Texas convention

For the record, yesterday I attended a Democrat State Convention for Senate District 11, which was at a hall in Pasadena. It was PACKED with people.

Contrary to news reports, I saw a relatively quiet, orderly, fair process -- even though it was LONG and SLOW. I even took a photo of two women, one an Obama and the other a Clinton supporter, who were sharing a smoke outside the convention.

The leaders gave everyone plenty of time to put their delegations together since all of us were scrambling to fill empty delegate slots with alternates. We had one guy who had to go to a funeral before the vote. Luckily he came back in time for the vote.

Amazingly we got to do the business we came for about 1 p.m. The vote in our two linked precincts took less than 5 minutes. The count was 9 Obama and 8 Clinton. Had it been a tie, the decision would have been made with a coin toss. The alternate delegate position automatically went to the runner up. Then those of us who wanted to bail out did, while those who wanted to vote on resolutions could stay. I bailed.

Why Globally Clueless Americans Need an Honest President

Let’s face it. Most Americans know so little about other countries and their people that if the President made a misstatement of fact to Americans, something like “ Al Qaida is working with Iran/Saddam,” they’d believe it. They’d believe it not knowing that Shiites (Iran) and Sunnis (Al Qaida) have hated each other for centuries. About the only thing they might not believe is that Iraq is made of green cheese.

Yet some odd things are coming out...This is why they need an honest President...

The full article is published under today's date at:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalAmerican/

By the way, everyone has been assuming the "surge" was working. Actually, it was more of a lull as the Sunni's and Shiites both pulled back. Now the majority Shiites under the Mahdi Army are firing things up again in Basra. All hell could break loose, surge or no surge. That will mean that even an increase in troops cannot keep the lid on if Shiites and Sunnis resume their sectarian killing ways.

"Pilot Shoots Down His Own Aircraft" No, But Close

Well, not quite, although a pilot did discharge a gun in the cockpit during a flight. The bullet went into the seat. Had it gone through the side it could have depressurized the aircraft, which could have led to the above fictional headline.

I'm not sure I want to be a passenger of some guy practicing his quick draw in the cockpit. I'd rather the rules specify that they keep the big iron buttoned up in a holster -- unless and until a time when some hijacker is actually banging on the door. If so, they can blast away all they want.

Until then I recommend none of the airlines show any more Westerns during the in-flight movie.

Geronimo & Iraq

I watched “Geronimo” last night, a riveting piece. This morning it dawned on me that there is a connection between the lessons of Geronimo and Iraq. As you know Geronimo was the last Apache holdout when America swept over Indian lands. Our army couldn't catch him but finally they induced him to surrender himself (the first time).

One line in the entire movie was a stunner. It was something I’ve never heard anywhere. Yet given the time and place I think I know what they were saying.
One white actor who was part of the group trying to capture Geronimo at one point that casually stated: “Texans, the lowest form of white man.”

He was referring to a group of men who were killing Indians to get a bounty on Apache scalps. They even killed the children and women of other tribes just to get the money. I had never heard that term before, but it was fascinating to hear a white person rating another one in that context. Has anyone ever heard anything like that before? Were Texans really so lowly regarded by other whites back in the era of Geronimo?

The other fascinating thing about the Geronimo program was the international connection. Before being captured a second time, Geronimo was killing Mexican citizens and their army as well as American settlers and our army taking Indian land on the U.S. side. Apache territory was really part of two different countries, Mexico and the U.S.

In the end, the U.S. army and government made promises to get Geronimo to surrender, since he was such a stealthy terrorist that no one could catch him. And they broke them. In fact it came out that they had no intention of keeping them.

And even our allies, Indians who had left the Apaches and helped our troops as invaluable scouts, got the ax. The old General had figured out that the only way to catch the crafty Indian leader was for the army to use Indian guides. Our army had never come close on its own.

However, in the end the new replacement General treated the Indian scouts who had joined our forces and helped our troops as if they were like Geronimo himself. They were stripped of their guns and made prisoners with the man they had tried to help capture.

