Month: November 2016

Closing Thought–25Nov16

Another sad story about the treatment of troops and their families……form an uncaring country…….

At first I was going to post on the Chili’s debacle….where they took a free meal away from a vet because some douche questioned his service…..instead of ranting about that pathetic display I just decided to NEVER use Chili’s for anything.

And then I read a post in another blog….The Silent Soldier…..where a Gold Member family on the way to pick up their son’s body was booed by passenger on an American Airline flight…..

Stewart Perry, a former Marine, along with his wife and daughter, were on an American Airlines flight last Monday to pick up the remains of their son, a soldier who was recently killed in Afghanistan. Their solemn flight took an even more grievous turn, however, when passengers allegedly booed the family while on the flight.

Source: Slain Soldier’s Family Booed on American Airlines Flight ‹ The Silent Soldier ‹ Reader — WordPress.com

This incident just illustrates what I am always bitching about….this society cares little about our veterans and their families…..

All the “thank you” in the world cannot erase this insult and disrespect…

When I left the military in 2014 after nearly 12 years of service in the Air Force, a fellow veteran advised me on how to respond when a civilian says, “Thank you for your service.” Such expressions of gratitude, while never wrong, often leave veterans uncertain how to answer. He suggested a very simple reply: “Thank you for your support.

Source: One veteran’s unease when hearing, ‘Thanks for your service.’ – LA Times

I have heard this from some of the vets I have spoken with in the past……

No one cares as long as it does not effect them…..

This is a sad indictment of our society and a pathetic lack of respect.

This brings this week to a close…..please enjoy your weekend my friends…..

Sad News On T’Giving Day

While we were enjoying our day with family and food it is easy to forget that our troops do not have the luxury that we are experiencing….

Once again sad news must be given to a family…..

The first American combat death in Syria happened on Thanksgiving. US officials say the service member was fatally injured in a blast from an improvised explosive device, the AP reports. The New York Times reports that officials say the American died in Ayn Issa in northern Syria, where Americans are assisting Arab and Kurdish fighters seeking to drive ISIS out of Raqqa, the capital of their “caliphate.” “The entire counter-ISIL Coalition sends our condolences to this hero’s family, friends, and teammates,” Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of Combined Joint Task Force—Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a statement. “On this Thanksgiving, please be thankful that there are service members willing to take up the fight to protect our homeland from ISIL’s hateful and brutal ideology.”

“I am deeply saddened by the news on this Thanksgiving Day that one of our brave service members has been killed in Syria while protecting us from the evil of ISIL,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement. “It is a painful reminder of the dangers our men and women in uniform face around the world to keep us safe.”

A shitty message to be delivered on a day of joy and family.

It is time for America to remove ourselves from this situation and let our country set about making it “Great Again”…(if you care to believe the hype)

Rise of the American Mercenary

For a decade now I have ranting about the use of mercenaries to fight wars and provide security…..groups like Blackwater et al….are nothing more than mercenaries wrapped up in political correctness…..”security consultants”……

This is an op-ed I wrote for my friends at Ace News Room…..

I have been very verbal on what I think of private “security contractors” or what they really are…mercenaries……

But first….a mercenary?

The word “mercenary” comes from the Latin “merces,” which means “wages” or “fee.” Thus, taken literally, a mercenary is any person who serves merely for wages. Although this definition could apply to many of us in the working world, it’s most closely associated with the professional soldier, or someone who is hired by a political entity to fight in a conflict. That conflict could be a war, a coup attempt or a prohibition campaign designed to reduce illegal drug trade.

Source: Rise of the American Mercenary

If you have some time please go and visit Ace news Room….they have all the news….all the time….

Echoes: The French Revolution

Since so many will be dashing out to partake in the ritual of “Black Friday” today will be a mish mash of posts since readership will be down…..

AS always…I like history….so why not start the days of wine and candles before the Christmas break with a little history….a little education is my gift to you….

Why not start with that other revolution….the one in France?

Shadows of Revolution concerns itself not with predicting the future but with clarifying the past and the understanding the present.

David Bell opens one section of his new collection of essays by quoting from the diaries of the great nineteenth-century French historian Jules Michelet: “It is you that I beg for help, O my noble country,” Michelet wrote, hoping that France would be able to replace the importance that “extinguished Christianity” once held in modern life.

It would be difficult to find a more appropriate summary of the global transformations ushered in by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution than this: a Romantic-era French intellectual recognizing the power of nationalism to replace religion as the social force that inspires mass human behavior.

Source: Echoes: The French Revolution | World Affairs Journal

Now do you feel smarter?  you are welcome.

