Catch Up on Posts 6 Dec 2009

From Denny: This week at least I loaded the stories I wanted to post about, then finally got the time this weekend to finish writing and post them!

Dennys Global Politics:

Assassins Security Recipe For Disaster: Obama State Dinner - Then the worst scenario of all: A well-trained or motivated assassin could have cleaned house on the top tier of our government - President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and Chief of Staff. That would have left us with Senator Pro-tem, Senator Byrd from West Virginia to run the country, an aging 90 years plus man in poor health.

Obamas Unwelcome Afghan Strategy, Reactions and a Lame Congress - Republicans complained about Obama not wanting to continue the war indefinitely while Democrats worry about the cost of a protracted war, circulating the lame idea of a war tax to fund the recent surge on an already burdened depressed economy.

Prez Obama Lays Out Bleak New Afghanistan Strategy - "And Karzai is a sorry excuse for what passes for good government. What started out with great promise years ago has become a farce. He now looks like a bejeweled weasel sitting on a pile of gold: American foreign aid money."

UKs Brown Overlooks Slain Soldiers: Again

Obama Family Lights National Christmas Tree of Hope

Obama Doing His Positive Affirmations: Hosts Jobs Summit

Pakistan Unknown Heroes Work to Defend Country Against Taliban

Iran Jails Irani-American Woman Protesting Elections - An Iranian-American female grad student went to Iran to study and document women's issues in Iran. That didn't sit well with the local government soon after she arrived and they threw her into jail.

Funny Miss Speak Known as Malapropisms

Latest Political Foibles - Editorial Cartoons 5 Dec 2009



Photo by Sister72 @ flickr

The Healing Waters

Good News: Soup Kitchen Chef Raises Standard of Giving

Good News: Building Low Cost Homes AND Reducing Trash Footprint

Funny Christmas and Santa Cartoons

Congress Overrides Bad Breast Cancer Guidelines in New Health Bill

Hunger in America Reminder This Holiday Season - America's dirty little secret.

Good News: Salvation Army Donation Bucket Literally Hits Gold This Holiday Season



The Social Poets:

Roundup of Sunday Funnies 30 Nov 2009

Catch Up on Funny Posts at Dennys Funny Quotes 1 Dec 2009

Funny Malapropisms - Cheeky Quote Day! 2 Dec 2009

Popular Posts 2009 and Thank You: The Social Poets

Life is About Everything - Libations Friday! 4 Dec 2009

Editorial Cartoons 5 Dec 2009

The Soul Calendar:

Mount Everest Glaciers Melting Worry Half a Billion People: Fresh Drinking Water

Melting Himalayan Ice Threatens Half a Billion in India, China and Southeast Asia

Check Out Cosmic Generator Producing Energy at Rate of 100K Suns

Slamming Low-Ride Satellite Maps Earths Magnetic Field

*** Thanks for visiting - and these Christmas holiday animations and clip art are FREE for use on your blogs or sites!

Busy Week in World Politics Challenging Governments

Image via Wikipedia

Update, 9 AM: I come back a few hours after writing this post at 4 AM and what do I find for an ad by Google? Condoms by Trojan! Apologies to anyone who may be offended.

Actually, it made me laugh as it was a precursor to the "Richard Craniums" running the Iranian regime in the news story below. Gee, if I had known that Google would oblige me with a flashing ad I wouldn't have bothered to look around for a photo to include on the post! :) Richard Craniums? Polite, amusing term for the obvious... a girl has to keep her General Audiences rating.

From Denny: There has been a lot of political unrest around the globe this week, focused in the Middle East and Asia. Here are the latest developments.

Iran: Iran' opposition has been asking for help from the ruling council to deal with the Supreme Leader's decisions. Seems they are making headway as the Council has fractured in its unity, even to the point of declaring their views publicly, a bold move in a harsh regime of which they have helped build. Even they are beginning to wonder how they enabled this imbalance.

Of course, the government is not without it's pushback. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has cracked down on the protestors to prove who's boss. They managed to scare off the thousands of protestors who dwindled down to a handful of a few hundred. The Guard also knocked on protestors' doors in the middle of the night, drug them out, imprisoned them without recourse or notification to families and tortured them while in custody.

