Hate cannot drive out hate...

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963.
Source: http://www.mlkonline.net/quotes.html

Rational Choices

Too many folks rely on typical stereotypes and want to pigeonhole people:
- borrow and spend warmongering conservative Republicans
- tax and spend pacifist liberal Democrats
etc.

In the most recent election I believe much of the electorate was fooled by those playing to emotions and fears rather than making rational choices about what we really want for the US. We must get beyond stereotypes and knee jerks to figure out how to make our lives and our government better. Recognizing the real pros and cons of what is accomplished or not. Fear is a great motivator but it is a very poor decision maker. And it takes real work to make improvements. I voted for people who have shown they can work hard with the system to make a change -- and a change in the direction I want our country to go.


Regarding Obama, he has not accomplished as much as he or I had hoped, but nonetheless in the last 2 years he and the Democrats did more to move the United States forward than Bush and the Republicans did in the previous 8.

Obama & the Democrats:
1) Restored worldwide respect for the US as a place of reason and balance (Bush & the Republicans trashed our reputation)
2) Made significant progress on reforming Health Care and making it cover more people in a reasonably efficient and affordable manner (Bush and the Republicans did nothing in this space)
3) Are working to get us out of wastefully expensive and destructive wars overseas (Bush and the Republicans caused us to overspend in this area to the tune of trillions of dollars).
4) Saved our country and the rest of the world from a likely second Great Depression. (Bush and the Republicans lead us into that economic mess -- over deregulation can be dangerous, government is an important check and balance on capitalism)

These are HUGE!

#1 allows us to have more credibility and work diplomatically with other countries
#2 greatly improves how the US manages valuable human resources, helping people be productive and healthy rather than sick and a drain on society
#3 saves us big bucks, lots of lives, and helps with #1
#4 saved all of us.


We have a phenomenally good government overall in the US. Just compare the totality of what our government does for us and how efficiently it does it compared to other countries in the world. Think about everything you do each day and how our government is involved in making it possible and reasonably safe:
- we have a military that is well managed, does not attack our citizens, and actively keeps foreign bad guys at bay
- we have police and fire fighters keeping us safe at home
- we have a legal system that generally works well -- courts, judges, laws, etc
- when you drive down the road, you have a well paved road to drive on, your car has to meet certain safety standards, you can breath the air behind your car, people stop at stoplights and let you thru, etc.
- when we walk down the street we generally have a sidewalk on which to walk and we generally are not afraid of getting mugged
- we all have safe water to drink from our faucets (how many countries in the world have this?)
- we have generally safe food available to us all in abundance
- everyone in the US has free public education available to them
- we have vast stores of knowledge available to all for free -- notably our public library system
- we have building codes that keep us safe from fire, collapse, earthquakes, etc.
- we have freedom of the press and speech so we can speak, be heard, and learn about what is happening from many sources that serve to check and balance each other
- we have freedom of religion so we can practice our own beliefs without fear of retribution from government
- and much, much more...

Our government has a positive impact on just about everything that you or I do. All of the above requires significant money to accomplish.

If some other country is doing a better job overall for its citizens than the US, please name it and how.

Sure there are things that we can improve, but don't let the exceptions outweigh the vast number of things that work well and most of us take for granted. Blindly cutting taxes and cutting government spending will hurt us. We need a well funded government for the US to continue to succeed and protect all of us.

Without our national, state, county, and city governments the United States would not be the great nation we are today. Be very careful about throwing things out, because you may be throwing the baby (our future) out with the bath water. Respect our government and work with our established systems to effect change because these are the systems that help our society and government run reliably.

Let's engage in reasoned dialog so we can work together and make improvements as a team. We are one big team that needs to cooperate and compromise to succeed in a dangerous and challenging world. We all cannot have it just our way. United we stand, divided we fall.

Thanks for reading.

The Right to Be Stupid

The Pastor in Florida has a first amendment right to free speech and to burn Qurans. I fully support this right.

