Arming Teachers 2-26-2018

26, February 2018               Arming Teachers

As further proof of the NRA’s undue influence, President Trump parroted his benefactor, by offering a bizarre and outlandish proposal to mass shootings by deputizing teachers to be armed guards. Imagine the scene where a shooter enters a classroom armed with a military-style AR 15 and Rambo style, commences shooting. It’s extremely doubtful if the teacher would have the presence of mind to fire back and kill the assassin all within a few seconds. It is also likely the teacher may very well kill his own students in a hasty act of friendly fire.  How many teachers would be willing to take such a risk? Envisioning teachers as an armed militia with military discipline ready to do effective battle is a cruel fantasy masquerading as a remedy.

If the president is so enamored with this approach, he should take time off golfing, and watching “Fox & Friends” and take up Marksmanship 101c – and dismiss the Secret Service.

No, Mr. Trump, I urge you to sever your unholy alliance with the NRA and state unequivocally “to stop a bad guy with a gun it takes good guys “to ban AR15’s and dump the anachronistic Second Amendment in the dustbin of history. We don’t require militias to protect us – we have law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Trump in response to your recent bravado statement that you would have rushed the assassin unarmed, I have only this to say, why did shirk your duty and avoid the draft during the Vietnam War?  

Indian Politicians 2-20-2018

20, February 2017                       Indian Politicians 

India is a country mired in endless contradictions. It is puzzling that a nation which prides itself in being the epicenter of spirituality ignores honesty and integrity in conducting its day to day activities. Many seem to believe that a quick stop-over and donation to the local temple will absolve them from their many sins.

In western democracies, the whiff of a political scandal would bring a swift end to a political career. Witness Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu fighting corruption charges or his predecessor Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who was driven from office on bribery charges.  Or Richard Nixon who famously claimed that “I am not a crook” but then resigned in ignominy.

Perhaps, Donald Trump may buck the trend and escape punishment – in the near term but his ‘Russian connection’ may yet doom his presidency. In his soon to be released new book Milan Vaishnav, “When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics” argues that in India, politician’s criminal behavior is generally considered to be an electoral asset. Vaishnav, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, states that most countries hold their politicians’ in low esteem but not in India where law makers who have been charged or convicted of serious crimes are three times more likely to be elected than those with a squeaky clean record. India’s lower house the Lok Sabha is stacked with murderers, blackmailers, thieves and kidnappers.  A staggering 34% of members of parliament (MPs) have criminal charge sheets and the numbers is rising dramatically.

Part of the problem is the overburdened Indian judicial system which moves at glacial speed - with a backlog of 31M cases. Even serious crimes can take a decade or more before they are tried. Legal postponements are lubricated by a system of graft that is so effective that many defendants die before their cases are reviewed. Following independence in 1947 thuggish businessmen seeking lucrative import licenses, state concessions such as mining rights, were able to bribe politicians with relatively ease. 

Rivers of money would flow into Congress Party coffers enabling them to hold onto power for extended periods. But during the 1980s the Congress Party lost its political edge opening up new business opportunity to Indian dons who cut out corrupt politicians and ensconced themselves in positions of power.

A weary electorate were no longer inclined to expose dishonest lawmakers but were more interested in gaining access to political power. Vaishnav states that a candidate who has been charged with serious crimes is 18% more likely to win than a “clean” candidate. The more serious the charge the better the electoral boost. Caste appears to have less of a role than in prior elections. Much like American elections with the absence of campaign finance laws, deep pocket dons have become a permanent fixture in India’s new political landscape. How Mother India must be weeping!

Mass Shooting – ban AR15’s 2-19-2018

19, February 2018                      Mass Shooting – ban AR15’s

Following the mass shooting in Parkland Florida, “Health Affairs” ranked the United States the most dangerous wealthy nation in the world for children. Shooting deaths are 49 times higher than other rich countries. The teenagers slaughtered in Florida had the gross misfortune of growing up in a society that cares more about gun owners’ rights than their safety. The pro-life Republicans are fond of declaring the sanctity of the unborn child but withdraw such concerns once they are born.

