Sunday, March 22, 2015

Motivation Monday


Understanding Islamic Terrorists

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."― Sun TzuThe Art of War

This quote is as old as the ages but apropos for today's environment.  There is little doubt in my mind that the average American doesn't understand Islam nor the divisions in the religion that have resulted in a large number of radical Islamic terrorists causing death, destruction, and mayhem across the Middle East.  This is exacerbated by our government who doesn't name the threat for what it is.  I can only surmise that, like most citizens, they don't understand the enemy.  It is a bit perplexing since we've been at war one way or another for the last few decades.  At war with the nations in the Middle East and at war with non-state actors like ISIS and Al Quaida.  We should have people in our government who name it for what it is, develop strategies to counteract it and protect us, and determine the best route to a secure future.  That isn't happening under the current government.  I can only hope that sanity will prevail at some point and we can start to develop such programs.

In the meantime we, as citizens, need to understand the threat.  This weekend, coincidentally there were two great articles in the WSJ discussing aspects of Islam.  One is an interview with President al Sisi of Egypt and one is an expose on Islam itself.  You can read them here and here.  Don't miss them.  

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Friday, March 6, 2015

Where Is The Outrage?

I saw a link over on FB about ISIS executing homosexuals by throwing them off the roofs of tall buildings, bound and blindfolded.  In a line of unspeakable brutality, this is another atrocity that is difficult to comprehend.  So naturally I googled it.  I found several posts from various blogs and one story on Daily Mail.com.  You can read about it here.  It is pretty graphic and, if you're like me, you will find it hard to believe.

But equally hard to believe is the fact that this story is not even covered by any major media outlets that I can find.  I quickly reviewed several news web sites.  Some of the leads are Harrison Ford's plane crash, the big Selma anniversary event, Hillary's email fiasco,  Ferguson, and the Senator Melendez fiasco, among other things.  Only ABC news had anything remotely related when they reported about an offensive in Iraq going against ISIS.  It seems to me that a lot of people sit around and pontificate about the Holocaust and insist that it will never happen again.  But it is.  We are seeing unspeakable brutality unfold before our eyes.  We are seeing people being put to death in unimaginable ways for the crime of being Christian or Homosexual.  We are seeing hatred and death being perpetuated across the Middle East.  I don't know how we combat it if it's only being reported on by blogs and little known news outlets.  It appears that the major focus of most news outlets today is to figure out how to protect Hillary.  It's really sad.  And scary!


Hillary


It's probably not a big surprise that I'm composing a post about Hillary and her latest foible.  There are so many words to describe it...outrageous, illegal, galling, stupid, arrogant, etc.  But above all it is not Presidential.

I've been around long enough to not be surprised by the Clinton's shenanigans, but this latest thing is so over the top that I have to admit to being surprised at her stupidity.  I mean, it's pretty basic.  If you're a government employee, especially at a place like the State Department where documents like email are not only sensitive, they are classified at the highest level, you need to use and respect the structural conventions.  Email is one of those.  People at very high levels have been fired for less!  Much less.  And now she says she wants the State Department to cull through her email traffic and release what can be released.  But how do we know that there aren't emails that she has held back or are buried, destroyed, etc.  We don't.  There is no way of knowing.  Like I said, galling.  I heard something good on MSNBC of all places yesterday.  They admitted that if you replaced Hillary with Cheney in this story, they would be on it like white on rice.  And they said it with a smirk.  They know and Hillary knows and Bubba knows and we all know that the Clintons are not going to be held accountable
.

But the amazing thing is that it is just the latest in the long line of things that Hillary has been involved with that are either shady, illegal, or stupid.  Remember Rose Law Firm?  Remember travel gate?  Remember cattle futures?  Remember her moving to New York to run for the Senate when she had never lived there?  Remember her outrageous speaking fees?  Remember her horrendous book(s) for which she got a grunch of money for up front?  Remember Benghazi?  And on and on and on.  And here's another thing.  In what universe would the average woman stay with Bubba?  If I or anyone I know had done the things he's done and is still doing I'm pretty sure any self-respecting wife would be long gone.  And that is just from a fidelity perspective.  He's also one of the slickest (remember Slick Willie) characters ever to grace our public scene.

But even more amazing is that they continue to get a pass.  They continue to do what they want.  The vaunted media watchdogs continue to turn the other eye.  And she still has the support of a large segment of the population, many of them women.  I guess I'm getting old...but I just don't get it.  It's like I'm living in an alternate universe.  How on earth could a thinking, modern, liberated, woman want this woman to be President?  It is beyond me.