Polls? Polls. Polls!

A day without a new public opinion poll is like the month of January in North Dakota without snow. It is what it is. All the media giants (to include Faux News) love analyzing the latest poll numbers. One political poll feeds into yet another poll.

Between December 7-11, 2011, the Pew Research Center asked voters the question, "is there too much power in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations?" 77% of those surveyed said YES, while 19% stated NO.

While the #Occupy Wall Street Movement has lost its original momentum, it's clear the widespread demonstrations in September and October changed the language of the political landscape in 2012.

How do you say Honorificabilitudinitatibus?

[on-a-rif-ick-a-bill-ee-too-dee-tart-ee-bis]

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches...
You might live
in North Dakota.


If someone in a store offers you assistance and they don't work there...
You might live in North Dakota.

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time...
You must live in North Dakota.

If parking your car for the night involves an extension cord...
You might live in North Dakota...
North Dakota Fighting Sioux Hard Hat

Paris Hilton. (Pause) Why?

But then again, how does a Hollywood Socialite, who's only claim to fame is her family name, a reality television show and an explicit home video, has a higher approval rating than the 112th U.S. Congress?




Confessions of an Heiress:
A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose (Paperback)

Top "Non-Political" Quote of 2011?

"I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available because if you try it once you will die."
~ Charlie Sheen

Carrizozo, New Mexico (December 2009).

Is it WRONG to play dress up with your dog?

While taking our dog JoJo out for his morning constitution, I was reminded of one of life's simple lessons...
sometimes...
it's important to stop & smell each & every blade of grass...

So this is Christmas??

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." ~ Dalai Lama


Tiananmen Square veteran jailed for 'inciting subversion'?
Read More...

A Chinese New Year's Story

For those that remember the movie A Christmas Story, Ralphie's father takes everyone out to a Chinese restaurant for Chinese Turkey. Part of the joke being that Chinese restaurants are usually the only businesses open on Christmas Day. Anyhow, back in 2009, my wife and I decided to go out for lunch. The streets were completely empty. Changsha is a city of over seven million people!

I felt like Tom Cruise standing in Times Square in Vanilla Sky. 

Did the apocalypse happen while we were sleeping? ALL the Chinese restaurants were locked up. Everything was closed. Then it hit us. Logically, the ONLY restaurants open on Chinese New Year's Day must be American. Sure enough, Subway, KFC, McDonald's & Pizza Hut were ALL OPEN for business. 

So where did we eat?

In China, believe it or not, Pizza Hut is considered a high class, gourmet restaurant. Why? Because Pizza Huts in China look and taste NOTHING like the States. The service, atmosphere and food are a complete 180 degrees from the Lower 48. Koh and I had Salmon Pasta, Shrimp, Garlic Bread, Salad & a Pepsi.


It was our American-Style Peking Duck Chinese New Year Dinner.
TABASCO Brand Pepper Sauce ~ Original Red Gallon

Classroom in Baghdad

Admittedly, NOBODY visits this blog to mentally digest the author's various rhetorical rants and raves. Politically, this small corner of cyberspace will never challenge the likes of a The Huffington Post or Politico. It is what it is. A majority of this blog's daily traffic comes from folks searching for a specific image on Google or Bing.

Yesterday, someone in Spain did a Google search looking for an image of a classroom in Baghdad. Unfortunately, in terms of what I've already posted on this blog, this anonymous person's search only yielded classroom photos from China.

That's is until today...

In April 2004, this blogger tagged along for a week with a U.S. Army Civil Affairs team working in downtown Baghdad. The above images were captured on a mission which delivered supplies to a special school for the deaf and blind.

Virtual Refreshment?

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."
~ George Bernard Shaw

The Koch Brothers spotted on a street in Beijing?

"The phrase 'working mother' is redundant."
~ Jane Sellman

Top "YouTube" Political Video of 2011?

Oddball Iowa: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places

Ron Paul Wins Iowa?

Even though the GOP's establishment is carpet bombing Iowa with millions of dollars in anti-Newt campaign ads, once again, the candidate's worst political enemy appears to be the candidate himself. 
Seriously, Newt's mouth is a "human hand grenade".



