Month: November 2018

American Policies In The Middle East

I have been following the policies of the US in the Middle East for decades…..and nothing has really changed in all that time….plus in the last two years these policies have become less visible than in the past…..

The policies after the end of the Cold War have changed little over the years…..

In the absence of strong American leadership, now spanning two administrations, the future of the region hinges on what local powers define as priorities, and how they go about trying to achieve them. Even if Washington decides to wake up, it will now find it far more difficult than in the past to assert itself.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/where-us-middle-east/574747/

There are many actors in the Middle East but the US is only a minor player…

The Middle East’s geographical and strategic uniqueness has made every great power in history to seek to advance its interests in the region. Yet, the region constitutes the greatest single reserve of oil in the world, which has made it a regular source of foreign interference in the post-World War II era. In addition to its geographical and strategic uniqueness, the Middle East is the birthplace and spiritual center of the world’s three most important monotheistic religions. Due to its geopolitical importance, any inter- and intra-state conflict in the Middle East has the potential not only for destabilizing the region as a whole or upsetting the regional balance of power but also affecting global stability. After employing the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) in order to define and delimit the region of the Middle East, the chapters of this book address the question of regional order, examine how regionalism and globalism feature in Middle Eastern integration processes, explore regional bids for hegemony, and investigate the approaches and policies of major international actors.

https://www.e-ir.info/publication/conflict-and-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east-external-actors-and-regional-rivalries/

Sunday–25Nov18

Another rainy Sunday……my garden is close to finished…..seeding will begin Monday and then the wait until the harvest…..

This weekend the internet in my area is a slow mess…..how’s yours?

I have been watching the developments along the formation of the US Space Force( or whatever name they finally decide is proper)…..so because I have been watching this I also feel I need to keep an eye on the findings in space……who knows what our troops may face in the future…..

We may stretch our wings and go to the stars, as they say……

Barnard’s Star, a red dwarf star located in a solar system about six light-years away from Earth, may have some company. Researchers of the “exoplanet-hunting” group Red Dots have detected a planet—some 3.2 times the Earth’s mass and very cold—orbiting the star, Smithsonian reports. Their findings were published in Nature on Wednesday. “We firmly believe the object is there,” says lead researcher Ignasi Ribas. “We always have to remain a bit cautious … but we were sure enough that we were willing to go forward with publication.” The planet, Barnard’s Star b, is the second-closest exoplanet (a planet outside of our solar system) to Earth, per USA Today.

Researchers looked at two decades worth of data from seven different telescopes to pick up the planet, according to Forbes. As for the possibility of life on Bernard’s Star b, the planet is “way too cold” to sustain liquid water, Ribas says, and whether life may be frozen beneath an ocean is just speculation at this point. During the course of their study, Smithsonian notes, researchers found faint evidence of another planet, which would be Barnard’s Star c. Several decades ago, scientists believed that they had detected planets around the star. However, those ended up being the result of an instrument problem. (Last year, scientists found the smallest possible star.)

Just as the earth orbits its star, the Sun……but what if there was no sun to orbit?

Astronomers from Warsaw University in Poland have identified two “rogue planets” in our galaxy that do not orbit around a star. Unlike the vast majority of discovered planets, these rogue planets drift through space alone with no sun to shine on them.

Debate has raged in astronomical circles for years as to whether rogue planets could exist. Since they do not have a star to illuminate them, they are extremely difficult to find as they are almost always in the dark. However, a technique called gravitational microlensing allowed researchers to identify rogue planets by seeing when a planet comes between a distant star and the Earth. When this happens, the planet acts like a lens, distorting the light that we can see from that star when it reaches Earth. This indicates that a massive body like a planet is passing in front of the star, and the size of the body can be estimated from the size of the distortion.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/rogue-planets-discovered/

If and when we get our new Space Force one of the probable sites for a base is Mars….and we are still learning all we can about the planet…..

Between 3.5 billion and 3.9 billion years ago, when simple life forms were emerging on Earth, a river flowed through a delta system into a lake on Mars, then a warm and wet planet. NASA plans to send a rover there to see if any traces of life remain. The Jezero Crater site has been selected as the destination of the 2020 Mars rover mission, and scientists say that if life ever existed on the red planet, the crater is one of the places likeliest to hold evidence of it. “A delta is extremely good at preserving bio-signatures—any evidence of life that might have existed in the lake water … or possibly things that lived in the headwaters region that were swept in by the river and deposited in the delta,” project scientist Ken Farley tells the BBC.

