Iran, Nukes, and Diplomacy

Things just keep getting better and better. Iran has proudly announced that it has successfully begun enriching uranium. Apparently they're still a long ways off from getting enough enrichment to make nuclear weapons, but they're obviously heading there, and it's only a matter of time.

It was OK when Russia had nukes in the Cold War, because they didn't want to use them on us because we'd just use ours on them. But Iran's president doesn't care about Iran's existence quite as much. He's the guy that's been calling the Holocaust a myth and declaring that Israel should be wiped off the map. What do you think he'll do when they get nukes ready?

So the US and other people who think they hold some world power have been telling Iran to stop. Iran says, yeah right. Because they know no army's going to come stop them. No country is going to instigate military action against them unless the US starts it, and they won't start it because the military's already stretched too thin in Iraq, and because the corrupted American media and politics won't let their own country take military force again because diplomacy is the peaceful way to resolve conflict. If only we had tried diplomacy with Iraq, we wouldn't have our present troubles, right?

Actually, we tried diplomacy with Iraq. Hussein didn't listen. We've been trying diplomacy with North Korea. They haven't stopped their nuclear program, either. And so now we're trying diplomacy with Iran. They're not going to stop, because if all we try is diplomacy then they can just ignore us and continue until they get some nukes and launch them on Israel.

If I didn't believe in God and his plan for Israel, their destruction would seem rather inevitable at this point. I'm not really sure what's going to happen with Iran, or if and when and how and who is going to stop them from continuing their nuclear program and launching them on Israel. Actually, it's not too far-fetched that Israel would launch nukes on Iran first. But then things would get really crazy...

Edmond the Hun

How to Solve the Problem of Illegal Immigration

Everybody's all hyped up about what to do about illegal immigration, since we got several million of them in our country and Congress is finally trying to pass laws to do something about it. But all of the solutions only deal with the result. Whether we try to build a wall of some sort, or deport them all, or make them legal---all of this only deals with the result: illegals in our country.

This is ignoring the cause, which won't change: Mexicans are poor and it's easier for them to support themselves by coming here and getting a job. No matter what we do to the illegals here, thousands more are still going to try to come in because they're poor.

This morning I was struck with an obvious solution: help Mexico's economy. I don't mean give them money; every government in the world is too corrupt for that to help anything. I mean, do things to help their economy. I haven't thought through all of this yet, but surely we can do some things to help their economy and country function in a way similar enough to ours that the people there can actually get a job and make a living. Then they won't have to come up here.

The problem is that this is currently impossible. Mexico doesn't want us to help them, because the ones who are in power are corrupt and have plenty of money and are content to let their economy be sustained by the millions of dollars flowing back across the border from relatives with jobs in the U.S. And don't even pretend that diplomacy would work. How well has that worked with Iraq, North Korea, and Iran in the last couple years?

Therefore, the only way to help their economy would be to force them, and that would mean at least some sort of military action. Not a war; some sort of governmental coup. But just as in Iraq, the people would welcome it with open arms, except we wouldn't have to worry about terrorists quite as much.

I don't really know what I'm saying here. But I think the key to stopping illegals from crossing the border is by dealing with the root of the problem and fixing Mexican poverty. However impossible that may be.

Edmond the Hun

Port Deal...

Well, I still don't know a whole lot, since I missed the first couple days when the story broke and have had to rely on what recent editorials and news updates have had to offer.

This is what I know: The government wants to hand control of some major US ports to an Arab firm based out of the United Arab Emirates. This has something to do with them being a good company who will watch our ports better than we are and make our country safer. A bunch of Congressfolk are upset that letting Arabs control our ports is akin to giving it straight to the terrorists and will make our country much less safer. It appears that these Arabs are a lot nicer than the terrorist Arab types, but the outcry was enough to cause a delay and an intense investigation, with the possibility of dissolving the whole thing altogether.

This is what I think: It's been known for years that we only inspect a small percentage of what comes through our ports as it is. So handing some ports over to an experienced firm who will guard it for us is probably not a bad idea. Admittedly, the Arab ties are cause for concern, but isn't that being stereotypical and intolerant? On paper, these guys look like good Arabs. While some proponents are worried that these delays will severely hurt a budding international friendship, I will consent to say, hey, it's probably a good thing. Bush wouldn't OK it if he thought it would endanger us. But what does it matter? If it's alright, then the investigations will reveal that, and we'll end up doing it anyway.

