Not a real post

Every time I check the blog I see a pro-Tea Party or anti-Obama ad.  Aside from the irony, this does remind me of an article by Paul Krugman which I read recently.  Krugman was arguing that technology is killing high paying jobs, actually making it harder for well educated people to find work.  He was arguing that too much of an emphasis on education doesn't really achieve that much.  It's the same point made by a friend of mine recently in an email - how does an ever-growing population of college graduates make life any better in a country - currently suffering through a recession anyhow - in which machines can and do perform an increasingly large volume of the work?

I disagree, but I acknowledge it's a valid point.  My first year teaching high school one of my best students wanted to become a mechanic.  I tried to talk to him about college and he politely but firmly informed me that he wanted to be a mechanic.  I realized that was actually great.  Who am I to tell him he should get a college degree instead of becoming a mechanic?  He loved cars and that's what he wanted to do.  I'm sure he'll make a good living as a mechanic too.  College isn't for everyone.

However it's still important to remember that the American economy is driven by innovation.  We don't create innovators by encouraging people to get less education.  Furthermore, technology (currently) has its limits.  In one of the articles I read, the author pointed out that Google technology alone can determine which ads to put on a webpage faster than a Yahoo employee (using technology).  That may be so, but Google Ads have now placed a pro-Rand Paul ad, an anti-Obama ad, and an ad for the Tea Party Patriots (ewwwww) on my blog.  Apparently, word recognition technology is still a work in progress.

Either education deserves it's own post(s).  There is a lot more to say about the state of American education than just the tangent of the wacky ads on my blog.  Nevertheless, I'd like to make a quick plug for the importance of education.  Technology may be able to carry an increasing share of the workload, but only educated people can use the technology.  Only educated people can innovate.  Only educated people can adapt to the changing world economy.  There is always a need for education.  The Tea Party Patriots ad on my blog is certainly proof of that.

Irony

I just noticed that there is an ad on my blog to sign a petition being trumpeted by Rand Paul.  Nothing like google ads using key words and phrases to determine what ads are placed.  Please do not sign any petition by Rand Paul to do anything trumpeted by Rand Paul unless of course said petition is to recall Rand Paul.

Thank you

Pandora's Box back home

It's been too long since I've taken the time to talk about how the Tea Party wants to destroy America.  Important things have been going on all over the world, so I haven't had time to focus on silliness at home.

But lately some Tea Party related insipidness has come to my attention.  First of all, Ron Paul and Michelle Bachman had some valuable insight on the field of education.  Ron Paul - who is at least intelligent enough to have a world view even if it's an outrageous one - told crowds at a rally that the government wants "absolute control" over the "indoctrination" of American children.  I really don't even know what to say about that.  Only in the world of Ron Paul is that really a possibility.  It gets better, according to Paul, schools teach our children about, "family values, sexual education, gun rights, environmentalism...so much which is totally un-American."  Whoa, easy Ron.  Last time I checked nothing was more American than family values and gun rights.  Environmentalism - unfortunately - doesn't seem to be very American, at least not as far as the Tea Party is concerned.

Meanwhile, Bachmann, America's national ditz du jour, had this to say about home schooling, "it's about knowing our children better than the state knows our children."  That's all well and good Michelle, but it's also about you knowing physics, chemistry, history, english, algebra and calculus better than the state, not to mention foreign languages, arts and music and physical education.  Given the spew I've heard from Michelle Bachmann, I don't think she understands anything better than anyone, so home schooling probably isn't the best route for her kids - all of whom were home schooled...gulp.

American education does need to be reformed, in some cases drastically. However, Michelle Bachmman and Ron Paul need to stay as far away from that endeavor as possible.

As usual, the Tea Party only gets sillier, never more sensible.  It seems as though many in the Tea Party have started turning their backs on the Republican establishment, viewing them as compromisers.  Recently, Tea Party Express founder Judson Phillips was quoted as saying that Charlie Sheen is making more sense that John Boehner.  I've got little love for John Boehner, but at least Boehner - it seems - realizes that massive budget cuts and a government shutdown would be toxic to the American economy. Judson Phillips is among a small handful of people who just doesn't get that.  Said Phillips, "What is worse: a government shutdown or an economic collapse?"  Well Judson, since a government shutdown would probably lead to an economic collapse, I'd say we should be doing everything in our power to avoid such a shutdown.  Of course you and your ilk don't get that, so you're doing everything in your power to lead America back into regression.  


