THREE DISGRACES

Our government is dysfunctional. Especially Congress. I tell you nothing new. We are all aware.

 

From the multitudinous wrongdoings, I have selected three stories. Each is an example of the government's erroneous ways.

 

The first involves Major Nidal Hasan. The U.S. Army officer and psychiatrist who went berserk at Fort Hood in 2009. The Major was a Muslim.

 

Major Hasan for no reason and without provocation began shooting up the base. He killed 13 and wounded 30. Most U.S. Army soldiers.

 

As he was shooting, Major Hasan was shouting in Muslim, God is Great.

 

It is now 2013, four years later. Major Hasan is well and alive. He sits in jail awaiting a trial.

 

The disgrace.....Major Hasan is receiving full pay while he waits trial. $70,000 a year. So far, $278,000.

 

Two reasons are involved.

 

First, Major Hasan, who is also an American citizen, is innocent till proven guilty. Second, someone in government, whether Washington or the Army itself, has labeled the shooting workplace violence. Both situations legally mandate that Major Hasan continue to be paid.

 

There are three classifications involved when our soldiers are killed or wounded.  One is workplace violence. The other two require the incident be as a result of terrorism or combat. Whoever did the classification, decided to call it workplace violence.

 

Workplace violence carries negative affects beyond Major Hasan being paid while awaiting trial. The thirty wounded are not entitled to disability awards if their wounds warrant such. Nor are they entitled to Purple Hearts.

 

So Major Hasan sits in a cell doing nothing and gets paid $70,000 a year. Whereas, the injured are not entitled to disability benefits nor a Purple Heart.

 

All because someone high up classified the shooting as working place violence rather than one of the two other classifications.

 

Why? I am not sure the classification was an accident. It would be interesting to know who decided to go with the classification which assisted Major Hasan rather than one that would have helped those wounded. What behind the scene forces were at work?

 

The second situation involves Congress and the Affordable Care Act. The Act is popularly known as Obamacare. It has been law for approximately three years.

 

Republicans now control the House of Representatives. They keep trying to repeal Obamacare. They bring up the repeal vote with full knowledge that it will never see the light of day in the Democratic controlled Senate. And , if it did and was favorably passed, the President would never sign it into law.

 

Congress recently voted on repeal. Again. For the 37th time in three years. The same bill. With full knowledge it is going nowhere.

 

Perhaps a publicity stunt. Maybe to appease the far right. Could  be an attempt to convince the American people that they are protecting their interests by constantly beating a dead horse.

 

The scenario is outrageous for a number of reasons.

 

First, it is a waste of time and money. Once was enough. That is all it takes. There is a cost involved. Thus far, Congress has spent $1.5 million in conducting 37 votes. At a time when the United States is in desperate economic straits. The Republicans are the ones who shout cut, cut,cut, eliminate wasteful spending. They fail to do that which they preach.

 

I have an additional concern.

 

Thirty seven votes on the same thing where one would have sufficed.There are important social issues facing the United States. Like gun control, immigration, and tax reform. These issues are never brought to the floor for a vote.

 

Crazy.

 

The third disgrace involves the great American corporation Apple and its avoidance of $102 billion dollars in taxes. All perfectly proper. All legal. Off shore accounts were used.

 

Ireland is a glaring example. Apple has neither buildings nor employees in Ireland. It merely has a mailing address. Apple saves $12 billion using this gimmick.

 

All perfectly proper. All legal.

 

Apple's CEO recently appeared before a Congressional committee on the issue of tax avoidance. He was open and above board in his responses. His position a simple one. The law permits everything they do. Everything is within the law. They pay only taxes they are legally required to pay.

 

Apple's CEO is correct. Apple is without sin.

 

Who is the culprit? Simple. The Congress of the United States. Laws have been passed over the years granting big tax breaks to major corporations. Congress did the dirty deed and now is searching for a scapegoat.

 

There is none, except for themselves.

 

There are two ways we can get out of this tax avoidance situation. First, cut out all tax loopholes permitting this type activity. Second, pass a law lowering the corporate tax rate. We will lose no money. Probably take in more revenue. Without loopholes, corporate America will be paying taxes on ALL income earned. Such a scenario should provide more tax income than is being received now. It is a win win situation for corporate America and the United States.

 

I have pointed the finger at Congress and government in general. Deservedly so. Our elected representatives have become beholden to corporate America. They expect and rely on substantial contributions to their political war chests. They enjoy a trip here and there to some exotic place at corporate America's expense. Expensive dinners. And whatever else.

 

We should expect more from our elected representatives. We deserve more. Congress must dig in and do the right thing. Unfortunately, they have neither the courage nor desire to do so.

STAY OUT OF SYRIA

Syria is not where the United States wants its ground troops. We have had enough of Middle East wars. The United States is not prepared emotionally and economically for another Iraq or Afghanistan.

 

Syria's is a civil war. A religious one. Sunni versus Shia. Especially the Alawite segment of the Shia. Assad is an Alawite.

 

The war began in March 2011. Actually, it is the same war that has been fought for centuries. One religious faction against another.

 

The rebels are known as the Free Syrian Army. Extremist jihadis became involved on the side of the rebels. Now Al-Qaeda.

 

Both sides are guilty of horrific wrongdoing. No one is without sin.

 

President Assad's military beheads the opposition. Seems to be a Middle East way. The group also has no respect for the children of rebels. Their 2-11 year old's, male and female alike, are being gang raped by Assad's followers.

 

The rebels behead also.

 

Assad's men are generally beheaded when captured. Many times by rebel children. Rebel forces have young ones wield the sword.

