The VonFrederick     

Tempus             

October 2006 Volume 3 Issue 10

  Feature Article:

A CULTURE OF YOUTH VIOLENCE

Dr. Lionel C.M. von Frederick Rawlins, President & CEO, The VonFrederick Group

Law enforcement and public health officials are calling it a virtual “epidemic” of youth violence spreading from the inner cities to the suburbs, from state to state, and from country to country. I am talking about younger and younger children committing more and more heinous crimes. Youth violence has now become a way of life. Much of it, but by no means all, can be found in poor neighborhoods, where a disproportionate number of victims and victimizers live side by side. 
What separates one group from another is very complex: being neglected or abused by parents; witnessing violence at an early age on the street or in the house; living in a culture that glamorizes youth violence in decades of movies such as "Menace to Society"; the continuing mystery of evil. To this list, add the most dangerous ingredient: the widespread availability of guns to children. In a recent Harvard School of Public Health survey released in 2005, 69 percent of children in the sixth to the 12 grades said they “could get a handgun if they wanted one.”

In this heightened atmosphere of violence, normal rules of behavior do not apply. As traditional social supports – home, school, community, – have fallen away, new role models have taken their places. It takes an entire village to raise a child, but the village is not there anymore. Where have all the villagers gone? Long time passing? When will we ever learn? The only direction these children receive is from their peers on the street, the local drug dealers and other role models who engage in vitiated criminological behavior. An inordinate amount of children have already given up on the idea of conventional success and are seizing any available opportunities. Children who are selling drugs when they are in the fifth grade are not the “dumb” children. They are the “smart” ones. They are the ambitious ones…trying to climb up their own “corporate” ladder. And the only corporate ladder they see has to do with gangs and drugs.

With drugs being the route to easy money, prison is the dominant institution shaping the culture, replacing church, school, and family. In the last few years, more young black men have gone to prison than college. Fathers, uncles, brothers, cousins have all done time. When I was the executive director of a facility for violent teenage “gang-bangers”, one 15-year old girl thought of jail as a kind of sleep-away camp. The boys thought it fun to be in jail because other boys they knew were in jail. They also received their “bragging rights” for doing time in jail or juvenile hall. Prison is also a way of looking stylish: the lowered pant waist-line, baggy-pants look, is even called “jailing” in some parts (in reference to prisoners not having belts for their trousers – to use as a weapon or instrument to hang themselves – thus causing the trousers to “sag” ). And prison is a way of acting. In prison, the most violent and meanest inmate runs the cell block. The same applies on the street. In your neighborhoods, communities, and schools, the child who acts the craziest gets the most respect. 

If prison provides the method of social interaction, guns provide the means. One child with a gun is a finite danger. A gang equipped with Uzis, AK-47s and sawed-off shot guns means carnage. Unlike adult criminals, who usually act alone, violent teens normally move in a pack. That is typical teen behavior: hanging together; doing drive-by shootings together. But these are well-equipped armies, not just a few kids milling outside an ice cream parlor or pizza shop. There is a synergistic effect: one particularly aggressive youth can spur others to commit crimes they might not have thought of on their own. The victims are often chosen because they are perceived as weak or vulnerable. As horrible as some of the crimes are, children go along with the crowd rather than go it alone. 

Some of my peers in my field argue that teenage aggression is natural. In another era, they say, that aggression might have been channeled in a socially acceptable way – into the military, or hard physical labor – options that are still available to putative line-backers and Marines. But other researchers, who have conducted longitudinal studies of today’s violent teens, have concluded that “they are a new and dangerous breed.” What do you think?

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A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO VIOLENCE

Elka Svensson Bjork, M.D., Ph.D is a surgeon and researcher who also contracts with The VonFrederick Group

The health consequences of violence are tremendous. Traditionally, our society has turned to the criminal justice sector to protect us from such violence. Why involve public health practitioners? Why not just beef up our efforts in criminal justice?

In answering these questions, we must first recognize that criminal justice has been and will continue to be an important component of our efforts to curb violence. We must also admit that the application of criminal justice measures alone is not enough. 

