By Rev. Lainie Dowell

Speak plainly love! Big words go amiss. Hope without the ray will lead to rope for the dope. What Americans want are Godly s-o-l-u-t-i-o-n-s to get them out of this spiraling, but solvable, dilemma. Too deep for you? Let’s see.

The terms, morose and depressed, have more appropriately defined the national mood before and particularly since the election of Barack Obama to step foot into the White House Oval Office. Commentators from all over (including this one) have escalated their voices against the Obama Administration agenda which is hurling our nation past socialism towards communism. And the American frustration, I believe, comes not so much from what Obama is doing as it is from what Congress and the judiciary are not doing to stop him and shut him down and oust him in accordance with the United States Constitution. Lord knows there are enough voices with enough evidence to support their charges against Obama.

Americans the most troubled by what they see happening in this country to try to destroy their families, banks, corporations, religious, and educational institutions are those who have believed the Constitution would prevail over any adverse situation facing this nation. What they are finding is that there is a lack of guts among the defenders of the American Constitution.

Local, state, and federal legislators have fought to be our elected representatives and squeezed out millions and billions of dollars from the hands of constituents only to turn their backs against voters. Then they go into hiding from them to do whatever it takes to make their elected office a stepping stone for a permanent place in the political arena or, at least, to shelter them for the rest of their life. Forget the little person.

Americans who speak in plain English are the least likely to get the ear of Congress. What’s more, if they are perceived as not having any money or education or influence, they can just about forget it remains the arrogant response from most politicians. They have filled their offices with clones to shield them from trouble making outsiders who write or call them. And, if they really don’t want to hear their complaints, they will shut down the telephone system and turn on their automated machines. I suppose their rationale for doing that must be — at least they had provided a way for those who persist to be able to leave a message. But whether or not the officials or their staff would return calls or letters remains to be seen.

How can citizens trust their government which hides behind closed doors and invites in only their large campaign contributors or a few “victims” of situations which they can place on public exhibition during their “show and tell” moments in front of TV cameras?

The voices of the depressed and distressed are felt in the midst of riches. America must be rich, because government officials, beginning with Obama, are getting money from somewhere to put on their extravagant black tie galas enlivened with in-person entertainment and sumptuous meals and fine wines — but not for welcoming foreign dignitaries, as was the case with recent visitor, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom.

To add insult to injury from Obama — somebody who is supposed to be savvy enough to be the leader of the free world — the Obamas embarrassed America by coming up with some very cheap gifts. Obama had the nerve to present (and then announce) a gift of a set of 25 DVDs to the British Prime Minister. And, I heard somebody on TV say, “You know Michelle hurriedly ran down to the White House Gift Shop to buy gifts for the Prime Minister’s children” — toy helicopters!

The administration sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton overseas where she had the opportunity to meet with a top Russia dignitary, Sergei Lavrov. She took out another cheap gift from a “green” box. She was so elated to be able to present it that she didn’t even give him chance to open it for himself. She stood in front of the TV cameras and opened the box only to find the message they had inscribed in Russian said something totally different than what they had intended. To say nothing of the fact that Lavrov didn’t hesitate to correct Clinton as she let out a guffaw as though it was nothing. Personally, I believe somebody in the state department (or the White House?) knew exactly what they had inscribed on the “gift.”

So, if, as “they” say its not the gift that counts but the thought, then what kind of thinking is coming from out of the White House? They are playing not-so-cute games even on the international scene and it is degrading and disgusting.

But, of course, what do I know? I know this. That I don’t know everything, but one thing I do know is that, if all those educated voices who profess to know so much really did, then none of us would still be waiting for somebody to come up with the solution and r-e-s-o-l-u-t-i-o-n to this ObamaTRAUMA. They would have stepped up by now and yelled louder than anybody else, except they would not back track or apologize when called out for saying exactly what the nation’s citizens are waiting to hear somebody have enough nerve to say!

Tell me, if you can, about what solutions are being enforced by the United States Congress to shut Obama down while America is still the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?” I am getting sick and tired of running into so many regurgitated reports which have already been published or archived about Obama and his edu(ma)cated(sic) Chicago crew but remains without coming up with anything near to Godly resolution.

Stepping up? Don’t worry about stepping on toes! We know the solution, its just that Congress has closed its doors and shut its ears. YELL LOUDER!!! Impeach Obama NOW!

P.S. As I finished up this article, the Glen Beck Show came on (Fox News TV) and he is voicing what I have written in this article to publish. We are of the same spirit, but he has more listeners. Nevertheless, all of us must write what we receive when we receive it. God is the One who continues to confirm. Amen to Glen Beck!! pass it on — Honestly, I did not plagiarize Beck’s discourse on TV. All I know is that it is SPIRIT.
Oh no!!! Has Beck read my mind?

By Nancy Morgan

One of the government’s first acts was to close down a New York doctor who had the audacity to propose a private market solution by offering uninsured patients a $79 flat fee for medical services, focusing instead on the government’s innovative Healthy Penis campaign, recently launched in San Francisco. (It pays for staffers walk around in giant penis costumes to promote syphillis testing)

We don’t have to accept the stoning of criminals. But it’s time to stop treating all Islamists as potential terrorists.

Lagos (Nigeria) – Fresh facts are now emerging on the killing of the Guinea-Bissau Army Chief, Brig. Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie, which later triggered the assassination of President Joao Bernardo “Nino” Vieira.

