example #2 of how to not treat an allie

The US secretly agreed to give the Russians sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent to persuade them to sign a key treaty, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Information about every Trident missile the US supplies to Britain will be given to Russia as part of an arms control deal signed by President Barack Obama next week.

Defence analysts claim the agreement risks undermining Britain’s policy of refusing to confirm the exact size of its nuclear arsenal.

The fact that the Americans used British nuclear secrets as a bargaining chip also sheds new light on the so-called “special relationship”, which is shown often to be a one-sided affair by US diplomatic communications obtained by the WikiLeaks website.

Full story here

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in a nutshell

Mr. Levy, the former Israeli peace negotiator, said: “The problem for America is, you can balance being the carrier for the Israeli agenda with Arab autocrats, but with Arab democracies, you can’t do that.”

the full story here

2 cents:
This circles Reagan’s words and rebuke about Carter’s administration and the Iran mess it created. With the Shah of Iran you had stability in the nation, someone doing his best to keep extremism at bay while trying to allow the culture flourish. True he was a autocracy but he was an allie of the USA and in many ways the region because of his allegiances to the West and a separation of religion and government. Our government’s meddling (OIL) and instigation led to his overthrow and the power that took the place of the vacuum was the Ayatollah and you know the rest.

Now this may tick someone off but it needs to be “said” – because of the attributes and philosophy of the Islam religion the risk to a nation and the world is exceptionally great when democracy is attempted. For example – central to its belief structure is the necessity of the religion being the government so with this ideology the different views/positions of Islam run the country literally. When you have a religion that encourages violence for the sake of their version of Islam, well then the liberal arm of Islam will always be killed by the extremists which means extremism will run the government.

If what some of the earlier reports are stating is true and this mess in Egypt had been encouraged & nurtured by USA meddling then our government has committed another atrocious act of disservice to the world.

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Unite around religion

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader has called the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia an “Islamic liberation movement”.

In his address, during Friday prayers at Tehran University in Iran’s capital, he said that people are witnessing the reverberations of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

“The awakening of the Islamic Egyptian people is an Islamic liberation movement and I, in the name of the Iranian government, salute the Egyptian people and the Tunisian people,”he said.

Khamenei has urged Egypt’s protesters to follow in the footsteps of the Iranian revolution which toppled a pro-US leader and installed an Islamic Republic, calling on Egyptians to unite around religion.

Khamenei added that the Egypt’s embattled president, Hosni Mubarak, is a “servant” of Israel and the United States.

The spiritual leader’s remarks were received by cheering crowds of worshippers who, raising their hands, chanted “Death to America! Death to Israel!”

full story here

2 cents: I believe this confirms my “in a nutshell” post

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Time for plain talk

From today’s Washington Post:
“I don’t think America appeals to the younger generation,” she said. “I’m cautious not to present them with the American example because there’s a negative attitude to America, a disappointment.”
No one yet knows what kind of Middle East will emerge from Cairo’s embattled streets: a newly democratic one, an increasingly radicalized one, or perhaps one in which authoritarian regimes tighten their grip. Events in Cairo are unfolding too rapidly to predict, but one possible outcome could be a more visibly anti-American drift.
Still, it is notable that even the most rabid protests against President Hosni Mubarak have focused on his reign, rather than on the American role in enabling it.
Reform of a particular sort could actually bolster U.S. interests if it allows more open commerce and development of a strong middle class in societies often split today between a connected rich and a dispossessed poor.

My 2 cents:
Plain talk is what our government needs to convey to Egypt and Muslims across the world.
Plainly and honestly explain that we are pro-democracy and have as a hope a world that embraces democratic principles. That our hesitation and lack of clarity for what is going in Egypt is because of the fear of extremists of any kind seizing this opportunity to plunder Egypt and any other nation that opens the door to a democratic process.
Be honest. Be respectful. Egyptians, Muslims, citizens of the world would appreciate honest dialogue. The region could strengthen and bloom under such words.

