Double Standards

I almost burst out laughing when I read the first thing Mr. Obama did today after he won the nomination was "reach out to Israel"!!! Mr. Obama - you should be reaching out to the millions of Americans who did not vote for you - not sucking up to the brutal regime that routinely tortures innocent Palestinians. Here is something that both Hillary (I mention her only because her speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) today) and Obama may not know - Israeli's are NOT voting in the US elections - it's the Americans and you need to focus on them! No one cares what is happening in Israel when they can't afford to pay the mortgage on their house, are loosing jobs to China and can't afford to buy a loaf of bread for their family!

Yes of course Israel has the right to exist - the UN created it. But the UN also created a whole bunch of rules on how to treat people in (illegally) occupied lands - the Israelis seem to pick and choose which rules to follow and the US who have so far shown zero commonsense in their Middle East policy allows them to get away with plain murder. What they do in the occupied territories is worse than apartheid and any leader with a conscience should be trying to put a stop to that instead of perpetuating the hatred and bloodshed that is so prevalent in the region.

Hillary - who I am now calling Looseary - went on to talk about how Israel has a right to self defense. Of course it does! EVERY COUNTRY has a right to self defense and an obligation to protect it's citizens - INCLUDING THE PALESTINIANS!!! The problem is when self defense becomes mindless violence as is the case now and when the medieval system of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth becomes one Israeli life for 10 Palestinian ones! Innocent children on both sides are dying and everyone should be putting a stop to that.

She talked about her commitment to getting the kidnapped soldiers back - and I agree - they should be returned - but so should the hundreds and thousands of innocent Palestinians locked up without trial in Israeli prisons. They talk of violence at the hands of the Palestinians - but what about all those kids who were killed because of Israeli's trigger happy IDF and the sufferring of millions of people under Israel's draconian self existence rules. A leader is NOT one that perpetuates stereotypes and violence - but one that reaches out beyond all that to create peace and fraternity where none existed. Mrs. Clinton, your speech today shows you are neither a leader nor a humanist - there is no place for you in a modern international world- please take your dirty game of politics and leave with whatever integrity you still have intact.

And Mr. Obama - get your act together on Iran - you talk about doing "everything" to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons - but shouldn't you also be stopping the illegal nuclear weapons of Israel? The double standard is sickening! I do not think ANY country should have any weapons that can wipe out civilizations. And what exactly does "everything" mean - are you now going to bomb out 65 million Iranis because of claims of "weapons of mass destruction"? Get real Mr. Obama. Have a policy that is sensible. Iran has the right to protect itself as well. Look what happened to Lebanon when the Israeli's decided to bomb out Beirut - you tell me if they were better prepared Israel would not have thought twice about it. Focus on a policy of zero nuclear weapons and force all countries to destroy all their weapons - that is the vision the world needs today!

The Hillary Woes

Over the last 48 hours about 4 women have accused me of being unfair to Hillary Clinton. One of them even went so far as to say I was perpetuating female stereotypes! I assume this out pour is somehow linked to Hillary finally beginning to realize that she mathematically cannot win the nomination. While I am terribly flattered that people think my blog could have had anything to do with changing the course of history and could somehow have caused millions of somewhat intelligent Americans to vote away from Hillary, the truth is I don't have quite that large a following yet.

I did provide fashion advice to Hillary on her website telling her to please never wear those granny puff sleeve jackets she wore on one event. Maybe that was the wrong advice? Maybe Americans could simply not see a tough woman in a pant suit. (I still haven't figured out what the big hulahoo was about the pant suit - it's comfy, you don't have to worry how you sit, you don't have to worry about a run in your stocking, and no one can see your panties - perfect if you are running all day long).

And while there are people who believed that Hillary has done the right thing by staying in the race for this long. I have this to say.

1. If anyone thinks they should go the extra mile to prove their point - do it! I am the last one for holding back people and Hillary staying in the race this long has opened up a more realistic view of Obama and kind of put him on the spot more. Something I am grateful for. (I will discuss Obama at a later date - today is reserved for Hillary). However, staying in the race, also brought to light the several inflated and false entries on Hillary's resume which may have turned more voters off her.
2. Money - For the love of God - if this woman or any of the men standing for elections really had the goodwill of the Americans at heart - they would have spent money that they raised on school programs, medical benefits, arts programs etc - which is a far better way to spend the funds than having their plasticky smiles pasted all over the country.
3. Florida and Michigan. Rules are rules. It was TOTALLY WRONG of the Democratic Party to even consider changing the rules during the game. It is irrelevant whether this helped Hillary or not. What is relevant is that this is another example about a woman who is a sore looser but who is powerful enough to get the rules changed even when she is on the downside.
   

