Message In A Bottle

Close your eyes and imagine that you're standing on some sandy beach. It doesn't have to be an exotic location by any means...someplace in the states. Let's say...Biloxi, Mississippi. You're walking along the stretch beach that runs in front of the hurricane shattered ruins of Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis' once stately mansion and last home.

As the sand squishes between your toes, you kick a half-hidden bottle out of its resting place and it rolls out and stops not far from you. Like in the old movie, you see it. As you pick up the clear glass, cork sealed bottle, you see a little scroll rolled tightly inside. You can only see one line of writing on the outside:

"Your Life in 4 Years - You've Been Warned."

So...would you read it?

Any good student of geopolitics should pick up a copy of Lady Margaret Thatcher's book "Statecraft." Published in 2002, she gives some excellent insight on America's roll as the dominant super power in the world. Also, she gave some interesting advice on page 39 - advice that would have been well headed by G - Dub, Doc Rice and the White House minions.

It reads:
Don't believe that military interventions, no matter how morally justified, can succeed without clear military goals.

Don't fall into the trap of imagining that the West can remake societies.

Don't take public opinion for granted - but don't either underrate the degree
to which good people will endure sacrifices for a worthwhile cause.

Don't allow tyrants and aggressors to get away with it.

And when you fight - fight to win.

Sometimes, reading the message in a bottle is not a bad thing after all.

-- MR's NOTE:
I visited Beauvoir about a year and a half before Katrina hit. She was not only a beautiful building, but, the only "old southern plantation" style home to survive at all. If you would like to contribute to the restoration of Beauvoir, you can click on their official link for further information. http://www.beauvoir.org/