Top 5 Signs the US is de facto allied with Iran versus ISIL
By Juan Cole
1. Karen DeYoung points out that the siege of the Iraqi Shiite town of Amerlicould not have been broken without the help of Shiite militiamen from the Badr Corps, the Salaam Brigades (Mahdi Army) and the extremist Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq. The US essentially provided them close air support against the Salafi Jihadi “Islamic State” group.
2. US air strikes on ISIL in Iraq have alternated with Iranian air strikes on ISIL positions. It seems likely to me that the two air forces are coordinating in at least a minimal way, otherwise there would be a danger of them hitting each other rather than ISIL.
3. Qasem Sulaimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ “Jersualem Brigade” or special forces, was at the Amerli front coordinating with Shiite forces– US air strikes in support of the Amerli campaign were in part helping the IRGC!
4. Iran was the first country to send extra arms to Iraqi Kurdistan after the fall of Mosul. Iran is close to the Kurds, and the efforts of the US to arm and protect from air Iraqi Kurdistan are simply a continuation of US policies in previous decades. The Kurds thus are being supported by both the US and Iran, which makes the two de facto allies.
5. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is alleged to have just authorized Iranian forces to coordinate with American ones. The denials from other Iranian politicians are likely merely camouflage for a policy that would dismay Iran hardliners.
—-
Zeinab Noun's 20-year-old son, Abbas Medlej, was among 19 Lebanese soldiers captured by the extremist militants earlier this month when a troop of fighters stormed a border town. The Shiite Muslim reportedly tried to escape his Sunni captors by pretending to go to the bathroom. Today his mother wept for her 'sacrificed' son and warned: 'We must take our revenge from those apostates.' His beheading comes after Sgt Ali al-Sayyed was murdered in a similarly brutal vein. This image, believed to depict Medlej's beheading, was shared on Twitter.
ReplyDeletetouching.
DeleteI wonder if the examples of Iran murdering it's own or others would be not just as engaging.
The Shiites are on the march...
U.S. military said Sunday it launched airstrikes around Haditha Dam in western Iraq, targeting Islamic State insurgents there for the first time in a move to prevent the group from capturing the vital dam.
ReplyDeleteU.S. officials said that while the Anbar Province dam remains in control of the Iraqis, the U.S. offensive was an effort to beat back militants who have been trying to take over key dams across the country, including the Haditha complex.
“We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam, which remains under control of Iraqi Security Forces, with support from Sunni tribes,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said that Iran “is a bigger problem than ISIS.”
ReplyDeleteIn an interview with NPR that was released on Saturday, Kissinger explained that because Iran has a stronger footing in the Middle East, it has a greater opportunity to create an empire.
"The borders of the settlement of 1919-'20 are essentially collapsing," he said. "That gives Iran a very powerful level from a strategic point of view. I consider Iran a bigger problem than ISIS. ISIS is a group of adventurers with a very aggressive ideology. But they have to conquer more and more territory before they can became a strategic, permanent reality. I think a conflict with ISIS — important as it is — is more manageable than a confrontation with Iran.
The Kissinger interview comes just a day after the BBC reported that Iran's Supreme Leader had ordered his military to cooperate with the U.S. in the fight against ISIS forces. CNN had a similar report.
...of course he does.
ReplyDeleteAny honest and thinking person can review the last 7 US presidents and see how Iran has caused war and chaos for America.
DeleteBut those that stand with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, the Mahdi-firsters cannot see how they are traitors to the USA.
Iran is a declared enemy of the USA, the "great satan", if there are those that willingly embrace Iran as it stands now?
Will have hell to pay when Iran bites the hand...
What?
DeleteYou would not know an honest appraisal of the past 60 years of US/Iranian relations if it bit you on the ass.
The US inflicted a coup de etat upon the people of Iran, sixty year ago, the Iranians had not attacked the US prior to US intervention in Iran.
Yep America did do that. And Iran has been fucking with America ever since.
DeleteYour appraisal of anything usually could fit on a match book cover with room let over....
simplistic worm tongue.
Like it or not, the U.S. Needs Iran to save Iraq from ISIL.
ReplyDeletelike it or not Iran has created the situation that now Iran can USE America to murder off the last resistance to it's shai takeover.
Deleteas we bitch about how disgusting ISIS is, and they are, they still have yet to murder or displace 10% of the numbers that Iran, in Syria have.
at most recent count?
Assad, with hezbollah and iran have butchered 200,000 and made 8 MILLION refugees...
The west plays checkers, Iran invented chess..
fools.
