International Day of Peace Celebrations

Here in Liberia at the UN we had a big to-do with the International Day of Peace Celebration. The SRSG (Special Representative of the Secretary General), Vice President of Liberia were the main head honchos at the event. Many other dignitaries showed up as well. There were honor guards, speeches, songs, native dances, and a tree planting ceremony. I just thought I would post a few photos.

Indian Formed Police Unit Honor Guard

(yes they are all female)

SRSG Planting a tree

SRSG Planting a tree

Native Dancers

Stay Safe!!

Bailing Out Lenders With Borrowed Money

OK, call me dumb if you like. How come we (the US Government) is making plans to bail out failed lenders during this "financial crisis" who had really bad judgment in loaning money? We do not require them to pay for their own mistakes.


To top it off, we are bailing them out with borrowed money.


Talk about a recipe for disaster.

:)



Ok, one more line to this. Do you think a bank would loan you money to get you out of financial trouble because you foolishly loaned out your money to a bad risk?

Darfur - what is Really the Problem

Darfur seems to be the "politically correct" cause of actors and famous people and the like. Some even raising money for helicopters and such. The problem is that the helicopters needed are gunships - not some small 4 person helicopter. Gunships and armed transport helicopters are needed.

You doubt me? Check out what happened on the 15th:

Monday, 15 September 2008
A United Nations helicopter
in Darfur was able to land safely yesterday after being shot at in the third
incident of its kind in the war-wracked region of western Sudan.

The helicopter was on its way to Shangil Tobaya, where the
hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) has a base camp, from the North
Darfur town of Tawila when shots were fired about 37 kilometres before it could
reach the destination.

UNAMID reported that the helicopter, which was carrying 12
passengers and four crew members, was able to land safely following the
shooting. However, one of its fuel tanks was found to be
leaking.

The helicopter later left for El Fasher, the capital of
North Darfur state and the headquarters for UNAMID, after repairs were made. The
passengers were left behind for security reasons.

What the do-gooders usually do not understand is that the situation is long past all of the genocide and such. It is now mostly a dangerous situation for peacekeepers. Darfur does not want stability and peace in the region and many warlords do not either. If peace comes the warlords lose their power and they cannot control the areas they control.

Anyways - just my thoughts on the issue.

Stay Safe!

On Politics, Presidents and Palin

I just thought I would throw in my two cents worth on politics for a bit. I am not trying to be political - but just share some observations:

OK, this is right before the convention: What was Obama thinking in picking Joe Biden? I mean you want to be known as the guy for change - so you pick the most ingrained non-changing guy in Washington as your running mate. Not only that- the guy that probably gives the other side the most prolific amount of sound bytes to be used in the campaign against you. I guess Joe is now saying "I really didn't mean all of that." Obama wants to claim he has good judgement - so much for that call huh?

Another observation - as a former competetor in Speech and Debate Tournaments, and former Speech Teacher a point about nearly all the speakers: Your speeches are too long. Cut out all the tired stuff we have heard before (though I know they cannot resist Bush Bashing) and just focus on new stuff - if you have any.

McCain chooses Palin as a running mate. One thing for sure - the presidential candidate with the most colorful background of any presidential candidate ever - surprised everyone with this pick. I don't know much about Palin. Maybe it was because she is a relatively young woman, maybe because she is more blue collar. Some say it was to get the "Hillary" votes. I cannot believe that last one. I cannot see anyone voting for Hillary that would vote for Palin - unless it is the "I am going to vote for a woman because she is a woman" vote. All I know is - he made the smartest or dumbest decision in picking her.

I have not seen much from the Republicans Convention yet. ( We don't get a lot of live feed stuff here) I am sure their speeches will be too long also.

Be Safe!