As Obama finishes his first tour in Asia, as President. Here are the two stories that have received some coverage, but they should have received much more. While in Japan, Obama clearly bows down to the Emperor of Japan Akihito. This is the second time Obama has bowed to a member of a royal family, the first being the Saudi King. As other news sources have mentioned, former US leaders never bowed to the Emperor or Saudi Arabia, so why is he doing it? Not to many people can probably answer that question, but it clearly shows the United States in a weak position, and it goes against everything our founding fathers fought for us in the 1700s. They fought British tyranny, and the monarchy to create a government where everyone is equal, and not one person was "higher" or "royal" or more power. With Obama bowing, he is clearly acknowledging royalty, and status in society. There are obviously bigger issues on our plate that we have to deal with, but this personally bothers me, and something is not right here, especially since this is not the first time. So President Obama, why do you bow?
Shifting gears from Asia and heading west to the African Coast off of Somalia. As one of the first stories I wrote about on my blog, has once again arrived in the spotlight. Several months ago, Pirates attempted to hijack an American vessel called the Maersk Alabama. While they never completely gained control of the ship, and the crew was able to capture a pirate, the 3 remaining pirates held the Captain hostage on the ships lifeboat at sea. South Park would create an episode regarding the incident and pirates.
Well this week, Pirates tried again to hijack the Alabama, and this time they failed miserably. The Alabama was a few steps ahead this time, as they had private security on board. While they are keeping quite on the tactics they used, guns and LRADSs have been reported to be used as the pirates quickly retreated. Something tells me the pirates were blown out of the water, as they should be. No injuries were reported on the Alabama. Last time the ship was attacked, I personally felt ships should arm themselves with guns, and use other tactics to stop piracy. With this latest event, it seems to be working, and will be interesting if more ships follow suit.
Fox News is doing a special report on 21st Century Piracy this Saturday, November 21.
