COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, December 01, 2013

With a leap and a bound, Obama could undo decades of failed US foreign policy and regain for the USA its preeminent position in the Middle East, albeit on a completely different and perhaps more solid basis


Turkey and Iran Make an Early Move:



...and This:


Iran deal could shake up Middle East after generations of conflict

Nuclear deal with Iran presents chance of change in alliances and rivalries that have dominated the region's politics

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor 

theguardian.com, Saturday 30 November 2013 17.55 EST


The interim deal between six leading world powers and Iran over its nuclear programme, agreed in late-night talks last weekend, could – if it bears fruit in the long term – transform the wider region; it could redraw the map of an area that has been gripped by conflict or the threat of conflict for generations.
In the midst of a growing schism between Shia and Sunni Muslims in the Middle East, fuelled by the war in Syria, an agreement that reduces the threat of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, sanctioned by the US, presents enormous possibilities as well as potential threats.
The first and most obvious benefit of the deal, ignored by Israel's hawkish prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, his allies in the US Congress and Saudi Arabia, is that the diplomacy that led to the interim six-month agreement is the first indication that under the new president, Hassan Rouhani, Tehran's clerical regime might now see the benefit of negotiating solutions to the region's problems, rather than its previous angry posturing under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It is conceivable that such a shift might, at some point in the future, involve Tehran reconsidering its support for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah.
An Iran a step further back from conflict with Israel, and potentially minded to meddle less in the region, would be a good thing if Tehran sticks to its part of the deal: to dilute its stockpile of uranium enriched to 20% so that it is returned to 5% enriched, and not go ahead with the commissioning of the Arak reactor, which is able to produce plutonium.
But the deal creates new tensions as well in a Middle East already challenged by the upheavals of the 2011 Arab spring. Washington's decision to sideline its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia in the secret bilateral negotiations with Iran that began in August is in some respects as significant for the future as the nuclear deal.
Specifically for Israel, it can be seen as a rebuke to Netanyahu's long and vociferous insistence that Iran and its nuclear programme be treated by the US as an "existential threat".
It also marks a significant reshaping of the relationship with Sunni Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Riyadh not only fears the influence of a resurgent Iran – with which it is increasingly engaged in a proxy sectarian conflict in Syria – but is furious at what it sees as Washington's betrayal.
Turkey and Egypt, too, have been discomfited by the prospect that a deal might allow the emergence of Shia Iran – in alliance with Shia-dominated Iraq – as a significant regional power.
It is how these existing rivalries over the Iranian deal fit into the region's widening fracture lines that will define the future of the Middle East.
A changing region

Turkey
Relations between Turkey and Iran have been worsening in recent years, not least since Turkey agreed in 2011 to house a Nato radar base and as a consequence of the war in Syria, where Ankara has helped the Sunni rebels. However, energy-poor Turkey has been hard hit economically by the sanctions regime imposed against Iran. But the deal in Geneva appears to have given fresh impetus to efforts to thaw relations between Sunni majority Turkey and Tehran, with the Iranian president scheduled to visit Turkey in December. A thaw in relations between Ankara and Tehran could have positive consequences for efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the war in Syria.

Syria and Lebanon

The interim deal on Iran is a double-edged sword for Syria and Lebanon, which in different ways have both seen the fallout of the increased religious tension stoked by the war in Syria and by competition between Saudi and the Gulf states on one side and Iran on the other. On the plus side is the notion that if Iran holds to its side of the nuclear bargain it might persuade the international community to give Tehran a role in a Syrian peace process that could bring that conflict to an end. More likely, in the short term, is that friction between the parties will continue to be played out in proxy confrontations both in Syria, where Iranian Lebanese client group Hezbollah is openly fighting on the Assad side, and in Lebanon itself.

Israel and the peace process

The anger of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his allies both in Israel and the US Congress over the deal – which they have compared to the Munich agreement that appeased Nazi Germany – marks a significant foreign policy defeat for Netanyahu and Israel. A potential casualty of the deal, in a context of the already difficult relationship between Obama and Netanyahu, could be the renewed US efforts to kickstart the Israel-Palestinian peace process – an area in which Netanyahu has long shown himself reluctant to make any meaningful movement.

Sunni and Shia divide

Fuelled in part by the conflict in Syria, the upheavals in the region since the Arab spring have seen growing tension and violence along the fault lines of the Sunni-Shia divide, not least in Shia majority Iraq which has seen sectarian violence growing month by month in the last year. In Bahrain and Lebanon sectarian tensions have also been rising.

America and the Middle East

After the long military engagement in Iraq, US participation in the fall of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and accusations of a muddled and uncertain response to events in both Egypt and Syria, the interim deal is the first real suggestion that President Barack Obama intends to make a mark on the foreign policy front in the Middle East. Having spoken early in his presidency of his preparedness to speak to America's enemies, the tentative breakthrough with Iran – not least in the face of opposition by Israel and Saudi Arabia – suggests a willingness to take risks that has long been absent.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

Saudi-US relations have been frayed for some time. Points of friction have included Saudi's irritation over the US attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood – which it detests – when the Brotherhood was in power in Egypt, and over its fears that any deal with Iran might lead to the resurgence of the world's most important Shia state. Since the advent of the Arab spring, Saudi Arabia has positioned itself aggressively in the worsening Shia-Sunni sectarian divide, helping to prop up minority Sunni rule in Bahrain and backing Sunni jihadis fighting in Syria against the Assad regime.

Iran


The interim six-month deal envisages sanctions relief to Iran to the tune of $7bn, opening the way for a long-term deal worth exponentially more. The hope of the Obama administration is that by demonstrating that there are solid economic rewards for Iran in co-operating with international demands over its nuclear programme, it will cement the more moderate government of Hassan Rouhani (above) after the rejection by voters of the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian negotiators have warned, however, that because of continuing competition among hardliners and more moderate strands in Iranian politics hardliners could be resurgent without noticeable benefits to Iran. A fuller international engagement with Iran is also seen by many observers as a prerequisite to negotiating an end to the conflict in Syria. Tehran supports the Assad regime, concerned – for its own part – over what it sees as the emergence of an increasingly Sunni jihadist influence over those fighting the regime, backed by individuals in rival Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

172 comments:

  1. An alliance developing between Turkey and Iran could eclipse the Israeli Saudi Axis.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not likely. Israel has hundreds of nukes, and apparently Saudi has options on Paki nukes.

