2/25/2008

Fake vs. Real News....You Decide!!!

I just checked the BBC today. There is a row over the fact that the Drudge Report sent a picture from a "Clinton Staffer" about Obama trying out an African custom. First of all, it is his heritage. I am sure he is proud of it--and should be proud of it. We should never, ever demean anyone because of their heritage. That is a total betrayal of what Bill Clinton called the experiment that is "America. To me, that is not really news. How about some real news:

1) There is a report that 8000 "surge" troops are to remain in Iraq;
2) Turkey is continuing its' assault in the Kurdish area of Iraq.
3) Violence continues unabated in Iraq,w ith reports of killings continuing.

The Iraqis say that there will be "consequences". They are the ones given sanctuary to the PKK terrorists, with tacit approval from the United States. The Kosovo precedence does not truly bode well for that part of the world. The Kurds can (and if I were them I would) press for independence. This means that not only Iraq (which to me is a country that exists in name only) continues to have problems, but Turkey, Iran and Syria will also have profound challenges.

Moving on to Afghanistan, there was a story in this morning's Wall Street Journal about the Ministry of Counter Narcotics in Afghanistan. The story was that the Ministry was losing its' key staff because there was a order from the Afghan Government for the British (who were subsidizing the ministry) to adjust the salaries to bring it in line with other ministries. The minister himself said that he could not afford his apartment in Kabul and was looking for an IT job with one of the NGO's in Kabul. For those of you who may not know, Afghanistan is the top opium producer in the world. The idiots who are in charge of the Government (including the so-called "President" of Afghanistan) do not really seem to be aware of reality. Whenever the name Karzai comes up, I just simply laugh. I have to cry, because every single objective in Afghanistan is yet to be met.

Moving on, The UN World Food Program said in an article in the Financial Times this morning that hunger is becoming a world-wide problem. Because prices are rising at such a rapid pace, The World Food Program will have to start rationing if donations are not forthcoming. This is simply sad!!!!

Coming close to home, in my home state of California, we have a State Budget that relies on Academic gimmicks to make things wrong. Schools Districts (including Capistrano Unified School District) have to grapple with a massive budget shortfall. This school district, as an example, has to figure out how to cut $ 28 Million from its' budget. Yet, we are spending billions half-way around the world with no apparent end in sight. The Democratic Candidates have pledged some sort of redeployment. The Republican Nominee, Senator McCain, wants us to stay the course. Furthermore, he wants us to cut more taxes and cut "more" wasteful government spending. I suggest he start with Iraq.

If what I just said is not real news, then I don't know what is.....

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