Random Thoughts - Forty-Five

It is a poor man who cannot organize his circumstances to his own advantage. Never let your circumstances control you.

Free at last, free at last! Holder is resigning. He will probably move to a country with no extradition treaty. If we should end up with an AG that is more focused on crime than race Holder could be in some jeopardy. Now, maybe, America can start a comeback. I know, we need more changes. But this is a first step. 

With what we have gone through in the last six years, the Democrats can't find a better candidate than Hillary? I find that a little scary.

I wish Barack Obama cared as much about Americans as he does about Muslims and Islam. He should have run for President of Iraq when the job was open.

I'm still waiting for news video of Saudi soldiers charging a machine gun nest. Methinks I'll be waiting long years for that video.

Please, Mr. Obama sir, may we have our Keystone XL pipeline now?

What was that big parade in New York? The annual convention of a reborn "No-Nothing Party"?

Please, Mr. Obama sir, may we have our Marine hero back from Mexico.

I thought that was cute. That remark that our, oh so modest, President made. That he never notices any traffic jams. Here's news. Everyone else around his little sorties does. In spades!

Now we have a beheading in Oklahoma. Rumor has it that all Presbyterians and Methodists have been cleared of suspicion. They are, however, still looking at Baptists. 

Barack Obama has made himself a marginal President. Most people have had it with his disingenuousness, his self aggrandizement, and his loudly trumpeted solutions, that never seem to work. But somehow about forty percent of the people still support him. It must be party loyalty. I wish they would discover loyalty to America.

Sometimes things are a little hard to understand. So a convert to Islam, beheads a woman who would not convert. Coincidentally, it happens where she works and he no longer does. He shouts Allahu Akbar. He has praises for Allah tatooed on his body. When the police hold a press conference, Muslims in the audience shout Allahu Akbar. Then the police try to call it workplace violence. 

Where did Fibonacci find the first 1? Just asking.

A Note to young Muslims: Do you really believe that if you sacrifice yourself in the name of Islam you will immediately be transported to Paradise with fifty-seven sloe eyed virgins to care for your every desire? Have you noticed that you are told this by old men? If it is true, why have these old men not sacrificed themselves for the glory of Islam? Makes you think, don't it?

An Islamic World

I was put in mind of writing this because of the recent beheading in Oklahoma. It was done in the name of Islam by a new convert. He was obviously taught a very fundamental Islam where every word of the Quran is considered the true and inviolate word of Allah as passed through the "true prophet, Muhammad". I was always told that that was a basic tenet of all Islam. Now we are told that there are some who do not accept the one hundred verses that tell Muslims to kill and harm unbelievers. If find this either confusing or deceiving.

But let us suppose that many years down the line Islam is successful and controls the world in a worldwide Caliphate. What would that world be like? The least courageous of the non-believers would have converted to Islam. They would give their new religion lip service and lead pretty miserable lives. Unless, of course, they had wealth. In a Muslim world, money talks. Those that wouldn't covert would be dead in communal blood baths as peace loving Muslims cheered for their victory and the opportunity to purify the world by killing infidels.

The Caliph would be the supreme leader of both the religious and spiritual world. Under the Caliph the Ayatollahs would rule in their own bailiwicks. Purity police would roam the streets with the support of local Imams assuring society that all women out in public were accompanied by a male family member. And to protect society from a glimpse of female skin or hair lest Muslim men go mad with lust. Appropriate punishment of beating or stonings would be meted out for infractions. If the infraction was bad enough, the option of taking the woman to a private place and having their happy little band of heroes group ravage  her would be joyously carried out.

As there would be no more infidels in this perfect world, a proper education would be a life spent memorizing the Quran. All infidel schools like Oxford or Harvard or MIT would be no more. Technology would soon start to fail as new product disappeared. Those allowed to manufacture would run out of raw material. Camels and horses would once again become a commodity.

 Lifespans would shorten as the new world ran out of medical products. More and more areas would do without electricity, running water and proper waste treatment.

Suddenly the Shias would be referring to the Sunnis as infidel and vice versa. The Wahabis would despise them both. The attacks would begin. 

Slowly but surely the world would devolve to the point where Islam started. The seventh century. Welcome to "the Brave New Islamic World".

May We Please Have More Energy?

I have written before that I don't like solar and wind energy. Now, I'm talking about on a large scale. If you want to put a wind generator on your farm or a solar panel on your roof, that is your decision alone. But solar fields and wind farms are not even a stop gap. They are just unnecessary.

There need be no great rush to get rid of fossil fuels. We have plenty. We are burning them cleaner than any other country in the world. And within thirty to fifty years, technology will solve our problems. Not that they are as great as the "Chicken Littles" would have you believe. Remember, there is money to be made in panicking the general public.

In the past I have told of the possibility of cold fusion as a power source. It is a good option as it is clean and non-polluting. But it does have one significant problem at this time. It requires quantities of helium three. Unfortunately the nearest source of helium three is the moon. Not that in time, that problem could not be surmounted. But it is a problem.

But the other day, I saw something new on geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is cheap, clean, and abundant in some areas. Iceland, due to the amount of volcanic activity there, thrives on geothermal energy. It is available anyplace hot rocks and water come together. Hot springs, geysers, and volcanic areas. 

But there is a new technique being tested. It is called "Hot Rock Geothermal Energy". The concept is simple. It comes within today's technology. It can supply the earths energy needs forever. A hole is drilled through the earths crust into the hot rock of the mantle. Water is pumped into this hole from any source available. The water fills the voids in the rock and gets very hot.

