Day: September 22, 2016

Donald Trump’s And Hillary Clinton’s Supporters

I am sooooooo Borrrrrrrred with the election process so I think I will go off track and ask some questions…..not that I would get any answers…..does anyone have a “real” reason for voting for their fave candidate?  Is anyone taking either of the two seriously?  Really?  Why?

I have for a long time now tried to figure out just what it is about the candidates that make the people like them over the other.

To me they are just babbling twats that are trying to lie their way into the presidency….

Like I say I cannot see what makes one favorable over the other…..that is until I read this article……and now it is perfectly clear…..(not really but it is a good start)…….

A new Pew Research Center study finds that a third of Clinton and Trump supporters are most strongly motivated by opposition to Trump and Clinton.

The biggest reason supporters of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton support their candidate is because they’re not the other.

That’s the finding from a Pew Research Center study of a month’s worth of survey data. Pew found, from more than 4,000 interviews conducted online and by mail, that the “main reason” supporters of both candidates were voting for their candidate was because “he is not Clinton,” and “she is not Trump.” Almost one out of every three people said so.

Source: Donald Trump’s And Hillary Clinton’s Supporters Are Motivated By Opposition To The Other : NPR

It makes sense now!

It is a contest of personalities…..issue and solutions be damn!

And Americans wonder what has gone wrong with their “near perfect” system……(The obvious always alludes them)…..

All I can do is laugh at the ignorance (used that for stupidity has already been used)…..

A billion…that is billion with a “B” wasted on this Reality show featuring “Dumb and Dumber”…….and you think wasting money on hungry kids is worthless…..

Terrorism And The Press

These days there is not much talk about terrorism unless it is some unrealistic crap about them running down Main Street chopping off heads…..or the standard “nuke ’em” and let God sort them out rhetoric for the election….

I have been doing a lot of research because I proposed a course at our local institute of higher learning on the introduction to terrorism…it all began when I started a white paper on the subject because most Americans are idiots when it comes to terrorism….that is their knowledge of the act is very limited….mostly dog whistle one liners which adds nothing to their knowledge but works wonders for their ignorance.

I will be posting a series on terrorism which is mostly an introduction….a way to help the average person to understand the acts and the responses…..

I shall write about the relationship between the press and acts of terrorism……

Violence, so the saying goes, begets violence. Now evidence is emerging that suggests even the reporting of violence can trigger further attacks. Research has found that sensationalist media coverage of acts of terrorism results in more such acts being committed.

The study will prompt further debate about how the international media responds to atrocities. It also raises the possibility that media reports about a terrorist act can be viewed as a “warning” that follow-on attacks will be perpetrated in the near future.

Source: Media coverage of terrorism ‘leads to further violence’ | Media | The Guardian

The terrorists would not exist in its glory that they have today without the press….the mass media.

“If it Bleeds….It Leads!”

There is a symbiotic relationship between the media and the terrorists……think not?

Mass media and terrorism have become ever more intertwined in a mutually beneficial relationship often described as ‘symbiotic.’ This column examines that dynamic and outlines the need for news organizations to balance the public’s right to know against the ability of militants to exploit news coverage to promote their beliefs.

On its side, the mass media capitalizes from the confusion and consternation caused by terrorist attacks to produce the kind of dramatic news that draws the attention of its viewers and readers.

As for extremists, they carefully calculate the scale, target, location, and timing of their assaults to stir ample media attention—or in other words, to generate advertisements for their messages on a global scale. The broader and more prolonged the media coverage of terrorism turns out to be, the greater the terrorists’ feelings of accomplishment, influence, and power. As Bruce Hoffman, director of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University, put it: “Only by spreading the terror and outrage to a much larger audience can the terrorists gain the maximum potential leverage.”1

Source: The Symbiotic Relationship between Western Media and Terrorism

Your unrealistic fear is a product of the press…….for without them the fear card would not hold such power over the people and their attitudes.

The Crime Of The Century (Or It Should Be)

I will write about other topics other than politics and foreign policy….especially when I see something that chaps my butt.

Today there is some type of crime around every corner…..but the worst among these is human trafficking…..there is nothing more despicable than the trafficking of humans….politics come close but no cigar when compared.

Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. UNODC, as guardian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Protocols thereto, assists States in their efforts to implement the  Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Trafficking in Persons Protocol).

…….and then there are the charities that use every available opportunity to skim money…..