The crater was chosen after a search that looked at around 60 sites, CNN reports. Farley says researchers have wanted to know more about the site for years, but it was once thought impossible to land a rover in the rugged terrain. “What was once out of reach is now conceivable, thanks to the 2020 engineering team and advances in Mars entry, descent, and landing technologies,” he says. Another rover, meanwhile, is preparing to land on Mars next week, NBC News reports. The InSight lander is due to land on the Monday after Thanksgiving to begin its mission to study the crust, mantle, and core of Mars, but it will have to survive a complicated landing NASA scientists call “seven minutes of terror” first, Forbes reports. (The Curiosity Rover has found the “building blocks of life” on Mars.)

More Mars news……

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-mars-insight-landing-explained-when-where-space-agency-latest-a8648986.html

Once we get our troops in training will they do what recruits use to do in the “old days” police the area?  The area in this case is the space around the earth…….

As an international relations scholar who studies space law and policy, I have come to realize what most people do not fully appreciate: Dealing with space debris is as much a national security issue as it is a technical one.

Considering the debris circling the Earth as just an obstacle in the path of human missions is naive. As outer space activities are deeply rooted in the geopolitics down on Earth, the hidden challenge posed by the debris is the militarization of space technologies meant to clean it up.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/11/14/why_space_debris_cleanup_is_a_national_security_threat_113954.html

Some things never change for the grunt…whether earth bound or space cadet……matters not.

Random Thoughts On A Saturday

First have you ever listened to the side effects of the drugs they hawk on TV?  One of the most disgusting was “dark anal leakage”….that is until the other day I heard one that made me shiver…..this drug could cause gangrene of the genitals……let me repeat that GANGRENE OF THE GENITALS!  What disease is so bad that the chance of your wanker turning black and falling off is a treatment?

Eeeewwwwwwwwwwwww!

A rainy Saturday and I hope every one had a good Thanksgiving Day….leftovers are forever as they say…..

Speaking of food…….diets….everyone has their diet of choice and some even try them all just so that they can wear those yoga pants……so I will help those that are looking for a diet to call their own…..

Diet fads often make the lofty claim that adjusting food habits one way or another will produce the dieter’s desired results. More specifically: Eat this, not that, and watch the pounds fall off. But diets are hard to sustain, and it seems like diet debunking is constantly calling into question what and how much we should be eating.

In a review published this week in the new issue of Science, scientists from diverse backgrounds and research focuses came together to address whether a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet or vice versa was the better option for maintaining good health, as well as whether the specific kinds of fat and carbs mattered. The researchers—from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston Children’s Hospital, Ohio State University, and others—hoped that by comparing their knowledge of nutrition, they could both find general areas of agreement and identify others where more research is needed in an effort to the end the so-called “diet wars.”

https://gizmodo.com/should-you-be-eating-a-high-fat-low-carb-diet-like-ket-1830482079

More on food….a red meat tax?

Taxing red meat would save many lives and raise billions to pay for healthcare, according to new research. It found the cost of processed meat such as bacon and sausages would double if the harm they cause to people’s health was taken into account.

Governments already tax harmful products to reduce their consumption, such as sugar, alcohol and tobacco. With growing evidence of the health and environmental damage resulting from red meat, some experts now believe a “sin tax” on beef, lamb and pork is inevitable in the longer term.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/06/taxing-red-meat-would-save-many-lives-research-shows

And then there are those yummie BBQ insects……

Roasted crickets are now on the menu at Sainsbury’s as it becomes the first UK supermarket to stock edible insects.

The barbequed flavoured bugs, described as “crunchy in texture with a rich smoky flavour”, will be sold in 250 stores across the country from Sunday.

Each packet will cost £1.50.

Sainsbury’s suggested that the novel product could be eaten as a snack or used to garnish dishes such as tacos, noodles and salads.

https://www.itv.com/news/2018-11-17/sainburys-becomes-first-uk-supermarket-to-sell-edible-insects/

Enough food news that NO one can use!

Those random thoughts are out of the way and I had yet another……

Religion!  To me it is a personal thing and as such does not need any ink but there is a situation that needs to be reported.

Millennials!  They are turning away from traditional religion for an alternative…….

