان ، والعراق ، وضد اسرائيل والغرب.

أنا لا يدافعون عن التدخل المسلح لأنه في مصلحة الغرب “للقيام بذلك. إنني ببساطة مشيرا إلى أن هذه الحجة (ضد يتصرف في المصالح الذاتية الخاصة بنا) يقول عن التدخل في سوريا خلافا في مصر (حيث لم يكن ذلك ضروريا) أو ليبيا (حيث لم تتدخل في الغرب). السبب الرئيسي وراء التدخل العسكري هو أن الناس يسعون لتحقيق نفس الحرية والديمقراطية التي نتمتع بها ضد الحكومة غير الشرعية التي هي الديكتاتورية الحقيقية.

لا أعتقد أن كل الحكومة التي هي مختلفة من أميركا هو إما عدو لأميركا أو ينبغي أن يتلقى تدخلنا. على العكس من ذلك. هناك أشكال كثيرة من الحكومة الشرعية والحكومات الاشتراكية والشيوعية حتى في أوروبا والصين اقامتا. وأعتقد أن الصين وروسيا والعالم العربي والغرب ، وبقية الأمم المتحدة يجب أن تتحد في النهاية ، ودون خوف من قوة والتزام أخلاقي. ولكن ، على أي حال ، يجب أن البشير الأسد الذهاب ، وحان الوقت أننا “ساعده على الخروج.”

فمن السهل كما مدون في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية إلى الكتابة عن التدخل في سوريا وأنا أجلس في سلام وأمان. ولكن في الواقع لقد حاولت الاتصال الأشخاص الذين شاركوا في الانتفاضة السورية لغرض دخول سوريا ، سواء كانت مشروعة أو غير مشروعة ، كصحافي مستقل للوثيقة ، أول يد ، وأيضا مع كاميرا ذات دقة عالية والفيديو كلماتي والكتابة ، ومذبحة يجري. وسيشمل ذلك بالنسبة لي ، وهو أميركي يهودي لا المعتمدين أو تدعمها منظمة انباء قوية مثل سي إن إن ، ومخاطر شخصية كبيرة. وأنا على استعداد لتبادل أشرطة الفيديو الخاصة بي وقصص مع جميع المؤسسات الإخبارية الكبرى مجانا أملا في وقف المذبحة. سأفعل تقاريري من الخطوط الأمامية للغاية وبدون دعم أو موظفي الأمن ، لمصلحة الوحيد لوقف المذبحة. هذا أمر مرغوب فيه لأنه لم يتم المصادقة العديد من أشرطة الفيديو تهريبه و / أو تؤخذ من مسافة بعيدة. فإن ذلك لن يكون الحال معي.

لم أسمع من أي شخص له صلة مع انتفاضة السورية. إذا كان أي شخص في وضع يمكنها من مساعدتي في أهدافي يقرأ هذا بلوق ، يرجى الاتصال بي.

اضغط هنا للعودة إلى الصفحة الرئيسية لمدونتي

انقر هنا لمراسلتي عبر البريد الإلكتروني

The Forgotten Child Sex Abuse Scandal at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania [Part 1]

With all the publicity about the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State involving the school’s prestigious football program, forgotten is an almost identical story involving a powerful professor and department head at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1990’s. I was the lawyer for the main victim, although there were other victims (but the statute of limitations had run out). The only difference is that officials did not look the other way to the same extent as at Penn State, although the professor and his misuse of the prestige and name of the University of Pennsylvania name was ignored and enabled the professor to molest young boys and the professor was let off the hook. A grave miscarriage of justice and the rape of children was allowed to go unpunished in nearby Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (a county courthouse where I have learned not to expect justice) until the professor got caught again more than a decade later. 

Let me give you some background, as there are a lot of interesting background facts and coincidences. I love the University of Pennsylvania. I have three degrees from that University. I received a BS from the Wharton School of Business with a “concentration” in Economics and a BA from the College of Arts and Sciences with a major in Mathematics in 1984. Both of those degrees were with honors, Magna Cum Laude. In fact, I had fun my first two years and a lot of “B”s. When I decided I wanted to stay at Penn for law school, I had to raise my GPA and then got straight “A”s for my last two years, a perfect 4.0. I did get accepted to the Law School at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1987. Even while a student in the law school, I was permitted, and took advantage, of the ability to take one course per semester at the Wharton Graduate School.

In the Wharton School, I tool a course in Marketing given by Lawrence Scott Ward, Chairman of the Marketing Department. He in fact lectured to many sections, awhile individual sections were taught by “TA’s” or teaching assistants. His lectures were in the evening, and I used to fall asleep during his class. My friend would sit behind me and she would kick my chair when Dr. Ward walked up my aisle and got too close to me. I took marketing because I had already published my own magazines after graduating Lower Merion High School in mid-year. I did this with my best friend, Leif Owen Klein, whose family was also in the media business. Leif and I met at Lower Merion High School where we published an underground newspaper, and we both went to Penn together. We remain best friends to this day. His father was one of the top people in the Radio Business and was a well-known civil rights activist whose work included working with Dr. Martin Luther King.

Lower Merion is a very affluent suburb of Philadelphia. It is known as part of the “Main Line” and is known for its “old money” WASP population. Foxes were still hunted in the area until recently, and Jews and Blacks are still excluded from one of the prominent country clubs a mile from where I live today. The zip code I lived in until my divorce (I moved into the next zip code 1 mile away) was one of the top 20 most affluent zip codes in America. Some of the DuPont family and the Dorrance family (the Campbell soup heirs) live in the area along with many of the doctors, lawyers and professors who make Philadelphia famous for its colleges, hospitals, and lawyers. Remember the phrase, “A Philadelphia lawyer?” The public schools are so good that many families with endless wealth still send their children to public schools. The public schools receive more money per child then the elite private schools in the area do in tuition.

As times changed, the WASP population had to share the real area with the “new money” professionals like my father, a self-made very prominent Jewish attorney. When my parents moved to the Main Line, there were areas that realtors did not show houses to prospective Jewish purchasers. That was fine because our money was not just new, there was a lot less than people thought and a fraction of what many families in the neighborhood had. My father had one major fault. He was honest and put the client’s interests before his own, a trait which disappeared from the Philadelphia legal scene as I would find out and am writing about in my book about my life as a lawyer, “A White Tear in Red China,” which is not yet finished.

Ward also lived in Lower Merion, as did many Penn professors and doctors. He lived in a nice house with a swimming pool and large brick wall giving him total privacy. He lived two blocks away from Leif’s father. Ward was charismatic and interesting when he lectured, but unlike most professors I had, was arrogant and disinterested when students spoke with him “one on one.” It was true he had a lot to be arrogant about. In addition to being Chairman of the Marketing Department, he also wrote the text book on marketing and was a consultant to major fortune 500 companies.

He also found time to run a non-profit organization called the “Rebound Foundation” which was comprised of students and faculty at the University of Pennsylvania to help troubled youth. I never heard of it when I was at Penn. But that was no surprise, as the charity existed as a legal entity which Ward produced when he wanted legitimacy and the Penn name so that he could get access to troubled youth that he should not have had. Ward, it seemed, intended to trouble these children even worse then what they had suffered.

The good professor also had a family, or so the exchange students from the Philippines were told to write their parents when Ward took exchange students to live with him from foreign countries. Ward was so accommodating he wrote the letters out in English and had them translated to Tegalo, the language of the Philippines, so all the students needed to do was copy the letters into their own handwriting and mail them and their families back home would be reassured that all was well, which it was not. The students were told to write, and told how to write, that they were liking living with “Scott and his family” and had taken a trip to Disneyworld with “Scott and his family.” But, Scott Ward had no family, and to my knowledge, but I could be wrong about this, there were no trips to Disneyworld.

In hindsight, Ward’s coldness and distance should have been more surprising. Penn had many famous professors. and famous or not, almost all the faculty liked working with students and enjoyed good, healthy, and normal relationships with the college age students. Ward did not. For example, while I was a student at Penn, Lawrence Klein (a Penn Economics Professor) received the Nobel Peace Prize in economics specifically for econometric forecasting (which is what I had studied as it combined my math and economics programs). There were an abundance of famous teachers there. Before he left office, in one of his public trips and appearances, President Bush (the father) came to Philadelphia to meet with another professor, my good friend’s father, who also lived in Lower Merion. Apparently, Ward created the charity and used his position and the name of the University to give his charity legitimacy and prestige, but that was all of the interactions he had with other Penn professors or students. Ward kept to himself since, as we learned later, he was hiding a lot behind those high brick walls in Lower Merion.

Lower Merion is a very affluent suburb of Philadelphia. It is known as the “Main Line” and is known for its “old money” WASP population. Foxes were still hunted in the area until recently, and “Jews and Blacks” are still excluded from one of the prominent country clubs a mile from where I live. The zip code I lived in until my divorce (I moved into the next zip code 1 mile away) was one of the top 20 most affluent zip codes in America. Some of the DuPont family and the Campbell soup heirs live in the area, as to many of the highly paid athletes from Philadelphia’s top sports teams. The public schools are so good that many families with endless wealth, and Lower Merion has a lot of families with endless wealth, still send their children to public schools. The public schools receive more money per child then the elite private schools do from their enormous tuition bills.

In the 1990’s, in this wealthy suburb, a young man was caught burglarizing a wealthy home. He offered the Lower Merion police a deal. Information for either a reduced sentence or a walk, I forget which. Fortunately, the case landed on the desk of three top detectives, Lt. James Burke, Detective Ray Kuter and Detective Cathy Hart. When I met them, I was in awe. They were Montgomery County’s own version of Law & Order’s Special Victims Unit. I also met with the FBI agents and Customs officials in downtown Philadelphia at the Federal Building at 6th and Arch Streets. In fact, the word I heard was that Ray Kuter had been in Narcotics, where he was “undercover” but was so good and effective, a contract was put out on his life and he was transferred to sex crimes, where I met him. That was the rumor, I don’t know if it is true, but true or not, it is quite plausible. He, along with the other two county detectives, were true “super cops.”

These three top detectives worked directly for the District Attorney’s office of Montgomery County. The young man did “cut a deal,” and provided startling information. That young man told them, and later told me, while we were waiting for a Preliminary Hearing to begin, that he and the other young “guests” of Scott Ward’s secluded mansion originally thought, when they were invited into Ward’s home and saw his wealth, “This is great, what can we steal?” But they were smart, and realized that such an action would be a one-time burglary. Instead, as invited guests (often overnight), they could use Ward’s home as a base and burglarize the neighbors and neighborhood. That is what he was doing when he got caught by the Lower Merion police.

He told authorities how he had been paid for sex by Ward, and now that he was in his early 20’s, he was way too old for the good professor. But he could and still earn money by “hooking up” Ward with other young men, which is what he sometimes did. Ward liked them in the 12 and 13 year age range.

My client was 13 when I met him.

Philadelphia also contains some very poor sections, and while Philadelphia is better known, in terms of poverty, for North Philadelphia (where Temple University is located) for being a largely poor African American area which was neglected by white mayor after white mayor (including the notorious Frank Rizzo) in favor of the white neighborhoods, especially white Italian neighborhoods which received some publicity when gambling came to Atlantic City and caused a “Mob War” in Philadelphia [which may have involved the New York crime families, but I don’t know, as that is not what I do.] Control of Atlantic City, it appears, went from meaningless to very lucrative.

Previously, Atlantic City came under the purview of Philadelphia’s long standing mafia family and its kingpin, Angelo Bruno, who was known to dislike murder (unless it was necessary) unlike his successors who seemed to favor it as a general purpose method of doing business. After gambling came to Atlantic City, Bruno was promptly killed and war broke out. In fact, when I was fresh out of law school, my parents took me to a very good and locally respected Italian restaurant, Dante and Luigis, for dinner on Halloween night.

Dante’s lacked the ambiance of the overpriced Italian restaurants found in every city so only locals go there. We left, and my parents drove me to my rented “row home” in “Center City” about five minutes away. When I got home, I turned on the radio and listened to the news, a habit I picked up from my father, and heard that the son of the reigning Mafia head had just been shot at Dante and Luigi’s. it must have happened within a few minutes of our leaving, and I was so thankful we had left when we did. I had never seen someone got shot, but had a gut feeling that it would have ruined dinner, especially my pasta with red sauce.

But there was another poor white area in Philadelphia known as Kensington which was located in North Philadelphia, and it seems that poor white boys prostituted themselves on certain blocks. I had no idea of this, but Ward knew it and met my client on a street there and took him home in his hundred thousand dollar sports car (and in the early 1990’s, a hundred thousand dollars really bought a nice car :). Aside from the clear moral implications, let me be absolutely clear that the age of consent is 16 in Pennsylvania. The fact that my client may have been trying to “sell his services” was totally irrelevant as a 12 year old can not, legally, factually, or morally engage in consensual sex with an adult.

Let’s be equally clear that the homosexual nature of the act is irrelevant. While child prostitution is as repugnant as an act can be, it has nothing to do with the fact that this was between males, like in the Penn State case receiving national attention. Sex between Sandusky or Ward and a 12 year old is rape. No ifs, ands, or buts. The gender of the child is irrelevant. Damage to the child is severe and inexcusable. We don’t punish homosexuality. We punish child rape and pedophilia, and we need to punish those acts severely.

When the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office received the information about Scott Ward, a/k/a L. Scott Ward a/k/a Lawrence Scott Ward, they had their informant set up a sting. It was amazing, but the police found a PA State Police officer who could pose as a 15 year old. He did have a “baby face,” but when I met him, and he was no longer undercover, and the semi-automatic on his hip added a few years to his age. He was waiting, as well, to testify. Ward did set up a date with the trooper and an agreement was made to exchange sex for money, according to the informant, and Ward was arrested with much publicity. The entire incident was tape recorded on new equipment as well as overheard by the first assistant district attorney. Unfortunately, as the equipment was new, it turned out that the tapes were not actually moving and recording, even though the needles indicated that they were. This would prove to be a “challenge” for the prosecution.

When the story of Ward’s arrest hit the press, my client was, pursuant to a Court Order finding him delinquent, residing in, and in the custody of, a respected institution for children with a variety of problems. The good professor, L. Scott Ward, had been visiting my client while my client was in custody. Using the name of his charity, the “Rebound Foundation” and the name of the University of Pennsylvania, Ward was given access to my client as officials believed that Ward was acting under the auspices of a legitimate charity affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and “fortunately” helping my poor client, who had no one else to help him. Ward was allowed to visit with my client and ultimately, take him out of the institution for overnight visits.

Instead of helping my client, Ward was helping himself to my client, even though my client was essentially in “protective custody” because he had been prostituting himself on the streets of Kensington. I met the top administrators, however, at the institution, and they were good decent people who were deceived by Ward, a master of deception and marketing, who used his skills as an expert at marketing to market himself as something he was not.

