What to do about Pirates?

I have been giving some thought as what to do about the Pirates who have boarded the Yacht of 4 Americans off Yemen and kidnapped them and are heading southwest to Somalia. There aren't many options even though our military knows where they are and are tracking them and wanting to stop them form taking the Americans on shore in Somalia for fear they will never been heard of again. So what would you do about this and what do we do to stop the Pirates from boarding and stealing ships for ransom?

The question is this, even if we took the most aggressive action and boarded the yacht and killed all of them and possibly lost the 4 Americans, I am not sure it would deter anyone from trying it again. It is a real problem. How about some suggestions from you?

Where did the vitriol start and who started it? UPDATE

On this day of remembrance of all those who lost their lives unnecessarily in the attack on our nation at the World Trade Center, I gave thought to that time and how we were as a people. After the attack we came together as a nation, even though before 9/11 we were divided politically by the election of George W. Bush by the Supreme Court decision over Al Gore. It was a bitter pill for Democrats and some Independents to swallow and it lasted right up to 9/11. But then everything changed. We were all saddened by the loss of life and angry that we were attacked by terrorists. But there was now our President on the pile of debris from the fallen Towers telling the world we are going to get through this because we are Americans and we are a strong people and that we would find the people who did this and bring them to justice. It was a solemn moment in our history and we were all united as Americans right after that, maybe for the first time for many Americans, but I had seen it before. When President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX, we were together then too. The best of the American spirit was shown then too and the outpouring of sadness we all felt and a tribute to the loss of our President and the fact we all knew then the world had changed for us. There were no Republicans and Democrats then. We were all Americans and we were a strong people and that we would find the people who did this and bring them to justice.

Here we are on the Anniversary of 9/11, a very solemn day, and what's on many American's hearts today. I'll tell you, it's idiocy about whether a pastor in Florida will burn the Holy Book of Muslims or not. And, whether the Imam in NY will move his plans for building a Community center, which will contain a mosque, 2 blocks away from the site of the Twin Towers. The Republicans have been connecting the two separate issues even though the Pastor in Fl had not. But then, he finally got there message that there is a connection as Palin, Boehner, and Gingrich have been trying to connect those dots for the weak minded among us for the past week. It's a disgrace. First there is no comparison. Burning anyone's Holy Book is weak minded and not something a so called minister of God would do. But again, he had not connected these dots until these Republican leaders pointed it out to him.

Where do these nut jobs come from? They come from the shadows, where evil lurks all the time but is usually in check when there is balance of spirit and mind between people. But that spirit has been missing for a while now. I was trying to think when did it all change recently? I figured it out. It was when John McCain picked Sarah Palin, as his Vice Presidential candidate. She was not ready for prime time, or any time in my view, but here we are with her leading the whack jobs of the fringe of the Republican party and getting support from the other whack jobs of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and driving our country into madness. And the fools who listen to them get hyped up and do their bidding and think in the shadows about "coming out". And every once in a while one comes out ie. the Pastor in Florida.

But this vitriol started during the campaign for President and by the selection of Sarah Palin, by John McCain. John McCain, the same leader who said "Country first!" and has abandoned about everything he has stood for over his career as a Senator. The same John McCain who said he was a maverick and now said he wasn't a maverick. Make up your mind please, John. Now it was the perfect storm because opposing John McCain was Barack Obama. That helped bring out the racists among us. But you see Barack Obama, in my humble opinion, has done nothing to fuel this divisiveness. He was born from a white mother and a black father. So what? What's the big deal. Get over it and join the 21st Century. Most kids have. Many don't see color distinction, as their older parents do.

I am afraid we have lost that special moment when we were all together as Americans. But when I think about the meaning to me of 9/11, I wish we could go back to that moment in our hearts and stop this divisiveness. It is killing our country now. How you can help? Change your mindset. If you are still embracing the notion that our country is special and what it means to be an American. then you should think that if someone owns a piece of property and wants to develop it and build anything they want they should be allowed to as long as it follows local ordinances and laws. They have a right to build the Community Center and include a mosque in it if they so choose. We should be pleased we live in a country where we can express our religious freedoms in whatever way we want to as long as it doesn't do physical harm to others. By the way, people have been praying in the existing mosque there since 2009, just to set the record straight.

