Please note: I’m gonna follow a format with my blogs. I will write a blog about some anecdote about my life and the next blog will be about politics. I feel that I should warn the reader, you have every right to know what I am about to say and have the choice to not give two shits. I will always give a warning right before I write something political, so you can always choose not to read it. (Credit that idea to George Orwell) This blog is political, feel free to skip. Cheers!
Also, I will have footnotes in this blog again. So the numbers you see after sentences are there for a reason. My sources will be at the bottom of this article. Once again… Cheers!
So, I have been following the news lately and my years as a history major has really taught how to take a news story and read between the lines. Over the past couple of weeks, I have discovered something huge; it could be potentially very VERY bad. Still, if a lot of people find out, some people may find it very VERY good and who am I to deprive them of this knowledge? Okay, brace yourself, here’s what I found out…
I know how to get away with murder.
Yea, pretty explosive, huh?
There’s a simple formula, which I will share with all my dedicated readers (i.e. – me, re-reading my blogs when I’m bored). But first let me tell you how I figured this out…
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon Oil rig exploded, killed 11 workers, and then went out to gush out a total (so far at least) of 250,000,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. (1) The oil company known as “BP” (the oil company formally known as “British Petroleum”) was in charge of this oil rig and have effectively wormed there way out of murder charges… so far.
All oil rigs are supposed to be under strict supervision by the U.S. government, there are supposed to be yearly checks of all the systems, to ensure that something of this magnitude never happens. Unfortunately, BP gave federal inspectors “gifts” such as free dinners and tickets to sporting events. I don’t know about you, but to me – those gifts, sound a lot like bribes. Then inspectors allowed BP to fill out their own safety inspection charts in pencil, mail it back to the government inspectors. The inspectors would then write over the “findings” in pen to make sure it was official. Apparently, this has been going for quite some time, at least since 2005. (2)
So, after many “passed” safety inspections, something tragic and completely “unforeseen” happened; an explosion. After all these passed safety inspections, I’m just as surprise as the next person. The explosion led to the immediate death of 11 oil rig workers. Yet the man who is in charge of BP is walking around the Southern United States, assuring the public that everything is fine and he feels bad about the deaths. This reminds me of a Demetri Martin joke… sadly:
“Saying ‘I’m sorry’ is the same as saying ‘I apologize.’ Except at a funeral.” I mean, does this guy really care. He’s in no ‘real’ trouble, just bad P.R.
Speaking of P.R. (public relations, for those of you who do not know) BP has stated multiple times it will through Robert Dudley - the man in charge of BP’s operations in the America’s and Asia stating: "We will do whatever it takes to get the job done in Louisiana." (3) Whatever it takes, huh? So, does taking shortcuts and, in turn, making things worse count as ‘whatever it takes?’ Let me Explain. Most of the time, chemicals are used to clean up oil spills (I’m not sure how putting more chemicals into an already toxic situation makes things better in the end – but I digress). The main chemicals that BP is using are called ‘Corexit EC9500A’ and ‘Corexit EC9527A.’ I can hear people screaming already. “So what, if it is a bit toxic!? We need these chemicals to clean everything up!” But … the EPA has stated that those two chemicals aren’t the best to clean up the mess and there very less toxic chemicals out there that could clean up the oil. It’s hard to think that a company would chemicals that aren’t the cleanest or the best – even though they are committed to doing whatever it takes to clean up. Just how bad is ‘Corexit EC9500A and EC9527A?’ It’s been known to cause vomiting, headaches and reproductive problems. Oh and here’s the kicker, Corexit EC9500A and EC9527A are banned in Britain! That’s right; BP is using such a chemical so toxic, it is illegal to use in its home country. (4)
So, BP has gotten away with the deaths of eleven workers, spilling over 200 million gallons of oil into the ocean (and still counting), bribed and forged inspectors, and are using chemicals that would only make the Gulf of Mexico even more toxic… sad, very, very sad – but wait! There’s more!
