Chuq’s Daily Musical Interlude

Brain Drain…….time for some tunes to revive the mind……

Many of you old farts will remember Johnny Rivers for such songs as Memphis, Secret Agent Man and Midnight Special…..but for me his best album was “Realization”…..he takes some classics already and intertwined some originals tunes….

This album came out when the Do-wop music was on the wane and being replaced with ‘acid rock’……Rivers went from those early roots in a different direction……in my opinion this was Rivers finest album….sadly not many noticed at the time……

Enjoy!

ISIS Coalition Situation Report (SITREP) #21

Good day.

The war continues and ISIS keeps getting stronger……

Item 1–The US has said this would not be a quick fix for the problem of the expansion of ISIS…….

The Pentagon is resigned to the idea that the new ISIS conflict is going to be a very long war indeed, with not only little to show for the early weeks of airstrikes, but no expectation of visible shifts in the near future.

Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin echoed previous comments by other Pentagon officials trying to tamp down expectations of any significant gains in the months to come, pushing the idea that next year or later the war could switch to US advantage.

History will label this as the “30 Year War”……

Item 2–ISIS has once again demonstrated its keen military knowledge…..

Having apparently lulled Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) into a false sense of security, ISIS launched a series of 15 simultaneous attacks across their frontier today, testing their defenses and seizing some small villages.

Also part of the slain territory was the town of Qara Tappa, not far from the major ISIS city of Mosul, where ISIS fighters infiltrated the town disguised as Peshmerga, and then fought off Kurdish reinforcements.

No one wants to admit it…..but ISIS is showing superb military leadership

Item 3–…US is always willing to come to the aid in a humanitarian crisis….but that is coming back on the US……

While U.S. warplanes strike at the militants of the so-called Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq, truckloads of U.S. and Western aid has been flowing into territory controlled by the jihadists, assisting them to build their terror-inspiring “caliphate.”

The aid—mainly food and medical equipment—is meant for Syrians displaced from their hometowns, and for hungry civilians. It is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, European donors, and the United Nations. Whether it continues is now the subject of anguished debate among officials in Washington and European. The fear is that stopping aid would hurt innocent civilians and would be used for propaganda purposes by the militants, who would likely blame the West for added hardship.

In essence we are giving aid and comfort to the enemy…..time ffor a re-think.

Item 4–Once again the Iraqi government has made it abundantly clear…..

Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder Abadi today reiterated his opposition to the use of any foreign combat troops in Iraq, saying that “no ground troops from any superpower, international coalition or regional power will fight here.”

Oops! There are troops there already….does the government want them to leave?

Item 5–One of the US allies in the Middle East has denied that it will join in the fight against ISIS…….

Egypt’s military junta was loudly and openly courted by the US as a coalition partner for the new ISIS war, but the pledges of support appear to have been wildly exaggerated.

The junta today insisted Egypt has no plans to take any direct action in the ISIS war, with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb saying the country is focused on internal stability, not overseas operations.

Personally, I think that statement is meant for a home audience and does reflect the actuality on the ground.

That ends today’s briefing….hopefully it was informative…….

Thanx for your time and attention.

Turn The Page!

The Disease of American Democracy | Perspectives | BillMoyers.com

About 14 days before we Americans go to the polls to make the wrong decision….something we excel at doing………

I have pissed and moan about just how unimportant the American voter really is…..that special interests are the key to moving legislation…..the voter is only important during campaigns and after they are a minor inconvenience that must be tolerated….in short, the people are of NO use to an elected politician…..

Have you noticed that the MSM has all but refused to point out problems in our system? They feel compelled to analyze it until it makes most of us nauseated….but seldom a word that is negative…..why is that?

An excellent piece with some provocative thoughts……..

Read and sound off!

The Disease of American Democracy | Perspectives | BillMoyers.com.

Will The Country Suffer Depression?

The markets go up…..the markets go down……a continuous yo-yo ride……

I know….very few Americans want to talk or learned about economics…..it is just all too hard.

We all have a fleeting knowledge of what happened in 1929, right? But our minds are fresher in the events in 2008 when the markets dropped like a lead toilet in Lake Michigan.

But since that day the markets have steadily gone up and up and up……seemingly without any possibility of a return to the days of losing funds……but is there a possibility that we could see another loss of funds and value………..

A CIA analyst known for his dire economic predictions is speaking up again, warning that the next Great Depression may be right around the corner. Jim Rickards, a “financial threat and asymmetric warfare adviser” for the CIA, tells Money Morning that Americans should be preparing for a $100 trillion financial catastrophe. “Everybody knows we have a dangerous level of debt,” he says. “Everybody knows the Fed has recklessly printed trillions of dollars. … But all signs are now flashing bright red that our chickens are about to come home to roost.” Another reason for gloom: According to Rickards, the so-called Misery Index maintained by the Federal Reserve contains far worse data than most people believe.

The Misery Index adds the true unemployment rate with the true inflation rate, but Rickards contends that the Fed has altered the index’s calculations in order to hide the truth—that “the Misery Index has reached more dangerous levels than we saw prior to the Great Depression,” he says. “This is a signal of a complex system that’s about to collapse.” His prediction? A “70% stock market crash” followed by a 25-year depression, possibly sparked by a “major credit collapse” in China, he tells Reuters. His advice? Invest in “hard assets” like railroads, coal, wheat, or gold. Again, he’s not known for mild predictions:

Whatcha think? Is this guy onto something or is he just giving Americans what they crave….a good dose of fear?

Ebola: Why Not Ask Real Questions?

Opinion from Chuq’s Desk:

Okay, enough is enough! We have been bombarded with everything Ebola and most of it is worthless full and fodder. America’s paranoia is running at a fever’s pitch.

I will bow to social convention and join the Ebola conversation….most will probably appreciate my direction of this post…..but hey….they can just get over it, right?

Now everyone can take a deep breath…..Nigeria is damn near Ebola free (for now…..Senegal is getting pretty damn close and now for the US…….we had some cases….nothing like West Africa but if you listened to your butt monkeys that you elected …we had an epidemic……

To what purpose is the MSM fixation on the Ebola outbreak? I mean really? We get lots of horror stories but little useful information. We got every little political toad that ever wanted to be on TV got to say something of which little was accurate……but we Americans listened and we panicked….it is what we do……

Is what the media is doing a public service? To me it is bordering on sensationalism. At what point will it be considered fanning the flames of hysteria? Is there a saturation point? Just what is the point of this overreaction? Or would it be over-reporting?

Yes, Ebola is a horrific disease and yes there is a necessity for accurate information…usable information……but do we really need all this filler that is bordering on the psychotic?

So far I have seen little on the control and the cure and a whole bunch of typical bullsh*t that serves NO purpose other than to increase the panic. Oh wait! We have a new Ebola Czar……a position that may not be needed…..but what the Hell….it gives politicos something to use in their election ads.

Apparently the public carves a good dose of fear…….and this situation is feeding that hunger even though it appears the worst of this situation may be behind us………..

When will this end?

My guess it will lessen around November 5th…..or shortly after the votes are counted the situation will NO longer be needed..

Finally, just what is this Ebola overkill really accomplishing?

Questions……….. Answers needed.

If anyone was a good answer please share………

I am listening!

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Day: October 21, 2014

Chuq’s Daily Musical Interlude

ISIS Coalition Situation Report (SITREP) #21

The Disease of American Democracy | Perspectives | BillMoyers.com

Will The Country Suffer Depression?

Ebola: Why Not Ask Real Questions?