So, how is that "reset Button" working out? Putin has 16,000 (as an estimation) troops on the ground in Crimea, and is threatening all of Ukraine. President Obama and Sec. of State Kerry issue strongly worded statements and Putin farts in their general direction.
This is not looking for the west. NATO has proven to be pretty much a debating society, and there will never be any action by the UN so long as China and Russia have veto power in the Security Council.
Lets be clear here, the US and the Europeans are not going to go to war over Crimea or all of Ukraine for that matter, Putin learned his lession in Georgia that he can get away with land grabs. Sanctions are an option, freezing bank accounts in the EU and USA are certainly possible, but Russia stores their wealth in Cyprus, the new Switzerland for money laundering.
So how about a little hypothetical situation here. The west imposes tough economic and military sanctions on Russia. Putin, like all dictators loves to play tit-for-tat. Now that Obama killed the menned space program, the country that once put men on the moon can't even put astronauts in low Earth orbit. We rely on "our friends" the Russians to use their antiquated Soviet era Soyuz space craft to get Americans and Europeans to the International Space Station. Russia can easily unilaterality decide to no longer transport our people to/from the space station, possibly stranding our people there. Would he dare to do such a thing? You betcha in a Moscow minute if it served his interests.
Here's just another unintended consequence of a president who is more interested about redistrubuting the wealth than further advancing science and technology. NASA is a shell of what it was, and "our friends" the Chinese are working on lunar missions, and not necessarily for the good of mankind.
But fighting Global Warming is far more important to President Obama than engaging in a very dangerous world and promoting our interests at home and abroad, and by abroad, that includes in outer space.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Weakness at home, Impotence Abroad
When President Obama assumed power after an overwhelming victory in 2009, he made his apology tours, Cairo speech blaming The United States for all the evils in the middle east, sent Sec. of State Hillary Clinton to Moscow to present a Oversize Reset button in the hopes that "leading from behind" would make the worls live us him.
Things didn't work out according to the plan of using Smart Power, now did it?
Overthrowing a friendly dictator, but friendly to US dictators in Tunisia and Egypt led to Islamists seizing control through one man, one vote, one time elections. Tunisia's Islamist government policies have emptied out their previously very popular beach resorts, due to prohabition of alcohol, and strict dress coads and separation of sexes on beaches. Egypt is a basket case, tourists are gone, the Muslim Brotherhood tried to force Sharia Law down peoples' throats and the tolerant people of Egypt were not having any of that. Of course Obama sided with the wrong people, the Brotherhood. The military stepped in, and the formerly stable Egypt is on the brink of a civil war. The intervention in Libya to overthrow Kadafy made no sense then and makes no sense now. He has not been a threat to US national secutiry for years. We were left with a failed state where Al-Qaeda linked jihadists have been trying (almost successfully to neighboring Mali and Niger).
SMART POWER indeed.
In Europe Obama cancelled the military defense missle agreements with ou NATO Allies, the Czech Republic and Poland with nothing to show in return from the increasingly beligerant Vladimir Putin inThe Soviet Union Russia. But President Obama was being flexible.
Of course all our allies as well as advisaries and enemies see all this as a sign of weekness, as they should. Obama made a deal with Iran that relieved sanctions that allows them to keep the centrifuges running and refining bomb making nuclear material. And the band played on.
Is it any surprise that China has taken an aggressive stance towards Japan over some oil rich section of the East China Sea or all but declared the entire South China Sea as China's private lake, threatening Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and once again Taiwan (who China still considers a renegade province)?
North Korea keeps testing missles and developing more nuclear arms, and even with a large American force just across the 48th parallel, and a strong ROK army, who is to stop a mercurial dictator from deciding to make the ultimate test of Obama and decide to nuke Seoul followed by an invasion by a million man army who are nothing more than cannon fodder?
Yes indeed SMART POWER has certainly changed the way we do business with other countries.
Are people sleeping easy now in Tel Aviv, all of eastern Europe or the pacific rim?
Things didn't work out according to the plan of using Smart Power, now did it?
