The situation is the same all over the world, when elections are in the air, the best is shown but the worst also seeps through. These two bodies of thought seem to go together, to showcase one as a figure of strength and patriotism and the aim is the same, for the good of all men. The problem is that it always seems to go the opposite way and people can’t seem to get over the fact that everybody has something to hide and that there is no safe place to hide them (except the grave that is).
Look for some controversial people and their best kept secrets have remained secrets only because they took them and the answers to the grave. All prominent celebrities and politicians have their own little dirty secrets that can come out at anytime, seemingly out of nowhere (most probably from an opponent’s camp) out into the mainstream and the public’s attention. How well the situation and information is handled would be the true test of will of one’s true aim and goal for serving the public. In most countries of the world, politics has some form of monetary gain whether it be for self, family or some other far off relative that is to benefit from the occasional nod from upstairs.
Why do people always look for the bad in things and not tend to take into account the good? Maybe because the bad always makes for a good story? Maybe because the good isn’t attention catching enough to earn profit. With information traveling at the speed of light, any amount of information that gets on the internet is made available to all, sometimes without even a hint of seeking for authenticity or validity of the information in question. This may be the true manifestation of greed (which is in all of us for self-preservation is after all one of the hard-coded basic instincts evolution has left us with) in all human beings. Time may have simply run out for good with the bad and the ugly on the agenda for now. Till when? The end of the world????????

Scientists have been telling us for a long long time that oil is a finite resource and that it is soon going to run out and when it does, we’d better be ready for the consequences. If that is the case, then why the hell are we all suffering so miserably with prices that have almost doubled in the past few years, profits. Who would want to nip the problem in the bud and provide all of us with an alternative power source when oil is getting them so much money. That has roots in the fundamental idea that man is almost if not always motivated by personal gain.
Why has everybody been caught off-guard by the current oil crisis? Because we were all too busy to hear and accept the warning signals which have been going off for quite some time. Remember the problem with the ozone layer? It was foreseen but still we manufactured millions of tons of the stuff that ate it all away CFC’s? The dangers of the mistakes of the past have haunted us again and again with commercial gains in front of environmental ones. Remember Chernobyl, the nuclear power plant that almost contaminated the whole world. Many think its a story that has long gone away yet the truth is that is is a continuing problem for all of us that billions is spent every year just to keep it contained and safe. Three-mile island in the US is another of the near misses with nuclear technology yet the US presidential race has the idea of getting more of them online to provide electricity for tomorrow which would not be a good idea mixed in with the terrorism plots and all.
There may never be a solution for the energy/oil crisis we are currently facing but one thing’s for sure, we’ll never learn in time to prevent such events from happening again and again. All these current events can be traced to past issues that more of us should have paid attention to. All of us should have realized that we are destroying the same planet we live on as we go on with our daily lives. Maybe when all the oil on this earth has long gone we’d have realized that it was not a very good source of energy in the first place. Maybe….. maybe…………

China’s having won the bid to host the 2008 Olympics was hard won for the communist country who was trying real hard to re-make it’s figure on the global scale. They won the bid and started to invest heavily on developing Olympic venues in the true grandeur of China yet after the billion of dollars spent on the several groundbreaking venues environmental issues abound that may spell disaster for the high expectations they have from the economic benefits of hosting the Olympics. Rivers and shore lines choked with algae due to an influx of pollution from the millions of Chinese who want to watch and take part in the Olympic events is threatening to choke off venues for water sports.
Air quality in Beijing is also deplorable and may cause problem for the many events that may require running outdoors and with many countries having reservations about participating due to possible health risks their problems just keeps on growing and growing. With the Olympic games just a few weeks out, many environmental issues are still being brought up. Even drinking water is an issue for many bottled Chinese products fail standards of some participating countries having them bring their own supplies for their athletes.
True that the Olympics is meant to bridge the differences of man yet China may have simply bitten off more that it could chew. The influx of problems so close to the opening ceremonies is giving people headaches all over and political issues are also being brought out with some countries even threatening to boycott the games altogether to stress their point. China may just have to learn from the lessons of the past that image is not the whole picture but part of the picture and that change must begin from within. The country and its resources are stretched to the limit due to the disasters that swept through the Sichuan Province that killed thousands due to shoddy construction of government schools and buildings.

