It seems these days that the bad is gaining on the good worldwide.  What seems and what is are unrelated, thank goodness.  The worst that has happened is not loss of life in so many quarters; it is loss of free communication.  Men and women of intelligence and civilization cannot live without this.  It is a large part of our being.

Keep writing my friends and live in hope.  It is all we can do until the end of time.

Who is to say that not only we but our enemy operatives now have stockpiled nerve gas and biological weapons here in our country.  This is the benefit to our adversaries of our open borders.

Responsibility does not mean annihilate our enemy whenever he utilizes inhumane means.  First we need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that our enemy has used it and that it has not been employed by governments or individuals devoted to creating a war in Syria for their own purposes.

Mature societies, governments, and/or individuals move slowly to react.  President Obama has at least got that down.  But it may be worth our while to create strength out of restraint in the minds of our enemies.  The Russians this week won points from Ideas and not from bombs.  And they came out of it looking much stronger and wiser.

“We don’t want the world to be paralyzed,” Obama said Friday at the White House. “And frankly, part of the challenge that we end up with here is a lot of people think something should be done and nobody wants to do it. And that’s not an unusual situation, and that’s part of what allows over time the erosion of these kinds of international prohibitions unless somebody says, ‘No.’”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/syria-chemical-weapons-report-96089.html#ixzz2dWQSJh4O

But the America of today is not just war-weary. It is deeply divided culturally, politically and economically. We are no longer the homogeneous European cousins of the second world war. The enemy is also less clearly defined. This time around, the British Prime Minister could not get Parliament to move in the direction of the mildest of interventions. Perhaps with a military man having been shot in front of his barracks in broad daylight by an extremist, they are taking the measure of the changes in their own electorate.

There appears to be a global “silent majority” that simply is not interested in touching one more Middle East hot spot. Things have never been the same since the last two “incursions.” Most people are trying for a normal life and have determined that accepting a degree of the devil in every phase of human life makes more sense than suicide runs at the dark side.

We have swallowed a host of bitter pills: Facebook and the gang of social media sites we love/hate have stripped us of security on the internet – it’s a jungle out there but we go into it regardless. Wiki leaks has left the ship of state taking on security threats and the big fear – the cost of living – is just killing us. Banks began when the pilgrims and crusaders set out for the idle East in the Middle Ages. Banks have not been safe with our money since that time. Mr. President, make our banks, schools and medical systems safe for democracy and we will follow you into the jaws of hell.

On the heels of this, the Daily Mail UK is reporting that those same sources are predicting that Prince Harry will Propose to Cressida Bonas by the end of the year. But alas, what about Princess Beatrice and her beau of 8 years? It’s a royal traffic jam.

All of this excitement may force Queen Elizabeth to reconsider retirement. She already looks exhausted.

Still many more people think that Past Presidential candidate and Democratic Senator, Al Gore, has no longer got anything anyone wants. Ah, but he owned a conservative TV channel called Current. The Emir wanted an American channel. Suddenly Al Gore had something someone wanted and he sold it to the Emir.

The channel went on air Tuesday, 20 August with what this viewer saw as a lackluster parade of programs beginning with an hour long mission movie. They want to bring fair and balanced news to America – but after all doesn’t everyone?

Information on the history of al Jazeera was missing. Present were numerous familiar faces in the world of US news – former denizens of other networks. Even John McCain showed up in a supportive clip. The look and feel of the broadcast that day were uneventful almost one-dimensional. My Dish reception of it is not good.

However, to its credit, al Jazeera America does have the spirit of the CNN of Ted Turner. Do dictators, then, produce better news? It would seem so. It is not slick but it is serious. But will it have to become so to compete? What is missing?

Missing is a clear signal of what sets al Jazeera America apart from the other US networks. Content is neither handled nor chosen in a manner that would reflect a fresh view of America and the world of which it is apart. The piece on Egypt was exceptional but did I have to find out about the discovery of what may be Alexander the Great’s tomb on the front page of Daily Mail UK online? Ah, well, they may have caught on to the fact that most Americans don’t do history.

MIA also is a commitment to include broader world coverage – something Americans have sought for too long. What will we learn about even other countries and peoples of this hemisphere?

