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, April 03, 2016

Counter Punch counter punches

Islamic Extremism Is a Product of Western Imperialism

Posted on Apr 2, 2016
A version of this piece appeared at CounterPunch.

As we struggle to come to terms with the latest terrorist attacks in Brussels, it is important that we understand the causes of such extremism. After all, Islamic extremism was virtually unknown fifty years ago and suicide bombings were inconceivable. And yet today it seems that we are confronted with both on a daily basis. So what happened to bring Islamic fundamentalism to the forefront of global politics? While there are many factors involved, undoubtedly one of the primary causes is Western imperialism. Western intervention in the Middle East over the past century to secure access to the region’s oil reserves established a perfect environment in which Islamic fundamentalists could exploit growing anti-Western sentiment throughout the Islamic world, with some establishing violent extremist groups. The most recent consequence of this process is the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, which emerged out of the chaos caused by the US invasion of Iraq.

In order to understand the rise of the Islamic State we must first briefly review the history of Western intervention in not only the Middle East but throughout the world to reveal that Islamic extremism in not a unique phenomenon. For the past 500 years, peoples throughout the world have resorted to acts of violence that today would be classified as terrorism in efforts to resist Western imperialism. Indigenous peoples in the Americas often used violent tactics to defend themselves against the brutal European colonizers. There were also many violent slave revolts by Blacks who had been shipped from Africa to the Americas in the service of Western imperialism. 

In Southeast Asia, the Filipino people first violently resisted the Spanish and then rose up again when the United States became the new colonial ruler of the Philippines in 1898. Apparently, Washington’s newest colonial subjects didn’t appreciate President William McKinley’s concern for their well-being when he arrogantly declared that since Filipinos “were unfit for self-government, … there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them.” Meanwhile, in South Africa, the Zulu people were resorting to violence in an effort to resist British attempts to “civilize” them in the late 1800s. These are just a few examples of the countless attempts throughout the global South to resist the violent and often brutal expansion of Western imperialism, which included not only the imposition of Western values and culture on people, but also Christianity. But back then, those who violently resisted Western imperialism weren’t labelled “terrorists,” we just called them “savages.”

One of the reasons that Islamic extremism has only come to the fore in recent decades is the fact that Western imperialism in the Middle East is a relatively recent occurrence. Western imperialism didn’t begin to make serious headway in the Middle East until the early 20th century. Consequently, we haven’t yet succeeded in our quest to violently subjugate the peoples of that region to the degree that we have peoples throughout most of the rest of the world. In some Middle Eastern nations, Western imperialism initially took the form of traditional colonialism, which involved direct rule. In other countries, it has constituted a neo-colonial approach utilizing international institutions such as the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as direct US and European intervention in the forms of military coups and outright war.  
While European nations, particularly Britain, had made some inroads into the Middle East in the late 1800s, it was the discovery of oil in Iran in 1908 that marked the arrival of Western imperialism. The London-based Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) gained the rights to Iran’s oil and, because its major shareholder was the British government, Britain effectively controlled Iran’s oil sector. During the ensuing decades there were major protests by the Iranian people who were unhappy with foreign ownership of the country’s oil and the fact that Iran was receiving only 16 percent of its own oil wealth. In 1950, the Iranian parliament finally responded to popular demands and voted to nationalize the country’s oil sector. The following year, Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh established the National Iranian Oil Company. 

Unhappy with Iran’s decision to claim ownership of its own oil resources and to use them for the benefit of the Iranian people, the United States and Britain orchestrated a coup to oust the moderate, secular and democratically-elected Mosaddegh government. Shah Reza Pahlavi was installed in power and the new pro-Western dictator immediately re-opened the door for Western companies to return to Iran. And to ensure that the Shah maintained iron-clad control over the population, the United States provided him with military aid as well as training for his secret police force, which would brutalize the Iranian people for the next 26 years. 

Under the Shah, Western oil workers flooded into Iran and the country’s capital Tehran became a decadent playground for high-paid foreign oil workers who engaged openly in un-Islamic activities including alcohol consumption, casino gambling and prostitution. And while the country’s oil wealth was flowing into the pockets of foreigners and the Shah and his cronies, most Iranians were struggling to survive in poverty. Not surprisingly, Islamic fundamentalists began pointing to Western imperialism and Western decadence as an affront both to Islam and to the Iranian people. It was a narrative that began to resonate with many impoverished Iranians who had traditionally been moderates. In 1979, under the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini, a popular revolution overthrew the Shah’s repressive regime and established an Islamic state. 

Reflecting on the US role in Iran, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated, “In 1953 the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran’s popular Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. The Eisenhower Administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons; but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran’s political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs.”

The first significant success for Islamic fundamentalism directly resulted from the United States and Britain overthrowing a democratically-elected and secular government and their subsequent support for a brutal dictatorship, all in the name of securing access to oil. Today, we are not only still dealing with the consequences of this Western imperialism in our relations with Iran, but also with Iran’s support for other fundamentalist groups in the region such as Hezbollah. 
The same year that Iran became an Islamic state, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to defend that country’s unpopular Soviet-backed regime from a growing insurgency. The mujahideen rebels, like the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran, were fighting against a Western-backed dictatorship. This time it was the atheist communists of the Soviet Union that were the imperialists. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan only boosted the strength of the mujahideen as recruits flocked from throughout the Islamic world to help liberate the country from the foreign infidels. Many of the tens of thousands of recruits came from Saudi Arabia, which contributed to the fundamentalist movement known as Wahhabism expanding from being a fringe sect of Islam that primarily existed in Saudi Arabia to a major religious force throughout the Sunni Islamic world.

The United States viewed the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan through a Cold War lens and began providing weapons and training to the Islamic fundamentalist mujahideen rebels. During the 1980s, Washington supplied the mujahideen with $4 billion in arms that significantly strengthened the fundamentalists and President Ronald Reagan publicly referred to them as “freedom fighters.” One of the mujihadeen beneficiaries of US aid was a Saudi named Osama bin Laden. The primary objective of the war for this particular “freedom fighter” was the removal of a Western military from Islamic lands. The mujahideen succeeded in their holy war in 1989 when the Soviet Union withdrew its forces. And then, in 1996, following a civil war between various factions of the mujahideen, the recently-formed Taliban emerged victorious and established a fundamentalist government.
As a 1993 article in the British daily Independent made clear, Osama bin Laden was viewed by the West as a warrior, not a terrorist, for his role in the mujahideen. The article, titled “Anti-Soviet Warrior Puts His Army on the Road to Peace,” described bin Laden’s work building roads in the impoverished nation of Sudan in the early 1990s. But bin Laden was not only building roads, he was also establishing a new organization with his mujahideen fighters that would eventually be called al-Qaeda. The mission of al-Qaeda essentially remained the same as that of the mujahideen in Afghanistan: to drive Western military forces out of Islamic lands. This time the target was US troops based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait following the first Gulf War. Consequently, bin Laden went from being a “freedom fighter” to a “terrorist” virtually overnight even though his mission hadn’t changed, only the target. 

From the perspective of Washington, bin Laden was a “freedom fighter” when he was fighting against the Soviet military presence in Afghanistan but was a “terrorist” when he fought against the presence of US military forces in the Islamic world. From the perspective of bin Laden and his Islamic extremist followers, however, nothing had really changed. Whether it was Soviet soldiers or US troops, both constituted Western military forces that had to be removed from Islamic soil.

Ultimately, Western intervention in the Islamic world gave birth to al-Qaeda. First, Soviet military support for a puppet regime in Afghanistan, then US backing of the Islamic fundamentalists who constituted the mujahideen rebels, and, finally, the establishment of US military bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the first Gulf War. As a consequence of these imperialist actions, Islamic extremists in the form of the Taliban and al-Qaeda emerged as powerful forces with the latter feeding off the growing disenchantment among Muslims angry at Western militarism in the Islamic world, Western backing for corrupt governments in the Middle East, and US support for Israel and its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.

Following the terrorist attacks against New York City and Washington, DC on September 11, 2001, the United States launched its war on terror and targeted the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. However, the Bush administration also sought to exploit the 9/11 attacks to justify ousting Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Top Bush administration officials launched a massive propaganda and misinformation campaign to convince the American people that Hussein was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks and linked to al-Qaeda, both of which were untrue. They also portrayed Hussein as a terrorist threat because he possessed weapons of mass destruction, which was another lie.

As the reports by UN weapons inspectors had made clear, Iraq no longer possessed any chemical or biological weapons; they had been destroyed in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions following the first Gulf War in 1991. Furthermore, the Bush administration’s propaganda campaign conveniently ignored the fact that the weapons of mass destruction that Iraq had possessed and used during the 1980s were supplied to it by the United States when Hussein was an ally against the fundamentalist regime that had come to power in Iran. 
In March 2003, President George W. Bush ordered the US military to invade Iraq without authorization from the UN Security Council and in direct violation of international law. Four days before the invasion, Vice-President Dick Cheney declared, “From the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” But one year later an extensive nationwide poll in Iraq showed that 71 percent of Iraqis saw the US troops as “occupiers” rather than “liberators.” Such a response should not have been surprising given that some 100,000 Iraqis had been killed as a result of the invasion and occupation. 
The military occupation gave rise to an insurgency that sought to oust the foreign occupying troops. Prior to the US invasion there had been no Islamic extremist groups operating in the country. But the emergence of the broad-based insurgency and the post-invasion chaos opened the door for al-Qaeda to enter Iraq. And it was out of both the insurgency and al-Qaeda that the fundamentalist Islamic State (originally known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS) emerged in 2006.

Following the invasion, the United States dismantled Saddam Hussein’s military and many of the unemployed former officers ended up joining the insurgency. Some of these military officers conspired with a breakaway faction of al-Qaeda in Iraq to form the Islamic State. The new extremist group sought to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Iraq and Syria. The outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 allowed the Islamic State to cross into Syria where it grew dramatically stronger and began to consolidate control over territory. It then re-focused its efforts on Iraq and easily defeated the new US-trained Iraqi army and consolidated its control over northern parts of that country in 2014. Meanwhile, the West’s military intervention in Libya in 2011 helped turn that country into a failed state and opened the door for the Islamic State to establish a foothold in that part of North Africa.

