The full truth of the ancient wars between Greece and Persia

History TV Channel documentary- Warriors-How the world is still fooled, and the full truth is veiled. On the Greek and Persian Wars and how it is claimed, this changed the course of Western Civilization,forever!

Briefly, the Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus The Great, the Achaemenid, (Hakhamanish), in 500 B.C., and which at it's greatest extent stretched from the present territories of Europe's Macedonia/Romania, the regions around the mouth of the river Danube, and present day Eygpt and parts of Libya, all forming it's grand western borders. To the east, it's extent reached the Indus river, and the river Oxus north east of the Caspian and Aral seas in the far north east.

One very brief mention, the Persians used paid labor to build their royal Capitals, and the kings were judged by their personal role in the Empire's politics and sentiments-this is well attested by historical chronicles that were finally brought to full literary fruition in the Shah Nameh that chronicled good kings from bad; not as now popularly alleged that the Persians were blind and dumb subjects of their kings.

The great Greek historian, Herodotus, who was born in Ionia, a Persian province of Greek cities in western Turkey, grudgingly admits of "the Persian Law" that does not change and is equally applied to all subjects! The Bible calls this "the Persian Laws that changeth not."

Greek society at that time was a full senatorial voting democracy, but for an elite class only; the rest were workers and slaves, with abundant male and female resources for any work you may wish to extract from them. Greek politics comprised of bickering and quarrelsome city states. The Spartans, particularly, were the bullies of the region. The Spartans' military society demanded all boys, from the age of seven, were given over to a mentor, a Spartan warrior, who, in his bid to cement the ties between soldier and learner, used the small boy as his concubine; any amount of historical Greek records will attest to this. They proudly proclaim the paedophilic relationship as part of military training!

The Persian Achaemenid dynasty held their vast empire for around 220 years, upto 336 B.C., with its collapse at the hands of Alexander the Great, who, incidently, considered himself heir to Cyrus, made Babylon his capital, never returning to Macedonia, and is known to have adopted Persian court etiquettes and adorn himself with the Persian purple. He married three Persian royal ladies, one of whom bore him his son and heir, who never lived to take his father's throne. Alexander's Empire of Asia collapsed, literary, on his death bed, disintegrating into five kingdoms. The Persian Empire had lasted for over 200 years.

Anyone familiar with the present politics of the great powers, the United States, have no doubts this great country is indeed a great power, although it got a thorough drubbing in Vietnam, and is not making much headway in Iraq.

Clay tablets found in the Persian royal Capitals, Persepolis, Susa and Ekbatana describe the wars with Greece as a necessary military 'arm' of politics, to keep the city states warring with one another. The Persians were carrying on a diplomatic war with Greece, bribing their leaders with gold, which kept the Greek city-states disunited, for over 150 years, well after their victories over Persian forces in the 4th century B.C.

Further, what is little known, and generally ignored, is that the western regions of present Turkey, known as Ionia, were a significantly large group of Greek cities under Persian rule; and keeping the mainland Greeks warring was as much in the interests of Persia, as keeping the communists in check was in US interest in the twentieth century!

Now, coming to the contention that the Greek victories "saved" Western civilization, allow me to present the full truth, rather the other side of the truth.

At the time of the Greco-Persian wars, in the 4th century B.C., the rest of Europe had no organised states other than the Greek city states on Mainland Greece, and we had Macedonia on it's northern borders. The rest of Europe comprised of warring rural pre-Germanic, pre-Slavic and Scythian village tribes, at most a huge mass of tribal and nomadic warring groups ruled by chieftains and petty kings. The earlier European civilizations in Greece and on the island of Crete, the Mycenaean, had long disappeared.

So to contend, the Greco-Persian wars saved Western Civilization, none existed at that time in heartland Europe! The Greeks were in fact Dorians, who migrated to the Greek mainland from Asia, and the Greek language is Indo-European, the same as ancient Persian!

To say that these wars saved the present day Western Civilization is to place everything about European civilization in some time warp.

Right through the next great European civilization, the Roman Empire, it's eventual collapse at the hands of Germanic tribes, the spread of Christianity that supported the divine rights of kings, the later rise of the Carolingian and European kingdoms, from the time of Charlemagne and the German kings, right down to the absolute Russian and French kings, we have autocratic or near despotic monarchies for some 1700 years, ruling over Western Civilization!

Everything was farthest away, in ideas, to the so called Greek democracy, which latter was, in any case, a senatorial voting right for an elite class to choose a leader from amongst themselves, whilst the rest, workers or slaves, slaved, or were done away in the gory gladiator battles, in Roman times!

To equate present Western democratic institutions to a non-existent Western Civilization based on Greek ideals that stretched back to the days of Greece or Rome, is to take all the innumerable despotic kings and monarchies, through 1700 years, and throw them into oblivion, into the ignorant man's well!

Of course, all these wild conjectures are possible by taking fullest advantage of the complete collapse of Persian civilization at the hands of the great spread of Islam, for the Zoroastrian Persian Empires fully disappeared off the face of history after the advent of Islam, that is the sad part. Pre-Islamic Persian civilization could boast of several ruling queens,and women as Generals and leaders. It was not for nothing that Alexander had fallen in love with the then Persian Orient, a fact kept well hidden from the popular image today.

Norman Borlaug dies-one of the world's greatest human being.

The New York Times wrote :

Norman E. Borlaug, the plant scientist who did more than anyone else in the 20th century to teach the world to feed itself and whose work was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday night. He was 95 and lived in Dallas.

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Oscar Hidalgo/The New York Times

Norman E. Borlaug accepted the Congressional Gold Medal in July 2007.

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The cause was complications from cancer, said Kathleen Phillips, a spokeswoman for Texas A&M University, where Dr. Borlaug had served on the faculty since 1984.

Dr. Borlaug’s advances in plant breeding led to spectacular success in increasing food production in Latin America and Asia and brought him international acclaim. In 1970, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was widely described as the father of the broad agricultural movement called the Green Revolution, though decidedly reluctant to accept the title. “A miserable term,” he said, characteristically shrugging off any air of self-importance.

