Why The United States Has The President It Has

        Trump promised health insurance that was affordable, complete, and great.

        Trump promised to bring an avalanche of jobs back to the states. Not just any jobs, but jobs that actually pay salaries that people can live and raise families on.

        Trump made a lot of promises. 

        Now it turns out that Trump had no health insurance plan. It turns out there was no plan to create jobs and bring back well paying manufacturing jobs. Trump had no plans. He only had promises and boasts.

         His foreign policy and plans to stop Islamic fanaticism, North Korea nuclear weapons and missile programs, were nothing but empty boasts. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, one of the centers of the most bigoted, intolerant versions of Islam, has recently received an enormous arms deal. Was this in exchange for a commitment to spread tolerance and goodwill instead of narrow minded religious fanaticism? No, it was not.

          Did anyone seriously question Trump the candidate regarding his promises or his boasts?

          The failure has been here long before Trump. 

          There are no easy answers in life. Easy answers and groupthink are reasons people become hooked blindly on religions, on politicians, on movements, on hate groups, on gangs, on ineffective and harmful charities, on celebrities. 

           Trump told people what they want to hear. And for the side that opposed him, they were too focused on making fun of him to ever seriously examine and question his boasts and promises.

           We go to schools, practice religions, support charities that want our mindless conformity. We join movements that demand groupthink.  

            Trump will do the world a great service if he becomes the reason people start thinking for themselves.

                  

                  

             

              

           

Trump, Animal And Environmental Organizations

     Trump shares a lot with the people running many animal and environmental organizations. Except unlike these organizations that go on endlessly with fiction, b.s. and sometimes outright fraud, Trump is under a real magnifying glass. Not so for the organizations, where it is easy to provide promises, smoke and mirrors, worthless or ineffective programs, and never have to do anything of substance. Unlike Trump, who has a chance of being held accountable, these organizations never will be. The damage they cause is committed against voiceless populations. Serious problems that should be addressed never will be because of the false perceptions these organizations provide, and because of people's eagerness to mindlessly believe what they are told.

      

Global Warming And The Real Transfer Of Wealth

      A number of conservatives and others decry global warming because they see it as a manipulative way to extract or tax the wealth of the United States and transfer it to other nations. They also argue that climate change may not be man made, and therefore the initiatives to combat climate change are unnecessary and unduly expensive.

      Even when it is 100 percent certain that people cause direct harm to the planet, nothing is done. If everyone agrees climate change is manmade, nothing of significance will be done to stop it. For example, as the oceans daily become more and more plasticized and poisoned, destroying marine life, sea birds, and so much else, nothing of consequence is done to stop this completely human caused catastrophe.

      Regarding climate change and how many conservatives and others think it is nothing but a way to take wealth from the United States and transfer it; it is interesting to note that the greatest transfer of wealth recently occurred, and not only did most conservatives not resist it, but instead helped it along.

      Conservatives and republicans, assisted by liberals and democrats, assisted by ceos and others, made sure the manufacturing capacity of the United States was transferred to those nations that provide the cheapest labor, and that have the lowest environmental, workplace safety and labor standards. The United States gave away its manufacturing wealth. 

       It would have been better if manufacturing stayed in the United States, workers earned decent salaries, garbage, poisons and contaminants were better collected and disposed of, environmental, decent labor and workforce standards were maintained, and that ceos and others that form the non labor class earned less and learned to be less greedy.

      When conservatives or anyone complains that global warming is nothing but a scheme to transfer wealth, ask them what they did when the real massive wealth transfer occurred.

     

       

The Real Zombies; Mindless Religious Robots And People That Blindly Follow

     As the world becomes increasingly degraded, losing its biological richness and diversity, it becomes more shallow and less interesting. While we lose what is important, the same cannot be said for mindless conformity and materialism, which are only gaining.

Tribal People In Indonesia Lose Their Forests, Some Turn To Islam Out Of Desperation

     Recently there was a story regarding a tribe in Indonesia where the tribal people have lost their ancestral forests. The forests where they hunted and were sustained have been lost to palm plantations. Now the tribe people live in desperate poverty and hunger. There was a picture of some of the tribesmen hunting in a palm plantation area. For anyone that has been in a palm plantation, there is not much there in the way of wild animals except perhaps some rats.

     Millions of tribespeople in Indonesia have lost their forest homelands. This has not only been devastating for them, it is also devastating for the environment. The Indonesian government has failed to protect forests and native people. Mining, palm plantations, and logging are destroying the  natural wealth, health and biodiversity of Indonesia. Each forest destroyed means poverty for the forest people and is a blow to biodiversity and environmental health.

     Some of the tribespeople, in desperation to escape poverty and hunger now that their forests are lost, are turning to Islam. Others in the tribe are resisting this conversion, which would mean the complete loss of their culture and religion.

     Indonesia must protect the rights of its native people, their forests and biodiversity. So far it has failed to do so. It must reverse this shameful legacy.

     Conversion out of desperation to any religion in and of itself is disgraceful. Give the people a way towards a sustainable future. The world does not need more mindless religious robots. The world does need biological diversity, healthy rainforests, and diverse cultures and religions.

The Trump HealthCare Trainwreck. Pre Existing Conditions And Health Insurance

     The next time a politician attacks an existing program, pointing out all its flaws, and then promises to replace it with a far better program, maybe for once people will ask for the specifics regarding the new program offered.
      Trump never had anything better to offer as an alternative to Obamacare other than empty promises.
      Obamacare was flawed. Instead of discarding the whole thing, it should have been improved upon.
       It turns out that the republican alternative to Obamacare will leave millions uninsured. Even though it is said that the alternative program will decrease the national debt, such is not the case. The millions of people that will no longer be insured will end up relying on the government. The United States is not yet a third world country where hospitals will turn people away because they do not have insurance or money. The medical bills of the newly uninsured will be paid for by the government, which would have been paid for by the insurance companies if these people do not lose their health insurance.
       One of the best features of Obamacare is the guarantee that people with preexisting conditions will not be refused health insurance. Weakening or eliminating this one great benefit is a surefire way to ensure future bankruptcies, financial ruin, to say nothing about the loss of proper healthcare for millions.
        Stop the Trump trainwreck before it gets worse. Fix the existing Obamacare program, and stop pretending a better program exists if it is discarded.