The Islamic State has had significant success recruiting disenchanted Muslims from around the world to join its ranks and to carry out terrorist attacks in Western nations such as France and Belgium. Last year, even former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged “there are elements of truth” in claims that the invasion of Iraq led to the creation of the Islamic State. As Blair admitted, “Of course, you can’t say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015.”

Once again, Western imperialist actions in the Middle East had given rise to Islamic extremism. But the rise of the Islamic State should not have come as a surprise to anyone. That the Bush administration’s illegal invasion of Iraq laid the foundation for the emergence of the Islamic State was entirely predictable. After all, the West’s ouster of the moderate and secular Mosaddegh and its backing of the Shah’s ruthless regime in Iran had given birth to that country’s Islamic fundamentalist revolution. And Washington’s military support of fundamentalist rebels in Afghanistan and its establishment of military bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait ensured the emergence of al-Qaeda. 

Meanwhile, Western imperialism in other parts of the Middle East over the past century has also contributed to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. While most of the Arab states in the region gained independence following World War Two, the United States and Britain essentially handed over most of Palestine to European Jews so they could create the Jewish state of Israel. And, ever since, Israel has received unconditional US support to brutally repress the Palestinian people and to repeatedly violate international law, which has generated widespread anti-Western sentiment throughout the Middle East. It wasn’t until after almost 40 years of Israeli rule over Palestinian lands that Islamic fundamentalism and the tactic of suicide bombing finally made inroads among the traditionally moderate Palestinian population. This occurred when Hamas was formed in the Occupied Territories in the mid-1980s. Similarly, it was Israel’s US-supported invasion of Lebanon that gave birth to the fundamentalist group Hezbollah during the same decade. 

Over the past one hundred years, the Middle East has been targeted by Western imperialism in the violent manner that the rest of the world has endured for centuries. Nowadays we use politically correct terms such as “democracy promotion” and “human rights” instead of “civilize” and “Christianize,” but they essentially mean the same thing because they are simply the latest justifications for stealing resources and imposing Western values on other cultures. Not surprisingly, as has been the case throughout the rest of the world over the past 500 years, there is widespread resentment and anger towards the West for its imperialist policies in the Middle East. And, also not surprisingly, some fundamentalist Muslim resisters to Western imperialism have resorted to extreme tactics. 

Finally, perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of Western imperialism in the Islamic world is the fact that each consequence has been more extreme than the previous one. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were far more extremist than the Islamic government that came to power in Iran. And the Islamic State is even more extremist than al-Qaeda. Which begs the question: What new and even more extremist monstrosity are we currently creating with our ongoing military interventions and imperialist policies in the Islamic world? 

Garry Leech is an independent journalist and author of eight books including “How I Became an American Socialist” (Misfit Books, 2016), “Capitalism: A Structural Genocide” (Zed Books, 2012) and “Crude Interventions: The United States, Oil and the New World Disorder” (Zed Books, 2006). He also teaches international politics at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Canada and Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia. For more information about Garry’s work, visit garryleech.com

131 comments:

  1. Agree or disagree but there is a lot of historic truth in what Leech writes. If all of it were a lie, it would be irrelevant since over a billion people believe it.

    At a minimum, we need to learn to mind our own business or the last seventy years, in which we have never won a war and spent trillions trying to, will be worse and more deadly.

    Leave them alone, quit picking sides, and replace the need for foreign oil. We simply do not know what we are doing and have no answers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree.

    but first,

    we really do have to finish off this "Islamic State" deal.

    We are "where we are."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As usual you hold two contradictory opinions at same time. "Yeah but.."

      Delete




    2. n.


      1912, from Modern Latin, literally "a splitting of the mind," from German Schizophrenie, coined in 1910 by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939), from Greek skhizein "to split" (see schizo- ) + phren (genitive phrenos) "diaphragm, heart, mind," of unknown origin.

      Hey now...
      You haven't really lived until you've "split"
      :)

      Delete
  3. Interesting how he and you gloss over the Iranian, Syrian, Hezbollah & Sadr shiites slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Sunnis in both Iraq and Syria...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Then, of course, we have to get loose from these horrible Israeli motherfuckers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are the dumbest, densest motherfucker in the Galaxy.

      Delete
    2. Israel has never slaughtered hundreds of thousands of anyone.

      Now The iraqis, the iranians, the americans, the french, the brits, the chinese all have...

      Delete
  5. U.S-led coalition announces killing ISIS militant who killed Marine in Iraq

    (IraqiNews.com) The anti-ISIS international coalition announced on Sunday killing an element of the ISIS believed to be responsible for an attack on U.S. troops in northern Iraq that left a Marine soldier dead.

    The international coalition, conducting air strikes against ISIS sites in Iraq and Syria, has killed the ISIS militant believed to be responsible for the attack on U.S. troops in northern Iraq, which left a Marine dead, last month.

    The militant Jasim Khadijah, a former Iraqi officer, was killed by a drone strike in northern Iraq, the coalition spokesman U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters in Baghdad.

    “We have information [that] he was a rocket expert, he controlled these attacks,” said Warren, referring to the ISIS shelling of a base used by U.S. troops near the area of Makhmour located south of Mosul.

    That attack had killed Marine Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin and wounded eight others.

    Warren said five other ISIS fighters were killed in the air strike.

    Iraqinews

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 29 ISIS members including al-Chechani killed in Anbar

      (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Sunday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced killing 29 ISIS members by two air strikes in al-Qaim and Arwa, while pointed out that the dead ISIS members included al-Baghdadi’s Correspondent.

      The journalists said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Air Force backed by the Joint Operations Command carried out two air strikes on ISIS gatherings,” pointing out that, “The 1st air strike was carried out in al-Qaim on a gathering of ISIS leaders, killing 16 terrorists.”

      The statement added, “The dead ISIS members included the leader of al-Kharasani battalion Abu Soliman al-Chechani, Sheikh Gamal Tarki al-Eissawi, Diaa al-Herdani, Abdel Baset al-Jumaili and al-Baghdadi’s Correspondent Abu Ahmed al-Janoubi.”

      “The wounded also included the former Wali of Euphrates and Minister of War Abu Anas al-Samerraei,” the statement continued.

      Iraqinews

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    2. Anti-Terrorism Directorate: ISIS booby-trapped all houses and streets in Heet

      (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The Anti-Terrorism Directorate announced on Sunday, that the so-called ISIS has booby-trapped all the streets and houses in Heet District after evacuating their residents, while pointed out that Heet battle is the hardest due to the roughness of the terrain.

      The commander of the Anti-Terrorism Directorate Abdel Ghani al-Asadi said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This afternoon, our troops managed to storm ISIS fortifications and enter the city of Heet,” pointing out that, “A small distance is separating between the Anti-Terrorism forces and the center of the city.”

      Asadi added, “The advance of the security forces had been hindered because ISIS had booby-trapped all the streets and houses in the city of Heet after evacuating their residents,” indicating that, “The battle of Heet is the hardest battle due to the roughness of the terrain.”

      Earlier today the commander of the Anti-Terrorism 3rd Brigade Major General Sami Kadim al-Aredi announced the liberation of Heet Camp and Amina neighborhood in the western axis.

      Heetin' up

      Delete
  6. I wanted to comment on this by Deuce in the last post but it got closed--

    Deuce ☂Sun Apr 03, 08:19:00 PM EDT

    Nonsense.

    You have every Neocon and every Republican saying they will end the deal and reintroduce sanctions.
    **********

    I don't think this applies to The Donald. I believe he has said he would not immediately tear up the deal.....he may have changed his mind by now, who knows.

    ********

    On another front Queen Hillary has made her own abortion comment gaffe - she said an

    'unborn PERSON' has no rights.

    I will go find it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clinton ‘unborn person’ comments anger both pro-choice, pro-life sides

      Outlines abortion views after Trump comments spark furor

      Delete
    2. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/3/hillary-clinton-unborn-person-has-no-constitutiona/


      The problem here is that the term 'person' is a legal term denoting an entity that can have 'constitutional rights', like, say, life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

      This term to describe an unborn child is anathema to the abortion rights group. They always say 'fetus' instead.

      Hillary also called the 'fetus' a 'child'.

      Major gaffe for a politician with so much 'experience'.

      Delete
  7. SOME OF THE BIGGEST FUCK-UPS ON THE PLANET : THE CIA

    CIA not only backed the idea of arming and training Syrian rebels to pressure President Bashar Assad but also developed a detailed plan aimed for ousting the Syrian leader, a former CIA agent revealed in an interview with US media.
    CIA officials were pushing for a multifaceted plan designed to plot Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ouster back in 2012, a former CIA operative Doug Laux, who drafted the “ops plan” revealed in an exclusive interview with NBC. He was providing insight into a soon-to-be-released memoir that deals specifically with the issue and is due to be published on April 5.

    {...{}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. {...}

      The White House and CIA leaders "had made it clear from the beginning that the goal of our task force was to find ways to remove President Assad from office," Laux told NBC.

      The book written by the former ground operative from the CIA's Syria task force, who spent a year in the war-torn country meeting with Syrian rebels and intelligence officers from various US partner countries, was heavily censored by US intelligence and he was not allowed to disclose the details of his plan.

      However, Laux claimed that his ideas “had gained traction" in Washington and were shared by other CIA members. The then-CIA Director, David Petraeus, supported the plan and now he believes that is could have prevented the rise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) as well as European refugee crisis, former US officials told the media.

      The plan included both “bolstering Syrian rebels” and “pressuring and paying senior members of Assad's regime to push him out,” NBC reports, citing unnamed former US officials, who also added that it was seen by some members of the US establishment as a way to resolve the Syrian civil war peacefully.

      Robert Ford, the former US ambassador to Syria, and Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary, also reportedly supported the plan. Petraeus, Ford and other officials held weekly meetings on the issue in 2012.

      {...}

      Delete
    2. {...}

      Democratic presidential candidate and the former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, also sided with Petraeus in White House debates, supporting in particular the idea of CIA secretly arming the Syrian rebels, as she said in her memoir “Hard Choices” published in 2015.

      However, the final plan that contained many of Laux’s suggestions was eventually declined by US President Barack Obama.