Yet his work had a far-reaching impact on the lives of millions of people in developing countries. His breeding of high-yielding crop varieties helped to avert mass famines that were widely predicted in the 1960s, altering the course of history. Largely because of his work, countries that had been food deficient, like Mexico and India, became self-sufficient in producing cereal grains.

“More than any other single person of this age, he has helped provide bread for a hungry world,” the Nobel committee said in presenting him with the Peace Prize. “We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.”

The day the award was announced, Dr. Borlaug, vigorous and slender at 56, was working in a wheat field outside Mexico City when his wife, Margaret, drove up to tell him the news. “Someone’s pulling your leg,” he replied, according to one of his biographers, Leon Hesser. Assured that it was true, he kept on working, saying he would celebrate later.

The Green Revolution eventually came under attack from environmental and social critics who said it had created more difficulties than it had solved. Dr. Borlaug responded that the real problem was not his agricultural techniques, but the runaway population growth that had made them necessary.

“If the world population continues to increase at the same rate, we will destroy the species,” he declared.

Traveling to Norway, the land of his ancestors, to receive the award, he warned the Nobel audience that the struggle against hunger had not been won. “We may be at high tide now, but ebb tide could soon set in if we become complacent and relax our efforts,” he said. Twice more in his lifetime, in the 1970s and again in 2008, those words would prove prescient as food shortages and high prices caused global unrest.

His Nobel Prize was the culmination of a storied life in agriculture that began when he was a boy growing up on a farm in Iowa, wondering why plants grew better in some places than others. His was also an unlikely career path, one that began in earnest near the end of World War II, when Dr. Borlaug walked away from a promising job at DuPont, the chemical company, to take a position in Mexico trying to help farmers improve their crops.

The job was part of an assault on hunger in Mexico that was devised in Manhattan, at the offices of the Rockefeller Foundation, with political support in Washington. But it was not a career choice calculated to lead to fame or honor.

Indeed, on first seeing the situation in Mexico for himself, Dr. Borlaug reacted with near despair. Mexican soils were depleted, the crops were ravaged by disease, yields were low and the farmers could not feed themselves, much less improve their lot by selling surplus.

“These places I’ve seen have clubbed my mind — they are so poor and depressing,” he wrote to his wife after his first extended sojourn in the country. “I don’t know what we can do to help these people, but we’ve got to do something.”

The next few years were ones of toil and privation as Dr. Borlaug and his colleagues, with scant funds or equipment, set to work improving yields in tropical crop varieties.

He spent countless hours hunched over in the blazing Mexican sun as he manipulated tiny wheat blossoms to cross different strains. To speed the work, he set up winter and summer operations in far-flung parts of Mexico, logging thousands of miles over poor roads. He battled illness, forded rivers in flood, dodged mudslides and sometimes slept in tents.

He was by then a trained scientist holding a doctoral degree in plant diseases. But as he sought to coax better performance from the wheats of Mexico, he relied on a farm boy’s instinctive feel for the plants and the soil in which they grew.

“When wheat is ripening properly, when the wind is blowing across the field, you can hear the beards of the wheat rubbing together,” he told another biographer, Lennard Bickel. “They sound like the pine needles in a forest. It is a sweet, whispering music that once you hear, you never forget.”

Norman Ernest Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914, in his grandfather’s farmhouse near the tiny settlement of Saude, in northeastern Iowa. Growing up in a stalwart community of Norwegian immigrants, he trudged across snow-covered fields to a one-room country school, coming home almost every day to the aroma of bread baking in his mother’s oven

US Health Care Reforms!

From an outsider's view: More than the ongoing recession, these flared tempers and debates over health care seem to have taken the Americans, at those Town Hall meetings, by storm, with loud and rancous shoutings and protests.

Can't things be kept simple?

Obama and his government must go by the thumbrule- give the best possible health care that covers the widest majority, with pockets hurting kept at a minimum.

Give people a wide ranging choice of insurance plans, again that hurt the purse at the minimum; make sure the Insurance companies are never allowed to try their old tricks.

In some countries, medical treatment is free or subsidised to the vulnerable, and quite heavy on the very rich.............they can pay, instead of stashing away in expensive homes, cars, travel and other luxuries. I don't mean they be bleeded unfairly, but come on, if you cut out the rhetoric of leftist leanings and all similar lingo, you will find they have enough to spare to pay, more than the guy who can't figure out where to get his shoes repaired.

Tax reliefs for donations made to medical centers will help, and a good degree of government support to institutions who respond with free treatment, will get many, who cannot otherwise afford the steep costs, into good hospitals.

This is not socialism, it's plain humanism!

And to an outsider like myself, it seems this debate has split the Americans, with one body of opinion simply sceptical and up in arms, because they won't go with the proposals put up by the other.

Seems the US is in a lot of pulling and pushing, with both sides, Democrats and Republicans and the public that follows one or the other, in no mood to listen to one another...........a hell of a waste of time, when solutions are needed -and things could get worse.

NEDA-THE GIRL WHO WILL NEVER DIE!

Neda Soltani, you live on, we are dead.


Neda, the petite girl who died from a sniper's bullet during the Iran protests, stands for all we have to get back in life- beauty, pure spirit, innocence; child like and faultless, a brave courageous human being.

Neda, you have not died; you live now, and we have to learn to come alive!!!

She will ever be the symbol of a free Iran!!!

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26 06 09 And one of the greatest entertainer of the last century, who was all set to woo the world again in the twenty-first, 50 shows over the next few months, Michael Jackson, will not live to do this; the hands of death, a cardiac arrest last night, robbed this world of one of the finest human being.

Let his faults die with him, because this was a gentle person, sad and lonely, who never hurt a fly, the whole world is in his debt for something he gave us all, something difficult to define in a few words.

And it is painful and bewildering to see the adulation and grief for Michael, it would have been encouraging if Michael had received support, emotional and more, when his huge debt was made known to the world or when he was caught up in that sordid accusations of paedophile behaviour-the point is not whether these were true or otherwise, but the extent of grief and loss felt now could have been shown him as support and anger for him. But the world is fickle and all the grief and tears will fade away with time.