Unless, of course, you no longer have confidence that the government knows how to conduct unbiased, unpartial, legitimate investigations...

Edmond the Hun

In Response to My Fans...

Sanguine, I apologize for the fake cursing. If you can tell me how "d--n" is worse than your "crap" and "dang it" I promise to never write it again :)

Swedish Eskimo, have fun running away. I hope you guys enjoy yourself in the Alps. And I'm too nice to say anything mean about your lack of interest in trying to help fix this stupid, stupid world :)

Finien, I don't know enough about the selling the ports thing to officially blog about it. I've just seen or heard blurbs on the net, in the news, and on the radio. On the positive side, I've heard that the United Arab Emirates are more "good guys," as far as Muslim countries go, that they've been anti-terrorists and pro-US and stuff like that, and that this is supposed to have something to do with building our alliance with them. But it still makes no sense for us to give control of our own ports to another country -- especially a Muslim country in the middle east. If I didn't go to school, work, and do track, I would read some Internet articles, the Post-Dispatch, USA Today, Newsweek, and Time, but I don't have enough of the latter. So I have no opinion at this point. But I will try to learn about it, and maybe on Sunday I can blog intelligently about it :)

Thank you, friends, for your consistent support. It means a lot. You guys rock!

Edmond the Hun

P.S. Aeropostalegirl, where've you been?

McDonald's Faces Lawsuits...

Apparently my employer is facing potential lawsuits from several sources after its recent disclosure that its fries contain more ingredients than we once thought. Wheat and dairy products and gluten or whatever.

Come on, folks, let's not give Ronald any more trouble. He's not trying to be secretive. He disclosed that information voluntarily after the FDA made the packaged foods industry do it. The best solution is to simply stop eating their fries, since at any given moment you have about a fifty percent chance that they will have been sitting out for too long anyway.

The truth is that for every person who shuns McDonald's for its fattening substances, there are ten more who will continue eating it because it tastes good and they don't give a d--n about the ingredients. Lawsuits will change nothing.

Edmond the Hun

Dick Cheney and the News

Monday's headlines: Cheney shoots fellow hunter in accident
Tuesday's headlines: Cheney is 'very safe' shooter, hunting comrade says
Tomorrow's headlines: Cheney issued a warning for breaking Texas hunting law

Let's see how many days in a row we can keep this trivial story in the front page!

Edmond the Hun

TOP 5 NOTEWORTHY SUPER BOWL ADS

#5. Kurt Warner and John 3:16. It's great that the message of Christianity is being preached to this huge market. Forgive me for being cynical, but I couldn't help thinking, how many drunk viewers even cared, and how many homeless people could they have fed for those $3 million dollars? And now I'm probably a heathen for not supporting Jesus in the media.

#4. The streaking goat. Or was it a sheep? I don't remember. But animal personification always has great potential. It was funny.

#3. Wife and daughter go to visit daddy in the hospital. Assistant doctor is bothered by fly and kills it with his instrument. Just as the wife and daughter walks in, he says, "Well, that killed him." Don't judge too quickly, it said. Hilarious. Except that until I read the paper I didn't know what the company was advertizing. Looks like they just gave away $3 million to make people laugh.

#2. The cave man who couldn't use Fed-Ex and then got trampled by a huge dinosaur at the end. For some reason there's just something funny about people getting unexpectedly smashed by giant animals. And since the company was part of the dialogue, I remember what the company was!

#1. My personal favorite, the Emerald Nuts acronym of Even Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under the Stairs. The randomness of three guys making chopping sounds at a fern while watching a hooded robed guy talking on a cell phone with his laptop is just hilarious. It had me laughing even when the game came back on. Not that I've ever seen emerald nuts or know where to find them.

Edmond the Hun

Seahawks 20, Steelers 13

That's my prediction. Not that I really care. Watch both teams get 20 points before the end of the first half...

Edmond the Hun

Happy Birthday Sanguine

Congratulations on the big one-eight! Despite your love of writing, may God bless you with a long and prosperous life full of daisies and gold stars. Thanks for brightening my life.

Edmond the Hun

Hamas Wins; Don't Be Fooled

So Hamas won most of the seats in Palestine's parliamentary elections. In case you didn't know, Hamas is the Palestinian terrorist and political group that openly admits that they want to drive Israel out of existence.