Overthrowing a friendly dictator, but friendly to US dictators in Tunisia and Egypt led to Islamists seizing control through one man, one vote, one time elections. Tunisia's Islamist government policies have emptied out their previously very popular beach resorts, due to prohabition of alcohol, and strict dress coads and separation of sexes on beaches. Egypt is a basket case, tourists are gone, the Muslim Brotherhood tried to force Sharia Law down peoples' throats and the tolerant people of Egypt were not having any of that. Of course Obama sided with the wrong people, the Brotherhood. The military stepped in, and the formerly stable Egypt is on the brink of a civil war. The intervention in Libya to overthrow Kadafy made no sense then and makes no sense now. He has not been a threat to US national secutiry for years. We were left with a failed state where Al-Qaeda linked jihadists have been trying (almost successfully to neighboring Mali and Niger).
SMART POWER indeed.
In Europe Obama cancelled the military defense missle agreements with ou NATO Allies, the Czech Republic and Poland with nothing to show in return from the increasingly beligerant Vladimir Putin in
Of course all our allies as well as advisaries and enemies see all this as a sign of weekness, as they should. Obama made a deal with Iran that relieved sanctions that allows them to keep the centrifuges running and refining bomb making nuclear material. And the band played on.
Is it any surprise that China has taken an aggressive stance towards Japan over some oil rich section of the East China Sea or all but declared the entire South China Sea as China's private lake, threatening Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and once again Taiwan (who China still considers a renegade province)?
North Korea keeps testing missles and developing more nuclear arms, and even with a large American force just across the 48th parallel, and a strong ROK army, who is to stop a mercurial dictator from deciding to make the ultimate test of Obama and decide to nuke Seoul followed by an invasion by a million man army who are nothing more than cannon fodder?
Yes indeed SMART POWER has certainly changed the way we do business with other countries.
Are people sleeping easy now in Tel Aviv, all of eastern Europe or the pacific rim?
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Fall of a Republic
2014 will determine a lot more for the United States than most think.
We have lost a lot of wars in my lifetime. The Vietnam war was won, and the Tet offensive was a disaster for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Vong (VC), yet Walter Cronkite declared it a disaster and huge loss for America that Lyndon Johnson turned it into a loss. Nixon made "peace with honor" and Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho got their Nobel Peace Prizes, just to have the NVA run over South Vietnam less than 2 years later.
We as a country lost our will to win a war at that time. Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" watched in horror as we lost a war that was already won. Korean Was is considered was a draw, but the Republic of Korea is one of the most prosperous countries in the world now, while just north of the 38th parallel they are still trying to figure out which rocks are edible.
We have become fat, lazy and self indulgent ad a country, and the hippies who opposed the Vietnam War are now in power and in the US congress. So, do we have a will to survive as a nation, or will we go the way of the Roman Empire.?
For many of us, who understood the threat of radical Islam going back before the Iranian hostage fiasco, the attack on our country on September 11, 2001 is not only a wake up call but a call to action against this evil bloodthirsty movement disguised as a religion. Not all Muslims are part of this movement, and Turkey seems to be ready to kick out the Islamists if the regime allows free elections this year. But radical Islam is at war with us, and all of the west, even though most don't realize it because they are not paying attention. War is here whether we like it or not, even though Obama lost Iraq and now Afghanistan. I'm not even going to talk about the Libyan fiasco or Syria now. This is about us as a country.
So where do we go from here? Can we survive as a country? These are serious questions, and I want serious answers.
We have a pacifist, complacent, self-indulgent population who wants more and more free stuff from the federal government that we can't afford. These people vote, and this is what they vote for. They don't look at future consequences or worry about how we are going to pay for all this "free stuff".
Furthermore, they do not see radical Islam as a threat. It is as though the American people hit the snooze alarm after the initial attacks by Al-Qaeda on 9-11-01. They just want to forget about it.
This is they way countries collapse. We are heading down that road. I don't see how we stop this road to perdition unless America wakes up and realizes that we are under attack, not from outside but from within. Illegal immigrants, and radical Islam is part of our problem to say the least, but we as a nation are just too busy worrying about who will perform on the next Super Bowl and if he will expose his junk to understand that we are becoming Rome in the time the fall of the Roman Empire.