The NRA has a chokehold on US lawmakers silencing them with large donations. President Trump is a prime example, providing cover for the crimes of the NRA by falsely conflating the Florida and other massacres with mental illness and not the proliferation of guns. A report by McClatchy revealed that the FBI is looking into whether Russian bankers with Kremlin ties funneled money through the NRA during the 2016 election. The NRA is complicit in all mass killings.   

What a grotesque legacy to bestow on future generations of our children. We don’t love them enough to effectively protect them. It is time to open the windows of our souls and scream loudly so that our voices reverberate across the land and reach our stone- hearted lawmakers who have sold their souls to the devil incarnate – the NRA and their enablers.

The AR15 is the weapon of choice for all mass killings. It must be banned immediately.

“The Untouchables” – a National Disgracet 2-15-2018

15, February 2018                     “The Untouchables” – a National Disgrace

According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, four Dalit women are raped, two murdered, and two Dalit homes are torched every day. Who devised this high-low caste system that condemns people to live in  “straitjackets,” caste prisons at birth for which there is no escape – no social mobility? Does a mean and vindictive God condemn these poor souls to a life of misery? The origins of the caste system in India and Nepal are murky, but it seems to have originated more than two thousand years ago. Under the system, people were identified by their occupations. The system quickly morphed into a hereditary system where the higher castes could oppress the lower castes with impunity.

The four primary castes are: Brahmin, the priests; Kshatriya, warriors and nobility; Vaisya, farmers, traders and artisans; and Shudra, tenant farmers, and servants.

Under this tightly controlled system, groups were outcasts - born outside (and below) the caste system. They were called "untouchables," or Dalits. The modern-day system is a caste apartheid condemning the Dalits to a life of daily humiliations.

It is deplorable that not a single modern “spiritual leader” has voiced his outrage condemning this national scourge. Left to their own devices the Dalits (untouchables) are fighting back., Ruth Manorama, a well-known Dalit activist was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (equivalent to the Nobel Prize) for “her commitment over decades to achieving equality for Dalit women, building effective and committed women’s organizations and working for their rights at national and international levels.” The movement is the subject of the documentary, “#Dalitwomenfight!” Dalits and Negros in America have a similar history. The Black Panther movement gave the Negros the less denigrating identity, “blacks” and rejected their prior identity which was based on their facial features.  Likewise, the “untouchables” stigma has been replaced by Dalits meaning someone who revolts against oppression and seeks emancipation. There are approximately 260 million Dalits, not only in India, but also in South Asia. In India the Dalits are often referred to as scheduled caste. Women Dalits still do manual scavenging and are forced into prostitution because of punishing poverty. Sexual predators operate with complete impunity getting a free pass from the police and court system. Like Amartya Sen observed , in one of his books called The Uncertain, Uncertainty [An Uncertain Glory, every country faces inequality, but India has cocktails of inequality. 

Cancel American “Bastille Day” 2-11-2018

11, February 2018                       Cancel American “Bastille Day”

As sheriff Mueller tightens his grip on the White House staff, King Trump is planning an America style Bastille Day, with tanks rumbling down Pennsylvania Avenue and a stream of jet fighters flying overhead in a desperate attempt to shore up his failing presidency and nourish his oversize ego. This is yet another example of profligacy, squandering millions of dollars down the proverbial rabbit hole. While roads and bridges are in a desperate need of repair, the Trump administration and its silent enablers are propping up the naked emperor with a mind-numbing extravaganza. This is the same man who used his wealth to escape the military draft and is now cloaking himself as a great friend of the military. With 0.5% of the US population serve in the military, more and more Americans are wondering what we have accomplished. Young Americans join the military enticed by slick Pentagon advertising only to return home disillusioned, many suffering lost limbs and PTSD

A staggering 20 veterans commit suicide each day. Americans must demand they never be sent to conflict zones unless the defense of the nation is threatened. In the meantime, please raise your voices and demand the planned “American Bastille day” be canceled. Finally, I urge readers to listen to the brilliant speech Rand Paul delivered on the Senate floor (YouTube rand Paul senate speech) charging fellow Republicans of blatant hypocrisy in driving up the national debt to unsustainable levels.

