In the News!

I've been asked a few times by my filipino friends here about my position on BOs decision to attack ISIS.  I have to admit that I am so isolated here that I really don't feel that I understand the issue very well.  I mean, I haven't seen TV in 6 weeks. I have no radio and no english speaking contact, nor access to english written news.  Exepting intermittent internet access, but thats not enough to allow me to feel that I have enough true data.  But lets examine this a bit...  I see both sides of the issue.

One one hand, I believe firmly that a nation will fail in declaring war on an ideology.  It is a hydra.  In fact, that would be one hell of a logo for ISIS... A hydra head.   However, on the other hand...  if I knew my neighbor was making a bomb to blow up my house... what would I do?  I just might try to neutralize that threat before I was attacked.   In the end, I firmly believe (and Im not just beating my chest here) that the best solution is for more americans to start doing what I am doing right now.  The best way to right this situation is to become true friends with people and cultures we don't understand,  or cultures that don't understand us.  Once the trust is built, there is a bridge toward true progress.

Bombs destroy bridges, they can never build them!

Anyway, I am pretty sure that most of the filipinos Ive spoken to on this subject seem to feel that BO is a true war monger, right in line with GW.  And this is an interesting conclusion when you consider that ISIS does have a real presence in the Philippines.  In fact, Mindanao, a large part of the Philippines, is completely off limits to Americans due to the threat of terrorism re ISIS insurgents.  You might think that filipino's, who generally LOVE the US, might hope for some US support to wipe out the ISIS threat.  And yet, while Im sure this is true at the National Government level, it seems that the everyday filipino... well, they simply dislike conflict of any sort.

Enough of that... today was an eventful day because I changed my travel plans for my Thailand adventure and this affects my return to the US.  So, if you are in anyway interested... it now looks like I will be returning to the US on 2/19 or so.  But you better be flexible, because that plan could change in an instant!!!