Do I think this is a woman who can make the world better? NO - not after she said she wanted to obliterate Iran from the earth! A land that has 64 million people living on it! While I think both she, Obama and McCain are going to continue to kow-tow to the terrorist state of Israel who routinely brutalizes and tortures innocent Palestinians, I am inclined to believe that of the 3, Obama is the least likely to press the nuclear button and destroy more of our civilization.

Do I think a woman should be President of USA? ABSOLUTELY! But just because a woman stands for the White House, it doesn't mean I have to support her. Women in power is not a new thing for most of the world. Only in close minded America is it still such an oxymoron. The President of USA has unfortunately too much power, and what I would like is someone with common sense, integrity and passion to have a shot at that seat. I did not find this in Hillary.

Hillary has fought a good fight. She has fought hard and when the time comes, I only hope, that she will find it in her to provide support to Obama. Do I see her as a good Vice President? NO. The most powerful woman in North America would never be satisfied in second place.

Hillary and the kitchen sink

Now, Hillary may have slowed the tide of voters against Obama but she did that by playing on the voters fears and insecurities rather than showing them what she can do. Her campaign over the past few weeks has been more about "let's throw all the dirt we can find about Obama out in the open" vs "let's try and tell the voters what we can do". In small minded America where voters do not ask tough questions such tactics seem to be working out. I deeply respect Obama's stance of not throwing the dirt back at Hillary - this is definitely the politics we should be following. But, how much longer can he maintain the gentlemanly behaviour? Billary have already said "Politics is a contact sport" - I actually used to see it more as an exchange of ideas, but I guess in America where the violent killing of innocent Iraqi's is just "collateral damage", positive exchange of ideas have led way to dirt being thrown- all we wait for now is Hillary and Obama to get into the ring and box each other out.

And while Hillary may have thrown all the dirt she found about Obama out in the open - the worst she could come up with was
a) His naive ideas about NAFTA
b) Deals with some bad guy that he already acknowledged and apologised for.
I mean- after spending more than 120 million dollars, you are telling me that is all she could find on this guy? If this guy is so squeaky clean then he quite rightly deserves the White House.

Without spending any money on Hillary and doing no research - not even a Google search - here is the list of skeletons in Hillary's closet that I remember:
a) Whitewater
b) Mr. Foster's suicide and the missing files that Hillary moved from his office the day after the event.
c)Missing records on the Cattle Grade deal that mysteriously showed up once the investigation had completed.
d) During Bill's time, the presidential helicopter was used to take Hillary's friends to golfing trips - wonder what those folks in Ohio would think about that. (I remember that because some politician in India tried to do the same with the Presidential helicopter in India only to get into trouble)
e) Taking money from Lobbyists over and over and over again! This woman has probably sold her conscience to the lobbyists by now!

I mean - and this is only what i remember. Think about all the stuff you could find out about her with 120 million dollars to spare.

The problem on playing a "contact sport" is that it might feel pretty good when you are on the top punching the little guy down, but you run the risk that the little guy might come back at you with an even harder punch - one you might not really recover from.

What's the problem in being Muslim?

Barak Obama has shown a side of himself to the media that certainly did not match the "knowledgeable saviour" image I had of him.

There are 4 particular incidents over the past 2-3 days that have really caught my attention.

1) Bill Cunningham (the right wing caveman who is the Ohio poster boy for the Republican Conservatives) calling him by his middle name "Hussein". It's almost as if "Hussein" was a bad word equivalent to fu#ker. Only in petty minded America would they take this to be a sign that he might have some connections to those terrible Islamic forces and their jihad. While I found Bill Cunningham's tactics abhorable because he is re-inforcing stereotypes against Muslims, I was even more puzzled by Obama's response. I mean, this is his name. Stand up and be proud of it - or change it! The fact is that he was born of a Muslim father and raised a Muslim in his childhood - absolutely nothing wrong with that. Then why the shame of using his name? Surely, this is an incredible asset as Syria, Egypt and Afghanistan are more likely to break bread and make peace with a man called Hussein versus a man called John McCain! In the close minded petty minds of Americans such an advantage is totally lost. Obama seems to take every opportunity to to say he converted to Christianity - all very well and good, except in Islam, if you are born Muslim you are considered that till you die - as far as I am aware, there is no conversion out of the religion.

