Current Events in the News (commentary)

[woodworker]

Thank you my friend. 

[woodworker]

Actually though, what Foamy had written was as concise and as hard hitting as anything can get.

And he knocked them right out of their size 15 tennis shoes with that punch at the end.

Well done Foamy.    From those of us who have had enough of their bullshit. 

[KarenKraft]

Well said, Dr. Bushy-Tail.

With respect to the folks in Baltimore:  One must understand that for nearly half a century, the state of Maryland has had inept or corrupt leadership from the top down.  I have no doubt that this beef cake who got his neck snapped while in police custody was unlawfully injured.  I suspect that black police officers were involved -- which is why there's so little talk about that part.

The "shoppers" in Baltimore probably have no idea why they are out there.... shopping...  taking what they feel is rightfully theirs.  They are young and greedy now, but before you know it, they will grow out of their youth and be adult... and greedy.

They are led, energized by professional agitators.  What the news people call "anarchists."  Well, they're not exactly anarchists but as labels go, that'll do.

Social media scans demonstrate that the same people who agitated in Ferguson were doing the same this week in Baltimore.  No surprises there.  That's why live rounds are best.  Particularly when you can cut down the littler ones -- before they procreate.  Well, except for within their own family, that is.

As for the actual protesters:  they have an absolute right to demonstrate their displeasure with what currently appears to be gross police misconduct.  Subsequent facts may emerge later that challenge that presumption.  This is a valid reason to protest.  But the protesters were done expressing themselves a week ago.  They went home.  What are out in the streets now are not protesters.  They are rabid dogs that need to be put down.

From Spain to China, governments have understood how to do that.  Not here.  Here we throw money at the canis erectus and hope that it somehow turns human.  It never does.  Shoot 'em.

OR

If one wants to engage in a kinder, gentler form of riot control, load up the water cannons with butanoic acid and spray it into and over the crowd.  Within five minutes, the streets will be clear and nobody will have suffered significant injury.  Trust me on this.

[woodworker]

And to think, the whole sad affair could have been prevented before it got

too far out of hand with just a few dozen basket balls.  :-\

I think that the riot tactical unit should have a truck just loaded up with them.

On the scene news reporter:  "And there they go, they have just released the basket balls from the truck, and they are rolling down the middle of the street right to where the protestors are."  "And now the protestors are all scrambling about to grab them as they begin to dribble these amazing balls right before our cameras."  "Oh, And look folks, that one angry protestor has just put down his Molotov cocktail and is now actually smiling."  "Can we get a close up of that camera man?"    "Folks,.. This is just wonderful!"

"This is Flunky McBribe for ABC news,.. Now back to you Chet."

[KarenKraft]

How Bad Were They – Really?

or: The Case for Quasi-Isolationist Libertarianism

    When the powers that be in Washington D.C. and their friends overseas decide that they are in the mood for regime change, they initiate a smear campaign against the head of the regime to be changed.  Usually, a few of the claims made during the smear campaign are actually true, but often they are exaggerated or are normal in the context of the time and place.  Until recently, the U.S. public eagerly accepted these senseless morality play explanations and supported attacks aimed at getting rid of cruel tyrants and dictators.  Every one of them stank like Hitler, right?  Well, some more than others, but more often than not, the vacuum created by their ouster is filled with something arguably much worse.

Whenever you hear stories about the hideous cruelty of some leader in a faraway land, how he "butchers his own people," how he is "corrupt," how "he and his family live in great luxury while many in the population are poor," your uh-oh antennae should start to twitch.  This call for decency often is little more than a ploy to justify regime change for reasons having nothing to do with the humane desire to help the oppressed.  Often it is to try to fool our enemies into being our friends overseas. 