      "We had come up with 50 good options to facilitate that. My ops plan laid them out in black and white. But political leadership…hadn't given us the go-ahead to implement a single one," Laux told NBC.

      Later, Obama authorized another plan that envisaged arming and training Syrian rebels.

      However, some US politicians still believe that the plan could have been effective.
      “I'm confident we would be looking at a different Syria today if the president of the United States hadn't overruled David Petraeus, head of the CIA, Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, and Leon Panetta, who was secretary of defense,” Sen. John McCain (R.-Arizona) told NBC News.

      Looking back, Laux himself said he does not believe this or any other plan could have ended the Syrian civil war or prevented the rise of Islamic State. “There were no moderates,” he told NBC, referring to the Syrian opposition.

      At the same time, he denounced the US policy in Syria in 2012 as “feckless” adding that it shattered American credibility in the region.

      Delete
    3. OBAMA WAS SMART ENOUGH TO REALIZE HE HAD BEEN MISLED OVER LIBYA

      Delete
    4. I don't think Obama can be 'misled' except by himself because he always follows the misleading advice of his own inner dark star and rejects the advice of all those around him, as in Iraq where he rejected the unanimous advice of the military to keep a good sized force in the country, leading directly to the rise of ISIS.

      Delete
    5. Bob you continually make statements of fact and you have never, ever, offered any reference that backs up your assertions. Please show us evidence supporting your claim that Obama rejected unanimous military advice.

      Delete
    6. Here from Hot Air which I just happened to be reading:

      Former Defense secretary: Obama 'double-crossed' me

      By Harper Neidig

      Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he felt President Obama “double-crossed” him during his tenure over budget cuts to the Pentagon.

      In a Fox News report Friday that explored the president’s approach to the military, Gates said Obama had promised him that there wouldn’t be any “significant changes” in the defense budget for a while.

      When asked by Fox whether Obama kept to his word, Gates replied, “Well I think that began to fray. ‘Fray’ may be too gentle a word.”

      According to the report, Gates was told to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the defense budget after already having slashed it.

      “I guess I’d have to say I felt double-crossed,” Gates said. “After all those years in Washington, I was naïve.”.....


      I'm not going to go searching for you right now Ash, but when I come upon them I will put them up.

      It's widely known to everybody but you that Obama rejected the military's advice to keep troops in Iraq, leading to the rise of ISIS.

      Delete
    7. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/274967-former-defense-secretary-obama-double-crossed-me

      Delete
    8. You stated "unanimous military advice" and you can't even support "military advice". You are a charlatan.

      Delete
    9. My post disappeared. I listed nearly ten sources. I will try again.

      In the meantime:

      Gates: Obama White House was unable to understand Libya military strategy - 4/3/16
      We have a $700 billion military and Obama would rather listen to the 25 cent advice coming from Samantha Power. More

      American Thinker

      Ash, I ask you to google 'Obama rejects military advice' if I can't make it stick.

      I go to try again.

      Is anyone else having the 'vanishing post syndrome' ?

      It's really irritating.

      Delete
    10. This is just the tip of an iceberg, Ash, I could fill up pages with articles.....and this is a slightly different list that came up before..


      Barack Obama and Pentagon split on Afghanistan...
      www.theguardian.com
      › World
      › Afghanistan


      Barack Obama is set to reject the advice of the Pentagon by announcing on Wednesday night the withdrawal of up to 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by November next year ...
      .



      President Obama Rejects Pentagon Military Advice...

      theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/09/12/president-obama...


      The State Department and White House avoid the word "war" because they've already declared the "war on terror" over, so naturally they cannot take military advice to ...
      .



      Obama Rejects ‘Best Military Advice’ in Fighting...

      www.jammiewf.com/2014/obama-rejects-best-military-advice...





      Sep 10, 2014 · Hot Air Hillary on guns: There’s a Constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, too
      .



      Obama Rejected "Best Military Advice" - Patriot...

      patriotupdate.com/obama-rejected-best-military-advice





      As he laid out his strategy to combat the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, President Obama rejected the “best military advice” of his top military commander ...
      .



      Obama Rejects Advice of Generals and Prepares...

      www.leftjustified.com/obama-prepares-afghan-withdrawal





      Obama Rejects Advice of Generals and Prepares Afghan ... The advice of his top military personnel has been to maintain a strong US presence in the fragile ...
      .



      “Best Military Advice” on Plan to Defeat ISIS...

      rightwingnews.com/.../best-military-advice...rejected-obama





      As he laid out his strategy to combat the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, President Obama rejected the “best military advice” of his top military commander ...
      .



      Obama Rejects ‘Ill-Advised’ Conscience Protections...

      cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-rejects-ill-advised...





      Obama Rejects ‘Ill-Advised’ Conscience Protections for ... – President Obama issued a statement ... Advocates had feared that the military might begin forcing ...
      .



      Examining Obama's history of rejecting military...

      www.foxnews.com/...obama-history-rejecting-military...





      Sep 21, 2014 · Fox News military analyst Gen. Jack Keane examines the president's record and criticism from fellow generals about Obama's ISIS strategy.
      .



      Obama Rejects ‘Best Military Advice’ in Fighting...

      www.1913intel.com/2014/09/12/obama-rejects-best-military...


      In deciding how to destroy ISIS, President Obama has rejected the “best military advice.” The advice was recently given to the commander in chief from his ...
      .



      Obama to Pull 10K Troops This Year - The Daily...

      www.thedailybeast.com/.../obama-rejects-pentagon-advice.html





      Jun 21, 2011 · Obama to Pull 10K Troops ... advice. Obama is expected to announce the withdrawal of 30,000 “surge” troops by the end of 2012—troops The Guardian ...


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

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

      Delete
    13. .

      My post disappeared

      No doubt because it lacked substance. Ephemeral. Nothing there. Like wind from a donkey's ass.

      .

      Delete
    14. I watched an interview with General so an so on Fox the other day who said all the generals were against the precipitous Obama withdrawal from Iraq. Have seen several of those.

      Obama withdrew the troops from Iraq against the military's advice and this led directly to the rise of ISIS.

      He took the advice of his own inner dark star, and his troika of lady advisors instead.

      Don't believe it ? .... you probably think Israel has nothing to fear from Iran either....regardless that they ship missiles to Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and chant "Death to Israel" after every Friday mosque prayer.

      Delete
    15. And not one of the articles supports your claim of "unanimous advice" In addition, pulling some headline from a website doesn't support any factual claim. And to top it off look at the pedigree of those you chose - it is laughable.

      Delete


    16. QuirkSun Apr 03, 11:06:00 PM EDT

      .

      My post disappeared

      No doubt because it lacked substance. Ephemeral. Nothing there. Like wind from a donkey's ass.
      ****

      Well then, there you go. The Disappearing Post Syndrome doesn't play favorites. My posts are all substantial, solid, filled with accurate information, like thought from the mind of Aristotle, and they have been getting deleted with a good deal of regularity too.

      Weren't you complaining about this phenomenon earlier, Quirk ?

      I seem to recall so....

      Delete
    17. You Bob - why don't you start with something simple like offering support for your claim that things were quiet in Iraq before the troop withdrawal? No, finding someone else who also makes the claim doesn’t count - all you need do is lay out causality figures that conform to the timeliness you assert.

      Delete
    18. Now I'm done with the topic..if I come across another great interview with a General I'll try to put it up.

      The Donald, by the way, has arrived at the same conclusion. He says he was against the war is Iraq but says it was dumb as shit, having gone there, to then withdraw precipitously.

      He is correct. It led directly to the rise of ISIS.

      It at least gives galopin2 something to report about each day.


      US-IRAQ: Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal...

      www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/us-iraq-generals-seek-to-reverse...



      Feb 01, 2009 · ... Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal ... against Obama's withdrawal ... the Iraq troop withdrawal issue. Ever since Obama's ...
      .



      Generals Seek To Reverse Obama's Iraq Withdrawal...

      www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/02/generals-seek-to...





      Feb 01, 2009 · Generals Seek To Reverse Obama's Iraq ... faction against Obama's withdrawal policy was ... as defined by the advice to Obama ...
      .



      Obama vs. The Generals: The Withdrawal from Iraq

      www.enduringamerica.com/february-2009/2009/2/2/obama-vs...





      Generals Seek To Reverse Obama's Iraq Withdrawal ... faction against Obama's withdrawal policy was ... as defined by the advice to Obama ...



      the3000 | Against the advice of his Generals,...

      the3000.wordpress.com





      Against the advice of his Generals, President Obama is advancing a reckless proposal to leave 3000 Soldiers in Iraq, following the withdrawal of our main combat ...
      .



      Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal Decision...

      www.commondreams.org/news/2009/02/02/generals-seek...





      Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal ... realities" as defined by the advice to Obama ... number of troops in Iraq against the efforts by other ...
      .



      Generals Move to Obstruct Obama’s Iraq Withdrawal...

      www.counterpunch.org/2009/02/02/generals-move-to...




      Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal Decision...

      www.antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=14184





      Feb 02, 2009 · ... faction against Obama's withdrawal ... to blame Obama's troop withdrawal from Iraq for the ... Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal ...

      Delete
    19. ALIENS: ‘Mothership’ The Size of Idaho Caught On NASA Photo?!
      21stcenturywire.com/2015/07/22/aliens-mothership-the-size-of-idaho...
      Mobile-friendly · Video embedded · A massive alien spacecraft, around the size of the US state of Idaho, has been spotted near the sun by …
      Aliens ahoy! Massive mothership ‘the size of Idaho’ caught ...
      https://www.rt.com/news/310459-nasa-ufo-sun-aliens
      Mobile-friendly · Video embedded · A massive alien spacecraft, around the size of the US state of Idaho, has been spotted near the sun by …

      Idaho shooting suspect: Tom Carper, John Carney are aliens
      www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/03/09/idaho-shooting...
      Mobile-friendly · Idaho shooting suspect's Martian manifesto is window into an unraveling mind




      Bob stayed truth - aliens are in idaho - it's a fact - I just proved it.

      Delete
    20. heh

      Ash, I declare you to be the dumbest, densest motherfucker in the Universe, other than Rufus.

      Also I am reaffirming that you have earned and well deserve a good non life threatening mugging.

      Delete
    21. .