2) Photos of him in the Kenyan outfit. Now, when I first saw it, I burst out laughing - he looked like one of those tribal dancers in India who put on a spectacle for tourists. I really didn't understand what the hulahoo was all about, until it dawned on me that Kenya is a Muslim country. Hence Obama in a Kenyan outfit = Obama dressed in Islamic garb = close comparisons to those fanatical Muslims and their desire to hurt USA. Tell me - if there was a picture of Obama in a Scottish Kilt would it have caused this much uproar! No! There were picture of Obama in a swimsuit in Hawaii - http://irregulartimes.com/diaries/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/obama%20beach%20photo.jpg - did anyone object to that? No (but I suspect quite a few women moved over to his camp after this). But the fact that he was fully clothed in a dress that was worn in a Muslim country is cause of uproar! Obama's response was again puzzling, instead of even taking this as "fear mongering" why didn't he just say he had fun and he was proud of the honor?

3) Most despicable of all. When asked of his views on Israel - he went to get some more votes by saying he "unequivocally supports Israel". Nothing particularly wrong in this statement, except that it signifies a continuation of the policies US Presidents have had to the region. He could have answered he "unequivocally supports peace in the Middle East" which would suit the visionary character he has been developing but instead he took the easy way. I am disappointed. If you read his website ( http://www.barackobama.com/issues/foreignpolicy/#onisrael ), you will also find out that he stood strongly for the indiscriminate killing of 1000 people by the brutal IDF during the 2006 Lebanon war. This war has been widely condemned in Israel and it has only strengthened Hezbollah's support in Lebanon and toppled what was the only peaceful govt the Lebanese had in the last few years. It has become a costly mistake for Israel. As a visionary who says he believes in dialogue and negotiations, should Obama not have insisted on that and sought the release of the kidnapped soldiers through peaceful means rather than through war? Do I see a disparity between his stand in Iraq and his policies towards Israel - YES! I fear that he will try to be more pro-Israeli just to prove he is not a Muslim, and this will come at the price of commonsense judgement and the continual degradation of lives of Muslims in the area.

4) His naive view of NAFTA. See my previous blogs on this. How is he going to turn around the economy without really taking on the Chinese?

Now, before Jill et all think I am moving my support to Hillary - NOPE! She's only gone down further in my opinion. I mean, who is the real Hillary? Is it the tough lady I once respected, the corrupt politician who has no problem raising funds through lobbyists, the crying spectacle she made her self, or the woman who said "I am honored, honored to be here with Barak". All she did was put him down for the past few months- so why is she so honored to be on stage with him? Confused, easily excitable and some one who seems to want to fan out hatred towards Islam to get a few votes - this woman is simply not capable to efficiently manage USA.

How 1 day can change the world

I am totally amazed at how 1 day (actually 36 hours) can change my world.

Listen to what has happened in the past little while:

Baby M got her first tooth! It just pooped out right there in the middle of her mouth. No forewarning - just happened. She doesn't seem to be in much pain but her appetite is much less - I am told that is just part of the whole teething process. I also wonder about the amount of water she drinks - now, I know it's good that kids drink water but she seems to be pretty constantly connected to her sippy cup. I really haven't heard of any other kid that gets upset when you take the sippy cup away!

And just to balance off the good news, Mrs. H emailed me with some news that really shook me up. Someone I have only heard of who is 34 is battling breast cancer! I mean- how much more cruel can fate get than to take a breastfeeding mum of a 4 month old and give her cancer! Totally unfair. I don't even know these people - I've never met them. But the story is just too close to home. It really could have been any of us! I totally feel for this family who are going through a really difficult time. The only thing I take comfort in. is that they are in the hands of our wonderful Ontario doctors. We may not have the snazzy medical professionals with the overpriced Porches as they have in USA but we do have some great and caring doctors and having had to use OHIP quite a bit ourselves, I am confident they will do what needs to be done and get her back in shape.

And now for the other oddball news - NADER!! For heaven sakes! Yes, I think everyone has the right to stand for elections, but what is the point of standing for elections when
a) Your purpose is to prevent a Republican win of the 2008 elections.
b) The people who vote for you are the same people who vote for the Democrats so you don't actually dent the Republican voting population.
c) You insisted on running in 2000 and that cost Gore and the US a sane govt.
d) You have absolutely no chance of winning the elections this time around as there are already 3 populous candidates who are bringing people out in vast numbers.

I should say that Nader is ruled by his ego. But since he is a man - I am going to say he is ruled by the thing that twangles between his thighs! For heaven sakes - isn't it bad enough that the existing candidates are going to spend close to a BILLION dollars in campaign money getting their photo pasted on every lamppost that he now has to waste some more! Does he really need to add more to this wasteful expense? And for what purpose?

Here is how I think Nader can actually do good to the elections 2008:
a) Stop your infantile Presidential elections bid - it's a waste of money and you certainly aren't as cute as Barak so really no one wants to see your photo.
b) Select a candidate from the existing pool of rather awesome candidates and CAMPAIGN FOR THEM!! This HELPS them and it gets you closer to having someone in the White House who you can work with.