World Recession. What's happening?

World recession, a few questions.

What about all those jobs sent to China? Are these still there?

In New Zealand 30% of employers are still expected to cut jobs. In Australia some 30,000 jobs are lost daily.

President Obama is going to spend more than all the spendthrifts in the world since the 1850s. Thats a long shot by any reckoning.........if the returns don't start coming in, the USA will be in more trouble and will pull down the rest of the world with it.

He starts with 3 trillion dollars. Now everyone knows when things start moving they somehow end up costing more, so are we talking of 4 trillion dollars by the end of 2010?

that's the wealth of a 100 Warren Buffets!!!

And what transpired at the 20G Summit in UK? Can something this serious be resolved with several handshakes and a one day discussion where the world would get another 1 trillion dollars.

CNN and others are just not starting to report on new job creation..........has this started? I mean Obama has planned, for example, to start work on renewable energies infrastructure........has this begun? How many have got jobs by this start up? I have seen no media reports giving any good news of this kind.

World dependance on oil must reduce, replaced by use of bio fuels..........the infrastructure development for this will get a lot of jobs to people. Has this huge work begun? and in which places and how big is each project.

Why are CNN, V of A, ABC, NBC and others not reporting on this?

The foolish accent is still on the Wall Street ................stocks go up today or go down ........Wall Street has lost relevance.......and enough coverage of Madoff...............people want to hear about jobs, business must pick up again, new jobs demands............

this recession will only reverse when new jobs begin to get people's attention, listed in wanted columns ...................Obama please get moving.

Cap on prices of oil and a few other commodities, steel, coal, iron ore, aliminium, for a period of one year, might bring prices down of related end products and make things affordable. This would trigger demand of sorts and give some impetus to economies across the world.

Fast track development of broadband internet, especially in places where it has not reached and where it should prove supportive to accelerate business and transport.

Safe drinking water! cleaner environment-mean reduced costs on health, more roads (and more bridges); EVERYONE TALKS OF CHEAPER CARS RUN ON CHEAPER AFFORDABLE FUEL, SAME FOR TRUCKS..........AND SHIPS-low costs in manufacturing new trucks and building new ships, more fuel efficient means cheaper transport costs mean more goods reaching more places, generating jobs.

Spend on research, low cost cars, trucks and ships, cheaper but equally efficient machines and equipment, cheaper but better building materials so affordable homes.............one thing will lead to another, momentum set at different levels, in different places across the world, accelerate development in under developed countries, invent tools and methodology where enterprenership reaches the village levels.

Agriculture.........boost expenditure on research for agriculture-low cost high yield crops will reduce cost of food, more efficient and fast transport of food products will again generate jobs and reach affordable food products across the world.

Control currency fluctuations, a level playing field in the currency markets will stabilise currencies and slow down price fluctuations of other products.

Throw out, atleast suspend or slow down all speculative activities in markets in every country with large economies.

Recession? Not in some places, no way.

There is so much depressive news these days, job losses, more job losses, closures and shut downs, frauds, and bank collapses, bailouts, and jobs taken overseas, seems an endless list. The media, never behind in these issues, brings us the sad news 24 by 7.

How in God's name did all this happen of a sudden; what were those high paid CEOs, always up there in the "air" in their jets, doing? No one has the answers, not even President Obama.

But something rankles, something does not seem right.

Do you watch the Red Carpet on 'E' channel; that sassy flashy coverage of flashy people, film stars, celebrities, more handsome people and lovely ladies; everyone wears fashion by the best names in fashion, no one says these are hired for the occasion, certainly not the very beautiful female stars. Expensive jewelleries and accessories, more expensive stage decors, and probably pricy food bought with very pricy tickets.

Of course Slumdog Millionaire wins most awards, a sign of the times, that poverty is an issue, but the award functions are filled with the rich rich rich!

Now, have you noticed another strange thing? Have you heard of any major hotel chain closing shop?

Have you heard of less attendance at casinos in Las Vegas, or less room occupancy at hotels in Las Vegas? I mean bad enough to shut down some of those great hotels.

Giant auto brands are shutting down for now, but look for those new cars on the roads, do you see only old used cars? ..........the Audis, Mercs, Toyotas, stretch limousines are very much there, and I mean some current models. And no one hears of pricey cars brands -Ferari, Lamborghini, Audi, Merc, Bentley closing down for now!

The jet set are still flying around, some of them in their private jets, people are still paying a fortune for tickets for the pricey open tournament's tennis, golf; pricey clubs are not shutting down!

the America Cup is still going to take off.

It sure is a poor man's recession! The poor poor rich are just suffering it out.

BEFORE YOU ARE SHOWN THE DOOR, (YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE INVOLVED IN COMPANY/BUSINESS JOB CUTS,) ASK YOU BE SHOWN THE BOOK LOSS AND CASH LOSS;
A BOOK LOSS CAN BE BROUGHT AROUND BY SHOWING HIGH DEPRECIATION AND PROVISIONS THAT AMOUNT TO BOOK ENTRIES ONLY............A BOOK LOSS NEED NOT MEAN THERE IS NO CASH IN THE COMPANY'S BANK ACCOUNTS...........ASK TO SEE THE CASH IN THE TILL AND BANK BALANCES IN ALL THE BANK ACCOUNTS THE COMPANY HOLDS.

President Obama, Davos, here is an economy stimulus.

I have been thinking over this one economic stimulant package that just might prove right for turning around the economy.
Mr President, delegates at Davos, please read the following:

Here is a bailout plan for job losses that reinstates jobs in existing companies, not the new jobs the US President wants to create with new sources of energy, more infrastructure, etc:

The government should list those existing companies critical to the economy and which have cut jobs in the past one year.

Get information from these companies on the number of job cuts in the past one year,
and the related costs saved in salaries, and direct/indirect costs related to manufacturing, overheads, other costs that the company would have incurred at levels before the job cuts.
Figures of sales, profits before tax and profits after tax could be useful.

