Yet when Kim Jong-un’s government declared early on Saturday that the “time has come to stage a do-or-die final battle”, and declared relations with South Korea to be “at the state of war”, the warnings were not being taken lightly in the world’s major capitals.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9963107/North-Korea-US-fears-comical-Kim-may-be-all-too-deadly-serious.html

Imagine this:  The US pinned down fighting on the Korean peninsula while Iran upped the ante in the explosive Middle East?  Meanwhile China would lurk behind both awaiting the US demise at the hand of their allies not perhaps militarily but certainly financially as the cost of government would rise, the stock market would take a dive and people would once again hide their cash and the silverware in the front yard Stateside.

In reality, the 1950s was the greatest period the US has ever known in terms of peace and relative prosperity.  True enough not all social groups shared in it fully but more so in many ways than today.  The vote means little if you cannot eat.

Strange that an air of cooperation has broken out over Washington’s partisans.  Those closest to power know the reality.  The threats of North Korea have already taken their toll.

China has marshalled money and men and dedicated them to cyber warfare.  They may have been behind the recent attacks at the New York Times that focused on research being done on the finances of the Chinese Prime Minister [CNN on air].  But major US government websites have also been on their agenda.

With his support for the troops in the trenches and his grasp of the new technologies and strategies for warfare, Hagel is a superior candidate.  It is his reluctance to commit large numbers of ground troops in theatre that has many worried.

With important cyber attacks on the rise, traditional forms of defense seem to pale when considering that a single worm could close down our missles.  Our Government can no longer afford to be surprised by such attacks but to be prepared for them.  Cutbacks may be the order of the day for our military under a new budget but somewhere we do need to get monies to fund our own cyber force.l  China’s budget for cyber training and defense is growing while our cyber forces appear to be small and static.

So wherefore a US program of defense against cyber attack.? I say defense because that seems to be the operative term from rocket systems to all other forms of weaponry.  Stealth but not pro-active are in the military vocabulary.  OR this all may turn out to be a kind of cyber War of 1812:  neither side will gain much and all sides will break to plant and harvest crops.  Even this may prove overly positive with budgetary cutbacks.  The Pentagon may have to write a grant proposal.  That will put the Pentagon on a par with the rest of us.

Perhaps character building and education in what is expected of US citizens should be the order of the day in training for international events.  Immigrants have to pass tests involving more than a pledge.  They must know our history, etc.  Athletes representing their countries could stand to have a similar induction into the honor of representing their nations.

Since this country became an international power following WWII, integrity has been what the world has come to expect of us.  Our representatives MUST enhance this major national character component or be disqualified.  He cannot retain the medals or the titles.  He needs to be left with only what is left of Lance Armstrong.  Perhaps he will more clearly see both the country he represented and his own soul one day.

Meanwhile, his organization that fights cancer, Livestrong, deserves to thrive.  Born perhaps of his desire to render monumental his successful competition with cancer for the winners circle, it no longer belongs to him literally or figuratively.  He has resigned from his position there.  But Livestrong is its subscribers and all that they do and represent.  New organizations have tapped the hearts and souls of the families and patients who battle this formidable foe.  The battle is never just personal; it requires a coming together of people for support.  Lance Armstrong would not know much about that.

Donate to Livestrong now to vote for their continued good work.  I will.  Livestrong saved the life of one of my brothers.  As they say in the ranks there:  he kicked cancer’s butt.

Most people are against citizens retaining the mutant military machine guns.  Few would want to go to the next level.  Their use should be the privilege of the military – issued to those trained in their use and well aware of their potential and purpose.  Leave the military, and you lose your privilege to carry such a weapon.  To argue you love to use it for target practice or hunting is to present a weak argument for civilian retention of these weapons.  Either you have a limited view of what is fun or you can’t hit a deer worth beans.

Recently a young Georgia mother protected herself and her children from an intruder by utilizing her hand gun when he discovered her hiding place.  Aside from the fact that she had been trained in its use (albeit that she could have had an accident with it or one of the children could have found it in the house and hurt himself/herself) it is a reasonable thing to retain such guns.

