Manns Medium

While I and so many more are truly upset and angered by the events in Sanford, Florida, none of us wish to disrespect Trayvon’s family, Zimmerman’s family or the numerous officials in Sanford who are now trying to clean up a mess created by a select few.   What angers me more are those who think that the only way to get justice is on the other end of a gun? Recently six shots were fired into an empty police car in Sanford and for those individuals who believe this is just, they are wrong.   All this does is add fuel to the fire and instead of us using this moment as a teaching moment, addressing all those long standing issues and working to bring an end to this separate justice system we now have.   We have a golden opportunity to finally get issues which has plagued the African-American community and so many other communities out in the open and possibly solved.   We do not need the 10 percent who thrives better when there are divisions. We must not be deter...

Nataliya Vasilyeva of the Associated Press pens and article titled Mikhail Gorbachev calls for a new vote in Russia in this article she writes that “Russian authorities should annul the parliamentary vote results and hold a new election, ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev urged Wednesday as popular indignation grew over widespread reports of alleged election fraud.   Thousands of Russians have rallied in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the last two days, facing off against tens of thousands of police and Interior Ministry troops. Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency that authorities must hold a fresh election or deal with a rising tide of discontent.   Sunday's parliamentary vote suggested Russians are tiring of Putin and his United Russia party, which has dominated all other political forces in Russia for the past dozen years and earned a reputation for corruption.” If her reporting is correct, does this not sound quite familiar?   The people are beginning to feel m...

One of the major reasons why protestors in the national occupy Wall Street movement is receiving enormous support from the public is its willingness to work with city leaders and police.   It appears that some in other places are looking to challenge that premise. We are not sure if it is because they have been infiltrated with people whose primary mission is to do anything to give this movement a bad name or by people who meant well but have been overwhelmed by anger and want to act accordingly.   What we do know are those who wish to defying the law loses creditability when advocating for the law.   In order to show that all Americans should be treated equally under the law, it must be done within the confines of the law.   Breaking the law to make a point only clouds that point because the only thing remembered is the point became mute after it was revealed that you stepped over the boundaries. Occupy Wall Street protestors should be careful to monitor th...

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CNN Wire Staff reports in their article titled S. African president: Gadhafi accepts terms of agreement that “e mbattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, in negotiations with the African Union, has agreed in principal to a deal that would end the conflict in the nation he's ruled for 42 years, South African President Jacob Zuma told reporters Sunday.   Details of the agreement were not available, though it is believed to include an immediate ceasefire in the nearly two-month long war between Gadhafi's forces and those fighting to unseat him. In his comments, Zuma also discussed an end to NATO airstrikes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone and targeting Gadhafi's troops.   Earlier Sunday, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz told journalists that the meetings "will discuss the ways to resolve the crisis in Libya, and our main goal is to stop the military operations and find adequate solutions for the problem between our Libyan brothers," according to a Maurita...

An article written by Doug Mataconis for Outside the Beltway.com titled Wisconsin Defies Court Order, Publishes Collective Bargaining Law reports that “w hen a Wisconsin trial court judge struck down Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining law, she   issued an injunction   forbidding the state from both enforcing the law, and from publishing it as part of the official Code of Wisconsin. Despite the fact that the order is still in effect,   the state has gone ahead and published the law” and some reporters and journalist are scrambling to explain how and why this happened.   I think that I might have the answer. Because democrats stayed home in the midterm elections, they door was opened quite wide for the Tea Party and the Republican Party to come on in.   Thinking that they had showed their democratic lawmakers a thing or two, those who stayed home really had no idea what was going to happen.   They all assumed that nothing this drastic would ever come to...

How often have you asked a friend to help you with a major problem and welcomed them standing by your side through major issues that you faced?   I would say that the number of times is more than anyone may be able to count.   What do you do then when that friend asks you for your help in a situation that they are facing?   Do you say no and ignore their plea for help even after you are reminded of how they stood with you.   If you say that you would step in to help them then you have your answer on what kind of America you want to be. Ben Feller White House Correspondent  for the Associated Press wrote an article titled Obama strongly defends US military action in Libya in which only one quote is necessary.   That quote is ‘ "To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are," Obama said. "Some nations may be able to...

Believe it or not, I was walking from the kitchen to my small office space when it suddenly occurred to me what that lady meant when she was seen crying on camera yelling “I want my country back”.  It was during the “grassroots” protest of healthcare at town halls all over and it soon became the rally cry for all those signs and some major politicians. I came up with this thought because since that time I had been trying to understand what she and the others meant.  I volunteered to serve this country in the United States Marines as well as knew of others who saw this healthcare debate differently had and were still serving in the military, yet this cry for getting back my or our country did not sound as if it included me or anyone who disagreed with them.  I really wanted to believe that it was only a difference in which party they thought would bring America out of this recession and back stronger than it ever was.  I think now the evidence shows otherwise. It wa...