BP, in move to make it look like they’re doing something progress, has hired fisherman in the Gulf area to help clean up the spill. Cause, y’know, giving a fisherman a job for a couple of months is gonna support him for the rest of his life after he lost his livelihood. Anyways, these fishermen are out there on the frontlines of the spill and surrounded by a plethora of chemicals. BP has told these pseudo-cleanup workers not to wear respirators. (5) Why, you ask. Well, if the fisherman were to wear respirators, BP would then be held liable for any sickness caused by oil fumes and chemical dispersants. BP believes that there is no problem and there is no need to protect yourself. Fisherman are getting sick, the U.S. Coast Guard has told all the volunteer ships in the area to stop working until they can wear respirators and did you know what BP has said? They said that any people hired by BP and use a respirator would be fired and that the people who have gotten sick, well, they got sick by food poisoning. (6)
The gulf is a mess, people are getting sick – now let’s look at the effects on the wildlife. You didn’t think I’d forget that, would ya? So far thousands of birds, fish, and aquatic mammals have killed and that’s just the short term effect. The long term effects still remain unknown but it seems unlikely that any predictions are positive. Let’s just focus on one animal, a fish to be accurate: the Louisiana Pancake batfish, cute name – ugly fish. So what’s so important about this fish? Well, it was recently discovered, it’s so new in fact that it is yet considered a species because there hasn’t been enough time to determine an exact species, some are pretty positive that it belong to the batfish family. The Pancake Batfish is threatened to extinction because of this oil spill. This fish may be gone before we even knew what we had, of course, that statement really only effects animal lovers and environmentalists, so what – it’s just one fish. That is true, it is only one fish… sadly, and that one fish is a link in the Gulf of Mexico’s food chain. Yup. Without the Louisiana Pancake Batfish, all fish in the Gulf could be affected, even long after this oil spill. Marlins and Tuna have been found with the Pancake Batfish in their stomachs. (7) Worst case scenario – the entire food chain and balance of life in the Gulf could be effects forever. Say goodbye to tuna melts!
Is there anything else? BP has killed eleven people and thousands of animals, they have poisoned an entire corner of the Earth; Hell, they’ve even been poisoning people trying to help the situation! Well, at least BP will be getting there’s soon enough. Haven’t you looked, there stocks have been dropping. On April 23, three days after the deaths and the spill, BP stock was $59.88 a share, as of today (June 17, 2010) it is now $31.85. (8) That’s a drop $23.08. That’s a lot of money to lose. BP has also stated it will pay for everything. (9) Well, thank you, I mean you did cause the mess but at least you’re admitting you’ll clean it. I mean I guess you’re a little bit better than Union Carbine, Beatrice Foods, and W.R. Grace. High estimates say that the costs of everything: the clean-up, the repair, the law suits, etc. could cost as must as $30 billion dollars! (10) $30 billion! That’s insane. If I saw 1/30 of that money I would pay off all my friends and families bills and take them on a vacation around the world for the rest of our lives! Holy Shit! $30 BILLION! How is BP ever going to pay that? Oh wait… BP revenues in 2009 were $246.1 billion. If my math stands correct (and please point it out if it is wrong) that’s about $674 million a day. One month of revenue will pay for this entire mess. So, does BP really care about this – probably not? Sure they look bad, but new news will eventually happen and the general public will forget, or at least not care anymore. BP will raise the price of oil and gas to make up for their mistakes. So in the end, who’s really paying for this? We are. Gas costs will go up, for two reasons: the aforementioned process to recoup losses and the fact that a bunch of oil has been lost, making it even scarcer. The gulf cost will lose its tourism industry. People will no longer want to go to beaches covered in oil. The people will have to pay in their sense of identity. Fish will be poisoned to the point where many people will have to pay for this mess by giving up their livelihood. When everything is all said and done BP will have gotten out of this almost completely unhurt – save except for the intense wrist slipping they’ll get.
