President Obama: He’s Just Warming Up For China!

First the Saudis.

Then the Japanese Emperor.

I guess he’s just practicing so he’ll be perfect when he goes to Beijing to grovel before the ChiComs.

Maybe he’ll stop by the Mao Mausaleum and kiss old Mao’s cold dead forehead.

Searching for Books Overseas

If you’re out looking for a book and can’t find your title, you may have stumbled into this book store by accident.

 

No Need for a Jewish Homeland?

Animosity against Jews intensified. Notes nailed to the homes of Jews accused them of working for Israel and corrupting Muslim morals. “Jews were specifically targeted by Houthi rebels,” says a spokeswoman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington.

In January 2007, Houthi leaders threatened Jewish families in Saada. “We warn you to leave the area immediately… [W]e give you a period of 10 days, or you will regret it,” read a letter signed by a Houthi representative cited in a Reuters article.

Virtually the entire Jewish community in the area, about 60 people, fled to the capital. Since then, they have been receiving food stipends and cash assistance from the government while living in state-owned apartments in a guarded enclave, says the Yemeni embassy in Washington.

President Saleh, a Shiite, has been eager to demonstrate goodwill toward the Jews. On the Passover holiday, he invited TV crews to videotape families in the government complex as they feasted on lamb he had ordered.

Raida became the last redoubt of Yemeni Jews, who continued to lead a simple life there alongside Muslims.

Ancient stone homes dot the town. Electricity is erratic; oil lamps are common. Water arrives via truck. Most homes lack a TV or a refrigerator. The cell phone is the only common modern device. Some families receive financial aid from Hasidic Jewish groups in Brooklyn and London, which has enabled them to buy cars.

Typically, the Jewish men are blacksmiths, shoe repairmen or carpenters. They sometimes barter, trading milk and cow dung for grass to feed their livestock. In public, the men stand out for their long side curls, customarily worn by observant Jewish men. Jewish women, who often marry by 16, rarely leave home. When they do, like Muslim women, only their eyes are exposed.

It is bewildering to me when people question the need for a Jewish Homeland.  The Jews have been persecuted for centuries.  Since the Roman era diaspora.  Christian purges, Czarist pogroms, Islamic expulsions.  The Holocaust of Nazi Germany.  Jews are forever the scapegoat for the inadequacies, incompetence and criminal acts of the elite.

Yet, today, people question the need for a homeland wherein the Jews can defend themselves and live with dignity.  A place where the Jewish people can live without fear.  A place where a future as a Jew is possible.

Palestine is a fiction.  There was never a Palestine in history except as a Roman province.  The name itself comes from the Roman language.  The Romans dubbed the area Palestine as an affront to the Jews.  Palestine is the Roman transliteration of the word Philistine.  Thus, the Romans named the area once known as Judea after the ancient enemy of the Kingdom of Judea.  Jews have had a constant presence in the area for thousands of years.  They have been present in the Levant since the time of the ancient Kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia and the ancient Persian Kingdoms.  Alexander’s Generals and historians wrote of the Jews there.  The Romans conquered them there.

Then came the Muslim Empire.  The great and bloody Empire of Islam.

Islam conquered the area and forced mass conversion on the inhabitants of the region.  Well, technically the didn’t force conversion.  You had choices.  Flee.  Become a slave.  Pay a hefty tax called the Jizya.  To avoid all of these choices, one had merely to convert.  State three times the words “there is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his Prophet.” Yes, many people “chose” to convert to Islam.  And what a choice it was.

Today, all across the Muslim world, Jews are second or third class citizens.  They are treated poorly.  Subject to rules and regulations and the whims of a mostly illiterate populace.  Antisemitism is on the rise across the globe.  Especially in Europe and the Arab lands.

The Arabs like to say that Israel is a guilt price for the actions of Europe during World War II.

And perhaps there is some truth to that.