Regardless of their role in our lives, it is the greater part of valor to keep thinking of alternatives to the use of guns for protection.  But that  is a large order.  We need to consider disarming the gangs in our cities; drug dealers and mentally unstable people.  We need to think of devices such as burglar alarms, etc. These are the issues we should be discussing and on which we should focus.  Guns will never go away, just some guns.  But if someday we need those automatic weapons, we can dial up our rebel friends in Syria and ask them where they sourced theirs.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/06/georgia-mom-home-alone-with-kids-shoots-ex-con-intruder/

Many believe that armed Jews would have prevented the holocaust.  But the specter of Syrian rebels pitting their guns against the tanks and air power of Assad militate against this view.  Citizens armed with dirty bombs or biological weapons might be more of a deterrent. But do we even have to go here?

The President is fond of isolating himself and making dialogue difficult in utilizing executive action overly much.  You cannot blame this on the Republicans.  In taking on the legislators, he is setting himself up in opposition to the American people at a time when he needs to garner their trust and support.  Instead, he becomes the bully on the block, a dictator, and a perfect target for cartoonists.  Congressional leaders can gather their colleagues in support of their point of view.  The President can only appeal directly to voters but inasmuch as he is not consistent with his middle of the road stance on issues, he is not fully trustworthy .

We could easily write this about the fiscal issues.  It is the same dynamic.  It is no longer a case of balance of power at work to preserve democracy; it is full cry battle and, to a degree chaos.  The only thing moving:  tempers.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-the-debacle-of-gun-control/2013/01/14/313e4c84-5e78-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html

Fear of this future may be the ghost (no pun intended) in the machine driving extremism – especially whites on the right.  When your numbers and political powers are in decline, it certainly does ramp up fears that are as old as time.  It is very difficult to see much hope of reconciliation between non-whites and whites with basic human instinct to protect one’s individual and/or “tribal” identity underlying all of it.

It is what we do not understand about ourselves complicated by what we do not understand about others that impedes progress.  I can never “feel” as a black woman feels about many things.  Similarly, non-whites have the same built-in limitation.  With this kind of limitation, prejudice seems almost a painless stance and payback justified.  The latter is “codified” in the Bible “an eye for an eye.”  But while prejudice and retribution are in our nature, in a free society, it is unlawful to express this or to act upon it.  That is what makes us civilized.  We try to keep our animal instincts in check.

Perhaps we should begin dialogue by listing or at least acknowledging the limitations we face so that we may attempt to understand the dynamic underlying our failure at dialogue.  Can we forgive ourselves?  Can we forgive others?  Can we really hope to fully understand ourselves; can we really hope to fully understand others?  The future of all minority races depends on it.

If history and evolution and other elements of human record are correct, then whites will face prejudice and payback to a greater extent than they do already.  It will take leaders such as Colin Powell who will accept political imperfection in the GOP enough to “come out” as a member of the party yet who sees the good in members of the opposition to lead the way in the public forum.  He represents many in the US who are members of one party but who vote for members of another.  SamHenry is guilty of this on all levels – national and local.  In this country, I have that freedom.

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See  http://www.scaruffi.com/nature/consciou.html

The Natue of Consciousness by Piero Scaruffi.

See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/13/colin-powell-gop_n_2467768.html

Were I to look for an underlying public culprit to today’s extremes I would point to our national press.  It is out for the kill on every story.  Nothing can work out; nothing can have a happy ending.  All is suspect.  Paranoia and platitudes are the order of the day.  Reporting is dead; editorializing on every page thrives.

In the blogosphere, writers – good ones- such as Voting Female at votingfemale.com have become very aggressive in their attacks on the left.  She styles herself as an “attack kitty” for the right.  But what boots it to be a good writer if you get knocked off iReport or Twitter because you become so virulent in your attacks?  Better to write in a manner that could achieve the same purpose but keep ideas in the forefront.  VF’s blog used to get the message out through clever satire and the great dialogue among visitors.  We can hope it takes that turn again to the credit of the right.

However, it is almost impossible to write these days about any issue and maintain friendships.  SamHenry tends to take the middle of the road – always has.  Therefore, recent articles such as the one below are encountered with great disappointment and fear for the future:

A group of like-minded patriots, bound together by pride in American exceptionalism, plan on building an armed community to protect their liberty.

The group, named Citadel, intends to purchase 2,000 to 3,000 acres for the project in western Idaho.  The community will comprise of 3,500 to 7,000 families of patriotic Americans who “voluntarily choose to live together in accordance with Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of Rightful Liberty.”