As sad as it is, what can we do? It’s the type of society we live in. A society ran by major corporations and profits. As long as we live in an elitist society, people will continue to get away with murder. Well, we’ve finally reached what I was originally going to tell you. How to get away with murder: MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU CAN! THEN KILL WHOMEVER YOU WANT! It’s a pretty simple formula. Let’s look at it from this prospective. I go and top off my gas tank, drive to downtown Plymouth and via some freak accident, my car catches fire, explodes, and kills eleven people. (I mean, it wasn’t so much of a freak accident. I’ve been giving my local mechanic $20 to pass my car’s inspection once a year) Not only did I kill a handful of human beings; the explosion tore apart some buildings – killing the infrastructure of Plymouth. Now people aren’t going to come to my hometown. Well, what reason do they have? There’s nothing there to see anymore and God forbid it could happen again. Other people have other cars in the area. People are dead; the town is dead – what’s next… the fire department using toxic chemical to put out the fire? Maybe there were some endangered species in the area and I ruined their habitat too, the point is – I, personally, couldn’t create as much destruction as BP, yet if this were happen to me. I’D GO TO JAIL! Wait… scratch that. I would be considered a homegrown terrorist and probably executed. Something like almost just happened in NYC (though it wasn’t supposed to be an accident) and that person’s never going to see the light of day again! Yet, the owners of BP are still walking around the Gulf coast saying they’re trying to help… when, in essence, all they are doing is trying to save face until the whole thing is forgotten! It’s really pathetic and as much as I blame BP, I blame the general public for not caring as much. What are we doing?! I mean… really… what are we doing? Nothing, we’re all complaining about it but are refusing to actually do anything – like move away from our oil dependence or boycotting BP. The fact is the American public will remain apathetic until they are affected personally. And I pity those who live on the Gulf coast because the rest of the world will maybe say they are sorry and then change the channel on the TV. People… WAKE UP! This is affecting you. It’s only a matter of time until something horrible happens in your back yard. You have the choice. Act now to make sure nothing like this ever happens again or you can just wait until it does. At which I’ll be laughing … or dead.
Footnotes:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
2. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/25/oil.spill.interior/index.html
3. http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/05/bp_will_do_what.html
4. http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item/In-Gulf-Spill-BP-Using-Dispersants-Banned-in-UK
5. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/27/coast_guard_grounds_ships_involved_in
6. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/31/oil.spill.order/index.html
7. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/14/gulf.oil.threatened.species/index.html?hpt=C1
8. http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:BP
9. http://www.cbs19.tv/Global/story.asp?S=12415856
10. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article216745.ece
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
I feel like an Ant in a City... sometimes
I just moved into my apartment in Lowell, Ma. I’ve always wanted my own apartment and I’ve always wanted to spend the summer in Lowell, looks like things are working out. My apartment is nice, but two of my roommates aren’t moving in ‘til fall and my friends from back home refuse to make the trip up from Plymouth, Ma. With my lone roommate working 40 hours a week or visiting his girlfriend in Boston, I have a lot of “me” time. All of this coupled with the fact that we decided not to pay for cable (in fact we don’t even have a TV in the apartment) and only having one class a day, four days a week, I would have enough “me” if I were a conjoined twin. I’m not complaining… kinda just ranting, but with all this free time. I’ve done a lot of philosophizing, pondering, wondering, day-dreaming, staring at the trees outside my window. Y’know bullshit things to kill time, and I mean I’ve done A LOT of this. During all this… well let’s just call it ‘thinking’ … during all this thinking I have been completing life (don’t worry I’m not on the verge of suicide or anything) y’know , thinking about where I am going… what am I doing… all that good stuff. I feel that you can really find yourself when you dedicate four or five hours a day procrastinating doing grad school work and thinking about yourself…
… then something happened today, and I’m sure I’m gonna think about this for the rest of summer.
We’ve been at my apartment for nine days and we already have ants. At first it was one, then two… now eight thousand. We’re not slobs by any means! (I know you’re judging me asshole) we clean up all our food, take out our trash, and wash the stove and tables down. I don’t know how we can be any cleaner; it’s just that ants have gotten inside. Maybe the city itself is dirty.