      I'm not going to go searching for you right now Ash, but when I come upon them I will put them up.

      It's widely known to everybody but you that Obama rejected the military's advice to keep troops in Iraq, leading to the rise of ISIS.


      You say this in response to Ash's questioning of your comment and then to show your ignorance on this subject you put up 20 headlines (your specialty), most of which are about Afghanistan or the current strategy in Iraq/Syria or even Libya. But I didn't see one that said anything about Iraq and the troop withdrawal in 2011.

      It's bad enough when you fill your lazy response with logical fallacies, false assumptions, red herrings, misclassifications, and expediency, but when your appeals to authority include buffoons like Gen. Jack Keane from FOX, you have truly jumped the shark.

      As far as Afghanistan, with the posts you put up you prove you know nothing about that war. It's the US' longest running war and Obama has had us there as long as Bush. It was during the Obama years that we got the Afghan surge under that ass Petraeus. In the Obama years, on average we have had twice as many troops in Afghanistan than we had there under Bush. Half the Afghan posts you put up talk about planned troop changes. As we have seen, we didn't actually withdraw all our troops there at the end of 2014. In fact, it looks like we may have about 10,000 troops there for decades.

      You answer 42.

      No doubt we will soon see the opiates disappear from our streets.

      The Taliban will withdraw to Pakistan.

      Women driving through the streets of Kabul in tank tops and short shorts, the wind blowing through their hair.

      Government corruption will be a thing of the past.

      A chicken in every pot and swarma for everyone.

      .





      Delete
    22. .

      Geez, Bob, it's hard keeping up with you.

      By the time, I respond to the first set of weird links you put up, you put up an entirely new set of weird links. This is why I tell you that if you don't want to make a fool of yourself you have to actuallt read the links before you put them up.

      At least, this time the links actually refer to the troop withdrawal from Iraq in 2011. However...

      Out of the 13 links you put up, 12 of them were for the same article from February, 2009 by Gareth Porter. Had you read even two of them, you wouldn't...well, why go on you have been told all this before; but...

      1. The story itself recounts the duplicity of certain generals as they try to manipulate Obama and stab him in the back.

      2. The 13th link you put up was from a website made up of military mothers arguing against a plan Obama was considering regarding keeping a few thousands troops in Iraq.

      Once again, try reading what you put up here.

      .

      Delete
  8. Rand Paul announces he will support The Donald if The Donald is the nominee.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We spend $710 Billion / yr. on Defense.

    The next 13 Countries, combined, spend $695 Billion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A citizen army with a $250 B budget is more than adequate.

      Delete
  10. We can’t keep trains on tracks and get a locomotive to stop, seeing trouble ahead (the same technology as a Subaru.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Here's the video of Hillary saying the 'unborn person' has no constitutional rights --

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/03/video-clinton-unborn-children-have-no-constitutional-rights/


    Also, Maureen Doud is writing asking The Donald if he has ever advised a woman to have an abortion.

    Though I don't know the true answer of course, this is a question The Donald might do well to avoid.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are pro-choice, but still disagree with each other.

    ...

    And Kasich concurred, "Well I think it was just latest confirmation that Donald has not thought seriously about issues facing country and that he's willing to say just about anything to try to get elected."

    ReplyDelete
  13. Islamic Extremism Is a Product of Western Imperialism

    Please explain how Islam was extreme from 640 CE to when it invaded europe to invade it and it was not the west's fault?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was going to mention that very thing, but got sidelined by young and super silly Ash.

      The muzz have been on the warpath, commanded to do so by Allah, for 1400 YEARS.

      Try as I might, I can't see the fingerprints of 'Western Imperialism' much less 'American Imperialism' in any of this.

      The statement:

      "Islamic Extremism Is a Product of Western Imperialism"

      is TOTAL NONSENSE.

      Delete
    2. If you knew that the propensity for violence exhibited by a certain faith, Islam, had a 1400 year history of violence against non-believers and that same hysterical and insane Islamic faith had one and a half billion people in a defined geographical area, do you think it was a good idea to occupy them and take their oil, manipulate and interfere in their political system and to add insult, take their land and give it to European Jews and attack, kill and destroy the lives of millions of them?

      What did you think would happen and what are you going to do about it to stop it?

      More of the same? How has that been going so far?

      Explain to me what you will do?

      Delete
    3. Which is worse?

      We don’t know what we are doing and keep repeating past and persistent failures.

      OR

      We do know what we are doing and keep doing more of it.

      TELL US

      Delete
    4. You seem to be dense deuce.

      Why do you ignore the 800,000 Jews that are from the middle east?

      That lived for 1400 of years under islamic oppression, that lived in the middle east for a thousand years before Islam ever existed that were forced into Israel for their very survival?

      Israel is NOT just as you wish to describe it a "european colony".

      The lands of Israel are homeland of the Jews.

      IF the arabs had treated their "jews" properly with respect and driven them like cattle out of 899/900th? Israel would never had succeeded.

      thank the arabs for Israel's success...

      The jews that escaped the arab oppression are the strongest and most vocal about the cruelty of the arabs...

      But your fantasy that somehow Israel was created whole cloth from the european Jews is fantasy.

      But by your logic?

      Arabs should be thrown out of America at once and deposited in arabia.

      thanks for the idea.

      Delete
  14. Most interesting election process of my lifetime.

    A good show !

    And it's just getting started !!

    If The Donald wins the necessary delegates, or nearly so, and gets cheated at the Convention, all hell is going to break loose....

    I'm hoping for a Hillary indictment right after she gets the nomination...

    What a wonderful entertaining viewing situation with BOTH of the above.....!

    Politics can be FUN !

    ReplyDelete
  15. 'Never before seen' spring snowfall in Caribbean islands....Drudge

    If it's snowing in April in the Caribbean, it's a certain sign global warming is beginning to set in....as all of super silly Ash's global warming 'experts' and their 'peer reviewed' published papers would surely agree...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      'Global Warming' is so 1990's.

      Get up to speed old-timer. It has now evolved to climate change.

      .

      Delete
    2. Well, yes, I admit you are right.

      It is very difficult to argue that the climate doesn't change.

      I do admit a certain 'lag time' in my thinking once in a while.

      I am still trying to get my head around sending every high school kid to a 4 year fully paid vacation in some college, for instance.

      I can't process that the Free Speech Movement of the 1960's has morphed into the Ban Free Speech Movement now haunting our campuses these days.

      I guess what's being demanded is a four year free all expenses paid vacation for all high school students in some college where they will be fully indoctrinated in AshThought.

      Seems to me a little scary, thinking of these things...where rioting and burning are free speech, shutting down political events is free speech, but polite discussion is not..

      Delete
  16. OBAMA IS TRYING TO CLEAN UP THE MESS MADE BY HIS PREDECESSORS

    Sunday, April 03, 2016 08:48AM

    WASHINGTON -- World leaders declared progress in safeguarding nuclear materials sought by terrorists and wayward nations, even as President Barack Obama acknowledged the task was far from finished.

    Closing out a nuclear security summit on Friday, Obama warned of a persistent and harrowing threat: terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear bomb. He urged fellow leaders not to be complacent about the risk of catastrophe, saying that such an attack by the Islamic State or a similar group would "change our world."

    ReplyDelete
  17. ISIS will get or take nuclear material from Pakistan, North Korea, Russia or Israel.

    It is only a matter of time. No level of insanity will make the region sane. The only credible answer is encouraging stability and quit supporting structurally disruptive institutions and buy time to let the fever of religion dissipate.

    Quit picking sides. Quit propping up, quit funding the disrupters.

    The US has no permanent ally in Israel, or any Islamic country. If any of them is a source of disruption, they are anathema to US interests. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel are all treats to US security. None is worthy of US support.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no equality between the three. The US can live without any and all of them.

      Israel and Saudi Arabia are the more toxic. Saudi Arabia, the more loathsome. Israel the most manipulative.

      Delete
  18. If that were the worse of it, it could be managed. This could be worse:

    The Most Dangerous Place on Earth

    A Nuclear Armageddon in the Making in South Asia
    By Dilip Hiro

    Undoubtedly, for nearly two decades, the most dangerous place on Earth has been the Indian-Pakistani border in Kashmir. It’s possible that a small spark from artillery and rocket exchanges across that border might -- given the known military doctrines of the two nuclear-armed neighbors -- lead inexorably to an all-out nuclear conflagration. In that case the result would be catastrophic. Besides causing the deaths of millions of Indians and Pakistanis, such a war might bring on “nuclear winter” on a planetary scale, leading to levels of suffering and death that would be beyond our comprehension.

    Alarmingly, the nuclear competition between India and Pakistan has now entered a spine-chilling phase. That danger stems from Islamabad’s decision to deploy low-yield tactical nuclear arms at its forward operating military bases along its entire frontier with India to deter possible aggression by tank-led invading forces. Most ominously, the decision to fire such a nuclear-armed missile with a range of 35 to 60 miles is to rest with local commanders. This is a perilous departure from the universal practice of investing such authority in the highest official of the nation. Such a situation has no parallel in the Washington-Moscow nuclear arms race of the Cold War era.\

    http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176123/tomgram%3A_dilip_hiro%2C_flashpoint_for_the_planet/#more

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you here. It's really scary, except for the nuclear winter part which I really doubt.

      I blame it all on the outlook of the Moslems, who killed 80 million Hindus, those mostly peaceful people, during one 250 year long killing spree back in the day.

      Rest assured Israel had zero to do with this, not being in existence at the time.

      Nor has Israel 'destabilized' the mid east. They could have nuked them all long ago.

      If ISIS should explode a dirty bomb in Washington, D. C. making much of it inhospitable for a long time....well watch out....

      Delete
  19. India has Pakistan to worry about, and also to some degree China.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I see Bob, as per usual, has ignored Quirks comments ripping 'Bob logic' to shreds yet he continues on with his nonsensical pontificating on other topics of which he offers nothing of substance - just juvenile feelings cured through the dementia of the aged.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What the hell you talking about so early this morning, child ?

      Quirk has made no comments on the topic at hand worth not ignoring.

      Which I have done my best to do, ignore, like I do yours.

      Delete
    2. I bet Ash's mommy drove him to school and back each day for twelve years.