So as Dennis Miller says, who wants pie?
We have lost a lot of wars in my lifetime. The Vietnam war was won, and the Tet offensive was a disaster for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet Vong (VC), yet Walter Cronkite declared it a disaster and huge loss for America that Lyndon Johnson turned it into a loss. Nixon made "peace with honor" and Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho got their Nobel Peace Prizes, just to have the NVA run over South Vietnam less than 2 years later.
We as a country lost our will to win a war at that time. Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" watched in horror as we lost a war that was already won. Korean Was is considered was a draw, but the Republic of Korea is one of the most prosperous countries in the world now, while just north of the 38th parallel they are still trying to figure out which rocks are edible.
We have become fat, lazy and self indulgent ad a country, and the hippies who opposed the Vietnam War are now in power and in the US congress. So, do we have a will to survive as a nation, or will we go the way of the Roman Empire.?
For many of us, who understood the threat of radical Islam going back before the Iranian hostage fiasco, the attack on our country on September 11, 2001 is not only a wake up call but a call to action against this evil bloodthirsty movement disguised as a religion. Not all Muslims are part of this movement, and Turkey seems to be ready to kick out the Islamists if the regime allows free elections this year. But radical Islam is at war with us, and all of the west, even though most don't realize it because they are not paying attention. War is here whether we like it or not, even though Obama lost Iraq and now Afghanistan. I'm not even going to talk about the Libyan fiasco or Syria now. This is about us as a country.
So where do we go from here? Can we survive as a country? These are serious questions, and I want serious answers.
We have a pacifist, complacent, self-indulgent population who wants more and more free stuff from the federal government that we can't afford. These people vote, and this is what they vote for. They don't look at future consequences or worry about how we are going to pay for all this "free stuff".
Furthermore, they do not see radical Islam as a threat. It is as though the American people hit the snooze alarm after the initial attacks by Al-Qaeda on 9-11-01. They just want to forget about it.
This is they way countries collapse. We are heading down that road. I don't see how we stop this road to perdition unless America wakes up and realizes that we are under attack, not from outside but from within. Illegal immigrants, and radical Islam is part of our problem to say the least, but we as a nation are just too busy worrying about who will perform on the next Super Bowl and if he will expose his junk to understand that we are becoming Rome in the time the fall of the Roman Empire.
So as Dennis Miller says, who wants pie?
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Media Whores Abandoned the Philippines
American mainstream media seems to have a broadcasting policy of; "If it bleeds it leads". They hung around in Tacloban, the worst hit city in the Philippines from the Category 6+ typhoon, but never went much beyond ground zero. After a week, ratings waned and they came home after giving absolutely no help to people who really needed it. But I am sure they felt good flying back to the US on their first class fully reclining seats while drinking expensive wine and enjoying froie gras and lobster tails.
The problem is that once the media goes home the attention fades, but the tragedy does not. This is an ongoing tragedy, people are dying, and although basic things like water and rice are being delivered, people are living in squalid conditions, and this is diseases like typhoid are rampant now.
Media focused on ground zero in Tacloban, the whole islands of Leyte, Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Negros, and Panay, as well as smaller islands have serious damage, power and water loss by this in many cases has not been even addressed yet.
Once that the valiant NBC correspondent who was staying in a powered RV got done looking at people in Tacloban with a pitiful look, and got on his first class flight home, the donations dropped. The Philippine Red Cross (NOT the American Red Cross), and Salvation Army are distributing relief as much as they can and need your help.
The media may be gone because there is no sizzle there now, but this tragedy still looms, and people keep dying. They need our help.
Pray about this and consider about helping. I'm thinking of going on a missionary trip to do my part after the 1st of the year.
The problem is that once the media goes home the attention fades, but the tragedy does not. This is an ongoing tragedy, people are dying, and although basic things like water and rice are being delivered, people are living in squalid conditions, and this is diseases like typhoid are rampant now.
