Putin Asks for & Receives Approval to Use Force in Ukraine - Obama Responds Weakly

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent unmarked Russian-speaking military forces to the Ukraine during a time of great upheaval in the region.

Russia won't confirm that these soldiers are theirs, but they certainly are not from Canada.  There are also another 150,000 Russian troops conducting "military exercises" near the Ukrainian border.

Putin followed this invasion of a sovereign country with a request to the Russian parliament for an approval to send troops into Ukraine as tensions continue to rise, especially within the Crimea region.

The request for legislative approval in Russia came just one day after weak statements from United States President Barack Obama on the subject.  

On Friday, Obama said: 

"The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.  

"Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing, which is not in the interest of Ukraine, Russia, or Europe. "It would represent a profound interference in matters that must be determined by the Ukrainian people."

Coming from a world leader who said that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a red line, "there will be costs" sounds pretty weak.

Obama and European leaders would do well to learn from the mistakes of the past.  Appeasement of dictators, in any form, only leads to further aggression from those dictators.  

That was clearly demonstrated by England Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, which conceding the German-populated Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. 

Chamberlain saw that as a way to avoid war with Hitler's Germany.  However when Adolf Hitler continued his aggression by invading Poland, leading Britain to declare war on Germany.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Make no mistake about it ... Putin sees an opportunity to restore a part of the former Russian empire and he has already taken bold, bold steps to do so, by force.

At this point, Obama hasn't said or done anything to distinguish himself Chamberlain when it comes to taking a strong stance against Russian aggression in Ukraine.

American Truism.

Heart Attack & Chronic Cocaine Use Cause Whitney Houston's Drowning

Sadly, what we'd all suspected as the cause of Whitney Houston's death was confirmed today by the Los Angeles coroner's office.  

According to the Associated Press, Houston died from drowning in her hotel bathtub, but heart disease and chronic cocaine use were contributing factors to her death.


"Something happened that caused her to go down and we know that when she slipped under the water she was still alive," the Coroner said. "We have evidence of drowning since there was water in the lungs. 


"The 60% narrowing of her arteries "suggest a cardiac event complicated by the cocaine use" led to Houston's slipping underwater.

Whitney Houston was found submerged in the bathtub of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and her death has been ruled as accidental. Bottles of prescription drugs were found in Houston's hotel room, but not in excessive amounts said the coroner's office.

Toxicology results showed that Houston had marijuana, Xanax, Flexeril (a muscle relaxant), and Benadryl in her system. 

The singer also had a heart disease that caused blockages in her arteries.  Houston died at the age of 48.  

A full autopsy report is expected to be released in two weeks.


American Truism #12.

(This story borrows heavily from an Associated Press story)

Bobbi Kristina May be in Crisis: Reportedly High During & After Mother's Funeral

There are reports that Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina appeared to be under the influence at her mother's funeral and that she was later found getting high in a hotel room, just hours after the cermony.

If this is the case, she desperately needs some Truth, from family and loved ones.

The Times of India is reporting that Bobbi Kristina almost didn't make it to the singer's burial and looked 'wasted' and 'glassy eyed.'

Other repors said Bobbi Kristina had disappeared and was getting high after her mother's nearly four hour emotional funeral.

First, let's hope that this is sensationalism and is simply incorrect.  The last thing that family needs right now is a crisis with another family member, especially Whitney's daughter.

Yet, the stories seem to come from reputable sources (Times of India / NY Daily News, etc.).

A source quoted by RADAR Online said, "The true cause for concern is that the Houstons feel absolutely powerless to do anything about Krissy because she is an adult and they are afraid to push her too hard for fear of driving her away."

Hopefully, this is my last Whitney Houston-related post, but this is worth a moment of thought.

American Truism #5.

Why Attack Aretha? She Gave Whitney Houston R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and TRUTH

Recent media stories would have one believe that the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, purosely disrespected Whitney Houston's memory in a televised NBC interview with Al Roker and THAT is the reason she ultimately did not sing at Houston's funeral.

At least one story found it odd that NBC had removed the interview from its website, yet it IS possible to find the story (thank you YouTube) if you're patient enough and resourceful enough.

I watched the Al Roker interview of Aretha Franklin expecting to hear her claim that Whitney couldn't hold a candle to her or maybe saying that Whitney turned to the dark side or SOMETHING.

Instead, what I saw was a very balanced view of Houston's life, struggles and death, unlike most of the coverage seen since Houston's death which were either sensationalized and macabre or exultations proclaiming Houston to be a faultless angel.

No, in this story, Franklin's sadness comes through.  It is obvious that she understands what a tragic and unnecessary waste Houston's death was. 

Coverage of the piece implies that something Franklin said must have offended Houston's family.  But, if that's the case, I simply don't see it.

The ONLY thing that one could stretch into a dig might be the highlighted remark below, but I would strongly disagree.  Here is a partial transcript of the NBC interview in question: 

AF = Aretha Franklin -- AR = Al Roker

AF:  “When one has as much success as she did, almost overnight, and she had phenomenal success overnight, so I’m sure it was very overwhelming for her at times.  You get a lot of adoration when people like you.  It’s easy to lose sight of yourself. 

AR:  Did she ever talk to you looking for any sort of guidance or counsel?

AF:  No, but early on, I let her know then that if she needed any advice, and if she needed to talk about anything, she could always call me.

AR:  But the call never came.  And, so, Franklin watched from afar as Whitney’s success faded and she desperately tried time and again to regain her superstar status including the 2009 European tour, when dogged by rumors of alcohol and drug abuse, Whitney’s once magical voice, tragically let her down.

AF: She had a number of difficult evenings in Europe.  I watched that online myself.  I didn’t like what I saw happening.  The audience was very rude.  I’m sure she was totally devastated by the time it was over.

You know, when you’re a singer, and you can’t sing what it is you want to sing, when you can’t give the audience what you want to give, it’s very disheartening.

AR: Franklin says she saw something else in those scenes of anguish, that fighting spirit that her mother Cissy had instilled in Whitney.  That was still there.

AF:  She stood there, let me tell you, she stood there and with the heart of a champion, she went through it night after night. 

AR: At the end of 2011, Franklin says she finally saw hopeful signs that Whitney could finally resurrect her career, in a preview of “SPARKLE,” in which Whitney executive produced and starred in. 

AF:  She looked fresh, healthy.  She looked gorgeous, and I thought, ‘Yes, she has conquered her challenges and she’s on her way.' 

Certainly her body of work is going to go on for generations to come, from generation to generation. 

AR:  This ending, do you think it tarnishes it at all, or takes away from it?

AF:  No, I don’t.  I don’t think we should focus on the challenges that she had because in some ways, we all have challenges from time to time.  Look at the character of a person, and the character of a woman.  Think about the hits, and forget about the misses.

AR:  How are you going to remember her?

AF:  As an adorable young lady, as Cissy’s baby, a great artist, a very kind and giving person, a very sensitive young lady. 

AR:  Isn’t it ironic that it comes full circle, back to New Hope Baptist Church?

AF:  She didn’t just smile, she twingkled, so I wrote something with that in mind.  “Twinkle, twinkle, superstar, we don’t wonder where you are.  Up above the world so bright, like a diamond in the night.  Twinkle, twinkle, she’s still alone, I can’t believe that she’s gone.”

American Truism #4.