THE DIE IS CAST.

The English speaking peoples of the United States have just relinquished another bulwark position to those who pretended to owe allegiance to the Constitution on which the laws of the nation were based, while their real desires were in the hope that they would regain what they historically lost, in terms of land possessions and prestige in the past; and had their culture relegated, not into the background, but farther south beyond the Rio Grande, diminutively and insensitively called south of the border.

Yesterday would be remembered as "Capitulation Day", which would only encourage a certain group of people bent on making the United States of America a non-English domain, civically and culturally. Yet, not that America was under any foreign rule or domination, it has, by all means, thrived over the centuries on the basic tenets of an ancestral stock and breed, as well as a set of laws that sustained its institutions, and have been the fabric of the foundation of a "New Nation in the New World".

Those traditions were in keeping with the ties and bonds that had their roots from across the Atlantic Ocean, and had been the bedrock of the colonials, and had helped them greatly to found a nation of their own.

In other words, the use of traditions, vestiges of language and art, lay in the foundation of a society that would remain in perpetuity, as the founders envisaged; and it would be the pride of those who would come from behind, to protect and defend it always, against all odds, enemies included.

Of course, the U.S. was part of the Continent of North America, but it has been carved out to have its very own identity and wellness, of which liberty and justice were its pillars. It would, however, be negligent to assume that nobody else had assisted in building it into the "fortress" and the powerful nation that it was now.

The Indentured slaves had played a part, the East European Exodus and that of the Middle East have had a hand in its making, and the African Slave trade also contributed tremendously.

It was only the parasitic element who yearned to say that the land belonged to their ancestors, and they would "invade" and claim it, if they ever had the chance. Well, giving them high positions, as the one of a justice of the Supreme Court, was a step in the right direction for them. They would turn everything around, if they had their way. "Damn the Founding Fathers", they would say.

Those of us who were African-Americans would never want that to happen, the reason being that there was nothing enviable, socially, politically and economically, down on the south of the U.S. border. Besides, most of us were used to the English language, and nothing else would be satisfactory, except the old American way and traditions in which we were brought up.

"The die is cast"; thanks to people like Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who cast their votes against the truth. They would sleep soundly, even though their individual conscience bothered them so much.
　
P.S. Have you ever seen a black person, a man or a woman, on Channel Univision 41 before?
P.P.S. Eastern Europe's Exodus: Going West for the good life. SPIEGEL; Indentured Servitude of Colonial America. Retrieved 08/06/09. Website, http://www.geocities.com/nai_cilh/servitude.html; "Remembering the Forgotten Exodus", Retrieved 08/06/09. Website, http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=43816

DR. SAGAN'S BALONEY DETECTOR KIT.

The Dr. Sagan's baloney detector kit is a set of statements outlining the processes by which issues, such as global warming, can be logically analyzed using both factual (truth) and fallacies to arrive at different conclusions on a topic. It says that there is "no authority in science", and that what is viewed as logic by one scientific observation can also be viewed as being just sheer rhetoric by another.

The list consists of numerous statements made by Dr. Carl Sagan, which can be used by opposing factions to derive answers from several sources to deal with a whole range of idealistic subjects, be they scientific, political and economic, applying diversities in critical thinking to give more than one clarification on or to a problem, or to develop several answers to any type of a question.

Because, there is never a single, correct answer or method; or even a sole distinguishable analogy, that can be used to resolve or unravel any situation, however controversial, questionable or sticky. Just listen to what other people are saying, or even only speculating on, in their thought processes, and there are bound to be several answers or solutions to choose from.

With that said, just read the sentences that follow.

"Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it is yours".

"Spin more than one hypothesis--don't simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy".

He mentions "Occam's razor", which says, "if there are two hypothesis that explain the data equally well choose the simpler".

"Ask whether the hypothesis can, at least in principle, be falsified (shown to be false by some unambiguous test). In other words, it is testable? Can others duplicate the experiment and get the same result?". Dr. Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit, Based on the book, The Demon Haunted World, Retrieved 08/05/09, Website http://users.tpg.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html

These are some of the "jewels" of modern logical thought coming from Dr. Carl Sagan; and they are not on a page at just one website. There are more of them all over the place; and they suggest people to "put on their thinking caps", however insignificantly they may need them, in all circumstances. In other words, they may not compromise just for the sake of compromising.

In a nutshell, look at everything from different angles or perspectives; and consider other peoples' thoughts and how they contribute to the specificity and the analogical response in regard to any matter that is being examined, and its surrounding factors.

It (matter) may require two or more answers, each having a completely divergent, but comparable meaning, and yet all having reasons to rehashing any situation or problem and arriving at not just one solitary conclusion, but as many as possible. The bottom of the matter is reachable, but it does not depend on one mind or on the thinking processes of one individual to get there. What puzzles one person may not end a contoversy, a discussion or a conversation, because a break can come from anywhere; from others who are just listening or casually making observations.