      Delete
    3. Wow, Bob, you do have problems. Here, let me repost them here for your reading pleasure since you seem incapable of reading responses to your posts. From above:




      QuirkMon Apr 04, 12:15:00 AM EDT

      .

      I'm not going to go searching for you right now Ash, but when I come upon them I will put them up.

      It's widely known to everybody but you that Obama rejected the military's advice to keep troops in Iraq, leading to the rise of ISIS.

      You say this in response to Ash's questioning of your comment and then to show your ignorance on this subject you put up 20 headlines (your specialty), most of which are about Afghanistan or the current strategy in Iraq/Syria or even Libya. But I didn't see one that said anything about Iraq and the troop withdrawal in 2011.

      It's bad enough when you fill your lazy response with logical fallacies, false assumptions, red herrings, misclassifications, and expediency, but when your appeals to authority include buffoons like Gen. Jack Keane from FOX, you have truly jumped the shark.

      As far as Afghanistan, with the posts you put up you prove you know nothing about that war. It's the US' longest running war and Obama has had us there as long as Bush. It was during the Obama years that we got the Afghan surge under that ass Petraeus. In the Obama years, on average we have had twice as many troops in Afghanistan than we had there under Bush. Half the Afghan posts you put up talk about planned troop changes. As we have seen, we didn't actually withdraw all our troops there at the end of 2014. In fact, it looks like we may have about 10,000 troops there for decades.

      You answer 42.

      No doubt we will soon see the opiates disappear from our streets.

      The Taliban will withdraw to Pakistan.

      Women driving through the streets of Kabul in tank tops and short shorts, the wind blowing through their hair.

      Government corruption will be a thing of the past.

      A chicken in every pot and swarma for everyone.

      .













      QuirkMon Apr 04, 12:55:00 AM EDT

      .

      Geez, Bob, it's hard keeping up with you.

      By the time, I respond to the first set of weird links you put up, you put up an entirely new set of weird links. This is why I tell you that if you don't want to make a fool of yourself you have to actuallt read the links before you put them up.

      At least, this time the links actually refer to the troop withdrawal from Iraq in 2011. However...

      Out of the 13 links you put up, 12 of them were for the same article from February, 2009 by Gareth Porter. Had you read even two of them, you wouldn't...well, why go on you have been told all this before; but...

      1. The story itself recounts the duplicity of certain generals as they try to manipulate Obama and stab him in the back.

      2. The 13th link you put up was from a website made up of military mothers arguing against a plan Obama was considering regarding keeping a few thousands troops in Iraq.

      Once again, try reading what you put up here.


      Delete
  21. April 4, 2016

    Hillary’s enthusiasm gap in one short video

    By Thomas Lifson




    Saying that Hillary Clinton is an awful public speaker may be an understatement. Her style can be boring, or when she gets excited, it can be grating or screeching. There is no setting on her voice before crowd for pleasant and engaging. Combine her lack of verbal skills with her campaign based on the notion that she is entitled to the presidency because she put up with husband’s infidelities and put in time as a senator and secretary of state with no noticeable accomplishments of any value, and you have serious problems generating enthusiasm. So Hillary settles for compliance among her supporters.

    On Saturday at a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, one of the people selected for podium behind Hillary’s speech expressed perfectly the spirit of her campaign, unable to stop yawning as Hillary avoided the pitfalls of grating and screeching and fell into the tedious groove that is about as good as it gets for her speeches. Olaf Ekberg of The American Mirror captured the moment in an edited video of the speech.

    Video
    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/04/hillarys_enthusiasm_gap_in_one_short_video.html#ixzz44rDCSd68

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Age Of Nuclear Terror

      http://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/

      Delete
  22. Deuce holds some, let's say interesting views.

    IF he is to be taken seriously?

    Then his Iranian and Arab friends should be deported at once as he advocates the destruction of Israel as it's unwise to have a colony in the heart of a unfriendly region...

    But his own premise?

    Islamists or actually all members of Islam should be deported from the west.

    Blacks should be deported back to Africa and of course....

    Deuce and his ilk should be deported out of the Americas and sent back to the European lands which he and his came from...

    But deuce lives in a weird fictional world, one that shares the Mufti of Jerusalem's POV world view, Nazi Germany and other Jew hating systems...

    Just remove the Jews from said society and POOF you will have piece.


    No deuce, the problem is not migration of Jews or the West's development, the problem is Islam and it's followers not wanting to embrace modernity.

    Arabs, Black and Europeans are not going to leave the Americas to make the Cherokee happy...

    And Jews are HOME in their historic homeland and making a thriving wonderful place called "Israel".

    The Arab nations? Are dying, as is Islam.

    Arab nationalism is a false construct, as is "palestinianism"....

    Never in the history of the world have there been nations that have been created by the arabs (let alone the people that lack a P) that had any real historic legacy.

    In the early 1900's American nationalism and it's concepts were TAUGHT to the arabs. Universities like the American University encouraged Egyptians and Lebanese to create a nationalistic movement..

    The Ottomans were defeated by the Brits and poof the French and Brits (among others) redrew them maps of the Middle east... These maps are being torn up....

    Should Syria exist? Should the Kurds be occupied by Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey? Should Lebanon? Is Jordan not a fake crackerjack prize for the "King?

    Iran? Is mostly non-persian.

    Yeah The map is being redrawn.

    Pakistan is not real, but Islamic hijacking of Indian lands, controlled by a group of Generals....

    The Original Egyptians have been shunted into 2nd class citizenship (and that's being generous)

    No Arab/Persian Islam is the problem, not the Coptics, Druze, Berbers, Jews, Bhais, Kurds, Christians and others....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellently stated and exactly right.

      Delete
  23. Right from the beginning, this article flies in the face of history- "After all, Islamic extremism was virtually unknown fifty years ago..."

    Are you kidding me.
    1400 years of their sh!t and the author paints a picture of Western Imperialism?

    Rewriting history to fit an opinion?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. shhhh dont confuse the Deuce and his Deucettes with facts/

      Delete
    2. People named "Doug" have no credibility.

      Delete
  24. Leaked documents show strong business support for raising the minimum wage

    So why do most chambers of commerce still oppose it?

    Whenever minimum wage increases are proposed on the state or federal level, business groups tend to fight them tooth and nail. But actual opposition may not be as united as the groups' rhetoric might make it appear, according to internal research conducted by a leading consultant for state chambers of commerce.

    The survey of 1,000 business executives across the country was conducted by LuntzGlobal, the firm run by Republican pollster Frank Luntz, and obtained by a liberal watchdog group called the Center for Media and Democracy. (The slide deck is here, and the full questionnaire is here.) Among the most interesting findings: 80 percent of respondents said they supported raising their state's minimum wage, while only eight percent opposed it.

    "That’s where it’s undeniable that they support the increase,” Luntz told state chamber executives in a webinar describing the results, noting that it squares with other polling they’ve done. “And this is universal. If you’re fighting against a minimum wage increase, you’re fighting an uphill battle, because most Americans, even most Republicans, are okay with raising the minimum wage.”

    Luntz then provided some tips on how to defuse that support, such as suggesting other poverty-reduction methods like the Earned Income Tax Credit. “Where you might find some comfort if you are opposing it in your state is, 'how . . . . . . . . .

    article

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The most obvious point I would bring up is the 'no skin off my nose syndrome'.

      Most companies in this country are paying more than minimum wage though that has been declining some since 2008.

      .

      Delete
  25. Judge Napolitano on Fox just said that most of the highest classified information e-mails were between Hillary and Obama...

    :):)

    He's says this might mean O'bozo could be called as a......WITNESS !

    Ho, ho, ho...

    ReplyDelete
  26. Garry Leech?? Please....

    Garry Leech is an independent journalist and author of eight books including “How I Became an American Socialist” (Misfit Books, 2016), “Capitalism: A Structural Genocide” (Zed Books, 2012) and “Crude Interventions: The United States, Oil and the New World Disorder” (Zed Books, 2006). He also teaches international politics at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Canada and Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like another extreme left wing dirt bag. A hater.

      Delete
  27. In other, MORE IMPORTANT NEWS:


    The Army just bought a new sniper rifle.

    The service on Friday announced that it awarded a contract to Heckler & Koch to supply a precision rifle to replace the M110 made by Knight’s Armament.

    The Army wanted to acquire a shorter, lighter, more accurate, more ergonomic and more reliable gun for marksmen, according to Program Executive Office Soldier’s product portfolio. The new Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System should be easier to carry and use in close quarters than the M110 without sacrificing performance or accuracy, PEO said.

    The FedBizOpps.gov award notice said H&K will produce a maximum of 3,643 rifles over 24 months, as well as spare parts and depot support, at a max contract value of $44.5 million. There’s a minimum purchase of 30 rifles for quality assurance testing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Here Bob, one more time in case you can't read anything up thread:




    QuirkMon Apr 04, 12:15:00 AM EDT

    .

    I'm not going to go searching for you right now Ash, but when I come upon them I will put them up.

    It's widely known to everybody but you that Obama rejected the military's advice to keep troops in Iraq, leading to the rise of ISIS.

    You say this in response to Ash's questioning of your comment and then to show your ignorance on this subject you put up 20 headlines (your specialty), most of which are about Afghanistan or the current strategy in Iraq/Syria or even Libya. But I didn't see one that said anything about Iraq and the troop withdrawal in 2011.

    It's bad enough when you fill your lazy response with logical fallacies, false assumptions, red herrings, misclassifications, and expediency, but when your appeals to authority include buffoons like Gen. Jack Keane from FOX, you have truly jumped the shark.

    As far as Afghanistan, with the posts you put up you prove you know nothing about that war. It's the US' longest running war and Obama has had us there as long as Bush. It was during the Obama years that we got the Afghan surge under that ass Petraeus. In the Obama years, on average we have had twice as many troops in Afghanistan than we had there under Bush. Half the Afghan posts you put up talk about planned troop changes. As we have seen, we didn't actually withdraw all our troops there at the end of 2014. In fact, it looks like we may have about 10,000 troops there for decades.

    You answer 42.

    No doubt we will soon see the opiates disappear from our streets.

    The Taliban will withdraw to Pakistan.

    Women driving through the streets of Kabul in tank tops and short shorts, the wind blowing through their hair.