Well, news of the torture ticked off the public sentiment to a new outrage high. So the Supreme Leader figured he was magnamimous by letting go 140 protestors of the thousands he rounded up. The public outrage clearly unnerved the Supreme Leader and the Council to fear for their own lives.

The government has swung back to the stupid meter area and decided to begin its first trials of the protestors they still have in custody. They wrung false recorded and televised confessions out of tortured imprisoned protestors and then let that group go "free" in the hopes of killing the opposition movement. All it did was fuel the fire in the whole country. With the trials coming up we can only imagine the coming developments in this now volatile situation.

This week the opposition movement did try to mourn the militia attacked woman who was killed during the first week of protests, Neva. The harsh hard line Revolutionary Guard broke up that demonstration. The opposition continues to find new ways - and excuses - for being out in public to protest, any anniversary will do. You have to admire their resiliency and determination against a proven brutal oppressive government that desires to grab all power at any cost.

The protestors have been successful at cracking the unity of the Council, caused the country to doubt the once infallible Supreme Leader and showcased the very reasons why its important to separate church and state when it comes to a national government: so no one can grab absolute power and wield it without question.

This week begins the protestors' trials - now labeled rioters by the government - on charges of "rioting and conspiring against the ruling system." We all can accurately predict the negative outcome of this rigged dog and pony show for television. The government wants the Iranian people to watch their government in action, not to prove how fair they are but rather to prove without a shadow of a doubt they have complete control over the quality of - and future of - every citizen's life. They hope to strike fear into everyone's heart, rounding up the anger, turning it into fear and respect and return to the way things used to be. That will never happen, not after so much abuse has happened. Stay tuned and expect interesting developments.

Malaysia: Just minutes ago there is rioting in Kuala Lumpur against the Internal Security Act. It was originally enacted during the British colonial era to guard national security. However, the protestors maintain that since that time, successive governments have used it to jail government critics and muzzle dissent.

Sounds like their current government is going the way of the Bush grab for absolute power too by enforcing this Act, not a pretty imitation either. The people are protesting the government's supreme ability to flex its muscles any time - which allows the imprisonment of people regarded as security threats, no questions asked.

That's how it started in Iran. That's how it started here in America and we still have our own political prisoners eight years later in legal limbo because we don't have enough evidence to charge and try them in closed or open court. Going down this road is a real mess and Malaysia continues to step squarely into the same stink. What has changed is the people's position and the desire to do something about this old law.

The protestors call themselves the Reformasi and by several news accounts they are about 20,000 strong today. The riot police used not only tear gas but also chemical-laden water to disperse the crowds. So far about 150 - 200 people have been detained by police since the protests began - by both the opposition and police accounts. "Undermining public peace" is the official reason the Prime Minister gives for not allowing the protests and giving police permission for a brutal crackdown.

Over the years small human rights groups within the country have challenged this law but never drawn the protest level until today when opposition parties' leaders sent out a call to their supporters to come out in force and the people responded forcefully.



Malaysia, Middle East, Iran, Kuala Lumpur, Breaking News, Prime Minister, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Society and Culture, international politics, protestors, Supreme Leader

Politics: FINALLY! House Votes to Restrict Wall Street Bonuses

CEO Looking a Little Nervous...? WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 9: Former Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron (L) adjusts his tie while testifying with former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd (R), and fromer Fannie Mae CEO Harold Raines (C) before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a hearing on "The Role of Fannie and Freddie Mac in the Financial Crisis" on Capitol Hill December 9, 2008 in Washington, DC. The hearing focused on the financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, their takeover by the federal government, and their role in the ongoing financial crisis.Image by Getty Images via Daylife

From Denny: This just in from the Friday afternoon news cycle... Congress knows the public is seriously ticked off about the greed on Wall Street. They took advantage of us from the TARP money that was supposed to keep them afloat and the economy from tanking as the conventional wisdom went. When I first heard of it when Bush was on his way out of office I knew it was the Republican's last parting shot of "screw over the public" yet one more time "because we can." So, they did.

