Glenn Greenwald's Take on Investigative Journalism

          Once again Glenn Greenwald showed us how a smart excellent-educated individual could have a completely screwed up perception on simple things. Like need to reflect on issues before discussing them. Like "don't bubble out everything you learned to the world at large". And  -  let's call the things by their actual names. Like treason. A clear-cut act of treason commited by army private Bradley Manning.
         Now I don't think anybody would expect  good Gleen to understand what would it mean to put your life on the line, like it was done in American history - and still is done now - by many thousands of men and women. And nobody would require that Glenn - who, by the way, has been greatly benefited by American system - would in turn feel the sense of real patriotism. Everybody who follows politics knows well enough that Glenn Greenwald would not go to the battlefield to fight for our liberty. He chooses another battle - to extend his full support to Mr. Manning, either a mindless young man in search of his own popularity - or your typical renegade, a felon convicted of a whole bunch of crimes, the worst of them is putting in great danger the lives of his comrades-in-arms. Although I think not to many folks who ever served in uniform will call this man a comrade. He is a traitor, pure and simple. Even Jeff Toobin, legal analyst for CNN and New York Times, who by no means could be called conservative, fervently disagreed on CNN with Greenwald on this issue. So why Mr. Greenwald and his friends have chosen to support him?
            Before anybody on the far left will accuse me of opposing the 1st Amendment, let me state clear that I am completely in favor of Mr. Greenwald's right to express his opinion, no matter how outrageous it seems to a lot of folks. I am even glad he and others at his side continue showing to America their disrespect for the people in American uniform and their disregard for the lives of men and women who serve their country in harm's way - so that we all know where everyone stands. But why do they do that? In his discussion with Jeff Toobin on Anderson Cooper's show, Mr.Greenwald called Bradley Manning's publishing of 750,000 highly classidied army and intelligence documents an act of "investigative journalism". Really? So displaying those documents by an army private to everyone in the world, including our worst enemies is not a treason? It's not an act of betrayal? It's not a violation of the military pledge which Mr. Manning took voluntarily upon himself? You've got to be kidding.
            The thing is that Glenn Greenwald, without acknowledging it, subscribes to the old ideas of anarchy, where there is no laws, no rules and no law enforcement. I would love to see how Mr. Greenwald - and great many of his genossen -will survive in these circumstances.