So many reports of the conflict in Libya focus on the untrained ragtag group of rebels’ inability to sustain advances and take advantage of the breathing room received from airstrikes.   All of these reports mentioned serious doubt about this conflict ending soon and has become even more increasingly talking about a stalemate between the rebels and the pro-Gadhafi fighters.   I believe that the answer and end game lies in the Associated Press’ Ryan Lucas and Maggie Michael article titled Airstrikes force Gadhafi retreat from key city. The first thing that needs to be understood is how these airstrikes have saved so many lives as evidenced by those who live it every day and by this paragraph where a doctor was quoted.   “A doctor in Misrata said the tanks fled after the airstrikes began around midnight, giving a much-needed reprieve to the city, which is inaccessible to human rights monitors or journalists. He said the airstrikes struck the aviation academy and a vacant l...

There may be hundreds of reasons why there has been no intervention in the conflict of the countries mentioned above and more that we have yet to learn about but to me it all revolves around one simple answer.   Times have changed and so have the majority of Americans. I remember a day, while serving in the United States Marine Corps, we used to look for ways to showcase our military might and if any thing happened to give us a chance to do that we were glad to immerse ourselves in it.   That was then and this is now.   With the current military thinly stretched, the last thing we wish to do is involve ourselves in any situation which would tie us down for years.   Some argue that this is the same in Libya but I respectfully disagree with that.   With the lead taken by other countries that normally means they will be responsible for the majority of the price tag.   American war fighting technology is second to none and its use can diminish the need for gro...

Thousand of questions are being asked and they all involve what role America should play in supporting the rebels fighting in Libya.   Many are under the impression that a no fly zone will work when it has not all of the other times and there are even a few suggesting risking the lives of more service members by putting boots on the ground. While many have a shoot first and ask question later mentality, I have a slightly different take. The Ryan Lucas and Maggie Michael article for the Associated Press titled Gadhafi forces bomb airport at rebel stronghold has many believing that a Gadhafi total victory is all but insured.   I say that the fighting has just begun and I point to the following statements from this article as proof.      “ Gheriani, the rebel spokesman, said by telephone from Benghazi that the opposition was hoping for a positive U.N. Security Council vote but "if not, we'll rely on ourselves and do what we can."   ‘Gheriani told The Associa...

There is so much in this article from the Associated Press writers Ryan Lucas and Diaa Hadid titled Scoring victories, Gadhafi tells rebels: surrender that trying to collapse it into a 350 word rant is not easy so I wanted to focus on just a tiny part of it. The article reported many good things but one thing stood out as I read it and that was “t he pro-Gadhafi forces surprised rebels with attacks on two sides of the city of Ajdabiya, and the opposition was outgunned as troops entered the city in tanks and personnel carriers.”   Now knowing that the bulk of the fighters are regular citizens without any military training at all but taking into consideration the military members who have defected to help their countrymen win back their country from a dictator, I would have thought that some first year issues would have been appropriately addressed by now.   The number one of them being never assuming anything in battle and preparing your troops as if you were your opposition....

It is not a coincidence that 17 U. S. Sates are all seeking to band the collective bargaining provision of unions.   Recent events of Wisconsin State Legislature have proven this beyond any doubt.   Some of these Governors and State Legislatures have gone even further and set-up their benefactors to take over entire cities.   The Citizens united decision was the first stage in their plan to take over this country and we have been so sure that this kind of thing would never happen in a nation like ours, we were not paying attention.   Glen Beck railed against the President Obama creating a caliphate.   No one would have ever guessed that he may have been right except he may have been looking in the wrong direction. Major donors promised to not only get their henchman elected to office but to bring jobs and money into the their states if they go rid of collective bargaining and gave them a bigger tax break.   Governors and State Legislatures swallowed tha...

I realize that this is nothing but a dream and if I were in a position to advise the President on Foreign Affairs matters, the information I would use would be much more than news reports but its kind of fun thinking about it.   Never the less, if I were advising the President, here is what I would say and why I would say it. Libya I would advise the President not to get involved in this revolution yet because it has too many moving parts and jumping the gun could extend the war instead of ending it.   Until we have a better picture of what is actually happening, it would be better for America to error on the side of caution.   I would make everyone aware that I am alert to the fact that protestors are calling for help but only fools rush in where wise men fear to tread and since our American fighting men and women are highly trained specialist in their fields, they also wish to finish whatever they start and we do not need to be in another drawn out conflict or war. ...

I can remember railing against the Progressives when they labeled President Obama for being weak by compromising on the Bush tax cuts early in the negotiations.   Just about to a person they were screaming that he was not stronger enough and that if he did not grow a pair then they would consider mounting a challenger for him in 2012.   I remember informing them that there was a method to his madness but I don’t think they heard me. The unions in Wisconsin took a page from Obama’s playbook and did the exact same thing early in the run up to protests and Democratic State Senators escaping to Illinois.     They gave into all of the budget demands of Governor Walker early but refused to accept the last of the governor’s demand when he wanted to strip them of their collective bargaining.   These same progressives are now applauding this move by the unions and say that by doing this early in the game, they took away any momentum that the Republicans could mount b...