Do Not Blindly Follow The Left, The Right, A Religion, An Ideology, A Charity, An Organization

     Think for yourself.

Environmentalism Is Not A Liberal Or Leftist Movement

     There are those, shallow or greedy or both, that dismiss environmentalism because they believe it is another scheme to take their wealth, or because they think it is a liberal or leftist scheme to redistribute wealth. Real wealth does not come from money. Real wealth depends on a healthy environment. Health, far more important than money, cannot exist in a degraded, poisoned world.

     

A Professor's Idiocy Regarding The Young American's Death From North Korean Captivity. Failed American Universities

     A professor made the news after giving her idiotic input that the young man who died after his captivity in North Korea got what he deserved. He did not get what he deserved. He did not murder, rape, and at worse may have tried to take a propaganda poster. Maybe it was a trumped up charge. But even if that is what he did, it is an inconsequential act that was not deserving of the confinement that he received and then his death.
      Some of the laziest, most arrogant, overpaid, opinionated people can be found teaching at American universities. American Universities are bastions for political indoctrination and political correctness. They are country clubs or party places for an indulged, pampered class of elitists.
   

Islam And Christianity; The Dominant Religions Of The World That Create Peace And Tolerance, Or Bigotry And Bloodshed

     Over the course of human history, thousands of religions and cultures have been crushed by the world's two dominant, often aggressive religions: Christianity and Islam. Both of these religions share a widely held belief that only they are the right way, and that it is their duty and responsibility to spread. Christianity and Islam both have spread by the sword, killing millions in the process. Christianity long ago reformed itself, after already killing millions of native populations, Jews and others. Islam has not completely freed itself of the belief in spreading by the sword.

       It is a basic human right that no one should be forced to convert, and that no religion has the right to force conversions or punish people that do not follow their religion. 

        When elements of Islam or Christianity declare that their way is the only right path and way, it sets the stage for religious conflict and intolerance. Name one single human being living on this planet that knows for sure what lies ahead after death, and what is the true nature of god or a higher power? A person can only say what they were taught or indoctrinated to believe. 

          There are many paths to being a good person. Declaring that only one religious path is the right path does not encourage righteousness. Instead, it promotes exclusivity, divisiveness, religious intolerance, and bigotry.

           If Islam or Christianity are the only right way for the entire world, then why are there other religions in the world that hundreds of millions follow, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism, and many more religions where the teachings of Jesus or Muhammad are completely irrelevant or nonexistent?  The doctrine that Jesus must be followed or everlasting hell awaits came long after the death of Jesus, and was used as a way to spread Christianity through fear. Jesus taught compassion, and that doctrine of eternal damnation if he is not followed and that all other religions are wrong is hardly compassionate.

           Religion is good if it makes a person kinder, braver, more compassionate. But not if it promotes hate, religious intolerance, bigotry, religious violence, religious imperialism. The world is a far more interesting place with religious diversity, less religious fanaticism, and far more religious tolerance and goodwill. 

As The World Collapses, Let The Good Times Roll...

     It is more important for far too many to be entertained instead of inconvenienced.

The Long Oppressed Kurds Should Have Nationhood

     The Kurds are a long oppressed people. They have suffered greatly, including in their present war against ISIS Islamists. If any people in this world are deserving of their own nation, it is the Kurds. Statehood for Kurds will mean no longer being vulnerable to those that wish to dominate and oppress them. A Kurdish nation will mean justice at last.

Middle East Genocide, Islamophobia And The Failure To Hold Accountable The Islamic World For Its Treatment Of Religious Minorities

     How is it that in this modern day and age, the Yazidi people were mass murdered and thousands of Yazidi women and girls were taken as sex slaves by Islamists? Thousands of Yazidi women and girls are still held captive. Middle east Christians, Baha'is and others are being ethnically cleansed. Islamophobia cannot be used as the excuse to not question why there is so much hate, bigotry and ill treatment of religious minorities in the Islamic world.

The Forgotten Jews From Muslim Majority Lands

       The forgotten and ignored Jewish refugees from Arab Muslim and other Muslim majority countries that now form the majority population of Israel, must no longer be ignored in the effort to achieve a lasting and permanent peace between Palestinian Arabs and Israelis. Many of these Jews were forced from their homes and lands where they had lived for centuries by Arab Muslims and other Muslims.

Muslims Driven From Their Lands - The Iranian And Other Islamist Excuse For Their War Against The Jews

