tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post8782971936582272022..comments2024-03-28T14:52:13.218-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: The Price of CivilizationJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-80572090901543582722016-07-21T14:12:31.361-05:002016-07-21T14:12:31.361-05:00"And whatever your particular problem is, I p..."And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character." -- Michael Douglas's character from The American President 1995. <br /><br />Too bad he is fictional, but wouldn't it be nice if SOMEONE stood up and said this? Someone who would make the GOP actually consider it? <br /><br />What a great post sir, this is another fine example why Facebook needs a "stand up and cheer" emoji! Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16855724194557310913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-19275165339831851522016-01-05T13:06:12.878-06:002016-01-05T13:06:12.878-06:00I remember back after the Soviet Union fell and G....I remember back after the Soviet Union fell and G.H. Bush was in office, and Russia - a nation with a whole bunch of nukes - was reeling economically and socially. If it wasn't contained...! Some American Soviet expert thought we needed to jump in and do something and thought of one simple thing. The Russians really loved their grandmothers and the thought of them cold and hungry overwhelmed them. The guy suggested a humanitarian plan to help grandmothers. Make sure their homes or rest-homes had heat, light, water, care and food. Would not cost much but the gain that Americans were not what the Soviets told them we were for decades, would be enormous. Low investment; huge payback<br /><br />Conservatives and George "No new taxes" Bush said no. And so the wound festered, and an opportunity lost.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-40021770038245426322015-12-09T22:01:40.665-06:002015-12-09T22:01:40.665-06:00I'll admit the French were in Afghanistan. But...I'll admit the French were in Afghanistan. But they had sense enough not to fall for invading Iraq - much to the disgust of Walter B. "Freedom Fries" Jones. Paris was more because of Algeria and Morocco and even Napoleon plundering Egypt. France has never known how to treat their former North African subjects. Make sure to keep them in their place. Mostly in the Banlieus of Paris, but definitely out of the mainstream. Why would they be resentful?David Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17686893760480264946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-1833401830829090132015-11-30T11:38:35.224-06:002015-11-30T11:38:35.224-06:00Yes, there were many deaths under the Assad family...Yes, there were many deaths under the Assad family, and no one should defend that dictatorship, but Telemaque's argument still fails. Before the civil war, Syria had hundreds to thousands of unjust deaths, and millions of people living in cities and towns. After the civil war in Syria, the scale of death and destruction is massive. Entire towns and cities have been destroyed. There have been tens to hundreds OF thousands of deaths. Millions of people are displaced, homeless, many starving. America and Russia could have helped work out a deal to get rid of Assad, but did not want to do so. Telemaque, what got destroyed was a civilization, but when someone (you) does not want to see a problem, then they do not.Jerry A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01835584492326180042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-68785532042536059272015-11-21T10:52:36.774-06:002015-11-21T10:52:36.774-06:00Those who use ignorance and stupidity against thei...Those who use ignorance and stupidity against their people have found terrorists who use our ignorant and stupid against us.Barhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00964494372792180918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-38458015129410176042015-11-20T20:06:15.740-06:002015-11-20T20:06:15.740-06:00I remember the First Gulf War, the night it starte...I remember the First Gulf War, the night it started I was in labour with my youngest son, who will be 25 this year. I wonder to myself if after 25 years it hasn't gotten better will it ever?<br />I'm Canadian, have never served, but siblings, parent, uncles,grandfathers and great grandfathers did. I grew up hearing about the atrocities committed by both the people in uniform and by they people they were fighting.<br />It seems we haven't learned,we keep doing the same thing over and over. Isn't that the definition of insanity? <br />I hear and see a lot of animosity towards the refugees and I keep saying I believe in HOPE, the hope we will all one day learn that war is not the way to peace. The hope that one day we will forget whatever books we each read that told us to *hate* one another. Finally the hope that we will stop looking at the colour of another person's skin and start looking at *who* they are. <br /><br />Am I naive? Perhaps, but then again maybe not.<br /><br />(PS I found you through Facebook and I love your forthright speaking manner!!)Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00382353466749812592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-14948288328290169112015-11-20T19:54:26.304-06:002015-11-20T19:54:26.304-06:00Thanks for linking twitter comments on your FB pos...Thanks for linking twitter comments on your FB posts for those of us who don't tweet. <br /><br />An immigration attorney names Scott Hicks has spelled out a few facts in an attempt to quell some of the ridiculous comments circulating via politicians and talking heads. It is too long to post here but you can see it on Jim Beaver's public FB page dated earlier today. Thought you might find it interesting. Wouldn't it be nice if some media people actually pulled their heads out of their @$$es to do a simple fact check piece?