But just because you have a right (legal) does not make it right (ethically). Burning Qurans is still stupid, foolish, disrespectful, and childish. It mainly serves to inflame both sides and give ammunition to terrorists. Burning Qurans hurts both Americans and Christians. Many of us have evolved beyond vengeance. Unfortunately many others remain stuck in hateful ways and are hell bent on perpetuating violence against each other.

See also:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100908/ap_on_re_us/quran_burning
and
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575478241873665072.html?mod=WSJ_hps_SECONDTopStories#articleTabs%3Darticle
and
http://deepforestgreen.blogspot.com/2010/09/open-letter-to-dr-terry-and-sylvia.html

If you want to let the Pastor know what you think, please send him comments at:
http://www.doveworld.org/contact

Avatar -- A Must See

Wow. Avatar is a great film that all should see -- in 3D if at all possible. It is a solid science fiction film with reasonably good science, spectacular special effects, romance, lots of action, a moral, and a satisfying ending. Wow.

http://www.avatarmovie.com/

McCain vs Obama

When considering McCain vs Obama for President, I looked at major qualities and criteria to decide who I would hire for the job. I organized my criteria into 3 groups -- Character, Capability, and Issues. Here is how I think each candidate compares.


Character

Honesty & Trustworthiness - Winner: Obama. While not perfect, Obama has done a much better job of being honest and truthful. McCain and Palin have both been caught by too many lies or bending the truth. Also McCain has changed his mind more radically, more quickly, and more whimsically than Obama. Obama has had a steadier hand and been more consistent. Finally, the Republicans in general have done some very ethically questionable things of late so I trust them much less. Biden has had some problems in the past but has been better of late.

Respectfulness - Winner: Obama. Obama was very considerate of both the moderator and of McCain in the first Presidential debate. Obama looked at McCain. I never saw McCain actually look at Obama. Palin smeared community organizers (most Americans) as well as Obama. Biden has been pretty quiet lately.

Friendliness - Tie: Obama & McCain. Both seem quite personable and friendly.


Capability

Experience - Winner: McCain. McCain does have more experience than Obama. Although Obama's experience is sufficient for the job.

Intelligence - Winner: Obama. Obama has shown a much better capability to think quickly and accurately than McCain. McCain has seemed slow on the uptake or bumbling and stuck on the same old saw much of the time. Palin has fumbled when she was not carefully prepped.

Schooling - Winner: Obama. He has excellent academic credentials having done well both at Columbia and Harvard Law. McCain and Biden are ok (whereas Palin pales in comparison to everyone else).

Communication - Winner by a long shot: Obama. Obama has shown he is an excellent communicator. Obama is clear, crisp, well spoken, and inspirational. Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" is very well written and tells us more about who he is then we can know about just about any other Presidential candidate. McCain is more muddled and confusing when he talks. McCain uses lots of nice sounding words but ends up saying little of real substance. In the debate, Obama was much clearer on the issues. McCain kept trying to attack Obama's character and did not answer many of the challenges that Obama set before McCain.

Leadership - Winner: Obama. Not only has Obama shown himself to be a strong, consistent, reliable leader in the US, the rest of the world respects him as well so he can be a real world leader rather than someone who uses US military might to bully others. We need to have the rest of the world on our side willingly and not against us or only coerced to be on our side.

Health - Winner: Obama. The job of President is very physically demanding. It took a lot out of Bill Clinton. McCain is quite old and showing some physical vulnerabilities. Biden is older but not too old yet. Palin is quite healthy.

Balance - Winner: Obama. Obama is more of a centrist than McCain and especially than Palin. Read Obama's book, he is clearly a thoughtful centrist and not prone to make dogmatic statements or get stuck in dogmatic positions.


Issues

War & Peace - Winner: Obama. War is rarely justified and Peace should be the priority. I was strongly against the Iraq war and so was Obama. The Iraq war was a huge mistake and has been a huge waste of resources, money, and lives. Obama and Palin support the Iraq war, feel it is justified and can be won. (If you believe in War and might makes right, than vote for McCain.)