Around the central hole, a ring of holes are drilled that become steam vents, capable of driving generators. The condensed water is fed back to the source. Any steam that escapes will be recovered as rain. This seems like a perfect solution and it is very hopeful for success.

A thought that I had is that this might actually help to clean pollution from water. It would be burned of in the mantle and the condensed steam would be pure H2O.

When mankind has a problem, it is almost inevitable that the technology will be invented to solve that problem. It seems that we always have the brains and materials to solve our technical problems. We should do so well with our societal problems.

Rules For Republicans

I am not claiming Republicans are dumb in general. They just seem to be dumb politically. The Democrats are lemmings running for a cliff to dive over and the Republicans are turning themselves into even more lemmings screaming "let's follow those Democrats over the cliff". 

I am not a Republican. I am a conservative. Since most Republicans are more conservative than almost all Democrats, I am stuck with the Republicans. But I want them to stand up and be conservative. I do not like it when they try to be as little conservative as they can be, lest they should offend a liberal.

So rule one: Don't worry about liberals. They are irrelevant. This is a center to conservative country. People will vote for a conservative when they express their ideas and plans clearly and intelligently.

Rule two: Don't come across as so conservative that you sound like an intolerant Luddite from the Flat Earth Society. Keep it within the limits of normal human experience.

Rule three: The Democrats will accuse you of being "at war with women". Look at the issues like contraception, abortion, and equal pay. Come up with a reasonable position on each one that doesn't prove the Democrats right. Write down the bullet points and memorize them, so that you don't get trapped when someone asks you a question. 

Rule four: To quote a well known politician, "don't do any stupid stuff". That may not be an adequate Presidential policy. But it is great personal policy for a candidate. In other words, don't get caught at 1 AM, naked, splashing around in a Washington D.C. fountain, with a hooker for a companion. It has happened.

Rule five: Don't try to be all things to all people. Pick three hot issues. I suggest jobs/the economy, the war on terrorism, and the issue of sealing our borders to protect our country. If you want an alternate or a fourth issue. How about the way our military has been intentionally degraded? Make the points. Hit them hard. And hit them continuously.

And here's a tip. If someone, especially a reporter, asks you a question off of those topics, find a way to answer the question using those topics. They can ask the question, you can choose the answer. Just speak lucidly.

I have watched winning campaigns and losing ones. The winning ones do pretty much what is outlined here. Campaign hard. Good luck.

Remember your Roots

The Crossing Of The Rubicon

It finally happened. After all these many months, far to many in fact, with Barack Obama standing placidly uninvolved at the foot of the bridge, he finally put on his big boy pants, and got, somewhat less than gently, pushed across his Rubicon.

It actually took a ploy, I hesitate to call it a plot, orchestrated by Admirals and Generals, both active and retired, to accomplish what should have been a "no-brainer". When ISIS sprang fully grown from the sand and ran off the pathetic Iraqi army, it was obvious to most serious observers then that things needed doing. When they took over towns and oil wells, then started wholesale killing including beheadings, even the casual observers got it.

It seems that the only one that didn't get it was our President and his tribe of sycophants. Maybe they just didn't want to get it. The only time the word Islam has left our Presidents mouth regarding the Islamic State was for him to deny they are Islamic. He is like a man who loves an evil woman. He can see no fault in Islam so deep is his infatuation. Stonings, beating women with a stick, chopping off the hands of criminals, even beheadings are ignored. "There are none so blind",etc.

So now he is in a war, against radical Islam, (sometimes I wonder how really radical) in Iraq. Some how, in my mind, I see George W. Bush sitting at the breakfast table this morning, watching Fox News and chuckling, thinking, "I told you so". But then, he is to much of a gentleman for such things.

So, Obama stands on the Rubicon's far bank. I have no doubt that his firsts thoughts are, "How can I get out of this unholy (literally) mess and retain my legacy?" Simply, he can't. To keep himself seen as anything but an abject failure, he must now stay in the fight. And if he wants to leave any kind of a positive legacy he must make amends with his military advisers and listen to them. He should stop advising the enemy of our plans. And most of all he should lose the "no boots on the ground"bull. It is puerile and limiting at a time when we cannot afford limits.

This is a real war. The leaders of ISIS are claiming, and attempting to build a Caliphate. They will accept no limits to what they will do short of defeat. What makes this war different from previous wars is that there is no specific person or territory to conquer. Kill one leader, another arises from the ashes. Take possession of territory, and their troops show up someplace else. That can be anyplace through the Middle East and most of Africa.

They already have a fifth column in the United States that is operating right under our collective noses. We allow them great latitude because we are a free and tolerant people. They use that which they hate and wish to destroy, our freedom and tolerance, against us.

We have an enemy who is willing to do anything, including dying, to take the battle to us. We all, including our President must remain engaged and strong. Not to make light of it but this is the "whack-a-mole" war. It can pop up anyplace. We need the military and the intelligence to be strong and prepared. They cannot be hampered by unrealistic world views. If a President is strong, the American people will be strong with him.

There Ought To Be A Law!!!!

We already have far more laws than we need. We have far more laws than makes any kind of sense. We, as a country, would be far better off if we eliminated more than half of them. But every once in a while something arises that requires a new law.

One problem is that people, either do not understand, or choose to ignore the Bill of Rights. In this case, more particularly, the First Amendment. You remember that one, don't you? Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. Really the root stalk of all of our other freedoms. 