Media focused on ground zero in Tacloban, the whole islands of Leyte, Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Negros, and Panay, as well as smaller islands have serious damage, power and water loss by this in many cases has not been even addressed yet.
Once that the valiant NBC correspondent who was staying in a powered RV got done looking at people in Tacloban with a pitiful look, and got on his first class flight home, the donations dropped. The Philippine Red Cross (NOT the American Red Cross), and Salvation Army are distributing relief as much as they can and need your help.
The media may be gone because there is no sizzle there now, but this tragedy still looms, and people keep dying. They need our help.
Pray about this and consider about helping. I'm thinking of going on a missionary trip to do my part after the 1st of the year.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
My 2013 Thanksgiving Story
A lot of people have enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by family. Since most of mine are either in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area or scattered throughout the US and Asia, we made a decision to just stay put this year and help others have a nice meal and get out of their homes and meet people.
I volunteered to work at a dinner sponsored by several churches and synagogues, and had an enormous amount of support from many of those EVVVVVIIIIL companies who donated money, food by the ton, delivery trucks, and volunteer employees to help in the kitchens.
We started planning this a couple months ago, raised money, got a lot of companies like Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and some smaller merchants to donate food. We really had no idea how many people would show up. We planned on dinner from 11am to 6pm or until the food ran out. We were set up in the gym of the church to hold about 400 at a time.
After a while, we got requests from nursing homes and elderly assisted living homes for food to be delivered. We considered this, made plans and agreed. This thing just kept getting bigger. As of Wednesday we had enough food for 4000 dinners, although desert would probably run out early.
I got asked to show up at the church kitchen at 8am to deliver bulk quantities of prepared food for the various homes. I showed up around 7:45am to load up the box trucks loaned to us by an express delivery company based in Memphis, and people were already lined up outside in 15 degree temperatures for a dinner that wasn't going to open for hours. Some looked very poor, and this is in the burbs, not the inner city. We got the pastor to open the sanctuary and Sunday school rooms to get them out of the cold and they were offered coffee.
We went out and did out delivery runs, and they took almost 2 hours. By 10am, the church was full and the only place for them was in the gym, which had been set up for dinner.
We could see this turning into an ugly free-for-all once the serving lines were opened, so we passed out tickets that somone wisely brought along, starting from the people in the sanctuary and the Sunday school rooms. We told everyone we'd be serving by number and assured everyone that there was plenty of food, which their was. There was some grumbling, but this worked out with a few jerks who had to be special.
Finally everything was ready to be served to the first 400 people, invited them to the gym, and then my real work started. I was working on the food line dishing out food, and grabbing stuff from the kitchen to replace empty pans. We had a great taskmistress (that sounds kinky, but she is a 75 year old Jewish woman who runs big meals all the time). The rest was relatively easy, or at least methodical. I though there was no way we would use up all the food that had been donated or bought by 6pm, but it was all gone by 3:30pm and deserts were gone by 1pm.
Some people just wanted to come out and have a meal because they were alone, but some families who showed up were really poor, and this might have been the only meal they had all day. And this is in the suburbs, the affluent suburbs, not the inner city.
We are clearly becoming a much poorer nation with the high unemployment, people who have just given up hope on getting a real full time job, and the only change that they have gotten since 2008 has been the change in their pockets.
Although helping people have a nice Thanksgiving dinner is gratifying to me, the need to have something of this magnitude says a lot more about the direction where this country is going.
I volunteered to work at a dinner sponsored by several churches and synagogues, and had an enormous amount of support from many of those EVVVVVIIIIL companies who donated money, food by the ton, delivery trucks, and volunteer employees to help in the kitchens.
We started planning this a couple months ago, raised money, got a lot of companies like Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and some smaller merchants to donate food. We really had no idea how many people would show up. We planned on dinner from 11am to 6pm or until the food ran out. We were set up in the gym of the church to hold about 400 at a time.
After a while, we got requests from nursing homes and elderly assisted living homes for food to be delivered. We considered this, made plans and agreed. This thing just kept getting bigger. As of Wednesday we had enough food for 4000 dinners, although desert would probably run out early.
