I am not sure if I should be angry with the obvious bias or sympathetic to the evident lack of coherent thinking. What is it with these so-called pundits and Obama-bashing?

So Obama bent a little bit to shake King Abdullah's hand. That is the proper etiquette to use to greet a Saudi king. Just as it is proper etiquette not to extend your hand to the Queen of England before she does. Just because most of us do not have any knowledge beyond what goes in our own towns (if that!), it does not mean our President should function at our level of emotional intelligence. Would you prefer a George Bush with the horrid smirk when he met anyone, and yet then went out of his way to protect the Bin laden family?

Cultures differ all over the world, and it takes open mindedness to work well with all of them. In all Asian countries making eye contact is disrespectful, in the US its a sign of weakness. In England you leave a little tea in your cup to show you have had enough, in most European countries you drink to the last drop to show you have enjoyed it. Thank God we NOW have a President who is mature enough to understand customs that are foreign to us, and wise enough to use them to his advantage.

America cannot assert its democratic principles if it cannot respect other nations, democratic or not. If we believe that equality is for all people we have to believe in the legitimacy of other peoples' norms and culture. Giving respect will only beget respect. It is the destructive arrogance that was encouraged by the previous regime, unfortunately, that blinds us to to this eternal truth.


President Obama is already setting us back on track to the moral high ground we have held for ages, till we were afflicted with the Bush-Cheney administration. We have to understand how the rest of the world began to hate us. That kind of fearful hate is like a tinder box in today's unstable world. One has to just read news from all over the world to appreciate how the slightly apologetic tone Obama used ameliorated that feeling. It takes a lot of confidence and bigheartedness to admit you were wrong. It takes downright nobility to make amends for mistakes someone else has made! And Obama is nothing if not noble.

Like every country and every community, we also have our fair share of retards - we have the likes of Hannity, O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck. After all the proof that it does not work, if someone can still justify torture of any human being, nay, any living creature, there has to be something seriously wrong in the processing ability of their brains. Anyone who has seen a few seconds of the water boarding 'demonstration tape' shown often on news channels and even then believes it to be legal, and ethical, and also efficient has to be - for lack of a clearer way to put it- a brainless git. Imagine an opponent holding you down blindfolded, pouring water down your nose and throat. Would you not say and do anything to avoid that? And would not vengence be the first natural reaction?

And if result is what we were looking for, at whatever cost - where the hell is Bin Laden?

We have lost so much of ourselves, have caused so much pain to so many- for what? Now we carry the baggage of their ill-will, their pain, and our own scarlet letter U, for the Unjust.

And if Obama is trying to wipe that mark off, let him. If anyone can, he can.

Crime must lead to Punishment

It infuriates me that people harangue more about immigrants who do not fit into our society, than criminals who clearly do not fit into any community. Lets see, umm.... someone who cannot speak the correct language vs. someone who will not stop carrying, and using, an illegal gun. We all know which is more alarming, yet we have people up in arms against immigrants and not a whisper of censure against how soft our system is with regard nefarious activity.

As for me, I am all for the death penalty. The man who played Russian roulette with 6 women may get 2-4 years. Is this supposed to be deterrent? A convicted child molester is let off on bail after 'doing his time' and he rapes and buries alive a little girl in Florida. They say he did his time, and earned his right to his freedom. Did someone think of the little girl's right to her life and safety? Or the right of justice for his previous victims? If you take a life, you give yours. Period. What is more fair? Rectitude of Justice demands it.

There is reason the world is assorted into societies and communities. People need that connection with each other, they need to interact. They need to laugh, cry, and grow together. With any group of people there has to be, by definition, a myriad of emotions, ideas, goals and phobias that effect all in one way or the another. And that is why it is imperative that we have rules for society. Moral and ethical rules, legalized principles and codes and yes, even traffic rules.

Everyone is bound by the rules - and the breaking of these rules must consequate in a punishment. There is no peace without order, there is no order without law, and there is no law without rules. And if we do not enforce the rules with consequences, there is no freedom for anyone. Like everything else in the world every action has a reaction. Every deed has its repercussion. Every effort has its result.

Once a rule is set, there should be no excusing its execution.We have a judiciary, we have the leeway for mitigating circumstances, we have reasonable excuses. But once it is clear that someone has broken a rule, willfully, or repeatedly, punishment has to be meted out. Maybe we could overlook embezzlement, even a burglary-but violence?? How can anyone excuse the snuffing of another life?

Why is there this trend in new age society to that it needs to rationalize the actions of lunatics? A man shoots 4 police officers and someone says he had a broken home so he had to take out his anger on someone else. Hurting someone else, let alone murder of people who have taken it up as a calling to protect and serve is unacceptable. A pedophile asks for sympathy because he was abused as a child. Oh for God's sake!! Please do not even say it. It does not take away form the horror of the crime the man commits. Personal history is not applicable in any way to the bestiality of the criminal act. No one has a perfect home life. Dominating mother, too many kids, financial problems, lazy fathers. That may excuse a few quirks, a few temper tantrums, a few depressive cycles. But there is no justification for vicious crimes. None, nada. Fate doles out a share of grief to all, albeit not equally. If one person cannot handle it, it should not become everyone's problem. I will not condone violence, even if it issues from a clinically medically insane person. There can be no vindication. Period.

What are we going to excuse next? Terrorism? After all if we go by the same demented reasoning, terrorists have had a horrid life,; they too are angry because of their circumstances. If we excuse psychopaths because of some chemical imbalance that prevents them form feeling guilt, then what will stop us from condoning a bombing because the suicide bomber was in fugue/grief/vengeful state because his family was bulldozed? Yes, the bulldozing was indefensible, but so is the bombing.

All of us have free will, and we are all blessed with some modicum of sense and reasoning at the very least. We all also HAVE to have a moral sense, whether it is religious or not. If a member of the species behaves differently than what is demanded for a safe society, they need to be exterminated. I swear I will scream next time they rationalize a rapist's actions because his mommy beat him. Maybe mommy should have throttled the life out of him. She probably saw something to beat him about. Seriously, there is no way you can explain away a perversion. Not to me. Why would you put a serial rapist in bars to be fed, clothed and cared for on our tax money? And maybe even released on some legal loophole later to commit another horrendous crime! I do not care if his mother beat him to pulp and he is 'damaged'. Castrate him or execute him. And yes, charge the mother as accessory, if she did drive him over the edge. But do not excuse his actions. Most child molesters are very normal people in regular life. They go to work, open doors for old ladies, wish you Happy Birthday if they know you( horror). Can you then say that their brains are wired abnormally, that they need to be exonerated? I have heard people say that it is society's responsibility to find a medical 'cure' and rehabilitate them. The rate of recidivism of all violent crimes is almost 100 percent. Does that not tell us something? If being caught, handcuffed, humiliated, and locked up did not change them, what will? I know no amount of psychotherapy will. If it is uncorrectable brain wiring, fry it and get done with it! If its plain malevolence, put the perpetrator through the justice system-and then get rid of him.

We should not be treating those very people with kid gloves who would rip our very hands off.

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http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp

(warning-video is disturbing!)