I highly recommend watching it if you can. Some things have changed since then (Texans are hopefully NOT the lowest form of white man anymore). But some things have not changed.

I wonder what will happen to all of those people who have helped Americans in Iraq when the pull out finally does happen. Let's hope we treat them better than the way we treated the Indian scouts who helped us finally capture Geronimo.

Resurrection - political and otherwise

One of the best analysis of the current political situation was published by Frank Rich today. I think he hits the nail on the head.

This weekend four (4) of the world's religions are celebrating a special time. "Hindus are celebrating Holi, Christians are celebrating Easter, Muslims are celebrating the birthday of Muhammad, and Zoroastrians (and non-Zoroastrian Iranians and Central Asians) are celebrating Nauroz or the spring equinox." It sounds like a good excuse to make it a long weekend OFF.

Bottom Line: We need to start practicing what we preach. Osama bin laden is threatening the Pope and the Danes are re-opening old wounds by re-publishing the Mohamed cartoons that started riots last year. Chinese troops are shooting Tibetans, suicide bombers are still at work and everyone seems to be focused on poking the other guy in the eye.

and whats this about John McCain talking about Iran training Al Qaida when Iran is Shiite and Al Qaida is Sunni? After it happened several times I have to wonder if age is going to play a bigger role than people realize in this race. Either he forgot his foreign policy experience or it was a deliberate misstatement, which is not something McCain does. Very odd and Not Good.

Folks, we have no where to go but UP.

FYI My Global American Series (or GAS) article released today is entitled: "Why Can President Go to China (Despite Tibet) But Not Iran?" It's so logical you'll think Spock wrote it (maybe not).

Happy Easter...Here's to "Better Times Ahead".

Passport Snooping - Are You next?

Your social security number could be in jeopardy. Under the present system, you won't know it unless you happen to be running for President.

The news that low level people in the State Department were able to access the Passport information of all three remaining Presidential candidates(including that all valuable social security number), raises a bigger question.

Have these State Department contractors (whoever they are) also accessed celebrity Passports? If low level people can access files of the few running for President, then is anyone's information safe? What if these employees were accessing files in order to pass social security numbers to criminal elements--for ID theft purposes? Could the State Department's system allow for political abuse of the system?

The State Department protection software doesn't keep people from accessing these files; it only notifies ("flags") access of files of high profile persons after its happened, like Presidential candidates. If you are not a "high profile" person, then there is no notification. That would make the State Department a great place for ID theft by people hired by the State Department.

An investigation of the State Department's security system for passports (and any government agency that possesses peoples' social security numbers) is in order.

If not, your information could be accessed by some contract employee at the State Department or another government agency that has the same valuable social security information -- and if you are not a Presidential candidate, no one will know about it.

Justice and Race in America - Why are People like Rev. Wright Mad?

If you want to understand someone, there is a saying that "you have to walk a mile in their shoes." To understand why people like Rev. Wright is blasting away at America from the pulpit, just look at yesterday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and ask yourself "How can this be happening in the 21st century in America?"

The U.S. currently has more people in prison than China or Russia. Most are minorities and about half are in prison for non-violent offenses. If you are black and are caught with a small amount of drugs, you are in the slammer for years. If you are Rush Limbaugh and are caught with illegal quantities of Oxycontin, you still have a radio show making millions per year. Is this fair?

On the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death penalty for a black man who killed his wife's lover in
an emotional rage. In Texas, a "heat of passion killing" like this is still considered to be a lesser homicide by the law -- and by people. It's not
something anyone would get the death penalty for.

The U.S. Supreme Court was bothered by the Louisiana prosecutor deliberately cutting blacks from the jury. The same thing has been an admitted practice by a
Houston Assistant District Attorney, Ms. Seigler, who is running to replace Houston's last DA (who happened to be fond of racist and sexist jokes). She even cut people from juries for going to the "wrong" church (i.e., Lakewood).

