Vision of Tomorrow

With American leadership in the state that it is in, we had all better learn to kowtow to our Red Chinese masters, speak Russian fluently, or follow the tenets of the Koran. Thinking it over though, perhaps the best course of action is to throw the spineless bums who govern us out. They should take their faceless, heartless army of bureaucrats with them. Then perhaps, a new incarnation of Reagan or an American Churchill will rise up to bolster our international allies and send our freedom-hating enemies back into their holes. Until then, I guess I will work on learning the languages of our future conquerors.

Chasing Its Tail

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might be considered farce were it not for the magnitude of the human tragedy. To have breathless reports about satellite images eagerly confirmed by aircraft overflight turn out to be nothing more than floating garbage must be tortuous for the bereaved families. We have so-called "experts" on news broadcasts and talking head shows who prove themselves to be consistently wrong. Obviously, the lost plane has been a bonanza in the ratings for some networks, but it is becoming increasingly unseemly to hype aspects of the story when there is no news to tell. The media is not entirely at fault though in the reporting because the loss of the jet and presumably more than two hundred souls continues to draw an audience as the mystery continues to baffle.

Not Exactly MASH

A self-righteous British wannabe gun-banner just ended his run on a news network almost nobody watches. Dozens of people tuned in to watch Bridge Abutment Migraine's not so grand finale. I hope this now former chat show host takes a long walk off a short pier.

An Easy Answer

If you want to see where the so-called "peace process" is headed between the Palestinians and Israel if Obama and Kerry continue to insist on concessions mostly from the Jews, just look to the wholesale slaughter that is Syria, and you will see what happens if Barack Hussein Obama forces the Jewish State back to the borders of 1967 or 1948. Are Palestinians suffering more under Israeli jurisdiction or the tender mercies of Syria's Assad? Is there more prosperity for Palestinians where they run their own affairs in Gaza or in the so-called "occupied territories"? Are Christian Arabs safer in Gaza or Egypt for that matter or in Israel proper? The best course for US foreign policy is not to botch the Middle East up more than Obama already has, but to allow the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East to chart the course they need for their own survival. For the sake of stability and any prospect of eventual peace, Obama should leave well enough alone and stop playing with matches in a tinderbox.

Forces of Nature

I do not think man has caused global warming or "climate change" as it is now being called as the warming argument has seemingly fizzled. I do however recognize the power of nature with weather phenomena that have the capacity to kill and have killed millions through the centuries. As we enter tornado season, we must be prepared. In areas that could soon be seeing hurricanes, now is the time to make ready. We have just witnessed the horrible destruction mudslides are capable of, and I would suggest in places where that could occur, not only individuals, but the authorities must take every precaution to protect communities under threat similar to Oso, Washington. Wherever you are in the world, some sort of natural disaster, from earthquakes and tornadoes to tsunamis and blizzards, to flood or drought, what nature can do to us is only matched by the ravages of war.

The Warsaw Pact

The nations that the USSR subjugated as members of the late Warsaw Pact are rightly concerned that Vladimir Putin may not yet be sated in his territorial ambitions. These former slave states loath Putin and see him as an incarnation of at least a potential Russian Napoleon and more fearfully, possibly a new Stalin. No one venerates freedom more than those who remember the bitter bread of oppression, and the people of Eastern Europe recall the feel of the Russian boot. The Ukraine (and Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and the other formerly manacled countries) love their liberty and are willing to fight to preserve it. The problem is that without the backing of the West and most importantly, US military might, these small nations can not hold off Russian forces, who if Putin orders, will overwhelm them, with bloodshed and loss of life by freedom fighters being ultimately futile. With the casualty-averse nature of Western leadership including Obama, liberty may soon fall under a sentence of death.

Tsar Is Born

Vladimir Putin has crushed dissent at home in Russia and has now captured a portion of a neighbor nation. The question is not if Russia could be regarded as a threat as it was during the Soviet era, as it obviously is a real and growing menace, but whether Putin will play the enlightened despot as in a Peter the Great or the brutal tyrant as in Ivan the Terrible. The hedge against the evil impulse of certain world leaders has been the strength of those ready to rise to oppose them, which within Russia and among the leaders of other nations who could challenge Putin's aggressive ambitions, is sorely lacking. No Churchill is rising to defend the existing order or indeed, civilization itself. Putin has recognized the lack of will of the empty suits pretending to seats of power and is taking full advantage of their weakness.

