Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[hack]

When those governors talk about their compassion I think we should take them at face value. The refugees have been through enough already. Now they should be exposed to mall/school shootings?

[hack]

West was a conservative from FL who was a Col. in the Army. He had to get some info out of a captured Islamic fighter and made the mistake of threatening to kill him. Saved his troops, but got discharged from the Army.



It doesn't surprise me in the least. And your constructive criticism about posting links is good too and I'll try to do more of that. Here is what the garbage district looks like, but my daughter says nothing can capture the smell.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/May/This-Mama-Helps-Garbage-Kids-Dream-Big/

And, of course, if you have been paying attention, you know I am against all tax write- offs for charitable deductions. You are quite right about the fundraising done by many 501(c)(3)s. The United Way after 9/11 is a good example. The best defense of this position that I know of is by Alan Keyes who ran against Obama for the Senate in IL (I think). That is one reason I believe that people who support a particular charity, particularly in 3rd world countries, should actually go and take part themselves in the mission of the charity.

I have three ministers in my family, and I constantly ask them if it is charity if you can write off 70% of the donation which was the effective income tax rate for much of my youth. It was also the estate/gift tax rate until relatively recently.

If charities are worthy, plenty of people will support them, and I believe find joy in the giving. If churches want to preach against, say, abortion, the leverage that the government has comes from the tax deductibility of the collections. My attitude is "Why grant the government that kind of power over you?" or maybe "If you lie down with dogs, you get fleas."

Thanks, Geezer. That's an interesting idea. I support it.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Prior to WWII, nearly 2/3 of American said America should not accept Jewish refugees. When asked if we should take in 10,000 Jewish children, over 60% still said no

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/17/what-americans-thought-of-jewish-refugees-on-the-eve-of-world-war-ii/

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm thrilled that the French killed Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the most likely mastermind of the Paris atrocities in a morning raid today that also killed what is probably his girlfriend.

Hollande has also invoked an infrequently used portion of the EU and NATO treaties that calls for the member countries to aid a member country that has been attacked. Hollande's language has been very precisely selected since the attack. This is good. Angela, you need a Himmler against Islamic extremists instead of the Jews . Find one.

I'm encouraged by the world's initial response to this outrageous act by ISL. I'm less confident it will persist through the typical news cycle. But there are encouraging signs that the Russians, namely Putin, are as pissed off at these fuckers as the French. That is a very good thing if it is, in fact, a useful realty. The Russians aren't into things like freedom, liberty, fairness, justice and all that nice sounding shit but are much more likely to simply kill everyone they are worried about and ask questions later. I hope there actions sort-of stay on our side and in the world's best interests but as long as they seem to be interested in killing everyone even remotely associated with bombing one of their passenger jets, I'm good.

Finally, the US might want to reconsider Assad, join in with both the Russians and the Shite Hezbollah in supporting him and restore some sort of governance, even though it may not be to our liking, in Syria. I'm hearing there is something amounting to a sit down and talk between Syrian rebels opposed to Assad (the ones the US has been meekly supporting) and the Assad regime, the purpose of which is to allow everyone to focus on the fucking crazies called ISL. That is also a good thing.

Where is Netenyahu in all of this. He remains strangely silent as do the Iranians and Chinese. I guess they are using the principle of not my circus, not my monkey. Netenyahu needs us more than we need him but we need the Iranians more than Netenyahu might like. Fuck him. This is WAR.

[hack]

I think the Russians like to perpetuate chaos. Especially now with oil prices low, they are cash-strapped. Their weapons sector needs this and their overall economy does too, plus it dovetails with the Russian foreign policy objective of retaining global prestige.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I think the Russians like to perpetuate chaos. Especially now with oil prices low, they are cash-strapped. Their weapons sector needs this and their overall economy does too, plus it dovetails with the Russian foreign policy objective of retaining global prestige.

Generally agree with your premise.

I think Putin has some sort of face saving aspect to his support of Assad. If the West can get off it's democratic high horse for just a moment, while we pause and focus on a very real threat, ISL and the Islamic fundamentalism in the extreme they represent, the whole world will benefit and if that means letting Putin shout I'm here, I'm a big deal and I saved Assad's ass, laying waste to ISL in the process, let's go for it.

How does that saying go???, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

[The Oracle]

So far none of the Paris attackers have turned out to be actual Syrian refugees

No, but one posed as one and came over with other refugees. That's where the fear comes from. Not in my mind, but I get it.