I am writing specifically about flying the American Flag. There is, as any Boy Scout can tell you, a Code of Flag Etiquette. When, where, and how it is proper to fly our flag.  This must be honored. But, beyond this, no one should ever be obstructed from flying Old Glory. Never.

There have been way too many incidents lately. There are two great examples of mindless conformance to arbitrary rules by mindless bureaucrats, where flying the flag has been banned. A South Carolina school principal forced students to remove American Flags from their vehicles because they have a rule about calling excess attention to themselves. What does that even  mean? High school boys calling attention to themselves? I'm aghast! But really, it seems to me more like they were calling attention to America and their feeling for their country. It didn't disrupt classes and should have been left alone. There ought to be a law.

The other incident involves a Connecticut condominium. One family, patriotically, flew the Stars and Stripes in front of there unit. This apparently caused the members of the board to get their knicker all in a twist, which caused paroxysms and shortness of breath. Rumor has it that they all had to take to their respective fainting couches. "We must have uniformity", they spoke as one. What is the great bloody value in uniformity. I lived in a condo for fourteen years. I flew an American Flag on the side of my garage door. I liked it. It made me and my family feel good. And the lack of uniformity harmed no one.

In my conservatively bent mind, this falls under Freedom of Speech. Apparently there are some that find that type of speech harmful to their peace of mind. So I'm just giving them a piece of my mind. There ought to be a law!  

Stop Right Now!

Enough. It is time to stop the silliness. We are under threat. If you don't see it or understand it, you are either a fool or a tool. There are those out there that would love to sing you lullabies. All is good. Have no fear. We have it all under control.

They are lying to you. They do not even come close to having it under control. To them, under control means changing the semantics so that you will believe the latest edition of "Political Correct Bull Daily".

"We see no overt threats to the United State." "ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States". ISIS has nothing to do with Islam." "We are forming a forty nation coalition to expel ISIS."

If you believe that and most anything else that the administration is telling you lately, your boat has sailed and you weren't on it. Remember the old song "Turn Turn Turn". The new version is Spin Spin Spin. If you believe what is coming out of Washington, you are getting spun. Big time.

Sheriffs who have actual first hand knowledge of border activity tell us that our porous border is a highway for aliens from Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. These people are not here to make friends.

There are at least two dozen Al Qaeda training camps in the United States. It has been reported that forty ISIS members recently entered the country adding to the ten previously reported. Add this to our own special variety of home grown violent nut cases, and have a big problem in the making. 

I am not saying that people should be fearful and panicky. But be alert, awake, and aware. If your Spidey senses start tingling. Get thyself elsewhere. Report suspicious behavior or suspicious packages. Common sense and situational awareness goes a long way in keeping people safe. I just hope that soon the government will realize that the American people want and need honest information. Not a bunch of clowns covering their silly political butts. So stop right now.



And a late note: I just watched Greta Van Sustren's investigation on ISIS. I learned much that I did not know and I recommend it to all. One thing that I learned is that by not listening to military experts and making decisions on his own, Obama has put himself in, way over his head.

Forest vs. Trees Once Again

I cannot decide if President Obama is the luckiest President ever, or the unluckiest. He is certainly the most inept and confused. There is nothing that has gone right in his administration. And don't say, "well the stock market has done well". That balloon just has yet to blow up.

His administration has been hit with scandal after scandal. Almost on a weekly basis. But as soon as the public starts to get justifiably irate about one thing, another thing comes along and drowns out the first. So trying to draw a bead on him is like the old penny arcade game. Just when you have the bear in your sights, he rears up, turns around, and goes the other way.

So these scandals get to be a blur in the public mind, even to those that pay attention. So the trees hide in the forest.

Most of these scandals need investigation. Some more than others. The misuse of the IRS and Benghazi both fall into that category. Bad things were done by our elected leaders and their appointees and we deserve to know exactly what and who. It really does still matter at this time. But investigations exist by serious people. We can just hope for complete success.

There is however one scandal that needs remediation more than it needs investigation. That is the scandal of the Veterans Administration's handling of veterans medical problems. I am neither an investigator nor a reporter. I opine. I have to trust the news for information. To get this news I go from the Drudge Report to the Daily Beast, with a lot of stops in between. I try to be careful what I believe because not all news sites are equal. 

The point is that I have seen nothing anyplace lately that makes me think that anything is improving in the veterans hospitals. There was a big to do when Robert McDonald was appointed Secretary. Speeches were made and promises were promised. 

Then that scandal went back and hid in the trees. There was a day where a reporter would be assigned something like this as a long term assignment. There would be a series of articles over a period of time. Maybe even a Sunday feature article. Are those days gone forever? It seems to me there is still a need. I just wish someone would report to us what is happening with those poor abused veterans.

The View From The Mountain Is Always Downhill.

I was trying to think of what I might write today. It is Tuesday and I am writing for Thursday's blog. I try to write a day or two ahead of time. I really want to write something pleasant, light, stress relieving, even. I get tired of bitching, moaning, and berating feckless and ineffective politicians. Really, I do!

But right now there is nothing pleasant, light, or stress relieving in sight if you are American an have attained your adult years. In America, we have stood on the mountain. Some from abroad think it a golden mountain. For some it may be. But America's greatness has always been that it is a mountain of opportunity. Anybody can play on this mountain.

There has never been any guarantee of results. But from wherever you start out on the mountain you can start to climb. There are no elevators. It is day in day out work, for most of us. You may never get to the top. But anyone can improve their lot in life.