So it was an all white jury who gave the black defendant the death penalty. Our highest court threw that out in a 7-2 vote. All this comes on the heels of
many people wondering how Rev. Wright could be mad at the United States and its racially-biased justice system?

If you were being denied a jury of your peers wouldn't YOU be mad as h___ and "not going to take it anymore!?" We aren't talking about wrongs committed decades ago by our ancestors. We are talking about racist actions happening TODAY that treat blacks much harsher than whites.

This death case, and the recent conduct of Houston's chief prosecutor, should make it clear to Americans that blacks are paying the ultimate price for racist
attitudes. Those attitudes have affected Hispanics and women as well.

Injustice based on color is STILL happening, every day. How many white defendants are convicted without fellow whites included in the jury? How many whites would think it was fair to be given the death penalty for a heat of passion crime with a jury that had zero whites on it?

America, we do have a problem with racism, I'm sorry to say. We can't condemn people who are the victims of that racism for getting angry about it. If such racism was killing your friends and neighbors, I think you would feel even more angry than the outrage we heard from Rev. Wright.

Until we fix our justice system --and people change their attitudes -- we cannot condemn a candidate for what his preacher says; if you do, then you also have to be fair and blame John McCain for his "minister's problem."

And you can't blame any preacher for being angry at such gross injustice in places like Louisiana and across the United States that this Supreme Court case
has exposed to the light of day. If you were walking in the shoes of those condemned, would you?

Under our Constitution we are all created equal. We need to start acting like it so we really can move beyond race.

Global Cultural Blunders that cost us

Wind gusts near 70 mph are hitting Texas today. It's like we've been in a wind tunnel the last couple of days, with constant howling winds. I am wondering if I've been transported somehow back to West Texas.

On Saturday, which was the "Ides of March," I gave a talk on global cultural blunders that cost us business and politically. As a test I am going to embed part of the talk below, to see if it works. If not, it's also on "YouTube" under the ID "Fjet2020"

Storms, Break Ins and Tornado Protection

Word came by email this morning that Grandmother had passed away - on St. Patrick's Day and during high holy week. For a life-long Catholic like her, it doesn't get any better than that! She had made it to 100 years of age and showed great strength right to the end. It's the end of an era but now she can be with her deceased husband and children "on the other side."

Over the weekend, Atlanta was hit by 'urban tornadoes' that caused glass windows to rain down on Atlanta's streets. CNN's building was hit. Ironically, I had called on them while attending a glass convention last year to introduce them to our security window film that would have provided protection and kept glass from spraying like shrapnel. Their building is all glass and, like many, is an accident waiting to happen. Had it been a car bomb the damage would have been worse.

Yesterday I blogged about protecting NASA employees from a potential hurricane or car bomb after a car mysteriously plowed into its security fence - from the INSIDE.

Armor Glass technology could have also prevented windows from being breached by debris from the falling crane in New York.

Then today there was another story about the drummer for ABBA, who may have been killed by glass that cut his throat after falling into a pane at his house. Armor Glass protection would have protected him and saved his life --putting its nano-tech/film shield between him and the glass.

With all the talk about the lousy economy, people have forgotten about security. But if you are dead or injured from a storm or falling into one of your windows, it won't matter how the economy is doing.

End of an Era

A few days ago I found out that my 100 year old Grandmother, whose birthday party I attended in early February, has pancreatic cancer. She's not expected to last beyond today. So I've been distracted and offline for awhile.

Yesterday (the "Ides of March") I was on my way to give a speech on security and international cultural blunders that cost us both politically and business wise when I saw the strangest sight. At the corner of Space Center and NASA Parkway, on the edge of NASA's vast complex, a van had plowed into the chain link fence FROM THE INSIDE. It raises a security concern, in my mind, about threats to our space center.

What was the vehicle doing trying to get OUT of NASA, in a section that is undeveloped and doesn't have a real road? I've been trying to talk to them about a way to protect them from a car or truck bomber.

Had this been a car bomb instead of whatever strange incident it was, a lot of lives of highly trained, irreplaceable specialists could have been lost.

Hypocrites At Law & the 10, whoops 20 Commandments!