Income redistribution for dummies

            John Sutter just published on CNN a new liberalistic opinion on the "morality" of income inequality, citing opinions of four people introduced as "philosophers" in the area of social justice. In short, they are smart enough to not directly indulge themselves in confirming the immorality of different income for different folks, but rather came up with a few talking points about the issue. Mostly, there is nothing new to them, it's the same old rephrasing of the school of thought initiated by Carl Marx, the notorious social agitator and political utopist of 19 century. Based on his theories the evil empire of the former USSR and it's satellites existed for three quarters of 20th century, managed to take lives of 50 to 70 millions of it's own people and made lives of a few hundred million more quite miserable for generations. Apparently for a good measure, straightforward ideas of bad old Carl are sprinkled with a few drops of reasonable components.
           So what are the talking points, the product of liberal minds happy to loan their hard-born philosophical babies to Mr. Sutter? Here you go:
            -  Income inequality isn't a moral problem; opportunity is.
            -  Inequality turns us into "Downtown Abbey".
            -  Wealth is rad; human suffering isn't.
            -  Extreme inequality ruins democracy.
            -  Jesus wants us to be poor.
            -  The size of the rich-poor gap matters.
            -   Inequality is bad if the poor don't benefit too.
           Let's try to dissect and digest those, and see which ones, if any, make some sense for American reality.
           "Income inequality isn't a moral problem; opportunity is". Now, when we put 12 people on the start line and give them a signal to run for a 5-mile distance, do we expect them to come to finish all at the same time? Nope, whoever is better prepared will come first. And for some people it will require more preparation than for others. Additionally it will be up to all of them to get ready. In our society, do we have to benefit high school dropouts? Or do we have to benefit the hard workers? Are these really difficult questions? And do we, as a society, need to encourage everyone to succeed? Unequivocal "yes" for the last one. So what's wrong? The high schools are open for everyone. And last time I checked they were free. Grants are there for some. Student loans, as hard as it is to pay them back, are available. Rich people have better chance to put their kids into Ivy League? So become rich & make it easier on your kids. Steve Jobs did that. Mike Dell did that. Who needs more examples?
           "Inequality turns us into "Downtown Abbey"". This is a total nonsense. Inequality will always exist as people should have equal rights but their abilities, their skills, their determination, their attitude will always be different. And yes, people who worked long & hard for their money will have more opportunities to buy things & services. Anything wrong with that?
           "Wealth is rad; human suffering isn't". Now, I don't think everyone understands what "rad" means. Apparently, it's a liberal slang for what used to be called "cool". Mr. Sutter is trying to sound rad, or cool. I agree with this notion though, people should not suffer & everything possible needs to be done to eliminate suffering. But what is "suffering"? Hungry people suffer & need to be fed. And taught how to make money so they won't be hungry anymore. Abused suffer & whoever abuses them needs to be removed from his victims & punished. But if someone suffers because he or she drives old rusty Civic or could not go to Bahamas, my advice would be: "You have to work for it. Educate yourself. Learn good skills. And work hard. Than and only than the world will open up to you and all the beautiful thing will become available".
          "Extreme inequality ruins democracy". You bet it does. 2012 presidential election costed each candidate's campaign about 1 billion dollars. We need to find a way to end it. The same with golden parachutes for high level execs and unlimited bonuses for CEOs, CFOs and COOs of public companies - regardless of their performance. That's were government regulations could and should make a difference. By the way, even private companies should abide by some caps here if they want to bid for government contracts.
         "Jesus wants us to be poor". I will leave this one to everybody's own perception on religion. Atheists may feel free to ridicule this statement as they usually do when someone mentions the Holy Scriptures. My personal take is that religious people shouldn't consider wealth the most precious thing in the world.
         "The size of the rich-poor gap matters". I agree it does. But remember how much Bill Gates and Warren Buffet donate to good causes. They would not be able to do this shouldn't they have all this money, for which they work very hard all their lives.
         "Inequality is bad if the poor don't benefit too". I would add here "working poor". Yes, some people do work and don't make enough. I am not going to repeat everything already said about the value of good education, marketable skills & desire to succeed.  Not everyone is born with equal abilities. Not everyone could achieve the same heights. But in most cases consistent hard work bring the desired fruits of success. It could be different for everyone. Simply because all of us are different. That's the beauty of life. But everyone who wants a good life should work very hard for it rather then hope that someone will do it for him or her.
"To everyone according to his needs" was a slogan introduced by Carl Marx. We must know - unfortunately many even well-educated people already forgot - what happened when his ideas were implemented. Who should fulfill those needs? Who should create all these beautiful things which we all desire? Just we, the people.
          Maybe, by and large, there is a couple reasonable ideas in the article after all. Albeit Mr. Sutter, why the word "income" is mentioned so many times in your piece, but "hard work" not even once?
       

Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman - What Would be a Real Justice