Even so, the Jews have paid their own blood price for that land.  When Israel declared independence in 1948, the Arabs attacked.  Killing thousands of Jews and proclaiming that they would drive the Jews into the sea.  The Jews fought back and held off that bloody calamity.  The Arabs maintained a steady war of attrition for the next 30 to 40 years.  Attacking at the borders.  Raiding across the border and murdering families and communities much like the bloodletting and rockets that the Palestinians and Hezbollah plan and execute today.  In 1956, 1967 and 1973, the various Arab factions have pursued outright war against Israel by closing the straits and bottlenecking the Red Sea, by bombarding the country with artillery and build ups on the borders of Israel and by outright attacking as Sadat did in the ‘73 October War.

Yet, through it all, Israel has survived.  They’ve had the assistance of the US at times.  Their enemies have also had assistance.  The Soviets paid for most of the militaries of Egypt and Syria.  The Army that attacked Israel in 1973 was “mentored” by Soviet “advisers.”  Soviet pilots were shot down in combat action in the ‘73 war.

These are things that the opponents of Israel will deny or claim inconsequential.

Israel has always existed in one form or another.  Most of the land that comprises Israel was owned by Jews in 1948.  This land was purchased from the Arabs who owned the land.  Most of the business in Israel in 1948 was Jewish owned.  The Arabs who lived in the area in 1948, moved there because of developments created by the Jewish immigrants to the area.

I have been to Israel.  What is striking about the region is that Israel is much like a mini-European country in a vast wasteland.  Exit Israel and enter Egypt or Jordan or Syria.  You enter a time warp.  As if traveling back to the Ottoman Empire.  If Israel were to fail as a nation, this is the same fate that awaits the land.  It will corrupt and fall into disuse and neglect.  This is why the Arabs want it?  The people of Israel took a barren wasteland and made it into a paradise.  The Arabs simply let the wasteland stand as it is.

I do not support the creation of a Palestinian State.  Never do I think this should happen.  A Palestinian State would be nothing more than another Islamic Despotism wherein the people are kept illiterate and a few corrupt leaders in the mold of Yassar Arafat will enrich themselves at the expense of  the masses.  The Arabs of Palestine would do better to make their own treaty.  Expel the thugs of the PLA, Hamas and FATAH and make their own treaty with Israel.  Create a non-religious state and live side by side with Israel in peace.  Either as an autonomous region or a City-State along the lines of the Vatican.  Live in peace with their neighbors and let religion be no issue at all.

Israel is the only beacon of light in the darkest region of the Planet.  In almost every country that claims Islam as it’s dominant religion, the people are merely slaves to the whims of despotism and tyranny.

Israel should be supported by all democracies and all liberal peoples.  The PLA and the other groups that keep this war going should be international pariahs.  Iran, Saudi Arabia and any other country who supports these groups should be ignored.

But, of course, oil makes that impossible.  America, China, Europe and India will kiss the feet of the Arab oil men of the Middle East and ignore the real injustice of the region.  And the despots of the Arab Nations will forever use Israel as the scapegoat for their corruption to avert the eyes of their illiterate masses away from the real enemies that are the leaders of their own nations.

Health Care, Socialism, Democracy and President Obama

Socialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with an egalitarian method of compensation. In Marxist theory, socialism is a transitional phase between capitalism and communism characterized by unequal distribution of wealth and compensation according to work done. [1][2][3] Contrary to popular belief, socialism is not a political system; it is an economic system distinct from capitalism.

Forerunners of communist ideas existed in antiquity and particularly in the 18th and early 19th century France, with thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the more radical Gracchus Babeuf. Radical egalitarianism then emerged as a significant political power in the first half of 19th century in Western Europe. In the world shaped by the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, the newly established political left included many various political and intellectual movements, which are the direct ancestors of today’s communism and socialism – these two then newly minted words were almost interchangeable at the time – and of anarchism or anarcho-communism.

Capitalism typically refers to an economic and social system in which the means of production (also known as capital) are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in new technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor.

Democracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed (direct democracy), or the power to do so is granted by them (as in representative democracy). The term is derived from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía (info)), “popular government”,[1] which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos), “people” and κράτος (krátos), meaning “power” in the middle of the fifth-fourth century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens following a popular uprising in 508 BC.[2]

In political theory, democracy describes a small number of related forms of government and also a political philosophy. Even though there is no specific, universally accepted definition of ‘democracy’,[3] there are two principles that any definition of democracy includes, equality and freedom.[4] These principles are reflected by all citizens being equal before the law, and having equal access to power.[5] Additionally, all citizens are able to enjoy legitimized freedoms and liberties, which are usually protected by a constitution.[6][7]

Technically, Obama was/is engaging in a socialist act when he purchased majority shares of several organizations (banks, car manufacturing, etc).  We shall see in due time whether that was a wise act or something less.  It may have been the action that put the economy back on chart.  It may have been wasted money.  Time will reveal it’s truths.

Many in America are comparing a Political Theory with an Economic Theory.  It’s apples and oranges.  One can be both Socialist and Democratic.  One can be both Capitalist and Democratic.  One can not be a pure Socialist and engage in Capitalism or vice versa.  Though China is proving that one can be both Communist and Capitalist right before our eyes or perhaps they are simply oligarchic capitalists.

When someone states that Obama is Socialist that does not preclude him from being Democratic in political system preference.

President Obama is more Socialist than say Forbes or Reagan (perhaps).  He’s no more Socialist than Bush in my opinion.  Bush approved/extended a few programs that many might consider Socialist and if he had been able to sit for a third term, I believe, he would have acted much as did Obama.

On the question of health care, The United States must care for it’s citizens in our post-Industrial age.  The economy and capitalism is not going to do this nor are they designed in theory to do so.  Companies are attempting to cut back on expenses to improve the bottom line.  Canceling health care benefits.  Canceling pensions.  And so on and so forth.  If the United States is going to be a Nation of values and humanity going forward, it must care for it’s citizens.  Health Care is an important part of that plan.  In my opinion.  If America is truly a Nation of, by and for the people, then Health Care is and must be a priority.

It will likely mean heavier taxes.  Personally, I think some of those taxes should come from the businesses that benefit from American Capitalism, the Federal Government and from our military protectionist adventures around the world.  Some must come from the citizens themselves.

Additionally, I think in order for citizens to qualify for said health care, they should be willing to serve in some capacity the country that provides these benefits and “entitlements.”  “To whom much is given, much is expected” after all.  Some want much and expect to give nothing in return.

Welfare as we know it should be heavily reformed as a means to cut spending.  To qualify for welfare, I believe, that one should show that one is working towards something such as higher education or some sort of self improvement.  Welfare should be a graduated system rather than an all or nothing system.  If recipients are not working towards some goal, they should be willing to work in some service category such as working for an NGO or volunteer work or community service of some sort.  I’m completely against giving anyone’s tax dollars away for nothing for all or a great many years of one’s life.  Disability and ill-health should be taken into consideration, of course.  I know too many people back home in Kentucky who have never worked a day in their trailer park livin’, mayonnaise sandwich eatin’ lives.  Yet, they sit and collect tax dollars in the form of food stamps and other forms of social services.  Some of these folks sell drugs on the side or engage in other illicit activity.  Many do not.

Corporate welfare and other handouts should face heavy scrutiny as well.  Why are we giving corporations and other entities these moneys or tax breaks.  Foreign aid and foreign military support should be scrutinized in the same manner.  Why do we still have forces in Europe?  Korea?  Japan?  It’s time to pull out of these places.  Those forces could be better deployed elsewhere or home.  Why are we funding despots when we should be pressuring them to reform.  If they haven’t reformed by now, it’s not going to happen in most cases.  We have carrots with no sticks following on.

Socialism and Democracy can co-exist and America has proven this to a more or less limited degree over the past 70 or so years.  Sweden is rated the most democratic country in the world according to the links below.  It also engages heavily in social welfare.  I don’t know if larger countries can maintain that same model.  But, perhaps, it is worth the chance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sweden

Suvarnabhumi Airport Opening Video (2005)

My gateway to Southeast Asia.