    Government corruption will be a thing of the past.

    A chicken in every pot and swarma for everyone.

    .













    QuirkMon Apr 04, 12:55:00 AM EDT

    .

    Geez, Bob, it's hard keeping up with you.

    By the time, I respond to the first set of weird links you put up, you put up an entirely new set of weird links. This is why I tell you that if you don't want to make a fool of yourself you have to actuallt read the links before you put them up.

    At least, this time the links actually refer to the troop withdrawal from Iraq in 2011. However...

    Out of the 13 links you put up, 12 of them were for the same article from February, 2009 by Gareth Porter. Had you read even two of them, you wouldn't...well, why go on you have been told all this before; but...

    1. The story itself recounts the duplicity of certain generals as they try to manipulate Obama and stab him in the back.

    2. The 13th link you put up was from a website made up of military mothers arguing against a plan Obama was considering regarding keeping a few thousands troops in Iraq.

    Once again, try reading what you put up here.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good Grief Ash, how did Quirk get into this ?

      YOU asked for a link, and by your own accounting I put up two.

      Further I put up two bunches more that got disappeared, then gave up.

      And if Quirk thinks Obama followed the military's advice he is as dumb as you.

      Go read about it yourselves, the two of you.

      In the case of you two guys, though, two minds are less than one.

      Delete
    2. Bob, the issue is really quite simple - if you make a factual statement you should be able to back it up. You asserted that Obama ignored the unanimous advice of his generals when pulling troops out of Iraq. Putting up a flurry of headlines to unrelated stuff does not support your assertion.

      Let's look at another one of your tropes "Iraq was in good shape until Obama pulled the troops out". You state this over and over and over again. Please support it. It shouldn't be too difficult if true. You simply need to choose a metric (say violent Iraqi deaths) and show how the data supports your claim. We can then deal with your evaluation of the data and the data source. Simply putting up some link to a headline that screams "violence in Iraq" does not suffice. Heck, you could even put up a link where someone else evaluates data that supports your claim. This we could evaluate. You have never done anything like this. You just wail like a child "Obama ruined everything". It is idiotic to take anything you write seriously.

      Delete
    3. .

      You moron.

      You claimed that it was the unanimous opinion of the military that troops be kept in Iraq after 2001. It was really the opinion of those in the military that had their careers tied to the clusterfuck that was Iraq. It may have been widespread but none of the 33 links you put up show that.

      And if Quirk thinks Obama followed the military's advice he is as dumb as you.

      Of course, he didn't follow the advice of those dicks like Petraeus, Odierno, and Keane. He correctly believed they were trying to sandbag him. Try reading the links you yourself put up.

      Some of your links you put up make the point that the American people get it even if the military doesn't. In fact in some cases, it points out that the American people are much smarter than the military dicks who have their careers and reputations tied to war and book sales.

      You also have outright claimed that not keeping them there created ISIS which is just damn stupid since the precursor to ISIS existed for the first time in Iraq by 2004. A rose by any other name is still a rose you dumb shit. There is no other way of saying.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      You claimed that it was the unanimous opinion of the military that troops be kept in Iraq after 2011.

      .

      Delete
  29. .

    You people are batshit crazy.

    There is plenty to complain of Israel about, but it is crazy to blame everything that goes wrong in the ME on them. There are also plenty of other reasons to explain Islamic Extremism rather than just Western Imperialism the religion itself as spread by countries like Saudi Arabia being one of the big ones. However, anyone who thinks Western Imperialism over the past 200+ hasn't played a major part in the current radicalism has their head up their ass.

    Here is a timeline of the ME,

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Middle_Eastern_history

    You will see that Israel ad its heyday for a few hundred years a few thousand years ago. Since then until the beginning of the 20th century they were a footnote, usually some reference to them getting their ass kicked by some greater power.

    Since then the entire ME has been reshaped by conquests by numerous powers, Romans, Greeks, Medes, Persians, Mongols, Christians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and eventually the West

    You can talk about ancient history all you want but the current shape of the ME took place after WWI. In that two hundred years, you are nutz if you don't think Western Imperialism played some part in shaping radical Islam's views of the West.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. but MOME doesn't like the author therefore what was written couldn't be true...

      Delete
    2. Ash, I would say by looking at his bio that his writings and rants might, could possibly be, not sure, but I think, a WEE BIT slanted. Certainly not fair and balanced. He is Clearly just another flaming liberal who hates the U.S. He can't get a teaching job here (Nova Scotia and Colombia), which is probably fueling his fire. BUT I DO understand why you have a man crush on him. :-)

      Delete
    3. heh, I know nothing of biography other than what you've mentioned and I doubt you have any insight into whether the man could or could not get a teaching position in the US. Has he even tried? In fact I got just a short ways through the posted article and skipped on.

      I think calling western, and especially US, activities in the ME "imperialism" is pejorative and does not accurately portray our involvement in the region. Referring to Israel as a "colony" is also pejorative, and is also inaccurate, particularly in the historical use of the term like India was a Colony to Great Britain, or Canada for that matter.

      I do, however, think that much of the current terrorism in the West is a result of our involvement in the Middle East. Heck, bin Laden said so and ISIS certainly makes that claim as well. I think their weakness is one of the reasons they resort to terrorism - cheapest bang for the buck. I don't think Western involvement is the cause of the terrorism in the Middle East as terrorism has a long tradition as a military tactic for many different groups throughout the world. I do think that western involvement has helped cause the rise and popularity of the extremists in the region though.

      Delete
    4. .

      1783 aint ancient history..

      Neither is 1946.

      .

      Delete


  30. What is "Occupation"Mon Apr 04, 08:00:00 AM EDT
    Deuce holds some, let's say interesting views.

    IF he is to be taken seriously?

    Then his Iranian and Arab friends should be deported at once as he advocates the destruction of Israel as it’s unwise to have a colony in the heart of a unfriendly region... {IF ANYONE CAN EXPLAIN WHAT HE MEANS HERE, PLEASE DO SO}

    But his own premise?

    Islamists or actually all members of Islam should be deported from the west.{ NOT LEGAL & STUPID: MUSLIMS IN THE US ARE VERY LOW ON CRIME STATISTICS}

    Blacks should be deported back to Africa and of course....{ THAT SOUNDS MORE LIKE AN ISRAELI POSITION, CERTAINLY NOT DONE IN THE US}

    Deuce and his ilk should be deported out of the Americas and sent back to the European lands which he and his came from...{ ANOTHER INANE COMMENT: OF COURSE TO AN ISRAELI FIRSTER , EVERYTHING IS FROM AN ISRAELI PERSPECTIVE - YOUR ANALOGY IS FLAWED - EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO PALESTINIAN AND OTHER LANDS IN THE MIDDLE EAST THE CORRECT ANALOGY IS THAT ALL AMERICANS OF ITALIAN HERITAGE SHOULD BE ABLE TO RECLAIM PART OF ITALY - GERMAN AMERICANS, PRUSSIA - SCOTS IRISH AMERICANS, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND - IT IS PREPOSTEROUS ZIONIST BULLSHIT}

    But deuce lives in a weird fictional world, one that shares the Mufti of Jerusalem’s POV world view, Nazi Germany and other Jew hating systems... {MY PEOPLE DID NOT ROLL OVER AND DIE WHEN THE NAZIS WERE ON THE MOVE- THEY DID NOT FLEE FROM THE NAZIS - THEY WENT TO THE NAZIS AND KILLED THEM AND TAUGHT THEM A LESSON THEY NEVER FORGOT}

    Just remove the Jews from said society and POOF you will have piece. { NO JUSTICE - NO PEACE}


    No deuce, the problem is not migration of Jews or the West’s development, the problem is Islam and it’s followers not wanting to embrace modernity. { NOT ALL MUSLIMS - I NOTICE THAT SOME JEWS OF CERTAIN CULTS DO NOT SHAKE WOMEN’S HANDS - THEY DON’T EAT FOOD THAT NORMAL AMERICANS EAT- IS THAT MODERN?}

    Arabs, Black and Europeans are not going to leave the Americas to make the Cherokee happy...{AMERICAN INDIANS, BLACK AMERICANS AND EUROPEAN AMERICANS ARE NOT FORCIBLY OCCUPYING LANDS FROM WHICH THEY CAME AND MAKING CLAIMS THAT EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS ARE DOING}

    And Jews are HOME in their historic homeland and making a thriving wonderful place called "Israel".

    The Arab nations? Are dying, as is Islam.

    Arab nationalism is a false construct, as is "palestinianism"....

    Never in the history of the world have there been nations that have been created by the arabs (let alone the people that lack a P) that had any real historic legacy.

    In the early 1900's American nationalism and it's concepts were TAUGHT to the arabs. Universities like the American University encouraged Egyptians and Lebanese to create a nationalistic movement..

    The Ottomans were defeated by the Brits and poof the French and Brits (among others) redrew them maps of the Middle east... These maps are being torn up....

    Should Syria exist? Should the Kurds be occupied by Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey? Should Lebanon? Is Jordan not a fake crackerjack prize for the "King?

    Iran? Is mostly non-persian.

    Yeah The map is being redrawn.

    Pakistan is not real, but Islamic hijacking of Indian lands, controlled by a group of Generals....

    The Original Egyptians have been shunted into 2nd class citizenship (and that's being generous)

    No Arab/Persian Islam is the problem, not the Coptics, Druze, Berbers, Jews, Bhais, Kurds, Christians and others....

    ReplyDelete
  31. "You can talk about ancient history all you want but the current shape of the ME took place after WWI. In that two hundred years, you are nutz if you don't think Western Imperialism played some part in shaping radical Islam's views of the West."

    Quirk, I'm hoping for a self driving car for you. You've been drinking again.

    Or maybe it's just age.

    The time sense is the first to go, they say.

    Maybe it's both.

    What month is it right now, Quirk ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Go away, Bob, you are just too stupid to endure some mornings.

      It's about the time we start looking for rat to show up so you will go to the casino.

      .

      Delete
    2. I have no car today, Quirk.

      So I must stay here and take the opportunity to point out your many mistakes so that you may delete them and not leave permanent evidence that you are "slippin'", as Dad used to say.

      Always looking out for you....