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, who portrayed himself like the famous FBI "Elliott Ness" apparently is not. He was discovered to have paid over $4,300 to buy a hooker in DC --even transporting her across state lines. Gosh, you'd think a prosecutor would know about that being not just a state offense but a federal one as well.

It proves that hypocrites are alive and well in both political parties. As a Democrat and former prosecutor, he is no better than Republican Chuck Rosenthal, Houston's now ex-DA. Call them both "Hypocrites at Law."

The fact Spitzer paid that much money for a prostitute makes him not only a hypocrite but unqualified to hold public office and the peoples' money. I don't feel sorry for the twit one bit. He should go ahead and do one decent thing and resign from his Governor position.

These guys haven't even figured out the first 10 Commandments before the Pope came up with another 10! Add to the list:

Environmental pollution Genetic manipulation Accumulating excessive wealth Inflicting poverty Drug trafficking and consumption Morally debatable experiments

Violation of fundamental rights of human nature



Well, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, look out!

I wonder if "accumulating excessive wealth" also applies to those who generate that excessive wealth by giving tax breaks to the tiny top 2% of the population while everyone else gets a lump of coal.

Ummmm. Maybe Gates and Buffet can buy enough carbon credits to get on the right side with God. Even the Southern Baptists have come out against global warming!

On top of that, now I have to wonder what drugs are coming out of the water tap. (Warning: Guys, don't drink the water in San Francisco. The sex hormones are changing the fish. You could come back as a woman!) I wonder if the fact that Philly has over 56 drugs in its water supply might affect their vote! This has not been a dull year.

FBI Unconcerned in Houston About Hate Crime Using Your Name

Photo: Another hate crime symbol

Hate crimes are at an all time high according to a radio report I
heard yesterday. I found out today from a friend that these lowlife
people even send out hate mail under other peoples' names. Apparently
they aren't willing to use their own identity. I also discovered the
FBI isn't concerned about someone sending it our using your name.

An example I've seen is a 3-page hate rant sent to TV stations like
Houston's ABC 13 calling for "Eradicate the Muslim Vermin" and "Death
to sand N___s" -- and worse). Someone sent it out using the League of
Women Voters as the sender in one mailing. The Democrat Party is
listed on the return address on another mailing. Obviously neither
organization endorses this kind of hate.

The League of Women Voters is nonpartisan and the members are
horrified to see this kind of trash sent out using their name. I'm
sure the Democratic Party feels the same. We clearly have a problem
with hate in America. The attacks aren't limited to Muslims, but
include Latinos, etc.

The League has reported this incident to the FBI, who considers it a
"hate crime." But then the FBI's agent dismissed it, saying: "Our
focus now is national security, not hate crimes." He even tried to refer them back to the Postmaster who referred them to the FBI.

In related news, another top prosecutor of other people for crimes has
just been identified for transporting a woman across state lines for
prostitution, which is a federal crime. Talk about stupid. A former
federal prosecutor should know about the "Mann Act" and putting the
hired lady on a plane from New York to Washington fits the description.

Hate crimes should rank higher than users of prostitutes -- and on a
parity with national security, because without it there is no security
for any of our citizens.

Issues of Gender, Race and Judgment

On the issue of gender vs. race, I was moved by the story of the black lady who said that she had to think long and hard to find discrimination on the basis of her sex but that she faced racism often. She described herself as being well dressed with a purse nicer than the white lady in the elevator who clutched her purse as if the black lady might grab it.

Sad. That was very telling.

On the issue of judgment to be President, Clinton always touts her
"experience" and has gone so far to say that "McCain is qualified, she was qualified, but Sen. Obama was not."

A news report I saw described how first lady Hillary took Chelsea, her young daughter, into a war zone that was so dangerous she was told by security to move Chelsea to an armored part of the airplane -- as the plane took evasive actions to avoid being hit by rockets at Bosnia. It was her choice to be there and to take her child.