Me, being the pussy that I am, I feel bad every time I kill an ant… (yes, please judge me for that. You’re still an asshole though) I will pick them up and put them on our porch, fully aware that it will probably be back in the kitchen before I get back to the kitchen. I have thoroughly been made fun of this by every person who has stepped through our doorway. Usually, everyone else just steps on them. So it goes.
So today I was sitting on my laptop, staring at the blank, black screen, wondering if I could get any fatter even though I have eaten a full meal in nine days. I powered down the laptop because, well let’s face it, you can only watch the YouTube video of the dog running into the wall so many times before you go crazy – regardless of how funny it is…
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA)
… just than an ant walked right across the keyboard. I looked it at, then looked around my apartment – fully aware no one else was here and said in a whisper “you better get outta here before somebody sees you.” Then the ant walked off the keys and disappeared behind the laptop. I don’t think I’m going crazy, but I did just issue a life-or-death warning to an ant… not only that, I distinctly said “before somebody sees you” I’m a somebody damn it! Or did I just confess to an ANT that I am a NOBODY! It reminds me of a line from scrubs, when JD flashes into one of his crazy daydreams, in which he and Turk are Robin and Batman respectively. JD exclaims “Holy Inferiority Complex, Batman! How low is my self-esteem where I’m the sidekick in my own fantasy?!”
I think I’m fine… In fact, I know I’m fine. I’m not going crazy or even for that matter, I’m not even lonely. I think all this just may be a case of over thinking. Something I’ve done a lot recently. I think I just need a hobby. Any suggestions… maybe blogging? Or even doing my homework, well I never did that as an undergrad, why start now?
… then something happened today, and I’m sure I’m gonna think about this for the rest of summer.
We’ve been at my apartment for nine days and we already have ants. At first it was one, then two… now eight thousand. We’re not slobs by any means! (I know you’re judging me asshole) we clean up all our food, take out our trash, and wash the stove and tables down. I don’t know how we can be any cleaner; it’s just that ants have gotten inside. Maybe the city itself is dirty.
Me, being the pussy that I am, I feel bad every time I kill an ant… (yes, please judge me for that. You’re still an asshole though) I will pick them up and put them on our porch, fully aware that it will probably be back in the kitchen before I get back to the kitchen. I have thoroughly been made fun of this by every person who has stepped through our doorway. Usually, everyone else just steps on them. So it goes.
So today I was sitting on my laptop, staring at the blank, black screen, wondering if I could get any fatter even though I have eaten a full meal in nine days. I powered down the laptop because, well let’s face it, you can only watch the YouTube video of the dog running into the wall so many times before you go crazy – regardless of how funny it is…
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA)
… just than an ant walked right across the keyboard. I looked it at, then looked around my apartment – fully aware no one else was here and said in a whisper “you better get outta here before somebody sees you.” Then the ant walked off the keys and disappeared behind the laptop. I don’t think I’m going crazy, but I did just issue a life-or-death warning to an ant… not only that, I distinctly said “before somebody sees you” I’m a somebody damn it! Or did I just confess to an ANT that I am a NOBODY! It reminds me of a line from scrubs, when JD flashes into one of his crazy daydreams, in which he and Turk are Robin and Batman respectively. JD exclaims “Holy Inferiority Complex, Batman! How low is my self-esteem where I’m the sidekick in my own fantasy?!”
I think I’m fine… In fact, I know I’m fine. I’m not going crazy or even for that matter, I’m not even lonely. I think all this just may be a case of over thinking. Something I’ve done a lot recently. I think I just need a hobby. Any suggestions… maybe blogging? Or even doing my homework, well I never did that as an undergrad, why start now?