Has America gone downhill? At its core, no. On the surface, I fear so. Bad politics and greedy self centered or, out and out, stupid politicians have dragged us down. We could all make a list. Our lists would vary some, but there would be a lot of overlap of names.

It reminds me a little of Dante's Inferno. We have the nine political circles of hell. The first circle would be the just plain stupid. Those that think Guam would tip over or that man walked on Mars. The second ring would house the willfully stupid. Those that never read a bill but vote for it anyway. Third would be the maliciously stupid. Those that vote for bad law just to be part of the team.

By the time that you get to the fourth circle you find the quietly avaricious. Those that take money or kind in trade for favors. Fifth would be those that pass bills that will grow their individual fortunes. The sixth would be those that write and pass bills for money that they know will harm the country or the American people. 

Seventh would be the ones that hide the evil doing of government employees or other politicians. Eighth would be those that do such evil themselves by manipulating government through their own personal power. Ninth is the leadership that allows and condones doing harm to their country against the very oath they swore. Some play dumb. Some play cranky. Some play deep and thoughtful. Evil wears many disguises.

But they are there. There being Washington D.C. We all know them. Don't be fooled into thinking it's the other peoples pols. Mine are good guys. If you think that you are probably wrong. Right now, like never before, it is time to clean house.


Now that I got that out of my system, how about a nice, stress relieving picture?

Outflow from Scituate Reservoir 

Random Thoughts - Forty-Four

It does my heart good to see the truth about Benghazi, slowly but surely, surface. Now it is being told that State Department employees were assigned to sanitize the documentation to protect the bosses. If they realize that they are subject to criminal charges and jail for their efforts, maybe they will come forward with more. You see Hillary, it does matter.

You do realize that by President Obama referring to ISIS as ISIL, he is showing respect and elevating them to a status that they have not achieved. And I hope they never do because to take the Levant, they would have to take Israel. 

Ice thickness in the Arctic set a new high. Will someone please alert Al Gore?

It was super to see the Patriots come back with a great second game of the season win after their pathetic loss in game one. After this year's Red Sox season, I can't take a bad Patriots season.

I have been around for 75 years and I have read some history. I do not think this country has been as screwed up as it is today since, maybe, the era of the War of 1812. And I'm only giving that a, maybe.

You know who, said "by every metric, the country is doing better financially, than since the Great Depression". 46,000,000 Americans on food stamps. Middle class income down 23%. The Participation Rate, those working, is the lowest since the Carter years. Is, you know who, lying or confused. Either one is a bad thing for someone in, you know who's, position.

Election coming up soon and "it's still the economy, stupid".

God, I will be glad when, you know who, goes back to whoville.

The way the government seems to mess up anything and everything they touch, I wonder if it was the epitome of wisdom to bring ebola patients back into the country.

I know it is important to have rules to protect professional football players. It is a rough game played by rough people. But it just strikes me that some of these rules are turning it into patty-cake. That said, I like rules that protect girl friends and family members from physical violence at the hands of big, overly privileged, gazillioneers. Average folks do not realize just how strong these guys are. They can do some serious damage.

Can we please have the Keystone XL pipeline now?

When are some of these IRS criminals going to jail? It won't be too long before we get a new Attorney General. And the Statute of Limitations won't be up. I hope this time we get one that is more interested in crime than race.

Is anybody but me offended by the Verizon commercial where a man is complaining that he has to spend a day with his kids at an organized outing rather than watching some football game? I love football but my kids come first every time. There will always be another football game.

The President is sending 3,000 American troops to Liberia to fight ebola. So for his own glorification he is exposing Americans to a deadly disease to do a job they aren't trained for. Men that are needed to fight terrorism are being endangered and their skills wasted for the Obama agenda.

Whistling In The Dark

Can you hear it? As  soon as the sun goes down the high mucky-mucks of the world, you know, the people that are supposed to see to our safety, start whistling. Every night the sound gets louder. The current political philosophy is that it is better to whistle in the dark than face reality.

I read where some governmental genius opined that the moderate Muslims of the world would, ultimately take down ISIS. Really? I'll let you in on a little secret that our rulers don't want you to hear. While there may be some secular Muslims (yes, that is a contradiction in terms) that would like to see ISIS destroyed, most "moderate" Muslims secretly root for ISIS and smile at every victory.

Meanwhile; We are not at war. Whistle, whistle, whistle.
                       ISIS is not Muslim. Whistle, whistle, whistle.
                      No boots on the ground. Whistle, whistle, whistle.
                      We can negotiate peace in the Middle East. Whistle, whistle, whistle.
                      Islam is a religion of peace. Whistle, whistle, whistle.

The fact is, we are in a war. They try to convince us that ISIS is no more than a group of rabble. They, either lie, or are disillusioned. ISIS actually holds about 35,000 square miles of territory. About the size of Jordan. Latest estimates by the CIA put their army at 20,000 to 31,500 troops. These are trained, war hardened, fighters.

Young Muslim men, and even some women, are traveling right now, to Iraq, to fight for the Caliphate. ISIS has the cash to support as many troops as they can muster and train. Besides what money they steal when they take over a city, they have oil wells, and the financial support from Muslim countries that purport to be our friends. While they call us habibi, friend, they pay for the swords that draw Christian blood. 

ISIS also has those good American tanks that were given to the Iraqi army and abandoned to ISIS in Iraq's cowardly retreat. They also have RPGs, Stingers, modern rifles, and armored troop carriers compliments of the United States.