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the hole

I read this NYT article this morning that was the result of two philosophers trying to explain why the majority of people feel “empty” and how to remedy the situation. They tell us to be proactive and participate in things that will provide us “whooshing up” moments. “We get whooshed up at a sports arena, at a political rally or even at magical moments while woodworking or walking through nature.”  The writer of the article points out that these two philosophers writing from the so-called scholarly ivory towers are of the belief that there is no God and since they feel that way and have the empty hole in their lives that the majority of society does as well.

Why I mention this article and am taking the time to post about it is that they do hit the nail on the head, accidentally, as to what many people are and do go through. And this pertains to Christians, religious, spiritual or not. I speak from first hand experience on this. One can have “beliefs” and really not be connected to them. Or another way to put, being spiritual minus the power and peace. In order to have any chance of explaining what I mean I have to speak from what I know so I will address it from the position of a Christian but if the reader is a Buddhist, free-lance, etc I believe they can easily and effectively replace the proper nouns to identify with this better.

For a Christian we are to be Christ-like and that does not just mean “behave”. Jesus came to this earth to save the lost because it was His Father’s will. He suffered and died on the cruel cross of Golgotha because it was God’s will for His life. To be Christ-like, to be a Christian, means to be fulfilling God’s will for your life. In can be to be a Christian book-seller, Christian teacher, Christian janitor, Christian doctor, and it can also be to be a Christian missionary or other similar responsibilities; the bottom line is that we are doing the Father’s will. If we are I am of the firm belief we will not have the empty hole. That does not mean we won’t have rough, tough, miserable times ahead. It just means the hole will be filled and there is a peace that passes all understanding when that is the case.

Our nation claims to be religious/spiritual but the truth of the matter is our nation is religious/spiritual only at a certain place and at a certain time/s a week; the other days of the week we are doing what we want, when we want and doing our best to accumulate wealth, prosperity or simply covering the weekly or monthly living expenses. There is without a doubt a large hole.

Selfishness, prosperity seeking and the like are never ever satisfied; they will always leave a hole.

So the question is simple, whose will are you trying to fulfill?

 

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been thinking

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about life lately – much different than I usually do. Over the past three years I have had this kind weird interest in obituaries and the need to see faces to the names. It won’t surprise me that whatever this is – is also behind my interest with the Doe Network. Lives need to be acknowledged but that is a subject for another time. What is swirling around in my mind and spirit is the knowledge that “this” life in comparison to eternity is nothing. I realize it is hard if not impossible for us to get our minds wrapped around the fact of eternity but that doesn’t change the matter that eternity is a reality and a fact. This coupled with our soul – the “us” trapped in our physical bodies – is eternal as well is really becoming sobering to me. My soul, your soul whether one believes it or not if a fact is indeed a fact then our beliefs in many ways doesn’t matter. Yet in the end our beliefs do matter in reference to the state and location of our soul.

Let me try to explain… If I believe that “me” – my soul – my essence, what makes me – me is eternal and there is no afterlife of the soul then – ultimately no harm done to me. But if I am one who does not believe my soul is eternal therefore no afterlife and there is indeed an afterlife and place for my soul based on my beliefs then I am in eternal trouble.

If the matter of an eternity is real and fixed – and is the result of some being > God and He makes the rules – period. And if in this very temporary span of time I fix my eternal state based on what I think or expect and it does not align to His rules… my eternal state, the where and how of soul will be based on His rules not mine – period.

Thinking this and considering then how many lives here are even shorter than the expected lifespan. Plus the reality that eternity makes our lifespan almost insignificant HOWEVER the weight of this insignificant lifespan has ETERNAL WEIGHT to it and fixes the eternal state of one’s being when we pass from this life to the afterlife; when we leave the temporal for the eternal. Think about it! If eternity was only 10 million years and let’s say I live to be a 100 that means my lifespan is .001% of my eternal soul. Think how insignificant in numbers a 100 is to eternity!

But what a huge (understatement) implication and impact our short lifespan has to our eternal wellbeing.

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