The West's double-standard

At this time, the citizens of Myanmar are coping with the aftermath of a devastating cyclone. The death toll from the disaster is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, with many more missing and homeless. Aid Agencies are lining up to send in aid workers to provide much-needed relief, and even U.S. military vessels have been deployed off the coast of the Southeast Asian nation.

Unfortunately, this is not the only time the people of Myanmar have been suffering. Last year, the brutal military regime, known as the "Junta" orchestrated a campaign of ruthless murder against pro-democracy demonstrators.

From Al-Jazeera English:



For some reason, it seems that tragedies caused by mother nature take priority over those being caused by our fellow human beings. I suppose it is easier for people to rally together in the face of a storm or some other natural disaster, but much harder when the human suffering is being caused by a repressive military dictatorship.

Myanmar is not the only example. Is it necessary to invoke the Rwandan Genocide? The response to that spasm of destruction was merely a small presence of UN troops and an occasional voice of concern coming from the Clinton White House. For over three months, no one had the courage to do anything, and over a million people were left to die. Then there's Darfur, where some 400,000 people have been killed by the regime of Omar Al-Bashir. If correct, that estimate would be almost twice as many casualties as the 2004 tsunami that devastated coastal towns on the Indian Ocean. But because of our failure to even fully assess the situation, we may never know the exact number of victims claimed by the Khartoum Government. I probably shouldn't even mention violence-racked Eastern Congo, a nightmare that has claimed more lives than any of the above tragedies (both human and natural) combined. And then there are the occasions where human-caused death and destruction and natural disasters go hand and hand, like the Tamil Tigers' recruitment of child tsunami victims to fight as soldiers in the wake of the disaster.

To be clear, the outpouring of concern for the victims of Cyclone Nargis is a VERY good thing, and we can only pray that the regime in Yangon will accept every bit of aid and relief being offered. But it is a shame the international community can not take the same course of action in the face of threats that do not come from mother nature, but instead from a government that has betrayed its responsibility of protecting its citizens. Sadly, this storm is only salt in the wound for the people of Myanmar.

Defying the system of economics

I drove past the gas station the other day and I couldn't help but notice that the price of fuel went up 11 cents OVERNIGHT, bringing the overall cost to $3.56 a gallon. That of course, is just at Arco...at Chevron, the price is $3.65. Those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area have the honor of having some of the highest prices in the US.

I've reached the conclusion that the "law" of supply and demand is no longer relevant. For one thing, fuel supplies have been up, oil production is strong, and the demand for gasoline has been going down...yet the prices continue to rise, completely defying the system of economics. The question is, who's to blame? Some blame the oil companies, others blame the government, whether it be the Republican Administration OR the Democratic Congress (both of whom have done very little). To be honest, I don't really care who's responsible, I just want someone to fix it.

The real issue:

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this. Just recently, another report was released and offered further proof that the hysteria that is global warming is nothing but a crock, just as I have said on this blog many times. It always seems that these global warming predictors are finding ways to contradict themselves, including the back and forth predictions on hurricanes. Instead of running all these adds proclaiming that we need to "solve" global warming, we should be working to find alternative and more efficient energy...without having to make up some fictitious problem starring Al Gore and a bunch of other alarmists. There is no doubt we have an energy problem, but we should be trying to solve it without having another pretense. Talk about the need to cut back on fossil fuel consumption and the need for a new energy source is everywhere, but it seems that its always followed by the warnings and fear tactics about global warming and how it needs to be stopped. In the end, the threat of $4 per gallon gasoline will probably frighten people a lot more than Al Gore getting up on a lift, pointing to a chart, and preaching about how the destruction of humanity is imminent (unless of course, we listen to him).