In addition, anybody who dares to suggest that meddling in the overseas power struggle that, more often than not, our previous foreign policy had either condoned or created, is simply labeled "a friend to tyranny."  By their very nature, melodramas trade in absolutes: in order to be "good," we must condemn, destroy, or otherwise destabilize "evil."  Where such sentiments were often framed in a religious narrative, modernly they are presented publicly in terms of an absolute polarity.  Anybody who would dare opine that Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, and Muammar al-Gaddafi were, essentially, pro-U.S., pro-West, and/or effective at confronting radically supported terrorist elements, is condemned as being anti-democratic, in favor of self-aggrandizing tyrants, butchers, and so on.  Gaddafi said it best: “If you kill me, al-Qaeda will take over.”  Ooops.

Often, little interest is shown in local pro-democratic elements who can't put a million protesters in the street at a moment's notice.  We are too impatient to conduct diplomacy and spy-craft the old fashioned way – cultivating young, charismatic leaders from their teens or early twenties, helping their rise in local, then national politics behind the scenes. 

So, let's take a look at our track record of what we were told about leaders, followed by the reality of their replacements:

CUBA:

Fulgencio Batista – very bad man; evil, corrupt, in bed with the U.S. Mafia; imprisoned otherwise innocent members of his population who might be opposed to his politics and absolute rule.  Guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Replaced by: Fidel Castro – anti-democratic pro-communist dictator who imprisoned far more people for speaking out against his politics and absolute rule.  Initiated new and horrific ways to torture people whom he thought were against him.  Destroyed his county's economy.

IRAQ:

Saddam Hussein – “very bad man; evil, corrupt, has his fingers in every aspect of commerce so as to increase his personal wealth; imprisoned otherwise innocent members of his population who might be opposed to his politics and absolute rule.  Guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity when he used chemical weapons against the Kurds.”

Replaced by – the most corrupt regime in the Middle East which, of course is some sort of bizarre hybrid: an "Islamic democratic federal parliamentary republic."  Essentially, it is a loosely held coalition of thugs and zealots who blackmail the West for funds lest they turn up the valve on "Islamic" and turn down the valve on "democratic."  Side note: were Saddam Hussein still in power (or were his Ba-ath Party still in power), there is no chance that Iran would be developing nuclear weapons.

IRAN:

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – “very bad man; evil, corrupt, has his fingers in every aspect of commerce so as to increase his personal wealth; imprisoned otherwise innocent members of his population who might be opposed to his politics and absolute rule.  Guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by torturing people and putting them in prison for little or no reason!  He is accused of permitting Iranian women full suffrage in politics, education, and culture.”

Replaced by – Islamic Republic of Iran, with the government declaring that Shi'a Islam of the Twelver school of thought is Iran's official religion, barring or suppressing all others. Internationally fixated rogue terrorist-supporting zealous government bent on ousting all non-Muslims from the Middle East and eventually establishing a worldwide Islamic Caliphate.  Disfavored are the Sunni Islamists, who stipulate that the head of state, the Caliph, should be elected by Shura (Muslims or their representatives).  Favored are the Shia Islamists, who insist that the Caliph must be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (Muhammad's purified progeny). Nice, eh?  Women are property owned first by their fathers and brothers, then by their husband and male neighbors.  Iran is building nuclear weapons in order to further the goal of getting rid of all non-Muslims in the Middle East, beginning with the Christians and Jews in Israel.  God insists on hideous torture and imprisonment for all who may disagree. 

NICARAGUA:

Anastasio Somoza Debayle – “very bad man; evil, corrupt, has his fingers in every aspect of commerce so as to increase his personal wealth; imprisoned or "disappeared" innocent members of his population who might be opposed to his politics and his absolute rule.  Guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by torturing people and putting them in prison for little or no reason or making them "disappear." When an earthquake killed thousands of Nicaraguans, Jimmy Carter withdrew American support for the twice-elected Somoza government for "human rights reasons,"  Israel was the last supplier of weapons to the Somoza regime, but Carter forced the Israeli government to call back all ships carrying weapons vital to the survival of the Somoza regime.”

