The Fourth Option (A Centrist Perspective) Blog

     A few days ago, President Obama announced that he is withdrawing all the troops from Iraq. It was an announcement that caught the Republicans off-guard.   They, like most Americans, thought that a sizable number of American soldiers were going to stay in Iraq for years to come. The real story, however, is the impact this withdrawal is going to have on the republican states, whose stimulus package is defense spending. Understand. Troop reduction in Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other area of the world literally means troop reduction at military bases, camps and forts in Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, New Jersey, Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, Colorado . . .     It means that a huge number of military personnel and their families will no longer be in these states, spending money on homes, cars, food, clothing, insurance, etc.   It also means that the huge civilian workforces on these military installations will be drastically reduced because there...

    Three years ago, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize at the end of his first year in office.   At that time several American political experts question how deserving the President was of this exceptional award. I wrote two blog articles as explanations to our citizens and response to the critics: President Obama and the Band Played on (December 16, 2009), and   Nobel Prize 101   (December 19, 2009).      Now, three years later, many of the actions foreshowed in these two articles are taking place throughout the Arab world. Revolutions in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and Yemen are the most apparent examples of their citizens desire to create free democratic governments within their countries. However, these moves toward free democracies are deceiving, for although they are authentic and truly represent the desires of these Arab countries to embrace democratic principles, they differ drastically in some major fundamental wa...

I. He loved to sing, sincerely loved to sing Although he appeared internally certain of one thing: “The songs you sing can kill you! II. He knew if the tune one sings is the wrong tune to sing. You can be assured and reasonably certain of one thing: “This tune you sing will kill you! Cho. Lyrics that include the words “money,” “gold,” and “diamond” are deadly and are often proven to be fatal, But the most dangerous word in the universe is black gold or “oil,” which has started the most wars in foreign, wonderful countries and to their beautiful people have become a word that is “lethal!” III. Some words appear wrong to sing; honestly wrong to sing because they appear eternally certain to do one thing: It they’re you sing, they will kill you! IV.         Your demise they’ll bring, if like Moammar Gadhafi         You are inclined to sing Of this fact you can be reasonably certain when you sing. The songs you sing will k...

First, these are the facts about which I certain: Leaving the true cause of our economic problem unidentified is the best way to arrive at an effective solution. I don’t know what others are thinking because I am unwilling to listen to them, and that’s okay with me! If I create a mandated governmental system based on closed and/or dishonest dialogue, it will invite creativity, promote solutions, encourage participation, and increase the probability for success. Yippee!   I know that speaking my mind is more important than listening to yours? And I am convinced that giving criticism is more important than accepting it? It is more important for me to teach than it is for me to learn. It is not important for me to think for myself, or surround myself with independent thinkers, and I will not allow anyone to disagree with me. The world do not need its citizens to be productive or self-sustaining. What the world needs it citizens who depends entirely on knowledgeable, know-it-all’s...

The current story of the United States of America is a novel, whose on-going factionalism, among the main characters of its major political groups, creates an intriguing major plot. The bitterness of their conflicts; the clear difference in their ideologies, interests, and constituencies; and the rising actions of an upcoming presidential election further enhances our interests in this apparent suspenseful narrative.   Further, the propaganda of the political media, which ignores the principles of the Fairness Doctrine, provides us with overtly shameless, grossly embellished, one-sided Cliff Notes, loaded with juicy, gossipy tidbits. This allows us to relinquish our rights to critically think, while allowing us to interpret the novel from our particular perspective: It allows us to make the characters of our choice the protagonist and all other the bad guys. However, the real story is the subplot, whose unnoticed minor characters continue to steadily and incrementally amass the mea...

Most animals, whenever possible, try to avoid human beings. It is as if they can sense the danger that comes with our intrusion into their lives. Birds will fly away. Critters will scamper, wolves and other predators will use the landscape structures and vegetations to camouflage and conceal themselves.   However, all will fight back when they feel trapped by us. Even the gentle deer will lash-out when it becomes cornered or surrounded by those of us attempting to capture, control or harm it. Average human beings behave in a similar fashion. Most of us scamper away, fly away, conceal and camouflage ourselves from the intrusive dangers and conflicts brought into our lives by others, and we continue to do so ― until we feel cornered and trapped with our backs against the wall. Then we begin to fight back. Grass-root movements are always reactive, with the common dominator among its participants being the common affect of laws, policies, and practices in their lives. In...

          During my days as a student at the Julliard School of Music, I experienced two epiphanies that changed my life. The first epiphany occurred in the first week following enrollment, when it occurred to me that all the students at Julliard was smarter than I was, and this meant that I needed to work harder than they did in order to achieve their level of success. The second epiphany occurred when I attempted to work harder than my classmates, for it was then I realized that in addition to being extremely smart, my classmates were extremely hard working students, who spent virtually every waking hour engaged in knowledge and skills improvement . Although I didn’t know it at the time, I came to realize in the years following my days at Julliard that “smartness” and “hard work” in our society goes hand-in-hand: The smartest Americans are usually the hardest working Americans. And this is true at all levels of achievement in every endeavo...

          Well, the presidential race for the White House began a short time ago with a crowded field of Republican Party “ hopefuls” aggressively making mad dashes for the lead. Running down hill always feels easy at the beginning of a race, but this winding path is deceptive and dangerous, as it  steeply descends downward and challenges the runners’ abilities to engage its sharp turns to the right, while traveling at faster velocity and greater momentums in the imposing gravity of their surroundings.           Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Mitt Romney have broken-away from the lead group and are now running as a three-men-lead pack. President Obama runs by himself, slightly behind them in fourth place; with each step he inches closer to joining them in this race to the bottom .      As the race heats up the pace of the front runners will become faster, which means that the runn...

          Some stories don’t make the news anymore. They go unreported ― even when they are big and significant. It is a sign of the times. It is the sign of the new and dominant trend of corporate journalism: Only the news stories that servers the best interests of the richest one percent of Americans, and the corporate interests of the biggest and most powerful corporations are being reported. Most of the others ― especially the ones that speak out against the corruption created by power and greed will not be reported. A few, however, like the teachers’ demonstrations against Governor Scott Walkers changes to collective bargaining in Wisconsin, and the current protest underway on Wall Street will receive some coverage because they are too big to be ignored.   However, the news stories about them will be from perspectives that marginalize their messages, miscast their importance, and designates them as insignificant.     ...

     Every once in a while, as I sit and reflect on the new restrictions that are being imposed on teachers: their lost of empowerment; their reduction in value and income; and the share marginalization of this wonderful group of professional Americans, who loved and proformed their jobs with happiness, confidence, and pride; I find comfort in my previous writings. This poem, Individualism,  is one I most associate with the restrictions that are being imposed on the wonderful people in my profession ― teaching!    Individualism I saw a five-year old dancing Impromptu, imperfect, innocence, dancing in movement of free expression, dancing in the universe that is his playground, dancing in ascending gestures above his head, dancing, in unhurried time.   His chubby, little fingers, dancing in unsuspecting reaching up to tickle the clouds, dancing in soulfulness without restrictions. I danced like this five-yea...