Perhaps more focus and structure to spots that highlight programming would be helpful. But nothing will help if you don’t have access to the channel. If you are low income or no income you will miss al Jazeera America. Dish customers have to upgrade to a level of 200 channels for a monthly total bill of around $80. If you do have a computer, you will have a modicum of access. I still prefer Al Jazeera English both for its coverage and for its roster of editorial articles.

More people are watching programming packaged for mobile viewing. Here, CNN is the news station in the lead with its well-publicized application for smart phones and iPads.

Al Jazeera has the same number of national bureaus as CNN – approximately 20 but it does not have the same aggressive marketing – YET! CNN does not have to overcome the perception that it is a band of Arab terrorists but it may as well. It is liberal. And face it, the Chinese and Russian channels are not on a winning streak either but they are needed – all of them.

Here’s hoping that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al ThaniPast will not have to make the rounds of the late night talk shows or even have to create one as CNN has done to appeal to the masses. Something akin to a guest spot on the old Muppet Show would be preferable.

Having been an information specialist by profession, this misinformation was anathema.  A banshee shout came out of my mouth unexpectedly.  The young man recoiled and said that he had had customers calling to cancel their subscription due to this.  I asked him if he had had any information handed to him today on al Jazeera by Dish management and he said he had not.

To his credit he said he should have checked with management before giving out information from customers!  But multiply this by thousands and you can readily discern the scope of the problem – especially with the Egyptian situation playing out in the background.  I did take time to enlighten him and to direct him to the al Jazeera English website.

Alas, not only is America suffering from bankrupt educational systems, its citizens are quick to embrace here say as fact.  This leaves little room for the resolution of our communication difficulties on any subject any time soon.

Yet when Kim Jong-un’s government declared early on Saturday that the “time has come to stage a do-or-die final battle”, and declared relations with South Korea to be “at the state of war”, the warnings were not being taken lightly in the world’s major capitals.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9963107/North-Korea-US-fears-comical-Kim-may-be-all-too-deadly-serious.html

Imagine this:  The US pinned down fighting on the Korean peninsula while Iran upped the ante in the explosive Middle East?  Meanwhile China would lurk behind both awaiting the US demise at the hand of their allies not perhaps militarily but certainly financially as the cost of government would rise, the stock market would take a dive and people would once again hide their cash and the silverware in the front yard Stateside.

In reality, the 1950s was the greatest period the US has ever known in terms of peace and relative prosperity.  True enough not all social groups shared in it fully but more so in many ways than today.  The vote means little if you cannot eat.

Strange that an air of cooperation has broken out over Washington’s partisans.  Those closest to power know the reality.  The threats of North Korea have already taken their toll.

China has marshalled money and men and dedicated them to cyber warfare.  They may have been behind the recent attacks at the New York Times that focused on research being done on the finances of the Chinese Prime Minister [CNN on air].  But major US government websites have also been on their agenda.

With his support for the troops in the trenches and his grasp of the new technologies and strategies for warfare, Hagel is a superior candidate.  It is his reluctance to commit large numbers of ground troops in theatre that has many worried.

With important cyber attacks on the rise, traditional forms of defense seem to pale when considering that a single worm could close down our missles.  Our Government can no longer afford to be surprised by such attacks but to be prepared for them.  Cutbacks may be the order of the day for our military under a new budget but somewhere we do need to get monies to fund our own cyber force.l  China’s budget for cyber training and defense is growing while our cyber forces appear to be small and static.

So wherefore a US program of defense against cyber attack.? I say defense because that seems to be the operative term from rocket systems to all other forms of weaponry.  Stealth but not pro-active are in the military vocabulary.  OR this all may turn out to be a kind of cyber War of 1812:  neither side will gain much and all sides will break to plant and harvest crops.  Even this may prove overly positive with budgetary cutbacks.  The Pentagon may have to write a grant proposal.  That will put the Pentagon on a par with the rest of us.

Perhaps character building and education in what is expected of US citizens should be the order of the day in training for international events.  Immigrants have to pass tests involving more than a pledge.  They must know our history, etc.  Athletes representing their countries could stand to have a similar induction into the honor of representing their nations.