All they did with the TARP money was bonus themselves and continue greedy unwise short-term vision business as usual. Big business is now feeing their customers into the poor house as a result of feeling free enough to play with taxpayer money. The big banks, even Royal Bank of Scotland who got money from two countries - United States AND United Kingdom - decided to use their bail-out money to enhance their profit bottom line for the quarter. They even publicly said they saw no reason to start lending out the money to the public they were given for that express purpose.

What was voted upon and passed in the House by a 235 - 135 margin just minutes ago was a measure to prohibit pay and bonus packages that encourage big risks by bankers and traders, the kind of risks that can take down the economy like a house of cheap cards.

Just yesterday these big banks have bonused over $1 million to over 5,000 employees with the public money of billions. Voters are outraged. Europe and other investors outside America have called for this kind of reform for decades. They thought it was unbridled greed a long time ago and advised Bush and Cheney to do something about it. Of course, Bush and Cheney foolishly refused. What did you expect? You put two greedy American former CEO's - Bush who had bankrupted no less than eight companies - in charge of the candy store with a country's treasury and you think they would not go wild? Come on. They now had something to trade for big bucks to keep them in power: public funds.

Get this: even though House Republicans are fully aware of voter outrage, they still chose to dance to their lobbyist masters and vote AGAINST the measure. Unbelievable. Their sorry excuse of a claim? They weakly offered up, "Severe restrictions should apply only to banks that accept government aid."

So just what is the legislation banning in regard to risky compensation? This will apply to any firm with $1 billion in assests. That would include bank holding companies, broker-dealers, credit unions, investment advisors, and mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Prospects in the Senate are uncertain for this bill. You might want to start haranguing your Senators into voting for this bill now. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to take up this bill in the coming weeks after recess. It will be part of broader bill overhauling financial regulations.

What suggestions did President Obama ask to be included in this bill?

* shareholders get a nonbinding vote on compensation packages.

* prohibit members of compensation committees from having financial ties to the company and its executives (you know like Bush and Cheney did to Haliburton and others)

Finally, Congress is bowing to public pressure to deal with corporate greed. This is a good first step. The Senate had better get on board and sail this measure right on through or there will be a rush to "throw the bums out" come election time, and, these are the midterm elections coming up this November. Use your vote wisely.




Royal Bank of Scotland, big business, Wall Street, Republican Party, Dick Cheney, United States, Bank, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Business, Fannie Mae, Barack Obama, Freddie Mac, politics, big business

Video: Why Did 168 People Die in Iran Plane Crash?

From Denny: If you haven't already heard of this sad news... a Soviet made plane has crashed in Iran and all 168 people are dead. Complete confirmation may take days.

It does cause us to take pause and ask a few questions: Was someone targeted on that plane and innocent travelers died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Or was it a case of metal fatigue as the old Soviet air fleet is not exactly known for its standard of excellence in the area of maintenance. Metal fatigue comes about when the plane is constantly pressurized and then de-pressurized, causing the metal skin to expand and contract thousands of times. Sooner or later it loses its ability to do so without consequences.

Since the plane crashed in a part of the world that does not allow true investigation and professionals into their country to help them solve the problem we may never know the truth of why this plane crashed.





Breaking News, CNN, international politics, investigations, Iran, metal fatigue

Iran Headlines 23 June 2009

Obama: World 'appalled' by Iran violence

Feared Basij militia has deep history in Iranian conflict

Iran expels 2 British diplomats, refuses new vote

Gauging Reaction Across Europe to Iran's Protests



Twitter Revolution: Role of Twitter in Iranian protests catches the eye of the Pentagon

3 Kinds of Men to Honor

Peace sign Photo by Steve Rhodes @ flickr

COURAGEOUS

Today is Father’s Day on the calendar and I will be thinking of them throughout this week, we choose this day to honor the good examples of quality men who have influenced our lives beneficially. Most people reflect upon a father, a brother, an uncle, a grandfather, a husband, a good and trusted friend, even a mentor.



Neda killed by the police - Photo by Steve Rhodes @ flickr

Iran Protestors

Considering the political unrest in Iran going on I reflected upon the good men in Iran. These are men who are standing up against injustice and working toward a quality and trustworthy government, willing to give their lives in that pursuit. As a woman, and knowing the negatives in their harsh culture, what has impressed me the most about the male protestors was their willingness to march along side the women (termed the Lipstick Revolution). They also are willing to advance women’s rights.