Here is a sample:
Company : Giant Steels

Job cuts in the past year: 10,000
Critical jobs necessary
to reach previous years' levels of manufacturing, sales, marketing : 8500 jobs.

Current salary bill of 8500 jobs if
reinstated : US $ 170,000,000 (8500 jobs by $20,000 average pay per person)
Total of other expenses to run company
at previous year levels: US $ 425,000,000(at salary bill of $170 million-being 40% of total exps.)
margin for contingencies US$ 25,000,000
Total bail out funds needed US$620,000,000
for this one company.

The government or it's accredited bank or financial agent should advance $ 620,000,000 to
Giant Steels on the provision that all 8500 employees are taken back.

The sum advanced is on a low interest of say 3.50% after an interest free period of 6 months.

Repayment of loans can start after a 24 months free no repayments period.
The company must ensure it reaches optimum levels of production within 3 months of the advance made.

If this is practical, the employees should give an assurance their income would be spent on all necessities and critical products, and no expenditures that could be considered excessive-extravagant-profligate-lavish...........say a two year moratorium on travel costs in excess of 10% of salary. Perhaps some tax benefits can be claimed as incentive, for spending within specified guidelines/perimeters, for one year.

Tax cuts for purchases of critical items, cars, TV sets, refrigerator, house, and other products selected by the government, the cuts, one time tax cut again for a one year period.

Let's assume this would reinstate 2 million jobs, this works to 2 million jobs with an average annual salaries bill of: 2,000,000 jobs by $ 25,000= $ 50,000,000,000 ($50 billion) available in the economy for people to spend, (wisely!) and a good sum it is.

2 million jobs at the rate of an average of 20000 jobs per company means the government is covering some 100 critically important companies in a bailout package, for reviving the economy.

If these 100 companies need an average of 20,000 employees per company, i.e. 2 million employees@ $25000 =
$ 50,000,000,000 as the total salary bill
+ total costs of $ 1,70,000,000,000 over 100 companies =$1, 70,000,000,000
($50 billion as 30% of total costs, the total costs work to $1,70,000,000,000-$1.70 trillion.)
Total bailout package over 100 existing cos./businesses: $1.70 trillion.

Two million employees reinstated have $25,000 each in their hands, the domino effect is irreversible!

Where should the $1.70 trillion come from?
40% from borrowings.........................................$ 68 billion
30% for company taxes .....................................$ 51 billion
30% from individual personal taxes .................$ 51 billion




With 2 million people back to their jobs, and $ 50 billion in their hands, this purchasing power would be felt within 12 months, buying necessities, consumables, paying their fuel and electric bills, and some spare money left for replacing cars with new fuel efficient ones, a new set of white goods, this generating demand and reviving more companies and businesses. And the chain-reaction/multiple effect can be 10 times, which works to generating $ 5 trillion on a guess.

Who will listen?

President Barack Obama- you are doing great!

An open letter to the 44Th President of these United States of America, Mr Barack Obama.

Dear Sir,

My congratulations for assuming the Office of President. Sir, you make us very proud.

You have shown America and the entire world that attaining this great office signals change of so many things; it demonstrates how no disabilities of race, colour, background, can stand in the way of achieving a goal that seemed so insurmountable. It proves America was ready for change.

You are the horse that came from behind and won the race!

And from day one of your presidency, you are meaning to do business of state, no waste of time, no mincing words, no groping for words..............and a brave frank admission that things take time, with wrong starts, and decisions that are realised, late in the day, as the wrong ones, and these would be dropped without fuss, and other paths would be explored!

I think you are a very brave man; wish more leaders like you would lead other countries. Whatever happens, please discard all trappings and baggage politicians carry. You will make many enemies, but history will judge you for your changes and the foresight and courage it takes to make changes.

I like your decision to move away from dependency on oil from other countries; this single decision will be watched and reacted upon by vested interests.........please be very careful. It has been proved time and again that vested interests can manipulate things and cause harm with placing obstructions in the path of good plans and actions.

And, replacing oil with alternate energies will go many miles in reduction of pollution and climate change, hopefully your example will be followed by other leaders, and other countries.
The time is now when the possibilities of an end to human civilization is very much a reality, and we have to act fast and try and convince the world to follow.
Nothing threatens us humans as much as this peril to our planet, not wars, not economic recession, not terrorism, but a rapid climate change that may cause the whole planet to be unlivable.

We are not infatuated college boys, condemning feeble and disliked kids to one corner, big bullies who threaten the rest if they fraternise with the unlucky ones. You have to keep all your lines of communication open, ask your friends to talk to those nations who might be looking for a chance to normalise things with America.

And there is this possibility, humans hate violence, it disrupts a day spent well; so it's possible people will turn on their compatriots and tell them enough is enough, stop this violence, you are not just killing your targets, you are killing our fathers and husbands, our brothers and friends.

Please do your best to get change in the attitude the West has developed, of us and them, seeing things as black and white; all Middle-Easterners are clubbed into one basket, all are assumed to belong to one set of ideas..........nothing is further from the truth........ (I am, for example, from another region of the world, an Indian, a non-Muslim, but look a little a Middle-Easterner, and the grim looks and stares I get, from some people, make me sick!!!)

Equally, a platform of dialogue should be put into action that tells certain peoples that their ideas don't fit into a fast changing modern world, in their pursuance of certain ideas they are being left behind. Their stubbornness has caused ignorance, poverty and deprivation in their midst.

Sir, please make sure at the end of your two terms-I am sure you are sure to get re-elected- you leave changes that are difficult to discard, impossible to revert back to old ways!

God bless you, God bless America and God bless all of us who travel on this beautiful planet!

Barack H. Obama, 44th President of the United States of America!

Pictures: the most beautiful couple in love in the world; scenes from the parade.



The great day, Tuesday 20th Jan. has come, and gone !-its now 5.45 p. m. here, in NZ, and I watched live coverage of the events from 5.30 a. m. to around 3.00 p. m., again NZ time. Whew....... magnificent, awesome, moving-and tiring ! An historic day for all the world, not just for America.

