The American Spirit

Looks like Trump is our incoming president. I voted for Hillary.

The morning brought a collective shudder of horror and  the Canadian immigration website crashing due to overwhelming traffic. Before moving to Canada, take a deep breath, acknowledge what had happened, and realize:  this is an unprecedented opportunity to evolve.

Brexit–the Case for Sanity.

Whenever something like this happens, I am amazed how tabloids make things sound so polar and so one-sided catering to our collective popular trumpesque whims (all of the puns!)…

I’d just like to point out a few obvious things.  UK GDP is 2.678 trillion.  EU GDP is 16.2 trillion.  That is, UK is #2 in the top 5 (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain. collectively 10.5 trillion, which is 71.8% of total EU GDP) with UK being 17.6% of total EU GDP.  Yeah…

My Friends On Gaza and Israel: the Tragic Mistake

I am deeply disturbed by posts that some of my FB friends, some with education and significant influence on those around them.  In these posts they are deeply critical of Israel in a manner I think to be damaging to everyone – especially Palestinian civilians.

To these friends, I’d like to raise two issues:

A) it’s not 2 players, but 4: 1) Israeli civilians, 2) Palestinian civilians, 3) Israeli government, and 4) Hamas.  All of the civilized world agrees that civilian death is tragic and should be avoided as much as possible.  In addressing the ongoing conflict, it is important not to conflate Palestinian civilians with Hamas.  Israel does not target Palestinian civilians and every civilian death is a tragedy.  Hamas targets Israeli civilians and, if they had the means, would destroy as many as they can.  Worse yet, they seek to kill their own civilian population for PR purposes. If you watch nothing else, watch this video of Hamas placing children next to a rocket launcher.  Per Huffington Post – it is time for moral clarity.

A Tiny Difference (Translation)

Let’s not compare modern Kiev with Hussein’s Iraq.  Let’s compare the then-America with the now-Russia.

My translation of: http://profile.ru/pryamayarech/item/79939-malenkaya-raznitsa by Dmitry Bykov.

“USA does not and cannot have moral grounds to lecture on following international norms and respecting other countries’ sovereignty. What about the bombings in former Yugoslavia or invasion of Iraq on falsified evidence?” – MID RF ominously asks, commenting on the suggested sanctions against Russia.  And it’s a reasonable question, a favorite argument of couch patriots and propagandists: how can you?.. Have you looked in the mirror?..  What about Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan?!  Let’s not, as was suggested in that same commentary, stoop to polemics by way of tear-jerking propaganda and remind anyone about what was was going on in Yugoslavia under Milosevic, or compare modern Kiev with Hussein’s Iraq, where people were being dissolved in acid.  Let’s instead compare something else: the then-America vs. the now-Russia.

Tyranny in Kiev (Maidan, Yanukovich) – Translation of Vladimir Gromov’s Post

Dear Friends!

I am addressing, first and foremost, those who are in Russia, since for those of us in Ukraine already know and understand everything that’s going on with respect to what I am about to write. I decided to write this after I received, from Moscow, a number of nonsensical messages and questions. I am completely convinced that nobody actually understands what is going on in Kiev and want to clarify my position. I think I have a right to do so, because, despite being a Russian born in Moscow, I’ve lived in Ukraine for seven years, I have two kids, a job and I teach.

The Bora Zivkovic Controversy and American Values

Recently, a controversy arose over Bora Zivkovic’s behavior.  Summary:

• Bora engaged in personal adult interaction with some women, with whom he also interacts in a professional context.
• These women felt uncomfortable and claimed that he has sexually harassed them.
• The internet exploded.

Why I am Speaking Out

Because I feel very strongly that Bora is being wronged and that he is suffering damage as a result of what is fundamentally against the core values we should share as a society, and because I feel I cannot remain silent while such injustice is taking place.

Read this Morning: Militarization of Government

Morning read: Salon – “Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control – the lack of transparency and accountability seem striking.  It’s further upsetting that these things are done with my tax money.  Another instance where we need to push our society to evolve.

SHAME: US is Screwing Over Iraqis who Helped Us

I am ashamed to be an American today.  I learned about TheListProject.org. 

Synopsis: Iraqis who helped US in Iraq during and after the war have put themselves in danger and are now being murdered in Iraq, because US failed to protect them or take them in as refugees.  US had a moral obligation, went through the motions (senate passed a law allocating 25,000 visas), but…

The machine that should have allowed people to immigrate failed. 

Example: a guy worked as a forklift operator, attempted to immigrate as a refugee, provided US Immigration everything needed, had the American company he worked for vouch for him, and yet the system dragged the process on failing to adequately handle his case.  He started the process on June 28th, 2011.  Around June 2012, he was murdered. (source: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/takingnames/)

WhyWeVote in Progress–Want to help?

So, the new version of WhyWeVote is in progress and the team is forming.  If you’re interested in joining, drop me a line at whywevote@nikitab.com .

Approving Assassination of Leaders Under Extreme Circumstances

At the risk of sounding naive: I agree with this (with reservations). In centralized covernments, a military confrontation has comparitively low cost to leadership – an explicit threat of assasination for non-compliance under extreme circumstances could have a better effect than economic sanctions or even a military intervention. A military intervention that places lives at risk (either that of soldiers or civilians) should be a tool of last resort after the leadership refuses to comply even given threat of physical extermination. I acknowledge that this is an extreme position, but the context in which this applies is also extreme… and, with respect to Libya, I think we have long ago crossed the threshold of “reasonable”.

If the situation becomes extreme enough that the civilized world decides to intervene, it should use all tools available to miminize loss of life.