Replaced by – Cuban and Soviet funded Sandinistas (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional), which is part of the Junta of National Reconstruction.  President Daniel Ortega, an avid Marxist–Leninist, who ruthlessly slaughtered members of the opposition, the "Contras," who were supported by the U.S. under President Ronald Reagan, became President.  He is once again President of Nicaragua, Ortega has moderated much of his Marist-Leninist rhetoric but has aligned with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.  Smartly, Ortega kept most of his butchery hidden while decrying that of his opposition, a coalition of counterrevolutionaries.  To help destroy the opposition, Ortega solicited and received support from idealistic pro-socialist zealots from the west coasts of the U.S. who showed up wearing sandals and argyle socks.  Ortega referred to them as the American Sandalistas.  Most of the efforts to fix Carter's mess were run by the CIA under Reagan, even when the U.S. Congress disallowed funding for the counterrevolutionaries fighting against the Sandinistas.  Reagan made a deal to arm the counterrevolutionaries with funds generated through sales of weapons to Iran (the Iran-Contra "scandal"). 

EGYPT:

Hosni Mubarak – “very bad man; evil, corrupt, has his fingers in every aspect of commerce so as to increase his personal wealth; imprisoned otherwise innocent members of his population who might be opposed to his politics and absolute rule.  Guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity; Obama stated that "he had to go," notwithstanding the fact that he had kept anti-West, anti-democratic, and anti-Israel/Jewish factions like the Muslim Brotherhood in check for decades.  He remained in power because the U.S. funded his military and helped in his control of Islamist extremists.  Until Obama, Mubarak was a trusted friend and supporter of Israel and the United States.  What a butcher, right?  He was vice-president under Anwar Sadat, one of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk.  Sadat was pro-democracy and won the Nobel Peace Prize (along with Israel's Menachem Begin) for crafting a deal ending the centuries long hatred and mistrust between the Arabs and Jews in the region (the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty).  Mubarak, who had worked closely with Sadat, became President with the death of Sadat (who was assassinated by Khalid Islambouli, the leader of a group of Islamists unhappy with the "Camp David Accords" and the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty).  As both vice president and President of Egypt, Mubarak maintained close cooperation with Israel and the U.S. and also maintained stability in a region fraught with Islamist/terrorist forces.

Replaced by – The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist zealot and would-be dictator supported by Obama until Morsi's ouster by the U.S. backed Egyptian military, due to Morsi's pro-Islamic anti-Israel and anti-Jewish actions (often referring to Jews as "the descendants of pigs and dogs") and public protests over his suspension of the constitution and his granting to himself unlimited power over all aspects of life, politics, and commerce in Egypt. Thank goodness the Egyptian military isn’t stupid enough to let Morsi stick around!

SYRIA:

Bashar al-Assad – “very bad man; evil, corrupt, has his fingers in every aspect of commerce so as to increase his personal wealth; imprisoned or murdered countless innocent people who he thinks might be opposed to his politics and his absolute rule.  Guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by torturing people, putting them in prison for little or no reason, and for using chemical weapons on his own population.  Considered by many a moderate and secular reformer, certainly much more so than his father Hafez al-Assad.  Bashar (an M.D. and ophthalmologist) brought Israel-Syrian relations to a non-confrontational secular stalemate of disagreement on a variety of different issues.  Like Saddam Hossein, Bashar al-Assad is the head of the secular Ba'ath Party in his country. Bashar al-Assad is thought to have been the recipient of all those Weapons of Mass Destruction the U.S. and allies went into Iraq to remove.  He is a supporter of Hezbollah, an anti-Israeli terrorist organization. Obama says "he has to go!"

Replaced by – Yet unknown, but more than likely a group organized, funded, and affiliated with al-Qaeda ISIS or some other pan-Islamist transnational terrorist organization seeking a worldwide Caliphate.  As in the case of Libya, where Gaddafi (who Obama said, "he has to go" too) had warned that his (Gaddafi's) removal would result in Al-Qaeda affiliates taking charge, Syria too faces the same future.  Every action taken by the U.S. in the region to get rid of these nasty, evil, horrible and corrupt strong-leaders, results in ever-increasing power and influence of al-Qaeda of other Islamist zealots.