With Israel the genius state, supporting ISIS of course.
DeleteWhat could go wrong with a genius like Netanyahu at the helm?
DeleteIsrael Does About-Face Over Hamas-ISIS Tweet
WALL STREET JOURNAL TEL AVIV—The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did an about-face Friday in its public-relations campaign against Hamas, after setting off a social media storm by tweeting the image of U.S. journalist James Foley taken from the video documenting his execution.
In an effort to further a comparison made for weeks by government officials between the Islamic militant rulers of Gaza and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the communications staff in the prime minister's office published Thursday afternoon a graphic on Twitter TWTR +0.92% juxtaposing Mr. Foley with an image of a body being dragged through the streets of Gaza. Encouraging followers to share the tweet, the prime minister's office added the caption: "RT this: Hamas is ISIS ISIS is Hamas."
The tweet repeated a controversial linkage drawn a day earlier by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who mentioned Mr. Foley's execution at a news conference.
"You saw this beheading of an American journalist Foley,'' Mr. Netanyahu said. "We face the same savagery."
The tweet was shared at least 900 times, but it was published amid a campaign to scrub social media of the graphic video out of respect for the journalist's family and to curb the propaganda campaign of ISIS.
Within hours, the prime minister's office communications staff deleted the tweet. Shortly after midnight Israel time Friday, the prime minister's office posted a new Twitter message with the same graphic and same message, except Mr. Foley's picture was replaced by the black and white ISIS symbol.
Friday afternoon, the prime minister's office posted a new tweet purporting to show one image of masked Hamas militants about to execute alleged collaborators with Israel and another image of ISIS gunmen alongside Iraqi soldiers.
An Israeli official, who confirmed that the prime minister's office published and then deleted the original tweet, said the staff understood the tweet had backfired after getting direct "contacts" about the message and from criticism on social media.
Isis is Hamas, even if many are to stupid to see it.
DeleteAfter all Hamas beheads, executes and tortures civilians on purpose.
If the cuckholded in the west are too cowardly to face the truth? SO be it.
City after city in the west will burn until they wake up and learn that islamic jihad is the same no matter what ball cap and tee shirt they wear.
Deuce ☂Sun Sep 07, 09:16:00 AM EDT
DeleteWith Israel the genius state, supporting ISIS of course.
Israel did America's bidding again...
Like it or not, Israel has made the best case for Iran to become a nuclear power.
ReplyDeleteIran created ISIS by it's defacto take over of Iraq and Syria.
DeleteNow America is jumping like a trained seal.
Iran created Shia hegemony within Sunni lands, then the Sunni reacted and Iran, ever the puppet master has America coming to it's aid.
Iran's nuke program is growing and in the end Iran's nukes will be pointed at America.
Israel has had nothing to do with making any case about an savage, fascist government like Iran having nukes.
However, it might be left to Israel to stop Iran as America has lost any ability to do so.
Maybe if Obama had supported the people of Iran rather than it's mullahs we'd have a different outcome, but if the queen had balls she'd be king...
The only thing that can change Iran's plans to become a shia superpower? revolution....
If Israel decides to go to war with Iran, you can recalibrate your next 100 years let alone 1000.
Delete'Israel' will not survive a war with Iran.
DeleteIran would not survive a war with Israel either.
DeleteThem nukes.
Deuce ☂Sun Sep 07, 09:04:00 AM EDT
DeleteIf Israel decides to go to war with Iran, you can recalibrate your next 100 years let alone 1000.
Iran is already at war with Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas are just proxy armies.
At this writing Iran has lost in 2006 and in 2014 both's it's major attempts.
But Iran? May be a large nation, but the truth? 55% of it's population aint persian and would replace the current islamic nazis in a heartbeat.
Sorry Deuce, Iran doesn't scare me and Israel may have to retaliate against it even if America is to weak or scared to do so.
Not to worry Deuce, Jews and Israel still love America and will protect her.
Jack HawkinsSun Sep 07, 09:23:00 AM EDT
Delete'Israel' will not survive a war with Iran.
Spoken like the coward you are.
Hiding on your stolen lands, you will take care of yourself even if Iran struck America with a bomb.
The current regime in 'Israel', the Zionist, Apartheid Fascist regime of European colonialists ruling over the natives, will not survive a major conflict.
DeleteIt will not survive a nuclear exchange.
Fact of the matter, "O"rdure.
If the anyone in the world were to strike the US with a nuclear weapon, the US would survive it.
DeleteIsrael would not.
Jack the wise.
DeleteJack the ignorant.
