Another pock on US leadership is the escapist mess in Afghanistan. Though we and major allies—European, Australian and Canadian—make up the bulk of NATO there, the forces are underfunded as a the stepchild of the Iraqi skirmish and unable to contain the resurgence. To make the matter worse, the remainder of NATO refuses to consider itself a combat force but rather there to do nation building. Moreover, the battle of the poppy fields are doing as poorly, not a surprise, as our own domestic war on...

Overreaction to global warming is the same tactics of exploitative fear as was the carried on, and still is, in the rush to Iraq. These piecemeal inconvenient truths do not forge a systemic strategy—on the contrary, it generates greater negatives. Who among the poor would not resent a lecture on the good graces of organic foods originated from the elite holier-than-thou image-seekers who can afford them? No one of moderate means would pay triple the price for a head of cabbage. Who among us shav...

 Despite Hillary Bashing by not only Republicans but Democrat candidates, I pragmatically but ambivalently lean toward her as the next president. Unquestionably the perception is that she has high negatives by both sides and the pundit myth-makers—all of whom still think she should stay home and bake cookies—and I too feel low vibes but not for her personality—at least she has one which has been lacking in the White House—rather, I dislike her ties with shady fund-raisers and her cosy relat...

Why do we continue the desperation of clinging to the frayed rope of private health insurance? Even Hillary wants the upper middle class to keep their existing employment related policies. This is in face of an accelerated belief in the business realm that private insurance is wrecking its global competitiveness. Essentially she wants to return to the same old “regional” concept under the guise of generating greater competitive health insurance industry. The whole point of “insurance” competitio...

Frustration over illegal immigration is a kind of Catch 22. The Washington Post points out that even though funds for border patrol and its technology increased 1000 percent from 1986-2002; that is, from $150 million to $1.6 billion. Manpower increased threefold over the period. What once was three million illegals has increased to 12 million and still counting. The Post estimates $7.6 billion will be the projected cost by 2011 and some say as much as $30 billion. While immigrants keep coming ov...

Tax Change A tax commission established to determine the best and fairest method of revenue to replace the current unwieldy tax system.Payroll tax shall be reduced 2% divided equally by employee and employer but the maximum cap will be increased to $400k with the modification to opt out over $250k. Medicare deduction, however, shall be increased by 1%. Trade All nations that trade with the USA must undergo strict standards that not only protect consumers here but the right of worker...

Federal Reserve A Federal Reserve more attuned to the economic welfare of ordinary citizens in lieu of checking the pulse of the captains of Wall Street. For instance, the Reserve’s action on the current subprime disaster was more concerned over the lenders’ losses than the thousands of foreclosures. Healthcare Unquestionably there should be healthcare for everyone—why, even the Republicans are trying to compete, though still timid—including immigrants, illegal or otherwise who c...

What is going on with fund-raising?—obscenity, that’s what. Already candidates are breaking the bank and the presidential election is more than a year away. Hillary goes so far as to support lobbying—don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Candidates obviously are for sale and there are simply too many corners—ethnic, religious, bloggers, pioneers, rangers, hill-raisers, unions, corporations—of power that are ready to buy; candidates might just as well put themselves on E-Bay. Is this not known as...

Abandon Iraq Foremost, a plan for the US to abscond from the civil war in Iraq within a year of his/her administration at which time all troops and residuals are home. All military bases there must be swept clean with absolutely no armaments left behind. This withdrawal is to be done unilaterally, though diplomatic efforts such as an appeal to the UN and coöperative efforts from allies and the Arab League will be tested.Aggressive Diplomacy A strong State Department to mend relations with th...

The Webb amendment to ensure that troops in Iraq and Afghanistan get a fair shake in tour rotation is a well-intentioned humane caring for our men and women in combat, but in reality it is but a coward’s ploy to draw-down troops through the backdoor, especially in Iraq. Not least, it capitalizes on the fact everyone knows our armed forces are thoroughly strained and at its lowest ebb. The amendment, moreover, does not specifically target combat units; it assumes that anyone overseas is enti...

According to The Washington Post the Dora market, one of Baghdad’s largest, and by pre-war standards had over 850 thriving shops, many opened till midnight. Last December Dora was a war-zone for Sunni, Shia and al Qaeda. Now with the help of the surge and setting up numerous barricades known as “gated,” the number of shops are on the rise as much as 300. Because this was Petraeus’ show piece, the military has been handing out to shopkeepers $2500 incentives each to open up for business. Most o...

If Eisenhower could end hostilities in Korea then why can it not be done in Iraq? General Petraeus should use the surge as an ultimatum to end hostilities among insurgents, both Sunni and Shia and demand an emergency consortium to negotiate a truce with the stipulation that Qaeda forces be denounced as unwelcome intruders and condemnation of any Iraqi or sub cell that coöperates with terrorists. It is expected that insurgents inform on Qaeda leaders and camps in order that a special force consis...

I have been accused many times by some radical JoeUsers for not supporting our troops or for that matter even respecting them even though the bloggers knew I was a WWII Marine, which, however, was no excuse for not “supporting” our fighting men and women. In fact that in itself was all the more reason for supporting them. The problem here is in the semantics of support: it either means let the troops alone to do their job; or question the value of what they are supporting, along with the strat...

 What’s the point of all these politicians going on junket tours at taxpayers’ expense other than for boasting rights that they are concerned for our troops. How many boring statements have you heard proudly announcing their third, fifth, eighth, or fourteenth trip simply to tell us it’s going well or badly? Warner returns concluding that a paltry sum of troops should be home for Christmas. Biden comes up with a partition plan and pushing for it time and time again. McCain has had a lovely ...

Why do “you people” on the right seem most of the time when arguing the current war to reference ancient history—WWII, Korea and Vietnam—to justify staying the course in Iraq? It goes without saying that troops still in Germany and Okinawa that had been there to protect the West from Soviet menace in Eastern Europe, and from China and Soviet designs on the Pacific rim, but now no longer serve a useful purpose and should be withdrawn but for those as a contingency of NATO inasmuch as the threa...