As for the whack job Pastor in Fl., it is a very difficult situation for sure. In this 24/7 news cycle with Social Networks bringing pictures and videos all around the world. One could make the case that he is endangering others and it is illegal, just like yelling Fire in a crowded theater. The world won't end if he does this and some may die too as General Petraeus has warned. But that will be on the Pastors head before God as well as those Republicans who have not condemned the possible act, Palin, Boehner and Gingrich. May God have mercy on their souls.

UPDATE: 10:20am PST

I don't know what has happened by the Florida Pastor has decided that God has spoken to him and that he will not burn any Holy Books now or ever. Hallelujah! He has seen the light. One must be grateful for little steps of progress when they come. Amen! Now if the political leaders of Palin, Boehner and Gingrich can see the light, maybe this will be a memorable 9/11 where something good comes out of it.

Will Americans take that next step- maturity?

We are about to be bombarded with news from the Democratic Party Convention this week and the following week by the Republican Party Convention. But will we mature and listen for ourselves what the messages are from these conventions, our Presidential Candidates and their VP choices, or will we just listen to the media synopsis and the sound bites televised to make up our minds about the issues and the proposed solutions? It is time, my fellow Americans, for us to do our own due diligence and hear for ourselves, firsthand, what the candidates are saying and draw our own conclusions. It is time to make the election of our President a priority in our lives and put other matters on the back burner.

If you want to stop complaining about our President, Vice President and their policies, it is time YOU and YOUR FAMILY took the matter of deciding who will best restore America's greatness and put our fiscal house back in order. I know it's easy to complain and to blame someone else for the state of this country, but now its future is in your hands. It's time to grow up, take responsibility for learning about the real issues our country faces, not the ones the media likes to hype (like whether John McCain knows how many houses he has or whether Barack really believes what Rev. Wright, his former pastor was preaching). It is time to demand more concreteness in defining the issues and what remedies each candidate proposes to solve them.

You must make the time to educate yourself. The reasoning that you're too busy is a lame excuse. Any President can make one decision that will dramatically affect your life and that of your family members in an instant. God only knows the one we have now has made decisions which have affected the entire world.

And finally, you must make sure you are registered to vote! All the time spent educating yourself about the issues is meaningless, unless you vote. So, as we approach these 2 full weeks of politics, pay attention, get the news direct for yourself by listening to as much as you can to the Conventions and especially the VP and Presidential Candidates speeches and come away ready to ask tough questions of each of them, in preparation of your vote in only a little more than 2 months from now.

U.S. Fatalities for the first week of July 2007

There were 27 deaths in this first week in July.

In the first week of March we had 24 fatalities.
In the first week of April we had 28 fatalities.
In the first week of May we had 27 fatalities.
In the first week of June we had 28 fatalities.

While the numbers for July look comparable to the past 4 months, it is deceiving because July has tended to be a month with less casualties, as the table below shows.

July 2003 48
July 2004 54
July 2005 54
July 2006 43

We already have 27 in the first 7 days this month and so this will be another record month unfortunately. If you look at the chart above, you will see the 4 years of the war totalled from Aug. to July of each year, so that the comparisons are the same. The trend continues to grow. And the last point on the chart shows data included for July of 2007 with the 27 casualties, and you know that number is going to increase, and the slope of the line will go up steeper.

Republican Senator's Richard Lugar and Pete Domenici know that this surge is only a temporary thing and that the price of continuing with this strategy will cost America its blood and treasure without realizing any benefits for us, nor for the Iraqis. The Democrats must also choose a different strategy, as we are also getting impatient with them and many of us are beginning to see them as part of the problem as well. This next election may be the time for a complete change in both parties and electing those who will do the bidding of the overwhelming majority (70-75%) of Americans saying people want the troops brought home. It's right for America AND for Iraq and the sooner the better, as both Lugar and Domenici realized this in their breaking with the President and Vice President this past week. Wake up America and get involved or you don't deserve your freedoms.