Indeed, the incidence of injuries and deaths from violence has continued to increase in the face of ever greater resources devoted to criminal justice. In fact, the level of violence is so high that by any traditional measure of public health importance, fatal and nonfatal injuries resulting from interpersonal violence have become one of the most important public health problems facing America.

The criminal justice system relies on arrests and incarcerations to deter, incapacitate, and rehabilitate convicted offenders. Criminal justice professional themselves have stated for years that much of the problem of violence is a “social problem,” beyond the purview of the police and the criminal justice system.

For example, violence between family members and acquaintances accounts for more than half of all homicides. Most violent injuries do not stem from criminal activities such as robbery. They occur as the result of violent arguments among people who know each other, and they generally do not occur in public.

Therefore, one reason that the public health community should become involved is that the problem is beyond the reach of the criminal justice system working alone. Another reason is that the public health community introduces a primary prevention focus to the problem of violence. The essence of public health is prevention, and it is the very essence that will enable the public health community to address the issues and problems in a manner that complements the efforts of the criminal justice system. By mobilizing the broad array of existing resources in medicine, mental health, social services, and substance abuse services toward the prevention of injuries and deaths from violence, progress can be made.

In summary, violence is a major cause of injuries and deaths. The prevention of these injuries and deaths is an appropriate, and indeed a necessary, public health focus. The problem of violence probably has no simple solution, but the public health method of health-event and surveillance, epidemiologic analysis, and intervention design and evaluation can undoubtedly make important contributions to the solution.

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The corporate scandals of the 21st century have led individuals to speculate as to how so many disturbing financial crises could occur in the past decade. One perspective taken is the “perfect storm” theory that examines the unique historical circumstances of the 1990’s, in which no cyclical explanation could have ever determined the outcome. Could there be an explanation as to how “we” enabled rogue managers and companies to take financial matters literally in their own hands enabling them to commit fraud on the most grandeur of scales? 

Some of the factors that assisted in the creation of the “perfect storm” theory are the adoption of new financial strategies and instruments, a booming technology sector, baby boomers' change in lifestyle in the process of saving for retirement, auditor/client relationships, and a stock market that was driven by Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” statement. The U.S. economy was placed with an unusual group of situations that led to fraudulent activities beyond normal circumstances. Fraud has a tendency to rise when stock market prices increase, however one would question if the blunders could have been avoided with all the intricacies involved.

Under normal circumstances we can determine accountability by tracking events and by finding a person/company or cause that created the effect. Under the perfect “storm theory” this becomes a less predictable and far more difficult task. Accusations have been imposed on Congress, lackadaisical oversight on the securities exchanges, accounting firms, auditors, and varying reporting standards. If the series of events that allowed the downfall of many top publicly traded companies arose from the “perfect storm” theory, which was caused by a series of unique irrelevant events, one could conclude that the new restraints implemented recently should prevent acts of fraudulent activity in normal circumstances. However, others believe corporate fraud is cyclical in nature, and will arise once the stock market climbs, and arguably can be seen through historical models for hundreds of years past. If the cyclical theory is correct, Acts of Congress will do little in the reduction of fraudulent activity, and the dynamics that appeared before will appear ounce again.

Only time will tell. 

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"The party was our home during the struggle for power, thus we are obligated to it." … Joseph Goebbels

Propaganda is a term that is thrown around by many. Its use is commonly attributed to opponents of every cause by one side or another. Webster defines propaganda as information and opinions spread to influence people in favor of or against some doctrine or idea. It seems benign enough. But is it? 

A well acclaimed authority on propaganda was Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister. In a speech at the Nuremberg Rally 1934, Goebbels discussed several principles of propaganda and advocated adherence to them. Leonard Doob published a study of propaganda and listed Goebbels nineteen principles of propaganda for Public Opinion and Propaganda.