     Iran and other Islamists try to justify their war against Israel by their claim that Jews drove out Muslims (which is not a correct narrative and one that completely ignores the greater number of Jews that Arab Muslims ethnically cleansed and drove out) and therefore Muslims have the endless right to commit terror and war against Jews. Even if this narrative is correct, does a wrong committed in the past entitle Muslims with the endless right to commit war and terror? The real motive, Jew hatred, is disguised by phony concern for Palestinian Arabs. The leader of Iran's Lebanese occupation army, Hezbollah, has declared he wants all Jews to gather in Israel so they are concentrated in one place and can be massacred there.
     There is also the belief that many hold in the Islamic world that once lands go under Islamic control, if the lands are lost to infidels - Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religions- it is the duty of Muslims to wage endless war or violent jihad to regain the lands. Even if the lands have been lost for centuries, the wars must go on to return the lands to Islamic control. Many in the politically correct west refuse to see this element in Islamic theology as a driver of war. The Islamic belief that only Muslims must rule in the lands that were past or present controlled by Muslims, and that religious minorities can only be at best second class citizens that pay special taxes, or at worst are forced to convert or are murdered, with women and girls taken as sex slaves, which is what Islamists just did to the Yazidis, keeps the world washed in blood.
        In a place like Yemen, where thousands are dying in a vicious war between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and where hundreds of thousands face starvation, the two sides see each other as infidels and as not real Muslims. Religion keeps that vicious conflict alive, with Iran and Saudi opposing each other and ensuring that many thousands more will die, starve and be crippled.
         The politically correct west refuses to see the religious components in Islam that need to be reformed or else these wars will never stop. The politically correct crowd, joined by the Jew hating crowd, want to blame everyone except Muslims for the wars, terror, killings, rape and genocide emanating from the Islamic world. It is true that the west has made terrible mistakes, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq where there is still the complete failure to hold anyone accountable. So much suffering has resulted from what the U.S. and west did in Iraq and elsewhere. But this still does not excuse or explain away the hate, bigotry, war, terror and violent jihad emanating from the Islamic world.
      If being driven from their lands is the reason for Muslims to commit war and terror, then what about the millions of people and their descendants driven from their lands by Muslims?  For thousands of years before Islam even came into being, Jews, who already believed in one God, lived in what is now Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Israel, the west bank, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and many other places where they were driven from their lands starting at the time of Muhammad (who slaughtered and drove out the Jewish tribes living on the Arabian peninsula in what is now called Saudi Arabia, to the recent ethnic cleansing of middle east Jews from Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, Syria, and other Muslim majority lands). Muslims, in their expansion and conquest, drove out Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and the people of other religions. If all the Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Hindus and others demand back the lands that Muslims stole, the killing will never stop.
        It is time to end once and for all the right of anyone to commit war and terror as the way to resolve conflicts and rectify grievances. It is time for the apologists in the west to be called out for their support of this evil, often motivated by Jew hatred. Islamists and their Jew hating supporters do not care if the entire world is destroyed in their pursuit of genocide against the Jews. The excuse that Muslims were driven out by Jews as the bases for endless war, if applied to everyone, means that Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and others will also endlessly attack and wage war and terror.
         Muslims were driven out from India when India gained independence. Hindus were driven out from Pakistan. Jews were driven out from their homes throughout the middle east and North Africa by Muslims. Arabs fled from what is now Israel during the war of 1948. Millions have fled from the wars in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Congo region, and many other places. Hundreds of thousands have been murdered or displaced in the ethnic cleansing of the black Muslim people of Darfur by Arab Muslims. The United States, Australia, Canada, countries throughout North, South and Central America and the Caribbean were created by the ethnic cleansing and land theft of native populations. Arab Muslims and other Muslims violently spread Islam throughout the world, stealing the lands of native people and enslaving and murdering native populations. (There are exceptions where the conversions were peaceful).
            Is the path going forward going to be that every historical wrong, real or not, must be corrected by violence and terror? Or is this a standard only hypocritically applied? And only allowed for certain Muslims?
            It is time to end the hypocrisy and hate that is the reason nations like Iran and others want to wage war against the Jews. It is not about Palestinian Arabs, no matter how much they pretend otherwise.

       

The Annual Iranian Parade Of Hate Against Jews

     The Islamists that run Iran continue in their determination to pursue the genocide of Israel's Jewish population. They know full well that in their effort to kill Jews, hundreds of thousands of Arab Muslims and others will also die. In fact, millions may die in their endless pursuit of war.

      In their recent annual parade of hate regarding Israel and Jerusalem, they declared that the Jewish state is a terrorist state that drove out thousands of Muslims. As usual, the greater number of Jews that were driven out from Muslim majority lands are never mentioned. Or how Muslims recently drove out and ethnically cleansed, murdered and rape Yazidis and middle east Christians. Or how Iran persecutes its Bahai and religious minority populations. Over 90 per cent of the Jews of Iran have already fled from the Islamic regime of Iran. The showcase token number of Jews remaining are left alone as long as they completely disavow any connection to the one small Jewish state in the world.

        The events of 1948 can never be changed, when hundreds of thousands of Arabs, mostly Muslim, fled from what is now Israel at a time of war. Or how an even greater number of Jews from Arab Muslim majority lands were forced from their homes and driven out. The Jewish refugees have long been absorbed by the state of Israel, where their descendants now form the majority population of Israel. Many of the Palestinian Arab refugees remain in refugee camps to this day. Muslim countries are good at waging war and hate, but not at taking care of their own unless they can be used as cannon fodder for war. It is unsurprising that the millions of Muslim refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan and elsewhere are not allowed to be settled into Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and many other oil rich Islamic countries.

          The effort to destroy Israel will result in mass death, another genocide, and untold numbers of lives lost and ruined.

           Iran wants this to be a religious war of the Muslim, aligned with the Jew haters in the west, against the Jew. In this pursuit, Iran shares the dreams and aspirations of the dime a dozen Islamist terror groups tearing this world apart and their Jew hating supporters( many of these Islamist groups are killing the people they believe to be infidels, including other Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Yazidis and others). 

            An earth that is to have a future must pursue a path of less hate and more goodwill, even between enemies, so that the children of the future do not inherit the bitterness and hate of the religious fanatics and their Jew hating followers.  

            

Too Much Religion May Not Be A Good Thing

     Religion can be like a tonic; a little is okay, but too much can be poison. Religion and faith are not necessarily one and the same. Religion has too often become a source of exclusivity, intolerance, divisiveness, bigotry, and far worse. Under the banner of religion, people are killing, raping, taking slaves; all of this in the year 2017.
      For the millions that blindly follow one holy book or another- certain that what they follow is the only truth- perhaps their lives would be far more productive spending less time glued to a book and more time simply picking up the garbage that lays everywhere on this trashed planet.
        Was it the will of God, or Allah, or a higher power, that humankind turn the earth into a sewer while people run around harming and killing each other because they believe that is what God or Allah or a higher power wants or allows?