      Delete
    2. An alliance between persia and the ottomans? Could create the new caliphate.

      And war with everyone else...

      Be careful of what you wish for, you may get it.

      Delete
  2. Probably the most cynical axis of power in the last forty years. It will have an astonishingly short shelf-life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who knows, Deuce? Maybe WiO and Allen will get to do a Hajj and come back and tell us about it. No more talk about nuking the black rock, that's for sure.

      Delete
    2. The only reason I'd go to Arabia? Is to reclaim land stolen from my ancestors.

      Delete
  3. Maybe Obama has figured the best way to finance his Obamacare is to dump two or three carrier groups and let our two greatest allies ever imagined, conceived, wished for, perceived, lusted after, the irreplaceable flying buttresses of the Republic, the ever present and always necessary Israel and of course the worth of worthiest, Saudi Arabia, carry their own water for a change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I keep hearing about how Israel is America's "unsinkable aircraft carrier" in the Middle East, but when's the last time we actually refueled combat air patrols there, as opposed to Qatar, Bahrain, or with our own tanker aircraft?

      Delete
    2. Maybe Israel should do what is best for itself while America is self destructing.

      Not the 1st time America lost it's way. Wont be the last....

      Delete
  4. Pray for the day when Israel and Saudi Arabia join Paraguay and the Sudan in their position of deserved
    relevance and importance to US foreign policy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WOW BOB WOW:

      Sharansky, who has been spearheading efforts to reach a compromise between the Women of the Wall and the government, said it was a “strange idea” in the first place for a Supreme Court to have ruled in 2003 that women could be arrested for wearing the prayer shawls.

      The group has taken up the custom of reading from a printed Bible – and not a Torah scroll, which is hand-scribed and treated with a much greater level of reverence than its published book version – to avoid challenging an 2010 administrative procedure that bars women from bringing an actual Torah into the women’s section of the wall.

      Several activists in the movement say that now that they’ve won the battle to wear tallitot and tefillin (phylacteries) without fear of arrest, they should push their prayer-protest a little further at the Rosh Hodesh gathering for the new month of Tevet – which falls in early December, during Chanukah – by bringing an actual Torah into the prayer plaza, as they have done in the past.


      WOW BOB WOW

      Delete
    2. I guess that day the President of the United States will officially move it's embassy to Jerusalem.

      I wait, hope and work for that day.

      you should too....

      Delete
    3. Teresita RedingerSun Dec 01, 07:41:00 AM EST
      WOW BOB WOW:

      Sharansky, who has been spearheading efforts to reach a compromise between the Women of the Wall and the government, said it was a “strange idea” in the first place for a Supreme Court to have ruled in 2003 that women could be arrested for wearing the prayer shawls.



      Jews are arrested for saying a prayer on the Temple Mount.

      What's your point?

      Delete
  5. Turkey and Iran are hand in glove business partners, if not lovebirds from heaven.

    The Turks have always been slick when it comes to perceiving shifting political winds. If the Iranians are even half serious about wanting a real deal they're going to get one (if Obama can hold off the conga line.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The regulars on this blog are going to be accused of being anti-Conga.

      FT reports Peru's Congress in a terse statement last night announced charges of “an incitement to the crime of rebellion” against Gregorio Santos, the province of Cajamarca’s Maoist governor who has lead violent protests against Newmont Mining's Conga project.

      Delete
    2. That "conga" line is trying to say your pathetic ass from Iranian nuclear ambitions.

      Even if Iran doesn't get a hot bomb it will now have the ability to create instability and chaos. That is the deal they want.

      Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, UAE to start... Iran wants global power.

      Becareful of your blindness due to your hatred for the conga line, you may be opening the door for something far more lethal and evil.

      Something I doubt you understand.

      What was that rank of yours after 3 years? General? Lt Colonial?

      Sorry Rufus, you are still a grunt. PERIOD.

      Grunts don't make policy, they follow orders because they are not capable of thinking.

      Delete
    3. let me amend that last statement,

      You were never trained to think. Your job was not thinking. Your position was not about strategy, it was saying "Yes Sir"


      You have lived above your pay grade.

      Delete
    4. So should we nuke the black rock belonging to your new BFF?

      Delete
    5. My new BFF?

      You have a bad habit of putting words in other people's mouths.

      Please amend your libelous slur and post any exact verbiage I might have spoken about the Saudis.

      I think you won't, as you are lying again..

      Delete
  6. Anonobob: She is my blog administrator, Sniveling, and she is 'in love'.

    Hey Bob, yesterday I went to Re-PC, dropped $55 for a used desktop, took it home, put Windows XP on it, got it online, installed Chrome, Seamonkey mail, VLC, and Grabit, signed in to Google, and I'm just a girl. Now I got nine gadgets with access to the web. You need to step up your game, bud.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is what scares him - Luddites like you waxing all technical when all he needs do is use the internet access he has.

      Go to google, click sign in, add new account. If he needs a new email account he can simply go to hotmail, or yahoo, or google and get one and use that so that he too can be a married Filipino lady with a husband and kids who pretends to work on computers for the Navy but is paranoid that posts will link back to the real person.

      It wasn't that long ago that you 'needed' anon login to post here yourself T.

      Delete
    2. Because my husband used the Google gmail to get into Facebook. He's quit Facebook from sheer boredom, so now I put my name on it, as far as Blogger is concerned..

      Delete
    3. And before you ask why don't I use MY gmail, it's because I munged the password when I stormed out of here in a huff (somewhere between the fifth and ninth time) and I can't recover it.

      Delete
    4. For a Navy computer whiz you don't seem to realize you can get fresh brand spanking new google accounts.

      Funny that! Maybe you are who you say you are ;)

      Delete
    5. Homey don't play that anymore. What you see is what you get.