Happy Thanksgiving Day–2016

I will be stepping back from the brink today and spending some time with my daughter and her family…..for some good food, wine and excellent cheeses…..stuff myself and snooze like a turtle on a rock in the sun….

I would like to wish all my readers and followers a pleasant day and a day that brings some joy into your life….we all need a bit of joy from time to time….

Go out and have some food fun and football (if that is your thing) and we will return Friday for more stuff and aggravation (tee hee)……

Love….Peace……and Smiles

Closing Thought–23Nov16

Justice……

There is a group that tries to keep the world safe from a/wads and murders in nations…..the ICC…..

After WW2 and the founding of the UN the world attempted to find a way to make those that commit atrocities to be held accountable for their crimes…..

Most of history’s worst killers have gone unpunished. Josef Stalin said, “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” The ICC represents a strong and growing commitment by the international community to end impunity for atrocity crimes in the 21st Century.

After violent armed conflicts or other massive assaults on civilian populations, many countries remain mired in cycles of violence and retribution. Prosecuting individuals for atrocity crimes can:

  • Achieve justice for the victims and for society and help create respect for the rule of law;
  • Counter attempts to blame nations or ethnic, religious, or other groups as a whole for the crimes of individuals;
  • Isolate and incapacitate criminal leaders so that they can be removed from active political participation;
  • Acknowledge and condemn the suffering of victims and survivors;
  • Establish an accurate historical record; and
  • Act as a deterrent to future criminals.

These benefits can be advanced by the mere existence of the ICC. States will be encouraged to investigate and prosecute atrocity crimes because, if they do not, the ICC may find it necessary to pursue its own investigations and prosecutions.

Personally, I think it is a good idea…this would try to hold people like Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini et al responsible for their actions…..the problem is not all countries signed onto the ideal……like the US.

Recently some Africa countries that had signed are pulling their signatures because they say that 3rd world countries are targeted while others seem to skate from facing justice…..(below is a post that I did on this situation)…..

Source: Is Justice Truly Blind? – In Saner Thought

It appears that another country has decided to pull their signature also….Russia…..

Source: Russia withdraws signature from international criminal court statute | World news | The Guardian

This institution has not lived up to the promises it made to the international community….countries like the US did not sign on because of many reasons but the biggest in my mind is that they do bot want to be held accountable for their actions……

I think that if a country signs on to the UN then it must also sign on to the ICC of their UN application will not be processed.

Nope…..Just Kidding

Lock her up!  Lock her up!  Applause!  Applause!

Remember those chants at the Trump rallies as voting day approached?

Guess what you suckers?

In an early October debate, Donald Trump said to Hillary Clinton that “if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation.” The former has come to pass, but the latter apparently won’t, at least according to former campaign manager/senior adviser to Trump transition team Kellyanne Conway.

While appearing on MSNBC’sMorning Joe, Conway had this to say: “I think when the President-elect, who’s also the head of your party … tells you before he’s even inaugurated that he doesn’t wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone, and content” to the GOP. Continued Conway, “Look, I think he’s thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the president of the United States, and things that sound like the campaign are not among them.”

Looks like yet another “promise” down the drain…..I never thought he would carry it put but I bet there are plenty of the basket that did…..because he was a man of his word……

Conservatives expressed feelings of betrayal on Tuesday after a top advisor to President-elect Donald Trump said that the incoming administration would decline to pursue a criminal case against former rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s decision not to appoint a special prosecutor to pursue Clinton for allegedly mishandling classified information, confirmed by top advisor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday morning, is the first major break the president-elect has had with his diehard fans and could strain the relationship.

Conservative critics were livid.

Source: Right expresses betrayal as Trump backs off Clinton probe | TheHill

Yet another broken promise….how many more will it take before the Right removes its head from his ass?

Can he keep at this unfettered support if he keeps breaking his campaign pledges?

Dreaming Up a Reason for NATO’s Relevance

As the process continues…the search for the perfect government…..I will leave most of it behind and return to my love of foreign policy.

During the run up to the final result of the past election Mr. Trump showed some contempt for NATO…..I will agree some what with his take on the organization…..

There was a time when NATO was to be the front line on a perceived expansion of the USSR…Western Europe was paranoid after the debacle of WW2…..

Mr. Trump has cast shadows on the relevancy of NATO…..could he be right?

A few months ago during the seemingly endless U.S. election, Donald Trump said NATO is not a gift that America can keep giving. In his stated view, the other member states should make a greater financial contribution (the U.S. currently contributes 70 percent of NATO’s budget) and, if not, they could not expect automatic protection in the face of an attack.