 

Recently, a film appeared on the internet. It was all over the internet. Difficult not to view. It graphically depicted Abu Sakkor, a rebel leader, cutting the heart out of an opposition soldier and then eating it. The crowd could be heard cheering Sakkor in the background. Allahu Akbar.....God is Great!

 

Russia has recently come into the conflict big time. Not with foot shoulders. With very sophisticated anti-cruise missiles. The purpose of the missiles is to keep foreign ships away from the Syrian coast. Foreign vessels that might supply armaments to the rebels.

 

I suspect President Obama misspoke when he said if chemical weapons were being used by Assad that the United States would get involved. He may have to back off that statement. Fortunately, he is investigating thoroughly any claims that chemical weapons are being used. His caution is credible.

 

The old men in the United States Senate cry out for American involvement. We are compelled to help the rebels we are told. I say let those Senators be the first to land on Syrian soil. It is time we stop sending our young men and women to foreign shores to fight other people's battles.

 

There is a thrust to this article. It involves helping a people who behead and eat the hearts of their enemy. Not our kind of people. And if history is any teacher, some day those we help today will be our enemy and use the knowledge and weapons provided against us.

 

I must stay with the Senate's old men who cry for United States involvement. I wonder how they would feel the first time American troops are captured and beheaded. Do not say Americans will not be beheaded. They will. It is the way in the Middle East.

 

More importantly, what would the American people say?

 

Let's not get to that place. Stay out of Syria!

 

 

AVALANCHES, A TSUNAMI AND HOT WATER

That which follows is the result of global warming. Man has screwed up his planet. Greenhouse gases must be limited.

 

First, avalanches. They are on the rise. World wide. Each year more than the previous. Tons of snow flowing down a slope damaging man and his world.

 

This spring alone there have been reports of increased avalanches on the French side of Mont Blanc and in the States of Colorado and Washington.

 

Global warming is the recognized culprit. The warming causes the snow to become softer and melt sooner. The snow loses its adhesion, breaks away and flows rapidly downward.

 

We are warned that massive avalanches are growing in frequency.

 

Barbara Turnbull is an avalanche researcher at the UK's University of Nottingham. She reported in the Journal of Physical Review Letters that climate changes may be contributing to the strength of avalanches.

 

Christian Huggel of the University of Zurich wrote in the Journal of Inside Sciences that ".....warming in high mountain areas is likely destabilizing slopes."

 

Scientists generally agree that global warming causes rapid swings in temperature which in turn are responsible for the bigger and more frequent slides.

 

Next to be addressed are tsunamis. Those extremely high waves which come in swiftly from the sea and run over the land. One high wave. Generally 20-50 feet high. Killing hundreds and destroying all property in its path.

 

There has been a recent warning. The east coast is at a tsunami risk. From New Jersey up through New England.

 

Strange that there is a concern for a tsunami coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. I had always assumed it was a Pacific ocean problem. China, Japan and some Pacific islands were at risk. At its worst, maybe the west coast of the United States.

 

Not so. It is suggested the wall of speeding water will occur on the east coast.

 

Why?

 

There have recently been 15 earthquakes 170 miles east of Boston.Out in the ocean. Except for the scientific community, no one took notice or concern. The reason is that the earthquakes were well below water at the edge of the Continental Shelf. None was greater than a 4.0.

 

Apparently there is no problem with a 4.0 underwater earthquake. There would be if the quake went to 7.0. Scientists are in general agreement that an earthquake of that magnitude would be a problem.

 

A tsunami wave of gigantic proportions would rise to the surface and make its way to the east coast of the United States. Most also agree that warning time would be only 15 minutes.

 

The earthquakes and possibility of the big wave are the result of global warming.

 

Artic and Antarctic ice have been melting and shrinking for years. Glacial lakes are disappearing. The ice at the two poles and in glacial lakes have held the earth's crust firm. With less ice, the earth's crust is flexing. Above and below water. A movement so minute it cannot be felt.

 

The flexing causes earthquakes to occur. The result of shifting earth and rock formations. Mother earth shakes and an earthquake occurs.

 

Water temperature also comes into play.

 

It was recently announced that the ocean waters from North Carolina to Maine are the warmest in the 150 years they have been recorded.The warm waters reach out to the end of the Continental Shelf.

 

The warming water off the east coast is the result of what is happening in the Artic.

 

The Artic is heating at two times the rate of the rest of the planet. Ice loss is occurring rapidly.

 

The Artic affects the entire planet. It helps regulate the global climate system and influences weather patterns across much of the northern hemisphere.

 

With less ice, more water gets warmed. Solar energy makes the ocean warmer.

 

The ice lost is needed. Artic ice helps to regulate climate by reflecting sunlight back into space. As the ice diminishes, more sunlight is absorbed into what is swiftly becoming a more open ocean. The result is warm water.

 

The bottom line is frightening. The echosystem changes. At some point dramatically. Fish life is disturbed. Some will disappear and others moved around. Artic animals such as the polar bear and walrus will disappear. The warmer water combined with other global warming disruptions affects the entire planet.

 

Everything is cause and effect. Greenhouse gases contribute significantly to global warming. Unless and until the corporate world is reigned in, the path to disaster is clear.

 

I fear that what is being done to correct global warming is a mere drop in the bucket. Being critical of the United States alone, I cannot in the reasonable future envision Congress doing what is necessary to reign in the excesses of the corporate world.

 

Note that HOT is used to describe warm in the title. The reason is that we are all going to be in hot water if we do not correct the ravages of global warming.