A number of things have been going on lately that have had me thinking. The things I think always sound great in my head but sometimes get lost in translation when I speak. I have found that keeping these things inside until I can't take it any longer then blogging it rather than talking to rational, competent and intelligent people about my ideas allows me to keep thinking I am rational, competent and intelligent. It is only after I have spoken the thoughts that I sound like a lunatic. Or get the feeling that I am sounding like a lunatic from the looks on the poor people's faces who are unfortunate enough to be within my comfort zone when I have had enough and need to vent.
Item number one that is bothering me: Have you heard about the cyclone that tore through Myanmar? Surely you have. The last numbers I read were estimating over 20,000 people dead and that number is expected to reach 100,000. 100,000!! I thought 20,000 was bad. I mean, 20,000 people is about the same size as the town I am from. I don't know how many people reside in the county I grew up in, but I bet it is less than 100,000 people.
How bout that government that didn't warn anybody a freakin' killer cyclone was nigh? Now that same government is blocking aid from foreign countries, saying, "Nah, we got this one man. Maybe next time." Think about this...most of the casualties from this cyclone aren't dead yet. The only reason they will die is because their government can't get over their pride and ask for help. That sounds so familiar...
Warning...I'm about to bring up 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina!!...Warning
Do you remember Iraq offering assistance with the recovery efforts of 9/11? Don't feel bad if you don't (actually, yeah, feel bad. You need to pay closer attention), because our own government blew them off like a sparrow in a hurricane then blew them up. I bet you remember "Shock and Awe." Maybe we did have that one covered and rescued as many survivors as possible, but how many of the rescuers were killed when the buildings suddenly collapsed? You know, the collapse nobody saw coming. How many rescuers have died since because of "Ground Zero Syndrome?" It is possible we don't know everything and could have used some intel, at the least, from a country that has experience with suicide bombings.
Hurricane Katrina-the Feds did not arrive for DAYS after the hurricane. The only reason they did come was because the cities that were wiped off the map had no infrastructure left and could not manage the situation. They had to BEG their own government to help. The Coast Guard wasn't even called in until after FEMA evaluated the situation! Isn't this the role of the National Guard and Coast Guard? Did I hear them wrong when they went over this stuff in bootcamp?
In an effort to appear humane, our government is "putting pressure" on Myanmar to allow relief aid to come in and help. This probably shouldn't piss me off. Maybe our gov has learned a lesson from 9/11 and Katrina and has come to the realization that some jobs are too big for one little operation to handle. But then again, I doubt it. How fucking pretentious can a government get? The same government that cried like spoiled brats about helping its own citizens during THE SAME TYPE OF CASUALTY is now trying to stick it to a third world country for acting the same way. Fascist anyone?
I have to stop before I throw a clot and die a terrible death. Keep up with the situation in Myanmar. This should be interesting.
Fair winds and following seas...
Thursday, May 08, 2008
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3 comments:
just wanted to say hi! don't have anything to comment on about this latest blog. i hardly heard anything about the hurricane or whatever since i rarely watch any news. unless it's "the soup" or some "entertainment" news show. :O)
Well Yak, welcome to my world. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out governments. I think our public schools do a pretty good job of whitewashing our U.S. history, so by the time kids graduate high school they have a distorted version of history. They tend to believe the United States is the moral compass of the world. Sadly, there's not much truth there. Before you read any farther, you need to understand I love my country and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I know this because I have been around the world a little bit, and I've experienced other countries first-hand.
I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. Virtually everyone in America believes Japan launched an unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor sending our country headlong into World War II. Well, that's not the way it happened.
We were squeezing Japan as tight as we could with sanctions against them. That was understandable; after all, Japan was allies with Germany who was at war with our ally, Great Britain. FDR pushed as far as he dared to push without sending us to war with Japan. Meanwhile, Japan was waging war across the Pacific Rim. In order to wage war, Japan needed oil. Japan did not have much in the way of natural resources so it had to buy oil.
Guess who was supplying Japan with the oil it needed to wage war? That's right; Uncle Sam. Even though we were supplying Britain with the tools to fight Hitler's German Army (under the Lend/Lease Act because it was against U.S. Law to sell arms to countries at war), we were also supplying Germany's ally with fuel to fight a war.
While FDR was in Europe, a high-ranking member of his government, with an arrogant and racist attitude toward all Asian countries, ordered the termination of oil to Japan. By the time FDR found out, a couple of weeks had passed, and he was not willing to rescind the order because the U.S. might appear weak and lose face. From Japan's perspective, it didn't simply mean they couldn't wage its imperialistic war; it also meant that Japan could not defend itself if attacked. The Japanese government believed the act of cutting off oil was a prelude to attack from the United States--an attack that was imminent. Japan felt its very existence as a country was at risk if it did not strike first. So, on December 7, 1942, Japan struck the first blow in what it believed to be an inevitable war between itself and the United States.
Who knows how much different the situation would have been if FDR had simply rescinded the order that terminated selling oil to Japan? Why in the hell were we selling oil to Japan in the first place? In simple terms, it was money. America was still in the depths of the Great Depression and couldn’t say no to the money that came from Japan. We all know how the war with Japan ended—with the United States being the only country in history to use nuclear weapons in war. And the targets hit were civilian targets.
Now if anyone reading this believes I’m a bleeding-heart liberal, you’re wrong. I’m conservative to the core, and I spent 22 years in the Air Force defending my country. In my opinion, that gives me the right to speak my opinion. I simply don’t live under the delusion that the United States is morally perfect. River Yak also served his country and he has, therefore, earned the right to speak his mind. If you disagree with either of us, that’s alright; it’s a free country.
Uncle Pink
Uncle Pink was the first person to leave a well thought out and fact filled comment for me, other than Mrs. Yak whose comments always end with "don't publish this."
Thanks for the comments, both of you. Uncle P, thanks for not ripping me a new one on here. I know some of my views are far left of the rest of the pride, and you have much more first hand knowledge of foreign countries than I do. Although, Mrs. Yak and I tried to go to Mexico when we lived in South Texas, but who knew there was a toll at the bridge? Nobody is trying to get into the country illegally, they are just trying to avoid the tolls!
I completely agree that students are not given the whole story when it comes to U.S. History. Living here in Jefferson's hometown, I have learned A LOT about that guy that would make your a-hole pucker. Speaking of history being distorted to fit a particular view, didn't the Nazis do that?
Misty,
How did you hardly hear anything about a hurricane in the next state!? lol You crack me up.
Later.
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