Many people have a pathological hatred for Jews and Israel. They do not want any settlement between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. They only want death, misery and the complete destruction of Israel. They do not care how many people are killed in the process.
A road to peace starts with marginalizing those that want to keep this conflict inflamed. It starts with marginalizing those that hide their true agenda behind their support for the Palestinian cause; namely, the annihilation of Israel.
The goal to destroy Israel has brought enormous suffering to both Jew and Arab. The continued goal to destroy Israel will bring nothing but more death, destruction, misery and poverty.
There are not a lot of great options as to how to resolve this seemingly intractable conflict. It has to start with a period of time in which there is the renunciation of violence. This period of time will be a cooling off period of up to a decade or more. (A new generation has to be nurtured that will not be steeped in hate.) It will be a time in which there is bridge building and the cessation of hostilities. These different people living on the same small piece of land are stuck with each other. The leaders on both sides need to prepare their people for a future of coexistence. Whether this ultimately results in two states or one state can only be decided peacefully in an atmosphere of nonviolence by both sides.
Both sides have to accept the existence of the other. Ethnic cleansing as an option must be completely rejected.
The fiction about Israel as a European colonial state is a ploy used to keep the death and destruction going. A peaceful resolution to this conflict must recognize the legitimate rights of Palestinian Arabs and also the legitimate rights of the the hundreds of thousands of Jews (and their millions of descendents) that were ethnically cleansed and driven out from Arab Muslim majority lands.
War, violence, terror and the continued effort to destroy Israel brings nothing but war, violence, death and misery. The road to peace will only come from nonviolence and mutual acceptance.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Germany; Unsafe For Yazidis And Religious Minorities And Safe For Islamic Jihadis?
A young Yazidi woman in Iraq was taken as a slave by ISIS. She was sold to an Iraqi man who kept her as a slave and raped her repeatedly. She was able to escape after a number of months. Eventually she went to Germany, where she had been admitted as a refugee. While in Germany, she encountered her former captor, who had also been admitted into Germany as a refugee.
Terrified from encountering her former captor, she fled back to Northern Iraq where a few members of her family still live. Most of her family, taken by ISIS, have never returned.
Germany should treat this story with the utmost seriousness. German investigators should make their way to Northern Iraq, a relatively safe area under Kurdish control, and interview this young woman. She should be brought back to Germany, if she agrees. If not, the investigation should still continue. Surely with the high tech country that Germany has become, there are sufficient photographs of Iraqi refugees that were settled in the area where the young Yazidi saw her captor. Every effort should be made to identify the rapist captor.
Germany should also reach out to the small number of Yazidis that have been settled in Germany, and to Yazidis living elsewhere that survived ISIS, to develop a database of ISIS offenders. The murderers and rapists that blended in with the refugee population that was settled in Germany and in other European countries should be ferreted out. They should know no rest.
There are enough survivors (Yazidis and others) of the ISIS genocide and enslavement that a thorough database can be established of ISIS murderers, slave owners and rapists. When Germany lost WW2, many Nazi war criminals blended in with refugee populations. Some made their way to the United States and other countries where they lived out their lives peacefully, never having been brought to justice.
No such peace should be granted murderers, slave owners, slave traders and rapists. They never must know security in Germany.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Hate And Bigotry In The Islamic World Will Keep ISIS Alive
The intolerance and Islamic supremacy that fueled ISIS is alive and well. Many Muslims that dissociate from or condemn ISIS hold the same or similar hatreds, intolerance and supremacist beliefs. It is easier to view ISIS as a fringe lunatic group then face the wider problem of Islamic hate, intolerance and supremacy. Unless this is faced, ISIS itself will disappear, but ISIS type organizations, which include many Islamic jihadist groups, will continue to grow like cancer.
Many Muslims that blame non Muslims for strife in the Islamic world ignore how their own intolerance and hate are the source for much of the wars, killings and sufferings. All hate, intolerance, religious, racial and ethnic supremacy must be opposed. Otherwise, ISIS will always be with us.
Many Muslims that blame non Muslims for strife in the Islamic world ignore how their own intolerance and hate are the source for much of the wars, killings and sufferings. All hate, intolerance, religious, racial and ethnic supremacy must be opposed. Otherwise, ISIS will always be with us.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Does Animal Rescue By Animal Organizations Harm Animals?
Imagine an abused animal never having a chance of getting rescued from an abusive situation. This is the reality for almost every single abused animal. This is because law enforcement ignores or minimally responds to animal cruelty related crimes. The animal organizations that investigate animal cruelty enable law enforcement to do this.
Imagine if drink driving, domestic violence, bicycle theft, auto theft, or other crimes, were responded to by private organizations, and minimally by public law enforcement. There would be an explosion of those crimes. This is exactly what has taken place with animal cruelty. Because animals cannot speak for themselves, there is no outcry.