Even more so, in a public demonstration, they have chosen to go to the defense of women that are strangers to them and not family related. In other words, they choose to be compassionate for the literally downtrodden, for the current harsh regime has ordered their police to target the women first and beat them savagely, kill them as well.

There have been video and cell phone photos released of men running to aid the women as they died. Now that’s a class act and certainly touches my heart for their public courage risks their own lives and that of their families. Yet, they chose to be heroes because someone was vulnerable and in need.



Soldier with peace symbol in hand Photo by Jayel Aheram @ flickr

Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

I think of our American troops in this protracted war the public wants us to end and how this too long of a stressor has taken a huge toll. Suicides are way up the past year from returning troops and those still in the field. PTSD is rampant and difficult to treat. These men (and women) are someone’s parent, spouse, brother (or sister), uncle (or aunt), best friend and mentor.

They also deserve our thoughts and prayers to sustain them during their tough life test. Spiritual testing is often longer than we think we can endure yet eventually we come out on the other side. These troops have the courage to go on when they think they cannot move another step and yet they move forward anyway. Human beings really are not hard-wired for long-term stressful situations like war.



Contemplation Photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr

COMPASSIONATE

Today I also reflect upon a wonderful European friend I met while on my travels a decade ago. He is a Carmelite monk by the name of Brother Peter in Austria. What is unique about him is that he works tirelessly with the folks who fall between the cracks of the social network be they refugees (Islamic or Christian) or locals who can’t pay the rent because the husband has a gambling problem. Most of all he spends intensive hours battling the severe rampant depression of suicidal people in his area. He works without notice for what will not bring him status or riches in the world.

Brother Peter is joined with the local Jewish community to help reestablish the Jewish population in Austria that was decimated during WWII and works toward improving Christian and Jewish relations. He is a humble man, a kind man, a sincere man. Most of all he is a loving man like the true Jesus he follows.

I’ve always had a soft spot for monks. They are the global intercessors for Peace. They pray FOR people of all races, religions and misunderstanding - not AGAINST them. As an intercessor I can relate to my Carmelite monk friends and well understand the importance of their life long mission.

Brother Peter had a birthday in April but somehow Father’s Day seemed more appropriate a day to honor his service to others. The man would make a great Pope as he definitely has a heart for the people. I count him a treasured friend!



Father and infant son asleep Photo by *clairity* @ flickr

NURTURING

Recently, I happened upon a new blog by a father of ten children. What a treat! The Mommy blogs are popular and prolific, many a delight to read. This blog is a unique perspective from the dad, one with a huge brood of children. Take a look at his amusing and clever blog post that was published in a local newspaper: Father of 10 Turns Bathtime into a Career.

While I could go on with many other wonderful examples like my cool paternal grandfather whose spiritual legacy I carry with delight, a Taoist spiritual master in Taiwan where in his culture they never trained women, especially teenage Americans - he proclaimed me his student of a lifetime, quite an honor - and the tough guy military mentors I had growing up – the kind that don’t like women but took a shine to me, adored my hutzpah and chose to train me in the unorthodox, hence, the name “Warriors’ Pearl,” I’ll save those stories for another time. Know that you are all in my heart as treasures…

Why President Obama is Smart in Low-Key Iran Response

Photo of Iran Protest Poster by Gary Burge @ flickr

From Denny: Where do I begin? America has a long smutty history of over-involvement with Iran, like over-throwing their government in the past (1954) and installing our own puppet. That’s the big rub with the people of Iran against America. I doubt any American would appreciate an outside power coming here and suddenly telling us we were now going to do things their way or die.

Of course, around here all the yahoos with gun collections and ammunition shops would be out for blood to overthrow the oppressors. If such a dire situation came to America count me out there at the "tip of the spear" with the yahoos. Someone has to organize them and create a smarter idea and winning strategy than just charging down the hill at the opposition. :)

Presidential Timing

The President must remain low-key in his public response for the time being – until the Iranian regime begins the harsh crackdown. THEN you issue the public response to THEIR wrong-doing. For now it is best to work behind the scenes to help the opposition. One of my favorites was our government asking Twitter to move their 2 AM site maintenance to 2 PM our time so the Iranian protestors could have viable communication. Now that was smart!