Sagan uses passive and active logic to decipher thought, statement or knowledge; and he does so remarkably well, with such acumen, it boggles the mind. Only a handful of men that have ever set foot on this earth can do so, with such common fervor and scholarly agility, as he.

P.S. The actual title of the essay must have been, SAGAN: BEFORE ECOSYSTEMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT..... He can be described as the SIR BERTRAND RUSSELL of our time. He was a genius.

A CHEERFUL SIGHT.

Was it not a cheerful sight, yesterday, to see Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee descending from the private jet of a Hollywood film magnate, after their flight from Pyongyang. They have been released from serving their prison sentences imposed on them by the North Korean leader Kim Jong IL.

The North Koreans called the gesture to let them go, a "special pardon", at the behest of former President Clinton, who flew to meet with Kim face to face to effect their flight to freedom.
Their arrival in the United States was a joyful one too, for their own families, and for former Vice-President Al Gore, for whom the two women worked.

However, looking back on North Korea's activities in recent months of launching missiles, left, right and center to cause International crises; and its insistence on developing nuclear weapons, it was about time that its leader demonstrated to the rest of the world that he was also human.

North Korea would not come to any talks designed to stop its nuclear program, and was continually flexing its military muscle to scare the daylights out of its neighbors. Its latest action, although purely diplomatic, would be regarded as showing some sense in the rationalization that it has finally become aware that it was the number one objectionable nation in the world, and that must stop. There must be a change in the thinking processes of its leadership.

They should realize that the days of turning a whole country into a vast military camp was over. Their country has been isolated by the International Community for the single reason that, it has been acting, and continued to act "stupidly", in terms of simmering down and dealing with world affairs as any genteel nation would do.

They have ecosystem and environmental problems; their agriculture has been down graded over the years, and there was widespread famine and malnutrition across the country. They were in dire need of help from the U.S. and other benevolent countries.

They should therefore use this opportunity, which was somewhat of a lackadaisical relationship in nature, to invite the U.S. Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, to sit down at a table and have some talks with her, just as they did with former President Bill Clinton, if only just to ease the tension between the two nations.

SOTOMAYOR, THE THIRD TIME AROUND?

The National Rifle Association decision to downgrade senators who supported the Sotomayor nomination should be applauded, not just for its opposition to the nominee, but for being a stalwart organization that always looked for what was best for America. The nomination happened to be a complete anathema, and the NRA saw it expedient enough to oppose it, despite Sotomayor's disregard for gun rights.

Its annual candidate ratings stood for the recognition of patriotic leanings of politicians in situations as appointing a Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. In other words, it (list of candidate ratings) called for an action of separating patriots from the general population, due to the seriousness, as that of the appointment of a Justice of the Supreme Court, which by all calculations, was a pivotal national issue. It could drastically alter the legal landscape of the nation. It was more dire than guns and pistols.

Yet, that was just one consideration; and there were several others, including the fact that she, Sotomayor, was biased in 75% of her rulings on many sensitive matters, involving race, gender and ethnicity; and that was certainly not conducive to the legal health of the nation. Laws that we all hold so dear must be protected. The point being that, if such a person succeeded in reaching the status of a Justice in the legal system, he or she was bound to carry his or her attitudes to that position, regardless of the responses that senators were able to formally extract from that candidate during the confirmation proceedings.

Attitudes were hard to change; and in her case, absolute attitudes, involving her beliefs, prejudices and convictions, were absolutely difficult, if not unnatural, to change. Her personal statements, both public and private, bore witness to those facts; not to mention her own testimonies and philosophies on other subjects such as abortion, and on Roe Vs. Wade itself.

Where would that leave the country then, but in a quagmire of legal rigmarole, inextricably hard, if not impossible, to free itself from, for many years.

Again, a great majority of Americans were rightfully aiming to have someone who would interpret the law, according to the dictates of the Constitution of the United States. Period. Anything else was complete balderdash and totally unacceptable.

P.S. The Judge has appeared before the Senators more than once. Each time, she came away doing the opposite of the corrective answers she gave them.

THE DUO.

The Duo are here again. When Hillary was appointed Secretary of State, everybody knew that her husband would find a way to get into the act. He would be involved in foreign affairs, and probably become an Ambassador-at-large for the United States. Low and behold, there he was in the papers yesterday (08/03/09) ready to negotiate the release of the two journalists who have been imprisoned in Pyongyang. He had already traveled to North Korea, according to news reports, for that purpose.

The idea happened to be a good one, but was not the former President doing exactly what the State Department was supposed to be doing? Madam Secretary was surrounded by experts, all of whom had diplomatic status, able and willing to do their job very well; however, former President Clinton had to step in "to the rescue".