      Delete
  32. Moving on...

    Hillary's Woman Problem: Most Women Don't Like Her

    by John McLaughlin & Jim McLaughlin April 4, 2016 4:00 AM

    Steven Shepard of Politico wrote an important article last week about Donald Trump’s “rock bottom” ratings with women. And his low standing with women has certainly become a much-discussed topic among pundits analyzing the Donald Trump candidacy.

    An overlooked story, however, is that Hillary Clinton, who might become the first female president in the history of the United States, isn’t far behind in her unfavorability ratings among women.

    Our just-released poll shows that Donald Trump has a 68 percent unfavorable rating among women. But 58 percent of women say they view Hillary Clinton unfavorably. In fact, Hillary’s unfavorable rating was two points higher among women than it was among men.

    Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433596/hillary-clintons-low-ratings-among-women

    The women who don't like either Trump or Hillary should just stay home and let the men decide.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Deuce: Islamists or actually all members of Islam should be deported from the west.{ NOT LEGAL & STUPID: MUSLIMS IN THE US ARE VERY LOW ON CRIME STATISTICS}


    Since when is something being LEGAL important to you?

    You advocate ILLEGAL treatment of Jews in the USA, you advocate ILLEGAL methods all the time for Jews in Israel..

    Legal...

    That's a laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Deuce: Blacks should be deported back to Africa and of course....{ THAT SOUNDS MORE LIKE AN ISRAELI POSITION, CERTAINLY NOT DONE IN THE US}


    Deflection Deuce?

    What right does any America have to LIVE here unless they are Cherokee (and others) by your stupid standards?

    You claim that "european Jews" stole the arab's lands of Palestine and yet ignore the Jews that lived there for thousands of years. You ignore the Jews of the middle east that have been oppressed since the arabs migrated (with a sword) out of arabia.

    How easy for you to claim that Israel is illegal when you are more than ILLEGAL as you are not NATIVE of the America's in any way shape or form.

    Deuce you knowledge of the people of Israel is quite deficit you ignore once again the LEGAL claim to the lands that BOTH the League of Nations and the UNITED nations mandated..

    But you only like LEGAL things when they sound in your favor?

    ReplyDelete
  35. No deuce, the problem is not migration of Jews or the West’s development, the problem is Islam and it’s followers not wanting to embrace modernity. { NOT ALL MUSLIMS - I NOTICE THAT SOME JEWS OF CERTAIN CULTS DO NOT SHAKE WOMEN’S HANDS - THEY DON’T EAT FOOD THAT NORMAL AMERICANS EAT- IS THAT MODERN?}


    I'll stack up dietary restrictions and handshakes against clit chopping, beheadings and drinking camel piss any day...

    To even try to argue that Islamic ways are 7th century throwbacks as compared to Jews is specious..

    But I have come to except the most inane ignorant points from you...

    The good news?

    Islam is killing it's self....

    daily...

    Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Deuce: But deuce lives in a weird fictional world, one that shares the Mufti of Jerusalem’s POV world view, Nazi Germany and other Jew hating systems... {MY PEOPLE DID NOT ROLL OVER AND DIE WHEN THE NAZIS WERE ON THE MOVE- THEY DID NOT FLEE FROM THE NAZIS - THEY WENT TO THE NAZIS AND KILLED THEM AND TAUGHT THEM A LESSON THEY NEVER FORGOT}


    Ah yes, blaming the victims of the holocaust...

    And your words: KILLED THEM AND TAUGHT THEM A LESSON THEY NEVER FORGOT


    Yeah Deuce, the Palestinian savages that you love so dearly are being taught a lesson that they will never forget...

    Dont FUCK with us...

    But here you are squatting as an occupier in Philadelphia preaching how Jews are illegal occupying another's lands...

    tell ya what Deuce, for all those millions you have earned in your life? Buy the fakistinians a "P" since they can't even SAY OR WRITE a P in arabic..

    Go one...

    Let us know when the fakistinians add a letter to the language....

    In the end your side is doomed.

    The Syrians, Iranians and Hezbollah have killed more Arabs (of all stripes) in the last 4 years than Israel has in 60 times 100...

    Which brings us to your new national love IRAN...

    Let us know when you are renouncing your US citizenship and becoming Iranian?

    ReplyDelete
  37. My Niece doesn't eat meat, fish, or any other seafood, doesn't drink booze or do drugs.

    But she's very modern.

    She works in Germany at Max Planck Institute of Brain Research.

    She's as modern as one can get. Diet has nothing to do with being 'modern'.

    *******

    Did Deuce really say this ? -

    {MY PEOPLE DID NOT ROLL OVER AND DIE WHEN THE NAZIS WERE ON THE MOVE- THEY DID NOT FLEE FROM THE NAZIS - THEY WENT TO THE NAZIS AND KILLED THEM AND TAUGHT THEM A LESSON THEY NEVER FORGOT}

    Shame on Deuce.

    They were outnumbered 100 to 1 in Germany alone, disarmed, but when they got some guns in the Warsaw Ghetto they fought like hell.

    ReplyDelete
  38. And Ash, I demand back to you that you put up links showing that Obama followed the advice of the Generals in withdrawing precipitously from Iraq, and thereby paving the way for ISIS.

    This demand applies to you too, Quirk-O.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      You friggin toad, why would I try to find links that say that when the entire sentence is absurd. In the face of all the evidence put up here, only a moron would believe it.

      Go read your Jihad Watch or The Weekly Standard. You need another fix of neocon joy juice.

      .

      Delete
    2. After the time sense goes, reasoning is next.

      I hate to be the bringer of bad news to you.

      The good news is hearing goes last, so you should always be able to hear me laughing at and mocking your inane insubstantial as the very air posts, you friggin' mental lizard brain !

      Exit questions:

      How many years are there in two hundred years ?

      What is 2,016 (-) 1,918 ?

      Yes, you may use a calculator.

      Bwabwabwabwahahahahaha

      Delete
    3. Bonus points question:

      Who is buried in Grant's Tomb ?

      Delete
  39. Wouldn't a Nuclear Winter balance out Global Warming, resulting in no change?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's been my working hypothesis, yes.

      If we had global cooling + a nuclear exchange we're ice cycles.

      Delete
    2. we're in a cycle of icicles

      Delete
  40. Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 14 strikes in Syria:

    -- Near Hasakah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle-borne bomb.

    -- Near Hawl, six strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL anti-air artillery piece, three ISIL vehicles, and two ISIL tactical vehicles, and four ISIL fighting positions.

    -- Near Raqqah, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL headquarters and destroyed an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL workover rig, an ISIL front-end loader, and four ISIL pump jacks.

    -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL vehicle-borne bombs.

    -- Near Idlib, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL buildings.

    -- Near Manbij, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Mar’a, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    Strikes in Iraq

    Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 10 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Hit, three strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle-borne bomb, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL recoilless rifle, and an ISIL staging area and denied ISIL access to terrain.

    -- Near Kirkuk, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

    -- Near Kisik, a strike suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Mosul, two strikes destroyed an ISIL supply cache, an ISIL command and control node, and an ISIL tactical vehicle and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed an ISIL weapons storage facility and an ISIL staging facility.

    -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL supply cache.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. radicalizing moslems every day with meaningless pinpricks..

      Delete
  41. Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-administration-pushes-banks-to-make-home-loans-to-people-with-weaker-credit/2013/04/02/a8b4370c-9aef-11e2-a941-a19bce7af755_story.html

    ReplyDelete
  42. Here's something that's been puzzling me for awhile, now:


    Why Can’t We Find Productivity Gains?

    April 4, 2016 8:30am by Barry Ritholtz


    You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics. –Robert Solow


    Government data this morning showed that the U.S. gained 215,000 new jobs last month. Unemployment ticked up to 5 percent from 4.9 percent, as more people returned to the labor force. Wages increased 0.3 percent month to month, and are up 2.3 percent year over year. Payrolls expanded for the 70th consecutive month, averaging 198,000 a month during that stretch. Since the Great Recession ended, 14.5 million new private-sector jobs have been added to the economy.

    Those big three data points — the unemployment rate, number of new hires and wage gains — are what everyone focuses on. The one data point you don’t hear much about is productivity. Looking only at the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, you might imagine that the level ofproductivity hasn’t improved much. This is crucial, because productivity is a big part of the economic-growth equation.

    However, based on nothing more than my own personal experience, and nearly everyone else I have asked about this, something quite different is happening — productivity is soaring. Yet, there’s nothing to be found in the official numbers. To paraphrase Solow, productivity gains are everywhere except in the productivity statistics.

    Think for a moment about the technology you use in your personal and professional life; consider how much more you can do in a given span of time thanks to technology; the integration of mobile wireless and information services, the Internet, software and apps and what it all allows you to accomplish each day compared with the recent past.

    I wager that your personal experience overwhelmingly suggests productivity gains are everywhere despite the lack of hard data.

    Analysts at the BLS looked at this in 2014. They noted in a report some rather intriguing data: employees “in the U.S. business sector worked virtually the same number of hours in 2013 as they had in 1998—approximately 194 billion labor hours . . . there was no growth at all in the number of hours worked over this 15-year period, despite the fact that the U.S population gained over 40 million people during that time, and despite the fact that there were thousands of new businesses established during that time.”

    That 15-year period also saw a 42 percent increase in real output; American businesses produced $3.5 trillion more in goods and services (in real terms) in 2013 than in 1998.

    As a nation, how can we have such a massive increase in output without an large increase in productivity? Technology must be part of the answer; the other part probably is a measurement issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock, calls today’s slow productivity growth “a statistical mirage.” He further observes that “traditional economic metrics simply haven’t kept pace with fast-changing technologies geared toward greater efficiency at lower cost.”

      Others at BlackRock have looked at the productivity slowdown, exploring cyclical and structural reasons for the “missing” gains.Measurement error continues to be the leading culprit.

      The way we capture formal productivity data hasn’t kept up with modern ways of doing business. As a result, I believe economists underestimate productivity increases. Think about it: Most of us walk around with more computing power in our pockets and hand bags than the Apollo astronauts had at their disposal on the lunar voyages. Smartphones and related technology make everyone more productive.