      Delete
  7. First reports (anecdotal) seem to suggest that the Obamacare website is, indeed, working quite a bit better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eventually, they are going to have to start "promoting" the website, again, and pray, pray, pray that they don't drive enough traffic to Crash it, again.

      Better them than me. :)

      Delete
    2. It's a fool's errand, Rufus. The people that need to sign up are as helpless as Bobby Zero.

      Delete
    3. Ummh, I don't know, T. To some extent you're right, of course; but, those people have several decades of dealing with insurance agents, etc. They do know how to pick up a phone, and call someone.

      I think we'll witness a lot of sturm and drang, that will lead, in the end, to pretty much those that want insurance getting insurance.

      The money word being "Want."

      Delete
    4. The trick being to make the low-income, blue collar, 20-something "want" insurance.

      Delete
    5. "Only" thirty, or forty something a month might sound like a hell of a deal to the White House staffer, but the guy taking home $290.00/wk, and spending his waking hours trying to get laid might have a different take on it.

      My hunch is, the penalty is too low the first year to move most of those guys. It might take 3 years before many of them decide that they're better off going for it.

      Delete
    6. Hillary will fix it. She's the smartest woman in the world. Why, one time she invested $1,000, and when she cashed out soon after, the fund was $100,000.

      Delete
    7. What they will do, Rufus, is adjust their withholding to end up with a refund of zero, and leave Uncle Sam holding the bag.

      Delete
    8. Yeah, some might. I think many will just ignore it.

      But, keep in mind, at the end of the day it was the insurance companies that set the premiums, and they aren't dummies when it comes to figuring out who will apply for insurance. They will probably be a lot less surprised than the Democratic politicians.

      Delete
    9. Expect more of this shit:

      (London Telegraph) A pregnant woman has had her baby forcibly removed
      by caesarean section by social workers.

      Essex social services obtained a High Court order against the woman
      that allowed her to be forcibly sedated and her child to be taken from
      her womb.

      The council said it was acting in the best interests of the woman, an
      Italian who was in Britain on a work trip, because she had suffered a
      mental breakdown.

      The baby girl, now 15 months old, is still in the care of social
      services, who are refusing to give her back to the mother, even though
      she claims to have made a full recovery.

      Delete
    10. There's got to be a lot more to that story.

      Delete
  8. Ahmedinejad says Israel should be wiped off the map of the world, so we (the US Navy and Air Force, with Bibi on the sidelines waving pom poms) must respond with an attack on their underground sites. And when Khrushchev said "We will bury you" America of course responded with a full-scale nuclear attack, remember?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you and your family live under constant rocket attacks for a decade supplied by Iran.

      I hope you have 30 seconds to run to a shelter day or night with a siren as a warning.

      I hope your family has PTSD, as well as your entire city.

      You Christianity, at least your warped sick version of it, is showing.

      Israel fights on a daily basis, suicide bombers, rockets and attacks. The Iranian funded murderers target 7 year old girls, pregnant women and of course the elderly.

      Israel has never asked or allowed Americans to fight their battles, but maybe America should stop enabling Israel's enemies.

      Delete
    2. May all thy children be taught of the LORD, WiO, and great may be the peace of thy children.

      Delete
    3. Well you certainly missed that boat.

      You are a follower of Baal.

      Delete
    4. But Ms T, as your toilet Jew hating, Israel bashing, Judaism libeling mouth spouts it's daily shit coupled with "quotes" of Jewish scripture?

      Those Who Bless Israel Will Be Blessed, and Those Who Curse Israel Will Be Cursed. In the Book of Genesis, Chapter 12, Verse 1-3

      Suck on that....

      Delete
    5. Funny how Israel wasn't even BORN in Chapter 12, because he was Abraham's grandkid. And you say *I* don't know Scripture.

      Delete
    6. Funny how you just don't GET it...

      And No you DONT KNOW Jewish Scripture.

      Otherwise you would have KNOWN that G-d Knew.

      You are one piss ant....

      I hope if you believe there is a hell? You will burn there.

      Delete
    7. SIncerely.... I hope you burn in hell.

      Delete
    8. Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

      Delete
    9. Then your cursed name will be forgotten.

      Delete
    10. The same fate awaits us all, from mayflies to mountain ranges. I don't know where my great-grandparents are buried. My children don't even know their names. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, c'est la vie.

      Delete
    11. Maybe you have nothing worth remembering?

      Delete
    12. But everyone remembers David, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Miriam, Ruth, Esther.

      Hmmm I sense a pattern...

      You and what you stand for? Will be dust.

      No doubt about it...

      Delete
  9. It's all simple.

    The enemy of my enemy is my temporary friend.

    And that was a Totalitarian, not a Libertarian, move to cut off that last thread.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had no opinion on the dispute.

      But after you letting rathole call me a fucking fascist day after month I'd think that you would let Allen challenge Rufus if he wishes to do so.

      bob

      Delete
    2. Don't worry fuckhead, he'll be back. Probably before lunch.

      It was 213 comments, dumbshit.

      Delete
    3. Dick Cheney got five draft deferments because had "had other priorities in the 60's than military service." But that was before all the yellow ribbons sprouted on the boot of people's cars, support our troops and all that. Boomers bragging about being a Vietnam vet is more popular than claiming to have attended Woodstock, these days.

      Delete
    4. Yeah, but, baby we paid our prices on the college campuses when we got home. Wasn't nothing to do but grow your hair long, and wear a "peace sign" patch somewhere on your body at all times. :)

      Delete
    5. Then, you had to be careful that you weren't spending half your time in fights with the football team (those guys were always gung ho patriots - not gung ho patriots enough to enlist, plenty gung ho enough to kick a little "hippie ass" down at the local watering hole/pizza joint.)

      Delete
    6. Personally, I am much more interested in the continuing great recession, and any possible avenues out.

      For instance, something I have not yet seen, is an analysis of to what extent (if any) the ACA will affect the broader economy - the day to day economy of the median person, not the economy of Johnson and Johnson, or United Health, although that could be interesting, too.

      Delete
    7. This about covers it: http://blog.tightsplease.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/peace-sign-leggings.jpg

      Delete
    8. But, fuckhead, paying your compliment back at you, comments have run on to over 300 with no cutoff.

      bob

      Delete
    9. Yeah, I guess Deuce wanted to post something else.

