The Afghanistan Challenge

The continuing Afghanistan Rethink seems to be causing more anxiety, than the war itself. The naysayers are either naive or they just like to be politically correct. I will suggest that that they see the movie “Charlie Wilson’s war”. If they have seen it before they need to have a refresher. After helping defeat the Soviets, Congressman Wilson, a Texas Democrat, wanted to rebuild Afghanistan but was denied the funding. The result was a takeover of Afghanistan by Taliban who provided the sanctuary to Al Qaeda and the finale of that act was 9/11. Do we really want to have a repeat of that act? Let us not forget that if America and the secular countries lose in Afghanistan then Taliban and the Islamic fundamentalists will also take over Pakistan, an unstable nuclear state, in the next few years. The next 9/11s will be lot bigger disasters and may involve nuclear bombs. This is not fear-mongering. This is a realization of what can happen.

Most people seem to be missing what is involved here. So far we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of the challenges the secular world is facing. Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalists have same global agenda and want to establish their brand of Islamic Caliphate to rule the world. What is happening is not new. It is a continuation of the relentless execution of a plan which has been going on for over past one thousand years. Just look at the history of the Persian and Byzantine Empires.

The Islamic fundamentalists know that the secular democracies are weak hearted and divided and will fall sooner and later. They will never give up unless they are totally eliminated. The secularists need to decide whether to face up this challenge now or meet the fate of Persian and Byzantine Empires.

Dealing with China

Communist China has pegged their currency to US dollar and as a result China is remains very competitive even when the dollar goes down. Despite all the suggestions Chinese have refused to allow their currency to trade freely. For details see the link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/opinion/23krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

The problem is that the US and the Western Governments are wimps and can not stand up to Communist China. That is why China has been bullying the whole world and stealing other nation’s jobs. The solution is to close Free World’s markets to China until they fall in line and allow their currency to be freely traded.

It is time to stop worrying about what China will do with their US dollar hoardings. They also don’t have a lot of room to manipulate. If they don’t buy American bonds or sell their dollars in large amount, the dollar will go down hurting their dollar asset’s value and increasing US competitiveness.

Afghanistan Runoff Election…

The runoff election in Afghanistan is good news. Mr. Karzai should be given credit for agreeing to the runoff which is a rare occurrence in a Muslim country. Why worry about how much time, he took to agreeing to the runoff. Contrast this with what happened in Iran and we will consider this a positive event.

The focus should now be to have a free and fair election so that the Afghani people have a legimate government representing them.

Legalizing Marijuana….

Legalizing marijuana is being debated lately. A proposition to this effect will be put on ballot in California in 2010. The idea is that it will generate additional tax revenue for the State. In my opinion, America should legalize not only marijuana but all the drugs over a reasonable period of time for people 21 years and older. After all, the drugs were legal in America in early 20th century.

America should learn from the Prohibition days. Criminalizing the so called “sin” activities only drive them underground and bring in the mafia and criminals. The tax revenue generated by the sale of legalized drugs should be used to educate people about the harmful effects of the drugs. This approach is already being used successfully in fighting smoking.

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize - Dumb & Dumber

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize controversy got additional fuel with the defense of their decision by the Nobel Peace Prize Selection Committee (See the link below).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101300788.html

They don’t give any solid reasons for Obama’s selection except they felt good about him. Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said "Alfred Nobel wrote that the prize should go to the person who has contributed most to the development of peace in the previous year," Obama only became President on January 20, 2009. Before that he was contesting the election so what was his contribution to peace the previous year?

Another Committee member, Inger-Marie Ytterhorn states that she watched Obama face on TV when he accepted the award and he did not look particularly happy. This member is too dumb to understand that Obama was embarrassed by this award as he knew that he did not deserve it.
It is not only the right wing opponents of Obama who are criticizing this award. The majority of the world is criticizing this award and smell politics in it. See the link below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/09/AR2009100904381.html?hpid=topnews

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14626903&source=most_commented

The sad part is that it is not Obama’s fault that he was given the award by these five incompetent juries. However, he is the one who is getting most of the flak for their dumb decision.

Selecting a candidate for a Nobel Prize is a sacred trust and must be above all politics and suspicion. These five Nobel Peace Prize Selection Committee members have politicized the Award. Instead of shamelessly defending their decision, they should resign and if they do not, then the only honorable course for the Norwegian Parliament is to remove them from the Selection Committee.

