Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Protesters

Since I grew up in a small town in Iowa I have no memory of public protests in our downtown - unless of course you count the farmers who gathered for coffee time in the morning to complain about the weather and the market price for their crops :-)

However, once I entered college in the 1980's I witnessed my first "die-in" -- yes similar to the sit-ins that were popular in the 1960's but in this twist protesters would apply fake blood then lie around in an area of campus to protest US military intervention in Central America or other region of the world. I had a flash back to these college days over the past few weeks as I watched the news reports of anti-government protesters in Burma (Myanmar) and Pakistan.

So who primarily led these protests?

Burma -- Buddhist monks

Pakistan -- lawyers

Wow, just imagine a Buddhist monk with a law degree!! Now that would be an excellent candidate for the US Congress.

We should all be encouraged by these protests because in Pakistan the lawyers are protesting because the current government is not respecting the "rule of law" which is a fundamental Western value that allows us to live safe and productive lives in the free world. Another reason to be encouraged is that the military junta's rule in Burma is clearly over since they have zero moral authority to justify their rule because when you have to utilize riot police to beat, imprison, and even kill peace-loving MONKS then you clearly have reached the end of your rope.

Protest away for better days,

Todd

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Unfortunately I do not agree with your campaign for the following reasons:



1. The supply chain in the US is the most efficient in the world. The cost of supplying the UN diplomats with the world’s finest foods and spirits would cost more elsewhere. For example I visited a small grocery store in the Bekka Valley of Lebanon that catered to the diplomats in Damascus, Syria. The diplomats would send their staff shopping for items that they could not purchase in Syria. Believe me when I tell you that you can buy Petrossian caviar, 1945 Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, a nice Petrus or a nice box of Romeo & Julieta Habanna cigars much cheaper in New York.



2. Many of the diplomats have chauffeurs and travel in groups thereby reducing the amount of double parking one would see if the east side added more residential units. Besides I won’t be able to use my fake diplomatic plates and my only joy in illegal parking would come when I pull out the handicapped sticker.





3. The loss of obscenely paid UN bureaucrats along with the additional housing units that you want Trump to build will further exasperate the credit crisis and falling housing prices that we are experiencing.



4. The loss of the diplomats will cause a decline in the number of ethnic restaurants and food choices that we have in Manhattan. My God Todd we lost the Russian Tea Room even before we won the cold war. Imagine how bland and Iowa-ish our food would be without the UN.



5. I believe that the world needs more countries especially city states like Singapore in the UN. Maybe we should force all countries to split. Go Kosovo! That way we will get more high rollers into Manhattan. Think of all the many great new restaurants that we will have then as opposed to the usual dives that you are now forced to review.



Bon Appetit



Elliott