I did subsequently represent my client in civil lawsuits against Ward and also against the Institution where my client had been entrusted, and because those settlements contained confidentiality provisions, I am not mentioning the name of the Institution. Of course, I am not mentioning the name of my client, since he was a minor and we tried to keep his name out of the press, while Ward’s lawyers tried to put his name in the press. Also, the settlement required me to destroy my file, which contained, as a necessary part thereof, what I considered child pornography (a central issue in the criminal case since the pictures were of males taken in the Philippines whose age could not be proven.)

Ward was smart enough and did not have in his possession (at least not which the police could find) pictures of himself engaging in sex acts with American, and thus traceable, youth. Furthermore, while it appeared that the boys in the pictures were underage, given that children age differently, it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the children engaged in sex acts were under 16. There were many pictures of clearly underage boys mixed in, but the pictures of children under the age of 16, while sexually suggestive, were not per se pornographic. Ward was a master at walking on the edge of a razor. My possession of these pictures (and other evidence) was so that I could nail the good professor to the wall and also assist the criminal prosecution because the good professor did not have the 5th Amendment right to remain silent in a civil lawsuit, so I strategically filed my lawsuit while the criminal case was pending to force Ward to turn over incriminating evidence such as the pictures and answer, under oath, certain specific factual accusations [more about that later].

In fact, not only did I possess this potentially unlawful evidence with the knowledge and blessing of the state and local authorities, I had to beat defense counsel who appealed, on two occasions, to the Superior Court (an appellate Court) the Orders of the trial Judge. That kind of delay and obstruction was unprecedented in a civil lawsuit over mere “discovery.” But after the case was settled, I not only had to destroy my copies of the evidence, I was very anxious to no longer have these things in my possession. Believe it or not, many of the pictures were on computer disk, and the bastard gave me my first computer virus.

When the proper officials at the Institution saw that Ward had been arrested and why, they questioned my client, who did what many victims of child rape do. He denied it because he was afraid and embarrassed. But a top administrator persisted in interviewing my client and brought in my friend, an expert psychologist who specialized in working with both victims and offenders of child sexual abuse. My client finally admitted to engaging in certain activities with the good professor, and the police were called.

My client’s multiple versions of the story would come back to haunt all of us who wanted to see the professor’s tenure moved from Penn to Prison. But, my client was to afraid and embarrassed to admit to everything that had occurred and admitted to allowing the professor to perform certain acts but denied engaging in what he perceived as more embarrassing activities. According to what I learn from watching movies and documentaries on TV (such as LockUp on MSNBC), his lies are consistent with the actions of prisoners who engage in certain male on male sexual activity but then deny any homosexuality because they did not engage in other activities. Forgive my deliberate vagueness, but an adult will understand what I am referring to, and I do not want to have to put an “adult content advisory” on this Blog.

After my client admitted to the administrator and my psychologist friend that there had been improper sexual contact, and the fraudulent nature of the charity was exposed, the proper authorities were notified, and a second set of charges were filed against Professor Ward. All of this occurred before the OJ case, but Ward assembled his own “Dream Team,” of lawyers. I would confront other similarities with the OJ case. The dream team improperly subpoenaed my client’s confidential mental health records, and my psychologist friend asked me if I would represent my client pro bono (which means for free) in protecting my client’s, the victim’s, right to privacy.

It was pure coincidence that the case involved a former professor of mine whom I never liked and my alma matter, but I felt compelled to help protect my client and help put the bastard away. I was also deeply angry at the manner in which the University of Pennsylvania, its reputation and name, had been used to exploit and rape children. A cursory review of my earlier post on “Human Trafficking”, which includes sex trafficking and child prostitution, will clearly evidence my passion to see criminals who engage in any aspect of this behavior jailed for a very long time.

The case, and my involvement therein, would take many twist and turns, and consume a tremendous amount of my time and money, as I will discuss in the next installment of this true story. But I have had very little sleep and am tired of writing.

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Letter to Readers of this Blog and My Nearly Identical Google Blog

To Readers:

 

I used Google’s translation program to translate some of my posts. To test how accurately the program worked, I did a reverse translation of my Chinese translation back to English. The errors would be doubled. Nonetheless, they were extensive, and I apologize. Errors in translation may make the post seem disrespectful, insulting, inaccurate, or incoherent, for which I apologize.

 

As my Blog is being read worldwide, I am trying to make it easier for readers in other countries to read my Blog in their native language. I have assumed that readers of a Blog about the Arab Spring would tend to speak Arabic (if they didn’t speak English) while a Blog about a protest in China would be most useful if it were translated also into Chinese (in addition to English). Whether the translation program works better in one language than another I don’t know. Anyone who speaks both languages well, I would appreciate your advising me as to how accurate the translation was.

 

Again, I apologize for errors due to translation, as well as typographical errors. Please remember that I do this Blog out of a desire to make the world better.  I know that we have already made a real and meaningful  impact as readership is increasing every month, and readers of my Blog, and people who spoke with me personally and/or volunteered at my request affected a recent election for county Judge. The candidate I felt to be very  unqualified lost by about 6,000 votes, which means that I affected the election if I changed the minds of 3,000 voters. My Google Blog was read by about 6,000 readers. I personally spoke with about 1,000 people, including about 250 the day of the election and a similar number on the day of the primary. Almost everyone I spoke with was appreciative of my advice and promised me that they would vote as I recommended (which was for any two of the other three candidates with my preference being the two Democrats). Because I grew up in this county and still reside here, as did and do my entire family and most of my close friends,  I had a great number of family and friends who also made it a point to: (i) vote; (ii) get their spouses and friends to vote;  and, (iii) spread the word to vote and to further “spread the word”,  all to make sure that this one candidate for Judge was not elected. We printed and handed out thousands of paper fliers  and put them on cars in local shopping centers and malls. I went on many websites and wrote my opinion of this candidate and explained why voters should not vote for him, regardless of party affiliation. We send out many many thousands of e-mails to local voters we knew. The list of activities I personally did, and those of my family and friends goes on and on. I feel rather certain that we affected the outcome of the election, and this Blog was at the center of our success.

 

This lawyer was well “connected” and a partner at a large law firm. He was also well funded. Even though he ran as a Republican, and Democrats did surprisingly well, he was almost a “shoe in” to win, given the votes and influence of the collective members of his law firm and their clients and friends.

 

It is inconceivable that we did not, at a minimum, make it a close election, and perhaps, at best,  change the outcome of this election. Even if he would have lost anyway, we certainly changed what would have been a close loss into an embarrassing and costly defeat. Now, my Blog is picking up an ever increasing number of readers, both local, statewide, across the USA, and World-Wide and I  intend to increase my activities to increase  legal and social justice.

 

I can determine that my Blog is having a greater international readership because Google keeps track about certain information relating to viewers, such as what country they come from, which web pages they visit, etc.  So I know, for example, that in the approximately six months since I started the Blog, I have had 412 people from China and even 38 just from Poland. This is the information for my Google Blog. The Mirror Blog, on WordPress.Com, also keeps track of the number of readers but not where they are from and other detailed information provided by Google, Currently, at the rate we are going now, the Google Blog alone is getting about 2,000 readers a month, and this number is increasing rapidly. This is very important because, as my disgust at the paralysis in America grows, my concern over foreign events increases. For example, as I write this, non-violent protesters  are being slaughtered in Syria because they seek basic legal rights and social justice.

 

 Aside from my 12 year old son who helps make the Blog visually better with some HTML coding, I do everything related to this Blog, and my other political activities, myself including: (i) researching the Blog and identifying useful hypertext links; (ii) writing the Blog articles/posts myself, including proof reading (and it is always bad to proof read your own material but I have no choice); (iii) the basic internet steps such as posting the post/article to both of my web sites (I have two sites with the same articles as Google’s Blogger may not be accessible in every country I am told); and, (iv) non-commercial promotion of the Blog such as making sure it is indexed promptly by the search engines and joining other web sites and chat rooms and advising readers of other web sites which are on the topics of my Blog of the existence of my Blog and its position on the subject being discussed in that other web site/Blog site  [especially when my ability to comment may be severely limited in terms of space restrictions imposed by the Blog or Web Site on comments]. Despite the one or two advertisements which appear (Google put them on), I have never received a penny in revenue for my efforts.

 

So as I work diligently without compensation to follow my convictions and try to affect this world in a positive manner, you can help me if you want by commenting or e-mailing, and more importantly, joining my Blog group and linking your web site, FaceBook or other internet  account to my Blog, or in any way directing traffic to my Blog.

 

Also, please feel  free to submit your own article, even if it opposes my opinions. Of all the issues I feel the strongest about, I believe that the freedom of speech and the airing of diverse and controversial points of view (even if I am certain they are wrong) is in the best interests of the public, in general, and of journalism, in particular.  I am treating my Blog as a journalistic endeavor and I have a background in both freedom of press advocacy and journalism itself. It is my strongest goal to make this Blog a well-reasoned, fair, and influential voice against oppression and injustice and to speak out on behalf of those who cannot.

 

My ability to be more than “just another voice with an opinion” comes from, in addition to the research I do for my articles, I base my Blog on my knowledge of economics as an economics major from the Wharton School of Business, my knowledge of the law and international business and relations as a lawyer who practiced law for ¼ a century including with a diverse international practice also  my education as a lawyer from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. My knowledge of current history and politics comes by closely following, witnessing, living through, and reading extensively about the events of the last ½ a century and about which I write. When I am not uniquely qualified to have an opinion, I remain silent even if I have a strong opinion.

 

 

For example, even though I was too young and too far away to remember or have experienced the Vietnam War or the events in China decades ago, due especially to my interest in China, for example, I have read, in the last five years,  perhaps 30-40 books about events, politics, policies, and people in China. These books are from people who either played a role or witnessed events which affected China in the last century. Examples include books on major (but relatively unknown in America) politicians in China such as Lin Biao and Zhou Zhiyang, books by ordinary people who lived through and experienced events such as the Cultural Revolution, and books by or about central players in the governments of both America and China during these periods such as Kissinger’s Book on China and Gao Wenqian’s biography of Zhou Enlai. Some of my research comes directly from publications funded and/or sponsored by the government of China while others come from sources and books banned in China, such as Gao Wenqian’s biography of Zhou Enlai.

 

Surprisingly, my respect for the leaders of China and the Communist Party [I am a democrat and not a communist and I am a strong supporter or President Obama – my ability to respect a leader such as Zhou Enlai of China is no different from my ability to respect and learn from other religions even though I do not personally practice them (I practice my own religion))  and its efforts to improve the living standards of the Chinese population comes from books which are banned in China. It is incredible but even when one Chinese official criticizes another for his/her position, the intellectual level of the controversy and the dedication of those involved on both sides of the controversy give me a respect for the people who ran China even when China was considered hostile to America

 

 I find that the reflexive fear and hatred Americans were taught about Communism in general during the 1960’s, for example, (when I was born) was misguided and arose not from some inherent evil in Communism or its leaders, but through the perversion of Communism and actions taken in the name of Communism or supposedly on behalf of a Communist nation by a small number of people.  Those actions served no one’s interests and followed no recognized economic theories or political platforms except the personal  agendas, enrichment and power seeking of the select few who took those actions. In short, those people, like Stalin and Pol Pot, turned their governments into another form of a disguised oppressive  dictatorship. Unfortunately, due to the tremendous damage done by such a few people, a tremendous number of people who were brave, honest, and true dedicated believers were given a bad name or are totally unknown. We only can begin to know the names of some of the surviving and successful people who came to power. For example, in the Communist revolution in China, tens of thousands of people (perhaps more) risked everything and gave everything and asked nothing to try to improve life in China for all of the Chinese people believing that Communism was the way to do that. During the battles and the “Long March”, these people gave even their lives so we don’t even know their names and no records exist to document their existence, heroic actions, and selfless motivations.

 

So this is the basis for my motivation for my writing by Blog and the basis on which I write the articles I do.  Again, as I do it all myself, I apologize for typographical errors, translation errors, etc. Please feel free to help me out by helping to promote readership to my Blog. Since the blog is growing in influence and is already affecting the world we live in, it is worth your efforts. Since I believe in non-violent inclusion and engagement, even if you disagree with me your efforts will not be destructive or harmful to anyone.

 

Thanks for reading,

Sincerely,

David M. Ginsberg

Recent Protest(s) In China are not Comparable to the Arab Spring Protests and are Internal Chinese Matters

Recent Protest(s) in China is(are) not the Same as Arab Spring Protests and Should Be Left to the Central Chinese Government to Handle.

 

As much as the West has been taught to think of Communist governments as a form of dictatorship which does not represent the people of the country and whose governance of the people is not pursuant to the will of the people, this is not true as a rule and is not true in China today or when after the Communists defeated the Nationalists (just as Fidel Castro came to power with the will of the people).

 

The source of our fear and criticism was due to the rule of Joseph Stalin, in particular, and of Chairman Mao, his protégé, who each ruled the two most powerful communist countries. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge helped drive the point home. It was the fear of Stalin and Mao which caused American intervention in Vietnam, when the Vietnamese wanted, primarily, was freedom from foreign colonial rule (just as America did) and sovereignty. Stalin and Mao ran their countries as dictators, and ignored the basic rule of communist law of their own communist governments.

 

They each caused great economic distress and suffering to their own people. In fact, in both countries, many of the loyal and true believers in Communism, people who helped liberate China from both foreign colonial interference (including the British imposed trade in Opium), and subsequently from the corrupt and dictatorial reigns of the emperors and of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party, suffered the most. These Communist heroes who fought and risked their lives for the Chinese people were the ones who suffered the most during the misapplication of Communist authority and usurping of law by, in the case of China, Chairman Mao and the Gang of Four.

 

When China was liberated by the Communist Party, it was with the overwhelming wishes of the populace as a whole, and the Party gave extensive rights and freedoms to people who previously enjoyed no such rights (as a matter of law under the emperors, and de facto under the corrupt Nationalist governments.)

 

 

But both countries, under Stalin and Mao, had purges in which many of the true heroes of each country’s liberations, the dedicated Communists who fought and brought Communism and much more freedom and opportunity then previously enjoyed to the people, were in fact purged, persecuted, and suffered with loss of property, imprisonment, and/or death. In China, the list is quite long of dedicated, honest, intellectual communists who spent their entire lives working for the good of the people of China, under the communist rule, most of whom also risked their lives in the civil wars which brought Communism to China. The list includes people such as Liu Shaoqi who was the second most powerful communist leader in China at the time of the Cultural Revolution and Deng Xiaoping, also one of the most powerful leaders in China and a dedicated communist. The entire chaos and suffering of the cultural revolution were in fact an attempt by Chairman Mao and his protégé, Lin Biao, people who sought to advance their own power and positions, to seize the legitimately earned positions of power and authority (and the love of the people of China) from Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping and many of their supporters, as well as that of the rivals in the Chinese military (the PLA) to Lin Biao.

 

The only reasons that Deng Xiaoping survived the cultural revolution was that so many of the popularly supported, competent, honest people who had previously run the Chinese government had died or been destroyed by the Cultural Revolution such that Chairman Mao had to “Rehabilitate” Deng Xiaoping to help Premier Zhou Enlai (truly one of the great world leaders of the last century) who risked his life to help liberate China and then devoted his life to serving China and enjoyed tremendous support, love, respect, and admiration by the people of China and many intelligent fair minded people throughout the world.