      Delete
    10. One does not have to cut off comments to post something else.

      He has done it many times.

      bob

      Delete
    11. If I was running the blog I'd do the same thing, Bobbo. When the party is spread between two or three threads it loses oomph.

      Delete
  10. The ACA my ass.

    It's ObamaCare or have you forgotten.

    And the effect on the economy is well known.

    It is helping big time to ruin it.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Want part time work?

      Apply here.

      bob for a great economy

      Delete
    2. Are you sure you were really just helping that sheep get over the fence?

      Delete
    3. Bob, you're so fucking dumb, I get depressed and want to sleep every time you post something.

      Delete
    4. :)

      heh

      Get some sleep!

      Courtesy of

      bob

      The blog will be better off without the f words.....

      :)

      Delete
  11. I have struggled, assiduously, my entire life to stay away from stupid people. And, now, in my later years, I get trapped on a blog with one. It's to weep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's like the La Brea Tar Pits here.

      Delete
    2. Assiduously?

      Really?

      :):)

      heh

      You must be an intelligent fellow, well read in all the finer arts.

      Have you thought about just closing your door, turning the computer off , scratching you gut, picking the scut out of your belly button, and taking a long nap?

      :)

      bob

      Delete
    3. You are a darling, Rufus.

      The world wouldn't be the world without Rufus.

      And Slim Pickens.

      bob

      Delete
    4. "a fist full of dollars and a belly full of beer"

      :)

      bob

      Delete
  12. Buchanan on the Conga Line


    When, after the massacres at Newtown and the Washington Navy Yard, Republicans refused to outlaw the AR-15 rifle or require background checks for gun purchasers, we were told the party had committed suicide by defying 90 percent of the nation.

    When Republicans rejected amnesty and a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, we were told the GOP had just forfeited its future.

    When House Republicans refused to fund Obamacare, the government was shut down and the Tea Party was blamed, word went forth:

    The GOP has destroyed its brand. Republicans face a wipeout in 2014. It will take a generation to remove this mark of Cain.

    Eight weeks later, Obama’s approval is below 40 percent. Most Americans find him untrustworthy. And the GOP is favored to hold the seats it has in the House while making gains in the Senate.

    For this reversal of fortunes, Republicans can thank the rollout of Obamacare — the website that does not work, the revelation that, contrary to Obama’s promise, millions are losing health care plans that they liked, and the reports of soaring premiums and sinking benefits.

    Democrats, however, might take comfort in the old maxim: If you don’t like the weather here, just wait a while.

    For, egged on by Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli Lobby AIPAC, the neocons are anticipating the return of Congress to start work on new sanctions on Iran. Should they succeed, they just might abort the Geneva talks or even torpedo the six-month deal with Iran.

    While shaking a fist in the face of the Ayatollah will rally the Republican base, it does not appear to be a formula for winning the nation.

    According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from Tuesday, by 44-22 Americans approve of the deal NATO, Russia and China cut with Tehran to freeze its nuclear program.

    While two-thirds do not trust Iran when it says its program is not designed to build nuclear weapons, fully 65 percent believe “the United States should not become involved in any military action in the Middle East unless America is directly threatened.”

    Only 21 percent disagree.

    This is the nation that rose up last summer and told Obama it did not want to get involved in Syria’s civil war, and told Congress to deny Obama the authority to order air strikes — red line or no red line.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
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    1. {...}

      Even if the Iran deal collapses, 80 percent of Americans would favor a return to the sanctions regime and negotiations. Only 20 percent would support military action against Iran.

      In summary, while Americans do not trust Iran, they do not want war with Iran. They want to test Iran. On this issue, Obama is in sync with his countrymen.

      Why, looking at these numbers, would Republicans return to Washington with a full-metal-jacket ,”axis-of-evil” attitude, with John McCain becoming again the face of the party?

      Why would Republicans return to Washington and throw away the winning hand that is Obamacare? It is ravaging the president’s reputation for competence and his credibility, and calling into question the core philosophy of the Democratic Party — that Big Government is America’s salvation.

      Why would Republicans return to the bellicosity that cost the party both Houses in 2006 and the White House in 2008?

      That 20 percent of the nation which favors war with Iran, in the event of a deal collapse or breakdown in the talks, is already in the GOP corral. If Republicans seek to broaden their base, why abandon Obamacare, where a majority agrees with them, for an issue, renewed hostility to Iran, where a majority disagrees?

      Would it not be playing into Obama’s hand to allow him to assume the role of statesman, who, with “all options on the table,” is willing to negotiate with an enemy rather than take us to war with him?

      Did not Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan all go this same route?

      If Bibi, AIPAC, the neocons and their congressional allies should sabotage the negotiations or scuttle the existing or future deal with Iran, maneuvering us into a another war in the Middle East that America does not want, how do they think this will sit with the voters in 2016?

      If Iran is deceiving us and is hell-bent on breaking out of this deal and making a dash to a bomb, we will know about it months if not years before Iran ever tests a device, let alone builds a bomb, miniaturizes it and marries it to a delivery system.

      We would have more than enough notice to abort any test and neutralize Iran’s nuclear program. And the nation would unite behind action, were it seen that Iran had lied to us to buy time to build and test a bomb.

      But if the Republican Party leads Congress in imposing new sanctions, and the Iranians walk out, and the NATO-Russia-China coalition breaks up, and a chance for peace in the Persian Gulf seems to have been thrown away, the GOP will pay the price. And rightly so.

      Delete
    2. No, I am paying attention to the true obsessives and will continue to do so.

      Delete
    3. No, you are jew obsessed.

      When Syria displaces 4.5 million arabs, of which there are 1.2 million palestinians? 110k are DEAD? Starvation in Syria's 2nd largest city?

      You post about Israel MOVING 70k nomadic Bedouin (which told of the millions it would cost the Jewish state to relocate them to other lands inside Israel)...

      You are deranged.

