AFTER DELTA FLIGHT 253 INCIDENT – IT IS TIME TO PULL UP SOCKS RATHER THAN REPUBLICANS’ DISGUSTING GAME OF POLITICAL NAME CALLING!!

Alas this world is imperfect, this grim reminder one gets from the stupid recriminations one can see or hear taking place between the Republicans and the Democrats over the failed bombing attempt aboard Delta/Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit from Amsterdam.

Instead of making useful contributions towards what needs to be done to protect the world from the radicals, like the Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up the Delta flight, the Republicans have launched in to nonsensical tirades to make some political capital out of this incident. They are trying desperately and, albeit, clumsily to malign President Obama (and his administration).

However, much to the chagrin of the said intellectually stunted Republicans they are getting egg back on their faces as some American TV channels are immediately pointing out the appalling inaction/gaffes of Bush and folks of his administration which has brought US to this pass. But the increasingly frustrated moron Republicans suffer from selective amnesia when they try to throw dirt on their political opponents.

But then that’s one of the downsides of democracy in that the party out of power tries to cut its nose to spite its face without realizing how much harm it may be causing to the country in the process.

Adding to this nonsense these days are the oftentimes stupid/off-the-point discussions of some half informed anchors (of American TV channels) who seem to be steering the discussion according to their personal political inclinations (and their agendas). These schmuck anchors are indeed utterly disgusting!

Anyway, more important than the schmuck American politicians and/or TV anchors is path forward for the international community in the light of what happened on Flight 253. Following points seem to need urgent attention:

· As the Foreign Minister of Yemen mentioned, his country needs international help in fighting Al-Qaeda. US, EU need to provide Yemen the necessary wherewithal in this respect as early as possible.
· Al-Qaeda’s central planning cell most probably still operates from Af-Pak border and this cell may be coordinating its actions with its cells in other countries, e.g., Yemen. Therefore, pressure must be continued to disrupt the central cell, including kicking the Pakistani asses to continue their operations in Waziristan and other areas bordering Afghanistan.
· The wily double-faced Pakistanis must not be allowed to get distracted by the so-called request from the Taliban to get former cricketer Imran Khan to mediate. These are red herrings across the trail.
· The Saudis need to act on the sleeper cells in their country and in this regard they need to coordinate their actions with their western allies, especially, US and Yemen (if the Saudis don’t consider this below their dignity).
· Stricter check of people of certain religious/ethnic backgrounds got to be put in place without drum beating about it to the world. Flight manifests need to be scanned for such people before the flight leaves and anybody appearing suspicious should be subjected to secondary/tertiary checks.
· Former top calibre counter-terrorism personnel from countries, like, India, Israel, UK should be brought in to train the US, Canadian, western countries immigration personnel in scanning and screening techniques – both visual and otherwise. The western immigration personnel, especially, the Caucasian personnel have little knowledge about names, characteristics of these ethnic groups.
· The aforementioned experts will scrutinise and look for potential radical elements before he/she boards a flight.
· Of course, full body scanners, specially trained sniffer dogs (dogs who can sniff certain chemical substances, i.e., PETN) need to be brought in use at various airports ASAP.
· Last but not the least the intelligence agencies need to pull up their socks. In the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the American and western intelligence agencies - in particular, the British - surely dropped the ball.

Flight 253 was definitely a wake up call to people who may be getting a bit complacent. Political bickering and crude attempts to make political capital (like the Republicans are trying to do) will not help. On the other hand, coordinated, concerted actions on the part of the international community can certainly help in fighting the scourge of religious radicalism. Let saner elements join hand in this ongoing battle of attrition!

WANNA MAKE QUICK BUCK? SLEEP WITH A CELEBRITY AND SELL YOUR STORY!!

The other day some one, who is passing through hard times owing to job loss, asked me if there was some quick mitigation possible. I asked that person, “Have you slept with any celebrity, like, Tiger Woods?” (I could pose such a question because of my cordial and friendly relations with that person.)

That person responded innocently, “No, I haven’t; moreover, I am a male and I am straight”!! When he continued to look at me askance, I explained to him the background as to why I asked him that seemingly frivolous question.

I gave him a low down on the current media interest in women who had allegedly slept with Tiger, and the reported attempts made by those women to encash their ‘stories’. He looked disgusted, and I nodded in silence conveying complete agreement.

What disgusted him and I was the fact these women – being labelled by media as mistresses of Tiger – slept with the top golfer on their own volition. And, now they were making frantic efforts to auction their stories to make a fast buck before the public interest waned. These women, at least most of them, clearly knew that they sleeping with a married man and that there was almost NIL possibility of any ‘real’ romance and ‘happily ever after’ scenario.

The point that jumped out and begged to be asked: Are these type of women not some kind of slimy, scheming, leeches who look for potential preys and get laid by celebrities to ‘lay’ a foundation for a potentially salacious story saleable at a later date should such an opportunity came by?

Does this not amount to ‘prostitorting’? Are they not some kind of dangerous celebrity poaching vultures looking for an opportunity for a ‘kill’?

Regular hookers, prostitutes or call-girls operate with their clients strictly on a contract basis – ‘you sleep with me, you pay for it in some form’. Simple! In these transactions NO mushiness is assumed from either party or any offered! There is no element of ‘affair’ in these trysts!

But in case of the trysts married celebrities have with their so-called mistresses, the sales pitch these so-called mistresses offer to their 'stories' is that they had an ‘affair’, a ‘fling’. By bringing in the ‘affair’ angle, they subtly try to differentiate themselves from the regular hooker or a prostitute. There is an attempt to bring in the element of ‘romance’.

But are these so called mistresses also not some sort of a slut, probably a diabolical slut? Were they not spreading their legs for some kind of gratification – be it having been piled on by a ‘celebrity’, or for some gift or some favour? Did they REALLY think the married celebrity was having an AFFAIR which had possibilities of ‘happily ever after’?

No way! The ‘mistress’ knew, that celebrity knew, that they both were having a good time on the side! And, for any one knows in the world, the ‘mistress’ probably had already been compensated too with favours, gifts, money, whatever, during their so-called ‘affair’! If they really thought there was some hope of a permanent relationship, then they were plain stupid, naïve!!

This is precisely what is disgusting – these celebrity poaching vultures bide their time for making a ‘kill’ with their story of an ‘affair’, and when the opportunity comes they encash their tales with all the spice of mushiness, romance, steamy conversations, how good that celebrity was in the bed and so on!

The media understandably tries to keep up the celebrity ‘affair’ frenzy, because it helps in selling their stuff, it becomes a talking point. The public quickly reaches for these stories and reads them with interest. (But the stupid public hardly bothers to read or comprehend how their politicians sold their souls to big lobbying firms, corporate entities for favours and blocked some legislation which would have brought some relief to the masses in general!!)

One is not trying to justify what Tiger did as a married man – as a single he could screw as many women as he wanted! But the point one is trying to make is that these so-called mistresses are worse than the regular hookers, or prostitutes or call-gals.

Does Nature, or do laws of karma bring some different (harsher) form of retribution for these women?