A day without Dickhead 45 hogging the Headlines!

None of the "Fake News" covered Dickhead 45 today!   Thank God!   It was so refreshing!   Not sure about "State TV" because I don't watch it!

I've been to the mountain top!

Don't become silent about things that matter!

Dick Gregory & Jerry Lewis!

You guys made me laugh and, Mr. Gregory, you opened my mind!

Liberal Redneck's Opinion on the $1M Noah's Ark in Kentucky!

Happy Brthday MLK!

2015 in 4 Minutes!

Julian Bond - R.I.P.

January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015
An American social activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement, politician, professor, and writer.   Julian Bond helped to establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Sunni or Shia (aka...Shiite)? Ask Dubya or Cheney! They probably didn't know the difference!

Sunni or Shia?
Both are branches of Islam and the adherents of both are Muslims, all bound by the same Quran, the same five pillars of Islam – belief in one God, daily prayer, fasting, charity, and hajj, or pilgrimage. Where they mainly differ is on the question of who should have succeeded the Prophet Muhammad, who founded Islam in 620.

Sunnis and Shiites differ on who should have succeeded Muhammad after his death in 632. (We're talking almost 1500 years ago people!)   Sunnis supported the succession of Abu Bakr, the prophet’s friend; Shiite Muslims felt the rightful successor was the prophet’s son-in-law and cousin, Ali bin Abu Talib.

Sunnis believe Muslim leaders can be elected, or picked, from those qualified for the job.   Shiites believe leaders should be direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.   So they don’t recognize the same authority in Islam – kind of like the way Catholics and Protestants are all Christians and have the same Bible, but only Catholics recognize the authority of the pope.   And like Catholics and Protestants, both Sunnis and Shiites have their own religious holidays, customs and shrines.

The Kurds
In the continuing conflict in Iraq, Kurds frequently are mentioned alongside Iraq’s Sunni and Shia Muslim populations as one of the key groups involved in power struggles for which sharp religious divides have played a major part.   But while the Kurds are a crucial part of Iraq’s political makeup, they are an ethnic group, not a distinct religious sect within Islam.   Kurds are more appropriately compared to Arabs, the largest ethnic group in Iraq, or other regional ethnic groups such as Assyrians or Turkmen.

The Yazidis
One of the groups caught in the path of Sunni militants fighting under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are the Yazidis, Violence against Yazidis predates the current offensive, although ISIS represents a more systematic threat to the group.

The Yazidis are an ethnically Kurdish religious group whose beliefs include elements similar to Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. They are mainly concentrated in northern Iraq, but some also live in Syria, Turkey and a few other countries.

If you're still confused, perhaps this 4 minute video may help clear everything up!   It definitely helped me!!!

In God/Allah...whoever...We Trust! Who's who at the Zoo!

Ok...all you wackos line up!

I have a hard time keeping up with who's who at this wacko zoo.   Who's killing who and why?   I still don't know why!

ISIS/ISL:
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a jihadist rebel group that controls territory in Iraq and Syria and also operates in eastern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and other areas of the Middle East,[24] North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Many Islamic and non-Islamic communities judge the group to be unrepresentative of Islam.
The United Nations has held ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has reported ethnic cleansing by the group on a "historic scale". The group has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, India, and Russia. Over 60 countries are directly or indirectly waging war against ISIL.

Al-Queda:
Al-Qaeda has its origins in the uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Thousands of volunteers from around the Middle East came to Afghanistan as mujahideen, warriors fighting to defend fellow Muslims. In the mid-1980s, Osama bin Laden became the prime financier for an organization that recruited Muslims from mosques around the world. These "Afghan Arab" mujahideen, which numbered in the thousands, were crucial in defeating Soviet forces.

Taliban:
The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. It spread throughout Afghanistan and formed a government, ruling as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until December 2001. While in power, it enforced a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, an interpretation of which leading Muslims have been highly critical. The Taliban were condemned internationally for their brutal treatment of women.

From 1995 to 2001, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and military are widely alleged by the international community to have provided support to the Taliban. Pakistan is accused by many international officials of continuing to support the Taliban. Pakistan states that it dropped all support for the group after 9/11. Al-Qaeda also supported the Taliban with regiments of imported fighters from Arab countries and Central Asia.

Hamas:
Hamas' 1988 charter states that Hamas "strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine" (Article Six) and that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." Article Thirty-One of the Charter states: "Under the wing of Islam, it is possible for the followers of the three religions—Islam, Christianity and Judaism—to coexist in peace and quiet with each other.

Hezbollah:
Hezbollah emerged in South Lebanon during a consolidation of Shia militias as a rival to the older Amal Movement. Hezbollah played a significant role in the Lebanese civil war, opposing American forces in 1982–83 and opposing Amal and Syria during the 1985–88 War of the Camps. However, Hezbollah's early primary focus was ending Israel's 18-year-long occupation of southern Lebanon[2] following Israel's 1982 invasion and siege of Beirut.[41] When the Shia population of southern Lebanon realized that Israel had no intention of leaving, they rebelled. Amal, the main Lebanese Shia political group, initiated guerrilla warfare.

Boko Haram:
Boko Haram was founded as a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist sect advocating a strict form of sharia law and developed into a Salafist-jihadi group in 2009. Boko Haram killed more than 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014, in attacks occurring mainly in northeast, north-central and central Nigeria.[16][17][18] Corruption in the security services and human rights abuses committed by them have hampered efforts to counter the unrest.[19][20] Since 2009 Boko Haram have abducted more than 500 men,[21][22] women and children, including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014.[23] 650,000 people had fled the conflict zone by August 2014, an increase of 200,000 since May; by the end of the year 1.5 million had fled.

Who am I missing?   Here's a whole list of the other wackos!

But then again (from a Christian perspective)...there's always
Mike Huckabee!

Happy (???) Memorial Day???

Ain't sh*t to be happy about today!   The kids that gave their lives in Vietnam, Iraq (WMD?) and Afghanistan...didn't give their lives for their country.   They gave their lives for some warped political/military industrial complex ideologies.   It's pathetic!

And they left behind millions of loved ones who are probably asking...WHY?

• Vietnam - Over 58,000 lives lost...and now it's a top tourist destination for Americans!
• Afghanistan - Over 2,000 killed and almost 19,000 wounded!
• Irag (aka...WMD) - Almost 4,500 killed and over THIRTY THOUSAND wounded!

These three stooges ought to be dragged in front of the International Court of Justice!

I'm really sadden about those who lost their lives in the insanity of war!
I sure ain't Happy today!

Happy Birthday MLK!

Google - Year in Search - 2014

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?

A Raisin in the Sun & Much...Much More!

R.I.P. Ruby Dee!

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings!"

R.I.P. Maya Angelou!   You will be missed, more than you could ever imagine!

Nelson Mandela...R.I.P.

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

- Nelson Mandela, speech from the dock, Rivonia Trial, Pretoria, South Africa, April 20, 1964

The Day America Lost its Innocence

I was in high school and just finished 8th period history class.   All hell broke lose in the hallways and we were all in a state of shock and thought it was just a rumor!   Got home and turn on the TV and saw this.   I still get choked up watching it.

Four Little Girls...

Addie Mae Collins, 14; Denise McNair, 11; Carole Robertson, 14; and Cynthia Wesley; 14, were killed Sept. 15, 1963, in the attack that struck the packed church on a Sunday morning. Twenty-two others were injured.

At a memorial service for the girls, three days after the blast, Martin Luther King Jr., said, “These children — unoffending, innocent, and beautiful — were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.”

911: Never Forget

I will never forget!   I don't think any of us will.