The following are a few of the principles and a brief synopsis Goebbels discussed in his speech at the 1934 Nuremburg Rally. 

a) Political propaganda in principle is active and revolutionary. It is aimed at the broad masses. It speaks the language of the   people because it wants to be understood by the people.

b) Propaganda is a means to an end. Its purpose is to lead the people to an understanding that will allow it to willingly and without internal resistance devote itself to the tasks and goals of a superior leadership. 

c) Propaganda must be creative… but rather it is a matter of productive fantasy. 

d) Propaganda, too, has a system. It can only be effective in the service of great ideals and far-seeing principles. The effective propagandist must be a master of the art of speech, of writing, of journalism and have the gift to use the major methods of influencing public opinion.

For the sake of brevity I will not discuss all of the principles listed, but only the most relevant to the current political environment. The following principles were listed by Doob.

1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion. 
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and action.
6. Propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium
10. Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in operations when it helps diminish that enemy's prestige or lends support to the propagandist's own objective. 
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige. 
13. Propaganda must be carefully timed. 
14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.
a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience previously possesses
b. They must be capable of being easily learned
c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations
d. They must be boomerang-proof
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred. 

Now compare these principles of propaganda with the rhetoric espoused by the current liberal democrats. Pick a subject, economics, social policy, and the war on terror, the war in Iraq, political corruption, etc. Liberal rhetoric religiously adheres to Goebbels principles.

For example, let’s take economics. Liberal democrats use the liberally biased media to down play a good economy that is averaging 4% GDP by misrepresenting short term fluctuations in economic circumstances or the relationship between the national debt and the percentage of the budget and GDP as prescribed in several listed principles,

A much better example is the democrat rhetoric regarding the war in Iraq. Where to begin as the examples are extensive. For example the liberal rhetoric surrounding President Bush’s reference to Saddam’s attempts to buy enriched “yellow cake” uranium from Niger. Liberals repeatedly claimed Bush lied without offering evidence to support their claim, supported the lies of Joe Wilson, and falsely accused the Bush White House of leaking the name of CIA analyst Valerie Plame as a covert operative (all adhering to the propaganda principles). On the issue of WMDs liberals knowingly repeated false claims that Saddam did not have WMDs while ignoring the discovery of 1.8 million tons of enriched uranium used in nuclear weapons programs and the discovery of saran and mustard gas as well as intelligence of WMD transfers to Syria, and repeated slogans like “Bush lied and people died” knowing it was untrue (again adhering to all the principles listed).

Our history includes many conflicts from establishing our independence, restoring the union to extending our borders and protecting freedom. We suffered political discord and infighting during all of these conflicts. Some influenced some actions of the enemy, but none to the degree we are experiencing by today’s liberal democrats. Liberal rhetoric is destructive propaganda in its purest form as it emboldens and aids the enemy. It is used to promote the democrat party’s struggle for power at the expense of security for our troops and our nation’s survival.


Der Kongress zur Nürnberg 1934 (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., Frz. Eher Nachf., 1934), pp. 130-141. Retrieved on April 16, 2006 from http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goebmain.htm

 
Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda by Leonard W. Doob, Public Opinion and Propaganda; A Book of Readings edited for The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Retrieved April 16, 2006 from http://www.psywarrior.com/Goebbels.html 

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REVAMP THE GENEVA CONVENTION?

  Eric Chevreuil, Retired Captain, French Military

The Geneva Convention has been waved around a lot lately, but most likely by people with an agenda WILLINGLY depriving the public from the real facts: our forces live by it everyday, as close as possible to its real intent when, obviously, the enemy is not respecting it and does not even fall under its protection…but what do I know? I am not as smart as our lawmakers and cannot read nor understand English! So don’t take my word for it and judge for yourself     http://www.genevaconventions.org/ 

As far as the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War goes, the text cannot be clearer:
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm\

Article3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions: 

(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. 
To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: 

(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; 
(b) taking of hostages; 
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; 
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

(2.) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict. The Parties to the conflict should further endeavor to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention. The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict. 

Article 4

Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals. 