      Delete
    4. Syrians are not roaming the halls of Conga.
      Syrians did not try to drag us into Iraq or Libya.
      Syria doesn’t get an annual $3.5 billion shakedown.
      Syria doesn’t have nuclear weapons and is not working on getting the US to attack another power that does not have them.

      Delete
  13. Only the idiotic Republican Party could be swayed by AIPAC, a group that represents an electorate of about 4%, that supports Republicans only 35% of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  14. And as to Christian Conservatives, they are even dumber:

    Jews Cast Wary Eye on Evangelicals
    Poll Finds Suspicion of Christian Right, Even Israel Supporters

    Lingering Suspicion: Evangelical Christian support for Israel has not dampened the distrust many Jews feel for them, a new poll reveals.

    By Nathan Guttman
    Published April 16, 2012, issue of April 20, 2012.

    WASHINGTON — Advocates for improved relations between Jews and Christian evangelicals had hoped that years of working together to support Israel would build bridges between the two otherwise distant communities. But a new poll indicates that mistrust and suspicion still run deep, at least on the Jewish side.
    Only one in five Jewish Americans holds favorable views of those aligned with the Christian right, a category that includes most of Israel’s evangelical supporters.
    “I find this shocking and concerning,” said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the first major group to engage evangelical Christians in support of Israel. Eckstein and other activists working on Jewish-evangelical relations expressed a sense of betrayal, accusing Jewish liberals of being prejudiced against Christian conservatives and of clinging to pre-conceived notions and stereotypes about evangelicals’ beliefs and goals.
    The survey, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and published April 3, asked Jewish respondents to rate the favorability of several religious groups. Mormons received a 47% favorability rating, Muslims 41.4%; the group described as “Christian Right” was viewed in favorable terms by only 20.9% of Jewish Americans. In contrast, the general American population, as shown by other polling data, views evangelicals more favorably than Muslims and Mormons.


    “Most liberal Jews view the Christian right as wanting to impose a Christian America on them,” said Marshall Breger, professor at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and leading voice on inter-religious relations. “To the extent to which the bulk of Jews are liberal, both politically and culturally, they’ll have negative views of the Christian right.”

    Social views of Christian conservatives have been drawing attention in recent months as an increasingly significant part of the Republican presidential primary discourse. Attempts by GOP candidates to prove their conservative credentials in order to win over the Christian right have had, experts believe, an adverse effect on the Jewish community, turning it away from the Republican Party.

    “It’s a huge factor in preventing Jews from becoming more attracted to Republican candidates,” said Kenneth Wald, distinguished professor of political science at the University of Florida and a leading expert on the intersection of religion and politics. He explained that the prominent role played by Christian conservatives in Republican politics is the major obstacle facing the party as it tries to win over Jewish voters.

    Nonetheless, some have noticed a greater acceptance in the Jewish community. Eckstein said that in more than three decades of work on strengthening partnerships between the communities, he has seen Jewish opinion shift gradually to a more tolerant view of Christian evangelicals. “In the early years, the Christian right was very, very suspect in the eyes of the Jewish community,” he said.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. {...}
      Over time, the organized Jewish community began to warm up to evangelicals — in part, he believes, because of his group’s financial support to Jewish organizations. “When we started giving to the Jewish Agency [for Israel] and the [American Jewish] Joint [Distribution Committee], the Jewish community’s attitude began to change,” Eckstein said in a telephone interview from Israel.
      Eckstein recalled being chastised for bringing televangelist Jerry Falwell to his synagogue 32 years ago, but later he officially represented the State of Israel at Falwell’s 2007 funeral. “Evangelicals went from being a pariah to becoming accepted,” he said.
      This acceptance, however, has not penetrated the liberal Jewish circles or the broader Jewish community, all of which still view friendship to Israel as second in importance to shared social values. “There is a small segment of the Jewish population that loves evangelicals because evangelicals love Israel,” said Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington religious affairs think tank. These Jews focus on the issue of Israel while not “buying into” other values promoted by Christian evangelicals, Cromartie said.

      All research points to the sharp contrast between Jews and Christian conservative views on abortions, women rights, gay and lesbian rights, and the separation of religion and state as the key factor distancing the two communities. But David Brog, executive director of Christians United for Israel, America’s largest evangelical pro-Israel organization, sees these issues as an excuse.

      “On the social issues, there is more-or-less unanimity between Christian Conservatives, Mormons, Muslims and Orthodox Jews,” Brog argued. But it is only the Christian conservatives who are treated with mistrust by Jews — a situation caused, Brog posited, by Jewish concerns over evangelical proselytizing or adherence to the belief that the Christian faith should replace Judaism. “We in the Jewish community need to stop viewing the present through the lens of the traumatic past,” he said.

      While praising Jewish organizations and federations for welcoming Christian evangelicals, Brog pointed to the Reform movement as leading the opposing views. Eckstein spoke generally about liberal Jews who “are concerned about tikkun loam [repairing the world]” more than about Israel, as those who still refuse to trust evangelicals as partners.

      In response, Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, said that it is not the Christian right’s beliefs on social issues that pose a problem to the Jewish community — it is their attempt to bring those beliefs to the public sphere.
      “The Christian right has a clear agenda for America that it is trying to advance in all levels of American politics, and this has to do with fundamental questions of our existence, such as church and state separation,” Saperstein said. In contrast, Catholics, Mormons and Muslims, as well as Orthodox Jews, have not taken their conservative beliefs beyond their own communities.
      Saperstein sees initial seeds of cooperation between Jews and evangelical Christians on issues such as global warming and the fight against sex trafficking. Cooperation on these matters, he said, has helped build trust. Saperstein, however, warned that the current political focus of Christian conservatives on social issues, including abortions and civil liberties, “makes it very difficult to change the filters through which the Jewish community looks at them.”

      Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com


      Read more: http://forward.com/articles/154727/jews-cast-wary-eye-on-evangelicals/?p=all#ixzz2mEzzuBvL

      Delete
  15. Jews, in private, loathe the Bible Thumpers and the Republicans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks for telling us what we think. Did you get that from your palestinian girlfriend?

      Delete
    2. No, I used to belong to an exclusive 95% Jewish organization called The Weaver’s Club, in Philadelphia.

