Turkey & Israel

In an article called "Turkey and Israel share interests" by Yaakov Katz at the Jerusalem Post it mentions; the defense ministers of each nation held a press conference and that they would "remain strategic allies." The article also goes on to mention, "We are living in the same area although we do not have the same borders, we have the same interests."

In order to have peace in the Middle East, Turkey and Israel need to be allies. Having personally traveled to Turkey in the summer of 2008, it is a beautiful country, and a powerhouse in the region. It could be considered America's "dream" for the rest of the Middle East, which is a stable Muslim democracy. The United States considers both nations key allies, since Turkey is the second largest military force in N.A.TO. and Israel has always been an ally since the 1940s. It is reassuring from the article that the two nations want to be allies because recently there has been tension from the two sides.

Last year, an article by the Economist goes into great detail about how Turkey has been shifting from working closely to the European Union and "western" nations, (while Turkey has struggled to enter the E.U.) to focusing more on the Middle East nations not as friendly to the West such as Syria and Iran. One major point was when they denied US military access to invade Iraq in 2003. It also mentions how public opinion "has turned increasingly hostile to Israel" in Turkey.

In the article by Katz, it also talks about recent tensions between the two nations such as when: "Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned Turkish Ambassador Ahemt Oguz Celikkol to complain about an anti-Israeli TV show. The ambassador was forced to sit on a low sofa without a handshake, while Ayalon explained to local TV stations that the humiliation was intentional. Outraged, Turkey threatened to recall the ambassador, forcing Ayalon to apologize."

I think the real reason why Turkey and Israel has shown tensions recently is because of the situation between Israel and Gaza and no peace plan has been brokered. Another Jerusalem Post article mentions that "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was mediating indirect talks between Israel and Syria, felt personally betrayed" after Israel used military force in Gaza last winter.

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict seems to be creating tension between Israel and Turkey. I am glad the original article says they want to continue to be allies, but unless a peace deal is brokered between Israel and Gaza, Turkey could align with the rest of the Middle East. If they do, Israel's relationship with Turkey would be in jeopardy and they could lose a huge ally in the region. It would also create a ton of controversy with the rest of N.A.T.O and the European Union, which I am sure the Obama Administration does not want. President Obama needs to make sure a peace plan is created between Israel and Palestine, (which all of his predecessors have failed), to ensure there is peace in the region, and continue our strong relationships with Turkey and Israel, which would also allow Turkey and Israel to continue their relationship, and be prosperous superpowers of the region.

Note: Article created for a school assignment.

U.S. and Yemen

This is breaking news, and early reports are sketchy but according to Fox News it appears the Obama Administration approved missile launches to attack Al-Qaida camps in the gulf state of Yemen, in a civil war, which more information can be found at War News Updates which is an excellent website.

It appears that Obama is trying to show his tough stance against terrorism, right after her was given his Nobel Peace Prize. I'm not quite sure what to think of this action, if early reports are true because this could raise a ton of controversy in a nation that doesn't have a favorable opinion of The West and where terrorists attacked the USS Cole. I fear this is almost a "Bill Clinton" move, launch a couple of missiles but not really solve the issue at hand, and cause some controversy in the process. If Obama wants to be serious about the War on Terror, give General McChrystal the troops he requested, don't have a timetable of withdrawal publicized, and find the terrorists hiding in caves on the Afghanistan/Pakistan boarder.

Again, this report is just breaking as of 8:15 pm on December 18, 2009, so details on this incident is surely to change in the next few days, and could alter this report.

CREN

Obama Bows & Pirates are blasted off of the Bow.

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.

Elections in '09: The Impact They Could Have

It's November, and that means it is time to head out to the polls and vote. Most of them are local elections, some are mayoral, but there are 3 races the nation or national news seem to be focusing their attention on. In a few hours, people in New Jersey and Virginia will vote for their next Governor, and people in the 23rd district of New York will vote for their representative in a special election.

While this year certainly is not as big of an election year as compared to 2008 or 2010. Some have claimed, such as Sebastian Smith of the AFP, in an article claiming these elections are a referendum on Barack Obama's presidency in the last year. I do agree that these three elections can show how people view the Obama Presidency, but I think it is a better example of a "litmus test" of what we can see in the 2010 elections.