Believe it or not, during 2011, at one point or another, SIX different Republicans (to include Sarah Palin) have lead in the polls in Iowa. Since "7" is a lucky number, it just stands to reason that Congressman Ron Paul will narrowly win the Iowa Caucus.

Ron Paul Campaign Update: (12/23/2011)
Despite the latest media frenzy over the candidate's questionable affiliation with a series of racially charged comments printed in newsletters bearing his name, it's still possible for Paul to win the upcoming Iowa Caucus. Ironically, the newsletter controversy itself only reinforces a conspiracy theory held by many of his most ardent supporters. Basically, the so-called mainstream media (which includes Faux News) wants to derail his candidacy and silence his Revolutionary ideas.

Honestly, this blogger has never believed that Ron Paul could, would or should be elected President. Also, despite Ron Paul being upset that his integrity is being questioned, in 2011, it's fair game for reporters to ask questions regarding the comments contained within these newsletters.
Read More...

Political Quote of the Week:
"Trying to negotiate with Speaker Boehner is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall."
~ Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Election 2012 Update:
Mitt Romney wins Iowa with exactly six less votes than in 2008:

Source: AP

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent." ~ Robert Oppenheimer on Trinity

Photo of the first atomic explosion posted on a fence
at the site of the original Ground Zero, Trinity, New Mexico (October 2009).

Breaking News: North Korean Kim Jong-il Dead

This may be the first real foreign policy test of the Obama Administration.

As I've already stated in a previous post, since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the DPRK has been a proxy state of the People's Republic of China.

With the announced death of Kim Jong-il, it remains to be seen how Beijing will respond to any unforeseen internal power struggle within North Korea itself.

Despite the best efforts of Beijing's leaders, it's still possible the death of Kim Jong-il could eventually lead to a crisis similar to what the Chinese themselves experienced following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 (see Gang of Four). Historically, the transition of power within a Communist country, after the death of a cult of personality type leader, is not uncharted territory. The question remains whether a Stalin or a Gorbachev is waiting in the wings to eventually seize the reigns of power in Pyongyang.

With or without Kim Jong-il, the CCP's economic and military approach to the DPRK will remain the same. For both China and North Korea, the shared political goal for both regimes can best be described with three simple words: Stability. Stability. Stability.

Despite its policy to maintain political stability on the Korean Peninsula, if the DPRK ever attacks South Korea, the CCP and the PLA will bear full responsibility for planting the political seeds of an unnecessary war. Being an economic superpower and acting like a world leader is not the same thing.


"As soon as man began considering himself the source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure of everything, the world began to lose its human dimension and man began to lose control of it."
~ Václav Havel

For this blogger, it's interesting how the weekend passing of a man like Václav Havel contrasts with the death of the DPRK's "Dear Leader".

DPRK Update: (01/04/12)
The Washington Post
Amid N. Korea succession, China makes push for stability
Read More...

...perspective...

North Korean Performers
Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing
June 2008

That was then...

Downtown Seoul, R.O.K. (Circa 1983)

This is now...

Downtown Seoul, R.O.K. (Circa 2009)

Photos by Peter Rimar.

#Occupy Wukan?

Violent political clashes in Egypt? London burning? A nuclear crisis in Japan? Military tanks crushing government protesters in Syria while American troops leave Iraq? The Libyan people rising up against Muammar Gaddafi? #Occupy Wall Street protests in every major American city? Russians marching again on the streets of Moscow?

And the year 2011 is not quite finished...


Analysis: Democracy is like a rice cooker. When too much pressure builds up inside, excess steam is released so the cooker (i.e. society) doesn't EXPLODE. How strong or mature is a government which is afraid of the peaceful words and ideas of one man?
Read More...

Update:
Wukan protesters end action after Chinese government offers concessions
December 21, 2011
Read More...

Freedom? What's does it really mean?

It sometimes depends on where a person is standing. IF you peel away the rhetorical onion, freedom is the RIGHT to peacefully live ones own life FREE from religious or political fear. Not the fear of the unknown, which will always be a part of our own humanity, but the RIGHT to search for and perhaps discover for ourselves our own individual truth. Read More...
Life without fear.

This may be the reason why the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects freedom of expression, was 1st. From the seeds of this one simple idea, all the other freedoms enjoyed by Americans followed...

