by Dan Getz, International Blogger
Reporting from Parkland Health & Hospital System, Dallas, TX
I had the privilege tonight of watching and listening to the interview of former United States of America's President, Jimmy Carter by David Letterman.
Many times, the greatest men with the greatest minds are not recognized as such until after their death. Fortunately tonight, the World was able to join the United States of America in hearing and seeing such a man, while he is still very much ALIVE and not during a eulogy at his funeral some day.
As discussed during their conversation, Jimmy Carter is one of 38 living family members; is 93 years old; has 21 grandchildren (including 12 grandchildren and 9 GREAT grandchildren, one of which is ahead in the polls for becoming the next Governor of Georgia).
Similar to Russia's current invasion of The Ukraine, over the Christmas Weekend of 1979 Russia attempted to invade Afghanistan. According to Mr. Carter, and while he was in office, economic sanctions implemented by the United States were very effective in causing Russian leadership to change their minds and position, and ultimately withdraw their troops from Afganistan. Regardless of sanctions or the declared position of the United States and G-7 committee, it is Jimmy Carter's opinion that the invasion of Crimea (part of the Ukraine) was inevitable, and should Putin choose to stop there and not continue his agression, occupation and invasion of the remainder of the Ukraine, there will be no need for any further sanctions, including the existing sanctions in place (which currently only includes freezing the assets of several key Russian leaders).
In a nutshell, THAT is Jimmy Carter's snapshot view of Russia and The Ukraine.
The remainder of Letterman's and Carter's conversation centered around the United States, specifically the abuse and murder of WOMEN, the need to actively CONSERVE ENERGY and NATURAL RESOURCES and to ensure that CLEAN and SAFE drinking water is available to EVERY human being on the EARTH today.
In 1979, then President Jimmy Carter, had 36 solar panels installed on the Oval Office of the White House in an effort to conserve energy and bring awareness of the need to duplicate these efforts, first in our Nation, and then the World. Upon his subsequent loss in the Presidential Race to United State's President Ronald Reagan, these panels were removed by Reagan, in an effort to avoid the admission that the United States, primarily, and the World secondarily, has been and is the greatest contributor to the waste of Natural Resources, primarily Petroleum, and according to former President Jimmy Carter.
With regard to concentrated efforts to conserve energy and our earth's natural resources, Jimmy Carter believes that Global Warming is a legitimate threat and stated that former President George H.W. Bush was a "Champion of Saving Energy." Jimmy Carter has recently published a book entitled, "A Call for Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power" (see http://www.amazon.com/Call-Action-Women-Religion-Violence/dp/1476773955/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396366443&sr=8-1&keywords=a+call+for+action) which addresses, and provides solutions for issues like this, the abuse of women and a number of other current issues and injustices.
During tonight's interview, Jimmy Carter started with the most dramatic statistic he was aware of, with regard to the systematic and wide-spread abuse of females: 160 MILLION girls are missing, have been aborted, or are murdered shortly after their birth by parents who wanted a boy rather than a girl. Carter visits China every year to discuss this issue and others with the government of China in an effort to dramatically reduce this statistic as China has for decades enforced a policy of significantly limiting the birth of females by Chinese citizens. This policy has so significantly reduced the birth of females that there is currently a very large shortage of woman for men to marry, which according to Carter largely contributes to the sex and slave trade, since many men then choose to buy a bride because they are unable to find one on their own.
I learned something tonight that I was never made aware of before this interview between Jimmy Carter and David Letterman. Atlanta, Georgia is currently the primary center of the sex trade, due in large part to the fact that Atlanta is home to one of the World's largest airports. According to statistics Carter made his audience aware of tonight, an average pimp can make, on average, about $20,000 (USD) per prostitute that he "manages", while the purchase of a girl or woman on the black market ranges from around $1,000 (USD) to $8,000 (USD).
According to additional statistics that Jimmy Carter cited, Colleges, Universities and The United States Military are the primary culprit in the abuse of women within the United States. The reason Carter gave for this is because, according to Carter and his humanitarian foundation (see The Carter Center at: http://www.cartercenter.org/index.html), all these entities are "all about" protecting their own reputation and financial assets, rather than pursuing justice and vindication for all the women that are regularly raped and abused at Colleges and University campuses as well as at many of the United States' Military bases. Again, according to Carter, only 4% of rapes that occur every year at Colleges and Universities are ever reported, and only 1/6 of this statistic (i.e. 1/6 of 4%) with regard to the rapes and incidents of female abuse that occur within the United States Military are reported. Successful prosecution of these cases that are reported occurs much less than that. Prior to serving our country in the capacity of the President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter served as a Naval Commanding Officer in the United States Military so knows first hand of not only the abuse he and his organization has been bringing awareness to for many years, but is a determined, dedicated and strong advocate for the victims of this abuse.
One of the most shocking statistics I heard former President Jimmy Carter disclose was this: 90% of all Egyptian girls have their genitals forcibly removed or cut before they are 4 years old for the sole purpose of preventing women from enjoying sexual intercourse. This statistic jumps another 5% to 95% in the country of Sudan.
The last topic that Jimmy Carter and David Letterman discussed was the direct result of stagnant, polluted and unsafe drinking water. It is called the Guinea Worm (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis), which grows up to 30 inches long inside a person's stomach when they consume water of this type. When Jimmy Carter and his foundation began their efforts in bringing awareness to, and actively combating this issue, there were 3 1/2 million known cases in at least 20 different countries. Today that number, primarily due to the efforts of Jimmy Carter and others who have listened to, and joined this cause, has been reduced to 146 cases in a handful of different countries.
To learn more details about these issues and other cases, causes and solutions for INJUSTICE be sure to visit www.Amazon.com and purchase Jimmy Carter's brand new book entitled, "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power." (see http://www.amazon.com/Call-Action-Women-Religion-Violence/dp/1476773955/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396366443&sr=8-1&keywords=a+call+for+action)
Also recently shot, edited and professionally produced by Chase Arrington of The Arrington Group is the VIDEO "TRYing", which features PINK's song TRY and features "The Dan Getz Story". Go To: http://vimeo.com/m/71504252.