The thinking behind it (idea) was what worried many Americans, which was wrapped in the proverbial "enigma" of a question, "why was he doing it?" Was it to help Mrs. Clinton, or was it to free the journalists in the name of Liberty, or was he engaged in assuming himself as the unofficial "Ambassador-at-large"?

The first two parts of the compound question would be great for America, if the answers to both of them were "yes"; nevertheless, it was the third part of the same question that needed to be further explained or clarified. For if it was just for fame and publicity, many would say, "The Duo are here again"; stemming from their role in Washington D.C., which was only marred by the White Water years.

THE HEALTH CARE REFORM PUSH.

The health care reform that has been in gridlock on the committee level has now passed and ready to enter the realm of the House of Representatives, and to be debated and dealt with in September by the full House, after members returned from a recess of one month.
The previous weeks have been gruesome for the White House and the three committees that have to review the Obama government proposals for a better health care system for all the people of the United States.

The Blue Dogs travail, whose members numbered 40, nearly dislodged the plan in toto, but for the inner wrangling of the Democratic Party, the White House, Speaker Pelosi and Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman on one hand, and the leaders of the Conservative Blue Dog Democrats on the other, a tentative compromise was finally reached.

Although, the government's argument did not hold sway with all of its own party members, the Republican Party must not attempt to gain or derive any comfort from the grim situation that evolved, because many working people, particularly those in the African-American communities thought that Obama was in the fight for them, while the Republicans were siding with the big Insurance Conglomerates, especially those who have, for most of the time, had a raw deal with the general public.

Their policies would not cover certain health conditions, but they had managed to get folks, who were not conversant with the "small print" in those policies to sign on the proverbial dotted line to commit themselves, and into thinking that the premiums they paid gave them adequate coverage. Their main concern was not that of the patient, but rather it was the stock holder who mattered most; and to them, profits came first in the health care systems they operated. A reform was long overdue, because the status quo could not be permitted to continue. It was not working properly, and in some cases, it was "short changing" members of the public.

However, many news reports were saying that the President's popularity was waning, because "he was doing too much" or "going too fast and therefore he should slow down", owing to the fact that he had so much to deal with, all at same time; such as pushing for a health care reform, almost expeditiously, soon after his first day in office; plus having the Economy, Education, Energy Independence, and the Environment, all on his plate, simultaneously.

We might or we might not agree whether the reports were true, or the percentages dealing with his job performance approval were accurate; but from all assumptions, many thought that he was on the side of the people against the Republicans and the Insurance Industry. That has obviously made him into a hero; and shone a bad light on the Republican Party, to say the least.

What the Republicans could do to regain political support would be for them to come out with their own plan that would appease a majority of Americans; and which would be different from the projections of the insurance companies, being just a dress up of old wounds, merely using bandages; namely, the status quo. That was what President Obama was determined to replace, and on that score, his personal approval rating has not been affected in any way whatsoever, according to many reports too. He also maintained the needed backing of the Democratic majority in Congress.

So, the old saying, "put it in your pipe and smoke it", would be more than an appropriate advise for any member of the Republican Party.


P.S. This Blog is not in the defense business; it tells it like it is. (Apologies to ABC News Organization).

THE "BEER SUMMIT".

Harvard scholar Gates and Sergeant Crowley met with President Obama on Thursday; the meeting stemming from the racial "fracas" with political connotations that engulfed one of the nation's problems, racial relations, and bringing it to every person's attention for several days. To many, that was another wake-up call, and there have been several, to bring all races together for the best interest of the American people as a whole.

There was no doubt that racism existed in the United States; however, it was also true that it was prevalent in other countries as well, yet as almost as all other issues were concerned, be they social, political or cultural, if America could find a way to ameliorate them, so would the rest of the world go. There would never be a "cure" for racial differences, because they happened to be what they were, differences. What could be done instead would be to insist on a common ground in which all factions could exercise restraint, in cases like the controversy involving a college professor and a police officer in Massachusetts.

In that one, a second officer could have been called in, not for an arrest, but for an instant investigative procedure to take place on the spot, in order to avert any misunderstanding. That would have been Sgt. Crowley's responsibility to call for that kind of assistance, and for the professor to agree to it that a second officer was required to be present at the scene.

What sparked the turmoil, and the consequent media frenzy, was the President's initial comment, using the word, "stupidly" in regard to the arrest; however, to many Americans, that was not a snide remark meant to infuriate anyone at all. It was merely describing a scenario in which restraint was not applied. Period. Any dispute could be settled between a well recognized College Professor and a police officer who happened to be a Sergeant, for both were highly trained. If not, why not?

The coming together, however, was the best idea in many decades, with the White House being a mediator to help bring common sense to prevail; the "Beer Summit", was like the one between Begin and Sadat, with all former enemies finally shaking hands for the sake of peace. For all we knew, it was President Obama's idea, and if so, then we as Americans must join together in congratulating him. Well done, Mr. President.