END of PART ONE

PART TWO (the case of Yugoslavia) follows. 

[KarenKraft]

YUGOSLAVIA:

Then there is the case of Yugoslavia.  Yugoslavia (originally the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes") was a country created by combining the separate provinces of autonomous areas that made up the country which were SR ("Socialist Republic(s) of…") Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Slovenia, and SR Serbia (including Vojvodina and Kosovo).  For ages, the area experienced very strong influences by Turks and Russians.  The Turkish influences resulted in Islamic populations, most prominently in Kosovo – the Muslim ethnic Albanians; the Russian influences resulted in Christian populations.  Sometimes they got along; sometimes they did not.  Each subsequent power that came along never hesitated to take a dump on one, another, or all of the constituent parts of the region. President Josip Broz Tito kept Yugoslavia together in part by suppressing ethnic and religious factionalism and hostility. In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia after the 1990 referendum held in Slovenia, which passed with 88.5% of overall electorate supporting independence (94.8% of votes cast), with a turnout of 93.3%.  The Slovenian government was well aware that the central Yugoslav government in Belgrade, the capital, might seek to use military force to quash Slovenia's move towards independence. The quasi-autonomous defense forces that had been in place during the Tito years were replaced by defense forces under the central control of Belgrade.  American and European governments did nothing to encourage the fledgling independent regions.  Indeed, they wanted to deal only with a unified Yugoslavia, not a bunch of smaller states, some Christian and some Muslim.  Slovenia won sufficient battles for it to be recognized internationally and admitted into the U.N. as an independent state. 

Slobodan Milošević – became the third President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1997.  He was Serbian and a Socialist, the son of a Serb Orthodox priest, and he was aligned with ethnic Russians in the region.  Europe and the United States were trying to make friends with Muslims worldwide (as still they are) and Yugoslav Muslims (including Bosnians) complained that they were being persecuted by Milošević.  To impress Muslims worldwide and to kiss and lick their fetid asses, American and European states and organizations ran the story that Milošević was…. WAIT FOR IT…. “a very bad man; evil, corrupt, had his fingers in every aspect of commerce and politics so as to increase his own power and that of non-Muslims in the region; that he imprisoned or murdered countless innocent people through a well orchestrated series of ethic-cleansing atrocities; that he was guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”  The rant against him went on for years in the Hague with no credible evidence being presented in support of any of these allegation of evil.  Indeed, they went on trying for so long that Milošević died in prison before the trial could be concluded. The usual charges included “genocide; complicity in genocide; deportation; murder; persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds; inhumane acts/forcible transfer; extermination; imprisonment; torture; willful killing; unlawful confinement; willfully causing great suffering; unlawful deportation or transfer; extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; cruel treatment; plunder of public or private property; attacks on civilians; destruction or willful damage done to historic monuments and institutions dedicated to education or religion; unlawful attacks on civilian objects, plus general and some non-specific "war crimes" in Bosnia and Croatia.”  None of the charges were ever proven.  What was shown was that both sides engaged in sometimes-concerted, sometimes-random acts of ethnic violence, with no actual leadership by anybody. Individual animosity and feuds, at various local and regional levels, that had gone on for generations, now became international headlines, each neatly monogrammed with Milošević's name. 

Milošević's real crime was to try to keep Yugoslavia united under pressure from Muslims who disliked Serbian rule.  Historically, Serbia always included the land generally known as Kosovo.  Kosovo has always been just another part of Serbia.  The invasion by Turks and the resulting increase in Muslims had been an historical fact. Of course, there was a very large Serbian population in Kosovo, but the Muslims didn't want the Central (Serbian) government to maintain control.  They wanted Muslim control and, of course, the expulsion of non-Muslims, etc. Muzzies like that a lot.  Always have.

The Yugoslav government refused to carve out a special Muslim-run sector in the middle of Yugoslavia.  So, under the NATO banner, President Bill Clinton, always eager to fill his own personal fists with some cash, and who had decreed that Yugoslavian President Milošević "had to go," and bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into non-existence.  Good job, Bill!  The Clown Car that keeps on oozing.  It was the debut of some very sophisticated new U.S. military hardware including the B2 Bomber which, regrettably, inadvertently bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.  Bill said he was sorry, but he was busy that day checking an intern’s oil. 