My last bit of disappointments is how Barak is now speaking out against NAFTA (presumably because it's the correct thing to say to people in Ohio who lost their jobs). This is utter garbage!! Protectionism is the way of the past. It doesn't work. If you want to get a flourishing economy you have to open up and who best to benefit from than your neighbours? People in Ohio are not loosing their jobs to Canadians and Mexicans - they are loosing them to the Chinese! And even thinking of closing down NAFTA will have no effect on jobs staying in the USA - you'll just push more jobs to China!

I'm getting a little bit fed up of people south of the border accusing us of taking the jobs and not fighting their stupid "war on terror". Let's set the record straight right now -
a) We are not "stealing" jobs - American companies are setting up offices here because we have universal health care which saves them about $5000 PER EMPLOYEE every year. So, it's not our fault that the Americans consistently vote in people who are so busy shagging the lobbyists that they forget about the poor, sick and tired.
b) If we want to talk about "stealing" jobs - lets talk about the hundreds of Canadian doctors that the Americans take from us to use in their overly expensive health care system.
c) Concerning the "war on terror" - we are fighting the biggest and most significant war on terror - the real one - the one in Afghanistan where the Taliban and Mr. Bin Laden are setting up home again. And we are paying for it with the deaths of our brave soldiers while the rest of the world (including America) pays lip service to it. Bush's "war on terror" is more a "war to create terror" and this is something we want nothing of. Lives of Canadian servicemen are too precious and should never be lost for the sake of cheaper petrol!

Campaign Spending

I did a bit of basic arithmetic to see how much the elections in the USA cost. The estimated amount SPENT (not RAISED) by all candidates to date is 505 MILLION USD!!

Now, if there ever was a total waste of money it is here. 505 million (more than 1/2 a billion) is an amount that can easily be put to better use that seeing McCain, Huckabee and Hillary's photos all over town and TV. It completely boggles me how money has totally lost it's sense of value these days. It is pretty obvious that 505 million could easily be used to feed most of the starving in Africa, end the war in Darfur and can be used to create schools in the poorest of countries so that everyone has access to education. BUT the same money could also have been used to put more cops on the streets in the US, given for college scholarships so that we have more engineers and musicians among the financially deprived kids, created day care centers where mothers could leave their kids and go back to work to focus on their careers. I mean for heaven sakes - it could have got us that much closer to a cure for cancer!!!

So much could be done - but instead it has been spent on posters and 30 second TV commercials! What a total waste of funds!!!

It also made me think about what comes along with this spending. No one gives money for nothing. Everyone expects something back. Be it good leadership or a crack at getting a new drug aproved sooner - what in the world are people and corporations expecting back when they "donate" millions of dollars to political campaigns? Have American politicians completely sold off the interests of regular Americans?

And we haven't even got to the real election yet - we are only in the primaries!!! How much are we going to spend when we get there? Over 2-3 billion??

It is truly sad that in a country with so many problems not even one of the candidates (and this includes Obama as well) has actually done anything substantial with their money. I would like someone to build a shelter for the homeless or even give some to schools - anything other than photos and TV spots of themselves!!

Elections 2008 - let the discussion begin

I was discussing my views on my friend's rather wonderful blog, but she doesn't seem to be interested in views other than hers now - so I have no choice but to start this blog and bring the politics in. I still like her blog though. You can check it out at http://www.divaplatform.com/

The Chai Lady officially endorses OBAMA. There I have said it.
I acknowledge that he has no concrete policies. I acknowledge that he may not be experienced in the dirty game of politics. BUT he has a way with words. He has the ability to reach out and talk to common folks. I find that amazing. He's almost like Jesus with the masses! He is a unifier who can reach out and bring in folks the way I have never seen anyone able to do before. Tell me, where in the Western World have you seen politicians bring in crowds of 18 - 30 thousand who wait for hours just to hear him speak - this is way better than any rock band - these people come to hear and take in his "sermons" - it's almost a cult of "born again political activists" that he is creating. I find that fascinating - I find that amazing and I applaud that.

In our world where we are far more likely to just grumble about the way the govt is instead of taking real concrete action - Obama has shown us that getting politically active is a cool and fun thing to do.

A lot of my friends have come out in support of Hillary simply because "women need to support women". Of course they do - but only when the woman is qualified to do the job. Tell me this - would you go to a doctor just because she was a woman - or would you go to a doctor because she is qualified and the fact that she is a woman is only a bigger bonus? I belong to the latter. I am all for improving the conditions of females around the world but voting someone in to manage the worlds largest and totally screwed up economy simply because of their gender is by no means a sensible argument.

I'm not totally against Hillary - I just think Obama is a better candidate. Either way you see it, ANYONE is better than McCain and his 100 year war in Iraq.