American Citizens News Network

June 30, 2008

The Facts

Last year President Bush convinced the Democratic controlled congress to authorize sending Special Ops forces into Iran to “gather information”, according to the latest issue of The New Yorker Magazine. Most top military leaders are concerned about this, in that they are afraid Bush will use this opportunity to authorize an air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates warns of the consequences if Bush stages a preemptive strike. He said “We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America”.

My View

In a post I wrote back in May of this year, I said I believed Bush is intent on destroying America before he leaves office. And the more I learn about this man, the more convinced I become that he is willing to do so. He is the scariest President this country has ever had, and although that isn’t limited to just his stance on war, it certainly is the worst.

Not even his most dedicated supporters are agreeing with him on the way he is handling Iran. Typically we think of the military as being the one who wants to shoot first then talk, and for this reason they are kept in check by the President. That’s how our democracy was set up. But in this case, it’s the military that’s advocating taking the diplomatic approach. It’s Bush and Cheney who are beating the drums of war, and it has been their policy to fire any military leader who disagrees with them. However, all we have to do is take an unbiased look at who has (and still is) benefiting from the Iraqi war, and it’s easy to see why Bush and Cheney like going to war.

Bush has the lowest approval rating of any President in the history of the United States, and it’s obvious that there is no hope of him salvaging any kind of positive legacy. Therefore, I have no doubt he will do whatever he wants no matter what the cost is to our country and it’s citizens, just as long as it benefits those who are profiting from the war in Iraq.

April 17, 2008

The Facts

Once again Ali Velshi of CNN talked about the price of oil this morning. He pointed out that oil was going up an average now of $1 per day. John Roberts asked Velshi where does this all end. Velshi answered “Well, this is so speculative that you don’t really know when it ends. It ends when speculators decide that this is not the best bet. There are better places for their money. And part of that means when the stock market, when real estate, when other things become more reasonable investments, but the fact is there is a lot of demand for oil. So if you can trade in oil, you’re going to make money until there are other places to make money. It’s considered safe, believe it or not”.

My View

For over two decades I have been saying that the price of things are not driven by supply and demand, but driven by the stock market manipulators, including the price of a company’s stock. Oil is no different. Several days ago I wrote a post about how a few speculators and investors are driving the price of oil up at the expense of the rest of the world. Ali Velshi has confirmed that with his latest statement. Speculators and investors will always find a way to make money by driving up prices.

Someone once ran a survey asking if it was wrong for people to make fortunes off society while not contributing anything to society (most said no). This current oil pricing manipulation is what the surveyors had in mind with that question. The question should be asked this way; “Do you think it is wrong for people to make fortunes by destroying other people and their lives?”

I have absolutely no problem with prices of goods being dictated by the true meaning of supply and demand. However, when a very small number of people can control the price of goods simply through manipulation, I certainly have a problem with that; especially when it is throwing the entire human population into chaos. As we all know, there is absolutely nothing produced on this planet that is not affected by the price of oil. We even have rioting going on over food in some countries right now. The reason is that the price of the food, which has been priced out of reach, is being dictated by the price of oil and by food being diverted to make fuel. My suggestion is to place the traders and investors in front of these people and let the people deal with them. Then we will see if their fortunes will save them.

Read the transcript from CNN here.

April 15, 2008

The Facts

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified last week before the House Armed Services committee. He was asked a lot of questions in an effort for the committee to get some feedback from the military side of how things were going in Iraq. When asked about the moral of the troops relative to being short-handed thereby having to spend 3-4 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Admiral Mullen said “the soldiers are happy with what they are doing”.

My View

I suppose you could find some soldiers that would say they are happy with what they are doing. However, that statement by Admiral Mullen does not agree with many of the soldiers that have spoken up and many of the military leaders that have left the armed services. It also does not agree with some of the current military leaders. Once again, you have to question what is being said by some military leaders. Is Mullen being pressured by an arrogant President who will never admit that things are not going well in Iraq? Admiral William Fallon resigned in March of this year because there were “ongoing ‘misperceptions’ about differences between his ideas and U.S. policy are making it too difficult for him to operate”. Most people know the real definition of that is “Fallon pissed Bush off so he was fired”.

January 7, 2008 

The Facts 

For the past few weeks George Bush has tried to initiate the building of a case to attack Iran. Now today Iran decided to provoke another incident between their Navy and ours. This is nothing new by Iran, as they implement these provocations all the time. It’s just the way they are. Basically, their Navy has nothing else to do.  

My View 

Sometimes wars are unavoidable and necessary. But wars have been started for lesser reasons than mentioned above. And wars have been started just because a leader of some country wanted a war. It is for this reason that only reasonable and mentally stable people need to be the leaders of any country, especially one with a substantial means of fighting a war. But this “reasonable and mentally stable” concept can be arguably defined several different ways. 

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson wanted a war with Vietnam; and he got it. He got it by provoking the Navy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, then claiming they attacked American naval vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin. The rest is well documented history.  