 

The list of decent, brave, caring communist revolutionaries/leaders who were purged, suffered, and in some cases murdered also includes Peng Zhen, Peng Dehuai, and Tan Zhenlin, Chen Yi (the later or whom were two respected vice-premiers of China) and PLA Marshall He Long.

 

But unlike a dictatorship which continues, after the death of Chairman Mao, laws were enacted in China to prevent the abuse of power by the government over people. People responsible for the atrocities during the Cultural Revolution, such as Jiang Qing (Chairman Mao’s wife and a leader of the Cultural Revolution) were imprisoned. Wrongfully disgraced Communist leaders had their cases reopened and were Rehabilitated (which is the Chinese equivalent to having their convictions overturned).

 

More importantly, China began a speedy evolution towards granting freedom and prosperity, both economic and social/political, to her people. The Cultural Revolution did not end until the early 1970’s, and the political situation did not stabilize in China until the 1980’s. In just a few short decades, China has made tremendous strides in all directions of reform, liberalization, economic prosperity, and granting civil rights which include the application of the rule of law (our right to due process). We consider all these steps critical in eliminating oppression, and they were indeed taken by the Communist leaders in China.

 

America, on the other hand, had full blown slavery for about a century after she got her independence, and did not enact comprehensive civil rights legislation until the Johnson administration. Enforcement lagged even further, while women and other oppressed groups fought (and are still fighting) for basic civil rights in America until very recently. For example, Gays were only allowed the right to serve openly in the military under the present administration of President Obama (whose election was also seen, in many respects, as major evidence of our progress in the elimination of the immoral and unconstitutional discrimination and oppression of African (Black) Americans, or People of Color. I am not trying to be “politically correct” but this Blog is read throughout the world, and I seek to avoid misunderstanding at the risk and cost of repetition and being non politically correct.

 

It is undeniable that in China the Communist Government could only start granting civil rights to her people when the Communists took power after World War II. She has had a only a brief time to go from an ancient system of dictatorial oppression devoid of any rights for her people, and was stymied in the process by the actions of Chairman Mao, Jing Jiang Qing, and others who acted with them and under their control to exercise dictatorial powers of oppression until very recently.

 

Unlike the dictatorships which find themselves besieged recently by protests seeking democracy and social and political reform, the Communist Rule in China began at and with the will of the people and liberated the people from thousands of years of internal dictatorships and oppression and foreign colonialization and exploitation. In fact, few countries have had their general population suffer so much, and at the hands of so many (including the so called “free modern western” countries, many of whom were and all of whom now are “democracies.”)

 

Only the Communist takeover stopped this. For example, foreign domination was ended, the trade in opium eradicated, and the great strides in the status of women were made almost overnight, taking woman from the position of being treated as “property” of makes to the placing of quotas guaranteeing women positions of authority in the government and outlawing the egregious treatment of women which had existed for thousands of years.

 

Furthermore, unlike the governments who find themselves besieged by people who want change, the Communists in China have been changing and reforming very rapidly, far more rapidly than reform and change in America since her revolution and independence more than 200 years ago. In fact, America seems to be headed backwards as economic civil rights being discarded and a small and very wealthy and powerful minority of people and institutions are oppressing a large section of our population to enrich the already wealthy pockets of a select minority. This oppression, for the financial greed of a very rich and very small minority are the evidentiary hallmark of any dictatorship, the opposition of which is evidenced by the Occupy America movements.

 

Similarly, while corruption (which is the reason behind many of the recent protests) is a problem in China, it is recognized and being dealt with in China at the highest levels. Furthermore, this problem is hardly unique either to China or communism, but is a problem throughout the world, including in America (i.e. Enron, Bernie Madoff, WorldCom, Governor Corazine, and the list is recent and endless).

 

The problem in China, however, is at the local level, and the central Chinese government is aware of it and attempting to address it. Like our war on drugs, it will take time. American opinion of China, however, is inexplicably frozen in time as though the Gang of Four were still running the Cultural Revolution in China (the mid 1960’s). We ignore the both the progress that China has made and the rate of change she is continues to reform. We also ignore our own severe problems with civil rights, which are increasing. The talk of certain candidates for office in the Republican Party proves how tenuous our retention of civil rights in America is. Personally, when I am in China, I am extremely free, and for example, have sat with Chinese people (both party and non-party Chinese) in public places such as restaurants and we have talked openly and freely about all manner of politics and other subjects. The internet and cell phones make international communication, and this the free dissemination of information, very easy [unlike the situation a few decades ago.]

 

I should note that it is presumptuous of us to assume that China needs to reform towards American democracy, since the way China should be ruled is for the Chinese to decide. We learned that some countries will decide for themselves how and to what extent they want democracy when we invaded Iraq to deliver the gift of democracy to the oppressed people of Sadam Hussein, and our gift was returned and we are considered “invaders.”

 

Furthermore, China has been victimized by foreign intervention for centuries and has earned her sovereign right to be left alone. China has good reason for wanting to be left alone to deal with the social unrest represented by the protests we hear about in the news. Such protests were, in fact, created and/or exploited in the Cultural Revolution not to be benign movements to further legitimate claims, but instead were chaotic and cruel grabs for power by the Gang of Four seeking to take away the rights of the Chinese people, to destabilize the country and force out of power legitimate rulers in favor of dictator like criminals such as the “Gang of Four.”

 

Such social instability and protests, in China, were used to oppress the Chinese people and strip them of the rights the Communists had fought to deliver to the people of China. Through such protests, rebellions, and “struggles,” the Gang of Four obtained dictatorial powers while the entire country, including especially legitimate communist leaders, suffered horribly.

 

The fear of history repeating itself being felt by people who actually suffered from that prior oppression [Deng Xiaoping, for example, who was the de facto leader of China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre suffered horribly, along with his entire family, at the hands of the Gang of Four during the Cultural Revolution] was one factor being the mistaken decision to use violence to quell the protests. Other factors were a lack of accurate information as to who the protestors were and what they wanted, and the participation of a few Maoists left over from the era of Chairman Mao who did in fact want to exploit the chaos to return to a Maoist regime, led to the decisions which led to the Tiananmen Square massacre, which decisions were hotly contested before being made and later regretted. In fact, Zhao Zhiyang, the leader of China, was against the use of force, and the decision was made when he was out of the country, by some leaders of China who misunderstood the protests (which like the Occupy America movements were not led by a single group or had a single message) and feared anarchy and a power grab which those leaders had suffered under as a result of the Cultural Revolution.

 

Furthermore, in our abstract discussion of communism and capitalism, it is a disingenuous discussion as neither country is or ever has been 100% truly capitalist or communist. China does grant capitalist incentives for individual initiatives and effort, while America has always had socialistic programs such as Social Security and Welfare.

 

So, in conclusion, the reasons for the Arab Spring protests, and our support therefor, are absent from the protests in China, and any resemblance is mistaken. The Arab Spring countries were true malignant dictatorships which gave no civil rights to the people and did not rule by the will of the people, nor had they come to power by the will of the people. These countries were/are led by dictators who unapologetically and as policy, indiscriminately and continually used force and violence and tortured and massacred the protesters.

 

To be frank, people are simply not being tortured and/or massacred during the protests in China. While prison conditions in China may not be great, they are not particularly appealing in America. And while the police may use force in arresting people in China, the Rodney King Riots and the attitude of Black America to the racism exposed in the OJ Simpson trial show that the police in America don’t exactly follow the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. All it takes is a high school knowledge of the Bill of Rights to the US Constitution, and one need only watch the TV show Cops, and every episode is replete with violations of people’s civil rights by police who are presumably on their best behavior.

 

Even more compelling are the continued, flagrant, willful, and unapologetic violations of the US Constitution by Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona, as was verified yesterday by the US Justice Department. See CBS News or CNNs coverage [those are links, but for those who can’t click the hypertext link, you can go to ttp://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/12/15/ac-arizona-arpaio-investigated.cnn#/video/bestoftv/2011/12/15/ac-arizona-arpaio-investigated.cnn .] As I have said repeatedly, [repeating what I heard somewhere else], when a criminal breaks the law, there is some lawlessness. But when those charged with enforcing the law deliberately break the law, there is no law.

 

The Chinese Communists came to rule by the will of the people, overthrew true oppressive dictatorships and gave substantial rights and opportunity to the Chinese people, especially when you exclude the time and damage of and from the Cultural Revolution and the Anti-Rightist movement (Mao’s other purge).

 

The Arab Spring countries refused to reform at all, while China has, on its own, been rapidly reforming herself, and is a relatively young country who is entitled to be left alone to do so. The “Western Style Democracies,” especially Japan and Great Britain, are hugely responsible for the suffering and oppression of the Chinese people. The Communist Government in China, is unfairly criticized, and the protests in China are wrongly compared to the Arab Spring protests, because these comparisons and criticisms ignore: (i) China’s reforms and rate of reform; (ii) the length of time America and other “Democracies” took to reform and become free democracies; (iii) the fact that America and other countries have their own civil rights oppression, including the new form of economic oppression and those evidenced by the Rodney King riots and the Sheriff Arpaio investigation; (iv) the inherent sovereign right of China to solve her own problems; and, (v) the fact that the Communist Party did, when it came to power, and still does, reflect the will of the people to rule In fact, the people who work for the party work very hard to improve the status of the Chinese people, whose quality of life has greatly improved in a very short time.

 

It was ironic that the protest which grabbed international headlines was in the Guangdong province which was the area of China which received the most reforms at the earliest. That province contains the first “Special Economic Zone” and its proximity to Hong Kong gave it a level of freedom and access to information which, even under Chairman Mao, was not shared by the rest of the country. The same goes for her economic prosperity, which this province enjoyed disproportionately to the rest of the country, yet, the protests yesterday were economic protests. The cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou (both in that province) have become big, modern, safe, and prosperous in a very short period of time.

 

Indeed, American fear and criticism of China is no longer based upon the actions of evil dictators like Stalin, or the mistakes of his protégés such as Chairman Mao, but by the benign economic success of China and the threat she poses, through lawful actions, to surpass America in economic strength. Unlike America, which has ½ a million troops scattered throughout the world and an extensive offensive military capability which includes military bases throughout the world including at China’s doorsteps on many sides [South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, etc.], which was at one time necessary, or at least though necessary, to counter the Soviet Union’s professed hegemony under Stalin and his successors, China has no foreign bases, no troops based on foreign soil, and nowhere near the offensive strike capabilities of America.

 

Please E-Mail Me or Comment if I should expand upon this post.

 

 

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这是两个问题，这有可能成为更多相关，也许应该是一个更广泛的博客文章的总结了我的想法。通过电子邮件或意见，请告知我，如果你的读者，想更加扩大的部落格或解释我的看法。二是即将到来

 

我用了谷歌的翻译程序翻译这篇文章，我道歉，如果没有准确翻译的文件。在翻译中的任何错误的情况下出现侮辱或不尊重，让我要强调，我花了很多时间在中国，和中国的伟大的爱和尊重中国，她的人，她的文化，她的历史，和共产党员我会见，并代表中国正在努力提高全体中国人民的福利和生活读取。

 

最近的抗议活动在中国（S）（）不作为阿拉伯春天抗议一样，应留给中国中央政府处理

不亚于西方一直作为专政并不代表全国人民的，其治理的人是没有按照人民的意志的形式传授给共产党政府认为，这是不正确的，作为一项规则，而不是今天在中国的真实后，共产党打败了国民党（正如菲德尔卡斯特罗来到权力与人民的意志）。

 

 

不亚于西方一直作为专政并不代表全国人民的，其治理的人是没有按照人民的意志的形式传授给共产党政府认为，这是不正确的，作为一项规则，而不是今天在中国的真实后，共产党打败了国民党（正如菲德尔卡斯特罗来到权力与人民的意志）。

 

我们的恐惧和批评的来源是由于斯大林的统治，尤其是和毛主席，他的得意门生，每个统治的两个最强大的共产主义国家。波尔布特和红色高棉帮助驱动点回家。这是斯大林和毛泽东的担心，从而导致美国在越南的干预，越南希望，主要是从外国殖民统治的自由（就像美国那样）和主权。斯大林和毛泽东跑了他们的国家作为独裁者，而忽略了自己的共产主义政府的共产主义法的基本规则。

 

 

他们各自造成巨大的经济困难和痛苦，以自己的人。事实上，在这两个国家，许多共产主义的忠诚和真正的信徒，帮助中国摆脱外国殖民干扰（包括英国对鸦片贸易）的人，并随后从皇帝的腐败和独裁统治，并蒋介石和国民党，受害最深。这些战斗，冒着自己的生命共产党对中国人民的英雄期间遭受共产党的权威和法律篡夺误在中国，毛主席和四人帮的情况下，最。

 

当中国共产党解放，这是民众作为一个整体的压倒一切的愿望，党给了广泛的权利和自由的人享有这种权利没有（下皇帝作为一个法律问题，和去事实上根据腐败的国民党政府。）

 

但根据斯大林和毛泽东两个国家，，已清除的专用共产党人谁战斗，并带来了共产主义，将更多的自由和机会然后以前享受的人，在每个国家的解放的真正的英雄，其实清除，迫害，并遭受损失的财产，监禁，和/或死亡。在中国，该列表是相当长的敬业，诚实，谁花了他们的整个生活，为中国人民好，共产主义的统治下，其中大部分也可能在内战带来了共产主义的他们的生活工作的智力共产党人中国该列表包括刘少奇等人，谁是第二个最强大的中国共产党领导人在文化大革命和邓小平，也是在中国最强大的领袖和一个专门的共产主义。整个文革的混乱和痛苦其实毛主席和他的得意门生，林彪，寻求推进自己的权力和职位的人，企图夺取权力和授权的合法赚取的立场（和爱中国人民）从刘少奇，邓小平和他们的支持者，以及中国军队（解放军）林彪的对手。

 

邓小平幸存下来的文化革命的唯一原因是，这么多的民众支持的，称职的，诚实的人以前运行的中国政府已经死亡或已毁于文化大革命，毛主席“平反”邓小平协助周恩来总理（真正的上个世纪的伟大的世界领袖之一），冒着生命危险，以帮助中国解放，毕生致力于为中国和中国人民享有了巨大的支持，爱，尊重和钦佩许多聪明的公平世界各地志同道合的人。

 

列表体面，勇敢，关爱被清洗，遭遇，并在一些谋杀案件还包括彭真，彭德怀，谭震林，陈毅（或其中的共产主义革命者/领导人尊重中国的副总理马歇尔）和解放军贺龙。

 

 

但不同的是专政，毛主席逝世后继续，法律在中国制定对人民的政府，以防止滥用权力。文革期间的暴行负责的人，如江青（毛主席的妻子和“文化大革命”的领导者），被判处监禁。错误灰头土脸共产党的领袖们，他们的情况下重开和修复（这相当于中国有自己的信念推翻）。

 

