Regarding recent handshakes

How the hell do you make an entire news story out of just one handshake? That is something that world leaders are expected to do on a regular basis. If you really are worried about human rights in Cuba, there are other measures that the US government can take. 1. End the embargo and allow US grown food and consumer goods into Cuba. People tend to be a lot less radical while holding an electronic device on a full stomach. 2. End the travel ban. Let idiot college students see first hand just what it is that they are in favor of. They might even appreciate the irony that the cars on the streets of Havana have more capitalist origins than most cars currently produced in the US. 3. Close the prison in Gitmo. Raul Castro cannot be blamed for every human rights violation in his own country. Someday soon, natural causes will succeed where the CIA failed and the Castro dynasty will come to an end. We can influence what happens next by setting a good example and leaving the Cold War in the past.

How you can be sure that OBL is dead.

Some people think that Bin Laden is still alive. While the US government has certain credibility issues, a little common sense would go a long way into understanding why they wouldn't lie about this.

If Bin Laden is alive, I would think that he would be motivated to put out another video in order to embarrass his foes. For him to stay silent and "play dead", you would have to think that it is in both Bin Laden's interests and the US government's interests to mislead everyone else into thinking that he is dead.

Truth may be the first casualty of war, and it can be argued that some lying is needed when the enemy has access to the same Internet as everyone else. But a skilled liar has to tell the truth occasionally in order to keep his lies believable. Whatever you think of this war or the current president, there is no doubt that Bin Laden is dead.

Close Guantanamo for Christmas

This time of year, we are all reminded that most Americans worship a shaggy haired Middle-Easterner who was brutally tortured and killed by a superpower.

While I recognize that sometimes not even Middle-Easterners can avoid killing other Middle-Easterners, we probably should leave out that whole torture thing. I don't want us to be the antagonists in somebody else's New and Improved Testament centuries from now.

Afghanistan and Iraq: An observation

In 2001, the US demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden. Had they complied, we would not be at war with them and they would be in control of Afghanistan.

In 2003, the US demanded that Saddam Hussein allow UN weapons inspectors to search for WMD's. If he had complied, he would still be alive and in power.

Both the Taliban and the late Saddam Hussein are worse off as a result of their defiance. A skilled politician could argue that our military has succeeded in dealing out retribution to our enemies and it is time to bring our boys and girls home.

What happens when another country takes an interest in your election

In 1888, the British ambassador to the US received a letter from someone claiming to be an English immigrant living in California. It was asked in the letter if it would serve British interests if Grover Cleveland were to be re-elected. He sent a reply suggesting that it would indeed be better for England if the Democratic incumbent won the election.

The letter turned out to be from a Republican operative. The ambassador's reply was made public, and it caused Irish-American voters to oppose Cleveland.

The moral of the story is that it can backfire when government officials try to influence the internal affairs of another country. President Obama is right to condemn the violence taking place in Iran, but that is all he can do about it at this point. With an embargo already in place, it would be unwise to make any threats to the Iranian government that cannot be carried out.

Some good news?

There hasn't been a major terrorist attack in the US since 9/11. Remember when people seemed certain that another attack was going to happen? Some people acted like they knew more about bin Ladin's inner circle than they knew about what their own kids were doing after school.

Let's face it. Terrorism is so much more fun to talk about than the economy. Timothy Noah has an 8 part piece detailing various theories on why we haven't been hit since.