Warm Wiki-wishes For Your Holiday

The term "Wikileaks" sounds so cute and harmless. Kind of like a little dog with a bladder control problem.

Unfortunately this is not the case. There are more angles to this than a triple isosceles triangle, and I am going to only touch a little on this issue.

Most folks know by now that the Wikileaks website poured out over 250,000 cables from the US embassy detailing confidential conversations with and about other nations.

I have read debates where some people think that this is a good thing. We need to know what our government us up to. Apparently the people at Wikileaks are proud of the fact that they spilled the beans because it is on their home page along with other items they have leaked.

My little opinion may or may not be shaded by my own political views, but I would like to put this issue to a little test.

We already know WHAT happened: information was leaked detailing that, yes North Korea and China helped Iran with their nuclear program; Russia is not really our friend; and Saudi Arabia is a principle supporter of Al Qaeda. (GASP!) Really? Didn't we already know this stuff?

WHY?

Why was this leaked out now? Let's look at some things. The Democrats are not very happy with the President right now. He just sided with the Republicans on extending the dreaded Bush tax cuts. Most of the leaked information has to do with the current administration, not the past, making it look bad. Re-affirming the fact that the GOVERNMENT CANNOT BE TRUSTED.

Let's also look on the flip-side of this, looking at the Wikileaks standpoint. They leak information. Will they get in much trouble?

Let's see, the editor, Mr. Assange, has been arrested. But hold on. This is not for leaking government information. This is for an alleged rape incident involving two women. Look that one up on your own, it is mind-boggling. It also says quite a bit about his character.

At what point can someone hack into your own private communication and publish it under the freedom of information act? This must be stopped!

Which brings up the question of WHEN:

What else is happening now.. Let's see. Isn't there something out there about the FCC considering the Net neutrality - REGULATING THE INTERNET. What a coincidence.

Could this all be about CONTROL?

Is this to gain the control of the media and cable from the big capitalists and totally divest it under government control? Can you spell S-o-c-i-a-l-i-s-m?

May your day be merry and bright.

I cannot believe my eyes - Polar Bear Hunting

I am afraid my tone today is not going to be very kind or understanding. As some of you know, I work in Champaign, Illinois, and have for years. I am not necessarily a townie since I am not from here, but regardless I have a connection here.

It is disturbing to read about the recent events regarding lone men, primarily Caucasian, being attacked and beaten in Champaign-Urbana by black young men (from witness accounts.)

This is being referred to as "Polar Bear Hunting". I am not sure where this came from, but it is what it is.

We can debate for days on the reasons: Fatherless homes; The migration of people from Chicago projects farther south in Illinois; "It's the economy stupid"...ad infinitum.

But when it happens to someone you know, it brings up new issues.

I am referring to the attack on Mike Sola, a local news person in the area. I am only an acquaintance that he probably does not remember. He judged a contest my daughter was in, and he was very nice to me and my family, and by all accounts an all-around good guy.

In regards to this, and the fact that I spend a lot of time in Champaign, obviously, I am concerned about walking out of work one night and being bonked on the head or worse. I mean - what is being done about this? I read the local posts from the online newspapers and saw the usual banter and blame, as well as citizens concerns about what the police are doing about this. I am sure they are doing all they can.

It was when I did a wider search that I became stunned, even in this day and age.

I have a blog - surprise! you are reading it! - and many other people do, but I have never seen such a spate of hateful, ludicrous, ridiculous, and insane commentaries in my life from people who have NO idea what they are talking about.

You have your sites, unfortunately, that appear to be run by people that are, shall we say, not enamored of the African-American race that are using this to propagate the fact that this is what the future holds - white people better unite! On the other end, I was seeing slurring of what was printed in the newspaper, ridiculing Mike and referring to him as "a racist".

I do have a temper, and I wanted so badly to post in these blogs, but I see no point - rather I decided I would voice my concerns in my own blog.

I can't tell you how this makes me feel. I initially got online to see if this made national news out of concern to see what lawmakers and pundits were saying, to find almost nothing legitimate about this incident and the issues surrounding it.

Our geographical location is being portrayed as Stupid, USA by people who think they are elite for some reason, but I will pit my level of sophistication compared to theirs - any time any place.

I see no blogs from anyone local that knows what the issues are, or has any real idea of how or why this has reared its ugly head in this community.

Right now I am reading a Tweet from some person who thinks this issue is just so funny. Wait until someone gets a gun, and we will see who is laughing as this escalates out of control. Wait until it is in your backyard.

Burn, Baby Burn

I was going to stay out of this, but now I am incensed by our President and the world's reaction to the burning of the Quran that will supposedly take place this Saturday, September 11, the anniversary of the World Trade Center Bombing.

The pastor in Florida, Terry Clark of the Dove Center, who is still planning the Quran burning according to published reports, might be a little radical, and may be a 'kook', I have no idea.

However; he has as much right to burn that book as anyone in the world, in my opinion, considering how the Christian world is treated today:

FACT: Thousands of Christian Bibles were burned in Afghanistan by our own troops in May 2009 because the current administration's concern over 'converted' Afghans. Look it up - it is on the Internet all over the place.

FACT: Crosses and Bibles are being burnt every day in the Gaza strip by Muslims who are terrorizing Christians there.

FACT: In August of this year, Muslim students in Australia - urinated on, spat on, and burnt
Bibles there at a school camp.

Where is the outcry? Where is the news coverage? It is ignored, of course, in this double-standard society we have. Where was the President when all of this happened? Yet he has deemed this act by one church in Florida worthy of a press conference to protect his beloved Quran.

Today there are a bunch of Muslims on all the news channels jumping up and down, outraged because their "holy" book is being desecrated. So??....join the crowd. I see my beliefs and moral system being picked apart more and more every day in "Amerika"

Burn, baby burn.

The Blame Game

I am so tired of the hypocracy of everyone involved in the BP oil disaster. From the seemed indifference from the "suits" at BP, to the ranting environmentalists, it just makes me cringe.

It does not help when you have a president who so thouroughly criticised the previous administration for the Katrina debaucle, and then waits days before making any kind of meaningful statement about the oil spill.

I am not happy with BP, but people cannot totally villify something that happened as an accident. It is dumb that they did not have better safeguards, true. But if people realized how many other companies are in the same boat with their computer systems, or power grids - or what have you - they probably could not sleep at night. I can't count how many companies I have been associated with that had a "Disaster Plan" that looked good on paper, but in practice would resemble a three-ring circus.

And I am tired of news reports showing people with apparently nothing else to do walking along the beach and saying "I'm mad about the oil balls"......"or the birds"......"or that I might have to slash the price of my condo now"......you can fill in the blank.. And not to mention the idiots that are boycotting BP. Really? Do you realize the only person you are hurting is the poor local slob who owns the gas station? BP has so many investiments in other things, and other oil users and resellers, that they couldn't care less what you do.

So now this is stretching out forever...Everyone has a solution while the gallons of oil pour out. I don't know what the answer is, but I am not going to go around pointing fingers when the problem is ALL of us.

Politics as Usual

I am really upset with my own political affiliation right now. My own dear mom has been getting these dumb letters from the Republican party with these so called "surveys" in them in their efforts to solicit funds. They are putting on the outside of the envelopes "OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS DO NOT DESTROY"... Had her scared to death that if she did not respond that party thugs would be contacting her. I promptly pitched it.
A line has been crossed, you don't upset my mama. I am planning on writing my congressman regarding this bilge. You don't send mail like this to 80 year old widows. I am up to here with politics, and I was so mad from this I did not even vote in the primaries..When we start using dirty tactics to get money - come on!!!!