WWIII - Compliments of the A**hole in the White House!

Ban on Muslims...except those from Saudi Arabia!

Below is from: Common Dreams Org!
"President Trump’s Muslim ban is not only mean-spirited and, hopefully, unconstitutional, but it is irrational because it doesn’t even include the country most responsible for spreading terrorism around the world: Saudi Arabia.

The travel restrictions on seven Muslim-majority countries was rationalized as a way to thwart potential terrorists from entering the United States, with Trump citing the tragedies of 9/11 and the San Bernardino shooting as motivations behind the executive order. But no citizens of the seven banned countries were responsible for the deaths of any Americans on US soil.

It is indeed a glaring omission that Saudi Arabia, the country that furnished 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11, was absent from the list."

Syria! It's all Obama's fault!

After a grisly chemical attack left dozens of people dead in Syria on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was quick to blame, of course, former President Barack Obama.

"Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer told reporters. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." Spicer also said: "President Obama said in 2012 he would establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable act." (Later in the day, the White House issued a statement echoing Spicer's remarks.)

It will come as no surprise at this point that the Trump White House's position was hypocritical. First, Obama's red line at the time was a threat of US military action against Syria should it continue to use chemical weapons. When Obama asked the GOP-led Congress to authorize the potential use of force against Syria, the Republicans, not wanting to take a firm stance, declined to hold a vote. Still, Obama's move prompted Assad to agree to a Russian-brokered deal to give up his chemical weapons. To a degree, Obama's threat worked.

Whether or not Obama's policy in 2013 was successful, this much is clear: at that point, Trump had an unambiguous position regarding Syria— do nothing. Throughout this episode, Trump tweeted up a storm about Syria. Repeatedly, he declared—occasionally in all-caps! - that Obama should not be messing around in Syria. He said there was no reason to attack Syria or take any action there. Let the Arab League deal with the problem. He was asserting that Obama should not respond to the chemical attacks - a policy certainly in sync with Assad (and his Russian patrons). Stay out of this, Trump demanded, and focus on domestic issues.

Source: Mother Jones!

Here is a sample of Trump's 2013 tweets on the subject:

An update from Mosul, Iraq! A boy & his bike!

I bitch about at lot of things these days:

• They announced we'd be on the ground at White Plains airport in 15 minutes.   Nevermind!   We're landing @ LaGuardia in 10 minutes!   But wait...my car is @ White plains and it's midnight!
• the cable went out!   That's twice in 4 days!!!
• the mail didn't come until 5:00PM today.   Do you believe it!
• the long lines at the Post office!   Why am I dealing with stamps anymore?
• the long lines at the DMV (dept. of Motor Vehicles).
• who stole my parking space???
• when are they gonna patch these potholes on Interstate I95???
• the supermarket advertised Haagan-Daz ice cream, a dollar off!   Can't find it!   No more left???
• the weatherman forecasted 50+ degrees today!   It ain't!!!
• does anyone look up from their cell phone anymore?
• where is my g*d-damn cellphone???
• my age & memory capacity!   Ugh!   How old am I anyway?
• where is the g*d-damn TV/cable remote control???
• Then there's always the Velvetta Cheeta in the White House!!!   Ugh!!

I'm sure there are many more things that I can add to my "bitch" list.   Then I stop and take a look at the picture above and realize I need to stop bitching!   I wish I could find this boy and bring him and his bike to America!   Sorry Velvetta Chetta...but that's how I feel!

Dear 2016! Good bye & good F*ckin' riddance!

Dear 2016,
You gave us this lyin'   f*ckin'   *sshole to be the President of the United States of America!!!

R   U   f*ckin'   kiddin'   me???

Americans wanted Hillary Clinton to be the future POTUS (by damn near 3 million votes)!,   but the Electoral college decided otherwise!

From CNN!

More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any other losing presidential candidate in US history.   The Democrat outpaced President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

And then you took too many of these beautiful lives away from us!

And many more!

Did I mention that "Black Lives Matter"?

Oh...and BTW...Blue Lives matter too!

Then of course there was/is Aleppo!     Aleppo!