An October 2017 Pew Research Center Fact Tank report reveals that 56 percent of United States adults surveyed “say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values.” This number is up from the 49 percent figure reported in a 2011 survey. Pew associates this increase with the continued rise in population of the religiously nonaffiliated persons called “nones.” The “nones” describe themselves as “atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular.’” However, Pew also says that the “nones” reflect only a part of the changing attitude about God, morality and values. “Among all religiously affiliated adults, the share who say belief in God is unnecessary for morality ticked up modestly, from 42 percent in 2011 to 45 percent in 2017,” states the October Fact Tank report.

It is interesting to note that of the religiously affiliated groups surveyed, more white, evangelical Protestants had changed their belief that it was necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. Another Pew Research report shows that between 2007 and 2012, 14 percent more Americans ages 18 to 29 doubt the existence of God. Why are these numbers important? Should we be concerned? How is this playing out in the real world?

https://www.thetrumpet.com/16427-millennials-are-becoming-witches

My daughter has a plan and it is investing in a certain sector that she believes will be hot in the future……

The hottest topic in the tech world these days is “quantum computing”….but is it all that?

Quantum computing is all the rage. It seems like hardly a day goes by without some news outlet describing the extraordinary things this technology promises. Most commentators forget, or just gloss over, the fact that people have been working on quantum computing for decades—and without any practical results to show for it.

We’ve been told that quantum computers could “provide breakthroughs in many disciplines, including materials and drug discovery, the optimization of complex manmade systems, and artificial intelligence.” We’ve been assured that quantum computers will “forever alter our economic, industrial, academic, and societal landscape.” We’ve even been told that “the encryption that protects the world’s most sensitive data may soon be broken” by quantum computers. It has gotten to the point where many researchers in various fields of physics feel obliged to justify whatever work they are doing by claiming that it has some relevance to quantum computing.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-case-against-quantum-computing

How’s that for RANDOM?

Have a good day and be well and be safe….chuq

F*ck Veterans Day!

Closing Thought–23Nov18

***(A thought NOT a statement on my part.)***

That is the impression that I got on Veterans Day post comments here on IST…..I have been reading lots on the subject of Veterans Day……

Keep in mind that this is one person’s opinion…one that I am beginning to agree with…..

No one cares about the wars we are fighting these days……NO one talks about them….not the MSM or Our Dear Supreme Leader and especially the Congress…..but they will without shame trot out some Vets as a political prop for some ‘patriotic” porn they feel they need to win over voters……and then there is the laziness of the average person that will trot forward and offer a ‘thank you’ to a veteran….without no care of what that means……it means nothing to a veteran that cannot get his treatment from the very people that sent him to fight and are using the services that they depend on and cannot receive……

So I agree……why not just cancel Veterans Day altogether?  NO one really cares anymore!

Veterans’ Day – maybe we ought to drop the whole charade. Don’t get me wrong, there will be celebrations a plenty: the NFL will roll out the ubiquitous stadium-sized flags and march uniformed service members in front of the cameras; cities across the nation will hold parades; and millions of Americans will take a moment to go through the motions and “thank” the nation’s soldiers. Sure, the gestures are sometimes genuine and certainly preferable to the alternative. Still, all this martial spectacle misses the salient point hidden just below the surface: the American people are absolutely not engaged with U.S. foreign policy. Most could hardly name the seven countries its military actively bombing, let alone find them on a map.

Worse still, hardly anyone even talks about America’s wars these days – not the mainstream media, not the president of the United States, not the Congress. Veterans’ Day just happens to fall about a week after the midterm elections – which both President Trump and Barack Obama each told their supporters was “the most consequential of our lifetimes” – but the truth is that foreign policy was hardly even on the agenda this past Tuesday. Americans argued about healthcare, taxes, immigration, and Mr. Trump’s personality, but ignored our supposedly adulated soldiers.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/should-we-do-away-with-veterans-day-altogether/

So since the people only see it as a day off from work why not just make it a special shopping day in the time before the big day, Christmas?

Look at the many wars we are now fighting.  I comment and post on them on many occasions and yet NO one seems to give a shit one way or the other that Americans are still dying for goddamn reason than to keep the M-IC is pocket cash.

In closing …..I do not think we should abandon the day….just making an observation by what I see here on IST.

I call it a day and will start my weekend…..leftovers are on the menu…..damn the leftovers!

Courts Mash-Up

You have with this president we have seen some juvenile attacks and immature rantings from Our Dear Supreme leader…..most are so funny that most of us can hardly stand them without peeing a little when laughing…..

The most recent mash-up out of the mind of Trump is the 9th Court of Appeals…..he has a hard on for them because they are in his words, liberal……and his rantings caused the Chief Justice of SCOTUS to enter into the discussion (if we can call a Twitter storm a discussion)…..