更重要的是，中国开始了对给予的自由和繁荣的，经济和社会/政治，她的人迅速演变。 “文革”没有结束，直到1970年代初，并没有在中国的政治局势稳定，直到1980年。在短短几十年，中国已经作出了巨大的进步，在改革开放，经济繁荣，并给予公民权利，其中包括法治的应用程序（我们防卫权）四面八方。我们认为所有这些步骤，消除压迫的关键，他们确实在中国共产党领导。

 

 

，另一方面，美国已经完全成熟的奴役约一个世纪后，她得到了她的独立性，并没有制定，直到约翰逊政府的全面的民权立法。执法滞后，甚至进一步，而妇女和其他受压迫的群体争取在美国的公民基本权利（依然在战斗）直到最近。例如，同性恋，只允许下，奥巴马总统（选举也被现政府公开发球权在军事，在许多方面，我们在消除不道德和违反宪法的歧视和压迫的进展的主要证据非洲（黑色）美国人，或人的肤色，我想成为“政治正确”，但这个博客是在世界各地读，我设法避免重复和不政治正确的风险和成本的误解。

 

 

不可否认的是，在中国共产党政府只能启动时给予她的人的民事权利共产党人参加了第二次世界大战后的权力。她有一个只有短暂的时间去从一个古代专制压迫，没有她的人的任何权利制度，并在这个过程中阻碍了毛主席，江青荆，和其他与他们采取的行动，并根据其控制行使独裁权力的压迫，直到最近。

 

发现自己最近围攻寻求民主，社会和政治改革的抗议不同的是独裁政权，在中国共产党的统治开始与人民的意志和解放人民千百年来内部独裁和压迫，对外殖民和剥削。事实上，有几个国家的总人口那么惨，和这么多的手（包括所谓的“自由西方现代”国家，其中许多人，所有的人现在是“民主”。）

 

只有共产党接管政权停止。例如，外国统治的结束，根除鸦片贸易，妇女地位的重大进展，几乎在一夜之间，女人作为“财产”，使得的处理，以保障妇女职位配额放置的位置在政府的权力和取缔了千百年来存在的妇女的恶劣待遇。

 

此外，发现自己被围困的人想改变不同的是政府，在中国共产党人已经改变和改革非常迅速，远远比在美国的改革和改变，因为她的革命和独立性比200年前更迅速。事实上，美国似乎是为首的向后作为经济被丢弃的公民权利和一个小和非常富裕和强大的的个人和机构的少数压迫了我国人口的大节，以丰富一个选择的少数人已经富裕的口袋。这种压迫，非常丰富和极少数的金融贪婪是任何独裁的证据的特点，其中的反对就是明证占据美国运动。

 

同样，腐败（这背后的原因很多最近的抗议活动），而在中国是一个问题，它是公认的，在中国最高级别的处理。此外，这个问题是很难独特到中国或共产主义，而且是整个世界的问题，包括在美国（麦道夫，即安然，世通，总督Corazine，列表是最近和无尽的）。

 

然而，在中国的问题，是在地方一级，以及中国中央政府知道它，并试图解决它。我们打​​击毒品的战争一样，它需要时间。然而，美国对中国的意见，是莫名其妙地冻结的时间，虽然“四人帮”仍然在中国“文化大革命”（1960年代中期）。我们忽略了的同时，中国已和她的变化率继续改革的进展。我们也忽视了我们自己的公民权利，这是增加的严重问题。某些候选人在共和党办公室的谈资证明我们保留在美国的公民权利是多么的脆弱。就个人而言，当我在中国时，我感到非常自由，例如，与中国人在公共场所，如餐厅（党和非党中国）坐在我们已经讨论了所有公开和自由的政治方式和其他科目。互联网和手机，不像几十年前的情况。] [国际交流和信息的自由传播，很容易.

 

 

我要指出，这是我们冒昧假设，中国需要对美国民主制度的改革，因为中国应该排除的方式，对中国决定。我们了解到，一些国家将决定自己如何以及在何种程度上要民主当我们入侵伊拉克，萨达姆侯赛因被压迫人民提供民主的礼物，并返回我们的礼物，我们被认为是“侵略者”。

 

此外，中国已数百年来遭受外国干预，并赢得她独处的主权权利。中国有很好的理由，想独自处理，我们约在新闻中听到的抗议所代表的社会动荡。事实上，这样的抗议，在创建和/或利用在“文化大革命”不是要进一步的合法债权的良性运动，而是由四个刚带走了中国人民的权利对权力的混乱和残酷的争夺，破坏国家的稳定和力量像罪犯等权力的合法统治者赞成独裁者“四人帮。”

 

这种社会动荡和抗议在中国，压迫中国人民和中国共产党人的战斗，以提供给中国人民的权利剥夺。通过这样的抗议，反叛，和“斗争，”四人帮“，而整个国家获得独裁权力，包括特别是合法的共产党领导人的，可怕的遭遇。

 

历史重演被人究竟是谁[邓小平，例如，谁是事实上的领导人在天安门事件时，中国遭受可怕的，伴随着他的整个家庭，在事先压迫遭受感受到的恐惧在文革期间的四个刚手中]的错误决定使用暴力来平息抗议的因素之一。其他因素的示威者，他们想要的东西，缺乏准确的信息，并参与一些毛派从毛主席的时代，其实并想利用混乱返回毛派政权，的决定而导致天安门事件，竞争激烈决定作出前后表示遗憾。事实上，中国领导人，赵紫阳，反对使用武力，并在作出决定时，他是国家，中国的一些领导人误解的抗议（想占据美国运动没有导致一个组或一个单一的消息），并担心无政府状态和这些领导人遭受了“文化大革命”的结果作为下一个电源抢。

 

 

此外，在我们的共产主义和资本主义的抽象的讨论，这是一个虚伪的讨论，这两个国家，或者是否已100％真正的资本主义或共产主义。中国不授予资本主义个别措施和努力的激励，而美国一直有社会主义计划，如社会保障和福利。

 

所以，在最后，阿拉伯春天的抗议活动，和我们的支持为此原因，是在中国的抗议缺席，以及任何相似之处是错误的。春季阿拉伯国家真正给没有公民权利的人民和人民的意志不排除恶性的独裁统治，也没有人民的意志，由他们来权力。这些国家/领导独裁者谁辩解和政策，乱，并不断使用武力和暴力，酷刑和屠杀示威者。

 

 

坦率地说，人是根本就没有被折磨和/或屠杀期间在中国的抗议。虽然在中国的监狱条件可能不会很大，他们是不是特别呼吁在美国。而警方可能使用武力逮捕中国人，罗德尼金暴动和黑美国的态度，在辛普森案显示，在美国的警察不严格遵循宪法的人权法案的暴露了种族主义。它所需要的是高中知识的美国宪法权利法案，我们只需要观看电视节目的警察，和每一个情节是充满了警察，他们大概是对他们最好的行为人的民事权利的侵犯。更引人注目的是在亚利桑那州警长Arpaio继续，任性，并且绝不道歉的公然侵犯美国宪法，作为验证由美国司法部昨天。 CBS新闻或CNNs覆盖[那些链接，但对于那些不能按超文本链接，你可以去。]正如我曾多次，重复我所听到的其他地方]，当刑事触犯刑律，有一些无法无天。但是当那些负责执行法律，故意违反法律，没有法律规定。

 

 

中国共产党人来，以规则的人，推翻真正的暴虐的独裁统治，并给予实质性的权利和机会向中国人民的意志，特别是当你排除的时间和损害的，并从“文化大革命”，并在反右运动（毛泽东其他清除）。

 

 

春季阿拉伯国家拒绝在所有的改革，而中国自身，得到了迅速改革自己，谁有权单独留在家中，这样做是一个相对年轻的国家。 “西式民主”，尤其是日本和英国，是巨大的痛苦和压迫中国人民的负责。 “在中国共产党政府，是不公平的批评，在中国的抗议是错误相比的阿拉伯春季抗议，因为这些比较和批评忽略：（一）中国的改革和改革的速度;（二）的时间美国的长度和其他的“民主”了改革，并成为自由民主;（三）事实上，美国和其他国家有自己的公民权利的压迫，包括新的经济压迫和罗德尼金暴动和警长Arpaio调查证明形式; （四）固有的主权权利，中国解决自己的问题;，（V）的事实，共产党，当它上台，并仍，反映人民的意志来统治事实上，为党的工作的人工作很努力，以改善中国人民的地位，其生活质量的过程中，在很短的时间大大改善。

 

 

这是具有讽刺意味的​​是，抓住国际头条新闻的抗议是在广东省是中国地区最早的改革最。该省包含的第一个“经济特区”，其毗邻香港给它一个自由和获取信息，即使是在毛主席，不是由该国其他地区的共同水平。全省享有不成比例的分配给该国其他地区，但她的经济繁荣，同样，昨日的抗议活动是经济的抗议。深圳和广州的城市（包括在该省）已成为大，现代化，安全，繁荣，并在很短的时间内。

 

 

事实上，美国的恐惧和对中国的批评，不再是基于邪恶的独裁者斯大林一样，他的门徒，如毛主席的错误的行动，但由她带来的良性的经济成就和中国的威胁，通过合法的行动，来在经济实力上超过美国。与美国不同，其中有半十万大军散布在世界各地广泛的进攻性军事能力，其中包括世界各地的军事基地，包括在许多方面，中国的家门口[韩国，日本，阿富汗等]，这一次是必要的，或者至少虽然必要，以对付苏联的斯大林和他的继任者下宣称霸权，中国没有外国基地，在外国领土上的任何部队，远不及美国的进攻性打击能力。

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Plan B Morning After Pill Age Restrictions are Reasonable

I am a pro-choice progressive liberal Democrat. But I support the age limitations imposed by the Obama administration. It is not that I want to take away or restrict any woman’s reproductive and/or sexual rights. To the contrary, every woman should have the unfettered right to make choices as to her sexual activity and right to reproduce and/or terminate a pregnancy. This issue, however, implicated the rights and abilities of parents to be good parents to their children.

The issue here, however, is slightly different. As a parent, I don’t want my children taking any kind of medication without my knowledge so that I may intervene if there is a problem, either leading to the taking of the medicine or with the effects thereafter. Even vitamin supplements, such as those containing ephedrine have led to the death of children, and were taken for all of the wrong reasons. Laxatives have been taken by children desperately hiding serious anorexia.

This issue reflects a difficult balance. There are some people who fall into the gap where they will need this pill and have parents who will not be competent parents/guardians to deal with the situation. They may abuse the girl and force and unwanted decision on her. I get it. One could argue that the same argument could be used to ban to sale of condoms to people 16 and under. Like many legal precedents, it comes down to a balancing of the legitimate interests arguing against the harm of particular legislation. Clearly, the harm of banning condoms, in this age of teen pregnancy and AIDS would greatly outweigh the benefit.

But one can not compare a decision to terminate a pregnancy with a simple way of avoiding it. For example, as a responsible parent, I would want to discuss with my daughter why she risked AIDS by having unprotected sex.

Since a doctor’s prescription is required and not parental consent, an reasonable solution exists for those young women who can not easily get parental consent (and thus their assistance in getting a prescription.) Superb organizations likePlanned Parenthood (click there to go to that organization to give money or find out information) should be funded, at least by the private sector, to provide prescriptions where appropriate.

Please leave a comment on this issue if you choose.

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The World Must Support The Arab Spring, Especially in Syria (Arabic Translation as End)

America has some choices confronting it, but fortunately, those choices lend themselves to great opportunity. Historically, America’s choices have led to the opportunity to advance her strategic, economic, and/or moral agendas. To often, we have had to choose between those strategic, economic and moral agenda. Also, to often, we have made the wrong choice. Whether through direct military intervention in such countries as Vietnam and Iraq or by backing dictators such as the Shah of Iran, Pinochet in Argentina, or even Batista in Cuba (the list is endless), we have had to make hard choices between our economic, political and strategic interests. Often, such as in backing the Shah or Iran or the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, we have in fact advanced none of our interests and done damage to them all.

 

The Arab Spring, specifically the secular movement therein, prevents an opportunity for America to serve all of these goals (especially in the long term), including the moral imperative to help the oppressed people of the Arab world who are being slaughtered seeking the same rights we enjoy and espouse as fundamental to all humans. Right now, people are being slaughtered in Syria and their cried reach round the world! Yet we hesitate because of fear of past mistakes and the uncertainty of the future. Other countries, such as China, who were the victims of international intervention and colonialism, have a well founded belief in the morality of isolationism and non-interventionism. Both in the East and West, these are legitimate reasons for hesitancy and caution. It is not the role of countries and their leaders to be risk taking activists. Nonetheless, the reasons arguing for caution and hesitancy are not reasons for inactivity. The time has come to help the protesters in the Arab Spring who seek a secular democracy where all individuals enjoy the basic rights enjoyed by people in all of these countries and the governments exist to serve the people. People in the West are uneducated about China and obtain most of their information about China from false political rhetoric and do not understand that the Communist Party of China does in fact have a rule of law which recognizes fundamental rights and, in fact, in many respects, one may live freer in China then in the West.

 

In political and strategic circles (including the world of espionage and that grey area where intelligence analysis meets political and military decisions), there is a critically important but rarely considered concept called, “The Rule of Unintended Consequences.” Military planners often use the phrase, “Blowback.” In essence, the rule says that while some of the immediate consequences of our actions may be able to be predicted (or at least within a certain range of outcomes), there is a large set of unintended consequences, both near and long term, which often result from our actions and are unexpected, unforseen, and usually undesired.

 

America’s involvement in the civil insurrection against Soviet occupation in Afghanistan is a perfect example of this. We perceived Soviet hegemony, in general, as a major threat against American interests, although Afghanistan itself was of virtually no importance to America at all. As a threshold matter, even before the Soviets invaded, the government in Kabul was already allied with the Soviet Union. It was a poor landlocked country with virtually no economic or strategic importance to America. In fact, since the Taliban were kicked out, the industry of the country is the cultivation of the poppy plant as the major export of Afghanistan is heroin. The only other country with strategic concerns and influence in Afghanistan was Pakistan, which had an ambivalent relationship with the west, as recent events have demonstrated. In fact, it was noted by one US government official in charge of security operations in the area that our secret operations against Al Queda only began to work when we (the US) stopped giving advance notice to Pakistan. Recently, Pakistan has stopped NATO supply routes to bases in Afghanistan, and the government and ISI (Pakistani Intelligence Agency) has been implicated in helping a pro-Pakistan affiliated sect of the Taliban.

 

Afghanistan hardly qualified as an “asset” for the Soviets in our perceived belief that they still (at that time) sought world domination. Lastly, anyone who studied Afghanistan’s history and/or terrain would have realized that historically, and for good reason, it was an incredibly difficult country for any other country to conqueror and impose foreign “will” upon. Its terrain consisting of rugged mountains, and little else, there was nothing to “conquer,” outside of the capital city of Kabul.

 

The same problem confronted the US forces in South Vietnam when it realized that, despite the presence of half a million troops, there was no enemy bases or zones to attack, and the enemy blended in with, and was usually indistinguishable from, the local population. Unlike all prior wars, victories were won not by capturing a city, area, hill or other geographic area but instead by counting “bodies.”