<br /><br />Thanks for all the entertainment, education and ever expanding vocabulary lesson you provide. Keep up the good work!<br /><br />Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16855724194557310913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-88575464818629366092015-11-20T01:09:01.571-06:002015-11-20T01:09:01.571-06:00Jim, I like the way you think. This piece was one...Jim, I like the way you think. This piece was one of the more incisive and stirring of your many I've read. I think the unique feature therein was beyond your unique and nearly pastoral rendition of your opinions, it was that you offered no fix, no "solution", no magic bullet to stop the insanity.<br /><br />That makes me wonder, "Might there be?" Paul Christyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06113001657882414961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-34133671652824825842015-11-19T16:40:15.044-06:002015-11-19T16:40:15.044-06:00"It's just terrible what we've done t...<i>"It's just terrible what we've done to other prople and it's only right and just that we suffer for it until we rectify all the wrongs we've done."</i><br /><br />Pretty sure I didn't say that. Sounds more like you conscience speaking. If you had one, I mean. <br />Jim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-68149616426643414522015-11-19T14:41:29.510-06:002015-11-19T14:41:29.510-06:00So on top of witty and we'll spoken we add &qu...So on top of witty and we'll spoken we add "trend setter" to your resume? :-). Thanks for the assist, got most of them on my own but this one could have been a few different terms. Carry on sir!Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16855724194557310913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-16976893444859379002015-11-19T13:32:15.406-06:002015-11-19T13:32:15.406-06:00Thank you for your writing Jim.Thank you for your writing Jim.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-1144457371095404082015-11-19T09:32:59.602-06:002015-11-19T09:32:59.602-06:00Thank you Jim for having a moderated blog! Most ...Thank you Jim for having a moderated blog! Most comment sections have turned into sewer pits these days. I am grateful yours has not!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-36124873494433536742015-11-19T09:30:23.404-06:002015-11-19T09:30:23.404-06:00OMG! Another person quoting the Quran who has ne...OMG! Another person quoting the Quran who has never read the Quran. When you cherry pick your passages (based on someone else's work, I am sure) you miss the beauty that is in the Quran and that most Muslims see. There are far more passages about mercy and forgiveness than there are about violence.<br />If you really want to read a violent book, read the Torah (aka Old Testament). Now that is a book that should really scare you. Yet Jewish people are kind and compassionate for the most part and not viscious killers.<br />Why don't you get your head out of your ass and start learning to think critically instead of parroting someone else's views?<br />Err.....yes, you can safely read the Quran - it won't warp your mind. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-23385703010054111892015-11-18T22:09:54.572-06:002015-11-18T22:09:54.572-06:00No indication "they had" anything on Gen...No indication "they had" anything on General Powell, but there is every indication in the historical record that he was deceived about the evidence. He has said as much himself, I believe. And Powell's credibility was a big deal in selling the invasion to the American public and our allies.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15089239091894492717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-15832443512194429572015-11-18T17:08:01.817-06:002015-11-18T17:08:01.817-06:00Rick. I grew up (teenage years) in that area. Alwa...Rick. I grew up (teenage years) in that area. Always good to meet another sailor, even if he is a filthy brownshoe. <br /><br />Welcome aboard. // JimJim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-5122915739249712292015-11-18T17:06:23.642-06:002015-11-18T17:06:23.642-06:00It's a hashtag for a phrase used on my Faceboo...It's a hashtag for a phrase used on my Facebook and Twitter pages. "These Fucking People." <br /><br />I commonly use the phrase as a punchline for the numerous daily articles I write on Facebook, eventually it became a term used by the 20,000 plus people who follow me there every day, and it is now entering into more widespread usage via the social media hashtag. Jim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-26409197592364860792015-11-18T13:35:23.875-06:002015-11-18T13:35:23.875-06:00Can someone be kind enough to interpret #tfp for t...Can someone be kind enough to interpret #tfp for those of us not familiar with the latest acronyms? Thanks. Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16855724194557310913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-86782939619519202272015-11-18T12:25:37.542-06:002015-11-18T12:25:37.542-06:00Jim, Hello from a fellow Michiganian (Battle Cree...Jim, Hello from a fellow Michiganian (Battle Creek ).Also a Navy vet flew F4 Phantoms in Vietnam. I enjoy your essays and have been following you for a few months. I though you and your readers might appreciate this article by Graeme Wood in Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ magazine very informative and very well researched .Keep the truth flowing Rick Smith Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03244749682557802116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-63533617734499577392015-11-18T12:09:37.843-06:002015-11-18T12:09:37.843-06:00From what I have read, the underlying philosophy o...From what I have read, the underlying philosophy of DAESH is apocalyptic. (I used the term DAESH because they are not Islamic, not a state, and not just in Syria or the Levant.)