At 5.30 a. m. , the first glimmer of dawn here, I got myself out of bed, a quick cold cocoa, and went switched on CNN to see the first images of President-Elect Obama and President Bush enter the Capitol building along with a host of dignitaries, Nancy Pelosi, senators, military officers in their resplendent uniforms; rather surprised to see Vice President Dick Cheney wheeled in, we were told later he suffered from a severe back problem. Senator Edward Kennedy, that bravest of the brave, dignified and stately, walked across the domed Central Hall, a dark blue soft felt hat thrust down closely to his ears; he looked great, which he is!

When TV cameras panned across the huge lawns, and beyond, the huge crowd of two million is the most staggering sight; I watched the coverage alternately on CNN, Fox News and BBC.

As he walked behind a group of Senators led by Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama appeared subdued, a tight smile and somehow tense look, his eyes focused in front, a slight nod, sometimes, to people he passed.

I am stunned, the set of images will never leave me...........it was all at once like a full coloured kaleidoscope with images within images..............I just don't know what to continue writing, so much impressed me, so much was huge, awesome, stunning.............I think, I figure I will continue writing on the basis of those images that float across my mind............like Bush returning Obama's greeting and hug, after the inaugural speech, with a sincere closer hug, his right arm over Obama's left shoulder!

Or the quiet hush that fell over the huge crowd when the Rev Rick Warren, a portly bearded pastor, rose to say "let us pray..........." and one could not help notice the non-believers continued looking up whilst the believers, Obama, Bush, Michelle, Biden and most others bowed their heads, eyes closed in concentration, some evangelical pious holding up their arms, palms turned to heaven in supplication!

Or the quiet hush again when Isaac Perlman and Yo Yo Ma along with that mellow flautist, Anthony Mcgill, and pianist, Gabriel Montero played a composition by Williams especially composed for the occasion and of course the sonoric and timbered voice of Aretha Franklin.

It now seems the Chief Justice mucked up on the oath, its sequence that is, and Obama took the oath of office again today, Wednesday, taking no chances on a sensitive issue with no precedence, except two earlier Presidents retaking the oath for the same reasons. The Los Angeles Times points out "The Constitution stipulates the new chief executive takes office at noon on Jan. 20. And, in fact, as we pointed out yesterday, Obama actually became the 44th president while he was sitting down listening to classical music."..............that for a good laugh!

And Obama proved once again he is a skillful orator....and he says things shooting them straight
from his shoulders.................he has put his hand out in friendship to all peoples and nations who want to live and coexist in peace, even those nations who would unclench their fists and change their world view (he did not say this, but it amounts to the same-change their world view.)
And he did not play on words but very clearly told those who espouse violence and the senseless use of slaughter, that America will defeat them. He warned nations who suppress dissenters that history will judge them......."you are on the wrong side of history."

China blanked the above remark, about dissent, and also on bringing down of communism and fascism, interrupting the live coverage with images of a news anchor making some out of context remarks.

And Obama reminded the whole world, "of the man refused entry into a restaurant, whose son stands before you to take the highest oath in the land."

His first day in office, shows this is a man of his word, a man of action- salary freeze for his staff; no lobbying in his office-no swing door for lobbyists; an independent body to decide what should be withheld from the public; close Gautanamo Bay in a year; bring back troops from Iraq in 16 months............and phone calls to Eygptian President Hosni, Israel's PM Olmert, Palestine Pres. Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian king Abdalla.

Finding time in all this to greet the first public visitors to the White House and a warm "go on, explore for yourself.........." The White House is the People's House!

The British do things right when it comes to ceremonial parades and all things related to their royalty, I think the Americans do it right as well, except things are bigger, more informal, more smiles and waving of the hands, more walking across to shake hands, bonhomie......................................
(God! Its just not possible to write this blog right now; on a hunch I switched on CNN and Fox, and look at this, Obama already taking some crucial decisions on the first day in office. He makes several telephone calls, to the Eygptian President, to Ehud Olmert, to the Jordanian king, to Mahmoud Abbas........this man is going to be everywhere.

Obama's first day: salary freeze of his WH staff.
no lobbyists can have a swingdoor entry to the White House! Super!
get out of Iraq in 16 months!
an independent authority will decide what documents/disclosures can
be withheld from the public!
etc etc.
Michelle and Barack's close loving relationship and body language already found refreshing and new...........very inspiring!
China's instant black out of Obama inaugural speech references to communism and dissent!
Sarkozy of France raring to go along with Obama. Both men of action!)

Barack Obama's big day tomorrow!

Its Obama's big day tomorrow, not just his, not just for Americans, its a big day for all the world! And not because he is the first African American President, lets all put that behind us, but its a new beginning, time for a new person at the job, to make things better, at least try and make things work better. There are too many problems, wars and disease, poverty and deprivation, unchecked environmental damages, radical terrorism, injustices and disregard for others sovereign rights, social problems, recessions and slowdowns etc.

For the past hundred years now, what happens in the United States has some bearing, some effect, on the rest of the world, and the American President is the man in charge, at least seen to be in charge, to a watching world. (seen to be in charge ? yes and no, there is behind, or around, each President, that supportive group of politicians and bureaucrats, other powerful men, military chiefs, economists and intellectuals, fund raisers and campaigners, who advise him, influence him, place facts-and 'non-facts'- before him, caution and forewarn....."Mr President do this this way.")

America began to matter to the whole world when its economic growth, its military power, cultural influences, its centers of learning, its scientific breakthroughs, and more, became known, in one way or another, accross the world.

America has been called a melting pot; more correctly, to millions of people accross the world, America became the hope for a better life, especially to people who had a bad deal in their countries, or people who felt their talents would be put to better use in a better environment.

Thanks to an oppressive Nazi Germany, for example, that the best scientists from there migrated to America; thanks to an oppressive ghetto confinement, in Europe, on Jews and other peoples, that the very talented from them chose to go to America........................ironically, it were religious differences that brought minorities from across the world, starting with the Pilgrim Fathers..............more ironically, it was the need/or excuse for cheap labour that brought millions of Africans (mostly against their wishes) to the new continent; their descendants have enriched America and the world with their music, their talent, their humour and bonhomie.