If anyone were to strike the USA with a nuke in the form of a EMP?
America would not survive.
Israel understands how evil your friends, Iran, are...
You stand with Iran and jihadists.
I'll stand with America and Israel.
You are the traitor to this nation
As for Iran creating ISIS ...
ReplyDeleteIsrael’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.
“We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”
Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
“We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.
http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328
Ah Rat has posted:
DeletePropaganda Piece 12-4
That makes 12,456 times this year alone..
Go back to your cave, Jack.
ReplyDeleteYou are ruining the morning throwing your usual shit around.
Idaho played a good game last night. I am returning to my rootz. That young freshman (red shirt I think) Linehan kid won the quarterback job. He looked good in there. His father played for the U of I in the ago.
ReplyDeleteYou ought to find a sports team to root for Jackrat, or to hate. Take your mind off your usual daily Jew hating, which is, finally, very bad for the soul. Or take up fishing, or, since there is no fishing down there, go shoot some desert grouse, join a bowling league, anything to get you out of yourself for awhile. It must be tough knowing one is a professional asshole and having only that to hang onto to and be trapped with oneself.
Self-importance is man's greatest enemy.
DeleteWhat weakens him is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of his fellow men.
Self-importance requires that one spend most of one's life offended by something or someone.
Jackrat is definitely full of himself.
DeleteSo was that buffoon Chris HItchens.
"Rat Doctrine" advances in Iraq
ReplyDeleteBAGHDAD — Backed by U.S. airstrikes that began in Iraq late Saturday, Iraqi special forces, allied tribesmen and local police launched a ground offensive Sunday to drive Islamic State militants out of the Haditha area.
The extremists have been attempting to break into the city and take control of its hydroelectric dam since late June, with Iraqi security forces and tribesmen holding back the near-daily assaults, said Khalid Salman Rasif, head of Haditha’s local council.
“The Iraqi army and the tribes have been surrounding Haditha to protect it, but today the special forces joined and the operation started to liberate the area,” he said. “We are on the attack.”
Brig. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saidi, an Anbar-based special forces commander, said the ground offensive was launched about 6 a.m. Iraqi special forces are calling in targets for U.S. airstrikes, he said.
ReplyDeleteThe 2,128 Native American Mascots People Aren’t Talking About
By Hayley Munguia
When Samuel Henry was a kid growing up in D.C. in the late 1950s, he and his friends were devoted Washington Redskins fans — they had the jerseys and knew the lore. And as the lore had it, the “reddish-brown tint” of paint on the team’s downtown D.C. headquarters came from the blood of Native Americans. “When I was a kid, me and my friends, we really thought that they had captured and killed Native Americans and pasted them all over the building,” Henry said. “We were just kids, we didn’t know any better. But we really, honestly believed that.”
Now, almost 60 years later, the Redskins are enmeshed in a debate about whether their name is a racist epithet and should be changed. Advocates for keeping the name reference its origins: In 1937, owner George Preston Marshall changed the team name from the Braves to the Redskins. Marshall said the change was in honor of the head coach at the time, William Henry Dietz, who claimed to be part Sioux (although that claim is suspect). Critics including Henry say its origins are irrelevant and that the name is racist and demeaning. “I’d love to see a boycott of all things Redskins,” he said.
Dan Snyder, the current owner, purchased the team in 1999, when it was fighting its first legal battle over the name. The lawsuits have continued, and earlier this year, the Trademark Trials and Appeal Board canceled the franchise trademark because “a substantial composite of Native Americans found the term Redskins to be disparaging.” Snyder has faced mounting pressure to change the name, even from President Obama and George Preston Marshall’s granddaughter. But Snyder plans to appeal the trademark decision and says he will “NEVER” change the name. Polling suggests Snyder has the backing to ignore the calls; most NFL fans (and Redskins fans in particular) oppose a name change.
What’s considered an outrage in the NFL is embraced or at least tolerated all over the country. While we’ve been consumed by the debate about the Washington Redskins, we’ve overlooked thousands of team names and mascots depicting Native Americans, often stereotypically. These teams are not feeling the kind of pressure that Snyder is. To understand the Washington Redskins, we have to understand the Estelline Redmen, the Natick Redmen, and the Molalla Indians, too.
Terry Borning, the proprietor of MascotDB, has kept a database of the nation’s mascots since 2006. He gathers his data from a variety of sources, including state high school athletic associations, websites and local newspapers. Borning’s database doesn’t have every high school, college and pro team in the country, but it does have 42,624 of them. Looking at MascotDB is as close as we can get to understanding how prevalent Native American team names and mascots are across the country.