[lineygoblue]

Where is Netenyahu in all of this. He remains strangely silent as do the Iranians and Chinese. I guess they are using the principle of not my circus, not my monkey. Netenyahu needs us more than we need him but we need the Iranians more than Netenyahu might like. Fuck him. This is WAR.

There's a lot of antisemitism in Europe right now. If Israel started rattling its sabre and offering to kick ISL's ass all by themselves (which they probably could do if unleashed) the sympathy for radical islam would skyrocket. If France and the Russians want to kick ISL's ass for their own reasons, Israel is wise to stay out of it. Of course, if America would take off its lace drawers, and start acting like a pissed off superpower again, ISL could be pretty much eliminated within a year.

[The Oracle]

He's just sitting back and collecting trillions of dollars from us like usual. He's a self serving douche.

[hack]

There's a lot of antisemitism in Europe right now. If Israel started rattling its sabre and offering to kick ISL's ass all by themselves (which they probably could do if unleashed) the sympathy for radical islam would skyrocket. If France and the Russians want to kick ISL's ass for their own reasons, Israel is wise to stay out of it. Of course, if America would take off its lace drawers, and start acting like a pissed off superpower again, ISL could be pretty much eliminated within a year.

That's a very simple and pleasing narrative. If only.

[Dr. Strangelove]

He's just sitting back and collecting trillions of dollars from us like usual. He's a self serving douche.

Netanyahu? Yep, he's an asshole. And has some very far right-wing associates in Israel. The kind that want to persecute both Muslims AND Christians.

[hack]

I forget where I read it but apparently since Netanyahu's speech to Congress and Obama's ignoring him, Israel has been conciliatory.

[hack]

In the wake of the murderous attacks in Paris, we can expect western heads of state to do what they always do in such circumstances: declare total and unremitting war on those who brought it about. They don’t actually mean it. They’ve had the means to uproot and destroy Islamic State within their hands for over a year now. They’ve simply refused to make use of it. In fact, as the world watched leaders making statements of implacable resolve at the G20 summit in Antalaya, these same leaders are hobnobbing with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a man whose tacit political, economic, and even military support contributed to Isis’s ability to perpetrate the atrocities in Paris, not to mention an endless stream of atrocities inside the Middle East.

How could Isis be eliminated? In the region, everyone knows. All it would really take would be to unleash the largely Kurdish forces of the YPG (Democratic Union party) in Syria, and PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ party) guerillas in Iraq and Turkey. These are, currently, the main forces actually fighting Isis on the ground. They have proved extraordinarily militarily effective and oppose every aspect of Isis’s reactionary ideology.

Sounds a bit simple and optimistic to me, but what's notable is how Turkey is getting away with being the Nato ally that flaunts Nato objectives. http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...s-erdogan-isis. That's another sign of non-seriousness.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Except for Netanyahu's whole speech on how, ya know, the Palestinians came up with the Holocaust and not Hitler/the Nazis

[Dr. Strangelove]

In the wake of the murderous attacks in Paris, we can expect western heads of state to do what they always do in such circumstances: declare total and unremitting war on those who brought it about. They don?t actually mean it. They?ve had the means to uproot and destroy Islamic State within their hands for over a year now. They?ve simply refused to make use of it. In fact, as the world watched leaders making statements of implacable resolve at the G20 summit in Antalaya, these same leaders are hobnobbing with Turkey?s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a man whose tacit political, economic, and even military support contributed to Isis?s ability to perpetrate the atrocities in Paris, not to mention an endless stream of atrocities inside the Middle East.

How could Isis be eliminated? In the region, everyone knows. All it would really take would be to unleash the largely Kurdish forces of the YPG (Democratic Union party) in Syria, and PKK (Kurdistan Workers? party) guerillas in Iraq and Turkey. These are, currently, the main forces actually fighting Isis on the ground. They have proved extraordinarily militarily effective and oppose every aspect of Isis?s reactionary ideology.

Sounds a bit simple and optimistic to me, but what's notable is how Turkey is getting away with being the Nato ally that flaunts Nato objectives. http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...s-erdogan-isis. That's another sign of non-seriousness.

Yes but geez, the Saudis are more responsible for ISIS than Turkey is. And good luck finding someone in DC willing to criticize Saudi Arabia.