Monday, February 15, 2010
A vision of things to come…
So, I’m aware that everyone is terrified of the future. I am also aware of the fact that nobody knows what can possibly happen. But I have a belief to what could happen. Of course, this is an entirely ‘what if’ situation… I’m also pretty sure no one actually read this. In fact the only reason why I am even writing at all is to so I can say ‘I told you so!’ in case it does happen (though, unlikely). But, since no one does read this, if I am wrong, no one will ever know. Basically it’s a win-win situation for me. It is also a rant, which is why it fits well here…
(Please note that the numbers you see after some sentences are normal - they are footnotes. Unfortunately, this blog does not allow you to use the footnote standard you see in Word, so I had to do it the ole fashioned way)
So, here’s what I think is going to happen, from a political standpoint:
Sooner or later, Iran is going to have nuclear capabilities. Now whether this is for peaceful or military purposes, I really have no idea. I do know that this is going to piss EVERYONE off, once again; I really have no idea why it will piss everyone off. I mean, why do we get all pissed when another country gets nuclear arms. I mean, really! Aren’t we the only country to EVER use them on an enemy, in fact, we used them on a predominantly civilian population. It sounds like we were trying to terrorize the Japanese into surrendering, ring any bells? But I digress, I’m not here to give a history lesson, I’m here to explain the future.
Anyways, Iran wants to go nuclear and the world is going to be very upset. Israel stated that if Iran does go nuclear they are going to attack. In fact, this past summer Israel had asked the United States if they could use our airspace over Iraq to attack Iran then, but we said no.1 When Israel does attack Iran, tempers in the region are going to flame up even more so. And, we as a country will soon find ourselves in the conflict. It is just something we do, it’s not a war until America’s involved. In the waning days of the Bush administration, the government was looking for someway to either go to war with Iran, or find a way to completely destabilize the region.2 The United States has been looking for a way to attack Iran ever since the Iran hostage crisis. Basically, we can’t let anything go. In fact the only reason why we ever got involved with Iran in the first place was because after their revolution, the UK asked us to step in because Iran was Britain’s main oil exporter. After the revolution Britain feared it would lose its oil reserves.3 The US and the CIA stepped in an attempt to destabilize everything. And of course there is still an animosity today. Simply put, the United States and Iran like each other just as much as the Bloods and the Crips like each other. (There is a whole other story in here about how the US hates revolutions even though we were founded on one – but I’ll save that for another day).
So, after Israel attacks Iran, the United States will get involved. So now you are looking at the US being involved in four countries in the Middle East: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Iran. Not to mention that the US has its hands in Somalia, the Philippines, and Mexico. (Personally, I believe we should only be involved in the drug war in Mexico, but I’m gonna try and stay with the facts here.)
With the countries economy still in tatters and the bailout programs only putting us more in the hole, it seems impossible for us to actually afford to be involved in everything. People on the right are going to hate Obama for having to raise taxes even more so… (Of course, I still think a main reason why they hate Obama is due to the fact that he is black… most people on the right side of the spectrum can’t stand a non-WASP in the white house, once again, I must try and leave my opinions out of this) Most people of the left are going to be pissed because we are going to find our selves in four wars while things in our own country are getting worse and worse.
To save money, we are going to have to start divert our resources to the main battlefields: Iran and Afghanistan. Leaving Iraq and Pakistan venerable. Once we leave Iraq, the civil war is going to heat up, to the point where the country is either going to collapse or be close to it. If you will, please imagine a seesaw in your minds eye. On one side is Iraq… and once Iraq goes down, the other side is going to go up; i.e. - our oil prices. (Do you like that metaphor? Because I do.) After Iraq goes, Pakistan is next; a lot of people in our government are terrified of Pakistan falling to a terrorist regime. Which is a possibility because we will have to take all our resources out of that country to fight in another.
Now we’ve gotten to a point we’re the majority of the countries in the Middle East are at war with us: Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and every country that hates Israel (so that’s basically every country in the region: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc.) Every Muslim government could use this Israeli/American v. Iranian War as a catalyst to attack us. So now, all of North Africa could be involved.