It’s the nicest, most organized Airport that I’ve experienced.  Easy in and easy out.

I don’t feel like I’m entering or leaving a Nazi concentration camp as when entering or exiting America.  There is organization and a flow to this airport that does not exist in any of the Muslim countries of the Middle East and Central Asia.  And unlike entering and exiting the Middle East there aren’t thousands with their hands out for tips and bribes.  It’s much less hectic than the European airports through which I’ve flown.

As soon as I touch down at Suvarnabhumi, a smile creeps onto my face and a lightness enters my step.  I’m happy.  I’m home.  I feel more at home in Bangkok than almost anywhere on this planet.

I am entering the land of smiles.  And the land of smiles is the gateway to the East.  The true east.  Not the dirty and violent Islamic Middle East.  This is the enchanted land of myth, silk, smiles and exotic Asian mysteries.  Angkor, Luang Prabang, Sukhothai, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Xi’an, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Mekong, Lhasa and Katmandu, the Taj Mahal and the Ganges.  Ancient histories.  A region shrouded in myst and legend.  The home of the the great conqueror Genghis Khan and the religion and philosophical enlightenment of the Buddha.

It’s also home to the most beautiful beaches and women in the world.

Every time I land at Suvarnabhumi International, these thoughts run through my head.  My next adventure awaits me.  I’ll swim the Mekong and climb the Great Wall.  Explore ancient temples or dance all night at RCA.

I love this place.  Thailand uber alles.

The Great Wall — Badaling

Becca, Sonya and Dave go to China.

We arrived in Beijing on the 2nd of November. The International Airport at Beijing was one of the easiest through which I have ever passed. Security was easy. The Chinese guards weren’t the most polite or happy looking folks with whom I had dealt in my travels,but, they were efficient. It was a hassle free exercise. We grabbed our bags downstairs and passed through the final customs guards. Continued on through the Airport and found our way to a Taxi stand. I had our Hotel Information handy. We grabbled a taxi and were on our way. Fairly easy.

I thought that China would be immensely difficult. Customs guards checking and cross checking. But no such thing. It seemed to me to be easier for me to pass through because I was American. This is a familiar phenomenon by now. And it makes sense. They know that we aren’t there to disappear into the back alleys and become illegal immigrants or join the criminal underground. The customs officials barely give Americans a second glance. On the way in.

One really cool thing about the Airport at Beijing is that they sell cell phone SIM cards right next to the baggage claim. You are immediately able to get in touch. I don’t know if we would have ever found our hotel if not for having purchased those SIM cards. Our taxi got lost on us. That was a debacle. lol But still good times. Who knows. He was probably scamming us.

We finally made it to our Hotel. The Jade Youth Hostel. I had picked that hotel because it was within about 15 minutes walk to the Forbidden City. One of my must see sites for this leg of my Asian Adventure. After checking in to the hostel, we dropped our bags and headed out to check out the town at night.

I had been in Southeast Asia for the past month and a half. I was used to hot weather, shorts and sun. I had like one pair of long pants with me and a couple of pair of shorts. That was it. No jacket and nothing warmer than a long sleeve t-shirt. That first night, the temp dropped in Beijing to the low 40s. I was freezing as was Becca. So we headed out to do some shopping. We each bought a fleece and I think Becca purchased a jacket.

While walking around near our hotel, we came upon a night market. Mostly food. We also hit a fairly large shopping area. Some clothing stores. Camera shops. They had some knock off cameras there. Nikon, Fuji, Olympus and Canon. There were all kinds of knick knack stores. And there was a really cool Tibetan shop selling Tibetan Buddhist religious items. Lots of t-shirt shops. We bought our Great Wall souvineer shirts here. Becca and I stocked up on some Christmas gifts here later.

Like the goofy Americans we are, we wound up eating at a McDonalds. One of the neatest sites of the night was a Lebron James billboard that stretched across a city block. Lebron is BIG in Beijing. I hear he is big all across China.