I got asked to show up at the church kitchen at 8am to deliver bulk quantities of prepared food for the various homes. I showed up around 7:45am to load up the box trucks loaned to us by an express delivery company based in Memphis, and people were already lined up outside in 15 degree temperatures for a dinner that wasn't going to open for hours. Some looked very poor, and this is in the burbs, not the inner city. We got the pastor to open the sanctuary and Sunday school rooms to get them out of the cold and they were offered coffee.
We went out and did out delivery runs, and they took almost 2 hours. By 10am, the church was full and the only place for them was in the gym, which had been set up for dinner.
We could see this turning into an ugly free-for-all once the serving lines were opened, so we passed out tickets that somone wisely brought along, starting from the people in the sanctuary and the Sunday school rooms. We told everyone we'd be serving by number and assured everyone that there was plenty of food, which their was. There was some grumbling, but this worked out with a few jerks who had to be special.
Finally everything was ready to be served to the first 400 people, invited them to the gym, and then my real work started. I was working on the food line dishing out food, and grabbing stuff from the kitchen to replace empty pans. We had a great taskmistress (that sounds kinky, but she is a 75 year old Jewish woman who runs big meals all the time). The rest was relatively easy, or at least methodical. I though there was no way we would use up all the food that had been donated or bought by 6pm, but it was all gone by 3:30pm and deserts were gone by 1pm.
Some people just wanted to come out and have a meal because they were alone, but some families who showed up were really poor, and this might have been the only meal they had all day. And this is in the suburbs, the affluent suburbs, not the inner city.
We are clearly becoming a much poorer nation with the high unemployment, people who have just given up hope on getting a real full time job, and the only change that they have gotten since 2008 has been the change in their pockets.
Although helping people have a nice Thanksgiving dinner is gratifying to me, the need to have something of this magnitude says a lot more about the direction where this country is going.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Category 5+ hits the Philippines. They need our help now.
A category 5 typhoon is slamming in to the central Visayas in the Philippines as I write this. Samar and Leyte are getting the initial brunt, but this affects a far wider population. This is a poor place and most houses are not built to sustain this sort of thing. Some reports say there are 200 mph winds.
Weatherunderground has a better analysis than I can do.
Once this storm passes these people are going to need a lot more help than the ObamaPhone lady .
All I can ask for is for prayers for these people, and contribute what you can to the charity of your choice. I'm one who thinks that the Salvation Army does the best job getting help to where it is needed. Their overhead is low compared to the Red Cross and Catholic Charities, but give to help these people if you can. I don't see any Islamic charity stepping up to this tragedy.
This storm makes Katrina look like a rain shower.
God help these people....please!
Update I've been trying to call friends and family all night. Of course the phone lines are down and cell have been destroyed. Still i was able to at least to get some news on Skype from my niece in Cebu. This is worst storm in recorded history and all the charities I mentioned will be on the ground to help. I still see no Muslim charities trying to help. They are too busy helping insurgents in Zamboanga kill Christians.
This storm is not over. Once it gets over the South China Sea it will intensify again, and it looks like Vietnam may get a direct hit.
This is the worst storm I've ever seen.
Update 2: The typhoon had some of the highest sustained winds on record, but because it was a fast moving storm, the deaths and devastation were far less than feared. If a storm with 200+ mph winds stuck around for a long time, there would not be much left on Samar and Leyte. Tacloban airport has reopened in a limited way and people are cleaning up a real mess, but it could be far worse.
The storm is now over the South China Sea and gaining strength again. Vietnam seems it's likely target. As poor as the Philippines are, Vietnam is far worse outside the major cities, and the communist government is too corrupt, incompetent and complacent to deal with the aftermath. The charities I mentioned above will be working overtime, provided that Vietnam lets them in to help.