At home, everyone is screaming! The right about how we are losing, the left about the fact that we are even involved and the apathetic because they can’t drive to work anymore with having to shell out half their pay check to the pump and the other half to the war effort. All this hate towards the government will only lead to one thing: insurrection. It doesn’t matter who starts it, as long as it is started. Let’s just say a radical-left group tries its hand at taking over the government; you are now looking at the reactionary way-far right militias taking up arms to combat them… because they already at odds with the government and don’t trust them to do anything about it. (Of course this could go both ways, if the far right tries a coup – the left will soon rise up. For a comparison, please read up on the Spanish Civil War – it is every similar and history has a way of repeating itself.) Now the U.S. has to deal with warfare at home and aboard. While common man, who is usually too apathetic or too sacred to do anything is now caught in the crossfire. (The fact that people are too afraid to speak up against the government, to me, is absolutely appealing… but I am going to have to save that for another day.)
With the U.S. military fighting on two different continents, the country is going to have to go into a police state to try and control everyone. Making the general population even more pissed. So much for ‘land of the free.’ And all this time, China is just biding there time. Even wonder why you keep hearing more and more about China in the news, because they are soon going to pass us as the number one country in the world. By 2034 the Chinese economy is going to be larger and stronger than ours 4 (personally, I really don’t care and I haven’t thought of America as a number one for a long time, but that’s opinion… so sorry.) Anyways, China is just waiting for us to mess up. We already owe billions upon billions of dollars to them and once we put one foot out of line, they have a reason to attack us. Most countries feel if you want to become number one, you must topple who is on top, while all these events are going on, it would be the perfect time for China to attack. While everything is happening, it could be very very easy for us to put one foot out of line. With North Africa getting involved in this mess, we will eventually get involved in the Sudan, a country with an ongoing genocide and a state known to harbor terrorist, it is also one of China’s main exporters of oil. If we bomb their oil reserves your looking at China getting involved in this mess. But who knows, I mean, what type of country would ever go to war over oil, oh wait…
So China’s military is three times the size of ours and so is their population. Once China joins the fight, North Korea will soon join. At this point, I would have to say we are now in World War Three, the one people have been dreaming and scheming about for decades.
Now, I don’t think I can predict any more. It doesn’t exactly take the smartest man in the world to predict that a war is going to happen. I mean, really, it is just inevitable… humans hate each other, all we need is a reason to fight. Well, more like an excuse. It is pretty easy to see why and where countries stand. So it is pretty easy to figure out how we are going to get there. Once we do though, it is anyone’s game to win.
1. - Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/11/iran.israel.nuclear/
2. - Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/29/us.iran/index.html?ere
3. - Source: Please read Odd Arne Westad book The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times
4. - Source: http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/fruit-boom-threatens-push-chinas-economy-out-control*
*This is not my main source, it came from book, however, this just gives me the immediate proof.
(Please note that the numbers you see after some sentences are normal - they are footnotes. Unfortunately, this blog does not allow you to use the footnote standard you see in Word, so I had to do it the ole fashioned way)
So, here’s what I think is going to happen, from a political standpoint:
Sooner or later, Iran is going to have nuclear capabilities. Now whether this is for peaceful or military purposes, I really have no idea. I do know that this is going to piss EVERYONE off, once again; I really have no idea why it will piss everyone off. I mean, why do we get all pissed when another country gets nuclear arms. I mean, really! Aren’t we the only country to EVER use them on an enemy, in fact, we used them on a predominantly civilian population. It sounds like we were trying to terrorize the Japanese into surrendering, ring any bells? But I digress, I’m not here to give a history lesson, I’m here to explain the future.