After eating, we head back to the hotel. We have a couple of beers and then head back up to the rooms to sleep. The one thing you immediately notice about China is that customer service is not important. It’s almost like you are bugging them when you ask for a service of some sort. You have to develop a relationship with them to make things go smoother. I joked and flirted with all of the girls. it always seems to work for me. It is of no use to become agitated or upset over the lack of customer service. I witnessed an elderly American couple get pretty irate with the reception desk girls. They just froze and nothing was accomplished except to make the couple even more upset. It’s better to smile and find a way to solve the problem. Once we started talking, we could usually find a happy resolution to most of our problems and challenges.

The next day [3 November], we get up and explore the Forbidden City. I had read that there was a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. Not true. Too bad. I was looking forward to buying a double mocha and drinking it there. I’ll talk more about this later on and post some pics.

That day, Sonya arrived from Kyrgyzstan. She and I had been talking for a while. I had met her at Bagram Air Field and then spent three really nice days with her in Bishkek in the Kyrgyz Republic about a year earlier. Sonya is originally from South Korea. Her mother had moved her and her sister to Bishkek so that they could go to school. Sonya learned Russian, Kyrgyz and English. Her little sister was in China learning Chinese. Both of these extraordinary girls and their brave Mother all speak three and four languages.

Earlier in the day [3 November], Becca and I explored the Forbidden City. It was magnificent. Like I said, more on that later. That night. I went back to the Airport and met Sonya. Now that Sonya had arrived, it was time to head out to the Great Wall. Sonya, Becca and I booked a tour from the Jade Hostel to see the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall the next day.  Badaling is one piece to the defense system that was the Great Wall. It is actually a series of  fortresses. These “walls” guard passes that allow access to China from the Mongolian steppes and other areas where threats to China existed. Obviously, they didn’t work. The Mongols conquered China anyway. And the world hasn’t been the same since. Badaling is one such stretch of wall. It’s the tourist wall. It’s been restored and is well maintained. Millions come to visit the Wall every year. Not just foreign tourists like me but many Chinese as well. Even so, remember to bring your own toilet paper. lol

Ming Tombs included it probably took three or four hours to get to the Great Wall. I felt like a little kid approaching Disney World driving up to the Wall. I’ve read about this place my whole life. I’ve heard stories about it. I’ve seen pictures of it. None of these things begins to describe the Wall. It’s massive. It’s ancient. It’s a work of engineering art. And it runs long and high into the mountains. See the pictures below.

The wall runs in a semi-circle. Our tour guide dropped us at the beginning of the wall and gave us a brief description of the trek we were about to make. He told us that we could walk the whole thing if we desired to do so or climb to the certificate point and turn around. I had no choice. I had to get to the top. About half way up, I started to doubt the wisdom of that decision. I was dying. lol I was actually about to say to hell with it when an elderly Chinese lady passed me. That was my “AW, HELL NO!” moment. I made it from end to end. i was dead and my legs were about to fall off. Ultimately, you get up so high that the air is thinned out. I was half running up the stairs and half walking. So I was getting out of breath. Eventually, I slowed down. The girls were pretty far behind me. So I would run up a bit. Wait for them. Sometimes, we’d stop and have a drink or take some pictures together. We had fun. They looked miserable some of the time, though. I didn’t tell them climbing up was kicking my butt as well until the next day. So I kept laughing at them.

The experience of the Great Wall is incredible. You are walking across the ages. Walking across history. The Chinese were “civilized” while Europe was living in forests and caves. Always at sites like these, I can feel the humanity that has come before me. It makes me feel a party to their history.

The wall is a series of stairs and runways and causeways that stretch on and on and up and up. I’m not sure how long it is. But it must extend for at least a mile. Probably more. Much of the stairs are virtually straight up. 90 degree angle. Then there are stretches of ramp and some parts level out. You can see in the pictures below. When you reach the top, you are over a thousand feet above sea level. You are in the mountains. For the most part, you are above the mountains.

I had conquered the Great Wall at Badaling. But the wall had conquered me as well. lol The next day, I had to hold the hand rails on stairs to keep myself from falling. It was a challenging climb to say the least. But I loved it. And it is exhilarating to make it to the top. You arrive there exhausted and completely satisfied. Everything else in China was bonus after the Great Wall.