Since this country became an international power following WWII, integrity has been what the world has come to expect of us.  Our representatives MUST enhance this major national character component or be disqualified.  He cannot retain the medals or the titles.  He needs to be left with only what is left of Lance Armstrong.  Perhaps he will more clearly see both the country he represented and his own soul one day.

Meanwhile, his organization that fights cancer, Livestrong, deserves to thrive.  Born perhaps of his desire to render monumental his successful competition with cancer for the winners circle, it no longer belongs to him literally or figuratively.  He has resigned from his position there.  But Livestrong is its subscribers and all that they do and represent.  New organizations have tapped the hearts and souls of the families and patients who battle this formidable foe.  The battle is never just personal; it requires a coming together of people for support.  Lance Armstrong would not know much about that.

Donate to Livestrong now to vote for their continued good work.  I will.  Livestrong saved the life of one of my brothers.  As they say in the ranks there:  he kicked cancer’s butt.

Most people are against citizens retaining the mutant military machine guns.  Few would want to go to the next level.  Their use should be the privilege of the military – issued to those trained in their use and well aware of their potential and purpose.  Leave the military, and you lose your privilege to carry such a weapon.  To argue you love to use it for target practice or hunting is to present a weak argument for civilian retention of these weapons.  Either you have a limited view of what is fun or you can’t hit a deer worth beans.

Recently a young Georgia mother protected herself and her children from an intruder by utilizing her hand gun when he discovered her hiding place.  Aside from the fact that she had been trained in its use (albeit that she could have had an accident with it or one of the children could have found it in the house and hurt himself/herself) it is a reasonable thing to retain such guns.

Regardless of their role in our lives, it is the greater part of valor to keep thinking of alternatives to the use of guns for protection.  But that  is a large order.  We need to consider disarming the gangs in our cities; drug dealers and mentally unstable people.  We need to think of devices such as burglar alarms, etc. These are the issues we should be discussing and on which we should focus.  Guns will never go away, just some guns.  But if someday we need those automatic weapons, we can dial up our rebel friends in Syria and ask them where they sourced theirs.

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https://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/06/georgia-mom-home-alone-with-kids-shoots-ex-con-intruder/

Many believe that armed Jews would have prevented the holocaust.  But the specter of Syrian rebels pitting their guns against the tanks and air power of Assad militate against this view.  Citizens armed with dirty bombs or biological weapons might be more of a deterrent. But do we even have to go here?

The President is fond of isolating himself and making dialogue difficult in utilizing executive action overly much.  You cannot blame this on the Republicans.  In taking on the legislators, he is setting himself up in opposition to the American people at a time when he needs to garner their trust and support.  Instead, he becomes the bully on the block, a dictator, and a perfect target for cartoonists.  Congressional leaders can gather their colleagues in support of their point of view.  The President can only appeal directly to voters but inasmuch as he is not consistent with his middle of the road stance on issues, he is not fully trustworthy .

We could easily write this about the fiscal issues.  It is the same dynamic.  It is no longer a case of balance of power at work to preserve democracy; it is full cry battle and, to a degree chaos.  The only thing moving:  tempers.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-the-debacle-of-gun-control/2013/01/14/313e4c84-5e78-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html

Fear of this future may be the ghost (no pun intended) in the machine driving extremism – especially whites on the right.  When your numbers and political powers are in decline, it certainly does ramp up fears that are as old as time.  It is very difficult to see much hope of reconciliation between non-whites and whites with basic human instinct to protect one’s individual and/or “tribal” identity underlying all of it.

It is what we do not understand about ourselves complicated by what we do not understand about others that impedes progress.  I can never “feel” as a black woman feels about many things.  Similarly, non-whites have the same built-in limitation.  With this kind of limitation, prejudice seems almost a painless stance and payback justified.  The latter is “codified” in the Bible “an eye for an eye.”  But while prejudice and retribution are in our nature, in a free society, it is unlawful to express this or to act upon it.  That is what makes us civilized.  We try to keep our animal instincts in check.

