what has Obama's election wrought?

i realize it's been quite a while since i've done any serious posting. other things have been on the agenda. like, i'm supposed to be in Honduras right now working with some of the schools. needless to say, we've had to reschedule because of the political unrest down there. we're now going at the end of the month. [fingers crossed]

that's part of what actually prompted this question about Obama.

i've been watching the upheaval in Honduras very closely, monitoring the newspapers and radio down there daily.

next, we've seen the ongoing drama in Iran. today, the battling has begun again on the streets. violence has erupted again.

then, the Chinese are cracking down on the Uighars and are fighting daily.

and, in Malaysia the people are up in arms because the government wants to put a ban on teaching math and science in English. they believe that will put them behind the rest of the world.


there are a few underlying signs in Venezuela with the mayor of Caracas on a hunger strike against Chavez and he has threatened to close down over 240 radio stations because of their content.

i can't even get into things going on in the U.S., but there does seem to be an underlying tension and a lot of it is not just the economic situation. that is just appearing to be a symptom.

the country appears to be undergoing a crisis in its anima. many people are questioning what has happened, how we got here and what comes next. some of us are even asking, "is it worth it?"

other areas of unrest in the world keep popping up too.

from what i've been observing, there is one thing that they all have in common. the unrest is coming from the people of each country.

is there something in the recent election of Obama that is in some way working on the conscience of the world?

it's something to think about.

and i'm just asking...

an oxymoron?

Singer Boy George has been sent to jail for falsely imprisoning a male prostitute in his east London flat.

The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court said the star, real name George O'Dowd, has used "gratuitous violence."

Boy George sentenced to 15 months in prison, pinknews.co.uk

now, if i'm not mistaken the antonym for gratuitous is necessary. at least, that's according to Thesaurus.com. the synonym would then be unnecessary

think about some of the violence we hear about. the killings of children in Gaza this last three weeks; the bombing of the police training facility in Kabul today; the shooting of five students at Dunbar High School in Chicago after a basketball game last week.... i think you get the picture.

by synonym and antonym, violence then would either be necessary or unnecessary.

can someone please tell me something that is necessary violence, please?

oh, and if you look at another of the classic definitions of gratuitous you discover that it also means free...

but isn't there a fee for violence? someone, usually the victim, pays for it?

i mean, i'm just asking...



as far as Boy George, i've always thought him a bit gratuitous.

If I listen to your lies would you say
I'm a man without conviction
I'm a man who doesn't know
How to sell a contradiction
You come and go
You come and go

Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon

well, the conviction part is no longer true. he's been sentenced to 18 months in prison. that's karma, i suppose...

big mistake in Illinois?

living in Chicagoland all my life, none of the Governor Blago stuff is surprising. [we can't spell the governor's name so we just call him Blago] it's politics as usual. it's tit for tat. it's the way things are and always have been.

ABC World News interviewed people in Chicago and made a point of saying that no one they spoke to here really saw it as a big deal. there was no real reaction to speak, well except from other places around the country that aren't used to the way we do things here. remember, we are The City That Works, and there are reasons for that.

at the least, it sells newspapers and that's something that the Chicago Tribune can use right now.

however, did U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald get pushed into something that will not hold up in court? is there a political agenda for which he has fallen? was he made to jump the gun before he had a solid case? think about it.


what exactly did Blago do that is illegal? Pat Buchanan brought this up on the Cris Matthews' show tonight. Blago is taped saying some things he could do, some things he could ask for, and some things that had naughty words in it. does saying things that might or could happen constitute illegal behaviour?

did he accept any bribe? did he coerce any one to do anything illegal? did he break any ethics laws? these are all questions that will have to be answered in a court of law.

now, they are reporting that Rahm Emanuel was the one who alerted Fitzgerald. possibly because Blago would not name the person that Obama and Rahm wanted to replace Obama in the Senate? like i said in the first paragraph - politics as usual, and Emanuel is an expert at it, even more than Blago.

i may have used this metaphor in previous posts, but it bears repeating. in Chicago we have da Bears, da Bulls, da Cubs, da Sox, and da Blackhawks but the favorite sport in the city [county and state for that matter] is politics.

now the rest of the country gets to be part of the team playing, fan rooting, unquestioning supporting, cross-town fighting...

enjoy...


oh, and if i may add my 2¢, i think Governor Blago should go ahead and name Obama's replacement, that is totally within his legal right as governor, but i think that he should screw them all by naming his arch-enemy's daughter to the post - Lisa Madigan! her father, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan, has been doing everything in his power to undermine everything that not just Blago but all other Democrats and Republicans in Illinois have been trying to do. IMHO, only for getting her elected governor. Madigan has refused to even meet with Blago for years.

i'd love to see some corruption stuff on them. everything they've done is under the (dis)guise of making her governor.

it would also make for greater sport...

socialism...

She [Sarah Palin] quickly went after opponent Barack Obama, saying his economic plan would raise taxes and equating it with socialism.

Gov. Palin holds rally in Noblesville, MSNBC, Fri., Oct. 17, 2008

socialism |ˈsō sh əˌlizəm|
noun
1. a political theory advocating state ownership of industry

Regulators give banks until mid-November to apply for stock sale to Treasury

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - US banks will have until the middle of next month to apply for the right to participate in the Treasury Department's new capital purchase program, under which banks will sell billions of dollars worth of preferred stock to Treasury in return for much-needed liquidity, according to guidelines released today by key financial regulators.

Forbes.com, 10.20.08, 1:03 PM ET

Mr. McCain did vote for the rescue, didn't he?

This is state ownership, isn't it?

so, what is the difference? i'm confused.


I've traveled in some so-called socialist countries - Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy.... There is one thing that I can personally comment that I observed: I don't remember potholes in their roads; I have never read about bridges collapsing during rush hour; I visited schools that were not falling down and met life safety codes; and I remember that no one was ever turned away from getting care if they were ill.

These socialist countries also have free enterprise and capitalistic working alongside it. See, they have a view of government that they learned from a revolution and a civil war. It's called government by the people, for the people and these countries believe that government is supposed to make the people's lives better and is to work for them.

I wonder where they got that idea?

just asking...

right-wingnuts may be, umm, right...

from today's Chicago Sun-Times:

North Carolina Democrat accused of satanic rituals — husband charged with rape

URHAM, N.C. -- Durham County Democratic Party officials are shocked about allegations that a local Democratic leader was involved in satanic rituals that included shackling people to beds, caging them, and depriving them of food and water.

Joy Johnson, 30, a third vice chairwoman of the county Democratic party and vice chairwoman of the Young Democrats, was charged Friday with two counts of aiding and abetting.

wait! a question...

can satanic worshipers/religions qualify for faith-based governmental initiatives?

just asking...