Free Tibet Now!!!

Tibetans and their supporters are on the move throughout the free world. It’s the perfect time to move against the communist human rights violating monolith that is China.

China . The Host of the 2008 Summer Olympics. It’s sacrilege. The Olympics are supposed to be symbolic of peace,cooperation and harmony among nations. Amongst peoples. China, the megalithic Communist Monster. China the world devourer. China of Tienanmen Square fame–Tanks to squash a student protest. China who allowed millions to perish so that a few well fed maniacal murderers could retain power. China. Led for nearly 3 decades by Mao Zedong. The greatest mass murderer to walk the earth. The man who oversaw the murder of 70 Million Chinese so that he could frighten the rest into obeisance. Mao Zedong.

In 1950, China invaded Tibet. Extending the Maoist carnage and murder spree into the worlds most peaceful province. China rolled into Tibet and commenced to torturing and murdering Monks and ordinary citizens in the thousands and hundreds of thousands.

Why did Mao want Tibet? What was his claim?

It was simply a matter of Chinese prestige. Mao thought that all of the peoples of the area should have the opportunity to be murdered in his evil grasp and under his failed leadership.

In 1246, a Mongolian annexed Tibet into the greater Mongolian Empire. That Mongol Ruler was Khubalai Khan. Great Grandson of Genghis Khan. Khubalai Khan eventually conquered and united what we know today as China. This is the first instance in history of a united China. Khubalai founded the Yuan Dynasty. This is considered the first Dynasty of modern China. The China that we know today.

The China we know today was created by a Mongolian. Don’t tell the Chinese this. For some reason, it angers them. They see the Mongols as a primitive people. But it took a Mongol Emperor to bring China together. it was a Mongol Emperor who first brought Tibet into the Chinese sphere of influence.

China’s claim to Tibet is as ridiculous as a Mongolian claim to China.

China has brought herself these troubles. The Chinese want to join the Global scene as a full and respected partner. Yet, they still want to carry on as belligerent neighbors. Taiwan is another example of Chinese over-reaching and trouble making. Taiwan is a separate nation. Yet, China continues to want to claim it as part of mainland China. China wants a peaceful partnership with the free world. BUT they don’t want to be held to the standard of peaceful nations. China wants to make money off the West even as they terrify and cow their own citizens. Even as they deny many of their citizens basic human rights.

The Taiwanese have built a country based on capitalism and free markets. It’s people were thriving even as Mao was murdering millions in his failed Cultural experiments (revolutions). Yet, China demands the right to rule over the island nation as if China were the author of Taiwan’s successes.

Now that the Olympics have given the enemies of China a world wide forum, expect the Tibetans and other groups to surface. As the Olympics draw closer, it will be more and more difficult for China and the governments of the participating nations to ignore their demands.

Tibet has international support. I’m interested to see where the pressure on China leads. Will China react as they have in the past with violence and severe punishments? Will they cave to international pressure? Will China be forced to stop murdering innocent folks for the crime of desiring freedom and liberty? Will the world stand up and be counted? Or will the same eyes which refused to see the genocide in Darfur be willfully blind still?

Will Tibet finally gain their independence or at least autonomy? Or will Chinese hypocrisy and murder be rewarded yet again by it’s eager accomplices in the West?

Of course, we all want our cheap electronics, tennis shoes and t-shirts from Walmart via cheap Chinese labor. Therefore, the chances of China being held to any real standard of human rights is slim to non-existant. It’s the same with oil. We want our cheap products. And Hell! We’re free. We have our liberty. Why should anyone care about those damn Chinese or Tibetans? Or anyone else for that matter.

I’ve met a few Tibetans along the path of my life. They have always been nice, peaceful people. Exactly what you would expect. As if each Tibetan were an emissary of the Dalai Lama himself. Poised. Perfectly composed. Even when the subject of the mighty Dragon arose.

Peace.

Questions or Comments are always welcome.