In other words, we have to stop whistling in the dark and take them seriously. It will take more than five sorties a day to put them down. And they must be put down. The administration claims a coalition of forty countries. I do not believe that. They may have a cheering section that is forty countries strong. But how many of those will take part in ground fighting when the American chant from Washington is "No boots on the ground".

I fear the prospect of a Viet Nam redux. An underestimation of a determined enemy and a war controlled by politicians in denial rather than war fighters. When leaders see the world as they wish it to be rather than seeing the realities of life, they are no longer leaders.

Freedom From Atheist Lawyers, Please

The latest bit of legal stupidity created by an atheist attorney by the name of Louis Nisenbaum was perpetrated on the Arkansas State University football team. The team, to commemorate two teammates tragically lost, put small cross decals on the back of their helmets. The crosses are so small as to be hardly noticeable. 

But it seems that attorney Nisenbaum has a very low degree of tolerance for things religious and felt it was his duty to "reach out" to the schools attorney, one Lucinda McDaniel. It seems that Ms. McDaniel didn't feel it was important to stand up for the Constitutional rights of her team and caved in the face of Mr. Nisenbaum's onslaught.

Now I have before me a copy of the First Amendment. The very first item in the Bill of Rights. The founding fathers thought it important enough to be number one. It says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;". If there can be no law against the free exercise of religion than there is no right to ban the free exercise of religion.

And I will say again, what others have said many times before. We guarantee freedom of religion not freedom from religion. If Mr. Nisenbaum is so offended by those little crosses commemorating lost friends that he quivers and quakes and is driven to tears, he has to but look away. He can punish their vile religiosity by not purchasing a ticket to their game.

And I wish that attorneys, like Ms. McDaniel, would grow a spine when faced with a threat by these religion haters. They get their way because they are allowed to get their way. They are bullies with LLDs. Bullies get defeated by people standing up to them. There are more of us than there are of them. People that have a religious nature should stop giving their legal business to these bullies. Boycott them. They don't deserve us.

The United States is a country of religious people. We do not have to "hide our lamp under a bushel". We have a right to normal religious expression. We have let the naysayers rule. This is wrong. We must change the rules back or lose our rights forever. "Onward Christian Soldiers". 

Thin Gruel

I am not a supporter of Barack Obama. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin. His policies are too far to the left. I don't care for his view of the Constitution. I don't like that he constantly says one thing and does another. When he was elected, I wished him well and hoped for a successful Presidency. If the President succeeds, the country succeeds.

I listened to his speech last night. I wish him well with this venture. But, while I was hoping for a nice rich meat and potatoes speech, what I feel that I got was no more than a thin gruel. Just not much to sink my teeth into.

The speech was delivered by an Obama-bot. This robotic substitute, looked like the President, sounded like the President, but there was no life, no passion to the speech. It was delivered mechanically as if being read from a tele-prompter by a man who had been backed into a corner and was being forced to go against his very nature.

The speech started with the mandatory, "We killed Bin Laden and destroyed core Al Qaeda." What relevance that has today, I cannot fathom. I suppose someone that is unsure may want to prop up his manly credentials. The fact is, he didn't kill Bin Laden. He sat quite safe in the Situation Room watching others, far more qualified, do the heavy lifting and front the real danger.

I found it concerning that the President cannot name the enemy. The enemy is Islamic extremism, no matter what they adopt as a trade name. But our President says that "the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria", (Obama insist on Iraq and the Levant) is not Muslim. They pray to Allah. They accept Mohammad as Allah's prophet. They accept the Quran and the Hadith as their holy books. That sounds Islamic to me. Maybe not the Islam that Obama holds so dear, but Islam none the less.

The President says he has a coalition. Who? Probably England and France. They will undoubtedly join us in the bombing. But who will put boots on the ground? The Iraq army has no choice. The Kurds are willing fighters. The Saudis? They never fight. They hire people, usually us, to do their fighting for them. The Arab League? Remember how much help they were in Libya. Not much. The Free Syrian Army? Obama labeled them " a bunch of farmers, doctors, and pharmacists" two months ago. Now they're his boots on the ground?

The President say we will defeat ISIS with planned bombing attacks, proudly stating that we have had over 150 attacks in the past month. Five a day? That hardly seems adequate. Maybe 150 a day would be better. And maybe some A10s and Apaches taking out those fine American tanks and troop carriers they captured.

I really hope this campaign succeeds. The proof will be in the destruction of ISIS or failure of Obama's coalition. These mad dogs need to be gone. The world does not need people like them armed and loose. But whatever happens, this is just a battle in a long war. This war has been going on for over a thousand years. One group goes down, another group appears. Dig in, it will not be over soon.

Paranoia Won't Destroy Ya

In spite of the words of those famous British philosophers, the "Kinks", paranoia won't destroy ya. It fact in today's world it may keep you safe and alive. If you aren't a little bit paranoid in these days you are just not paying attention.

Just look at what is going on in the world. From neighborhood to nation, we are surrounded by people who wish nothing more than to do harm to anyone they perceive as different from themselves. In most cases they don't even care who. As long as it is a smaller weaker person. Or they have a gang and the victims don't. Or their army is going up against a smaller, weaker, poorly led army. We are reaching new heights of "man's inhumanity to man".

I preach constantly about "situational awareness". People alone or in couples have to be aware of what is going on all around them at all times. Be judgmental. Don't worry about being politically correct or being accused of discrimination. It is your safety and possibly your life we are discussing. Just do your best to avoid situations or people that make you uncomfortable. Don't worry about peoples feelings. Worry about your own safety.

