2-24-11 Libya not liberated, dog shooting breaks hearts
Attention mid-east despots...make sure you spread the oil money around. Countries like Egypt and Libya that get a lot oil money, yet still have large amounts of poor people are feeling the brunt of citizenry whose jealousy of the rich and powerful are fueled by the internet. Mubarak gave up without much of a fight.
On T.V.s Frontline the other day they had a special on what happened in Egypt, and as I suspected, the Muslim Brotherhood played a large part in the over throw. At first it was mostly young, unemployed Facebook fans, but later the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned in Egypt for 50 years, jumped on it, and in the words of some "hijacked" the cause. Of course the Brotherhood itself is fractionalized, with the "old guard" wanting Egypt to become an Islamic state like Iran, while the younger members say they just want a seat the table of whatever new government emerges.
In Libya, ruler Muammar Gaddafi has vowed not to go down without a fight. His troops and mercenary supporters have opened fire into crowds of supporters and hundreds, maybe thousands have been killed. He's the type to blow-up oil wells and pipelines in his own country before surrendering. Again, the unrest was fueled by poor people in Libya. Many fear the protests will spread to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries, but I doubt you'll see the same unrest in Riyahd or in Kuwait and Dubai because it seems there are fewer poor people there and the oil money is better distributed.
Here in the U.S our oil and gasoline prices will skyrocket, people will be outraged and demand government wean us from foreign oil, and then in 18 months when prices settle back down, all will be forgotten.
Senator Joe Gimse made some interesting comments on Legislative Review last weekend. Last year, when Republican Tim Pawlenty was still Governor, there were some layoffs at the Community Behavioral Health Hospital in Willmar because of under-use, and Gimse says he was deluged with calls and emails from people demanding he do something about it. Now Democrat Governor Mark Dayton has proposed closing, completely shutting down the CBHH, and Gimse says he's had nary a word of complaint.
In the meantime Dayton has aligned himself, not surprisingly, with the state employee unions, saying he won't allow collective bargaining rights to be cut in Minnesota like what is proposed in Wisconsin. However, you are not hearing any criticism of Dayton from the unions even though he wants to cut the state employee workforce 6%. You get the feeling if Pawlenty had proposed it, it would be Cairo in St. Paul.
Our U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison has called Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker "a dictator" for wanting to control union activity that he feels has driven up the cost of government. I think Ellison needs to move to Libya, Cuba or Venezuala and see what it's like to live under a real dictator.
With many protestors getting shot and killed in Libya, it may seem a little trite to get upset over the killing of a dog in Minnesota, but I can't help it. Someone felt like they just had to shoot Bosco, the Isaacson Family's 6-year-old Springer Spaniel, at the family home near Svea last Wednesday. The dog was so badly hurt it had to be put down. Then the Isaacsons had to explain to their three children, ages 3, 6 and 8, that their beloved pet was gone. The kids cried, but the family's other springer, a female who was inseperable from Bosco, can't understand where he went. She won't go into the kennel at night without Bosco, and spends the day looking for him around the family home and property.
Mike Isaacson says he doesn't know who shot Bosco or why, but wants the gunman to know that Bosco was not a stray and was very much loved and is now very much missed.