I've said before, and I stand by the notion, that the Tea Party will fade away as the economy recovers.  But like most viruses, the Tea Party is finding a way to prolong its life.  Tea Party politicians are doing their best to hamper America's economic recovery, thus paving the way for more Tea Party politicians.  It's a vicious cycle.  While they're at it, they're floating ideas like public schools being indoctrination centers for America's children, and that we should return to the gold standard, oh and that the new healthcare law will lead to death panels.  These are the kinds of things the Tea Party has to say.


So while the President and Congress worry about civil rights and national security in the Middle East and compromising on a budget that will invest sensibly now and cut sensibly in the future, the Tea Party will continue to live in it's own little world, where taking all the wrongs steps is the right thing to do.  Fear not America, they learned it at home, because, you know, all of us who went to school were "indoctrinated" with sense.  

Real Change in the Arab World

You may be familiar with flash mobs, seemingly impromptu yet very well coordinated dance outbreaks that occur in public places.  I've watched Youtube videos of many of these "spontaneous" events and I'm always amused.  It's a fun fad.

Which brings me to today's post.  Want proof that real change is coming to the Arab world?  Watch this video of the Dabke, a traditional Arab dance performed on joyous occasions.  That flashmob occurred at the Beirut airport.  Doesn't exactly fit the stereotype does it?   How about that Hezbollah!

But in all seriousness, the loosening of strict and archaic social norms is something that you would want and expect to see as Arab countries move towards modernity and freedom.  I expect flash mobs at an Oprah rally, or on the campus of Ohio State, but at the Beirut Airport?  That seems like a big step.

Maybe the Jasmine revolution needs a little dance infusion.  I'm glad the Lebanese were able to give it a bit of jive.

Finally...and What Now?

It's now been three days since the United States and our European allies decided to force a no-fly zone over Libya and began targeting Libyan air defenses.  I've been advocating for this for a while, and I'm glad that it has finally happened; perhaps if we had taken this step a few weeks ago, when we should have, the war in Libya would be over and the forces of democracy would have won.

As it is now, all we've done is managed to save the rebels from extinction.  This is good because it means they can continue the fight.  Backed by US, British and French airpower, the rebels may very well be able to swing the tide and topple Qaddafi.  This is what we want, this is what we're hoping for, but it is now worth asking, what's the goal, what's the point, why now?

I'm not a military strategist, so I don't know what generals and admirals see as the military objective.  I'm not a diplomat, so I don't know what the President sees as the political objective.  What I do know is that had we taken decisive action a few weeks ago, it is probable that we could have ended this before it became a mess, achieving increased American national security while doing what was morally right.

Now, although I'm still glad we've finally taken the steps to support the rebels, I am curious about what comes next.  Will the rebels be able to overthrow Qaddafi on their own? Will the United States or our NATO allies have to commit ground troops?  President Obama has already ruled that out thankfully, but what if the rebels cannot win even with allied air power at their backs?  Then what will we have accomplished?

I commend the United States, Britain and France for taking actions that are morally just and beneficial for world peace and stability, especially when countries like China and Russia who benefit economically from that stability watch idly from the sidelines.  But the mission needs a defined goal and purpose.  President Obama has declared that goal to be the removal of Muammar Qaddafi, but can that be done with Tomahawk Missiles?  Count me as a skeptic.

It is thus, now very important now for the United States and our allies to take important diplomatic steps as well.  France has led the way in this endeavor, formally recognizing the rebel government as the legitimate government.  The United States should do this as well.  Our relationships with Libya should be with the government of the people.

Libya can become a democratic country led by the strength of its own people, and without the boot of a United States Marine ever touching Libyan soil.  In fact, Libya must become a democracy this way.  This is a Libyan movement.  Libyan democracy may be partially won on the tips of US Tomahawk Missiles, but it will not be sustainably constructed with the barrels of US assault rifles.

It's good that we've finally taken the step of assisting the Libyan rebels in their attempt to replace despotism with democracy.  It's now time to start thinking about how to hurt Qaddafi with our diplomacy and our policies, not just our bombs.

Libya's future and our security rest on more than just our weapons, they rest on our ideals, adopted by people worldwide.  We finally took an important first step towards helping some of those people realize those ideals themselves.  It's now time to nudge a nascent democracy forward with our diplomatic muscle.