Update 3: Photos are starting to come in now. The UK paper, The Daily Mail, shows how much devastation was done in the city of Tacloban on Leyte. There are over 1200 dead according to the Red Cross, 1000 in Tacloban alone. Relief flights are coming in now, but Tacloban airport is in bad shape. As bad as this storm is, the death and destruction would have been worse if it was not a fast moving storm. Vietnam is going to get the full brunt in the next few hours, as will Cambodia. Neither country has the infrastructure to recover from this. The Philippines, as poor as it is will bounce back much quicker.
Update 4: This not so much an update than it is a commentary. The US Air Force, and Marines have been bringing C-130 transports to Tacloban Airport, even when it was flooded and in almost unusable shape. The Salvation Army, Red Cross and several other others who have the means to do it ae on the ground giving relief to victims. Even though this storm was fast moving, some reports predict 10,000 dead. I'm not sure of that, because that is what the mainstream media said died in Katrina. But Leyte and Samar are in ruins right now. Any help would be appreciated.
One thing that is notable, is that not a single so called Muslim charities have offered any assistance, yet they are funding a low level insurgency in Mindanao that has gotten far more violent in recent months. The siege on Zamboanga City has been going on for 2 months now with no let up, and guess who funds the MILF, and MNLF? Yes it is the Muslim Brotherhood and their CAIR front organization in the USA.
So, While we in the west and mostly Christians and some Jews may give money to help the victims of the typhoon, the Religion of Peace (tm) are giving money to kill Christians in the Philippines.
I'll have further updates when I know more. I'm not speculating on anything. I'm not a TV network where "if it bleeds it leads". Family are fine, but this isn't over
Update-5: The devastation on Leyte, a very sizable island, is massive and Tacloban and Ormoc are destroyed. The media is not paying too much attention to anything outside the largest city of Taclobann, largely because it has a serviceable airport, and relief flights are coming in from nearby Cebu and Manila.
Ormoc, a smaller city on Leyte is also devastated. It's a port city and is not a stranger to disaster. It was destroyed in a large typhoon in 1992 and was rebuilt in to a very livable city. But once again it is destroyed. Nobody knows the number if villages and baranguay that are wiped out.
The island of Samar, just across a bridge from Tacloban also has massive damage and loss of life. The foreign media is not paying attention to Samar, because it may be difficult to get to the most affected areas. It is a very large island, and most towns tend to be smallish. So IU've only got limited information from here.
President Aquino has downward estimated the death toll to 2000~2500. As awful as it is, it is not 10,000 dead. The USS George Washington aircraft carrier will arrive in the area on Thursday and hopefully it can help get food water to the victims.
That's all I have for now.
Update-6: I really don't have to much more to add regarding the disaster in the Visayas, except that the damage goes far beyond Leyte and Tacloban. Many places as far west as Aklan province in Panay are without power, and there is widespread damage throughout the region.
One thing I need to emphasize is that all these care packages that church groups in the US indented for the Philippines will probably never get there. Relief flights are bringing large containers and palettes of bottled water, 100 kg bags of rice, and bails of clothing that can be moved on and off the C-130 planes that the US and Philippine military are bringing in, and small care packages of canned tuna, ramen noodles, instant rice and things of that nature just can't be accommodated now. The best thing you can do is contribute money to the charity of your choice. The Philippine Red Cross, Salvation army and World Vision have people on the ground now to help distribute relief. They buy supplies locally within southeast Asia and get those goods shipped in. Care packages sent by various church groups here in the US will most likely end up in soup kitchens at home.
Just a thought. I know that it makes people feel good making care packages, but the current relief flights and infrastructure in the affected areas just can't deliver or deal with these things.
Weatherunderground has a better analysis than I can do.
Once this storm passes these people are going to need a lot more help than the ObamaPhone lady .
All I can ask for is for prayers for these people, and contribute what you can to the charity of your choice. I'm one who thinks that the Salvation Army does the best job getting help to where it is needed. Their overhead is low compared to the Red Cross and Catholic Charities, but give to help these people if you can. I don't see any Islamic charity stepping up to this tragedy.
This storm makes Katrina look like a rain shower.
God help these people....please!
