I Can't Figure This Guy Out

I thought I could pretty much understand what makes most people tick. That is, I had a knack for figuring what someone might do in certain situations... at least I used to be able to do it... maybe I was just fooling myself.

The guy is president Obama and he has me a bit worried. Most presidents try to make the next person's term in the Oval Office simple. That is, the current president tries to clean up as much of the mess he made as possible so the next one won't have that to deal with it. After all, the presidency is a tough enough job as it is without having to spend a lot of time trying to straighten out the results of the former president's policies.

Reagan did have to deal with Jimmy Carter's issues but, beyond a poor economy (which Carter inherited from Ford), Reagan didn't have a lot of problems handed down to him. And I give Carter credit for getting Egypt and Israel to sign a deal that has lasted quite a long time. That alone should be Carter's legacy... but he tried and I think his heart was in the right place, he was an outsider who got little cooperation even from his own party.

But Obama has me mystified. I do not understand his foreign policy (which seems to be "make nice and the others will like you", something we learn when we are toddlers but we stop doing in our teens).

Obama seems to be sticking with that policy (except when dealing with Republicans) in spite of its apparent abject failure. I think his domestic economy policy seems to be one of "benign neglect." That is, basically let it take care of itself after establishing bailouts of banks and financial institutions and pushing through a huge stimulus bill that didn't have all that much effect. I think he figured to wait out businesses until they started hiring again. After all, it was in their best interests to do so... eventually. That was pretty smart.

But the mess we have with terrorists is overwhelming and I do not see an easy solution. My idea is to go back to carpet bombing, starting with the IS oilfields and then destroying whatever infrastructure they have. The idea is to inflict so much damage on the populace that the people will want to get as far away from anything IS as possible.

December 7, 1941

 

 

 

"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack." -Franklin Delano Roosevelt-

 

And the United States was at war. Maybe we'll also remember San Bernadino as that turning point.

Not To Worry, Everything Is Under Control

I thought, having real issues with my ego, that you folks would want to read what I have to say about the San Bernadino shooting.

What do we know as of Friday evening: we know who the shooters were (none of that "alleged" garbage here), we know how many died that day, we know how many were wounded or injured, and we know that it was planned and prepared for well in advance.

We do not know if they received outside funding for the attack but we do know how much Seyd Farook earned as a government employee of the county (about $70k a year). We have not heard if his wife (Tashfeen Malik) was employed and, if she was, how much she earned.

There has been much talk about tightening gun control laws (as we always do after a mass shooting) but I would remind you that no guns of any type we used in the attacks on 9/11/2001. Which tells me there are plenty of ways to kill if someone is determined to do so. Look at Israel to see what an attack with knives can accomplish, for example. I believe there was a knife attack in China not long ago, too. 29 deaths and 130 injured (which puts a lie to the notion that knife attacks are not as deadly).

We now know that the FBI is treating this as a terror attack. Primarily, I think because it became widely known that the woman in the attack pledged her allegiance to the head of IS.

I think they planned to go elsewhere and commit another attack, in Los Angeles or perhaps Las Vegas (each of which are easily reached from San Bernadino). Or maybe there were others who were to join them. We know that Feyd purchased the handguns but that some other male bought the AR-15s. The FBI seems to know who and where he is.

This is a bit scary, it doesn't take a lot of these attacks to make us anxious and afraid.

Update:the Farook family attorney said in a press conference that there was no link to terror.

We Shouldn't Worry, They Tell Us

Well, by now you are well-informed about the latest mass shooting incident. The Washington Post is all in a tizzy about it and a number of other things. The New York Daily News had a front page headline that implied prayer was pointless because "God Isn't Fixing This". Maybe they should have checked with the White House because Obama said the families of the victims needed our prayers.

I got to thinking about it today when I read a comment somewhere about the majority of Muslims not being radicalized. It's true. I agree. But then I thought about it a bit more, if only 1/2 of 1% of the estimated 1.2 billion Muslims are radicalized, that's 6 million we should worry about. and let's say that 5% of Muslims are sympathetic to the Jihadists... that's an awful lot of people.

As they used to say at NASA... "Houston, we have a problem."

In Case You Were Wondering...

It's obvious, even to me, that I have been slacking in my posting. I'm pretty bored with the whole thing lately... plus I have been busy lately... I am trying to sell my car (yeah, the Mercedes).I should not have bought it, to be honest, we do not need a second car; mine has less than 4000 miles on it (3670, I think) and Faye's Lincoln has also less than 4000 miles.

It made me think a bit about my childhood when it was not unusual to have one car and one bathroom to a home. Once I reached 16, though, I wanted a car of my own. My brother had one and so did my sister (both were older than me). In fact, my brother was on his second car by the time I got my first one. I already talked about that first car... a well-used `52 Studebaker Champion that had a defective front passenger door which was held shut by a hunk of wire. You can be sure that did not impress my dates' parents.

But I was mobile! And I wandered as much as I could (good thing gas was cheap then).

I have a new doctor this year, he seems competent which is all I ask. He is also not what I expected; he's short, slight, and probably in his 60's. When I went to him the first time, I was expecting a taller, more distinguished sort and maybe a little younger. Of course, he wanted to run me through a battery of medical tests... which is good since I am fast approaching 70... and my insurance insists on them anyway.

So far, I have had some blood tests, an echo-cardiogram (which included a check of the blood flow in my carotid arteries), and a few others. I am also being scheduled for a colonoscopy... I don't want one but the insurance demands it. My hypothesis is that we form tumors and polyps all the time but most go away. I don't like the idea of messing with them unneccesarilly.

You know the old saw about "to a hammer, all problems look like a nail?" Well, I think surgeons are like that also; too quick to cut.

Well, we shall see how the next year goes... I have the strangest feeling that it is "first they take away your dignity and then they kill you."