“There were a lot of interesting mascots where I lived growing up,” Borning said. “But those have mostly fallen by the wayside. Some of those things of the past were definitely offensive, but also more interesting than the generic mascots we have now.”
I searched the database and found 2,129 sports teams that reference Braves, Chiefs, Indians, Orangemen, Raiders, Redmen, Reds, Redskins, Savages, Squaws, Tribe and Warriors, as well as tribe names such as Apaches, Arapahoe, Aztecs, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Chinooks, Chippewas, Choctaws, Comanches, Eskimos, Mohawks, Mohicans, Seminoles, Sioux and Utes. (Not all teams with the names “Raiders” and “Warriors” are referencing Native Americans, but we spot-checked 20 schools with each name and a majority of each did.)
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-2128-native-american-mascots-people-arent-talking-about/
The correct term is now American Indian, not Native American.
DeleteNative American is out as the PC term of the day, according to sources in Washington, D.C.
It is still OK to refer to Swedes as 'vandals'.
I think all this stuff is so damned silly I can't say...........
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
DeleteIt is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.”
BAGHDAD: Iraq on Saturday welcomed US President Barack Obama’s plan for an international coalition against Jihadists as a “strong message of support”, after repeatedly calling for aid against the militants.
ReplyDeleteObama outlined a plan at a Nato summit on Friday for a broad coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS) Jihadist group, which led an offensive that overran chunks of five Iraqi provinces in June and also holds significant territory in neighbouring Syria.
The "Rat Doctrine"?
ReplyDeleteWow, you really are full of yourself.
I'm goin' back to bed.
Barack Obama, Recep Tayyip Erdogan
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after they made statements to reporters at their meeting at the NATO summit
"I did not get any resistance or pushback to the basic notion that we have a critical role to play in rolling back this savage organization that is causing so much chaos in the region and is harming so many people and poses a long-term threat to the safety and security of NATO members," Obama said at the summit conclusion.
"So there's great conviction that we have to act, as part of the international community, to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS, and that was extremely encouraging."
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2014/09/new_nato_coalition_will_be_tes.html
DeleteSO, ISIS does Not control Haditha, and the Haditha Dam - only some area "around it."
ReplyDeleteIt's starting to sound, to me, that we're not caught in the middle of a "guerilla war," so much as we are caught up in a Propaganda War.
.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone were to strike the USA with a nuke in the form of a EMP?
America would not survive.
Moron.
.
You think America would survive an emp?
Delete.
DeleteYes.
.
the Headline contains this lie...
ReplyDelete"and it's sometimes ally Israel"
Sorry to upset you, The Jewish State of Israel and the United States are mutually public allies.
Iran and Syria are not.
no matter how many times you slant the truth?
The truth will seep thru.
Just like on your last thread, you didn't have the guts to name the Jews as an ancient people of the region, your "film post" did and said that Jerusalem was the property of the Hebrews.
And if you are language challenged?
The Hebrews are the Jews.
like it or not...
it's a fact jack..
.
ReplyDelete'Israel' will not survive a war with Iran.
Moron.
.
.
ReplyDeleteIran would not survive a war with Israel either.
Moron.
.
.
ReplyDeleteIf Quirk were hit by a nuclear explosion, Quirk would not survive.
Moron.
.
If the "Sunni" Tribes have kept ISIS out of Haditha, and off the Dam, then, this whole deal isn't anything like what it has sometimes been described by the RW Chickenhawks, and the "media."
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHell, a nuclear explosion next to ol' Quirk would just piss the dude off and the world havehell to pay
Absent that Sunni General telling his troops to stand down, and gifting two divisions worth of equipment to the headcutters, it's hard to see how this "battle" would be very interesting.
ReplyDeleteNBC Poll: GOP Senate Candidates Open Up Leads in Key States
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-poll-gop-senate-candidates-open-leads-key-states-n196956
Iowa is going to elect that nice Lady who knows how to castrate hogs and cut pork, Ms Ernst.
DeleteShe knows how to put up an excellent political ad.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing the US wouldn't survive would be total nuclear war that wiped out the planet.
Iran need not fear for its survival unless Israel used its nukes. If Israel were to use its nukes it would become a pariah in the world which would threaten its survival but not kill it.
Israel need not fear for its survival unless Iran were to use nukes that it doesn't have. If Iran ever got nukes and were to use them it would become a pariah in the world as well as a target for those other countries that possess nukes including of course Israel.
