Sunday, June 30, 2013

Perspective: What Graduates Need to Know

Our grandson, Alec Schadelbauer,  graduated from High School this year as did many of our friend's children. I wrote this poem for him and them. It is may be applicable to college graduates, as well.

       CONGRATULATIONS

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES 2013

What you have accomplished is immense

And now you are ready to commence.

You’ve taken and handled every test

And have given every one your best.

You’ve mostly followed parent’s advice

To stay away from all sin and vice.

And next year you will be able to vote

Which means you must paddle your own boat.

You now have what you’ve always wanted

To chart your own path, quite undaunted.



There are some things you’ll want for your boat

In order to simply stay afloat.

So that your life does not fall apart

You will need a path that you will chart.

And lest you pilot a “Ship of Fools”

Be certain to stow all of life’s tools

Oh, don’t forget your Moral Compass

Lest you become complacent, pompous!

And keep someone close, you might guess,

To whom you can send an SOS.



You will sail a digital and global sea

The likes of which none ever did see.

You will not want to just drift

With the world in a paradigm shift.

You will have to be your own captain

In whatever job that you are in.

Your net is not to catch a fish.

It’s a “network” for which you must wish.

And work at and continue to explore

Today, tomorrow and evermore.



Luckily, you have a tool in hand

The Smart-Phone helps know-how to expand.

But when you need more than your remote

That’s when you’ll want God in your boat.

And you can have more joy than strife,

If you face all problems in your life.

And if you love your neighbor as yourself,

And don’t place your talent on the shelf,

Then we know that you will succeed

And will have smooth sailing at God-speed.



Wayne Pearson

June, 2013

Monday, June 17, 2013

Perspective: What Middle-east Foreign Policy?


The Benghazi event, which stems from the “leading from behind” strategy to topple Libya’s dictator, Gaddafi, raises the question just what is our foreign policy for the middle-east? Actually if you look at it even casually, it is an abysmal disaster.

The fist act of the newly elected President Obama was to go to Cairo, Egypt and apologize for all the harm the United States has done to the Muslim world. Then he demanded that Mubarak, the dictator of Egypt, step down. The Egyptian Brotherhood accommodated that wish and toppled the dictator which marked the beginning of the Arab Spring. Promptly the Brotherhood made terrible comments about the US, burned our flag and threatened our embassy. Shortly after this, Gaddafi’s troupes threatened to liquidate the rebels in Benghazi, so Obama convinced some NATO allies to liberate the rebels in Benghazi with airpower. We then added our drones and Gaddafi was assassinated. As might have been expected, Jihadists,associated with Al Queda, attacked our facility in Benghazi killing Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans. Then when rebels launched attacks to unseat Assad, the dictator of Syria, Obama encouraged them, but since Russia and Iran side with Assad and Al Queda has infiltrated the rebels, what can the US realistically do to stop the death toll which is reaching 100,000?

Meanwhile, Obama pulled all of our troupes from Iraq before their own forces were ready and capable of protecting their citizens only to find that the radicals, probably infiltrated by Al Queda affiliates, were already killing hundreds of Iraqis. Then after authorizing an immense expansion of the troupe level in Afghanistan, Obama promptly announced we are going to leave and provided a timetable allowing the Taliban to plan when to jump back in.

If this were not enough, Obama significantly expanded the use of drones in Muslim related foreign lands to conduct the war against alleged Islamic Jihadists without notifying the sovereign governments of those lands or worrying about collateral damage to innocent civilians or being concerned whether the terrorist is an American citizen or not. This drone program has heightened the anger the Jihadists have for the US and will doubtless grow more terrorists.

During this four plus year period, praise has been heaped on Secretary Clinton, to quote the song, “for traveling a million miles for one of those Arab smiles” while being oblivious to and having no knowledge of the danger her ambassadors are in. And after one was assassinated along with three other Americans in Benghazi, she shouted at the Congressional investigative panel: “What difference does it make?” Does Obama and Hillary expect to get pats on their backs for a middle-east foreign policy that can best be expressed by:

“What difference at this point does it make that the Middle-east in shambles?”

Finally, after contributing to the havoc that exists throughout the middle-east and disregarding the indisputable fact that the Arab Spring is infiltrated with Al Queda wantabes, Obama has the unmitigated gall to announce a week or so ago that the war against terror is over.

For perspective, if any corporate organization’s Chief Executive did this much damage to the corporation’s well being and to its image, that person would be unceremoniously fired on the spot.

Now, since observing the enormous damage Obama’s foreign policy has wrought to the middle-east and how it jeopardizes the world’s oil supply, we have just recently discovered y that the United States has a larger supply of oil and natural gas than all of the middle-east and then some. Can you imagine this? The US is no longer dependent upon the middle-east for its energy supply! How lucky can we get? This windfall of fossil fuels presents a once in lifetime opportunity to change our foreign policy in the middle-east.

We could just walk away and let those left behind try to crawl out of the rubble, but a more prudent and civilized approach would be, as good citizens of the world, to offer to help form a partnership of those who need middle-east oil. That partnership would consist of China, India, Japan and needy European countries, where the United States should only act as a facilitator. We should have only one stipulation, namely that the partnership becomes responsible for protecting the good middle-east governments and especially including Israel. Who believes the current Administration could pull this off?











Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Perspective: What is the Benghazi Story?





In the old days, before our government was inundated with lawyers, we would not require unequivocal proof that something might not be true. If those earlier folk noticed an odor that smelled like horse manure, they would not jump to the conclusion that the aroma probably came from breakfast cereal. The aroma from Benghazi is not breakfast cereal and every one of us knows it.

This is what do we know about Benghazi. The day of the attack those on the ground in Benghazi reported to their superiors, and that includes the President and Secretary of State, that our embassy in Benghazi was under attack and the that attackers were affiliated with Al Qaeda with whom we have been at war for 17 years. With this news our President went to bed to rest up for the strenuous fund raising trip to Las Vegas the next day, and he was never heard from again. Meantime, the military, not having a clue as to the number or strength of the attackers, jumped to the conclusion that they could not get there in time to save anyone. Meantime, our Ambassador and three other Americans were murdered.

A few days later we Americans were informed about this disaster by Susan Rice, Ambassador to the UN, who stated that the attack was instigated by a person who created a video that was upsetting to Muslims. Thank God we captured that idiot and have him licked up, but of course we can not find or capture the culprits who killed our Ambassador.

Of all of the scandals the Whitehouse is involved in, namely, the egregious treatment of AP and Fox correspondents and the out-of control IRS, Benghazi is the worst. No correspondent or tax payer was killed in the AP and IRS scandals, and we will probably never find out who told the perpetrators of these heinous acts to do what they did. But in the case of Benghazi, the Commander in Chief and the Secretary of State were in charge and were the key deciders. Their abandoning of their posts is tantamount to dereliction of duty. In the private world they would be fired unceremoniously on the spot. But of course they will not be fired. Worse, they will be defended on the basis that since nothing could be done, why try? And according to Secretary Clinton “What difference does it make anyway?”

If you think that that the aroma surrounding this fiasco is coming from breakfast cereal, you should contact your Ear, Nose and Throat specialist!!!