No other crime is responded to by private organizations, and minimally by public law enforcement. The organizations and their animal advocate supporters are too interested in the publicity and money generated from having the public believe they are the answer to animal cruelty to ever change this pathological dynamic. (Previous blogs discuss how the actual investigations of animal cruelty by animal organizations and token police teams are often ineffective and harmful.)
There are over a million law enforcement officers in the United States. If they encounter crime, including animal cruelty, it is their obligation to respond appropriately. This will never happen as long as animal organizations continue to be the poor substitute for the police.
Crime belongs in the hands of public law enforcement. It is shameful that animal cruelty has been allowed to be the exception.
Imagine if drink driving, domestic violence, bicycle theft, auto theft, or other crimes, were responded to by private organizations, and minimally by public law enforcement. There would be an explosion of those crimes. This is exactly what has taken place with animal cruelty. Because animals cannot speak for themselves, there is no outcry.
No other crime is responded to by private organizations, and minimally by public law enforcement. The organizations and their animal advocate supporters are too interested in the publicity and money generated from having the public believe they are the answer to animal cruelty to ever change this pathological dynamic. (Previous blogs discuss how the actual investigations of animal cruelty by animal organizations and token police teams are often ineffective and harmful.)
There are over a million law enforcement officers in the United States. If they encounter crime, including animal cruelty, it is their obligation to respond appropriately. This will never happen as long as animal organizations continue to be the poor substitute for the police.
Crime belongs in the hands of public law enforcement. It is shameful that animal cruelty has been allowed to be the exception.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Affluent, Modern Day Scrooges, And Their Satisfaction In Underpaying
The fictional character Scrooge was Charles Dickens' effort to make greedy, selfish, affluent people take better care of their employees. He appealed to people's sense of God and something greater than our earthly existence. Dickens hoped that Scrooge like people would see there is no benefit in being Scrooges because of punishment in the afterlife, and that these Scrooge like people would therefore change.
Unfortunately, Scrooges, male and female, are alive and well. There will be no visiting spirits getting them to change their unempathetic hearts.
What is it in certain rich, affluent and well off people that they either derive satisfaction, or are indifferent, to the needs and concerns of their employees? Many are the caregivers, for example, working for well off people that do everything they can to underpay and take advantage of the caregiver. Some of these well off employers operate out of a sense of entitlement. They believe that since they are rich and privileged, only their lives matter.
Liberal, conservative, Democratic, Republican; these selfish Scrooge like people of the modern age come from all walks of life. Who they are is not determined by race, religion, gender or ethnicity. What they share is a coldness, a lack of empathy, a cold heart, no matter how warm and politically or religiously correct they may seem. They should be shamed, not praised, for how they get over on less fortunate people.
Unfortunately, Scrooges, male and female, are alive and well. There will be no visiting spirits getting them to change their unempathetic hearts.
What is it in certain rich, affluent and well off people that they either derive satisfaction, or are indifferent, to the needs and concerns of their employees? Many are the caregivers, for example, working for well off people that do everything they can to underpay and take advantage of the caregiver. Some of these well off employers operate out of a sense of entitlement. They believe that since they are rich and privileged, only their lives matter.
Liberal, conservative, Democratic, Republican; these selfish Scrooge like people of the modern age come from all walks of life. Who they are is not determined by race, religion, gender or ethnicity. What they share is a coldness, a lack of empathy, a cold heart, no matter how warm and politically or religiously correct they may seem. They should be shamed, not praised, for how they get over on less fortunate people.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Ways To Reduce Gulf Of Mexico Red Tide
Here are partial, but important steps to fight against red tide and help the Gulf of Mexico.
1. The health of the Gulf and all the industries and businesses a healthy Gulf supports must come before the interests of a wealthy few politically connected people in sugarcane/agribusinesses. This includes restoring the everglades and surrounding ecosystems and the natural flow of water.
2. Create no fertilizer, no chemical zones for all lawns within 20 miles or more from the coastline. This means lawns go natural or native. Fertilizer and chemical runoff is fueling red tide and damaging the Gulf.
3. No feral or outdoor cats allowed within ten miles or more from the coast. Their feces is dangerous to wildlife, marine life, and unhealthy for Gulf waters and for people (domestic cats kill wildlife not only from their high prey drive).
4. Heavy fines for dog owners that do not pick up their dog's waste.
5. Provide incentives for native plant and tree restoration and other vegetation beneficial for the Gulf region.
1. The health of the Gulf and all the industries and businesses a healthy Gulf supports must come before the interests of a wealthy few politically connected people in sugarcane/agribusinesses. This includes restoring the everglades and surrounding ecosystems and the natural flow of water.
2. Create no fertilizer, no chemical zones for all lawns within 20 miles or more from the coastline. This means lawns go natural or native. Fertilizer and chemical runoff is fueling red tide and damaging the Gulf.