Islamists Bring Their War Of Hate To The Southern Philippines

      In the Philippines, Islamists took over a city, Marawi, of over 200,000 people in the southern island of Mindanao. They are doing what they do best; waging war and killing. As they seek to expand and conquer, they rally their supporters by their insistence that the world is united against Islam, and that they are fighting a holy war, even though it is them that seek and desire a religious war. Islamists want war, death and killing, and when war death and killing are what they receive in return, they cry victimhood and martyrdom.

      Wherever Islamists are, they bring backwardness, poverty, misery, death, killing, religious intolerance, bigotry, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Here are but some of the Islamists strongholds and the misery they bring- South Thailand, a virtually unknown war where thousands have died as Islamists wage war against Thailand and the buddhist population. Northern Nigeria, where Boko Haram Islamists have murdered thousands. Just recently, they sent female suicide bombers into refugee camps to blow themselves up and murder helpless Muslim refugees that fled from Boko Haram. Gaza, where Hamas and Islamic Jihad bring poverty, misery, and prepare to sacrifice the people of Gaza in their pursuit of their war against the Jews. Lebanon, where the Iranian controlled Hezbollah prepares to sacrifice the people of Lebanon as they prepare for their war against the Jews. Syria and Iraq, where ISIS Islamists have ethnically cleansed Yazidis and middle east Christians by murder, genocide, and the taking of thousands of Yazidi women and girls as slaves. Thousands of Yazidi women are still in the hands of these demented Islamists, where they are raped and brutalized. Kashmir, where Islamists wage war.and terror. Europe, where Islamists have shown their determination to kill innocent people. Somalia, where Al Shabaab Islamists have killed thousands of innocent people. The list goes on. 

       Islamists have infiltrated into the Philippines from Malaysia, Indonesia, and a number of  other Muslim majority nations. They join existing Islamists living in the Philippines. The religious ideology of hatred, bigotry, violent jihad, intolerance, imperialism, and the determination to spread Islam through the sword and conquer and subdue nonbelievers must be vigorously opposed. This includes no longer supporting those nations and organizations that spread this intolerant, hate filled ideology. Otherwise, it will keep on manifesting itself in war and terror from brainwashed, hate filled, demented Islamists that think it is their right and religious duty to rape, kill and plunder.

     

         

Nancy Pelosi and The Democratic Party's Determination To Help Trump And The Republicans

       It is more important to soothe the outsized ego of Nancy Pelosi than have her step down. After democrats lose election after election, including their recent defeat in Georgia, Nancy Pelosi remains determined to stay in power. Instead of the serious reflection democrats need to undertake as to why they keep on losing, they remain firmly behind their failed leaders in order to keep on losing. They need a change of leadership, and they need to rethink what it is they stand for. In Chicago, Richard Daley twisted democratic values and created a regime of clout and cronyism. That is but one example of how the democratic party has stopped standing for anything. In the absence of real conviction, outside of their warped self paralysis by political correctness, democrats present no alternative to republicans. Republicans keep gaining, because people buy their rhetoric and do not hold them accountable for their deeds (including the war in Iraq, for which no one has ever been held accountable.)

       Republicans do not represent working and middle class interests. Unfortunately, neither do the other pampered elitists from the democratic party.    

Was Whole Foods Too Employee Friendly?

      The CEO of Whole Foods commented that the company had been too employee friendly and not sufficiently customer friendly, as he remarked on the sale of Whole Foods to Amazon. Will lower salaries, employee layoffs, and reduced benefits produce better customer service?
       Executives continue to reward themselves without restraint, because they can and there is no one to stop them, as they keep cutting, reducing and diminishing the value of employees and their salaries.
       Two thirds of the American economy is fueled by consumers. How will the American economy grow long term if people continue to be underpaid and often find themselves deeply in debt?
        Labor continues to be devalued. One final note regarding Whole Foods - unlike some other businesses where a helpful employee can never be found - Whole Foods has good customer service. It failed to be price competitive and affordable for average people, namely the backbone of America. The problem was not in being too employee friendly. That is a telling and sad sentiment that reflects what the executive class thinks about the working class.

Trump's Determination To Provide Full Employment For Attorneys, A Profession That Does Not Manufacture Or Grow Anything

      Trump is making sure that lawyers, one of the most overpaid, overvalued and disproportionately powerful groups of people, are fully employed. So far, it is a presidency full of drama, lawsuits, pending litigation, and little else. Lawyers, not laborers, do well in the United States.

Impose A North Korean Travel Ban For American Tourists

     In light of the brain damage and resulting death inflicted upon a young American tourist that traveled to North Korea as part of a tourist group, it seems prudent to impose a ban on travel to North Korea. That way, North Korea cannot take more American tourists hostage. North Korea will then no longer be in a position to brutalize and murder helpless American tourists.
     
     

What Happens When Underfunded Pension Funds And Others Can No Longer Depend On A Rising Stock Market?

      The more the stock market becomes divorced from reality, the greater the risk when the irrational exuberance ends. As the federal reserve agonizes over long overdue small interest rate increases, do they feel responsible for the bubble they have helped create? If and when the market turns, and pension funds and others experience painful losses, what happens then?

Another Terrorist Attack In London. The Failure To Contain Terrorism And The Tit For Tat Nightmare

     The evil genie of terrorism has been set loose into the world. Yesterday, a terrorist drove a van into a group of Muslims leaving from prayer. Terrorism is becoming a tit for tat nightmare, where innocent people, not terrorists, suffer.
       Nothing in this world justifies terrorism, no matter who are the terrorists, no matter who are their victims. The demented belief that one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter or martyr must no longer be accepted in any way or form. Unless the religious and political support for terrorism is vigorously opposed, there will be no way to contain this evil genie and return it to its pandora's box. How many more will die or will be wounded and permanently disabled because the supporters for terrorism and their apologists keep this evil alive?

