Sunday, March 19, 2006

Kick Hamas

From the Christian Science Monitortoday:
"The international community has to respect the choice of the Palestinian people," says Ahmed Abdel-Aziz Mubarek, a newly elected Hamas legislator from Ramallah. "The majority of the Palestinian people gave their votes to Hamas to establish the new government, so the world has to deal with this reality."


Now, anyone who has ever dealt with other people should immediatly know that this is not quite the case.  Hamas doesn't seem to realize that they do NOT control the actions of others.  So, they must live with the consequences of their choices.

When Hamas was elected as the majority in the Palestinian parliament, I was cautiously optimistic.  I am still optimistic... although I need a stronger word than "cautiously."

We live in a world that likes to delete consequences.  I mean... the whole idea behind "Pro Choice" is actually "I want to choose to have no consequences."  Now it seems like that reckless abandon of choice has hit the Palestinian Authority.  A grown man can actually stand up and say "the world has to deal with this reality"?  Are they mental?

Yes, we must "deal with" the choice of the Palestinian people.  But, do they understand that the consequences of "dealing with" that choice could lead to some serious consequences?

Once again, I have some hope.  I believe that the realities of government tend to force even extreme groups to become moderate.  I can only hope and pray that Hamas approaches this with some level of pragmatism and care.

After all, they have promised the Palestinian People a lot of things.  I don't think they will fulfil their goals by getting the whole world to hate them.

Once again, this conflict takes a frustrating turn.  Oh well... let's hope for the best.

That is all.

Horatio

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Dubai-bye Investment

So... we have a company from a growing and wealthy state who is looking to invest money into the United States. That company has a lot of money... a fantastic track record... and is an ally of the United States. Plus, it could be the start of a long and profitable business relationship between this wealthy growing economy and the United States.

What do we do? Oh yeah... we have an election year hissy fit and freak the entire country out.

Today I read the news that Dubai Ports World is going to transfer ownership of the port management contracts to an American company. In other words, they're tired of congressional crap and are taking their money somewhere else.

Everybody has been talking about improved trade relationships for the United States. Why in the world are we freaking out over such a potentially lucrative trade deal?

Argh... I'm annoyed. Politics once again sicked the hounds on the best interests of America. Welcome election year 2006... where democracy shuts down for a year in a frantic, uninformed, fear-mongering attempt to get reelected.

Sigh.

That is all.

Horatio