Sunday, January 30, 2011

TOTAL BULLSHIT: THERE CAN BE A JUST WAR

The NYT Sunday Book Review features "The Violence of Peace, America's Wars in the Age of Obama," by Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter, and reviewed by James Traub, contributing writer for the NYT Magazine and a weekly columnist for ForeignPolicy.com.

Traub writes about Carter's acceptance of a "just war," in the Augustine and Aquinas tradition. War must be a last resort; the force used must be proportional; and "whenever possible," civilians must be spared.

The concept of a just war is pure fiction and total bull. No war is ever just. The fiction arises because kings and presidents want some moral justification for what they will engage in, and their lackeys come up with pseudo-moralistic and quasi-philosophic justifications for their leader's actions.

War never spares civilians, it always targets them. See the American carpet bombing of German cities during WWII, the dropping of American nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the drone attacks currently conducted by the CIA in the Waziristan areas of Pakistan.

War is never proportional. The larger the bomb or shell, the better. The more destructive and lethal the weapon, the sooner it is incorporated into the action.

And war is never the last resort. Consider George W. Bush's action against Iraq. Saddam wanted a compromise. Bush would not permit it.

Friday, January 28, 2011

CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOULD CONDEMN PAEDOPHILIA, NOT HOMOSEXUALS

Here's an egregious display of antagonism to homosexuals at the funeral of gay activist David Kato in Uganda, as reported by the BBC. A Catholic priest at the funeral service began to disparage and condemn homosexuality.

The Catholic Church should first take a look at the practices of its own clergy, a priesthood which is riddled with paedophilic practices. Instead of condemning sexual practices which do not involve children or minors, the church and the bishops need to condemn the sexual abuse of children.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

OBAMA "THE ENEMY" OF LATINO IMMIGRANTS

Elvira Arrellano, the lady who took refuge from pursuing American immigration officials several years ago in a Chicago church, says that Obama is not a friend of Latinos but "the enemy." Obama lacks understanding of Latino culture. Obama approves the increase of deportations, mostly Latinos. Obama neglects Latino problems.

I agree.

Look at last night's State of the Union speech.

Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. And I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. (Applause.) I know that debate will be difficult. I know it will take time. But tonight, let's agree to make that effort. And let's stop expelling talented, responsible young people who could be staffing our research labs or starting a new business, who could be further enriching this nation.

Obama showed no feeling for the thousands of Latino college students who lack proper documentation. He said nothing about the effect of deportations on Latino families, nor did he refer to the large contributions of Latino immigrants in the U.S.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

OBAMA SHOWS TILT TOWARDS ISRAEL IN PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

I thought the U.S. government under Pres. Barack Obama would take a fair approach to solving the Middle East crisis. Instead the Palestine Papers published by Al Jazeera and The Guardian show that Obama's policy has been one of pressuring the Palestinians to make concessions, and, at the same time, no corresponding pressure on Israel and the Israeli government to make concessions in return, especially about settlements and the right of return of Palestinians to come back to their ancestral homeland.

Monday, January 24, 2011

MR. OBAMA, STOP DEPORTATIONS OF LATINOS

Why have deportations of Hispanics and Latinos surged under Barack Obama and Janet Napolitano?

Deportation is like a death sentence. A person is violently torn away from a job, family, spouse, children, home and neighborhood, and under penalty of the law can never return.

I blame Obama for being culturally insensitive to those from Latin countries to the south. Obama seems to have no knowledge of Spanish culture, Obama does not speak any Spanish, Obama appears to treat all of Latin American with indifference. No wonder Janet Napolitano can get away with the fast pace of these inhumane deportations.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

VATICAN CALLS ON BERLUSCONI TO REFORM "MORALS"

Can there be any more ridiculous and transparent example of sexual hypocrisy than the call by a Vatican official today for Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi to reform his sexual mores? The BBC reports on the story today.

The Catholic Church, whose priesthood is riddled with paedophiles, publicly chastises Berlusconi for consorting with show girls. Now Berlusconi should indeed avoid inviting under-age models to his parties and/or having sex with them, but apart from this serious question of age majority which I don't want to minimize, Berlusconi's modus vivendi of befriending models and show girls, assuming they are of majority age, seems much more tolerable and acceptable than Catholic priests preying upon and sexually molesting children.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

BRITISH OFFICIAL DENIES PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW ABOUT IRAQ

Here's another case of government officials in the U.K. and U.S. trying to block the release of information embarrassing to governmental leaders. The top civil service official in the Britain has banned the release of transcripts of conversations between George W. Bush and Tony Blair over Iraq.

Why? Because obviously the content would embarrass present and former officials of the British government, and indeed show that Tony Blair was George Bush's poodle.

Monday, January 17, 2011

IDEA FROM PROF. CORNELL WEST

Instead of Hillary Clinton and the U.S. Government concentrating on building a case against Wikileaks and Julian Assange for publishing secret cables from the State Department, how about Pres. Barack Obama directing his administration to crack down on wrong-doing contained and disclosed in the cables, such as the torture and other misdeeds committed by governments supposedly "friends" of the U.S., such as Tunisia, Iraq and China?