To assume a nuclear attack by any of the three countries on the others assumes a degree of irrationality that I can't see. They all might be pricks but I don't see them as lunatics.
.
"Iran need not fear for its survival unless Israel used its nukes."
DeleteQuirk
But....but....wait a dern minute here......that is exactly what I said.
.
DeleteAnd I said you were a moron for saying it.
Israel is not about to use nukes on Iran. They are already losing support around the world. That would push them over the edge. The US would not support it and there is the risk that others might take preemptive action against her. Rat was right when he mentioned Israel size. Setting off nukes inside Israel would like setting off a bomb in a broom closet.
.
Israel is not about to use nukes on Iran. They are already losing support around the world.
DeleteReally? Where do you draw your measurement from?
I seem to recall, not to long ago the "world" passed the famous "zionism is racism" at the UN body.. I remember the non-aligned movement supporting the palestinians locked step.
Today? Israel has trade, inspite of the arab boycott (and office) with numerous arab countries.
Today? Israel is being accepted into more and more international trade organizations
Today? Israeli innovations and inventions are used universally.
As for losing support? I seem to remember much larger and more angry crowds than now days..
Can you name me any significant cutting of real ties to Israel, and please don't mention bullshit symbolic crap like England cutting sales of obsolete parts, or Obama slowing Hellfire rockets...
If Iran had an active nuclear bomb ready to go? israel could and would use whatever it had to to protect it itself.
However Israel has not admitted to having any nukes.
Are you, er, ah......OK, Quirk?
ReplyDeleteQuirk, could you please point to the ceiling for me?
DeleteNo, no, Quirk, that's the wall. Point to the ceiling, please.
Every single American, and International News Source has breathlessly reported on ISIS "Taking Haditha, and the Haditha Dam."
ReplyDeleteNow, it turns out, That Isn't True.
What does That tell you?
It tells Me that I've been right, all along. This bunch are "Dead Men Walking.
DeleteThe only "Interesting" part of all of this is whether Obama can "thread the needle" in Syria - whether he can, in reality, "arm up" the Free Syrian Army, while degrading ISIS (all while not knocking off ISIS so rapidly that Assad survives.)
DeleteTall Order.
And, I'm not saying that that is, necessarily, what Obama "should" do; but that does seem to be what he's going to "try to do."
Delete.
DeleteWhat does That tell you?
I haven't seen the statements you are talking about. If what you say is true, it tells me that Every single American, and International News Source is guilty of either faulty or slanted reporting.
It tells Me that I've been right, all along. This bunch are "Dead Men Walking.
It tells me you have been using Bud instead of moo juice on you Koko Puffs.
:o)
.
Rat gave the link, above - from that link:
DeleteThe extremists have been attempting to capture the city and take control of its hydroelectric dam since late June, with Iraqi security forces and tribesmen holding back the near-daily assaults, said Khalid Salman Rasif, head of Haditha’s local council.
“The Iraqi army and the tribes have been surrounding Haditha to protect it, but today the special forces joined and the operation started to liberate the area,” he said. “We are on the attack.”
Brig. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saidi, a special forces commander based in Anbar province, said the ground offensive was launched about . . . .
.
DeleteI was talking the Every single American, and International News Source has breathlessly reported on ISIS "Taking Haditha, and the Haditha Dam." statements.
I never saw any of those statements. The closest I came to seeing something like that was when ISIS was closing on Haditha back in the early summer but the Sunni leaders in the town backed up by Iraqi security forces were holding their own and vowing not to allow ISIS to take either the town or the dam.
.
The whole "Big Deal" case involved the local Sunnis embracing the marauding headcutters.
ReplyDeleteTake That away, and you're left with nothing but a large group of psychopathic looters looking for a place to get killed.
Not to worry Deuce, Jews and Israel still love America and will protect her.
ReplyDeleteI can feel the love and have seen the IDF in action. No thanks.
I agree, we can survive a lot, but I don't know if we could stand that type of "love."
DeleteAnd/or, "protection."
You can only see ONE issue/event.
DeleteOtherwise you are blind as a bat
Rufus, you actually are not worth protecting.
DeleteHowever you don't reflect what America stands for.
QuirkSun Sep 07, 12:11:00 PM EDT
ReplyDelete.
What does That tell you?
I haven't seen the statements you are talking about. If what you say is true, it tells me that Every single American, and International News Source is guilty of either faulty or slanted reporting.
It tells Me that I've been right, all along. This bunch are "Dead Men Walking.-----
It tells me you have been using Bud instead of moo juice on you Koko Puffs.