The moves of scientists to decode and unravel the secrets of the human genome have long been debated for the ethical implications of such scientific actions aims to discredit some validity of the mystery of life. If you look at the religious explanation for life, it was created by a supreme being that deemed us as the dominant creature of this earth. Scientifically, they say that we are the result of millions of years of evolution whereby we have evolved from lesser creatures such as microbes who developed into ever complex organisms leading to us, Homo sapiens or the human race.
This is why Darwin was scorned by the church when he came up with the idea that people evolved from chimps and everybody knows that he was scorned then but praised now as one of the most prominent minds to ever grace this earth. If that were the case, then the separation between religion and science should always be defined and infinite meaning morality and other issues are not to influence the definition of either as time progresses. Philosophers know that people have the ability to bend the rules should a need for it be found and that does not say that the bending has been going on for as long as man has survived on this earth. Even the existence of God has been challenged again and again.
Then when does the poking and experimenting with genetics and the ability to add or subtract traits that allows plants to become more productive, animals to have better health and more. The promises of genetics are good indeed, growing organs from cells rather than transplants and the lifelong drugs to keep the immune system from rejecting the transplanted body part. But how far can we go before it becomes morally wrong, a whole human being? Life is filled with mysteries and it still is, that is the main driving force for such scientific research. Let us place this in simpler terms, would you rather have a flower opening and showing off its full glory and beauty or the opening and closing is due to molecular actions that results in a process that makes reproduction for plants to commence? You choose your rules, your world, and your life!

Behind the scene, the then Prime Minister held meetings with heads of states and religious leaders and figures as he planned his exit form the British government. Much so is his belief in the idea that religion is the way politics would go that he has launched a faith foundation to study the implications and fundamental ideas behind such a concept. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are hard and deadly and he has come to the realization that the battle must be won through the hearts and minds of the enemy and not thought war. He has shown some regret in his support of the war alongside the US which has also suffered blows to their war philosophy. Their aim to bring freedom to the oppressed peole of Afghanistan and Iraq has turned into a battle between the invaders and the invaded with the people fighting for their very existence as they find it hard to accept the concept of democracy.
Policy has shifted again and again and once criminal groups were turned into allies as the war progressed. The problem in the wars was so great that it was hard to trust anyone, even those who worked with them in the streets and battlefield. Informants, ordinary people and religiously motivated people under hard lined Islamic fundamentalists work with and then against their former allies who worked and fought hard to get them freedom they thought they deserved. As a result of this oversight, clerics with their own desires for rule commanding insurgents that take the battle to their former allies.
This is what Mr. Blair aims to study and understand, how to educate people that religion is the key to solving some of the world’s most pressing issues such as hunger, global warming and other issues that need addressing now otherwise this earth of ours may not last much longer for future generations who would have to live in a wasteland due to our decisions today.

We all know Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the UK who was replaced by Gordon Brown at the helm of the UK government. He was loved by some and scorned by many, but we’d all have to agree that he played his part in our recent history. A staunch ally of the US when they invaded Iraq, he fought to bring justice to those killed in the London bombings that killed many people. Much so that he continues his work as the official envoy of the West to the Middle East as he continues to play his part in the world of politics which he has come to realize has been utterly changed by religion in one way or the other.
In his many years as the Prime Minister of the UK, he has suffered blow after blow as to why the UK got itself involved in one of recent history’s most devastating blunder, going to war after people who are motivated by religious beliefs and fundamentalism. Fundamentalism that has incorporated violence as part of their basic concepts and that without it, no victory would be possible. Many soldier’s lives were taken by such fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Iraq which the invading forces say would take a year or two to mop up. Now, five years after the initial invasion and long after the dictator Saddam has been executed as retribution for his crimes against humanity, the war rages on.

Much so is the effect of the two terms that being labeled evil invokes our primitive instinct to treat that person differently, as society has associated and branded people who are called to be evil as those who deserve persecution. Society labels anyone who does harm towards his fellow man as evil and being evil warrants punishment. Our judicial system is based on this premise that an evil doer must be punished as his form of payment for his evil acts.
Other societies as the ones in the Middle East offer a more brutal form of judgment which they claim follows the laws laid down by their holy scriptures, “An eye for an eye, A tooth for a tooth” has resulted in many well publicized horrific executions of criminals who were rendered judgment by their courts. If you kill somebody, then you are to be killed and so on and so forth.
Many question this approach to justice and the definition between good and evil for they say it is inhumane and undignified. But some argue that who are you to counter laws and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation by a people who have developed in parts of the world deemed to be the seats of civilization.
The debate goes on and on so the definition as well as the scope of such debates continues to expand and delve into the deepest recesses of human thoughts and ideology. Ask anyone and they will have their own unique definition of good and evil which would give you an idea of how hard it is to come up with a universally accepted definition of the concept. People are still labeled evil to this day and they are still being punished for their being such. Good on the other hand demands praise and remuneration as everybody knows which is in accordance of the basic concept that the sole purpose of man on this earth is the pursuit of personal gain and excellence regardless of what society says or does.