Nationals of a State which is not bound by the Convention are not protected by it. Nationals of a neutral State who find themselves in the territory of a belligerent State, and nationals of a co-belligerent State, shall not be regarded as protected persons while the State of which they are nationals has normal diplomatic representation in the State in whose hands they are. 
The provisions of Part II are, however, wider in application, as defined in Article 13. 
Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, shall not be considered as protected persons within the meaning of the present Convention.

Article 5

Where, in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is satisfied that an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention as would, if exercised in the favor of such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State. 

Where in occupied territory an individual protected person is detained as a spy or saboteur, or as a person under definite suspicion of activity hostile to the security of the Occupying Power, such person shall, in those cases where absolute military security so requires, be regarded as having forfeited rights of communication under the present Convention. 

In each case, such persons shall nevertheless be treated with humanity, and in case of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed by the present Convention. They shall also be granted the full rights and privileges of a protected person under the present Convention at the earliest date consistent with the security of the State or Occupying Power, as the case may be.

Regarding who can be considered as a POW, the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 75 U.N.T.S. 135, entered into force Oct. 21, 1950. PART I, GENERAL PROVISIONS, states in Art 4: http://www.aiipowmia.com/legis/geneva1950.html

Article 4 
A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy: 
1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. 

2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfill the following conditions: 

(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; 
(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
(c) That of carrying arms [b]openly; 
(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

3. Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.

4. Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided that they have received authorization from the armed forces which they accompany, who shall provide them for that purpose with an identity card similar to the annexed model.

5. Members of crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favorable treatment under any other provisions of international law.

6. Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.

B. The following shall likewise be treated as prisoners of war under the present Convention:

1. Persons belonging, or having belonged, to the armed forces of the occupied country, if the occupying Power considers it necessary by reason of such allegiance to intern them, even though it has originally liberated them while hostilities were going on outside the territory it occupies, in particular where such persons have made an unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the armed forces to which they belong and which are engaged in combat, or where they fail to comply with a summons made to them with a view to internment.

2. The persons belonging to one of the categories enumerated in the present Article, who have been received by neutral or non-belligerent Powers on their territory and whom these Powers are required to intern under international law, without prejudice to any more favorable treatment which these Powers may choose to give and with the exception of Articles 8, 10, 15, 30, fifth paragraph, 58-67, 92, 126 and, where diplomatic relations exist between the Parties to the conflict and the neutral or non-belligerent Power concerned, those Articles concerning the Protecting Power. Where such diplomatic relations exist, the Parties to a conflict on whom these persons depend shall be allowed to perform towards them the functions of a Protecting Power as provided in the present Convention, without prejudice to the functions which these Parties normally exercise in conformity with diplomatic and consular usage and treaties.

C. This Article shall in no way affect the status of medical personnel and chaplains as provided for in Article 33 of the present Convention.

In Iraq, our troops are fighting, with their hands tied by the media, the polls, the public opinion, the international community, our democratic and Christian values, international laws, treaties and conventions we signed. Our troops are targets of the most cowardly form of terrorism, slaughtered and maimed one at a time by car bombs, roadside bombs, so called “freedom killers” sniping them in the back. Powerless, they do keep track of the body count and resent the indecision of our leaders stuck in an election year. They see first hand the gruesome reality of the war fought by ruthless enemies, thousand of miles away from our politically correct dreamland. We are expecting so much from them and so little from the opposing forces that the whole thing is turning into a sad joke, another drama. Did we send them to verify again theories on human attrition in war and its domestic effects or to wipe out the enemies of democracy? 

2 US soldiers tortured and slaughtered despite of their status of prisoner of war that granted them the protection of the Geneva Convention!
Despite our anger and disgust for the permanent violations of the laws of war and Geneva Conventions by the pigs in Turban back there, violation so conveniently ignored by our politicians and media, we cannot put all the Muslims and Middle Easterners in the same basket.

The majority out there lives in fear and pays a daily high price in blood from the same hands that claim to fight for them. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, War torn Congo or Ivory Coast, the regular Joe just wants to go on with his life and be left alone….
I do hope that our Officers and NCOs will make sure our troops understand that….we cannot have anymore “collateral” damages that our media, heart bleeding and liberal crowds are going to exploit for the benefit of the enemy…and at war, anger is a bad companion!