Economy - Winner: Obama. Obama recognizes that regular Americans are the backbone and strength of America. Obama wants to give these regular folks tax breaks rather than the wealthy. McCain says he supports regular Americans but plans to give the real tax breaks to the wealthy. Also McCain was one of the people who were around during the time we got ourselves into the financial pickle we are currently in. If his experience is so important, then why did he not succeed in doing more to prevent the current crisis? Also McCain has been wrong a number of times in the economic area -- saying "Our economy is fundamentally strong..." even though there has been horrendous financial mismanagement recently and now we are trying to rescue our economy from disaster. (If you believe in making the rich, richer, then vote for McCain.)

Education - Winner: Obama. Obama understands that education is fundamental for a strong nation and will strongly support it so our entire nation can be knowledgeable and strong. McCain and Palin seem to see funding education as socialism rather than an investment in our future. I believe that education is the best possible investment in our future that we can make. Our children are our future. Books not bombs. (If you believe in not spending money on education, then vote for McCain.)

Energy - Winner: Obama. Obama has a vision and a reasonable plan for energy independence. This must be one of our top priorities. McCain and Palin want to delay and mainly drill for more oil rather than solving the root cause. (If you believe we should just get more oil, then vote for McCain.)

International Policy - Winner: Obama. Experience is not everything. It also takes the right perspective and capability. The rest of the world recognizes Obama as someone they can trust and respect. (If you believe we are always right and should force other nations to get our way, then vote for McCain.)

Civil Rights - Winner: Obama. Obama knows that free speech matters. He also seems more aware of civil rights issues than McCain does. (If you believe our government knows better and should control our lives more, then vote for McCain.)

Right to Choose - Winner: Obama. I strongly believe in a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It is a tough choice and she is in the best position to choose. McCain's side, and especially Palin, want to eliminate the ability for women to choose. (If you believe others should choose for women, then vote for McCain.)

Environment - Winner: Obama. Obama seems much more likely to be a good steward for our environment than McCain. McCain seems to more strongly support big businesses that are more likely to want to rape our earth than maintain and restore it. (If you believe the environment can take care of itself, then vote for McCain.)

9/11

Sept 11, 2001 was a sad day. On that day many regular citizens were killed in four coordinated terrorist attacks.

To prevent such future tragedies, we need Unity.

From the 9-11 Commission Final Report:
"We call on the American people to remember how we all felt on 9/11, to remember not only the unspeakable horror but how we came together as a nation—one nation. Unity of purpose and unity of effort are the way we will defeat this enemy and make America safer for our children and grandchildren."

Lincoln said "United we stand, divided we fall." At that time he spoke of just one nation.

Today unity just in our nation is not enough. We as a world must follow this same mantra if we, humankind, are to ultimately survive.

I highly recommend that every US Citizen read and re-read the full 9-11 report. It has many lessons for all of us. It can be found at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/Index.html

Sincerely,
Tim Oey

Obama's Foreign Policy Ability Looking Good

Not so long ago Obama was criticized by the Republicans and McCain for a lack of foreign policy experience. Yet his recent trip through Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany, France, and England shows he is better at Foreign Policy and Diplomacy than McCain, Bush, or any recent US President I can recall.

In just this one pre-election trip he already has the endorsement of the current Iraqi government, Obama's troop withdrawal plan is aligned with what Iraq wants, he is hanging tough regarding Afghanistan, and he articulated a compelling position in Germany to a live audience of 200,000 (!!!!) that helps rebuild America's tattered world image.

If he can do so much before becoming President, just imagine what he could do after becoming President.

Plus Obama appears much more Presidential than McCain or even our current President Bush. Obama is measured, he is balanced, he is poised, he is inspirational, he is reasonable, he is mature, and he is being a true leader. In contrast McCain seems whiny, shrill, clumsy, ill-spoken, prone to error, out of touch, and over the hill.

I hope all of you will support and vote for Obama when it's time.