Unfortunately, prejudices of all kinds also came across from the Old World, but those Americans who have used these to their advantage, have had to contend with outstanding individuals who opposed them, the founding fathers of America (who defied the most powerful empire on Earth at that time,) and framers of the Constitution, (this is the single most valuable landmark promise the Americans made to themselves,) brave Presidents with a great vision like Abraham Lincoln, and men determined to give justice to people, like Martin Luther King, and people who joined him.

America has been a bastion of freedom, with its brave troops that brought the defeat of Nazism, and with big men like Ronald Reagan who brought down the Russian Communist Empire, and the determined front now put up against radical terrorism.

But America has also a flawed foreign policy that has sent thousands of their brave young men to their deaths, that has alienated many peoples across the world by their short-sighted policies in certain regions of the world. America has its fair share of small men, who for short term advantages, for oil or for petro-dollars, or for some one-sided old ideals, has supported some some of the wrong people.

With the same short-sightedness, American leaders of Industry, for a quick buck, have "transferred" their businesses to other lands, lent money with prudence thrown out the window, ponzi deals with others' money..................ordinary (and not so ordinary) people have lost all theirs all by overspending, greed, little knowledge of the markets, and lack of ordinary common sense caution.

Barack Obama inherits all that tomorrow; its the only day he can afford to enjoy, literary, with those historical landmark speeches, parades, concerts and balls; the business of state and the many many headaches begin immediately. Americans and people from every part of the world will participate in all that happens tomorrow; then watch, most with hope, some with good wishes, others with some caution, still others with some degree of prejudice, even some with hate, what President Obama achieves.

He sure can envy the proverbial man with no shirt on his back!

Its not fair on him, to expect miracles, to expect-quick-immediate-or good results for most things...........he has begun to caution people. So much will depend on the complex set of circumstances, the complex set of economic and political parameters, how things work out, not just in America, but in countries across the world.

Good luck Mr Obama, God bless you, and the world, and all of us!

Bush, Osama bin Laden, Israel and Palestine, 16/01/2009.

If CNN did show the full farewell speech by Pres. Bush, I did not find the time to watch that; I did watch snippets shown on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, and what impressed me, Bush making one of his "this makes sense" statement, that said "if I had the chance to do some things again, I would do these differently." Coming from Bush (!!) that sounded pretty modest, maybe his speech writer's farewell statement.

Bush appeared a little down, spoke in a somewhat subdued voice, and for a change, looked people-his listeners- in the eye, not with that "I told you so" look, he usually shows, but an effort to look at them with a somehow relective mood; he seems to comprehend he is now President for a few days. CNN too noted that relective mood.

Come on, lets give George Bush some credit due..........not every person down the road becomes the President of the United States, this is by any yardstick, any benchmark, an achievement of the highest highest level, just 43 have achieved, and Obama will be the 44th!

Power to the people, yes, but power in good limited measure............we common common folk have got far more of our share of media attention, and have made full use, rather misuse of this..........writing off Bush as "no one will miss him." Look folks, its not plain simple walking down the street, telling our mates at the bar, "support our town football team at the games tomorrow." It takes some things far more to win presidential elections and be a President(!).............and if I recollect correctly, during the final days of the primaries for Bush's second term election, the media called it the most exciting election in US history.

And a President, or any world leader, in most cases, is as good as the team around him. Most of the "behind the doors" decisions are a team effort, or joint failure, but the President has to put up a public image that holds him responsible for all failures, and, "he was a good President" polls showings, if his team did more good.

Obama will be as good as the collective actions of his team...........more good chaps with more good things done, and Obama will ride the wave!

That is exactly why Obama is putting brakes on what people should expect of him, like he now warns the economic turnaround will not be an easy thing and it will take time!
And Obama will most probably come out the winner...........he says he wants to reach accross, he wants bipolar politics, will take Republicans along, and "if you have a better idea how things should be done, I will go along with that" a remark he made a few days back.
His choice of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and some others, makes for more sense than McCain's choice of Sarah Palin! And Obama's "Change" call something new.

And there is Osama bin Laden, with his latest video, or audio?, no "Change" there, his call for Jihad reminds us we are never going to make it fully to a peaceful modern world...............just look at the multiple checks we all have to go through at the airports, good for us, but a constriction of our free movement..........look at the cameras that look down at us in every street in London, and that computerised memory check of our faces............and how we tend to lump/view all "muslim faces", whether actually Muslim or not, with caution and suspicion!

I cant understand why the Americans support the Saudis, where the Wahhabi movement, a very orthodox Islamic movement brought the Saudis to power in the first place. The most striking statement in the wikipedia link is the remark on Jihad, that the Wahhabi intepretation of Jihad precluded that the decision to wage Jihad lies with the ruler, not the individual believer. A very thin line here, Osama Laden declares Jihad as an individual believer!

And talking of Jihad, Israel claims it is at war with Hamas, but it now seems the world must sit up and realise it's as important to see where the war, any war, is fielded.....in this case the whole of Gaza is under fire, the whole of Gaza! How can that be called a war on Hamas?

Bush's last press meet ?

Why the question mark. Just in case this isn't the last press meet. I caught a few snippets on my NZ TV One evening news bulletin-the 6 p. m. news on Tuesday, 13Th Jan. 2009

Good enough reason for me to blog my thoughts on the Bush presidency. The common common man's attempt to summarise at random.

Is Bush the only, son of the father, also a President ? I don't know, but if this is the only father and son to have achieved this, the most powerful office in the world, then its time the US lawmakers pass a bill in 2009 that legislates, no two members of the same family can qualify to be nominated for running for this office. It will discourage, sorry disallow, whole families, in the future, running for presidency............we don't want present ladder climbers like m/s Hillary and not so distant ones like some junior Kennedy, or a junior Nixon, from running for the Pres' office!! Its undemocratic (!) because it reduces the chances of a common common person like Joe from trying his luck!

When Bush won the second time, the world was told it's the middle evangelical America that gave him the winning vote. Where are they this time?

