Lesson #2 - The "Coalition" The U.S. & Arab Coalition Against ISIS/ISL!

OK...so yeah...we got The Brits and France and a few others (even Belgium & Denmark...no less) to go after the ISIS/ISL be-heading crazies.   But guess who's also joining this coalition?   Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and a few other Middle East Potentates!   It just so happens that these folks are also reportedly the biggest funders of ISIS/ISL but they are supposedly our allies against ISIS/ISL!

Saudi Arabia:
A Sunni nation that ascribes to Sharia Law and is the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving.   According to the Human Rights Watch Organization, Saudi Arabia has beheaded at least 19 people since the beginning of August!   Yes!   BEHEADED!

Qatar:
Beheading remains legal here.   Most Qatari citizens are Sunni Muslims.   There are claims that some of the very richest Qatari folks are funding ISIS!

Kuwait:
“Everybody knows the money is going through Kuwait and that it’s coming from the Arab Gulf,” said Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Kuwait’s banking system and its money changers have long been a huge problem because they are a major conduit for money to extremist groups in Syria and now Iraq.”

The majority of Kuwait's citizen population is Muslim.   It is estimated that 60%–70% are Sunni and 30%–40% are Shias.

Epilog:
People...if it's one thing I believe...I'm certain that we cannot bring social, cultural (much less religious) change/re-thinking to this part of the world!   Just ask Maureen Dowd!

Lesson #1 - The Kurds! Turkey, Syria, Iraq & ISIS/ISL!

The Mideast 101:

I read a front page article in The New York Times today and my head is still spinning.   Let me try to make sense of… nevermind…let me to try and understand…because none of this makes any sense to me…but I’m just an ignorant American.   Let me try to sort this out…if for nothing else, just for my benefit!   Obviously this is going to require more in-depth research on my part (soon to follow)!

ISIS/ISL:
ISIS is the shorthand for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.   Or, if you prefer, you can use the term ISL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.   Levant?   WTF?   Check The Washington Post for additional details on who's who.   These are the religious wackos who be-head folks!   I think other mideast nations are also into be-heading people, but that's a whole 'nother subject!   Anyway…these folks are supposedly extreme Sunni militants?   I think they’re Sunni militants?   No?   Wasn't Saddam Hussein (aka...WMD) a Sunni"   I need to dig into all of this.   ISIS/ISL has been battling Kurdish militants trying to defend a town named Kobani, a besieged area in Syria (on the Turkey/Syria border)?

The Kurds:
These folks live in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and a few other places in the Middle East.   Turkey is trying to prevent its Kurdish residents from entering into bordering Syria to help their Kurdish brethren fight ISIS/ISL.   Why?   Because the Kurdish folks in Turkey are considered “separatists” fighting against the Turkish regime?   In the mean time, Syrian Kurds are fleeing (by the thousands) into Turkey to escape the wacko ISIS/ISL folks!

Confused?   I am!

Here’s to add to the confusion!   Turkey is worried that the American efforts against ISIS/ISL will strengthen the position of the Syrian Kurds.   By the way, the Syrian Kurds maintain close ties to the Kurdish separatists in Turkey.   Oh…and by the way…the good ole US of A is allied with the Kurds in Iraq!

Still confused?   Did I mention Assad!   Go figure!   I’m determined to sort through this insanity!   I think religion may have something to do with this!   No?

No Truth in "1400 Pennsylvania Avenue"!

...and 47% of the voting Americans thought she was worthy enough to be the Vice President of the United States!

High on Religion...the "Opium of the Masses"! Low on Education/Intelligence & Much More!

Let's Force ALL Immigrants to Convert to Christianity!
The above minute and a half video is too sick to even think about!

Below is an Introduction to EVEN more Religous WACHO Insane SH*T!

Let's behead somebody!!!
And then let's behead other folks who are innocent of all this Wacko Religious Sh*t!   And then lets do another innocent one!   And then another one!

Here is a link to the incredibly sick action/video depicting the result of James Foley's beheading (as captured in the above still photo).   Please be VERY aware that VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED! You must be at least 18 years or older to EVEN view the video...so that alone tells you something!    My decision to view this was to take a peek..."curiousity killed the cat"...but it is disgusting, repulsive and stomach churning!   How could any sane/educated (even a devoutly religious) person do this to another human being!   I just don't get it and I'm certain...I never will!   If you're offended by this link/video...please let me know and I'll take it down.

But then again...how could any sane/educated person (people) fly a jet-liner into a building!!!   Oh...my bad...I forgot about the 27 virgins!   Terrorism is a bitch...and IMHO...so is religion!   'Nuff said!   Pass the collection plate please!   Reverend Jones needs a new Cadillac!

Hold Your Tongue!

Be careful of what you say and who you say it to…
I’ve always held on to the thought that “ if you don’t have anything good to say…don’t say anything at all!”   It’s probably why I have high blood pressure and consume at least 6 pills a day to combat this...not to mention the Rum (Bacardi Light) & Tonic (Schwepps please)!

My thoughts apply to so many people including my immediate loved ones, extended family and friends.   If I expressed what I really felt at any given moment (during one of our conversations), I’m sure I would have either offended them or I would be misunderstood…so I just shut (the f*ck) up!

I’m not looking for any empathy…but it’s a hell of a burden to carry.   I’m no saint…but I just wish more people would see it my way.

I’m not a big astrology buff…but did I mention I was born under the sign of Cancer?   Perhaps that explains it all?   Maybe?   Who knows!   I'm just sayin'!

A Little Bit Racist - Part 2!

As I posted a few days ago, Nicholas Kristof did a N.Y. Times Op-Ed article entitled "Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist"?   He got an onslaught of comments/responses (some negative...see just a few below).

One response to his Op-Ed was...
“We can’t fix their problems.   It’s up to every black individual to stop the cycle of fatherless homes, stop the cycle of generations on welfare.”

Per Mr. Kristof:
"There was a deluge of such comments, some toxic, but let me try to address three principal arguments that I think prop up white delusion."

The three principle arguments were:
First, if blacks are poor or in prison, it’s all their fault.   “Blacks don’t get it,” Bruce tweeted.   “Choosing to be cool vs. getting good grades is a bad choice.   We all start from 0.”

But look at Asians, Mark protests on my Google Plus page: Vietnamese arrived in poverty — and are now school valedictorians.   Why can’t blacks be like that?

Look, the basic reason young black men are regarded with suspicion is that they’re disproportionately criminals.   The root problem isn’t racism.   It’s criminality.

His follow-up piece is titled..."Whites Just Don't Get It"   To see more and his responses to the above comments, check out his posting on the N.Y. Times.

We will never forget!

"Can we talk?" R.I.P. Joan Rivers

Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014)

"When I die (and yes, Melissa, that day will come; and yes, Melissa, everything’s in your name), I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action. I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing 'Mr. Lonely.' I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyoncé’s. - Joan Rivers, from her 2013 book I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me.

I first saw a live Joan Rivers performance back in the mid-1960s in Dubuque, Iowa!   That's right, I said Dubuque, IOWA!   That's a whole 'nother story!   As usual, even in those early days she pushed the envelope and I'm not so sure how many of those mid-westerners appreciated her razor sharp tongue...but that was 50+ years ago.   I however was rolling on the floor!