:o)
......................
I am elated to see this post.
Now I have hope Quirk is regaining his balance.
The 100 million Hindus the muzz slaughtered is only part of the iceberg of slaughter worldwide by the moslems in the last 14 centuries.
ReplyDeleteAnd some nitwits here are concerned about Gaza and Israel defending itself against rocket attacks, suicide tunnels, and kidnapped and butchered little kids.
September 7, 2014
ReplyDeleteThe happy news: drinking is good for you
By Thomas Lifson
Stanton Peele, who studies and treats addiction, has published a fascinating summation of the scientific evidence on drinking and health (hat tip: Instapundit), and it cuts against the grain of much of what you will hear from most public health spokesmen. Drinking alcohol, up to two drinks a day for women and four for men (sorry, ladies, that’s what the data shows!), decreases mortality. Drink up and live longer.
The U.S. public health establishment buries overwhelming evidence that abstinence is a cause of heart disease and early death. People deserve to know that alcohol gives most of us a higher life expectancy—even if consumed above recommended limits. (snip)
…the evidence that abstinence from alcohol is a cause of heart disease and early death is irrefutable—yet this is almost unmentionable in the United States. Even as health bodies like the CDC and Dietary Guidelines for Americans (prepared by Health and Human Services) now recognize the decisive benefits from moderate drinking, each such announcement is met by an onslaught of opposition and criticism, and is always at risk of being reversed.
Noting that even drinking at non-pathological levels above recommended moderate limits gives you a better chance of a longer life than abstaining draws louder protests still. Yet that’s exactly what the evidence tells us.
Driven by the cultural residue of Temperance, most Americans still view drinking as unhealthy; many call alcohol toxic. Yet, despite drinking far less than many European nations, Americans have significantly worse health outcomes than heavier-drinking countries. (For example, despite being heavily out-drunk by the English, we have almost exactly twice their levels of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.)
This graphic from The New England Journal of Medicine lays out the basic facts:
There are a few caveats. True binge drinking -- on the order of 12 drinks in a session -- is unhealthy. That seems pretty obvious, just given the possibility of stumbling and falling, not to mention the hazards of getting behind the wheel. Steele notes: “drinking 10 drinks Friday and Saturday nights does not convey the benefits of two or three drinks daily, even though your weekly totals would be the same.” But I have seen “binge drinking” defined as four or so drinks, which is ridiculous for anyone of average or great body mass.
DeleteAnd there are some people who are particularly vulnerable to harm:
…these outcome data do not apply to women with the “breast-cancer gene” mutations (BRCA 1 or 2) or a first-degree (mother, sister) relation who has had breast cancer, for whom alcohol consumption is far riskier.
Steele does not mention alcoholism, which is interesting coming from an addiction specialist. I strongly suspect he has complicated views on the subject that would distract from his underlying message. I am old enough and have lived enough life to enjoy friendships with people who credit Alcoholics Anonymous with saving their lives. So I am cautious toward attempts to debunk the very notion that alcoholism is not, as is often claimed, a “disease.” I just don’t know. I do know that people I care about have come close to ruining their lives with compulsive drinking, and that they have found the power to stop through a 12 step program. God bless ‘em.
I should disclose that I have a financial interest in the consumption of alcohol, as I am a partner in a California winery. I should also disclose that I love to drink good wine.
In the last 10 years or so, I have done a lot of reading on Prohibition, and have concluded that the dimensions of the disaster it inflicted on our country are enormous. One of the great largely unknown stories is that Prohibition was a progressive project, driven by the same desire to perfect society and thereby eliminate the downsides of human nature that underlie all of progressivism’s fallacies. Another little-known aspect of Prohibition is that the income tax was created (and a constitutional amendment passed to enable same) as part of the deal which brought us Prohibition. The income tax was created to replace rthe alcohol taxes which had provided a siubstantial share of federal revenue. Talk about a Devil’s Bargain!
Stanton Peele, who studies and treats addiction, has published a fascinating summation of the scientific evidence on drinking and health (hat tip: Instapundit), and it cuts against the grain of much of what you will hear from most public health spokesmen. Drinking alcohol, up to two drinks a day for women and four for men (sorry, ladies, that’s what the data shows!), decreases mortality. Drink up and live longer.
Read more: http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/09/the_happy_news_drinking_is_good_for_you.html#ixzz3Ced1N6rB
Aristotle: all things in moderation
Horseshit, we've had Income Taxes since the 1860's, and the Constitutional Amendment enabling the modern income tax was the 16th Amendment.
