Is Jordan Going to Be the Next Government to Fall In the Spring of 2013?

After reading several CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) papers and a couple of RAND Corporation reports it is obvious to me that the Arab Spring was not merely caused by people getting together on social networks. There was a populist undercurrent of anger, despair, and helplessness and the protestors merely used the social networks for tools to promote their political agendas.

People took to the streets because they were angry at the economic situation, the rising food prices, and overall inflation. They demanded that their various governments do something to take care of these problems, but those governments couldn't.

The people in those areas also felt as if their voice was not being heard and that democracy was being stolen from them, also they were quite upset with the rising of wheat prices and food scarcity, this is what triggered those revolutions. It has often been said that a stable society is really only three meals away from total meltdown and chaos. Hungry humans will do just about anything to get food, just as wild animals do. Well, the Arab Spring touched many nations and harnessed those animal instincts, and there were Days of Rage (riots and protests) in some 10 different countries. Many governments moved very quickly to appease the masses, but it was too much for other leaders.

Well, we're coming up on another spring season, and as the weather gets better people will once again take to the streets, there seems to be quite a bit of turbulence and chaos and Jordan right now. Is this a sign of things to come? It certainly could be, and one has to ask, what is the next nation to fall in the region?

Strafor Global Intelligence had noted in an article on November 19, 2012 "The Gaza Conflict Reverberates in the West Bank and Jordan," and spoke of the growing angst amongst the masses there, explaining how the Muslim Brotherhood seemed to be behind much of the commotion causing larger protests than were seen in the previous Arab Spring which took down the governments of Egypt and Tunisia.

Just two days the prior the Wall Street Journal also reported on civil and economic unrest "Jordanianas Call for End of Monarchy - A Regime Long Sheltered from Arab Spring Sees Economic Discontent Feed New Demand for Revolution" by Bull Spindle and Suha Philip Ma'ayeh.

Is it possible that Jordan could also fall to the Muslim Brotherhood? Anything is possible, we already saw that when Egypt fell very quickly. A lot has happened in the last few years, and we might expect that some of this will continue for the next three or four more years. The interesting thing is we don't know what the outcome will be, or if this will end well. Nevertheless, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Is The United States of America Negotiating for a Terrorist Organization Now?

In mid-November of 2012 rockets were shot from across the Syrian border into Israel. Simultaneously, rockets and even Fajr 3 and Fajr 5 missiles were shot from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The culprit was well-known, and this was no surprise to Israel's intelligence service. Hamas was obviously behind it all, and they had recently hijacked the politic in the Palestinian territory. The US State Department has labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization, and in fact it is a proxy terrorist group for Iran.

Those Fajr 5 missiles are Iranian missiles. As the attack got going, and for the next week everyone was screaming that it was time for a cease-fire and negotiation. Israel asked a simple question; who will be negotiating for Hamas? Since it is a terrorist organization, and those terrorists are keeping their identities secret, and it's hard to tell who was in control, it's doubtful they will come out of the woodwork in broad daylight, show themselves, and negotiate.

After all, the longevity for a Hamas military leader, once known, and gallivanting around in public certainly wouldn't be more than a few hours considering Hamas is now at war with Israel in this latest round. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was dispatched to meet with Israel's leader in Jerusalem, from there she would go to the Palestinian territory, perhaps to talk to Mahmoud Abbas, and into Egypt to talk to their new Muslim Brotherhood leader Morsi. There's just one problem with this, first, Mahmoud Abbas doesn't speak for Hamas.

Thus, apparently Hillary Clinton will negotiate on behalf of Hamas with Israel I am guessing? But that brings up a very good question; is the United States of America negotiating for a terrorist organization? And if so may I ask under whose authority? It has been noted that the United States nor Israel negotiates with terrorists. One of the leaders for Israel said that if Hamas wanted a cease-fire, then all they had to do would be to stop shooting rockets and missiles into the country. Apparently Hamas doesn't want to stop shooting missiles until they run out of ordinance to shoot - Iran probably doesn't want Hamas to stop either.

You see, you can't negotiate with a ghost, or someone in hiding, and you should never negotiate with a terrorist organization. Only a fool would try, and therefore why is the United States even bothering to try to negotiate with a terrorist organization or on their behalf with Israel? It makes no sense whatsoever. Hamas wants to look good in the media to gain more support politically so they can overshadow Mahmoud Abbas, who by the way has been trying to join the United Nations a nonmember state, so that the Palestinian Authority might have a voice.

Women in India

Though India is a country where women are worshipped as goddesses, they were treated no better than slaves even a century ago. They were usually considered to be the weaker sex and were often kept subdued by the men folk.

Over the years, as the country went through political, economical and social changes, the condition of the Indian woman also changed for the better. They began to get their place in independent India. They stopped being mere domestic servants and saw the light of education and started playing a more pertinent role in the country's development. Today, no segregation is made between a boy and girl with regard to education. Indian women, now educated, have found their place of honour in the society.

Both Indian women and men enjoy equal voting rights. This means that the Indian woman has an equal say in deciding who will run the country. Their voices are now more dynamic and audible than ever. No leader or politician can ever ignore the voice of the Indian women or can oppose their rights. Women in India have become identical partners in electing and dismissing a government.

With the changing times and to grant more power to the Indian women, Hindu laws have been modified. The Hindu Marriage Act has undergone far reaching changes and Indian women have been granted the right to divorce. This has ensured them to get protection and relief against cruel and virulent husbands. Besides, the Hindu Succession Act has ensured the daughter's share in her parents' property. Such reforms have secured the position of women in India in the society.

