Warrant To Be Issued For Cheney's Arrest

Finally, someone is trying to take legal action against international criminal (and former vice-president) Dick Cheney.   The Nigerian government is in the process of charging Cheney with bribery.   The case stems from the time he was the head of Halliburton (before his election as Bush's vice-president).   They say they will issue a warrant for Cheney's arrest within the next three days and lodge that warrant with Interpol (the international policing agency).

Of course Cheney is in no danger of being arrested in the United States, since this country has a history of ignoring international warrants when the person being accused is a high-ranking official or former official.   The U.S. acts like international laws and the laws of other countries are only to be exercised when the officials are not American.   But this does mean that Cheney could be arrested if he goes abroad in the future.

While Cheney was head of Halliburton, the company and it's affiliate KBR gave $160 million in bribes to Nigerian officials to get a $6 billion pipeline contract.   The bribery has been already traced to a company official who reported directly to Cheney.   Lest anyone think this is a trumped up charge, both Halliburton and KBR have already pled guilty to the bribery (last year) and agreed to pay a $579 million fine.

Of course, this kind of bribery is not only against the law in Nigeria.   It is also a violation of United States law.   But considering the cowardice of the Obama administration Justice Department in failing to hold both Bush and Cheney responsible for ordering torture and other war crimes, I seriously doubt they will attempt to take any action against Cheney for this criminal behavior.

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

This story proves that the old adage about beauty being in the eye of the beholder is certainly true. What one person likes, another might not like. In other words, there is no universal idea of beauty that is true all over the world.

At the same time the Miss World competition was being held in China, another beauty contest was being held in the African country of Burkino Faso. It was held because many African men do not like the Western idea of beauty.

Their contest was called Miss Pog-Bedre (large lady). The contestants "appeared before the audience in both traditional dress and a swimsuit. They were then asked to talk for five minutes on a topic of current interest. The winner (pictured) was Carine Riragendenwa -- a 27 year-old who weighs 117 kg. (about 245 lbs.). She won gold jewelry, a motor bike and a selection of African dresses. She will also get free hair-dos and clothing for a year.

The event was organized by Fatou Djiguiemde, and co-sponsored by Burkina Faso's Ministry for the Promotion of Women. They believe the contest proved that slender figures are not better.

Many African men like bigger women. In Nigeria, many brides-to-be are sent to "fattening houses", so they can put on some pounds to be beautiful for their wedding.

I'm certainly not going to argue with these men. I learned long ago that the only thing that makes a woman (or man) ugly is a rotten personality.

Religion Kills A Few Hundred More

For centuries, human beings have been killing other human beings because of religion. We seem to think whatever god we happen to believe in will approve of killing other people who do not have our particular religious views. Although most of the major religions, sects and cults claim to believe in a "god of love", their followers keep trying to please this loving god by presenting him (or her) with more and more blood.

None of this makes any sense at all, and one would expect that in the 21st century, people might gain the wisdom to see the insanity of killing others for their religious beliefs (or lack of religious beliefs). But that doesn't seem to be happening. People seem to be quite content to try and justify their beliefs by spilling blood.

This last week saw more evidence of just how far mankind has NOT come. The Plateau State in Nigeria just had an election. The state and its capitol city of Jos sit in the middle of Nigeria -- between the christian south and the muslim north. Naturally, both religions think they should control the city and the state, since each of them is in sole possession of "the truth".

The christians won this electoral round, so the muslims decided they had to demonstrate. This evolved into rioting by both sides. So far, over three hundred muslim bodies have been recovered. There has not been a death toll of christians released, but it is expected to also be in the hundreds. I'm sure both sides are proud of the fine job of killing they've done for their god.

Don't get to thinking we're any better than anyone else regarding religious prejudice and violence. There are millions in America who would love to force others to accept their beliefs, even to the point of violence. In fact, large segments of the population of nearly every country on every continent would do the same.

I'd love to say we're making progress on this, but I don't believe we are.