When the AP asked John Roberts for a comment about President Trump’s criticism of a federal judge, the chief justice delivered in a headline-making way. “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” said Roberts in a statement released Wednesday. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.” And on the eve of the holiday, he added: “That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” The AP notes that it’s the first time Roberts has “offered even a hint of criticism” of Trump, while the New York Times characterizes it as a “direct rebuke.” (Read Trump’s response here.)

The controversy revolves around US District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco, an Obama appointee who ruled against the White House plan to restrict asylum-seekers at the border, per Politico. After the ruling, Trump belittled Tigar as an “Obama judge” and further called the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit a “disgrace” with a liberal bent. “Every case that gets filed in the Ninth Circuit we get beaten,” he said. At the conservative RedState site, Andrea Ruth found Roberts’ comments to be surprising: “It’s not all that rare for sitting Supreme Court justices to speak out on issues but I cannot remember a time when a justice flat out blasted a president for comments he made about the judiciary.”

Of course when taken to task by someone smarter than Trump he punches back with stupidity……

It didn’t take long for President Trump to respond to a rare rebuke from the chief justice of the Supreme Court. After John Roberts criticized the president for belittling a federal judge who ruled against the White House, Trump took to Twitter to make his case. “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country,” he wrote. Trump also continued his criticism in particular of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in San Francisco. Trump asserted that the court tilts to the left so much that opponents of his polices make a point to file appeals there.

If the court were truly independent, they “why are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned,” he asked. “Please study the numbers, they are shocking. We need protection and security—these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!” Earlier, Roberts took issue with the president’s criticism of 9th Circuit Court Judge Jon Tigar, who ruled against the White House plan to stop asylum-seekers at the border. Trump called Tigar an “Obama judge.” The 9th has blocked multiple Trump initiatives on immigration and national security, notes the Hill.

Okay this is a stupid thing to be an argument…….does the 9th have a liberal bias?  No more so than the 5th has a conservative bias……you see when conservs need to go to court they choose the 5th to file their papers….why is that?

This is a moronic thing to rattle on about……but that is what Our Dear Supreme Leader does best….fire off his mouth before his brain is in gear……and this courts thing is a prime example.  A mindless accusation.  A silly diversion!

More News On Iran

The day after T’giving and Black Friday if you are crazy enough to go shopping…..I will most likely be a light posting day for me as well for I have a garden to seed and get ready for the fresh yummies…….

Pompeo got his wish when he became SecState for one Trump….a neocon war hawk in a place of power with a president that has no damn idea about the workings of world affairs……and once Pompeo was in place the drums stared beating for Iran….pull out of a deal, put in more sanctions and insert Iran into every conversation when possible……

Let’s start with the new Sanctions put on Iran……economics it always comes down to economics……

Faced with the relentless U.S. economic war, Iran needs a war economy. Indeed, the plan of a war economy should not be very difficult for Iran to implement since it has a relatively successful experience of carrying out such a plan: during the 8-year war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Iran embarked on an extensive state-guided economic management that effectively provided for both its military and civilian needs. Because of the revolutionary atmosphere of the time, and because of the corresponding spirit of generosity, selflessness, social cohesion, and national unity the country was able to effectively withstand both the military and economic wars launched against its territory and its people. Despite the extremely costly war, both in terms of blood and treasure, and despite the fact that Iran’s total output, or national income, at the time was only a fraction of what it is today, its people did not experience nearly as much economic hardship as they do today. Why? Mainly because its national resources were at the time distributed relatively equitably—unlike today where those resources are monopolized and plundered by a clique of financial oligarchs and economic mafias.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/06/why-iran-needs-a-war-economy/

In the 1980s Iran and Iraq were locked in a war for 8 years and now they will cooperate economically……

Iraqi President Barham Salih has announced that his country has agreed to establish a “free-trade zone” along its border with Iran, following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani in Tehran.

In a joint press conference in the Iranian capital on Friday, Salih declared that the relationship between the two neighbouring countries is a “fixed principle” that is “rooted in shared history, faith and geography”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/iraq-establish-free-trade-zone-border-iran-181117085912770.html

The US economic war with China could present an opportunity to Iran……

With Iran’s convening of its first “Regional Security Dialogue” summit in late September 2018 with deputy national security advisors from Russia, China, and India, Tehran has taken a significant step toward creating a multilateral framework for Eurasian security cooperation in the face of renewed U.S. sanctions.  Ostensibly devoted to combatting terrorism in Afghanistan, the summit’s concluding declaration indicates a wide-sweeping stabilization agenda extending from Syria eastward to include all of Central Asia.

