Once there was large farm. It was owned by the Russ family, and they were very rich. They had many families working for them.

Mr. Russ controlled the farm and all the people in it. He was not a nice man. Mr. Russ' father and grandfather were bad men. They killed a lot of people, and all of the families on the farm were scared of him and did whatever he said. Mr. Russ did not let the families read books, or keep the food that they grew. They weren't allowed even to talk about the Russ family!

The Russ family was not a good family. They often took things away from the other families, and even their own children. They punished everyone harshly, and if you were really bad they would make you live on a barren island at the northernmost border of the property.

The Russ family often used bribes and punishment to make everyone do what they wanted. Sometime the patriarch, Mr. Russ, would bribe his children to do bad things. Sometimes the children would bribe each other.

Very often there was not enough food for all of the Russ children and the other families, even though the farm was very productive. Mr. Russ would give away the farm profits to some bullies who lived down the road, hoping that they would help him take over some other big, prosperous farms. Very often, his own children went to bed hungry.

In due time, the other families who lived on the Russ farm decided they wanted their land back and to do things their own way. They had finally gotten a hold of some books that described how Sam's farm worked and was so prosperous.

There were some other big farms nearby, who also had bad fathers. Those farms changed, united, and became prosperous. The families on those farms were free now.

Mr. Russ realized that the old way of doing things wasn't working. He made a rule when all the farms had joined together, that a family could leave the farm if 2/3 of them agreed.

The George family was not happy on Mr. Russ's farm. They were tired of being punished. They were tired of being hungry. They were tired of Mr. Russ taking all of their stuff. They decided to take a vote, and run their own farm. They really wanted their farm to be like Sam's.

Sam promised to help them, and the George family became great friends with Sam. Everyone voted to take the George farm back, except for one son. Ozzy. Ozzy liked being on Mr. Russ's farm.

Mr. Russ was not happy that the George family left. They told Ozzy that he could be part of the Russ family, and didn't have to be part of the George family. Ozzy decided to be called Ozzy Russ, but Mr. George still told him he was a George, and would not let him give his house to Mr. Russ.

Mr. Russ was mad. He tried to bully Mr. George. Mr. George knew his friend Sam would help him, and besides, the farm was very successful. Mr. Russ got so mad, he tore down all of the electric wires that went to Mr. George's farm. It was the middle of winter, and even though the George family was very cold, they wouldn't let Ozzy give away his house to Mr. Russ. Ozzy was still a George.

Ozzy didn't like his dad, Mr. George, and they fought a lot. Ozzy let Mr. Russ's family and bullies come over to his house. Ozzy did not listen to Mr. George.

One day, when Mr. Russ and Sam and all of the big farm owners had left for a big meeting, Mr. George decided it was time to make Ozzy be a member of the family again. He sent his strongmen to Ozzy's house to make Mr. Russ's friends leave and to make him be a George.

There was a lot of fighting. Some of Ozzy's house got destroyed.

Mr. Russ rushed home. He gathered up his bullies and sent them to Ozzy's house. Now a really big fight happened! Ozzy's house was almost destroyed.

Mr. George noticed that his friends had left. Sam hadn't come over to help him get his son back. He didn't even help him fight off the bullies. One of the other sons, Az, wanted to leave and bea Russ, now too! Mr. George decided to stop fighting.

Mr. Russ would not stop. He said he would, but he went to Mr. George's other houses and started destroying them. A lot of Mr. George's children were being killed. Mr. Russ had decided he was going to take the whole George farm.

Finally, Sam came to help. He sent supplies to Mr. George, and begged Mr. Russ to stop. Mr. Russ said he would stop, but then the bullies destroyed another one of Mr. George's houses.

And that is where things stand in Georgia. Uncle Sam has finally gotten around to sending aid. Russia is still bombing. Georgia is still begging for a ceasefire.

And our presidential candidates have responded, as well.

Obama wants the UN Security Council to issue a statement condemning the actions. (Does he even know that Russia holds a permanent seat on the Council?) Because UN Statements work so well to end wars.

McCain wants Russia to stop all aggression and bombing, wants to get the UN and NATO involved to immediately put diplomatic pressure on Russia.

Obama decided he agree with McCain, and is also now calling for Russia to stop bombing Georgia.

Condoleeza Rice, while not a candidate, states the US position.
"This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten its neighbors, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it," Rice said. "Things have changed."

Just thought you might like to know what was going on in the world today!

Aaron... the comment I left on your blog about this - I was wrong. I did some more research besides listening to NPR and reading Yahoo! News.

Labels: In The News, politics, Thoughtful Thursday