Thoughts and prayers for Paris, France.

[markw]

Here's a 3 min synopsis markw.

Funny, they don't have a problem with taking our money.
Even more perplexing is that so many of those people who claim to hate us want to come over here to live.

 

[lsiberian]

Tao, by your comparing the occupation of Americans who went there to liberate those people to terrorists merely confirms my opinion that I'm dealing with an idiot. We're done.

Pretty sure they didn't really want to be liberated by us.

 

[markw]

On one hand, Russia has been testing country borders for some time whether by air or sea. On the other, Russians have been conducting operations in the Turkmen mountains where reportedly there are rebels but no ISIS. Although there was a time when Turkey was pro Syria (Assad), now they'd like to see him removed. Syria now wants to play in the fight against ISIS but only so long as they can take out Kurd elements that they feel also destabilize Turkey. Sheesh.

All said, not a good idea to ignore repeated warnings against someone who's armed to back off even if you think you're not in their airspace. Interesting times.

The Kurds are pithed because the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, the secret Franco-British-Russian pact that carved out the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Syria totally ignored them. By rights, they should have had their own country. Ever since then, the Kurds have been the red-headed step children in those countries.

 

[markw]

Pretty sure they didn't really want to be liberated by us.

Surprisingly, many did. I knew some Iraqi "refugees" that had been her since the 70's said our intervention was long incoming. Granted, Saddam was a ruthless SOB but, apparently, that's the only type of leadership that works over there.

 

[Chu Gai]

When I was so much younger, I believed that democracy was the way to go for everyone and every country no matter what. As I've grown older, my opinion has changed. Some countries aren't ready for it and maybe won't be for many lifetimes. That means having to deal with dictators, looking the other way, and whatever else. You just can't force by will or subversion POV's that the populace isn't ready for especially when you've got such strong militant religious groups.

 

[Rickster71]

I believe the first step into ending world violence is to stop engaging in these behaviours that perpetrate the cycle.

So... are you saying the terrorists should've stopped their behavior in the First 1993 World Trade Center bombing?
http://www.history.com/news/remembering-the-1993-world-trade-center-bombing

 

[herbu]

I believe the first step into ending world violence is to stop engaging in these behaviours that perpetrate the cycle.

Naive and idealistic. Nice thought, but impractical when they're targeting and killing our innocent civilians. Reminds me of "Flower Power" in the 60s.

 

[Chu Gai]

POTUS bravely and defiantly tells the terrorists to stick it when he addresses the public on his attending the upcoming Climate Conference in France.
Obama: 'What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be'

 

[Tao1]

Tao, by your comparing the occupation of Americans who went there to liberate those people to terrorists merely confirms my opinion that I'm dealing with an idiot. We're done.

I have known a few Iraqis in my day, and they are all pretty unanimous on the point that they did not want to be liberated. They were content with Saddam because he kept stability, however many can not go home due to civil war now.

I can't say I know a whole lot, but I can say that I probably would see what the Iraqi people thing first, before jumping to conclusions in what they 'need'.

 

[Tao1]

Naive and idealistic. Nice thought, but impractical when they're targeting and killing our innocent civilians. Reminds me of "Flower Power" in the 60s.

Not really naive or idealistic. Focusing on dealing with the problem rather than making decisions base on hate is kind of a no-brainer.

How has the of lumping their innocent civilians up with the action of a few 'practical' in any sense. How does western civilians being targeted change that in any way?

Focus on the problem, and get down to solutions for the root of the problem.

 

[Tao1]

Funny, they don't have a problem with taking our money.
Even more perplexing is that so many of those people who claim to hate us want to come over here to live.

That video had nothing to do with the one I posted. He should probably not comment on things without actually looking at them.

 

[haraldo]

If your take is not to police, fine. The UN was setup to insure not one of its members would be harmed by a nation or ideal and we carry that message to all countries. The situation in Iraq was no different than Bosnia. A leader was killing his own people. By evoking China or North Korea you assuming we do nothing in these countries. While military action isnt prudent with china, it may come down to that some day. China persecutes many, however they haven't gassed thousands of their citizens that we know about , Hussein did. China may be ruthless but there havent been reports of mass genocide (if there were, we go in). If we are to be the leader of the free world, so people like you and i can speak their minds, we must do what is right. By taking in refugees we are a great nation, by taking in refugees that can stay "put" we are a smart nation. The Iraq war wasnt about al qaeda, the premise was WMDs which we were duped into and the majority of the US bought. Regardless , their leader was killing 100K of his own people. Im sure you can see this, Im sure that the liberal hype isnt justification for not doing the right thing. If we all continue to allow the unacceptable, our lives will be governed by animal farm

Think about this: US will support whatever will fit them economically, and so will probably most other countries, this is not criticism, just the hard truth, as I see it.