West’s Myopia regarding India

The New York Times editorial (see the link below) lecturing India to stop developing nuclear weapons and focus on economic growth is typical example of West’s myopic vision regarding India and what is happening in the world.

India unfortunately has tough neighborhood with an unstable nuclear armed and increasingly Jihadist Pakistan on her western frontiers and a belligerent Communist China on her east side. India needs to do whatever is necessary for her self defense and national interests.

The problem with the West is that it goes out of its way to placate Communist China and lectures Democratic India. The latest example is President Obama’s refusal to meet Dalai Lama because Obama is too concerned to offend Communist China. It is time for the West to realize that its interests and security lie with the democratic and secular India which shares common values and ideals with West and help India develop as a strong country.

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12mon1.html

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

Congratulations to President Obama for winning the 2009 Nobel Prize.

Obama’s selection was of course a big surprise for every one including probably to Obama himself as he has been a President only for nine months and has not really have the opportunity to achieve any thing meaningful yet except talking about hope and giving nice speeches. In his humble comments he correctly stated “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”

Interestingly, Mahatma (The Great Soul) Gandhi, the apostle of Peace, was not chosen for the Peace award despite being nominated in 1937, 1938, and 1947 and just before his assassination in 1948 presumably because Norway was afraid to annoy the British Government. The 1948 Peace Prize was not awarded to any one after Gandhi’s assassination. Recently The Nobel Foundation did regret this mistake. However, they have not corrected their mistake by awarding the1948 Peace Prize posthumously to Gandhi.

President Obama deserves our best wishes and we hope that he will achieve true peace in the world by wiping out Islamic fundamentalists and Al Qaeda and he will stand up to rogue states like North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and China.

A Cross on Public Land...

The US Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on the legality of a Cross installed in the Mohave National Preserve in California in 1934 to honor the World War I dead. See the links below for details on this story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100703238.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-cross8-2009oct08,0,2065193.story

The Cross itself might not have been a problem to me as it was installed a long time ago. However, I am offended and appalled by the game played by the Congress to skirt the constitutional issue of Separation of Church and State.

The Cross should be moved to a Church where it really belongs or to a private land. A non religious War Memorial should be built at the site to honor the veterans who paid the highest price for America.

It is the Economy Stupid!

It is interesting to see the concerns about the economy being expressed by the Leftist columnists and Obama’s cheerleaders in the past. Check out the link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/opinion/06herbert.html?ref=opinion

Obama’s problem is trying to do too many things at the same time and his administration’s lack of prioritizing. The economy and job creation should have been his first priority while the health care reforms could have been handled next year. The September unemployment report is a warning about a possible double dip in the economy. However Obama and the Democrats are too consumed in health care reforms and trying to find the short cuts in Afghanistan. This may come back and haunt us next year.

Miracles do happen….

We often hear about the miracles and mostly ignore or dismiss them as gossip, fantasies or sheer con games. However, here is a real life story of man in Mumbai, India who dodged the bullet heading to his heart because of a five rupees coin in his wallet which he had in his shirt pocket. Check out the link below to read the details.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/mumbai/5-rupee-coin-stops-bullet-headed-for-mans-heart/articleshow/5085329.cms

It is well said that “If your time has not come no body can kill you and if it has come, then no body can save you”. So why should we worry unnecessarily?

The 2016 Olympics

Congratulations to Brazil for winning the 2016 Olympics. The United States recently had the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 1984 LA Olympics. Spain and Japan also have had Olympics in the past. It was time to give the opportunity to other countries specially the developing ones. Brazil should have been the obvious choice.

President Obama’s direct involvement in pitching Chicago’s bid was overkill and raises concerns about the decision making process in White House. As a Senator, Obama had pursued this cause passionately. However, he is the President now. It is not prudent for the President of United States and the Leader of the “Free World” to spend his valuable time to get involved in tasks best suited for the Mayor of Chicago and the Governor of Illinois. Hopefully, Obama has learned a lesson here.

How long are we likely to live?

It depends on our vital statistics, weight, life style, genealogy and most importantly, The GUY (or GAL) Upstairs. Here is a cool tool to figure this out based on what is within our control. How accurate it is? I have not idea. However, the exercise is interesting and worth going through. Try out and make your own determination.

Click on link below.
http://www.sonnyradio.com/realage3.swf