Month: April 2015

Thomas Jefferson vs. the Bible: – Salon.com

For decades the Religious Right has been trying to re-write history as it pertains to the founding of our republic……they attempt to teach that religion was a founding principle and that the Bible was the document that help write the Constitution…….

History teaches us that all that is so much wishful thinking on their part….Even Jefferson had a Bible that he edited out all references of miracles to leave the pure philosophy of the book…….

This is a good piece that touches on the Bible, Jefferson and the founding of the republic…….please read and comment…..

 

Thomas Jefferson vs. the Bible: What America’s founding father really thought about religion – Salon.com.

Wasted Days And Wasted Money

How many times have you heard someone of the Right talk about the way that money is being pissed away……too many to recall?

Yeah……except they piss about social programs that have some redeeming qualities……but they say very little about the cash that the Pentagon throws away monthly…….somehow it is acceptable for the waste to keep our country safe from those godless creatures that are doing us in slowly but slowly.

Take the F-35 (please)….an absolute waste of cash……a waste that not many military types actually wanted but the M-IC wanted it so we threw good money after bad on a flying brick.

But at least the country got something for the money even it is a worthless pile of crap…….but what about the money that was lost when we invade Iraq and sent palates of cash to buy their cooperation?  No one wants to talk about that theft, huh?

Now let’s talk about Afghanistan.

From James Rosen of McClatchy

The Defense Department can’t account for $1.3 billion that was shipped to force commanders in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014 for critical reconstruction projects, 60 percent of all such spending under an emergency program, an internal report released Thursday concludes.

The missing money was part of the relatively small amount of Afghanistan spending that was routed directly to military officers in a bid to bypass bureaucracy and rush the construction of urgently needed roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, water treatment plants and other essential infrastructure. About 70 percent of the $100 billion the United States has spent to rebuild Afghanistan during more than 13 years of war went through the Pentagon, with the rest distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development and other civilian departments.

The Pentagon is looking for an increase in their buget….think about that……do you really want a group that cannot keep track of the money it has now to get even more money?
Why is it that a hungry kid in Peoria is more wasteful than the Pentagon?
How long will the American people be bind to this theft and make no mistake this cash was stolen……..makes no difference who whether contractors, soldiers, Afghans, whoever………when will we ever learn?

Lincoln Chafee’s Clinton Critique Is Actually Compelling | The American Conservative

The fun has begun!

The fun that is the 2016 election season.

In case you were unaware the presumptive Dem nominee does have at least one opponent……at least for now…..

Chafee was the sole GOP “NO” vote for war in Iraq in 2002……he has since changed parties and is now a Dem…….we could chastise him for not staying in his party and fighting for change…..or we could read about his critique of Clinton…..

Me?  I prefer to read something interesting…..so should you………

 

Lincoln Chafee’s Clinton Critique Is Actually Compelling | The American Conservative.

ISIS Coalition SITREP #82

The war against ISIS has fallen victim to the normal media tactic……make it mundane and the viewer will stop tuning in and they can move on top less important issues……this is still a WAR!

The battle against ISIS continues…..although the situation in Yemen has suck the life out of news from Iraq and Syria…….but the battle continues.

The battle for Tikrit went well……the combined forces of Iraqi army and Shi’a militias and airstrikes helped the enemy to be driven from the town……

1–ISIS is now attacking on several fronts in Anbar province…….

In a surprise assault, Islamic State fighters captured three villages outside Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province 100 miles south of Tikrit, and pushed to within 500 yards of a key government center in the northeastern section of the city, one of the few population centers in Anbar still under government control.

2–A week ago ISIS attacked and overran the refugee camp of Yarmouk in Syria……

The ISIS takeover of the Yarmouk Refugee Camp in metro Damascus lasted only a little over a week. They are now said to have lost most of the camp, withdrawing to neighboring Hajar al-Aswad, amid repeated skirmishes with Aknaf al-Maqdis, a Hamas ally.

However the camp is not out of danger yet…..ISIS has been replaced by an AQ ally and may be just as harsh as ISIS.

3–There are reports that the success against ISIS are all true and they may be losing the war……….

Since the US airstrikes started last August, ISIS’s territorial ambitions have been significantly disrupted. The Iraqi army, the Kurdish peshmerga, and Shia militias (which are often sponsored by Iran) have been pushing them back. This is why many analysts are confident ISIS will soon lose it territory in Iraq and once again end up where it started a year ago, a delusional group of hardened warriors festering in the chaos of a Syrian civil war.

4–Off again……On again…….The Saudis ended airstrikes in Yemen on 22 April and restarted it on 23 April……while they pounded the Houthis in the West of the country…..thge US is drone attacking AQ and ISIS in the East…….

5–The battle with ISIS rages in the North and the West of Iraq…….and the bombs still blow up civilians in Baghdad center…….daily death and destruction…..

6–Suicide bombers and IEDs are still the rule of the day across Iraq…..but indications point to a stalemate with ISIS….push here….retreat there…..not much is being accomplished other than the waste of resources…….

Sadly this is the best I can do with the battle against ISIS…..hopefully the focus will once again be on the death and destruction in the Middle East……

Thanx for your time and attention…..I will return when more news is available…..

Turn The Page!

 

A Return to the Peace Party | The American Conservative

Yes, I read the American Conservative!  Surprise!  Surprise!

Don’t be surprised……they actually have some good stuff in the magazine…..I may not agree with them all the time….at least they are not the batcrap crazies we deal with everyday.

This is a very interesting piece and needs to be read……and most notably needs to be understood where the GOP was back in the day and where it is now…..

