The Saufis

Our relationship with the Saudis is sinking fast. There is likely some connection between the death of a journalist and the Saudi royal family. Okay, why are we surprised.
The Saudi regime has long been considered, by Amnesty International, to be one of the most brutal and oppressive in the World. We speak of them as great allies and friends and, for that, shame on us. We sold our souls for oil. We do not need them as military allies and, at this point, we can get by just fine without their petroleum.
We must stop supporting them in their war in Yemen, which is just a proxy war with Iran. We must stop selling them arms. We must hit them with sanctions as stiff as those we have placed on Iran and N. Korea.
Will we? That is hard to say. There is fear that any sanctions will stifle our marginally growing economy. There is fear that we can throw off ant stability that exists in the Muddle East.
Gere is the question. Will we act in a moral manner or will we continue selling our souls for cheap oil and a shaky chance at getting a Mid East peace treaty, which really is for the benefit, bit of the USA, but for Israel Our best strategy would be complete withdrawal from all alliances in that idiotically warlike region, but there is about as much chance of that as I have of sprouting wings and flying away.
Nations, as well as individuals, are subject to the laws of, for want of a better word, karma. We certainly have a history of doing great and wonderful things in this land, but we also have a history of dealing, on uncomfortably friendly terms, with some of the most inhumane regimes the World has ever known. This will, one fine day, come back to haunt is.
There is an old saying my Daddy was fond of. "When you lie down with dogs don't be surprised if you get up with fleas.",

Maybe I spoke to Quickly

Recently, I conceded the Country to the Socialists. I may have been to hasty. Not because there are not a whole lot of them. The left wing may gain a bunch of seats in the mid term elections, but it may be very temporary. This will not be a political blog. It is more about our perceptions and about how things can change in an instant. And, about some surprising twists life can take.
In the wake of Florence, much aid is promised from the Feds and I am sure a lot of money will ve sent. But, so far, the emergency relief has been handled by local and state officials in conjunction with many wonderful volunteers, many from other states. The National Guard, military and FEMA are not doing the hard, quick work needed in disasters. They, no doubt, will get there and do good work, but so far, it is a local effort. A fine job is being dome without Washington. If folks are paying attention, they will see that the Feds are limited, both by circumstances and by their inherent incompetence. Corporate America, the other darlings of the left are impotent in such situations. Again, local residents and businesses are the heroes.
At the same time, reports on the economy are painting a far less rosy picture than the Administration. Things are somewhat better, but not that much, unless you are at the upper echelons of a large corporation. On top of all of that, the whole Washington power structure is teetering on collapse from the weight of its own bloated corruption. Spies and secret cabals, bribes and lies, double dealing and rampant sexual misbehavior, have all meshed together to paint a sleazy picture of power mad corruption and both sides are up to their necks in in the muck.
Now, many, especially among younger voters will turn up their noses and vote the party in power, Republicans, our, and turn to the rhetoric of the left. Not their fault. They have not been taught enough about how the World functions to know better and are being media led. Many will just skip the elections and I don't blame them. The left will make gains and the Federal mess will get bigger and worse. But, eventually, the disaster of the Feds and the efficiency of local and State governments, combined with the humanity and heroism of  what we , call ordinaty people( U hate that term, we are all extraordinary), may drive home the point that we must function locally and in a true free matket (By the way, our economy is now a cannibalistic, cut throat capitolism. We have not been a free market economy since before the Civil War. Sometime, read a bit about Lincoln's power grab whicj was followed soon by the rise of the great robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morhan and a few others. They, in conjunction with old Abe, ruined this Country).
The left will likely have its day, but it will be a short one. The Federal Government will prove itself incapable of handling much of anything. Corporate America will price itself out of the US markets and concentrate on the World economy which will, in turn fuel a revival of small American businesses.
The final result will be a return to the idea of some of the Founding Fathers, The USA will become a loose confederation of States withe Federal Government being responsible only for defending us from foreign direct aggression and arbitrating  squabbles between the States. Sanity will be restored after a brief period of madness. Maybe. Hopefully. My advice is to keep yourself out of the way as musch as possible and pay attention. realize this. Perceptions determine reality and events, often unexpected, will change perceptions. Have a Blessed day.