 

Despite all the compelling reasons for not caring about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the US government, and especially the CIA, spent inordinate amounts of money supporting the “Mujahideen.” At a tremendous cost to the US in terms of financial support, and to the Soviets in terms of human lives, we supplied the Mujahideen with a tremendous amount of arms and money, including unfortunately (to real US interests and national security interests), surface to air missiles. As a direct consequence of our support, the Soviets were driven from Afghanistan. Perhaps only the degree of the success of the Mujahideen was in not foreseeable.

 

Totally unforseeable was the oppressive and terroristic nature of the Taliban government which replaced the Soviets and the pro-Soviet Afghanistan government. We all know some clue as to how murderously oppressive the Taliban was. To get a better understanding, the reader is highly encouraged to watch a documentary film aired on CNN entitled, “Beneath the Veil.” Whereas the Soviets brought education, health care, and some degree of economic prosperity to Afghanistan, as well as civil rights for women, the Taliban was one of the most destructive and oppressive regimes in the last quarter century, especially to all women, and any males who did not subscribe to their very strict interpretation if Islam. Of course, the Taliban gave sanctuary to Al Queda and Osama Bin Laden who planned and launched their 9/11 attacks from bases which operated openly with the support of the Taliban government. The unintended consequence of our support of the Mujahideen is the war on Terrorism that the US has had to fight since the Soviets left Afghanistan which continues to this day and includes two military incursions, one into Afghanistan and one into Iraq.

 

A second lesson which should have been learned from those two military incursions (into Iraq and Afghanistan) is that some people in some countries are not ready for democracy just because it is “offered” to them. Unlike the people of Egypt and Libya, when people are not interested in democracy and did not seek it, but instead are more consumed by hatred, fear, and nationalism, arising from tribal, geographic, and religious differences, the principal of democracy is not a goal of importance and is far behind other goals, allowing theocratic dictatorships to flourish. Iran is an example and Iraq will probably follow suit after US forces leave the region (as they should.)

 

The phrase “religious differences” can be incredibly divisive and diverse, as Americans learned after its incursion into Iraq. While Americans were aware that Islam was different than Christianity and other mainstream religions, and was practiced by some with a more strict or “fundamental” practice by some than by others (as are all religions), few Americans were aware of the tremendous distinctions and hatred existing within Islam such as between the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam (and there are other major sects). That distinction would leave America embroiled in a decade long war in Iraq after the Iraqis were given their “freedom” and “democracy.” America found it necessary to prevent those free and democratic Iraqis from slaughtering each other far worse than the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein ever did. The unintended consequences of our “gift of democracy” to the Iraqis was the resulting death and destructions in Iraq and instability in the region, all of which benefits Iran, a religious dictatorship threatening the security of the entire region if not the world, after threatening to anhiliate Israel and attempting to annihilate the ambassadors and other political representatives of Saudi Arabia while at the same time acquiring the ability to build nuclear weapons.

 

In other instances, already cited herein and well known, America has consistently failed to act in accordance with her own moral and political principles (democracy, freedom of speech, etc) and has instead consistently supported (politically, morally, financially, and militarily) dictatorships, some very brutal. The support of these regimes made more sense at the time then it appears to now. The blowback was intense, as was witnessed by anti-US hatred in Iran after the Shah was overthrown.

 

In fact, there are many readers who will dismiss what I have just written out of hand, as though I am totally mistaken, either because I am a troubled radical or a misguided “bleeding heart liberal.” In fact, ask any main stream historian, politician (of either party) or any retired intelligence officer, and you will hear that my factual recitation of history, and of America’s involvement in it, is beyond debate and is as certain as is the fact that we fought the British in 1776 for our independence.

 

Our actions, and the actions of others, are easier to understand when one understands the vacuum of intelligence (lack of our knowledge of what was really “going on” in this world), our legitimate fears (or at least they seemed legitimate based upon what our enemies were saying and doing), and our desire to, at least in some countries and some sectors, promote our values and the security of those countries which shared our core values (freedom and democracy.)

 

History (the passage of time) always allows some clarity and accurate analysis. Documents are de-classified. People (the select few who were “in the know”) escape totalitarian regimes and become free to describe what they say, read, and knew. Other people have crisis of consciousness, while others (with either moral or legal crimes to hide, legacies to protect, or power to struggle to maintain) either die, retire, or lose power for a multitude of reasons.

 

Our intervention in Afghanistan, as we have learned, was so costly (it led to 9/11) that we are still involved in that country. Our support of the Shah, a ruthless dictator, led to the hatred of America by the Iranians who overthrew the Shah.

 

Like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where the United States sent it troops, money, and loss of US lives, Egypt, Libya, and now Syria began with no help at all from foreign governments in much the same was as the US revolution.

 

But this time, we have entered a wonderful new area where opportunities for advancement of our own interests co-exist with our moral imperatives. The Egyptians first taught us this lesson. They instituted “regime change” in favor of freedom and democracy, just as President Bush sought to do in Iraq, but without firing a single bullet, in a matter of months, and with no outside help. I am still on awe of the accomplishments of Egypt and their fledgling democracy must be nourished by all people with a moral compass without foreign influence or attempted foreign domination.

 

Libya followed next, and unfortunately, due to the massive slaughtering of unarmed citizens exercising their inherent rights to protest non-violently, limited intervention was required. I say “limited” because that intervention came late and was in fact very limited.

 

Now, and most importantly, is the massive slaughter of the innocent people of Syria by the illegitimate and rogue regime of Bashar al-Assad. He and his family (the rulers before him) have never hesitated to use torture and even murder of entire cities to quell protests and maintain control. The Syrian regime is so evil that it has not only tortured to death young innocent children, but when it releases the body of the dead child, it does so not as an act of compassion for the family, but to send a warning to the rest of the protesters about what can happen if you join the protests.

 

At least 4,000 unarmed civilian protesters have been massacred to date. Bashar al-Assad claimed today that the United Nations is an irrelevant “joke,” and by his own words and deeds he has placed himself as a rogue dictator leading a rogue government.

 

Whether it is good news or foreboding of a civil war (necessary or unnecessary only time will tell), soldiers are beginning to refuse to follow “shoot to kill” orders on unarmed civilians and are defecting, along with their arms and weapons, thereby militarizing, at least in part, what began as a non-violent protest.

 

There are many hurdles ahead. Recent reports have indicated that the armed militias, in Libya, now having achieved victory, need to be disarmed. In Egypt, the transition to democracy has not gone as smoothly and as quickly as anticipated, and collusion between the Muslim Brotherhood and Army threaten to replace one dictatorship with a theocratic military dictatorship.

 

We have consistently defended our hesitation about getting involved in the Arab Spring revolution for fear that, like Iran, the regimes which replace the existing regimes could be more hostile to US interests than the prior regimes. That analysis is immoral, short sighted, and ignores the home grown, democratic, secular, and non-violent nature of these movements. Furthermore, the spread of the Internet, social networking, and other technological breakthrough severs as a counter to dictatorships and oppression of any form, whether by a leader, a military, or a theocracy. The free flow of information is at the foundation of democracy in America. Why should we doubt it will be otherwise in other parts of the world.

 

So before more civilians are massacred, before anarchy, civil war, and oppression are allowed to creep back into the Arab Spring countries, the West and the East need to find out what help the protesters want from us (as we did in Libya) and give it to them. It needs to be in a manner which respects the sovereignty, dignity, and culture of each country, and in a way in which the interests of no foreign country are advanced at the expense of any other. People are dying and suffering every day. It is a moral imperative that America and all countries in the world help Syria and, as needed and requested, Egypt and Libya. It is also in our long term strategic, economic, and political self interest. Regardless of all that, I wish I were there fighting oppression with my brothers and sisters even though my Jewish religion has caused extensive conflict with these countries. The hope we share fore a  future is peace, and anywhere people fight oppression and injustice and for freedom is a fight to which I belong.

 

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أمريكا لديها بعض الخيارات التي تواجهها ، لكن لحسن الحظ ، هذه الخيارات تصلح لفرصة عظيمة. تاريخيا ، أدت الاختيارات أميركا الفرصة لدفع أجندات لها استراتيجية واقتصادية ، و / أو المعنوية. لكثير من الأحيان ، كان علينا أن نختار بين تلك جدول الأعمال ، والاستراتيجية والاقتصادية والأخلاقية. أيضا ، في كثير من الأحيان ، قد جعلنا من خيار خاطئ. سواء من خلال التدخل العسكري المباشر في دول مثل فيتنام والعراق أو من خلال دعم الحكام المستبدين مثل شاه إيران ، وبينوشيه في الأرجنتين ، أو حتى باتيستا في كوبا (والقائمة لا تنتهي) ، كان علينا أن نتخذ قرارات صعبة بين الاقتصادي لدينا ، المصالح السياسية والاستراتيجية. في كثير من الأحيان ، كما هو الحال في دعم الشاه أو إيران أو المجاهدين في أفغانستان ، لدينا في الواقع أي متقدمة من مصالحنا والأضرار التي لحقت بهم جميعا.

الربيع العربي ، وتحديدا حركة علمانية فيها ، ويمنع فرصة لأمريكا لخدمة جميع هذه الأهداف (وخصوصا في المدى الطويل) ، بما في ذلك ضرورة أخلاقية لمساعدة الشعب المظلوم في العالم العربي الذي يذبح تسعى بنفس الحقوق التي نتمتع بها وتتبنى الأساسية ، لجميع البشر. الآن ، يذبح الناس في سوريا وتصل جولتهما بكى العالم! ومع ذلك فإننا تتردد بسبب الخوف من أخطاء الماضي وعدم اليقين في المستقبل. بلدان أخرى ، مثل الصين ، والذين كانوا ضحايا التدخل الدولي والاستعمار ، والاعتقاد التي تأسست بشكل جيد في الأخلاق من الانعزالية وعدم التدخل. في كل من الشرق والغرب ، وهذه هي أسباب مشروعة لالتردد والحذر. ليس هذا هو دور الدول وقادتها أن يكون نشطاء المخاطرة. ومع ذلك ، فإن الأسباب بحجة الحذر والتردد لا أسباب الخمول. لقد حان الوقت لمساعدة المتظاهرين في ربيع العرب الذين يسعون الى الديمقراطية العلمانية حيث يتمتع جميع الأفراد في الحقوق الأساسية التي يتمتع بها الناس في جميع هذه البلدان والحكومات موجودة لخدمة الناس. الناس في الغرب غير متعلمين عن الصين والحصول على معظم معلوماتهم حول الصين من الخطاب السياسي وكاذبة لا يفهمون ان الحزب الشيوعي الصيني في الواقع لا يملك سيادة القانون الذي يعترف بالحقوق الأساسية و، في الواقع ، في كثير من النواحي ، يجوز لأحد أن يعيش بحرية أكبر في الصين ثم في الغرب

وفيالأوساط السياسية والاستراتيجية (بما في ذلك العالم التجسس وهذه المنطقة الرمادية حيث تحليل المعلومات الاستخبارية تجتمع القرارات السياسية والعسكرية) ، وهناك مفهوم مهم للغاية لكنها اعتبرت نادرا ما يسمى ” سيادة العواقب غير المقصودة “. المخططين العسكريين وغالبا ما تستخدم عبارة “النكسة”. في جوهرها ، وحكم يقول أنه في حين أن بعضا من النتائج الفورية لأعمالنا قد تكون قادرة على أن توقع (أو على الأقل داخل نطاق معين من النتائج) ، وهناك مجموعة كبيرة من عواقب غير مقصودة ، سواء المدى القريب والبعيد ، والتي غالبا ما ينجم عن أعمالنا وغير متوقعة ، غير متوقعة ، وغير مرغوب فيها عادة.

تورط أميركا في العصيان المدني ضد الاحتلال السوفياتي في أفغانستان خير مثال على ذلك. ينظر نحن الهيمنة السوفياتية ، بشكل عام ، تشكل تهديدا كبيرا ضد المصالح الأميركية ، على الرغم من أن أفغانستان نفسها وليس لها أهمية في الواقع إلى أميركا على الإطلاق. على سبيل العتبة ، وحتى قبل غزو السوفيات ، المتحالفة مع الحكومة بالفعل في كابول مع الاتحاد السوفياتي. كان بلد فقير غير الساحلية مع عمليا أي أهمية اقتصادية أو استراتيجية لأمريكا. في الواقع ، منذ أن بدأت حركة طالبان خارج والصناعة للبلاد هو زراعة نبات الخشخاش مثل التصدير الرئيسية في أفغانستان والهيروين. هي الدولة الوحيدة الأخرى ذات الاهتمامات الاستراتيجية والنفوذ في أفغانستان وباكستان ، والذي كانت له علاقة متناقضة مع الغرب ، كما أظهرت الأحداث الأخيرة. في الواقع ، لوحظ من قبل أحد المسؤولين في حكومة الولايات المتحدة المسؤولة عن العمليات الامنية في المنطقة التي عملياتنا السرية ضد Queda آل بدأ العمل فقط عندما نكون (الولايات المتحدة) توقفوا عن تقديم إشعار مسبق الى باكستان. مؤخرا ، قد توقف باكستان طرق الإمداد لحلف شمال الاطلسي قواعد في أفغانستان ، وتورط الحكومة والاستخبارات الباكستانية (وكالة الاستخبارات الباكستانية) في مساعدة طائفة موالية لباكستان التابعة  طالبان

لأفغانستان.المؤهلين بالكاد ك “الأصول” لالسوفيات في لدينا اعتقاد ينظر إلى أنها لا تزال (في ذلك الوقت) تسعى للسيطرة على العالم. أخيرا ، فإن أي شخص قد أدركوا الذين درسوا تاريخ أفغانستان و / أو التضاريس التي تاريخيا ، ولأسباب وجيهة ، فإنه كان من الصعب للغاية البلد لأي دولة أخرى إلى الفاتح وفرض الخارجية “سوف” عليها. تتكون تضاريسها من جبال وعرة ، وآخر صغير ، لم يكن هناك شيء على “قهر” ، خارج العاصمة كابول.

نفس المشكلة واجهت القوات الأمريكية في جنوب فيتنام عندما أدركت أنه على الرغم من وجود نصف مليون جندي لم تكن هناك قواعد العدو أو مناطق للهجوم ، والعدو في المخلوطة مع ، وعادة ما كان يمكن تمييزه عن والسكان المحليين. على عكس جميع الحروب السابقة ، وليس عن طريق الانتصارات وفاز التقاط المدينة أو المنطقة أو تلة أو منطقة جغرافية أخرى ولكن بدلا من ذلك عن طريق العد “الهيئات”.

وعلى الرغم من جميع الأسباب مقنعة لغير مبالين الغزو السوفياتي لأفغانستان ، وحكومة الولايات المتحدة ، وخصوصا أنفقت وكالة المخابرات المركزية ، وكميات مفرطة من المال لدعم “المجاهدين”. بتكلفة هائلة للولايات المتحدة من حيث الدعم المالي ، والسوفييت في الأرواح البشرية ، زودنا المجاهدين مع كمية هائلة من الأسلحة والأموال ، بما في ذلك لسوء الحظ (لمصالح الولايات المتحدة الحقيقية ومصالح الأمن القومي) ، السطح على الصواريخ الجوية. كنتيجة مباشرة لدعمنا ، طرد السوفيات من أفغانستان. ربما كان فقط على درجة نجاح المجاهدين في عدم المنظور.