      Delete
    3. The Israeli government encourages Christian Zionism, but they don't realize that "Left Behind" Evangelicals view the State of Israel, and Jews, as mere pawns in their prophetic game, to be converted at the end, or discarded with a shrug. I suppose this "any port in a storm" mentality explains Bibi's sudden man crush on King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

      Delete
    4. That was 15 years ago deuce, before the Democrats turned into AL Sharpon, Rev Wright, Louis Farakkan's barbershop choir.

      The GOP historically and thumpers as well, were hated by the Jews. But now the Jews (those not attached to the plantation) see the which group is more dangerous.

      the Democrats win hands down.

      Delete
    5. you are working on yesterday's assumptions.

      Delete
  16. Quirk writes,


    In your charge today you misread your own post at allenWed Nov 27, 08:27:00 PM EST

    It wasn't Rufus that mentioned the 7.56, it was you.

    He did not recognize the error. He should have. But I have no doubt he is a Marine. Do you really think he needs you to defend him?
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oy, clever traps laying all over the place...

      Delete
    2. I don't read half the shit you write.

      And, of that I do read, I certainly don't attempt to correct it all.

      Delete
    3. You accuse me of referring to my rifle as a 7.56 mm, and when it's pointed out that it was YOU that did, and not me, you try to turn it around to the point that it was My fault for not correcting your drug-induced rambling. Is that about it? You got some serious crazy going on there, bubba.

      Delete
    4. .

      Do you really think he needs you to defend him?

      I could give a flying fuck about your and Rufus’ ongoing contretemps. I made the point clear to Ash when he got involved. The argument went on three days and my one post which was only tangentially on the subject involved a slight jest regarding Rufus tucking in his rifle.

      The reason I got involved was your overweening pomposity and bullshit. In a dispute over your respective service bona fides, you introduce George Patton, Hannibal, Varro, Paullus, and Chesty Puller. If it had gone on much longer, we would have been regaled with anecdotes of Napoleon and Alexander the Great. Lord, you are a twit.

      Then when you thought you had Rufus through a misreading of your own post you offer the blog these gems, “That was my little poison pill for you,” and “Oh, I have let you and your pals advance without resistance, until I was ready to strike. That is called “fire discipline”. That is the difference between an officer and a boy.” Do you even read some of the bull you put up here?

      A trap? No not a trap, just pure bullshit. I have no qualms in saying you are lying. Instead of laying traps you were busy searching the posts to find something, anything, to use for a weapon in the argument. When you thought you found it, you then began googling to find out about the M14. The lies, the hypocrisy, the misdirection were all bad enough but the pomposity, arrogance, and preening air of self-importance when you thought that you had won was galling. You proved once again (hardly for the first time) that in spite of being an obvious poor loser, you would have been an even worse winner.

      We have seen this before in arguments where you think you have the advantage. You won’t drop it. You continue to bring it up, try to smear the opponents face in it, continue to pick at the scab. And, invariably, you end up hoisted on your own petard, the M14, the Liberty, even the anatomy of your own ass.

      I wasn’t defending Rufus. I was just tired of your bullshit.

      .

      Delete
    5. And, invariably, you end up hoisted on your own petard, the M14, the Liberty, even the anatomy of your own ass.

      13-0 Rufus. Heh.

      Delete
    6. I'd tell Allen to kindly shove a grenade up his ass and pull the pin, but not only would pulling the pin be difficult in that location, but its pulling alone would not fire the grenade, the handle it released must spring off to ignite the charge. Then I'd be accused of stolen valor. To defend myself I'd Google grenades and post that Allen would have to shit the thing out before hearing the
      Very Loud Noise it makes. He'd have four seconds after shitting to get out of range of the steel fragments, and the much larger porcelain ones, should he have indoor plumbing.

      Delete
    7. It was a pathetic display. I tried to show mercy and called the fight 12-0. Rufus was pulling his punches and looking for me to stop it at round five. Allen tried some rope-a-dope but still had his ass kicked.

      Today, to the boos of the crowd, he steps back into ring leading with his jaw and Rufus pummels him back into the canvas.

      Delete
    8. Rufus,
      Rufus IISun Dec 01, 11:46:00 AM EST
      I don't read half the shit you write.

      And, of that I do read, I certainly don't attempt to correct it all.


      You old story teller, well, course you do. That's why we have scores of exchanges in the past several days. Why not much would have happened around here without us. I had a lot of fun. Thanks and be well.

      This is for Deuce, It is and will remain Israel 13 Others 0. I know that hurts, but facts is facts. Keep on dancin'

      Delete
    9. I hate long goodbyes. Fuck off.

      Delete
  17. "Jews, in private, loathe the Bible Thumpers and the Republicans"

    Deuce

    This is news to me. My Jewish lawyer, who is an Independent, certainly not a Libertarian, loaned this Republican $250,000 to help his ass out.

    It would be news to my father as well, whose life long partner was Jewish, and whom I called Uncle Roscoe.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Without that 250K I would have been dead in the water.

      With it I was able to make things work, raise my kids in a normal manner, and now am able to help my niece.

      She is a fine person and will help someone else someday I am sure.

      bob

      Delete
    2. Rufus would make one hell of a Personnel Manager for a company like Blackwater interviewing for infantry credentials.

      Delete
    3. Possibly.

      He saved uncounted lives by selling life insurance.

      There is no glass ceiling for a guy like that.

      :)

      bob

      Delete
  18. Jeez, even mild mannered Quirk has gotten the "f" word disease.

    When will this ever stop?

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I figure it will finally finish, Farmer Fudd, Friday, with the forum fully fatigued.

      Delete
    2. I thought he was Dutch.

      Finnish Farmer Fudd does have a ring to it, though.

      Delete
  19. .

    The knockout game. A double standard.

    http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Disturbing-imagery-333570

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So what else is new?

      What would be funnier than shit? Some punk tries to "knock out" (or as I call it attempted murder) and the victim gets a shot off and kills the criminal.

      That would be a good thing.

      Delete
  20. Thank you all for your support. Perhaps we can move on from this silliness, now. God knows I'm ready to give it a rest.