Since when does taking a young kid into a hot war zone an exercise in good judgment? Is that the 3 A.M. experience that will help our country? If she chose to risk herself as first lady--fine, but not her daughter.

With that experience, she voted for a war (Iraq) where other people's kids have been sent to be shot at, killed or injured without even reading the intelligence report sent to members of Congress. Her own daughter has been nowhere near that war.

What kind of experience and judgment is that? First jeopardizing your own kid then risking the lives of other folks kids by voting for a war that took our eye off Al Qaida in Afghanistan and created a whole new unstable environment for Al Qaida to grow.

Since when do you vote for a war with costs exceeding $1 trillion and will kill a lot of other people's kids (nearly 4,000 so far) based on flimsy evidence without reading the only intelligence report available?

What kind of judgment is that?

And what kind of respect is it for the candidate trailing in the delegate count to suggest that the person who has received the highest number of votes and delegates might be her Vice President?

That kind of judgment seems arrogant and distorted; It is not the kind of judgment we need to build a coalition of what Sen. Obama calls "Democrats, Independents, and Republicans finding common ground." Even the Europeans are fascinated by this change.

THAT is the type of judgment we really need now -- not more of the same old divisive politics and the same two families controlling the White House for over 20 years.

The Torture President

Mr. Bush has vetoed legislation that would have outlawed "waterboarding" as torture. Even Presidential candidate John McCain, who was a POW, says that waterboarding IS torture, and he opposes it. Mr. McCain's opinion on this issue I respect.

That makes Bush, our draft-dodger in office, our "torture President." It is one more example why America's reputation is so low worldwide. The country that is supposed to stand for justice and fairness is now the country that condones torture.

I wish Bush would just quit torturing us and go away, far, far away. The above photo of a bumper sticker says it all:

"Jan 20, 2009: End of an Error." That's when the new President takes office. Amen.

New York Explosion – Domestic Terrorists Just As Dangerous as Foreign

I was on TV on 9/11 as a terrorist analyst. I did the same during the 1991 Gulf War. Some of the clips are on "YouTube" under the ID "Fjet2020". People seem to be missing the point when it’s said this was “not” a terrorist attack. We seem to have forgotten that America is as vulnerable to a domestic terrorist as a foreign one.

Have we forgotten the damage by Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols, white American natives, with a grudge and a truck bomb at the Oklahoma City federal building?

The explosion in New York at a military recruitment center was by a person on a bike, who threw a device made from a green ammunition can filled with explosive powder. It blew out the lower part of the glass -- it's being described as a "low explosive." The act is the same; whether it’s an American or a foreigner. What if next time it is a “high” explosive?

The incident bore strong similarities to two past incidents where small homemade bombs or incendiary devices were tossed at official buildings in New York in the last two years. Two were tossed at the British consulate and more recently two were tossed at the Mexican consulate.

So, there goes the theory that it is someone with a grudge against our military. Why attack a U.S. Military recruiting center, the British and Mexican consulates? What about the man in Las Vegas who is sick from Ricin poisoning? The Anthrax killer was never caught. We have a trend developing here, so we need to be as concerned with domestic terrorism from people whose faces may look like Tim McVeigh but adopt the common Middle East practice of trying to “fix” things by firing a rocket or tossing a bomb.

I recommend that people start thinking ahead to minimize the threat that will not go away when an individual or small angry group can easily obtain or make explosives.

The New York attack on the recruitment center should have been anticipated and prepared for. The bomb broke through the glass, causing damage and exposing the building to the elements.

If the center had installed a bomb-resistant window film available from our sponsor, Armor Glass International, the bomb would not have penetrated the glass. The inside would have been protected from damage even if the windows were shattered by the explosion. The Armor Glass film could have kept the building sealed and redirected the blast. If employees and guests had been present, they would have been saved from flying glass shrapnel. In hurricane zones, the same film would provide the same protection.

Terrorism is a part of our world in this 21st Century, whether it is Al Qaida or a local nut case who makes a bomb to make a point. Terrorism is also Mother Nature on a rampage the form of storms with flying debris.