We are always hearing one horror story after another……

I read a report about one charity that was almost as bad as the traffickers…..the charity was called “Courage House”…….https://courageworldwide.org/courage-house/

Once girls arrived at the house, they were expected to hand over their cellphones. Internet access was also strictly limited—Jenny’s rules. For “her girls” to stay in good graces, they were expected to do as she said, go where she told them to, and be available when she wanted to show them off in photos or at events.

It’s the kind of controlling, exploitative situation police warn us that runaway teens are likely to end up in at the hands of human traffickers. But in this case, control came via the people ostensibly helping—and accepting a lot of private and government money to help—these girls, under the auspices of an organization called Courage Worldwide. Founded in 2011 by Jenny T. Williamson (on direct orders from God, or so she claims), the Sacramento-based organization provided housing and services for formerly sex-trafficked young women at a California group home (Courage House) as well as a sister site in Tanzania.

Source: Courage House Claimed to Save Sex-Trafficked Girls. Instead, It Used Them As Funding Bait While Playing Evangelical Christian Missionary – Hit & Run : Reason.com

There is NO hole deep enough or dark enough for people like this.

Choose your charity well…..who knows what they are up to behind the scenes…..

Two Candidates, Zero Solutions

By ow the American voter has heard every lame ass reason for them to vote for dumb or dumber…..every applause line possible has been uttered and NOTHING of real substance has been heard.

We have comical solutions like a “Great Wall”…on “make the sand glow”…..or “we will defeat…..”none of it actually spells out how exactly any of these pipe dreams will work…..and their website are as worthless as used toilet paper…..but the major of Americans will vote for either “numb nuts” or “I want nuts”…..

Of course after the most recent bombing in NYC and Jersey the two candidates had to sprint to a microphone to offer their visions……

Facts are still coming out about the New York and New Jersey bombings. But from the information we do have, one thing is clear: the counterterror solutions promoted by Trump and Clinton would not have helped prevent it.

Source: Two Major Candidates, Zero Solutions for Terrorism – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

The next president will need to be a leader of exceptional quality….and neither of these two clowns have shown none of that quality……

Over the next four years, U.S. men and women will almost certainly be fighting and dying in combat operations abroad. Whoever becomes commander-in-chief in January 2017 will probably spend his or her term in office explaining to the American people, long tired of war, why still more sacrifice is necessary. On the economic front, a long-ignored fiscal crunch will have to be confronted. And if these two major challenges are not daunting enough, the next president is likely to face a country as polarized as it has been at any time in the last century. He or she will have to find a way to bridge the differences or be content representing barely half the population. That task may become even more difficult, given that the United States is becoming a nation of far more diverse ancestry, faith traditions, and complexion. The president who does not recognize and adapt to the new America could be seen as a player from yesteryear, or even an outlier in the unfolding national story. Presidential leadership is no simple matter.

Source: Presidential Leadership: Uniting Behind Exceptionalism | World Affairs Journal

We will be ass deep in international problems….NO matter which comic makes it to the White House.

The Decentralization Equation

Let me see….we have been trying to mop up the crap in Iraq since 2003….then there is the manure pile that is Syria since 2011….no matter what we try…..it is wrong.

In the beginning of the war in Iraq there was a couple of plans that would bring federalism to Iraq…..so far none of them have gone very far but the Iraqi military has had its hands full for a few years now…..I am sure it is still on a back burner some place.

The there is Syria and some have floated a similar plan of partitioning of Syria….. to save time and space…….

Source: Would Partitioning Syria Be Folly? | Ace News Room

So far these plans have been all talk……and now there is new talk about a plan for both Syria and Iraq….it is called “decentralization”……

The term “decentralization” embraces a variety of concepts which must be carefully analyzed in any particular country before determining if projects or programs should support reorganization of financial, administrative, or service delivery systems. Decentralization—the transfer of authority and responsibility for public functions from the central government to subordinate or quasi-independent government organizations and/or the private sector—is a complex multifaceted concept. Different types of decentralization should be distinguished because they have different characteristics, policy implications, and conditions for success.

Source: Different Forms of Decentralization

I bring this issue up because of several articles I found while doing research…..these writings bring up the possibility of Iraq and Syria being able to profit from a program of decentralization…….

Source: Iraq’s regional decentralisation debate is heating up – Al Jazeera English

Source: No Going Back: Why Decentralization is the Future for Syria | World Affairs Journal

Could this truly be a godsend for these two countries?

But the one thing to keep in mind…..this is not a cure all…..

Obstacles will be many….but if a workable plan can come to light then why not give it a try?  I mean could not be any worse than the situation these days….

Once again…it should be the people that decide the future not the powers that are looking for some sort of benefit….whether is is natural resources or location…..the people will know what is best and the people will make any plan either work or fail…….