The Traveling Man

Barack Hussein Obama has become the most traveled President in US history. Obama's travels have cost the taxpayer more than any previous President. This expense does not factor in the cost of the First Lady and the Obama daughters who have taken separate vacations but with almost all those costs also borne by the US Treasury. Right now, Michelle Obama and the Obama daughters are enjoying a visit to Red China. If the Obama family were still in private life, they likely could not have afforded this trip, but thank goodness, we, the taxpayers, have their backs. Never in history have so few profited so much from so many as Obama, his close circle including the kinfolk, and his cadre of cronies.

Finding the Plane

There was some optimism (an odd word in the context of the loss of more than two hundred precious human lives) that debris seen by people on overflying aircraft and on images from satellites may be pieces from the doomed flight. Even if they are, that does not necessarily mean that where the wooden pallet is floating is where the plane went down. Currents could have carried the flotsam literally hundreds of miles from where the impact occurred. Will Flight 370 ever be recovered? Probably, in the fullness of time, yes, but can you imagine the agony of relatives just not knowing the fate of their loved ones? We know the search is costly, but the world needs to know what happened to prevent it from happening again and the bereaved deserve closure.

Too Little Thought

Zero tolerance makes zero sense. To expel six or seven year old public school students for pointing "finger guns" at each other is insane. To send these babies to alternative schools with older students who have actually shot people is criminal. To banish a middle school girl because she is caught taking a Midol at lunch and send her to a detention center in the guise of a school next to other "students" sent there for selling meth on campus is equally preposterous. Such expulsions needlessly cost taxpayers, but much more important, ruin the lives of innocent children. We need discretion and judgement that includes a degree of discernment that across America we have apparently abdicated.

Too Much Turnover

I have noticed businesses that we have dealt with for years, nationally-traded companies, no longer have any faces we recognize, no one who can greet us by name because they are strangers to us and we are strangers to them. A few months ago, we knew and were friendly with everyone at the branch where we do most of our banking. The work force there had been filled with skilled and quick employees who were eager to please the customer, but they have been replaced by young, slow drones who do not even know how to perform their function in assisting the customer with opening their lock box in the bank vault, and who ask you for a driver license to deposit a check. Is there an ongoing problem with people depositing money in other folks' accounts? If so, maybe some anonymous benefactor will favor me and put a million dollars in my account. I am glad that the new staffers seem diligent in efforts to prevent identity theft by demanding identification for transactions where that action is merited, but I am nostalgic for the time (not that long ago) where we had relationships with merchants and bankers who we regarded as friends. An organization is only as good as the way it treats people.

Putin Consolidates Gains

(Note: The publisher of Despot in Waiting in no way endorses Russian aggression; nor does he believe that the Ukrainian freedom movement is led or even largely populated by neo-Nazis, who comprise a small self-serving fringe of those in the Ukraine resisting Russia. That being said, those neo-Nazis and others sharing their thinking across Europe including the Golden Dawn Party in Greece are a real and growing menace to Jews in their countries. A synagogue was defaced in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia and a rabbi wounded by stabbing in Kiev in recent days, and as a Jew who had family members slaughtered in Eastern Europe, the publisher is keenly aware of the perilous position a minority is in during times of flux.) Vladimir Putin has declared victory in Crimea, and there is little the rest of the world is able to do in protest, and nothing that the Ukraine and the West will be able to do to reverse Russia's unlawful occupation. If America was at the apex of our national strength, Putin would not have dared go on the march, but the power behind Reagan's "Tear down this wall" ethos is gone. Obama did not say "rebuild this wall", but he did not have to because he projects weakness and weakness tempts a bully like Putin in the same way blood in the water draws sharks. If Putin wants more of the Ukraine or a piece pf Estonia, these smaller nations can not prevent Russian might from taking them, and Barack Hussein Obama and Western leaders have shown they will not spill blood in service to the liberty of humanity. You can not rely on Russia's good will to curb Russian expansionism, and the rest of the world lacks the backbone to stop Putin.

International Flight Security

Have you seen the video of Malaysia Air Flight 370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah going through the security screening prior to boarding the doomed jet? I have no idea whether the pilot was nefarious, heroic, or some hapless victim, but I do know making pilots endure magnetometers and pat downs for weapons is ridiculous on its face as the pilot is flying a huge weapon in the same way as a car driver is controlling what can be used as a destructive device that can easily be turned to suicide or murder. If you can not trust that the pilot did not bring a pistol on the airplane he is flying with some destructive intent, then you have a lot more to worry about than the gun. After all, a pilot (or copilot) could simply press the yoke down if other crew members did not resist (or were involved in a suicide pact) and crash a commercial jetliner. The aviation industry and government regulators must do all that is possible to make sure that those in control in cockpits are worthy of our trust. After all, they have our lives in their hands.