This latest incident in New York, and the coming hurricane season, should be a warning that all of us who live in glass houses (offices, etc.) are vulnerable to these threats until we add 24/7 protection.

For those of you who want to monitor updates, keep checking this blog and get on the Global American mail list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalAmerican/

Texas Two Step – Time to Change?

Yesterday I participated in the first caucus I’ve attended since being a UT senior in 1972 in Austin (if Hillary was there either I didn’t see her or I was clueless who she was). My impression? It was time consuming, complicated chaos -- and we’ve got to make some changes!

On the Republican side, people who voted early or on Election Day were done when the polls closed – 100% of votes cast for each candidate determined the winner. If they returned after the polls closed at 7 it was only to debate and pass resolutions, etc. Winners and losers could go home, along with their volunteers, put their feet up and have a “cold one.”

But when Democrats finish voting in the primary, their votes only amount to two-thirds of the total delegates to be awarded each candidate. They aren't done voting. The final 1/3 comes from the caucus, a post-7 p.m. event which is a different game. Winning a Caucus is about who is willing to show up, at night, in rain or cold, with or without kids in tow, to sit for hours and cast yet a second vote. Then they have to grab calculators (while wishing for a supercomputer) to work through a weird math formula that determines how many delegates each candidate gets and when you round “down” and “up.” That leaves out a lot of people who have neither the time nor MIT math skills to vote a second time.

For example, in my Harris County precinct (in Seabrook), the caucus process meant that the 84 people who came to the meeting got to cast one third of the vote for the entire precinct! Of the 84 attendees, 43 signed in for Mr. Obama and 40 for Ms. Clinton (with one uncommitted). So, the 12 delegates that Precinct 692 was entitled to pick by caucus were decided by only 84 people. Delegates ended up being split between both candidates based on that sign up sheet.

We finally got to leave at 9 p.m. but other precincts had to stay much later since the caucus can’t even start until the last voter in line votes. When 7 p.m. came, over 60 Democrats were still in line!

Whether or not Mr. Obama’s organization produces a higher caucus vote, I believe that the Texas Democratic Party needs to seriously consider reforming the process so that in the future 100% of the vote is determined by the people who vote during the early vote and on election day – not by the caucus method that favors the party activists and leaves out many people with families or who are too old or ill to attend a meeting that takes hours and is confusing at best. The Democrats should do as the Republicans and leave the post-7 p.m. event for resolutions or electing party officers, not the next President of the United States.

Otherwise, it may be another 36 years before I attend another caucus!

Showing the World that America is Not Racist --and the Establishment Doesn't Always Win

Our Presidential election has people glued to the TV worldwide.
Arguments are being waged in Spanish and Chinese over whom the best
American candidate is. The attitude in the world that America is
racist and that the establishment always wins is being shattered by
this campaign.

Why? Because they can’t believe that someone who is not part of the
Establishment has a shot at becoming the American President. That
does not normally happen in the world. It didn’t happen in Russia’s
Sunday election, where Mr. Putin’s handpicked successor won, and got
all the advertising. In Pakistan, the autocrat Musharraf lost an
election to two potential successors, whose families have ruled
Pakistan before. The same faces keep showing up on ballots and running the power levers, like an endless loop.

So the world is amazed that this time in the U.S. an outsider has a
real chance of breaking the endless loop of the past two decades of the
Bush/Clinton/ Bush/Clinton lock on power –- which is making us look more like
Pakistan, Kenya and many third world countries where the same names keep running things. But not in this election, possibly.

A woman in India was quoted in one article I saw, which I paraphrase:
“In India, the establishment always wins. Hillary is regarded by us
not as a woman but as an establishment figure with a long history in
power (e.g., like the India Gandhi family). In Pakistan, her kind
always wins (Ms. Bhutto, her father and Mr. Sharif were all in power
previously). So people in the world are stunned to see a black man,
who would be at the bottom of the social ladder in many countries, who
has no Washington family like the Bush’s or entrenched power base like
the Clinton’s, running as strong as Mr. Obama has been.”