Photo of harsh regime developing nuclear power by azrainman @ flickr

Wisdom vs. Missteps

There is a wise process of steps in this dance where one step must occur in proper order before the next step. The (Bush-Cheney-Rove) Republicans are notorious for missteps - and wrongly-timed steps - both in foreign policy and domestic issues.

Right now the (American) Republicans are pressing Obama to get public and spout their style of idiot irresponsible and damaging rhetoric. They hope to accomplish two things: one, to reassert Republican dominance (a legend in their own minds) and two, to get Obama’s words to backfire on himself (the Republicans are legendary on the forked tongue blowback).

The situation in Iran is going to continue to foment until the current regime backs off and gets smart (which, of course, dictators rarely do). If they had an ounce of sense they would do a vote re-count, allow Moussavi (pronounced Moose-ah-vee) to come into power and then order him around like they do the current puppet. But no one said these guys are smart or wise.

Why a Low-Key Obama Response

Why does Obama need to remain low-key on his response? Here’s why: If America is perceived as meddling even a little bit publicly it can touch off a firestorm in Iran and throughout the Middle East. What firestorm? The firestorm of unity is where the Iranians will forget all about their rage against the current dictator and rally against America, an historical outside threat. Pretty much the idea of “we hate him but you can’t tell us what to do.” People always rally around their own as opposed to an outside culture no matter how odious their own leaders prove to be. The President avoids that scenario coming into mob reality if he remains quiet or tepid in response.

Foolish Analysts Get People Killed

Too many analysts, politicians and American media complain that President Obama is missing a golden moment to stand up for America. They also complain he is not vocal enough to declare America’s opinion, like that really matters to the world. These analysts and Republican politicians seem to be oblivious to the fact that this current Iranian Revolution is not "all about us" (America).

Too many of these so-called "analysts" have no people skills, don't even like other people and really don't care about other people. The end result is that their oracle predictions and strategies are always wrong. If you don't like or care about other people then you are too immature and incapable of understanding them from the inside out to accurately predict their actions.

As usual, most of the media guys are trying to look at a foreign country through the limited prism of the American mindset that doesn't study world history; we don't even read or study our own young country's history. I call it clueless. We think by reciting a series of concrete separate but related events constitutes critical thinking and understanding of the evolving and long-term situation. Real life cannot be reduced to 10 second sound-bites for the headlines and the cameras.



Photo of injured protestor by .faramarz @ flickr

The Protestors' Accomplishments and Strategy

The protestors in Iran are fully aware this is their moment, not anyone else’s. They are also aware they must press on, even through a violent crackdown. To stand down now ensures their deaths and imprisonments. To press forward with their demands - and challenging the dictator – will actually save more lives in the long run.

By pressing on with the protests in a protracted manner they are wearing down the dictator, the Guardian Council and the Republican Guard. For every day the protestors continue in their fight for vote count and more, they psychologically wear on the regime participants. The longer it goes on the more the regime folks will suddenly realize it is really their lives that hang in the balance. There are cracks in the regime’s alliances; that much has been achieved in only a week of protests. What more can be achieved if they fight on?

How Do We Best Support the Protestors?

The best support we can give them from America is through grassroots venues like blogging and IT help to get their message out. Let the official governments tone it down. We want to hear the voices of the people for they are the ones who have been wronged.

The reason the protestors hold up signs in English is that they want us to know what is happening. They want our support in the way of the notice of witnessing their trial. They aren't interested in what we have to say as much as they want us to pay attention to the new way of over-throwing a bad government: regime change from within, preferably through a democratic vote rather than the old ways of imperial governments to do the work for them, then installing foreign-friendly puppet governments. Basically, if it's going to be a puppet government then it will be one of our own choosing.

Tell the Media & Political Opportunists to Stand Down: Causing More Harm than Good

It's time the political attitude and the media "grow up" in America. Quit measuring another country's progress against the American standard. It's like comparing apples and oranges; some things never correlate.