Many of NATO's targets were villages occupied by Serbs in an area where non-Serbian hegemony was sought.  In other words, the Muzzies told Bill and NATO which villages to bomb in order to make them safe for Mussy rule.  Imagine a present-day U.S. President bombing Jewish settlements in the West Bank because American policy was that such settlements were unfair or disturbing to the Arab populations which lost that territory in 1967.  Such an attack, of course, is unthinkable, but only because Israel is a very strong U.S. ally and there is a substantial and politically sophisticated Jewish population in the United States.  Even so, MonkeyMan has the same general attitude toward Jews that Sick Willie had about Serbs and Christians (and ethnic Russians).

None of those protections existed for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.  Trying to appease Muslims is not limited to either U.S. political party.  Throughout the Twentieth Century and clearly into the present century, the U.S. strategy toward Muslims was to try to convince them that America was their friend – and that they should love us for it.  It's like Lucy snatching the football away every time Charlie Brown is going to kick it: we are shocked, shocked that our buddies stuck it to us…. again…. and again.

Yugoslav children, particularly those of Christian [and/or] Russian extraction, who, like children everywhere were taught patriotism, love of country, who learned to salute their flag and sing their nation’s anthem, no longer had a national identity, as their country had been blown apart by Clinton and NATO, fragmented into tiny nation-states, mostly based on race or ethnicity.  Were these people Russian?  No.  Many sprang from Russian heritage, but to most of them, they were not Serbs or Croats; they were Yugoslavians.  Imagine an American who was girl born in Sarajevo, going in to get a passport.  She fills out the forms, stating that her birthplace was Yugoslavia.  The application was rejected, and she was told that she was born in “Bosnia and Herzegovina” – that she had to change what she wrote because it was incorrect.  "Simply start a new application form and enter in your correct birthplace, “Bosnia and Herzegovina." She did as she was told.  As far as the U.S. government is concerned, there is no such place as Yugoslavia; Billie and the Bombers saw to that!

In the proud tradition of describing anyone Europe and/or America demand "must go," Milošević now is generally referred to as the "Butcher of the Balkans."  Indeed, in 2010 Life magazine included Milošević in its list of "The World's Worst Dictators." The description was, of course, based on unproven allegations and, as we all know, the victors write the history.  Anyone who attempts to dispute the allegations is described as an anti-Muslim racist.  See, it plays so much better if you just make "Milošević" and "Hitler" synonymous.  Then, each reporter can attempt to outdo the next in embellishing stories of malevolence and atrocities.  On YouTube, you can see plenty of really well done, high-production-values crisp and professional anecdotal clips with well-spoken, articulate "victims" describing tales of woe and cruelty at the hands of the Serbs.  There are several videos describing how Serbs suffered at the hands of the Muslims, but these are homemade, for the most part – again, anecdotal, but never via The Guardian, New York Times, etc.  Notwithstanding the propaganda wars that waged back then and to some extent continue today, the bottom line is that, at the hands of the U.S., Yugoslavia ceased to exist.  Its extermination was performed for humanitarian reasons, of course.  That is, on behalf of the Muzzies who we all know are so humane and reasonable….

Thus, the world is still full of former friends and allies who are now alleged to be very bad people; evil, corrupt and sadistic, who have their fingers in every aspect of commerce so as to increase their own personal wealth at the expense of their own people; who are alleged to have imprisoned or murdered countless innocent people and who are, therefore, guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity … by torturing people, putting them in prison for absolutely no reason, etc.  Because these evil leaders do not relish the blessings of American/European democracy, and since they do not subscribe to Western sentiments regarding human dignity and personal sovereignty, they "have to go," so that taking the high ethical and moral road, we may bring what we have determined to be universally acknowledged norms of decency and fair play to the planet. 