Anyways, Iran wants to go nuclear and the world is going to be very upset. Israel stated that if Iran does go nuclear they are going to attack. In fact, this past summer Israel had asked the United States if they could use our airspace over Iraq to attack Iran then, but we said no.1 When Israel does attack Iran, tempers in the region are going to flame up even more so. And, we as a country will soon find ourselves in the conflict. It is just something we do, it’s not a war until America’s involved. In the waning days of the Bush administration, the government was looking for someway to either go to war with Iran, or find a way to completely destabilize the region.2 The United States has been looking for a way to attack Iran ever since the Iran hostage crisis. Basically, we can’t let anything go. In fact the only reason why we ever got involved with Iran in the first place was because after their revolution, the UK asked us to step in because Iran was Britain’s main oil exporter. After the revolution Britain feared it would lose its oil reserves.3 The US and the CIA stepped in an attempt to destabilize everything. And of course there is still an animosity today. Simply put, the United States and Iran like each other just as much as the Bloods and the Crips like each other. (There is a whole other story in here about how the US hates revolutions even though we were founded on one – but I’ll save that for another day).
So, after Israel attacks Iran, the United States will get involved. So now you are looking at the US being involved in four countries in the Middle East: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Iran. Not to mention that the US has its hands in Somalia, the Philippines, and Mexico. (Personally, I believe we should only be involved in the drug war in Mexico, but I’m gonna try and stay with the facts here.)
With the countries economy still in tatters and the bailout programs only putting us more in the hole, it seems impossible for us to actually afford to be involved in everything. People on the right are going to hate Obama for having to raise taxes even more so… (Of course, I still think a main reason why they hate Obama is due to the fact that he is black… most people on the right side of the spectrum can’t stand a non-WASP in the white house, once again, I must try and leave my opinions out of this) Most people of the left are going to be pissed because we are going to find our selves in four wars while things in our own country are getting worse and worse.
To save money, we are going to have to start divert our resources to the main battlefields: Iran and Afghanistan. Leaving Iraq and Pakistan venerable. Once we leave Iraq, the civil war is going to heat up, to the point where the country is either going to collapse or be close to it. If you will, please imagine a seesaw in your minds eye. On one side is Iraq… and once Iraq goes down, the other side is going to go up; i.e. - our oil prices. (Do you like that metaphor? Because I do.) After Iraq goes, Pakistan is next; a lot of people in our government are terrified of Pakistan falling to a terrorist regime. Which is a possibility because we will have to take all our resources out of that country to fight in another.
Now we’ve gotten to a point we’re the majority of the countries in the Middle East are at war with us: Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and every country that hates Israel (so that’s basically every country in the region: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc.) Every Muslim government could use this Israeli/American v. Iranian War as a catalyst to attack us. So now, all of North Africa could be involved.
At home, everyone is screaming! The right about how we are losing, the left about the fact that we are even involved and the apathetic because they can’t drive to work anymore with having to shell out half their pay check to the pump and the other half to the war effort. All this hate towards the government will only lead to one thing: insurrection. It doesn’t matter who starts it, as long as it is started. Let’s just say a radical-left group tries its hand at taking over the government; you are now looking at the reactionary way-far right militias taking up arms to combat them… because they already at odds with the government and don’t trust them to do anything about it. (Of course this could go both ways, if the far right tries a coup – the left will soon rise up. For a comparison, please read up on the Spanish Civil War – it is every similar and history has a way of repeating itself.) Now the U.S. has to deal with warfare at home and aboard. While common man, who is usually too apathetic or too sacred to do anything is now caught in the crossfire. (The fact that people are too afraid to speak up against the government, to me, is absolutely appealing… but I am going to have to save that for another day.)