According to the Citadel website, Rightful Liberty means that “neighbors keep their noses out of other neighbors’ business, that neighbors live and let live.”

Citadel explains that residents in the community will be bound by the following:

• Patriotism

• Pride in American Exceptionalism

• Our proud history of Liberty as defined by our Founding Fathers, and

• Physical preparedness to survive and prevail in the face of natural catastrophes –such as Hurricanes Sandy or Katrina — or man-made catastrophes such as a power grid failure or economic collapse.

Building a “fortress,” emphasis on patriotism, American Exceptionalism, preparedness to survive and prevail…all suggest a mix of fear, superiority and isolation and at the same time point to coming disaster.  A community erected in fear is one that cannot be healthy.  Patriotism has been taken hostage to one form of belief.

The left’s greatest spokesman, the President himself, has alternated between the middle of the road and the farther reaches of the left.  He would get dumped from Twitter if he tweeted as he presents issues at times.  Certainly the way he handled the Cambridge Police at the start of his reign is an instance of this.  He stormed through the halls of Congress with his health initiative and now he cannot present gun control in a way that does not make citizens head for the hills with their guns.  If this continues, school children will be back to “duck and cover” and it will have nothing to do with Soviet bombs.

We are all uneasy about the future but it seems in the majority of the cases, our growing distrust of one another and our rush to demean and humiliate each side can only end badly.  Yes, it is impossible to write in these times because there is only one thing that happens:  you end up defending yourself when you wanted to present ideas for discussions, not codified rules others ought to be following.  SamHenry does not feel free only boxed in.  It is not only illness that has caused her to take time off from her blog.

Who pays for what if you are over 65 and need help on the home front?  Well, Medicare pays for very little in home care.  What everyone needs is to try for long-term care insurance that includes home care coverage.  Even with a policy, you have to keep talking fast and loud to reach the right people with the power to do something.  In a few weeks’ time, a report on what the long-term care insurance will and will not cover will follow.  Reports must be short due to condition of the reporter.

Stay tuned!

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/06-Oct-2012/china-s-afghan-moment

To his credit, the President did not have a knee-jemrk reaction to events as they unfolded.  In truth the vast majority of Libyans are grateful to Americans for giving them freedom.  A small band of terrorists were responsible for killing our people there.

The Romney tone was decidedly retributive.  We don’t need any more Presidents who want to even the score over there.  We need to work cooperatively with governments there to try to end the violence. Vice-Presidential candidate Ryan said the violence was symptomatic of Obama’s poor leadership.  A less intelligent response to a situation like this I have never heard.

The President took things at a studied pace and this time his slow to react strategy worked.  He is working co-cooperatively with the Libyan government.

Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.  – Albert Einstein

I have talked with bloggers who are not really fired up to blog about it.  There is a malaise in the US.  We are all waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Neither candidate seems to be the answer to our problems.  And candidates mentioned as being in the wings for possible revolt at a convention are in not any more popular.  Face it, we are very divided and if this keeps up. this house will not stand.

Then to read that riots are expected surrounding either the conventions or the election in November takes this whole thing to another level of unreality.  This cannot be the United States.  We are all stunned, shell-shocked and in horror.  The big subject of this election is not what the candidates have or have not achieved or that they want in the future.  The big story is the American public and their lack of enthusiasm for this fight.

CNN is reporting that a woman in Cairo who recently graduated from a school of communications there was told she could not work in most television stations because she wore the Niquab. The Niquab is Arab dress that covers all but the eyes.  Regardless of the fact that she would be working behind the scenes, she was told she could not work wearing it.  It did not say where she had applied.  Certainly in France there are laws against wearing the garment.

But then she got lucky.  There was a newly formed TV station formed by women and workers were required to wear the Niquab.  While a media scholar at Georgetown University pronounced the effort a “gimmick,” others view the development as reversing strides made by the Arab Spring movement.  Only time will tell.

Certainly it will be awhile in the US before such a station could gain a general following.  Even the beauties that grace the sets at CNN have not saved ratings.  They have brain power but dress code there is decidedly on the cocktail lounge level. In or out of a Burka or niquab, one would hope intelligence would break through and be appreciated.