Path to Prosperity

Another large lottery jackpot split by "winners" in two states was hyped this morning by the main stream media. These dinosaur media flacks do not promote economic education, including the value of thrift and industry, but they do breathlessly broadcast the growing jackpots of state-sponsored lotteries. If a legal casino was promoting games that had as low a chance of winning as lotteries do, they would rightly be closed down by state regulators, but when the state is the entity reaping huge rewards from a game of chance that is next to impossible to win, then by all means, officialdom says "play". What better way could you come up with to separate desperately poor or not especially bright folks from their money? Dread not though, if you spend your last dollar trying to win Powerball or Mega Millions, you can always rely on your EBT card for your next meal.

Where Malefactors Abound

In the crisis over Crimea, there are very few "white hats". Victor Yanukovych,the recently overthrown Russian proxy who was seeking closer ties between the Ukraine and Russia was utterly corrupt, but the nationalist movement that threw him out and seeks a closer confederation with Europe does have among its numbers fascists who Putin has rightly characterized as neo-Nazis. Russia does have longstanding claims to Crimea that are undeniable, yet the manner that Russia used to assert her claims was a reminder of Sudetenland or the Anschluss before World War II, but has not been marked by extreme violence as the old USSR used in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. I certainly do not see Vladimir Putin initiating a September 1939 Danzig moment because it in no way serves his or Russia's interest to spark a wider campaign of conquest. Could conflict expand into a shooting war? Yes, because there are fanatics on each side and one can never rule out miscalculation even by some minor player that could cause tragic escalation. I have more faith in Putin recognizing self-interest than in the West planning careful demarche to restrain Russia. Putin is no nice guy, but I have heard nice guys finish last, and in real world dealings as opposed to conflict resolution classes, Putin projecting strength has so far been decisive.

Price of Freedom

Barack Hussein Obama appears to be a pathetic weakling in his dealings with Putin. Let us hope there are no ethnic Russians pleading for relief in Alaska, because Barry might not defend that either with his appeasement mentality. It is not enough for the West to rebuke or mildly sanction Russia for baldfaced aggression. Look at the good the pretty words of the leaders of the free nations did in checking Hitler's bid for world domination in the late thirties. How much is the liberty of Ukrainians worth to leaders in DC and other Western capitals, and who is willing to shed blood to stop a budding conqueror?

Powerless in Crimea

Barack Hussein Obama has squandered the strength of the United States, which had been the last and lone superpower. Obama gave away our qualitative and strategic edge over Red China and resurgent Russia, preferring instead to focus national and strategic resources on fighting the chimera that he calls "global warming" and focusing Federal resources on spreading the wealth through his redistributionist policies, while make real cuts to military budgets. Obama slashed defense spending even before the sequester and was happy to see sequester further sap military preparedness. Obama damaged readiness, slashed procurement and training, and upped the operational tempo and number of deployments, even recently cutting veteran benefits, making service in the armed forces harder and less desirable, but have no fear, members of the Obama cadre have a solution- the imposition of a military draft. As America backtracked on national security, Communist China modernized their destructive capability, with weapon plans gained from the US by means of theft or espionage, or through the stupidity of the US defense establishment using contractors or subcontractors from Red China on Pentagon or NASA projects. Obama disarmed (with plans now by Obama to cut army personnel to pre-World War II levels) as China surged resources into building up the Red military, and Putin rearmed Russia to levels not seen since Soviet days. The weakened state of America versus the strengthening of our foreign enemies does not make the world safer or more stable, because there is peace through strength while the kind of weakness Obama has brought to America only invites aggression.

The Plane Mystery

In the early days of aviation, airplanes occasionally disappeared. It was presumed they crashed, and some crash sites were never found. In spite of our advanced technology, searchers have not located the missing Malaysian jet, nor any debris, and can only guess that the passengers and crew suffered a grim fate. Ultimately, answers will come, but in a bit of speculation, just imagine that the aircraft has been landed somewhere in operational condition with the intention of using it to attempt a September 11-style suicide attack on a landmark building somewhere.