What a messed up world! I cannot wait to see if anybody out there will have the guts to stand up and say that the enemy has been blatantly violating all the common laws of war, that these two executions were the last drop, and that orders have been given to our troops: everything goes against any armed combatants, captured fighters. The Geneva Convention is a 2 way street! They don’t abide by it, we won’t anymore and we will fight the way they do: dirty!
Sure, in my dreams…What we are going to hear from now on are the “peace moms” like Cindy and other “wind cone” politicians (colorful, empty and blow with the wind!) saying that Bush is responsible, that we attacked them, that for the past 2006 years, since the conservative Christian Jesus started to interfere with Arab affairs, we have messed that part of the world and made them angry at us….

We are going to see the "flip-flop" Kerrys saying that they voted for the war but not for the violence, or Hillary stating that the blood of these 2 kids is on the hands of all the anti-gay, anti-amnesty, anti immigration, Katrina creators, anti minority, pro war heterosexual conservative red necks! We are going to see fat spoiled college student throwing up against war in the streets of San Fran (like they actually did a couple of years ago), and finally to top it up, the sad sight of the sagging breast over cottage-cheese bellies of the “Breasts not bombs” matrons of the Bay….did not make it up….and their nakedness is protected by the first! ( http://www.zombietime.com/breasts_not_bombs/).
We are not going to see people like me, spilling out their gut-feelings in the streets and sending a clear message to the enemy: party is over!

Nope….we are going to see the self whipping crowd lamenting that it is all our fault, and even if we didn’t do it, somebody else did, or I forgot, but we are bad, so bad, we deserve every inch of it…blah, blah, blah…
The lambs to the slaughterhouse, victims!!!!
Tell you what....I’d rather hunt with a Cheney than drive with a Kennedy! I’d rather go to war with our troops than live your “deballed” peace! 

Each time a GI is blown to pieces on “Roadside bomb alley” or killed by a sniper hiding in a school in Iraq, domestic support to the war, the administration and the president slides down a couple of points.
Each time civilian hostages are taken and gorily executed, or when car bombs destroy the headquarters of some local agency trying to rebuild Iraq, domestic and international support inches down.
Each time a powerless coalition soldier is murdered and or mutilated, anger and revolt grows among his peers in uniform, stuck there far too long, at the mercy of wavering poll driven politicians elected by media controlled suburbanites. 
Each time a powerless coalition soldier is murdered and or mutilated without any decisive action taken from the leadership to put an end to the current politically correct status quo, anger and revolt grows among other soldiers that feel abandoned. 
Each time a powerless coalition soldier is murdered and or mutilated there, anger and revolt spreads and revenge is sought. 
Each time anger, revolt and revenge fill the hearts of soldiers, “collateral damages” follow.

Do you want to know what torture is? 
Torture is to get up every day to drive a supply truck along “Roadside bomb alley” after having seen first hand what nails, rocks and metallic shrapnel do to an under-protected human body. 

Torture is to get up every day to go on foot patrol and expect any civilian to pull out a gun from under its robe and shoot you in the face.

Torture is to see the daily enemy’s lack of respect for human life, lack of respect for his own people that he uses as a shield or kill for propaganda.

Torture and pain is to restore power and water, resume oil production, open a school or build a bridge and see it blown to pieces by the obscurantist the next day.

Torture is to get up every day and be shot at from a hospital, a school or a Mosque and not be able to return fire while your comrades are spilling their blood in the gutters.

Torture is to get up every day knowing that if captured you will be denied any kind of mercy and that even your dead body will be used for psychological effect, returned as pulp or hung from a bridge for the blood thirsty media.
Torture is to remember the faces of the 750 dead and the blood of the 4100 wounded or maimed comrades in arms you accompanied for their last trip home, most of them hit “when military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device…”, as the Pentagon officially reports it.

