Thanksgiving Weekend Update

What to do when the world doesn't give a crap and it scares the crap out of you

My letter to the editor was published last Friday according to a friend. That is good news because I felt really strongly about the mess in the Gaza Strip. You can't hold people hostage and harass them and then expect them to sit down and like and do whatever you ask.

Politics in Hot Springs are starting to get interesting. Barbara Thexton got a discussion group going to see what can be done to take back the legislature. We don't need to lose the governor's office in 2014 either. Dustin McDaniels is going to have the ride of a lifetime if we don't get something happening here soon. Arkansas has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the US. We don't need voter suppression here, we need people to take voting seriously. When I moved here in the mid 50's, we had a poll tax to suppress voters. It was declared unconstitutional and now people just don't vote. No one seems to mind sending our troops over seas to support and democratize the Middle East and Africa but as far as voting here, you've got to be kidding, they just don't have the time or won't take it.

Claudia Reynolds LeBlanc and I picketed Walmart on Black Friday at the Albert Pike store here in Hot Springs. There were very few customers going through the light where we stood. They must have all gone to the store on Central since it may be the bigger store here. I put some sandwich boards on Tigger so he could earn his keep. He's a great little campaigner. If you need him at your function, he works cheap. Several people had told Claudia they would show up to help. Apathy extends beyond the voting booth here.

Here is my letter to the editor for those that wish to read it:


The attacks on the Gaza Strip by Israel requires a close examination of the cause and effect of this 'military action'. At first blush it looks like Israel is completely in the right in defending its country against the Hamas.

This is the simplistic view that the politicians would like you to believe and not examine any further. We are pro-Israel without a doubt. Anything they say or do we are in complete agreement with. The question is; should we be?

The Gaza Strip was given to the Palestinians as a surrogate country until an agreement could be reached satisfying both sides of the argument establishing statehood for Palestine. Israel sent in settlers and essentially confiscated the lands designated Palestinian. Israel then set up road blocks, check points, boycotts and other extreme measures restricting movement into and out of Gaza vital supplies such as food and medical supplies. Given these conditions, the Hamas resisted and is now almost completely annihilated by the technology sold to them by the USA.. Today the missiles Israel is firing into the Gaza Strip are nothing more than target practice.

Now let's take a look at a world view and not just the myopic one being peddled by the pro-Israeli faction.

What will happen if Israel can justify in the way it is currently headed, an attack on Iran? We keep hearing they are Israel's biggest threat. Secondly, Egypt is sitting by not doing much more than obfuscating to appease the US.  Israel's biggest fear is Arab retaliation to its aggressive behavior against Iran.

Now to the serious business of a war between Israel and Iran. This is Obama's second term and what if it were possible to lay at the feet of his administration the ultimate war in the Middle East? I do not see a peaceful solution when China, Russia, and the Arab Emirates chooses sides in this unwinnable war. His administration will be known to be more inept even than George W. Bush's.

We are asked daily to honor our military and yet the military establishment squanders the personnel aka soldiers like so much toilet paper. Do you really believe we have the concerned population that will continue to fight for a global war that they didn't start and have no way of winning? Only 1% of the population is in the military. That means 99% of us sit on the sidelines wondering what Kate Moss' latest tatoo looks like and where it may be located.

It is time we got our heads out of the sand and demanded from our leaders a solution to the Middle East crisis and I don't mean more bombs and missiles.

Judy Ladd
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