Mr. Smith also claims that the "democrats [are] scrambling to starve off embarrassing defeats." I don't think they are "scrambling", but they do have reasons to be concerned. In 1993, one year after President Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, it seemed as if the "Reagan Revolution" was on life support. New Jersey and Virginia would both go to republican candidates in their gubernatorial elections. A year later republicans would take control of both houses of congress by winning 62 seats in the House and Senate. However, in 2001, both gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia would go democratic and the GOP would gain seats in 2002, which they would have a majority in the House and Senate. A repeat of '94 in 2010 may not happen, but it is certainly a possibility because of the circumstances in these '09 elections.

Historically, Virginia has been a conservative state but has turned at least "purple" if not blue in the last decade. In recent polls, republican candidate Bob McDonnell leads double digits over the democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. Real Clear Politics has this race +13 points for McDonnell. President Obama won this state by 6 percentage points over McCain. It seems that the GOP will win this race, regaining a state that they have recently lost.

In New Jersey, the gubernatorial race is much closer and is essentially a "toss up." New Jersey, which in recent history has been very democratic, has not voted for a republican presidential candidate since George HW Bush in 1988. Chris Christie the republican candidate is challenging incumbent democrat Governor Jon Corzine. According to Real Clear Politics, Christie leads Corzine by 1 point. In a state that President Obama won by 16% percentage points, which he has been campaigning for Corzine in the last few days, shows a possible shift of political affiliation from democrats to republicans in a liberal state.

The last race, which is arguably the craziest of all three, is the 23rd district of New York. In a special election to fill a vacant seat in Congress, the Republican Party chose moderate candidate Dede Scozzafava while the Democratic Party chose Bill Owens. Historically, a republican has held this seat in Congress since the Civil War. However, President Obama did beat McCain in this district in 2008. Unhappy with some of the viewpoints of Scozzafava, Doug Hoffman decided to run as a Conservative in a district where he is not a resident. (Note: It is legal to run in any district of the state you live in.) A self proclaimed "9/12er", a group created by conservative Glenn Beck, which members are mostly on the right side of the political spectrum, who fear they are losing their rights from the Government since September 11, 2001. Hoffman is clearly on the far right, as seen in the previous link such as his opinion of the bailouts, stimulus package, healthcare, etc.

Over the last couple of weeks, the candidates were somewhat tied, however recently Ms. Scozzafava would drop into 3rd place. Over the weekend, Ms. Scozzafava would quit her campaign and endorse democratic candidate Bill Owens. This suddenly becoming a two-candidate race. New polls (since Ms. Scozzafava ended her campaign) have Hoffman in a 17 point lead, and have Owens in a slight lead. The winner of this election certainly will not be know until late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. Even though this race is probably the least noticed of the 3, it could have the biggest impact. If the democrats win, they could use the historical impact of this election, to promote their ideas and strengthen their party. If the Conservative wins, who essentially overthrew the Republican, it could create a "Civil War" in the Republican Party as Robert George mentions on whether their future candidates should be conservative such as Mr. Hoffman, or more moderate such as John McCain.

All 3 elections could be a "litmus test" on President Obama's job approval in his first year of the Presidency and be a sneak peak for elections in 2010. If the GOP wins all three races (assuming Hoffman joins the Republican Party), this will probably show that they will win elections in 2010 and possibly a majority in Congress. If the Democrats win 2 out of the three (assuming and very likely that Virginia is a guaranteed victory for the GOP) they will certainly maintain a healthy majority in Congress after 2010. I could be wrong, and whatever happens on Tuesday could very well be the exact opposite in 2010 elections.

I am almost certain though that if the GOP does not make a choice on what principles will guide them, and the political "fighting" that happens between moderates and conservatives on whether they should be "the big tent party" trying to gain moderate democrats and independents along with conservatives. Compared to the "small tent party" which would be a party mainly for conservatives and some moderates. At first it seems the big tent theory is the better option, but according to Gallup, conservatives are the largest political group, moderates second, and liberal in third. Whichever plan the party goes with, they need stop being "the opposition" to anything President Obama tries to do, and actually create their own agenda, or they will lose many elections in the future.

Note: Article written for a class assignment.