DeleteThe 18th Amendment, paving the way for "Prohibition," was ratified Seven Years later.
American Nonthinker at its finest.
Whatever. Details.
DeleteDrink, Rufus, live a long time, just don't drink 'too much'.
And another interesting article from that racist rag, American Thinker -
ReplyDeleteSeptember 7, 2014
126 year old DNA evidence unmasks the identity of Jack the Ripper
By Rick Moran
A fascinating story published in The Telegraph today reveals the true identity of Jack the Ripper. DNA evidence from a shawl worn by one of the victims proves beyond a reasonable doubt who the notorious killer was. The shawl contained DNA from both the victim and the attacker and was matched to descendants of both. The scientist who extracted the DNA from the shawl discovered traces of semen from the attacker while blood evidence was used for DNA from the victim.
And the winner is: Aaron Kosminski, one of the original six suspects Scotland Yard liked for the murders. Kosminski was a Polish immigrant - a pathetic loser who was insane. He ended up in an asylum and died at age 53..........
Read more: http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/09/126_year_old_dna_evidence_unmasks_the_identity_of_jack_the_ripper.html#ixzz3CeeSfW20
AT has always had it in for the Pollacks.
.
DeleteI've always said the American Thinker was anti-Pollack. And the Telegraph too. As were scientists and the guys that came up with the DNA test and Scotland Yard and Queen Victoria and the English in general.
.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Deletesometimes that ignoramus is more than I can take.
DeleteYou lost your sense of humor I long long time ago.
Deletea long long time ago.....
DeleteMcConnell now up by 5 in Kentucky, Cotton up by 2 in Arkansas.
ReplyDeleteLatest map:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/2014_elections_senate_map.html
A rather lengthy article on ISIS
ReplyDeletehttp://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-a-former-us-prisoner-of-war-created-an-islamic-state/article20378971/?service=mobile
Informative article, Ash.
DeleteI did notice this:
"Yet, Mr. Berger writes, while Mr. Baghdadi’s group has won pockets of support from terrorist leaders in Gaza, Afghanistan, Indonesia and elsewhere......"
'support of terrorist leaders in Gaza'
ReplyDeleteStates that decline to expand Medicaid give up billions in aid
By Tony Pugh -
McClatchy Washington bureau
09/03/2014 7:50 AM
| Updated: 09/03/2014 7:50 AM
WASHINGTON —
If the 23 states that have rejected expanding Medicaid under the 2010 health care law continue to do so for the next eight years, they'll pay $152 billion to extend the program in other states – while receiving nothing in return.
This massive exodus of federal tax dollars from 2013 through 2022 would pay 37 percent of the cost to expand Medicaid in the 27 remaining states and Washington, D.C., over that time.
Most of the money, nearly $88 billion, would come from taxpayers in just five non-expansion states: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia.
The findings are part of a McClatchy analysis of data from the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research center that’s advised states on implementing the health care law, the Affordable Care Act.
Non-expansion states would see direct benefits from their $152 billion only if they reversed course and expanded eligibility for Medicaid, the state and federal health program for low-income Americans. The health care law provides financial incentives for states to extend Medicaid coverage to adults who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
If the non-expansion states did so, they’d still have to pay the $152 billion. But the 23 states also would split nearly $386 billion in federal Medicaid funding from 2013 to 2022, according to Urban Institute estimates.
The money would cover all medical costs for newly eligible Medicaid enrollees from 2014 through 2016, and no less than 90 percent of their costs thereafter.
“Here is money that is pretty much there for the asking, and these states are turning it down. And in the meantime, their taxpayers are paying taxes that fund expansions in states that are moving forward. It just doesn’t make any sense,” said Sherry Glied, the dean of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.
The federal funding under Medicaid expansion also would stimulate economic activity, boost tax revenue and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the non-expansion states, experts say.
“This additional use of medical services not only brings more federal dollars, but hospitals, physicians and pharmacies would likely hire more people, keep longer hours and probably raise wages. All of which leads to indirect spending and subsequent rounds of spending that generate tax revenues and, in general, the expansion of the economy within states,” said Michael Morrisey, a health economics professor at the University of . . . . . . .
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article1416171.html#storylink=cpy
Brainiacs, one and all
RECRUITMENT IN INDIA
ReplyDeleteSigns of Islamic State's influence are also being seen in Kashmir, the region claimed by both India and Pakistan and the scene of a decades-long battle by militants against Indian rule. Security officials in Indian-held Kashmir say they have been trying to find out the level of support for the Arab group after IS flags and banners appeared in the summer.
