Chelsea Manning walks free. God bless her and the likes of her.

One day Chelsea Manning  may get a nobel prize. But today, she still has to answer questions like would she provide information to the enemy. Can a person who take so much punishment for human rights be perceived as a traitor?  I do not see how.

And of course, we will like to see Assange walk free soon too.

The future of education

The Youtube and Github communities are now playing the role of universities in the past by providing a platform to learn and share. Academics has turned in to a bad money making machinery with  ever increasing fees and even reputed publishers asking for money to publish.  The future of education is clearly online and universities will play some kind of certifying role, may be.

Trumps make a huge impact on the world scene

The Trumps really made an impact in the world and the world sees America in good hands. Yet the Democrats back home have been playing on the Russian theme to death.  Trump with all his muslim bashing had an amazing welcome in Saudi Arabia.   The world with the Trumps wants to reset the mess of the last decade. But the US politicians not so much.

Trump's first foreign tour and the spotlight on King Salman

Trump's middle east tour is going very well. Clearly had a great welcome in Saudi Arabia. But Trump's speech in Saudi Arabia was more like a lecture from a teacher who knew little about the subject.  For Trump the main focus was Islamic terrorism - a concept we do not even know is real. The people of Islam today face many conflicts. And we can sense that King Salman truly wants to bring peace.  Bring Homes to displaced families and bread to hungry children.   Trump's speech missed the mark in Saudi Arabia but everyone expects Trump to be on the side of peace. Some day Iran will also see the urgent need for peace and shake hands with King Salman.

It is also true that no one but Donald Trump can bring such optimism to the region in such trying times.

The tragic destruction of sanaa, Yemen.

Its sad to see Sanaa,  a city with the first skyscrappers of the world, being Bombed today.   The politics is a lot  like Lebanon.  The Shias are not in majority but is almost fifty percent of the population.  The Shias hence cannot get to power but want to govern all the same. The Shia community must learn to adapt to democracies when they do not have a clear majority. Otherwise they bring untold tragedy to the region.

Why the one state solution to the Israel Palestinian conflict difficult to swallow

Israel insists on maintaining military control of all the region. Given that condition a two state solution is never going to work out. A one state solution on the other hand will take away many privileges the Jews enjoy at this moment.  But those privileges are human right violations. In the immigration policies of Israel, all Palestinians must be allowed to return home. Just like all Jews are welcome in Israel. Either that or a real two state solution where Palestine has the military to defend itself.

I have a strong preference for a one state solution. I think there is a possibility of a beautiful country emerging which everyone will want to visit.

The road map of Israel Palestinian peace

Watching Netanyahu and Trump's news conference yesterday,  we see that what Netanyahu wants is a 2 state solution with military control of  the region. Without military control a state is not a state at all. Netanyahu points to the religious fanaticism in Palestinian Muslims taught to hate jews from a very early age.  He does not talk about the fanatic Jews who think god gives them the right to throw Palestinians out of their homes.  In fact they forget the ten commandments clearly forbid stealing another person's property. Moreover, there is also a dwindling population of Christians in Palestine.

A two state solution is not in the interest of Palestinians. Their govts - both Hamas and Fatah has done little for them.  Equal rights, end of discrimination, and apartheid should be their goal. 

The settlers are given preferential treatment. Ordinary citizens get treated like  with royalty  with  security even for their children to play.  Settlers are sometimes foreigners offered the good life for being jews.  When Palestinian who have lived in the region forever  are denied the securities of their own homes. 

One state solution is the way to go with Palestinians having all the rights as an Israeli citizen. Permits to build on their own property, use state roads, and so on.  I bet Israel may not agree to it because they have gotten used to treating Palestinians as second class citizen.