U.S. and Iraq Agree to Goals for Troop Cuts, Bush shifting

Wow, President Bush is actually changing his mind about troop withdrawals from Iraq! I'm glad he is finally listening to the overwhelming majority of the American public who want us out of Iraq.

And I'm glad he listened to the Iraqi government when it requested "a time frame for the complete transfer of the security responsibilities to the hands of the Iraqi security as preface to decrease the number of the American forces and withdraw them later from Iraq."

I've been participating in peace rallies since the Iraq war began over 5 years ago and I'm getting a bit tired of it. I'll be happy when I can stop hanging out on street corners to remind the US to pursue peace not war.

read more | digg story

Europeans love Obama

The NY Times Op-Ed "Obama at the Gate" by the German author Christoph Peters nailed Bush and promoted Obama -- mirroring the sentiment of all the Europeans I talked with on my recent 3 week visit to Italy, Austria, Croatia, and the Netherlands.

Says Christoph: "George W. Bush’s contempt for the rules and institutions of international politics, his revival of preventive war, with all its unforeseeable consequences, his abrogation of the rule of law in his own country, and his ignorance of every issue related to environmental conservation have become, for me and for the vast majority of Germans, synonymous with a high-handed, ugly America. This state of affairs has provoked not only rage and horror, but also great sadness, for the United States has always been the symbol of freedom, democracy and law."

I completely agree.

The wonderful and remarkable thing is, as I've experienced first hand in talking to Europeans, Obama is doing more to restore the world's faith in the United States then any recent US President -- and he is not yet the US President even! The United States with its vision of equality, freedom, and civil rights is a hero to many -- when we actually practice those virtues.

I sincerely hope Obama does become President and is able to finish restoring the trust others want have in the US as a government that supports life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- for all.

read more | digg story

I want to be proud to be an American again!

Don't you just hate hypocrites? I do too. And we're not alone. People elsewhere in the world don't like hypocrites either.

Unfortunately recent US policies like the Iraq war, unilateral military action, ignoring international treaties, and saying we support human rights while at the same time backing repressive regimes has made a big hypocrite of the US. Even some in Washington DC now realize this.

Please read: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080611/ts_alt_afp/usdiplomacysecurity

I want to be proud to be an American again! I hope our next US President and Congress will be true to American ideals so we can again be a role model to look up to instead of a fool, albeit a fool with a big stick, in the eyes of the world.

For families of soldiers at war, endless worry

Hi all,

If you have not already, I encourage you to read "For families of soldiers at war, endless worry" in the Sunday 1/6/2008 SJ Mercury News.

You can also read it online at http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion

Here is the letter I sent to letters@mercurynews.com regarding the editorial and the other letters so far:

-----------------------
I am outraged when others tell me that I can only support our troops if I support the war. That is FALSE. It's falsity is proven many ways. The outpouring of letters from people supporting the troops but not the war proves it. Almost all taxpaying Americans support the troops but a large majority of them are against the war (as shown in numerous polls). I personally support our troops (through taxes and donations) but do not support the war. I salute Stephen Wright's son for doing his patriotic duty while at the same time I work to end this stupid war.

The waste of lives and resources due to the Iraq war is atrocious. 9/11 resulted in 2,752 people dead. The Iraq war has killed nearly 4,000 American troops, wounded 40,000 American troops, killed over 400,000 Iraqi civilians, and cost over 483 billion US dollars so far.

Furthermore, President Bush lied to fool the rest of us -- there were no weapons of mass destruction and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Democracy is based on people choosing for themselves. Forcing democracy on others is so undemocratic and hypocritical it almost leaves me speechless. I want my country to be a noble role model for others, not a big bully.

Sincerely,
Tim Oey
Sunnyvale, CA

Want Democracy? Then Practice It!

It is so easy to be lazy. And it is so easy to blame others.

It seems to me that too many people these days are lazy (at least in the US). And too many people are ready to blame others rather than take responsibility themselves.