While the United States cannot solve all the world's problems, at the very least, as a country & as a people, Americans must never compromise their values & ideals for liberty and freedom.
It's from this light... 
all hope shines.

...perspective...

"As we debate how the United States can best influence the course of the Arab Spring, can’t we all agree that the most obvious thing we can do is stand as an example of a nation that holds an individual’s human rights as superior to the will of the majority or the wishes of government?" 
~ Senator John McCain
May 11, 2011
The Washington Post

Photo of Senator John McCain taken by Peter Rimar in San Antonio, Texas (January 2007).
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Revolutionary Legacy of 1989 (Paperback)

Possible definition of "hypocrisy"?

"A syndicated conservative talk radio host raging against the so-called mainstream media is like a convicted arsonist filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims of defective smoke detectors." ~ Self

Three Generations

Since the end of the Korean War, South Korean society has undergone a complete political, economic and social transformation. In 1953, after a brutal Japanese occupation and civil war, the country was on life support. Most Koreans lived in the countryside and worked the land. After just 50 years, South Korea has transformed itself into an industrial powerhouse in Asia. The country's largest automaker even built a $1.1 billion dollar auto assembly plant in Alabama.

This photograph of my wife's grandmother was taken in a farmhouse in 1983. The story of her rough life mirrors the transformation undergone by the country. When she was sixteen years old, she was forced into an arranged marriage.

My wife's great-grandparents traded a small plot of land & a cow for their son's new bride. Basically, she was treated as a piece of property.

During the Japanese occupation, the laws regarding marriage changed. While a woman could no longer be bought or sold, families still arranged marriages for their children. In the case of my wife's mother, she actually meet her new husband (my wife's father) on their wedding night. My mother-in-law had ZERO control over her future. Love was not a requirement for marriage.

In 1983, for the first time in my wife's family, a woman controlled who she married. In just three generations, a woman's status in Korean society changed forever.

One of my wife's favorite movies is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Why? Well, when we announced our engagement, her older brother attempted to stop the marriage. However, unlike two-generations before, he had no legal authority over his sister. Just like the movie, my brother-in-law invited dozens of Korean men home for dinner. When the movie came out, even my brother-in-law recognized his character as the Greek father.

OBSERVATION: Globalization has contributed to the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. The dramatic changes for the status of women in Asia mirror the modern pressures currently underway in the Islamic World.


Century of Struggle:
The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States, Enlarged Edition (Paperback)

On this day in history?

Sometimes, lost in all the polarized political debates going on in Washington D.C. and across this country, Americans seem to forget that the United States has been a country at war for over ten years. It remains to be seen how future scholars will judge this particular decade in World History.

"Unlike the old empires, we don't make these sacrifices for territory or for resources. We do it because it's right. There can be no fuller expression of America's support for self-determination then our leaving Iraq to its people. That's says something about who we are."
~ President Barack Obama
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
December 14, 2011
Read More...

Final Update?
December 18, 2011
The last convoy of American troops leave Iraq.
Read More...


Photos by Peter Rimar. Baghdad, Iraq (April 2005).

"A picture is a poem without words." ~ Horace

Bicycle and Beauty Shop, Changsha, P.R.C. (January 2009).

Favorite Movie Quote of 2011?

"Blogging is not writing. 
It's graffiti with punctuation."
~ Elliott Gould as Dr. Ian Sussman 
Contagion






Photo of H1N1 alert taken in Changsha, PRC (June 2009).
ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income 
(See all Computer & Internet Books)

Top "YouTube" Music Video Quote of 2011?

“It’s sort of like my past is an unfinished painting and as the artist of that painting I must fill in all the ugly holes and make it beautiful again.”
~ Lady GaGa
Marry the Night 

...reflections...

“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”
~ Jonathan Swift



9:01 ~ One Minute before the World Changed, Oklahoma City National Memorial (June 2010).
Others Unknown: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy
(Paperback)

Is it just me...

or do the morning TV talk shows sound like a mind numbing chorus celebrating the Freudian joys of human dysfunction?

Why, if you type the word "numbing" in Google's search box, it suggests "numbing condoms"? I'm almost afraid to click on the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.

‎Life's all about product placement?

Marketing For Dummies (Paperback)