Acquire the common sense - and wisdom - to know you can only compare the Iranians against the Iranians. Compare their progress today with what happened a decade ago with another generation. Compare their progress today against what today's generation is doing. Quit trying to predict "the point spread" like it's a sports game. This is no game but rather real life in motion. These are real living breathing people - not statistics to enhance your bonus money for your paycheck.

Political Change and Progress in Iran

Change in Iran and other similar Islamic republics will be small and incremental. It will not be change American style. It’s time America, the politicians and the media of self-important attitudes trying to call this political unrest like it is a sporting event get responsible, knowing thousands of lives are at stake. Wake up and accept that Iran is not America and may never be.

Written by Denny Lyon

The Latest on the Iran Protests

Image by youngrobv (Rob & Ale) via Flickr

From Denny: Here's a great link to a story over at CNN about understanding the scope of the protests in Iran with a question and answer format discussing the political history that led up to today's present unrest - definitely 30 years in the making.

Iran 101: Understanding the Unrest

Iran's unrest has sparked global protests. Here's CNN's photo gallery link. (Two of the photos are graphic - just so you know...
Photos #8 and #11 depict bleeding people wounded by the police crackdown. #8 shows a man's face covered in blood - a bit sickening. #11 is a man's elbow bleeding. Other than that the photos depict the huge rallies.) I like the photo that shows a protestor holding up the sign, "Where's my vote?"

Here's a cool CNN video about how Moussavi's wife has emerged as Iran's version of our Michele Obama. Women are increasingly at the forefront involved in the protests. Toward the end of the video is where Ahmadinajed lies (again, what a surprise...) to Moussavi about Moussavi's wife's credentials to teach. The look on Moussavi's face says he'd like to rip the guy's face off but can't in that government repressive atmosphere if he wants to stay alive and fight another day. Take a look!

If video does not show (as it did not in the preview for posting, here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/06/17/dcl.costello.iran.women.cnn

Save Lives in Iran: Blog About Their Situation

Photo by .faramarz @ flickr

From Denny: Save lives in Iran! It's important to keep up the international pressure. Keep the glaring public spotlight on these despicable leaders in Iran. If we don't blog about this people will die: the opposition leader and his main supporters. It's only a matter of time before they are imprisoned or worse.

As fellow bloggers you can get the word out since the mainstream media no longer can. Make your words count and you can save lives. As an American I've lived in third world countries with cavalier governments like this. I know how quickly what you think is your life can turn on a dime.

Write posts about the current situation in Iran. Already, with media pressure, there has been some movement by the government. If nothing else, their insincere public words of promised limited election investigation, are a sign they have stalled at killing the opposition leader - for now.

Get out there in the blogosphere and live out loud! The people of Iran need us to speak out for them since our international media got kicked out of the country. The government has begun its lockdown mindset. Bloggers have succeeded before; we can succeed now!

Feel free to go to the article link reposted below, quote it or this post, put the article or this post up on social sites. Put a fire under fellow bloggers to shout out to help protect lives in Iran!



Let me know when you make a post for change in Iran and I'll put it up here in a links box on the sidebar as well as support you on social sites. We have to do something and writing is what we do. Opinions count; make your voice heard around the world!

Thanks for visiting! Getting off my soapbox for now... :)

Update: BTW, here's Change_for_Iran @ Twitter, written in English, with over 21,000 followers. Twitter was asked by the U.S. gov't not to go down for maintenance as the Iranis are using Twitter to communicate among themselves. This Twitter stream reads like a the military out in the field coordinating efforts! Wow!

Dishonor: Cheated Election Results in Iran: "The current Iranian leaders of Ahmadinejad, the harsh petty clerics and this fearful politically foolish Supreme Leader all have deluded themselves into the belief they can squash dissent and control the populace. Good luck; it will never succeed.

When the will of the people is so cruelly oppressed for decades like in Iran then it will develop a more violent outlet. If Iran continues on this North Korean style track of cavalier “leadership” they will find themselves looking down the barrel of an assassin’s gun. It will be a homegrown domestic terrorist hell bent on freeing their country of tyranny."

By Denny Lyon @ HubPages