All of us can control and are responsible for our own destinies.

Who are we to force democracy on others? Forcing others to practice democracy is by its very nature undemocratic. Would the US have become a successful democracy if some other country had come in and told us we had to conform or else? Hell no!

We don't want others to tell us what to do. Others don't want us to tell them what to do. Democracy by its very nature is rooted in the people. As such it has to grow from the people. Power to the people!

It is far more powerful for us to teach by example. It is far more effective to nurture and grow democracy through education. This takes patience. It takes time. But in the long run it can be successful. And the results are much more likely to sustain themselves.

For democracy (as well as our environment, efficient use of resources, and our world), the US was wrong to invade Iraq.

Who are we to force democracy on others when we oppress others and make them too afraid to speak out?

Be brave, speak out, and be heard. Free speech is necessary for democracy to thrive and spread. If you don't stand up for free speech, who will? It is a requirement for democracy. So do it!

Who are we to force democracy on others when so many of us choose not to participate in our own democracy?

If you really believe in democracy, prove it -- go vote!

Sincerely,
Tim Oey
Sunnyvale, CA

Copyright 2006 Tim Oey

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

The American Way, Osama, and Truth.

Today I wrapped up a business trip in India and had the pleasure of visiting the Taj Mahal with a colleague. I also had the pleasure of talking about the world at large with Sanjay, our tour guide in Agra. Sanjay shed new light on my knowledge of the American Revolution. He said that many in the world greatly admired the United States after it successfully gained independence from England in 1776. And the US inspired many other countries, like India, to also seek independence.

I wish the US could continue to inspire people rather than hurt them.

In Greg Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea", one Pakistani says regarding the US-Iraq war "I'm a moderate Muslim, an educated man. But watching this, even I could become a jihadi. How can Americans say they are making themselves safer? Your President Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years."

In response to Greg's retort saying "Osama had something to do with it, too." The Pakistani goes on to say "Osama, baah! Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to America, Osama is in every home. As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy's strength. In America's case, that's not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.

These words ring true whereas much of what President Bush has had to say has not.

I highly recommend that everyone buy a copy of Greg's book and read it. It is chock full of insights and real truths. Please read it and let ignorance fade away in the light of reason and accurate information. The truth shall set us free.

Sincerely,
Tim Oey

Greg Mortenson and "Three Cups of Tea"

This evening (3/20/2006) I had the pleasure of meeting Greg Mortenson in person at Kepler's in Menlo Park during a discussion of his book "Three Cups of Tea". He gave a great talk with about 250 people attending.

Some highlights that stood out for me:

1) Schooling girls has greater benefit then schooling boys for a number of reasons. Boys tend to leave the community and take their education with them whereas girls tend to stay with communities and help build them. Educated girls are more likely to raise educated families. When boys go off on a "jihad" (which is not necessarily a war, but can be any crusade or struggle to make a difference), it is supposed to be approved of by their mother to be socially acceptable. If the mother is educated she is less likely to approve of a warlike jihad and more likely to approve of some other endeavor.

2) Greg and some statisticians at the UN believe that the best way to to get over population under control is to educate women.

3) The amount of money that the US spent on the war in Iraq would have been enough to eliminate illiteracy worldwide (spending that much money on schools rather than the military). Imagine the kind of message that would give the world instead of making war.

4) Greg's group has set up 53 schools and these schools have educated 20,000 children so far.

5) Greg is a very humble guy who freely admits that he has made lots of mistakes -- and making those mistakes was necessary for him to learn. When his first school was being built he made the mistake of trying to manage things very closely to make every penny count. The town elder said the people loved him but asked him to back off and let the people build their own school. Greg was driving them crazy. They proceeded to finish their school just fine in 6 weeks. Greg said he learned it is important to give power to the people.

I now have a copy of Greg's book and hope to read it in the next few weeks.

For more details on the book please see:
http://www.threecupsoftea.com

For more on Central Asia Institute please see:
http://www.ikat.org

Cheers,
Tim