Terror Enclave Palestine

The Palestinians already have an area where they make their own decisions free from Israeli jurisdiction and administration. That area is the Gaza Strip, which has been used as a base to launch terror operations against the Jewish States since the Israeli government forced all the Jews from their homes there in 2005. Rockets, missiles, and mortar rounds are the Palestinian response to peace overtures by the Jews. Why should Israel have any confidence that a Palestine comprised of Judea and Samaria with (East) Jerusalem as its capital would not become just another source of terror aimed at finishing off the Jewish State? In fact, the certain outcome of shrinking Israel and in so doing, expanding "Palestine" will be to subject the world to ever more terror. A greater Palestine, pulled from the Biblical heartland of the Jewish people, will inevitably become an enclave for sparking worldwide jihad and be the most destabilizing force on the planet.

Israel Under Attack

Rockets emanating from the Gaza Strip have pounded Israel from Wednesday until this moment. Iranian terror proxy Islamic Jihad (or Jihad Islami as it is known there) has fired more than three hundred Katyusha rockets. A handful of Grad missiles have been fired toward Israeli population centers as well. A few other rockets have been fired by al-Qaeda affiliates against Jewish civilians. Thankfully so far, the terrorists have been wildly inaccurate and no Israelis have been harmed. Israeli retaliation has killed three terrorists. Let us hope Palestinian fury soon exhausts itself or that the IDF is sufficiently active to end the bombardment before any casualties befall the Israeli side.

Flight Into Oblivion

A catastrophe obviously claimed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. After so many days elapsing in our satellite-monitored world, it is amazing no trace of the jet has been found. I thought that an Amelia Earhart-Fred Noonan type of disappearance could never happen in this technologically advanced, wired world. With ships from many nations searching, with ground penetrating radar being used to search, one would think a commercial jet much larger than Amelia Earhart's aircraft would readily have been discovered, but no one has even recovered a piece of debris. There are huge swathes of flotsam and jetsam befouling world waters, which could be confused from a distance with plane wreckage, and in fact, pieces of floating debris have been confused for Flight 370 remnants already. With so many searching, let us hope that the plane and the answers to what befell it are discovered soon.

On Iranian Involvement

Two Iranians using false papers have been reported to have boarded the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight. Could Iran have some hand in the crash? The majority of passengers on the plane were from Red China. What would Tehran gain by stoking conflict with China? Could 12th Imam End Timers be attempting to spark the end of days out of religious zealotry? Could fervor to defend Uyghurs have sparked Iran to lash out in an act of Muslim solidarity? Could it be pure coincidence that two asylum seekers just happened to use false documents in an attempt to escape Iran? I can not imagine Red China being lenient in dealing with state-sponsored terror directed against it.

Maybe Not Nefarious

Many analysts are jumping to the conclusion that some deliberate human act knocked the Malaysian flight from the sky, but before evidence is gathered, it is too early to assume a terror event. Could some sort of bomb detonation felled the aircraft? Certainly- could a ground to air missile have brought the plane down? With the prevalence of these weapons in the Syria conflict and thousands of missiles not accounted for in Libya, a missile threat from jihad-inspired terrorists exists, but where would malicious actors have fired such a missile from in the middle of an ocean? Did some terror group form their own covert navy? What if a bird strike occurred as happened in the famous "Sully" Sullenberger ditching that everyone on board miraculously survived? Only when debris including the so-called black boxes are recovered will the definitive source of the tragedy be revealed.

Threat to Aviation

When a jetliner falls out of the air, the confidence of the flying public is naturally rattled. The notion that there are still elements that would seek to deliberately crash commercial aircraft is sickening. After September 11, 2001, it seemed that passengers would resist rather than allowing hijackers to seize a plane. Maybe, in the crash of the Malaysian jet, a new terror tactic has succeeded. Perhaps toothpaste tube or even body cavity bombs have exploded a plane. I have no doubt the investigation will be meticulous as so many travel by jet and so much is shipped by air, that huge resources will be devoted to protecting air travel and the commerce that surrounds the aviation industry.

No Aretha Franklin

Barack Hussein Obama, supposed by his acolytes to be one of the smartest men on the planet, could apparently not even win a fifth grade spelling bee after botching the spelling of Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" at a tribute event. Our dear President may have become too reliant on "spell check", or may just not be quite the genius the main stream media has made him out to be. In any event, Dan Quayle should be heartened that he spells at least as well as the sitting President. Leaders evidently do not need to be readers anymore.