I see too many videos, on line, of young mobs just grabbing people on the street and beating them severely. Sometimes to the point of death. I see parents encouraging their monstrous little creations to fight on the street. And if their little criminal starts to lose, they chip in and give a helping hand. I have never seen so much hate and acting out as there is today. 

On a national and international level, we expect our government to supply the situational awareness. Either they are making a botch of the whole job and not seeing even the obvious, or they see the politics as so important to their private little empires that they think of us all as their personal sacrificial lambs.

Our southern border is a sieve. If you think that terrorists are not aware of that and coming into the country, you are in for an ugly surprise. There are over two dozen Islamist training camps currently operating in the US. There is little said about that. It appears that ISIS, you know, that charming group of beheaders, are now operating in Juarez, Mexico and into the state of Texas.

As I have said, "It is a dangerous world in which we live". What out for yourself and those close to you. A little paranoia in these times is a good thing.

Bunker Hill Monument

I thought this picture might remind the American people that we are not a bunch of pushovers. This country was founded in blood and courage.

WHY???

Why do they go? Why do young people from America, Great Britain, or any free country take themselves to the Middle East, to live and act worse than animals, and perpetuate evil for the further "Glory of Islam". 

Most of these people had decent lives. Many seem to be of at least moderate intelligence. I doubt they are moved by intense religious fervor in spite of their claims. If they were doing it for the adventure, they could better be backpacking through Asia. Looking at the people they are joining up with, I doubt they are doing it for the good fellowship.

So why? My suspicion is that if these people were to watch the TV show, "Criminal Minds", they would root for the serial killers. I believe that these people are hard wired with a vicious streak and by joining the jihad they rid themselves of societal constraints.

Why would anyone, not thrilled by the blood and pain of others, even consider such a life. To be able to kill, rape, and behead women and children without remorse you have truly lost your soul. 

They claim a religious duty to Allah. They claim, not just the approval of their deity but that deity's promise of an afterlife of glory with seventy-three, or some ridiculous number, houris to serve their every desire. No sane person would believe that tale out of "Arabian Nights".

However, not every jihadi convert is a genius. I think that we can all accept that fact. So their new masters take the slowest and most needy and convince them that the fast track to glory is to strap on explosives and go blow up a bunch of innocents at some mall or restaurant. Now my reading of the Quran is not terribly extensive, but I know that the killing of innocents is contrary to Islam. I'll bet those youngsters are well surprised when they find themselves stoking the fires of hell rather than being served by comely young women.

So by their going to the Middle East and practicing mayhem there, we are saved them going on a murderous binge in their home countries. What we need to do is to take their passports away when they leave so that they can never return. Then we must track them to there final destinations. Then put those destinations on the flight plan of a future Predator strike. The world will be a better place without them.  

Our Warrior King

Our Pacifist Prince has suddenly decided to become our Warrior King. Who expected that? The war hating liberal who despised George Bush because Bush attacked Iraq due to the evil excesses of Saddam Hussein.  Obama, the man who set a date and broadcast it to the world when we would leave Iraq, has suddenly decided to return to war in Iraq.

Could Barack Obama's worldview be changing? Is he finally realizing that his wishing does not make it so? One can but hope. But it is more likely that he feels backed into a corner. It is certain to me that his naivete has left both our country and the world floundering and in danger.

A month ago ISIS was the JV team and no real danger to anyone beyond tribal Iraq. Two weeks ago our Warrior King raised their status and began calling them ISIL, giving them reign over the Levant, Jordan and Israel. Maybe he doesn't realize that he sent our two best allies in the area into figurative subjugation. At this point he glaringly admitted to the world that he had no strategy.

There were strategies galore available to him from the military. He just hadn't found one that gave him political cover if something went wrong. A smart Warrior King always has someone set up to throw under the bus. 

Then Obama decided that he needed to claim there actually was a strategy. It was to degrade ISIL and make them a manageable problem. That is like saying, "we are not going to cure cancer. We will just slow it's growth down so fewer people die". Meanwhile the Vice Warrior King is out shouting to the world that "we will drive ISIL to the gates of hell". Maybe he has his own strategy. Obama, Biden, and Kerry. I see a potential "Three Stooges" movie here.

But now Obama has a new grand strategy. He will "degrade and destroy ISIL". And as soon as he figures out how, he will let the world know. But right now he's lining up our close friends to go in with him. Good luck there. He's driven all our close friends off. He claims some recruits from that neighborhood, like the Arab League. Remember how helpful they were in Libya? I don't either.

Today, they are saying there will be years of fighting to destroy ISIL.  Latest guesstimate, they have around 16,000 troops. No air force. No navy. We defeated 100,000 Iraqi troops in three weeks. Why years to defeat ISIL? Get a better strategy. I guess that just because you appoint yourself Warrior King, you aren't necessarily good at the job.

So, onward, ever onward, into the dark forest of political incompetence. The forest is large and the trails are overgrown. But Americans are a stalwart people. We forge on and eventually come back out into the sunshine. But this time the hike is longer and harder than any in my lifetime and we still have years to go. Somehow we will get there in spite of newly minted Warrior Kings.

The Tree of Liberty

Sometimes the shade cast by the tree of liberty leaves some people out in the blazing sun. This morning I experienced an example of this. On background, because of some difficulties, it requires both my wife and I to do the food shopping. To get around the store I use an electric cart. I ride around and deal with some of the things that are difficult for my wife to deal with.