Perhaps we should begin dialogue by listing or at least acknowledging the limitations we face so that we may attempt to understand the dynamic underlying our failure at dialogue.  Can we forgive ourselves?  Can we forgive others?  Can we really hope to fully understand ourselves; can we really hope to fully understand others?  The future of all minority races depends on it.

If history and evolution and other elements of human record are correct, then whites will face prejudice and payback to a greater extent than they do already.  It will take leaders such as Colin Powell who will accept political imperfection in the GOP enough to “come out” as a member of the party yet who sees the good in members of the opposition to lead the way in the public forum.  He represents many in the US who are members of one party but who vote for members of another.  SamHenry is guilty of this on all levels – national and local.  In this country, I have that freedom.

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See  https://www.scaruffi.com/nature/consciou.html

The Natue of Consciousness by Piero Scaruffi.

See https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/13/colin-powell-gop_n_2467768.html

Were I to look for an underlying public culprit to today’s extremes I would point to our national press.  It is out for the kill on every story.  Nothing can work out; nothing can have a happy ending.  All is suspect.  Paranoia and platitudes are the order of the day.  Reporting is dead; editorializing on every page thrives.

In the blogosphere, writers – good ones- such as Voting Female at votingfemale.com have become very aggressive in their attacks on the left.  She styles herself as an “attack kitty” for the right.  But what boots it to be a good writer if you get knocked off iReport or Twitter because you become so virulent in your attacks?  Better to write in a manner that could achieve the same purpose but keep ideas in the forefront.  VF’s blog used to get the message out through clever satire and the great dialogue among visitors.  We can hope it takes that turn again to the credit of the right.

However, it is almost impossible to write these days about any issue and maintain friendships.  SamHenry tends to take the middle of the road – always has.  Therefore, recent articles such as the one below are encountered with great disappointment and fear for the future:

A group of like-minded patriots, bound together by pride in American exceptionalism, plan on building an armed community to protect their liberty.

The group, named Citadel, intends to purchase 2,000 to 3,000 acres for the project in western Idaho.  The community will comprise of 3,500 to 7,000 families of patriotic Americans who “voluntarily choose to live together in accordance with Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of Rightful Liberty.”

According to the Citadel website, Rightful Liberty means that “neighbors keep their noses out of other neighbors’ business, that neighbors live and let live.”

Citadel explains that residents in the community will be bound by the following:

• Patriotism

• Pride in American Exceptionalism

• Our proud history of Liberty as defined by our Founding Fathers, and

• Physical preparedness to survive and prevail in the face of natural catastrophes –such as Hurricanes Sandy or Katrina — or man-made catastrophes such as a power grid failure or economic collapse.

Building a “fortress,” emphasis on patriotism, American Exceptionalism, preparedness to survive and prevail…all suggest a mix of fear, superiority and isolation and at the same time point to coming disaster.  A community erected in fear is one that cannot be healthy.  Patriotism has been taken hostage to one form of belief.

The left’s greatest spokesman, the President himself, has alternated between the middle of the road and the farther reaches of the left.  He would get dumped from Twitter if he tweeted as he presents issues at times.  Certainly the way he handled the Cambridge Police at the start of his reign is an instance of this.  He stormed through the halls of Congress with his health initiative and now he cannot present gun control in a way that does not make citizens head for the hills with their guns.  If this continues, school children will be back to “duck and cover” and it will have nothing to do with Soviet bombs.

We are all uneasy about the future but it seems in the majority of the cases, our growing distrust of one another and our rush to demean and humiliate each side can only end badly.  Yes, it is impossible to write in these times because there is only one thing that happens:  you end up defending yourself when you wanted to present ideas for discussions, not codified rules others ought to be following.  SamHenry does not feel free only boxed in.  It is not only illness that has caused her to take time off from her blog.

Who pays for what if you are over 65 and need help on the home front?  Well, Medicare pays for very little in home care.  What everyone needs is to try for long-term care insurance that includes home care coverage.  Even with a policy, you have to keep talking fast and loud to reach the right people with the power to do something.  In a few weeks’ time, a report on what the long-term care insurance will and will not cover will follow.  Reports must be short due to condition of the reporter.

Stay tuned!