      As U.S. businesses and consumers continue to adopt new technologies at the fastest rate since the advent of the television, the result is ever-increasing productivity. In the app-economy, productivity gains are everywhere — except in the official data. Let’s hope that changes soon.

      Barry Ritholtz

      Delete
    2. Here's the Money Shot:

      Analysts at the BLS looked at this in 2014. They noted in a report some rather intriguing data:

      employees “in the U.S. business sector worked virtually the same number of hours in 2013 as they had in 1998—approximately 194 billion labor hours . . . there was no growth at all in the number of hours worked over this 15-year period, despite the fact that the U.S population gained over 40 million people during that time, and despite the fact that there were thousands of new businesses established during that time.”

      That 15-year period also saw a 42 percent increase in real output; American businesses produced $3.5 trillion more in goods and services (in real terms) in 2013 than in 1998.

      Delete
  43. 2 out of 3 economic models predict GOP will win the White House


    posted at 6:01 pm on April 4, 2016 by John Sexton

    Is the GOP favored to win the 2016 election? According to a couple of economic models used to predict outcomes based on GDP and other factors the answer is yes. The Hill has an interesting piece about the models and the information they use to predict who will win:


    Ray Fair, a Yale professor who launched his model in 1978, told The Hill that while all elections include unruly features that an economic model can’t pick up, “this one seems particularly unusual.”

    “If there’s any time in which personalities would trump the economy it would be this election,” Fair said.

    Fair’s model has correctly forecast all but three presidential races since 1916 but was wrong in 2012, when it predicted a narrow loss for Obama to Mitt Romney.

    It relies on just three pieces of information: per capita growth rate of gross domestic product in the three quarters before an election, inflation over the entire presidential term and the number of quarters during the term growth per capita exceeds 3.2 percent.

    Given the sluggish economy, his model doesn’t show enough growth under Obama to predict a Democratic win in the election. In his most recent forecast from January, his model predicted a 45.66 percent share of the presidential vote for the Democratic candidate, less than the 49 percent it predicted in 2012.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/04/2-out-of-3-economic-models-predict-gop-will-win-the-white-house/

      Delete
  44. Trump is closing the gap in Wisconsin.

    It is now, according to RCP Rolling Poll, Trump 34.9% Cruz 39%.

    After The Donald prances his fancy wife around there today he might well win.

    It will be an interesting day tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  45. How Nazi Propaganda and the Muslim Brotherhood Led to the 1948 Israel-Arab War


    A look back at one of the most fateful turning points in 20th century history.

    April 4, 2016

    Mosaic Magazine

    Reprinted from Mosaic Magazine.

    Although the UN plan for partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states was opposed by the vast majority of Arab leaders, most were long unwilling to go to war to prevent it from happening. What pushed the states to war, argues Matthias Kuenzel, was the persistent lobbying of the Muslim Brotherhood, its ability to shape popular Arab opinion with the help of Nazi-sponsored anti-Semitic propaganda, and its support for Grand Mufti Amin Haj al-Husseini—a former collaborator with the Nazis who rejected any compromise with the Jews:


    In 1947 most Arabs in Mandatory Palestine itself were opposed to war. Tens of thousands of them had found work in Jewish-dominated economic sectors such as citrus-fruit production. Moreover, they were aware of the Zionists’ military strength. . . . There was a similar absence of war-like intentions in the Arab League states of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. In August 1946, the Jewish Agency reported that “the Egyptians agree that there is no other acceptable solution to the Palestine question except partition.” . . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262387/how-nazi-propaganda-and-muslim-brotherhood-led-mosaic-magazine

      Delete
  46. Delicate snowflakes in United Kingdom file safe zone complaint against student… for raising her hand


    posted at 6:41 pm on April 4, 2016 by Matt Vespa

    Well, it appears that precious snowflakes ruining educational institutions with their toxic progressivism isn’t just an American problem; our cousins across the pond seem to have equally soft, and idiotic, students running amok in their institutions as well. At Edinburgh University, 22-year-old Imogen Wilson received a complaint that she violated the cupcake guidelines to authoritarianism school’s safe space regulations because of inappropriate hand gestures. No, she didn’t give the middle finger, though I wouldn’t blame her for doing so in this instance; she simply raised her hand while questioning her school’s possible involvement in the virulently anti-Semitic (and anti-Israel) Boycott, Disinvestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) at a student council meeting. Wilson is the vice president for academic affairs for the Edinburgh University Students’ Association, according to the Telegraph. What transpired afterwards was nothing short of madness, with complaints being lobbed at her for simply shaking her head in disagreement (via Telegraph):


    Ms Wilson, 22, was subject to a “safe space complaint” over her supposedly “inappropriate hand gestures” during a student council meeting.

    According to the association’s rules, student council meetings should be held in a “safe space environment”, defined as “a space which is welcoming and safe and includes the prohibition of discriminatory language and actions”.

    This includes “refraining from hand gestures which denote disagreement”, or “in any other way indicating disagreement with a point or points being made”.

    “Disagreements should only be evident through the normal course of debate,” it says.

    Ms Wilson said she raised her arms in disagreement after being accused by another speaker of failing to respond to an open letter, despite in fact having made efforts to contact the letter’s authors.

    A complaint was made against Ms Wilson, who was then subjected to a vote on whether she should be removed from the room.

    Although the vote went in her favour, with 18 people voting to remove her and 33 voting for her to be allowed to remain, she was later threatened with another complaint after shaking her head while someone was speaking.

    […]

    She said: “At that meeting we were discussing BDS, the movement to boycott Israel. I made a long and passionate speech against us subscribing to this, on the basis it encourages anti-Semitism on campus. It was only after I made that speech that someone made a safe space complaint. I can’t help but think it was a political move against me.

    Oh, it was definitely political, Ms. Wilson. Anything that goes against the progressive ethos is an act of triggering that sends members of the far left into an emotional frenzy that’s hilarious, entertaining, but also annoyingly tragicomic. It’s a dangerous cocktail that could place anyone in the crosshairs of harassment for simply holding opinions that are (gasp!) different. Oh, and the school did pass a policy that supports BDS, according to Wilson’s Twitter account. I say, keep fighting the good fight in Edinburgh, Wilson. Or shall we call it Oceania?

    Over here, we’re still dealing with liberal college students having conniption fits over chalk.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/04/delicate-snowflakes-in-united-kingdom-file-safe-zone-complaint-against-student-for-raising-her-hand/

      Delete
  47. Job killing? Obamacare?

    Bwahahahahah


    By Joan McCarter

    Monday Apr 04, 2016 · 5:31 PM CDT

    The US just had its 73rd consecutive month of job growth, gaining 215,000 jobs in March. So what about that "job-killing" Obamacare?

    Hospitals, doctors' offices and other healthcare settings added 36,800 jobs in March, representing roughly 1 out of 6 jobs that were created in the entire U.S. economy last month.

    That's after an amazing February, with 38,100 new jobs in the sector.
    So it's creating healthcare jobs, and it's not killing any other jobs. That's pretty cool! And one of the reasons why you just aren't hearing many Republicans uttering that "job-killing" phrase all the time now. Read it and weep, GOP.

    Cool Chart - only one line - some hicks can probably even understand it

    Daily Kos


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

      Delete
  48. Meanwhile USA is nearing that one million doctor shortage everyone talked about with the coming of ObamaCare.

    galopin2 might find this inconvenient when he takes his ObamaCare policy to surgery and finds there are no doctors in the operating room.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're a fucking moron. I take it the "death panels" haven't found you yet.

      Delete
    2. Your a fucking moron.

      I have private supplementary insurance to ward off the Death Panels.

      My friend Dale got Death Paneled by the VA, basically the same as ObamaCare.

      Your turn shall come.

      Delete
    3. VA the same as Obamacare.

      You ARE the stupidest sonofabitch that ever lived.

      Delete
    4. You ARE the stupidest sonofabitch that ever lived.

      Many have made the comparison, galopin2. Many, many, many....

      Same inefficiency, same denial of care because of cost decisions, same type bureaucracies, same lack of doctors.....

      Delete
    5. I'd tell you to ask my friend Dale, but he's dead and not talking.

      Delete
  49. http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/04/former-doj-lawyer-hillary-clinton-should-be-prosecuted-over-email-handling/

    galopin2 is the only one here who has formally pledged to vote for the criminal and corruptocrat.

    Ash hasn't taken the formal pledge yet, as far as I know.

    ReplyDelete
  50. 'Our eyes connected and I thought "Wow"': Hillary Clinton's top aide Huma Abedin gushes about presidential hopeful and describes the moment they first met

    Huma Abedin spoke about her boss Hillary Clinton and the moment the two first met in a recent interview:

    'She walked by and she shook my hand and our eyes connected and I just remember having this moment where I thought; "Wow,"' said Abedin.....


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3522657/Our-eyes-connected-thought-Wow-Hillary-Clinton-s-aide-Huma-Abedin-gushes-presidential-hopeful-describes-moment-met.html#ixzz44uUJM3UM

    And they have lived happily ever after inseparately...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FIRST TIME HUMA EVER SAW HER FACE
      'SHE WAS SO BEAUTIFUL'.....DRUDGE


      hmm hmm hmm

      Don't let Huma ever be a judge in a beauty contest.

      Delete
  51. We need to get to the bottom of why Ash, Quirk, galopin2 etc pass so much noxious gas around here.

    Hope is finally at hand:

    We Need A Better Way To Measure Farts

    Gibson’s team think they have the answer with a tiny sensor that can be swallowed like a medical pill. As it passes through the body, the capsule samples the gases at regular intervals and relays them to a tablet computer; it will also measure things like the ambient temperature and acidity, which can provide further information about its position in the gut. This is particularly important at the end of its voyage. “You want to know if it’s passed out of the backside, but you wouldn’t know because it’s just part of the stool” says Gibson. The temperature sensor, however, could offer an instant warning. “When the temperature falls, that’s when it’s gone outside.”

    In this way, a doctor can collect real-time data at each stage of the pill’s journey.


    With the comprehensive information provided by this method, some new remedy might be at hand.

    http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160331-why-we-need-a-better-way-to-measure-farts

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  52. You will never see a better championship basket ball game than that!

    I happen to be in Villanova tonight and there are news helicopters all over the place across the University.

    Total rapture!

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