I recollect there was some serious recounting done in Florida, vote cards were held up to more light for scrutiny of the punch marks, and with some luck Bush got past his rival to get elected the second time.

Historians will muse this single event as the turning point for the US, not as bad as the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, but certainly not far behind.

(this 9/11 is a benchmark a little off the right mark ..........should be 9/11/2001. By the tenth generation, kids are going to ask their father which year 9/11 took place in, and it will look pretty bad if they draw a blank as far as the year it happened in............"son, I think it happened in 2001, maybe 2002..........I'll check my Google Search, just give me a minute......."

I don't want to go along, all the way, with the poor rating Bush is getting..........the latest poll result shows 80% of people are not going to miss him.

Rather, lets concede Bush inherited some problems and more, some ways of looking at the world, not just from his predecessors, but from American foreign policy benchmarks. "If Saddam Hussien is a bad guy, and he was a bad guy no doubt, then he is bound to have a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Lets find them!"

How naive Americans are can be gauged from this, the stockpile of weapons. Now that none were found, American Intelligence Services are held responsible and Bush ruefully admits his fault..............look my dear Americans in general and Mr Bush , what is the guarantee the whole, or part of some of this, is not buried in the vast expanse of dessert that stretches for endless mile after mile in the Middle East; and desserts don't allow border posts in most of the very inhospitable sections, so it would be easy to bury the whole mess in some stretch of dessert that is part of Syria or Kurdistan sector of Iraq or even the Iranian side of the border, (God forbid), and buried not with any aim to dig it out for use in the future, but buried to get rid of all evidence and make the Americans look foolish and make Bush run for cover............besides, the intention was to lose this stockpile forever because, nothing buried in the dessert can ever be recovered, what with the massive shifts of sand that go on in any sand dessert! Never underestimate the ancient and wily
Orientals!

No Bin Laden, for the same reasons........the Middle East and Central Asia are huge huge expanse of dessert, inhospitable country, rugged mountains, paths and routes that are only known to the locals, like the Bushmen of the Kahalari desserts. What is the guarantee he is not in the vast desserts and steppes of Central Asia?

And, in that part of the world, very ancient, very much a world of hospitality to their own, and others, I wont be surprised if Bin Laden, recognised or not, is, firstly, a welcome guest in the "tent" he seeks hospitality in, an old tradition in the Middle East.

And, how should Bush have predicted that getting rid of Saddam, giving Iraqis their freedom, would unleash this terrible war of terrorism where the poor Iraqis face daily acts of terror. Good ole Bush calculated the war would end with entering Baghdad..........how on earth can he or anybody else have predicted this very complicated turn of events.

Actually, I will always find it hard to figure out Bush's real intentions to topple Saddam, but a good thing nevertheless, the worst of his kind, the Americans have done the Middle East a good turn getting rid of this ruthless inhuman and diabolical dictator.

So why is Bush so unpopular............lets first put this away, that people, with far more media focus than ever before, are, at the end of the day, people.........with the "lets do what the rest of us are doing"- impulsive, and handicapped with the lack of full information on any event taking place in the world.........blame the media for this.

I feel Bush leaves more unpopular, not because of his handling of the Iraq war or Katrina, or the economy, he has to take his share of blame for these, but MORE BECAUSE HE HAD THIS HABIT OF TALKING AT PEOPLE, NOT TALKING TO THEM, never seen to use sincere body language that might have shown him as a person trying to cope with a hard job, rather always cocky, self opinionated, over confident and at more times "I am right, i can't be wrong."

I hope Obama does not fall in this .....this(?).....this cesspool........."power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Israel and Palestine, and the world today.

These links with a respected website "If Americans knew" is a must read not just for Americans but all the world ..........the website belongs to a research and information dissemination Institute with US tax exemption under US tax laws -section 501(3) C............
seelink

statistics in above link

history in the above link



The UN Security Council meeting yesterday, 9Th January, 2009, live on CNN and major TV channels accross the world, with representatives from member countries, seen chatting, before a resolution on the Gaza crisis was put to the vote, in small groups like in an evening party at the Hilton (except for the absence of drinks and food trays), most definitely relaxed friendly and informal. CNN panned their cameras more on Ban ki Moon, the UN boss, the Arab League Sec.-Gen Amr Moussa, then the Arab delegate from the Libyan Jhamariya, and the small but agile and alert lady Ambassador from Israel.

What always strikes me as the obvious is the body language these suited and savvy delegates seem to convey...........we are all pals, with the handshaking or a pat on the shoulder, or whispering close into a delegate's ear, smiles and friendly waves (hand waves), the problems the world faces are far from here...........let's finish the business on hand, then go to the "Hilton" next door for a............... .

I missed the voting, but watched the US Secretary-of-State Rice explaining the US stand, abstaining from the vote. As always, she makes that very effective use of her eyes, darting them from one side of the round table to the other, her fingers crossed and elbows resting on the table.
And the usual sight of some delegates clutching their translation-hearing device intently taking in the translation.

But it all amounts to nothing! Israel continues its 24 hour bombing of targets in Gaza and Hamas continues to fire rockets into southern Israel, that's today the 10Th January (Pacific time) with little over ten days to the Obama inaugural!!! CNN

Five small bombs go off in Lahore, Pakistan................and this piece of news is just short of being hilarious...........Joe Biden, the Vice President elect, is in Pakistan, shown being decorated by a honours medal from the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.............the hilarious part, the CNN anchor hints, Hillary Clinton gritting her teeth..........because foreign affairs is her job!!! "Is someone stepping on someones toes?"

Job losses in the USA are now a staggering 6,300,000 the highest since the last six decades(!) and Barack Obama, in a press meet to introduce his new Intelligence team, has to talk on the urgency to change the situation with the usual rhetoric "there is no time to waste................."

The inauguration on the 20Th of January, starting at 12 noon Washington time, looks to be a real treat............the great cellist Yo Yo Ma is shown (on TV) practising on his cello, the great violinist Isaac Pearlman on his Strad(?), and some parts of the wooden fencing opposite the Capitol building coming up................don't look different from the previous wooden fencing for previous Inaugurations!!!