Torture is to realize that most of the wounded average 25 years old and many among them are left brain-damaged or blind, or both, from shrapnel and dirt blown to the face by roadside bombs, the “improvised explosive devices” that hit the only vital area not protected by body armor.

Torture is to come back home on short leave and watch biased home media echoing enemy propaganda, or listen to well fed, safe and comfy fellow Americans and elected official question the war the elected government sent you to wage.

Torture is to see heroes like Pat Tillman depicted as morons on MSNBC. 
Torture is to be called a “baby killer”, to see Al-Jazeera news and biased hatred broadcasted home, to see the same people that accompanied our soldiers to the carriers, waving flags, cheering and all, now turning their back with disgust, burning the flag or marching for peace. 

Torture is what all theses contradictory feelings, all that fear, pain, sorrow and anger do to our soldiers back there; it is what keeps them awake and accompany them daily for 365 days. A female US doctor in Iraq was quoted saying: "I go to sleep and dream about them (-the young American casualties-) all night long, awaking in a sweat because something is wrong." 

Welcome back to Vietnam and remember the German saying: “Children, enjoy war because peace will be terrifying!”

While Indonesia or Thailand are fighting religious zealots, India and Pakistan are sharpening bayonets, Iran and North Korea are fine tuning their nukes, Libya is purchasing a new virginity, Somalia and Sudan are still “civil-warring”, Russian hospitals are leveled in Chechnya, new anti progress alliances are stepping up against democracy in Afghanistan… another day in the paradise of a religion hijacked by its most intolerant and maniacal followers, the manipulative “terror-nihilists” that bathe their revolution in the blood of the innocents to create fear, chaos, terror and eventually fulfill their agenda. 

Giving up to terror cannot be the way out for the weakened democracies of the world, the victims. 

It is time to set aside the Geneva Convention and other luxuries of our world of diplomacy, roll up our sleeves and fight these animals in the gutters where they strive. Or we can sit down and talk, give peace a chance, reach for them open-armed, sing “we are the world” and be slaughtered on the altar of obscurantism. 

Do you have any idea of what goes in the mind of our average GI Joe, our good US kid that went on a mission, to protect us?
I know that it is not a place I would like to visit right now!

Here is a solution to make everybody happy, save our soldiers, promote our values and love...in Iraq:

What about sending our peace-mongers and bleeding-heart crying babies to demonstrate for peace in Iraq...they could chain themselves to a suicide bomber, lay on a roadside bomb or hug an Al Sadr, preach peace and cultural understanding, promote the Geneva convention, abortion, thongs, body piercing, Hybrid cars, Gay marriage, American idol, affirmative action, fast food and NASCAR, equality for women, peace and love, and show the insurgents the REAL FACE OF AMERICA. In the best scenario, the beheaders would fall in love with your typical "All American" girls and join them for the next Gay Pride Day in San Francisco. They would be butt-naked and that wouldn't be an abuse! The worst scenario would provide videos of slaughtered Americans for Al Jazeera! But who cares? Not our media because they never show them!

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Did You Know? Michelle Glisan Blevins       

• That two-thirds of the population of Djibouti live in its capital city- which is also named Djibouti

• That the lowest point in Africa is Lac Assal (Lake Assal) in Djibouti, about 155m below sea level, and it is also one of the saltiest bodies of water on the planet 

• That while Djibouti normally receives little rainfall the country is occasionally subject to flash flooding due to severe weather coming from the Indian Ocean

• That Djiboutians must import most of their food as a majority of their land is desert with only about .04% being arable

The Dijboutian flag has two equal horizontal bands of light blue (top) and light green with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a red five-pointed star in the center. 

PROSPER MÉNIÈRE

Dr. Prosper Ménière

June 18, 1799 - February 7, 1862

Born into a wealthy family in Angers, France, Ménière was an excellent student of medicine receiving many academic awards, obtaining his doctorate in 1828. While best known as an oto-rhino-laryngologist, he was a prolific writer and had a love of and talent for botany and archeology. In 1835 a cholera epidemic broke out in France in which Ménière was placed in charge of fighting the disease. He was so successful in his efforts he was made a Chevalier in the Legion of Honour. In 1838 He became Médecin en chef at Institut des Sourds-Muets, an institute for deaf mutes. It was during his time working and studying at the institute in which he described a condition afflicting the inner ear which is known to this day as Ménière’s Disease.