التنبؤ بها بالمرة كانت الطبيعة القمعية والارهابية للحكومة طالبان التي حلت محل السوفيات والحكومة الأفغانية الموالية للاتحاد السوفياتي. نحن جميعا نعرف بعض فكرة عن كيفية مهلك القمعية طالبان كانت. للحصول على فهم أفضل ، وتشجع جدا للقارئ لمشاهدة فيلم وثائقي بثته شبكة CNN بعنوان “تحت النقاب”. في حين أن السوفيات جلبت التعليم والرعاية الصحية ، وقدرا من الرخاء الاقتصادي في أفغانستان ، فضلا عن الحقوق المدنية للنساء ، وكان الطالبان واحدة من أكثر الأنظمة القمعية وتدميرا في ربع القرن الماضي ، وخصوصا لجميع النساء ، وأية الذكور الذين لم الاشتراك في تفسيرهم الصارم للغاية إذا كان الإسلام. بالطبع ، أعطى طالبان ملاذا لQueda القاعدة واسامة بن لادن الذين خططوا وشنوا على 9 / 11 هجمات من القواعد التي تعمل علنا وبدعم من حكومة طالبان. في نتيجة غير مقصودة لدعمنا من المجاهدين في الحرب على الإرهاب أن الولايات المتحدة قد تضطر للقتال منذ غادر السوفيت أفغانستان التي لا تزال حتى يومنا هذا ، وتضم اثنين من التوغلات العسكرية ، واحدة في أفغانستان واحد في العراق.

أما الدرس الثاني الذي ينبغي أن وقد تعلمت من تلك الغارات عسكريتين (داخل العراق وأفغانستان) هو أن بعض الناس في بعض البلدان ليست مستعدة للديمقراطية لمجرد أن “تقدم” لهم. خلافا لشعب مصر وليبيا ، وعندما لا يهتم الناس في الديمقراطية وأنه لا يسعى ، ولكن بدلا من ذلك المزيد من الكراهية التي يستهلكها ، والخوف ، والقومية ، والتي تنشأ من القبلية والجغرافية ، والاختلافات الدينية ، ومبدأ الديمقراطية ليست الهدف من أهمية وأبعد ما يكون وراء أهداف أخرى ، والسماح الديكتاتوريات الدينية بالازدهار. ايران والعراق مثال على الأرجح ستتبع الدعوى بعد مغادرة القوات الامريكية للمنطقة (كما ينبغي).

عبارة “الخلافات الدينية” يمكن للانقسام بشكل لا يصدق ومتنوعة ، كما تعلمه الأميركيون بعد توغلها في العراق. في حين أن الأميركيين كانوا على علم بأن الإسلام كان مختلفا عن المسيحية والديانات السائدة الأخرى ، وكان يمارس من قبل بعض لممارسة أكثر صرامة أو “أساسية” من ​​قبل بعض من قبل الآخرين (كما هي جميع الأديان) ، وكانت قلة من الأمريكيين يدركون الفروق الهائلة و الكراهية الموجودة داخل الاسلام مثل بين الطوائف الشيعية والسنية في الإسلام (وهناك الطوائف الرئيسية الأخرى). وهذا التمييز مغادرة أميركا متورطة في حرب طويلة العقد في العراق بعد اعطيت العراقيين على “الحرية” و “الديموقراطية”. وجدت أميركا أن من الضروري منع هؤلاء العراقيين حرة وديمقراطية من ذبح بعضهم البعض أسوأ بكثير من ديكتاتورية صدام حسين من أي وقت مضى فعلت. كان من العواقب غير المقصودة “هدية للديمقراطية” لدينا للعراقيين وفاة الناجمة عن ذلك والتدمير في العراق وعدم الاستقرار في المنطقة ، وكلها منافع ايران ديكتاتورية دينية تهدد أمن المنطقة كلها إذا لم يكن في العالم ، بعد ان هددت anhiliate لإسرائيل ومحاولة لإبادة السفراء والممثلين السياسيين أخرى من المملكة العربية السعودية ، وفي الوقت نفسه اكتساب القدرة على صنع اسلحة نووية.

وفي حالات أخرى ، سبق ذكرها هنا ، ومعروف جيدا ، فقد دأبت أميركا فشلت في التصرف وفقا لها الخاصة المبادئ الأخلاقية والسياسية (الديمقراطية وحرية التعبير ، الخ) ، وبدلا من ذلك تؤيد باستمرار (سياسيا وثقافيا واخلاقيا وماليا وعسكريا) الديكتاتوريات ، وبعض وحشية جدا. توفير الدعم لهذه الأنظمة أكثر منطقية في ذلك الوقت ثم يبدو إلى الآن. كان رد فعل سلبي شديد ،كما شهدت بواسطة الكراهية المعادية للولايات المتحدة في ايران بعد الاطاحة بالشاه.

وفي الواقع ، هناك العديد من القراء الذين سوف نطرح جانبا ما كنت قد كتبت للتو من جهة ، كما لو كنت مخطئا تماما ، إما لأننيأنا متطرف المضطربة أو المضللة “قلب ينزف ليبرالية”. في الواقع ، وطرح أي مؤرخ التيار الرئيسي ، وسياسي (من الطرفين) ، أو أي ضابط المخابرات المتقاعد ، وسوف نسمع أن تلاوة بلدي واقعية من التاريخ ، وتورط أميركا في ذلك ، هو أبعد من النقاش ومن المؤكد كما هو حقيقة التي قاتلنا البريطانيين في العام 1776 عن استقلالنا.

أفعالنا وأفعال الآخرين ، وأسهل للفهم عند أحد يفهم الفراغ من الذكاء (أو عدم معرفتنا ما كان حقا “مستمرة” في هذا العالم) ، لدينا مخاوف مشروعة (أو على الأقل يبدو أنها تستند إلى شرعية ما أعدائنا والقول والفعل) ، ورغبتنا ، على الأقل في بعض البلدان وبعض القطاعات ، وتعزيز قيمنا وأمن تلك البلدان التي تتقاسم القيم الأساسية لدينا (الحرية والديمقراطية.)

التاريخ (مرور الزمن) يسمح دائما بعض الوضوح والتحليل الدقيق. وثائق سرية دي. الناس (الذين كانوا قلة مختارة “في معرفة”) هربا من الأنظمة الشمولية وتصبح حرة لوصف ما يقولون ، وقراءة ، وعرف. أشخاص آخرين قد أزمة الوعي ، في حين أن آخرين (إما مع جرائم أخلاقية أو قانونية لإخفاء ، لحماية الإرث ، أو القدرة على النضال من اجل الحفاظ) يموت إما التقاعد أو فقدان السلطة للعديد من الأسباب.

تدخلنا في أفغانستان ، كما وقد تعلمنا ومكلفة جدا (انها ادت الى 9 / 11) التي تشارك زلنا في هذا البلد. أدى دعمنا للشاه ، وهو ديكتاتور لا يرحم ، إلى كراهية أمريكا من قبل الإيرانيين الذين أطاحت الشاه ،

ومثلفيتنام والعراق وأفغانستان ، حيث ان الولايات المتحدة ارسلت قوات والمال ، وخسائر في الأرواح الولايات المتحدة ومصر ، ليبيا ، وبدأت الآن مع سوريا لا تساعد على الاطلاق من الحكومات الأجنبية في كثير نفسه كما كانت الثورة الأميركية ،

ولكنهذه المرة ، أننا دخلنا منطقة جديدة رائعة حيث الفرص المتاحة للنهوض مصالحنا مع الحتميات الأخلاقية لدينا تتعايش . يدرس أول المصريين لنا هذا الدرس. وضعت انهم “تغيير النظام” في صالح الحرية والديمقراطية ، تماما كما سعى الرئيس بوش القيام به في العراق ، ولكن من دون اطلاق رصاصة واحدة ، في غضون أشهر ، ودون أي مساعدة خارجية. ما زلت في رهبة من انجازات مصر وديمقراطيته الوليدة يجب يتغذى من جميع الناس مع البوصلة الأخلاقية دون تأثير خارجي أو سيطرة أجنبية حاولت.

تليها ليبيا المقبل ، وللأسف ، بسبب ضخمة ذبح المواطنين العزل ممارسة متأصلة بهم حقوق للاحتجاج غير عنيف ، كان مطلوبا التدخل المحدود. وأقول “محدودة” لأن هذا التدخل جاء متأخرا وكان في الواقع محدودة للغاية

،والآن ، والأهم من ذلك هو الذبح الجماعي للأبرياء من سوريا من قبل النظام غير الشرعي ومارقة من بشار الأسد. هو وعائلته (الحكام قبله) لم يتردد في استخدام التعذيب وحتى القتل في مدن بأكملها لقمع الاحتجاجات والحفاظ على السيطرة. النظام السوري هو الشر بحيث لم يكن قد تعرض للتعذيب فقط للأطفال الصغار وفاة الأبرياء ، ولكن عندما تطلق جثة الطفل ميتا ، فإنها لا تفعل ذلك كعمل من أعمال الرحمة للعائلة ، ولكن لارسال تحذير لبقية من المحتجين حول ما يمكن أن يحدث إذا كنت الانضمام الى الاحتجاجات.

وقد تم ذبح ما لا يقل عن 4000 متظاهر المدنيين العزل حتى الآن. ادعى السوري بشار الاسد اليوم أن الأمم المتحدة هي غير ذي صلة “نكتة” ، وكلماته وأفعاله انه وضع نفسه بأنه ديكتاتور يقود الحكومة المارقة المارقة.

سواء كان الخبر السار أو نذير حرب أهلية (ضروري وبدأ ما لا لزوم لها أو الوقت سوف اقول فقط) ، والجنود بدأوا يرفضون اتباع “إطلاق النار بقصد القتل” أوامر على المدنيين العزل ويفرون ، جنبا إلى جنب مع السلاح والأسلحة ، وبالتالي عسكرة ، على الأقل جزئيا ، باعتبارها غير العنيفة احتجاج ،

وهناك الكثير من العقبات في المستقبل. التقارير الأخيرة تشير إلى أن الميليشيات المسلحة في ليبيا ، والآن بعد أن حقق النصر ، يجب أن يتم نزع سلاحها. في مصر ، والانتقال الى الديمقراطية لم تسر على النحو بسلاسة وبسرعة وكما كان متوقعا ، والتواطؤ بين الإخوان وجيش مسلم يهدد لتحل محل ديكتاتورية عسكرية مع الديكتاتورية الدينية  ولدينا

،دافع باستمرار ترددنا حول التورط في الربيع العربي خوفا من أن الثورة ، مثل إيران ، والأنظمة التي تحل محل الأنظمة القائمة يمكن أن يكون أكثر معادية لمصالح الولايات المتحدة من الأنظمة السابقة. هذا التحليل هو غير أخلاقي ، وقصيرة النظر ، ويتجاهل البيت نمت ، والطبيعة الديمقراطية ، والعلمانية ، وغير العنيفة لهذه الحركات. وعلاوة على ذلك ، وانتشار الإنترنت ، والشبكات الاجتماعية ، وطفرة تكنولوجية أخرى يقطع باعتباره يتعارض مع الأنظمة الديكتاتورية والقمع في أي شكل كان ، سواء من قبل زعيم والعسكرية ، أو الثيوقراطية ملف. التدفق الحر للمعلومات هو في الأساس للديمقراطية في أميركا. لماذا ينبغي أن نشك في أنه سيكون خلاف ذلك في أجزاء أخرى من العالم

لذلكقبل أن يتم ذبح المزيد من المدنيين ، قبل الفوضى ، ويسمح للحرب الأهلية ، والقهر للتسلل مرة أخرى في الربيع البلدان العربية والغربية والشرقية بحاجة لمعرفة ماذا تريد مساعدة المحتجين منا (كما فعلنا في ليبيا) واعطائها لهم. انها تحتاج الى أن تكون بطريقة تحترم سيادة وكرامة ، وثقافة كل بلد ، وعلى الطريقة التي يتم بها متقدمة على مصالح أي دولة أجنبية على حساب أي دولة أخرى. الناس يموتون ويعانون كل يوم. فمن واجب أخلاقي أن أمريكا وجميع دول العالم مساعدة سورية ، وحسب الحاجة والطلب ، ومصر وليبيا. بل هو أيضا على المدى الطويل لدينا الاستراتيجية والاقتصادية والسياسية المصلحة الذاتية. بغض النظر عن كل ذلك ، كنت أتمنى لو كان القتال هناك ظلم مع إخوتي وأخواتي على الرغم من ديانتي اليهودية وتسبب الصراع واسعة مع هذه البلدان. ونأمل في الصدارة سهم مستقبل هو السلام ، والقمع في أي مكان محاربة الناس والظلم والحرية هي معركة التي أنتمي إليها.

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Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum Are Not Viable Candidates and are Not Qualified to Be President – What is happening to Democracy? Also, why the US needs “Big Government”

This post was updated on January 2, 2012 right before the Iowa caucus after the surge in Iowa polls of Rick Santorum

 

In the recent debate, Newt Gingrich made some of the most absurd statements I have heard. Statements which will hurt him if he gets the nomination. He proved himself to be not a viable candidate for the Presidency, although pathetically, he may be the best the Republicans have to offer. Rick Santorum, despite holding the title of Senator (of Pennsylvania – my home state), held that title only briefly. Before and after his brief tenure as Senator, he acquired no experience, did nothing of distinction, and currently, has no complete vision for the entire scope of issues which a President of the United States of America must deal with. Instead, he has extremist views on only a small sub-set of issues which deal with social value and religious issues, and America needs real leaders, not extremist religious fanatics who seek election on a religious and social conservative platform alone.

Newt Gingrich

As I stated in My Blog Post, Gingrich stated

“…if we [America] were serious, we could open up enough oil fields to make the price of oil collapse [which means that the supply of oil would greatly outstrip demand]. Pay attention everyone, as Newt making this statement was history in the making. This is one of the top ten most absurd political statements of all time. Where, Newt, do these oil fields exist anywhere in the world, let alone in a place that a “serious America” could “open them up?”

Aside from a few oil reserves which have gone untouched in Alaska due to the potentially catastrophic harm to the environment of tapping these reserves, no such oil fields exist. Even the fields in Alaska, if fully utilized, would do nothing but provide a temporary source for a fraction of the oil this country needs to import. The truth is, Newt, that you would have us permanently destroy this pristine environment, permanently deplete this reserve of oil, while you and a handful of oil companies get even richer, and once everyone has “pocketed” their riches, and we still are dangerously dependent on expensive imported oil from hostile countries scattered all over the globe, it will be too late to undue the damage you have induced us to do.