My riding tours of the supermarket allow me some time to people watch. The broad scope of ethnicities definitely broadens my horizons and introduces me to foods that I never new in my WASP upbringing.

But back to this morning. It is early in September, summer has finally arrived in our town. It was hot, and it was humid. About ten points beyond uncomfortable. There was a woman in the store of indeterminate age. Not very old but way beyond young. She was swaddled in layers of colorless clothing, and was wearing a black hajib. Obviously a woman of the Muslim faith. She was alone doing her food shopping.

I realized that I had seen this woman before. The Muslim garb is unusual in our area and very noticeable. I had seen her walking from her home to the shopping area and back from time to time over past months. 

Thinking about it later, I realized that she had walked, in the heat, in heavy dark colored clothing, from her home to the store. After she purchased her groceries she reversed her trip carrying her load in her hands.

If one stopped her and asked, I am sure that she would explain that she was just being a good obedient Muslim wife. If I asked my wife to be obedient, I would be ducking a fast moving rolling pin. That woman, in my mind, is not shaded by the tree of liberty. She may not be a slave, but that sure sounds like indentured servitude to me. 

My wife and I often discuss what is happening in the Middle East. Now, my wife is a wise woman. I have said for all of our married life, over fifty-five years, she understands people in a way I am not able.

She has said to me that the problems in the Middle East will never be solved until the women get angry enough to rise up against the men and take control. I truly hope that those women will one day find a path to the tree of liberty's shade. I hope they can find their justifiable anger. I hope they can channel it into a women's rebellion and set themselves free. The Middle East will be greatly improved.

11 Planes And No Place To Go

Now isn't that a thrill. Some things got lost at Tripoli airport. No, they didn't lose someone's luggage. Would it were that simple. They lost eleven air planes. Big ones. Airbuses, most likely, as those were the predominant type of plane there.

We are talking planes that can cross oceans.  These planes were taken in an attack on Tripoli last month. It is claimed they were taken by an unaffiliated terrorist group called the Masked Men Brigade. Their leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar separated himself from Al Qaeda and now seems to be more of a wild card player.

There seems to be little doubt that these planes will be used to attack someplace, sometime. When and where is anybody's guess because Belmokhtar seems to have many axes that he wants to grind.

Considered opinion seems to be either some rival group someplace in the Maghreb or the oilfields of Saudi Arabia. Since we have not made our country self reliant on energy, for reasons unknown, that would be highly damaging to our economy which is at a very fragile point, for reasons unknown. (OK, those "reasons unknown" remarks were sarcastic. They were intended to be.)

It seems to me that the quick and dirty solution is to find the planes and blow them up on the ground. With our capabilities, how can we not find eleven big airliners being protected by a bunch of unwashed terrorists. 

It is a dangerous world out there. I constantly preach to people that they must have situational awareness. Know who is around you and what is going on around you at all times. Our country seems to be losing it's ability in situational awareness. Either we don't know what is going on or we choose to ignore what we know.

So we are faced with bad practice or bad policy. For a government that soaks up so much money, we have a right to expect better.  Half the world expects us to be able to protect them, but lately we don't even seem to have the ability to protect ourselves. 

Don't Be Poking The Sleeping Tiger

I wrote this blog before yesterdays blog. Do to the terrible happenings in the news, I pushed this off by a day. That is why they overlap to some extent.


ISIS does enjoy talking about their successes. And they certainly have some. They may be vicious barbarians, but they are not without skills. If you watch videos from the Middle East, you may observe that the average Muslim fighter uses the spray and pray system of marksmanship. In other words, they hold their beloved AK someplace over their head pointed in some general direction. The scream "Allahu akbar" and pull the trigger. The basis for this system is that Allah will see to it that the bullets will hit those that Allah selects to be hit. Not a system that is accepted at any ranges where I have shot.

ISIS fighters, on the other hand, seem to have at least some marksmanship training and actually use the sights. This alone makes them much more effective than the average. They also appear to have a semblance of military discipline. In other words it will take a real army to defeat them. Maybe not a great army but better than what the Iraq army had become.

ISIS neither thinks small nor talks small. From what I can gather, they have between ten and twenty thousand fighters. They have taken some territory in two countries, but with that they pronounce it the new Caliphate. They have no navy. They have no air force. 

For comparison, Saddam Hussein had an army of one hundred thousand, an air force and a navy. You will recall how long he lasted. I believe it was about three weeks.

But now ISIS is announcing they will be attacking Great Britain and the United States. Talk about biting off more than you can chew. Will they actually attack the West? I think they will. I suspect that they may have enough fifth column entities in place that they can do some very bad things.

They would be wise to remember Admiral Yamamoto's observation when his country bombed Pearl Harbor. He said, "We have woken the sleeping tiger".  And Japan was destroyed in three years, in spite of the fact that it was one of the most powerful countries of it's time.

But like so many foolish people, being religiously founded, they think Allah, their God, is on their side. If I were them, I wouldn't plan on much help. And I wouldn't poke the sleeping tiger.

Rhode Island Farm in Winter

IN YOUR FACE!

Yes, I do know that all caps is considered shouting. Well, in this case, it isn't shouting, it is screaming. And it isn't me screaming. It is, collectively, ISIS. They are screaming at us. More importantly, they are screaming right in the face of our President with the purported beheading of Steven Sotloff. 