Many in the liberal media are already trying to spin this to say that Hamas really won't focus on killing all the Jews, even though that agenda is the reason for their existence. Oh, no, they'll focus on realistic things and try to advance their people and all of that nice stuff.

How can anyone believe that? How can the writers of these articles believe that? I am convinced that there is a demonic influence on the media against Israel. How else could a group that consistently denies Israel's existence, a group that consistently attacks and kills Jews, a group that consistently admits its goal of killing every Jew in the world and wiping Israel into non-existence because of their intense hatred ~ How else could this group even be tempted to be put in a positive light by people of the developed world who claim to be open-minded and rational?

It would be like if the "Al-Qaeda Party" won most of the positions in Iraq and editorialists said, oh, they won't try to kill Americans. They'll definitely work on getting electricity to their citizens. No one would believe that for a second. There is simply no natural explanation for the treatment of Palestine by the world today.

Edmond the Hun

Important Business News

www.stltoday.com

McDonald's Corp. stock rose to a 5 1/2-year high Tuesday after the fast-food chain reported a 53-percent jump in fourth-quarter profit on continuing strong sales at its U.S. outlets and improving results in Europe...

Extended operating hours, cashless payments and new menu items all have helped keep the momentum going in McDonald's U.S. restaurants, which also got a fourth-quarter boost from stronger breakfast sales.

Link Update: Super B

By the way, I've updated the link on the left to my friend SuperBgirl06, formerly known as The Local Superhero. Anyway, she has left Blogger for Xanga. A little heavy on the purple and pink, perhaps, but a valiant effort nonetheless. Feel free to check it out sometime.

And don't forget about Onataura's Xanga, either. Currently you can read the harrowing account of his minor and untragic accident.

I would say don't forget about John's (Truth For Free) but I can't always access that myself. Silly Myspace. He should convert to Blogger. Or at least Xanga.

Edmond the Hun

$227 Million For Some Stardust

Apparently we sent up a little spaceship a few years ago to catch some comet material. And apparently it came back successfully. The scientists are excited about analyzing the material to discover clues about the universe's origins. I'm not up on my cometology, although I am fascinated by outer space, both its vastness and its varied contents.

I'm just interested in what the scientists observe because I believe the universe began differently than most of them do. For example, they don't know exactly how the earth got all of its water. They used to think that comets could have provided it (don't ask me how, this is what the article said). But recent advances have discovered that comet water seems to have a different chemical signature than Earth water does.

Again, I don't understand all of that. I do understand that God created the water with a word, so I'm not surprised if comet water doesn't seem to do the job. And I won't be surprised if analyzing these comet particles proves that theory wrong for good. To what will they turn next? After all the comet dust is settled, what will be revealed?

Edmond the Hun

(Source: www.msnbc.com)

The Stupid People and the Angry Spies

There once was a land full of stupid people. This land was ruled by a smart president. The stupid people wanted to live their lives in safety, without the smart president interfering.

Now there was some angry people who hated the stupid people and wanted to kill them, so they sent some spies to pretend to be stupid people and figure out how to kill them. The angry spies called their angry leader with information. They made a bomb and killed some of the stupid people.

“This is bad,” said the smart president. “To find out which stupid people are really angry spies, I will send my grasshoppers to the people's houses, and whenever they call someone from another land, my bugs will come tell me what they said.”

For four years, the president's bugs listened and helped him stop the angry spies from killing any more stupid people. But one day, a stupid person called his grandmother in another land to say “Happy Birthday,” and he caught a bug listening to him.

He was mad, and told everyone, “The president is listening to our phone calls!”

This made all the stupid people mad. “How dare you!” they yelled at the president.

“I have to figure out which of you are angry spies!” he said.

“That's an invasion of privacy,” they said. “From now on, you can't send your grasshoppers to a house unless you have evidence that the person is an angry spy.”

“But how will I know who's a spy if I don't listen?”

“We don't know. You're the smart one.”

So the smart president stopped sending his bugs because it wasn't nice. The angry spies called their leader, but no one knew what they said. So they made a really big bomb, and all the stupid people died.

But they were happy. Death is a small price to pay for privacy.

The Radio vs. the iPod

www.stltoday.com

I read in the paper yesterday that some radio stations believe they are losing listeners to iPods, because while they only have playlists of a few hundred songs of a specific genre, the iPod owner has thousands of songs of all sorts of genres. In other words, the radio is a lot more boring.