    There is a lot of interesting stuff in the world right now; Lord knows this wasn't some of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Deuce has supplied this:

      "Why would Republicans return to Washington and throw away the winning hand that is Obamacare? It is ravaging the president’s reputation for competence and his credibility, and calling into question the core philosophy of the Democratic Party — that Big Government is America’s salvation."

      The correction to my offering was mistakenly re-posted @ Sun Dec 01, 03:54:00 PM EST, below.

      Delete
  21. Your wish is my command:

    James Franco and Seth Rogen's version of Kanye and Kim's Work of Art

    We're blessed to live in the highest of all Civilizations!

    ReplyDelete
  22. No linky big dinky....

    bobbo

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'd rather be listening to Darius Rucke --

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvKyBcCDOB4

    I gotten so I love this song.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kanye and Kim Rule!

      ...just ask them.

      Delete
    2. Rucker.

      He at least knows his Dogwood Flowers, as I do.

      bob

      Delete
  24. True Genius:

    "Officials: Speed Likely Factor In Paul Walker Fatal Crash..."

    It takes down a 50 foot concrete pole, a tree, ends up in flaming pieces spread over half a block, and they conclude speed might possibly have been a factor!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From Meadow Rain to a ball of flame:

      "Walker had a child with a former girlfriend. Daughter Meadow Rain was born in November 1999."

      Absent then, absent now.

      Delete
    2. Put "Walker Crash" in Google Images, and you will see what must be the most destructive one car crash in history.

      ...or what's left of it.

      Delete
  25. Rufus,
    Rufus IISun Dec 01, 11:46:00 AM EST
    I don't read half the shit you write.

    And, of that I do read, I certainly don't attempt to correct it all.


    You old story teller, well, course you do. That's why we have scores of exchanges in the past several days. Why not much would have happened around here without us. I had a lot of fun. Thanks and be well.

    This is for Deuce, It is and will remain Israel 13 Others 0. I know that hurts, but facts is facts. Keep on dancin'

    ReplyDelete
  26. KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A protest by about 300,000 Ukrainians angered by their government's decision to freeze integration with the West turned violent Sunday, when a group of demonstrators besieged the president's office and police drove them back with truncheons, tear gas and flash grenades. Dozens of people were injured.

    The mass rally in central Kiev defied a government ban on protests on Independence Square, in the biggest show of anger over President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign a political and economic agreement with the European Union.

    The protesters also were infuriated by the . . . . . .

    The Twitter Revolution Continues

    ReplyDelete
  27. Let's face it.

    The "West" is where it's at.

    It's the West and the Rest.

    (book)

    That is why I am so enthused by the progress India is making.

    How I wish they continue......

    bob

    ReplyDelete
  28. A "rat free" day,

    No other 'anons' around but me.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Off celebrating Hanukkah.

      See you in a couple days.

      rat

      .

      Delete
  29. Her politics are mostly wrong but she is truly beautiful and a great singer.....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eqJwRkDsSw

    Lordy!

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your unca bob's interpretation of this old Christmas song is that it is a depiction of the coming of a higher form of consciousness.

      See: Cosmic Consciousness

      Bucke, Canadian psychologist

      Though he got the muzzies all wrong.

      Which is to be forgiven as in his day they didn't know so much about them as we do now and he was very ill-read in the koran.

      Bible Thumping Christians would disagree with my interpretation.

      For others than thumpers see:

      Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

      :)

      Delete
    2. Bud drinkers may gas pass it off.

      bob

      Delete
  30. Rescuers worked to stabilize the listing, toppled train cars, fire officials said. They used jacks to prop up train carriages as responders worked to free passengers stuck beneath seats and other parts of the train.

    ...

    A union official who represents Metro-North workers called the derailment "the worst thing I've seen in 38 years" working on the railroad. "The whole railroad's praying right now," said James Fahey, the director of the executive board of Association of Commuter Rail Employees and a train controller.

    "Everybody's upset about the deaths."

    ReplyDelete
  31. If you believe that the Islamist regime of Iran will nuke the third-holiest place in Islam I have a bridge in Paris you can jump from, so you'll be in Seine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But the Mahdi, my dear, the Mahdi......we must force the return of Mahdi.....and to hell with Beyonce.

      By the way, since I don't know, is the shrine in Jerusalem Shiite or SunnI?

      Not that it makes much difference.

      "We love death more than you do life."



      Hamdoon

      bob

      Delete
    2. Jerusalem is not a holy site for islam.

      Never has been.

      Not even in the qu'ran

      It's only mentioned in a later story...

      Not important in the least.

      Just shows your ignorance again.

      Delete
  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Bob, Quirk, Umatilla Jack and I were having apertifs by the Sea and watching the gulls when a nitwit huk huk intruded into our conversation.

    Hamdoon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were listening to Beyonce sing of higher things when nitwit.....

      Hamdoon

      Delete
  34. Former National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden on Sunday said that reports that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is keeping a “Doomsday Cache” of highly classified material are within reason.

    ...

    If it does exist, the “Doomsday Cache” would be “catastrophic for the safety and security of the American nation,” Hayden added.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If that's the case, how come he hasn't been taken out yet?

      Delete

    2. Darn good question.

      bob

      Delete
  35. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf8db3Vz95I

    No Fear.

    :)

    Best to most of you,

    g'nite

    bob

    ReplyDelete
  36. In November, Denmark-based Bitcoin Internet Payment System suffered a DDoS attack. Unfortunately for users of the company's free online wallets for storing bitcoins, the DDoS attack was merely a smokescreen for a digital heist that quickly drained numerous wallets, netting the attackers a reported 1,295 bitcoins — worth nearly $1 million — and leaving wallet users with little chance that they'd ever see their money again.

    ReplyDelete
  37. 30 Minute Delivery from Amazon

    Drone Delivery

    No shit. Drone delivery.

    No operator

    GPS Guided

    remember that drone that landed, operator-free, on the George Washington?