Waie was killed last Sunday when a bomb planted by unknown persons exploded in his office. A reprisal attack less than 24 hours later by elements within the army led to the tragic killing of Vieira.

But the bomb that terminated the life of Waie has been linked to the Southeast Asian country of Thailand. The Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau, Carlos Gomes, Junior, and Minister of Defence, Marciano Silva Barbeiro, made the revelation at separate meetings with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Ministerial delegation to the former Portuguese colony.

Nigerian president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had on Tuesday despatched a delegation comprising the foreign ministers of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, and Senegal, accompanied by the President of ECOWAS Commission, to Guinea-Bissau where they engaged all Guinean stakeholders in an effort to restore confidence among the political actors, civil society and security services, and return the country to constitutional normalcy.

The Defence Minister and his service chiefs were in no doubt as to where the bomb came from: Thailand. In fact, the Minister of Defence showed what seemed to be a component of the bomb to the ECOWAS delegation. “The debris from the blast was so much that it took us about one hour to get the corpse of Waie out of the rubble that was his own office wing of the army building,” Barbeiro said.

Although, Guinea-Bissau has been hailed for its smooth transition to an interim government, the situation in this land of Amilcar Cabra remains tenuous. “Ours is still a very fragile country and the international community knows that. I am not safe myself because there is no guarantee that there are no hidden bombs in my office,” Gomes said, adding, “Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Conakry,” and, indeed, the sub-region, “will not be safe if bombs are here.”

Analysts say that Guinea-Bissau has become the soft underbelly of the sub-region. An admixture of factors has made Guinea-Bissau an attractive transit point for hard drugs bound for Europe and other parts of the world: pervasive poverty, unemployment, and $3 billion budget deficit compounded by $30 million in salary arrears.

There is a near absence of infrastructure to sustain any form of economic development. There is hardly any public power, with generators having to run round the clock, no potable water, and the few roads that have asphalt overlay have had them washed away over time. Ironically, the road bearing the name of the legendary Amilcar Cabral, the man who gave his all to wage a liberation struggle against the Portuguese, has never seen coal tar: it is an earth road.

The nation’s economy is minute and driven largely by cashew, fish, and peanut exports. What this means is that even a small influx of drug money can have a major impact. That is exactly what has happened. Drug money is now the driver of the Guinea-Bissau economy.

Last month, the United States State Department warned that the “degeneration of Guinea-Bissau into a narco-state is a real possibility.” The United Nations estimates that the cocaine transiting through Guinea-Bissau is worth more than a billion dollars a year, which is several times higher than the paltry national budget.

It is, perhaps, no coincidence that the bomb is being linked to Thailand. The Southeast Asian country has become a major hub for the production and shipment of hard drugs, especially cocaine. The question on the minds of many after last week’s killings of Waie and Vieira is, could it be fifth columnists (drug barons) are at work to create further divisions between the military and civilian authorities while they continue with their illicit trade unabated or it is a battle for the control of the spoils of the trade?

Indeed, the killings of Vieira and Waie have been linked to a battle over the control of the illicit trade in drugs. The top military brass have been   accused of taking bribes to allow drug planes to land and to turn a blind eye to drug activity. Meanwhile, the Judicial Police, responsible for investigating the narcotics trade, are unarmed, equipped with mere typewriters, and the targets of anonymous death threats.

“What we have in our hands is a time bomb akin to the conflagration in Mexico. ECOWAS has to do something about this situation, else we will all be consumed in the impending inferno,” Foreign Minister of The Gambia, Dr. Omar Touray, told THISDAY shortly after the ECOWAS delegation had visited the bombed-out office wing of the Army Chief on Wednesday.

The fear is that drug warlords operating out of Guinea-Bissau will accelerate the failure of the state. With a foothold in the former Portuguese colony, these mercenaries could unleash a war of attrition in other countries and pose serious security risk to the sub-region. It was in recognition of this that ECOWAS planned to work with the Guinean authorities and development partners to get to the bottom of the killings.

“You are not alone; we will stand by you all the way and provide experts that will work with you to find the culprits in this dastardly act,” President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, assured the Guinea-Bissau leadership. But it remains to be seen how this could be achieved, given the complicity of the military and other high-ranking state officials in the narcotic trade.

Nonetheless, one of the issues that the extra-ordinary summit of Foreign Ministers of ECOWAS and the International Contact Group will be focusing on when it convenes in the next one or two weeks in Bissau, is defence and security reform, which is related to the fight against drug trafficking. Training and retraining of soldiers, especially of the top echelon of the military, is key to sustaining peace and security in the country and the sub-region, Air Vice Marshall Bala Golgak Danbaba, Chief of Policy and Plans at the Defence Headquarters and member of the Nigerian delegation to the solidarity visit, said.

The interim government of Pereira has limited powers and only 60 days to conduct fresh election. In a normal situation, this will present some challenge, but in a broken country like Guinea-Bissau, it would be a near-miracle if the feat is achieved.

ECOWAS and the International Contact Group on Guinea-Bissau, comprising the European Union, Africa Union, United Nations, CPLP (group of Portuguese speaking nations), and other stakeholders have pledged assistance to the country. But Cuban Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau, Pedro Dona Santana, said the pledge to offer assistance is an old refrain. “There have been efforts to bring aid and development to Guinea-Bissau. Most of these projects and programmes did not produce results, as the financial pledges were not redeemed,” he said.

source.This Day (Nigeria)