Though Iran is historically and geographically a quintessentially Eurasian power, Tehran has had difficulty engaging its Eastern neighbors. Iran’s “Look East” policy under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (2005-2013), struggled to bring Moscow and Beijing into alignment with anti-US policy despite Tehran’s strong commercial relationships with both countries. Iran’s post-JCPOA scheme of “preferring East to West” in a multilateral framework for collective security cooperation involving Russia, China, and India is proving far more successful.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/facing-sanctions-iran-pioneers-framework-for-cooperation-with-russia-china-and-india-138703

As usual Trump and his Boyz began thumping their chests…….

The United States is warning other countries not to allow Iranian oil tankers into their territorial waters or ports, saying such access may run afoul of US sanctions and not only incur penalties, but also result in catastrophic economic and environmental damage should an accident occur. The State Department reminded the global shipping and insurance industries Wednesday that as part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” to get Iran to change its behavior, insuring Iranian tankers will now incur penalties under US sanctions reinstated this week, the AP reports.

Brian Hook, the special US representative for Iran, said that as major insurers withdraw coverage from Iranian vessels, Iran will likely turn to domestic insurance companies that will not be able to cover losses for maritime accidents that could run into the billions of dollars. “Iranian tankers are now a floating liability,” Hook told reporters. The US “sincerely hopes” accidents do not occur, he said, but he noted that an Iranian tanker was involved in an accident in the East China Sea in January that resulted in the loss of the ship and a massive oil spill. He said the US has evidence that Iranian vessels are trying to evade US sanctions by disabling location transponders used to prevent collisions.

Remember that deal made by Obama and crapped on by Trump?

It appears that Iran is still working on the deal anyway……

Iran is implementing its side of its nuclear deal with major powers, the U.N. atomic watchdog policing the pact reaffirmed on Thursday, two weeks after the latest wave of reimposed U.S. sanctions against Tehran took effect.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea-idUSKCN1NR1DL

Iran is the new Iraq of the 2003……do not let this spiral into yet another war……..

A National Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been a day for doing the thing that it is entitled……giving thanks…..

And as usual the Old Professor wants to add some history to your day of rest and good food……

Thanksgiving is a peculiar holiday, at least in the modern world. Its roots are religious, and the American nation is, at least in law, secular.   Its very name speaks of thanks, or gratitude, and gratitude is an ancient virtue.  Indeed Aristotle speaks highly of it.  Even so, or perhaps for that reason, it is very American.  In his Thanksgiving address in 1922, President Coolidge called it “perhaps the most characteristic of our national observances.”   He was not wrong for, as Chesterton wrote, America is “a nation with the soul of a church,” and Abraham Lincoln called us an “almost chosen people.”

The holiday reminds us, in other words, of the peculiar character of the American nation, and of the President’s role in it.  Strictly speaking, to be an American is to be an American citizen.  When one calls someone an American, the first definition one usually has in mind is political.   By contrast, when one says that someone is Chinese or Turkish, the first thought is of an ethnic or racial identity.  Even so, there is an American culture.  Hence it is very common to say that something is “very American.”  Thanksgiving itself deserves that moniker.   Is it a constitutional observance?  That’s an open question.

https://www.lawliberty.org/2018/11/22/a-national-thanksgiving-president-washington-and-americas-national-holiday/

Now that we have had our history lesson of this day…..may you enjoy your day and your food…..

Learn Stuff!

Class Dismissed!

Thanksgiving–2018

Today is the day we set aside to give thanks for all we have and the people in our lives that we cherish……

Image result for happy thanksgiving pictures

I would like to give thanks to all my followers, visitors and commenters…..I never thought that this project would be up and running after 12 years……I started my blog on Blogger (no compensation) it was titled “Studies and Observations” after about 18  months a switched over to Word Press and change the title to “In Saner Thought” which was the title of a self-published book of poetry of mine in the 1970s…..

I will do very little today but cook and then go to my daughter’s house for the meal…..turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Made from scratch Mac and Cheese, green bean casserole, green peas, cranberry sauce (jellied not whole berry) bread and gravy with peach cobbler for dessert……and after the meal we will sit around the table in their garden and drink a bit of sherry and/or brandy……I would play golf but I would rather have my toes removed one at a time……NO!  I will sit on my ass and enjoy the day and my granddaughter…..