In the Dollar "We Don't" Trust

On Friday, Larry Kudlow wrote an article discussing the US Dollar. In his article, he writes: "We know that gold is soaring.

And we know the dollar is slumping. But, did you know that year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is up 18 percent—a great showing no doubt—gold is up even more.

The precious metal is up 21 percent. In other words, measured in true, gold-backed purchasing power, stocks have really done nothing this year. Zip. It is most disappointing... What we’re seeing right now is pretty close to what we witnessed in the 1970s—the rise in gold and inflation really cuts into the stock market.

So what’s the way out?

Well for starters, we need a stable dollar to stop inflationary pressures. And we also need lower tax rates to spur the economy, help it grow, and reduce unemployment."

He also goes on to mention, "In addition, the Treasury ought to get out there and buy these unwanted dollars in the marketplace. Just go out there and bid for them. And they need to stop printing so much debt from Congress. All this massive spending and borrowing is killing us. We need to be slashing tax rates on large and small businesses. There’s just no better place to begin job creation."

Full Article Here


I agree with Mr. Kudlow. With gold at its highest rate ever and considering that The Federal Reserve has DOUBLED the amount of US Dollars in circulation in one year, clearly inflation is coming.



This video was aired back in January, so the amount of money in circulation now is even higher. However, the money that The Federal Reserve printed approximately one year ago is just now starting to enter the market.

Two other nations in recent history have/had major inflation. One was the Weimar Republic (Germany) after World War I. According to PBS around 1920 "Milk went from 7 Marks per liter to 16." After 1920 "The printing presses ran, and once they began to run, they were hard to stop. The price increases began to be dizzying. Menus in cafes could not be revised quickly enough. A student at Freiburg University ordered a cup of coffee at a cafe. The price on the menu was 5,000 Marks....When the 1,000-billion Mark note came out, few bothered to collect the change when they spent it. By November 1923, with one dollar equal to one trillion Marks, the breakdown was complete. The currency had lost meaning."

The Germans printed more and more money without it being backed by gold, and destroyed their own currency. The other example is Zimbabwe. I was in Southern Africa this summer, mainly in South Africa, however I was near the border with Zimbabwe. I was given a legal tender of 50 billion Zimbabwe-Dollars. You need 100 billion Zimbabwe-Dollars to buy a soda. While I was there, I was told the Zimbabwe-Dollar collapsed because of inflation (and printing money) and Zimbabwe has since abandoned the currency.

Since 1973, our currency has not been backed by gold, and since we are printing money without anything that is backing it up, we are going to have inflation, as Mr. Kudlow mentions. People are trusting gold more than the US Dollar, this is why it is over $1,000 dollars an ounce. The only way we can stop this, before we go down the same path as the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe, is to create jobs. The way to accomplish this is to lower taxes for businesses and make it lucrative for companies to be here.

Other nations are showing concerns about the U.S. Dollar, as well, our national debt, which is about 12 Trillion Dollars. Last Tuesday, The Independent Newspaper reported "Gulf Arab Nations are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar."

If the World thinks the dollar is no longer "the standard" when it comes to currencies, then we may have tough financial times ahead of us, and a new financial crisis, much worse than what we experienced a year ago.

If we don't stop printing more and more money, and unemployment keeps rising; prepare for massive inflation and a possibly a depression. I hope that I am wrong and that President Obama, along with the rest of our Government and The Federal Reserve, can solve these issues by creating new jobs, reducing unemployment numbers, and stopping our national debt from rising.

Christian

Note: this Article was made for one of my classes in school where we had to respond to an article.

Works Cited:
Amadeo, Kimberely. "History of the Gold Standard." About.com. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. .

Fisk, Robert. "The demise of the dollar." Independent UK. 06 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. .

Goodman, George. "The German Hyperinflation, 1923." PBS.org. PBS, 1981. Web. .

Http://www.usdebtclock.org/. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. .

Inconvenient Debt - Glenn Beck. Dir. Fox News. Perf. Glenn Beck. Url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNS8IY_Td14.
Independent UK Newspaper. Torn-Dollar. 2009. Photograph.

Kudlow, Larry. "Save the Greenback, Mr. President." CNBC. 09 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. .