War

We humans have been fighting each other as long as we have been on this planet. By the time the early nation-states, like Sumer, rolled around, we weer fighting on a grand scale. I have no problem with self defense, but most wars are wars of acquisition. Nations want what others have, and try to take it from them.Okay, that's how it has been. Things are a bit more subtle now, but, in essence, the same. Look at the current scenarios.
No one is attacking the USA. With our nuclear arsenal, we will not be attacked. Yer, we have troops everywhere. Why?
Iraq did not attack us. Terrorists from Saudi Arabia led the 9/11 attacks. Afghanistan did harbor ben Lauder, but we found him in our ally, Pakistan's mountains He's dead, we are still in Afghanistan Iran has not attacked us. N. Korea has not attacked us. Vietnam never attacked us (the Gulf of Tonkin incident was staged' the military's own records admit this). On and on goes the list, and America's troops are still scattered all over the Earth. Men and wo,en are being killed and crippled. Why?
Thar's the easy question. Power. Control. And their stepchild, wealth. Troops are scattered simply to protect American bug business interests. To keep any country that might get a dollar richer off us, under our thumbs.
You say, what about terrorism?. Look at the facts. Most of our terrorism is home grown. Even 9/11 was done by our great allies, the Saudis.
N. Korea? They are just trying to scam is to get money and trade. They know that any attack is suicide.
The creation of nuclear arms, killed the classic idea of war. Now, we fight lottle battles for no reasons other than economic.  Or for the display of power. Poiwer is the most addictive drug their is, and its pursuit is a deep mental illness.
There will come a time, sooner rather than later, when the USA will no longer be the big dog. This has happened to every powerful, militant Nation in the history of the World and there is no reason to think we will be the exception. How will we handle that? Well. that is for those coming along now, the younger Americans. Maybe, they will finally, at long last see the lunacy of War. Or, they may choose to go out in a blaze of glory, much like Hitler did in Germany. Or they may just curl up in a little ball and whine. I have no idea. Bur, it will be their choice.
As always, have a fine and Blessed day.

Look South

We pay so much attention to China, Korea, Russia and the Mid East and, for reasons I don't understand, we pay little attention to South and Central America and the Islands in the Gulf and Caribbean..
Those Nations are our neighbors, they are all based in Western Civilization and they can be a great boon to us or our worst nightmare.
The boon? They gave an abundance of resources, oil, minerals, timber and crops. Plus, they are a huge market, with many millions eager to buy quality products.
The nightmare? Well, they don't much like or trust us. With good reason. Over the years, we have supported brutal governments ib their lands so long as they supported our businesses. Remember Somoza in Nicaragua. Batista in Cuba. Remember how we led the overthrow and assassination of Allende in Chile (by the CIA's own admission). Don't remember? They do. And these were not isolated incidents. Add that enmity into a hellish impoverishment and you have a fine recipe for terrorism, Terrorists are not all Islamic.
Nothing to do about the past except move on and we can do that by helping these Countries when we cam. WE do this by treating them like adults, Do business when both sides are ready to trade as equals. Stop telling them how to run their own governments. Refuse to deal with them when they brutalize their own people and do nothing to end extreme poverty. Brazil has vast wealth, but most live in deep poverty, while the elite party in Rio.
And definitely refuse to deal with them when they tolerate drug smugglers shipping their products to the US. Cut off Nations like Peru, Columbia and Mexico until they get a grip on the production and smuggling of drugs in their own back yards,
In addition, we, Americans, need to learn more about our neighbors. They have rich and fascinating cultures. Understanding them will enrich us all.