           Zimmerman trial....Too much division in the country, too much controversy, too much rage from both sides of the spectrum. And too much hate raised it's ugly head... Was justice served properly? Is Zimmerman getting undeserved slack? Do blacks always get a short end of the deal? Are whites too scared to even report crimes committed by blacks - much less intervene? Who is right and who is wrong now, when we are in a hot discussion and when lots of people protest the verdict - and at the same time lots of people are saying they are surprised by the courage of jurors which did not yield for a political pressure?
           Let me analyze this tragic event from a little bit different angle. And I am not going to employ too much PC, as I am sure most people are fed up with it. First off, Travon Martin , often described in the media as an innocent kid, was no angel. He was involved in a confrontation with a bus driver & punched him in the face. He was carrying illegal drugs in his backpack. And he started the fight with Zimmerman. Did he deserve to die for all or any of this? Hell no! He still could become a fine young man and a useful member of our society. And you bet my heart goes to his family. And I pray that his soul will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
           Now George Zimmerman is no angel either. If he wanted to enforce the law and order in his neighborhood, he had to be less vigilant. He had to be more careful, more polite, show more understanding of other people feelings. And more maturity. I don't think he deserves a gun license at this point. But did he deserve to be locked up? No, he did not. At some point of the attack he had to defend himself. Or did he have to let the other guy kill him? I don't think so.
           Quite a few blacks and whites have a lot of drudge against each other. And at least some of them may be valid. Blacks complain that plenty of doors are still closed to them, that there is a lot of disparities, that black youths are placed in a position of disadvantage right from the start. That whites are stereotyping them. Whites complain that the crime rate among blacks is too high and that there is too much reliance on government help and too much blame is placed on slavery which ended more than 150 years back. and that blacks are stereotyping them.
           Now some of my black readers will say that as a white by definition I am not able to feel their pain & because of that could never completely comprehend their anger. This may be true. But many years ago, in another country I was a member of discriminated minority. Many doors were closed to me. So, to an extent, from personal experience I do know what it means to be opressed and to have limited opportunities. But lets get back to the issue at hand.
           Unfortunately, we are already talking about the past event and what's most important is our future as a nation. Do we have to be racially divided? Do we need to continue blaming each other for a lot of mistreatment? No we don't. Are most of us racist at both sides of the race line? No we are not.  If you disagree, take a look at the pools. Take a look at your friends or coworkers of a different race. Take a look even at multiracial families. We are not the enemies. In fact, we are all on the same side. We are Americans.
           Let this tragedy unite us and not divide. Let's teach our kids to respect each other. Let's get rid of the dirty offensive words for the members of other race. Let political agitators on both sides of the race line choke in their rage - no matter real or artificial. All they are trying to do - along with the media - is to self-promote themselves at any cost & make money by dividing us. Brothers and sister of all races, do not let this happen to you! Let's treat each other with dignity & respect - and lets start this in our hearts and our minds. Let's try to take a new look at each other. And I can give you two examples from history when people were able to do just that. Each time this happened after a brutal fighting during the civil war. General Franko in Spain, after his victory over communist rebels, said "We need to understand that people from the other side, our former enemies, now are our compatriots and we should treat them as such". Something similar was said by Abraham Lincoln after our civil war, in 1865. He paid with his life for that and we should honor his request.
        And one more example, a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: "There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive."
       Here are my suggestions on how to approach this. And I am talking not only to Whites and Blacks but to Latinos and Asians as well.
       Select an elderly couple or a single person from a different race in your neighbourhood or close by. Visit them, introduce yourself. And offer your help. Ask what you can do for them. Maybe you could help with shopping, or visting a doctor, or find a good plumber for them. Do something and don't get discouraged if they will deny your help. Start with another couple.
      Or invite a kid from a different race to participate in your soccer game, or in your other sports event. Or invite a couple from a different race to your barbeque party. Devote a few hours a month to help and encourage people of a different race in a local hospital. We, Americans, are famous for doing lots of volunteer work. And don't limit yourself to a one-time-deal. Make it a habit.  I am sure folks will come up with dozens of other options. Possibilities are endless. Don't try to resolve a problem for everyone in this country. Just don't hesitate and start doing something right in your neigbourhood, on a simple personal level.
      And let this to be an outcome of what happened - and a real justice for all. God bless.
           
           

Rolling Stones Glorifying Terrorist

          Rolling Stones reached a new bottom of indecency:  Boston marathon terrorist Dzhochar  Tsarnaev is proudly displayed at their cover. What is this: a dictated by bad taste desire for a controversy, an intentional effort to create a scandal, or maybe just a senseless attempt for a public shock? I say none of the above. Of course, there is no such thing as a bad publicity. But are we talking about the magazine's publicity or about promoting the terrorist's views? Why do they at Rolling Stones are trying to show a nonexistent "human face" of an individual guilty of killing three, maiming more than a dozen and injuring hundreds of innocent people, including kids?  And please don't remind me the presumption of innocence here. 9/11 terrorists were not pronounced guilty in the out of law but let's call mass murderers by their exact names.
          The explanation is very simple. This is a part of liberal agenda to brainwash minds of people. They want us to believe that we in America are on the side of evil. That we are always wrong. That we are the bullies which are getting what we deserve. That may be - just may be - that whoever attacks our way of life could be within their rights.
          Janet Reitman, come out and tell this to the mother who now has two sons without a leg. Tell this to the parents whose kids just wanted to watch a maraphone and  became maimed. Tell this to all the families of the victims. Tell this to all the people who, regardless of desperate efforts of "journalists" like you still have a clear understanding of what integrity and decency is about. Just  come out and tell it to them and explain why did you choose to do what you did. And don't be surprised if some of them will spit in your face.