Good Morning USA

United States Doesn't Raise Alert

Although the weekend car bombs in Britain have sent the British into full 'critical' alert, it seems that the the US are more complacent. Terrorist alerts have not risen in the US and everything seems to be as normal. I think there are two ways of looking at this a positive one and a negative one. I'll start with the negative one first. Hence the title 'Good Morning USA'. It is clear that there are Al-Qaida insurgents in the US just as there are in Britain. The fact that the terrorist are doing there dirty work in Britain does mean that they have forgotten the US. Not only that, the fact that the US are suffering plenty of terrorist attacks in Iraq does not mean that they can't suffer attacks that are far closer to home. If Al-Qaida is increasing it's actions it would make sense to budge the alert status in the US preemptively to prevent insurgents from preparing another attack. Terrorist actions are best handled by prevention. If a terrorist cell exists, it is only a matter of time before they decide to strike.

Wake Up!

It would seem that ignoring the world escalation of terrorism and keeping alerts at their current level is unhealthy complacency. Believing irrationally that for some unknown reason Al-Qaida will decide to exclude the US from it's terrorist agenda is probably not a good idea. Last time when I wrote about Britain's coping with terror, I expressed the hope that the modern world might wake up and realise that terror is something that can and must be fought. The US seem to be turning a deaf ear to this plea. That is why I have titled this paragraph 'Wake Up'. Only by a unified action of the modern world can we put a final stop to terror.

Terrorism Escalates in Britain

Britain Meets Terrorism

Although I have written about the Muslim terrorist organisation known as Al-Qaida before, it seems there is always more to write. Britain has recently raised it's terrorist alert level to 'critical'. This is due to two attempted car bomb attacks that were miraculously prevented in central London. In addition there was the recent incident of the jeep which was driven directly into a Glasgow airport terminal and then set on fire. The alerts are out and the police and army will be patrolling every major train station and bus terminal. Once again terrorists have managed to bring home the message that they are a very real threat and that this threat is very close to home.

Time to Wake Up

It would seem that the incidents described over the weekend, were diabolically devised terrorist acts of pointless slaying. A miracle occurred and no innocent civilians were killed (although some were harmed). It is chilling to think of what could have been the result of a car bomb exploding adjacent to a packed London nightclub. With hundreds dead and wounded, the horror scenes would have been just the sort that would delight Al-Qaida. At least Britain has taken the issue to heart and raised their alert level appropriately. Unfortunately it would seem that this is not enough. Experience has taught us that 'raising alert levels' and 'increasing security' result in less successful terrorist attempts. These measures do not serve to prevent the attempts altogether. Only uprooting the weed from it's source can solve the problem of terrorism once and for all. We can only hope that this will somehow occur before living in fear of the next strike becomes a day to day experience.

The Clinton Faith

Clinton is interviewed

Hillary Clinton was interviewed this Monday along with the other presidential candidates. The Clinton name is well known to the public and the infidelity that her husband is infamous. Thus, when the candidates discussed their relations with The Creator it was only natural for this issue to be raised. Clinton said that what she used to overcome the trials related to her husband's infidelity was faith. She stressed that the many trials she has gone through were all coped with thanks to faith and prayer.

A little cynicism

Faith is a mighty force, there is no doubt. Being a man of faith is perhaps one of the most important qualities of a president. Of course, these interviews and their like are all carefully prepared for an thus everything said should be taken with a grain of salt. Even so, it seems obvious that Hillary is not to blame for her husband's behaviour and her support of him is only to be expected of a faithful wife. There really seems no point in raising this domestic issue in interviews of candidacy to presidency. It is natural to feel pity for the lady who has undergone such trials but the elections really should be based on something more substantial then powers of coping in a domestic crisis. Of course, the people of the United States would like to know something about their new leader's beliefs but it would seem that very little can really be derived from such interviews that are so well prepared for.

An Answer to Putin

Putin speaks

Perhaps as a preparation for the coming G - 8 conference or perhaps just because of his personality, Putin has addressed the world today. In his address he claimed that he is the only true democrat and unfortunately he has no one to talk too. This is contrary to the world's opinion that Russia's leader has repealed many of the democratic changes undergone by his country. In addition, Putin said that he feels that it is not right for him to resign. He feels that he is yet young and has a lot to do for his country. Finally, Putin attacked the West and claimed that they are doing things that are undemocratic and even downright stupid.

An analysis of bigotry

The claims of Putin reek of their abuse of the human intellect. Although it is questionable whether a population can democratically choose to be ruled undemocratically, it is clear that a democracy must be based on the ideas, views and opinions of many people. If Putin is the only true democrat then ergo he is either the only person in the world or he is not a democrat. The West may be doing things that are undemocratic and stupid but that doesn't necessarily make the West undemocratic or stupid. All it means is that there are things that perhaps should be done differently. Finally, Putin's insistence on remaining in politics demonstrates that the leader aims for the totalitarian realm that his country has suffered from for so long.

The Battle for Nature

The WWF enables ivory trade

The real WWF (the wildlife preservation society - World Wild Fund) has been fighting vigilantly against the unlawful poaching and hunting of endangered animals. Perhaps in a seemingly surprising and contradictory act this same WWF has allowed the sale of some sixty tons of ivory to Japan this Saturday. The claim is that this ivory was collected from animals that have died naturally, of old age or diseases. Although this claim is being researched as to it's validity the sale is taking place. It seems to be a simple and straight forward thing but this is not the case.

A problem

The issue here is a complex one. The problem is that the whole point of prohibiting the sale of ivory is to prevent the slaying of endangered animals. Once the ivory has reached the market it is already too late. The animals are already dead. However, hunters will only hunt for ivory if there is a market. As soon as people do not buy ivory there is no incentive to acquiring it. From here you can conclude that even ivory collected in an environmentally healthy way preserves the market of illegal ivory and thus encourages hunting. There are all kinds of things that can be done to circumvent this problem. For example, the ivory could be sold only under a special licence that marks the ivory as 'kosher'. Another option is selling the ivory for such a low price that it will not be worthwhile for poachers to risk life and limb.