Well, not really, Muslims get a pass in that regard since, after all, to say otherwise would be racist.

Notwithstanding the extermination of their county, a lot of people consider themselves to be Yugoslavians.  After all, that's how they were raised and that is what their parents had told them from birth.  Essentially, present day Yugoslavians have a national anthem but no nation. Scattered around Europe, they sing their national anthem.

Politics and change come to a lot of places and have since the beginning of time.  But before a U.S. President wants to spend money and spill American blood because some war criminal "has to go," think about this:  With respect to the war against Yugoslavia, who really was the war criminal?

Also think about this: Clinton bombed the Serbs – wherever they could be found, so that the Albanian Muslims could be "free" to cleanse Serbian Kosovo of Serbian culture and free it from Yugoslavian government control in Belgrade, right?  How did that work out for non-Muslims in Kosovo? 

Once Clinton, (meaning the U.S. and NATO), finished the "humanitarian" bombing of- and extermination of- the nation state of Yugoslavia, Kosovo is finally free.  Although Kosovo has been an integral part of Yugoslavia/Serbia forever, in 2008 it declared its independence from Serbia.  It now is Albanian-Muslim-controlled state, which does not allow any freedom to its indigenous Serbs who, while they were born in Kosovo, are not Muslim and, therefore, are foreigners.  Allahu Akbar.  Good thing we got rid of that evil war criminal, Milošević!  Right? http://youtu.be/Z1dtOAGD0pk  Kosovo now requests admission into the EU as an independent Muslim state. 

===========================

At last!  Sick Willie got has proverbial “envelope” and is now considered a national hero by the rulers of Kosovo.  Free at last?  No, not exactly.  Free only to die in jihad for Islam.  Good job, Bill.

Kosovo today:

http://youtu.be/FFVqdjEsqLI     

-------------------

Some traditional Serbian music and dance:

Now illegal to play in Kosovo:

------------------

But even Clinton and his Muslim cohorts can’t stop the scattered Yugoslav kids from learning the traditions of the country, their country, that he bombed into oblivion.

There is hope:

[KarenKraft]

[KarenKraft]

NO HUMANS WERE KILLED

IN TODAY’S EVENTS IN

GARLAND TEXAS. 

AN OFFICER WAS SHOT BUT HIS WOUNDS

ARE NOT LIFE-THREATENING AND HE IS

ON THE MEND.

LUCKILY, TWO FILTHY CHUNKS OF

MUZZIE MANURE WERE

DISPATCHED TO HELL.

SEE, TEXANS DON’T PLAY THAT MUZZIE-SHIT GAME.

[TBG 150]

Thank you to whomever resurrected this thread. Too much backroom deleting going on here.

[KarenKraft]

Thank you to whomever resurrected this thread. Too much backroom deleting going on here.

I also appreciate your doing so, as you already know.

I think what really set me off was the deletion of the two-part posts on bad [u.S.] government choices and the special case of Yugoslavia.  These took a great deal of time to prepare, and to have some chubby, unskilled, and ill-informed mouth-breather delete it simply sent me off the deep end.  I must learn to prepare these things off line and then post them après la préparation.  So, to some extent, I was angry at myself for presuming what I post stays posted.  Admittedly, a silly presumption on my part.

[TBG 150]

Okay, it's been noted, you're a tad peeved. The problem had been rectified.

But I need to stand up for the person you are blasting, because I'm 99% sure of which I speak.

Chubby? Not by a long shot. Quite thin, but not skinny.

Unskilled? I doubt that anyone is totally unskilled. There has to be redeeming values there somewhere.

Ill-informed? Quite possibly. Residing on the Left coast has a bit of an influence in your way of thinking.

Mouth-Breather? Nah!! I would say definitely a nose breather.

What's done is done. We can bitch 'til the cows come home, though it won't do any good. Bury it and move on.

[woodworker]

For my part, I don't have to worry about anyone deleting my stuff.  Because I delete so much of it anyway.

Just think, somewhere over there in the ether land is a pile of my rubbish just smoldering away.  ;D