My thought is that the GOP should return to the days of Ike…..the Dems seem to be the party of war these days…….why not ry a new tack…..the one they are on now is not winning them many elections?

 

A Return to the Peace Party | The American Conservative.

The Key War on Terror Propaganda Tool: Only Western Victims Are Acknowledged – The Intercept

The recent attack by drone has killed an American and Italian citizen….and it become big news, well at least for a day or so and then we moved on the Jenner’s sex…..so sad.

My point is while it is horrible that these innocent people were killed….what about the 100’s of innocent people that we NEVER hear about?

 

The Key War on Terror Propaganda Tool: Only Western Victims Are Acknowledged – The Intercept.

Syria: The Next Stroke Out For The GOP

This past week the news has been all about the trade agreement, Loretta is confirmed and a hostage was killed in Pakistan by a drone attack……plus a wealth of political theater for 2016……with all that to confuse the public a small story was reported and few if any noticed…….

The world has been watching the USA and the game that its politicians are playing with the nuke deal that the P5+1 negotiated with Iran.  However it was not a surprise to us political analyst….if anything it was predictable.

Hyper-partisan thinking has eliminated any real progress coming from the Congress….so if the Obama team got a good deal from the Iranians it would not matter for the deal would not be acceptable to the Republicans in Congress and especially not for the conservative media.

While the War Hawks are dashing to cameras to diss the deal and in some cases threaten Iran with military force…..there is another bit of news that has not quite made it to the ears of politicians……that news is that there possibly be some cooperation between the US and Iran on a plan for Syria.

 

Reuters is reporting that there is a possibility of some form of cooperation in the works…..the US State Department has not ruled out this work for the “stability of the region”…….

The State Department still surprised many, saying they were open to the possibility of talking to Iran about “regional stability” centering on Syria, saying they would allow Iran to participate in Syrian peace talks if they made unnamed policy changes.

The UN already announced last week that they intend to invite Iran to the next round of peace talks, with or without the American imprimatur. That the State Department is willing to countenance this at all, instead of just railing at it, suggests some progress.

I waited after hearing the news…….waited for the proverbial outcry of disapproval……..and waited and still nothing……to say I was disappointed would be an understatement……but then I realized that it was only a comment or a suggestion and no real meetings have occurred……and that is where they are silent.

Now if and when a solution after meeting with Iran for Syria then the kooks from the War Hawk party will come out of the woodwork and once again be on the attack.

From the sidelines the Gulf Nations and Israel will exert all their influence to stop any solution that will include Iran.  I expect them to use the conflict in Yemen to help sell their points.  Since according to the Saudis the Houthi rebels are being supplied and trained by Iran and they will of course want to point out that Iran is responsible for much of the instability in the Middle East……..that is their story they will stick to it!

The US needs to be honest……..they have NO unearthly idea how to handle Syria.  Their plan seems to be to throw lots of manure4 at the wall and see what sticks.

Blogging Is Hard Work

The weekend again…..I want to try something completely different from my weird little stories I find to break up my week….some of them are popular and some fall dead from boredom……today is about blogging……a subject that is near and dear to most of us…….

We bloggers are always looking for ways to increase our exposure…..it is hard work to keep a blog up and running and current.  It is even harder to get readers after all there is about a gazillion blogs out there.

We try to find ways to get more readers to increase our stats….some of us pay a service to increase our traffic……or like me they try to visit and follow as many as possible…..we comment on their sites and we give them a like whenever possible…..with the hope that they will reciprocate….this is not for those that are impatient….it is a time consuming process but it does pay off.

Some bloggers carve accolades……like awards that are heaped on them……most of the awards are just a way to try and increase traffic to sites…….do not get me wrong….there is NOTHING wrong with these awards and they work for some people…..we do what we must to try an increase readership.  Thinking that readers show up because it is a certain type of blog is not always true……we bloggers work on the old adage….”you scratch my back and I will scratch yours”

There is no guarantee that there will be people flocking to your site because it has a certain word in the title….like liberal or conservative or other descriptive names……people will help those that help them……

For me I try to use my schooling in international relations especially the Middle East……a subject that many want to forget or ignore simply because it does not fit into the narrative they have made for themselves.

I could post many articles a day….but I try to limit my day to 5 or 6 post at most……more and I feel my readers will be overwhelmed…..plus I look for stuff that can expand their horizons, so to speak…….events and situation that they might not give much thought to but could be a thorn in the country’s butt……I like to be fore armed…….

Hard work pays off, at least it did for me……recently  when the US and Iran came to an agreement on nukes a reader said that he came to IST because he knew I would be all over it…..and that is why I do what I do.  That made my day…….made me feel like it is all worth the hard work.  Then I was asked to be a guest writer on another site……for me that is the highest honor that someone would like my opinions and analysis on their site.

Not just bitching about issues that frustrate me but rather helping my readers understand what is what.  I also try to help them understand politics….but these days there is NO understanding politics other than to realize that it is NO longer a science but rather a circus of morons playing a dangerous game…….dangerous to the country but not to themselves……..HELL the more extreme they talk the more wackos vote for them…..the more wackos that vote the more dangerous the world becomes……it is a vicious circle that cannot be broken until people try to understand the world…..and that is where we bloggers enter into the conversation.

Me?  I have been a writer for decades……until I discovered the internet most of my stuff was ‘letters to the editor’ and an occasional piece sent to magazines and such…….then Katrina hit where I live and I was badly injured and could no longer work…..but I continued to read, research and analyze……and by a stroke of luck I was given a used computer by a friend…..and as they say…’the rest is history’.

Blogging is hard work and bloggers are hard workers!  Most of us do it out of love of information and passing it on to others with the hope that they will use it for a better understanding and to eventually make better decisions.