President Obama took his massive ego and sparse historical knowledge to Asia last week.  The results were so ugly even the New York Times took notice.  Obama's Pacific Trip Encounters Rough Waters was its headline over a news analysis yesterday (11/19). The humiliation began in Singapore, continued in Japan with his now-infamous bow to Emperor Akihito, and climaxed in China where his communist hosts made an utter fool of him. Throughout it all, he remained cluelessly oblivious to his humiliation.

Do you think people who refuse to (or cannot for whatever reason) purchase health insurance should be subject to a $250,000 fine and/or five years in jail? Well, a slim majority of the U.S. House of Representatives seems to think such a draconian (and probably unconstitutional) measure is just fine because that is one of the provisions of the health care reform bill they just passed. A person, or group of people, who are unable to think through the consequences of their actions and often resort to oppression of others are either clueless or despotic.  Thinking and compassionate people, by contrast, understand that there may be many good reasons why people do not buy, or do not wish to buy, health insurance. The health care bill is Exhibit A to demonstrate that a majority of Congress is now clueless/despotic when it comes to economic sense or understanding about how the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect individual liberty. Then there are Exhibits B, C & D.

What were President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder thinking when they decided to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the chief architect of the 9/11 attacks, and four other al Qaeda bigwigs in a civilian court in New York City? From the standpoint of politics, this decision makes no sense.  According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Monday (11/16), only 34% of Americans support the decision to try the al Qaeda bigwigs in a civilian court.  64% say they should be tried by a military commission, as the Bush administration was planning to do. The decision is unlikely to grow more popular with time.  At a minimum, a highly publicized trial will remind Americans of the 9/11 attacks, something Democrats have been encouraging us to forget. The potential consequences for the United States of extending to these terrorists the constitutional rights afforded U.S. citizens in a civil trial are grave. And should the terrorists walk due to legal technicalities, Mr. Obama's presidency will be in the grave.

Roatan, Honduras.  It's far easier to get from the US to here than from Tikal, Guatemala.  It took me an entire day.  You can fly from Houston (Continental) or Atlanta (Delta) nonstop in less than three hours. Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands off the Honduran Caribbean coast, 37 miles long and five miles at its widest, home to 30,000, some 3,000 of whom are expats from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Increasing numbers of Americans are figuring out that this is the tropical paradise they've been looking for as a safety escape while Hurricane Obama passes by.  I'll have lots more to say about it in my report on Honduras next week. *** I just learned from TTPer Paul Rosenberg, developer of Cryptohippie, that I am a character in a libertarian video game called 2011: Obama's Coup Fails.  It posits that after the Dems suffer devastating losses in the 2010 elections, Zero suspends Congress and rules by executive decree.  An armed rebellion breaks out. The player (you) joins the leaders of the rebellion, known as The Founders, in combat against the crumbling Marxist forces of Obama's loyalist Black Tigers, the Islamic fundamentalist Nation of Malsi, and The Cong - a group of de-elected Democrats. Evidently, I am one of The Founders.  In the Breaking News section of the game, a news bulletin entitled "Hillary Clinton Finally Captured," dated March 15, 2011, begins: "Upon receiving an anonymous tip, the forces of Jack Wheeler, Ollie North, and the CIA were able to track down and capture former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." I don't know the game designers, and just found out about this from Paul.  But it's cool, don't you think? That's the fun news.  Now for the ominous news.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan has shined a spotlight on the intellectual and moral shortcomings of America's self-anointed elite. Journalists and Obama administration officials say they are unable to identify a motive for Maj. Hasan's murder spree at Fort Hood.  This is much more than a failure to connect the dots.  It is like looking westward from Denver on a bright and sunny day, and claiming to be unable to see the Rocky Mountains. Maj. Hasan produced a pro-jihadi slide show which he inflicted upon his fellow physicians at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.  He had "SoA," an abbreviation of Soldier of Allah, printed on his business cards.  He attended mosques where radicals preached, and he tried to get in touch with al Qaeda.  As he was gunning down the defenseless soldiers around him, he was heard shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great.)  His Moslem motive couldn't be more clear. Worse than the willful blindness with regard to his motives were the efforts by some to make excuses for Maj. Hasan's behavior.  Especially those in the Army who ignored his behavior.

It has been well-known for decades that paper currency is a major source of disease transmission. During the life of the average dollar bill, it will be handled by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. It is hard to think of any physical object that is handled by more different people than paper currency. Millions become ill every year as a result of handling currency, and a not insignificant percentage of them die. The good news is that it is no longer necessary to use paper currency in the digital age. Payments of all types can be made by electronic means - with electronic banking; credit, debit and smart cards; and cell phones - all of which help the user avoid physical contact with dirty paper (actually cooton cloth) money. The bad news is that government policies are slowing down and, in many cases, preventing the movement to the use of digital currencies. The government's war on "money laundering" has resulted not in clean money but requires more people to handle dirty paper money. Goverment currency kills.