The radio people have concluded that to increase and retain their audience, they need to play a much bigger variety of songs. This new format is called "jack." They don't care whether it's country or hip-hop, as long as it's a song that will sound familiar.

As St. Louis's 106.5 programmer Jewels Riley says, "I think there is enough variety that if they don't like Madonna, they can switch back in three minutes and hear Aerosmith."

I disagree.

If radios are losing audiences to iPods, trying to copy the iPod is not going to solve the problem. If someone doesn't like Madonna, they're not going to come back. They're going to go back to their iPod, where they can just skip Madonna, and not have to listen to commercial breaks. And people who used to like the station for a certain style will be unsatisfied when half of the songs are not of a style they enjoy.

In trying to please all of the people all of the time, I am afraid they will end up pleasing no one. What do you think?

Edmond the Hun

The Art of Music

It'll be a day like this one, when the world caves in...

Just thought I'd take a quick post to comment on the wonderful powers of music. When life is at its confusingest, there's nothing like figuring out the piano chords to a Switchfoot song to get away and set one's mind at ease. I think playing the piano is for me what painting is for Finien.

Edmond the Hun

Interesting News: Regarding Wardrobes

Here's a bit of fun, lightheard, non-political, interesting news:

Dueling claims to inspiration for Narnia story
www.boston.com

Two small Christian colleges both lay claim to owning a big, portable closet that may have inspired Lewis when he penned ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the first tale written in his ''Chronicles of Narnia" series for children.

Which campus deserves bragging rights?

Nobody knows. But with a $150 million hit movie drawing holiday crowds, some 95 million ''Narnia" books in circulation since 1950, and a current ''Christianity Today" cover story likening Clive Staples Lewis of Oxford to Elvis Aron Presley of Memphis, there has been plenty of interest.

Further fueling the curiosity, the Disney film has riled critics who say it serves an evangelical agenda. Lewis, one of the 20th century's most noted theologians, built his children's stories around themes of sin and redemption, with Aslan, Narnia's lion, standing in for Jesus.

Besieged with media inquiries, each school tells reporters much the same thing: Their wardrobes were certainly owned by the prolific don, who died Nov. 22, 1963; however, it is unclear whether Lewis had either one in mind when the four children in his story poked into an armoire and somehow wound up cavorting with the chatty animals inhabiting Narnia.

At Westmont's campus outside Santa Barbara, Paul Delaney, a professor, recently showed visitors the piece of furniture at issue in the lobby outside faculty offices.

''We can't say for sure that it's the wardrobe," he said, ''but it definitely came from his house and closely matches the description in the book."

Westmont's website is less reserved, saying the Lewis wardrobe in Reynolds Hall ''served as a model for the magical one he described in his famous children's book."

At Wheaton, officials downplay the possibility that their Marion E. Wade Center library holds the portal to Narnia. Even so, they've posted a sign near their wardrobe that leaves little doubt as to their true position: ''We do not take responsibility for people disappearing."

Built to resemble an English cottage, the center also has Lewis's writing desk and more than 2,000 of his letters, as well as a mountain of documents chronicling the careers of Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and five other British writers.

''For casual visitors, the wardrobe is the biggest draw," said archivist Heidi Truty. ''When families -- even students -- come through the door, the question we hear most often is: 'Where's the wardrobe?' "

Snagged at a 1973 auction in England by a Wheaton economics professor, the school's ornate double-door black oak wardrobe was handcrafted by Lewis's grandfather, a shipbuilder in Belfast. Although it barely resembles the modest piece described in ''Narnia," it still may have triggered the imagination of Lewis, known by friends as ''Jack."

''A cousin of Lewis's visited and mentioned that, as children, they used to climb into this wardrobe and Jack would tell adventure stories to his playmates," Truty said.

The year after Wheaton's find, Westmont students doing a semester in England learned that the owners of the author's old house had found a wardrobe that was to be turned into scrap because it could not be carted out whole through a remodeled, narrower doorway. The students took it off their hands for about $50, had it dismantled, and shipped it to campus.

Unlike Wheaton's version, this wardrobe is as ''perfectly ordinary" as the Narnia entryway into a world of fantasy, Delaney of Westmont said. Like the one in the book, it has a single door with a mirror and a threshold low enough for a small child to step into -- as opposed to the 3-foot-high jump required to access the Wheaton wardrobe.

''Read the book," Delaney said.

KC Chiefs Coach Dick Vermeil Retires For A Third Time

I wonder which NFL team he'll be coaching next year... :)