This is happening primarily on the Democratic side, since the
Republican candidates were all white men (no women or minorities were
among the eight or so original candidates). Therefore the democratic
race is getting the most global attention. The Democrats even
conducted a global election so that Americans in over 50 countries
world-wide were able to cast their vote (Obama won that one, too).

In other words the world is impressed by this election. They can see
that the American political system is still open enough to let a
reformer have a real shot at beating an establishment player who has
all the advantages prior power brings –- something which is very rare
in governments around the world.

It’s great to see that America is already beginning to improve its
standing in the world as a result of this unique election.

It proves that in America anyone can still do anything -- and the
little guy with nothing more than guts and brains still has a chance
to beat the status quo establishment, or even win a Presidency.

Thumbs Up Harry. Thumbs Down Drudge Exposing Soldiers

Thumbs UP for Prince Harry having the guts to serve in
Afghanistan--for 10 weeks until Drudge leaked that information,
endangering both Prince Harry and his fellow soldiers by making the
Taliban aware of his presence. Thumbs down for Drudge. Taliban can
read and Drudge made Harry's base a bigger target than it was. It cut
Harry off from serving his full tour of duty.

Compare Harry's actions with President Bush's. Were Bush's daughters
serving on the front line? No, although many American women,
including mothers with children, are serving today. Prince Harry was
within 500 yards of the Taliban and wasn't getting special treatment
even though our allies control only 30% of the country, according to
our own intelligence.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is demanding that the same U.S. soldiers and their
families repeat tours of duty in Iraq, as many as three or four,
because too few people-- especially the sons and daughters of the
privileged--are willing to do so. It's not Jenna and Barbara doing
without body armor or waiting on an MRAP to avoid being killed by an
IED. Afghanistan is now supplying 93% of the world's heroin which
finances the Taliban. The Taliban are now importing insurgent
techniques learned in Iraq, such as IED’s and suicide bombings. They
are a growing menace.

We still have too few NATO troops in Afghanistan and no strategy to
win. Recent TV reports showed four passes from Afghanistan to Pakistan
that have no NATO patrols to keep out the Taliban for lack of
sufficient troops. That makes it an “open door” for Taliban to cross
over from training on the Pakistan side. If Sen. McCain wants us in
Iraq for the next “100 years” he will have to draft kids into service
to fight. If Prince Harry can serve on the front lines, U.S. kids of
the privileged will have to do the same if we are an American system
is based on equality.

But the problem won’t diminish until we get involved in providing real
education to Pakistani children to replace the 30,000 Madrassas
teaching them hate instead of reading and math. Without that, there
will be another 100 years of a steady stream extremist recruits
growing up and crossing that border--shooting at our troops. We are
fighting fires that will keep burning until we cut off the fuel by
replacing the Pakistani hate "schools' with secular schools that have
more than one book as well as Internet access, connected to the world
like ours.

Meanwhile, the case of Ricin in Las Vegas is very strange for
something authorities say is "not" terrorism. If not terrorism, what
was it? It is a felony to make Ricin. It is used legitimately only in
cancer research--but that research is not conducted in motel rooms. If
the ricin was to be a murder weapon, who was its target? Who made it?
Some reports have indicated that ricin may have been used in the
Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s and that quantities of ricin were found
in Al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan. It’s more of an assassination
weapon. It’s not suitable for mass murder.

Which reminds me: Remember the Anthrax killer after 9/11? He is still
on the loose, along with Osama bin Laden, hiding in those Pakistan
hills beyond the unguarded Afghanistan mountain passes. "Heck of a
Job" on counter-terrorism by our government so far.

The next President will need an actual strategy to win Afghanistan
from the Taliban and keep Iraq stable, something that has been
missing. The next President will need to find solutions to the root
issues, instead of spending our blood and treasure over the next 100
years without addressing the extremist hate factories.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, head of the Senate Foreign Intelligence
Committee, said today that he believes that Mr. Obama is best suited
to do that. A huge mess has been left that will take a miracle to fix.