Obama's Chamberlain Moment

There are undeniable parallels between events in Sudetenland immediately prior to World War II, and the evident absorption of Crimea into Russia. Both the Germans in 1938 and Russia now had historic claims to the territory they coveted, and it seems in both incidences, world powers appeased a budding tyrant. The error of giving in to Hitler soon became apparent to the dismay of the world, but we must hope that Putin has no grander territorial designs than those he just exercised. At a time strength was called for, Barack Hussein Obama displayed weakness. Only time will tell how much the rekindled appeasement mentality of the leaders of the free nations will haunt tomorrow.

American Fair Play

There is much grousing in US leadership now that Russia is not living up to her commitments. American politicians and diplomats act shocked when a nation acts in her own self-interest. One must take this grumbling with a grain of salt though, as the US has not always been scrupulous when it comes to what America pledged to do, or even honored some of the treaties the US ratified. How about the way we preserved the freedom and independence of South Vietnam, or how the US government always stood by our pledges and representations to American Indians? Russia should concede Crimea about the same time the US gives North Carolina to the Cherokee. We live in a realpolitik world where nations are not obligated to behave like guests at a tea party, but must use their power for the good of their own people.

Putin's Napoleon Complex?

Some brilliant observers have suggested Russia's leader, who is not particularly tall, may suffer with a "Napoleon Complex". I would contend what Vladimir Putin lacks in height, he makes up for in intellect and courage. Putin has been much more canny than his foreign adversaries. Putin is standing tall for Russian interests and ethnic Russians, while Obama and Kerry, who are both above average height, look small in comparison, failing to defend America's strategic interests and leaving US allies more vulnerable than they were under the last President Bush. Do you think the Ukraine takes security guarantees from the United States seriously anymore? The world takes Putin plenty serious now.

Stability in Crimea

Russia does not want violence in Crimea. It does not serve Putin's interest to spark a shooting conflict with the Ukraine. So long as ethnic Russians and Russian assets are secure in the Ukraine, the ever rational but calculating Vladimir Putin will have no reason to employ greater force, but the course of future action is not entirely in Putin's or Russia's hands. Hotheads, more likely to be on the Ukrainian side (including nationalists reputed to be neo-Nazis), could provoke bloodshed. In history, war has sometimes been started because of miscalculation or events involving minor actors or actions that spiral out of control. Remember that Jenkins' Ear cost thousands of lives and that Russia has undeniable strategic interests and historic claims in the Ukraine.

World Respects Strength

Do you think Barack Hussein Obama projects strength in conducting America's foreign policy? Do you believe Obama is trusted by allied leaders (like Angela Merkel of Germany, who was having her communications intercepted by Obama's intelligence apparatus, or Netanyahu of Israel, who Obama is casting as the obstacle to peace in the stagnant negotiation with the intransigent Palestinian terror faction known as the Palestinian Authority that is led by Mahmoud Abbas, who attained his doctorate suggesting Zionist collaboration with Nazis)? Would you contend US enemies fear Obama as we scurried from Iraq, giving away gains we paid for with more than four thousand dead US personnel and as Obama is now doing by retreating from Afghanistan? Is Obama seen as a stronger leader than Russia's Vladimir Putin or is the world convinced America under Obama is at her weakest point in living memory?

Horror in China

An act of deliberate barbarism was perpetrated by Muslim separatists who slaughtered innocent Han Chinese yesterday at a train station in Kunming in the Yunnan province. The attackers did not target police or military but vulnerable travelers who were laden with luggage and had little means to protect themselves from the organized terrorist assault with knives. Twenty-nine people were butchered and one hundred and forty-three were wounded in the massacre. Just as in the Boko Haram murders in Nigeria, the civilized world must rally to support lawful authority in putting down this barbarism and the fanaticism behind it. Where are the voices of Muslim religious authorities condemning this criminal act, calling the perpetrators a blight on the Islamic faith, and demanding that attacks being carried out in the name of their religion cease?

Confidence in Putin

Sadly, I have more confidence in Russia's Vladimir Putin to properly handle the situation in the Ukraine than I do in Western leaders including US President Barack Hussein Obama. Putin may be Machiavellian, but he at least is willing to protect the national interests of Russia, while Western leaders project indecision, and worse yet, weakness. Putin is playing chess while Western leaders are learning checkers with the exception of Obama, who is still badly tossing out the first pitch in mom jeans. Let us hope that no accidents or miscalculations take place that force Putin to show the world what real strength is.