Monthly Archives: July 2014
Terrorist and Terrorism
When one hears the word terrorist one usually conjures the images of Osama bin Laden or Al-Qaeda Islamic extremists suicide bombers blowing them selves up and killing many Americans such as at the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001. The problem with our view of terrorist is that we have been brainwashed by our government and media (news, TV, and film) to think only one dimensionally about this subject. As a matter of fact Arab Islamic extremest such as the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda are not the only ones to employ terrorism. Looking at this through the eyes of many Arabs the U.S. is the terrorist. Continue reading
Posted in Foriegn Policy and War, Government
Tagged 9/11, Al-Qaeda, civilians, intimidation, invation of Iraq, Islamic extreamist, Taliban, terror, Twin Tower
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Is Al-Qaeda bent on Killing Americans?
There are those who see Al-Qaeda as a militant group of mad Taliban jihad terrorist who are out to kill all Americans at any opportunity. That may sometimes seem the case on the surface but if you really pay attention to what they do and especially what they don’t do you might come to a somewhat different conclusion as I have. First of all it would be a gross underestimation to assume that the leaders of Al-Qaeda are crazy madmen. They are quite sane and very rational people. They may hate us but their actions are very measured and well planned and executed to gain the greatest effect of demoralizing us. Continue reading
Posted in Foriegn Policy and War, Government
Tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, demoralize, Homeland Security, Islam, jihad, Near East, suicide bomb, Taliban, terrorist
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The Secret to Success
When I feel I am successful it generally means that I feel I have meet or exceed my expectations for doing something major. I find intrinsic success far more rewarding because I am more in control and don’t have to depend upon others for confirmation. I can set my own bar for measuring success. In all the professional and academic successes I’ve had though life one characteristic stands our and it isn’t being smart, brilliant, or talented. It’s Perseverance. Once I start something I want to finish it and even go another step further. I wasn’t very smart but I had Perseverance in trying to exceed my personal goals and usually did. Continue reading
Posted in Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective
Tagged expectations, not giving up, perseverance
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Human Rights as I See It
As I see it our values and form of freedom, democracy and government will not work where religion plays a dominating role in every aspect of life. Over the centuries the Western world has developed human rights values that are less based upon religious doctrine than upon a rational right of All human beings to dignity and “…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. But much of the world is not yet ready. We cannot cram our values down the throats of those unwilling to accept them without long-term consequences. It took us hundreds of years to develop the principles of freedom, democracy, and equality and it did not come without a revolution and much bloodshed. During the Dark Ages we were very much like the very people we are trying to change. Continue reading
Happiness
I believe that everyone should have the right to pursue happiness. But what do I really mean by Happiness? The obvious answer is that happiness is whatever makes one feel good. Most of us spend some if not much time finding things that we hope will bring happy into our stress dominated and often unhappy lives. We shop online or at shopping centers or go on vacations or party it up to bring us some sort of happiness. Most of these activities bring only brief periods of happiness. However when I do something good to help another, especially a strangers, I find that the feeling of accomplishment and happiness last far longer. Why is this so? We are a social animal. We are genetically programed to work cooperative together as a social community. True Happiness lies in that social essence we have lost site of through civilization so long ago. Continue reading
It’s in the Nature of Things
Man has been civilized for only a small fraction of his existence. Our species has existed for 130,000 years, perhaps as long as 1.5 million years by some accounts. In the last 20,000 years we have changed little including brain development. 15,000 years ago when we were still living in caves we did not have the benefit of medical science or technology. Our bodies were tough and able to endure what we would consider the hardships of daily living but what they likely considered normal everyday living. However civilized man has devised clever means of getting around the natural order of things. Our species is able to survive far beyond any other. We are by far the most prolific species of mammals on earth by a very far long shot. We are also by far the most hungry and demanding living organism upon earth’s resources. Continue reading
ouR Social Conscience 