Update I've been trying to call friends and family all night. Of course the phone lines are down and cell have been destroyed. Still i was able to at least to get some news on Skype from my niece in Cebu. This is worst storm in recorded history and all the charities I mentioned will be on the ground to help. I still see no Muslim charities trying to help. They are too busy helping insurgents in Zamboanga kill Christians.
This storm is not over. Once it gets over the South China Sea it will intensify again, and it looks like Vietnam may get a direct hit.
This is the worst storm I've ever seen.
Update 2: The typhoon had some of the highest sustained winds on record, but because it was a fast moving storm, the deaths and devastation were far less than feared. If a storm with 200+ mph winds stuck around for a long time, there would not be much left on Samar and Leyte. Tacloban airport has reopened in a limited way and people are cleaning up a real mess, but it could be far worse.
The storm is now over the South China Sea and gaining strength again. Vietnam seems it's likely target. As poor as the Philippines are, Vietnam is far worse outside the major cities, and the communist government is too corrupt, incompetent and complacent to deal with the aftermath. The charities I mentioned above will be working overtime, provided that Vietnam lets them in to help.
Update 3: Photos are starting to come in now. The UK paper, The Daily Mail, shows how much devastation was done in the city of Tacloban on Leyte. There are over 1200 dead according to the Red Cross, 1000 in Tacloban alone. Relief flights are coming in now, but Tacloban airport is in bad shape. As bad as this storm is, the death and destruction would have been worse if it was not a fast moving storm. Vietnam is going to get the full brunt in the next few hours, as will Cambodia. Neither country has the infrastructure to recover from this. The Philippines, as poor as it is will bounce back much quicker.
Update 4: This not so much an update than it is a commentary. The US Air Force, and Marines have been bringing C-130 transports to Tacloban Airport, even when it was flooded and in almost unusable shape. The Salvation Army, Red Cross and several other others who have the means to do it ae on the ground giving relief to victims. Even though this storm was fast moving, some reports predict 10,000 dead. I'm not sure of that, because that is what the mainstream media said died in Katrina. But Leyte and Samar are in ruins right now. Any help would be appreciated.
One thing that is notable, is that not a single so called Muslim charities have offered any assistance, yet they are funding a low level insurgency in Mindanao that has gotten far more violent in recent months. The siege on Zamboanga City has been going on for 2 months now with no let up, and guess who funds the MILF, and MNLF? Yes it is the Muslim Brotherhood and their CAIR front organization in the USA.
So, While we in the west and mostly Christians and some Jews may give money to help the victims of the typhoon, the Religion of Peace (tm) are giving money to kill Christians in the Philippines.
I'll have further updates when I know more. I'm not speculating on anything. I'm not a TV network where "if it bleeds it leads". Family are fine, but this isn't over
Update-5: The devastation on Leyte, a very sizable island, is massive and Tacloban and Ormoc are destroyed. The media is not paying too much attention to anything outside the largest city of Taclobann, largely because it has a serviceable airport, and relief flights are coming in from nearby Cebu and Manila.
Ormoc, a smaller city on Leyte is also devastated. It's a port city and is not a stranger to disaster. It was destroyed in a large typhoon in 1992 and was rebuilt in to a very livable city. But once again it is destroyed. Nobody knows the number if villages and baranguay that are wiped out.
The island of Samar, just across a bridge from Tacloban also has massive damage and loss of life. The foreign media is not paying attention to Samar, because it may be difficult to get to the most affected areas. It is a very large island, and most towns tend to be smallish. So IU've only got limited information from here.
President Aquino has downward estimated the death toll to 2000~2500. As awful as it is, it is not 10,000 dead. The USS George Washington aircraft carrier will arrive in the area on Thursday and hopefully it can help get food water to the victims.
That's all I have for now.
Update-6: I really don't have to much more to add regarding the disaster in the Visayas, except that the damage goes far beyond Leyte and Tacloban. Many places as far west as Aklan province in Panay are without power, and there is widespread damage throughout the region.