Trump Carries On Daley's Legacy Of Clout And Cronyism

     Trump just appointed one of his children's wedding planners to head a regional federal agency. Cronyism is wrong, and no amount of Hillary Clinton deflection will erase that fact.
      Richard Daley ruled Chicago for many years. He was the king of clout and cronyism. This ensured the citizens of Chicago got the most mediocre and unimaginative leadership at best, and more often were gifted with incompetents running the city. Daley has retired, but many of the incompetents and mediocres are still around, and will be present until they are eligible for their undeserved retirements.
       Clout and cronyism are corrosive and demoralizing. They keep good people from advancing. They are a huge and unnecessary expense to taxpayers. They ensure the worst in leadership. Clout and cronyism have no place in good government, no matter the party or political orientation.

Hamas and ISIS, Islamists Arguing Over Who Gets The Credit For The Murder Of A Young Israeli Police Woman

     Three Palestinian Arabs attacked Israelis. One of the attackers killed a young Israeli police woman by stabbing her multiple times. Shortly thereafter, IS and Hamas claimed credit. Hamas dismissed the IS claim, wanting the credit for themselves.
      The failure to see the Islamist/Jihadist nature of the Israeli/Palestinian Arab conflict keeps the conflict, like many other conflicts raging in  the world, unresolved. Some refuse to see it because they hate Jews so much that they rejoice when Muslims kill Jews. Many on the left refuse to see it because they have infantilized Palestinian Arabs, or because they cling to the false narrative that the Islamic world is incapable of imperialism, aggression, war mongering and bigotry.
        Arab Muslims stole the lands of the Jews of the middle east. There were more Jewish refugees driven from Arab Muslim majority lands than the number of  Arabs refugees that fled from what is now Israel during war. But there is no Jew, unless the person is demented, that believes it is the right of Jews to kill Arab Muslims because their forebears stole their lands. The descendants of the Jews from Arab Muslim majority lands now form the majority population of Israel. The Jews were driven out and told to go to Israel, and now that they are there, are told that they are fair game to kill because only Muslims can have the land.
         There has been in the last few years genocide and ethnic cleaning against the Yazidis, middle east Christians and other religious minorities living in Muslim majority lands in the middle east and North Africa. Hardly a voice has been lifted in protest, or a hand lifted to help. Even now, thousands of Yazidis girls and young women are held captive by Islamists, where they are being sexually abused and brutalized in the most horrific ways. In response, Christians, Yazidis, and others are not being taught that terror is legitimate or acceptable in order to regain or conquer lands, or in order to address grievances.
         The world is silent as it submits to the genocidal ambitions of Islamists. Hamas, like ISIS, Boko Haram, Abu Sayyaf, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Al-Shabaab, Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah, and a host of other Islamist organizations, want and worship violent jihad and death. They seek war and death, but cry foul when they receive it. They rejoice when Jews, Christians, Yazidis, Hindus, Buddhists and others are killed, but cry for revenge when the killings they seek to deliver to others are given to them.

Making Chicago A No Kill Animal City The Inhumane Way

     The no kill movement cares only about euthanasia rates, and could care less what happens to animals that are out of sight, out of mind. As hard as it is to imagine, there are many in that cult like movement that prefer dogs and cats suffer on the streets, even if the animals suffer immensely and die slow, agonizing deaths.

      The cruel way to lower euthanasia rates is to ensure fewer dogs and cats are recovered from the streets, and that the number of animal control officers remains well below the national average. The fewer dogs and cats recovered, the fewer animals there are that may end up having to be euthanized. 

       In the delusional world of the no kill movement, where it is more important that its adherents feel good than do what is right for animals, there is no one to advocate for a proper response not only to the untold numbers of dogs and cats living and suffering on the streets, but also to the dysfunctional way in which animal cruelty and dogfighting are addressed.

        Lowered euthanasia rates do not reflect the true reality of animals that suffer and die. It is a p.r. stunt that allows people and organizations to feel good while continuing to ignore the plight of animals living on the streets. It also allows people and animal organizations to continue ignoring not only the plight of animals that are in the hands of animal abusers and dog fighters, but also the dysfunctional response to animal abuse and dogfighting.

Because Not All Terrorists Are Muslim Is Not Cause For Celebration

     A commentator remarked that the recent shooting in Washington, D.C., is proof that terrorism is not a Muslim problem.

     Terrorism is everyone's problem. It is not limited to the Islamic world, and only an idiot would suggest otherwise. Any coward with a religious or political grudge can make a bomb or pick up a weapon and use it to attack civilian populations. Just recently in China, a man killed children at a kindergarten with a homemade bomb.

       But when terrorists, including suicide murderers, are glorified by religion, terrorism grows exponentially. There are far too many political and religious leaders in the Islamic world that glorify terrorists. Terrorists are murderers, yet far too often are made out to be martyrs. As long as this continues, supported by apologists in the west, the scourge of terrorism will grow.

Russian Opposition Leader Arrested. Oligarchs Loot While Russian Television Cheers

      The multi billionaires and millionaires that run Russia, supported by their fawning Russian Television (RT) propaganda station of pretend progressives, recently arrested a peaceful opposition leader. While the oligarchs loot Russia, they keep the people dumbed down with nationalism. (Other countries, like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and others, keep their populations dumbed down with religion.) Meanwhile, the few that rule the many make sure dissenters are crushed, even though the oligarchs hold all the wealth, military and police powers, and have the media in their hands.