On Nov. 13, after Trump’s victory, NATO Secretary General and former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg wrote a think piece in the U.K.’s Observer newspaper, and acknowledged the need for more widespread contributions while crying up the historic importance and future need for NATO by citing growing Russian “assertiveness” (diplo-speak for “aggression”) and the threat from international terrorism.

Source: Dreaming Up a Reason for NATO’s Relevance – Consortiumnews

But what exactly is Trump’s stand on NATO?  His speeches will leave an interested party a bit confused……

Source: What’s Trump’s Position on NATO?

After reading this post…I am NO closer to knowing what he will do with NATO…..how about you?

It is still too early to tell what Trump’s foreign policy will be…..can he do all the stuff that he promised while running?

Let’s say he cannot deliver….will his supporters hold that against him?

As it appears today…the answer is NO.

I am beginning to think that there is something very simple about his appeal…..something that I am not too thrilled with the thought.

Does Freedom Of The Press Have A Future?

This election there has been a lot of talk about one of our basic freedoms….freedom of the press…..lots of talk about this candidate or that will limit our freedoms and press is the one the worry about the most….along with that of speech.

One particular candidate seems to have it in for the press and if elected may be hard on them…..but would it be a violation of the 1st amendment?

“Our press is allowed to say whatever they want and get away with it. And I think we should go to a system where if they do something wrong… I’m a big believer tremendous believer of the freedom of the press. Nobody believes it stronger than me but if they make terrible, terrible mistakes and those mistakes are made on purpose to injure people. I’m not just talking about me I’m talking anybody else then yes, I think you should have the ability to sue them.”

Source: Trump Suggests Curtailing First Amendment: ‘Our Press is Allowed to Say Whatever They Want…’ | Mediaite

I realize that trump is pissed at the way the press is covering him…..I think the press is doing a horrible job also….even though I do not like Trump as a candidate…..but to put limits on the press because you think they are being mean is just a violation of the right……

With that said…..and I know that his supporters are on his side in this….is kinda scary because they are accusing of Dems. Obama and others with crapping on the Constitution….and yet they might support this type to “control”……

One of the feel-good stories that Americans like to tell ourselves is that our freedom of the press (or media), as enshrined in the 1st Amendment, is at the top of the list of things that make us an exceptional nation. But as one of our country’s Nobel-winning authors (no, not that one!) famously expressed it….yes, isn’t it pretty to think so.

The reality is much cruder than we care to admit. The group Reporters Without Borders ranks the United States as a mediocre 41st out of 180 nations for press freedom, behind not just the usual suspects (Canada, the Scandinavian countries) but places like Ghana and Chile. That’s not surprising in a country that honors its government whistleblowers by indicting them or throwing them into jail and where reporters covering Black Lives Matter-style protests have found themselves detained for no good reason. And this was all before Peak Donald Trump.

Source: Why U.S. press freedom may not survive 2016

Funny how so many people like the 1st amendment and in the same breathe talk down on the press…..I agree that the press needs to get their shit together but …..(you fill in the blank).

Freedom of the press will survive….but what will it look like?

American Nationalism Returns

This election has brought the term “nationalism” back into the civic discourse…..nut then we need to ask….by what definition is this term being used?

We could drop back into history about 75 years ago and work from there to determine the true meaning of the word…..or not…

I read an interesting take on this subject in the National Review….you guys remember the magazine right?  In case the answer is NO then let me help….it is a conservative magazine founded by William F. Buckley, Jr…any bells now?

In electing Donald Trump, voters have rebelled against the rule of a transnational elite.

Donald Trump’s election is above all else a rebellion of the voters against identity politics enforced by political correctness, and it opens the way to a new politics of moderate levels of immigration, patriotic assimilation, and, in foreign policy, the defense of U.S. sovereignty. In the past few months, Trump put together a winning electoral coalition that stressed the unity and common interests of all Americans across the full spectrum of policy, from immigration to diplomacy.
Because of Trump’s electoral success, this combination of policies rooted in the national interest and patriotism has suddenly begun to sound like common sense. That was not so only yesterday, when political correctness made it hard even to examine such ideas as “multiculturalism.” In February, David Gelernter stated that the “havoc” that political correctness “has wreaked for 40 years [has been made] worse by the flat refusal of most serious Republicans to confront it.” Indeed, he noted, “only Trump has the common sense to mention the elephant in the room. Naturally he is winning.” Defeating political correctness — or, in positive terms, expanding real freedom of speech — made it possible to raise other issues that worried the voters but that a bland bipartisan consensus pushed to the sidelines.

Source: Donald Trump’s Win: American Nationalism Returns | National Review