Everybody on earth has their view regarding the topic and the fundamental ideas behind the two have been debated since the first philosophers decided to ponder why there is good and evil. Philosophers have long argued that the sole purpose of man’s life on this earth is for self satisfaction and that the two ideas come into play in the pursuit thereof. Plato observed and reflected in his works that there are only a few possible ways and means by which man can do good deeds but indefinite ways by which to commit evil towards fellow man.
Time has had the true definitions and fundamental ideas behind the true meanings of the two bent and twisted to suit our very needs. During the time when the US loved and embraced slavery, it was not seen as an evil though today it is by no means defines as such. Societies such as the Nazi’s during the Second World War tolerated genocide as means of attaining the true identity of the Aryan race.
Is Good and Evil a universal description of truth or are they mere terms that as we say are bent and twisted to suit a societies needs and wants.
Moral Absolutism defines good and evil as concepts defined by GOD and that anything done that is against the will of GOD is to be defined and considered to be evil in all respects. Moral Relativism on the other hand offers a broader explanation of the ideals saying they are only products of local culture and that their definition can be changed to suit the needs of men who aim one goal or the other. Universalism on the other hand says that the difference between the two can only be bent so much and that the true meanings are still well defined by the teachings of past societies.

First, our sincerest condolences to the families left behind by the recent earthquake in China that has left more than 12,000 dead and the toll is expected to continue rising due to more areas that are still cut off but the strong quake. Just a quote, for I just can’t seem to notice the still crazy way the Chinese government has in terms of propaganda which it still uses as a main tool for spreading it’s word and keeping it’s hold on its people. Get a handful of photos from the State news agency and you see soldiers ready to go to battle with the search and rescue, soldiers rescuing people and soldiers marching on their way to help those buried in the quake. What about the millions of miserable people who are out there miserable without anything left to live in or eat? What about full aerial shot of the areas which are affected that may give the rest of the world a full view of the magnitude the disaster that is developing. People left to fend for themselves without regional disaster supplies and equipment to deal with such emergencies hence their leaders live in splendor of the capital city.
The government is getting praise for their swift efforts but as one of the largest economies on earth, shouldn’t people in local areas be trained to deal with such disasters. Imagine the worst hit areas, only one line of communication was left that allowed military planners and disaster experts in Beijing to know the magnitude, one government issued satellite phone and that was it. All the areas surrounding the major city center in the worst hit province has little known about their residents?
Focus more on the people and not on the rescuers and their efforts, to hell with the lavish parades as the Olympic torch makes its way through the country. Pull cash from the lavish displays and security in the torch relay and rush aid and people to the stricken areas. That should be China’s priority. In a country where the government is still trying to get used to money from the outside world, corruption still abounds. The collapsed school buildings are surely made of shabby materials and will surely be riddled with holes left by corruption in the ranks of the local officials and civil engineers who have approved the construction of such weak structures in such an earthquake prone area. When will they learn that the people come first and children are the future? Children are the worst hit with schools and other structures collapsing like matchsticks pan caking one after the other, a six story building reduced to a pile of rubble two meters thick?!! China has a lot of growing up to do in terms of people and with money pouring in from the rest of the world; the Chinese government is still pockmarked with corruption even with their displays of stiff penalties for criminals which goes to show that old tactics don’t work anymore.

The events of the cyclone in Myanmar has become one of the worst humanitarian disasters of recent times with people rotting in canals and rice paddies next to survivors who would surely die of disease unless aid comes fast. The military junta allows some aid to come in, secueing them and marking their names onto boxes as they hand them out in areas nearby the capital where there is little or no much effect from the cyclone. The suspicious eye on volunteers requesting for visas from the government as people continue to die. The UN not having any say on what to do, they say they can meddle under the rights of the many, but with many Western nations tied up in wars somewhere in the middles east and elesewhere in the world, no one is taking a firm stance. Only words and not enough actions.
Myanmar is considered to be one of the poorest nations in the world, ruled by generals and their minions of soldiers weho control the country and its riches, the people have little to go on. The disaster magnifies their aim to help the people, cantering efforts around glorifying and maintainin gtheir positions. The living standards in the country are poor compared to other developing countries that share their economic status. The country is rich in natural resources that are all taken by the military for their own self-preservation.
Food aid is gathered form depots and fresh rice taken by the military leaders, giving the rotten government stores to the survivors who say not even the dogs will eat them. The government has to open up and fast if they are to save the millions of people that are now facing horrible conditions. Control of the situation is their priority which even got to the point where all Western reporters or citizens were rounded up and detained to be expelled from the country. Soldiers commanding the population that they are not to say anything to Westerners amplify the public outcry. The country may be poor and the people much worse, but where is the human compassion from the rest of the world, why doesn’t the United Nations issue directives with respect to aid and military forces of member countries to go in and take care of a mess their own government can’t even handle? Politics is still the key and the hypocritical deafness of all to the cries of people who are suffering come second to world order. Even decorated and well respected people forms the UN are denied entry to manage the mass delivery of aid to stricken areas. Doctors without Borders has been denied visas along with many aid agencies whose people are just itching to get their hands into the thick of things to help the people of Myanmar. Why not do away with politics and just let the global community do what they can to get people back on track with their lives? You hold the key and we as a people of this earth must make out stand known, that people and lives come first!