Sunday, December 31, 2006

It's a Beautiful Wreath, Except for the Trout

A picture is worth a thousand words. And I had my camera with me. But, in this rare instance, I think it's better if you simply use your imagination.

We ate at a wonderful restaurant last night and they had a large wreath decorating the wall of the main dining room. The wreath was filled to overflowing with greenery and pine cones and berries. There was even a bird's nest, as you often see in "natural wreaths."

And then there were three large plastic trout. Not jumping through the wreath as you might imagine, but just included in the greenery around the wreath.

You have to wonder. Who looked at this gorgeous wreath and said, "I know just what this wreath needs!! Three large plastic trout!!!"

How and why did this happen? And exactly how did the restaurant owner decide on this particular wreath.

"Oh honey, let's buy the one with the trout."

Let's face it, a lot of people must have gone into the process that ultimately placed this trout laden wreath in the center of this restaurant.

Perhaps it was a committee decision. A compromise!! That's it.

"You can have a wreath decorating the restaurant, but only if you add a few trout!"

And, speaking of compromises, let's note that the United Nation's established and supported government of Somalia is now, finally, back in control of a sizable portion of that country.

The resurgence of the supposedly legitimate Somalian government wasn't due to any action of effort by the United Nations. Instead it was the neighboring army of Ethiopia that intervened and propelled the hapless U.N. backed government back to power.

The country had been largely controlled by the Council of Islamic Courts, which, frankly, seems to have a lot more popular support. The regions controlled by the Council of Islamic Courts were relatively peaceful. The return of the government seems to also mean a return to lawlessness. The legitimate government cannot control the "clans" or warlords.

There is an excellent audio report on National Public Radio
here.

The Council of Islamic Courts, the umbrella group for the Islamic movement that ruled Mogadishu for six months, wanted to transform Somalia into a strict Islamic state. And they were rumored to have strong ties to al-Qaida and are supposedly harboring several known terrorists.

Secular and largely Christian Ethiopia feared a strict Islamic state on its borders. And Ethiopia has the largest, best trained and best equipped army in Africa.

The United Nations had condemned the Islamic revolutionaries for several reasons, including their use of child soldiers on the front lines of the fighting. Even now there are reports of forced conscription of twelve year old children to fight in the latest battles. Parents are fleeing with their children in hopes of protecting their lives.

But no one expects the 15 year civil war to end easily. From a report by the
Associated Press on MSNBC:

“Even if we are defeated we will start an insurgency,” said Sheik Ahmed Mohamed Islan, the head of the Islamic movement in the Kismayo region. “We will kill every Somali that supports the government and Ethiopians.”

It seems to me that the biggest problem is that the United Nation's established government in Somalia has the same identical problem as the United State's established government in Iraq.

Both are wreaths, well intended gifts to the people of the respective, but occupied countries. And both are seriously infested with trout.

They must have sounded good to the bureaucrats in New York and Washington, D.C., but they look funny and work badly in the countries who must mount them on their walls.

TECHNORATI TAGS:


DIGG THIS

SAVE THIS PAGE TO del.icio.us

8 comments:

Bob Keller said...

malfrat, I tend to agree with you.

There is a real question here about the relative important of the goals of "peace and security" versus "freedom and democracy."

The Islamic Council brought "peace" and "security" but denied both "freedom" and "democracy."

The failure of both the United Nations and the United States is that we create governments that are built upon both "democracy" and individual "freedom," but, in fact, leave the citizens terrorized by revolutionaries, insurgents, warlords and gangs of thugs. There is no security and no peace.

Somalia's President and his Ethiopian protectors have said they will not allow Somalia to become "another Iraq," but that is exactly what it is becoming under the Ethiopian occupation and U.N. established government.

Thanks for contributing.

the Wizard......

Vigilante said...

I agree, emphatically, with both of you. Malfrat saw it coming.

http://www.gesundheitshersteller.de said...

Thanks, Thanks, Thanks

Anonymous said...