Trump; Big Money, Big Promises And Leadership That Falls Short

     Trump has offered nothing better to replace Obamacare, the Paris climate change accord, how to effectively counter the religious ideology that supports terrorism and Islamic terror organizations, how to bring back stable, middle class supporting jobs to the United States, how to implement immigration reform that is practical, realistic, humane and not punitive, how to reform the criminal justice system, how to alleviate poverty, how to ensure the United States is a world environmental leader, how to remove waste and inefficiency from a bloated military, how to properly protect consumers and the environment, how to properly respond to the crushing of dissent in Russia, how to respond to North Korea and stop its missile expansion and nuclear weapons program, how to respond to the war in Yemen, how to revitalize blighted communities as he promised, and a host of other things. There are wealthy people who let their wealth go to their heads, and live in a world of entitlement and imagined superiority. Since many people grovel before the wealthy, it inflates their egos even more. There would never be a Trump in the white house if he were a middle class man.

The Folly Of Depending On The Crumbs Of The Wealthy. Fair Taxation And Environmental Disaster

     The more people have, the more they want. The more they have, the more self absorbed, selfish and indulgent they often become. As the world faces major crisis, including environmental degradation and collapse, the people most capable of doing something are too often too deficit in character to be of any meaningful help. Fair taxation has been replaced by dependency on the charity and crumbs the rich give out. Meanwhile, the graces and crumbs of the rich have not, and will not avert the steep ecological decline and collapse of biodiversity that is already occurring.
   

40 Year Old Doctorate Student Commits Islamist Inspired Terror In France

        A 40 year old doctorate student in France, originally from Algeria, attacked a police officer with a hammer, attempting to hit him full force on the head. The attack was captured on camera.
        Officials believe the man self radicalized, having shown no previous association with Islamist groups. The attacker said the attack was for Syria.
        What is happening in Syria is tragic. But a wrong never gives anyone the right to commit a violent act against innocent people. People will always have grievances. But now thousands, maybe millions, believe it is their religious right or duty to respond to grievances, real or not, with acts of terror.
         Thousands have been killed, and thousands more will die, because of the belief that terrorism is acceptable and the desire of God or Allah. There are also those that see terrorism as an understandable response to oppression. So you have a demented religious belief supported by cowardly apologists. Meanwhile, the innocent suffer, and huge resources are expended to respond to terror that could have been put to far better use alleviating poverty and reversing the severe environmental degradation that is choking this world.
     

Rejecting Intolerance In The Islamic World But Not Muslims

      No one chooses the religion they are born into. Failing to support those that practice tolerance and failing to oppose those that practice intolerance, religious supremacy and bigotry is not wise. It is polarizing and achieves nothing positive.
   

Boko Haram Islamists - Famine and War In Northern Nigeria

      The Islamists of Boko Haram make sure Northern Nigeria knows war, terror and famine. This is what Islamists do. They bring war, chaos, starvation, poverty, and misery. No matter how much misery they bring to the world, the oil rich nations that have been funding these miserable Islamists refuse to stop funding and supporting them. The Islamists that live decadent lives of luxury in oil rich nations never suffer from the monsters they help create.

       The apologists in the west (some from the left, some from the right, often sharing Jew hatred in common) that make excuses, justify or support the Islamists are complicit in creating the misery. They are incapable of taking responsibility, and always have someone else to blame for everything.
         Hundreds of thousands are now experiencing famine in Northern Nigeria. Another horrible result of what Islamists bring to the world.

The U.N. Reports - Hamas Builds Tunnels Under Schools. Doing What Islamists Do

      The U.N., an entity that has long favored violent Islamists or at best has been silent towards their bigotry and atrocities, finally called out Hamas for building tunnels under schools for children. Why would Hamas do such a thing? It is because this is what Islamists do. They want blood, terror and war, and then when they get war in return, scream foul towards those that respond. As long as Islamists run Gaza, then the people of Gaza will know little more than religious fanaticism, the brainwashing of their children in order to serve their Islamist masters, poverty, war, violence and intolerance.

Trump Calls Out Qatar. Governments Must Stop Funding Hate, Bigotry And Terror; Oil's Curse

     Oil has been a curse in that it has provided Islamists the wealth to spread their vile hate, intolerance, Islamic supremacy, violent jihad, and the demented concept that suicide murderers are martyrs and not the brainwashed demented murderers and cowards that they are actually. Oil has allowed Islamists to fund, promote and spread terror all over the world.
       Qatar is but one of many oil rich countries that have promoted terrorism, bigotry, intolerance and hate. The United States and west have been silent, not wanting to disturb business. But at some point, decency must take the place of business. This should have been done long ago. This is to Trump's credit that he addressed this issue. Hopefully the governments that support terrorism will no longer be ignored.

A Terrorist Attack In Iran Will Not Stop Iran From Continuing To Fund And Support Terror

     The recent terror attack in Iran will not wake up Iran's religious fanatics to the dark reality they helped create.
     The pathological narrative that terrorism is wrong, unless it is directed against political and religious enemies, in which case it is encouraged and promoted, has created a demon that cannot be controlled.
      Unless nations stop justifying, promoting, funding and encouraging terrorism against the political and religious enemies they do not like, which Iran and its Hezbollah army actively do, the bloodshed will not stop. Iran and its Hezbollah army have promoted Shia terror, not nearly as widespread but just as evil and deadly as the Sunni terror promoted by a number of Sunni majority nations (Iran also supports certain Sunni terrorist organizations).
       Condolences are extended to the innocent victims of the recent terror attack in Iran.

Al Gore's Contribution To The Islamist, Not Environmental, Agenda

     Al Gore, if you really believed in global climate change, if you really wanted to advance an environmental protection agenda, you would have not sold your media outlet for hundreds of millions of dollars to a nation that surely you knew had an Islamist, not environmental, agenda.
 

