Archive for the ‘Middle East’ Category
Is Anyone Surprised Republicans Are Talking Impeachment?
I had been thinking it for years before I tweeted last January: “Reminder on importance of 2014 mid-terms: GOP impeached Clinton his final two years. #MtP”. And like swallows returning to Capistrano, the GOP seems to think that “impeachment” is a perfectly acceptable response to circumventing every Democratic presidency in its sixth year. They’ve been looking […]
July 28, 2014
Posted in: Election, fake scandals, Middle East, myth busting, Partisanship, Politics, Predictions, Right-Wing Insanity, Seems Obvious to Me, Unconstitutional
While President Bush Was Ducking Shoes… you missed the SOFA.
“It was a natural reaction to the killing of a million of my people, the orphaning of 5 million children, the widowing of one million women, resulting in tens of thousands of handicapped persons, tens of thousands of prisoners in American jails in Iraq, and the everyday scandals caused by the American occupation: rape, Abu Ghraib prison, bringing down […]
June 23, 2014
Posted in: fake scandals, Middle East, myth busting, Partisanship, Politics, rewriting history, Terrorism, War
Is ISIS Really a Threat to the U.S.? The argument(s) for staying out of Iraq’s Civil War.
By now, you’ve already heard the “catastrophic”, “world-is-coming-to-an-end” news that a terrorist group “too extreme for alQaeda” (“too extreme” for a group that dive-bombed hijacked planes into buildings? Doubtful.) is slowly taking over Iraq, with Iraqi soldiers so afraid, they’re “stripping off their uniforms and running for their lives”. And… of course… a conga-line of Republicans taking to […]
June 16, 2014
Posted in: Middle East, myth busting, National Security, Terrorism, War
About Those “Terrorists” We Exchanged…
Yesterday (June 1st), President Obama agreed to release five Taliban fighters in exchange for one American soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held prisoner for over five years. The tiny nation of Qatar was used as an intermediary to avoid direct contact/negotiations between Washington and The Taliban. Qatar also agreed to hold the five men […]
June 2, 2014
Posted in: Middle East, myth busting, National Security, rewriting history
Ukraine in Chaos. Could Syria Become a Proxy War?
Ukraine exploded in violence last week. At the same time, a chemical gas attack against rebels may or may not have been committed by Syria (we must consider the possibility that some psychotic and/or desperate rebel faction/individual released a homemade chemical weapon against their own people in order to draw the U.S. into the Syrian conflict (now […]
April 14, 2014
Posted in: Middle East, National Security, Predictions, Right-Wing Insanity, War
These people are dangerous, and they’re costing lives
As I predicted last Monday, this was a bad week. Mom passed away Friday morning as I sat at her hospital bedside, holding her hand for 61 minutes after they switched off the ventilator and I slowly watched my mother’s heart rate fall to zero. It was agonizing, and a trauma I hope none of my readers ever have to […]
April 7, 2014
Posted in: fake scandals, Middle East, myth busting, National Security, Politics, Scandals, Terrorism
Keystone XL Protest Signs for Download
As promised, here are seven posters/signs that I created for the Keystone XL Protest that I plan to attend this weekend. As I mentioned on Monday, I believe it is FAR more effective to focus on NON-CO2 related reasons for opposing the pipeline when your goal is to convince people that don’t believe in “Global Warming” and […]
February 28, 2014
Posted in: Economy, Energy Independence, Environment, Global Warming, Greed, Jobs, Middle East, myth busting, Politics
Mugsy’s Annual Predictions for 2014: No more predictions for Syria (kinda)
I never put any stock in “13” being an “unlucky number”, but after the year I just had, one can’t help but wonder. My predictions for 2013 were a bit rushed. I cranked them out at the last minute as I spent my days preoccupied trying to save the life of my beloved cat “Lefty”. One year […]
December 30, 2013
Posted in: Economy, Election, General, Guns & Violence, Healthcare, Jobs, Middle East, Partisanship, Politics, Predictions, Religion, Seems Obvious to Me, Taxes, voting, War
Iran Deal Underscores Need to Abandon Nuclear Energy as a Power Source
Nearly two years ago, I wrote about how the GOP presidential candidates were saber-rattling over “Iran’s nuclear program”, completely devoid of any self awareness as they simultaneously complained about rising gas prices without connecting the two events… not now, not in the eight years it was happening under President Bush (side note: gas prices have been […]
November 25, 2013
Posted in: Energy Independence, Environment, fake scandals, General, Middle East
The Syria Compromise Was No Accident
Last week, Secretary Kerry was asked by a London reporter if there was anything Assad’s government could do to avoid a military strike, he nonchalantly replied, “Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week.” And while the response was perceived by most as a passing off-the-cuff […]
September 16, 2013
Posted in: fake scandals, Middle East, Partisanship, Politics, Right-Wing Insanity, Seems Obvious to Me, War
What Happens in Syria on Day Two?
It’s the one question, yet arguably the most important, that few people seem to be asking: “What happens on Day Two following a U.S. bombing of Syria?” As I noted last week, the desire to “do something” to stop Assad is visceral. The mere thought of anyone using chemical weapons is SO abhorrent to us that […]
September 9, 2013
Posted in: Infrastructure, Middle East, Predictions, War
If You Want to Help the Syrian People, Help the Syrian People.
“So let me get this straight”, the boy asked his teacher. “Because Syria bombed Syria, we’re going to bomb Syria for bombing Syria?” It seems almost surreal, yet that is the question. And I must admit that my initial reaction to the news that Syria used chemical weapons on “1,500 of its own citizens… including “at […]
September 3, 2013
Posted in: Middle East, Seems Obvious to Me, Terrorism, War