A prayer for Japan

It's been five days since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and the devastation wrought by the disaster is horrible and unbelievable.  I can only hope that Japan recovers quickly and that the damage to the nuclear reactors can be contained.  I encourage everyone to do whatever they can to help.  You can donate money to the Red Cross here.

If nothing else, please keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers.

No Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Arab democracy is marching in the wrong direction.  Check that, Arab democracy isn't marching at all; it's in flight across Libya as the forces of Muammar Qaddafi drive the rebels east and extinguish the flames of freedom.  

Through it all the United States has sat idly by and watched an opportunity for a fresh, peaceful start with the Arab world evaporate.  President Obama has told us that the noose around Qaddafi is tightening.  Qaddafi must listen to that quote on repeat like a teen girl does with a Justin Bieber song.  Pardon me, Mr. President, but the only noose that is tightening is the one the press is putting around your administration for our pitiful non-attempts to do what is in the best interest of Libya, the United States and world peace.  

For all that we fought for in Iraq we couldn't or wouldn't do anything to help the Libyan rebels, whose forces have now been all but routed by Qaddafi.  A chance to aid a real democratic movement in the Arab world has passed and now all we've done is make an enemy of Libya's dictator who will perhaps be more inclined to turn a blind eye to Islamic extremism in his country.  We've also lost the support of the Libyan people, where was the help from the world's beacon of democracy in their struggle?  It never appeared.  When Libya finally does become a democracy, how will its elected government view the country that could spend a trillion dollars in Iraq but wouldn't enforce a no-fly zone over Libya?  

And the eyes of the Arab world were upon us.  We destabilized Iraq, support a corrupt government in Afghanistan, but we couldn't support a legitimate movement in Libya with anything stronger than a metaphorical noose.  The lessons of the past seven decades have been lost on America's politicians.  We've supported Arab autocrats who kept all the money we funneled them for oil to themselves.  They exploited their people economically and politically and we propped them up because they were better than the alternative - the crazy bin Laden types. 

The problem of course, is that the oil-rich despots we supported were driving people into the arms of bin Laden.  Arab are frustrated with their own socio-economic situation, their lack of a voice in their future, and the relative hopelessness of living in a land where a handful of families control all of the wealth and all of the means of opportunity. This frustration has manifested itself as violence, notably towards America.  Consider that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi; what...Saudi Arabia is our ally?  How is that possible?  Well we fund a hereditary monarchy in Saudi Arabia, remember what happened the last time America was run by a hereditary monarchy?  Right...so Americans are allowed to be disgruntled with kings, Saudis, not so much.

So what to we do when we have the opportunity and the means to support an actual homegrown Arab democratic uprising?  Well that's a good question, what have we done?  Nothing.  Rather than sympathizing with people who are fighting for the same ideals American colonists died for over 200 years ago, rather than helping oppressed people stand up to tyranny, rather than foster the creation of an Arab democracy that would be free of outside, western influence and beholden to our country, we have done nothing.  

Actually that's not true, we've angered a terrorist leader who never liked us (and who we never liked) and we showed Libyans that on the day when their democracy arrives, they'll have a lukewarm partner in America - and I'm sure lukewarm will be a generous description of how they feel about us when that day arrives.  Furthermore, we've shown the whole Arab world that the United States doesn't walk the walk.  Yeah, we talk big game about democracy and ideals, but when we have a chance to support it for the cost of stationing an aircraft carrier off Sicily, we can't buck up and do it.  Remember how the war in Iraq was all about freedom and democracy?  Yeah right.  I'm a young Arab man trying to figure out what the motives of the US really are, convince me that Iraq wasn't about oil.  Maybe that's not the case, but it doesn't matter what I think, it matters what the potential suicide bomber thinks.  It's hard for me to imagine that he sees the US doing nothing in Libya and decides we are in it for the right reasons.  

So the US fiddles while Libya burns.  Two steps back for justice, for human rights, for self-determination and for democracy.  Two steps back for America's national security.  I only hope that after Qaddafi dispenses with the rebels he doesn't set up al-Qaeda training camps and force us to invade like we did in Afghanistan.  After all, we've already sacrificed our ideals, I hope it doesn't cost us our livelihood as well.