Qatar And Its Al Jazeera Media; No Spotlight On Qatar And Its Islamist Intolerance

      Qatar and its government owned news outlet Al Jazeera are masters at diverting attention and criticism away from Qatar.
      What does Qatar and its citizens have to show for the huge amount of easy wealth that they have obtained from oil and natural gas? Other than incredible opulence for their billionaires and millionaires, what have they given to the world?
       They support Islamist organizations that pursue violent jihad, terror, intolerance and murder.
       They help ensure there is no conflict resolution and peace agreement between Israel and Palestinian Arabs because in the eyes of Islamists, there can be nothing less than the complete demonization and destruction of the state of Israel and genocide of its Jewish population.
        Many Qataris support Islamist organizations that have already committed genocide against Yazidis, moderate Muslims, and middle east Christians.
        They import hundreds of thousands of people from impoverished nations, providing little to no protection, benefits and safety to many of these workers, many of whom are treated as slave laborers.
         The high death toll of foreign workers is well documented.
         The sexual, verbal and physical abuse of many foreign domestic workers is well documented.
         There are women in jails, primarily Filipinas, that had babies after being raped, and stand accused of engaging in illicit affairs.
          There are many workers, many of whom have been abused verbally, physically, and at times sexually, that have never been paid for their labor.
          Qatar, (rich as it is, with abundant manual labor jobs that Qataris do not want to do), will not take in Muslim refugees from war zones or elsewhere.
           Foreign workers often live and work in harsh conditions, with no protections from abuse and exploitation.
           The leadership of a number of non Qatari Islamist organizations live in luxury and decadence, along with their rich Qatari sponsors, while their brainwashed impoverished lackeys wage violent jihad and suicide attacks everywhere except in Qatar.
            Al Jazeera, pretending to be the voice of the downtrodden, has yet to raise a voice for the hundreds of thousands of truly downtrodden victims of Qatar.
            For the many exploited laborers that have died prematurely and unnecessarily in Qatar, expect no eulogy from Al Jazeera.
            For the desperate women seeking to escape poverty by obtaining domestic servant employment in Qatar, think twice.

           
       
     

Hamas; Misery For Gaza In Pursuit Of The Islamist Agenda

     If Hamas truly represented the interests of Palestinian Arabs, instead of the interests of Islamists, including the Islamists in Qatar and Iran, then Gaza would not be in the condition that it is in.

Grievances - The Apologists Excuse For Terrorism

     Apologists for terror deflect responsibility and justify or excuse terror as a legitimate response to grievances or oppression. Muslims, who constitute over one fourth the world's population, will at times be aggrieved and oppressed, just as they at times will be the cause of the grievances and oppression of others. There will always be grievances. As long as a sizable number of people believe terrorism is a legitimate response to grievances or oppression, the evil of terrorism will only spread.    

Terror Has Become A Religion Based Nightmare, And ISIS Is But One Demented Result

     As long as thousands of people, and more likely millions, believe it is their religious obligation to kill on behalf of god or allah, to commit terror on behalf of god, to destroy the lives of those that believe differently or that are non believers on behalf of god, to wage violent jihad instead of peace and compromise on behalf of god, to achieve a demented notion of martyrdom by committing suicide and murdering people in the process on behalf of god, the wars and terrorism will not end.

      This is not an ideological struggle. That is sugar coating the dark reality that this is based in religion, and needs to be confronted. People shy away from this in order to not offend Muslims. But Muslims are also being killed and harmed by Islamic fanaticism and intolerance.  

The Mayor Of Clout And Cronyism

     An ex mayor gave a major city clout and cronyism. While he is honored and luxuriates in his post governing years, including by a major university considered prestigious, he has never been held accountable for his corrosive legacy of clout and cronyism. Clout and cronyism ruins lives, prevents qualified people from advancing, poisons and prevents good governance, drains resources, ensures rule by incompetence and laziness, and is the poison that keeps on poisoning long after the mayor left office.

Chicago Police And Federal Government Agreement. Creating True Police Reform And Real Community Policing

     The City of Chicago and the federal government reached an agreement regarding reforming the Chicago police department.
      More than likely it will focus on the unusual and dramatic, and make it seem that the aberration is the widespread pattern, thus failing again to address what is necessary to make police departments professional and efficient.
       Professional police departments do not allow for cronyism and clout. These corrosive elements have no place in promotions or anywhere else. Meritorious promotions should never be used as the way for clout and cronyism to be implemented. Promotions must be based one hundred per cent on civil service exams if there is a failure or inability to objectively implement a true meritorious process. Meritorious, if used, must be a defined, objective process in which the evaluators have no connection to the person seeking the promotion.
       The best way to have incompetent, lazy, unimaginative, and in some cases abusive leadership, with few exceptions, is to continue the use of clout and cronyism.
        Professional police departments do not play numbers games, including where officers in certain specialized units or teams are evaluated by the quantity of arrests they make. Professional police departments do not rely on numbers games regarding arrests or traffic enforcement.
        The purpose of a police department is to serve and protect. This is achieved first and foremost by patrol, which is the bread and butter and basic mission of a police department. In high crime urban areas, this is best achieved by patrol on foot, not only by vehicles. Cops walking beats day in and day out in the same neighborhood form the essence of true community policing. No technology can ever replace the value of a hardworking, conscientious officer walking the beat.
         Cops walked beats many decades ago. This was true community policing. Not the pretend community policing of today, full of meaningless paperwork, endless meetings and reports, and unnecessary down time. Community policing has become the inefficient employer of professors, administrators and paper pushers within and outside of police departments; all ensuring patrol and high levels of police presence are the last thing achieved.
           True reform means streamlined police departments that return to the basics. No more legions of cost inefficient paper pushers, supervisors upon supervisors - many in do nothing positions- and administrators. Efficient, streamlined police departments do not need nearly as many supervisors, and the supervisors that they do have are most often on the streets. Expensive, overpaid police brass, many doing little to nothing day in and day out, can be significantly reduced. No one should be free from working a full day. Becoming police brass should not be a lifetime exemption from work.
           Big buildings sheltering thousands of people completely removed from patrol does not make for efficient police departments.
           Cops on the streets patrolling in vehicles, on foot, supplemented at times by cops on bicycles, must become the basic foundation of police work. No more foolish numbers games. No more police departments that are sanctuaries for clout, cronyism, paper pushers and administrators, doing everything other than the essential mission.
         