Federal Deficit 2-11-2018

11, February 2018                                  Federal Deficit

As sheriff Mueller tightens his grip on the White House staff, King Trump is planning an America style Bastille Day, with tanks rumbling down Pennsylvania Avenue and a stream of jet fighters flying overhead in a desperate attempt to shore up his failing presidency and nourish his oversize ego. This is yet another example of profligacy, squandering millions of dollars down the proverbial rabbit hole. While roads and bridges are in a desperate need of repair, the Trump administration and its silent enablers are propping up the naked emperor with a mind-numbing extravaganza. This is the same man who used his wealth to escape the military draft and is now cloaking himself as a great friend of the military. With 0.5% of the US population serve in the military, more and more Americans are wondering what we have accomplished. Young Americans join the military enticed by slick Pentagon advertising only to return home disillusioned, many sufferings lost limbs and PTSD

A staggering 20 veterans commit suicide each day. Americans must demand they never be sent to conflict zones unless the defense of the nation is threatened. In the meantime, please raise your voices and demand the planned “American Bastille day” be canceled. Finally, I urge readers to listen to the brilliant speech Rand Paul delivered on the Senate floor (YouTube rand Paul Senate speech) charging fellow Republicans of blatant hypocrisy in driving up the national debt to unsustainable levels.

New Arms Race 2-5-2018

5, February 2018                                New Arms Race

A new treaty limiting the development of nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia signed by President Obama due to take effect this week is in danger of being gutted by the new Trump administration which plans to spend $1.2 trillion upgrading the US nuclear arsenal. This will include developing entirely new terrifying weapons. Anti-nuclear advocates denounced the Pentagon’s plans as “radical” and “extreme”. World leaders around the globe condemned the new Pentagon plans and fear that we are now on a dangerous slide into total annihilation of humanity.

The new policy also lowers the threshold for using nuclear weapons such as cyber attacks and belies the Pentagon’s false claims that it is committed to arms control and non-proliferation. While we never lose an opportunity to waggle our fingers and express outrage at other regimes developing weapons of mass destruction we never seem to hesitate to squander taxpayer money developing our own WMD’s. Forgotten are the hard lessons of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan (to name but a few) we continue to embark on the same foolish policies expecting different results. This is the definition of madness. In the State of the Union, Trump escalated his rhetoric describing the North Korea as “depraved” - an apt description for the occupant of the White House.

Afghanistan 2-1-2018

1, February 2018                               Afghanistan

After 16 years and $4 – $6 trillion squandered in the failed war in Afghanistan, Trump now joins Obama and Bush hailing great progress in a country raked with violence. The uncomfortable truth is the Taliban and Islamic State is on the ascendency. A BBC study found the Taliban are now in control of 70 percent of the country. So dangerous is the situation that US personnel no longer drive from the airport to the embassy but are flown in by helicopter. President Trump becomes the third president in a row to attempt to put a positive spin on the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history. Compounding this tragedy is the theft of billions of dollars by a thoroughly corrupt Afghan government.

Sadly, both sides cling to the delusion a military victory is possible. Much like his predecessors, President Trump still subscribes to the insane logic that what we actually need to do is to advance the war so that we can negotiate from an advantage. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Contrary to the spin merchants at the Pentagon, the drone war is exacting huge civilian casualties creating intense hostility towards the US and serving a huge recruitment for the Taliban and their affiliates. The current US strategy has little to do with victory but false pride to admit the war is lost. The time to exit is NOW.