And Nancy Pelosi, the US Capitol Hill boss, with her usual wide plastered smile tells CNN's Situation Room anchor, Wolf Blitzer, the US House, though hugely Democrat, is not going to be Obama's rubber stamp!
And the outgoing US Vice Prez, Dick Cheney, tells Wolf, he is a confirmed Republican voter, (as if that's new), voted for McCain, but remarks he is as awed as any one else at the "remarkable achievement" Barack Obama's election as the first African Americam president!

And somebody pays a million dollars to the Somali pirates for the release of a Saudi Arabian super tanker...............good fodder for more pirating!!

And some good solid stodgy banks in Europe, including Paribas, have lost millions invested with Madoff schemes..........where are all the professionals, Harvard graduates, Sorbonne and Paris passed out.............all fakes???

And London takes the credit of the first baby born fully protected, genetically, from cancer................more debates, more noise, yes and No's.

And a huge anti Israel protest rally in Eygpt, with women screaming through their covered faces, and anti riot police, in helmets shields and black uniforms, struggling to keep the protesters, children included, from getting more "turbulent!!!"

Thick black smoke still rises from Gaza city, both sides, Hamas and Israel, have rejected the cease fire call from the Security Council............over 800 dead in Gaza, and Hamas fires more than 30 rockets into southern Israel- no dead there, at least, thank God.

Three generations of a Palestine refugee family, grandfather, father and son, are shown watching TV-the Gaza bombings, in their home in Baghdad, the old man opens his palm with a handful of earth from his homeland, he treasures this and the son predicts they will surely return to Palestine some day!

There has been a nasty earthquake in Costa Rica, God help them!

And Obama is the new Spiderman!

And some of Europe, with one of the worst cold spell in a 100 years, -30 in Budapest, shivering for the lack of gas from Russia.

Israel and Hamas. Israel's ground offensive in Gaza.

Israel has extended its actions in Gaza by sending in ground troops; this is getting very complicated, more catastrophic, more deaths and injured, civilians, women and children.
(see this link !!!)
This, to all of us outside of the region, this (what we all write/ or say) are just words, the TV images, more graphic, but still images, the real real awful tragedy is on the ground; only the suffering know what its like; but, but, when you try and comprehend suffering, the loss of those you love, than clearly civilian Israelis, target of Hamas rockets, suffer equally, ............the death of a child, in Gaza, or in a remote town in Israel, is cause of immeasurable grief, an irreplaceable loss, to the shocked and bereaved parents. The loss of use of your hands or legs, getting blinded, the pain and suffering, to individuals, cannot be different.............so this is a tragedy for all who suffer, where ever.

There is this one difference. An injured Israeli gets the best medical attention; Israelis live in an environment, though not normal, certainly not lacking for food water electricity medical facilities etc; the Gaza residents have none of this.

Clearly, the Israeli reaction, of Hamas shooting rockets into civilian Israeli targets is sadly out of all proportion, more deaths and casualties; but the horror of this all, the pain and helpless tragic "face it, no other choice/God, why us..........." feelings have no borders.

Israel is clever, very clever; its stand "we are trying our best to target only Hamas, we have nothing against the Palestinians; our aim is to inflict losses on Hamas and are doing our best to avoid civilian targets, we have nothing against Palestinians" is no solution, we are going to have a some awesome repercussions.

Clearly, the Israelis are clever; Hamas, who go on shooting rockets on Israel are, by contrast, ironically, as clever..........they don't need to give an explanation because the world is on their side!!!

Israel is no fool, its stand "we will stop our offensive when Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel" is, they must know, a lot of nonsense...........Israel knows this is a short term excuse for hitting back, they know Hamas/Al Qaeda/Fatah/Iranian radicals will get back at them, and moderate Muslims across the world will get more bitter and more disillusioned, and the otherwise non-radical Muslim youth and others, will join the ranks of radical Muslims.

And we all know this is not a problem that might remain confined to that region............"justice," or more appropriately, the radical Muslim view of jihad, the righteous' call from God to destroy all evil, will have repercussions ac cross the world.

So what is the solution? Israel must hasten the process of giving full genuine sovereignty to Palestine; stop this war, everybody who think Gaza deserved this will definitely agree its enough. On the part of the Palestinians in particular, and the Muslim countries of the region in general, accept Israel is a reality, its not going to go away; work to normalize relations, no violence, no hostility, with Israel reciprocating in full measure.

Both sides must understand the immeasurable advantages of peace between them............no fooling one another, only a genuine push to achieve peace and normality; both sides must select good leaders with clear sensible perceptions, and tell the war mongers who are now their leaders to go fish.

Good leadership all ac cross the world.............watch Sarkozy, the French president, he seems to go anywhere, without waste of words and waste of time, where he thinks he can change a situation.

The world must give up absurd and outdated notions of "clash of civilizations" and "western world" and "radical peoples" .................we live on a planet that is very sick and have nowhere to go..............it's time to do things that bring us together.

As hard as this seems to many of us, we must try and understand the Muslim world view............even the most moderate Muslim views the world as a place that is moving away from God........we, on our part, must strive very hard to make him understand we respect his views and his world............and urge him to look in his word of God, the Koran, messages that ask him to live in peace..............to acknowledge that any means that use force on others, are outdated and have no relevance in a modern world.

On our part we must guarantee him his world.

We must urge Muslims to come out and make it known they consider violent means unacceptable and are ashamed these means are used by some of their compatriots. Equally, the world must recognise their right to live dignified lives free of any form of interference, their rights to decide their own course their sovereign and democratic privilege.

Israel must treat Palestine as an equal sovereign partner in the region, support the Palestinian economy to grow, give Palestinians more opportunities to work accross borders, stop land encroachments, and no blockades. Palestinians must show themselves as cooperating partners in the region, and stop any incursions in Israel for any form of violence or terrorism acts.

IT IS SIMPLISTIC SOLUTIONS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.............TO BEGIN WITH GET THE WORLD GOOD HONEST LEADERS.