Meanwhile, the lesson here is that one man’s prejudice is another man’s freedom.  Could such a workplace exist in America?  In Catholic schools, fast food restaurants – all wear “uniforms.”  One man’s uniform is another man’s expression of a way of life.  We need to be careful of what is going on here and to keep our definitions and arguments clear while we work toward understanding if not resolution of these matters.  Here is hoping there will not be a war over dress code until more is known and mutually understood.

Republicans are increasing in number who are hiding from association with Bachman and for good reason:

It all has the look and feel of a McCarthy -era witch hunt for communists in the US.  This kind of investigation is not the most helpful or constructive proposal for a legislator to make.  As a member of the House of Representative’s Intelligence Committee, Bachmann seems to have stepped out ahead of the Committee’s agenda.  Better late than never but House Speaker John Boehner has criticized Bachmann’s actions and more recently the Intelligence Committee Chairman.

Most significantly, Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for President, has remained silent on the issue allowing his foreign policy spokesman, John Bolton, free to support Bachmann’s actions. The question becomes one of why wasn’t this a general letter, uninvolved in personalities.  Here is Bolton’s statement that endeavors to do that.  After all, what is so unreasonable about checking thoroughly on backgrounds for workers in sensitive areas:

Bolton’s argument is predicated on the assumption that a general inquiry had been made to several intelligence agencies when, in point of fact, the letter had pointedly requested investigation into a staff member in the office of the head of the State Department, Hilary Clinton.  This is not a politic move even in election season.  And that it is against Hilary Clinton’s judgment in hiring the woman suggests that Bachmann may be heading off any move to make Clinton either Vice President this election period or to consider her for 2016.

Now Romney is slated to visit Israel.  Tacit support of Bachmann on this issue is not going to help the Middle East situation.  Together Egypt and Israel have for many years kept a lid on many difficulties that have erupted in the area.  To work in opposition to Egypt’s new government to develop another trusting relationship is to throw over work of both Republicans and Democrats over this period.  It runs counter to our self-interests.

Would we like Russia or Iran to step in to replace us in Egypt?  We are fast losing ground in the area as it is. An important lesson in American foreign policy that has not worked would be Cuba.  Russia is seeking to build a base there.  A Russian foothold in this hemisphere is what the Cuban missile crisis was all about.  Now it seems everyone but the US has a foothold in Central and South America.

Nixon took us to China because he knew that dialogue was important. Why the move to insult and isolate a government that is so newly established when it is not at all clear what its policies will be as they play out is beyond comprehension?   We don’t want to live under Communism; we don’t want to live in a Muslim state.  But a democratic state such as the US does not win converts through opposition to other forms of government in a world increasingly smaller and diverse.  The Tea Party we know today and Michele Bachman will not win this election for Romney; tolerance will.

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Summary of the Bachmann letter may be found here.

Many in my range of friends on FaceBook were of the same persuasion – several tuning out and watching their favorite television programs or enjoying an outdoor event while the weather holds.

It did not appear that the Queen herself thought much of it if pictures are, in fact, worth a thousand words:

Then again, it did not look as if the Queen was her old fit self last night:

When this writer went to review the video of Bond and Queen parachuting into the stadium, the message “removed by uploader” popped up.  It was also not easily found on YouTube.  Perhaps second thoughts will prevail.

Boyle represents a continuum from the darkness of Dickens to the darkened state of British health care – another aspect of the evening that got a gloss over.

And when did pop music dominate the last 40 years of the British music scene?  OK, if  you were a member of the masses and clearly that was the target audience of the evening.  But wherefore art thou Andrew Lloyd Webber or the talent that brought us the remarkable staging and play “War Horse”?  Too upper class?  Too tuneful?  Too literate?

If I want to see rabble, I will go see a re-staging of “Oliver.”  Give me a little more true entertainment sans lecture.  This whole thing takes me back to other areas of decline in standards such as dragging down the language of the Elizabethans in the Anglican prayer book to the level of the common man today.  Why aren’t we looking up and setting higher goals rather than trying to befriend the lowest common denominator?

The show more than demystified the monarchy – it was a misstep in Queen Elizabeth’s drive to bring the crown into the present time.  It was the kind of thing that changed perceptions entirely and in a way that would be wildly misinterpreted by her people.  They will now think of her as one of them.  Only Bond came out of it in tact.  He’s still an icon and face it: he delivered up the Queen to pop culture.