With the U.S. military fighting on two different continents, the country is going to have to go into a police state to try and control everyone. Making the general population even more pissed. So much for ‘land of the free.’ And all this time, China is just biding there time. Even wonder why you keep hearing more and more about China in the news, because they are soon going to pass us as the number one country in the world. By 2034 the Chinese economy is going to be larger and stronger than ours 4 (personally, I really don’t care and I haven’t thought of America as a number one for a long time, but that’s opinion… so sorry.) Anyways, China is just waiting for us to mess up. We already owe billions upon billions of dollars to them and once we put one foot out of line, they have a reason to attack us. Most countries feel if you want to become number one, you must topple who is on top, while all these events are going on, it would be the perfect time for China to attack. While everything is happening, it could be very very easy for us to put one foot out of line. With North Africa getting involved in this mess, we will eventually get involved in the Sudan, a country with an ongoing genocide and a state known to harbor terrorist, it is also one of China’s main exporters of oil. If we bomb their oil reserves your looking at China getting involved in this mess. But who knows, I mean, what type of country would ever go to war over oil, oh wait…
So China’s military is three times the size of ours and so is their population. Once China joins the fight, North Korea will soon join. At this point, I would have to say we are now in World War Three, the one people have been dreaming and scheming about for decades.
Now, I don’t think I can predict any more. It doesn’t exactly take the smartest man in the world to predict that a war is going to happen. I mean, really, it is just inevitable… humans hate each other, all we need is a reason to fight. Well, more like an excuse. It is pretty easy to see why and where countries stand. So it is pretty easy to figure out how we are going to get there. Once we do though, it is anyone’s game to win.
1. - Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/11/iran.israel.nuclear/
2. - Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/29/us.iran/index.html?ere
3. - Source: Please read Odd Arne Westad book The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times
4. - Source: http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/fruit-boom-threatens-push-chinas-economy-out-control*
*This is not my main source, it came from book, however, this just gives me the immediate proof.
Friday, January 29, 2010
so, i was at PCIS today, i was subbing art and it was the last period. lets try to look at this from a different perspective. what happens when you take an apathetic substitute teacher, mix it with a pointless class, add in the day's instructions of "tell the students to doddle," put in an assembly with a Pro-BMXer, add in as many crazy, random, art supplies imaginable and then blend it all together with massive amounts of sugar and hormones. What do you get... other than the worlds longest run-on sentence? chaos. it wasn't all bad really, it was interesting though. i had four 8th grade boys put on makeup... i guess that was just there way of doodling and i had three people, from three different classes, get wrapped up like a mummy in masking tape (they were fine, i made sure there mouths were never covered). anyways! last period of the day, for some reason six 8th grade boys decided that i was cool, and they had to all pull chairs up to my desk, which really got in the way of me daydreaming...
so one of the boys asks:
"Mr. Quinn, can I listen to my iPod?"
now, i wanted to get out of my mental stupor, i wanted to tell them a better way of saying 'no.' i thought saying "sorry, it against school rules" was just to unoriginal. so i decided to say instead:
"No, 'cause your music sucks."
case closed... well atleast i thought. he immediately retorts with:
"NO! i listen to good music and I'm sure you listen to the same."
"I highly doubt that," i reply "What do you listen too?"
"Nickelback!"
i kid you not! he said Nickelback. i just shook my head and told him i had proved my point. he was upset for a second, but it left his mind as soon as he discovered an elastic band ball on my desk and then pleaded to me for the rest of class if he could bounce it off the ceiling.
you know, you may think i hate this job... but to be honest i love it! no other job is this diverse and this much fun and every once in a while i really do help somebody... well until trw! cheers everyone!
so one of the boys asks:
"Mr. Quinn, can I listen to my iPod?"
now, i wanted to get out of my mental stupor, i wanted to tell them a better way of saying 'no.' i thought saying "sorry, it against school rules" was just to unoriginal. so i decided to say instead:
"No, 'cause your music sucks."
case closed... well atleast i thought. he immediately retorts with:
"NO! i listen to good music and I'm sure you listen to the same."
"I highly doubt that," i reply "What do you listen too?"
"Nickelback!"
i kid you not! he said Nickelback. i just shook my head and told him i had proved my point. he was upset for a second, but it left his mind as soon as he discovered an elastic band ball on my desk and then pleaded to me for the rest of class if he could bounce it off the ceiling.
you know, you may think i hate this job... but to be honest i love it! no other job is this diverse and this much fun and every once in a while i really do help somebody... well until trw! cheers everyone!
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