Intelligence and police sources in New Delhi and Kashmir said the flags were first seen on June 27 in a part of the state capital Srinagar, and then in July when India's only Muslim-majority region was marking Islam's most holy day, Eid al-Fitr.
Some IS graffiti also appeared on walls of buildings in Srinagar. A police officer said youngsters carrying Islamic State flags at anti-India rallies had been identified but no arrests had been made.
Another officer who questions people detained in protests against Indian rule, many of them teenagers, said most were only focused on winning independence from India.
"The majority of them have no religious bent of mind," he said. "Some of them, less than 1 percent, of course are religious and radicalized and end up joining militant ranks. They are influenced by al Qaeda, Taliban, Islamic State."
Islamic State is also trying to lure Muslims in mainland India, who make up the world's third-biggest Islamic population but who have largely stayed away from foreign battlefields despite repeated calls from al Qaeda.
In mid-July, an IS recruitment video surfaced online with subtitles in the Indian languages of Hindi, Tamil and Urdu in which a self-declared Canadian fighter, dressed in war fatigues and flanked by a gun and a black flag, urged Muslims to enlist in global jihad.
That came out just weeks after four families in a Mumbai suburb reported to the police that their sons had gone missing, with one leaving behind a note about fighting to defend Islam. It soon turned out that the men had joined a pilgrimage to Baghdad.
They later broke off from the tour group and never returned. Indian intelligence believe the men ended up in Mosul, the Iraqi city captured by Islamic State in June, and that one of them may have died in a bomb blast.
Last week, the Times of India newspaper said four young men, including two engineering college students, were arrested in the eastern city of Calcutta as they tried to make their way to neighboring Bangladesh to join a recruiter for Islamic State based there.
"It's not just these four, but our investigations have found that there could be more youngsters who are in touch with IS handlers and this is a bit of a scary proportion," the newspaper quoted a senior officer as saying.
A top official at India's Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi told Reuters: "The problem is we know so little about this network or who is acting on their behalf here.
"We know roughly where the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Indian Mujahideen (organizations backed by Pakistan) support groups are, where they make contacts. But this is a different challenge. Youth getting radicalized in their homes on the Internet, in chatrooms and through Facebook are not easy to track."
(Reporting by Asim Tanveer, Hameed Ullah, Saud Mehsud and Maria Golovnina,; Additional reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in SRINAGAR, Writing and additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani in KABUL and NEW DELHI; Editing by Maria Golovnina and Raju
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/07/us-pakistan-islamicstate-idUSKBN0H203E20140907?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Delete>>>>>>>>"The majority of them have no religious bent of mind," he said. "Some of them, less than 1 percent, of course are religious and radicalized and end up joining militant ranks. They are influenced by al Qaeda, Taliban, Islamic State."
Islamic State is also trying to lure Muslims in mainland India, who make up the world's third-biggest Islamic population but who have largely stayed away from foreign battlefields despite repeated calls from al Qaeda<<<<<<<<<
Just as my Niece said - 'the ones in India aren't so bad, it's the ones in the mid-east that are the worst'
I have wondered why, as my Niece said, the Moslems in India 'aren't so bad'.
ReplyDeleteOf course, they are being compared to the very worst.
And, one would think after suffering around 100 million Hindu dead (the lowest estimate I have read is 80 million) her attitude might be not so forgiving.
Perhaps the Moslems in India are subconsciously picking up on a society that is entirely different from their own, and are absorbing something of the Hindu attitude towards enemies, and non violence in general.
It is an interesting question.
out for the CdA Casino and the big car give away.....
Cheers !
It is high time for America and Iran to put the past to rest and move on.
ReplyDeleteSo we toppled their government and they kidnapped took over our embassy.
They fund, train and provide cover for the world's worst terror groups we export porn to the world.
They have a national holiday celebrating "A Day without America" we have LBGT Month....
They hang gays from construction cranes, we elect a gay to the Office of President...
Some Sunni tribal leaders are still bitter at the treatment under former Prime Minster Nuri Kamal Al-Maliki, a Shiite.
ReplyDelete“Even if they try we will not accept it,” said Sheik Ali Hatem Suleimani, a tribal leader in Anbar who now resides in Erbil. “In the past, we fought against Al Qaeda and we cleaned the area of them.
But the Americans gave control of Iraq to Maliki, who started to arrest, kill, and exile most of the tribal commanders who led the fight against Al Qaeda.”
2 Rivers
ReplyDelete