Synopsis: Shits ahoy, mates! A shit-state of affairs on the waters off the Horn of Somalia, that is. While piracy has made a slow comeback in this area ever since the collapse of the Somali government two decades ago, the death and destruction has truly accelerated pace in the last 5 years….making these waters the most dangerous to traverse on the planet. But never fear! NATO may be here! Indeed, lacking any sort of singular global counter-piracy policy, it may fall to a powerful military alliance like NATO to adopt security of the oceans as a new mission.
The Avenger talks about the why here and why now of this pirate situation, the global response thus far, and the possible promise of NATO intervention.
There be troubled waters ahead…but maybe NATO will be stepping in to calm the high seas!
Synopsis: On the 8th anniversary of the US-led NATO invasion of Afghanistan, a resurgent Taliban combined with a fraudulent election and a wimpy and demoralized NATO have made for a disastrous situation for all. In this dire hour for the entire Afghan campaign, the Plaid Avenger predicts that the US administration will have to change its tactics?namely by starting negotiations with the Taliban to bring it into a coalition government while focusing on al-Qaeda as the real target of the war. In addition, what we are now seeing is two different Taliban teams in the field: the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistan Taliban?the latter team being the real one to watch as it picks apart Pakistan and causes way more calamity for the region and the world.
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Keywords: US, NATO, Taliban, Afghanistan, Pakistan, al-Qaeda, President Obama, General McCrystal
Synopsis: The venerated Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is hanging out in and around Washington DC this week….but will NOT be meeting with US President Obama. Why the diss from the world’s most popular politician to the world’s most popular buddhist? Ah….there is always more going on behind the scenes in the international intrigue game of politics! The Avenger explains why the US cannot meet with the Lama right now, so as not to piss off the Chinese….specifically as Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao is concurrently visiting North Korea to re-start the 6-Party talks with Kim Jong-Il. US reliance on China’s money and political influence, as well as what the hell the 6-party is, are elaborated on as well.
Synopsis: The Avenger has his plaid panties in a bunch about a serious global shift that started during the big G-20 in Pittsburgh last week: a move to more representative economic and political power on the world stage. Listen as the plaid one explains the background of the G-20 evolution, and the impacts of the most recent G-20 party….specifically for the BRIC countries….as they redistribute voting power in global institutions like the IMF and World Bank. Gee golly, its G-20 genius!
Synopsis: NATO celebrated its 60th anniversary last week in Strasbourg, France. The military/defense group had clarity of purpose back in 1949: stop Soviet aggression/expansion. However, since the fall of the USSR in 1991, the group has lost a bit of focus of mission and today's NATO is nowhere near the cohesive tight military unit it once was. The Plaid Avenger highlights a variety of issues that the organization is currently NOT doing so well at, from its relationship with Russia to the current war in Afghanistan.
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