The Constitution of the country has also guaranteed identical rights to the men and women of India. No distinction is carried out on the basis of religion, caste or sex. This has safeguarded their rights. Moreover, reservation of women's seats in Parliament, state assemblies and other democratic bodies is also on the cards. This would ensure greater women representation in the affairs of the country.

Many of Indian women have occupied the highest posts in the country. A case in point is Indira Gandhi. She was the first woman Prime Minister of India and often referred to as the iron lady. She was a leader of world stature. Guided by her success, more and more Indian women are entering politics to serve the people of the country.

Women are being recruited in the armed forces of the country and they are playing a vital role in maintaining law and order of the country. The observance of the international women's year in 1975, was a shot in the arm for the emancipation of women.

How The US Blew It Big Time In Iraq - Oil, Energy, Iran, Russia, and Middle East Chaos

Well, I would submit to you that we sure blew it in Iraq. In hindsight it's really easy to make that statement because it is so obvious now. What we should have done is quite simple. We should have put in our own government, let the Iraqi people know that we would turn it over to them in the year 2020. And in the interim we would put in our oil companies, and take the profit to rebuild their civilization using US contractors, and paying off our war debt.

Then when we turned it back over to them they would have a civilization which would look more like Dubai or Kuwait than what it looks like today. They would have by then 15 billion barrels of oil flowing out per year, and all the money they needed to maintain a strong army for defense, and a stable society and government. If that would've happened, I have no doubt that the many different sects would have gotten along, and enjoyed economic prosperity.

Today, all we see is a giant disaster. Iran is now influencing the Iraqi government, Iran is also flying weapons over Iraqi airspace into Syria to help the Assad regime put down its rebel opposition and the continuous killing of its own people which is now in excess of 30,000. But that's not all that's happening in Iraq, they are still treating the Kurds like secondhand citizen, not that the Kurds haven't been causing their own troubles with their neighbors next door in Turkey. Things are a mess in that regard.

Then there is the issue of the 12 to 15 billion barrels a day potential crude oil export capacity of Iraq, as they aren't even producing a fraction of that yet. It is unlikely that with all the infighting in their own government that they will reach those levels in the next decade. You'd think with the huge demand in the rest of the world that they'd be able to get this done, and that they'd work nonstop to see it to fruition.

There was an interesting piece in Energy Daily on November 9, 2012 titled; "Iraq: Exxon pulls out, Russia wants in," by Staff Writers in Baghdad. Well, that's just great, apparently we are turning Iraq over to Iran, the Russians, and there is still no stability or peace in the region. What the heck did we do? If we really wanted to get rid of Saddam, he was only one man. Why did we spend $1 trillion there with nothing to show for it? The country is no better off today than it ever has been, and in hindsight we've accomplished nothing.

Well, that doesn't impress me much and it is rather embarrassing; and whereas, there are many we could blame, the comedy of errors that created this mess are truly unacceptable. It certainly wouldn't have happened under my administration. Please consider all this and think on it.

Why Israel Doesn't Need a Draft For A Ground War Against Hamas and Their Angry Friends

It looks like Hamas has been setting up some rather high tech missile equipment to shoot into Israel. Not just those little rockets, which are more of a nuisance than anything else, although they strike fear into citizenry when shot in large barrages or swarms. I suppose striking fear much as the German V1 and V2 rockets did in World War II, or the SCUD missiles did during the first Gulf War. How did Hamas get these industrial grade missiles? Apparently they got them from Sudan, from a missile factory, which was probably set up by the Iranians or from Iran directly smuggled in parts and reassembled.

Of course, Israel's Mossad knows what's going on in and around the region, they also know what's going on in Iran, and they've been very careful to remove threats one by one as they appear, constantly gathering information as they go. Apparently, Hamas thinks they are sneaky, or at least one of their main leaders did, who met his demise from an Israeli missile strike onto his Mercedes while he was busy with his body guards looking around every which way but up. Israel wants to remove the rest of this threat, as any nation wishing to defend themselves would.

Israel put out a press release that it might call up 35,000 people and draft them into temporary service for a potential ground war. Indeed I saw another news report that suggested that Israel might call up 75,000 reservists. They have people ready, everyone in Israel is militarily trained, everyone has served in the military for at least two years. Every single citizen is a reservist in a way. So should they call up tens of thousands of reservists for duty and service? They can you know, and I think all their adversaries know it as well.

To that I say; that's nice but they don't have too. In fact, if they just put out a sign-up sheet, and told interested citizens to report they'd have 500,000 within 24-hours. Further, there are probably a million Americans who'd volunteer too. Doubt what I am saying - don't, it's true. Even though there is an election getting ready to get underway in Israel, all the candidates are on board with defending Israel against this foe. Israel's response has been measured, calculated, and rather immediate I might add.

Once Hamas tried to create a diversion firing rockets into the Jewish state, Israel took it upon itself to take out the industrial grade missiles too, now they want to go get the rest, wouldn't you? Then there is Egypt, what should it do? Perhaps it should stand down and not re-learn the lessons of the past, or has all of this united Hamas, and the Muslim brotherhood in a common cause?

More to follow, and more players to be revealed, and I hope you will stay tune for the future of this conflict and latest round - and perhaps, the end of Hamas as a proxy terrorist group. Perhaps, they should have quit while they were they had the chance? Please consider all this and think on it.