China illegally invaded a whole country (Tibet), and still keeps it under their ironfist
In Lhasa, hundreds of people were killed by snipes on rooftops, the crime they were doing was a peaceful protest against the invasion.

Why did not US protest back then?
I guess Norway, Sweden and Denmark did not protest too...
Actually, no countries in the western world opposed this, ias I remember; I guess it would be like putler suddenly decide to invade Finland, and no-one would protest....

 

[markw]

Well, this is interesting.

Jews in Medina took in Arab refugees and, to show their appreciation, when their numbers were great enough, they overthrew the Jews.

http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~peters/medina.html

I THOUGHT what was going on looked familiar. Arabs always hated the Jews. I can't believe that our leaders are ignorant to this piece of history. ...or maybe they are trying to repeat it.

Now, don't you wonder why aren't we providing more aid to Israel while Iran just got 150 billion??

 

[Chu Gai]

I have known a few Iraqis in my day, and they are all pretty unanimous on the point that they did not want to be liberated. They were content with Saddam because he kept stability, however many can not go home due to civil war now.

He was a very convenient counterweight to Iran. As to whether Iraqis wanted to be liberated, the Kurds sure didn't have any love lost for Hussein. As for the others, it might spend on whether you were Sunni or Shiite.

I can't say I know a whole lot, but I can say that I probably would see what the Iraqi people thing first, before jumping to conclusions in what they 'need'.

Rasmussen poll?

 

[herbu]

There are always 2, (or more), sides to a story. Rarely do we on the sidelines understand them all. I worked for many years w/ a good friend who came here from Iran when he was 17. He told of the unimaginable brutality of the Iraqis to his people in Iran. He had what seemed to me a legitimate hate for Iraq. And I suppose the stories and feelings were reciprocated.

So where do we fit in? When do we act, and how? I don't know the answer. A government that massacres its own people should certainly get our attention. But that's not what terrorism is about. Now we're faced with a group of people who hate us, would like to kill us all, and is trying their best to do it. History is what it is, and the reasons are what they are. But it does not change the fact that today we are being targeted, and we must deal with that first. Then we can Monday morning quarterback and figure out how to prevent it from happening again.

 

[KEW]

His hypothesis was that the intelligence existed in the infinitely distant future, and did micro-intervention through time (I'm not kidding) to support its existence by affect its past, all of which leads to its own creation.

Sounds like he stole that idea from Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan

(long-lived aliens crash landed on earth and guided evolution and mankind up to and through the industrial age so they could get the materials/parts to repair their spaceship)

Edit: I was a few days behind in reading. I see Mark beat me to the Sirens of Titan analogy.

I believe that science is starting to theorize that creation has some unknown external forces at work. While we have mapped out genetics/DNA, there is no coding yet to be found to explain how one cell knows to become a fingernail cell and another a brain cell. Now whether or not it is consistent with one of the mainstream current religions' depiction of God is a totally different question.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Sounds like he stole that idea from Kurt Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan

(long-lived aliens crash landed on earth and guided evolution and mankind up to and through the industrial age so they could get the materials/parts to repair their spaceship)

No, it's much more complex than that, Kurt. For one thing, Hoyle hypothesized that a super-intelligence in the infinitely distant future affected the past through quantum-level micro-intervention, and therefore supported its own existence. Talk about intelligent design...

 

[Chu Gai]

Alright. I confess. I did it.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Apparently, ISIS aren't the only terrorists to be concerned about.
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/active-shooter-reported-at-colorado-springs-planned-parenthood-clinic&pubdate=2015-11-28

 

[markw]

Apparently, ISIS aren't the only terrorists to be concerned about.
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/active-shooter-reported-at-colorado-springs-planned-parenthood-clinic&pubdate=2015-11-28

Now, you should know by now that the media spins things to fit their agenda.

"The shooting began at Chase Bank. The shooter then took hostages and hid in a Planned Parenthood office. As far as I can tell, this had absolutely nothing to do with Planned Parenthood or abortion, but you wouldn’t know that by reading the reporting this morning on this out of the Washington Post and the Huffington Post."

http://rightwingnews.com/culture/media-label-co-planned-parenthood-shooter-white-right-wing-extremist-with-no-evidence/

or

http://www.youngcons.com/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooter-not-republican-registered-as-a-woman/