Current Affairs

It was reported on Saturday 1/5/08 that Al Qaeda's media wing announced the release of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri wireless downloads for cell phones.  A couple elements of this story seem newsworthy.

First, Al Qaeda has a media wing.  You'd think someone would let that media department know they really should do a better PR job.  Al Qaeda as a brand needs some work.  Second, what if an overmodulated video full of terrorist rhetoric damaged a mobile device?  Would a manufacturer cover that under warranty in the first year. 

A blown speaker has been known to make people blow their cool.

On Wednesday of last week, President Bush began an eight day tour through the Middle East.  He announced that his visit would seek to build solidarity in the region for peace between Palestine and Israel.  As part of the ritual pomp and circumstance that seemingly must follow such announcements, "Al Qaeda's American spokesman urged fighters to meet President Bush with bombs when he visits the Middle East."

As if that were not enough, alleged U.S. citizen Adam Gadahn tore up his U.S. passport to round out the Al Qaeda welcome for the U.S. President in the Middle East.  Gadahn is quoted by the Wallstreet Journal as saying, "be ready to receive the Crusader slayer Bush in his visit to Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula in the beginning of January and to receive him not with flowers or clapping but with bombs and booby-trapped vehicles."

I wonder if Gadahn understands that Islamics are not the only religious zealots crazy enough to spill massive amounts of blood in the name of a martyr.  For everyone involved- it's much better if Bush remains alive to slowly pass away into the night rather than becoming a symbol for all out religious slaughter.

Alive, Bush is falling into lame-duck irrelevance.  Most of the U.S. media's focus is on presidential primaries not Bush.  Why change the focus on who will replace Bush to who will avenge Bush?  That cannot possibly serve anyone's interest.  Muslim extremists should understand that Christian extremists are pretty crazy as well. 

As for the videos available for wireless download.  Most of the files available for download are between 17MB and 120MB.  That file size is far too large for most wireless phones in the U.S to download; therefore, I really can't imagine this is much of a threat to anyone.  Can you imagine an Pakastani rush on iPhones, Treo's and Blackberrys?  Their Gross Domestic Product per capita is only $2,370 a year.

It wouldn't seem that these files are widely available to the poor Muslim extremist demographic.

On Bush's side of things.  He spoke today at a fancy hotel in Abu Dhabi- in the United Arab Emirates.  At that engagement, President Bush called Iran "the world's leading state sponsor of terror."

Bush went on to accuse Iran of sending "...hundreds of millions of dollars to extremists around the world, while its own people face repression and economic hardship at home."  The audience consisted of "government officials, business executives, academics and students."  Bush seems to be seeking alignments between the United States with states such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Eygpt against Iran.  The problem is that many of these states have concerning human rights records according to the U.S. State Department.

Bush's timing here seems odd.  In eight years he hasn't traveled to Israel and Palestine; however that's seems to be a primary focus for him on this trip.  He's doing this with about a year left in office.  If Middle East peace was so important, why did we start wars in the Middle East?  It's a difficult position to maintain or even understand at times.

Video provided by Al Jazeera suggest that Bush doesn't necessarily seem comfortable with the trip himself; however, this could simply be a result of clip selection on the part of Al Jazeera.

A stutter before calling Iran out on terror and "indiminate" do not inspire confidence.  I don't hold out a lot of hope for Bush's visit to the Middle East accomplishing much, but it sure would be crazy if it did.




Getting to Know Your Government

Election primaries are in full swing with Hillary Clinton having won the New Hampshire primary with 39% of the vote compared to Obama's 36% and John Edwards 17%.  On the Republican side, John McCain came out of New Hampshire strong with 37% alongside Romney's 32%, Huckabee's 11%, 9% for Guiliani and 8% for Ron Paul.

It would seem that barring any type of major upset the next president will be Democrat, but to get a true sense of how all this will play we must first get to Super Tuesday on February 5th.  However, before Super Tuesday a host of primaries and caucuses will fuel media outlets for the next couple weeks.  The schedule looks like this:

Tues., Jan. 15: Michigan Republican Primary
Sat., Jan. 19: Nevada Democratic Caucuses
Sat., Jan. 19: South Carolina Republican Primary
Sat., Jan. 26: South Carolina Democratic Primary
Tues, Jan. 29: Florida Republican primary
Tues., Feb. 5: Super Tuesday

 While we wait for the returns, we can bask in the in a lot of nonsense being used by seemingly every American with a microphone shoved in their face to rationalize their vote for Barak or Hillary.  Melissa McLeod of Portsmouth, New Hampshire was quoted saying "I felt that Hillary needed a longer chance. I didn't want to see her knocked out of the race in a one-two punch after all of her hard work," as an explanation for casting a reluctant vote for Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire Primary.

Her rationale doesn't set a very high expectation for the next president of the United States,escpecially when she followed up her explanation with "...although I am an Obama fan I thought Hillary needed my vote and I hate the way she gets dumped on for not being feminine, then being too feminine."

In this regard it seems that Hillary is going to step up her pleas for sympathy votes.  There's nothing more pathetic- and sometimes heart wrenching- than seeing a girl cry.  Her strategist will probably refer to this spectacle as "showing a personal side" or "speaking from the heart," but when it comes right down to brass tacks- if enough people feel sorry for Hillary because the boys won't play fair, she might just end up being the next president of the United States.

Our Nation is Now Dumber for This…Thank You for Your Participation!

Tyra Banks as judge and mentor.  'Nuff said.

Tip of the Week

Speak from your heart and let the rest sort itself out.
Talk to people who need help.
Treat those who seem despicable with respect.
Kiss ass for no one and be true to what you believe.




Belly Laugh

Katt Williams has knowledge to drop if you can proceed past M&F'er bombs and "nigga" drops.