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HOW TO SURVIVE A RIOT

	Determine the best route to the airport or embassy, and leave the building through any safe exit. Make sure that the airport is operating before you travel there. If you cannot make it to your own country’s embassy, plan to head for the embassy of an allied nation.
	Wear clothing of muted tones.  Put on a long-sleeve shirt, jacket, jeans, a hat, socks, and lightweight boots. (Although you may be in a tropical or warm part of the world, it gets quite cold on planes, and you may have to sleep in an airport or connect to a flight landing in a colder region.)
	Exit away from gunfire or mobs. Select a way out that is not easily observed. Exits include windows, vents, or even the roof.
	Leave as a group. Especially if you have to dash across an open area, such as the front of a building, a wide street, or a plaza, you are safer with company. Snipers or enemies will have multiple objects to focus on, not just one, and will not be as likely to make a move.
	Do not run. Unless you life is in imminent danger, walk. Walking is harder for the eye to detect: The human eye can quickly sight someone running. Running can also generate excitement- people may chase you.
	If you must travel by car, be prepared for evasive maneuvers. Drive on back streets, not main roads, and be prepared to abandon the car if the situation becomes critical. Watch out for checkpoints, roundabouts, major intersections, and military/police barracks. Do not stop for anything- remember the care can be a useful 2,000-pound weapon that even a mob cannot stop. If you cannot drive forward, drive in reverse. A reliable driver who knows the area will be able to navigate much better than you. If no driver or taxi is available, hire a local to drive your car for you. (You may need to promise to give your car in exchange.) Abandon the care outside the embassy or airport. If a Molotov cocktail (flammable liquid in a glass container with a lighted wick) hits your car, speed up- it may burn out as you gain speed.
	If you encounter unavoidable roadblocks, be prepared to bargain your way to safety. You might need to give up everything you are carrying in order to get away. Offer cash first, equipment (watches, cameras, jewelry) second. • Get to an embassy or to the airport as soon as possible.

Be Aware

If you are in a volatile region where there is a likelihood of civil disorder, be prepared for a rapid evacuation. Each person and family member should have an escape pack set aside near the front door. A good, small backpack is preferable to any type of luggage. It should contain the following:

FLASHLIGHT. Pack a mini- flashlight with extra batteries. Affix a red or blue lens if you have one; red or blue light is difficult for observers (snipers, mobs) to see at night.

SMALL COMPASS AND A DETAILED MAP OF THE CITY. Be sure to mark the embassy and the helicopter landing zones on the map.

KNIFE. Include a small pocketknife for cutting.

FIRE-STARTING TOOL. Carry storm-safe matches or a lighter in a waterproof bag. Pack small baggies of dryer lint, which is light and highly flammable.

BLACK GARBAGE BAGS. Use these for emergency shelter and camouflage.

WATER AND FOOD. Carry at least two quarts of water per person. Bring only high-energy or instant foods. Do not eat unless you have water.


Conceal on your person, in a multi-pocket neck pouch the following items:

MONEY. Take $25 in single U.S. dollars and all of your local currency and divide it among your pouch and pockets. The will serve as bribe money for checkpoints. Dole it out in heaps until it appears you have no more. Do not offer your papers. Carry more money in your neck pouch, but keep the bulk of your cash in your socks, crotch, or ankle pouch.

PASSPORT. Place a full photocopy of your passport in the main section of the pouch for easy access. Keep your original passport in a separate section. Show the copy to the locals who demand it. Never give up the original. 

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. Visas, phone numbers, proof of citizenship, birth certificates, and so on should be kept with your original passport.

SOFT EARPLUGS. Helicopters are very noisy, and earplugs are useful when you want to sleep in a battle zone.

(Piven and Borgenicht)

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