Towards a global perspective . . .

Last night I spent the night in Dubai, in a small, out of the way hotel, between flights.   The airport is spectacular, but was empty when arrived at 7:30 PM, and busy but not crowded when I arrived at 6:00 AM to leave.  On the way out, you have to walk through a huge Duty Free Mall decorated with signs telling you it is cool to shop.     When I went out to get a Taxi to my hotel, I was immediately waved in the direction of a woman in a pink abaya, who was driving a pink cab.   Apparently they have a woman’s taxi service for other women there, like the one in Tehran.   I have to say that it was a very non-threatening experience, and given the opportunity, I would choose a woman’s cab again.    I didn’t see much else because it was night and I was exhausted.
On the plane, I had the good fortune to be seated with an Iraqi woman from the US.  She married one of the CPT members who was in Iraq when the war began, and is now living outside San Francisco with her husband, and working as a Civil Engineer.   Amal is here on her way to visit her mother in Baghdad.   It’s been a stressful day for her, and plans were difficult to achieve, but she finally got it together with some help from Abu Abdul, the hotel owner/manager.  She will be leaving in a car during the night to make the 10 hour trip.   She’s done it several times before, and says that’s the way it is done.   I hope she has a safe trip.   When my hotel fell through, I followed her to hers, and our paths have been criss crossing all day.  We had dinner together this evening, and have exchanged email addresses.

Read the rest of this entry »

Emirates airlines provided an assortment of free newspapers to passengers.  Perusing my copy of GULF NEWS  (May 23rd Issue) I noted a few interesting stories I hadn’t seen in the US Press.

On the front page, there was:
US Aid to Lebanon Hinges on Results
It is all over the Middle East news that the US is meddling in the upcoming Lebanese election.    The threat is, if they don’t elect our guys, we won’t keep giving them money.  Duh!   Of course we aren’t going to give military aid to a government dominated by Hezbollah.   You don’t need biweekly visits from high level officials to make that point.   And, since the people at large aren’t benefiting from our money anyway, maybe it’s just as well.

Then, a little further on there was:
New York group ruthless but Amateur
According to this article, the devastating plot by US based terrorists to blow up Jewish synagogues and fire a sophisticated anti-aircraft rocket at a military target was planned by a group of semi-literate men with serious psychiatric problems, drug problems and other deficiencies.    According to the article in the Gulf Times, one suspect is illiterate and schizophrenic, another smoked some dope in preparation for launching the operation, and the other was dressed like an adolescent gang-banger (he is 28).    The article refers to them as “certainly not adroit enough to realize an FBI informant had been leading them around by the nose.”    One has to wonder what the FBI and the CIA and the New York City police are willing to do for a little publicity.   We might also wonder when the New York Times will get around to mentioning it.

And finally:
White House Launches Open Government Plan
How come I never heard about this before?  Apparently, the Obama Administration is going to create an informational website where information on the environment, healthcare and economics will be available to ordinary citizens.  The documents will be posted on a website called Data.gov to give the public a “chance to access raw data and transform it in innovative ways” according to Peter Orszag, director of Management and Budget.  There will also be a place to give your opinion and present your ideas for better solutions.  This is advertised as transparency, but the level of transparency depends on the nature of the documents posted.   On the other hand, a national Suggestion Box might be empowering.

President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netenyahu earlier this week.    Since then, I have notice a buzz in the American Press about restarting the Peace Process between Israel and Palestine.   I also read that Netenyahu is going to restart a rapproachment to peace with Syria.   These statements are vacuous and misleading.   If this is the best Obama can do, then he is in serious trouble.   No risk.  No gain.   The Netanyahu government in Israel is extremely dangerous, and ought to be put in it’s place now.     Accepting their disingenous and disrespectful manner now, can only lead to more disrespect in the future.   Obama ought to be smarter than that.

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t often listen to conservative news talk such as that aired on FOX News and some shows on CNN.   However, outtakes I heard yesterday, were truly disturbing.   Newscasters and pundits were making offensive comments about Nancy Pelosi.   They called her an ‘old hag’, and ‘ugly’, made a  series of rude remarks about botox and plastic surgery.   Personally, I’m not real happy with Congress Woman Pelosi at the moment.   However, the kind of personal remarks being aired, and the vicious attacks on her appearance were not just an insult to Nancy Pelosi, but an offense to all women.

Read the rest of this entry »

The following is from a clip from Al Iraqiya News in Baghdad.  Al Iraqiya is the state run TV station in Iraq, which is subsidized by the US government.   I saw the clip with translations overlaid on Mosaic News Report on Link TV.

The story was about unemployment in Iraq, and numbers of unemployed men in a crowded day labor market were interviewed.  The place is an open air, cement structure, crowded with men sitting and waiting on benches and walls, and on the ground.  Several of the men were from outlying provinces.   Men reported working 1 day per week and 3 days per month.   They complained about the wages being 10,000 Iraqi Dinar per day instead of the expected 30,000 Iraqi Dinar per day.  That would be about $8.70 per day instead of $26.  If a man works 1 day per week, then his income is $8.70 per week and $39.15 per month. Since he sits and waits on the days that he doesn’t work, he has full time occupation for less than $500 per year.

A number of men complained that foreign workers are being brought in and paid well for jobs that Iraqi workers could be doing.   At the end of the presentation, the reporter summarized the situation as follows “One thing is certain.  God is the one who provides.“  What does that mean?   What does it mean in a country where foreign influences have destroyed the civil infrastructure, and now continue to undermine it through channeling resources away from the native population and into a divided and failing global economy, to say that ultimately, God alone provides?

Apparently someone out there is determined to antagonize the Russian.  I want to hope that they are keeping up on their meditation practices over there, and can refrain from taking the bait.   After all, NATO is not only the US.  It is also our European allies who are located in spitting distance from Russia, and many of whom are dependent on Russia for Gas and Oil to meet their energy requirements.  The question is, why are we baiting them?   If we are only interested in safe passage for our own gas pipes, wouldn’t you think there would be a better way to accomplish that?   What possible good can it do to antagonize the Russians and make them resent our presence on their border?

I really don’t think this has anything to do with Georgia or the Georgian government which is something of a joke at present.   After President Saakashvili humiliated himself last summer by invading South Ossetia and attacking the capital city in the middle of the night while the people and their Russian Peacekeepers were sleeping, one would have thought that would be the end for him.  But no!    Not only is he still president despite huge protests by the people attempting to remove him from office and, possibly, a little rebellion by some military people, but he’s are man.   Of course he is still in office.   We didn’t spend all that money educating him and training him in the US just to dump him when the going gets a little rough.  Read the rest of this entry »