terrorist

I Don’t Think We’re Invading Iran Today

I’ll admit, for a few minutes yesterday, I was getting very worried about whether or not we were about to go conquer Iran.

Bear in mind, if we ever do go in, it’ll probably be a Friday afternoon (more…)

So About These Australian Refugees

I don’t know about you, but when I woke up to discover that we’re having a refugee problem with Australia, it made my brain hurt for a bit.  I mean, I know they’ve got this cane toad problem, and some of the most poisonous nasty creatures on earth live there — I mean, spiders and snakes, sure, but a snail?  A deadly stinging tree?  Gina Rinehart, for God’s sake?! — but that’s no reason to flee the country.  Or maybe it is; I don’t know.  I’ve never met the woman. (more…)

I Hate This Place: Revisiting Refugees, Pros and Cons

“I Hate This Place”
-Spider Jerusalem

“All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy… One of its primary functions is to regiment men by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependent upon one another as possible, to search out and combat originality among them. All it can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos.  Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable…”
-H.L. Mencken, “The Smart Set” (more…)

Beating My Drum

Every time something horrific happens, every op-ed writer in America puts out their thoughts on it:   why it happened, how it could have been prevented, the senselessness of it all.  And what’s sad is, a lot of people are getting sick of it, ignoring it, moving on.  We see so very much that’s horrible and we just can’t face one more thing in a litany of more things.  And the last thing we need is some self-important armchair political hack telling us who did what wrong and who’s at fault.

So why am I, yet another self-important windbag, writing anything?  Why do you need another helping of empty wind from someone else who doesn’t matter?  Why do we need any of them yapping at us when what we really want to do is grieve in peace or fix the damn problem already and get on with the business of living but this time in safety?

Good questions.  Here’s the answer: (more…)

Conspiracy Theories And 9/11: World Trade Center

Many remember 9/11, but some of us view the events in a different light.  In order to discuss it, I’d like to start with some baseline information and move on from there.

PM-911-lead

The official story:  On 11 September, 2001, two commercial airliners impacted the main towers of the World Trade Center on the island of Manhattan in New York City.  Thousands of people (more…)

Conspiracy Theories And 9/11: The Pentagon

Not too long ago, a good friend of mine was looking at Facebook when he suddenly exclaimed, “Good God!  Don’t tell me people still believe that $#!+!”

Because we’re talking Facebook, I had to ask for a bit of clarification.  I mean, really — there’s a lot of $#!+ out there, after all.  And so I asked, “To which particular bit of $#!+ do you refer?” (more…)

Why Terrorism Is Stupid

Bombings in Egypt and Lebanon.  Shootings in Paris and California.  Terror attack after terror attack after terror attack.

Folks, we’re in the situation we’re in because people are ignorant and easily deluded.  I refer both to terrorists, exploited and manipulated into committing their ghastly acts, and to you the reader.  In order to oppose this, (more…)

On Accepting Refugees: Pros And Cons

(NOTE:  This article has been revised again; the pros and cons listed have been kept up to date, even though the intro is vintage campaign.)

Major media outlets are full of reactions to recent announcements that the President will be asking to increase the ceiling on Syrian refugee acceptance for next year.  Unsurprisingly, the stories are largely focused on the reaction to the announcement; contention drives the media profit mill, and so it would be unusual to see any other form of response from them.

Since it’s the height of the upcoming Presidential election cycle, it’s also not surprising that every hopeful candidate has (more…)