    ReplyDelete
  38. When retired Army General Stanley McChrystal commented that he believes it’s time to “consider a draft” at the Aspen Ideas festival, he sparked a conversation in the media on the merits of the draft and why it would be good for our military and America. The argument to bring back the draft usually revolves around three key issues: 1) a conscripted military would be more representative of the United States population (and the inherent accusation that it currently does not), 2) the burden of war has unfairly fallen squarely on the shoulders of the all-volunteer military, (the much vaunted “other” 1%) and 3) policy makers would be less willing to wage war if their sons and daughters stood to potentially serve.

    ...

    The Other 1%. It is true that the burden of fighting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has been largely shouldered by the all-volunteer military, the “other 1%” of Americans who chose to serve in the military during a time of war. (With a total end strength of about 1.5 million (active), the military makes up less than .5% of the American population.)

    ...

    The Hunger Games. It makes sense to believe that if we had a draft, policy makers would be less likely to engage in risky military adventurism because their own sons and daughters might be called to serve. However, the raw numbers suggest that the probability of this happening is so infinitesimally small that it would be insignificant, except for symbolic value, perhaps.

    ReplyDelete
  39. George , Washington is a little town out in Central Washington where I tried to feel up Miss T one day and she said:

    "Don't you dare."

    bob

    ReplyDelete
  40. .

    Another ACA lawsuit.

    While the president's health law is vast and extraordinarily complex, it is in one respect very simple. Subsidies are only to be made available, and tax penalties for not signing up for health insurance are only to be assessed, in states that create their own health-care exchange. The IRS, however, is attempting to enforce tax penalties in all states—including Oklahoma and the majority of the other states that have declined to create their own exchanges. Citizens and businesses in these states must use the federal exchange instead.

    The distinction is critical, because under the terms of the law it is the availability of government insurance-premium subsidies that triggers the penalties against businesses if they fail to provide their employees with health insurance that the administration deems acceptable. This is a huge problem for the administration, which desperately needs to hand out tax credits and subsidies to the citizenry to quash the swelling backlash against the law...


    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304448204579186322449012040

    .

    ReplyDelete
  41. .

    Yes sirree, boys and girls this is the old Quirkster spinning the hits for you until dawn. Tonight, we'll be listening to a little doo wop and our first disk is one of my personal favorites by the Shirelles.

    Dedicated to the One I love

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      This next one is requested by a lonely little Indian girl named Botabing Botanchoohie. She is located in Germany right now but will soon be moving to Dresden soon. She says slicing up brain tissue all day reminds her of her Unca Bobbo and wants to send this song out to him along with a reminder for him not to forget the cab fair she had requested for her trip to Dresden.

      Poor Little Fool

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      I just got a call from a young fellow named Al from down south in Atlanta. Al is kind of depressed tonight over his recent breakup with a long time friend and he asked if I could sent this one out to his BFF, Rufus.

      The Great Pretender

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      Hope you kids are enjoying yourselves. There's a full moon out, the fires burning low, sipping a little Absolut, kicking back and relaxing. Let's try something kind of mellow.

      In The of The Night

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      The requests just keep rolling in. This one is from a guy in Ohio who wants it sent out to his girlfriend who he would only call T. You got it WiO.

      Earth Angel

      .

      Delete
    5. .

      Well, kids, it looks like that last one did the trick. I just got a call from a sweet little Filipino princess named, yes you guessed it, T.

      T requests this one be sent out to her number one guy, WiO.

      Dream Lover

      .

      Delete
    6. .

      Good luck, you two. You beautiful.

      Now, while I refill my drink, I am going to spin you another of my favorites.

      In The Still O The Night

      .

      Delete
    7. .

      Whoops, the management just slipped this request under the studio door, and I have little choice but to play it since it came from the boss.

      This is going out to a BFF and I'm sure she will know who it's meant for.

      Only You

      .

      Delete
    8. .

      Now, from an anonymous fan, this one going out to a sweet little red headed angel that used to hang around these parts (in good times and bad).

      You Really Got a Hold on Me

      .

      Delete
    9. .

      You know at this time of year, we have to think family and the fact that circumstances sometimes keep us apart. This one goes out to all the military families that may or may not be together during the holidays this year. If they are not together, let's hope they get together soon.

      Daddy's Home

      .

      <

      Delete
    10. .

      This one goes out to all the toad lickers down there in Arizona.

      Blue Moon

      .

      Delete
    11. .

      This one goes out to a little pineapplehead in Maui.

      Since t Don't Have You

      .

      Delete
    12. .

      This is an age specific request from one of our friends from the great white north, eh.

      Teenager in Love

      .

      Delete
    13. .

      This one goes out to a guy named Sam from a girl he did wrong. She understands he has some serious medical problems right now and may have to go through an extensive 'procedure'. She still wants him to know she is still

      The One Who Really Loves You

      .

      Delete
    14. .

      We've got a request from a number of guys to send one out to a girl from the past named Melody but she would kill me for sending out doowop, we'll need to change the beat a little.

      MONSTER -- Eminem/Rihanna

      .

      Delete
    15. .

      The Monster is a little more Remy Martin than Absolut.

      .

      Delete
  42. The Great Pretender?

    And you sung that one yourself.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
  43. JESUS, you are OLD!!!!!


    oooooo....oooooooo...ooooo

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Old Owl was a hunting tonight, way past midnight, and he saw a young owlete on a branch nearby, and the OLD OWL swooped in for a HOOT.

      ooooooo....ooooo...oooooo

      he said

      and she said

      elsewhere buster

      I'm hunting young rabbits

      strong and nubile

      It's not my habits

      To HOOT with grandpa

      ooooo.....ooooooo......ooooooo

      bob

      Delete
    2. .

      And then Botabing Botanchoohie flew away in search of cab fare.

      .

      Delete
    3. If we had a little MELODY around here we wouldn't be tripping on dessicated droppings on the forest path but would have some true song.

      I so wish she would come back, and I know I am the fault.

      Melody, music, p l e a s e.......

      bob

      Delete
    4. .

      That's why I saved her for last above.

      .

      Delete
  44. World's Richest Leader?

    $40 Freakin' Billion??

    Vladimir Putin

    ReplyDelete
  45. The Great Pretender?

    And you sung that one yourself.

    bob


    With allen on platoon rearguard.

    ReplyDelete