And the Pulse Massacre!

And...These two dudes were planning to get married but, their lives were taken too soon by this *sshole!!

And then there were the Charleston Killings!

And all the other terrorist sh*t " that happened this year!

Did I mention President-Elect Orangutan?

I've just scratched the surface here!   Truthfully, I'm scared as sh*t and don't know if I can take any more of this sh*t next year!

Good bye 2016 and good f*ckin' riddance!

Peace & Love!

Israelis versus the Palestinians...or...is it The Palestinians versus the Israelis?

Dear God/Muhammad or whoever you are!

Please make this sh*t go away!   Personally I'm f*ckin' sick and tired of it but, unfortunately, it will probably continue to go on for the next hundred years!   And with President-Elect Cheetolini to take the office of the Presidency on January 20th...I'm afraid it's gonna get worse!

The period between the Six-Day War from 1967 until today shows two major developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; firstly the increasing usage of violence against each other, and secondly the often half-hearted attempts to create a peaceful co-existence.

The Israeli incorporation of the West Bank and Gaza after the Six-Day War proved to be the start of many problems.   The peace agreement Resolution 242 was formed in 1970 and included the return of territories conquered by Israel.   However, due to different interpretations of the resolution, Syria refused to accept it.   This did not only mean that peace processes were stalemate; it also included that the West Bank remained under Israeli administration.   Israel initially wanted Palestinians to self-rule but as time went by Israeli settlements were allowed.

More details/info about this sh*t here!

A brief history/video of the Israeli/Palestian - Palestinian/Isreali conflict below!   (It's 10+ miutes, but I think it's educational and worth the time)!

Oh...and did I mention Aleppo?

Like I said...I'm really sick of ALL this sh*t...but, unfortunately, I/we can't turn our backs away from it!

Didn't Karl Marx say something about "Religion is the opiate of the masses"?   I'm just sayin'!

Party in the USA!

We'll Never Forget!

Ted Cruz wants Muslim 'Patrols'!

Jon Stewart: Charleston, S.C. No Jokes!

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!

Charlie Hedbo...Death in Paris!

“Sharia Hebdo” by David Sessions, 2011.   It features a cartoon of “guest editor” the prophet Muhammad threatening readers with “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing!”   The publication’s offices were fire-bombed after it published this issue.

Source: more of these at Buzzfeed

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!

We will never forget!

"Why can't the world always be like this?"

Put aside the terrorist threats; hunting down homosexuals and the malfunctioning fifth ring.

Watching those 3,500 athletes from around the world enter the Sochi Olympic stadium made me temporarily forget all the ugliness going on in the world and the nasty political climate back here at home.   To see their smiles, the waving flags and the cheering crowd was a sight to behold.   The crowd roared when the infamous "Cool Runnings" Jamaican bobsled team entered the stadium.

Athletes from over 80 countries entered the stadium that night! Who ever heard of Timor-Leste?   Certainly not me!   Where is the heck is Andorra much less San Morino?

When the Russian athletes entered the stadium the home country crowd, as expected, went nuts.   That's when my thirty-something year old daughter turned to me and said..."why can't the world always be like this?"

Fast forward to Saturday and back to reality.   International articles in section one of the New York Times included the following:

• Despite Signs of Progress, Insecurity Rises in Tunisia
  Security has become the most pressing issue in Tunisia as the country tries to move forward with its democratic transition and rescue its still declining economy, which depends heavily on tourism and foreign investment.
• Crisis Deepens in Bosnia
  Thousands of angry Bosnians took to the streets on Friday for a fourth day of protests against the political paralysis and economic stagnation th
• Turkish Highjacking is Foiled
  A passenger aboard a commercial airline flight from Ukraine to Turkey tried to hijack it to Sochi, Russia, on Friday after the Winter Olympics started.
• Peril For Afghan Women
  Advocates say that women’s rights and security in Afghanistan are under mounting assault from all sides — the Taliban insurgency and the government alike — putting at risk 12 years of hard-won gains for women here.

Like I said...back to reality.   I'm sure more dosages of reality await me in today's New York Times!