They are screaming, "Look at us. See our barbarian ruthlessness and fear us. We are the Caliphate and you cannot stop us. We have lost all humanity and there is no act to crude or evil for us." The intelligence agencies of the world, especially those of the United States, have been watching this group for over a year, doing nothing while they organized and trained in Syria, learning their hate filled skills while fighting against Assad's government. 

When they were prepared, they went into Iraq and devastated a degraded Iraqi army. With no qualified leadership, the Iraqi soldiers threw down their weapons and uniforms, and disappeared into the population. This allowed ISIS to recover heavy weapons, troop carriers, and stockpiles of all the things that make them dangerous. All American supplied goods given to Iraq or abandoned.

ISIS is a small army of between ten and twenty thousand troops. They are small but they fight effectively, and they are growing. ISIS claims the Caliphate for themselves to build expand and control. But what do they mean when they refer to the Caliphate. 

Boko Haram, those Nigerian barbarians that kidnap young girls, recently announced that they were part of the Caliphate. That sounds like they are partnering up with ISIS. But the traditional Caliphate can actually be any one of a few different areas of land. None of which would make us or our friends happy.

If they refer to the Levant, they are talking about the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, which would include Israel. The could be referring to the entire coast of North Africa and even through Spain. But they are talking about a world wide Caliphate. The ultimate Muslim dream of a world with no infidels.

This is, obviously a dream far beyond their grasp. But in their vicious efforts to get there, they will cause much damage,bloodshed, and heartache. They should have been stopped before they got this far. What our leaders were thinking is beyond my ken. But since we didn't start then, we must start now. Our leaders need to stop worrying about politics and image, and worry about reality.  

Intelligence Erosion

Remember, first time Presidential candidate, Barack Obama? Standing alone in front of those majestic Doric columns. Tall. Slim. Immaculately dressed. His speech was an exercise in majestic oratory. His words floated like doves and landed on the ear with the impact of a prize fighters fist. His audience hardly dared breath for fear that they might miss even one word. We were told by the adoring media that this man was the smartest man that ever lived. At the very least, if elected, he would be the smartest President that the country has seen.

After his election, we were assured by the doting media of his enormous intelligence. Where others simpler minds might see two sides to a question, our glorious President saw five or six or maybe even more options. These highly nuanced solutions required time for our stately President to ponder. So ponder he did. He pondered and pondered and pondered. Unfortunately, before he finished pondering other questions of importance arose that needed Presidential pondering.

We have been blessed with some extremely smart men who were willing to carry the heavy load of running our country. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln. Even some slightly lesser lights like Munroe, both Roosevelts, Eisenhower were men of great intellectual capacity. But the experts at MSNBC and CNN assured us that none of them were fit to polish Obama's clubs.

Now a President's duties more than fill his time. With speeches, fund raisers, White House galas, vacations, and golf. This forces a President to rely on others for the small tasks. So when our toiling President decided it was time for Obamacare, he tossed the ball to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. With their experience and his oversight, what could go  wrong?

But time is cruel. It takes away the brightness of the eye and the quickness of the reflexes. We lose the color of our hair and the straightness of our spine. Both our bodies and minds erode. Some fast. Some slow. But it comes to us all.

So it is with a heavy heart that I must chronicle the erosion in our own "Dear Leader". Signs appeared almost immediately. Small signs at first. There were hints of indecisiveness. His speeches never again achieved the level of that day in Germany. When he spoke informally he would stumble and hesitate. Almost as if the words in his speeches were not his own. His hair has grayed and his shoulder seem to sag a bit. He has become lax in his clothing choices. 

When a highly public figure declines so far so fast, one has to ask," was he what we thought he was?" Did we buy the silk purse, and find ourselves with the proverbial sow's ear. Or perhaps another product that I have lately seen purses made from. It is possible. We seem to have inherited a lot of male bovine product lately. Why not that. 

No Strategy. Really?

If my young bride and I, hop in the car to take a vacation and we are going to just hit the road, stop when we want to stop, and see what we want to see, we may not have a plan, but we have a strategy. If you arrive at a pond to go fishing before sunrise so that you can have bait in the water as the sun comes up, you have a strategy. Whenever you need to accomplish something, you start with a strategy. From there you can develop a plan.

Every branch of the military, the intelligence branches, probably even the FBI and the NYPD have very smart, very educated people that game different threat scenarios every day. They work these games with some playing the enemy and some the good guys. They study those that threaten us. Then they live their lives looking for the weak spots in our defense. They have strategies. And probably very effective ones.

When President Obama says "we do not yet have a strategy", he means that we haven't presented him with one he dares use. Being a completely political animal, our President is risk averse. When he looks at a strategy that could blow up in his face with no way to shed any blame, he sees that as a bad strategy. Even if it is the surest way to deal with the threat, it will go into the scrap heap.

The first and most important phase of any plan or strategy is that the Presidents back end must be covered. Safest is best even if it is least effective. 

It is obvious to any American that we should be controlling our borders. But our President doesn't want to irritate the Hispanic community because they tend to vote Democrat. So the border leaks like a sieve. Gangsters and terrorists and people carrying diseases can come through with impunity. This will eventually cause great harm. But, with the help of the press, Obama will be shielded. 

We could be energy independent. We need to be energy independent. But our President will not let that happen. He seems to want us to remain beholden to OPEC and the Muslim princes of the Middle East. But no one ever calls him out on this. 

Once again I say, we have a weak and unskilled man in the Oval Office at a time when we need strength. We have a Congress that has rolled belly up in subservience. We have serious problems that must be addressed. And soon.