3. No feral or outdoor cats allowed within ten miles or more from the coast. Their feces is dangerous to wildlife, marine life, and unhealthy for Gulf waters and for people (domestic cats kill wildlife not only from their high prey drive).
4. Heavy fines for dog owners that do not pick up their dog's waste.
5. Provide incentives for native plant and tree restoration and other vegetation beneficial for the Gulf region.
Green Lawns, Red Tide And A Dying Gulf Of Mexico
People are good at talking problems to death. Talk and no action. It happened with dog fighting, animal cruelty, and a host of other concerns. Organizations and activists jumped all over those issues, enriching their pockets and ensuring everything dysfunctional continues (discussed extensively in previous blogs). Saving the Gulf Of Mexico must not be talk and no action. Otherwise, the Gulf will die, tourism and many other businesses will collapse, and people and wildlife will suffer even greater than they are now.
............................................................
Red tide occurs naturally. Some use that as the excuse to do nothing. If it occurs naturally, they argue, then human activity can continue unabated. Scientists give conflicting reports. Some scientists serve parochial interests and not the public good. The interests they serve do not want to lessen the use of chemicals and fertilizers that are killing the Gulf. They might use the argument that it is inconclusive if human activity causes, exacerbates, or impacts red tide. Therefore, in the absence of conclusive evidence, we can all continue to do nothing. (When it is too late and everything is destroyed, they can then say they have the proof they need to finally do something.)
Some people have protested. But protest without a clear course of action and direction accomplishes nothing.
What is known is that there has been an enormous expansion of human activity along the southwest coast of Florida. In the process, a great amount of mangroves, seagrasses, forests and wetlands have been lost, and continue to be lost. This has harmed the Gulf of Mexico. So does the flow of agricultural and other waste into the Gulf. Changing the flow of harmful waters away from the Gulf requires an enormous amount of advocacy and political will. It can and must be done if the Gulf of Mexico is to survive.
There is an important course of action that individuals can take that will help greatly. Green lawns require an enormous amount of valuable water, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. In exchange, the green lawns produce nothing. They are near dead zones that give little more than a show of green color. They do not feed people. They do not enrich the environment. They are not a magnet for birds, butterflies, bees and other important creatures that are vital for a healthy planet.
All the fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals required for a green lawn ultimately wash into the Gulf. The nutrient surplus alone is like putting the algae that causes red tide on steroids. The lawns look pretty, in the eyes of those that see sterile green as beauty, while the Gulf of Mexico looks and smells awful and kills wildlife and harms people. What is more important, green lawns or the health of humans, the Gulf and wildlife?
The single critically important step individuals can take to protect the Gulf of Mexico is to change the nature of landscaping. Lawns can be turned into highly productive places that feed people, wildlife, and that attract birds, bees, butterflies and more. This can be done by growing native plants and trees and certain other plants and trees. At the very least, it is better that lawns turn brown so that the Gulf does not turn red and dead.
............................................................
Red tide occurs naturally. Some use that as the excuse to do nothing. If it occurs naturally, they argue, then human activity can continue unabated. Scientists give conflicting reports. Some scientists serve parochial interests and not the public good. The interests they serve do not want to lessen the use of chemicals and fertilizers that are killing the Gulf. They might use the argument that it is inconclusive if human activity causes, exacerbates, or impacts red tide. Therefore, in the absence of conclusive evidence, we can all continue to do nothing. (When it is too late and everything is destroyed, they can then say they have the proof they need to finally do something.)
Some people have protested. But protest without a clear course of action and direction accomplishes nothing.
What is known is that there has been an enormous expansion of human activity along the southwest coast of Florida. In the process, a great amount of mangroves, seagrasses, forests and wetlands have been lost, and continue to be lost. This has harmed the Gulf of Mexico. So does the flow of agricultural and other waste into the Gulf. Changing the flow of harmful waters away from the Gulf requires an enormous amount of advocacy and political will. It can and must be done if the Gulf of Mexico is to survive.
There is an important course of action that individuals can take that will help greatly. Green lawns require an enormous amount of valuable water, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. In exchange, the green lawns produce nothing. They are near dead zones that give little more than a show of green color. They do not feed people. They do not enrich the environment. They are not a magnet for birds, butterflies, bees and other important creatures that are vital for a healthy planet.
All the fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals required for a green lawn ultimately wash into the Gulf. The nutrient surplus alone is like putting the algae that causes red tide on steroids. The lawns look pretty, in the eyes of those that see sterile green as beauty, while the Gulf of Mexico looks and smells awful and kills wildlife and harms people. What is more important, green lawns or the health of humans, the Gulf and wildlife?
The single critically important step individuals can take to protect the Gulf of Mexico is to change the nature of landscaping. Lawns can be turned into highly productive places that feed people, wildlife, and that attract birds, bees, butterflies and more. This can be done by growing native plants and trees and certain other plants and trees. At the very least, it is better that lawns turn brown so that the Gulf does not turn red and dead.
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