Image result for happy thanksgiving pictures

So thank you every one……I cannot express my appreciation for you all in mere words….

Let us not forget about our troops that are fighting endless wars and that are away from their families on this day for families…..give thanx that they are on duty and on watch……

Image result for troops and thanksgiving images

Image result for troops and thanksgiving images

Image result for troops and thanksgiving images

This will be my only post today……I hope all have a very good day and a  restful day……enjoy your food, family and football and I will be back tomorrow (even if it is Black Friday)……tomorrow will be a light posting day as well……”Honey dos” and such……chuq

Image result for happy thanksgiving pictures

Closing Thought–21Nov18

OMG!  What will happen to us?

Just weeks ago Our Dear Supreme Leader sent US troops to the border to protect the country from a “caravan” of dangerous human beings that were on their way to the US Southern border.

Of course there was blow back but it mattered not…the troops were sent and they prepared for the onslaught of dangerous 4 year olds and bare foot women……

Has the situation become less of a problem?

Why do I ask?

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the commander of the US military operation at the southern border, has announced that the Pentagon is planning to begin the drawdown from the border very soon, potentially sometime later this week.

This is happening even though the migrant convoy that was meant to have precipitated this whole scramble to the border still hasn’t arrived. This adds to he belief that the whole deployment was little more than a pre-election political stunt.

It appears to whole thing might be over before the caravan really gets here in earnest, with Buchanan saying that the end date for the operation was already set for December 15, and he’s seen no indication of it continuing past that.

The operation was controversial from the start, with officials not clear what they would do, or indeed what they could legally do to the migrants. Suggestions that the troops might shoot at migrants were quickly brushed off,and while President Trump praised them for their “beautiful” barbed wire, the reality is that the deployment really did very little but make an appearance

(antiwar.com)

After I wrote this draft the Pentagon has backed off this report somewhat…….so I feel I must be fair to all concerned about this situation…….

With some 5,800 US troops having made their show of deploying to the Mexican border, and seemingly having little else to do, on Monday Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan reported that he was expecting to start drawing down troop levels as soon as this week. He added that the operation was only scheduled to last until December 15.

By Tuesday, however, the Pentagon was furiously backpedaling away from that, insisting that there is no actual timeline for ending the US deployment, nor indeed any plans for a drawdown, despite what the general in charge of the operation said the day before.

Officials did, however, confirm that what Lt. Gen. Buchanan said the day before about transferring some of the troops to California might still happen. The White House may have come up with something for them to do as well.

(antiwar.com)

Not to worry there will be another generated “crisis” by next election.

Time for me to go and prepare stuff for our meal tomorrow…..hope everyone has a great day…..and a better tomorrow.  chuq

“Making America Great Again”–Part 21

The United States has come out of the Industrialization phase and into the period of expanding their influence on the world stage….even to the point of imperialism….think…Guam, Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hawaii……not sure what I am speaking of?

This series is an excellent look at American history written by Maj. Danny Sjursen……plus if you have not been reading this series from the beginning…..I give you a reference to the series……

See: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10; Part 11; Part 12; Part 13; Part 14; Part 15; Part 16; Part 17; Part 18; Part 19; Part 20.

Part 21 of “American History for Truthdiggers.”

Empire. It is a word that most Americans loathe. After all, the United States was born through its rebellion against the great (British) empire of the day. American politicians, policymakers and the public alike have long preferred to imagine the U.S. as, rather, a beacon of freedom in the world, bringing light to those in the darkness of despotism. Europeans, not Americans, it is thought, had empires. Some version of this myth has pervaded the republic from its earliest colonial origins, and nothing could be further from the truth.

According to the old historical narrative, the U.S. has always been a democratic republic and only briefly dabbled (from 1898 to 1904) with outright imperialism. And, indeed, even in that era—in which the U.S. seized Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines—the U.S. saw itself as “liberating” the locals from Spanish despotism. This wasn’t real imperialism but rather, to use a term from the day, “benevolent assimilation.” Oh, what a gloriously American euphemism!

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/american-history-for-truthdiggers-tragic-dawn-of-overseas-imperialism/

I regret that this is the last part of the series written by Maj. Sjursen….not to worry I will post the newest ones as they become available…..I am glad that it has gotten the attention it has….

If you like this series and would like to read more such history then I recommend “The People’s History Of The United States” by Howard Zinn….

Thanx for reading and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving holiday….chuq