One thing I need to emphasize is that all these care packages that church groups in the US indented for the Philippines will probably never get there. Relief flights are bringing large containers and palettes of bottled water, 100 kg bags of rice, and bails of clothing that can be moved on and off the C-130 planes that the US and Philippine military are bringing in, and small care packages of canned tuna, ramen noodles, instant rice and things of that nature just can't be accommodated now. The best thing you can do is contribute money to the charity of your choice. The Philippine Red Cross, Salvation army and World Vision have people on the ground now to help distribute relief. They buy supplies locally within southeast Asia and get those goods shipped in. Care packages sent by various church groups here in the US will most likely end up in soup kitchens at home.
Just a thought. I know that it makes people feel good making care packages, but the current relief flights and infrastructure in the affected areas just can't deliver or deal with these things.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Random thoughts from a dumb non-Ivy League College graduate
I was listening tonight to a bunch of liberal talking heads discussing how stupid Tea Party people are. An the biggest arguments are they are violent racists (no proof of that) and uneducated rednecks because most of us never went to an Ivy League school.
I thought about it for awhile, and I have to admit that I'm part of the unwashed masses that the Democrats want to rule because they are so much smarter than me. I only went to a large mid-west university and have a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, and have worked as a flight simulation engineer for over 30 years. But I'm not a Harvard lawyer who has spent his whole career in politics, so I guess I need to be ruled by the likes of him. I get it.
We unwashed masses just can't understand complex issues like health care, debt, and balancing a budget. I'm so glad that smarter people than me who know what I need better than me are relieving me of decisions I'd have to make otherwise. No matter that it costs me more and I as a 56 year old man have to pay for pap smears, breast exams and abortions, the best and brightest are looking after us, the little people, the undereducated people who only went to a state university. Never mind that the Obama roll out has been a disaster and even the website does not work, let alone the exchanges that we are all supposed to sign up to if not on a group plan.
Everything is going to be great once all the "gliches" get worked out. The real market place must step aside for the government controlled "marketplace".
Ok I'm being very sarcastic here, and like I mentioned in a previous post, unless we get rid of this regime and this abomination ObamaCare I'll probably do the ultimate opt-out and build a house on my property in an undisclosed location in Asia, but a day trip to Singapore to get my MS treatments every other month.
Elitists in both parties just don't understand and are not connected to people outside the northeast and west coast. Normal people who are not addicted to government free stuff that costs the tax payers plenty will someday get fed up. I'm hoping it is not too late. If we don't get rid of socialized medicine, and get debt under control, we are doomed. Taxing our way to prosperity will turn the whole country into Detroit.
I thought about it for awhile, and I have to admit that I'm part of the unwashed masses that the Democrats want to rule because they are so much smarter than me. I only went to a large mid-west university and have a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, and have worked as a flight simulation engineer for over 30 years. But I'm not a Harvard lawyer who has spent his whole career in politics, so I guess I need to be ruled by the likes of him. I get it.
We unwashed masses just can't understand complex issues like health care, debt, and balancing a budget. I'm so glad that smarter people than me who know what I need better than me are relieving me of decisions I'd have to make otherwise. No matter that it costs me more and I as a 56 year old man have to pay for pap smears, breast exams and abortions, the best and brightest are looking after us, the little people, the undereducated people who only went to a state university. Never mind that the Obama roll out has been a disaster and even the website does not work, let alone the exchanges that we are all supposed to sign up to if not on a group plan.
Everything is going to be great once all the "gliches" get worked out. The real market place must step aside for the government controlled "marketplace".
Ok I'm being very sarcastic here, and like I mentioned in a previous post, unless we get rid of this regime and this abomination ObamaCare I'll probably do the ultimate opt-out and build a house on my property in an undisclosed location in Asia, but a day trip to Singapore to get my MS treatments every other month.
Elitists in both parties just don't understand and are not connected to people outside the northeast and west coast. Normal people who are not addicted to government free stuff that costs the tax payers plenty will someday get fed up. I'm hoping it is not too late. If we don't get rid of socialized medicine, and get debt under control, we are doomed. Taxing our way to prosperity will turn the whole country into Detroit.
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