烟雾机
超低容量喷雾器
火焰消毒机
火焰消毒器
消毒通道
车辆消毒通道
车载大型超低容量喷雾机
大型车载超低容量喷雾机
Thermal fogger|ULV Sprayer|Cold fogger
Thermal fogger
ULV Sprayer
Cold fogger
隔音
隔音材料
隔音板
吸音板
噪声治理
吸音材料
隔音材料
吸声
隔声
吸声板
搜索引擎排名
网站优化
网络营销策划
GOOGLE排名
搜索引擎排名
搜索引擎优化
搜索引擎优化
搜索引擎排名
alexa排名
google排名恢复
解除google封杀
alexa排名
google排名恢复
反应釜
搪瓷反应釜
搪瓷
生物柴油
造粒机
造粒
搜索引擎优化
搜索引擎优化
糖尿病
鲜花
游戏币
免烧砖机
破碎机
破碎机
免烧砖机
砂石生产线
制砂机
石料生产线
球磨机
选矿设备
煤气发生炉
烘干机
雷蒙磨
雷蒙磨

双辊破碎机
环锤式破碎机
制沙机
鄂式破碎机
鄂式破碎机
机制砂设备
反击式破碎机
反击式破碎机
烘干机
碎石机
破碎机
球磨机
制沙机
制砂机
球磨机
制砖机
破碎机
加气混凝土
碎石机
免烧砖机
桥式起重机
桥式起重机
起重机
起重机
电动葫芦
桥式起重机
天车
起重机
起重机
电动葫芦
起重机|起重设备简易货梯
防爆起重机|电动葫芦
旋臂吊|电动葫芦
起重机械
压滤机
加气混凝土
制砂机
球磨机
破碎机
破碎机
破碎机
破碎机
球磨机
砌块机

Anonymous said...

云南旅游资讯网提供云南旅游服务 昆明旅游 丽江旅游 大理旅游西双版纳 泸沽湖 香格里拉 云南旅游论坛 旅游信息 云南国旅 云南旅游景点 云南省旅游 特价机票 云南游 云南旅游网
云南旅游线路
云南特价酒店预定

昆明旅游资讯网提供昆明酒店预定 丽江酒店预定 云南旅游 丽江旅游 大理旅游 西双版纳 旅游线路 泸沽湖 香格里拉 云南旅游论坛 旅游信息 云南国旅 昆明旅游景点 云南省旅游 特价酒店 特价机票 云南游 昆明旅游网

Anonymous said...

Unlimited Earnings Potential - http://1greatfuture.com

Our company is rapidly growing and offers you an extraordinary income helping others succeed. The primary requirement is to follow up on client inquiries and point them in the right direction. It is stress free, rewarding and straightforward work.

For complete details: http://1greatfuture.com


(Please feel free to delete this post if you don't want it on your blog. Thanks for the informative blog and opportunity to post.)

Anonymous said...

单级离心泵
中开泵
不锈钢多级泵
氟塑料离心泵
塑料离心泵
管道离心泵
管道离心泵
不锈钢管道泵
隔膜泵
油桶泵
磁力驱动泵
齿轮油泵
自吸油泵
电动隔膜泵
立式多级泵
不锈钢离心泵
单螺杆泵
多级管道泵
浓浆泵
化工离心泵
氟塑料离心泵
单级离心泵
卧式离心泵
不锈钢多级泵
卧式多级泵
管道油泵
自吸排污泵
上海水泵厂
磁力泵
电动隔膜泵
潜水泵
电动隔膜泵
导热油泵
插桶泵
管道泵
管道泵
管道泵
导热油泵

螺杆泵
化工泵
水泵
消防泵
屏蔽泵
深井泵
转子泵
潜水泵

Anonymous said...

wow gold
wow gold
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow gold@@@@
World of Warcraft Gold
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
rolex replica
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
replica rolex
powerleveling
powerleveling
powerleveling
powerleveling
power leveling
power leveling
powerleveling
powerleveling
power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
power leveling
rolex
wow gold
wow gold
Warcraft Gold
Warcraft Gold

中高年 転職
アルバイト 求人情報
ブライダル
転職
競馬
FX
ダイエット
お見合い
競馬 予想
新築マンション
新築マンション
コンタクトレンズ
婚約指輪
合宿免許
人材派遣
東京都 墓地
派遣会社
人材派遣
パチンコ 攻略
おなら

货架
OCR
OCR
手机词典
高速扫描
机票
灭蟑螂
蜗轮减速机
减速机
齿轮减速机
丝杆升降机
租房
租房
北京租房
北京租房
搬家公司
北京搬家
北京搬家公司
上海机票
上海机票
上海打折机票
上海打折机票
上海特价机票
上海特价机票
搬家公司
搬家公司
北京搬家公司
北京搬家公司

dfdfhfhjghkhj