But if your statement were not absurd enough, you claimed that this could all be achieved in a year. These so called fields exist in some of the most difficult terrain in the world. Frozen ground, inaccessible locations, darkness for six months at a time. Anyone in the industry would explain to Newt the numerous and time consuming steps required to not only bring these sources “on-line” but in sufficient quantities to “send the price of oil plummeting.” Not only would the oil have to be located through explorative drilling, but once found, the drills and pumps would have to be built to bring the oil up. Pipelines and/or storage tanks and docks for oil tankers would have to be built. Moreover, a massive number of highly skilled labor would have to be hired and moved to Alaska, and the infrastructure (homes, roads, etc) built for them to operate. Some of the largest, most delicate, most complex and most expensive equipment in the world would have to be build, shipped, and installed in one of the most inhospitable environments in the world (the north pole) which makes simple tasks dangerous and time consuming and causes even simple equipment to malfunction. Yet Newt would have the all this done, and the oil at your local gas station, within a year., This is a perfect example of a politician promising the public what the public wants to hear but which can’t possible be delivered. It can’t be done within a year. It can’t be done ever as Newt would have.

Newt, did you forget that the USA does not have refineries to refine oil, even if we were given it for free? We were already operating at near capacity, and the problems in the Gulf of Mexico caused several refineries to have to be taken off-line.

Newt, you claim to be against tax increases. OK. I disagree, but let’s give you the benefit of the doubt. You clearly are against the continued mounting budged deficits. You were asked, in the recent debates, the simple question as to what entitlement program or programs you would cut. Wolf Blitzer commented that this as a good question, and you agreed.

You then failed to name a single entitlement program you would cut. Even if you had your way, even if everyone went along with you, you still don’t have the answers.

Newt Gingrich was never considered a viable candidate for President. He has a tainted past, and even ignoring that, his lack of vision for the future and realistic solutions for existing problems show that he is not a realistic candidate, regardless of a voter’s views on particular issues.

Unless an acceptable campaign consists of blaming President Obama for every problem without having any viable ideas on how to fix those problems, Newt Gingrich is not a candidate worth considering. Even worse, when Gingrich does venture an answer, his responses are really really scary because they are impossible and unrealistic, even according to bi-partisan industry authorities.

I love President Obama, but I have always been someone who would cross party lines to vote for the best qualified candidate. I don’t have a choice to make. There are no choices. The Republicans can not produce a viable candidate. In fact, there is something very very wrong with the American political system because this same problem has often occurred in democratic races.

With tabloid journalism, most candidates spend their time trying to in public opinion on issues which are unrelated to the topics we need to hear. Given the dissension in parties, most politicians are paralyzed and can not either make any hard choices which need to be made or are willing to admit that they believe in those hard choices. Polls are given more importance in policy making then intellectual and academic analysis of the underlying problems and the solutions therefor.

Instead of hearing how a candidate believes about an issue, all speeches are written by speech writers and vetted. We elect officials and never hear what they really want to do and why they ant to do it.

Lastly, given the desire to get reelected, and/or to get fellow party members elected, and the need to get 60% of the Senate vote, the majority of the House, and the President to elect any major legislation, nothing ever gets done. We, the voters, are sick of it.

It takes a war to get something done, and in fact, most major legislation (even that which affects us today) was enacted either in a time of war or during a war-like crisis.

China, who we love to unfairly criticize, made the decision to build the Three Gorges Damn. Of course, in a project that big, there are many “pros” and “cons”, many competing interests, many winners and losers. Projects like that also have many hidden and intangible costs such as loss of habitat and displacement of villagers and the destruction of ancient villages. On the other hand, this project had enormous benefits, such as employment, energy, transportation, and on and on. In a country which was growing and had rapidly growing needs such as China, it was probably necessary. My uneducated opinion is that the Dam was a good decision.

The point, however, is that regardless of the merits of that decision, there is no chance that we, in the US, would have ever been able to fund, authorize, and legally enact such a project. We used to have that ability, before our parties became more concerned with: (i) specific and divisive issues (like reproductive rights and tax cuts); (ii) getting re-elected and getting party members to powerful positions and enacting legislation which benefits specific constituents; and, (iiii) short term results instead of long term interests. The later is exemplified by the lack of a long term energy policy in this country and people like Newt Gingrich making “feel good” promises of “quick fixes” instead of tackling what will be an expensive, complex problem. Why would Newt Gingrich try to set forth an energy program which, if successful, would not bear fruit for several decades, long after Newt Gingrich was gone from the political scene? Similarly, why would he care about long term environmental damage when he will, again, be long gone?

I have read books by Chinese Communist Party Officials who served for many decades. Some served for the greater part of the last century.What impressed me was the level of long term thinking which sought to place the interests of China first (even when I and others disagreed with the particular decisions.) In fact, many of the books I read were banned in China because they were critical of decisions and actions made by the Communist Party. At the same time, in their disagreement with the actions taken by the Party, what impressed me tremendously was: (i) the level of intellectual and academic and theoretical debate; (ii) the concern for long term results instead of short term fixes; and, (iii) the placing of the welfare of China as paramount in importance.

That kind of politician and process had disappeared from our political landscape. Long gone are the intellectual debates and the concern for the long term interest of our country. The debates are simplistic and disingenuous.

Rick Santorum

Because he represented my home state of Pennsylvania, I have followed Rick Santorum’s career, or lack thereof, from the outset. His tenure as Senator was very brief and without distinction. Other than that, aside from the prestige inherent in holding the title “Senator,” he did nothing, achieved nothing, and has no qualifications which make him Presidential material.

Additionally, the Office of the President of the United States of America has many duties and responsibilities dealing with a wide range of issues. There are foreign policy concerns, and within that broad area, the sub-issues of international trade, international banking, human rights, global security, terrorism, energy, bi-lateral relations with hundreds of critical countries with diverse agendas, goals, etc. There are domestic concerns such as energy, the economy, pollution, energy independence, immigration, crime, education, consumer concerns, health and safety, and the list goes on and on.

Rick Santorum speaks often and virulently about school children’s right to pray in school, the rights of consenting adults to engage in sexual freedom (he wants to promote the former while restrict the later) and such other issues termed as social and religious issues. On these issues, he does have a vision and a plan for America. Unfortunately, it is the vision of a fanatic and his plan runs afoul of the rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States of America. Unfortunately for Santorum, and the misguided people who would elect him for these beliefs, the President of the United States is supposed to uphold these rights, not eviscerate them.

Aside from his conservative social and religious concerns, he is devoid of any experience or realistic vision or plan. Before the Iowa Caucus, he was seen on TV preaching about making the US government small like the “founders of the Constitution envisioned.” He ignores the fact that both America and the world have changed quite a bit since the Constitution was written. In those days, we did not have more than 300 million people in America. While I don’t know the number, I would guess it was no more than ten million.

We also did not live in a world where it was difficult for America to be attacked militarily. Governments like North Korea and Iran, which now have, or soon may have, the ability to send nuclear missiles across the globe simply did not exist. Nor did such weapons of mass destruction. Americans had never heard of “Afghanistan,” much less faced the loss thousands of lives to to the actions of a lunatic living in a cave in that country. Diseases like Ebola, SARS, and the Bird Flu which are in the jungles of Africa and in far away Asia, were unknown to America and did not threaten America as they do now, where an infected person can jump on an airplane and infect America in a matter of hours.

America was self-reliant in those days and did not depend on foreign trade and foreign energy to survive. Now, the mere recent threat of distant Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz affects the price of gasoline in every village in America. Nor were jobs and the fortunes of investors dependent on the success or failure of the banking system in a then non-existent entity called the “Euro-zone.” The government of America was funded by the collection of taxes from Americans.

Now, we are dependent on countries like China, yet Santorum would never do anything to decrease that dependency by balancing the budget by collecting taxes. I could go on and on about Santorum’s failures, and perhaps I will, but most probably, it is worth waiting to see which candidate the Republicans elect from the existing field of candidates, which, by the admission of many respected Republicans, is a dismal selection at best.

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Aliaa Magda Elmahdy Fires [Second] Shot Heard Round The World in Arab Spring Revolution

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy is a hero and we need to know who she is, what she stands for, how she is protesting. Most importantly, we need to back her and the rest of the secular Arab Spring protesters. She is getting a massive following in the Arab world, and it is time that the world learns who she is and what she did and throws massive support to her and those for whom she protests. She is a young Egyptian adult and posed nude in a blog which also protests the jailing by the Egyptian military of protesters and also opposes Military trials for civilians. She also stands for artistic freedom and a whole host of freedom related issues which the Arab Spring revolution confronts in Egypt (in the same way that the tax on tea as only one issue encompassed in the American Revolution). Here is her website Ckick Here to Go To Aliaa Magda Elmahdy’s Website

 

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The enemies of the secular movement within the Arab Spring are those who want to prevent peace and stability in the Middle East and those who want to deny human rights, freedom, and democracy there. A truly free and democratic Egypt, Libya, and Middle East will not tolerate terrorism and terrorist groups and will seek peace with the West. Even conservative Israelis have stated that the best chance for long term peace and stability in the middle east is the spread of democracy. As I intend to argue in a more in depth post, every country in the world has as its moral as well as its enlightened self-interest the success of the secular movement within the Arab Spring include all of the major super powers, every country in the G-20, etc.

As an aside, even though she is in Egypt and published her Blog in a foreign language (Arabic I believe), she published her Blog on Google’s Blogger, which also hosts my Blog. I am glad as the choice of a Blog host is critical to being heard. To ensure that my message gets out, I publish the same posts/articles on WordPress.Com because I was told that Google’s Blogger is blocked by the government in certain countries. I am going to try to translate this Blog to other languages.

 

First, while Aliaa Magda Elmahdy clearly defines why she took the actions that she did, and what she stands for. Other supporters and critics ascribe their own meaning to her actions and blogs. But many people who have revolutionary ideas or world altering affects do not always have such broad and far reaching intentions. History if replete with examples of people who took narrow actions and/or had limited purposes but nonetheless their actions had far reaching implications. That is the case here.

 

While some fundamental religious fanatics will state that the publishing of this single nude image was nothing more than blasphemy or the spread of Internet pornography, this argument is absurd considering how easy it is to get, on the Internet, not just single images of nude girls, but all kinds of hard core pornography, including movies, of people engaged in all kinds of indecent activities. In fact, unlike these hardcore web sites, before I could access Aliaa Magda Elmahdy’s Internet web site (where this image was located), I had to acknowledge that the site contained “Adult Material.”

 

Her single nudge image is a perfect example of how the rights to freedom of speech and expression involves more than mere written or spoken words, and illustrates that the value and importance of the message conveyed in non verbal expression (her nude image) can far outweigh any concerns about the nudity or the effects of that expression. While my Blog is not about freedom of speech in America, I would love, as an attorney and journalist with interest and experience in first amendment rights, to represent a high school student’s rights to show and discuss this image in connection with a bona fide discussion of the issues. It is important to note that Ms. Elmahdy simply posed nude in a single picture of her doing nothing more than standing up, yet her picture started a movement, debate, and argument which is spreading world-wide.

 

As the Arab Spring hits some stumbling blocks, she has revitalized it, and the secular concerns raised by the secular protesters. Just as the military and the Muslim majority jockey to turn the Egyptian Revolution into a different form of democracy with inherent oppression, in this case an Iranian style Theocracy, secular issues and overall freedom have been brought to the forefront of debate. The majority of the original protesters fought for freedom, and did not risk their lives and liberty to see one form of totalitarian dictatorship replaced by another (the later being an intolerant Islamic theocracy.) The one thing each dictatorship would have in common is the suppression of basic human and civil rights, including the right to protest, the right to choose the form of government, the right to elect those who would administer that form of government, the basic laws by which that government would govern, and the right to speak freely and criticise that government and whatever else one wanted to criticize.

 

As Ms. Elmahdy lives in Egypt (a citizen of that country with her job, friends, family and whatever assets she has all located there), her actions are not to be taken lightly or dismissed easily. She risks everything by taking on both the extremist Islamists and the Military, both of whom seem to be in possession of the actual power (for the moment) even though the the pro-democracy protesters fought for and won the revolution. In fact, Elmahdy’s  boyfriend is currently, apparently, jailed by the military.

 

The West has feared such an Iranian style dictatorship in the form of a religious theocracy and used it as an excuse for inaction and lack of support of the protesters. That is why we must support the secular movement within of the Arab Spring and people like Aliaa Magda Elmahdy. Her web site (which I can read with the translation program contained within Google Chrome), also stands for opposition to Military Trials for Civilians and Feminist rights.

 

Yet, in the world of oppression of women’s rights which is found in many countries and segments which purport to practice Islam, Elmahdy’s picture is (in many parts of the world) considered an abomination and blasphemy. Remember, honor killings still exist. I note that this is true only in countries which purport to practice Islam because the oppression of women and the denial of civil rights are not inherent tenants of Islam itself but instead are only found in certain fundamental  interpretations of Islam by a select group which claim the exclusive right to interpret the Koran. I personally know many Muslims of many sects of Islam (many of which are not nearly as well known as those which kill in the name of their sect), and know that this wold has more than a billion peaceful and non-oppressive practitioners of Islam. Just like the practitioners of Islam (who are terrorists) are a small minority of the total number of the practitioners of Islam, many women practitioners of Islam are able to do so without oppression or denial of their fundamental rights. Increasing democracy and freedom will only make smaller the percentage of practitioners of Islam who feel compelled to oppress others, including women, and deny people their civil and democratic rights. Upon closer reflection, it is clear that the denial of civil rights, including the right to vote and the right to freedom of speech, have nothing to do with the practice of Islam as the denial of those rights have been employed by people of all religions throughout all time. They reflect only one common trait: the desperate attempt by an unpopular minority to hang on to power and privilege against the will of the people.

 

The suppression of women is not dictated by the Koran. As a case in point, the Taliban had one of the most extreme and oppressive interpretation of Islam which offended virtually every Islamic country in the world, and in fact, was so extreme that the Taliban controlled Afghanistan found itself militarily opposed and antagonistic to even Iran. Had America not invaded Afghanistan, it is likely that Iran and Afghanistan would have found themselves as military antagonists, if not engaged in all out warfare, within a few years.

 

So the picture by Aliaa Magda Elmahdy has been divisive (in a good way) and has created quite a stir. Her web site (which is in Arabic) gets millions of hit (page views) although a large number of these may be from people in other Arabic countries who have simply never seen a naked woman, and many others just want to see what the controversy is all about. But even subtracting these people, there is more than ample interest in her site.

 

A group of Arab women were in fact posing nude in sympathy with her. Click Here for One Site As evidence of how extreme and dangerous this is, one of these women had to take her site down for fear of harm to herself and her family. Click Here to Visit the Site of A Woman Who Had to Take Her Site Down In Fear for Her Life

 

Other sites have criticized her. That is not what scares me, but the silent decisions made by secret organizations to “do something about her (or people like her).” The virginity checks by the military in Egypt are a disgrace as bad as any suffered under Mubarak.

 

Her single nude picture in the midst of the Arab Spring revolution is the second “shot heard round the world.” The first was when the fruit seller as told he could not sell his fruit and he set himself on fire, which caused the initial Arab Spring uprising.