<br />They want the refugees they have created to feel abandoned, and they want to draw the West into an active war in the Middle East.<br /><br />In the view of their leaders, this war will be an Armageddon which they will win and enjoy whatever rewards follow.<br /><br />Many so-called leaders in the U.S. (the great Satan) have thus far played right into their plan.<br /><br />Some of the same leaders and others in the body politic harbor similar apocalyptic desires, only they think they will win and be rewarded.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-80992803581579667362015-11-18T11:49:03.901-06:002015-11-18T11:49:03.901-06:00Well said. And now, in response to the latest conf...Well said. And now, in response to the latest conflagration of our own making, we'll do exactly what the terrorists would ask us to do, if they had a hotline to our political process: we'll deny sanctuary to refugees of their brutality, and well kill more children to prove to them that ours is a message of peace.<br /><br />The French are going to take in another 30K refugees, which is real courage in the face of terrorism.<br /><br />We're talking about shutting down mosques and hinting that Islam should be made illegal in America. The land of the fucking free.<br /><br />And meanwhile, the neocons climb aboard the Pander Express and do their best to out-machismo the person to their left, all the while beating the war drums and calling for an all out air campaign. Our default position, the never ending air campaign. As if dropping incendiaries from the heavens makes it all go away down below.<br /><br />We couldn't do worse if we tried.squatlohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00041016017342355678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-75003339491595917072015-11-18T04:44:01.857-06:002015-11-18T04:44:01.857-06:00This! What Robert said.This! What Robert said.Chuck Stanleyhttp://flowersforsocrates.com/author/ottscribe/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-1754017030304303912015-11-17T17:35:14.294-06:002015-11-17T17:35:14.294-06:00"You see, terrorism like this doesn't jus..."You see, terrorism like this doesn't just pop up like mushrooms.<br /><br />It grows, inch by inch, day by day, cell by cell, recruit by recruit. Most of the time it grows right out in the sunlight, ignored - not unnoticed, ignored."<br /><br />That... is actually *exactly* how mushrooms grow. The things we see are just the fruiting bodies of mycorrhizal tendrils growing just about everywhere underground. This isn't a nitpick, I'm just realizing this is actually a perfect analogy.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09614249048048902131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-8580811541962156312015-11-17T15:41:09.794-06:002015-11-17T15:41:09.794-06:00And it is happening. The loudest voices, the ones...And it is happening. The loudest voices, the ones who see boogie men behind every face that doesn't look like theirs, they will be the ones to control the narrative because we will once again let them. Then we will again live with the bullshit of not meeting their required level of rhetorical patriotism, of rhetorical Christianity. Goddammit, this fucking sucks.<br /><br />Thanks for letting me speak, and thanks for the pool of sanity amid the swamp of this jingoistic nightmare.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10988110341260022420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-71378727969302277682015-11-17T13:34:57.001-06:002015-11-17T13:34:57.001-06:00For what it's worth - I think one of the roots...For what it's worth - I think one of the roots of this is an inability to cope as the world changes from structured to fluid. We're going through a great period of change, with communication beyond borders and travel across borders becoming routine. A lot of people have a great need for structure and order, and as they see it retreating they respond by trying to enforce it.<br /><br />That's certainly visible in the government of the UK, and makes it ever harder for young people here to have lives of meaning. No wonder some are enticed away by promises of making a difference. And it's visible in what I see of the US politics freakshow as well. And of course it's visible in religious fundamentalism.<br /><br />People crave a simple world. What can be more simple than framing it as a war between two sides? What can be more simple than saying, 'The world is too hard for me to handle, so let's burn it. And let's get off on exercising power over others before the end.'<br /><br />All over the world impulses like these, and greed and self-image, drown out compassion and wisdom in a mighty refusal to think and reflect. And other people quietly get on with creating new ideas and working together to transform the face of society. But sadly they're not the ones who own the newspapers and rocket launchers.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11340155536229140822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-40352513491390998242015-11-17T12:55:55.903-06:002015-11-17T12:55:55.903-06:00http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1450731http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1450731Swattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989430399546439230noreply@blogger.com