Islamists And Their Jew Hating Followers

       No matter how violent, how vicious, how destructive are the Islamists, they will continue having a large following of narrow minded, crybaby Jew hating cowards. For them, millions of people killed, wounded and displaced means nothing. If there is not a way that they can demonize Jews, or even better in their minds, kill Jews, they could care less.

Wonder Woman Cannot Be Seen In Lebanon; The Pettiness Of Islamists

     Islamists, one of the most intolerant, bigoted, and violent groups of people in the world, show their petty colors once again.

      In Lebanon, a harmless movie cannot be shown because its star is an Israeli woman. 

Tragedy In The Philippines; Conclusions Reached By Politics, Not Facts

       The recent tragedy in the Philippines shows the politics behind horrific incidents. Some quickly concluded it was a terrorist attack. Others insisted it was a criminal incident committed by a deranged person or a robber.

        Until the investigation is complete, it is impossible to know what were the motives. The identity of the killer is not even yet known. 

          

The Divorced From Reality Stock Market

      A jobs report released today showed lower numbers than what were expected, but it did not affect the divorced from reality stock market. The longer the euphoria continues, the harder will be the fall. Not that many years ago the sky was falling down. Now everything is perfect, even if it is not.
     
     

Trump Pulls Out Of The Climate Change Accord

     Trump will not negotiate a better deal than what exists in the Paris climate change accord. A smart negotiator would have kept the existing agreement in place, and corrected its flaws. An incompetent and foolish negotiator throws out everything. Does anyone honestly think the other nations of the world will be receptive to negotiating a new deal after having everything thrown away?
      The climate change agreement was not the answer to climate change. It was inadequate and flawed, but it was the start of something that could have been improved. Now there is nothing to improve upon. The United States should be the leader in green technology, not the laughingstock of the world.

The Stock Market Must Remain Inflated

     The stock market must stay inflated. The elites have nothing else to offer.

      Inflated markets enable massive debts, underfunded pensions and other obligations, large scale low wage underemployment, environmental degradation, and other serious problems to remain unaddressed. When some geopolitical event or something else causes it to deflate, watch out. It will not be the elites that will suffer.  

Stock Market Paper Wealth In A Poorer Planet

      The stock markets hits new highs. Real wealth, namely the health of the planet, continues its dramatic decline.
     
   

The Stock Market And Trump, Divorced From Reality And The True Wealth Of The World

     The stock market, ever divorced from reality and the true wealth of the world  (i.e. the health of the environment, clean water, clean air, biodiversity, healthy coral reefs, abundant and healthy rainforests, clean oceans free from plastic contamination and other poisons, healthy oceans, abundant marine life, reduced poverty, political and economic stability, reduced nuclear proliferation, etc.) hits new highs on the very day the U.S. pulls out of the climate change agreement.

Lousy Financial Advice

      A prominent person, with an mba from a prestigious university and a long career as an executive, gave financial advice about the stock market at the beginning of the Obama presidency, a president the executive opposed.

       His advice was that the stock market was a treacherous place because of Obama, and would decline.

       Many experts let their politics and personal biases influence their advice.  Advice that they probably do not follow themselves. Many people have been financially ruined by the financial advice of experts.

Warren Buffett's Simple Index Investing Advice And Why It Will Be Resisted

     Warren Buffett gave some advice recently that if followed, will save a whole lot of people time, money, and aggravation. Some people, not liking his politics or something else, tried discrediting his advice. But his advice stands on its own, and it is time proven.

      He advised people to invest in low cost broad based index funds. Over time, this has proven to be a wise strategy. If enough people follow this simple advice, it will mean the end of many jobs, such as consultants, advisors, brokers, and others that want people to believe that they can beat the indexes. A few can, but most cannot, so unless someone has a lucky crystal ball, why even try?

Very few beat the indexes over time.

       The simple advice means there is no need for those not interested in business to watch business cable stations, or listen to fast talking hustlers that promise easy riches, or read financial magazines and newspapers that they may find uninteresting. What would be especially good is no more business for shysters that promise riches but only provide ruin. 

        People uninterested in business can then live their lives without the noise. And in the end, by following Buffett's simple advice, they will do better than most. For the few that can beat the indexes, and enjoy trying, the aforementioned may not apply.

        There were others that gave similar advice, such as Jack Bogle. Unfortunately, much of it was drowned out by the massive industry that wants people not to follow such simple advice. For many people, had it been known many years ago that this was the best course of action, their losses would be far less and their financial success far greater. 

         If Buffett's advice is widely followed, a lot of people will become unemployed. At the same time, a lot of average people will end up in far better financial shape in their golden years.

         There is concern that another financial bubble is being created. If there is another market crash or significant downturn, older folks may no longer have the luxury of time to ride it out. For others, it will not matter. The index fund is a good strategy. But it should not leave people blind to the unaddressed underfunding of pensions and other financial obligations that a rising stock market has allowed reckless policy makers to ignore. Or environmental degradation and the subsequent loss of the planet's real wealth. Financial health is not just about the financial wealth of individuals. 

          

           

Underfunded Pensions And The Need To Keep Stock Markets Inflated

     One of many underfunded pension funds, heavily invested in the stock market, as most are, reported the annual return it needs in order for the pension fund to not lose principal. If there is a significant correction, or an extended bear market, it will not bode well for underfunded pension funds and their often unrealistic reliance on the degree to which stock markets must rise.
       Having so many pensions and other obligations dependant on the health of a stock market does not seem prudent or wise. Underfunded pensions are a crisis waiting to happen, thrown under the rug by a rising stock market that allows for complacency, unwise policies, and an unwillingness to face the pending pension crisis.