 

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy posing nude, in connection with what she says in her blog, is the second shot. As the Arab Spring revolution was attempted to be hijacked and coopted by the Muslim Brotherhood (which initially participated in the Arab Spring revolution), and the Egyptian Military which was initially trusted by the protesters to protect the people and sheppard the country into a new democracy but quickly began to be viewed protecting the old “power elite.”

 

Yes, Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, and those who share her views and risk their lives doing so, are the heroes of the revolution who are the legitimate revolutionaries. They must be recognized as such by the world, and given our full economic, diplomatic, and military support. By posing nude, she put it to the Muslim Brotherhood, the military (who after Mubarak resigned started performing “virginity checks” on Arab Spring protesters), and those that would continue in the suppression of democracy and freedom, and she declared, in the loudest possible voice, “I am free and can do with myself and my body what I want to do no government may restrict my freedom to do so.” That is American style freedom, and we must hear her call and rise to support her.

 

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علياء ماجدة Elmahdy هو البطل ، ونحن بحاجة الى معرفة من هي ، ما كانت لتقف ، وكيف أنها الاحتجاج. الأهم من ذلك ، نحن بحاجة إلى ظهرها وبقية المتظاهرين الربيع العربية العلمانية ، وهي الحصول على أعقاب مظاهرات كبيرة في العالم العربي ، وحان الوقت أن يتعلم العالم من هي وماذا فعلت ويلقي دعما كبيرا لها وأولئك الذين يرون أنها الاحتجاجات. فهي البالغين الشباب المصري والتقطت لها صور عارية في بلوق التي احتجاجات أيضا سجن من قبل الجيش المصري للمتظاهرين وتعارض أيضا المحاكمات العسكرية للمدنيين. انها تقف أيضا من أجل الحرية الفنية ومجموعة كاملة من القضايا ذات الصلة التي الحرية والثورة العربية تواجه الربيع في مصر (في بنفس الطريقة التي الضريبة على الشاي فقط قضية واحدة تندرج في الثورةالأميركية).هنالها موقع Ckickهنا للذهاب إلى الموقع علياء ماجدة Elmahdy

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لأعداءالتيار العلماني في الربيع العربي هم أولئك الذين يريدون منع السلام والاستقرار في منطقة الشرق الأوسط ، وأولئك الذين يريدون إنكار حقوق الإنسان والحرية والديمقراطية هناك وألفمصر حرة حقا وديمقراطية ، ليبيا ، والشرق الأوسط لن تتسامح مع الإرهاب والجماعات الإرهابية ، وسوف تسعى للسلام مع الغرب. وقد صرح المحافظ الإسرائيليين حتى أن أفضل فرصة لتحقيق السلام والاستقرار على المدى الطويل في الشرق الأوسط هو نشر الديمقراطية. كما أعتزم أن يجادل في عمق أكثر في آخر ، في كل بلد في العالم كما فعل أخلاقي ، وكذلك في المصلحة الذاتية المستنيرة في نجاح الحركة العلمانية في الربيع العربي تشمل جميع القوى العظمى الكبرى ، في كل بلد مجموعة ال 20 ، وما إلى ذلك

بوصفها جانبا ، وقالت انها نشرت على الرغم من أنها في مصر ونشرت المدونة لها بلغة أجنبية (عربية وأعتقد) ، مدونة لها على مدون جوجل ، التي تستضيف أيضا مدونتي. كما يسرني اختيار مضيف المدونة أمر بالغ الأهمية ليسمع. لضمان أن يخرج رسالتي ، فأنا نشر نفس الوظائف / مقالات عن WordPress.Com لأن قيل لي ان يتم حظر مدون غوغل من قبل الحكومة في بعض البلدان. وانا ذاهب الى محاولة لترجمة هذه المدونة إلى لغات أخرى :

أولا ، في حين علياء ماجدة Elmahdy يعرف بوضوح لماذا أخذت الإجراءات التي فعلت ، وماذا كانت ترمز إليه. أنصار الأخرى ويعزو النقاد معنى الخاصة بهم لتصرفاتها وبلوق. لكن الكثير من الناس الذين لديهم أفكار ثورية أو تغيير يؤثر على العالم ليس لديها مثل هذه النوايا دائما واسعة وبعيدة المدى. إذا كان التاريخ حافل بالأمثلة على الناس الذين قاموا بأعمال الضيقة و / أو قد أغراض محدودة ، ولكن مع ذلك كان أفعالهم آثار بعيدة المدى. هذا هو الحال هنا.

ورغم أن بعض المتعصبين الدينيين الأساسية سوف أذكر أن نشر هذه الصور العارية واحد لم يكن أكثر من التجديف أو انتشار المواد الإباحية عن شبكة الإنترنت ، هذه الحجة غير المعقول النظر كم هو سهل للحصول على الانترنت ، وليس الصور فقط واحدة من الفتيات عارية ، ولكن كل أنواع المواد الإباحية النواة الصلبة ، بما في ذلك الأفلام ، وتشارك الناس في جميع أنواع الأنشطة غير لائقة. في الواقع ، على عكس هذه المواقع المتشددين ، قبل أن أتمكن من الوصول إلى موقع علياء ماجدة Elmahdy في شبكة الإنترنت (حيث تقع هذه الصورة) ، كان علي أن نعترف بأن الموقع يحتوي على “مواد للبالغين”.

صورتها دفع واحد هو مثال ممتاز على كيفية الحق في حرية الرأي والتعبير ويشمل أكثر من مجرد كلمات منطوقة أو مكتوبة ، ويوضح أن قيمة وأهمية الرسالة نقلت في التعبير اللفظي (غير صورتها عارية) يمكن أن تفوق بكثير أي مخاوف من العري أو آثار ذلك التعبير. وبينما مدونتي ليس عن حرية التعبير في أمريكا ، وأحب ، ومحام وصحافي مع الاهتمام والخبرة في مجال حقوق التعديل الأول ، لتمثيل حقوق الطالب في المدرسة الثانوية لإظهار ومناقشة هذه الصورة في اتصال مع النيةالنية مناقشةمن القضايا ، ومن المهم أن نلاحظ أن السيدة Elmahdy المطروحة ببساطة عارية في صورة واحدة لها لا تفعل شيئا أكثر من الوقوف ، ولكن صورتها بدأت الحركة ، والنقاش ، والجدل الذي ينتشر في جميع أنحاء العالم.

وكما الربيع العربي يضرب بعض العقبات ، وقالت انها تنشيطه ، والشواغل التي أثارتها العلمانية المتظاهرين العلمانية. تماما كما في الجيش وفارس غالبية مسلم أن تتحول الثورة المصرية إلى شكل مختلف من الديموقراطية مع الظلم المتأصل ، في هذه الحالة قد جلبت دولة دينية النمط الايراني ، وقضايا الحرية والعلمانية الشاملة في مقدمة النقاش. خاض غالبية المتظاهرين من أجل الحرية الأصلية ، ولم يعرضون حياتهم للخطر والحرية لمعرفة شكل واحد من الديكتاتورية الشمولية محل آخر (في وقت لاحق كونه الثيوقراطية الاسلامية المتعصبة.) شيء واحد كل ديكتاتورية سوف تشترك في قمع الأساسية لحقوق الإنسان والحقوق المدنية ، بما في ذلك الحق في الاحتجاج ، والحق في اختيار شكل الحكومة ، والحق في انتخاب هؤلاء الذين يودون أن يديروا هذا الشكل من الحكومة ، والقوانين الأساسية التي ستحكم هذه الحكومة ، والحق في التكلم بحرية وينتقد هذه الحكومة وأيا كان ما أراد المرء أن ينتقد.

أما السيدة Elmahdy يعيش في مصر (وهو مواطن من هذا البلد مع وظيفتها ، الأسرة والأصدقاء ومهما كانت الأصول الموجودة لديها كل ما هنالك) ، وتصرفاتها لا ينبغي أن تؤخذ باستخفاف أو تجاهلها بسهولة. انها كل شيء عن طريق اتخاذ المخاطر على كل من الإسلاميين المتطرفين والجيش ، وكلاهما يبدو أن يكون في حوزة السلطة الفعلية (لحظة) على الرغم من أن المحتجين المؤيدين للديمقراطية وفاز حارب من أجل الثورة. في الواقع ، لElmahdy  صديقها حاليا ، على ما يبدو ، سجن من قبل الجيش.

الغرب وتخشى مثل هذا النمط الديكتاتوري الإيراني في شكل الثيوقراطية الدينية واستخدامه كذريعة للتقاعس عن العمل وعدم وجود دعم من المحتجين. هذا هو السبب في أننا يجب أن تدعم الحركة العلمانية داخل الربيع العربي والشعب ، مثل ماجدة Elmahdy علياء. موقع لها على شبكة الإنترنت (والتي أستطيع أن أقرأ مع برنامج الترجمة الواردة في جوجل كروم) ، وتقف أيضا الى معارضة المحاكمات العسكرية للمدنيين وحقوق النسوية ،

ومع ذلك ، في العالم من اضطهاد لحقوق المرأة التي وجدت في كثير من البلدان والقطاعات التي ترمي إلى ممارسة الإسلام ، صور Elmahdy هو (في أجزاء كثيرة من العالم) يعتبر رجس والتجديف. نتذكر ، وجرائم الشرف لا تزال موجودة. وألاحظ أن هذا صحيح فقط في البلدان التي ترمي إلى ممارسة الإسلام بسبب اضطهاد المرأة ، والحرمان من الحقوق المدنية ليسوا مستأجرين المتأصلة في الإسلام نفسه ولكن بدلا من ذلك لا توجد إلا في تفسيرات أساسية معينة للإسلام من قبل مجموعة مختارة التي تودي الحق الحصري في تفسير القرآن. وأنا شخصيا أعرف الكثير من المسلمين العديد من الطوائف في الإسلام (وكثير منها لا تقريبا معروفة جيدا بانها تلك التي تقتل في اسم طائفتهم) ، ونعلم أن هذا القفر لديها اكثر من مليار الممارسين السلمية وغير القمعية للإسلام . تماما مثل الممارسين للإسلام (الذين هم الإرهابيون) هم أقلية صغيرة من مجموع عدد العاملين للإسلام ، العديد من النساء الممارسين الإسلام قادرون على القيام بذلك دون ظلم أو حرمان من حقوقهم الأساسية. وزيادة الديمقراطية والحرية من شأنه سوى نسبة صغيرة من العاملين للإسلام الذين يشعرون بأنهم مجبرون على قهر الآخرين ، بمن فيهم النساء ، وحرمان الناس من حقوقهم المدنية والديمقراطية. وقد استخدمت على توثيق التأمل ، فمن الواضح أن الحرمان من الحقوق المدنية ، بما في ذلك الحق في التصويت والحق في حرية التعبير ، وليس لها علاقة مع الممارسة للإسلام ، والحرمان من هذه الحقوق من قبل الناس من جميع الأديان في جميع الأزمان. لأنها تعكس واحدة فقط سمة مشتركة : محاولة يائسة من قبل الأقلية التي لا تحظى بشعبية على التمسك بالسلطة والامتيازات ضد إرادة الشعب

لا تمليها قمع النساء في القرآن. ومثال على ذلك ، كانت حركة طالبان واحد من التفسير الأكثر تطرفا والقمعية التي أساءت للإسلام كل بلد تقريبا في العالم الإسلامي ، وفي حقيقة الأمر ، كان من الشدة بحيث أن تسيطر حركة طالبان في افغانستان وجدت نفسها معارضة عسكريا ومعادية لايران حتى . كانت أميركا ولا غزو أفغانستان ، فمن المرجح ان ايران وافغانستان قد وجدت نفسها الخصوم العسكرية ، إذا لم تشارك في جميع الحروب بها ، في غضون بضع سنوات ،

وبالتالي فإن الصورة التي علياء ماجدة Elmahdy تم انقسام (بطريقة جيدة) وخلقت ضجة. موقع لها على شبكة الإنترنت (وهو باللغة العربية) يحصل على الملايين من ضرب (عدد الصفحات) على الرغم من أن عددا كبيرا من هؤلاء قد يكون من الناس في البلدان العربية الأخرى الذين لديهم ببساطة لم أر امرأة عارية ، وكثير غيرها نريد ان نرى لماذا هذا الجدل هو كل شيء. ولكن حتى طرح هؤلاء الناس ، وهناك أكثر من مصلحة وافرة في موقع لها.

مجموعة من النساء العربيات هي في الواقع تشكل عارية في التعاطف معها. انقر هنا للحصول على موقع واحد كدليل على مدى تطرف وخطيرة وهذا هو واحدمن هؤلاء النساء وكان لاتخاذ موقع لها باستمرار خوفا من الضرر لنفسها وعائلتها. انقر هنا لزيارة الموقع من امرأة كانت قد لاتخاذ موقع لها أسفل خوفا على حياتها

مواقع اخرى انتقدت بلدها. ليس هذا ما يخيفني ، ولكن القرارات الصامتة التي قدمتها المنظمات السرية “ليفعل شيئا عنها (أو أمثالها من الناس)”. الشيكات العذرية من قبل الجيش في مصر هي وصمة عار بالسوء أي عانوا في ظل مبارك.

صور عارية لها واحد في خضم ثورة الربيع العربي هو الثاني “سمعت اطلاق النار في انحاء العالم”. كانت الأولى عندما قال بائع فاكهة كما انه لا يمكن بيع الفاكهة له وانه حدد لنفسه على الحريق الذي تسبب في الانتفاضة الأولي الربيع العربي.

علياء ماجدة Elmahdy مما عراة ، في اتصال مع ما تقول في بلوق لها ، هي الطلقة الثانية . كما جرت محاولة للثورة الربيع العربي لتكون مخطوفة ومختارات من العضوات الحاليات لجماعة الاخوان مسلم (التي شاركت في البداية في ثورة الربيع العربي) ، والجيش المصري الذي كان موثوق به في البداية من قبل المتظاهرين لحماية الشعب وشيبارد البلاد الى ديمقراطية جديدة ولكن سرعان ما بدأ ينظر إلى حماية القديمة “النخبة الحاكمة”.

نعم ، علياء ماجدة Elmahdy ، وأولئك الذين يشاركونه وجهات نظرها ويعرضون حياتهم للخطر القيام بذلك ، هم أبطال الثورة الذين هم الثوار المشروعة. ويجب الاعتراف بها على هذا النحو من قبل العالم ، ونظرا لدينا الدعم الكامل الاقتصادية والدبلوماسية والعسكرية. من خلال طرح عارية ، وضعت على انها جماعة الاخوان مسلم ، الجيش (الذي استقال بعد مبارك بدأت تنفيذ “فحص العذرية” على المتظاهرين الربيع العربي) ، وتلك التي سوف تستمر في قمع الديمقراطية والحرية ، وأنها أعلنت ، في صوت دوي ممكن “، أنا حر ، ويمكن القيام به مع نفسي وجسدي ما أريد القيام به أي حكومة يمكن أن تقيد حريتي للقيام بذلك.” ما هو أمريكي حرية الاسلوب ، ويجب علينا أن نسمع دعوتها والصعود الى دعمها.

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