For the younger generation who may not know the details of that incident, or maybe never even heard of it, you can go here for a quick brief. However, if you question that site, there are literally hundreds of sites on the internet you can bring up for additional reading.

December 12, 2007 

The Facts  

“A 16-year-old girl has died after allegedly being choked by her father over a dispute with her family over her refusal to wear the hijab, the Islamic headscarf worn by some Muslim women. Peel Regional Police arrested a 57-year-old man Tuesday morning after receiving a 911 call from a suburban home in Mississauga from a man saying he had killed his daughter, according to a Toronto newspaper Web site.” 

My View 

The article says the girl was killed because she refused to wear the hijab, which is a Muslim head dress. In the Muslim world of customs & laws, this action is legally permitted if a person refuses to abide by Muslim law. And it is this fact that I address here.  

For many years I worked and lived in several Muslim countries. Upon arrival in each of those countries we were required to go through an orientation. Basically, we were instructed in what we were allowed to do and not allowed to do. It really came down to what we were not allowed to do. And what we were not allowed to do was practice any customs that were indifferent to the customs & laws of that country. If we broke any of those rules, we were subject to arrest and punishment in accordance with their laws, which brings me to my point.  

Many Muslims voluntarily come to a westernized country. They demand that they be allowed to practice their own customs. Because we are a country of freedom, we allow them to do so. Then when they break one of our laws, they also demand they be left alone. In other words, “you will abide by all of our laws when you are in our country, but we will not abide by all of your laws when we are in your country”. And because we now believe in politically correctness, in many cases we end up doing very little about it or nothing at all. What we must remember is that with Muslims, laws & customs are one & the same. Therefore, when we want to punish them for breaking our laws they want to claim we are punishing their customs.  

I applaud the Canadian authorities for ignoring political correctness. Until we take a stand for our own rights and laws in our own country, Muslims will take advantage of the freedoms they have gained simply by coming here. Already the Muslim defenders, who claim that all Muslims are not like the terrorist, are out in force defending this father. Although some of them are saying they think it was wrong for the father to do this, they insist that we understand the fathers customs and be tolerant of that custom. Tolerant? Just what does that really mean in this case? Again, in other words, “you must change your cultural views in favor of ours”.

December 2, 2007 

The Facts 

Senator Jim Web was on Meet the Press today as Tim Russerts’ guest. Jim Webb is a member of the Armed Services Committee, and he just returned from Iraq. The interview started out on the war in Iraq and concluded with some questions and responses about other countries in the area.  

My View 

I get extremely irritated with so many “experts” telling me how successful or how unsuccessful our strategy is in Iraq; Democrats say everything is a failure and Republicans say everything is a success. Obviously, those comments are biased, and in most cases, a twist of facts at best. But in watching the interview today, I had to keep looking at the ticker below to be reminded of which party Jim Webb belongs to. In that, I mean unless you knew which political party he was in, you would not have known from his comments. (Just for the record, he is a Democrat.) In the literally hundreds of opinions expressed by politicians and news media alike over the past year on the Iraq situation, Jim Webb gave the most unbiased realistic view of the situation I have heard. It was obvious that he was trying to state only the facts. And in view of the fact that he is on the Armed Services Committee & just returned from Iraq, he should possess the facts.  

It will not be available until 1:00 PM ET today, but anyone who is interested in some facts of what’s going on with the war should watch the interview regardless of your party affiliation.

November 27, 2007 

The Facts 

British school teacher Gillian Gibbons was locked up in Sudan over an exercise to teach students about the process of voting. She asked the students to vote on a name for a Teddy Bear. The majority of the students voted for the name “Mohammed”. Sudan says this is cause for imprisonment and 40 lashes.  

My View 

The name “Mohammed” is the most revered name in the Muslim world. Children are taught this from the time they are old enough to understand words. It’s a name that is pounded into their head day in & day out. So naturally that is the only common name children are going to relate to at that age. In this case, Sudan wants to punish an outsider for something they taught their own children. How the heck do they get off thinking they rule people outside their world? They beg for people to come into their country to educate their children because they are unable to, and then punish them because of something that is their own fault. And this incident is about ignorant as you can get.  

We have tens of thousands of Muslims in this country who are practicing certain traditions that are in different to, and against, our religious beliefs, and many Americans do not approve of it. However, we are not arresting them and locking them up, let alone torturing them. Our problem is we allow too many others to use our freedoms against us. There are many living in this country that demand we respect & honor their beliefs, traditions, and cultures without interference, yet insult us by not respecting & honoring ours. Maybe we should pass laws that would allow us to do such things to them. No, we can’t do that; we’re not uncivilized.  

This and many other “traditions” is what keeps these countries as a whole from moving into the twentieth & twenty-first centuries and becoming a part civilized society. Yet they want to receive benefits & privileges from the advances of modern times. The problem is they want to flex their muscles to show they are here, and this is their only way they have of doing that.